A New Sun Rises

by CommissarAJ

Rating: everyone
Tags: Principal Celestia, Slice of Life, Drama, Equestria Girls, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG)
Length: 305609

Sunset Shimmer has never needed anyone or anything - she had her magic, she had her ambition, and she had intellect. Others just stood in her way or held her down. So what do you do when your plans for world domination fall through?

Sunset Shimmer has never needed anyone or anything - she had her magic, she had her ambition, and she had intellect. Others just stood in her way or held her down. So what do you do when your plans for world domination fall through?

Now she's about to discover that the only thing harder than hitting rock bottom is climbing your way out of that crater. Good thing she has some new friends to help her along, but its tough to seek forgiveness from others when you can't forgive yourself...

Special thanks to KiltedKey (Chapters 1/2) and SolidFire for their editing work.

Published 2014-11-01 18:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2021-03-12 16:24:43 UTC

Act I-II

Very rarely was a student thankful to be dragged off to the principal’s office. While I had no doubt that Celestia would be displeased to hear about the latest act of property damage tied to my name, I nonetheless felt infinitely more comfortable now that I didn’t have an audience scrutinizing my every move. With the exception being the occasional wandering student, who in passing would give a stink-eye, a barely-concealed chuckle, an obscene hand gesture, or any combination of the three.

As I waited patiently just outside the door, leaning against the wall with my books kept out of easy reach as to avoid repeat incidences, the confrontation with Trixie kept playing over in my mind. Needless to say, I regretted my response, and not just because I missed. Celestia took me back with the understanding that I was going to be a better person, a nicer person. An explosive temper was not how I was going to win the hearts and minds of anyone, especially my own. I knew coming back would mean dealing with Trixie at some point, and I knew that resorting to violence wouldn’t fix anything, but I still got angry and I still got violent. How could I convince others that I could change if I wasn’t certain of it myself?

I couldn’t make out most of the words, but judging by the volume of Luna’s half of it, she was none too happy about things. The Vice Principal had always been a wild card for me at the school. Though the principal and princess had their differences, the insight I gained spending years with Princess Celestia helped in my dealings with this world’s version. But Luna was a mystery to me. She kept an arm’s length when it came to dealing with students, and even when she brought me in, there was little more than a ‘follow me’ from her. In the past, I was never sure if she had suspicions as to my devious nature, or if she was naturally suspicious of everybody. At least I didn’t need to wonder any longer.

Whatever Celestia and Luna were talking about, they weren’t in a rush to finish it. More than half an hour had passed and I had yet to see either of them emerge from their office. As curiosity began to take hold of me, I slowly edged closer to the door. After a quick glance down the halls to ensure I was alone, I turned the handle and waited to see if there was a pause in the conversation. There was none, which meant they probably didn’t hear me so far. Ever so carefully, I pushed the door open so I could eavesdrop on their discussion. It was my future, after all, so I figured I should be privy to the deliberations. What were they going to do if they disagreed—expel me?

“I think you’re overreacting a bit, Luna,” Celestia said in an obvious attempt to placate her sister.

“No, grabbing her by the feet and kimber tossing her out the nearest window would be considered an overreaction,” Luna shot back. “All I’m suggesting is that we actually do something that resembles discipline.”

“Discipline isn’t always about punishment, and it's definitely not about appealing to mob justice.”

Sounded like Luna wasn’t the only one who felt I should vacate the school premises, preferably out of a large cannon.

“You weren’t the one who spent all morning on the phones dealing with a hundred concerned parents,” Luna exclaimed. “Or better yet, you weren’t there when I had to convince the bloody school board that our front foyer got demolished because of a leaking gas main.”

Luna lied to the school board? Celestia did say that the truth would make her look insane, but at the time I hadn’t realized to what extent she had gone to in order to keep her superiors from taking a closer look. If people did believe the truth, it would’ve put Canterlot High in the middle of a media spectacle, and I shuddered to think what would happen to a girl who could allegedly turn into a demonic entity.

“What would you have proposed telling them? The truth? I imagine once they stopped laughing, they’d demand for both of our resignations,” Celestia continued calmly. If Luna’s heated reaction was a common occurrence, it suddenly explained why the principal wasn’t even fazed by my paltry show of defiance earlier.

There was an audible sigh from Luna, followed by a prolonged silence before she groaned. “I could’ve at least said something that made it clear that Sunset was responsible.”

“So it wasn’t the lying that bothered you, it’s what was in the lie,” Celestia quipped.

“My point is, you’re making a huge mistake. We can’t just sweep it under the rug and pretend like nothing happened. Her kind of behavior belongs in jail!”

Personally, I didn’t think anybody was prepared to pretend like nothing happened. There was a whole school full of students who were more than willing to remind me every day of what a horrid person I’d been. Even if Celestia didn’t want to, mob justice would eventually find its way to me.

“I understand your concerns, Luna, but I have the situation under control. I was hoping you’d be willing to be help me with this.”

“There’s a broken pane of glass that says otherwise,” Luna replied, followed by a heavy thud of what I presumed was her slamming the damaged trophy on the principal’s desk. “The school board’s already scrambling to find a way to pay for the first round of damage caused by Sunset, now I’ve got to send them an invoice for this. How many more things have to be broken before you realize that some students are just trouble? Sooner or later, somebody is going to get hurt, and you’ll be held responsible.”

When I had been transformed into a crazed demon, drunk on Equestrian magic, I came very close to reducing Twilight and her friends into a small but colourful pile of ash. Would Celestia have been willing to give me a reassuring pat on the back and a ‘we all make mistakes’ if there had been a body count involved? The fact that there weren’t any injuries, other than my ego, wasn’t because of a lack of effort on my part. I doubt there were any greeting cards for ‘sorry I tried to vaporize you.’ Perhaps I could get that written on a cake.

Luna brought up a sobering point. Not even ten minutes into my return and I had already made a pane of glass into my first victim. What if Trixie hadn’t been as swift? Regardless of how much I thought her face deserved a refresher course on algebra, handing out concussions wasn’t a step in the right direction. Not to mention, it would’ve led to an even more terrible fate—being forced by the principal to apologize to Trixie. My disdain for Trixie aside, maybe Luna was right, and I was just another incident waiting to happen.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take, but what I won’t do is abandon this girl,” Celestia said with the same firm principal-tone that she had used on me.

“We don’t know what else she might be hiding. She could still be dangerous. There’s an entire hallway’s worth of students who state that she attacked another student! She doesn’t deserve your leniency.”

What I deserved. That was a topic that had been floating on my mind for the past several minutes. Maybe I was fooling myself into thinking that I could be different. I had already demonstrated how woefully inadequate my patience and impulse control were. The confrontation with Trixie could have been avoided entirely if I had just given in to what she wanted. She wanted to humiliate and lord over me like an usurper, and it wasn’t as though I had anything worth protecting. What dignity I had was still sitting at the bottom of a crater out in the schoolyard, next to chunks of concrete and puddles of muddy water. Even though the value of my name wasn’t worth the ink it’d take to write it down, apparently it was still enough for me to kick up a fuss about. Sooner or later, a confrontation was going to occur and somebody would get hurt, either because of my temper, or because I’m too stupid to realize I was protecting a trash heap that was once my pride.

I had my second chance, and I pitched it through a glass pane. I soon convinced myself that Luna was right, and that leniency was beyond my price range. My presence alone was driving a wedge between two sisters who, from everything I had seen, worked flawlessly side by side. Nobody wanted me at Canterlot High, and while I appreciated Celestia’s vote of confidence in me, she was still just one person in a sea of animosity.

So in what I decided would be my one act of decency at Canterlot High, I grabbed my things and walked out the door. Both Canterlot High and I would be better off without each other.

*******************

Tempting as it may have been to return to my sanctuary of a shoebox, also known as my apartment, I knew that would be among the first places that Principal Celestia would check after realizing I had bailed on her. Though the thought of disappointing her once more did elicit a small pang of guilt, if only because of its reminder of all the other important people in my life that I had let down, I tried not to dwell on it. There were many students at Canterlot High who needed the sort of guidance that she could provide, and her time would be better spent fostering those individuals.

As for myself, I still had enough confidence left to know that I could carve out some semblance of a life in this world. At the very least, in thirty moons, the portal to Equestria would be open and I could crawl back home with my tail firmly tucked between my legs. There may not be anybody waiting for me on the other side, but at least I would be a unicorn again, and I’d have my magic.

Since home, both of this world and the other, was out of the question, I had opted to venture elsewhere into town. I didn’t have any particular destinations in mind as I just needed to put some distance between me and the school. Heading down city sidewalks, passing by scores of people as they went about their lives, felt almost therapeutic. Out here, I appeared to be just like every other teenaged girl, save for an indifference to boy bands and the occasional craving for hayburgers. Sadly, coming to this world meant losing my taste for Equestrian foods along with the magic. There were days where it was hard to decide which I missed more.

Somewhere during my walk, time having long since passed from my interest, I somehow wandered into a coffee shop. Granted, with how many of them have popped up in the city, one could walk five minutes in any direction and find themselves on the front steps of one. I hadn’t slept well for the past few days, so I needed some pick-me-up in order to continue my binge of self-loathing and reflection. Plus, my legs were tired. Yet another thing about life in Equestria I missed was the fact that walking rarely tired me out, and I had four legs back then.

The comforting embrace of a plush leather chair felt like heaven after a long walk. I had parked myself in the far back corner of the shop, away from as many people as I could, and revelled in the comfort and tranquility, the invigorating fragrance of a rich, black coffee relaxing me, if only for the moment. Coffee was the only friend I needed, and she saw me through many long nights where I toiled endlessly at the essays of five different clients. Slowly, I melted into the folds of the seat, sighing on the way down.

Alas, I made the terrible mistake of allowing myself to become happy. With the precision of a heat-seeking missile, the universe homed in on my feelings of contentment and delivered a payload of unpleasantness.

“Wasn’t expecting to see you this far from your usual stomping grounds,” a voice spoke up, snapping me from my coffee-hazed trance.

Standing before me was another teenaged girl, gazing down upon me with hawken eyes and a familiar, cocksure smirk that always drew my attention to the silver ring pierced through her lower lip. Despite the fact that I replied to the unorthodox greeting with my own short-lived smirk, congeniality was not what I felt inside.

“Gilda,” I replied before straightening my posture to something a bit more respectable, “if it isn’t my most charitable of clients.”

Profitable would be a more apt description, but it was easier to keep clients happy if they thought they were getting better rates than the others. Gilda had been a client of mine ever since I started the business. In fact, she was the first client I had when she offered me twenty bucks to finish her math homework after a chance encounter at the local library. Since then, she had been a constant source of income no thanks to her unwillingness to do anything that resembled ‘work’, and the deep pockets she had thanks to family connections. Did I ever feel guilty about using these facets for my own personal profit? Not in the least. As a person, I cared little for Gilda, which made it easier for me to not care about taking so much of her money.

“So what brings you out here anyways? I think this is the first time in a year I’ve seen you without carrying textbooks and piles of paper,” Gilda continued as she dropped into the seat across from me.

Judging by the fact that she wore her favourite bomber jacket overtop a contrasting primp buttoned-shirt, which still had a loosened tie around the collar, I deduced that Gilda had only just got out of school. The high-priced private academy that she went to may have had a dress code, but she ditched the jacket no sooner than she stepped off the school’s property. The dress code wasn’t the only thing she cared little for if the lighter poking out of the inner pocket was anything to go by.

“I just needed to get away from things,” I answered in a half-truth.

As Gilda’s school, Crystal Heart Academy, was half-way across town, I didn’t have to worry about news of the Fall Formal reaching her ears. My proximity to the academy didn’t become apparent until I noticed more students entering the coffee shop, all wearing the same matching blue coat and pants. This must have been a common hang-out for them.

“Well at least you got better taste than the rest of your school—always hanging out at that lame-o Sugarcube Corner,” Gilda said before she took a sip from her own beverage. “Don’t know why you bother going to that school. Between your brains and a good word from my parents, the headmaster at mine would be on his knees begging you to join.”

“True, but then someone might notice that our assignments tend to read very similarly,” I replied with a smirk. To be honest, I had little interest in getting chummy with Gilda, and an alleged fear of our business arrangement being discovered was enough to snuff out that idea every time she brought it up. I suspected she wanted me closer just because it’d make our dealings more convenient for her.

“You okay, Shimmer? You seem kinda quieter than usual,” Gilda asked. The note of concern caught me by surprise since it conveyed a level of empathy I had not noted in her before. “How about I get you something to eat?”

Though I hadn’t eaten since the lunch with Celestia, I wasn’t feeling very hungry. That didn’t stop Gilda from reaching over to a nearby plate and plucking half a sandwich from it—all while under the watch of the fellow academy student who had bought it. I was quick to decline the offer, not just because it had just been pilfered from another student’s plate, but due to the fact it was ham and cheese. Instead of just returning the sandwich to its owner, Gilda just started eating it herself, much to the chagrin of its former owner.

“Hey! I paid for that,” the student finally protested.

“What of it, dweeb?” Gilda snarled in response.

The poor kid visibly recoiled from Gilda. I didn’t know much about her personal reputation at school, but judging by her six-foot build and the fact that the other student looked like he was one sharp inhalation away from soiling himself, I suspected it was one of strength and dominance. Perhaps it was because her behavior was so much like my own past that I felt such guilt and disgust being around her now.

Celestia said I was better than that, but could I really amount to something better than a bully and a brute? As I watched Gilda eating her ill-gotten goods, I realized that if I were to ever change, I had to shed the baggage of my old ways. Even if I wasn’t attending Canterlot High anymore, I had to at least try to be better, if only because I owed it to Celestia.

“Gilda, pay the kid back for his stupid sandwich,” I said, trying to hide my uncertainty with a firm tone. This felt like it was going to be a huge mistake, but I stuck with it. “Secondly, I’m shutting down my business, effective immediately.”

I got Gilda’s attention, there was no doubt about that. She gave an incredulous gaze with an anger simmering under the surface, the kind of stare one might give upon witnessing a dog actually eating their homework. On the bright side, she did lose interest in the sandwich. My hands began to tighten around my coffee cup as her gaze began to burn a hole through my face. I was beginning to understand why the other student was so frightened of her, but I knew I couldn’t show any hesitation if I were to succeed.

“What do you mean you’re shutting down?” she asked. She was throwing me a lifeline just in case I got cold feet so I could backpedal, or at least make some kind of concession just for her.

“I’m quitting. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this business anymore—personal reasons.”

Not the answer Gilda wanted, obviously, and one could measure her growing displeasure by how far her fingertips had dug into the chair’s armrests.

“But you’ll finish our deal first, right?” The way she sneered at the end made it sound less like a confirmation and more like an ultimatum.

“I’ll send you a full refund, and email you all of the work and notes I’ve already done at no cost,” I explained. I may have been pulling the rug out from under her unexpectedly, but there was no reason I couldn’t throw a few pillows in to help soften the blow. “Your essay’s not due until next week. If you use the work I’ve already done and work hard for the next few days, you can have it finished easy before next Monday.”

Unfortunately for me, Gilda was more concerned with principles than end results. Let it be an important life lesson: never stand between a selfish jerk and their goals, at least not without an escape route. Any pretense of civility went out the window as Gilda leapt from her seat and approached mine. We were in a coffee shop, I rationalized, there was no way that Gilda was going to risk an open confrontation in front of so many people. That smug certainty lasted right up to the point where Gilda hoisted me straight out of the seat and I could feel nothing but air beneath my feet.

“Who do you think you are? You don’t get to back out just because you grew a stupid conscience!” Gilda shouted, garnering the attention of everybody in a quarter-block radius. “We had a deal, and you’re going to finish that assignment!”

“Or what? You’ll rough me up?”

Not the smartest thing to say, and a lesson that I learned quickly as gravity was a harsh tutor. I barely had time to let out a distressed yelp before being hurtled into the nearby table, knocking it over on my way to the ground. As I laid there with a half-eaten ham sandwich sitting on my face, lamenting the growing familiarity between floors and my butt, I realized that my old life was not going to give me up without a fight. Whether it was by luck or fate, turning my life around meant an uphill struggle. If I was going to prove to anyone that I was a better person, then I had let go of destructive emotions and take the moral high ground. I got back to my feet, calmly and in silence, and swept the mess from my coat.

“You present a persuasive argument, Gilda,” I said once tidied. “Please consider this rebuttal.”

Then I decked her with a right hook.

*******************

In retrospect, picking a fight with a person who had a solid twenty pounds of muscle over you was not one of the smartest decisions I had made. Although par for the course as far as the day went, I should have known better. I didn’t feel any guilt over my reaction, but that might have been due to the fact that all I could feel were dull, throbbing aches. Repeated blows to the face did help provide some clarity and perspective on my situation—that or I had a concussion. Even when I knew what the morally right choice to make was, I still succumbed to more primal instincts. I began to think that Luna was right about me, and my desire to change was just a fantasy.

Lucky for me and my jawbone, my scuffle with Gilda didn’t last too long and someone intervened to break up the fight. Unfortunately, that man happened to be a police officer who got flagged down by the coffee house staff. While there was a moment of satisfaction when I watched Gilda getting hand-cuffed while doubled-over against the nearby countertop, it was less fun when I went through the same treatment, albeit with less hassle as I did not struggle nearly as much as Gilda did.

That was the end of my good fortune, as far as I could tell. Once her initial resistance had ended and the adrenaline wore off, Gilda remained rather stoic during the entire ride to the police station. I suspected that this was not the first time that she had been in the back of a police car, a suspicion that was confirmed when I saw how fast things degraded once at the police station.

Though we were separated, I could see Gilda at the far side of the building in a separate, glass-walled office. Within ten minutes of her arrival, she was on the phone, and not thirty minutes after that, a trio of very well-dressed people were ushered into the office. If I had money to bet, it was parents and a family lawyer kept on speed-dial. Gilda must have spent the ride over crafting a plausible story to explain why an entire coffee shop was angry with us. There was a bus coming in and she was making sure that I was firmly planted between her and it. All I did during the car ride over was brood over my own idiocy.

Unlike Gilda, who sang like a canary, I opted to exercise my right to remain silent to its fullest extent. For at least two hours, I sat in absolute silence with one hand cuffed to the chair, and the other holding an ice pack to my face. That girl threw a mean haymaker.

Unsurprisingly, the police officer dealing with me grew tired of my silent treatment. He had started off sympathetic, and for what it’s worth, he made it sound like he actually cared about what happened to me, but as the hours dragged by, the frustration took over.

“Look lady, I don’t know what’s going on between you and the other girl, but you’re not doing yourself any favors by not saying anything,” the officer reminded me for the tenth time that hour. “You know what your friend has been telling us? She says you were trying to extort money from her, and that you threatened her first.”

Gilda could’ve said that I was the reincarnation of Nightmare Moon for all I cared. Whatever lie she made up was going to stick, and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. She had money, prestige, fancy lawyers, and a family that would move mountains to protect her. What did I have in my arsenal? Anybody who might have been willing to defend me were now the ones who wanted to be first in line to throw me in jail. I had spent the entire day fighting, against myself and fate, and it appeared that I was destined to be just another screw-up to be tossed away and forgotten about.

With free room and board, even jail sounded like it was more than I deserved. Princess Luna didn’t do much more than me, and she got a thousand years on the moon. She didn’t even have basic cable or a library to pass the time.

“You realize that her parents want battery charges filed against you,” the officer continued, leaning back in his seat with a weary look on his face. “Whole coffee shop says she picked you up first, but if you can’t corroborate the witness statements, it’s not going to look good for you.”

He paused and waited, once again, for an answer, but I just shifted my gaze from the nearby window to his face and back again to the window. When he realized that I wasn’t going to answer, as usual, he let out another groan. After a few more repetitions, he eventually got fed up and decided to get some coffee. Finally I had some peace and quiet. I almost felt bad for the officer that had been dealing with me, because here I was, being difficult and wasting his time. He probably could be at home with his family, and instead he was pulling overtime because a girl with mayonnaise smeared in her hair was working on her mime routine.

The sun was beginning to set, which meant I had been sitting handcuffed to a chair for close to three hours now, not that the passage of time meant much to me any more. There was little for me to look forward to other than a night in a cold cell, hoping that the person in the other bunk wasn’t some kind of sociopath who insisted that I put lotion in the basket. My train of thought over my potential future in juvenile hall got derailed when I heard an odd clicking sound coming from right next to me.

“Alright, you’re free to go, missy,” said the officer as he took his handcuffs back.

“I’m what?” I replied without thinking.

“Oh, so now you talk,” the officer muttered with a roll of his eyes. “The other party has decided not to press charges, and they’ve agreed to pay for damages to the coffee shop.”

That was a rather sudden and fortuitous change of luck, which given how my luck has been treating me as of late, made me suspicious as to the reasons. A rich, spoiled brat and their high-priced lawyer do not just up and surrender when met with no resistance. While I had no desire to question the machinations of fate, I remained puzzled as to whom I owed my freedom to. My curiosity didn’t have to wait very long before realizing that luck had nothing to do with what just happened. The answer waited for me outside, leaning against the hood of a white sedan.

“Luna?” I muttered under my breath upon leaving the station. While the vice principal was not the white knight that I would have preferred, I wasn’t ready to complain or march back inside.

Though she didn’t look thrilled to see me, she still managed a polite ‘hello’ once we were face-to-face. She then motioned for me to get into the back of the car, to which I heeded without a word, and then got behind the wheel.

As I had figured Luna to be among those in favor of my permanent removal from society, I was hesitant to speak up. The icy chill in the air hinted to the fact that Luna had not rescued me out of the kindness of her heart. Her only acknowledgment of my continued presence was the occasional glance in the rear view mirror, as if to ensure that I didn’t try to bail when we reached a stop light.

However, my curiosity began to erode my better judgment. What had been a nagging thought was now bellowing into my ear like a child throwing a tantrum. Rather than telling my brain to go sit in a corner, though, I gave into its demand. I would make for a horrible parent.

“How’d you do it?” I finally blurted out.

“Excuse me?” Luna asked, eyes glancing to the mirror to meet my gaze. “How did I do what?”

“You know what I mean! How’d you get them to let me go?”

“Oh, that,” Luna replied with a playful smirk. “The police notified Celestia when they couldn’t find anybody else to call and explained the situation to her. When she was looking through your online business, she saw some of the documents were for a client by the name of Gilda. Figuring that this was part of the reason why you got into a fight with that girl, I spoke with Gilda and her parents. I explained to them the extent of your business relationship, and while Gilda might not be our student, Celestia is a long-time acquaintance with the headmaster for Crystal Heart Academy. In exchange for the headmaster not receiving an email documenting the entirety of your business dealings with Gilda, they’ve agreed to let the issue drop.”

I didn’t know why it took so long for me to realize the full extent of her explanation. Perhaps it was a late effect from a concussion, but it was more likely that I just couldn’t imagine Luna doing what she just said she did, and this was coming from a girl who imagined herself being able to conquer Equestria with an army of mind-controlled teenagers.

“You blackmailed them?” I eventually stammered out once the engine in my head puttered back to life.

“I prefer to think of it as giving them new perspective on the priorities in their lives,” Luna explained with no hint of amusement.

I had to admit, the revelation had painted Luna in a different light, one that shattered most of my old preconceptions of her. My knowledge of her only came from her operating in the capacity of a vice principal, but in the real world it was clear that she was just as willful as her sister. It made her both awe-inspiring and terrifying, and I began to wonder if I might have been safer back at the police station.

With my curiosity sated, I sunk back into my seat, let out a tired sigh, and just waited in silence for the car ride to be over. While my immediate problem was over, that didn’t change the fact that the rest of my life was neck-deep in uncertainty. Just to add to the growing pile, it didn’t take long for me to realize that we were not driving in a direction that I was familiar with. As school had ended hours ago, the most logical place for us to go was back to my home, but we were definitely not heading in the correct direction for that.

“Where are we going?” I asked once confusion began to turn into worry. Before today, I would’ve presumed Luna to be a person I could feel safe around, but now I half-expected to be dumped in front of a bus station and told never to be seen in town again if I valued my knee caps.

“Dinner,” Luna answered, as though the answer should have been obvious. “I’m hungry, and it’s two-for-one fajita night.”

In retrospect, it should have been obvious because we happened to be pulling into a restaurant parking lot at that very moment. It was some bar and grill restaurant—the kind with big screen televisions and far too much sports memorabilia, and was always packed when there was a game on. Given that it was a Monday night in the fall season, the place was quite crowded with patrons worshipping their favourite sports team. How anybody could be so obsessed with watching the achievement of others was beyond me.

Though wary of the idea of spending any more time than necessary around Luna, self-preservation lost out to sheer hunger. I hadn’t eaten since lunch, which, by that point in time, was over six hours ago. Fajitas sounded nice, and I would have been a fool to turn down the offer of free food. I did suspect, rightly, as I was soon to discover, that there was more to this dinner than just copious amounts of cheese and refried beans.

“Sunset Shimmer! Over here!” a voice greeted me upon entering the restaurant. I recognized it almost instantly, and would’ve turned and left had Luna not strategically positioned herself between me and the door.

It was Pinkie Pie, and she was waving me down from a table across the room. I began to wonder if I could go back and convince Gilda to press those criminal charges again. Those thoughts didn’t last long, though, as Luna nudged me forward. Pinkie Pie wasn’t the only person eagerly awaiting my arrival as Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Celestia were all at the table too.

“Um, hello everyone,” I greeted with a nervous wave. “What are you girls all doing here?”

“We’re on a mission from Celestia!” Pinkie Pie answered. Ask a stupid question; get a stupid answer.

“Why don’t ya just have a seat there, Sunset Shimmer,” Applejack spoke up, pushing out the seat next to her.

“When I told your friends about your sudden departure, they were very worried, and they all asked if there was any way they could help,” Celestia explained as I took my seat. “I thought a chance for all of us to sit down and talk would be of great help.”

“No offense, but why are you doing this?” I replied. “I mean, I know that Twilight Sparkle asked you girls to ‘look after’ me, but I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to. I think I’ve done enough of that already.” As surprising as it was to see so many people gathered at one table just for my sake, it was hard for me to shake the sense of skepticism that they really wanted to be here. I would not have blamed any of them for wanting to be somewhere else.

“Because it is the right thing to do,” Rarity explained.

“Maybe right for me, but what about the rest of you?” I countered. “Twilight isn’t here, and she didn’t know half of the things that I’ve done. How many of you can honestly say that, even if Twilight Sparkle hadn’t asked, you would still be sitting at this table right now?”

The fact that none of them answered right away, even going so far as to awkwardly avert their gaze for a second, gave me the confirmation I needed. Sometimes being right wasn’t all that satisfying. Friendship was a powerful force, after all, but without it, you had five young girls being asked to associate themselves with the person they had nothing but disdain for a week ago.

“Listen, I understand that you can’t be expected to like me just because one of your friends asked you to,” I continued since the silence was becoming too tense. “Twilight is your friend, and I’m a bit envious that your friendship is so strong that you’re willing to do something that you’d never consider in a million years. This is my life, too, and I don’t want your pity. Besides, how could I ever expect any of you to ever forgive me?”

Another awkward silence. I was getting good at summoning those. I suspected they were all trying to figure out how to best respond without coming off as disingenuous or contrived. The fact that they respected my feelings enough to not attempt cheap platitudes was reassuring, but it wasn’t enough to change how I felt. How was I expected to look at them with friendship if all I could feel was guilt?

Suddenly, the silence got broken by the last person I expected to speak up, and not just because of how little she talked.

“I forgive you,” Fluttershy quietly proclaimed.

Now it was my turn to stare in abject silence like an idiot. If anyone else had responded as promptly as she had, I would’ve been hesitant to believe them. Fluttershy might hide from the truth from time to time, but that was always out of fear or anxiety. The day that Fluttershy can hide her fear is the day that everyone else should be afraid.

There was no fear in Fluttershy’s voice. She genuinely meant it, and that simple fact alone hit harder than argument any of the others could have made.

“But… you?” I stammered in a daze of confusion. “I treated you the worst out of everyone; I walked all over you. I even spray-painted ‘doormat’ across your locker!”

“That was you?” she replied.

“Of course it was me! Who else would do something like that?” It took a few more moments for me to overcome the mental shock and calm down, after which I continued. “I yelled at you, and shoved you around. I ridiculed you in front of others and let your animals loose in the hallways. How can you just take all of that and not look at me like I’m the worst person in the city?”

“I don’t think you’re the worst person in the city,” she explained to me. “You’ve made some bad decisions, but that doesn’t make you a bad person. And you’re certainly not as bad as the person who shaved Angel that one time.”

“That was me.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy replied as a faint haze of embarrassment swept across her face. She managed to recover in good time, though. “Okay, well… I forgive you for that as well. You might want to apologize to Angel later.”

I was still having trouble coping with this news. “You… you really forgive me? Just like that?” I asked, to which she nodded in response.

Could forgiveness really be that simple? I had myself convinced that forgiveness had to be this difficult and arduous task, often requiring great sacrifice or trials to prove one’s intent. I had mentally prepared myself for a number of outcomes ranging from acts of penance to being chased out of the restaurant by pitchforks. Somehow in all my pessimism, though, I never considered that the person I had treated the worst would be willing to just smile and say those three little words—I forgive you. If the person who had the most reason in the world to never want to associate with me again was willing to give me a second chance, then maybe there was some hope after all. I knew the rest of the school would never be as forgiving as Fluttershy had been, but it was a foot in the door.

“Are you okay, Sunset?” Applejack suddenly asked, snapping me out of my stunned trance.

“What? I-I’m fine,” I insisted. It wasn’t until I blinked that I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Realizing what was happening, I quickly turned away, insisting, “I just… I just got something in my eye, that’s all.”

None of them believed me, even going so far as to give a quiet chuckle under their breaths. It wasn’t the malicious sort of laughter; more from amusement at seeing someone like me expressing genuine emotion for a change. I probably looked like a fool, stumbling around friendship and forgiveness like a child taking their first steps, but I could see that they weren’t holding it against me. And once Fluttershy had chimed in with her reassurance, the others followed suit with their own pledges of support and forgiveness.

“We ain’t expecting ya to change overnight, Sunset,” Applejack reassured me, “but all of us are gonna stick with ya. And if anybody at school wants to start giving you grief, then they’ll have to go through me first!”

“Not that you’ll have to worry about that with me around,” Rainbow Dash insisted, rising from her seat in order to draw everyone’s attention. “Once the school sees us hanging out together, they’ll realize that you’re just as awesome as I am. Well, maybe not as awesome, but you know what I mean.”

Rainbow Dash’s offer reminded me of the reasons why I began my association with Flash Sentry years ago. I suspected it would not be so simple this time around, and my toxic reputation would probably do more harm to Rainbow Dash than benefit me. Despite my misgivings, I refrained from voicing any concerns, lest I dampen her enthusiasm or risk offending her. They knew friendship better than I did, and as hard as it was for me to do, I had to place my trust in them.

“Now who wants fajitas?” Pinkie interjected with a sudden outburst.

And yes, I even had to place my trust in the pink one.

*******************

It had been a long time since I had fajitas, not since my days with Flash Sentry. Aside from him, I rarely had anyone or any need to eat at a restaurant. But it was… nice. It was hard to describe how I felt during the evening and ‘nice’ seemed insufficient as a descriptor. I had spent three years knowing nothing but deception, contempt, and arrogance. For a couple of brief hours, though, I forgot about all of it. Between Pinkie Pie’s sudden outburst into song, Rarity freaking out about spilling salsa on her wardrobe, and Luna sneaking in a couple of margaritas when Celestia went to the restroom, I realized just how out of my depth I was. Even during dinner, I guarded every action, and carefully mulled my words.

I wasn’t sure if I could ever match their openness, their honesty, or enthusiasm, but I had to try.

After dinner, my new friends, though at the time I was still hesitant to refer to them as such, headed on their way home while Celestia offered to take me home in exchange for help putting the now inebriated Luna into the backseat of the car.

“We don’t have to go back home now,” Luna whined as Celestia and I dragged the vice principal along. “The night can last forever!”

“It’s still a school night, sister, and you’ve already used enough sick days this quarter,” Celestia replied, although her words fell upon deaf ears.

“Well I’ve got the keys,” Luna taunted as she dangled the keys in one hand. “And I say we’re not going anywhere.”

Celestia tried to grab for the keys, but even in her drunk state, Luna’s reflexes proved quick enough to keep them just out of reach. Unfortunately, while quick, Luna lacked foresight and keeping the keys out of Celestia’s reach simply put them into mine.

“Yoink!” I said as I plucked the keys away.

“Hey! You can’t drive; you’re still too young!” Luna protested, switching her attention to me.

Thankfully, as Celestia and I were sober, it was far easier for us to coordinate in order to keep a hold of the keys. I lobbed the keys up high to the principal, and we were finally able to start our journey home. After a bit of protesting and some shoving, we eventually got Luna into the back. It was nothing a bit of metaphorical and literal arm-twisting from Celestia couldn’t fix. And lucky for us, Luna apparently decided that the back seat would be the perfect substitute for a bed, and was sound asleep before the engine even started.

This, however, left me in the precarious position of sitting alongside Celestia in a car that was all but silent, save for the murmurs of a drunken vice principal. I felt like I was sharing a boat with a tiger, and my anxiety was being broadcasted by my wary sideways glances to the driver. It would’ve made my life easier if Celestia just said whatever it is she had on her mind, but she remained steadfast in her silence. Perhaps she was trying to force me to speak first, which meant victory went to whoever could handle the awkward silence better.

And unfortunately for me, the experience and patience of a school administrator far outweighed anything I could bring to the table.

“Why did you come back for me?” I asked at long last. “You could’ve left me at the police station. I’d be gone from the school, and you and Luna wouldn’t have to worry about me causing any more disruptions.” Life at the school would have been much easier for the two of them had they left me behind. Bringing me in just guaranteed more grief, stress, and work for everyone involved. And like Luna said, somebody was bound to get hurt eventually. Princess Celestia cut me loose when it became clear I was a lost cause, so why was this Celestia so much more persistent?

At first Celestia said nothing, simply keeping her gaze on the road ahead as we drove. It wasn’t until we reached a red light that she looked to me and said, “You remind me of somebody I knew years ago. They had many blessings in their life, much to be proud of, but they became fixated on the few things they didn’t have. If I had paid attention and acted sooner, things might have gone better, but I was too caught up in my own business to notice.” A sombre expression fell across her face for a brief instant before she checked the rear view mirror and made a minor adjustment. “You don’t need to suffer alone, Sunset; nobody should.”

The closest thing to a friend I had ever had in life was Princess Celestia, and even that was being generous with the concept of ‘friendship.’ She had been my mentor for years, but we never drew that close. It wasn’t for a lack of trying on the Princess’ part, of course, but rather my pig-headed refusal to do anything other than advance my own potential. She tried to give me everything, but I only ever wanted more. In hindsight, the one thing I really could’ve used back then was a swift kick to the head.

“So what happens to me now? I just go back to school and be normal?” I asked.

“You’ll go back, but I don’t think you could ever be happy just being normal,” Celestia replied with a smirk. “I doubt you could be normal even if you tried. You are an exceptional young woman, Sunset Shimmer, and I believe there are great things in store for you. All I think you need is the proper guidance and support from friends.”

“I remember getting a very similar speech a long time ago. Didn’t pay much attention to it then,” I remarked, referring to one of Princess Celestia’s many lectures on friendship and relationships. “Listen, whatever happens, and I’m certain I’m going to have problems every now and then, just please don’t forget that I am really grateful for what you’ve done, even if I start saying otherwise.”

Celestia smiled, more warmly than before, and nodded. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“You heard nothing!” Luna shouted from the back seat. “And without my attorney present, you can’t prove otherwise!” She then sat up and leaned forward so that she was just behind Celestia. “Oh! Did Celestia ever tell you about the time that she and headmaster—”

“Luna, you should put your seatbelt on,” Celestia interrupted.

“Why’s that?”

Luna’s inquiry was answered with a sudden, sharp left turn that threw the younger sibling across the back seat, slamming into the other door with a hefty thump and a few slurred profanities.

Afterwards, Celestia calmly resumed a more leisurely drive and replied, “No reason,”

“That wasn’t the kind of thing I’d expect from a principal,” I commented. I checked behind me to see how Luna was doing, only to find that she had already fallen back asleep.

“You must be an only child,” Celestia deduced from my confusion. She said nothing more on the subject, but I realized that there was a lot more to Celestia and Luna than just being school administrators. “Now I must warn you in advance, there are going to be some ground rules from here on. First off, I think it’s for the best if you avoid future association with Snips or Snails.”

“Gladly,” I replied. Those two were probably enthused to hear that they wouldn’t have to be dealing with me anymore either.

“Second, no more selling answers or essays. If you need money, the school has a tutoring program that you can sign up for.”

“Oh god, who’d want me to try and teach them?” A disconcerting thought, to say the least, but hopefully one I could postpone for the time being. “But there’s no way I could keep living in my apartment with that small of an income.”

“Which brings us to my last point,” Celestia said, with fortuitous timing as she brought the car to a halt.

When I looked out the window, however, I noticed immediately we were not where I had presumed to be our destination. “This isn’t where I live,” I stated. Rather than an old apartment building of questionable sanitation, we were parked in front of an eloquent, contemporary-styled home. I was greeted to the sight of pristine wood siding and ceiling-high glass panes instead of old bricks and graffiti-covered concrete; a vibrant front yard as green as the gardens at Canterlot Castle; and just visible beyond the wood-paneled fencing was an in-ground pool in the backyard.

“It’s where I live,” Celestia answered.

“You can afford that on a principal’s salary?” I exclaimed.

“I helped!” Luna shouted from the back seat.

“Why are we here?” I asked with growing suspicion.

“Sunset, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I can do as a principal to help you succeed in life,” Celestia began to explain, “but when I visited your apartment, I saw that a lot of the things that I could help you with are already taken care of. You are smart, driven, and you accomplish almost anything you set your mind to. And you’ve done that all on your own already. What you’re lacking, what I think you’ve been lacking for a while now, is guidance. Somebody who has been through life and can share with you the collected wisdom from those years of experience.”

“You mean I need parental supervision,” I replied, folding my arms across my chest. “Contrary to what some students might say, I do have a mother. I’ve done fine on my own—I don’t need another one.”

“Do you call this ‘fine’?” Celestia asked, gesturing to our surroundings. “Look at what your life has become.”

“I’m not a child,” I snapped back.

“Yes, you are,” Celestia answered. “But you’ve been in such a rush to grow beyond your station, you’ve never taken the time to learn the things a child normally does. If you want to learn how to become successful in adulthood, you have to learn how to act like a child first.”

“Tiiaaaa! If she’s living with us, she’s not allowed in my room!”

Celestia groaned and sighed. “Otherwise, you just wind up never growing up.”

To be honest, the idea of submitting to parental guidance, in itself, wasn’t an abhorrent idea; what worried me was living under another Celestia. But if I was willing to give even someone like Pinkie Pie the benefit of the doubt and defer to their wisdom, then what reason did I have to turn away from Celestia. Besides, it wasn’t as though I would have much success living on my own now that my main source of income was gone. Learning about friendship would be difficult if I was struggling just for my next meal. Were it anyone else, I would’ve taken the offer without hesitation.

But Celestia…

She may not have been the one I wronged, but that didn’t stop the memories from shoehorning their way into the forefront of my mind. I could’ve used a kick to the head on that night as well; it would’ve saved me from wasting so much time grappling with my own guilt.

“Guess I don’t have much option, now do I?” I replied with some reluctance. “Is there at least a spare bedroom?”

Act I-III

First day back and I was already running late. I couldn’t understand how this happened, but there was little point ruminating upon the root causes of my latest travesty. No, the only thing that mattered was barreling down the hallway as fast as my legs could carry me in order to reach the classroom before Mr. Cranky locked me out. It would have been fitting justice, though, given how many times I had deliberately caused delays for other students so that they would have to deal with Mr. Cranky’s particular brand of discipline.

The halls were empty, which meant I made good time racing up the stairs. Though I did not want to trumpet my arrival by slamming through the door, gasping for air, I had few options if I wanted to avoid bouncing off a locked door like a tennis ball. It was odd that there weren’t more stragglers in the hall, especially those more notorious for it like Snails or Vinyl Scratch. Their whereabouts, however, were a distant concern when I spotted my destination up ahead. After making sure one last time that my backpack was still full of my required texts, I hurried my pace and prayed to Celestia that I wasn’t about to dislocate my collarbone in five seconds.

Much was my relief when the door gave way, heralding my tardy arrival with a loud ‘thud’, followed by uncharacteristic silence. It took me a few seconds, after I caught my breath, to realize that the classroom was completely empty. And I don’t mean that it was empty in that there were no students; it was completely devoid of anything and everything save for a single desk and a large, high-back chair facing away from me. It appeared more like I was in the principal’s office than math class.

“Is anybody here?” I called out.

The answer I got was the door behind me suddenly slamming shut. Driven by confusion, I tested the door only to discover that it was locked, which should have been impossible unless somebody managed to install the door knob backwards. One didn’t need to be an academic to realize that something was horribly awry with the situation.

“This isn’t funny,” I shouted while attempting in vain to force the door open.

“What’s the matter? Isn’t this what you wanted?” a voice finally broke the silence. It sounded familiar: cocksure and filled with malice.

“To be locked inside an empty classroom? Yeah, it’s my wildest dreams come true,” I snapped back. The voice had definitely come from inside the room, with the only possible source being the turned-away chair.

“To be left alone,” the voice replied as I walked towards the source. “Nobody to get in your way or annoy you. You’ve never needed anybody before. It’s how you’ve always been—all you’ve ever known.”

Despite its familiarity, I was no closer to figuring out who the taunting voice was. I wasn’t in the mood for guessing games, however, so I just grabbed the chair by the headrest and prepared to give it a hefty spin.

“And how do you know what I want?” I asked just before turning the chair. That’s when I found myself staring face-to-face with myself, or rather a demonic version of me.

Eyes as black as night stared back at me, sending a petrifying chill up my spine. Twisted lips curled into a sinister smirk, revealing the horrid fangs beneath. “I think the how should be pretty obvious,” she replied.

“This... this can’t be real,” I stammered, staggering back a few steps.

She didn’t let me slip away, however, rising to her feet and swooping around to my side. Claw-tipped fingers draped across my shoulders, squeezing just tight enough to give me pause without drawing blood.

“And why does it matter what’s real? Don’t you remember what it felt like when we were together? With all that power at your fingertips, ‘real’ was whatever you willed it to be.” She leaned in, close enough so that I could feel a stinging warmth against my neck as she spoke. “How could you ever turn your back on me? On everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve. We deserve each other.”

“I got exactly what I deserved when I was left at the bottom of that smoking crater,” I snapped back before pushing away from the demon. “You’re not a part of me anymore, and I’m a better person for it.”

“Oh, how precious! You almost sound convinced of that. Look at yourself now: everything you have has been tossed to you like coins to a beggar. What pride can you take in the pity you’ve been receiving?” she continued to taunt. She followed in step behind me, this time wrapping her arms over my shoulders and then pulling me into an embrace. “You can never get rid of me. I’m the fire that burns in your soul, driving you forward. You’re nothing without me.”

There was something burning inside, but it wasn’t motivation. I pulled free from her grasp once more, this time turning about and shoving the demon back. “You were nothing but hate!”

“And that hate has always been what made you strong!” she snarled back, fangs bared. “It doesn’t matter which side of the mirror you’re on, the world is always the same: full of useless feelings, pitiful weakness, and fleeting minds. Everyone always so content with what meagre little they have, and they parade it around like they should be proud of their tiny and pathetic so-called accomplishments! You never want to be like them, weak and insignificant, and that’s why you’ve always pushed to be stronger and smarter than the rest.”

“There was no strength with you. All I had were delusions,” I argued back. I could feel a burning rage beginning to well up inside. I had no doubt the other me was trying to provoke a hostile reaction, so I tried my best to fight down those feelings. “Twilight and her friends showed me what real strength is, and it’s a lot better than anything I could have ever achieved with you!”

“Oh yes, and that’s why you’re so strong now,” she said with an insulting laugh. “Friendship hasn’t strengthened you; it’s only keeping you underfoot. It’s working too—you already tremble at the thought of going back to school. One little shove and you were already running away.”

“Th-that’s different! I was confused! I...I panicked.”

“You were weak! And here I thought the blue-haired bimbo that pushed you around was pathetic. You’re embarrassing just to watch!” To add emphasis to her point, she gave me a nice, sharp tap to the chest. I recoiled away, grasping at the tear her claw left in my shirt. “See what I mean? Nothing but fear and anxiety now. You used to be great, but now you’re just pitiful. You’ve become everything that you hate in the world.”

The anger inside had reached its breaking point. “The only thing I hate is you!” I screamed as I threw my fist at her. When I struck the demon, though, it did not give way as a person should, but instead I heard the crashing of shattering glass as the mirror now standing before me crumbled into pieces. In the shards at my feet, I could still see the demon’s reflection, except now she just stared back with a weary gaze, the same as mine.

If I thought I would finally get some peace, I was horribly mistaken. The silence was shattered as the door leading in was broken down. For a brief moment, it looked as though I would have my freedom, but then in poured the students of Canterlot High, and they did not looked happy to see me. Fear flooded through my mind faster than the students filled the room, all of them glaring at me with hate and vengeance in their eyes.

“There she is! There’s the monster!” one of them shouted as they began to swarm around me. It didn’t take long for me to get backed into a corner. Fear did not even begin to describe what I felt. Bowel-loosening terror would be slightly more apt.

“Please, d-don’t come any closer,” I begged as my back pressed against the wall. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry! Just don’t hurt me!”

They didn’t relent. The crowds drew closer, hands outstretched and ready to tear me apart, figuratively and perhaps even literally. “Why? You never stopped for us!” one student shouted.

“Where was our mercy?” said another.

“Just leave me alone!” I screamed, curling into a ball in the corner. “Just stay away!”

*******************

I awoke with a startled gasp, bolting upright as a cold sweat began to trickle down my forehead. A heightened sense of vigilance drove my vision to dart about the room, looking for signs of danger, but there was nothing. I wasn’t in a classroom about to be lynched by an angry mob, but in a bed in Celestia’s home. It was empty save for a few dressers and a large wardrobe on the far side of the room. The only movement was a shadow of some tree branches dancing across the wall beside me. With the exception of the jackhammering of my heart, not a sound could be heard.

I was safe, my mind eventually decided after several seconds, nestled beneath the down-filled duvet of my new bed. There was nothing to fear in what Celestia said was to be my new bedroom, even if I did still hesitate to refer to it as such. It figures that my first night in a decent bed would end with a bad dream. Perhaps I should not have put so much guacamole in my fajitas yesterday.

It was strange to be sleeping in a different bed. Despite the poor quality of the one I had used for the past few years, I had grown so used to it that everything felt off when I tried to sleep now. It was as though my subconscious decided that ‘comfort’ was not something that I deserved just yet. Either way, I decided to stretch my legs with a quick trip to the kitchen. It was early in the morning, long enough for me to feel rested, but still a while to go until school started.

Another thing I had to get used to now that I was living under Celestia’s roof was the new layout. In my old apartment, everything was in plain sight, but now I had to go through the hall and down the stairs if I wanted to get something from the kitchen. Along the way, I passed by Luna’s room, which I had been stipulated by an extremely inebriated vice principal that I was not to enter under any circumstances. It was an odd rule, but I just chalked it up to Luna being a private person and left it at that.

Everything in Celestia’s home was neat and organized, much like its owner: every picture frame hung at perfect levels with equal spacing; shoes were organized in neat rows next to the front door; and the vase full of flowers in the main hall was delicately arranged so that every flower was afforded an unobstructed view of the world. Even the air smelled pristine, which should not have been a point of note for most people unless you lived like I had: down the hall from somebody who worked as a butcher at a seafood market. Years of smelling cod and halibut did far more to turn me away from meat than my years living as a pony.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed that there was a light on in the kitchen. Given the level of care and attention that Celestia gave to the rest of the room, it was unlikely she would have been so careless as to leave a kitchen light on overnight.

Sitting inside the kitchen at the little island at the center, elbows propped upon the black granite countertop, was Celestia herself. A newspaper was unfurled before her, which she read in silence between sips of coffee. It took a few more steps before she noticed my arrival. Nothing was said at first; our eyes met and I flashed a brief, awkward smile to her. I was trying to keep an open mind about my new living arrangements, but it was hard not to be reminded of the other Celestia when the one before me was draped in an ivory white bathrobe.

“Good morning,” Celestia finally greeted. “I’m surprised to see you up so early.”

“First night on a new bed is always the hardest,” I answered before heading to the fridge.

One could derive a lot of information about a home from the contents of their fridge: a jug of filtered water, a half-empty carton of eggs, two crisper drawers packed with fruits and vegetables, two cartons of skim milk, two bottles of caffeine-laden Alpine Mist soda, and a roll of pre-packaged jerkys. There was a definite dichotomy between some of the items—one part caffeine junkie to two-parts health nut. From what I could recall of the prior night, it wasn’t hard for me to deduce which of the sisters were responsible for the various purchases.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer at the moment other than water and skimmed milk,” Celestia offered as an apology. “Perhaps later I can take you grocery shopping and we can find some items that you would prefer.”

“No, it’s okay,” I insisted as I grabbed one of the milk cartons. “You don’t need to go out of your way just for me. I’ve adjusted once before, I can do it again.” I popped open the carton and was about to take a swig from it when Celestia shot over a disapproving glare. “Oh...right. Sorry,” I said upon realizing my folly. “Force of habit.”

Celestia pointed over to some overhead cabinets next to the fridge. “Glasses are in there,” she said. “There’s some bread next to the toaster if you’d like some breakfast as well.”

While it felt a bit early for breakfast, I decided to go for it anyways. Toast had been my usual breakfast over the past few years, so even without Celestia’s invitation, I would’ve chosen it anyways. I did note that Celestia appeared to prefer her bread rye, which was a nice change of pace from the cheapest-on-the-shelf white stuff that I had been eating for years.

“Where’s your sister?” I asked while I waited for the toaster to finish its job.

“Still sleeping,” Celestia answered with a smirk. “It’s a good thing you woke up when you did; saves you from Luna’s wake-up call in about—” she paused and checked the nearby wall clock, “—five minutes, forty-five seconds.”

That was eerily precise, but I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts to question it. My recent dream had been dancing atop my mind ever since I woke up. Despite reminding myself that it was just a random concoction of my subconscious, I could not help but shake the feeling that it was trying to tell me something. It was spot-on about my recent bout of self-loathing, but I didn’t need a manifestation of my subconscious to remind me of that obvious fact. Besides, feeling horrid about my past actions just meant that at least my conscience was alive and kicking once more, even if it felt like it was stomping on my chest with three-inch stiletto heels.

Once I had my toast, I took a seat at the island across from Celestia. She glanced up from her newspaper and gave me another awkward, reassuring smile. One could see that she felt almost as out of place as I did. It was hard to stop being a principal to somebody you’ve only ever known as a student, especially when you’re still in your sleepwear.

“So should I still call you Principal Celestia?” I asked in order to crack the silence.

“I think that’ll only be necessary when we’re at school,” she answered.

I didn’t know what else to say at that point, and it appeared that neither did Celestia. Perhaps it was too early in our new relationship to try and force dialogue. As such, we didn’t say much else until a few minutes later when there came a sudden, terrified howl from upstairs, followed by a loud thud.

“Tia!” Luna’s voice roared from up the stairs.

When I glanced back to the aforementioned sister, she was smirking and clearly doing her best to refrain from laughing in front of me.

“What was that?”

“How should I know?” Celestia replied, feigning innocence. “However, if I had to guess, I would say that somebody turned the volume up on Luna’s cell phone alarm, and then plugged it into her favourite pair of headphones, which by chance she may have been wearing.”

“That’s an oddly specific guess,” I replied, no less confused than before.

“With any luck, that’ll help her realize that she should not drink so much on school nights.”

Up until then, a part of me had been somewhat fearful of Luna and had taken solace in knowing that Celestia would be looking out for me. Now, however, it appeared that I had reason to be equally worried about both sisters. A few moments later, a visibly annoyed Luna came storming into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Luna, did you sleep well?” Celestia greeted with a cheerful smile.

Luna said nothing; she only scowled for a moment before grabbing Celestia’s coffee and heading for the toaster. To my surprise, the older sister did not seem bothered by this act of retaliation and just went back to reading the newspaper. I began to seriously wonder just what kind of household I had been dragged into. These two were not the hard-working professionals that I had grown to know over the years at Canterlot High. It made me wonder what other surprises were in store for me during my stay with them.

“By the way, if there’s anything that you might need from your apartment for class, we can swing by there before we take you to school,” Celestia informed me.

“I’m going to school with you?” I questioned. “As in, riding along in the back seat in the same car as you?”

“We could put you in the trunk, but I believe there are laws against such treatment,” Luna quipped as she took a seat next to her sister. She then helped herself to some of Celestia’s toast while still sipping from the stolen coffee mug. Whether this was regular behavior or simply revenge, I neither knew nor felt inclined to find out.

“Is that really necessary? I could walk to school from my apartment,” I suggested as an alternative.

“Forgive us if we want to make sure you arrive at school this time,” Luna answered, earning herself a silent glare from her sister. Either she did not notice Celestia’s disapproval or she simply did not care, but either way it was obvious that Luna was still exercising caution with me. To be fair, were the situation reversed, I would’ve dragged her to school with a leash.

*******************

Though I had enough misgivings about being chaperoned to school by Celestia and Luna to fill the back end of a pickup truck, I held my tongue during the actual car ride. My presence had created enough of a rift between the siblings and I did not want to antagonize things any further. I worried what other students would think if they saw me arriving with the two top administrators of Canterlot High. They might see it as ‘added security’, which would only play into the continued notion that I was some threat that needed to be monitored. Conversely, though, perhaps it was for the best that I had somebody forcing me to return, even if Celestia insisted that she would not force anything upon me. My anxieties had already driven me away from the school once, and I doubt yesterday would be the only time such thoughts would cross my mind.

I was snapped from my downward spiral of anxieties when I heard a knocking on the glass next to my head. I had become so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn’t even notice our arrival, and Celestia was waiting for me on the other side of the door.

“Are you coming?” she asked, waving a hand gesture for me to extricate myself.

I sank further into my seat until I could only just barely see over the edge of the door. “Is the coast clear?” I replied.

“Embarrassed to be seen with me?” Celestia said with a chuckle.

“That presumes I have any dignity left,” I grumbled. “I just...don’t want people getting the wrong impression.”

Celestia just smirked and rolled her eyes. “What do you think is more likely to result in you being seen? The five seconds it takes for you to get out of the car, or however much time that will pass by as I stand here trying to coax you out? I might even start to speak louder, just so that everyone in the parking lot can hear me.”

“Touché,” I sighed in resignation. If she kept this up, I’d reach a point where I’d be more afraid of her than I would be of what might be waiting for me at the school. Perhaps that was her intention from the very start, though that would require a certainly degree of ruthlessness that I doubt she possessed. “There’s still more than half an hour until school begins,” I commented as I stepped out. “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

“You’re free to wait in the main office until class starts,” Celestia offered. “However, I believe I saw one of your friends near the front of the school when we drove in.”

Even though the parking lot looked almost deserted of any other students, it still did not ease my concerns or the fear that people would see me. I eventually convinced myself that this was just paranoia.

As tempting as hiding in an office would be, there was no reason to not start spending time with my new ‘friends,’ as they described themselves. Besides, hanging out in Celestia’s office would only strengthen the narrative that I was still a menace to the populace. If I were to rebuild my image, a process that I suspect would not be too unlike rolling a boulder up an endless hill, I would have to take the initiative.

Lucky for me, few students arrived this early so I had little risk of being hassled just yet. With the exception for the various clubs and sports teams, there was little reason for anybody to wake up this early in the day unless you really liked school, and the only people who did were the nerds and overachievers. Nobody would ever have mistaken me for either of those groups because that would technically be an improvement over my current social standing, if you could consider ‘face down in the dirt’ a standing.

A part of me had been suspicious that Celestia’s remarks about one of my friends being out front was just a ruse to get me moving. Thankfully, it was one of many occasions where I was glad my suspicions were unfounded—I spotted Fluttershy out by the main statue. As the saying went, fortune favored the bold, though I didn’t want to be too bold or I might scare her off, so I headed on over to say hello.

Much like the animals that she cared for, one had to be cautious when approaching Fluttershy, even in her natural environment. Even outside with nothing but grass beneath her feet, the cool fall breeze in the air, and vast open ground on all sides, Fluttershy was always alert; always ready to run at the first sign of danger. One incorrect step, a decibel too loud, or even just a sudden hand movement would be enough to set off her fight-or-flight instincts, which were permanently hardwired into ‘flight’ only.

With great diligence and care, I approached my new friend, taking every precaution I could as to avoid startling her—a slow approach from a wide angle in plain view and a calm, even-toned greeting.

“Good morning, Fluttershy.”

“EEEK!” With a shriek, her whole body went into a seizure-like fit, throwing a scatter of leaflets into the air.

Why did I even bother?

It took her a few seconds to calm down, after which we were both profusely embarrassed and apologetic.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” I began. I quickly swooped in to gather some of the leaflets before the breeze carried them off.

“Oh, it’s not your fault,” Fluttershy replied. “I wasn’t quite expecting you so soon.” It took us a few minutes to chase down all the loose leaflets, and it was only afterwards that Fluttershy finally got around to asking, “What are you doing here so early?”

“Just...avoiding the crowds,” I explained. It was kind of like the truth—I did want to avoid the crowds. A part of me did feel bad about starting my new life off with a half-hearted white lie, and even though she was about as threatening as the rabbit she carried in her backpack, I was still too embarrassed to admit openly that I was living with the principal. “What about you?”

“I’m just handing out some flyers for the animal shelter,” Fluttershy said before showing me one of the leaflets we had gathered. “I usually only do this on Wednesday, but they’re having a big ‘adopt one get one free’ event this weekend to help with overcrowding.”

Handing out leaflets before school sounded about as entertaining as a visit to the dentist; however, friendship, as I had been told, was about helping each other. Fluttershy and the others were going out of their way by a country mile to help me out, the least I could do was hand out some papers. In fact, it felt like it literally was the least I could do.

However, baby steps were needed, I told myself, lest I wind up running off a cliff in my eagerness.

“Would you like some help with that?” I asked, putting on the most sincere expression I could fake at a quarter-past seven in the morning. “I could hand out some of those flyers for you.”

“Really?” Fluttershy replied with a mixture of surprise and diminutive enthusiasm. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s no bother at all, really,” I insisted. Deciding not to give Fluttershy the time to second-guess herself, I grabbed a hefty pile and headed off to stake out a high-traffic plot of land to begin my new job. No point in both of us petitioning on the same spot. I figured the more exposure, the more help Fluttershy would receive in the end. I was just handing out flyers, after all, how hard could it be?

However, upon reaching a nice spot near the school’s side entrance, I realized there was a problem in my master plan. My brilliant scheme to hand out flyers had a fatal flaw—I had to hand out flyers. I don’t think I could convince the school population to throw me a bucket of water if I was on fire, let alone give heed to anything I might recommend. Too late to back out now.

“Get a grip, Sunset!” I scorned myself. “You do not back down when things get a little rough. You are going to hand out these flyers and help those animals!”

It wouldn’t be long before I noticed a nearby student on an approach vector. My target was sighted, my payload ready, and hands ready to deploy. Judging by his attire, he was from one of the sports teams, heading to the locker rooms to get changed before class began. I stood between him and his objective, so there was no way he could elude me. With purity in intent and nobility in my heart, I made my move.

“Good morning, um...spiky haired guy! The animal shelter is having a two-for-one special on adoptions this weekend.” I tried to give him my friendliest smile, but I worried that it may have come off more ‘sociopath’ than sociable.

“Hmph,” he scoffed in response, purposefully averting his gaze from mine as he headed inside.

“Not a great start,” I muttered under my breath once he was out of earshot. “Might have gone better if I knew his name.”

It was just a minor setback, nothing more. When the next student came along, I was just more determined than before to succeed. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck with names this time around either.

“Hi there! It’s Peach...something, right? Would you be interested in hearing about the animal shelter’s upcoming two-for-one special?”

Apparently ‘it’s the thought that counts’ didn’t apply when you could only half-remember somebody’s name. She didn’t appreciate my efforts very much, and just had a chuckle to herself at my expense, muttering something about how silly I sounded. To be fair, she made a salient point. I spent the past years being forceful, cruel, and manipulative, so polite and friendly sounded as alien coming from me as a monkey reciting Hinny of the Hills.

Perhaps if I acted like a more restrained version of my older, I would be greeted with more success. Despite not liking it, people were more accustomed to my more up-front and direct mannerisms, which might make them more receptive, so long as I didn’t slip back into terrifying people. In addition, it also meant that I didn’t need to wait around for people to cross my path, so I went out in search of potential recipients.

Finding students wasn’t too hard as the start of class drew closer. One by one, students began to coalesce into groupings around the school. I found one particular bunch wasting their time by kicking around a soccer ball.

“You there!” I said, voice firm and even-handed, as I approached. “The animal shelter is having a two-for-one adoption special this weekend. Some adorable animal is in desperate need of a home, so do your part to help.” Rather than wait for a response, I took one of my flyers and shoved it into the grasp of the still awestruck group of students, or at least I think it was awe that left them silent.

It looked as though I had finally found the right way to petition for the animal shelter. My smug sense of self-satisfaction lasted for about five seconds before a crumpled-up flyer smacked me right in the face.

“You could’ve just said ‘no thanks,’” I growled before leaving them to their fit of laughter.

Over the next quarter of an hour, I tried to hand out more flyers and was shot down every time. The closest thing I had to success was one freshman who took a few flyers, but then it turned out that he just needed some scrap paper for an art project. He did say ‘thank you’ though, so I had that going for me. Nonetheless, it appeared that my effort did little to help any animal shelters. The only thing that frustrated me more than my failure was the knowledge that a week ago, I would have had zero problems handing out the entire pile to the school. I would have had Snips and Snails wallpapering the entire school in them. If only I weren’t hamstrung by a moral code, I could have had that entire animal shelter emptied out by lunch. The frustration I felt was reaching the point where stapling the leaflet to their faces was becoming a viable-sounding alternative.

Why did being good have to be so difficult?

After a while, I was just about ready to give up. I wondered how Fluttershy ever succeeded at this, but then I realized that I had never seen her hand out more than a few. Maybe this was just an impossible task to begin with.

“Animal shelter, two-for-one special,” I droned on auto-pilot as a pair of students wandered past me. “Get a pet...or not. I don’t care at this p—” Even when I wasn’t trying, somebody decided to make things more difficult. One of the students scoffed and smacked the stack of leaflets right out of my grasp, scattering them across the sidewalk. “Oh come on! Was that really necessary?”

So low was my reputation, even my outrage didn’t warrant a response. They laughed and continued on their way as though they had just heard a kitten trying to sound menacing.

“You’re only hurting the animals!” I shouted, though to no avail. A stiff breeze then came through, blowing the scores of leaflets across the school grounds. “And the environment! Jerks!”

Well that had been a waste of a morning. I had become even less than helpful as now the school yard had a nice new layer of pink confetti that somebody had to clean up. At least Fluttershy would’ve been able to end the day with leftovers she could use another time. The only flyer I had left over was the one still clutched in my hand.

“Um, excuse me,” a voice spoke up, followed by a tap on the shoulder.

“What?” I snapped in response, shouting into the air like a madwoman. “You people have already taken every shred of dignity I’ve got! What more could you possible tear from my soul next?!”

When I spun around to face whoever wanted to give me a hard time next, I was instead greeted by the sight of a cowering Fluttershy, who appeared to be one step away from turning catatonic. Way to open my big mouth without thinking first. If I got it any wider, I would probably be able to fit both feet into it.

“Oh god, I’m sorry Fluttershy,” I promptly apologized. “I didn’t realize it was you.”

“Th-that’s okay,” my friend nervously stammered back. “I-is something the matter?”

“Take a guess,” I groaned back, holding up the one flyer I had left. I let out a heavy sigh and allowed the shame to drag my head down. “Guess I’m not very good at helping.”

When I felt a hand settle onto my shoulder, I felt that weight suddenly dispersing. I glanced up and saw that Fluttershy was neither disheartened or disappointed. She was...smiling of all things. “It’s not your fault, I know you tried your best,” she reassured me.

Oddly enough, rather than feeling a sense of calm or peace, Fluttershy’s words only caused a renewed surge of determination. “You haven’t seen my best,” I replied. “Give me those flyers; I’ve got an idea!”

Fluttershy didn’t question my demands and handed over the stack of papers that she had yet to give out. I came to the realization that the reason I failed was because I was trying to do this task the way that Fluttershy did. Clearly if both of us were failing then it was the methods that were at fault, not the individuals performing the task. I needed to approach this task using my methods, and that meant relying on the trusted tactic that I had relied upon for years—getting somebody else to do the work for me.

At least it was for a good cause this time.

Normally, I used people like Snips and Snails to do such menial labour for me, but I had given Principal Celestia my word that I would leave those two alone. I may have been a liar in the past, but I intended to keep my promises from here on. Besides, after the Fall Formal fiasco, I was hesitant to trust those two idiots with sharp paper. Instead, I found somebody more suitable: a young freshman who was handing out copies of the Canterlot Free Press, the school-run newspaper. While it may not be great reading material, with its two best qualities being ‘durable’ and ‘absorbent’, it was handed out in droves by the newspaper club’s many volunteers.

“Hey, pipsqueak! I need to talk to you for a second,” I called out in order to get the kid’s attention.

“What can I—GAH!” Upon seeing me approach, the kid freaked out and hid his face behind a newspaper. Perhaps I could have taken some solace in knowing that not every person at the school felt they no longer had reason to fear me, but I suspected that had more to do with the fact that this kid in particular was rather short and scrawny.

Nonetheless, the kid’s reaction was still my fault and I immediately regretted letting my frustrations colour my words. “Oh stop cowering, I’m not going to eat you,” I scolded before realizing that I was still being too harsh. I sighed and palmed my forehead. I reminded myself again that I needed to remain polite and courteous if I were to make any headway. “Okay, that all came out wrong. Let me...let’s just start over. What’s your name, kid?”

While my attempt at reassuring his safety did little to ease his worries, he nonetheless began to peer beyond the edges of his paper shield. “P-Pipsqueak, miss.”

“What? No. Listen, I just called you pipsqueak cause you’re short, and I apologize for that. You can tell me your actual name.”

“My name is Pipsqueak,” he corrected me.

“Oh.” Now I felt like an absolute heel. At the same time, though, who names their kid Pipsqueak? It was almost enough to make someone feel bad for the kid. “Um, listen, I was wondering you if could do me—er, do Fluttershy a huge favor. We’re hoping to get these flyers out to as many people as possible, and we were hoping that you could distribute them along with the newspapers for today.”

Once my intentions became clear, Pipsqueak was far less intimidated by me. He looked at the stack of flyers and then to me. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” I snapped back, forgetting all previous reminders about mannerisms. “You’re handing out paper already, I’m just asking you to add one more lousy sheet to the pile. And this isn’t just me you’re saying ‘no’ to—I can handle you saying ‘no’ to me—but this is Fluttershy you’re turning down!” To emphasize my point, I directed the pint-sized paperboy’s gaze to the aforementioned girl. “How can you turn her down? That girl is as pure and innocent as winter’s first snow!”

Honestly, with the exception of my former behavior, one would have to possess a heart as cold as the Crystal Mountains to be turning down a request from her. Even Pipsqueak started to look a bit torn as he gazed upon my friend, who was desperately trying to gather up the scattered flyers as they were blown across the school grounds.

“I…I can’t. It’s against the rules,” Pipsqueak finally replied, sounding as if heartbroken just by saying that. “All flyers and adverts have to be approved by an editor of the newspaper. You should know that since you’re the reason they put that rule in place.”

It took me a few seconds to remember what exactly the kid was referring to, but once the realization hit, it struck with the force of a falling, fully-stocked vending machine. I knew my past actions were going to come back and haunt me, but I had hoped for something a little less obstructive like feelings of guilt or resentment. This, on the other hand, meant possibly dealing with somebody I had hoped to avoid.

“Alright, kiddo, you’re off the hook,” I said in deep dejection.

The kid wasted no time in hurrying off, probably still afraid that I might change my mind about eating him. As much as the old me might have enjoyed venting frustrations on the weak and defenseless, I no longer derived any sense of joy from it. Instead, I just hung my head again and began a slow march back to Fluttershy.

“I take it your idea didn’t work?” Fluttershy remarked upon my return.

I responded at first with a brief shake of my head, and then wandered over to a nearby tree. “Turns out because of me, you need the editor’s approval to include any flyers with the newspaper,” I said before slumping to the ground.

“What do you mean?” an understandably inquisitive Fluttershy asked.

“You remember how I used to be part of the newspaper club?” I replied, to which she nodded. “And you remember what happened last year just before the Fall Formal to that girl that ran against me for the title?”

“The newspaper printed that three-page advertisement spread that had those embarrassing pictures and copied passages from her diary, and—” Fluttershy paused for a brief instant, then gasped loudly. “That was you?”

“You only just figured that out?” I quipped in response. To be fair, it wasn’t as though my name had been plastered across the advert, but anybody with common sense knew that I had been behind it, if not directly then at least by proxy. The worst part of that was I didn’t even need the advert by that point. Victory had already been secured by then, but I decided to throw that last hit in just to make sure that everybody in the school knew the price for defying me. “Anyways, now adverts need to be approved by the editor first.”

“Couldn’t you just ask the editor then?”

The editor was the reason why my past was kicking me in the butt. “I doubt Ms. Yearling would listen to me,” I explained. “She may never have been able to prove it, but she knew I was behind that advert, and she’s never been happy about it. I had to resign just to get her to leave me alone about it.”

In fact, there were many things that the newspaper editor had suspected me of being involved. Students I may have been able to push around, but the school’s faculty were another thing. For them, I had to act sweet, play victim, or otherwise deceive in order to get what I needed from them. Most were suitably impressed with my strong grades or moved by a quickly fabricated sob story, but the newspaper editor and head of the english department, Ms. A.K. Yearling, was never so easily fooled. She was also the reason I left the newspaper club, lest her suspicions drive her to become the Sherlock Hooves to my Mareiarty.

“Maybe if you apologized to her, she’d be willing to hear you out,” Fluttershy suggested.

She made it all sound so simple; as if a mere ‘I’m sorry’ would be enough to convince people to give me a second chance. Sure, it helped with Fluttershy and the others, but they made their promise to Twilight Sparkle. Ms. Yearling had no such obligations, nor any desire to be my friend.

“Forgive me if I don’t share your level of optimism,” I answered before handing back the flyers. “You should...um, get back to the front yard. You can probably catch the last big rush of students before class begins.”

Fortunately for me, Fluttershy took the hint and left me to my own devices. It wasn’t as though I didn’t want her company, but seeing her disappointment at the sight of so many wasted flyers was making me feel guilty. She may have told me that she appreciated the effort regardless of the outcome, but I had never been the type to settle for just ‘trying your best.’ There was no pride to be had in failure, especially when I knew there was more that I could do. All I had to do was figure out what that ‘more’ was.

“Looking to get something into the newspaper, huh?” another voice spoke up to break my internal monologue. This time around, I looked to see who was addressing me before I said something stupid or insensitive again. It was not Fluttershy, though, but rather some other girl that I did not recognize. She was young, probably a freshman, with violet hair and an outfit that looked like it cost more than the rent on my apartment.

“And who are you?” I asked, refraining from showing any annoyance due to the fact that this girl had been eavesdropping on me. “More importantly, why does my business matter to you?”

“The name’s Diamond Tiara,” she replied, letting out a small self-aggrandizing chuckle. “I just so happen to be the student editor for the newspaper club. If you really need that little flyer in our paper, I could arrange for that to happen.”

I got the immediate impression that a ‘but’ the size of the moon was about to be dropped into the conversation.

I decided to avoid any beating around bushes and just went straight to the point. “But you’re going to want something in exchange.”

She nodded. “You’re familiar with Gabby Gums, correct?”

“The gossip columnist for the school paper,” I answered. I didn’t know this Gabby personally, but it was hard not to have heard of the name since her columns became a regular appearance in the paper. “Her stuff is usually good for a giggle or two.”

“I can arrange for your flyer to be included in our paper, but in exchange, I’ll need you to provide some material for Gabby Gums’ columns. I don’t need to remind you that after the Fall Formal, you’ve become something of a hot item for the newspaper to report on.”

If she were trying to come off as though she were doing me a favour, somebody needed to give the poor girl some acting lessons; otherwise, what she was suggesting was as devious as it came across. Nobody featured in Gabby’s column was painted in a positive light and everyone knew that, which meant she was asking me to willingly throw myself to the wolves. If I had any semblance of dignity or self-respect, it was guaranteed I wouldn’t by the time that Gabby Gums was finished with me.

Had I known what I was about to sign myself up for, I would’ve told Diamond Tiara to take her newspaper and take a hike. Alas, blinded by ignorance and obsession, all I saw was opportunity.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Act I-IV

It wasn’t until lunch hour that I was able to finally take some time to myself to analyze the situation I had gotten myself into. The deal with Diamond Tiara seemed straight-forward enough—I help her and Gabby Gums turn me into a public spectacle for humiliation, and Fluttershy gets her flyer in tomorrow’s paper. To be honest, it appeared to be something of a bargain given that the stock price of my self-respect and dignity were at an all-time low. The next few weeks were going to be rough at school regardless of what I did, so why not profit from it? It took several minutes of quiet contemplation, but eventually I was able to convince myself that this would be for the best in the long run. Besides, maybe a little humiliation would help the other students at school realize that I wasn’t the evil tyrant I used to be.

The only problem facing me now, though, was that this was not a one-person job. I discovered rather early on that this task necessitated extra help, and I was hesitant to ask my new friends for it. It wasn’t so much a matter of pride, but I had my reasons for wanting to avoid them.

Sadly, what I wanted and what I needed had driven off in separate directions since the start of lunch, and by halfway through it, the idea of going it alone had driven itself off a cliff. I knew I needed help, and when I saw Applejack passing by in the hallway, I had no choice but to jump at the first opportunity.

“Applejack!” I called out, catching her by surprise.

“Sunset Shimmer?” she replied. She was understandably confused as she glanced about to try and see where I was, but the door between us made that difficult.

“Over here,” I said as I tapped on the door to get her attention.

I watched as she approached, the confusion on her face turning into a slow realization followed by even more confusion. “Sunset, are you...in a locker?”

I tried to nod, but with only a few narrow slits in the door allowing me to see outside, it was impossible for Applejack to see any visual confirmation. “I decided to see how the other side lived,” I explained from within my sheet-steel coffin. “There is surprisingly far more room in here than I expected; I was certain that it’d be impossible to close the door with me in here.”

“Why in blazes are you in there?” Applejack asked. It was a question that I knew would come, but I was still hesitant to answer.

“I figured the cafeteria would be too crowded, so I decided to spend my lunch in quiet seclusion,” I said in an attempt to deflect with a bout of sarcasm. At first, it seemed like it had worked.

Applejack didn’t say anything right away, and instead just tipped her hat back a touch before she idly scratched at her forehead. She then smirked and chuckled a little bit. “No offense, Sunset, but I never reckoned I’d see the day where you’d be the one in the locker. Say, do you remember back to sophomore year, just before the first Wondercolt game of the season?”

“Yes—I shoved you into a locker so that Rainbow Dash would think you missed the game,” I replied with a heavy groan. “The irony is not lost on me. I was, however, hoping that since we’re ‘friends’ now, you would put the past behind you, and get me out.”

“We are, and I will, but you forgot to say please,” Applejack replied with a grin wide enough to consume all the manure of Sweet Apple Acres.

Lucky for Applejack, the locker door spared her from having to bear witness to my most hate-filled glare. What I wouldn’t have given to possess my magic once more so I could set her hat on fire. She certainly was enjoying the moment, which I soon realized that she was entitled to. I never held any expectation that my transition from ‘hated figure’ to ‘new friend’ would be seamless. However, this could’ve just as easily been the sort of good-natured ribbing that occurred between friends. It wasn’t as though I had any reference points at the time.

I let out a sigh loud enough to let Applejack know that I acquiesced.

“Please, Applejack, could you let me out?”

“Now explain why you’re in there,” she answered as she folded her arms across her chest, still smug as ever. “And don’t tell me that you just got ambushed and shoved in. This is your locker, and there ain’t no way you’d just let somebody shove you in there without knocking a tooth out.”

“Oh, come on!” I shouted back, slamming both fists against the door. “I said please, now just let me out!” I threw in a few extra kicks against the door just in case Applejack didn’t get the hint. Judging by my friend’s expression, a strange sort of amused idling, she was about as close to changing her mind as the door was from spontaneously popping open. I had to admit, she played a good game.

“Fine, you win,” I conceded once more. “There’s an unused locker behind you. My cell phone is on the top shelf. Just...just look and you’ll see.”

Though my instructions still left Applejack with far too many unanswered questions, she nonetheless complied and checked on the locker. Much to my relief, my cell phone was still where I had left it. Once I had been entombed inside my new prison, it had been hard to ensure it wasn’t plucked by someone’s sticky fingers.

After a few brief seconds, Applejack shot me a quizzical stare. “Is this a video of you getting stuffed into a locker by the math club?”

“Chess club, actually, but there’s a lot of overlap in their membership,” I explained. “I can see tomorrow’s headlines already—Checkmate for Sunset Shimmer.”

“And are you going to explain why you apparently recorded yourself getting turned into a human sardine?”

“It’d be easier to explain if I didn’t have my knee pinned against my chest,” I answered.

Understandably, Applejack was still hesitant since I had done little to explain myself. She possessed the pieces of the puzzle, but had yet to put them together in a way that made sense. After some consideration, she finally agreed to help get me out. Unlike me, though, Applejack didn’t know how to jimmy open a basic combination lock, so I had to give her the numbers to mine. After a few tries, whether on purpose or ineptitude, she eventually popped the door open, and I came tumbling out into a heap on the floor.

Applejack knelt down beside me and offered me back my phone, followed by, “So what’s this all about?”

“Short version, I’ve made a deal with the student editor of the newspaper,” I said as my friend helped me back up. “I give her embarrassing, awkward, or otherwise compromising photos of myself so that Gabby Gums can have a field day with me for the next week or so, and she’ll put Fluttershy’s flyer into the newspaper circulation.” I checked on my phone to make sure the video was still intact. The last thing I needed was to get stuffed into a locker for nothing. “I figured some nice pictures of me getting my comeuppance at the hands of the chess club would make for a good start.”

It proved easier than I thought to get myself made into a locker-mummy. At least half of the chess club had faced similar torment at my hands in the past, so the opportunity to exact revenge was taken faster than an exposed queen. I could only hope that the rest of the day would present as many easy opportunities to make a public fool of myself.

“Does Fluttershy know you’re doing this?” Applejack asked.

“Um...yes! Of course she does,” I insisted while attempting to muster a sincere, reassuring grin. “She’s totally cool with it. Just in case, though, could you not tell her or anyone else that I’m doing this?”

Unsurprisingly, Applejack was not convinced of this, and she didn’t hesitate to express her opinion on my little scheme. “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said, folding her arms across her chest, “and I once listened to Apple Bloom try jackalope calling.”

“It probably is, but I owe this to Fluttershy,” I snapped back. I don’t know why, but for some reason I decided that doubling down on my idiocy was the best call to make. I guess I was just being stubborn as usual. “After everything I’ve done to her, she deserves having something go right, and this—” I paused for a second to let out a quiet, disheartened sigh, “—this is the best I can do.”

I’m not sure if it was my stubbornness or just how pathetic I must have come off, but it seemed to do the trick with convincing Applejack of the nobility of my mission, however misguided it may be.

“Well, your heart’s in the right place, even if your head ain’t,” Applejack concluded. “Okay, I won’t tell Fluttershy or the others for now, but I still think you ought to.”

“Also, I was wondering if I could trouble you for a little bit of help,” I added with a hopeful grin. “I just need to provide convincing photos; it doesn’t matter if they’re staged or not. I was wondering if you could maybe help me out by taking the pictures.”

“And what exactly is your plan? You gonna try and get shoved into a locker by the A/V club next?”

While Applejack was skeptical at first, when I offered my cell phone back to her, she eventually accepted it. Gabby Gums was not going to be satisfied with selfies, and setting up my camera beforehand was too risky to be a long-term strategy. Having Applejack shadow me for most of the day and take pictures when something embarrassing happened would ensure that I had enough material to satisfy Diamond Tiara and her gossip columnist. I had some ideas for possible scenarios to stage, but before I could elaborate further, we were interrupted.

“Ooo! What’s this about the A/V club?” Pinkie Pie’s voice cut in like a hot knife. Jumping seemingly out of nowhere, the energetic party animal landed right next to me with curious wonder in her eyes. “Are you thinking of joining a club? Oh! That’s a great idea! Nothing helps show people you’re not crazy evil anymore like some school spirit!”

Applejack and I exchanged some nervous glances. She probably didn’t want to say anything out loud given that she had the worst poker face in the history of mankind.

“I...uh, was considering something like that,” I answered in a half-truth. While joining a school club did sound like a reasonable thing to do, I was hesitant to approach any of them. The thought that any club would want me as a member sounded as likely and fanciful as rainstorms of chocolate milk. “I don’t think the A/V club is right for me, though. I don’t exactly know much about either of those things.”

“Well how about the chess team?” Pinkie Pie suggested, pulling a random chess piece out of her hair. “Or maybe the math club? Oh! I know, the glee club! You got lots of that, right?”

Pinkie’s intensity always had a way of catching me off-guard. I didn’t want to encourage it, yet at the same time, not indulging her whims was just as likely to prompt further outbursts. “Me? Singing in front of a crowd? Not even if the fate of the world was at stake,” I scoffed at the notion.

The news disappointed Pinkie, but that lasted all of five seconds before Rainbow Dash arrived to the scene and threw her hat into the ring. “Hey, if Sunset’s going to join anything, it’s gotta be a sports team,” Rainbow insisted before throwing an arm over my shoulder. “Nobody’s going to notice if she joins a boring club like the chess team. If we get her onto something that people will actually watch, then she can go about showing everyone just how awesome she can be. Then it’s just instant popularity.”

“I don’t really play any sports though,” I replied, “and joining a sports team kind of requires a person to be, you know, good at it.”

“Don’t you worry about it,” Rainbow Dash tried to reassure me, accentuating her point with a few firm pats on my back. “I’m the captain of, like, every team worth joining. We just find a sport that you’re okay at, I put in a good word with the coach, and you’ll be on your way to being twenty percent cooler in no time.”

“But I’ve—” I tried to raise an objection, but they would have none of that.

“Woo! Let’s get Sunset Shimmer onto a team!” Pinkie cheered. “Best idea, ever!”

“I really don’t—”

“How about I round up some of the guys from the soccer team and we can meet up after class,” Rainbow continued on with no heed given to me. “Maybe if you play well enough, we can squeeze you into the line-up for our match on Friday against Crystal Heart Academy. It’s only a practice match, so it’s no biggie to put some of the rookies in for experience.”

“Couldn’t we—” Another interruption came, but this time from the bell. Neither Pinkie nor Rainbow Dash waited to hear what I said before they hurried on their way to class, leaving me to contemplate the whirlwind that just blew through my life. “This is just perfect,” I grumbled under my breath. After a few moments, though, I couldn’t help but grin.

“Any reason you’re smiling?” Applejack inquired.

“I am going to wind up making a gigantic fool of myself after class,” I explained. Perhaps for the first time in Canterlot High history, a student was looking forward to making a spectacle of themselves in front of others for something other than a drama production. “This is going to make me look awful, and you are going to take pictures of it all. This is just perfect.”

*******************

After classes had ended for the day, I met up with Applejack and we headed out to meet Rainbow Dash at her battlefield of choice—the soccer field. During the later half of the day, Applejack and I had managed to stage a few decent unflattering pictures of myself for Gabby Gums. There was only so much that could be done on short notice and during class, but a few pictures of me snoring at my desk, picking my nose, and getting my jacket pulled over my head by a disgruntled hockey player were bound to make the school’s gossip columnist happy. Still, if I wanted to ensure that Gabby Gums and Diamond Tiara upheld their end of the bargain, I needed something really juicy. Humiliating myself before members of the school soccer team would surely seal the deal.

“If you want, I could get Big Mac and a rope and we could dangle you from a school tree by your ankles,” Applejack suggested while en route to the soccer field.

“I’d rather not risk getting my skirt up-ended,” I replied. “As much as I want photos to humiliate myself with, there’s at least one shred of dignity I’d prefer to keep.” I hadn’t reached that level of desperation, and with any luck, I never would. Besides, the gossip column was given a lot of lenience in what it published, but I suspected that such risque images would get shut-down by the administration before someone could shout ‘stop the presses.’

We soon spotted Rainbow Dash in the distance, and when she saw us, she began waving us over. Alongside her was another student that I recognized as from the soccer team: a kid by the name of Thunderlane, whose brilliant blue mohawk made him about as unforgettable as a three-headed monkey.

On the nearby bleachers were Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, along with other students who were using the structure for their own social gatherings. For a change, I didn’t mind the audience since more eyewitnesses would help sell the story tomorrow. When I saw Fluttershy, she waved at me, which caught me by surprise as she had always been the type to avoid drawing attention to herself. Before I could swing by the bleachers to say hello, though, I was dragged off to the centre of the field by Rainbow Dash, who was babbling on about something being awesome, probably herself.

“Okay Shimmer, you know Thunderlane, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as the three of us met in the center circle. I just nodded my response. She then turned to her teammate and said, “And you know Sunset Shimmer, right?”

Thunderlane nodded as well, glaring needle-like daggers at me. At least he was showing some restraint in his contempt for me.

“So the rules are going to be pretty simple,” Rainbow began. She rolled a soccer ball onto her foot and then lobbed it up so that she could start juggling it with her knees. Show-off. “We’ll do some one-on-one between you and me, and Thunderlane will play goalkeeper against both of us. Whoever scores the most goals in fifteen minutes will be the winner.”

“You realize that the only possible way I could even come close to beating you is if I broke your kneecaps?” I quipped.

“Wait, you’re not actually going to do that, are you?” Thunderlane interjected. I just shot him a glare that non-verbally implied how much of an idiot he would be if he were serious.

“You’ve got to play to win, Sunset; that’s how sports work,” Rainbow Dash assured me whilst continuing to showboat her juggling abilities. I was still skeptical about her claims, but I was not the one that was captain of almost every major sports team on campus. There was no point not giving it everything I had, though, since that would make my failure all the more captivating for others to read about tomorrow.

We set up the ball at the center of the field with Thunderlane taking his position at the far end. A quick glance back to the bleachers gave all the reminder I need as to why I was about to subject myself to a fifteen minute chasm of despair and humiliation. Rainbow Dash positioned herself between me and the goal, apparently offering me a ‘sporting chance’ of having the first go.

“You ready?” Rainbow asked.

For a moment, I wondered if saying no might get me some lenience. “I guess. By the way, how do you play this game?”

I suspect that my opponent stopped listening after the first two words because she didn’t even wait until I finished speaking before darting past me like a multi-coloured roadrunner. It took me a second to realize that the ball was gone too. When I spun around to try and play something resembling defense, Rainbow Dash whisked past me again, leaving me wondering if some pegasus magic may have been left behind in her. By the time I was able to orientate myself, it was just in time for me to watch her blast the ball past Thunderlane.

“Yes! One-nothing for Rainbow Dash!” the victorious striker cheered.

“Oh come on! I was trying to ask you a question,” I complained as she returned to center field with the ball. “Could you at least explain some of the rules to this game?”

“It’s soccer—you kick the ball with your feet into the net over there,” Rainbow explained with a restrained sense of confusion. “What’s there to not understand?”

“I gathered that much. What about the rest of my body?”

“You can use anything other than your arms,” she answered before kicking the ball over to me.

Anything but my arms seemed like a simple enough premise. I went most of my life without arms, so soccer should, in theory, come very easy to me. As one can imagine, the game was more nuanced than that. My first attempt to move the ball forward resulted in the ball getting knocked in a completely different direction than I had intended. Who knew kicking a ball could be so complicated? No sooner had the ball left my control did Rainbow Dash swoop in to snatch it up. Before I could even say ‘where?’, she had done her loop around me, raced towards the net, and planted the ball into the back of the net like a flag.

“Wooooo! Two-nothing!”

“Could you at least give me a fighting chance?” I shouted at her as my opponent ran a victory lap. While I had no issue with being upstaged, this wasn’t making for the best pictures. I needed to produce some photos with more action in it, and I couldn’t do that if Rainbow Dash was finishing the game before I could move more than five steps.

“Okay, okay, but only because I’m your friend,” Rainbow said. By the lack of enthusiasm, you’d think I just asked her to part with a vital organ.

Nonetheless, she refrained from crushing me instantly the next time I touched the ball. I was actually able to get a feel for the sport as I was able to bounce the ball around the grass for a few uninterrupted seconds. Those seconds were enjoyable while they lasted. The moment I wound up to make a kick, Rainbow Dash swept on in and the only thing I kicked was the sky as I overextended the follow-through. One foot was soon followed by the other as I up-ended myself and landed with a thump and an expletive.

A few seconds later, I heard Rainbow Dash having another self-aggrandizing cheer, which meant the score was now three to zero. Granted, I cared little for what the score was since I had no hope of winning, but it would be nice to get at least one point for myself. Once I got back to my feet and wiped the grass off my butt, I vowed that I was going to get at least one point in this charade of a competition. I didn’t care if it did mean breaking somebody’s kneecaps, I was going to show Rainbow Dash that I did have a modicum of athletic ability.

Ten minutes and twelve points later, I was beginning to think that I had the athletic abilities of a three-toed sloth. I spent more time chasing after Rainbow Dash, who I swear was deliberately leading me around the soccer field, than I spent with the ball in my possession. To the pits with humiliation, the sheer amount of sweat and exhaustion was almost unbearable. Even getting strung up by my ankles from a tree sounded like a preferable alternative to playing this game that even Discord himself would find absurd.

“That’s enough. I give up!” I shouted in exhaustion, doubling and bracing myself against my knees. “You win, Rainbow Dash, you win.”

“Well you didn’t do too bad,” Rainbow remarked.

To which, I snapped in response, “Didn’t do too bad? The only way I could’ve done worse is if I gave Thunderlane a concussion!”

“Okay, yeah, it was pretty horrible.” It was refreshing to see that it took Dash all of three seconds to agree with my self-evaluation. At least she tried to be nice at the start. “Tell you what, I’ll let you have one free kick on the net with no interference from me whatsoever.”

“Gee, and I thought Rarity was the generous one,” I quipped, though the sarcasm flew straight over Rainbow’s head.

My dreams of soccer glory may have been dead, not that I had any to begin with, but at least I could end this miserable experience on a high note. With nothing but grass and Thunderlane standing between me and the net, I lined myself up for the kick. After taking a few breaths to steady my nerves, I braced myself for the sprint. It was not reluctance that kept me still, but rather I took the moment to absorb my surroundings as my senses heightened. A crisp autumn breeze blew in from my left; droplets of sweat coalesced atop my brow before funneling down the contours of my cheek and nose, each breath rasping against my arid throat. I was frustrated and winded, but I used these feelings for motivation to act rather than to relent.

I surged forward, channeling all of my frustrations onto that dichromatic sphere of torment. With absolutely no understanding of proper form or technique, I just swung my foot at the ball with all the reckless abandon of a drunken viking swinging an axe. The ball rocketed towards the net.

And straight into Thunderlane’s face.

His head snapped back like a Pez dispenser, and he remained motionless for a brief instant. A fervent silence blanketed the soccer field with everyone holding their breath in anticipation. Without even so much as a whimper, the goalkeeper then collapsed to the ground like a damp rag.

To make matters worse, the soccer ball landed on the ground next to him, rolled towards the goal line, and stopped just a few inches shy of it. The universe wouldn’t even give me that minor victory. As I stared on, stricken silent by the sheer weight of my misfortune, the rest of my friends went rushing past me to see if Thunderlane was still alive. I was the last to arrive, due in part to dragging my feet out of trepidation.

“Is he...still conscious?” I asked.

“Don’t worry,” Rainbow replied with surprising optimism. “Thunderlane always likes to ham up his injuries. He probably thinks he can get out of practice on Thursday if he’s injured.” She rolled her eyes and then gently tapped the fallen soccer player with her foot. “Now get up, Thunderlane, nobody believes you!”

The skepticism only lingered for a few more seconds until it became obvious that Thunderlane wasn’t trying to milk any sympathy out of us. In fact, his only response were a few dazed groans, and something about a potato.

“I think I might’ve broken him,” I concluded. However, since I didn’t have any medical training whatsoever, the extent of my diagnosis was ‘he’s leaking red from his face.’ I made the safe assumption that pony and human physiology responded to trauma in similar fashions. Just to be sure, I gave him a nudge with my boot. “Maybe we should get him to the nurse,” I commented afterwards.

“Always gotta be lazy, eh Thunderlane? Now you’re making me haul your butt all the way to the nurse’s office,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she and the others began carrying the still-stunned athlete away.

Only Applejack stayed behind, if only briefly as she met up with me.

“Please tell me you got all of that,” I said, followed by a tired sigh.

“Eeyup.” Applejack nodded before tossing my cell phone over. “That last bit might’ve been a bit overkill though. Couldn’t ya have just tripped on the ball or something?”

“You think I did that on purpose? I didn’t mean to knock him out,” I insisted, although my friend remained skeptical for a few more seconds. “What kind of goal keeper lets himself get nailed in the face, anyways?”

“Well for starters, he’s a midfielder,” Applejack replied. “Secondly, for someone who used to be a horse, you sure don’t kick very well.”

As tempting as it was to lecture Applejack on every inaccuracy and incorrect assumption her remarks made, I had better things to do with my time; I doubt she would’ve listened to an explanation, anyways. I reviewed my friend’s camera work, and was satisfied that she had managed to capture the worst possible side of every incident. I compiled all of the files together and readied to send them to Gabby Gums’ e-mail. I would’ve preferred to hand them over to Gabby in person, but apparently our school gossiper was shy about meeting people. Given the content of some of her articles, and what was about to come, I couldn’t blame her. If these pictures had surfaced a few weeks ago, I would’ve burned down the whole school just to find her.

Now, I was about to send them to her of my own free will.

“You okay, Sunset?” Applejack spoke up, followed by a nudge against my shoulder.

“Wh—? Oh, yes. Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” It was a stammered response, but I had been lost in thought when my friend decided to start being inquisitive again.

“You’ve been staring at your phone for a while now,” she explained.

“Feels like I’m holding the self-destruct button to my social life,” I commented, still staring at my thumb that hovered precariously over the ‘send’ button. I had convinced myself this would be easy to go through with because my standing at the school was already six feet under. However, the saying went that things could always get worse, so that possibility had not been forgotten, but what could possibly be worse than the animosity that I was already enduring?

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Applejack reminded me. “Fluttershy certainly ain’t going to hold it against you for not being able to help more with the animal shelter.”

“Yes it does,” I replied with a quiet sigh. I had no reason to believe that Applejack was misleading me in any respect, but hers wasn’t the only disappointment I was faced with. I did not have to torpedo my reputation any further, but Fluttershy didn’t have to sit through another failure in life. “She might not hate me, but if I don’t do something, I will.”

With that, I tapped ‘send,’ and sealed my fate.

Act I-V

Like any good plan, the best part was when you got the chance to sit down and admire the extent of your work, and how everything came together in a harmonious package to advance one’s will. True, my deal with the pint-sized devil was nothing to brag about, but as I sat at the base of the statue with the latest copy of the Canterlot Free Press, I could not help but feel a small swelling of pride. Diamond Tiara held up her end of the bargain, and in the back pages of the newspaper, there was copy of Fluttershy’s animal shelter flier, calling upon all to take advantage of the upcoming weekend deal.

No longer would Fluttershy have to endure continual disappointment as student after student shunned her noble efforts. Instead, we had a half-dozen young freshmen students to hand out the fliers along with the school papers. No doubt once word spread about the article covering a certain notorious bad girl, the papers would fly off the shelves. I wouldn’t have been surprised if not a single student ignored today’s edition. It was a gut instinct that was reassured when I saw a handful of students walk past me, all with newspapers open, who paused and chuckled after casting a sideways glance to me.

Since I couldn’t let the whole school know that those pictures had been staged, I had to act as though the news article was a complete surprise to me. It was a task that was remarkably easy: I just had to wait until enough students were within earshot, and then shout my displeasure at Gabby Gums.

“What in the world?!” I didn’t want to oversell myself, but I had to make sure that people knew what in particular my outrage was being directed to. “Who the heck does this Gabby Gums think she is? I can’t believe anybody would ever want to read this garbage, especially the stuff on page twelve and thirteen!”

Might have oversold it a little bit too much.

Once the stares, chuckles, and quiet murmurs had died down, I returned to hiding behind my paper shield with the intent of staying there until the morning bell rang. Out of curiosity, I decided to take a moment and actually read what Gabby Gums had written about my spectacular displays of athletic prowess.

“From Cream of the Crop to the Queen of Flop,” I read the headline silently. “As if this year’s run for region champions wasn’t going to be hard enough for the Canterlot Wondercolts, now that legendary captain, Spitfire, has graduated and moved on, now the soccer team may be down another of its star players. An anonymous eyewitness states that soccer team captain, Rainbow Dash, had taken Sunset Shimmer to school in a little one-on-one soccer match. Apparently, she did not take kindly to the loss, and a subsequent kick resulted in a knock-out blow to midfielder, Thunderlane.”

Wasn’t too bad on the word play, though for a gossip columnist, Gabby Gums could’ve used some more colourful prose. If I had known this was going to be the calibre of the shots against me, I would’ve offered to write the article at the same time. If I was going to be lambasted by the papers, I wanted it to be a real roasting of an article. Had this been an actual surprise to me, I doubt I would have even felt a simmering of annoyance.

At least in a few days, this would all be forgotten. Gabby Gums never stayed on a single subject for very long, so it wouldn’t be long before students were gossiping about the next poor fool. Besides, I would never be so lucky as to have anything overshadow my performance at the Fall Formal.

“Oh my, that’s not a very flattering photo at all,” a familiar voice spoke up beside me.

I must’ve been getting used to having Fluttershy sneak up on me because I barely felt a twitch of surprise that time around. However, I did have to fake some degree of surprise since I couldn’t act so calmly while reading my own social life’s obituary.

“Fluttershy!” I gasped before folding the paper shut in haste. “I didn’t hear you approaching. How are you this morning?”

“I’m fine,” she replied. I could tell by her expression that she was curious as to the source of my feigned nervousness. “Is everything okay? That was a picture of you in the paper, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Nothing!” I insisted. In an attempt to change the subject, I flipped the newspaper over and showed her the copy of her flyer in it. “Check this out, though. I...um, took your advice and talked to Yearling. She’s agreed to distribute the flyer for you. Isn’t that great?”

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of holding the paper just a hair too close. Instead of just reading the paper from my hands, Fluttershy snatched it out of my grasp before I had a chance to realize my folly. I knew I couldn’t keep all the papers out of Fluttershy’s reach, but I had hoped to milk my success a bit more before giving her free access. As I feared, she spent only a few seconds on the flyer before flipping the pages back to Gabby’s column.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed at first. “Oh dear. Oh, that’s not very flattering. And that part is just mean. Is this you playing soccer? Wait a second…”

I didn’t like the sound of those last few words.

Fluttershy turned the newspaper over and pointed to one of the soccer match pictures of me. It was the one just before I kicked the ball that would, in turn, find its way to Thunderlane’s face. Did I really look that awkward when I run? My stride was awkward and ungainly, though I was willing to blame that on trying to play soccer in knee-high boots.

“I think I know who took this picture,” Fluttershy announced. She then pointed to a small pink blob in the bottom corner. “That’s my hair, right there. So whoever took this picture was standing behind and to my left, and Applejack was the only person on the top row of the bleachers.”

So it turned out that Fluttershy had good deductive reasoning skills, and a decent memory. I hadn’t counted on either of those things, which was odd considering one would think I had learned by now not to underestimate Fluttershy or her friends. Obviously, I couldn’t have Fluttershy thinking that Applejack had been responsible for those pictures, even though that was the case, as that would result in the two having a frank discussion about the pictures. In the face of Fluttershy’s accusations, I wouldn’t have expected the farmer to last more than a few seconds before confessing to my schemes.

“Oh come on, that is just ridiculous,” I replied. I threw in a dismissive chuckle to emphasize how silly a notion I thought it was. “Why would Applejack do that? You know her better than I do: is this really the sort of scheme she’d pull off? Taking pictures of somebody and leaking them to a gossip columnist is something I would’ve done.”

“When you say it like that, it doesn’t sound like something Applejack would do,” Fluttershy said after a brief pause. Lucky for me, it was hard for her to believe that Applejack would stoop to those levels, even without my reassurance, and so long as she didn’t have reason to suspect the farmer, hopefully my secret would stay that way. “I mean, maybe before the Fall Formal, she might have tried something like this, but Applejack’s forgiven you.”

“Exactly,” I insisted, “so clearly it must’ve been somebody who snuck up from under the bleachers. Or...something along those lines.”

Fluttershy took another look at the pictures before shrugging in defeat. She then handed back the newspaper and commented, “You seem pretty calm about all of this. Are you okay?”

“Oh! Um, I’m fine. Really.” In my haste to dispel suspicion around Applejack, I had neglected to maintain the ruse for myself. I had discussed weather forecasts with greater outrage than I had today’s newspaper. “It’s just some unflattering pictures—not the end of the world.”

“Are you sure?”

I didn’t know if Fluttershy was just being overly concerned, or was skeptical of my claims. Despite knowing full well that she was the type to express such levels of empathy, my paranoia nonetheless felt on edge. I continued reassuring her, perhaps a bit too much, that I was going to be fine. By the time the morning bell rang, she didn’t sound totally convinced, or was just still being her usual worrisome self. It was impossible for me to tell.

“Just focus on the positives, okay?” I suggested before gesturing for us to head into the school. “Your flyer is going to be seen by everyone in the school now. Maybe tomorrow we could make something a bit flashier and get that put into Friday’s edition. A few pictures of some puppies and kittens would certainly make for a more enticing offer.” Though the original deal with Diamond Tiara had been for one flyer in particular, at the time I was more than willing to go through the wringer once more to help Fluttershy again.

“But what about these pictures?” Fluttershy asked, once again bringing our discussion back to the gossip column. “We can’t just ignore this. Maybe we should talk to Principal Celestia and have her take these papers back. Or we could talk to Ms. Yearling and get a hold of this Gabby Gums and tell them the truth about how you’ve changed—”

“Just forget about the darn pictures!” I snapped. “We’ve got an opportunity to help that animal shelter, and we shouldn’t be squandering it over something so trivial.”

For a second, Fluttershy looked as though she was stunned by my remarks. “Do you really think your happiness is so trivial?”

“Happiness? Oh, come on Fluttershy, it’s a few silly pictures and some half-baked gossip. I can handle some students snickering behind my back for the next few days.”

Once again, volume and passion did little to dissuade Fluttershy, who maintained her calm composure. “But are you happy?” she asked.

That was an odd question, and one that left me momentarily speechless as my brain fumbled to organize a proper response. It was a strange feeling to have been silenced so effectively by someone that I had always pegged as a push-over. Fluttershy was so much easier to talk to back when she was terrified of me, but being on equal ground made me realize just how powerful her words could be. One did not need to be loud or boisterous when all it took were the right words at the precise moment to send a goliath to their knees.

“I’d be happier if you stopped fussing over me,” I replied.

Fluttershy stopped in the hall and just stared at me for a few seconds. Were she anybody else, I would’ve expected an earful or some sort of stern lecture. In a way, the silence and what I knew was coming felt even worse. Funny how something so small and subtle could cut a thousand times worse than the loudest of bellows.

“I’m sorry you think that.”

Whether by intent or not, we parted ways immediately afterwards as our lockers were in different directions. Even if they weren’t, I would have aimed for some excuse to put distance between Fluttershy and me. Something had gone wrong in my grand schemes, and I wouldn’t be able to figure out what it was, or how to fix it, if I had Fluttershy breathing down my neck. I must have missed something critical to have screwed up like this, but I suspected that the answers were not to come so easily.

“Maybe she’ll forget about it by the end of the day,” I mumbled to myself. I made a mental note to check back on Fluttershy at lunch or after class and broach the subject once more. Maybe if I just told her that I did it for her, she’d understand.

Or just get more disappointed in me.

Either way, I didn’t have time to fret over my social life with class about to begin. When I stopped by my locker, I was greeted to an unsurprising collage taped to the door. Somebody was quick with the scissors to have cut up the gossip column and adorn my locker with the pictures in the few scant few minutes between its release and my arrival. Might have been the handiwork of several students working together, which I could at least take some comfort from with the knowledge that I was facilitating cooperation amongst the school populace.

I ignored the pictures for the moment, as tempting as it was to just tear them down, but I figured using my locker for a billboard might help drive more attention towards the paper. Just because everything wasn’t going according to plan didn’t mean I had to abandon it.

When I closed the locker, I was greeted by the sight of Diamond Tiara, now standing where there had been a void beside me.

“Diamond Tiara,” I greeted calmly. “You look rather pleased.”

“Why shouldn’t I be?” she answered as the smirk across her face grew. “Class hasn’t even started and we’ve already run out of papers. We’ll have to use the lunch hour just to print out more. Looks like you’ve just become the hottest piece of gossip on the school grounds.”

“I guess you and Gabby will have your hands full trying to follow that up,” I remarked. Something told me that she was not stopping by just to say hello and make small talk, which made my paranoia flare up once more.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll be delivering something good for Friday’s edition,” Diamond replied, referring to the fact that our newspaper only printed at the start, middle, and end of the school week.

“Friday?” I questioned. “We made our deal already—pictures for the flyers. You should have more than enough for Friday’s with what I gave you.”

“Unflattering pictures are one thing, but what everybody is loving are the ones with you nailing that soccer player in the face,” Diamond explained as the smirk began to lose its happy edge. “Our readers are just eating up the idea of Sunset Shimmer still being the bad girl.”

“That was an accident, and you know it,” I snapped back, allowing some of my anger to bubble to the surface. “I don’t mind coming off as a problem by accident, but don’t expect me to go around looking for ways to do that just so you can push papers.”

“Awww, no need to be so harsh, at least not without cameras around,” Diamond Tiara replied. The way she began easing back on the pressure did not leave me feeling at ease. In fact, she slid closer and threw an arm around my side. “It hurts me to see you getting so angry after everything we’ve done to help each other. I thought we were getting to become such good friends, and friends help each other out, don’t they?”

“Looking bad and acting bad are two different things,” I insisted as I pulled away from her toxic embrace. “I’m trying to be a different person now, so you’ll have to find some other way to peddle your journalistic garbage.”

“I suppose I could,” Diamond Tiara mused. She pursed her lips and tapped her chin, but I could tell she already had the answer in mind. Perhaps she should have gone into theatre rather than journalism. “Oh, I know another that students would love to read about: your new friends. You know, the ones who helped save the school from you. Everybody would just love to see every intimate detail of their lives, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hey! You leave them out of this,” I warned her. She didn’t seem very threatened.

“An expose on the heroines of Canterlot High—all their most precious secrets and embarrassing moments revealed: ‘Applejack sleeping in class,’ ‘Fluttershy has hair extensions,’ ‘Pinkie Pie: party animal out of control.’ Oh, I can just see the headlines now, can’t you?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I growled. As tempting as it was to resort to a more barbaric form of resolution, I only imagined that somewhere in the hallways, a camera was trained on me, and even a slight hint of violence would get me plastered across Friday’s edition. “What if I go ask Ms. Yearling what she thinks about how you’re running things?”

“Oh right, because she’ll totally believe you,” Tiara quipped with a trifling scoff. “The most hated student at Canterlot High versus the most successful student editor the newspaper has seen in years. How do you think that conversation is going to end?”

Not well, and my silence broadcasted that sentiment to her. Diamond Tiara had me by the throat, and all I could allow myself was to dig my nails into a textbook.

“So what’s it going to be, Sunset Shimmer?” Tiara began as she once again crept to my side like a stalking lion. “Shall we keep being good friends and...help each other out?”

*******************

Normally, I took great pride in my independence. While other students spent most of their high school years relying upon cohorts, friends, parents, and other family members just to make it through the toils of everyday life, I had endured and prospered through nothing but my own tenacity and guile. True, it wasn’t perfect, and it did end with me in a crater, but on the whole I had managed things fairly well flying solo.

So imagine the level of stress I felt that my first instinct was to get help as soon as possible. It wasn’t until lunch hour that I felt comfortable enough to approach somebody, though in this case I sought out Applejack once more as it saved me from having to explain everything that had led up to my new terms with Diamond Tiara.

Lucky for me, I managed to find Applejack in the cafeteria without Fluttershy or the others nearby. The whereabouts of the others was a mystery, so I made sure not to squander what time I had.

“ApplejackyougottahelpmeI’mreallyupthecreekhere!” Suffice to say, the past few hours had not done my blood pressure any favours as I fretted over my new dilemma. My sudden arrival had taken my friend by surprise, but she remained more confused than anything. I had been in such a rush to reach the cafeteria in time that I hadn’t even bothered grabbing myself a lunch yet—not that I had any appetite at the moment.

“Come again?” Applejack replied. “Maybe you oughta sit down, take a deep breath, and start from the top.”

She gestured for me to take the seat across the table from her, which I was grateful for. Panic was another thing that was new for me, so it took me some time to settle down, gasping for breath whilst cradling a thick leather-bound book against my chest.

“You gotta help me! You know how I said I made a deal with Diamond Tiara to get Fluttershy’s flyer in the school paper? Well, now she’s demanding I give her more or she’s going to use Gabby Gums to start a smear campaign against you and the others!”

“Gabby Gums is going to do what?”

To my surprise, the confused exclamation came not from Applejack, but rather another girl whose petite presence had escape my normally perceptive eye. With red hair and a giant bow, there was no mistaking the tiny girl for Applejack’s younger sister. In retrospect, it might’ve been better to catch Applejack when she was completely on her own, but it had slipped my mind that there was more than one group of people she spent time with at school.

Ignoring the younger sibling, I turned my attention back to my friend. “Could we talk in private?”

“You’ve already said the worst of it,” Applejack replied, making no effort to stop her enjoyment of lunch. “I reckon this is a bad time for me to say that I told you so.” Not that she wasn’t indirectly saying exactly that by making such remarks. “Have you considered talking to the teacher in charge of the newspaper? Surely she wouldn’t approve of this kind of blackmail.”

“Ms. Yearling? She’d sooner throw me to the wolves than lift a finger to help me,” I grumbled in dismay. “I’m sure she’d love the poetic justice—me finally seeing the error of my ways and falling right back into it.” Quite frankly, any solution that kept me from having to deal with her would be preferable.

“So what exactly do you have to do now? Should we have Rainbow Dash get the softball team together and you can knock one of them out?” I wasn’t sure if that was a genuine suggestion or a sarcastic jab, but either way that was out of the question even if I did think that would help my situation. It was tempting too: there were a few jocks on the softball team I wouldn’t have minded giving a concussion to.

“Diamond Tiara’s already got the story she wants in mind,” I explained. A sense of trepidation began to creep up on me, but I fought it back down with a few deep breaths. “She wants to me to steal Easy Glider’s playbook, with photographs of the theft and me giving it over to somebody from a rival school.”

“Who’s Easy Glider?” Apple Bloom peeped up once more. I thought she would’ve known better than to keep eavesdropping, but it was foolish of me to presume that a younger sister wouldn’t be butting in on the older one’s business.

“He was a coach here at Canterlot High a long time ago,” Applejack explained.

“Not just any coach—he was the coach of Canterlot High,” I corrected. My brief stint with the newspaper club did involve having to cover a lot of sporting events, so learning about these details came with the work. “Between the dozens of county, state, and national championships he’s been a part of, he also has a winning record that puts everybody else’s to shame, and several professional-level athletes who credit him with their success, Easy Glider is probably the closest thing to a legend this school has.”

“If it weren’t for the horse statue outside, we’d probably have one of him instead,” Applejack added in with a chuckle. “Still though, the playbook he left behind has been used by pretty much every coach ever since. It’s practically a sacred relic here at the school. It’s even kept locked up in the coach’s office. You’d have to be some kind of crazy fool to even consider trying to steal it.”

“Y-yeah. A...um, a crazy…crazy fool,” I nervously stammered, sinking into my seat.

It was then that Applejack noticed the book that I had been carrying and was still hugging as tight as you would your favourite teddy bear. Applejack gave it a long, hard stare, and then locked her gaze with mine.

“What is that?” she asked as a single, curious eyebrow rose up.

“A book—a plain ol’ ordinary book.” I was beginning to think that coming to Applejack may not have been the best thing to do, albeit far from the worst of the day.

“You stole—!” Applejack was close to blurting out my crime to the entire cafeteria before I managed to hush her down. Thankfully, she was able to rein in her disbelief to a more tolerable level. “How in the world did you manage to get that? It’s a locked drawer in the coach’s office.”

“I told Rainbow Dash that I wanted to learn a bit more about sports so she took me into the coach’s office to show me some of the other playbooks,” I explained. “Then I used Fluttershy’s cell phone to send Rainbow a text message to draw her away from the office. Once I was alone, I jimmied the lock open. Oh, and before I forget,” I paused for a second and reached into my coat pocket, pulled out Fluttershy’s cell phone, and tossed it over to Applejack, “I might’ve had to ‘borrow’ Fluttershy’s cell phone for a bit. Could you just give that back to her and say you found it in the hall or something?”

“Why would you do that?” Applejack replied in disbelief.

“I couldn’t use my phone; I’m on Dash’s contact list now,” I answered.

“Not that! I meant stea—” Once again Applejack had to stop herself before she blurted my crimes out loud. “Why would you take the book?” she asked more calmly.

“I...I didn’t know what to do. I guess I kind of panicked,” I admitted with some humility. I didn’t want Diamond Tiara to go after my friends, especially since the whole bargain was my fault in the first place, but I had no idea of what else to do. Until I could devise something more concrete, I just went along with the scheme. Rainbow Dash said the next soccer game wasn’t until Friday, so nobody would notice the playbook missing until Diamond Tiara broke the news.

“You lying and stealing your way into the coach’s office is your version of panicking?” Applejack questioned with growing skepticism and bewilderment.

“Well, people tend to revert back to what they’re most comfortable when they panic.” Not the best thing for me to point out since that meant being a cheat and liar were still what put my mind at ease. In my defense, it had still been less than a week since my downfall, it wasn’t as though I could unlearn all the tendencies and behaviours that I had built up over the past few years in such a short time.

I could tell by her groaning and the way she covered her face with the brim of her had that Applejack was bouncing between anger and disbelief as though she were riding a bronco. “You can’t seriously be thinking of going through with this plan. You know I won’t let you, and I know the others would rather deal with Gabby Gums than see you ruin yourself like this.”

“I...I can fix this. I just need more time to think.” A desperate plea, but I was beginning to feel like panicking again, and who knows what I might steal if I lost my nerve. “Can’t you think of some way to help?”

“Aside from explaining this mess to the others, which I believe I hinted at from the very start,” Applejack remarked. “Can’t help but find it kinda funny; you’ve gotten yourself into this mess because of your old habits, but at the same time, the old you probably wouldn’t have been in a mess like this in the first place, or at least would’ve done something just as underhanded to get out of it.”

How painfully true was that. The old me would’ve been the one doing the blackmailing, not be the recipient of it. At the same time, were I not so constrained by my desire to change my ways, I could’ve shown Diamond Tiara what real extortion was like. With a little time and effort, I could’ve had that girl begging for forgiveness, which made for a nice mental picture, but I knew that such pettiness should be beneath me now.

Then salvation came from a rather unexpected source. “I have an idea,” Apple Bloom spoke up. By that point I had given up on the idea of her respecting the sensitive nature of our conversation.

“If it’s talk to the principal, I’ve already considered that,” I voiced my skepticism. After all, how could a first-year student help? “I can’t have her knowing that I did all this backroom dealing in the first place.”

“Actually, I might be able to get you in touch with Gabby Gums,” the younger Apple sister explained. She sounded hesitant to broach the idea, but at the time I had chalked that up to her just being reluctant to deal with me. I had no idea how contacting the columnist that had been facilitating Tiara’s plan would be of any benefit to me, but any plan was better than going on nothing.

*******************

According to the youngest member of the Apple family, Gabby Gums was willing to meet with me after class. By some small miracle, I had managed to convince Applejack to keep these dealings a secret for a little while longer, if only to give me time to find a way out of this mess. Of course, the deadline for that silence was the start of school tomorrow, so that left me with very little time to devise a plan.

That felt like the most daunting task of all. My track record for schemes had taken a major nosedive in the recent weeks, and my confidence in myself had hit an all-time low. Every step I had taken thus far in my new life had been followed by two steps back. If I didn’t figure something out by the end of Thursday, my options were to either let my friends suffer because of my foolishness, or to sabotage this second chance I had been given. Nobody would ever trust me if I got caught handing off Easy Glider’s cherished playbook.

The choice of meeting place was rather unusual. I had expected a classroom or somewhere out in the yard, but instead I was meeting inside one of the storage rooms at the gym. It was a dark and dank room that reeked of old sweat and the tears of scrawny nerds. I was told to wait in the storage room for her, but I could not help but feel as though I was being set up for something.

When I first set foot into the storage room, I saw no sign of Gabby Gums or anybody. Aside from bins of variously-sized balls, old wrestling mats, and racks filled with hockey sticks and baseball bats, there was little else present.

“Hello? Gabby?” I called out.

No response.

That didn’t discount the possibility that I had simply arrived first, or that Gabby may have been hiding in wait. I ventured in deeper to check some of the nooks and crannies that somebody could’ve hidden in. When I called out a second time, an answer came in the form of the door behind me closing and the lights suddenly going dark.

“Hey! Who did that?” I shouted.

“Hello Sunset Shimmer,” a voice echoed from near the entrance. Although I didn’t recognize it off-hand, I could tell whoever it belonged to was doing their best to not sound like their normal self. That or Gabby Gums spent a lifetime gargling gravel every morning.

“Gabby, I presume?” I called back, still uncertain of where to direct my attention other than the all-consuming darkness. Fortunately, like any sensible-minded person with a propensity for sneaking into places where they didn’t belong, I had a flashlight program on my phone. Not the first time I had operated in darkened rooms.

Gabby, however, had already anticipated that. I had hoped to see who had been the writer of those gossip columns, but all I saw was a tall figure hidden beneath a wide-brim hat and a trench coat. I suddenly felt as though I had stepped into a spy story.

“It seems as though we have a mutual adversary on our hands,” Gabby replied. I tried to step closer but she raised a hand to signal me to halt. “Stay where you are if you want to hear what I have to say.”

“How can we have a mutual adversary? You’re the one who’s been writing the articles about me, and will write those articles about my friends if I don’t cooperate.” I was half-tempted to crash-tackle Gabby right then and there, but better judgment kept me where I was. “Besides, I imagine you’ve got just as much an axe to grind against me.”

“Diamond Tiara has been forcing our—my hand as well,” Gabby explained.

The subtle slip of the tongue did not escape my notice. Though it gave me reason to suspect, I needed to get closer to confirm. However, with Gabby standing closer to the door, she could have me locked inside before I could cover the distance. That was when I noticed the big bin of soccer balls right next to me. Gabby wasn’t the only one who could use the darkness to their advantage. I redirected the light to keep my movements concealed, and then grabbed one of the balls.

“Think fast!” I shouted out before punting the ball across the room. If my lesson with Rainbow Dash had taught me anything, it was how to hit a person with a ball.

There was a cacophony of shrieks as the ball hit Gabby Gums square in the chest, followed by a crash as she fell into the nearby baseball bat rack. There was a terrible ruckus as dozens of baseball bats clattered to the ground, creating a wonderful mess that nobody would be able to get up from quickly. Within a few seconds, I was able to cross the room and flicked on the lights.

“Don’t you think it’s much better now that we can meet face-to-face...to-face-to-face?” I mused as I gazed down upon Gabby Gums. I hadn’t expected the infamous gossip columnist to be three separate students, but I was able to conceal my surprise when it was revealed to be Apple Bloom and her two friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

They stared at me with looks of shock, nervousness, and embarrassment whilst tangled in a mess of a trench coat and fallen bats. They must’ve been all hiding under the one coat to give the illusion of height and age. I gestured for them to get back to their feet, to which they complied with the slow wariness of disobedient children being called upon by their parents.

“Now that we’re done hiding in the shadows, perhaps you can explain yourself in full,” I suggested. I tried not to sound too smug with myself, lest I frighten the children further, but it felt good to be in control again. Even though my rational mind knew that taking pleasure in this was wrong, it still felt like slipping into the embrace of an old friend. I tried to not let the euphoria go to my head. “You’ve been helping Diamond Tiara in all of this. Why come to me now?”

“Because we didn’t know you were making deals with her,” Apple Bloom explained. Despite wanting to be upset with the three, I could tell from their averted gazes and sheepishly shuffling feet that they weren’t as guilty as I had presumed. “We thought the pictures came from one of the photographers, like Featherweight.”

“And, to be honest, we don’t really want to be writing about gossip anymore,” the short-haired one added.

“But when we tried to tell Diamond Tiara that we wanted to quit the gossip column, she had these...um, embarrassing pictures of us,” the third one chimed in.

“So we’re all being blackmailed to play along?” I concluded with a raised eyebrow. The more I heard about Diamond Tiara, the more I began to think that this girl was turning into a richer, younger version of myself. She could have used a touch of subtlety, though, since I was now prepared to show Tiara just how badly things can blow up in your face. “You know girls, I think I have an idea on how to solve all of our problems at once.”

“You do?” Apple Bloom replied with a hint of hesitation. It sounded as though they were just as reluctant to put faith in me as they were in Diamond Tiara.

“Oh, definitely,” I said with a growing smirk. “If Diamond Tiara wants bad Sunset Shimmer, then she’s going to get a little reminder why people were so afraid of me.”

Act I-VI

Back when I lived in Equestria, if I ever needed to twist somebody’s hoof in order to get what I needed, it often took weeks of hard work and observation. Even the most rigid and steadfast of ponies had some weakness, some bargaining chip, with which they became as pliable as blades of grass. It was always just a matter of watching and waiting for them to reveal it. For some ponies, it was an old memory that they would give anything to re-live; others just wanted that one special item that they had sought after their whole lives; and the really easy ones were more than willing to follow a cute butt straight off a cliff.

Life at Canterlot High made gathering information about others a million times easier. When I first discovered the popular MyStable website, I almost cried out in joy—a whole section of the internet where people just put their entire lives up on display for the whole world to admire. Social media was almost a mandatory requirement for teenagers these days, and even I had to forge my own page so that people thought my world was infinitely better than it actually was.

Now when I needed to find an angle on somebody, all I had to do was turn to MyStable, and all the details were handed over to me. Some people required a bit of deduction and reading between the lines, but people in this world seemed to enjoy sharing intimate details of their lives with one another. Perhaps it was just a part of ‘friendship’ that I had yet to grasp, but I had always thought of such unsolicited revelations to be just inviting trouble to come your way.

As I had expected, a self-absorbed brat like Diamond Tiara had a MyStable page that detailed every pointless and trivial detail of her life as though anybody really cared about her thoughts on breakfast or the latest fashion trend. I spent most of Wednesday evening toiling away on my laptop, combing through months upon months of vapid drivel. Had I the time and inclination, I could’ve deduced a mountain of vulnerabilities to go after, just like when I deduced that Applejack’s country pride as an easy way to get under her skin. However, I only had a single evening, and I just needed enough to get Diamond Tiara off my back. For that, even innocuous details could be helpful—a particular brand of soda seen in frequent pictures, a photograph and joyful comment relating to the school cafeteria’s popular Tutti-Frutti parfait, to posted song lyrics from the same handful of bands.

After some hours, I had all the details I needed.

“Sunset Shimmer?” came a voice and a knock from my bedroom door. It was Celestia. “May I come in?”

“J-just give me a second,” I shouted back before hastily closing my laptop and setting it aside. I grabbed a nearby binder and textbook, and spread them across my bed so that when Celestia came in, it would appear as though I had been busy with homework.

Upon opening the door, I was greeted to the sight of my newly self-appointed guardian, who happened to be carrying a tray with a sandwich and a steaming bowl of soup upon it.

“You didn’t come out for dinner, so I thought I would bring it to you,” Celestia explained.

“Dinner?” I repeated before I realized that I must have allowed more time to slip by that I had anticipated. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I must have lost track of the time.” Thankfully, she did not inquire further as to what had kept me so busy. As I returned to my bed to continue my ‘work,’ Celestia came inside and set the food down on a bedside table.

“I know that you are still adjusting to living here, so I didn’t want to force you to come out,” Celestia explained. “You’re welcome to eat in here if that is what you prefer, but I think it would be beneficial if you joined Luna and I for dinner next time.”

To be honest, I hadn’t given much thought towards something that, at first glance, seemed so mundane. Eating with others wasn’t something I did a lot of other than to keep up appearances, especially back when I was dating Flash Sentry. To me, eating was a necessity that I kept as much to a minimum as I could in order to better spend the rest of my time. It was an old habit, and one I realized that needed to be put to rest if I were to change as a person.

“I would like that,” I answered. “Maybe tomorrow you could knock on the door just to make sure I’m not too absorbed in my homework.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Celestia said. Just before reaching the door, however, she paused and turned about once more. “I saw what was in the school paper today. Would you like to talk about it?”

“What? Those pictures?” I scoffed, followed by a dismissive wave of my hand. “It’s just harmless gossip, and some students getting the justice they’ve been owed for a long time.”

“I would hardly call getting shoved into a locker to be anything like justice,” Celestia replied with a disapproving frown. I foresaw a lengthy conversation arising, as she closed the door and proceeded to lean against it. “I spoke with the students, and they told me that you practically begged them to act. I’m hard-pressed to believe that these students would act with such malice, so I have to ask: did you ask them to put you into a locker?”

I nodded. It might not have been a smart move to confess to it, but I counted on Celestia being more merciful to the perpetrators if she knew that I had encouraged them in the first place. I didn’t need more reasons for people to be upset with me. Unfortunately, that did leave me in the uncomfortable position of having to explain myself. I did not want Celestia involved in my dealings with Diamond Tiara, as the last thing I needed tacked onto my reputation was ‘Celestia’s protected pet.’ That presumed she even believed me if I told her the truth.

“I don’t know,” I said in a feigned attempted to deflect the question. “Everybody hates me, for good reason, and I just thought it could...change things.”

Celestia let out a quiet sigh as a look of worry and concern fell across her face. “Sunset Shimmer, I know you want to make things right,” she began with a gentle tone, “but life isn’t a karmic bank account where you just lump all the bad and the good in together. Punishing yourself isn’t going to fix things. You’ll find it hard to forgive yourself if you keep believing that you deserve bad things to happen to you.”

A part of me still felt as though I had gotten off easy for what happened at the Fall Formal. Having the entire student body hate me was to be expected, but I would hardly call it ‘punishment.’ Living with Celestia, while potentially problematic at times, felt like an upgrade to my former living conditions. Were it not for the fact that I was not living in the Royal Palace of Canterlot as I had intended, one could argue that I came out of the Fall Formal better than I had gone into it. It was hard to forgive yourself when it felt like your past sins still loomed overhead like a dark cloud.

I averted my gaze and began to shuffle my feet against the hardwood flooring. “I’m not sure I know how to do that,” I murmured in thinly-veiled despair.

“You’ll learn...in time,” Celestia reassured me.

I wanted desperately to believe that, but nothing thus far had suggested that I was learning anything other than how to continually make a mess of things.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” I answered. “Um, thanks for the food. I really should get back to my work though.”

Satisfied that she had imparted some token of wisdom upon me, Celestia said her goodbyes and headed on her way. I could tell a part of her was hesitant to leave, but even she was still adjusting to the new boundaries of our relationship, and didn’t want to overstay her welcome. With the prying eyes gone, I was able to return to my work planning my next move against Diamond Tiara, albeit with far less enthusiasm than before. It became hard to focus on my work with Celestia’s words trotting through my mind. If I kept telling myself I deserved misfortune, was I just dooming myself to a self-fulfilling prophecy?

*******************

The next day at school, I was ready to to put my plans into motion. With Gabby Gums willing to work for me, I could wrest away Diamond Tiara’s leverage against me. But stopping Diamond Tiara now wasn’t enough; I needed a way to ensure that she kept her distance from me and Gabby. The only way to do that was through some good old fashion blackmail. Now Tiara did a fair job keeping her distance from me so that nobody would suspect that we had been collaborating, but she was not the only person who knew how to manufacture evidence.

After first period had ended, I raced back to my locker to begin the first phase of my plans. Judging from the timestamps of Tiara’s numerous complaints about her teachers, it was easy to piece together what her class schedule was like. First period was social studies with Ms. Cheerilee, then followed by Ms. Yearling for English. However, that did mean I had to make it across the school in order to intercept Tiara before she reached Yearling’s classroom.

I gathered my supplies and slammed the locker shut, ready to make my cross-school trek were it not for a familiar demure figure now standing before me.

“Fluttershy!” I blurted out, almost spilling my books in the process. I swear to Celestia, somebody needed to put a bell on that girl so you could hear her approaching. “Wh-what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be heading to class?”

“I will, but I was hoping I could talk to you,” Fluttershy said. “That is, if you don’t mind.”

“Can this wait? I’m really in a hurry.” I felt bad having to brush my friend off as I had, but I had a schedule to keep.

“Oh, I’m sorry then,” she apologized. She almost looked saddened by the realization that she was taking me away from other business. “It...it’s not that important, really.”

It probably was, but far be it for her to assert herself.

“We’ll talk later, I promise,” I reassured her. I didn’t want to leave my friend feeling disheartened and that small gesture seemed to be enough to brighten her spirits. I wasn’t sure when ‘later’ would be, but I made a note to find the time somewhere in my day. Once Fluttershy was out of sight, I hurried on my way.

*******************

People and ponies alike have always been creatures of habit. Give them a task to be done regularly, such as go from one classroom to the next, and they will find an efficient way to do it, and they will keep doing it that way until they’re pushing up the daisies. Routines made people predictable, which made finding them and staging an ‘accidental’ encounter all the easier.

Taking position at the far end of the hallway, I spotted my quarry making her approach. I waited calmly at the corner, as though listening to the music currently playing in the headphones I wore. Further down the hall in the opposite direction, I could see Apple Bloom and her friends getting into position, too, and waiting for my signal. I suspected they were still hesitant to trust me, even after I had explained my plan to them, but I didn’t need their trust; only their compliance.

Oblivious to what awaited her, Diamond Tiara continued her stroll down the hallway, too busy chatting up the friend that walked alongside her to pay attention to what’s ahead. As she moved into position, I turned on the music and stepped into the intersection. All it took was putting my leg in just the right spot, and Diamond Tiara went tumbling to the ground, scattering all of our books across the ground.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!” I exclaimed, mustering my best feigned sincerity. I hung my headphones around my neck before reaching down and helping Tiara back to her feet.

“You should watch where you’re going,” Tiara snapped back. Despite her attitude, she didn’t object to the help.

“I know, I know,” I insisted apologetically. “I just got too absorbed listening to this new album I got. It’s from ‘One Orientation’—you ever listen to them?”

A rhetorical question, actually, as Diamond Tiara quoted enough of their lyrics to convince me that she knew every word of every song they had. “Listen to them? I’m probably their biggest fan ever,” she replied. Even when agreeing with me, she sounded boastful about it. “I even have backstage passes to their next concert.”

“You do? Wow. Paint me green with envy,” I continued the charade. “Personally, I’m really digging their latest song. You have to listen to it.” Without even waiting for an answer, I put my headphones onto her and turned the music up.

She took the bait, quickly becoming absorbed in the sounds of her favourite tunes. With her attention now split, I made a deft move to pluck the cellphone from her coat pocket. I didn’t keep the phone in hand for very long. Right on cue, Apple Bloom and her friends passed by in the hallway behind me, taking the stolen phone off my hands. Their responsibility was to break into Tiara’s phone, which wasn’t as hard a task as one might think. Young kids rarely thought about security or using intricate passwords, so all one needed to do was look at the fingerprint patterns on the phone’s screen protector and one could guess the password after a couple of tries.

While the younglings were off playing amateur hacker, I kept Diamond Tiara preoccupied with musings about her favourite band. It was easy to keep people talking when you shifted the conversation onto something they loved. I started handing books back to her, making sure that I also handed her the stolen playbook that I had been carrying with me.

“Oh wait, that one is mine actually,” I apologized after realizing my intentional mistake, and took the book back before she realized what I had given her.

A few moments later, one of Apple Bloom’s friends made another pass in order to casually drop the stolen phone back into my possession. I had no time to check whether they had succeeded in their sabotage, so I had to put my trust in them. Hopefully they were more competent minions than my previous ones.

“Here, you dropped your phone,” I said as I pretended to have just plucked the phone from the ground.

“Oh?” Tiara replied, looking genuinely surprised by the revelation. “Um, thanks, I guess.”

Having everything I needed from Tiara, for the time being, I made my excuse to exit the stage. “Goodness, look at the time,” I feigned as I looked to my own phone. “I better get going before I’m late for class.” In a haste, I gathered the rest of my fallen books and my headphones, and hurried on my way down the hall, leaving Diamond Tiara none the wiser.

When I turned the nearby corner, I was able to meet up with Apple Bloom. She looked quite pleased with herself, though the smile faded shortly after my arrival.

“Did you get everything?” I asked.

“An expertly captured photo, if I do say so myself,” she replied with a little bit of boasting of her own. She held out her phone and showed me one of the pictures when I ‘accidentally’ handed the playbook over to Tiara. To a casual observer and with the appropriate accompanying story, it made for a convincing scene of Diamond Tiara being handed stolen property.

“Then I’ll see you girls at the start of phase two.”

*******************

The next part of my operation began at lunch hour, or at least it began for me. There was some waiting involved, however, as I needed the game pieces to be in the right spot before I could commence. A large, crowded room with hundreds of students talking and shuffling about made for a perfect environment for subterfuge.

Though I was surrounded by my friends, I said little during our meal time. Rainbow Dash was so busy talking about the upcoming soccer game that it was hard for anyone else to get a word in anyways. I kept an eye on the lines at the cafeteria, vigilant for any sign of Diamond Tiara’s arrival.

“Sunset?” a voice snapped me from my concentration, followed by a light tapping of a fork against my half-empty glass of water. It was Fluttershy, whom I had almost forgotten had been promised a conversation. “Is everything okay? You’ve been awfully quiet today, and you haven’t touched your dessert at all.”

“Hm?” I replied without thinking. “Oh! I’m fine. Just...lost in thought, that’s all. Feels like a lot is going on.” To avoid needing to say anything further, I preoccupied myself with a drink.

“Is it about the stolen playbook?” she inquired.

When I heard her question, I almost choked on my beverage, leading to a coughing fit that left the rest of the table staring at me in confusion.

“H-how do you know about that?” I gasped out between wet coughs. Lucky for me, any sign of nervousness or concern was masked by the invasion currently being waged in my trachea.

“Everybody’s been talking about it,” Fluttershy explained, confused by my show of surprise. “They said somebody broke into the coach’s office and stole it right from under his nose!”

For a moment, I wondered how rumors of the theft had begun to spread, until I realized that it was likely planted by a certain newspaper editor in preparation for the big scoop tomorrow. Tiara made a smart choice by going after the famous playbook, as it ensured it would be a subject on the lips of every student.

“I heard the thief broke in through the air vents,” Rainbow Dash chimed in with her own version of the story. “Crawling through the ducts and then lowering down on ropes like a master spy. You know, you were in the coach’s office for a while, Sunset, did you see anything unusual?”

“Well, um...I thought I heard something in the air ducts, but I thought it was just my imagination,” I lied with a half-hearted shrug. Anybody with an ounce of common sense, though, would be able to tell you that the average building air vent was way too small for most people to fit through. Not to mention, crawling across that much sheet metal would probably sound like the god of thunder was attempting to invade your building.

The untouched desert that Fluttershy had mentioned earlier was part of my plan with Diamond Tiara. The Tutti-Frutti parfait was a popular dessert item at the cafeteria, and its scarcity as a Thursday special made it all the more sought after. In fact, if one did not arrive at the cafeteria within ten minutes, there would likely be none left.

And given that Diamond Tiara was currently being held late in Ms Yearling’s class due to somebody’s phone alarm being set to go off at full volume right in the middle of class, there would be none of her treasured parfaits left when she arrived. Depriving somebody of their favourite dessert might sound needlessly spiteful, but it was only one step in this phase of my operations.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Diamond Tiara taking a seat at a table on the far side of the cafeteria. “If you’ll pardon me, girls, I need to go and attend to some business,” I excused myself.

“Is this the same business from earlier today?” Fluttershy asked. “B-because I was hoping that I could talk to you...um, about that thing from earlier.”

Right, the conversation I had promised her. As my time was still on a limited supply, I had no choice but to offer up a half-hearted apology, and another promise that I would find the time for her. She sounded understanding, but I was reluctant to believe it. I eased my conscience by reminding myself that I would have plenty of time to talk with Fluttershy once I had secured our safety from future Gabby Gums columns.

“It’s newspaper stuff, don’t worry,” I insisted one last time before grabbing my tray.

With my friends once again pushed to the wayside, I made my way across the cafeteria, making sure to use the crowds to mask my movements. I didn’t need my friends asking too many questions, nor did I want Diamond Tiara to realize I was coming until I was right on top of her. The freshman editor tried to hide her surprise, but she wasn’t fast enough to conceal the reflex response to my sudden presence in the seat across from her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked with a hint of indignation. Her aqua eyes narrowed in suspicion, and I had no doubt that she was contemplating whether she should be on guard around me. I needed to put her at ease if I were to have any success.

“My, my, somebody is cranky,” I mused while giving a playful smirk. “What’s the matter, did the cafeteria run out of your favourite parfait?”

The vacancy on her lunch tray was evidence enough of this, but the annoyed glare she gave me helped to lend confirmation. “Is there something you want?” she asked.

“I was hoping I could set things right, so could you stop glaring daggers me?” I pleaded with her. I succeeded in getting her to relax her guard just an iota. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to work with. “Listen, I’ve been giving a lot of thought about what you said to me yesterday, and I realize now that you were right. There’s no need for animosity between us, especially when you’ve gone to such lengths to help me out already. It’s not as if people are lining up to offer me help.”

For a brief moment, Tiara’s face betrayed the sense of surprise she was feeling before snapping back to smug satisfaction. I doubt she anticipated her threatening taunts from yesterday to have been taken to heart, but far be it for her to turn down somebody handing out compliments.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re seeing things my way,” Diamond Tiara replied.

“And as a peace offering, I offer you my dessert.” I flashed my most reassuring smile as I slide the Tutti-frutti parfait across the table. “I shouldn’t have gotten upset at you yesterday. I mean, you did sort of threaten my friends, but you’re just trying to protect your interests. The newspaper is like your baby, and, in a way, my refusal was threatening you first.”

Diamond Tiara was half-distracted by the sugar-laden offering that still stood before her. “O-oh, yes! Exactly like that.” She nodded in agreement.

As she began to gorge herself on my peace offering, I leaned forward and rested my chin upon intertwined fingers. “You know, if you really want to make Gabby Gums’ columns more exciting, I could help you get some dirt on other students around here. I do have plenty of experience with snooping, after all.”

To add some honey to my new offer, I pulled out my cell phone and pulled up some images. They were old schoolbook photos from prior years of students and faculty members in humorous or embarrassing situations, but being a freshman, Tiara wouldn’t have the breadth of experience needed to recognize them. All Tiara saw was a treasure trove with eyes widening as if it were being given to her by whoever led that boy band that she was so obsessed with.

Honestly, I made sure to wipe every piece of evidence of their music from my phone once I was finished. I would rather have been tied down to a bed of nails and have the boiling tears of weeping angels poured into my ears than have to listen to another minute of that horrid excuse for music.

The twinkle in Tiara’s eyes was enough to let me know that I had hooked her interest. Before she could reach for my phone, I tucked it back into my coat pocket. She was a little disappointed at first, but she soon realized that I was keeping my cards close to my chest as well, lest I lose what advantage I had. In a strange and twisted way, I think I just earned a bit of her respect at that moment, which left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn’t as though I disliked her, or that I loathed having her approval, but her arrogance reminded me far too much of my old ways. Were I smarter or wiser, I might have been better equipped to talk her out of her self-absorbed ways, but in my youth, all I could do was hope that she didn’t learn her lesson as harshly as I had.

“I’ll be in touch,” I said with a coy smirk.

*******************

As the end of the school day drew near, I went from feeling confident in my plans to ‘drunk on empowerment.’ It was hard to believe that it had been just under a week since the Fall Formal, and I was feeling as bold and as assured as I had before my disastrous fall from grace. Taking action, seizing control of my destiny once more, felt so intoxicating I could’ve sworn I had spent the last week going through withdrawal symptoms. Maybe, I thought, returning to Canterlot High wouldn’t be so bad if I went about solving my issues in similar fashions. Just because the students were straight-forward with their disdain for me didn’t mean I had to respond in a similarly straight-forward manner.

If revenge was a dish best served cold, then I was considering starting all of my meals with dessert.

Before my final class was over, I managed to get excused early by citing a need to meet with Principal Celestia before school ended. Now technically that was true, but there was no requirement for me to get to her office before class ended. The teacher, however, did not need to know that, and it gave me ample time to conduct the final component of my scheme. I needed to get to Diamond Tiara’s locker before she did so that I could deliver the ultimatum.

I reviewed my collection of work from the past few hours, all of which had been sent to my phone. With the assistance of Apple Bloom and her cohorts, all of whom still looked at me as though I were liable to turn against them, we had assembled a telling array of photos. If the saying went that a picture told a thousand words, then I had gathered enough to make a small novel.

In a way, that was exactly what I had been planning to do: tell a story. The playbook had been stolen, and the whole school knew, so I couldn’t just put the book back where I found it. Chances were there was somebody keeping an eye on the coaches office, and I couldn’t afford to be caught with the book in my possession. However, if I just tried to straight-up frame Diamond Tiara for it, she’d likely be able to produce a half-dozen witnesses who’ll testify that she was nowhere near the coach’s office around the time of the theft. It’d fizzle out and Diamond Tiara would know who to point the finger at. Once again, it would fall to her word versus mine, and I knew where that would end.

As a result, rather than attempting to pin all the blame on Tiara, I planned to use the photographic evidence to paint her as the mastermind that she truly was. I had enough to make for a convincing tale: pictures of two girls enjoying a common interest in music, chatting over lunch, offering each other dessert, and even sharing pictures from one’s phone. The piece de resistance, however, was the picture that appeared to have me handing off a book to Diamond Tiara that looked remarkably similar to the stolen playbook. Once accompanied by a column by Gabby Gums detailing a plot hatched between two ‘friends’ to steal the treasured playbook, no amount of feigning innocence would help in escaping this noose.

The only thing left to do was to plant the stolen playbook inside Diamond Tiara’s locker, and then switch out her padlock with one of my own. That would leave me in a perfect position to get Diamond Tiara to back off, lest the principal receive an anonymous tip on where to find the stolen property.

Your run-of-the-mill combination lock was actually ridiculously easy to break into once you knew how: all you needed was a thin piece of pliable metal, and time to hone your technique. In the past, the false sense of security those locks brought out in students made it easier for me to operate without suspicion. If, for example, you left your phone in your locker, then you’d never even consider the possibility of me breaking in and stealing all of the data off of it.

Today, though, I planned to use my skills of breaking and entering to help others rather than ruin their lives. Granted, it was by threatening to ruin one person’s life, but the needs of the many outweighed one girl’s feelings, or so I told myself.

Once I reached Tiara’s locker, I checked my surroundings one more time before setting to work. Thirty more seconds of work, and my problems with that girl would be nothing more than a bad memory, and a reminder not to trust spoiled brats.

“This isn’t your locker,” a terrifyingly familiar voice sounded behind me.

I spun about quickly, keeping my back against the locker as to hide my illicit activities, to once again discover that my friend, who I began to seriously suspect was a ninja in a previous life, Fluttershy had managed to get the drop on me again. What caught me by surprise, though, was not the source but just how firm the tone was. Hers was not a comment of the inquisitive nature, but rather one of subtle accusation.

“How do you keep doing that?” I exclaimed. My friend seemed confused as to what I was referring to, as if she were unaware of her seemingly inhuman ability to appear at my shoulder without a sound. Seeing the confusion on her face, I decided to just push the conversation past it. “Just forget about it! What are you doing here?”

At first, there was nothing but silence and a stern glare, which coming from Fluttershy felt both foreign and terrifying. “I should be the one asking that,” she remarked. Slowly, her arms folded across her chest, and her gaze narrowed in on me. “Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

I had feigned innocence so many times in the past, it should have come naturally to me. Yet, for some reason, Fluttershy’s petrifying gaze set every panic-nerve off in my brain.

“N-nothing really,” I tried to insist while tucking the playbook behind my back. “I was just on my way to Principal Celestia, that’s all. Honest!”

“Oh really?” came her response, accompanied by growing skepticism. “If you ask me, it looks more like you’re trying to break into someone’s locker.”

“What? Break into a locker?” I tried to deflect the accusations with my own display of incredulity. I scoffed and waved off the suggestion, even letting out a forced chuckle of feigned amusement. “That is, like, such a ridiculous thing to think, Fluttershy. Why on Earth would I ever do that? N-not that I even could. I mean, it’s called a locker, after all.”

I may have had more luck trying to convince her I was the Princess of Equestria because she just grabbed my arm and wrenched it out into the open, revealing the stolen playbook. Perhaps if I had gone with the lie that I was merely returning a book to its owner, which wasn’t too far from the truth in a twisted way, I may have had more room to verbally manoeuvre. As it was, all I could muster was a half-hearted smile. There was little hope that Fluttershy would not recognize what was in my hand, as she happened to be staring at the side of the book with the word ‘playbook’ scrawled across it.

“I...found it behind a dumpster?” That was less of an explanation and more of a hopeful plead that Fluttershy would give me some scrap of trust.

Whatever reservoir of trust I may have had with Fluttershy beforehand, there was none left to be had now. She released her vice-like grasp on my wrist and proceeded to set her hands upon her hips, glaring at me with the intensity of a thousand suns.

“I am only going to ask you this once, Sunset Shimmer, were you going to threaten Diamond Tiara by planting the playbook in her locker?”

The precision with which she dropped her accusation was far too good to be just a lucky guess, or even a well-thought-out deduction, no offense to Fluttershy’s intelligence. No point trying to keep up a facade at this point.

“I see you’ve spoken with Applejack,” I remarked.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Fluttershy demanded. As she stepped in, I had to flatten against the locker just to keep a comfortable level of distance from her.

“You already know the answer.”

“I want to hear it from you.” Were it anybody else, I would’ve expected an ‘or else’ to have followed those words. However, coming from Fluttershy, it’s absence made for an even deeper impact. Her stare was petrifying, which only made me wonder how in Equestria did I go three years without her ever unleashing it on me?

Rattled by guilt and anxiety, my conscience finally had enough and threw in the towel. “Fine! Yes!” I snapped back. “I was going to leave the playbook in Diamond Tiara’s locker so I could force her to quit the newspaper and leave us all alone!”

Suddenly, Fluttershy’s expression softened up, and the glare of accusation turned to one of saddened disappointment. “Sunset Shimmer, how could you do this? I thought you were better than this,” she lamented.

Better than this? I had no standing at the school anymore; a handful of friends who were asked to look after me; and I slept in the guest bedroom of my principal’s house. I hadn’t the slightest clue what I was anymore, let alone what constituted as ‘better.’ I tried to play nice, and all I got in return to show for it was a big fist full of failure. When I tried to be more proactive, and went to great lengths to try and avoid hurting others, save for one stupid midfielder, I just got taken advantage of. I had spent the past several days getting more acquainted with fear and loathing than any person should. In fact, that day had been the first time since the Fall Formal where I had actually felt confident and in control of my life. If this was ‘worse,’ then somebody needed to explain to me why I should be avoiding things that made me feel great.

“I’m just doing this to protect you and the others,” I explained. Despite feeling ‘great,’ staring at Fluttershy seemed to be causing guilt to creep up on me. “I knew there would be risks to me when I made the deal with Diamond Tiara, but I thought making a personal sacrifice for somebody else was part of what being a friend is all about.”

“That is part of being a friend,” Fluttershy answered as she rested a hand upon my shoulder, “but kindness is also about taking your friend’s feelings into consideration. Do you really think I care about the animal shelter more than I care about you?”

“Um...yes?”

The disappointing glare I got in response told me that I had the wrong answer.

“I care about the animal shelter, and about you,” my friend continued on. “I would never, ever, be happy knowing that these animals were only benefiting because of your personal suffering.”

“I’m not suffering, Fluttershy.” This time I was insisting something that I felt to be true. The pictures in the paper were embarrassing, yes, but nothing that would make me lose sleep. “I’d rather people be laughing at me than hating me.”

“And what about this?” she replied while gesturing to the stolen book.

I didn’t quite follow what she was getting at since neither the theft nor my subsequent plan for dealing with Tiara caused me any suffering beyond enduring some awful music. When I gave Fluttershy a puzzled shrug, she let out a sigh.

“Sunset, do you know what it means to be good?”

That was an odd question, and certainly one that I could’ve spent the next hour or so having a lively debate over, citing the various moral and ethical philosophies from some of the greatest minds in Equestrian history like Immanuel Canter or Fetlocrates. However, I suspected Fluttershy had a much more poignant answer in store for me. At first, I thought it had been a rhetorical question, but as my friend continued to stare at me in silence, I realized that she was expecting a response.

Uncertain of how to respond, I threw up my arms in a half-hearted shrug. “Gaining...the most benefit for the most number of people for the least amount of harm inflicted?”

Judging by the familiar glare, I was wrong yet again. Apparently Fluttershy did not prescribe to the school of utilitarianism, which in hindsight I should’ve realized from everything she had said moments earlier.

“It’s about acting with kindness in your heart,” she explained and accentuated her answer by resting her hand upon the center of her chest. “And that’s towards everybody, not just the people you want to help. Doing what gets the best result for your friends cannot be the only measure—what’s in your heart and how you act are just as important. What you’re doing is exactly what you used to do before: lie, cheat, and steal. Just because you’re doing it to help your friends rather than to help yourself doesn’t change the fact that it’s still wrong.”

“But...but I don’t know what else to do,” I said, shame now washing over every part of me. I looked down to the playbook, its tattered pages now feeling like a lead weight of guilt in my hands. “I can’t let you and the others suffer because I screwed up. I just...I just wanted to help.”

She was right about a lot of things, of course. It made me question whether this plan had been concocted out of a true desire to help my friends, or simply because this was how I used to solve my problems. I had spent days feeling insecure and uncertain about myself, and it led me to grabbing onto the first thing that gave me some semblance of the time when I wasn’t. Was I really looking to help my friends, or just saving myself from my own anxieties?

Suddenly, I felt Fluttershy’s hand upon my chin, gently lifting my gaze back up to meet her reassuring smile. “I know you do, but you’ve been down this road before, and you know where it will lead. Is that what you really want?”

I shook my head.

“Then how about we find a better way?” she offered with an outstretched hand. “May I have your phone, please?”

It was easy to guess why she wanted the phone. Yet even when buried under a mountain of truth, doubt still held a grip on my mind. I reached into my pocket, but I hesitated to go any further. “But without these photos, I’ve got no leverage. She’ll sic Gabby Gums on you and the others.”

“It’s just a gossip column,” Fluttershy reminded me. “A few embarrassing pictures might hurt, but it’ll pass. If you go through with your plan, I’m worried that things might never change for you.”

A part of me wanted to tell her that this was a one-time affair—that I only did this because I had to, not because I wanted to. However, deep in my heart, I knew that wasn’t entirely true. I had other options available, but this was the one that I trusted because it was what I was most familiar with. Justifying my actions felt more akin to making excuses, and if I could justify returning to my old ways for the sake of my friends, how long would it be before I was justifying it for my own sake?

The realization felt like getting smothered with a pillow: something normally so light and comforting, yet it would be the end of me if I didn’t escape while I still had the chance.

Before I could second-guess myself any further, I shoved the phone into Fluttershy’s awaiting hand. At least if she took the option away from me, I wouldn’t be tempted by it any longer. I was beginning to understand why Celestia felt I needed supervision as I clearly couldn’t trust my own sense of judgement to make the right calls, at least not until I had a better understanding of the nuances of friendship.

As the afternoon bell rang, signaling the end of the day, Fluttershy and I decided it would be best to make our way elsewhere before Diamond Tiara showed up. For the moment, I followed alongside Fluttershy, and not just because she still had my phone. Without the pictures, I had no means to defend myself against Tiara, and I was still in possession of certain stolen goods. In a few hours, Tiara would come looking for me in order to arrange the hand-off that would see me get plastered across the front page of the school newspaper. I had no doubt that she had a back-up plan in store just in case I got cold feet at the last second. Fluttershy may have saved me from one bad decision, but I was still in a world of trouble because of other ones.

“I still need to do something about this,” I commented while gesturing to the book in my possession. I kept it close to my chest, concealed under my coat so that no passing student noticed it. With all of the students pouring out of the classrooms in their mad rush for freedom, the last thing I needed was a random do-gooder noticing my misdeeds.

“I have an idea for that,” Fluttershy replied. She decided to remain intentionally cryptic about her intentions, leaving me to ponder what schemes could arise in that soft-spoken mind of hers. Given that my recent experiences with Luna and Celestia exposed me to completely unexpected sides of their lives, I would not have been surprised if somewhere under the quiet innocence, Fluttershy had a vindictive streak a mile long.

Thankfully, Fluttershy had something far more restrained in mind, although no less uncomfortable for me. Her plan was, in fact, something that had been brought to my attention before but I had dismissed it off-hand. Even though I was willing to trust anything that my friend suggested, a small part of me was still hesitant when we stopped outside of Ms. Yearling’s classroom.

“What if she doesn’t believe me?” I murmured as trepidation began to take hold.

I felt my friend’s hands rest upon both of my shoulder. She stood just behind me, although I did not know if it was to help encourage me forward, or just to keep me from running. A very gentle pressure then began to push against my back, ushering me towards the door.

“You’ll just have to trust her,” Fluttershy reassured me.

In a frantic rush, my mind ran through dozens of possible scenarios as to how to respond: throwing the book inside and running as fast as I could came in as the top contender, followed by tearful pleas for mercy, and play dead. Even begging Fluttershy to go in my stead was sounding like a favorable alternative to confronting Ms. Yearling. The last time I really spoke to her, I said something along the lines of ‘it’ll be a cold day in Tartarus before I ever come to you for help,’ which had been in response to Yearling insisting that my actions and subsequent departure from the newspaper club would have long-standing repercussions.

“You say that like trust is that simple,” I said.

“It is,” she insisted, “trust me.”

Act I-VII

Had I been a better student, I probably would have counted Ms. Yearling as one of my favourite teachers in the school. She was equal parts challenging and fostering, enabling those who struggled to succeed, and pushing the gifted to excel. During my freshman year, I was enamored by her willingness to break away from the normal school curriculum and used literary sources that more conservative-minded adults might have considered too adult for high schoolers to be learning from. I never would have imagined that a Daring Do book could have been so educational and such an eye-opener.

She was the sort of teacher who would engage her students, and once upon a time, I actually enjoyed having conversations with her, or even just listening to her go off on a tangent, which could go on for a while if you didn’t interrupt her. I remembered the hour-long lecture on 15th century civilizations just because the subject was broached in the Daring Do book we were reading as a class. History lessons may not have been her responsibility, but I doubt I could’ve learned more under any other teacher.

Alas, as my ambitions drew back to Equestrian magic and securing myself as de facto ruler of the student body, my interest in Ms. Yearling faded. The sharp wit and keen mind no longer provided me with knowledge and entertainment, and instead became a nuisance whenever I had a new scheme to unfurl. Yearling was smart enough to know when things weren’t as they should be, and it took a lot of work on my part to avoid leaving evidence for her to use against me. When I started using my time in the newspaper club to further my goals, Yearling never stopped looking over my shoulders in hopes of catching me in the act of some crime. I still respected her, even after leaving the newspaper, but I kept my interactions with her to a minimum.

Fluttershy easing me into Yearling’s classroom would mark the first time I had spoken to the literary expert in almost half a year. To describe my mindset as ‘nervous’ would be like describing Fluttershy as ‘a little bit jumpy.’ Even with my friend between me and the door, fleeing like a scared rabbit still felt like a favorable option. Knowing full well that my second guessing would only get worse the more I loitered, I forced myself to take the last few steps that planted me in front of Yearling’s desk.

Now unless Yearling had developed cataracts since our last meeting, there was no way that the woman toiling away on a laptop had yet to notice my arrival. Behind those red, wire-framed glasses, her eyes remained fixated on her work, which I could only assume to be important and engaging given the speed that her fingertips flew across the keyboard.

I had hoped for Yearling to make the first move, but it was obvious that she was forcing that option onto me. I shot a nervous glance back over to Fluttershy, who stood at the nearby doorway, but she had nothing to offer other than a non-verbal gesture to get on with it.

Finally, I cleared my throat, loudly. The click-clacking of the keyboard stopped, and her magenta eyes glanced up to meet my own gaze. Still no words spoken, though.

“I...um, I was hoping to speak with you, Ms. Yearling,” I began. Why was I feeling so nervous? I was never the shy or soft-spoken type, so why did it feel like there was a vice tightening around my chest? There were so many potential outcomes to this conversation, and I had taken zero time to prepare for them. All I could envision was angry yelling, being dragged into the Principal’s office, and yet another Celestia realizing that I was beyond salvation. “I sorta need your help with something.”

Yearling said nothing at first, rather resuming her typing for a brief stint. When she stopped, she smirked and looked back to me. “Well, it’s not exactly freezing, but I guess relative to Tartarus’ usual, it’s cold enough,” she remarked. Yearling then closed her laptop and cupped her hands together on top of it, one finger beginning a steady, rhythmic tapping. “So to what do I owe the pleasure of Canterlot High’s most notorious of students?”

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked.

She smiled again, less from amusement and more self-congratulatory. “Well I did spend the last year and half having my colleagues all insist that you were the model of perfection. It’s nice to know that I wasn’t paranoid, and you really were up to something this whole time. I almost wish I had a photographer at the Fall Formal so I could have had a framed picture of you as a hell-spawned horror, if only to remind myself that some students really can be that bad.”

I let out a quiet groan as my nervousness was slowly replaced with frustration and despair. “I guess help is out of the question, then.”

“Oh, by Ahuizotl, no!” Yearling insisted in a surprising move. “I might be deriving some small sense of satisfaction and amusement in light of your recent exposure as a morally-bankrupt ne’er-do-well, but I wouldn’t be much of a teacher if I didn’t do what I could to help you on your journey of self-improvement.”

“How did you—?”

“Principal Celestia sent out a memo,” Yearling deadpanned. She leaned back in her seat, folding her arms across her chest. “Believe me, even if I wanted to lambaste you for your past deeds, Tia has made it abundantly clear that she will drop a hammer on any member of the faculty that even thinks about sabotaging your second chance.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that news. On the one hand, it did mean that Celestia was doing more than I thought in ensuring my return to school wasn’t a terrifying ordeal, but at the same time, it felt a bit like how my new friends were acting on Twilight’s instructions too. It would have been foolish to think that people would be willing to help me without having to be coerced, but the adage of beggars and choosers came to mind.

“Anyways,” I said as I attempted to steer the conversation back to the important matter at hand, “I was wondering if I could talk to you about Diamond Tiara, and her recent actions as the student-editor.”

“What about her?” Yearling replied. “If you’ve got a problem with the newspaper, you should take to the Principal: she’s the one who told me that I needed to let the paper be a ‘student affair’ and to keep my duties strictly to an advisory role.”

I could tell by the tone that Yearling did not like that particular arrangement. Though I would never describe her as a control freak, she was the type that preferred to be involved with projects rather than sitting on the sidelines. It’s why she took over for the newspaper club in the first place, since most of the clubs just needed the teacher to watch over and make sure one student didn’t knock out another with a tennis ball or something. I didn’t believe that Yearling had no interest in what I wanted to say, but rather something else was holding her back. It took a moment of thought, but I eventually formulated a theory.

“I don’t believe for a second that you’d rather pawn this off to Principal Celestia,” I shot back, throwing in my own little smirk. I felt a whole lot more confident all of a sudden, though I was mindful this time not to let that confidence go to my head. “You’re scared of Diamond Tiara, too, aren’t you?”

As I had hoped, Yearling took that personally, rising to her feet and slamming her hands across the desk. “You think I’d be intimidated by some diamond-speckled whelp?” she snapped back. “I’m not scared of her, her father, or their thousand-dollar-an-hour lawyer.” Once she calmed down, Yearling dropped back into her seat and, with more restraint, interlinked her hands in front of her and recovered her mantle of professionalism. “I’m also not stupid, and flinging accusations without evidence is an easy way to become a target of vindictive children and their high-priced lawyers.”

“Well, your student-editor is strong-arming her staff into writing columns they don’t want to, and she coerced me into stealing Easy Glider’s playbook in order to create headlines.”

Yearling remained stoic in light of the accusation, merely replying with, “Serious accusations require serious evidence.”

I answered her challenge by dropping the playbook onto the desk. The hefty ‘thump’ of the decades-old tome was enough to break her facade, prompting a wide-eyed look of shock that took a few seconds for her to bury away.

“Okay, you’ve got my attention,” she said, reaching out and reorienting the book so that it faced her. She casually opened it up and began to flip through the pages, as if taking a moment to confirm its authenticity. “You do realize, though, that this only proves that you stole the book. This doesn’t even insinuate a connection to Diamond Tiara.”

For a brief instant, I regretted having surrendered my phone to Fluttershy, thus destroying any evidence I could have used to convince Yearling of my case. However, as my soft-spoken friend had explained, means and motive mattered just as much as the end result, and if I had to resort to lying then I didn’t deserve to win. People would have you believe that the only thing that mattered was the truth, but what good was truth if nobody believed it? I had nothing but my own stupidity and pride to blame for that, which meant I had to swallow what little pride I had remaining.

“I know how bad this makes me seem,” I said before making a brief pause to cast a glance back to Fluttershy, “and I’m willing to accept the consequences of my actions. All I’m asking is that you at least grant me the smallest benefit of the doubt, and please look into this matter. Please, I don’t ask this for my sake, but for my friends, who don’t deserve to suffer for my indiscretions, and for the students who are too scared to speak up. I’m asking—no, I’m begging you, please...help them.”

The silence I had to endure while waiting for Yearling to mull over her options, and perhaps having a silent chuckle at my rather pathetic attempt at begging, was enough to give a girl an aneurysm. Her fingertips began to tap out an almost rhythmic pattern upon her computer. Whether or not she believed me, at the very least I could comfort myself knowing that I would be able to walk out of the room knowing that I did the right thing...eventually.

“I can’t make you any promises,” Yearling finally spoke up, maintaining her level, professional tone, “but I’ll look into the matter. I...appreciate your honesty in this matter, and I will be sure to make note of that when I report this to Principal Celestia. Now I suggest you run along, and enjoy your freedom while it lasts.”

With a gentle wave of her hand, she gestured for me to be on my way while she returned to working on her computer. I felt conflicted upon meeting up with Fluttershy; on the one hand, I was going to be in a world of trouble with Celestia when she found out, but given the grave I had dug myself into, this was probably the only right choice to make. I was still worried about my friends, but I felt a bit more confident now that I knew that Yearling was going to be making her own investigations.

“I’m proud of you, Sunset,” Fluttershy said to me as we stepped back into the hallway.

“That makes one of us at least,” I said with a sigh of resignation. “I can’t believe I allowed it to get this bad. I should’ve just listened to you from the start.”

“It’s not your fault...well, not entirely,” my infinitely patient friend reassured me. “You’re used to solving everything by yourself on your own terms. Honestly, I wish I could have that kind of confidence. Still, you have friends now, and there’s no shame in turning to us for help.”

I managed a weak smile; it wasn’t much, but I felt a tiny bit better about my prospects thanks to Fluttershy. I had a feeling that I would be needing to turn to her advice many more times in the near future, if only to make sure that my moral compass was still aligned properly.

*******************

Despite a strong urge to return home and lock myself away in preparation for the stern lecture I would surely receive from Celestia, Fluttershy managed to convince me to join her and the others at Sugarcube Corner after school. The thought of something laden with chocolate and cream made for an enticing offer. On top of that, Celestia was bound to implement some form of punishment once Yearling told her of my misdeeds, so there was a good chance that this would be my last chance to socialize as a free woman for the next little while.

The other girls were already at the cafe by the time Fluttershy and I arrived: Rarity was enjoying her tea while discussing the latest gossip with Pinkie, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash were having a milkshake race. Rainbow Dash won, and by that I mean that she was the first to start screaming of an ice cream headache, clutching at the sides of her skull as though somebody had just jammed a frozen vanilla syringe into her brain. Judging by Applejack’s casual smirk, that had been her plan from the very beginning. They were gathered at their usual, favourite spot near the cashier with the big, green couch.

“Howdy you two, what kept ya?” Applejack was the first to greet our arrival.

“I needed some...help from Fluttershy,” I explained with the hopes of not having to get into too much detail about it.

It turned out that was a forlorn hope as Fluttershy gave me a nudge with her elbow. When I glanced her way to see why, she gestured to the others and said, “I think you owe a few of our friends an apology.”

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve objected to being forced to apologize, but with humble pie having become a staple of my diet, I went along with Fluttershy’s request. I still didn’t like the idea, but if apologies were supposed to be fun, then people would be doing horrible things all the time.

“Just give me a second to find the right words,” I said with a sigh. Once I took a seat, I noticed all of my friends were looking to me with varying degrees of curiosity and confusion. I think out of everyone, Applejack was the only other person who knew what this apology was all about. “The past few days, I may have been...not entirely honest with all of you, some more than others. In doing something that I thought would help Fluttershy, I instead wound up doing some rather unsavory things.” I then proceeded to explain the whole ordeal from the beginning, including my original plans to blackmail Diamond Tiara and how Fluttershy talked me down. The girls appeared to be surprised, but not disappointed or angry. I guess Applejack was right when she said my heart was in the right place even if my head wasn’t. “I owe Applejack a huge apology, I should have listened to you from the start, and I’m sorry I put you into a position where you had to hide the truth from your friends.”

“In all fairness, though, I did wind up telling Fluttershy in the end,” Applejack replied with an indifferent shrug. “I think we can call ourselves even.” I believe Applejack said that just to spare me from any further guilt, which I did appreciate.

“And I owe an apology to Rainbow Dash as well,” I continued, turning my gaze over to her. She had been paying little attention to the conversation, unfortunately, but perked up when she heard her name being mentioned. “I took advantage of your friendship in order to steal a playbook. So, again, I’m sorry.”

“No biggie,” Rainbow replied with a shrug. “To be honest, I’m sort of impressed you could break into a locked drawer in the minute or so that I had stepped out of the room. Where’d you learn how to do that?”

I hadn’t expected Rainbow Dash to show much interest in one of my obscure and clandestine hobbies. Like a lot of the new skills I picked up in this world, it stemmed mostly from necessity rather than a genuine interest. “Online resources and lots of practise,” I answered. “It’s not illegal to own a lockpick kit, after all. I bought a kit online along with a whole bunch of different locks and just kept working on it at night.”

“Okay, now that just sounds kinda boring,” Rainbow said as her interest fell to the wayside. “So does this mean you can break into all sorts of locked places?”

“Hardly, I’ve only been practising on and off for the past year or so,” I explained. Discussing my old habits felt awkward for me, as if I should be more ashamed of these skills, or at the very least, less forthcoming about them. “I can handle your run-of-the-mill padlock and maybe cheap locks on desks and filing cabinets, but I’ve never tried on anything more complicated than that.”

Rainbow Dash leaned back in her seat, balancing her milkshake on the palm of her hand, as she pondered over what I had just said. “Eh, I guess that’s still pretty cool,” she remarked after a moment of contemplation.

“Thanks...I think.” On the one hand, it was nice to know that my friends didn’t think less of me for possessing some more esoteric skills, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to talk about it, lest I get tempted to put those skills to use again.

“I wonder if the school has a lock picking club. Maybe there’s another hobby we can try,” Pinkie Pie commented. She appeared to still be fixated on the idea of getting me into a club, not that I didn’t appreciate the effort. Everyone was quick to point out that no such club would get an approval from the principal. “You know, now that I think about it, Sunset, there’s a lot we don’t know about you.”

“Well if you want to ask, my pride is too tenderized to fight back against any personal or invasive questions,” I offered.

Pinkie’s grin grew twice in size as she began waving her arms in the air as if she were having a seizure. “Oh! Pick me first. I have a question!” she shouted.

I had to refrain from chuckling too loudly at her antics, though I did stay silent for a few more seconds just to watch her as she flailed about the table like an over-eager student. “Okay Pinkie,” I finally gave in, “what’s your question?”

Pinkie grabbed a nearby napkin and began to use the chocolate shake at the end of her straw to doodle crude pictures across them. “Okay, so Twilight told us that she was actually from another world where she lived as a pony princess,” Pinkie began, holding up a stick-figure drawing of a horse with a crown, “and she came to our world because you stole a crown from hers.” For some reason, Pinkie decided to make a slide-show out of her question, folding the napkin over to reveal another stick figure of what I presumed to be me and a stolen crown jumping through a portal. “So if you knew about her crown and how it works, then that means you’re from that world too.”

“Is there actually going to be a question?” I asked due to growing impatience.

“You were a pony too, right?”

“Yes, Pinkie, I used to be a pony.” Was all that lead-up necessary for such a mundane question? To be honest, I was surprised that Twilight hadn’t made any mention of that before she left.

“What was it like?”

Though I had a general idea what Pinkie was referring to, I felt nonetheless confused. “What was what like?” I asked in the hopes of clarification.

“Being a pony, obviously,” Pinkie answered. “Was it fun? Do ponies throw parties too? Are there, like, pony-version of pony rides there?”

Before I could even get a chance to answer Pinkie’s question, the subject opened a flood gate from the rest. What did they eat? What did they wear? Did they have sports? How did they farm? Could all the animals talk?

“Didn’t Twilight tell you any of these things when she was with you girls?” I snapped back, if only to avoid getting buried under more Equestria-related questions.

“She didn’t really tell us until the day of the Fall Formal,” Rarity explained. “We were all focused on helping Twilight get her crown back that we never really got a chance to ask. When your whole...um, demon-thing happened, that left us with even less time.” There was a quick round of nods and murmurs of agreement from the others. It was a pity that the portal only opened every thirty moons, otherwise I would’ve dragged Twilight back so she could field the hundred-and-one questions that she should’ve handled in the first place.

“Listen, girls, you’re asking a lot at once,” I tried to reason with them. With any luck, I could maybe talk them down to just a few very specific questions rather than having to spend my afternoon giving them a verbal guided tour of Equestria. “My world is...a lot like this one, except that instead of humans, everyone is a pony. I mean, there’s also goats, cows, donkeys, mules, and gryphons.”

“You have gryphons?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Aw man, I wish I could be a gryphon. That would be so awesome!”

“As I was saying,” I cut in, unamused by the interruption, “there’s a lot of similarities between our worlds. I mean, the only other major difference is we use a lot of magic where you people would have technology.”

Unlike her friend, Applejack waited for a pause in the dialogue before asking her next question. “Could everyone use magic?” she inquired.

“If its imbued into a mundane object, like a book, then yes. Otherwise, though, magic was pretty much exclusive to unicorns.”

“So that means you were a unicorn?” Rarity chimed. “Oh my, that sounds so majestic. It must have been incredible to be able to use magic everyday like it’s completely normal.”

“Yeah, it was pretty awesome,” I replied. My voice began to falter and trailed off at the end. The realization that magic was now completely beyond my grasp hadn’t quite sunk in until that moment. As I fell deathly silent, my friends were quick to clue in on that root of my sudden tranquility.

“I’m sorry, darling, we didn’t mean to make you feel homesick,” Rarity apologized. There was another round of nods and murmurs of agreement from the others.

I knew they were trying to be polite, but none of them could fully understand what I was feeling at that instant. It was a little more than just being homesick: magic had been an integral part of me for most of my life. Back in Equestria, whenever somebody said ‘Sunset Shimmer,’ the first thing that popped to mind was ‘magic.’ A Sunset Shimmer without her magic was like Applejack without her farm, or Pinkie Pie without her parties. Remaining in the human world wasn’t just losing Equestria, it was losing a part of myself.

“It’s no big deal,” I said dismissively. There were enough things in my life that my friends were already helping me with, dumping a problem that they could never solve was not going to help anybody. “I guess a part of me just wishes I had gone back to Equestria with Twilight. Even though things would never be the same with me and Princess Celestia, at least I’d be back to my old self again.”

“Whoa! Hold the phone there, missy,” Applejack interrupted suddenly. “Did you just say Princess Celestia?”

“Didn’t Twilight mention that her world has a Celestia, too?” I asked back even though I could tell what the answer was going to be. The confused and stunned looks I got in response was all the confirmation I needed. “Of course she didn’t: because that would’ve been convenient and spared me from having to explain it.” As my friends continued staring at me, expecting an answer, I knew my hopes of avoiding this awkward line of discussion had just run out the door, across the street, and caught a bus out of town. “Okay, here’s the deal: the world that Twilight and I came from isn’t just another world, it’s a parallel world. Pretty much everyone who exists in this world, does or has existed in the other world. Here, Celestia is the principal of a high school, but where I’m from, Celestia is a princess and the nigh-immortal ruler of the Kingdom of Equestria.”

“Wow, somebody got the short end of the stick on that deal,” Rainbow Dash quipped.

Applejack was the first to start piecing together the implications of my response. “So that would explain how Twilight knew my name when we first met. She must know the Applejack from her world.”

“You probably both like wearing that hat,” Rainbow joked before giving the aforementioned chapeau a quick flick to tip it over Applejack’s eyes.

“But if you and Twilight are from a different world, then doesn’t that mean there’s a version of you already here?” Ten points to Fluttershy for being the first to reach the inevitable question.

“Yes, there probably is another me somewhere out there,” I answered. Though I had few options available if I ever did run into myself, I had taken the precautions of conducting my own investigations. “But I’ve checked the school records, and even did some searching on the internet. I couldn’t find any record of another Sunset Shimmer coming within a hundred miles of Canterlot High.”

A brilliant grin spread across Pinkie’s face as an idea dawned upon her. “Maybe next time we can visit Twilight’s world,” she suggested, “and then I can meet the other me. Oh! I bet I would be the bestest of friends with me!”

“I’m not entirely sure any universe is prepared to have two Pinkie Pies in it,” Applejack joked.

I sometimes wondered if even one Pinkie Pie was pushing our luck with cosmic boundaries.

“You don’t suppose this also means there’s another Twilight Sparkle out there somewhere?” Rarity remarked.

It was a thought that had crossed my mind in recent days. While I had done my research into any possible existence of a second Sunset Shimmer, I had never bothered to look into other Twilights. In my three years at Canterlot High, I had never encountered any sign of her, so I had always presumed that she was simply too far away to be of any concern. However, when Rarity broached the subject, I worried about what a second Twilight might mean. The response that I feared came swift.

“Maybe we should see about finding the other Twilight then,” Rainbow Dash suggested. “I mean, even if she’s only half as awesome as the other Twilight is, then that’s still pretty good.”

It was a natural response to the situation, as unnatural as said situation happened to be. It had only been a week, but they all missed their friend. They all knew, as I had explained to them, that the portal between our worlds only opened every thirty moons, which meant it would be years before Twilight could even potentially return, let alone pull herself away from her responsibilities as an Equestrian princess. It was only natural that the others would want to seek out any chance of having that friendship again, just like I would seek any chance at regaining magic.

Thankfully, Applejack gave voice to the concerns that would have made me sound jealous or paranoid if I had spoken them.

“Listen, I miss Twilight as much as the rest of ya, but we can’t just go up and treat a second Twilight like she’s identical to the first,” she interjected. One could always rely on Applejack to be the voice of reason to counterbalance Rainbow’s bravado or Pinkie’s hyperactive enthusiasm. “As far as we ought to be concerned, the Twilight of this world is as much a stranger as the next random gal. If we acted like we knew her, it’d probably creep her out...or worse.”

“We don’t have to act like we know her,” Rainbow Dash insisted. Whether she honestly believed that to be a valid idea or simply her usual behavior of taking anything Applejack said and assuming a counter-position to it. Everything had to be a competition with those two. “There’s no harm if we just bump into her and start talking. If we become friends, she’ll never have to know.”

“I can’t be the only one here who thinks that’s an even worse idea!” Applejack snapped back. I did, but I refrained from getting involved with the debate, as did the other girls. “There’s no way we could keep that kind of a secret, friend or not. Rarity’s got, like, a bazillion pictures on her MyStable page of Twilight at the Fall Formal.”

“For your information,” Rarity spoke up in her own defense, “those photo albums are set to private. They can be seen by my frien—oohhh. I think I may have realized a slight flaw in that plan.”

“No kidding,” Applejack deadpanned. “Listen, I know this may sound harsh, but it might be for the best if we just...forget about this world’s Twilight. I mean, she ain’t ever going to be able to replace our friend, so why try?”

There were quiet sighs of disappointment from the others as they realized the truth of her words. From freaking out a poor innocent girl with the news of a magical doppelganger, to the sheer risk of the magic portal becoming public knowledge, there were just too many risks involved. If word got out about the magic portal, we risked losing our only connection to Twilight, and my only way back home. Plus, if the world found out about the magic portal, they might find out about me, and then I’d wake up in the middle of night with a burlap sack over my head, being carted off to some secret government facility in the middle of the desert where they could do Celestia-knows what kind of experiments.

I didn’t want to be probed! I had seen the movies; I knew where they put those things.

“I think I should get going,” I announced all of a sudden and promptly rose to my feet. Lingering around any longer would just cause my mind to drift back to secrets and probings, and I would rather not have a panic attack in the middle of Sugarcube Corner. “I’ve got a lot of homework to finish, and I’m sure Princess—er, I mean, Principal Celestia will want to have a word with me.”

“You okay, Sunset? You look a little weirded out,” Applejack inquired.

“It’s nothing. I’ve just got a lot of probing—I mean reading! I’ve got a lot of reading to do.”

Despite their confused stares that begged for a better explanation, I made a hasty retreat before I embarrassed myself further. I wasn’t sure why I allowed myself to get so shaken up over a trivial thought, but it had never dawned on me what kind of repercussions I faced if more people found out that I wasn’t native to this world. Back when I assumed my stay here would be temporary and kept a low-profile, I had no real reason to be afraid. Suffice to say, though, that was no longer the case. Thankfully, the other students at Canterlot High didn’t realize the full extent of who and what Twilight and I were. As far as they were aware, Twilight Sparkle was just some magical girl from somewhere far away. So long as I didn’t attract any further attention, I should be safe.

As I headed down the sidewalk, I noticed that my backpack was lighter than it should’ve been. A quick check inside revealed the answers as to why. “Oh, blast it all. I forgot my history book in my locker,” I grumbled upon discovering the absence.

Though my homework wasn’t worth much in terms of marks, I saw no reason why I shouldn’t treat it with the same level of diligence as any other assignment. It would only require a brief detour back to the school to grab what I needed.

If I had known what events I was about to set into motion, I would’ve just gone home and handed in a piece of paper with alphabet soup poured across it.

*******************

Lucky for me, the school still had a few clubs and meetings running, so I didn’t have to beg a janitor to unlock the doors for me. However, at this hour of the day, only a few of the side doors were still unlocked, so I had to navigate around the school in order to get inside. On the way, I passed by the front entrance, pausing for a brief moment at the still-ruined main doors. Proper reconstruction had already begun, so the entire front entryway was covered in tarps and plastics in order to keep wandering students from interfering with the work. I still remembered spending the night of the Fall Formal cleaning the mess up.

Thank goodness that Celestia decided against having us do any actual rebuilding. Turns out there were legal and insurance-based reasons why it was better to leave such work to professional contractors.

I noticed that even the crater had yet to be fully filled in, though given its size, that wasn’t too surprising. I never realized how big a hole the incident had left until I was standing at the edge, looking down. A part of me wanted to forget about that entire night, but the big blue tarp over the front doors and the bright orange pylons around the crater made it hard for me to ignore the scars of my past ambitions.

“I don’t get it, Spike. None of these readings make sense.”

In that moment of fixation with my accidental landscaping, I failed to notice that I was not alone in the schoolyard, and that somebody had been lurking on the opposite side of the high school’s famous horse statue. When I turned towards the source of the unsettlingly familiar voice, I saw the last person I expected emerging into view. At first my mind was in absolute disbelief, as if I had just witnessed somebody rising from the dead. There was no way it could be her, and yet there she was.

“Twi—!” Thankfully, my brain had been fast enough to stop me from blurting out Twilight’s name as I slapped a hand over my mouth. Though the girl in the distance was, without a doubt, Twilight Sparkle, there was also no question that it was not the same girl that had been crowned Princess of the Fall Formal. Rather than the image of a prim and proper student, the girl in the distance looked as though she cared about appearances as much as I cared about a ham sandwich. The thick-framed glasses were a dead giveaway too, and it seemed like this Twilight hadn’t used a hairbrush since the last time I had four legs.

A lot of things were running through my mind as I stared in abject disbelief, most of which were words that should not be repeated in polite company. What was this Twilight Sparkle doing here? She was carrying around some sort of strange device in her hands, moving it around the air as though she were trying to get a wireless signal or something. Thoughts of Applejack’s prior warnings echoed in my mind; regardless of how I felt, I had to keep my distance and let this girl go about her business as though she were a complete stranger.

“Is that a geiger counter?” I pondered briefly. “Wait, she said ‘Spike’ so that means there should be a—”

My concerns as to where her tiny purple companion was were answered in short order as a sudden barking at my feet sent me into a blind panic. Now a more astute mind would have realized that I had no real reason to be concerned just yet. The Twilight Sparkle in the distance hadn’t even noticed my presence, and if she did, she would see me no differently than any random student from Canterlot High. In fact, unless another student showed up, Twilight would be able to go about her business and leave without any lasting repercussions. All I needed to do was go about my business and not draw attention to myself.

Of course, a more astute mind would’ve also remembered that I was standing in front of a giant hole in the ground. When the true-canine Spike began barking at me, without thinking I took a step backwards, only for my feet to discover there was nothing but two feet of air beneath it. With a cry of a most unlady-like profanity, I went tumbling down into the crater.

“That was a real work of brilliance, Sunset,” I lamented in silence, staring up at the blue sky above. At the edge of my vision, I could see Spike still standing at the edge of the crater, barking incessantly. I groaned and shut my eyes, hoping that my display of eloquence would go unnoticed.

“Um, excuse me! Are you hurt?” The sound of Twilight’s voice calling out to me confirmed that I had failed the ‘go unnoticed’ portion of my plan.

It wasn’t the end of the world, though, as I just needed to remain disengaged so that she could go back to her business. The sooner that this Twilight left the school premises, the better. If another happened to spot her, that would open up a world of problems so massive it would make Discord's reign seem like a minor inconvenience.

“I’m fine. Lucky for me, my dignity broke my fall,” I answered. If I stayed distant and cold, Twilight would go back to her business. It should be easy given that I had spent so many years acting that way to the rest of the school.

“Oh...okay then,” Twilight replied, sounding oddly nervous. She lingered for a few moments, which struck me as curious, but the reason why soon became clear. “Hey, um, since you’re already down there, do you think you could get me some soil samples?”

“Soil samples?” I muttered under my breath before getting back onto my feet. I thought that I had misheard her, but once I was up, I saw her holding out a small plastic bag with a spoon inside. I figured that she presented a valid point, and if a little bit of dirt helped her on her way, then I should lend what aid I could. “Might as well, I guess.”

I helped myself to the bag and started scooping out small amounts of dirt from various spots across the crater. After a few spoonfuls, she asked for some samples on the far side, which I grudgingly went along with. My curiosity was getting the better of my judgment as I pondered what this could be about, and it eventually got to the point where I just had to give voice to it.

“What could you possibly need all this dirt for?” I asked as I handed the sample bag back. Meanwhile, the voice inside my head was shouting at me to just shut up and keep my distance.

“It’s soil,” Twilight corrected. “And it’s...um, for a project.”

“Okay Sunset, it’s obvious that she doesn’t want to talk about it so just leave it at that.”

“Are you comparing the ambient radioactivity between the particulates in the air and the soil?” I inquired. It would explain the equipment, but why would she be snooping around here of all places? Had the incident with the Element of Magic left behind some trace evidence? There was a lot of magical energy being thrown about that night, so it was entirely possibly that some people outside the school may have noticed it.

“I...uh, I am, actually.” She was acting nervous again, but I suspected that may have been because her project was probably not at anybody’s behest. That meant you had a random girl snooping around a school afterhours, which could raise a few eyebrows since most teenagers spend their after-school hours watching television and eating pizza. “How did you guess?”

“Geiger counter.”

“Right. Of course.” Twilight probably did not expect anybody her age to be able to recognize such a device at a glance, though to be honest, I wasn’t certain until Twilight confirmed the nature of her project.

“Seriously, Sunset, just shut up already. No good can come from talking to her.”

Despite my rational mind’s insistence, I did exactly the opposite. “You do know that the subsoil under this city has a higher-than-average radionuclide count, right? Given the, um...gas line explosion that happened here last weak, a lot of those particulates are probably still floating in the air.”

Why I said that, I still do not know. Perhaps I was trying to throw her off from her investigation with alternate theories, or maybe I was just trying to sound smart after being corrected about dirt. Though to be honest, the only reason I knew that little tidbit of information was because it came up in one of the assignments I did for Gilda.

“Good point, I had forgotten about that,” Twilight remarked, sounding a bit more at ease. “I guess I’ll need to collect samples from a control group for better comparison.”

“Okay, you’ve had your fun. Now just climb out, get your books, and go home.”

It sounded like a simple enough plan. As I clambered up the side, though, I noticed an outstretched hand being offered. I should’ve stuck with ‘cold and distant’ but I saw no harm in accepting the help. Once I was out, I noticed that Twilight was regarding me with a strange look of curiosity.

“Are...you a student at this school?” she asked.

“Don’t answer that! Just lie, or deflect, or just...walk away!”

“Yes, I am,” I replied.

“Oh, okay then. I just never ran into anybody that knew about the whole radionuclide thing that hadn’t been a student in Mr. Slate’s geology class,” she answered, as though any of that would have made sense to me.

There was a brief pause of awkward silence, which I was about to use as my cue to leave when we started to hear a faint crackling sound. We exchanged confused looks before realizing that the noise was emanating from between us. That was when we looked down and noticed that Twilight had her geiger counter pointed at my crotch. It was a good thing Rainbow Dash wasn’t around or she would never allow me to forget this moment.

“Now that’s strange,” Twilight murmured to herself as she took a closer look at her device.

“Is that a ‘go see a doctor’ kind of strange?” I asked. There was a faint hint of concern, but only because I didn’t know the long-term effects of exposing human physiology to other-worldly magic.

Twilight didn’t answer right away, and instead just moved the sensor part of her geiger counter up and down my body, where it continued making the same crackling noise. “You weren’t...rolling about on the ground while you were down in that hole, were you?” she inquired.

“Well I did fall into it,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. Now might have been a good time to start acting more distant and cold.

“This doesn’t make sense at all, unless she lives under a thirty-year-old nuclear reactor,” Twilight continued muttering to herself. I got the impression that I didn’t need to act distant since she was more engrossed with her science gimmicks than the conversation. “Maybe I should get a sample from her just to confirm.”

“Excuse me?”

Twilight must have been lost in her own thoughts because she suddenly became very flustered. “Oh! I...er, I didn’t mean that,” she stammered, quickly tucking her device behind her back. “I was just...er, what I mean to say is that—” She started to babble, fumbling her words in a desperate attempt to avoid upsetting me. As her eyes darted around, mostly fixated upon some of the more interesting blades of grass, I almost began to feel a bit sorry for the girl. It was like she hadn’t a clue how to handle a conversation.

Impatience eventually got the better of me so I stepped in to put the poor girl out of her misery. “Okay, just stop,” I interrupted. “I think it might be a good idea if you just finish whatever it is you’re doing here, and head on your way…before you make things more awkward.”

“Y-yes, I should do that,” Twilight said with a quick nod. “Um, sorry to have bothered you.”

Desperate to escape the unease, she scooped up her canine companion and hurried off towards the nearest bus stop. When she finally disappeared from my sight, I was still standing in a confused stupor by the old crater.

“So that’s Twilight Sparkle,” I muttered to myself. “Maybe I don’t have that much to worry about, after all.”

Continuing on the day’s trend of poor decision-making, I chose to keep the details of this encounter to myself for the time being. There was no reason to get the other girls involved, as it would’ve just given them false hope and resulted in a stern lecture from Applejack. In the end, I figured that my life would be easier if I just put today’s events behind me.

Sadly, if I thought anything in my life was going to be get simpler from this point on, I was going to be very disappointed.

Act II-II

Crystal Heart Academy: founded forty-two years ago, it was originally a part of the public school system, aimed at providing education for the growing suburban populations. Brand new facilities and top-quality teachers led to the academy earning a reputation for integrity and excellence. It used to be the ‘go to’ school of the city, with waiting lists for people just trying to transfer into it. In the eighties, it won the state’s top honours for teaching excellence seven out of the ten years; there were even talks about it being ranked as one of the best high schools in the country.

Even Principal Celestia counted herself amongst the school’s many notable alumni.

But the candle that burns twice as bright, burns twice as quick. When the economic hardships of the early nineties began to take their toll, the school began to partake in unorthodox means of bolstering their budget. Rumours of bribery spread like fire through an arid field, and it didn’t take long for the allegations to prove true. When faced with mounting scandals and crushing budget constraints, the school district decided to save face and shut down Crystal Heart. The school sat unused for almost a decade until it was suddenly purchased by the wealthy Amore family. After thorough renovations, the school re-opened, but now as a private academy, offering the best of staffing and facilities to those who could afford the lofty tuition fees.

It didn’t take long for the new Crystal Heart Academy to build a new reputation for itself, but now as a school for the city’s wealthy, and even playing host to a number of international students. It was amazing what one could do when you charged massive tuitions, headhunted the best teachers in the field, and reduced the school population to half of what its predecessor once catered to.

Now don’t confuse my undertone of cynicism for contempt. If anything, I was a bit envious seeing as their school had twice the operating budget and a third of the populace as compared to Canterlot High. I doubt their students ever had to make do with rickety desks, tattered textbooks, or sacrificing Frogurt Fridays in order to appease the budgetary committee.

As we arrived at the school, passing by the old cast iron gates that bore a bronzed emblem of the school’s namesake, everyone in the truck was captivated by what we saw. The school grounds were immaculate: if the grass was always greener on the other side, I suspected there was no other side compared to Crystal Heart Academy. I doubt there was a single blade that wasn’t perfectly aligned with all of its neighbors. Big Mac, our driver, kept the truck at a slow pace just so we could prolong our indulgence.

“What do you reckon it costs to send somebody to a place like this?” Applejack remarked, tipping her hat back as to afford a better view of the school grounds.

“Probably more than you’d have if you sold every apple on your farm,” I replied. I didn’t want to sound like a downer, but one had to be realistic: this kind of place was well beyond the station of some apple farmers and a former unicorn.

Once we had spent enough time sight-seeing, Big Mac parked the truck and we all disembarked. I could see the soccer field in the distance, complete with growing crowds of fans, both parents and students. What I saw reminded me a lot of my time while under Princess Celestia’s tutelage. There was an air of refined dignity about the school grounds, and an energy of youthful jubilance that was restrained by etiquette and respect. In a way, walking towards the soccer field, flanked on either side by uniformed students, I felt a bit homesick for the Royal Palace. At the same time, though, I felt a bit sorry for all of them. Expectations had a way of chaining a person, and the higher your station, the greater the expectations heaped upon you. The standards I held myself to drove me to scorn my mentor and disgrace myself before an entire school. If I ever became a student of an academy such as Crystal Heart, I would likely fall back into my old way of thinking: self-absorbed and stuffed with contempt.

On the other hand, it was nice to be surrounded by people my age who didn’t look at me with a sneer or vulgar gestures. Though my lack of a uniform meant that I was not one of them, they didn’t care in the least. I was just another teenager to them; there were even a few boys who smiled and waved in passing. It was nice to know I could still turn heads. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for me to realize that, despite so many people around me, I still felt very much alone. Applejack was still unpacking her truck, and Rainbow Dash was off with her team. I was adrift in a sea of people. Every time I felt tempted to go up and say hello to somebody, a nagging voice in the back of my mind reminded me that nobody would be interested in being my friend once they found out about my reputation.

It was like having a monkey always on my back: most of the time it might sit quiet and behave, maybe even to the point where you feel comfortable enough to venture out into public, but you were always paranoid that it was going to start howling and flinging poop at people at the drop of a hat.

Up ahead I could see the Wondercolts running through their warm-up routines on the field. It was easy to spot Rainbow Dash among them as she was always the one running the fastest and shouting encouragements at the others. She could be a surprisingly good leader when she wasn’t preoccupied with showboating. I wanted to go over and say hi to my friend, but I was worried that she might be too focused on her game to give me the time of day. On top of that, I didn’t want the rest of the team seeing the two of us being so friendly with one another. The last thing Rainbow Dash needed was her team losing faith in her because of me.

I was beginning to feel a bit discouraged. Maybe coming out here was not as great an idea as I had originally intended. All around me I could see people gathering into clusters of friends, chatting and laughing together. It wasn’t too unlike Canterlot High, except everybody was wearing the same navy blue blazers. I began to look behind me to see if I could spot any sign of Applejack or her brother, but there was no such luck. However, unless I was planning to help them out, they would be too busy doing sales to help with my sudden sense of isolation.

“Come on, Sunset, get it together! Just focus on the job and you’ll be fine!” A little mental pep talk proved to be enough to invigorate me with some motivation. I could use the time before the game started to do some interviews with the opposing team: the Crystal Heart Gryphons.

As luck would have it, no sooner did I set off to find a Gryphon, one of them found me. However, it was one of the few people from the school that I already knew and would’ve preferred to avoid like the plague. A hand grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me about face so that I was face-to-face with a familiar and unamused hawken face.

“You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here,” Gilda remarked as her eyes focused in on me.

“Because you threw me around a coffee shop?” I calmly replied. The possibility of bumping into my favourite ex-client had crossed my mind, but I had figured that Gilda would’ve preferred to save face rather than exact revenge. In that respect, I may have made an error in judgement. “I think you’re making way too big a deal out of this. Why don’t we just put that incident behind us and start over?”

“Start over? Why you little—!”

I may have made yet another bad call, as Gilda became incensed by my remarks, stepping closer until she was looming over me, just inches away. I think the only thing that stood between me and getting hoisted off my feet was the fact that we were in public; a safety that I doubt would hold Gilda back for long.

“You screw me over on my assignments, you punch me in front of people I know, and then you get that woman to humiliate me in front of my parents! You think I’m just going to forget all that? I swear to god, I am going to make you pay for what you did.”

For a brief moment, I was worried. When you were dealing with a girl who had a temper as volatile as Gilda, anything was possible. Much to my relief, her outburst did not go unnoticed for very long and another student, also dressed in a soccer uniform, rushed in and intervened.

“Okay, Big G, no need to start something just before the game,” the newcomer said as she forced her way between Gilda and I. “Come on, if the coach sees you roughing somebody up again, you know what he’ll do.” It was surprising to see somebody so much smaller than Gilda willing to stand up to her. The new girl was about Dash’s size with the kind of lean, athletic frame you’d expect from a young soccer player. Gilda could probably snap the girl in half without even breaking a sweat, but, much to my surprise, she relented with a frustrated sigh.

“Fine, fine!” Gilda shot back. “This dweeb ain’t worth getting into trouble over.” She then glanced past the other girl to glare daggers at me. “But this ain’t over, Shimmer. You watch yourself!”

“Save it for the game, G,” the other player said dismissively before shoving Gilda away. “I swear to god, that girl is going to get herself kicked off the team at this rate.” She appeared to be muttering to herself because she turned about with a surprised look on her face, as if just remembering that I was still standing there. “Oh, hey! Sorry about all that,” she said, offering an apologetic grin. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” I replied before straightening my coat. “Gilda and I just have some issues to work out.”

“Issues? Is that what you’re calling it?” the other girl said before letting out a hearty chuckle. “It looked like Gilda was two steps away from using your head for a soccer ball. What did you do to piss her off so badly?”

“I might have punched her a few times.”

Strangely enough, the girl seemed even more amused by this revelation. “Oh, wow! Now that is brilliant. I mean, I know Gilda deserves a good knucklin’ every now and then, but I didn’t think anybody here had the bearings to commit to it. Good on you, though, even if it does mean that Gilda wants to snap your head off.”

“I think I can handle her,” I said. In all honesty, I probably couldn’t, but I didn’t want to come off as weak. “Nonetheless, thanks for the save. I’m Sunset Shimmer, by the way.”

“Nice to meet’cha,” the other girl replied as she immediately offered out her hand. “Name’s Lightning Dust. Best you remember that ‘cause it’s all people are going to be talking about once this game is over.” Her egoism reminded me of a certain friend of mine, though whether it was from genuine confidence or bravado was a question that would be settled on the field. When we shook hands, I noted her strong and steady grip, which gave me the impression that the answer was the former.

“Gilda isn’t going to start giving you trouble because of your little rescue, is she?” I asked. While I had no issues dealing with Gilda’s temper, I would’ve felt horrible if others got caught in the crossfire.

“Nah! Don’t worry about me,” Lightning Dust said, shrugging off my concerns. “Me and Gil are pretty tight, actually, so I can get away with a lot more than most people could.” While that was one less thing for me to worry about, it did leave me a bit concerned about whether Gilda might use their friendship to sway Lightning’s opinion on me. “Now I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you with the other team?”

“Not exactly,” I answered as I pulled out my notepad. “I’m with the Canterlot Free Press, the school newspaper.”

“The press, eh?” Lightning replied as her eyes lit up. It seemed that the more I spoke with her, the more like Rainbow she became. She began to stretch her arms out, almost as if trying to show off her limber frame, and said, “Well, lucky for you that you found me because I’m all the interviewing you’ll need to do today.”

“Is that so?” I replied with a smirk. I quickly took out my pen and flipped my notepad to the first page. Before coming to Crystal Heart, I had been worried that my time away from the newspaper club would have left me rusty, but it felt more like slipping on an old pair of comfortable shoes. “You seem pretty confident about yourself. Care to share a little bit more? What’s your position on the team, and how long have you been playing?”

“Striker, and it’s my first year here,” Lightning Dust replied, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. “I’m originally from out east, so I’m new to the soccer scene here.”

“So that’ll make this your debut game?”

“That’s right,” she answered with a brilliant grin. “The coach happened to see me playing at a soccer camp last summer. Once he found out I was going to Crystal Heart, he pretty much begged me to join the soccer team when the school year started. Not that he needed to, mind you, since I was planning on joining anyways.” I doubt there was any actual begging involved, but it did remind me of how Rainbow Dash described her own recruitment onto the Wondercolts.

“I heard that Crystal Heart has a new soccer coach this year,” I continued while jotting down quick notes of her previous response, “any thoughts on how he’ll perform this year? Do you think it’s a bit odd for a school as prestigious as Crystal Heart to hire a coach that’s virtually unknown, especially considering the reputation that his predecessor had when he was hired.”

Lightning Dust just gave a half-hearted shrug in response. “Hey, I don’t know squat about the last coach. All I know is this coach knows his stuff, and he’s a real stand-up guy. Kinda cute too, but...uh, don’t quote me on that last bit.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thinks coach is cute,” I teased while pretending to write the words down.

“Hey, mind if I ask you a quick question?” Lightning asked before I was able to bring up my next question. “Do you know Rainbow Dash?”

“She’s a friend of mine,” I answered. I bet Dash would’ve been elated to hear that her name gets circulated around Crystal Heart, no doubt thanks to her athletic reputation.

“I hear she’s really good.”

“Probably best in the division,” I replied. I could’ve spewed out some of the stats that I still remembered from listening to Rainbow’s showboating, but I got the impression that Lightning Dust heard all she needed to.

“Perfect. I’ve been been itching for a challenge.” For the first time, I saw a marked difference between Lightning and my friend. Rainbow Dash loved to play because she loved to win, but from the way that Lightning’s face lit up at the mention of ‘best in the division,’ I could tell what motivated her to play. While the question of whether or not her confidence would translate into talent remained to be seen, I had no doubt that she would be a player to keep an eye on during the regular season.

“Well, good luck to you in the game,” I said as I finished the last of my notes.

“Try not to get too discouraged when I crush your precious Wondercolts,” Lightning Dust shot back. “But listen, we should totally hang some time later.”

“You mean like...friends hanging out?” I replied, surprised by the sudden suggestion.

“No, like mortal enemies. I’ll bring my claymore and everything.” We both had a good laugh once I realized how silly my question had been. “Of course like friends. I mean, you seem pretty cool—stood up to Gilda, after all.”

The notion of making a new friend did make me a bit nervous. We had only just met, but apparently she had seen enough to find me worthy of further consideration. Yet, that still left the lingering fear in my mind of how she would react when she found out about my past behavior. My rational side reminded me that I would never be completely free of my past, so the only way for me to move forward would be to accept it and be honest. However, the irrational side was quick to point out that nobody has willingly been my friend except under the orders of others. My own merits were, for a lack of a better word, non-existent. I possessed all the warmth and friendly appeal of the business-end of a morning star.

In the end, though, I had to try.

“Sure, that sounds like fun,” I agreed once we both settled down.

Lightning Dust then took my pen and notepad, and scribbled something down. “Let me give ya my number,” she explained before handing it back. “Shoot me a text when you get a chance.”

It was a good thing that she didn’t ask for anything else involving phones before heading on her way, otherwise I might have had to explain to her how my phone was currently in a locked drawer somewhere in Luna’s room. Explaining that you’ve been grounded for stealing school property was not the best way to make first impressions.

Once we had said our good-byes, again, I quickly reviewed my notes before continuing on my way. The crowds around the soccer field itself were beginning to thin as students took their seats upon the bleachers. This made it all the easier for me to spot the next person that I had set my journalistic sights upon. Since I had been given little time to prepare for my assignment, I was keen to interview the new coach for Crystal Heart’s soccer team. All I knew of him was what information I could find on the internet during my lunch break, which amounted to his name, Shining Armour, and the fact that he had little documented experience in coaching.

When I first read the name, I had a strange nagging sensation at the back of my mind. The name seemed familiar, somehow, but for the life of me I could not figure out how. I would recall if I had met or read about such a figure during my time in this world, so I had to conclude that the familiarity must stem from Equestria. It didn’t match with any of the nobility that I was familiar with, but I had been out of Equestria for quite some time so it was possible that I had simply forgotten.

Finding the coach did not prove to be a difficult task. I simply had to go to where most of Crystal Heart’s soccer players had gathered and look for the one receiving the most attention. Lightning Dust was right about one thing: he was rather cute in the nice-boy-next-door way. Upon seeing him, I was once again hit with a sense of familiarity, this time due to his pale complexion and the locks of blue hair protruding from under his baseball cap. I knew I had seen a similar style before, except more equine of course, but I was still drawing blanks as to its significance. It was as though my subconscious was trying to warn me of something that the rest of me had yet to clue in on.

As the coach was busy talking with some of the players, I waited until they were sent off for their warm-up routines before making my approach.

“Excuse me,” I called out in order to get his attention. “It’s Shining Armour, correct? The head coach for the Gryphons?”

“That’s me,” he replied, flashing a friendly smile to me. “You must be the reporter from Canterlot High—Lightning said you might come looking for me.”

“I’m relieved to see you didn’t run for the hills then,” I joked back. Some people didn’t like the idea of interviews, but luckily for me, he appeared to be as eager as Lightning Dust had been. With pen and paper in hand, I fell back into journalist mode. “So, Shining Armour, how does a young man like yourself with so little experience manage to land a job at a prestigious private academy like Crystal Heart?”

“Oh come on, it’s not that strange, is it?” Shining replied with a nervous chuckle. I caught an immediate scent of deflection coming from him. “I applied for the job, and had an interview with the Headmaster. It’s the same process that every other applicant went through.”

“Except the other applicants had far more experience than you. Word has it that you don’t even have any professional coaching experience under your belt,” I quickly rebutted.

“That’s because all of my experience has been volunteer-based,” the coach said in a swift defense of his reputation. “I’ve spent the past ten years coaching soccer at summer camps and junior leagues. None of it was ever paid. So, yes, I have no professional experience, but I assure you, I am familiar with the role.”

From deflection to a strong defense. If it weren’t for the fact that I could tell something was amiss with his answers, I would’ve been impressed by it. It was just a suspicion at the moment, so I couldn’t do much else other than probe around the issue and see what response came back.

“Well if it wasn’t your resume that put you at the head of the pack, I take it that means your interview with the Headmaster left a good impression with him,” I postulated.

“I can only speculate as to what the Headmaster’s exact reasons were, but people do say he has an eye for hidden talent,” Shining Armour explained with an indifferent shrug. “He did state that he was impressed by my dedication and passion for my work, but I haven’t the faintest idea if that was what made the difference in choosing to hire me. All I can do is my best, and hope that’s enough to justify the risk he’s taken in hiring me.”

It’s true that hiring a relatively unknown coach like Shining Armour did entail certain risks. Young athletes came to Crystal Heart hoping to excel, and a poor quality coach was an easy way to anger a lot of rich parents. A disastrous season could spell trouble for the careers of both Shining Armour and the Headmaster.

“You have a rather daunting task ahead of you,” I continued on to my next line of questioning. “Crystal Heart and Canterlot High may not have a long-standing rivalry, but what it lacks in age, it’s more than made up for in intensity. There’s more than a dozen planned matches between the two schools in the months ahead. What’s your strategy in preparing for this upcoming season?”

Just as Shining Armour was about to answer, he was interrupted to the sound of somebody calling out his name. Neither of us had to look far for the source, as a very attractive young woman came walking up. Judging by her youth and lack of a school uniform, my first guess was that she was part of the school faculty.

“Cadance! I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Shining Armour replied, a mixture of both nervousness and excitement painted across his face. “I thought you had those parent-teacher interviews to do today.”

“I convinced them to reschedule,” the young woman answered, smiling playfully. “After all, I couldn’t miss your big debut game, now could I?” She then paused and glanced about to her surroundings. “Were you able to convince her to come out?”

“I haven’t seen her yet, but I’m sure she’s out there somewhere,” Shining said with a shrug. “You know how caught up she can get in those experiments of hers. She promised she would try, but that’s about the best you can get from her these days.” They both let out a disappointed sigh, though I was left still confused and now wondering why the young woman also looked strikingly familiar. I was almost certain that I had seen an equine version of her somewhere in the Royal Palace, but once again I was bereft of answers.

“I’ll go check the labs,” the woman said with another sigh of resignation. I wasn’t sure what they were so concerned over, but it sounded like somebody with workaholic tendencies. Before the other teacher left, she smiled back to Shining and gave a quick wink. “Good luck with your game, by the way. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Thanks,” Shining said as he waved good-bye. Once the other teacher had turned about to head on her way, I noticed that the coach now sported the dopiest-looking grin I had ever seen. Somebody wasn’t very good at being discreet about their feelings.

“And who was that exactly?” I perked up, smirking a bit as my question reminded the love-struck coach that I was still standing next to him.

“Wh-what? Oh, her? That’s um…Miss Cadance,” he answered, trying to hide his embarrassment behind a sheepish grin. “She teaches arts and social studies at the school.”

The second mentioning of the teacher’s name proved to be enough to knock some of the cobwebs out of my memory. “Cadance?” I repeated before narrowing my gaze at the coach. “That wouldn’t happen to be ‘Cadance’ as in Mi Amore Cadenza? As in the Cadance of the Amore family, the same family that owns Crystal Heart Academy.”

“Sort of, but I mean it’s not as though she owns the academy,” he answered, as though one could downplay the implications of him being smitten by one of the youngest members of a family that had a net worth larger than most countries. I had no doubt that Cadance didn’t actually own the school herself, but she likely had some influence in what happened there, and I noticed that she seemed quite friendly with Shining, too.

“Uh-huh, and she wouldn’t happen to be this ‘hidden talent’ that the Headmaster saw, now would she?” I insinuated with all the subtlety of a tap-dancing elephant.

“We’re just old friends! And she would never abuse her position like that,” Shining snapped back in a hasty defense. The speed in which he responded led me to believe that I was not the only one to ever make such an implication, but I was more interested in the undertone of his reaction rather than what he actually said. He sounded more upset about what it would mean for Cadance than himself, though I suppose that would be expected from a man who probably got weak in the knees whenever she was around. “I mean, yes, she did help get my sister enrolled at that school, but that was before I got hired. And the Headmaster was convinced once he saw how gifted she was.”

Up until that point, the nagging voice in my mind had been growing more intense, but once I heard the words ‘my sister,’ my mind was struck with all the force of a tonne of bricks shaped into the word ‘realization.’ I didn’t even pay attention to anything else Shining Armour might have said afterwards, as I became fixated on what he and Cadance had been talking about moments ago. They were talking about his sister, Twilight Sparkle, whom had just been confirmed to be a student at the academy.

How did I not see this sooner? Once I had realized their connection, the family resemblance in Shining couldn’t have been more obvious if they had painted ‘Twilight’s Big Brother’ across his face.

Twilight was somewhere on the school grounds, and if she weren’t already somewhere in the bleachers, then she was likely going to be dragged there by Miss Cadance. This wouldn’t be such a huge problem if it weren’t for the fact that I didn’t believe for a second that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t rush off the field in a heartbeat if she spotted Twilight Sparkle in the stands, if only because she might initially presume her to be the same Twilight that she already knew. From there, the world would find out about the magic portal in the school’s front yard faster than you could say ‘do I know you?’

“I have to go!” I blurted out after the five-second delay that my brain needed to process the situation. As far as plans went, I had nothing to go on. The only thing I could do now was find Applejack and Rainbow Dash and warn them that Twilight Sparkle was a student at this school.

Unfortunately, by this point, there were so many students sitting in the bleachers and around the field that it was difficult to find my friends, especially because most of the students not in the bleachers were standing and I was a bit vertically challenged by comparison. I had no choice but to ascend the bleachers in order to better view the crowds. After several ‘pardon me’s from pushing my way through the crowds, I was atop the bleachers and afforded an unobstructed view of the area. Once I had elevation, pinpointing Applejack’s unmistakable Stetson was as easy as spotting Princess Celestia in a crowd. I spotted my friend on the far side of the field, working her way through the crowds with a large tray filled with bottles of fizzy apple cider.

As for Rainbow Dash, she was out on the field with her team. Finding her was not going to be an issue.

Between the distance and crowds, shouting to my friend was out of the question. Even if I could be heard, Rainbow Dash would probably just assume I was cheering for her, not trying to get her attention for something important.

Given the sense of urgency I now felt, I decided to take the quick way down from my vantage and simply hopped off the back-end of the bleachers. It was a bit higher than I had expected, so I didn’t quite stick the landing, rather fall onto all fours as my knees buckled under the impact. The only person more surprised by the hard landing was the girl I landed just inches in front of.

However, her surprise was soon matched by my own when I looked up and realized who I had almost landed on.

“Twilight!” I yelped without even thinking. It was definitely her, with the same messy hair and ruffled lab coat that I had seen her with before.

“It’s you,” Twilight gasped in response. A second later, though, her brain clued in on the obvious. “Wait, how did you know my name?”

Lucky for me, improvising lies was something that I had plenty of experience with. “Your brother mentioned it,” I answered, picking myself off the ground. “I was talking to him just a few minutes ago.”

“Of course he would mention me,” Twilight muttered, followed by a sigh. She seemed to be buying my fib, though she still looked perplexed by my presence. “Who are you, anyways, and what are you doing at my school?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” I answered. Rather than explain my reasons, I merely pointed over my shoulder at the bleacher full of students.

“Oh, right!” she said with a sheepish grin, “I completely forgot about that.”

It took a lot of willpower on my part to keep a straight face. How could someone stand so close to a soccer field full of cheering students and not realize that a soccer game was going on. Not to mention she had supposedly promised her brother that she would attend, or at least try to. That did make me curious about something.

“If you forgot about the game, what brought you out here?” I asked.

“I only forgot about what kind of gathering was happening out here,” she explained. “I knew some students from Canterlot High were going to be here, so I was going to see if I could get take some readings and maybe get a few samples.”

I had trouble believing that she was pursuing the same project that she had been working on when we last crossed paths, but when I noticed the bag she was carrying with her happened to have the reader of a geiger counter subtly poking out, there were few other explanations.

“Is this still about the dirt?”

“Soil,” Twilight corrected me. “And...yes, it is about the soil. None of my results are making sense, so I need to gather more data.”

“What sort of data?” I asked, growing more concerned over her intents.

“Whatever I can get, really: geiger readings, hair samples, maybe even a cheek swab if they’ll let me.”

The thought of Twilight Sparkle going over to the Canterlot High soccer team and asking for cheek swabs was almost enough to throw me into a panic. Half the soccer team would likely recognize Twilight, and while I might get lucky with Rainbow Dash realizing that this Twilight Sparkle was not the same person as the one she knew, the rest of the team was as trustworthy as a kleptomaniac in a supermarket. I had to come up with a way to dissuade Twilight from her insane plan, which was going to be a challenge if she was anywhere near as determined as the other Twilight Sparkle was.

“Don’t you think going up to a soccer team, in the middle of a game, and asking for samples is going to come off as a little...weird?”

“It probably will,” Twilight replied, sounding more resigned to the fact than indifferent to it. “But this is science. I can’t let my personal feelings stop me.”

As stubborn as I had anticipated. I wish I could’ve told her the truth, because the constant lying was not helping me overcome my inner demons. I needed something more honest. “You know, you and I are a lot alike. We get fixated on something, and we lose sight of what’s going on around us. But you can’t just charge off blindly after your goals to the exclusion of all else. It’s not good for you in the long run.”

Twilight fell silent as she gave me a scrutinizing glare. “I sincerely doubt we have anything significant in common,” she concluded.

That was needlessly harsh. I didn’t remember the other Twilight ever being so blunt. “What is that supposed to mean?” I shot back.

“Oh, come on, just look at you,” she said, waving her hand at me as though the answer should be obvious from a single glance. All I could do was shrug in response. “You’re attractive, you’ve got nice hair, and that leather jacket you’re wearing. I saw you earlier when you were talking with Gilda and Lightning Dust, okay. So don’t act like you know what it’s like to be…”

Her defiance stopped abruptly, her words drifting away like smoke in a stiff breeze.

“To be what?” I asked, more concerned than curious.

“To be a nerd,” she sighed. “Girls like Gilda and Lightning Dust are more likely to stuff me in a locker than even try to understand the merits of the scientific method.”

The old me would’ve shoved Twilight into a locker just for staring at me the wrong way, so it wasn’t as if her deductions were unfounded. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the girl: being a nerd was not easy, especially if you were surrounded by entitled brats with inflated egos. I gave Twilight my sincerest smile in hopes of reassuring her before leaning in closer.

“I’ll let you in on a secret then,” I said before giving a dramatic pause, “I used to be a nerd too.”

Truthfully, to have described my old ways as ‘nerdy’ would probably have been a stretch on the definition. Back under Celestia’s tutelage, I was definitely an overachiever who buried myself behind textbooks day after day, but I doubt anyone would have described me as a nerd—if only because everyone was too polite to insult Celestia’s star pupil. However, one person’s overachiever was another’s nerd, so it wasn’t a complete misrepresentation.

Twilight, however, looked understandably skeptical of my claim. However, like any good aficionado of science, she would put my claim to the test. “Okay then, what’s Avogadro's number?”

“Six-point-zero-two-two times ten to the power of twenty-three.”

“The quadratic equation.”

“Negative b, plus or minus the square root of b-squared minus four-a-c, all divided by two-a.”

“Number eleven in the periodic table.”

“Sodium.”

“The six flavours of quarks.”

“Up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm.”

“What’s your opinion on Oxford commas?”

“You can have them when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.”

“Wide ruled or Academy ruled?”

“Wide ruled is for babies,” I scoffed. “Satisfied?”

She chuckled and smiled back. “I am, and I’m sorry that I misjudged you.”

“Well, in your defense, I spent the past few years doing a very ruthless job of elevating my social standings, to the exclusion of all else might I add,” I explained. “But listen, your brother and Miss Cadance were both very concerned about your attendance at this game. I think it would mean a lot to Shining to know that you’re here cheering for him.”

Twilight began to fidget on the spot, her gaze bouncing between the soccer field and her bag of equipment. For most people, this would have been an easy decision, but it was obvious to me that she was never the type to be ‘like most people.’ It was admirable, in a way, how well she stayed true to her convictions, but people didn’t live in bubbles, and she’d learn that hard the way like I had if somebody didn’t help her out. While I had no intention or interest in coaching Twilight through the same lessons that I had yet to learn myself, this did keep her away from the other Canterlot High students.

“I did promise him I’d be here for the game,” Twilight sighed in resignation. “But...what about my project? I’ll need more data if I’m going to make any progress, and there’s a smorgasbord of potential data right over th—” Just as she pointed to the field, just past me, she stopped abruptly and set her eyes upon me. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Alarms were going off in my head, but whatever train was coming, I was not going to be able to get out of the way.

“The data that’s been giving me so much confusion was from the samples I collected from you,” she explained.

“What samples? You took a reading of me with your geiger counter.”

“I...um, may have snipped a lock of your hair when you weren’t looking,” she admitted.

At first I didn’t believe her, or rather I didn’t want to believe her. The idea that Twilight could be so underhanded was disconcerting to say the least, and reminded me way too much of my old behaviors. Alas, when I pulled some of my hair around to better inspect it, I noticed that there was a crude, sheared edge in stark contrast to the usual tapered ends. Even when the evidence was in front of me, I just couldn’t believe that she actually went and did that, and I would’ve never been the wiser had she not told me. It was a harsh reminder that I couldn’t treat this Twilight like her more naive counterpart who had been less familiar with the nuances of human culture.

“You could’ve just asked,” I muttered. Despite wanting to be annoyed with her for messing with my hair, that would only succeed in driving her straight towards my schoolmates. For the sake of keeping her contained, I had to be forgiving.

“Okay, could I have another sample?”

I wasn’t sure if she was oblivious to just how brazen it was to ask for more of something after having admitted to stealing it already, or if she just didn’t care. Both possibilities had unsettling implications attached to it. Once again, my hands were tied as to my response.

“Only if you promise to actually sit down and watch the game.” Though it was an odd request for me to make, it was easy to play it off as just taking care of the concerns of a worried older brother. I could count it as my good deed of the day, if only to balance all the lying I had committed thus far.

Twilight must have wanted the data from me more than I realized as it didn’t even take her a second to reply, “Deal!”

Indifferent to the concept of patient consent, Twilight took me by the wrist and pulled me over to a secluded spot underneath the bleachers. I was left wondering what sort of ‘samples’ she had in mind as I watched her pull out an assortment of tools and gadgets from her bag. A part of me was beginning to second-guess this dealing.

“Geeze, Twilight, most people ask me to lunch first,” I joked in a half-hearted attempt to relieve my tension.

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, holding something that resembled a cross between a cattle prod and a stethoscope.

Once again, I was left wondering how a girl who held a vested interest in a field based around observations could still be so oblivious to her surroundings. I had to point out to her the, at least, three pairs of hormone-driven teenagers who were using the seclusion of the bleachers’ underbelly as a make-out point.

In a heartbeat, my friend went from violet to picante right before my eyes. If the blood had hit her face any harder, it would’ve given her whiplash. “Oh my goodness!” she blurted out as the shock caused her to fumble her tools. “Th-that’s not my intention at all! I would never do that with you—I mean, n-not that there’s anything wrong with you. You are obviously very attractive and well-educated—”

“Twilight.”

“—Plus you don’t stumble around because you don’t want to make eye contact with people—”

“Twilight.”

“—You’ve probably never even had to use hydrochloric acid to break into your own locker because you forgot the combination and were too nervous to tell your homeroom teacher—”

“Twilight!” It took two hands slamming down on her shoulders to finally snap the girl from her panic-addled mind. She froze like a deer caught in headlights, which, lucky for me, was a scenario I had been in often before, and knew how to address. “Relax. I was just joking,” I ordered.

“Right. A joke. Of course.” It took Twilight’s brain a few seconds to reset itself, after which she was able to calm down and return to her more science-driven nature. “You should...um, warn me next before you do something like that.”

“That would defeat the purpose of a joke,” I chuckled. “Now come on and let’s get this over with before we miss the start of the game.” She nodded in response and readied her stetho-prod hybrid. “Hold on a second...just where exactly does that thing go?”

Act II-III

“So Rainbow Dash is the one with the ball right now?”

“The hair should be a dead giveaway,” I explained to Twilight. Though we had only been watching the soccer game for about fifteen minutes now, it was obvious that she was even more clueless about the sport than I had been. Some last-minute reading in the library had brought me up to speed on the basics of the sport, but I would have thought that Twilight would have some knowledge given that her brother was so involved with it. “She’s the Wondercolts’ captain, and statistically their best player.”

“Her athleticism is quite remarkable,” Twilight observed. Were one available, I am certain she would have had something out to start taking measurements. I could tell that she was practically forcing herself to stay put: constant fidgeting, wandering eyes, and a look upon her face that screamed ‘I’d rather be reading.’ I knew the look because it was one that I used to wear all the time back when I was studying under Princess Celestia. She was making an effort to try and stay engaged, but I knew it was only a matter of time before she took the first opportunity to slip away from me.

I glanced over to Twilight and noticed her eyes beginning to drift away. “So who do you think will win this showdown: Dash or Gilda?” I asked with the hopes that highlighting the current play would keep the girl’s attention with me. The aforementioned players were about to go head-to-head, and I was curious to see how Gilda’s defensive skills would stack up against Dash’s agility. It was a good thing they were playing soccer and not something with full-contact or Gilda would probably have just steamrolled the much smaller striker.

“I don’t have enough information on either of them to make an accurate prediction,” Twilight answered.

“You know, most people would just automatically side with the one that’s being coached by their older brother.”

“And allow personal feelings to bias my judgment? That would be dishonest of me,” she retorted. “While I have confidence in my brother’s abilities as a coach, the final result will be more dependent on the skills of the individual players in question. Though Gilda does have a significant size advantage, Dash has, according to you, speed and agility: there are too many variables to make an accurate prediction on such short notice.”

She would have gone on further, but predictions soon became pointless as Rainbow Dash utilized some very impressive footwork to juggle the ball past Gilda before leaving her in the metaphorical dust. Even from way up in the bleachers, I could see Gilda’s face twisting in frustration. I took some perverse pleasure in seeing her getting upstaged. A few moments later, Rainbow Dash planted the ball into the back of the Gryphon’s net. To no surprise, there wasn’t a loud reaction beyond the Wondercolts’ own cheering. I only afforded myself a quiet ‘yay,’ so as to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention to myself.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to watch Rainbow Dash run rings around her opponents, I had to focus on keeping Twilight where she was without making my intentions obvious. But how could I keep her attention when she seemed so uninterested in the game? I began to think that perhaps I was going about this the wrong way, and rather than trying to keep her interest on the game, I should talk about something she was interested in. Sometimes all a quiet person needed was the right subject.

“So what was so confounding about my results?” I started with the easy question so as to avoid making it seem like I was forcing the subject into play.

“It was just...inconsistent.” I wasn’t sure if her prompt reply was reluctance from a genuine disinterest in speaking with me, or just the normal assumption that other people wouldn’t be interested in the finer details.

I decided to coax her some more. “Inconsistent in what way? Come on Twilight, you took some more of my hair, the least you could do is tell me why.”

Twilight gave me a pensive look, though I wasn’t sure if it was because my feigned interested was unconvincing, or just the idea of somebody being interested in her science was hard to believe. She probably wasn’t used to talking about these subjects to people who weren’t wearing lab coats and pocket protectors.

“You said the crater was made by an exploding gas line, correct?” she asked in return.

I nodded, wary of where the line of questioning was going. Twilight struck me as the kind of person who only believed in what she could measure and prove, which made lying difficult when you had absolutely no evidence to help it.

“Your hair sample had much stronger emissions than the soil samples,” she continued. “Which doesn’t make any sense if the contamination simply came from falling into the hole. Of course, I got that information from the geiger counter, so I took the hair sample to get a more accurate reading, which confirmed what I got earlier. Were you, like, actually there for the explosion?”

“It was during a school dance. A lot of us were present.” At least I wasn’t lying there, though I was still nervous about where her deductions were leading her. “Ruined my favourite coat, too.”

“I’m still not sure what exactly this explosion has resulted in because the readings I’m getting don’t coincide with any fundamental particles I’m familiar with.” I had hit pay dirt, as Twilight began to carry on about the results she had gotten thus far in her pursuit of this mystery. It was a good thing that I was an A-student in science because she was not giving me much opportunity to ask questions. “I even had to go to the city’s hall of records to pull up the old geological surveys of the area just so I could compare the results to the exact compositions that were measured around the time of the school’s construction.” She had a passion, I had to admit, along with a tenacity that made my former ambition-fueled drive look like a stalled go-cart.

It was nice having somebody that I could have an intellectual conversation about the sciences with. No offense to my friends, but none of them liked to touch the subject beyond that day’s homework assignment, which meant the conversations rarely went beyond ‘I don’t understand this part’ or ‘what’s the answer to number five?’ It would never be on par with discussing magical theorem with Princess Celestia, but it sated the part of me that yearned for knowledge.

The conversation was interrupted when the crowd erupted into an ecstatic cheer. Because everybody shot to their feet, I couldn’t see what had just happened, but there weren’t many possibilities that elicited such reactions from crowds. To no surprise, when the audience settled down, I saw Lightning Dust running up the field with her hands in the air.

“Looks like the kid can deliver,” I reflected.

“Did we just score?” Twilight asked.

“Your team scored,” I corrected.

“Oh right. You won’t hold it against me if I cheer the next time they score, will you?”

“Be my guest. It’s your brother’s team after all.”

The game continued, but our conversation didn’t. Maybe Twilight felt like the subject had petered out, or maybe she had something else on her mind. She did, after all, have her chin resting upon her knuckles in a ‘deep thinker’ fashion.

“Do you...play any sports, Sunset?” she asked out of the blue.

“Not really,” I said with a shrug. “I tried once, and I gave somebody a bloody nose.”

“Sounds like the first time my brother tried to get me into the game.”

I decided that the subject of her brother might be an interesting one to linger on for a while. If I wanted to make a better article involving him, I needed to learn a bit more about the man from a secondary source with more reliability. “You know, he was kinda worried that you weren’t going to show up for this game,” I commented with the hope that Twilight would take the bait.

“He’s always worried about me over something,” Twilight answered with a sigh. “I know he does it because he cares, but it can be a bit...overbearing at times. I mean, when my parents planned for their vacation in a couple of weeks, Shining insisted that I stay at his place in the meantime because apparently I can’t be trusted in my own home without parental supervision.”

“I know that feeling.” The only reason I was living with Celestia was because she felt that I needed parental guidance in order to better myself. To be fair, the past few weeks did highlight my difficulties in making sound judgments, so maybe I did need them more than I was willing to admit at the time. And while Celestia trusted me to not burn the house down in the brief period between the end of my school day and her return from work, Luna still kept her bedroom door locked when she wasn’t around.

“I mean, I love my brother and all, but it feels like he just doesn’t understand me, you know?”

I didn’t, actually, since I had always been an only child, but I nodded and pretended I understood.

“I’m sure he’s trying his best. Maybe if you spent more time with him, he’d be able to get a better understanding of you,” I suggested. If what Shining Armour said was true, Twilight probably spent more time working on her science projects than socializing. While I admired her passion, I worried that she might become more like me: alone with only a huge chip on the shoulder to keep you company. “Considering you barely understand the sport he loves, it sounds like you could make more of an effort to connect with him as well.”

Twilight slumped over and let out a quiet sigh. “You’re probably right,” she groaned. “We used to be so close, but things changed after he moved out.” She then paused and gave me a curious look. “Why am I even telling you these things? I don’t even know you.”

I had no real answer to offer other than an uncertain shrug. In my mind, the only reason she was talking to me about such issues was because she didn’t know who I was. If she had any clue as to the person I used to be, she would’ve zipped her mouth when we first sat down.

“Well who would you normally talk to?” I suggested.

“My brother,” she answered with growing despair.

I was beginning to regret bringing up the subject of her older brother. Had I any worthwhile advice to give, I would’ve spoken up, but I barely knew enough about friendship to get by. Besides, I told myself there were people better equipped to help her with this conundrum, and she would no doubt seek them out once the game was over. Despite beginning to feel some sense of concern for her, I reminded myself that this Twilight was not my responsibility, and it was for the best if I kept as much distance from her as I could, if not physically then at least emotionally.

Suddenly, Twilight rose to her feet with the announcement, “I need a drink. I think I saw a girl selling beverages wandering around here.”

Luckily, my reflexes were slow enough that when I grabbed Twilight’s wrist to prevent her from leaving, it did not betray the panic I felt. While Applejack was, in my view, the most level-headed when it came to the subject of Twilight Sparkle, a sudden appearance might cause the same momentary lapse in judgment that I demonstrated not too long ago. Having two complete strangers blurt out your name would be enough to make anybody suspicious.

“Hold on,” I said before getting to my feet, “I happen to be good friends with that girl, and I’m pretty thirsty, too. How about I go get drinks for the two of us? I can probably get a small discount.”

“That’s really not necessary. I can pay for my own drinks.”

Twilight tried to leave, so I had use myself as a blockade. “Please, I insist. It’s the least I can do considering I’m the one that’s making you sit and talk.”

She appeared reluctant at first, but relented with a quiet sigh of resignation. “Fair enough, but I’m paying you back when you return.”

I felt a huge sense of relief as that potential disaster was averted. As Twilight returned to her seat, I sought out Applejack. During my drawn-out march to the other side of the field, I deliberated how I was going to explain the situation to her. If I told her everything, then I would likely have to explain my first encounter with Twilight, too, which would just lead to anger and a stern lecture. Applejack said we should keep our distance from Twilight, and here I was doing the exact opposite. It wasn’t as though it was my intention to be watching the game with her, but what else could I do unless I wanted her probing the soccer team with a geiger counter.

I was going to have to think on my feet because I soon found Applejack, still peddling her products from a large tray slung from her shoulders.

“Well hey there, Sunset!” she greeted with a jubilant wave upon noticing my approach. “Shouldn’t you be keeping your eyes on the game?”

“I am,” I responded without thinking. To be honest, I hadn’t been taking as many notes as I should’ve, but I had bigger concerns on my plate. “Listen, we got a bit of a situation: I just found out that Twilight goes to this school.”

For a brief instant, there was that look of elation I expected on Applejack’s face—a flash of hope and expectation. That flame was snuffed in an instant once reasoning set in and she realized which Twilight Sparkle I was referring to.

“How’d you find that out?” she asked. There was still a hint of disappointment in her voice. Perhaps her pragmatic outlook on the subject back at Sugarcube Corner was simply because she just didn’t want to be reminded of the friend she’d likely never see again.

“Her brother is the coach for the school’s soccer team. Her name came up during the interview.” A white lie, but I figured that once today was over, I could make Crystal Heart Academy a no-go zone for myself, and I’d never have to worry about dealing with Twilight again. She didn’t strike me as the type that I’d bump into at the mall or Sugarcube Corner. “Listen, we need to keep an eye out for her. You and I know she’s not the same, but if somebody from the soccer team sees her—”

“They might try to strike up a friendly conversation,” Applejack concluded.

“Our school’s been pretty good at not making a big deal out of it, but if more people find out about magical girls visiting the school, they might discover the portal in the statue.”

Once again, Applejack displayed her ability to keep pace with my reasoning. “If folks find out about that portal, we could lose the statue...and your only way home.”

“And it could put both of our worlds in jeopardy. I can’t even begin to imagine the kind of chaos that could occur if humans started wandering into Equestria unchecked.” It was hard to stress just how disastrous such a situation could be without making a scene. To describe it as ‘bad’ would be as much of an understatement as saying a rampaging hydra was ‘a bit of a problem.’ Now the mirror may have had magic properties that limited travel, but I didn’t know what kind of secrets science could unlock if given enough time to examine the portal.

“Do you know if she’s at the game?”

I lied and shrugged my shoulders. “He mentioned that she might be at the game. I think the best idea would be for the two of us to keep an eye out for her, and if we see her getting close to the Wondercolts we’ll find some way to stall her or something.”

“Not exactly the best of plans, but we ain’t exactly got a lot to go on,” Applejack said. Despite her misgivings, she nonetheless nodded in agreement.

“You stay on that side of the field and keep an eye out, and I’ll stay on this side,” I instructed, directing Applejack to remain on the side of the field that I knew Twilight was not on. It might have been a bit dishonest of me, but I wanted to keep this world’s Twilight Sparkle as far as possible from any potential links to the other Twilight, and who could I trust other than myself? I just couldn’t take the chance. “Oh, wait!” I called out just as my friend turned to leave. I had almost forgotten the other reason I came. “I need...um, two of those things you’re selling.”

“You mean fizzy apple cider?” she asked before picking up a bottle of the aforementioned beverage. “I thought you hated the stuff.”

“What? Oh, come on, Applejack. I just said all that to get under your skin,” I said, forcing out a laugh to try and make it seem like it had all been one poorly-made joke. Needless to say, my friend remained skeptical. “Seriously, AJ, I love apple cider. Really!”

In retrospect, I should have just told her the truth—that I had never had fizzy apple cider before—but in my haste, I overplayed my hand. And in true Applejack fashion, she called me out on my bluff. She popped off the cap and handed the bottle over to me.

“Show me.”

It was hard to maintain a poker face as I stared down the bubbling amber concoction. As I brought it closer to my lips, I could feel the fizz tickling my nostrils with its sharp aroma. I reminded myself that almost everybody at the school enjoyed the Apple family’s cider, but the whole ordeal could’ve been made easier if Applejack’s gaze wasn’t burning a hole through my face.

“Just do it!” Before I could give my brain more time to second-guess itself, I tipped the bottle back and took a hefty swig from it. It felt like a thousand barbed apples pouring down my gullet, sending waves of tingling sensations up my throat. “Hey, this stuff is actually pretty good,” I said once I finished. “And here I was worried that I’d have to pretend to like it.”

Applejack just laughed and shook her head. “Okay funny girl, here’s the other one,” she said, handing me a second bottle. “Who’s it for anyways? You making new friends already?”

“Nothing so ambitious,” I replied. “Just working the angles with some interviews—a smile and a free drink will get one much more than just a smile alone.”

“Good thinkin’! Anywho, I best get a move on if I’m going to keep an eye out for you-know-who.”

I paid for the drinks and we headed out for our respective missions. I felt a bit more relieved now that I knew that Applejack would be spending the rest of the match on the other side of the field. It didn’t relieve all the guilt from the excessive lying, but it was better than nothing. Speaking of the match, hearing another roar from the crowd told me that the game was no longer going in my team’s favour. I wasn’t too concerned about the outcome of the game, but if I was going to pull a decent article out of this event, I was going to have to start paying more attention to what was happening.

Unfortunately, my plans to focus on the game got put on hold when I returned to my seat and discovered an absence of any purple-haired science geeks. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it was possible that Twilight had just jumped ship on me. I should have seen this coming. She had just been waiting for some distance, and it didn’t matter who went to get the drinks because she was going to leave either way.

“Just a minor setback,” I muttered under my breath. Twilight couldn’t have gotten far in these crowds, especially carrying that bag of gadgets with her. I had no choice but to go searching, lest she find her way to the Wondercolts’ bench. “Excuse me,” I said after turning to a random girl in a nearby seat, “did you see where my friend went?”

“Your what now?” the young girl replied.

“My friend. She was sitting right here just a few minutes ago.”

The girl glanced back to the empty seats, and then just rolled her eyes with a malicious smirk. “You mean Twilight Dorkle? Surprised she even showed up.”

Dorkle? Now there was a brand of creativity that used to be commonplace in my parlance back during my more malicious days. I was beginning to see more of a pattern as to Twilight’s standing at the academy. It would explain part of the reason why she preferred the science lab to social gatherings. Despite an overwhelming temptation to test the resiliency of the Crystal Heart Academy uniform against fizzy apple cider, I had a nerd to track down.

I felt a lot less guilty about lying to Applejack now, as her vigilance on the far side of the field meant that I could concentrate my efforts on my half, and didn’t have to worry about Twilight getting close to the Wondercolts. Despite using a vantage point in the bleachers, I couldn’t see any sign of Twilight—there were just too many people milling about around the field. It wasn’t until I got back down to ground level that I realized that half-time had been called, hence the extra bustle.

“Hey Sunset!” I heard a familiar voice calling for my attention. Any other time and I would’ve enjoyed the company, but I did not have time to waste socializing.

Alas, unless I wanted fewer friends in this world, I had to put on a smile when I saw Rainbow Dash arrive at my side. For me, it was a strange sight at first as she looked more winded than usual. Then again, I had never actually seen her in the middle of a game before. Every time I had watched Dash doing anything athletic, it was always brief and she made it look as casual as zipping up a pair of jeans. Until then, I never knew that she could do ‘flustered and sweat-drenched.’

“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing over here? Shouldn’t you be focusing on the game?”

“It’s halftime,” Dash pointed out, “besides, I had to hear it for myself.”

“Hear what?” I asked despite having a suspicion as to what it was.

She leaned in closer with a look of excitement and anticipation in her eyes. “That Twilight Sparkle is at this school. Is it really true?”

I should have realized that Applejack wouldn’t keep the information to herself. It wasn’t about gossip or excitement, just prudence on her part. Maybe it would be for the best if Rainbow Dash knew to keep a watchful eye, too, but I worried nonetheless.

“Yes, she is a student here,” I said while trying to keep my answers brief. “I don’t know where she is though.”

Rainbow looked disappointed at the news, replying, “I guess I have to do what AJ said, and keep my distance, huh?”

“It’s for the best,” I reassured her. I was just about to give Dash the same speech about all the horrific consequences that could result from getting involved with Twilight Sparkle, but another member of the soccer match chose that as an opportune moment to swoop in. While I normally disliked having my conversations interrupted, the distraction was a welcomed opportunity.

“Yo! Sunset Shimmer!” It was Lightning Dust, looking just as ragged as Rainbow Dash except with a far more triumphant grin across her face. It was a well-deserved expression given that she was responsible for her team’s current lead over the Wondercolts. “I’ve got a few minutes before the second half if you want to do some more interviewing.”

“You’ve been fraternizing with the enemy?” Rainbow shouted in disbelief while pointing an accusatory finger at the other soccer player.

I vocalized my contempt for my friend’s reaction with an audible groan before reaching out and forcing Rainbow’s outstretched arm down. “I write for the school paper, remember? I’m allowed to talk to the other team.”

Rainbow Dash glared at Lightning Dust and I, putting on her best facade of scrutinizing suspicion. “Just don’t think you can butter up Sunset into giving up any of my team’s secrets,” she warned.

“I don’t know any of your secrets.” Despite my insistence to the contrary, Dash stuck with her narrative.

“I’ve got my eyes on you,” Rainbow Dash cautioned while gesturing to her eyes. She then started backing up onto the field, still keeping a locked gaze upon Lightning and I, and almost tripped over a soccer ball in the process.

Lightning Dust just raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is she always like that?”

“She just gets very competitive at times.” I would have preferred to use the term ‘clinically insane’ instead, but Rainbow Dash was still my friend even if her behavior sometimes made me wonder which dictionary she was using to define those terms. At least Rainbow Dash was gone for the time being, which meant I only had to excuse myself from Lightning Dust’s attention and I could finally resume my search.

“So...I’ve got two goals so far and I’m feelin’ pretty chatty, if you catch my drift,” Lightning Dust said with an eager grin.

“Post-game, I promise,” I replied. “Now I know this might sound a bit strange, but have you seen Twilight Sparkle around?” I held up the bottles of fizzy cider with the hopes that Lightning Dust would assume that I was merely playing the role of delivery-girl.

“Dorkle? You’ve been talking to her?”

“Why does everyone seem so surprised by that?” I replied, noting both the repetition of surprise and the use of the derogatory nickname.

“It might have something to do Silverspeed’s missing eyebrows, or how the science lab still smells like a pineapple. It’s getting to the point where seeing a pineapple makes me feel sick to my stomach.” Considering that Lightning Dust was new to Crystal Heart Academy, that meant both of those events must have happened within the past month or so. It made me curious as to what other surprises laid in store for me were I to keep sifting through Twilight’s student life. “That girl is just plain...weird.”

It was strange that Twilight appeared to be no more popular at her school than I was at mine, yet she appeared to be more victim than bully. It worried me because it drove home the point that simply dropping my malicious and hurtful ways may not be enough to change the way people thought of me.

“She didn’t seem that bad to me,” I said, putting forward my own sense of confusion in order to coax a better explanation.

“Maybe you got lucky,” Lightning said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I tried talking to her once and she barked at me—something about messing up the humidity near her specimens.”

By the sound of her indifference, I suspected that Lightning did not make much of an attempt to understand Twilight Sparkle. Given how Lightning was described as part of the ‘cool crowd,’ their interactions were most likely limited to purely academic ones. And just like how Rainbow Dash could act a bit strange when she was in her element, so too could a scientifically-minded girl if you tried to strike up a conversation in the middle of an experiment.

As much as I would have liked to probe Lightning Dust for more information, I was in a hurry. “Listen, have you seen her or not?” I asked.

“Over near her brother,” she answered with a sigh and a half-hearted thumbing in the general direction of her coach. “Hard to believe those two are related.”

I decided to ignore the continued slights against Twilight; though they were no business of mine, I could not help but feel a sense of indignation each time it occurred. They reminded me too much of the callous disregard towards others that had been the centerpiece of my horrid attitude. I wanted to say something, but if words could fix that kind of behavior, I wouldn’t have needed a rainbow freight train to change my ways.

I hurried on my way to find Shining Armour while still trying to keep the two opened bottles of fizzy cider from getting knocked from my grasp. When I finally located the elusive little amateur scientist, I was surprised to find that she was not speaking with her brother as I had hoped, but was instead taking refuge behind a nearby tree. And here I had hoped that Twilight had taken some of my words to heart and attempted to reforge her bond with her brother.

“You know, Twilight, you’re not going to have much luck getting a good view of the game from there,” I spoke up in order to announce my arrival. As I didn’t want to take the chance that she might run off on me, I had to sneak up behind her from the opposite side of the tree.

“Oh! Sunset Shimmer…I, uh, didn’t see you there.” She was surprised by my presence, though I wasn’t sure if it was due to my sudden appearance at her side or just the fact that I managed to find her. “You....actually came back?”

“Well I wasn’t planning on drinking both of these,” I answered while holding up the beverages.

As I held out a bottle for her, I saw the apprehension in her eyes. Could it have been that Twilight thought that I had used the opportunity to bail on her instead? I hadn’t stopped to consider what she might have been worrying over. She was not Princess Twilight Sparkle who chased me through a magic mirror into an alternate world just to retrieve a magic crown; this was Twilight Sparkle, science nerd, who probably considered speaking in front of a crowded classroom to be the closest thing to armageddon in her life.

“I promise I won’t bite,” I said in the hopes of reassuring her of my mostly-honest intentions.

She was still cautious, but like any good scientist, she put her trust in the evidence: I had done nothing thus far to give her reason to not trust me beyond her own sense of apprehension. Eventually, she accepted the bottle and took a quick sip from it.

“Thank you,” she said in a subdued murmur.

I waited to see if she would say anything else, but she remained content just sipping at her drink while staring off in the opposite direction of her brother. I planted myself next to her, leaning against the same tree but keeping enough distance with the hopes that she wouldn’t feel a need to run off again. I wound up just tapping my fingernails against the bottom of my bottle due to boredom and the fact that I wasn’t thirsty.

Soon, I found myself getting irritated with Twilight; not just because of the silence, but because I knew she was stalling. “Have you actually gone over and said hi to your brother yet?” I asked despite knowing the answer.

“N-not yet. He’s...busy talking to his team. I can’t interrupt him while he’s working,” Twilight answered. It sounded as though she were trying to convince herself rather than me, and judging by the way she eyeballed the soccer players like a kicked puppy, it wasn’t her brother that she was concerned about.

“And in a few minutes he’s going to be too focused on the game to really talk, so go now while you still have an opportunity,” I said. There was no reason for me to get involved with her personal affairs, and there was even a little voice in the back of my mind trying to talk me out of what I was doing, but I wasn’t about to stand on the sidelines while she painted over her fears with a fresh coat of rationalization. “You’re not scared of those other girls, are you?”

“Scared? Wh—? No! Of course not!” Twilight scoffed at the notion. “Fear is spawned from ignorance and childish notions; both of which I have outgrown. I simply prefer to not be around them.”

Her reaction reminded me of the old phrase, ‘the lady doth protest too much,’ or even just a puffer fish trying to ward off predators. Of course, it was easy to stand on the sidelines and say that things didn’t affect you, so I decided to put her theory to the test.

“Then let’s just go. I doubt he’ll mind,” I said as I took her by the wrist.

Just as I had anticipated, Twilight reacted to the idea much like a cat reacts to being thrown into the bathtub. “No, wait! I can’t!” she yelped, wrenching her limb free. For a brief second, there was a look of deer-in-headlights panic. The shame was evident once she realized that her carefully constructed facade had just self-destructed in a heartbeat. I felt a bit guilty about my methods, but I reminded myself it was impossible to overcome one’s demons if you refused to even acknowledge their existence.

“You really are terrified of them, aren’t you?” I asked, taking a more sympathetic tone.

Twilight couldn’t even look me in the eye for more than a second, as if I had caught her in the middle of some horrible, unspeakable act. There was a quiet murmur of discontent before she sat at the base of the curl, knees clenched to her chest.

“They all hate me,” she squeaked.

As I stood there, looming over the shell-shocked student, I asked myself why I was doing this. I had no right to dictate the terms to which she lived her life; if she wanted to stay in a bubble, shirking away from ninety-percent of the school population, that was her choice to make. And just because I needed somebody to smack some sense into me when I was doing something stupid and self-destructive, it didn’t mean that I had to be so heavy-handed sharing that wisdom with others. There must have been somebody better equipped to give her counsel: a teacher, a parent, a friend...anybody but me.

Yet when I looked to my surroundings, I had no idea who I could turn to. I remembered Shining Armour making mention of Cadance having a rapport with Twilight, but she was nowhere to be seen. I could have gone to get Shining myself, but that might have resulted in those soccer players following us. If Twilight was scared of facing those girls on even ground, I doubt she would want to be seen as she was right now. Despite there being hundreds of people within arm’s reach, I suspected that Twilight felt terribly alone in that moment; her, alone, against the world.

In a way, it was not too dissimilar to when I found myself at the bottom of a dusty crater, surrounded by students that once feared me, but now felt only contempt. The cause may have been different, but the end products were the same: a sense of isolation, a sudden and immense burden of shame, and a cocktail of fear and paranoia with a garnish of self-loathing. And the only reason I was able to climb out of that hole was because somebody, who at that point had nothing to gain, offered their hand to me.

So I sat down next to Twilight and decided it was time for some honesty.

“I used to be the kind of person that people like you have nightmares about going to school,” I admitted.

That piqued her curiosity, if only because it seemed like an odd thing to bring up in a conversation. “Wait, are you saying that you used to be a...a bully?” she asked in disbelief. I imagine I threw her mind for a loop with a narrative that did not match her experiences with me thus far.

“I think tyrant would be more apt,” I said, bringing my knees up to my chest.

“You don’t seem like the type to shove kids into lockers,” Twilight commented, perhaps still trying to make sense of the revelation.

“Twilight, I used to be able to glare people into a locker,” I replied before affording myself a quiet, morbid chuckle. It was hard not to look back at those days with some sense of nostalgia. As ill-deserved and delusional it may have been, I used to be powerful: I could get what I want, when I wanted it. Now I couldn’t even make a phone call without proper clearance from my self-appointed caretakers.

“Why are you telling me all this?”

I gave my confused friend a reassuring smile. “So that you’ll believe me when I tell you that people like the ones that have you so worked up only have as much power as you’re willing to give them.” Twilight gave me a skeptical look, one that I understood as to why. My advice sounded outlandish, even to my own ears, but considering I had been on the receiving end of it, I could attest to its efficacy. She needed more assurance, which meant having to swallow more humble pie. “Listen, I used to be the most feared person in my school: nobody dared to cross me. But all it took was one new student who refused to be afraid. Once that happened, everyone else in the school rallied around her. And now…”

I hadn’t intended to let my words drift away, and it took Twilight a few seconds to realize that my hesitation was not intentional. “‘And now’ what?”

“Now nobody is scared. Everyone just hates me, and I deserve every bit of it,” I sighed. I had intended for this conversation to be something of a motivator for Twilight, but it was having the opposite effect on me. I had to push my feelings aside if I were to get back to the task of providing helpful advice. “The point is, Twilight, they are not as powerful as you think they are. And the moment you start standing up to them, they start losing that power.”

“But what if it just gets worse?”

“It might. In fact, there’s a good chance it will...for a while.” I refrained from giving her empty platitudes. She’d accept truth, no matter how unpalatable it might seem at first. “But I speak from experience when I say that the harder they try, the more everyone will realize just how little they can actually do.”

Having said all that I could, I got back to my feet. If Twilight remained reluctant even with my advice, then there was nothing more that I could offer her. While such a turn of events would be disappointing, at the same I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to stay where it was safe. Fear was a powerful motivator, after all, and one I used to wield to great effect. I just hoped my honesty was enough to win enough trust to last us through the rest of the game. As Twilight sat there, mulling over my words, I offered out my hand.

She looked to my hand for a moment, then cast her gaze up to me. “Why are you doing this?” she asked. “You barely even know me.”

“It looks like you could use a friend right now. What more should a person need?”

It’s amazing to consider how the right choice of words can have such resonanting consequences. At the time, they just felt like what needed to be said in order to get Twilight to follow along, and I was oblivious to what these seeds could become. I unwittingly set into motion a chain of events, like falling dominoes, that would change my life forever.

And all it took was, ‘it looks like you could use a friend.’

“Okay, but if I lose my nerve and try to run, just...um, keep pushing me,” Twilight suggested before taking my hand.

“They’re not as scary as you think, and you’re stronger than you give yourself credit,” I said before helping her back to her feet. I kept a firm grip as I led her towards her brother.. “Hey Shining!” I called out. “Look who I managed to find.”

“Twily! You made it!”

Act II-IV

If I had to choose my favourite moment from that afternoon spent at Crystal Heart Academy, it would be when all the soccer players who had teased Twilight in the past realized that she was the little sister of their beloved coach. Apparently, neither Twilight nor Shining Armour had ever bothered to mention this fact to the general public, resulting in a lot of awkward grins and nervous hellos when Shining tried to make introductions. I think Lightning Dust was the only member of the team who wasn’t surprised, and that was probably because she had met Shining Armour before becoming a part of the soccer team.

For me, standing on the sidelines and watching the scene unfold gave me a strange sense of satisfaction, probably one similar to how most of the students of Canterlot High felt when they realized that I was no longer a menace to them. Something about karma made for a good spectator sport.

Just before I parted ways with Twilight, returning to the stands and leaving her in the care of her older brother, she told me something that stuck with me for hours afterwards.

“For what it’s worth, Sunset, you seem like a good person.”

I suspected that the reason it felt so rewarding was because, unlike Celestia or Applejack, Twilight wasn’t saddled by expectations or past experiences that would colour her opinion. All she saw was a good person, and it gave me hope that my future might not be as bleak as I feared. It also made me consider the idea of switching schools. I knew that Celestia wanted me some place where she could keep a close eye on me, but what if a fresh start was something I needed too? Of course, that would mean leaving my friends behind, and I wasn’t certain if I was ready to do that yet. Changing schools wouldn’t destroy the friendship, of course, but the recent events with the school paper and Diamond Tiara taught me that I needed people like Fluttershy close by in order to prevent myself from slipping back into my old ways.

“Are you sure you don’t need a ride home?” Applejack’s inquiry snapped me out of my train of thought. Apparently I had been sitting on the curb staring at my notepad for the past ten minutes. Despite having told my friend that Celestia was on her way to pick me up, Applejack had decided to make her offer once more.

And just like every time I had offered to help her with the crate of empty bottles she was carrying, the answer was still ‘no.’

“I’ll be fine, AJ,” I insisted. “We’ve both got work to do, and this’ll give me time to review my notes.”

The post-game interviews had proven to be quite informative. Though the game ended in a two-two draw, some of the players on each team offered very different perspectives. For example, when I interviewed Rainbow Dash, she was quite frustrated with herself having scored only one goal and missing several key opportunities to put her team ahead. In stark contrast, Lightning Dust was elated: she had scored both goals for her team, and, in her opinion, tested her skills against the vaunted Wondercolts. It was an interesting dynamic to see how differing expectations could produce such vastly different responses to the same outcome.

It was going to be interesting to see how I could work such a dynamic into my article, especially since Rainbow Dash did come off a bit whiny at points. I didn’t want to paint my friend in a bad light, but she craved victory and was always frustrated when she fell short.

“If you say so,” Applejack finally relented. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

She was just about to leave when I saw something at the far end of the parking lot that I thought she might be interested in.

“Hey AJ,” I called out and then gestured off to the distance.

It was Twilight Sparkle and her brother, seemingly walking on their way to Shining’s car. I was relieved to see that the two of them were still talking, even sharing a few laughs. I had a feeling that Twilight would not have to worry about growing apart from her brother for the time being.

“Well I’ll be,” Applejack said as she observed the pair. “So that’s Twilight Sparkle, huh?”

“Eeyup,” I replied.

I watched Twilight for only a few moments, as I was interested in seeing Applejack’s reaction. She was smiling, which was to be expected, but I could also see a bit of sadness in her eyes. To her, it was another reminder of the friend she couldn’t see anymore. The likeness was reassuring, but looks alone could never replace the memories that the other Twilight left behind during her brief stay.

“You could go over and say ‘hi’ to her if you want,” I suggested. Though it was a gamble, I suspected what my friend’s answer was going to be.

She shook her head, just as I predicted. “Nah. It’s tempting, but it just wouldn’t be the same, ya know?” she said. “Besides, it’s like you said–too risky for you. As much as I miss Twi, it ain’t worth putting you or your home in danger.”

While that reassurance was a huge mental relief, I hid my feelings behind a pensive yet understanding nod. I didn’t want to sound too happy over a decision that I imagined was a difficult one to make for Applejack.

“I really appreciate that,” I said.

After another round of ‘good-bye’ and ‘see you tomorrow,’ my friend hurried back to her truck and loaded up the last of their supplies. Soon afterwards, I found myself sitting alone again in the parking lot, wondering what in blazes was keeping Principal Celestia. She did say that she would be picking me up after the game, but all it took was one insolent student to delay her for hours.

Despite my best efforts to review all my game and interview notes, my thoughts kept drifting back to Twilight Sparkle. It aroused a bizarre combination of curiosity and concern in me, from both her similarities and differences to her Princess counterpart. On the one hand, the familiar drive and never-give-up attitude meant that Twilight was going to be pursuing the ‘mystery’ left behind by my battle with the Elements of Harmony. I tried to remind myself that I had nothing to worry about; that magic was so alien to this world that nothing in her bag of scientific gizmos would ever help her make sense of it.

But then again, if this world’s Twilight was half as tenacious as the other one, inconclusive answers were never going to satisfy her. Her tools had enough to sniff out that something was amiss about me, though I hadn’t the slightest clue why I was giving her equipment strange readings. I had to admit that the intellectual in me was very much intrigued by these implications, and were it not for the potential consequences, both to myself and Equestria, I would have gladly pursued that mystery alongside her. Of course, whatever she found would never be accepted by the scientific community at large, and she would’ve laughed off any implication of ‘magic’ being at play. She would be left with questions she could not answer, and I with answers that I could not provide.

I began to contemplate if there was a way I could dissuade Twilight from her scientific pursuit, or at the very least falsify a conclusive result that would sate her curiosity. But how do you get ahead of a girl with enough intellect and initiative to bring her own Geiger counter to a soccer game?

And I still couldn’t believe that she managed to snip off a lock of my hair without me seeing it!

In the end, I found Twilight Sparkle to be an intriguing young woman; she piqued my curiosity in a way that I hadn’t felt since first being taken under Princess Celestia’s tutelage. Despite those feelings, though, I knew that the safest course of action for me was to cut ties with her.

“Excuse me, miss?” Once again, my plunge through an ocean of thought was intruded by yet another arrival. I might’ve been more annoyed, except the voice carried that high authority baritone with it, like that mall security guard who took his job way too seriously. Unfortunately for me, I was not dealing with some rent-a-cop as the gentleman looming over me like the Sword of Damocles was wearing a tailored coat with the academy’s logo emblazoned on the lapel.

“O-oh, um...h-hello,” I replied with my best attempt to keep a straight face despite having my neck craned back into a near-vertical position. My feeling of trepidation soon turned into a nervousness of a different variety. With his towering figure and locks of pure, shimmering obsidian, the man had ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ nailed down to a tee.

“Is everything okay?” he asked. Then his face, which looked as though an artist had chiseled from black marble, flashed a smile so disarming that I almost felt weak in the knees just standing before him.

Given that Crystal Heart was a private school, I suspected that they did not look kindly upon outsiders such as myself loitering on their property. “I’m good—just waiting for my ride home,” I said. “She just seems to be running a little bit late.”

“That’s unfortunate,” he said as he tucked his hands behind his back. “Though I am reluctant to do so, I’m afraid I must ask you to leave the school premises as we will be closing the main gates soon.”

While it wasn’t an unreasonable request, it still wasn’t one I was looking forward to fulfilling. Though it just meant moving from sitting near the school’s parking lot to just outside the main gate, that meant a cold sidewalk and nosy rush-hour traffic instead of the relative tranquility the school grounds provided. I answered with little more than a reluctant sigh as I got back to my feet. However, I was not given the opportunity to leave just yet.

“Pardon me,” the gentleman spoke up once more. He waited until I turned about and gave an expected, confused stare before he continued. “Your name wouldn’t happen to be Sunset Shimmer, would it?”

Now I had the opportunity to understand how Twilight Sparkle felt, though I prayed that it wasn’t because he was acquainted with someone who happened to be identical to me. I could’ve lied and feigned ignorance, but I worried that he, like most experienced school officials, would be able to smell fear and lies like a fresh pot of coffee in the teacher’s lounge. The way his emerald eyes remained fixed on me gave the impression of a keen perception.

I knew I had to be very cautious with my choice of words.

“It is. Have we...met before?” There were many possibilities, but paranoia ensured that I was only thinking about the one that involved black vans and secret laboratories.

“Not personally,” he answered, much to my relief. “However, your principal, Ms. Celestia, has spoken about you at great lengths during our past dealings.” He paused to chortle before shaking his head slowly. “Oh, the look of glee on her face when she was parading around with that photo of you and your trophy after winning last year’s Newton physics contest.”

The Newton physics contest. Just the mentioning of it made me shudder and groan. It was a state-wide competition in which I happened to attain the highest ranking in the school district. Most students would carry that kind of accomplishment with pride and dignity. All I could remember was the overwhelming sense of indignity it resulted in.

“I can’t believe she tricked me into writing that stupid thing,” I grumbled under my breath.

Unfortunately, despite it not being my intention to broadcast my thoughts to the world, my concerns about perceptive school officials proved true as he raised an eyebrow and repeated, “Tricked?”

The cat was out of the bag so there was little point in denying it now, regardless of how I viewed the incident. “Principal Celestia tried to talk me into participating in that stupid contest, and I told her no,” I explained, huffing as I folded my arms. “So she conspired with my physics teacher to get the class’ next test moved to before the physics contest. When the day of the contest came up, I was ‘brought in’,” I threw in some air quotation marks to emphasize how ridiculous the whole ordeal was, “and told that I had been accused of cheating. Rather than be punished, they gave me a new test to write, which just so happened to be the contest. I should’ve recognized the questions were too advanced for my grade, but I was so pissed off about the whole cheating accusation that I didn’t pay attention.”

Then the unexpected occurred; he laughed. Not a ‘tummy tickled’ little chuckle or even a politely-constrained snicker, but a full-blown, slap-upon-the-thigh and head thrown back as if broadcasting your delight to the heavens themselves. Now either there was more to this than I had anticipated, or I had managed to stumble upon the funniest joke in the universe.

“She had to trick her prized student into entering a contest, and she still manages to score in the ninety-ninth percentile,” the gentleman said once his laughter died down. “I am not sure whether to weep or laugh even more.”

Ninety-ninth percentile? For some reason I was surprised when I heard the number despite the contest being from almost a year ago. To be fair, nobody told me about my non-consensual participation in the physics contest until after I was dragged on-stage at the award ceremony. I remembered there being a cheap little plaque and a lot of feigned grins for the cameras, but aside from that I forgot about the incident almost as soon as it concluded. The idea that such a meagre accomplishment could get any attention outside the ceremony itself had never occurred to me.

“I’m sorry, but who exactly are you?” I inquired since the question had been nagging on my mind since the start of the conversation.

The laughter came to an abrupt halt, followed by an embarrassed grin. “My most sincere apologies. I seem to have forgotten all of my manners today,” he said before offering out a hand. “I am Sombra, Headmaster for Crystal Heart Academy.”

I should have realized sooner that I had been dealing with the man in charge of the academy. He had that air of authority about him, and it would explain his dealings with Celestia. I accepted the handshake, noting the surprisingly delicate grip despite having hands large enough to grind mine into a fine powder.

“I wasn’t aware that Principal Celestia spoke so highly of me,” I admitted.

“It is in her nature: she loves to see those under her tutelage excel, and now that she is responsible for a whole school, that desire has only grown more intense,” Sombra explained. Once he released my hand, he tucked his behind his back once more. “Understandably, she affords herself the occasional bragging right, usually just to shut me up when I’m going on about one of my pupils.”

Though the past weeks had taught me that there was much about this world’s Celestia that I didn’t know, the idea of Celestia the braggart was something I had trouble envisioning.

“So how long have you known Principal Celestia?” I inquired. I had a hunch that the two had known each other for a while given that the memory involving a picture of me being paraded about had stuck with him.

It was a good sign when Sombra had to pause and think on the answer. He scratched at his chin for a few seconds before answering, “It’s got to be at least fifteen years by now. I was just starting teacher’s college when I met Tia, so that would’ve been…”

His voice trailed off as he tried to do the math once more, but something else had caught my attention. “Wait, did you just call her—?”

Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to finish my question when the sound of an approaching vehicle drew my attention away. It was the pearly white chariot of Celestia herself, screeching to a halt just behind me.

Celestia didn’t even wait for the window to finishing rolling down before telling me to, “Get in.”

Stunned didn’t even begin to describe what I felt. I had never seen Celestia speak so terse before, even with telemarketers. Either something horrific occurred involving school business, or she really didn’t like being here. Whatever the reason, I didn’t want to stick around to find out so I said a quick good-bye and got into the passenger’s seat.

“You seem to be doing well, Celestia,” Sombra commented, a more forced and subdued undertone to his voice in stark contrast to the warmth he had displayed with me.

“I am, thank you,” she replied, equally frigid. “I see you’ve finally gotten rid of the mullet.”

“Better late than never.” He leaned over, just enough to afford a proper view into the car. For a moment, I swear he looked almost...saddened by what he saw. “Be sure to take care of her, okay?”

“I will,” Celestia snipped back.

“I was talking to Miss Shimmer,” he replied and then left before anything further could be said.

The temperature in the car dropped a few degrees as Celestia drove off. Rarely did she meet with anybody without a friendly ‘hello’ and ‘how are things?’ so the silence was troubling. I didn’t know whether to say something or jump out the window for safety. Self-preservation instincts kicked in and I held my tongue despite all the curiosity swelling inside me. He called her ‘Tia’ of all things. I had only heard two other people use that before: Yearling, whom I am told has known Celestia since college; and Luna, who rarely used it outside of garnishing a cocktail.

Sombra and Celestia didn’t hate each other, or at least not mutually. The headmaster appeared to have no issue speaking about her at length, and only distanced himself when she arrived. The politeness of their interactions felt forced, almost rehearsed. It bore a strong resemblance to some of the pleasantries I witnessed from Gryphon diplomats during my years in Equestria. Could my presence have been what prompted the chilled relations to surface? The fact that Celestia was constantly casting a sideways glance to me suggested some concern towards me. Though perhaps it was just a response to my constant glancing in her direction.

My instincts from my power-hungry years told me that she was anxious about the elephant in the room. It was like being trapped in cage with a wild animal: she kept calm and collected in the hopes that it wouldn’t provoke a response, but at the same time she was bracing herself for it. Were she a student, I would’ve begun circling her as though there was blood in the water. However, since this was Celestia I was dealing with, I decided to respect her wish for privacy.

“Oh, just say it already,” Celestia suddenly spoke up.

Since she had opened the door…

“What in the flaming pits of Tartarus was that?” I exclaimed.

“Sunset, mind your language.”

“Seriously, I’ve seen warmer conversations with abominable snowmen!”

Lucky for me, a stop light came up so the forced halt meant that Celestia had no choice but to focus on the conversation. She took in a slow breath; her hands on the steering wheel began to relax. Gradually, I started to see the Celestia I was familiar with taking form again: graceful...calm...almost regal despite the lack of any crown.

“Sunset, you know that I would never lie to you, correct?” she began, to which I nodded. “When I brought you into my home, I told you that I would do my best to share with you the lessons I’ve learned from my experiences. And I knew that meant being completely open about those experiences—both good and bad.” Again I nodded, but was still unsure of where she was going with her line of reasoning. “Now some of those experiences might be embarrassing for me, some even a bit...shameful, but I made a promise to myself. I can’t expect you to be honest with me if I’m not returning that in kind.”

I sensed that the part with the sun-sized ‘but’ was just about to drop in. I decided to get to the punch first.

“But Sombra is off-limits?”

She sighed, just as the red light turned green. A slow left turn gave her more time to mull over a response. “Sombra and I have a lot of old history together,” she explained in an all-too-cryptic fashion. “It’s a subject that I am...uncomfortable discussing with anybody. He’s from a chapter in my life I would prefer to keep closed.”

It felt like the conversations about the magic mirror all over again: something I was insatiably curious about, but I was being stonewalled by someone who felt they knew what was best. Though it irritated me, I reminded myself what happened the last time I allowed my curiosity to override my better judgment. I couldn’t afford to fall out of the good graces of another Celestia.

“He seemed nice enough to me,” I grumbled under my breath.

“He is nice,” Celestia answered, proving that she had ears sensitive enough to catch my murmurings. “He’s a complete gentleman, in fact. That’s probably the only reason I can still tolerate being near him.”

When Celestia cast a glare at me, I realized she had caught on to my attempt to squeeze information from her. It wasn’t much, but it gave me more to consider. Whatever that chapter contained, it was enough to chill their relation despite Celestia being the kind of person who always saw the best in people. I blew up part of her school, and she invited me into her home; made me think what could’ve happened between her and Sombra. A soured romance, perhaps? It seemed possible, but I suspected there was more to it. Celestia didn’t strike me as the type to hold a grudge against someone for a failed relationship.

Then again, I was basing my observations using my knowledge of a thousand-year-old Celestia, who had many more years of experience to weather such emotional hardships. It was still difficult for me to picture Principal Celestia as a regular run-of-the-mill mortal like me: a person with hopes and dreams, and sometimes just struggling to make due with the hand dealt to her by fate.

Somebody...imperfect.

But perhaps it was better if she wasn’t perfect, if I didn’t feel like I had this apex manifestation of equine power and grace that I always had to compare myself to.

“And, hypothetically speaking, what would happen if I just asked him?” I popped in an idle fashion.

“We’d both be in for a lot of disappointment. Mine because you went behind my back, and yours because he won’t tell you any more than I would,” Celestia said, but at least didn’t sound bothered by my contemplations. “Like I said, he’s a gentleman.”

There was nothing left to do at this point but fold my arms and put on my best pouting face in the hopes that she might change her mind. There was no such luck, and the car remained in absolute silence for the next quarter-hour until Celestia turned the car off from its usual path home and into the parking lot of a MacDougal’s restaurant, bane of coronary arteries and cholesterol levels nationwide.

“Um, what are we doing here?” I asked despite the fact that the answer was obvious. Still, my short time living with Celestia gave me the impression that she avoided greasy fast food like I avoided a pork chop. She even thought that Frogurt Fridays were too unhealthy for high school students.

“Dinner. I’m not in the mood to cook right now,” she answered in a rather blunt fashion.

As she drove the car towards the drive-thru, I noticed that she didn’t have her usual air of serenity about her. She seemed tense, and I had a feeling that I had played a part in that. “This isn’t because of...the whole Sombra thing, is it?”

“Sombra was just the cherry on top. I already had a full ‘bad news’ sundae before I even picked you up,” she explained. She let out a sigh and then gave me an apologetic look. “It’s not your fault. Well...sort of not your fault.”

“Meaning?”

“Repairing the main entrance and the school grounds has taken up a larger part of the school’s budget than I had anticipated,” she said as the car pulled up to the first spot of the drive-thru. While I had heard on a few occasions of Celestia and Luna having issues with the school’s budget, I was ignorant to the full extent of the problem. “What would you like?”

“Excuse me?”

“To order,” Celestia said as she gestured to the giant menu outside of the car.

“Oh, right!” The mentioning of budgetary woes had left me distracted for a moment. I had hoped that the worst of the consequences were behind me, but it was beginning to sound as though there were going to be new reasons at Canterlot High to loathe my presence. The mere thought was so dreadful that I jumped at the opportunity to think about something else, even something as trivial as dinner, as though it were the last lifeboat on a sinking ship. “I’ll take the number five with a side salad, and a diet cola! Um, I mean, please.”

Her response was but a simple, reassuring smile. If guilt had a stench, I would’ve attracted every bloodhound in the county.

Thankfully, before any awkward silence could ensnare us, the static-laced cacophony of the drive-thru intercom cut in. “Welcome to MacDougal’s, home of the MacMeaty, may I take your order?”

“Yes, I’ll have two bacon double-MacMeatys, large fries, large iced tea, a family box of chicken nibs, and a number five combo with a side salad and diet cola.” Celestia paused for a second, mulling something over before adding in, “Oh, and two apple pies.”

“That’s quite a lot of food for you and Luna,” I commented.

“Right, almost forgot about her,” Celestia quipped. “And one MacDougal’s Kid’s Meal.”

It seemed like every time I thought I had a handle on the kind of person Celestia was, she managed to knock me for a loop so hard that I’m left staring, slack-jawed, wondering what just hit me. Picturing Princess Celestia chomping down on something as uncouth as a grease-soaked burger was hard for me to swallow. To be fair, Kibitz would never have allowed something like that within a hundred meters of the princess, including a ‘spear on sight’ order to the Royal Guards.

My imagination didn’t have to wait very long because Celestia parked the car within minutes of getting our food, and helped herself to one of the burgers. Even as she peeled away the wrapper and took the first mouthful, the whole situation felt surreal. While Princess Celestia had never been a stickler for protocol—after all we had Kibitz for that—she still always carried herself with a base level of decorum. Even the quickest of meals meant silverware and doilies. Watching Celestia devour a burger felt as unsettling as seeing a timberwolf walk into a five-star restaurant and ask for the wine menu.

“So why do you want your friend, Pinkie Pie, to think your birthday is in the spring?” Celestia asked between mouthfuls.

Once again, I was knocked for a mental loop. There was no idiotic-gawking on my part, this time, as I was too busy trying to cough up the piece of lettuce that had just taken up residence in my larynx.

“Wh-whatever do you mean?” I replied between desperate hacks. It was hard to act innocent when it looked like the truth was trying to kick its way out of you.

“For starters, you sent me a text telling me that it was okay to show Miss Pie your records, and then Luna found her attempting to break into the record’s room,” Celestia explained, pausing to wipe some MacDougal secret sauce from the corner of her lips. “Now if you had wanted your friend to know the truth, you would’ve just told her, which means your aim was to make a falsehood more believable.”

It was proving to be a lot harder to fool people now that everybody knew that I was a serial manipulator. I was beginning to wonder how I ever fooled Celestia at all given how easily she saw through every facade I erected. It was beginning to feel as though I had never been a very good liar to begin with, and my success was simply because nobody ever thought to be skeptical. More lies would be as productive as throwing rocks at a runaway train, but the truth was as terrifying as standing in front of it.

“I just...don’t want to deal with it right now, and I know Pinkie won’t stop bugging me about it until she gets an answer,” I admitted with great reluctance. Unfortunately, all I was going to accomplish now was trading Pinkie’s incessant questioning with Celestia’s. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure which would have been easier to deal with.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Celestia replied before taking a sip from her drink. I was caught off-guard by the lack of pressure being applied. I was expecting a full-body inquisition, or at least a bit more arm-twisting. Was she just trying to guilt me with this feigned indifference? Or what if she actually didn’t care at all? What if my refusal to open up had finally worn out her patience, and this was her way of casting me adrift.

“I hate my birthday because it just reminds me what a horrible person I was, and I don’t deserve a party until I can make amends for what I’ve done, and I can’t because the person I wronged isn’t in this world! There, I said it! Happy?”

The car went dead silent after my outburst, save for the occasional slurp of a straw trying to suck up the last traces of iced tea. I decided to stuff my face with more food in the desperate hope that it would prevent any further idiotic ramblings.

“Do you believe that punishing yourself like this will help you become a better person?”

When she phrased it like that, it did make my choice of action sound rather foolish. Despite a mouthful of kale, I let out a resigned sigh. “It’ll help stop me from being a worse person,” I said while crumpling up an empty wrapper. “Pinkie will want to throw a party because she wants to make me happy, but it won’t work. I’ll just be miserable, and that’ll just leave her disappointed.”

Celestia didn’t say anything at first. Maybe she was just trying to think of the best way to phrase what she had in mind, or maybe she didn’t have any answer yet. There were plenty of things that could be said, but I doubt Celestia would settle for generic platitudes. I could get a ‘just be honest with your friends’ from a fortune cookie, after all, so why waste time with something so trivial? I didn’t want to be responsible for more disappointment, even if it meant a little bit of disappointment later on down the road. At least with Pinkie Pie, I could do something to make up for it later.

“I think you need to ask yourself who you’re actually trying to protect.” Celestia then reached for her keys and started up the car. “Now let’s go home. My sister gets cranky if her fries get cold.”

Act II-V

My time under Princess Celestia’s tutelage had me see all varieties of dangers and challenges present in Equestria. While I may not have had to fend off changeling invasions or stop the return of Nightmare Moon, I’ve tackled my share of hydras, solved ancient mysteries involving archaic magics, and confronted eldritch horrors that would sooner turn you inside-out with a glare than say ‘howdy-do.’ As the protégé to her Royal Highness, I was expected to take any task in order to advance my studies. Personally, I relished any opportunity to flex my magical muscles as one could only cast so many growth spells before you started to get bored, and the groundskeepers lodged a formal complaint.

Between the dragon squatting and that one time I accidentally got into an honour duel with a gryphon prince, I thought I had pushed my courage to its absolute limits. And yet somehow I found myself standing outside of Vice Principal Luna’s bedroom door with both feet cemented to the floor in trepidation. It was the simplest of requests: deliver Luna’s dinner. If one saw me at that moment, they might’ve thought I was about to step into the pits of Tartarus.

In retrospect, most of my fears just came from the fact that I knew so little about her. While Celestia had taken steps to open herself up to me, Luna had taken the opposite stance and seemed to go out of her way to ensure that a wall stayed between us, quite often literally. I had yet to even see inside Luna’s bedroom, much less hold any decent-length conversation with her. Though I did get the distinct impression the cold shoulder treatment was because she didn’t like or trust me, I knew there had to be more to it than just a desire for privacy. My curiosity had already gotten enough exercise for one day, and my enthusiasm for anything was borderline comatose. All I was thinking about at that point was how Luna barked at me whenever I even glanced at her door, and I wasn’t looking forward to another round.

I reminded myself that I had long since outgrown diapers and that it was time to act my age and let go of childish fears. I reached out, and just as my knuckles were about to strike the wooden blockage, it swung opened just enough for me to be staring face-to-face with Luna. I couldn’t see anything past her, save for a glowing light source just out of view.

“What are you doing?” she asked with her usual prompt, no-nonsense tone.

All I could muster in response was a deer-in-headlights stare, and the occasional gargle as my tongue hugged the back of my throat.

“Oh, you brought dinner,” Luna said upon noticing the colourful boxes I carried. Her disposition made a swift about face as the corner of her lip curled upwards. “MacDougal’s, huh? I wouldn’t have thought the budget meeting would go that poorly.” She was about to head back into her room when she stopped and stared at me for a moment, as though remembering something. “How many apple pies did she buy?”

Now that was an odd question. Were I not still so nervous around Luna, I could’ve contemplated the issue on my own. Instead, I just had to settle with giving the answer and hoping that she would fill in the details.

“Two.”

“She wouldn’t order that many unless…” Luna’s voice trailed off for a second before a smirk crossed her face. “So how is Sombra doing these days?”

“He seems...good,” I replied. How in the world she managed to deduce an encounter with Crystal Heart’s headmaster was beyond me, and it did not help my sense of unease. “He got rid of the mullet, apparently.”

“I liked how he did his hair,” Luna said with the faintest hint of disappointment. She let out a quiet murmur as she shrugged her shoulders before disappearing into her room. The last thing I saw was her reaching into the kid’s meal box, muttering something about having the whole set. As the door clicked shut, my heart finally fell back into a calm rhythm.

“I’ve got to stop being so terrified of that woman,” I muttered under my breath. On the bright side, now that I had finished playing delivery girl, I didn’t have to worry about dealing with Luna for a while. Despite the late hour, I decided to get started on my newspaper article while the events were still fresh in my mind. However, thanks to the current punitive measures levied against me, I had to get permission from Celestia to use my laptop or connect to the wi-fi network.

I found my self-appointed caretaker down in the living room, sprawled across the couch after having been crippled by her battle with greasy meats and fried potato slivers. The sloven sight before me was quite unlike the usual pristine nature I had come to expect from her. There was an air of great burden about her, as though it was not the food but her own mentality that left her in such a subdued state. As I watched her take another bite of her cheap, one-dollar pastry, I realized that I was probably witnessing the equivalent of Celestia’s ‘depressed binge eating.’ To be honest, I don’t recall having ever seen Celestia, Princess or otherwise, be...sad. Of course, Princess Celestia was probably very experienced at hiding her emotions behind royal etiquette and protocol, but the Celestia before me had no such luxury at her disposal.

I tried my best to stay quiet as I approached Celestia from the foot-end of the couch. “Um, excuse me,” I spoke up.

“Hm?” Slowly, Celestia’s head twisted until she was looking in my direction. It would be difficult to describe the look on her face as morose or sullen, but there was a definite absence of the usual liveliness she usually carried with her. It was like looking at a house with all the lights off. “Is there something you need, Sunset?”

“I need my laptop,” I said. While there were many concerns and questions running rampant in my mind, I knew now was not the time to ask. I knew that if I were in her state, I’d feel even less inclined to have any heart-to-heart talks.

“Luna has it in her room. You’ll have to ask her.”

Oh, for the love of—

No sooner had I managed to pry myself free from that woman, I was marching back up the stairs for a second round. I wanted to be angry at Celestia for forcing me to have to go through her sister just so I could finish my work, but the only person to blame for my predicament was me.

This time my mission was clear, and I wasn’t going to let fear hold me back. I pounded furiously on the door, shouting, “Luna, open—!”

The door swung open abruptly, revealing an cantankerous-looking Vice Principal on the other side.

“—up…”

A brief moment of silence fell between us. If one listened very carefully, you could hear the sound of my courage curling into the fetal position and start sobbing. As her eyes narrowed, I felt a bitter chill crawl up my spine. I had a feeling that she was going to let loose on me for my insolence or something equally terrifying.

“What do you want?” she asked, same tone as the last greeting.

“I need my laptop to do some schoolwork.”

“Okay. Wait here.” The door closed once more and I heard her footsteps growing fainter. That went a lot more smoothly than I had anticipated; I was expecting to play twenty questions or face some kind of interrogation befitting such a staunch enforcer of the rules. I didn’t ponder over the issue for long because it soon dawned on me that I didn’t hear any distinct click of a lock when the bedroom door closed, which meant I could just open Luna’s door if I wanted to. Perhaps the high-and-mighty Luna liked to doll up her bed with pink frills and stuffed toys.

All I needed to do was grab the door knob and twist.

The temptation was so powerful that my hand was halfway to the knob before I realized what was going on.

“No! Bad Sunset!” I had to grab my own wrist just to wrest it away. There was enough animosity between Luna and me as it was, I didn’t need to go poking the dragon with a stick. My second-guessing couldn’t have come at a better time as the door swung back open just an instant later.

Luna raised a puzzled eyebrow, staring at what must have looked like a bizarre shadow puppet show with my hand still wrenched away above my head. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I insisted, tucking my hands away.

Whether she believed or just didn’t care, Luna said nothing else and just handed me my laptop with the reminder that I had to return it to her once I finished my work.

“I need the wi-fi password, too.”

“No.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the refusal or the sheer abruptness that caught me by surprise. Either way, I had no intention of taking ‘no’ for an answer. “Oh, come on! I’m trying to do some school work here, and you’re going to pull the rug out from under me?”

As Luna frowned and folded her arms across her chest, I knew my request had hit a sour note with her. “It’s a newspaper article about a soccer game,” she replied. “You don’t need the internet for that.”

“It’s for researching,” I insisted. “What? You think I’m just going to ignore my work and watch cat videos all evening?”

The conversation, if one could call it that, broke down in a hurry. I’d insist one thing and she would counter with some other outlandish accusation. I argued unreasonable constraints, and she reminded me that I made a giant hole in the front of the school, not that it had anything to do with using the internet or not. Now I was tempted to call her paranoid, if it weren’t for the fact that I did have some intention of using the internet for things other than research. It wasn’t for trivial reasons, but they weren’t the kind of reasons I wanted to discuss openly. Unfortunately, the more I insisted she was being unfair, the more she refused to believe anything I said.

To be fair, were the situations reversed, I would be putting up just as much resistance.

However, I did have a back-up plan in mind, and it came into play much sooner than I had expected.

“Luna, just give her the password already!” Celestia’s voice echoed from downstairs.

It took every ounce of willpower I had to keep from smirking as I watched Luna dig into her pants pocket and produce a small slip of paper. Suffice to say, she was not thrilled about being undermined by her sister, and the piercing glare she gave was enough to drill a hole through my face and give my occipital lobe a kick in the pants.

Just as I was about to take the paper slip, Luna seized me by the wrist and pulled me in close. “I’m watching you. Don’t you forget,” she sneered, just loud enough so that I was the only person who’d hear her warning.

“Would you stop treating me like a criminal?” I snapped back just before pulling away. There was another salvo of spiteful glares before we parted ways, and I was finally able to retreat to the relative safety of my bedroom. “I swear, it’s like living with a cop,” I grumbled under my breath.

Keeping Luna’s warning in mind, I opted to work on my assignment for a while, just in case there were any surprise visits. Slipping back into the role of a newspaper journalist felt like putting on an old, comfortable pair of jeans. I may have put on a pound or two in the year of absence, but I was soon pouring words onto the page like water from a faucet. I tried my best to keep my prose as similar to Gabby Gums’ as possible, but it was hard to try and cripple my writing style to match that of some kids several years my junior.

It took about an hour to get the first draft finished, and while that was longer than my usual given the article’s length, I was nonetheless pleased with myself. I felt it was an appropriate time to reward myself with some of that research I had in mind. With all the business of Sombra and Twilight Sparkle during the day, I had long been suppressing a near-overwhelming urge to indulge my curiosity. There was no way a prestigious school like Crystal Heart could exist without some presence on the internet, so I started with some quick and easy searches. They had a lovely web page for the school full of the usual embellishments and empty promises about how their school was the best in the county, and that any parent would gladly sell a kidney on the black market just to enroll their kid.

Given the tuition costs, most parents would probably have to do something that drastic.

I scoured the web site for pictures and information, but I didn’t find much beyond a headshot of their headmaster, mullet and all. In all honestly, it didn’t look as bad as I had envisioned: I was expecting something out of the eighties but instead it gave him a sort of ‘rich mediterranean’ air. It listed some of Sombra’s past accomplishments, which included a few accolades for ‘Educator of the Year’ and ‘Best Principal.’ In the photo galleries, I saw a few pictures with Miss Cadenza in the backdrop, though I noticed that none of the captions list her by her family name. It made me wonder how many people knew who she really was.

“Well that was a bust,” I muttered to myself as I scrolled back to my search engine. “Maybe the school has a MyStables page.”

I could always count on MyStables for all of my sleuthing needs. While the school’s web page itself might have been focused more on advertising, the people running the MyStables page had a different objective in mind. The page was more of a celebration of their school with scores of photo albums of the various school events: dances, stage performances, award ceremonies, and more. They even had a picture of Sombra duct taped to a door as part of some fundraiser event.

“I wonder if Celestia would be up for something like that,” I mused with a chuckle.

A member’s list page caught my eye, so I decided to take a peak. It was a long shot, but I decided to scroll down the list, and was rewarded with the image of a familiar purple-haired girl with ‘T. Sparkle’ listed underneath. I was curious to see how a girl as unsocial as Twilight lived on the internet, so I gave it a click.

I didn’t think I’d ever see a website more devoid of activity since that time Applejack made that ‘Everything you’d want to know about apples but were too afraid to ask’ website to try and drum up business for her farm. The only picture on Twilight’s page was her school photo, which marked the first time I had seen her with hair that resembled the concept of ‘tidy.’ But aside from a lone photo and some basic information about herself, there wasn’t a shred of activity on her personal page. Her ‘friends list’ was just as barren, which I found disconcerting.

“Maybe she just doesn’t care about MyStables,” I reassured my worries. There were plenty of people who had zero interest in that particular island of the internet, but at the same time it wouldn’t strike me as surprising if the page was an accurate reflection of the girl’s social life. I soon found myself hoping that disinterest was the reason as the alternative was too disheartening to consider.

Scouring through the rest of the photo albums on the school’s MyStables page yielded little new information. They had albums dedicated to every single club and interest group imaginable, and even some that I wouldn’t have even considered, but it looked like Twilight wasn’t a member of any of them. The only other pictures I found of Twilight were in an album labeled ‘Academic Achievements.’ There were several pictures of Twilight receiving medals, and from the captions it looked as though she cleaned house in awards for the various science and math programs the school offered. There was one picture that stood out: it was Twilight Sparkle on stage, next to Headmaster Sombra, receiving a familiar-looking plaque.

“That looks kinda like the plaque I got for that physics contest,” I muttered to myself. Reading the caption confirmed my suspicions and revealed something extra; Twilight ranked second in the school district that year. “Huh...so I can beat Twilight at something.”

The most peculiar thing about the picture was that Twilight Sparkle looked almost...forcing a smile for the camera. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was hiding her disappointment, but who would be feeling that way during an award ceremony? Aside from me, of course, but when I got my plaque, I was annoyed for having been duped into participating in the first place.

I was just about to call it a day for indulging my curiosity when I noticed that Sombra himself had a MyStables page with a profile link under the list of faculty members. There was no harm in taking a peek at a publically-accessible website, now was there? I wasn’t expecting to find anything too scandalous on such a page given that it was available for all his students to see. He posted a lot of links to various articles that the more studious-minded student might find interesting. There were even posts for local contests and competitions. It was strange to think that Celestia could have such a tense relation with a man who clearly loved being an educator as much as she did.

It was looking to be another dead-end when I saw something buried deep in the photo albums. There was a single album labeled ‘Fillydelphia’ and thumbnail picture for the album had what I swore was a picture of Sombra alongside Celestia. I wasn’t completely certain because the image was cropped for the preview, but I could see a glimpse of her unmistakable hair in the corner. I clicked on the album, but then my web browser suddenly went blank, displaying an ‘unable to connect’ message.

“What in the—” My computer soon informed me that my internet connection had been interrupted.

My worst fears were confirmed when I looked up to see Luna standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall with a smug look on her face. “Research, huh?” she quipped.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied while closing all of my web browsers. Despite putting on my best poker face, which probably needed work to begin with, Luna was not convinced.

As it turned out, she had her own ace up her sleeve. She held up her smartphone and smirked. “Kids aren’t the only people who can use technology to their advantage.”

It didn’t take me long to figure out what she was alluding to because it was exactly the kind of underhanded tactic that I would use. “D-did you put tracking software on my computer?” I snapped back.

“Maybe,” she answered with evident satisfaction in tormenting me, “or maybe it’s something else. Or perhaps it’s somewhere else. It would defeat the purpose of spying on you if I told you how and where.”

That was check and mate for all intents and purposes. I wasn’t about to scrub my entire laptop on the slight chance that she hid the program on my computer, especially since the punitive measures were only for the next week. I said nothing, voicing my capitulation purely via groans as I slumped back against the wall.

“And another thing,” Luna continued as she turned to leave, “please stop what you’re doing. I know you’re curious, but you need to trust my sister. She will tell when she is ready to share.”

Though I had been bracing myself for some warning speech, the one I received was not what I had expected. I would’ve imagined something involving more flared tempers and threats of impending doom, but instead what I got sounded more like a plea. Perhaps Luna suspected that being too authoritative would only drive me further on this quest. By making it a sincere request, I found myself questioning my own motives. Why was I so intent on finding out the truth despite knowing that it was a sensitive subject matter to Celestia? What did I hope to gain?

When I couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to any of those questions, I closed my laptop and called it a night.

Act III-I

Despite the temptation, I had decided to keep what I had learned about Celestia and Sombra to myself for the time being. As nice as it would have been to have something to contribute to the conversation that was going on around me, my friends seemed to be content with discussing the latest gossip and events happening around the school. It was the kind of lunchtime conversation that I always felt like an outsider to.

Rainbow Dash always went on about something ‘awesome’ that she did the other day after school. Rarity would usually speak about some cute outfit she saw earlier that day in the hallway. During a quiet moment, Fluttershy would try to talk about some mischief that her rabbit got into, only to be interrupted by Applejack and Rainbow Dash getting into an argument about who was better than who at something trivial. Today it had something to do with who could hold their breath longer, but to be honest I rarely paid attention to the subject.

It was the kind of friendly banter that happened around each and every table in the cafeteria; friends sharing memories, stories, jokes, and more. And every time I just sat quietly and ate my salad, waiting for the ringing bell to signal the start of afternoon classes. I wished for something I could share with them, but I still felt like I had nothing in common with these girls who insisted on calling me their friend. I had little interest in sports, fashion, farms, partying, and it would be a huge mistake to entrust me with the well-being of anything that had a pulse.

Then again, they didn’t have much in common with each other either, but they seemed to have no trouble being friends. As I glanced up from my salad, I saw that Applejack was listening intently to Rarity, and to the untrained eye one might assume that Applejack had a vested interest in fashion and accessories. Yet I knew for a fact that the only fashion choice Applejack ever concerned herself with was ‘what would look good with my hat today?’

What could I share with these girls that they would feign interest in? My after school hours were spent on homework and reading because I lived with the vice principal who spent her free time moonlighting as my personal jail guard. I suspected that none of my friends were interested in hearing about how I spent last evening sitting on the couch with Celestia eating kale chips and watching a documentary on bubble gum.

Mentioning Sombra and Celestia was another tempting subject, but that felt like something I shouldn’t be sharing with anyone. Back in Equestria, Princess Celestia was guaranteed to be involved in almost any gossip worth hearing, especially in the capital. A school principal, however, did not invoke the same degree of curiosity. It’s unlikely any of them would know either, since the subject appeared to be a closely-guarded secret for Celestia. So despite how much I hated being intentionally left in the dark about something, I had to bite my tongue and endure. I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes as I did with the first Celestia.

“Hey Sunset, what are you working on there?”

Pinkie’s question snapped me back to reality, though whether it was from genuine curiosity or an attempt to get me involved, I could not say. During my silent contemplations, I had failed to notice that I had been tapping the pen I held in my free hand against a blank page of my notebook.

“I’m just trying to figure out what to do for my next article,” I answered with a half-truth. That particular subject was the reason I took out the pen and paper in the first place, but it hadn’t been on my mind for the past quarter-hour thanks to my thoughts becoming distracted by the conversation around me. “Yearling says my talents would be wasted if I just did sporting events, so she wants me to come up with something she can run in place of Gabby’s old gossip column.”

“It’s a shame that the gossip column is gone,” Rarity commented. “I mean, sure it tweaked a few noses here and there, but it really was one of the few things that actually made the newspaper interesting to read.”

And that was the root cause of my concern. The old Gabby had a popular following, which meant big expectations, and if I wanted people to keep reading my stuff after I dropped the pseudonym, I needed to become popular again. Strange how that task seemed so daunting this time around.

“I got an idea! You should write about me,” Rainbow Dash suggested while tapping herself proudly on the chest with a half-eaten carrot stick.

Like clockwork, Applejack was quick to start dousing the flames of Dash’s egoism. “And why exactly should anybody be reading about you?”

“Well for starters, I’m awesome, but you should all know that already,” Dash explained. She was too busy chomping down on her food to notice the rest of us rolling our eyes. “Not to mention, since the Fall Formal, I’m even more awesome now for helping take down that horrible demon, and everybody knows it.” Her self-aggrandizing grin vanished for a second when she shot a nervous glance over to me. “Um...no offense, Sunset.”

“None taken,” I muttered back.

“Rainbow does have a good point actually,” Rarity chimed in, much to everyone’s curiosity. “Remember what Sunset told us about her...dealings with the newspaper student editor? According to Tiara, stories about us were a hot button issue.”

There were a few raised eyebrows around the table, though I was the first speak up. “You’re not suggesting I start gossiping about us, are you?”

“Not quite what I had in mind,” Rarity insisted with a knowing smirk. “I was thinking more like highlighting the best parts of us, rather than airing dirty laundry. Like Rainbow said, she is ‘awesome,’ and I’m sure lots of students would love to read about that.”

While I wasn’t convinced that many students would be interested in listening to Rainbow’s showboating, there was a lot of merit to Rarity’s idea. It didn’t even need to be limited to just my circle of friends: there were probably scores of students with interesting stories to tell. The only hitch in this plan was convincing people to be willing to open up to me. Trust was not something I commanded in great quantities at the moment. However, using the Gabby pseudonym for a while might help generate enough popularity and respect that students might be willing to talk to me once I took this project to the school populace at large.

“Oh! I have an idea!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. She didn’t even wait for a response before grabbing my pen and paper. “I’m seeing ‘The New and Improved Sunset Shimmer: Twice the Fun with None of the Mean,’ what do you think?”

“I think that’s going to be a hard sell,” I replied with a light-hearted chuckle. Not only did I think that few would be interested in reading it, let alone believe anything it said, the notion of an interview with myself felt foolish. None of that seemed to impede my friend’s enthusiasm.

“So Sunset, you are one of the most recognized students in the school, but also one of the most mysterious,” Pinkie continued unabated, putting heavy emphasis on the last part of her sentence. “Who is the real Sunset Shimmer? What do you in your free time? Any hobbies?”

I don’t know why, but I decided to play along for the time being; it was more interesting than what I had been dwelling on before. “I don’t really have many hobbies at the moment. I’m trying to find some, but it’s not as simple as I thought it would be. I mostly just read and watch television once I’ve done all my homework.” When I phrased it like that, it made my life sound rather boring. It was the price one paid when they spent three years obsessing over revenge. “I’m thinking of looking into clubs outside the school to join.”

“I see, I see…” Pinkie muttered while scribbling wildly across my note pad. I had no idea if she was writing anything that I had said, but I was playing along for fun, not because I thought this was a good idea for a real article. “And what’s your favourite colour?”

“I’m kind of partial towards red.” A bit of an odd question, but that was to be expected from Pinkie Pie.

“What’s your favourite food?”

“F-food? Oh…I, um…” Because it was such a mundane question, my sudden bout of hesitation took my friends by surprise, and just made them all the more curious. They all began to stare at me with puzzled looks in their eyes.

Their piercing...scrutinizing...judging eyes.

Eventually, I was able to work up the willpower to blurt it out. “I…I…it’s called buckwheat bacon, okay?”

My friends continued with their confused stares until Applejack finally popped the question. “Buckwheat bacon? Ain’t never heard of that. Is that some sort of—”

“Yes, it’s an Equestrian food, as in back when I used to walk on four legs and had a horn,” I explained with the intent of getting through this awkward conversation. Talking about home was very uncomfortable for me since I worried they would just stare at me as if there was still a horn sticking out from the middle of my forehead.

“So what exactly is it?” Pinkie Pie asked, sounding more curious than astounded.

“It’s a variation of normal hay bacon. It’s basically a mixture of buckwheat meal and dried hay, which you can then fry or bake. I used to like having them with a poached egg and covered in hollandaise sauce.” At first, it might not sound like the kind of fancy breakfast you’d have while living in the Royal Palace, but when you imported the buckwheat all the way from Neighpon, it bumped the price tag beyond most people’s budget.

“Okay, next question,” Pinkie continued on. “When is your birthday?”

I let out a quiet sigh and shot Pinkie a disapproving glare. “Did you really do all this just so you could ask when my birthday is again?”

“Um, maybe.”

“I think this interview is over,” I declared before snatching my pen and paper back. I had to give Pinkie Pie credit for her creativity, but I wasn’t going to be duped into surrendering that information. If she wanted my birthday, she would just have to wait until I was ready to talk about it.

I would’ve followed my remarks up with some scolding about respecting my desire for privacy, but I became distracted by a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. And it wasn’t just any flash, it was Flash Sentry. I hadn’t spoken with him since the break-up a month ago, so while I had no real reason to fear retribution, I still planned on avoiding him like a hung-over sailor avoided direct sunlight.

Unfortunately for me, he had already passed the table that had all of his usual band buddies, which left one reason for him to be walking in the direction of me and my friends: it started with a T and rhymed with ‘-wilight Sparkle.’ One could hardly blame the kid; the two hit it off pretty well during the dance from what Rarity and the others told me. Once Twilight left as suddenly and mysteriously as she had arrived, it pretty much became something out of a fairy tale story. It was a shame that there was unlikely to be any ‘happily ever after’ for Flash, and it only made these conversations, which happened at least once a week, all the more uncomfortable for us.

With no obvious or easy escape route, I had to devise a way to make myself scarce with a minimum of movement. One quick, casual swipe of my hand and my pen was knocked away, giving me more than enough reason to duck under the table for a while. It was just in time, too, as I noticed Flash’s familiar baggy jeans standing at the end of the table—he still had that ketchup stain around his left ankle.

“So, um...hey girls. How’s it going?” A smooth entry by the one and only Flash Sentry. At least this time it didn’t involve any spilled drinks.

“Hello Flash, is there something you need?” Rarity was usually the first to respond whenever Flash came about. I imagine the others felt uneasy because his usual question would never be met with good news. And, as always, Rarity clung to the hope that maybe this time he would ask about something else.

“I was just wondering if, you know, maybe you heard anything from your...out of town friends.”

Poor Flash; such a hopeless romantic, he was. Even weeks after the fact, he still clung to the hope that Twilight could one day waltz back into his life. Perhaps if I had a bit of that optimism, I could make it through each day with a bit more spring in my step.

“I’m sorry, dear, but we haven’t heard a word from Twilight since she left,” Rarity explained for the third time in as many weeks. “We don’t even have any way of getting in touch with her.”

“Not even, like, a cell phone number or an email address? I’d even settle for a P.O. box,” Flash replied.

“It’s...complicated,” Applejack said, stepping into the conversation.

Personally, I didn’t think Flash would’ve had trouble wrapping his head around the idea that Twilight lived on the other side of a magical portal in a parallel dimension. He might not believe it, but he wouldn’t have any difficulty with comprehension. It was an unfortunate coincidence that I was probably the only person who had the understanding and bluntness to explain the situation, but at the same time I was the one Flash would be least likely to believe.

“Alright, I understand,” Flash answered with a familiar sigh. It was his ‘I give up’ sigh, which I heard plenty of times back when provoking arguments with him was how I passed the time during boring dates, which was most of them.

“We’ll let you know if we hear anything at all from her,” Rarity reassured Flash. Judging by the way he dragged his feet as he left, I doubt he was convinced. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for him: first he gets stuck in a relationship with an evil, manipulative brat, and now he’s stuck pining for a girl who lives on the other side of a magic mirror.

“You can come out now, Sunset,” Applejack announced with no effort to conceal the sense of amusement she was feeling.

“I had to get my pen,” I insisted.

“Oh really? Then where is it?”

Smoke screens only worked when you actually deployed the smoke, and the fact that my pen still sat on the ground next to AJ’s foot made it all too clear what my intents had been. I scowled and huffed before quickly scooping the pen up, trying to maintain the facade despite its crumbling foundation.

“You were hiding it from me.” A weak accusation, but it was enough to keep Applejack busy rolling her eyes.

“Are you still avoiding Flash Sentry?” Fluttershy’s diminutive voice peeped into the conversation. When she saw the exasperated look on my face, her concern only grew. “Oh, I’m sorry. Should I not have said that? I thought everybody already knew.”

“They do now,” I grumbled under my breath. To be fair, if my paltry display of subtlety before hadn’t tipped my friends off, then they really did need somebody to spell it out for them.

“When was the last time you spoke with him?” Rarity inquired.

I sighed and buried my face into my palms. “The break-up. I believe my last words to him were ‘you’ll come to regret this,’ followed by some...uncharitable adjectives for him.” Combined with what I did during the Fall Formal, I didn’t just burn the bridge behind me, I dropped a bomb on it, and then every other bridge in a ten-kilometer radius.

“Darling, perhaps it might be a good idea to try and reach out to him,” Rarity said, reaching across the table to nudge my gaze back up to her. “A simple and sincere apology could go a long way to helping people understand how much you’ve changed.”

“Oh, come on! I already did the whole apology thing back during the Fall Formal. Everybody was there!” Honestly, if I had to go through another round of apologizing, it was going to come out sounding forced and insincere. The first time around had already proven to be the single-most humiliating moment of my life, and now my friend was suggesting an encore performance.

“He was your boyfriend for a time, though,” Rarity reminded me.

“It wasn’t a real relationship.”

“It was real to him.” Fluttershy’s words caught me off-guard. She could be like a sniper with words: silent, precise, and utterly devastating.

Whatever appetite I had, it was long gone at this point. By some small miracle, the lunch bell began to chime, offering me the small mercy of a convenient excuse to leave.

*******************

“You know your ‘friends’ are just there to contain you. They’re afraid of you...of what you can accomplish…”

“Sunset, it’s time to wake up.”

I awoke with a startled yelp and a spastic flail that almost resulted in Celestia taking a backhand across the face. Frantic eyes scanned across the room, and it took my mind a few seconds to realize that I was laying in bed at home. With the last fleeting words of my dreams still echoing through my mind, I managed an apologetic smile.

“Oh...it’s you,” I said. I glanced over to the nearby window and saw that the sun had only just finished cresting over the horizon. “Wh—why are you waking me up so early? It’s Saturday.”

Though the lingering adrenaline left my heart ricocheting about my rib cage, I felt a renewed sense of tranquility when Celestia sat down on the edge of my bed. She looked concerned; she had that worried but reassuring smile on her face. The kind of smile that reminded you that you were never alone, regardless of how much you felt to the contrary.

“Another bad dream?” she asked, ignoring my inquiry.

“Probably just something I ate last night.” I didn’t want to come off as dismissive, but bad dreams were just the random products of my subconscious. There was no point trying to make sense of them, even if there was a recurring red-devil theme to them. “Now what’s so important that you needed to wake me up at—” I grabbed the nearby alarm clock and checked the time. “—six in the morning? What the heck, Celestia? It’s Saturday! I should be getting up at noon, not the crack of dawn.”

“Your friend Applejack contacted me after school yesterday,” Celestia explained. “She was wondering if you’d be interested in giving her a hand at her farm today.”

“I wasn’t aware being a farmhand was a part of my rehab,” I remarked. Even though Applejack was my friend, that didn’t mean I had to drop everything and work on her farm on a whim. Perhaps it was just my aversion to hard, physical labour that was speaking up, but I didn’t see how chores on a farm would be of any benefit.

“Please don’t think of it as punishment.” The way Celestia phrased her plea only made me think of it even more as a punitive measure. “Your friend sounded very concerned for you, and she genuinely believes that this will be of help to you. Apparently you’ve been having some issues with your friends at school.”

They were concerned for me? Even though I had no reason to doubt that, it still sounded like such a foreign concept. I wasn’t used to people worrying about me, let alone taking action.

“I guess I have been a bit...distant lately,” I said with a sigh of resignation. Perhaps if I wasn’t always sticking my head into the sand every time an uncomfortable subject came up, my friends would be able to help me find resolution. I still didn’t see how an afternoon as a farmhand would help me.

“If you’re not in the mood for a day at Sweet Apple Acres, I do believe Miss Pie extended an invitation to help her with some babysitting,” Celestia added.

Given the option between hard labour on an apple orchard or enduring Pinkie Pie’s ham-fisted attempts to divulge my date of birth, whilst dealing with screaming toddlers, it was an easy choice for me to make.

“Maybe I can pick up some fizzy ciders while I’m there.”

*******************

Despite having been roused from my bed at an unseemly hour of the morning, by the time I was dropped off at Sweet Apple Acres, I was feeling more awake and alert. It may have had something to do with the large cup of coffee that Celestia bought me on our way to the farm, or just perhaps the long drive gave me enough time to finish waking up.

“Howdy there, Sunset. I honestly didn’t think you’d make it here this early,” Applejack greeted. To no surprise, the farmer was bright and chipper upon my arrival; no doubt due to many weekends waking up at the crack of dawn. Personally, I would’ve made laws against waking me up before ten o’clock on a Saturday, punishable by summary moon-banishment.

“I’m just super excited about working on an apple orchard, ya know?” I replied with my best attempt at feigning an earnest smile.

“Wow. You really can’t lie first thing in the morning, can you?”

“Cut me some slack. I usually don’t need to fake sincerity until at least eight-thirty,” I answered. At least we both had a good chuckle about it. “Seriously, though, why invite me out to the orchard? You’ve never really been the type to ask others to help you with chores.”

From what I could remember of the stories Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy told me, you had to twist Applejack’s arm in several places and hold her over a pit of fire just to get her to admit that she might need help. The unsolicited offer struck me as uncharacteristic, which just made me all the more suspicious of her intentions.

“Remember when you said you were having trouble coming up with ideas for your next newspaper article?” Applejack began as she gestured for me to follow her over to the barnhouse. “I thought that maybe an afternoon in the orchard might give you something interesting to write about.”

“An article about picking apples?” I replied with a raised eyebrow. “No offense, but I’m not entirely sure how that’ll make for an interesting read.”

Were it later in the day, I might have phrased that to be less blunt, but as I had said, faking sincerity was difficult before one finished their coffee. Applejack did not look as annoyed about my skepticism as I would’ve expected, but in my half-awake state I thought nothing of it. I reminded myself that everybody had their own perspectives about what they found to be interesting. Plus, I was going to be out here until the late afternoon so I may as well give her idea the benefit of the doubt.

“What’s not to love out here? Just smell that fresh country air!” Applejack said as she continued to sell her idea. “And who doesn’t love the smell of apples in the morning? Smells like—”

“Manure.”

“Yes, that too,” Applejack deadpanned. “Listen Sunset, I don’t want to make it seem like I’m forcing you to be here against your will. If you’d rather be somewhere else—”

“No, no. I’m acting like a jerk,” I hastily apologized. “I shouldn’t be so snippy, especially to a friend, and I’m sorry.” There was a reason why my name was Sunset and not Sunrise, and my morning crankiness wasn’t doing me any favours. “You might be right about the article—I might be able to make an article showing the unseen side of the humble farmer.”

“Exactly! Show them city folks that there’s more to a farm than just haybales and hoedowns.”

“Do you actually do hoedowns?” I asked with morbid curiosity.

“Wouldn’t be much of a farmer if I didn’t,” she answered with a laugh and a wink. For the life of me, I couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not. I just prayed I never had to find out. “Anyways, I reckoned a good afternoon on the farm could get you plenty of decent material, and it’d give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

“Know each other better?” I repeated with a hint of confusion. “You make it sound like we’re dating. We already socialize enough as it is at school, don’t you think? I’m practically attached to you and the others at the hip.”

Applejack rolled her eyes, smirking at what she saw as another transparent attempt to deflect the issue. “It’s not just about how much time you spend with us, it’s what you do with that time. Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like you’re still keeping to yourself.”

She sure did hit the nail on the head there, and my silent, avoidant gaze as I stared at the patch of dirt between my shuffling feet was all the answer she needed. “I guess I’m just still having trouble adjusting to this whole notion of being part of a group,” I answered with an uncertain shrug. “Whenever you and the others are talking, I feel like I’m standing on the other side of a glass wall, looking in.”

“I take it you’ve never been much for small talk, have you?” Applejack remarked.

“It just...feels like I don’t have anything in common with the rest of you,” I tried to explain. “I mean, Rarity talks fashion, Rainbow Dash talks sports, and Pinkie will talk about whatever thought passes through her head. What could I possibly add to that conversation?”

She gestured for me to follow along, and she led me over to the barn. We gathered up some baskets and a wagon then headed out to the southern orchard. I asked if any of the other girls were going to be joining us, to which she gave a vague answer about someone being able to show up later in the day. I already knew that Pinkie Pie would be busy with her babysitting so at least I didn’t have to worry about her dropping in.

“Well I know this ain’t exactly my business, but what did you and Flash talk about when you two were together?” Applejack asked as we resumed our previous conversation while en route. Despite my repeated offers, my friend refused to let me help pull the wagon along. “I know you’ve said the relationship wasn’t real, but you’ve had to have gone on dates and spent time together, right?”

“You’d be amazed how little communication you need when you’re faking a relationship,” I explained while hating myself for how casual I made it seem. “One of the reasons I chose Flash was because he’d be low maintenance. Some flattering words here, and a sprinkling of batting eyes there, and he was hooked pretty easily. I’d let him do most of the talking, and then just nod along for the rest.”

“If only you could master relationships with the same skill you mastered fake ones with,” Applejack remarked. As much as the truth stung, it needed to be said. I had dedicated a lot of time and effort into honing skills that served only selfish ends, and now I was paying the price by playing catch-up to skills that even a child should know. I remembered a time when others considered me a kind and compassionate person; where did that happy little filly go?

I sighed in resignation. I got impatient with Princess Celestia and that got me thrown out of Equestria, and now it was happening all over again with my new friends. If Principal Celestia didn’t see improvement, would she toss me to the curb too?

“What am I going to do with myself?” I groaned in dismay.

“Like I said in the beginning: by getting to know each other a little better,” Applejack suggested as she and the wagon came to a halt. Hooked onto the sides of the wagon were a pair of ladders; we each grabbed one, and she directed me to set mine up alongside a nearby tree. “I figured it might be easier for you if it’s just the two of us.”

“That sounds like it might actually work,” I replied with an appreciative smile. It wasn’t as though I didn’t trust any one of my friends less than the others, but having all five staring at me at the same time could feel a bit daunting when you’re trying to open up. I felt hopeful that some one-on-one time might help ease me out of the social shell I had been living in since the Fall Formal.

Once we got the ladders and baskets set up, Applejack gave me a quick explanation on the best way to harvest the apples.

“This would be so much easier if I still had my magic,” I commented at the end of it. “A few simple spells and I could’ve had these trees harvesting themselves.”

“Self-harvesting trees?” Applejack repeated with a hint of amusement and wonder. “You unicorn folk must make for great farmers back in Equestria.”

“Not really, to be honest,” I answered with a shrug. With my ladder in place, I slowly made my way up until I had my head in the branches. It was moments like those, balancing on a tiny wooden plank several feet above the ground, that I really missed the stability of being a quadruped. “Earth ponies...um, that is to say regular ponies, they were the ones who knew how to grow food the best. A lot of unicorns, at least where I lived, had a tendency to look down on menial labour...myself included.”

“Guess some things never change, even as ponyfolks,” Applejack said. I felt bad admitting that I used be the kind of snob who would turn their nose up at a country gal like Applejack. I would’ve used terms like ‘low-brow’ and ‘backwater hillbilly’ to describe people like her. “What was it like...having magic and all that?”

It was a heavy question; one that left me silent for a few moments, save for the occasional thump of an apple dropping into a basket. “I thought magic was the one thing that could set me free,” I answered. “When you had magic, you had power, and with power, you could do whatever you wanted. Princess Celestia used to tell me that my position as a student, the magic that I was learning, was a huge responsibility. I never believed her, of course.”

“What made you get into magic in the first place?”

“I...don’t really remember,” I said with a shrug. “My father had an old history book on Starswirl the Bearded that I used to read a lot. I guess I got enamored on the idea of a powerful unicorn...admired and respected by so many. Even Celestia respected Starswirl’s abilities.”

I remembered that the only reason I kept reading that book was because it was the only one that I could get off the shelf as a tiny, magic-less filly. It was a good thing it wasn’t a juggling book or I might’ve grown up to be a clown. From history books I moved into tomes of magic theorem, which were easy enough to acquire when you had parents who considered material goods a valid substitute for parental love. At one point Applejack did ask about my parents, but I brushed the question aside; I was never close to them, and the less I thought about them, the better.

“Did you always want to be an apple farmer?” I asked, figuring it was due time for the conversation to go in the other direction.

“Goodness, no,” Applejack answered with a laugh. “How many little kids did you know that wanted to be a farmer when they grew up?”

A fair point, but then again I grew up in a privileged neighbourhood so I knew my past experience was going to be as misguided as a blind rat in a maze. “Well what did you want to be?”

Applejack was about to answer, but then gave a sheepish grin and startled laugh, hiding herself behind her hat. “Oh, I can’t. It’s too ridiculous!”

“Hey! You said we were going to get to know each other,” I said, wagging a finger at her. “You can’t hold out on me now. Think of my rehabilitation.”

The farmer continued to stew in indecision, her hands wringing at her hat.

“Please,” I added with my best pleading eyes. “I’ll be your friend.”

The ensuing bout of laughter seemed to ease my friend’s worries. I think she was playing with me just to see what I’d do to try and wrangle the information out of her, though I may have been over-analyzing.

“When I was a lil’ girl, I wanted to be a fashion model.” Applejack must have been expecting some kind of laughter or scoffing in response, but my general lack of a reaction appeared to come as a surprise.

“I think that’s a pretty common dream,” I eventually replied. Granted, it was never a dream of mine, but that was because I wanted to be admired and respected for something with meaning and lasting. People always did say to aim high with your aspirations, but they neglected to mention that higher aims also led to bigger craters when you fell back to earth. “I’m sure you’d make a great fashion model. Maybe you could ask Rarity to include you in one of those charity fashion shows she’s always working on.”

“What? Me on a runway with high heels? Ya crazy?”

Applejack must have been privy to information that I was not since the idea didn’t even sound remotely abnormal, let alone ‘crazy.’ Granted, I considered the whole concept of high heels to be the product of a syphilitic mind, but that came from growing up in Equestria. For ponies, high heels were small and rarely seen. Even taking balance issues into account, though, my friend’s concerns seemed unfounded. Applejack was as attractive as the next girl, and combined with Rarity’s ability to make even a boulder seem glamorous, a well-dressed country girl was sure to turn heads.

“I’ve learned how to cope with high heels, and I’m the one that used to walk on all four,” I reminded my friend.

“But with these thighs of mine?” Applejack added, pulling up the side of her skirt a few inches. “Great for working around the farm, but I’d make a better chicken than a model.”

“Now that is just absurd,” I scoffed. Having filled my basket with apples, I hopped down from my ladder and carried the basket over to the wagon. Having some strong legs of my own might’ve made the task easier, but instead I had to settle with some grunting as I unloaded the basket. “I know I used to say that people said awful things behind your back, but I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who thinks about the size of your hips.”

“I know it’s an absurd thing to fret about,” Applejack insisted. Shortly after I finished unloading my basket, Applejack came over carrying hers in one arm as though it were full of cottonballs rather than thirty pounds of apples. For a brief moment, I found myself thankful that I never pushed Applejack to rage back during my crueler days: she could’ve cracked me open like an egg. It was like realizing death had been shadowing you all these years. “But everyone has their little insecurities, and that’s one of mine. It may be silly, but that don’t change the fact that it’s all I see when I put on a bathing suit.”

“If people are staring at your hips when you’re in a bathing suits, it’s not because they think you have big thighs,” I said with a smirk.

Applejack chuckled and rolled her eyes before giving me a playful shove. “Oh, ha ha,” she scoffed. She gave me another shove towards my ladder with the reminder that we still had plenty of work to do. After several minutes, though, my friend popped a question that was a bit more unexpected. “Did you find it weird dating a person?”

The question took me by such surprise that I wound up fumbling with the apple in hand and almost losing my balance on the ladder before regaining my composure. “Weird dating a person? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean person as in a human,” she elaborated. “You used to be a pony, right? I can’t imagine there being much similarity between our kind. Have you ever found yourself attracted to people or are we all, like, big hairless monkeys to you?” There was a sense of concern and curiosity to her voice when she made her inquiry. When my friends asked about Equestria, it usually sounded like the childish curiosity you get when a child keeps asking ‘why’ over and over, but this was different; it was reassuring that I wasn’t just some novelty to them.

“Dating Flash never felt weird, but then again I never really considered myself as ‘dating’ him to begin with,” I said as I resumed my apple-picking duties. “I mean, everybody here does kinda look like a hairless monkey from my perspective, but I’ve gotten used to it. At the same time, being from Equestria meant it was never a big deal in the first place.”

“It wasn’t?” She was even more curious now.

“In your world, your options are limited to your species by a simple lack of alternatives,” I began explaining, “but Equestria has more than a dozen intelligent species in total, all of different shapes and sizes. Growing up in the Royal Palace, I was exposed to a lot of different walks of life. It seemed natural to me to stop constraining emotional connections by racial barriers. And once you’ve seen a twenty-tonne dragon be serenaded by a donkey, you realize that physiology shouldn’t limit what a person feels.”

“So...basically you don’t care about what they are, just who they are,” Applejack said in an attempt to follow my line of reasoning.

“Boy...girl...pony...human...gryphon...a person is a person to me. Besides, at this point, I’m so emotionally messed up, I’ll be lucky if I ever fall in love,” I concluded with an indifferent shrug. Friendship was a hard enough matter for me to grapple with, the idea of an emotionally-intimate relationship would probably give me an anxiety attack.

Applejack was unconvinced by my self-depreciative remarks. She let out a dismissive chuckle and gave me a reassuring pat on the leg (as I was still atop a ladder). “Now I think you’re the one being absurd. You’ve got yer whole life ahead of you, and you’re becoming a better person every day. Just give it time, and things will improve.”

“‘Be kind and be patient’ seems to be the mantra for my new life,” I said, followed by a disheartened sigh. It sounded simple, but both of those could be described as my biggest failings in life. On the bright side, I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so time was something I had in abundance.

The next few hours went by quickly. Between all the small talk and a sudden visit by Applejack’s dog, Winona, time just raced past us without even stopping to say hello. Soon the two of us were on our way back to the barn with a wagon loaded down with enough apples to repel every doctor in the city.

“You know, despite the whole ‘not getting paid in any meaningful way,’ this wasn’t such a bad day,” I commented as I helped Applejack push the weighed-down wagon. Oddly enough, one of the aspects that I enjoyed the most was just picking the apples. Having hands almost made up for my lack of magic—for the inhabitants of this world, hands were never something you gave much thought about. For me, somebody who had lived their entire life feeling the world through mere hooves was like wearing gloves all the time. But the gloves were off now, and without ambitions and nefarious plans clouding my mind all the time, I was able to bask in the strange, simple pleasure of feeling the waxy contours of a ripe apple beneath my fingers.

It was a strange thing for somebody to find peace in, but why couldn’t a person find happiness in such simple things? Applejack found her belonging on a farm, so who was I to say that I deserved something ‘better?’ As we round over the next little hill, I paused at the crest to take a moment to bask in the warmth of the afternoon sun, and the infectious countryism of Sweet Apple Acres.

At least, I did until I noticed something frighteningly familiar off in the distance.

“Why is Flash Sentry’s car parked next to your barn?” I wish I could’ve grasped onto the fleeting hope that it was somebody else’s car, but there was no mistaking that ostentatious decal across the hood.

“Oh good, he made it.”

Hearing those five little words felt like somebody had just upended the wagon’s entire contents onto my head. This was not some freak coincidence like bumping into him at the cafeteria; this was a calculated move.

“Applejack, what have you done?”

Act III-II

When faced with fear or adversity, everybody has their own strategy for coping. Some people, like Applejack, tend to dig their heels into the ground, brace for impact, and then find a way to kick their problems square in the butt. Others, like Rainbow Dash, hide their anxieties with bravado, and then find the easiest way to avoid or minimize the issue. Pinkie Pie liked to just laugh at any problems that came her way, a strategy that I am convinced only worked for her because of some karmic imbalance in the universe.

As for me, when Applejack explained to me that she had convinced Flash Sentry to come out to the farm for the afternoon, I was forced to make the difficult decision regarding how to respond to this news and the growing sense of dread inside me. There was a surge of panic flooding my mind, followed by a cocktail of regret, shame, guilt, and every other negative emotion that I had been feeling over the past few weeks. It felt like having all the weight of your guilt loaded into a catapult and then launched into you.

Faced with such overwhelming adversity, I wish I could say that handled it with grace and dignity.

“To Tartarus with this! I’m outta here!”

Never ask yourself ‘what would Sunset Shimmer do?’ because ‘running for the hills like your head was on fire’ is on the list of possible outcomes. In retrospect, there were many better ways to handle the situation, including not announcing your intention beforehand, thus giving your friend time to grab a lasso that had been hidden at the bottom of the wagon. I made it about twenty feet before the rope snagged me mid-stride, resulting in a hard landing and a sore backside.

Sadly, I accepted this new defeat with the same level of dignity.

“Untie me right now, Applejack! You can’t do this to me!”

In a paltry showing of defiance, I tried to get back onto my feet, but it only took a simple tug on the rope to put me back on my butt. As I stewed in my frustration, I found some solace in the fact that Applejack would be the only witness to this indignity.

“Are you quite done throwing a tantrum, missy?” Applejack asked as she began her approach, collecting the excess rope while still keeping a firm grip in case of another outburst. I was sorely tempted to make another attempt, perhaps by making a sudden lunge or roll to break free, but I expected I would not be able to make it very far with twenty-plus feet of loose rope trailing behind me.

“Don’t mistake my silence for compliance,” I grumbled with bitter resolve. “You think I’ll play along just because you’ve got me tied up?”

“No, but it’ll get the two of you into the same room, and that’s better than where we are right now,” Applejack explained. She then grabbed me by the arm and hoisted me back onto my feet. “Now you got choices here, Sunset, you can promise to behave and give this a chance. If you do, I will untie you, and we can walk to the house together.”

“And if I decline your ‘generous’ offer?” I sneered back.

“I hog-tie you, and throw you onto the wagon.” Her brow furrowed in a stern glare, the kind that tells you in no uncertain terms that she was fully prepared to carry out her threats.

After a few more seconds of brooding, I was able to cram my pride down my gullet and accept my new fate. “And I thought Rarity was the charitable one,” I mumbled, followed by a sigh. “Okay, Applejack, you win. I promise I’ll behave... for now. I make no promises for what might happen when you stick Flash and me into the same room.”

“Oh, what’s the worst that could happen?” Applejack replied in an attempt to downplay my warnings.

“Double homicide, maybe.” My friend stared at me for a few seconds, if only to discern how serious I was being. Eventually, she concluded it was an acceptable risk to take, and freed me from my lasso prison.

I still wasn’t happy about the whole arrangement, and once Applejack reminded me that she had no qualms with tying me up again if I didn’t come along peacefully, we made our way to the farmhouse. As we drew closer, and the realizations of my impending doom set in, that turmoil of conflicting emotions began to bubble once more. I was definitely scared, especially since I had no idea how to start a conversation with him: our last words to each other involved me explaining how one part of his anatomy was lodged inside another part of it.

Out of everybody at Canterlot High, Flash Sentry had the biggest axe to grind with me, and also the most ammunition at his disposal. Fake relationship or not, spending that much time with another person meant he was bound to notice some of the chinks in my armour. I hated that feeling of vulnerability, and knowingly going into a situation that would bring about that sense of exposure was frustrating. It was peculiar that beneath the fear and anxiety, there was a small layer of anger churning inside me. Flash did, after all, dump me; well-deserving it may have been, it was still a painful ordeal that left a wound in my pride.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” I commented upon stepping inside Applejack’s abode. It was about as rustic as I expected it to be, and proved to be a stark contrast to the modern chic I was used to in Celestia’s home. Hardwood floors and apple-motif engraved trimmings made the place cry out ‘apple farmers’ with the same bluntness of Applejack’s country mannerisms. “I mean, what do you think this will accomplish? He has every reason to hate me, and none to change his mind.”

“It’s about doing the right thing,” Applejack gave me a stern reminder. “You and Flash need to have a frank and honest discussion with each other. Now I ain’t expecting you two to be friends after this; I ain’t even expecting him to be very happy with you, but Flash deserves the truth from you.”

“I don’t know if I want to deal with any more hate right now,” I said with a groan. I made a gamble and hoped that some honesty with Applejack might garner me enough sympathy points to get out of this mess. “What I did to Flash represents all the horrible things about my old life—the lies, the manipulations, the abuse. Everything. I took advantage of a genuinely nice guy, and I trampled all over him. I might’ve even emotionally scarred him.” What started as an attempt for sympathy soon felt very real for me. The more I thought about the past few years with Flash, the more I wanted to kick my own butt as punishment. I folded my arms, sighed, and just let my head hang for a few moments longer. “This is just going to open old wounds, Applejack.”

Ever the supportive friend, Applejack threw an arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close. “I know this is gonna be hard for ya, sugarcube, but sometimes it’s gotta rain before the flowers can bloom.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle and rolled my eyes. “You have a knack for making things sound so simple with but a mere tidbit of country idiom. I’m not sure whether to envy you or rue you for it.”

“Maybe if you do a bit of both, you’ll learn from it instead,” Applejack answered after a brief laugh. Just in case I was getting cold feet again, my friend began leading me along. Before my anxieties had time to resurface, I was led upstairs and through an open doorway, leaving nothing but six feet of empty space between me and Flash.

I felt my mouth go as dry as the desert, and despite my best efforts, my legs decided they were going to take their scheduled union break. Were it not for another encouraging push from Applejack, I never would’ve gotten into the room at all.

“Howdy Flash,” Applejack spoke up, granting me the small mercy of starting the conversation herself. To his credit, Flash did manage to avoid frowning or scowling when he made eye contact with me. I, on the other hand, let out a fearful grin before I could settle my nerves. While I fought down the overwhelming urge to jump out the nearest window, I was gradually pushed further into the room. “Now listen, I know you two have some bad history between ya—”

“Some?” Flash quipped.

“Okay, a lot of bad history,” Applejack corrected. “But Sunset’s been making real strives to be a better person, and she’s got some things she wants to get off her chest.”

That was my cue, which didn’t help as it made the tightness in my chest get a hundred times worse, which was either because of anxiety or I was about to drop dead from a heart attack. Since my arm wasn’t getting any tingling sensations, I just had to swallow my fears and press forward.

Unfortunately, that proved to be even more difficult than I had imagined. I knew the best place to start would be with ‘I’m sorry,’ but the words were refusing to surface. I stared in nervous, awkward silence that only grew worse when my eyes locked with Flash’s scrutinizing glare. He looked... impatient and annoyed, as if my very presence was wasting his valuable time. There were probably a hundred places he’d rather be than watching his ex-girlfriend choking on her words.

Applejack was quick to notice my distress, and tried to throw some encouragement in. “Come on, Sunset, just tell him the same sorta things you’ve told me and the others. Just be honest with your feelings.”

“That’ll be a first,” Flash grumbled while folding his arms across his chest. He wasn’t usually the snippy type, but given our history, skepticism and bitterness was to be expected.

“That’s not helping,” Applejack snapped. Flash didn’t seem to care; he scoffed and just rolled his eyes, much to my friend’s annoyance. “Listen, Flash, this ain’t easy for her, so the least you could do is try to show a little patience and courtesy.”

“Patience? Courtesy? When was the last time Sunset ever showed anything like that,” Flash argued back. “You’re protecting her like she’s the victim here despite the fact that I’m the one that was treated like dirt.”

He did have a point, although Applejack didn’t see it that way. He had every right to be suspicious of me; it wasn’t as if I had ever really been honest with him in the past. I wanted to say something, but it didn’t seem like protesting was a viable option when I was silently agreeing with what he said.

“And she’s trying to apologize for that, but your attitude is just making her more nervous and scared,” Applejack continued arguing in my defense.

“Scared?” Once again, Flash just scoffed at the idea. “This is Sunset Shimmer we’re talking about. I’ve seen her yell down a senior quarterback during her sophomore year. The guy had a hundred pounds over her, and she had him cowering like a kicked puppy.” What Flash wasn’t aware of, though, was that my lack of body mass was compensated for by an equal weight of blackmail. It was easy to get a jock to bow to your whim when you had the contents of his private photo albums stolen from his cellphone. “Listen, I know you consider Sunset to be your… friend, for whatever reason, but I’m telling you: she’s not scared. She’s just acting that way to get sympathy from you so that you’ll fight her battles for her.”

Now that tweaked my nose something fierce. I was willing to endure taking some abuse about the misdeeds I’ve committed in the past, but that didn’t mean I had to stand idle against accusations about my present behavior. Applejack was my friend, and I wasn’t going to let Flash try to turn her against me because of his wounded feelings.

“Hey! I am not hiding behind Applejack if that’s what you’re suggesting,” I said as I took a step forward. All that anxiety I was feeling moments ago just seemed to melt away under a new sense of purpose. “I’ll own up to the things I did to you in the past, but don’t you dare accuse me of trying to manipulate my friends!”

“Fine, whatever,” he answered with a shrug. “But just because your new friends believe you’ve changed, doesn’t mean I do. I think I know you better than that.”

“Oh puh-lease!” I snapped instinctively. “Don’t pretend you even know me in the slightest. If you paid half as much attention as you think you did, you would’ve dumped me before we even hit my birthday, which you forgot every year!” I may have gotten too defensive, which, combined with my previous frustrations and feelings of vulnerability, caused me to resort to more primal instincts. And my first instinct when put on the defensive was to come out swinging.

My growing ire did not go unnoticed by my friend, who tried to rein me in. “Um, Sunset, I don’t think this is helping matters.”

“Nonsense, I’m giving Flash exactly what he wants,” I snapped, regretting it immediately but too caught up in the moment to do anything about it. “He doesn’t want apologies, he wants a chance to chew me out—get some payback for all the grief I put him through.”

“You’re darn right I want to give you a taste of what you put me through,” Flash shouted back, jabbing a finger at my chest. “Two years, Sunset, two years I spent doing everything I could to try and bring some joy and happiness into your life. But nothing ever seemed to be good enough. It didn’t matter what I did, you’d find something to criticize about it. Even when I did exactly what you told me to do, there’d still be something wrong. Sometimes, I swear you just went looking for things to get upset about.”

For once, the angry ex-boyfriend was not paranoid; sometimes I really did just find things to get angry about because I knew I could get more out of him as an apology.

And just like laughing when you weren’t happy could actually make a person feel better, yelling when you weren’t all that angry could make your temper reach a boiling point. “You certainly made it easy for me. Maybe if you stood up for yourself back then like you are now, I wouldn’t have been able to walk all over you.” As I wasn’t a big fan of being prodded in the chest by a scorned ex-boyfriend, I manoeuvred over to the nearby window, so that I at least had a viable escape route if things got really ugly.

“Would you two just knock it off? I didn’t bring you here just to argue!”

Despite Applejack’s best efforts, her words fell on deaf ears. Flash and I were too swept up in the heat of the argument, and our friend’s pleas for restraint became little more than white noise as we continued hurling verbal barrages back and forth. It was the kind of battle of words one would expect from two people after a bad break-up, except that it had been delayed for a few months. Both sides tore open every old wound they could find in order to gather ammunition to sling at the other. It didn’t matter how much it hurt to dredge up old memories, the only thing either of us cared about was claiming some kind of victory in the end.

“For somebody who apparently hated our relationship so much, you sure were angry when I dumped your sorry butt!” Flash barked in yet another verbal volley.

I just laughed when he smirked, thinking he had gotten the upper hand on me. “Don’t delude yourself. The only thing I was angry about was that your sudden growth of a backbone screwed up my plans to do the same thing to you... except it was going be in the cafeteria in front of the whole school.” Admitting to having had one more depraved plan in store for your ex-boyfriend may not have been something to brag about, but in my twisted, angry logic, it felt like an irrefutable rebuttal.

Luckily for me, before I could shove my foot any further into my mouth, Applejack’s patience reached its breaking point. She interjected herself between us and shoved us to opposite ends of the room.

“That’s enough!” she shouted with the kind of fury she reserved for ornery bulls. Suddenly I was beginning to be thankful that I was still near the bedroom window and could make a quick escape.

Then I realized I could just as easily be thrown through said window, and I soon wanted to be on the other side of the room, preferably near a load-bearing wall.

For the first time in about five minutes, there was silence in the Apple family homestead. “I brought the two of you here so you could have an honest conversation with each other,” she began as her glare paced back and forth between Flash and I, “not so you could go at it like two coyotes in a coop!”

“What does that even mean?” I replied.

“It means shut your pie-hole, Sunset!” If I needed any further confirmation as to how angry Applejack was, I just got it. On the opposite of her, Flash was just about to say something when Applejack swung about. “And I swear to god, if you say one more negative thing, you will wake up dangling from Bloomburg!”

“Who’s Bloomburg?” I asked.

“He’s a tree! A big one, too!” Applejack answered, aiming an accusatory finger back in my direction. “And I’ll put you up there, too, if you keep yelling. That’s a promise!”

Flash and I just turned our backs to each other, folding our arms with an exaggerated harumph to convey our disdain. The air may have been tense, but at least it was quiet for a change. I decided to hold my tongue, lest I tempt Applejack’s wrath any further; Flash probably reached a similar conclusion.

“If you two keep getting fussy over who did what to who, you’re going to be bickering until the cows come home,” Applejack began, gearing herself for one heck of a lecture. “Now nobody here is expecting some magical reconciliation, but I think we can all agree that we all would like to be able to leave this room in better standing than when we entered.”

“I’m only here because you promised me that Sunset would tell me how to get in touch with Twilight,” Flash retorted.

“You promised him what?” I don’t know what possessed me at that moment, but I just exploded at Applejack upon hearing what dealings had been made.

I think Applejack was taken by surprise by my sudden outburst directed at her. The once aggressive farmer was suddenly scrambling to shore up her own defense. “I made no such promise,” she explained, “but I did tell him that if anybody knew how to get in contact with Twilight, it’d be you. It only makes sense since the two of you are from the same place.”

“I don’t care if it makes sense; that’s not your information to give away!” I shouted back, my voice growing louder with each passing moment. “Any chance of me ever going home again hangs by a thread, and the only way I can safeguard it is by keeping as few people aware of it as humanly possible.” I might have exaggerated my case a bit, but rage has a way of blowing things out of proportion. “You can’t just go telling people what I may or may not know, especially some love-struck romantic who doesn’t even realize how stupid he’s being!”

“Hey! Who are you calling stupid?” Predictably, Flash made a lunge for me, forcing Applejack to work even harder to keep us separated. It was a good thing too, because if I had gotten within arm’s reach of Flash, I would’ve slapped him so hard, it'd knock all of his hair gel out.

“Do you see anyone else in this room under the delusion that a couple days and one night of dancing means you have any kind of chance?”

“What do you mean by that?” Flash’s challenge to me came as expected. Were I in a clearer state of mind, I might have noticed that Applejack was giving me silent, pleading eyes, as if begging me to stop before I did what she knew I was about to unleash. I didn’t care, though; I was drunk on rage and I had an opportunity to exert that power and control that had been absent from my life for the past weeks. Crushing Flash Sentry was the only thing that mattered, even if it meant hurting friends who were just trying to help me.

“Twilight is gone, you simpleton! It is literally impossible for her to return for at least the next two years. You think she’s gonna remember about you by then? You think anything you and your pathetic life can offer could ever match the lap of luxury that she is living in now?” Both Applejack and Flash recoiled from the verbal barrage, stunned betrayal painted across both their faces. “Right now, Twilight is back home, probably living in a giant palace, surrounded by legions who will give her whatever she wants at a moment’s notice! There is nothing here that she doesn’t already have better where she is.”

Now that my ‘opponents’ were too flabberghasted to put up any resistance, I circled around them and made my way for the exit. I didn’t care that Sweet Apple Acres was miles away from Celestia’s place, I had no intention of staying another minute longer.

When I reached the door, I paused and looked back just to throw out one more dagger. “You’re not that special, Flash, so just give up and move on with your life... I know I have.”

I slammed the door on the way out because by that point, I needed to vent some of my anger on something before I choose someone. Just moments after I left, though, Applejack burst into the hall.

“Sunset, wait!” she called out.

I didn’t listen, of course; instead I just twisted around, and called back, “I’m done with waiting! I’m doing what I should’ve done the second I saw his car!”

“But Sunset—!”

“Not interested!” Unfortunately, were I not in a hurry to leave or such a stubborn fool, I would’ve realized that what Applejack was trying to tell me was that I was about to run into her brother, who was at the apex of the stairs. There was a crash, some screaming, and a whole lot of profanities as the two of us went tumbling down the stairs, ending with a spectacular crash.

*******************

“Ow ow ow ow ow!” I was still groaning in pain when Applejack helped ease me onto the living room couch. That, however, just made the pain turn its dial to eleven, followed soon thereafter by the volume of my complaints. “Gah! I think your stupid stairs bruised my butt!”

“You’ll live,” Applejack deadpanned with all the sympathy of a granite boulder. She gave me a slight shove, which knocked me over onto my side. Though seemingly insensitive at first, once I was laying down on my side, the pain in my posterior began to subside.

Sadly, my glorious duet down the stairs had my knees and butt taking the brunt of the impacts. It might’ve not been so bad were it not for the fact the Apple family had hardwood floors everywhere, and I was fairly certain that somewhere in the fall I kissed Big Mac’s knee. Despite all my complaining, it was no surprise that there was little sympathy being tossed in my direction. Instead, Applejack and Flash Sentry were more concerned with Big Mac, who was still sitting at the bottom of the stairs. I couldn’t understand why they were so worried about him; country boys like him were built like brick walls.

Given my battered state, I could do little else but watch from the sidelines as Flash Sentry helped the Apple family patriarch onto his feet. Or rather foot because the moment Big Mac tried to put any weight on his right foot, he yelped in pain and quickly grabbed the nearby banister for support. He must’ve twisted his ankle somewhere during the fall.

“Big Mac, are you okay?” Applejack asked.

“Nope…” the always verbose brother answered.

“Come on, I’ll drive you to a walk-in clinic and we’ll get that checked out,” Flash said as he moved in to offer a supportive shoulder. Big Mac was prompt in accepting the aid, and the pair began a slow hobble out to Flash’s car.

“Um, maybe I should take him to the clinic,” Applejack suggested as she trailed behind the pair. “I mean, he’s my brother, after all. You don’t have to trouble yourself with all this.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Flash replied with a reassuring grin. “I’ve gotta head back into town anyways, so it’s not much of a detour for me.” He then paused and cast a glance over to me. I tried to look away in order to hide my concern, but I doubt I was fast enough. “Plus, Applejack, I think you’ve got other things to attend to.”

In truth, I think Flash volunteered for that duty because the alternative was being left behind to deal with me. Were I in his shoes, I would’ve agreed to carry Big Mac on my shoulders all the way to the clinic through a minefield if it meant avoiding another minute with me. In fact, I would have gladly taken the twisted ankle if it meant getting away from Applejack, who currently stood next to the couch, looming over me. Given the way she was looking at me, I couldn’t tell if she was angry or simply ready to give up.

Neither option was pleasant, not that I wasn’t already feeling awful. On top of all the pain, the absence of adrenaline and burning rage left little more than smoldering ashes of regret in their wake.

“Well, I certainly messed today up, didn’t I?” I grumbled as I rolled onto my side. It was easier staring at the back of the couch than having to deal with Applejack’s glare.

“Like a two-dollar wrangler in an Appleoosa rodeo,” she replied.

“Again with the countryisms. I don’t even know what that means.” I had to assume she was agreeing with me, though, since only the deaf and blind would’ve missed my colossal failure. I felt a sudden shift on the couch cushions, and looked up to see that Applejack had sat down next to my head.

“I reckon we’re all a bit at fault, though,” Applejack said. She leaned back and sank into her seat, sighing as her frame slouched further and further down. “Listen, I’m sorry I dropped Flash on you like that. I figured it might get a bit rough, but I guess I didn’t realize how much... anger you still had left. So what happened? You were ducking under tables to avoid him not too long ago.”

“I treated Flash the worst out of everyone here,” I said with a remorseful sigh. “I don’t blame his anger; I’d feel the same way. In fact, I do feel the same way. I hate who I used to be: I hate how I used to lie and cheat almost every day, or how I would intentionally provoke arguments in public just because I knew Flash would relent.” I drew my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my knees as if the fetal position could help alleviate the guilt. “The Element of Magic didn’t need to make me into a monster, I already was one.”

“That doesn’t explain why you started yelling.”

“Because my life sucks, okay?” I snapped, followed by a quiet groan as I soon regretted my words. Now Applejack would just be even more curious. I realized that I was going to have to explain myself; at least then I could control the flow of information. “I hate the person I used to be. I was cruel, petty, and manipulative. Everyone was just a means to an end, especially Flash.”

“But you’re not that person anymore: we all know that. You just have to—”

“Except I hate what I’ve become almost just as much.” My words left Applejack in a stunned silence. “I live with the principal like some charity case, the only people who talk to me did so because of a promise to a friend who did in three days what took me three years, and I hide like a terrified pup from my ex-boyfriend.” Normally just thinking about those things would get me angry, but by this stage I was just too emotionally exhausted to get worked up. “I’m anxious all the time at school, I constantly feel alone, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life anymore, and I don’t feel like I can actually do anything to change any of that. I’m pathetic, and it just infuriates me... which just makes me even more pathetic.”

“Oh sugarcube,” Applejack said, sympathy lacing her voice. I felt her hand settle upon my shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze and a gentle rub along my upper arm. “Change isn’t easy to cope with, and I know how frustrating it can get when you feel like you’re being bucked by fate like it’s a wild bronco.”

“Could we avoid the countryisms, please?”

“What I’m saying is that I know what it’s like to be scared and angry, and feeling powerless,” Applejack explained in more plain terms. My friend fell silent for a second, lifting her gaze away from me and over to something that I couldn’t quite see in my current position. “It was exactly how I felt after I lost my folks.”

Despite how much pain my butt was still in, I promptly shot up into an upright position when I realized what my friend was broaching. As far as I knew, Applejack almost never talked about her parents, not even to the other girls. When I followed her gaze, I saw that she was staring an old family portrait that hung over the fireplace. It must have been from many years ago, as Apple Bloom was still in diapers in the picture, and cradled in the arms of her mother.

“I... I’m not sure that’s a fair comparison. My issue obviously pales in comparison,” I eventually stammered out. I wish I had something more poignant to say, but how do you respond to such an admission without sounding nosey or insensitive?

“It’s still loss, Sunset. The circumstances may have been different, but the impact was the same. One day things are great... and the next, your world’s been turned upside-down. Everything that you were comfortable with seems to be gone forever, and you have no idea where the future will take you,” Applejack explained. She shifted her posture, slouching less but hunching over to rest her arms upon her knees, as if a great weight now rested on her shoulders. “You lose a sense of yourself, of a connection to who you were and what you’ll become. You desperately want to be able to do something, but you can’t seem to decide whether you want to cry or scream out loud.”

I could tell the conversation was straining on her emotions. The faint fluctuations of a voice just teetering on the edge of cracking could be heard.

“How did you... you know, get past it?”

“One day at a time,” she answered. “It was scary, for a while, trying to move forward, thinking you’re all alone. I had my share of bad days: more than once I spent almost the entire day in bed, and would’ve had my granny not dragged me out each and every time. It took me some weeks to realize that I wasn’t as alone as I thought I was, and neither are you, Sunset.” She then reached out and set her hand upon my shoulder again, flashing me that reassuring country smile of hers. In an instant, all that heartache I heard in her voice was gone, as though it never existed in the first place. I swear, Applejack was as unshakable as bedrock. It was hard to ever imagine a girl like her feeling as broken up as I was feeling. “You just have to keep tackling it one day at a time, and you keep reminding yourself that as long as you don’t give up hope, things can get better.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It could’ve been for me had I not been so pig-headed,” Applejack said as she chuckled. “You and I have something in common, we’re the prideful type. Sometimes that can be good: you can draw a lot of confidence from it. The downside, though, is we tend not to ask for help when we’re feeling down or in trouble. We don’t like being a burden to other people.”

My pride was one of the biggest reasons for my downfall, so it was hard for me to picture that pride being a positive thing in my new life. She did have a point, though; I had been feeling miserable lately, and I kept it bottled inside. An explosion was bound to happen, and it was just bad luck that Flash Sentry was the person who wound up setting me off.

“Pride was what led me to being an arrogant little witch,” I said with some skepticism. “I don’t know if I can afford to let that demon inside me again.”

“Pride is just a feeling; what you do with that feeling is what counts,” Applejack explained. “I’m betting you weren’t always an arrogant little witch. In fact, I know you weren’t because I remember how you were when you first came to Canterlot High.”

“But... you and I never spoke until at least the sophomore year.” And by that point, I had already begun my downside descent into aspiring despot.

“True, but I do remember seeing how you handled yourself around people,” my friend continued on. “You came into our school part way through the year, and you fell into place like you had been here the whole time. You were fearless... you were confident, but you weren’t pushy or mean. Truth be told, I was really envious of that Sunset Shimmer.”

My face contorted in confusion, one eyebrow in particular almost jumping off of my head in its haste. “You were envious of me back then?”

“Have you taken a hard look at me?” Applejack exclaimed as though there was something that should’ve been obvious to me. “I’m a country gal going to a big city school. I stood out like a pig in a girdle as a freshman, and it ain’t like people didn’t make fun of the way I talk either. It was tricky for me to fit in at first. You made it seem so easy.”

It felt like it had been ages since the last time somebody gave me a genuine compliment without fear of reprisal. I had to actually turn away to hide the rosey glow, lest I give Applejack the wrong impression. “I suppose when you spend a few years dealing with gryphons and donkeys, you learn how to handle a tough crowd,” I replied in my attempt to downplay the praise.

“There was good in you once before, and I reckon we can find it again,” Applejack reassured me.

“Assuming I don’t explode at anyone else in the process,” I said with restrained optimism.

“Things might get tough, but when life starts throwing you around like a wild bull, you just gotta grab hold of the saddle and hang on tight. And if it throws you off, you get right back on that saddle!”

“I was wondering when you were going to toss another nugget of country wisdom in,” I teased while rolling my eyes. After a brief stint of laughter, one would have been hard-pressed to believe that we had been yelling at each other not ten minutes prior. “I’m sorry I messed up your little scheme,” I said in a long overdue apology, “and I’m sorry I yelled at you for things I should’ve realized you weren’t guilty of. Oh, and I’m sorry I knocked your brother down the stairs. Did I miss anything?”

“You could apologize for getting fussy because of my countryisms.”

“No, I still maintain that you need to talk more plainly in the future. I know it’s English, and yet I do not understand the words coming from your mouth some days.” Hopefully, the heavy-handed sarcasm would tip Applejack off that I was just teasing her again, otherwise I’d have yet another thing to apologize for. “Anyways, I should probably call Celestia and let her know she can come pick me up,” I announced as I made my first attempt to stand back up. Despite a few grunts and groans as bruises flared in protest, I managed to get back to my feet without cursing out loud.

“Say, are you busy tomorrow, Sunset?” Applejack inquired, to which I said no. Sadly, today was not very productive with respects to any newspaper articles I might have wanted to write, but I suspect that Applejack never intended for anything of the sort. “There’s a little county fair going on in the city fair grounds tomorrow, and I’m going to be there selling pies and ciders and such. I was wondering if you wanted to tag along and help.”

“More free labour?” I asked with a raised, skeptical brow.

“Well, normally Big Mac would help, but—”

“Ah, say no more,” I said as I held up my hands. I didn’t need to listen any further to know when I was being guilted into agreeing. Needless to say, after today’s disaster, I did feel like I owed Applejack some reparations. “I’d love to help. Better than spending tomorrow sitting on my rump, not that I’ll be able to do any sitting comfortably for the next couple of days. Plus, a county fair sounds like it might be fun.”

“That’s the spirit!” Applejack said as she hopped to her feet. “Trust me, we’ll have more fun than a couple pigs in a sty!” With that, she gave me a hard, reassuring slap… which she might have aimed a bit too low.

“ARRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!”

“Opps. Sorry.”

Act III-III

Life in the Royal Palace afforded me the luxury of being on the invitee list of virtually every party, gala, or banquet held within a hundred kilometer radius. To be honest, I rarely attended more than a handful of them, and it was always at the request of the Princess. The idea of spending an evening in a room listening to self-absorbed sycophants fawn over their inflated sense of self-worth did not strike me as the best use of my time; not when I could be locked away in the study, indulging my own inflated sense of self-worth.

Parties in Equestria’s Canterlot were often quiet, sombre affairs. It was often more about pageantry than it was about having fun, if one could ever find semblance of such. I remembered one Grand Galloping Gala with the Princess where ‘fun’ was about as down the list of priorities as ‘unleashing crazed weasels.’ For a young unicorn, digging through the walls with your horn to escape seemed like a preferable way to spend the night, even if Princess Celestia said it ‘would be to my long-term benefit.’ I often wondered if the Princess found those events as insufferable as I had, but had learned how to conceal her boredom and disdain behind royal-bred etiquette and practiced sincerity. Given that I had once seen the Princess engage in a dialogue with a treant who took five minutes to say ‘good morning,’ nothing was beyond her ability to endure with quiet dignity.

The county Harvest Festival was quite unlike anything I had experienced before. It was nothing like the Fall Formal back at the school, which I admit I only attended for as long as it took for Principal Celestia to put the crown on my head and then make a convenient excuse to leave.

If somebody had told me that fairs could be like this Harvest Festival, maybe I would’ve put my plans for world domination on hold. I arrived a bit earlier than I needed to so that I could use some of that free time to explore the fair grounds. People were already beginning to flock to the event, and once again I felt a small sense of comfort in a cloak of anonymity within the crowd. There was an energy in the air that reminded me of my afternoon at Crystal Heart Academy: full of positive emotions and excitement.

There was also a lot of savory scents already floating in the air. From what Applejack told me of the festival, there were all manners of cook-offs and confectionaries available, not to mention deep fryers for literally any food item you could imagine. At one point I even saw somebody put a frozen pizza in a fryer.

It was enough to make your mouth water and stomach growl for attention. Though I suddenly felt as though I was starving, I was not starved for choice. As I wandered through the aisle of vendors and stalls, my nose and eyes darted from one source to the next, each more tantalizing than the last: cotton candy in every colour of the rainbow; caramel-coated apples, pears, and even carrots; corn cobs cooking over open flames; and enough sizzling meats to make even my primal-side start to second-guess my vegetarianism.

That was when a fragrance upon the breeze drifted past my nose. It was an air of sweetness that stung at my nostrils like thousands of tiny, sugary bees. There was an entrancing warmth to it, a flower of fire and spice beckoning for my attention. It didn’t take long for my eyes to follow along, joined shortly thereafter by my legs. Within a few moments, I was standing before a humble stall that had a pair of bubbling pots containing thick, red-brown concoctions.

“My god, that chili smells delicious,” I mumbled under my breath, keeping a safe distance from the brew in case my salivary glands got the better of me.

“Didn’t expect to hear a compliment from you,” a familiar voice pried my gaze away from the cauldron and to the gray-haired woman standing behind it.

“M-Miss Yearling!” I stammered in my surprise. “I… I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Why not? I’m allowed to have a life outside of my job,” Yearling replied with a hint of indignity. “And what’s it to you if that happens to include making the best dang chili con carne you’ll taste this side of the border. That cook-off title is as good as mine this year; no rhyme-spouting upstart is going to stand between me and my prize this year.” Her fists clenched as her eyes gazed past me to another booth further down the aisle where a young, mohawked woman wearing large gold rings was toiling away at her own cauldron. “That rotten heathen uses pork in her abomination. Can you believe that? Pork! Why not just throw a deep-fried turkey into that while you’re at it!”

“I was not aware you were such a chili aficionado,” I commented with a raised eyebrow.

“There are a great many things about me that you are not aware of,” Yearling explained with a wry grin. She glanced around, as if paranoid about onlookers despite being in the middle of a county fair, before gesturing me in closer. She reached under her cooking table and pulled out a very small jar, upon which was scrawled writing I was unfamiliar with. “My secret weapon for this year.”

“You’re going to poison the competition?” I asked.

“Why would you think that?”

“Well, there is a little picture of a skull and crossbone on your jar,” I said as I pointed to the tiny symbol.

Yearling scoffed and rolled her eyes. “This, my ignorant little pupil, is a jar containing a small sampling of the infamous bhut jolokia: the ghost pepper. Cultivated from a remote village in the far east, and traded only to those who succeed in passing the natives’ ritual known as the test of fire and brimstone! A pepper so dangerous that the natives believe it to be an act of vengeance upon humanity by dark gods.”

After a couple seconds of vapid, blank staring, Yearling realized that what she just said flew straight over my head. “Was anything you just said actually true?” I asked.

“Just the name. I ordered it online from a site my sister recommended. It’s supposedly as hot as the fire of a thousand suns, but I’m still trying to balance out the right amount.”

Who knew making chili could be such a complicated and sordid affair. I wasn’t even sure that Yearling approached school work with this level of zeal and determination, but as she said, there was much I did not know about her. That ignorance, in fact, was what led to my next inquiry.

“You have a sister?” I asked.

“Sorry, did I say sister? I meant to say my friend, but we’re so close it’s like we’re sisters,” Yearling answered. I couldn’t help but notice that her answer felt a bit more hurried than her usual practiced, and deliberate tone. If I didn’t know any better, I caught her off-guard inquiring about family, but why would she lie about that? Questions for another day, unfortunately, since Yearling was now aware of my curiosity. I would have better luck prying answers from the dead.

A quick gurgle from my gut reminded me why I had stopped by this stall in the first place. “Don’t suppose I could try some of that chili?” I asked.

“But of course,” Yearling said. She grabbed a nearby ladle, and began scooping out a small helping. “Would you care to try some of the ghost pepper with your chili sin carne?”

“I don’t think I’m ready to tempt the vengeance of dark gods right now.” I liked the thrill of a nice, spicy meal as much as the next girl, but ‘fire of a thousand suns’ sounded like something only the clinically insane would consider a good idea.

“Fair enough; you already live with one, after all,” Yearling said before letting out a loud, but brief, laugh. “Don’t tell Luna I said that.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” I doubt Luna would have believed me even if I had told her; there was little that the vice-principal took at face value when it came to me.

“So what are you doing here anyways?” Yearling inquired, leaning against the nearby counter with a curious look in her eyes. “You’ve never really been the type to bother with these kinds of events. Is this part of your Celestia-guided ‘rehab?’”

That was a far better question than Yearling likely realized. Was I just at this festival because of some contractual obligation I had with Principal Celestia, in which I had to subject myself to her plans and machinations like they were terms of parole? On the one hand, I would not have been at the fair were it not for being strong-armed into volunteering as a farm hand yesterday, but I didn’t feel like I was being compelled to be here today. I felt guilty about Big Mac yesterday, that was true, but that wasn’t the feeling that guided me to the festival today.

After a few more seconds of mulling over my words, I finally had my answer. “I’m here because a friend needs my help.”

“Applejack, right?” Yearling asked, to which I nodded.

“How’d you guess?”

“I’ve been doing this festival for quite a few years now,” Yearling said with no restraint on the pride she carried with that experience. “Nobody else in your circle of friends has a regular stall here, plus I saw her wheeling her products in earlier today without her older brother in tow.” Unfortunately, the mentioning of the absent brother caused a nervous pang in me. I think Yearling picked up on it when she saw me quickly avert my gaze and shuffle my feet in the dirt. I may as well have had ‘guilty’ written across my forehead. She must have been feeling merciful as she tossed me a quick distraction. “Why don’t you take a bite of your chili and tell me what you think.”

In hindsight, in my haste to find something new to focus on, I may have been a bit too zealous in shoveling down a mouthful of Yearling’s creation. I enjoyed a spicy meal as much as the next person, but by Celestia’s golden throne, that first mouthful hit like somebody had covered a gold brick in tomato, covered it in napalm, and then rammed it down my throat. Make no mistake, it was delicious, and I believed I detected a hint of butternut squash in the mix, but the spreading wildfire made it hard for my fragile mind to focus on anything else.

“That’s… really opening some sinuses I didn’t know I had,” I said with an exasperated gasp. There was a powerful, sweet heat to Yearling’s chili, and despite the sweat gathering upon my brow, I was soon going in for another, albeit smaller, bite. A part of me must have been a little crazy to continue subjecting my tastebuds to limbo between torment and ecstasy.

The look of playful amusement upon Yearling’s face reminded me of a cat watching their prey make its last, desperate flails. I wasn’t sure if she was happy because I was enjoying the chili, or because of how much it was making me grimace and sweat. “Hey, would you be able to do a favour for me?” Yearling asked out of the blue.

“Maybe. What is it?” I replied, though it came out as more of a wheeze. I think I saw a small plume of smoke in there as well.

Yearling brought out a small plastic container that had been sitting on the ground. Once she set it down, she popped open the lid to reveal a collection of small metallic cylinders, each maybe only four inches long and an inch wide. There didn’t appear to be any labels on them, so I was left baffled as to the exact nature of this favour. Their nature wasn’t clear until Yearling took one and pulled it apart, revealing it to be a small spray canister.

“I wasn’t aware you were trying to get into the perfume business,” I quipped. “Is this ‘L’Eau du High School?’ I wouldn’t have pegged there to be a market for the fetor of prepubescent sweat and cheap body sprays.”

“Very funny,” Yearling replied. “It’s a pepper spray.”

“Ah, self-defense. That makes more sense,” I answered with a slow nod. “Though with you, I would’ve pictured something more… incendiary.”

“I meant for your food.”

“Well I’ll admit this chili has some serious bite to it, but I think I’m winning in the grand scheme of things.” At that point, I flashed a playful grin to let Yearling know that I was just being intentionally obtuse, not that I didn’t think she couldn’t have figured that out on her own. “So basically a spray-on hot sauce, huh?”

“For the traveling connoisseur looking to add some kick to their snacks,” she explained. “I’m still perfecting the recipe, so if you’re not too busy, I could use some in-the-field testing.”

While I had no plans to stuff my face during the course of the day, it seemed like a good idea to curry some favour with Ms. Yearling. Plus, if the spray was even just half-as-good as the chili, I would be in for a treat. At the same time, though, I saw no reason not to see if I could squeeze a little bit more from this opportunity.

“Throw in another bowl of chili and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

*******************

By the time I found Applejack, I had polished off that second bowl of chili sin carne and was still dabbing beads of sweat from my brow. She was still unpacking boxes of pies and crates of fizzy cider from her trolley, but what caught me by surprise was the outfit she was wearing. Given that it was a Harvest Festival, I expected Applejack would have been in her usual work clothes, or at best some dolled up cowgirl-style get-up. What I got instead was a full ensemble more suiting to a Prench housemaid than an apple-selling country girl.

“What in the name of the gilded feathers of Canterlot are you wearing?” I asked upon my arrival.

Applejack must have been too distracted with her work to notice my arrival as she was surprised to see me approaching. “Oh, hey! Didn’t think you’d actually show up today,” she greeted with her usual, cheerful grin. It was strange seeing my friend without her hat, like seeing Princess Celestia without all her regalia.

“I said I’d be here,” I reassured her, “and you didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh? This?” she repeated, as if I could be referring to anything else. “I may have… um, lost a bet with Rarity the other day. Now I gotta wear this thing all day. It ain’t actually half-bad, though: feels kinda nice and I sure do look fancy, don’t I?” Her humour and enthusiasm might have fooled a more casual observer, but my trained ears picked up on how forced some of her words were. It was the kind of tone you used to laughingly cover up how much you were screaming on the inside.

“Well if you pull the skirt up a bit, it might help sales,” I joked, which Applejack didn’t find too amusing. Rather than make any comeback, she grabbed something wrapped in brown paper and threw it to me. It was soft and lightweight, though the crinkling brown wrapping paper made it hard to tell what exactly I was dealing with. I was forced to ask, “What is this?”

“It’s your outfit. Rarity whipped up a matching set for you.”

Clinging to my skepticism, even if it was a fleeting hope, I peeled back the wrapping paper, revealing the white lace and black silks of a matching housemaid ensemble. “And why on earth would I wear one of these? Are we that desperate to sell apples?”

“Apples sell themselves,” my friend insisted, “but if I’m the only one dressed up like this, I’m gonna look ridiculous.”

I got the distinct impression that I wasn’t being given the luxury of choice in this matter. On the bright side, if Rarity had provided it, then at least I knew it would be of quality craftsmanship. Once Applejack pointed out a nearby tool shed that I could use to get changed in, I, too, had my own frilly, lacy maid outfit. Despite how patently ridiculous I looked, I had to admit that the silk did feel luxurious. I hadn’t touched silk since leaving Equestria, and it felt very different against bare skin compared to when I was a fur-coated unicorn. Once I got settled into my new uniform, I joined Applejack behind the stall counter and helped to finish setting things up.

“Oh, ho ho! What is this?” Yet another voice that I had not expected to hear today, but it immediately sent a surge of utter dread through my core, as if a dark magic had just plunged through my chest and wrapped its icy tendrils around my heart.

“Trixie…” I growled under my breath. I knew a county fair meant running into a few people from school, but that cackling witch was the last person I wanted to deal with today. She stood on the opposite side of the stall, leaning upon the counter with eager fingertips tapping out a rhythmic pattern.

“Nice outfits, you two. I should’ve brought my camera so everybody at the school can enjoy this scene,” Trixie remarked with the sort of malicious grin you’d find more at home with a deranged comic book villain.

“That’s a lot coming from you,” I snapped back, gesturing at Trixie’s own outfit. She was wearing some bizarre costume that included a star-studded cape and a peaked cap to match. The old me would’ve been having a laughing fit to see Trixie in such a get-up.

My attempt at a counter-attack fell flat on its face, however, as Trixie simply scoffed at it. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is performing, and must look as magnificent as she is great,” she explained with the self-aggrandizing flair that was typical of her. “Unlike you and your silly little apples, Trixie will be drawing scores of adoring fans.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I deadpanned.

“She ain’t,” Applejack informed with her own sigh of resignation. “Trixie has her own little stage show over on the other side of the fair grounds. I used to take Apple Bloom to see it when she was younger.”

That provided a small comfort, at least, since it meant that Trixie would be far, far away from me for most of the day. As much as she probably enjoyed mocking me at every available opportunity, the one thing she loved more was indulging that ego of hers. A captivated crowd would be far too tempting for her to ignore, even for me.

“A good thing you don’t do that anymore, I doubt you’d be able to afford the price of admission this year,” Trixie said, followed by a mocking chuckle. “You must be really desperate, Applejack, to turn to her of all people for help.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Applejack snapped back, taking the words right out of my mouth. Once again, Trixie just scoffed and chuckled, as if privy to some joke that was dancing about just beyond our comprehension. At that moment, I wanted to grab her by those star-shaped earrings she wore and smash her face-first into the nearest pie, if only to wipe that smug look off of her.

“Sunset might have you and your friends fooled, but nobody really believes that anything has really changed,” Trixie explained as her gaze shifted over to me. “Nobody is ever going to believe that Sunset Shimmer will change her stripes, and if Applejack has any sense, she’ll cut you loose before she gets dragged down with you.”

Once again, Trixie demonstrated her remarkable talent for finding the right buttons to push. Despite my best efforts to keep calm, it wasn’t long before I was reaching across the counter for her. “Why I ought to—!” I shouted as I grabbed Trixie by her star-spangled cape.

“You ought to what?” Trixie quickly replied. She showed no sign of intimidation despite having been lifted off her feet and now loomed over a countertop covered in fresh pies. I didn’t have an immediate answer, and when Trixie realized I was beginning to hesitate, she was further emboldened. “Come on, Sunset, tell Trixie what you’ll do in front of all these other people.”

It was only then that I realized we were all in the middle of a large and very public fair ground. I could feel the burning gaze of more than a dozen sets of nervous eyes cast in my direction, all of whom were probably wondering, ‘what is this girl’s problem?’ I’d be lying if I said a part of me wasn’t tempted to just ignore all the staring; to remind myself that this conceited little brat needed to choke on some humble pie, and perhaps a few of her own teeth in the process. Luckily for everybody involved, Applejack was able to interject, and pried Trixie free from my grasp.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, Trixie,” Applejack said in her ‘no nonsense’ tone of voice. “If you ain’t buying anything, I’m going to have to ask you, kindly, to leave.”

“Oh, very well. It’s not like there’s anything of interest here,” Trixie replied. Even in feigning boredom, she had to continue testing my patience. “Just a washed up has-been, and her dreary, hillbilly friend. Good luck… you’re going to need it.”

This time it was my turn to play the role of restrainer: my friend was about two seconds from vaulting over the counter when I grabbed her by the shoulders. I guess she wasn’t a fan of the h-word. Trixie had already turned to leave so she remained oblivious to how close she came to a dirt nap.

“The nerve of some people,” Applejack grumbled under her breath once she had calmed down. She spent the next few minutes incessantly tugging at her apron, which had been crumpled by the forceful restraint, but her wardrobe refused to cooperate with her. Were Rarity here, she probably would’ve started yelling at the countrygirl for ‘man-handling the delicate fabrics,’ followed by Applejack making a half-baked retort about how frivolous it was to have so many layers in one outfit.

“She did have a point, though, about having me here,” I said, adjusting the lace headpiece to my outfit that had gotten knocked askew while I was retraining my friend. “You sure it’s a good idea having the least popular girl at Canterlot High helping you sell apples?”

“Don’t you pay any mind to Trixie. All that nonsense was just her trying to rustle your jimmies because she’s got nothing unless you react to her,” Applejack tried to reassure me. “She can keep spouting all the nonsense in the world, but as long as you keep taking the high road, Trixie is just going to look like a raving lunatic.”

Logically, I knew that everything Applejack said made sense, but even with that knowledge, my jimmies had been rustled, and quite vigorously. All I could imagine was Trixie’s smug face laughing at me as our apple-peddling venture went down in flames. The thought just made my blood boil, and it took several minutes of unpacking to finally get my mind off of things.

“So did I turn your brother into a cripple?” I asked as I hefted off another crate of fizzy ciders from the trolley. I should’ve asked about him sooner, but between Trixie and my new uniform, I had enough things to worry about.

“He just twisted his ankle a bit,” Applejack answered. “A couple days of rest and he’ll be fine.”

One less thing for me to worry about. I could only imagine how important a guy like Big Mac was to a family-run farm, so losing him for even a few days might be a setback to their financial future. After unpacking a few more items from the trolley, we finally had our stall decked out in the best goods from Sweet Apple Acres. Before the day began, I had been curious as to what kind of products Applejack would bring to the table. Clearly my culinary imagination needed improvement because we had a plethora of offerings, from pastries to drinks to apples made in every culinary method they had a name for. A part of me wondered if the biggest challenge for today was just resisting the urge to sample our own products.

If only that had been the case.

“Heads up, Sunny, we got our first customer in-coming,” Applejack woke me from my train of thought. She nudged me with her elbow and gestured to a pair, a young man and woman, that were heading in our direction. At first, I was curious as to the source of Applejack’s certainty, but the answer became apparent within a few moments.

“Heya AJ! How’s business?” It took me a few seconds to realize that the guy who had just greeted my friend was none other than Soarin’, a former member of Canterlot’s soccer team. I hadn’t seen him since he graduated, not that I paid much attention to him, which made me worry he might still see me as ‘Sunset Shimmer the horrible tyrant.’

“Hot and fresh, just like always,” Applejack replied as she immediately grabbed a whole pie tin and held it out. “I take it, y’all will want your usual order?”

“That predictable, huh?” remarked the accompanying young woman, whom I correctly assumed to be Spitfire. It was hard to forget that hair style, after all. I stepped back and kept my distance as Applejack chatted away with her long-time customers. I didn’t dare say anything out of fear that things might sour if they realized I was here. Soarin’ and Spitfire had never been considered targets or serious threats to me, but I know that I’ve caused grief for members of their team in the past.

After a few minutes, the pair said their goodbyes and headed off with their prize in hand. I don’t think either of them even blinked an eye in my direction, which meant they either didn’t realize who I was, or just didn’t care anymore. It felt oddly satisfying either way since it meant it was possible for people to forget about me without any grand gestures or pleas of forgiveness.

“See? Nothing to worry about, just like I said,” Applejack said. A confident grin stretched across her face as she held up the wad of cash for me to see. “Only a couple of minutes in, and we’ve already made our first sale. If this keeps up, we’ll be rolling in dough in no time!”

*******************

After almost two hours, the only thing Applejack and I were rolling in was the pervasive, all-consuming boredom that clung to us like the dust upon our aprons. My friend had managed to fashion herself a makeshift chair out of the crates of apple cider we still had with us, while my sore backside forced me to remain hunched over the counter supporting my chin in my hand. By this point, our sales had been so abysmal that I didn’t just want to say ‘I told you so’ to Applejack, I wanted to go out to Sweet Apple Acres and carve it into every tree in the orchard so that she would be reminded of this day for the rest of her natural life.

However, I had to settle with just a discontented grunt.

“I think Dante described moments like this as one of the seven levels of Tartarus,” I remarked to nobody in particular. “Or maybe I’m just confusing this with purgatory.”

“You could try acting a bit more cheerful,” Applejack snapped back. “Folks would probably be more willing to come take a peek if it didn’t look like you were ready to snap like a bear trap.”

“I thought apples sold themselves,” I sniped in retaliation. “What does it matter what I do? We haven’t sold a thing since that guy with the proverbial mouth-on-fire bought a fizzy cider, and that was from pure desperation.” I didn’t want to outright say that people were avoiding our stall, but my friend could tell those words were lingering at the front of my mind.

Applejack let out a frustrated groan, fueled both by my insolence and our meagre sales performance. “Have you ever heard of the term ‘self-fulfilling prophecy?’” she asked while she reached into the crate she sat on and fished out a bottle.

“No, I zoned out when Ms. Yearling talked about that last Thursday,” I quipped.

“Then I shouldn’t have to explain to it to ya!” With a scoff and a flick of her wrist, Applejack popped open her bottle and started chugging it down. Perhaps she had a point, and my sour disposition was just ensuring that we achieved the failure that I had prophesied, but pride wasn’t about to let me admit anything just yet.

Another thing my friend and I had in common was our disdain for failure. Nobody liked failing, of course, but having a lot of pride meant taking it personally. I could see that the lack of sales, the abundance of pies and candied apples that still sat on our counter, was tearing down Applejack’s usual upbeat attitude, leaving only charred and bitter remains.

It was getting close to noon and our prospects were looking grim. “Maybe I should just make myself scarce,” I suggested. “That way you can get some sales, and I just come back at the end of the day to help you pack up.”

“Oh, no you don’t! I ain’t quitting on you yet!” Applejack shot up from her seat, positioning herself to trap me against the apple-covered counter. “The second you leave is the second you prove everything that Trixie said was true. That ain’t happening—not on my watch!”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, AJ, but I’m not going to be the reason your family is forced to tighten their belts.” I tried to force my way past Applejack, but between her years of labouring on a farm and my sore backside, it was child’s play for her to force me back. “Come on, now isn’t the time for your ‘keep on trucking’ countryisms. You need to face facts, and the simple fact is, I’m clearly scaring away customers.”

“That is a load of cow patty,” Applejack scoffed, pushing me back after a second attempt to escape. “I know things can be tough at school, but we are literally half-way across town from the school. You’re just being paranoid!”

“Oh for Celestia’s sake, stop being so naive!” I barked back.

Applejack just raised an eyebrow and stared at me as if a second head just sprouted from my body. “Did you just say—?”

I felt my face begin to heat up as the faux pas dawned upon me. “Shut up! It’s a perfectly normal thing to say where I come from!” I blurted in my defense.

An awkward silence enveloped the two of us. We were both tense, frustrated, and weary from the long, tedious hours we’ve already endured. Just two stubborn girls trying to be the more helpful, selfless friend, or at least that’s what I kept telling myself. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that just wanted to leave in order to avoid further embarrassment.

Applejack remained unflinching as she stared me down. That confidant glare was a silent message telling me that the only way I’d get past her would be by bowling her over. I began tabulating what my chances were if I grabbed a pie and smashed it into her face. Maybe blinding her would give me the time or leverage I’d need to get past her. However, before I could say or do anything, one of the loudspeakers, mounted on those telephone poles that were speckled across the fairgrounds, crackled to life.

“Would Applejack please report to the organizer’s tent at your earliest convenience,” the old, neglected loudspeaker spoke in a static-laced cacophony.

“Looks like I’m needed elsewhere,” Applejack said with an unsettling smirk across her face.

I started to feel nervous; it wasn’t hard to deduce what my friend had in mind. “Where are you going?” I asked.

“There’s a pie-eating contest in a little bit. And guess who provides the pies?” I didn’t actually need to guess, but nonetheless Applejack grinned and pointed both thumbs at herself. “So you stay put and handle things here while I go hammer out the last few details with the contest organizers.”

She couldn’t do this to me! She couldn’t just abandon me to the merciless hordes. One may as well pour chum all over me and throw me into a shark tank. The icy grip of panic began to grasp at my heart.

“W-what if I just leave once you’re gone?” A fleeting threat, unfortunately, and definitely an underhanded manoeuvre. It was the kind of threat that the old Sunset Shimmer would use, and judging by the way Applejack didn’t even twitch, she knew that too.

“Then people would probably rob my stall of all its goods,” Applejack answered in a very matter-of-fact tone. “And I’m willing to bet that you’d feel worse about that than you would if you stayed put.”

I was just about to fire a rebuttal, mouth wide open and finger pointed upwards, when I realized that she was one-hundred percent correct in her assessment. As much as I hated the idea of standing around watching the whole world shun me, abandoning my post would be unforgivable. It was exactly the kind of deviousness that the old me would’ve done to screw a rival over.

“I might be gone for a lil’ while. I reckon I ought to grab some lunch while I’ve got the chance,” Applejack added as she headed on her way.

Soon, it was just me and my cornucopia of apples and baked goods. It dawned upon me that Applejack likely knew she would get called away, which meant that I was, once again, snared in another one of her schemes. I missed the days when I was the one who was always outwitting people.

“Come on, Sunset, you’re doing this for Applejack. Just need to have faith in yourself; Applejack certainly does,” I reminded myself as I returned to my duties. Unfortunately, the pep talk just reminded me of the expectations that were now upon me, and how much I was going to hate myself when I inevitably failed and let my friend down. There needed to be a way to help bolster sales, but I didn’t know the first thing about being a salesperson. Maybe I needed to show more skin to attract attention. If only Rarity were here: she knew how to turn heads for the right reasons.

Despite my injury from the day before, I decided to make use of Applejack’s cider throne as my feet were beginning to complain. Aching feet or aching backside; it seemed like I couldn’t catch a break if it were sick and crippled. As I stewed in a broth of boredom and chronic pain, I pulled out the spice spray that Yearling had given me earlier. I hadn’t much opportunity to test it out yet.

“I wonder if there’s a market for spicy apples,” I murmured to myself. It could attract customers through, if nothing else, its sheer curiosity factor. But I was no culinary expert; I still had trouble with eggs. Tampering with Applejack’s products seemed like the kind of crazy scheme that only worked in Saturday morning cartoons. In the real world, that idea had ‘highly explosive’ written all over it.

Thankfully I didn’t have to linger on those thoughts for very long as I noticed a gentleman approaching my counter. He actually stopped and began looking over the products. Maybe I was a bit desperate for a sale, but I felt such a surge of hope that I didn’t even care how much it hurt when I sprang back to my feet.

“Good morning, sir,” I greeted with every ounce of cheerfulness I had in my reserves. It was the ideal customer, too: young, hungry, and I didn’t recognize him in the least, which meant he had no clue who I was. “May I help you with anything?”

He cast only a brief glance in my direction. “Oh, I’m just looking,” he murmured. I could hear the indecision in his voice; he was hungry, but he just wasn’t convinced of a choice. It was time to lay on some Sunset Shimmer charm.

“Well, sir, if you’re feeling a bit peckish, you’ve come to the right place,” I began while picking up a pie tin. “We’ve got every treat for every desire, made by hand, and with only the freshest, farm-grown apples in the city.”

His lips pursed, followed by a slow nod and the faintest of ‘hmm’s. He was considering my proposal—I was about to make a sale.

“And if you need to wet your whistle, Sweet Apple Acres has got you covered,” I added while reaching for a bottle. As I pulled up the fizzy cider, I gave it a small toss in the air for embellishment, but also so that I could hold it with the label facing him.

His droopy-eyed gaze widened for the briefest of moments. Maybe he was more thirsty than hungry, or maybe he just really liked cider, but whatever the reason, I was luring him in. I could use one of the Apple family’s patented ‘big as your skull’ fritters to seal the deal.

“Did you make these?” the customer inquired.

“Um, yes. Yes I did. Maybe not everything you see here, but I did do my fair share.” I had no idea what compelled me to outright lie about that, but I was desperate to make a sale. I couldn’t bake a pie if its instructions were ‘put in oven and turn on.’ I don’t even think the apples I gathered yesterday were used in any of the products on the table.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I caught your name.”

“It’s Sunset Shimmer,” I answered, feeling that paranoia creeping up.

“Right, of course,” the man said with a quiet nod. Then all of a sudden, without another word, he walked off.

I was left speechless. I had him. He was practically salivating over the fritters for Celestia’s sake. There was an urge to shout at him to get back, but that sounded a bit too much like begging, and my pride wouldn’t let me stoop to that level. I had no choice but to watch in silence as my closest opportunity to a sale strolled into the crowds and vanished from my sight. I didn’t want to sound paranoid, but the fact that he left right after learning my name was too much of a coincidence to ignore.

“Argh! I was this close!” I growled. In my frustrations, I slammed the pie tin down with enough force to knock the pie out, causing it sit in the tin at a skewed angle. Not wanting to ruin perfectly good product, I picked the tin back up and carefully jostled the pie back into position.

“A swing and a miss,” came the voice of the last person on the planet I wanted to deal with. “If you’d like, Trixie could give you some pointers on how to improve your ‘performance.’”

Maybe that creeping paranoia was just my ‘Trixie-sense’ going off. She did seem to enjoy making my life miserable, so it shouldn’t have surprised me that she made a return to rub salt in the wound.

“Just don’t throw the pie, Sunset. Take a deep breath, and just put the tin down.”

My heart began pounding in my chest. Tension slowly built, spurred on by every word from that blue-haired harpy. Slowly, my lungs expanded, and the cool, autumn air was drawn in. I shut my eyes; I wasn’t facing Trixie so she couldn’t read my expression. Her words began to fade into the backdrop until it was little more than white noise at the back of my mind. The thumping in my chest subsided; the tension melted away.

I set the pie down.

“Finally, a smart decision.”

“What’s the matter, Sunset? Cat got your tongue?” It was just like Applejack said, Trixie was trying to get me to snap again, but I couldn’t beat her if I tried to play the game on her terms.

“Don’t you have a rabbit to be pulling out of your hat?” I said in a calm and level tone as I turned about. “With the way you keep coming back to me, one could get the impression you’ve got a thing for me.”

“As if!” Trixie scoffed, folding her arms across her chest as she strolled across the front of the stall. “Trixie needed to see for herself just how badly you were failing at yet another one of life’s little tests.”

“I’m selling treats and apples, Trixie, it ain’t the SATs,” I replied. Trixie was going to keep testing me, which meant I had to deflect and dodge. If she found the right button to set off my temper, she would latch onto it like a rabid dog. “Don’t you have anything better to be doing?”

“Trixie is taking a little break,” she said before leaning down to examine some apple fritters. “If you ask politely, I could be convinced to buy something of yours.”

A smart move by Trixie; it was exactly the sort of play that the old me would’ve done. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she had been watching and learning from me all these years. If I tried to take up her offer, she could string me along for her amusement for Celestia knows how long. However, if I told her off, then she could start telling everyone else at the fair how I drove her away. It’d be all the ammunition she needed to ensure nobody bought anything that even resembled an apple.

Clever girl.

“If you’d like to make a purchase, most of our items are a dollar-fifty each, save for whole pies,” I played along. It was a gamble, but if I could get even Trixie to buy something, a little loss of dignity couldn’t hurt. “Or you can buy an item and a drink for two-twenty-five.”

“Hmmm, well Trixie does like a good fritter,” she mused as she tapped her chin in thought. She was making a performance, I could tell, but I still didn’t know if she’d stay true to her word or not. “What would you suggest?”

“A fritter and a cider would give you the best value for your buck.”

“Okay, Trixie will buy that,” she said, albeit with a tone that screamed ‘strings attached,’ “but only if you ask her nicely.”

A somewhat degrading request, but nothing I couldn’t manage. Applejack wanted me to be more friendly, after all, so a bit of practice being kind in the face of adversity would be good for me. Or at least that’s what I told myself.

“Would Trixie like a fresh cider and a fritter?” I asked. Not to sound like a braggart, but I like to think I did a good job. Polite and courteous, just like Applejack.

“Oh no, that won’t suffice,” Trixie replied. “I want you to say, ‘Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie, could you please buy a fritter and cider.’”

“Seriously?” I deadpanned.

“Be grateful that Trixie isn’t asking you to get on your knees as well.”

It was no surprise that Trixie went and moved the goal posts on me. She was probably testing to see how much she could get from me, and the way she was smirking as she watched me mull over my choices told me the goal post would be pulled out like a rug.

“Sorry, Sunset. We got no choice here.”

I pulled out my best smile. “Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie, could you please—”

The rest of that sentence is best not repeated in polite company, but suffice to say that Trixie’s face briefly turned as red as the apples she was looming over.

“Just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

Though caught off-guard by my particular choice of words, Trixie was more amused than anything else. “Oh, so close. You almost had Trixie convinced it wasn’t all just an act,” she taunted. “I guess I will just take my business elsewhere.”

“I’ll comfort myself knowing I’ve deprived you of the best darn fritters in the city,” I replied in a paltry show of defiance. As Applejack would say, no point in being happy about closing the barn door when the horses had already fled.

“Don’t worry, Trixie won’t be leaving empty-handed.” Trixie’s cryptic words hung in the air for a few seconds before she made one of those showy hand-wave gestures that stage magicians frequently did. Suddenly, she had in her hands a white, lace headpiece; a very familiar-looking headpiece, in fact.

“Wait a second—” With a startled realization, I palmed the top of my head, but felt only hair and scalp. “That’s my headpiece! How did you—?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets,” Trixie teased with a wagging finger.

“Give that back,” I warned, feeling the tension returning in force, along with its friends ‘rage’ and ‘violent impulses.’

“You’ll have to come and take it,” Trixie challenged. I didn’t know what her game was at this point, but I wasn’t about to let her walk off with my headpiece. It didn’t matter that I thought it was stupid-looking or utterly useless; it was mine, and that was reason enough.

As Trixie began to slowly back up from the counter, I was faced with a tough decision. If I vaulted over the countertop, I could jump her before she even had time to turn and run, but it was guaranteed that almost everything on said countertop was going to be knocked to the ground in the process. If I ran around the counter, Trixie would have enough time to get a significant head start, but at least our goods would be safe.

“Gah! Stupid goody-two-shoe nonsense!” I couldn’t bring myself to make things worse for Applejack, so I opted to go around. As expected, Trixie turned and sprinted off into the crowds before I could even get to the other side of the counter. Now I had to chase after Trixie through a crowded fairground while wearing heels. The things I endured for the sake of friendship.

Lucky for me, Trixie’s ridiculous get-up made her easy to keep track of. It was hard not to lose sight of that sparkle-laden cape of hers, even if she was pushing through crowds of old ladies and young kids.

“Give that back, you harpy!” It was a fleeting hope that, maybe, seeing one person chasing after another would prompt somebody to help me out. However, they were probably just as likely to assume this was just the typical, juvenile antics of two friends. Despite knowing full well I was better runner than Trixie, I was nonetheless losing ground thanks to my inappropriate footwear, and crowds that seemed intent on getting in my way.

The footrace came to an unceremonious end when one of my heels got snagged between a couple of rocks in the path. My already precarious balance was launched head-over-heels, much like I was when I collided with an unsuspecting fair-goer.

I had thought that Trixie was the last person on the planet that I wanted to deal with at this fair. That proved to be an incorrect assumption; one that I realized when I discovered that I was laying atop the one person I wanted to see even less.

“Oh... h-hello, Twilight. Funny seeing you here.”

Act III-IV

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

While I appreciated Twilight Sparkle’s concern for my well-being, my stubborn pride barred me from accepting any of her dozen or so offers of help. Instead, I limped my way across the fairgrounds back to my vendor’s stall, trying my hardest not to grunt in pain with every step. For a normal person, the collision should have left little more than maybe a sore knee, but the impact did nothing for my already-injured backside.

“I’ll be fine,” I insisted with perhaps a touch of anger in my tone.

I was absolutely furious: the kind of rage that made the more rational part of my mind grateful that I was not in Equestria because possessing any kind of magic would have resulted in dire and explosive consequences. However, with Twilight trailing alongside me, fueled by her naive sense of pity and concern, my emotions had to be kept in check. I didn’t know why, but the thought of her witnessing my darker nature was… disconcerting. So while Trixie was out there, likely laughing to herself in triumph, I had to retreat back to my stall and lick my wounds.

“You were limping kind of badly back there. Maybe you should go to the first aid tent and get it checked out,” Twilight suggested. She followed me behind the counter, and took a seat on the stacked cider crates next to me. “You seemed like you were in a hurry. What was going on?”

Curious as always, I knew she’d ask at some point. Unfortunately, the aches had distracted me from concocting a plausible cover story, which left me with nothing but the truth. “Just some annoying girl from school gave me a hard time, and then stole my headpiece.”

“Your what?”

“My headpiece,” I explained with what limited knowledge of fashion I had. “It’s like this lacey white thing that went in my hair. It was part of the outfit.”

Twilight took a few seconds to stare at the vacancy in my hair and then to the rest of my ensemble. “Speaking of outfits, why are you dressed like that anyways?”

“Long story,” I answered. It wasn’t, of course, but most people took that answer as an invitation to change the subject. Lucky for me, Twilight’s curiosity was focused on other things.

“So this girl just came over, bothered you, and then stole your hat?” Twilight reiterated for clarification. She paused and pondered over the issue, running her finger across her chin in her typical thoughtful manner. “You sounded like this wasn’t the first time this has happened. Does she give you trouble often?” Twilight suddenly let out a gasp, and then leaned in close, a look of growing concern on her face. Her next words were soft whispers, suppressed by equal parts concern and fear. “Sunset, are you being bullied?”

“I do not get bullied!” I barked in retaliation. I may have gone a bit overboard with my protest, as my friend looked a bit shaken by the volume alone. “Bullying is what happens to sniveling little weaklings, not me.”

“I get bullied,” Twilight replied. “Does that make me a sniveling little weakling?”

It was a rhetorical question, of course, and one that made me realize how badly I had stuffed my foot into my mouth. If I wiggled my toes, I would’ve been able to tickle my tonsils. I was half-expecting to get an earful about my insensitive rhetoric, but Twilight had only a sympathetic look to her. I found myself at a sudden loss for words.

“I know it can be hard to admit, but you don’t have to be ashamed of it,” Twilight said. “Remember back at the academy during the soccer game? I didn’t want to admit to it either.”

When I thought about it, every time I had an issue with Trixie I told myself it was just retribution for all of my past misdeeds, and that it would end once her thirst had been sated. When phrased like that, it seemed like a minor, but temporary, inconvenience. Describing it as bullying made it feel less about my past, and more about my future. It stopped being an inconvenience, and became an actual problem.

“Maybe I am getting bullied a little bit,” I admitted with a quiet grumble of discontent.

“What happened to all that ‘they only have as much power as you let them’ stuff you told me before?” Twilight inquired. “I mean, you made it sound so simple back then.”

It was very simple, but for some reason it just seemed to always become so difficult for me. “I’m just not as strong as you are,” I explained. A part of me was tempted to write it off as a product of an uncontrollable temper or Trixie being persistent, but the simple truth was that I just wasn’t strong enough. I let my pride or rage take over because it’s easier; it’s familiar; it’s safer.

“Well why don’t you and I go and confront this girl together? You helped me, after all, it’s only fair that I try and return the favour.”

Were it not involving Twilight or Trixie, I would’ve had no qualms with accepting such an offer. However, one did not need to be a genius to realize the disaster that could arise if Twilight and Trixie were to have a face-to-face.

“It’s okay, really,” I insisted. “It’s just a silly piece of fabric, anyways. She swiped it to provoke a reaction, so the best course of action is to just ignore it.” Lucky for me, Twilight deferred to my expertise on bullying tactics. It might not be worthy of pride, but at least that knowledge was still proving to be useful.

“So what are you doing here anyways?” I asked out of curiosity. “You don’t strike me as the festival-going type.” To be fair, I had only seen Twilight a few times thus far, and this was the first time I had seen her in something you could describe as ‘casual attire.’ Rarity would’ve described the sweater as bland and generic, but I imagined Twilight put as much thought into her wardrobe as she did her hair. “You’re not here to gather more… samples, are you?”

“That? No,” Twilight replied whilst rolling her eyes. “My brother locked my equipment in the trunk of his car.” I had to hold back a snicker as I watched Twilight pout over her predicament. “Truthfully, though, I was trying to follow some of your advice to spend more time with my brother. When I heard he was coming to the festival, I insisted on joining him.”

“You should probably go spend time with him, then, rather than waste it hanging around here,” I said as I gestured to the empty void on the other side of the counter. Though I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings, when I briefly cast my gaze towards the milling crowds, I saw a familiar and frightening flash of movement. It was Flash Sentry, and he was heading right for me. I couldn’t tell if he could see Twilight through the crowds, but judging by his indifferent march towards me, he had yet to notice her.

I had few options and little time to formulate a plan. If he saw Twilight here, there would be no end to the world of trouble I’d be in. There was only one thing I could think of, and while it was undeniably insane, I went with it. I grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and shoved her towards the space underneath the counter, shouting ‘get down!’

“Sunset! What are you doing?” Twilight yelped as she tried to resist. Thankfully, I had taken her by surprise so by the time she was fighting back, I had her half-way below the counter. Another strong push, throwing my weight into it, was enough to push her the rest of the way.

“I’ll explain later, just stay down and be quiet, please!” I hastily explained.

“Ow! Sunset! I’m not going to fit!” Twilight continued to protest. Not the first time I had heard a bespectacled nerd insist that they wouldn’t fit into a tight compartment, but it was the first time I had real motivation to succeed. For a scrawny girl, Twilight had some surprising strength in her, as demonstrated as she attempted to force her head out from below.

Glancing up, I could see Flash drawing closer. Thank Celestia something seemed to be drawing his attention elsewhere.

“Twilight, you’re going to have to just trust me on this,” I said in as strong a whisper as I could afford. Somehow, the scuffle did not draw any attention, but Twilight still continued to fight back. I needed to free up my hands if I were to maintain an inconspicuous facade, but I couldn’t let Twilight go just yet. Desperate times called for desperate measures, so I pinned Twilight’s head between my knees and pulled my skirt overtop to hide the evidence. Surprisingly, she went very still and quiet all of a sudden, though in hindsight the reason should have been obvious. At the moment, I was too preoccupied trying to look casual as Flash Sentry came to a stop on the opposite side of the counter.

“F-Flash? W-what a pleasant surprise,” I stammered while trying to put on a friendly face.

Unfortunately, given that my last conversation with Flash ended badly, the pleasant facade did little more than confuse him. “Um, hello Sunset,” he greeted. “You’re surprisingly… pleasant-sounding.” He stuffed his hands into his coat pocket, continuing to give me a half-tilted ‘confused puppy’ stare. “I… um, was wondering if you were free to talk.”

“Talk?” Now it was my turn to be confused, which lapsed my concentration enough for Twilight to start struggling once more. Thankfully, I was able to keep my jostling to a minimum, and Flash didn’t seem to notice. “Last time we spoke, we were both pretty angry. Wh-why would you want to talk, and now of all times?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” he explained. The Flash Sentry I dated would’ve just forgotten about our squabble because fixing it would be far too much work for him. Why did he have to choose today to be a boy scout? “I mean, Applejack was right; some proper, honest closure would be good for the both of us.”

“Now is really not a good time for this talk.” Were my voice not straining because of the effort needed to keep Twilight still, I might’ve been more convincing. Instead, all I did was make Flash suspicious.

“What do you mean now is not a good time?” he replied in disbelief. “Sunset, I am trying to not be a jerk this time around, the least you could do is meet me half-way and—” He paused when he noticed me writhe about as I once again struggled to keep Twilight hidden. He leaned forward a bit and glanced down at the noticeable bulge in my skirt. “Are you hiding somebody under your skirt?”

“Don’t change the subject,” I shot back.

“So do you want to talk about yesterday then?” he asked, now more confused than curious.

“I don’t want to talk about that either.” I was hating myself for having to push Flash away like this, but I couldn’t have him linger about forever. The only surefire way I could think of ensuring a timely departure was to make the conversation far more trouble than it’s worth. “In fact, I don’t want to talk to you at all! You made me look like a fool in front of my friend, and I fell down a flight of stairs because I was so infuriated with you.”

“Fine, I’m sorry I got you so upset yesterday.” Even if his apology didn’t sound very sincere, I could tell that he was genuine in his desire for a closure. Any other time I would have loved to take him up on that offer, which only twisted the guilt-knife in me.

“I’m serious, Flash; I am not in the mood to talk. Just save your breath and leave me alone.”

“But I—”

“Leave me alone!” This time, my shouts managed to garner a lot of attention from the surrounding crowds. With everybody staring at him, likely wondering why a girl was shouting at him to leave her alone, Flash decided to cut his losses and backed off.

“Fine, I’ll go,” he grumbled in resignation. As he turned to leave, I felt another pang of guilt shoot through me. He looked so disappointed and defeated, like I had just stomped all over his dreams. I was probably the only connection he had to the Twilight he sought after, and now he was probably wondering if that slim chance had just been crushed.

If there was any silver lining to my guilt-ridden conscience, it was that I didn’t have much time or opportunity to dwell on it. Once Flash was gone from my sight, I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, which gave Twilight the opportunity she needed to finally break free. She burst out from underneath my skirt like a child who swam a little too deep for their lung capacity, red-faced and lungs heaving for breath. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was going to start screaming or punching, perhaps even both.

“What? You. Head. Legs. Skirt. Why?” It appeared that Twilight was too flustered to even form a coherent sentence. She hadn’t bothered to fix her glasses yet, which still sat askewed across her nose.

“I… um, I couldn’t… I mean, that is to say,” I fumbled with my words as I tried to figure out how to talk my way through this mess. I needed something that she wouldn’t inquire too much into. “The truth is, that was my ex-boyfriend.”

Thank Celestia, my half-baked response managed to soften Twilight’s expression. “Your… ex?” she repeated, a bit wide-eyed in her surprise. “That’s a very odd reaction to have when dealing with past relationships.”

“And how many ex-boyfriends have you ever had to deal with?” I asked with a strong idea as to what the answer was.

“None. Point taken.” Another small miracle.

Now I just needed to sprinkle in some truth to finish the job. “I’m really sorry about what happened. When I saw him, I panicked,” I explained. “It’s only been about a month so it’s still kind of… a sore spot for me. And it doesn’t help that I was really horrible to him.”

“It sounded like you passed up an opportunity to make up for some of that horribleness,” Twilight commented. She was definitely still confused, but her curiosity seemed to be shifting back to concern.

“It’s complicated,” I said with a remorseful sigh. “Could we please talk about something else? The day’s been rough enough for me already.”

“Fine, but next time give me a little more warning if you need me to get out of sight.”

*******************

Having Twilight around provided for a nice distraction from the non-existent sales—and thoughts of bothersome magicians. I tried to remind her that she had come to the festival with the intent of spending the day with her brother, but she kept insisting that there would be sufficient time for both. To be honest, once we had spent a few minutes talking, a part of me did not want her to leave. For the casual observer, it would be easy to fall under the false impression that Twilight didn’t like to talk or that she was bad at conversations, but I knew it was just a matter of finding the right topic.

Once I managed to get her onto the subject of something she read in recent issues of ‘Science Monthly’ and ‘Popular Mechanics,’ I couldn’t get her to shut up if I tried. She was going on about particles emissions and new advancements in spectroscopy, most of which went above even my understanding. Not that I wasn’t able to keep up, mind you, as Twilight had no problem answering any questions that popped to mind.

“How can a moon wobble in its orbit?”

“Because of its shape and the proximity of all the nearby satellites. As it goes through its orbit, the gravity from all the other moons constantly pulls it in other directions. The moon basically looks like a potato spinning in a completely random fashion!”

As she carried on talking about the works of some particle physicist she apparently had a poster of in her bedroom, I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between us. Even when I was a filly, I knew I was smart; I was a fast learner. It didn’t matter if it was about magic theory or advanced calculus, it all came quickly to me so long as I put in the time to read and study the material. I advanced my learning because it was a means to an end. In Equestria, I studied because that was the way to harness the power of magic; in this world, I studied because I discovered soon that people would pay good money for access to my intellect.

For Twilight, however, learning and understanding was an end in and of itself. There was no end goal, no ulterior motive, no selfish desires; she just wanted to understand how the world around her worked because she loved to learn. I used to think of it as being naive, but maybe I was just rationalizing my own cynicism. It made me envious; it reminded me of how I used to be when I first started learning under Princess Celestia. When did my curiosity get so overridden by ambition?

“So then the professor said ‘how about we try reinitializing the power coupling?’, to which I replied, ‘you mean you want me to turn it off and on again?’”

As my joke made Twilight curl over in a fit of laughter, I began to wonder why I was doing this. She was precisely the kind of person I wanted to keep as far away from my life as possible: intelligent, driven, way too curious, and in a position to easily discover that something was very wrong at Canterlot High. Through no fault of her own, she represented the single greatest threat to me, my friends, my home, and virtually everything I knew or cared about. And it would all be because of that insatiable drive of hers to solve a mystery that crossed her path.

So with all of that in mind, why did I keep finding myself drawn back to her. If I wanted her out of my life, I could’ve done so just as easily as I had tossed Flash Sentry away, and yet I did nothing. Instead of pushing her away, I was laughing at her jokes; and not because I was trying to be polite. Was it selfish of me to want her to stay? Was it the responsible thing to do? Princess Twilight Sparkle left me here because she believed I wouldn’t be of any further danger to her or Equestria. Just associating with this world’s Twilight was jeopardizing that belief. The last thing I wanted was to give Princess Celestia reason to send her guards through the mirror and haul me away.

It wasn’t just Equestria that I was worried about, either. This world had little to no experience with magic; no real way to defend against it. Had it not been for Princess Twilight and her friends, there would have been little in this world or Equestria that could’ve stopped me. What if something worse than me managed to bridge the gap? Even one dragon would be enough to leave several city blocks in smoking ruins.

“Are you even listening, Sunset?”

Twilight’s voice snapped me out of a contemplative trance. I hadn’t realized it at first, but I had been staring off into space for at least a minute or two.

“S-sorry, I got lost in my own world,” I said with an embarrassed chuckle. “What were you saying?”

“Well I was just about to talk about my latest findings from the samples you gave me back during the soccer game,” Twilight replied. Before she could get into any further details, however, her brother came hustling over. Judging by the gasping and panting when he finally arrived, I got the impression the younger sibling may have forgotten something important.

“Twily, you just can’t run off on me like that,” Shining said between gasps for breath.

“I-I didn’t run off,” Twilight stammered back. She seemed quite insistent in her denial. “It’s not my fault if you’re bad at keeping track of me.”

Shining just rolled his eyes. “Well at least you managed to find what you were looking for,” he said before casting a glance over to me. “I can see why you were in such a hurry, though I never would’ve pegged you as the ‘French Maid’ type, Twily.”

Though I was surprised by Shining’s remark, his sister turned several shades of red.

“Shining!” she shouted as she gave her brother an angry, but fleeting, shove. “That’s not why I came here, and you know it!”

Her brother just laughed off her attempt to push him around. It was like watching a kitten try to take on a doberman. I’m certain she couldn’t move him even if she had a running start. Did all siblings squabble like this? I was reminded of the occasional bouts between Celestia and her younger sister, which while not as physical were nonetheless just as intense. It took some effort on my part not to laugh too loud as Shining Armour continued to tease his sister. Eventually, Twilight got too fed up with her brother, let out a shout, and stormed off in a huff.

“That was a bit mean,” I said, though my smirk betrayed a different sentiment.

“She’ll be fine. Just a bit of playful ribbing,” he replied with a casual shrug.

“So did Twilight actually come looking for me?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, she apparently overheard some people talking about a ‘Sunset’ girl that was sabotaging stuff or something along those lines. I wasn’t paying too much attention myself, but once Twily heard it, she bolted off.”

“Sabotaging stuff?” I repeated in disbelief. The problem with paranoia was that it didn’t feel like any kind of victory when it was proven that your belief wasn’t misfounded. Believing that people were out to get you felt just as unsettling as knowing for a fact that somebody was out to get you. Who would even stoop to something like that? It wasn’t as though that many people knew I was here except for Applejack and…

Trixie…

It had to be her! She must’ve started spreading lies the moment she found out that I was here, which meant her little performance from a few moments ago was exactly that. She never had any intention of playing nice. It was all smiles and good tidings even though she had been stabbing me in the back from the start. The only thing more infuriating than that realization was the fact that this was the exact kind of ploy I used all the time on people.

“You okay, Sunset?” Shining asked. “You’re clenching those fists pretty tight.”

At first I was puzzled by what he said, but when I glanced down to my hands, I saw that they were balled up. So tight, in fact, that my palms ached for a few moments once I relaxed.

“Hey, they’re just rumours. The worst thing you can do with rumours is engage them. Giving them your attention just lends them validity,” Shining reassured me.

He had a good point, although it seemed that the rumours had done sufficient damage. Trixie had been doing shows at this festival for the past few years, so she likely had some credibility in the eyes of the fair-goers. While I was still mulling over the bleak outlook to my day, Shining Armour glanced back to his sister and then gestured for me to lean closer.

“Could I, by chance, ask you a bit of a personal question?” he asked in a lowered voice.

His desire for discretion piqued my curiosity. “Do you… like Twilight?”

That was a question that I didn’t expect. “I beg your pardon?” I replied.

“Do you like her?” he repeated as if changing to a hurried tone made any difference. “You know, is she the kind of person you could see yourself being friends with?”

“I… guess so?” I honestly had no idea how to respond to such a question. I was aware that my knowledge on the subject of friendship couldn’t fill a flash card, but I had always been under the impression that making friends usually required both parties to be present. “Why are you asking me this? I think Twilight is old enough to make these sort of decisions herself.”

“If this was any other person, I’d agree with you,” Shining said with a disheartened sigh. “But Cadance and I have been trying for years to get Twilight to open up to other people and make friends. This is the first time in, like, a year that I’ve seen her actual seek somebody out that didn’t have a PhD.”

“Really?” While I was already aware that Twilight Sparkle was the reclusive type, I hadn’t imagined it was this extreme. Even the nerdy type at Canterlot High were able to make friends amongst themselves. “You mean she doesn’t have any friends?”

“She had some back at her old school,” Shining said as we both looked over to Twilight. She was still keeping her distance, back turned to us. Whether it was because she was angry at her brother or too embarrassed to face me was anybody’s guess. “Problem was, she always seemed so disinterested in them. I had to coax her in order to get her to spend time with them, and once I moved out, she stopped trying altogether.”

“And you think I can fix that?” In my opinion, I was the last person in the world that should be called upon to try and fix anything pertaining to friendship. However, as I looked at Shining, I could see how desperate he was. It was not a bad kind of desperation, rather the actions of a brother who cared deeply for his younger sister, and was willing to make himself look like a fool by asking for help from somebody he had only met just days ago. “What exactly are you proposing?”

“Nothing elaborate,” Shining insisted as he reached into his back pocket. “You can think it over, too, if you want. I’ll give you her cell phone number, and you can decide how you want to handle it, if you do decide to help. And in return, I’ll… um, I’ll buy a case of cider.”

A case of cider in exchange for my consideration. I remembered when my time and effort was worth a lot more than a thirty dollar case of fizzy ciders, but the adage of beggars and choosers came to mind. A sale was a sale, after all, and I was just as desperate as he was. I agreed to his terms, and we made a quick exchange.

“You know, I probably would’ve said yes even if you hadn’t offered to buy the cider,” I commented once I had his money stowed away.

“That’s okay. I would’ve bought the cider even if you had said no.”

I said my goodbyes as Shining picked up the box and hurried on his way. When he caught up to Twilight, she gave him another shove, likely lambasting him for embarrassing her in front of others. She then cast a nervous glance over her shoulder towards me; I waved to her.

When Twilight and her brother disappeared into the crowds, I was once again left to my own thoughts. I spent the next few moments staring at the phone number on the scrap of paper I now held, wondering what I should do with it. Eventually, I opted to postpone any life-changing decisions for another time. I stuffed the paper away into my bag for safe-keeping, but as I did so, I noticed that the spray canister that Yearling gave me was missing.

“That’s funny, I had it here a minute ago,” I muttered to myself as I began searching under and around the counters. It didn’t take long for me to find it, but when I picked it up I noticed that it felt lighter than before. Puzzled, I gave it a shake, and heard the distinct sound of sloshing liquid inside. Now either the container had somehow spontaneously sprung a leak or somebody had used it.

But why would anybody want to use this? Most of the food sold at this festival was not the kind you’d want to garnish with a blast of sweetened heat, especially any sort of sweet pastry. And that was when the realization smacked me on the nose like a rolled-up newspaper.

“...people talking about a ‘Sunset’ girl that was sabotaging stuff…”

“Don’t worry, Trixie won’t be leaving empty-handed.”

“Oh, son of a—”

Before I could finish my profanity-laden train of thought, I caught a glimpse of Applejack rushed towards me. “Sunset!” she called out before screeching to a halt. “You ain’t gonna believe this! There was a huge catastrophe at the pie-eating contest.”

“Let me guess,” I interrupted as I took my friend’s hand, “all the pies mysteriously possess a strong flavour of this.” I then took the spray canister and squirted a small amount of it onto Applejack’s wrist.

Though curious by my swift response, she took a quick lap at her wrist, followed by her face undergoing a series of contorted expressions that one would normally see when passing a kidney stone. I think it was safe to say that Yearling’s experimental spritzer was far from a success.

“Yup, that’s the culprit,” Applejack groaned and shuddered. “The contest was a complete disaster. Most of the contestants ate so fast they were half-done with their pies before the spicy stuff kicked it. This is horrible! Ain’t nobody gonna buy a pie from us when word gets out about this!” My friend looked like Rarity after somebody spilled coffee on her latest project. “Wait a second, how’d you know what the taste was? And why do you even have that spray thingie?”

Before I could answer, however, both of our attentions were drawn to the crowd of people suddenly collecting around our stall. There were quite a few angry faces in the crowd, along with many familiar ones from school, but my focus went straight to the grinning miscreant at the head of the pack. Trixie’s presence alone was enough to convince me that this mob had been planned ahead of time.

“Because, Applejack, I’ve been an idiot,” I said with a quiet sigh.

Trixie knew I would always be suspicious of her; that I would never take my eyes off of her for a second if she were around. But misdirection was the magician’s greatest asset, and while she kept me distracted, it was likely one of Trixie’s assistants who snuck around to cause all the real damage. She had played me like a fiddle, and while I felt an urge to vault over the table and drop-kick Trixie right in her smug face, she still had all the cards in her hand.

“Just tell them the truth, Sunset; you’ve been here the whole time,” Applejack suggested.

“If this was before the Fall Formal, would you believe me?” I replied. Her silence was all the answer I needed. Nobody believed that I had changed my ways, so how could I be expected to convince them now? The only person who could honestly vouch for my whereabouts for the past hour was Twilight Sparkle, and there was no way I was going to point anybody in her direction.

The crowd drew closer; soon we were surrounded on all sides by very unhappy fair-goers. For what it was worth, Applejack stayed by my side even though she was clearly not the target of everyone’s ire.

“And as everybody can see,” Trixie announced as she sauntered up to the counter, “here is your guilty party with the murder weapon still in hand.”

“I had nothing to do with this, and you know it,” I replied, waving the half-empty canister at Trixie. Realizing it might not be the wisest move to wave incriminating evidence about, I promptly tucked the item away behind my back. “I don’t know how you managed it, but I know you’re behind all of this, Trixie.”

“Moi?” Trixie said with feigned indignation. “But Sunset, Trixie has been on stage performing for the crowds this entire time. She was nowhere near the pie-eating contest, and she has a whole audience who can testify to that.” She had me there, but I didn’t expect Trixie to have come without an alibi prepared. “Tell us, Sunset Shimmer, can you account for your whereabouts for the last hour?”

“I was here,” I answered plainly.

“A likely story,” she scoffed. “Do you really expect us to believe that?”

If I had any physical evidence that didn’t rely on revealing my relation with Twilight Sparkle, I would’ve thrown it right in Trixie’s face. She had me in the metaphorical corner, and if I didn’t come up with a solution quickly, Trixie would keep taunting me until I snapped. If I got violent, everyone would have all the proof they’d need that I would never change, and she’d win. If I started yelling, she’d win. If the crowd even detected the slightest hint of anger, she’d win.

“Let me try talking to them,” Applejack whispered.

As tempting as it was to let somebody else handle this mess, I knew it was a bad idea. I couldn’t hide behind my friends forever; eventually I had to face the people who hated me and do the one thing I loathed to: beg for leniency.

I climbed onto the counter and began to scan the crowd. Many of the faces were familiar ones from school; they were the angriest since they already knew about my reputation. The less familiar ones looked on with curiosity and skepticism, as if unsure what to make of this girl in a maid outfit. They would likely remain unconvinced so long as my harshest detractors remained upset with me. They were like the smaller predators waiting in line behind the pack alpha; they’d follow the lead of the strongest.

“People, listen to me!” I called out in order to silence the angry murmurings. “Most of you have no reason at all to believe me when I tell you that the pies in the contest were sabotaged, but it wasn’t by me!” Unsurprisingly, everyone remained unconvinced of my sincerity. “Now I know some of you have avoided buying any of these products because of things—untrue things—you might have heard. I understand that many of you are upset with me; I have done terrible things to you or to people you care about. If you want to punish me for that then I won’t stop you,” I paused for a moment and cast a glance back to my friend, who I wanted to make things right for, “but I’m asking you: please don’t punish Applejack because of my mistakes.”

I could see some quiet whisperings amongst the crowds. I couldn’t tell if I was making any headway, but it was better than angry shouting.

“I know you hate me, but I also know you don’t hate Applejack. She’s one of the girls who stopped me back during the Fall Formal, and made me realize what a horrible person I was. Her family depends upon these festivals and these sales for their livelihood, and the trust they’ve built with the community. Now I promise you, the items here are still safe, so please... help her family out. Now none of you probably believe me, so I guess the only way to show you that I’m being honest is by being honest about the things I’d have the most reason to hide.”

I think it was only then that Applejack realized that I wasn’t trying to save myself, rather I was trying to save her. “Sunset, what are you doing?” she asked, tugging at my skirt.

“I’m doing what you always told me to do: be honest,” I replied. Once more I began scanning through the faces in the crowd. Many were still skeptical, but some of the anger had vanished. What I was looking for, however, were familiar faces that I knew I had a history with. I saw my first opportunity and I pointed out towards a girl in the crowd. “Roseluck! You want to know what happened to your flower bed science experiment? I salted all your soil after class.”

“You what?” she gasped in response. I doubt she was actually as surprised as she sounded.

“Brawly,” I continued on without pause, “lacrosse stick ‘malfunction’ during the junior year championship game. Sandalwood: stole your phone, and posted all of your photos across the school’s main page.” I then proceeded to point to three individuals in the crowd. “You, you, and you: I’ve broken into your lockers enough times that I know your locker combinations by heart. I’m sure there’s things I’m even forgetting so feel free to ask if you want to confirm if I was responsible for the horrible things that had happened in your life.”

For a second, I was worried nobody would believe my offer, but then I saw a hand raise from the crowd. “The pages from my journal that were posted through the school halls?” a voice called out.

It took me a few seconds to remember which particular incident this was because, sadly, I had stolen more than one journal in the past. “In the library, I sent the cute girl with the short skirt to distract you while I pilfered it from your backpack. Made the photocopies and then I had Snips and Snails distribute them.”

“The swapped faces in the yearbook?”

“You left the computers running in the lab, so I played around with the photo editor,” I answered before chuckling. “You have to admit, though, a lot of students had a good laugh at it.”

“And what about that huge story in the school newspaper about that girl that ran against you for Princess of the Fall Formal?” another voice asked.

“Oh, come on! If you need me to point out that I was behind that smear job, you clearly haven’t been paying attention!” I wasn’t even aware that issue was still being questioned given how obvious my involvement should have been.

As I cast my gaze across the many faces, I could see the hints of skepticism beginning to waver. I was sowing seeds of doubt and uncertainty, and while that on its own wasn’t great, it was a step in the right direction. I figured one last passionate plea appealing to their sense of decency should be enough to tip the situation in my favour.

“Was our entire relationship just a lie?”

There were many uncomfortable sounds in the world—nails on a chalkboard, forks scraping together, termites burrowing through your skull—but nothing compared to the unease created when an entire crowd fell silent and collectively shifted their focus onto your ex-boyfriend. Flash was already making his way to the front, squeezing past the last few members so that he stood in the small clearing between the stall and the crowd. As my own gaze met with his, I was left floundering as I tried to figure out his angle. Needless to say, I didn’t expect Flash Sentry to take advantage of my open forum of honesty, much less bring forth what I had considered to be a private affair.

“Flash, couldn’t we talk about that in private?” I replied in desperation.

“Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of the rest of these people,” Flash declared. He folded his arms across his chest, his expression growing stern and impatient. He had dug in his heels so there was little point trying to reason with him any further. Part of me wondered if he just wanted my answer to have enough witnesses so nobody could refute it later on.

I sighed and resigned myself to this embarrassment. Though there likely had been speculation in the past, during my reign, nobody dared to broach the subject. I bet even Flash had his suspicions, but until now he never had the opportunity to get to the truth. It was almost ruthless, and, needless to say, was the kind of tactic the older me would’ve used.

“The whole relationship was a sham,” I finally answered. “You were a well-liked student and a hopeless romantic, it made you an easy target. I dated you to get popular, and then I crushed you to make everyone fear me.”

The murmurs throughout the crowd emerged once more, but I didn’t care at that point. The wind had been taken from my sails now that I had admitted to the masterpiece of my reign of terror. Even pity at this point was probably asking for too much. Disheartened and defeated, I stepped down from my platform.

Applejack was quick to swoop in to offer her support, for what little good it did now. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Sunset,” she whispered to me as she rested a hand upon my shoulder. “You told the truth, and that’s all that matters. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”

The old me would’ve held the horse’s head under the water until it drank. Say what you will about my old methods, they got results. The guilt may have felt like carrying a boulder upon my shoulders, but the helplessness was like trying to swim across the ocean with it.

“Thanks, but I think it would be better if I just left,” I replied.

Then something truly unexpected happened.

“You said these pies were still good, right?” It was Flash again, but now he was standing at the counter, eyeing some of the baked goods.

I shot a nervous glance over to Applejack, hoping that she would step up, but with Flash looking towards me, it was obvious who he was addressing. Before I could insist otherwise, I was nudged forward by my friend.

“Y-yes. They’re all still good,” I answered. “Would you care for a slice?”

At least, I hoped they were still good. Many of the pies were still in their boxes, after all, so it was unlikely that any saboteur would’ve had time to contaminate them during my brief dereliction of duty.

“I would, tha—”

“What are you doing?” Trixie interrupted as she stepped in between Flash and I. “You can’t seriously be willing to trust her after all that?”

“Why not?” Flash said as he eased Trixie aside. “Sunset had a valid point: regardless of how I feel about her, it does not change that I do consider Applejack a friend.”

As tempting as it was to rub my victory in Trixie’s face, I was still too surprised that Flash agreed with me on something.

“Besides,” he added, “Applejack makes the best pies in the city. You’d have to be insane to turn one down.”

What began to unfold before me was a case of ‘monkey see, monkey do’ as some of the still skeptical members of the crowd began to edge forward into a makeshift queue behind Flash. There were still a lot of distrusting people in the crowd, but as more people formed the line, more began to question their preconceptions.

“S-stop this!” Trixie shouted as her angry mob began to turn into awaiting customers. “Can’t you see that this is just another one of her ploys? She’s playing you all. I bet Flash is even in on this whole charade!”

“And how exactly do you think she’d manage that?” Flash said as his laid-back attitude gave way for his sterner side. “Do you honestly believe that after everything that’s been said and done, I would owe Sunset Shimmer any semblance of loyalty?”

For once, the boisterous loudmouth had no words left in her purse to spend, and just stood there stammering like a senile old fool. With a parting scoff, Flash turned his attention back to me and the slice of pie I now held out to him. He accepted the pie with a surprisingly polite ‘thank you’ before taking a big bite out of it for everybody to see.

“Mmm, that is good pie,” he said with a chuckle and a small flurry of crusty flakes. “Top notch as always, Applejack.”

And then, as if completely indifferent to the audience that had been watching his every step, he turned and strolled away. I began to wonder if this had been part of his plan the whole time: force me to confess to something horrid so that he came across with more credibility when he asked for a slice. I had trouble picturing Flash Sentry as being that clever; it was far more likely that he just went through that routine relying on nothing but dumb luck.

Thankfully, I had little time to dwell on the issue because Flash’s impromptu advertisement resulted in the entire crowd lining up for a slice. Applejack stepped in to handle the money while I began carving out plate after plate. Though at first there were still a few wary glances cast in my direction, within a matter of minutes there was nothing but one happy customer after the next.

The only unhappy face in the vicinity was Trixie, who was still fuming off to the side and giving me such a hateful stare that I worried that one of us was going to burst into flames at any moment.

“This isn’t over yet, Sunset!” Trixie blurted out.

“But shouldn’t it?” I shot back, pausing once I handed out the plate I was holding. “I mean, I get you want to be the new queen bee at school, but don’t you think this is getting a little excessive? This is the sort of cloak-and-dagger stuff I used to do, and do you really want to go down the same path as I did?”

“Well, I just… what I mean to say is…” Trixie began to stammer and fumbled her words. No doubt all the hamsters were running at full tilt in their wheels to try and get Trixie’s train of thought back on track, albeit without much results to show for it.

“Trixie, there’s far better things you can be doing with your time than trying to make me miserable. Besides, the last thing you want to do is make me your enemy. You do remember how I used to treat my enemies, right?” I wasn’t about to outright threaten Trixie, especially in front of so many people, but it felt fair to warn her of the potential consequences of her actions. I flashed a quick smile to reassure my adversary, and then reached under the table to produce a freshly opened bottle of fizzy. “Tell you what, have a fizzy cider on the house: just as a little ‘no hard feelings’ gift. I think we should just go our separate ways and try to stay out of each other’s hair from now on. How does that sound?”

Trixie frowned for a moment, but snatched the bottle from my hand regardless. “Trixie will consider your words, and accept this gift as a token of your forgiveness.”

I decided not to contest her interpretation, and allowed her to leave with what little dignity she had still intact. Once she was gone, I just rolled my eyes and went back to work.

“That was mighty sensible of you, Sunset,” Applejack commented out of the blue. “Most folk probably would’ve been too stubborn to try and take the high road with Trixie. I’m proud of ya!”

“Don’t be,” I said as I held up the spray canister. “I might have emptied this into Trixie’s cider.”

I was a bit nervous admitting that to my friend. It was not the sort of move somebody learning about friendship was supposed to pull. But Applejack just smirked and started laughing, although she was trying to keep up a polite facade.

“That was kinda mean,” Applejack said between chortles. “You probably shouldn’t have done that.” She was trying to voice her disapproval, but clearly having trouble hiding her enjoyment. Just because I was trying to be a better person didn’t mean I was going to be a pushover for the rest of my life.

Besides, Trixie still had my hat; I had to get some retribution for it.

Act III-V

By late-afternoon, Applejack and I had managed to sell every scrap of food we had in our stock. While I couldn’t speak for my workaholic friend, the experience left me practically dead on my feet. The queue for our stall seemed to stretch on forever and ever, and I swear there were a number of patrons that came back for seconds and thirds. Applejack kept insisting that the overwhelming sales were thanks to my impassioned pleas, but I was skeptical that I had that profound of an effect on people. If anything, Flash Sentry had more to do with our success than me, and perhaps Trixie deserved some thanks as well since she had brought such a large audience with her.

With all of our stock gone, Applejack and I were able to take a well-deserved break on the bleachers that overlooked a small fenced-off field being used for horse rides. I laid on my back, feet dangling over the side, while Applejack sat next to me with her legs outstretched to the empty row below us. It wasn’t quiet, but it was peaceful: the sky above was beginning to tint orange and purple with the setting sun, and the once bustling crowds of the festival had died down to ‘Monday morning at the mall’ levels. You could hear yourself think, you could talk to your friend without having to shout, and you could sit on the high levels of a bleacher without having to worry about some brat trying to take a peek up your skirt.

There were some issues that lingered on my mind even as the day drew closer to its conclusion: Flash Sentry’s sudden show of support, the fact that Trixie still had my headpiece, and the piece of paper with Twilight’s number written on it. I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with any of those, as each felt like treading upon thin ice suspended over a minefield.

“I don’t know how you manage to do this on a regular basis,” I commented idly with a tired sigh.

“Well it’s not like I do these festivals every weekend,” Applejack replied.

“I mean the whole honesty and integrity stuff,” I clarified. I tucked my arms behind my neck and tilted my head up just enough so that I could see Applejack. “When that mob showed up, if the old me had been you, she would’ve thrown the current me under the bus faster than you could say ‘freshly baked.’ You could’ve saved yourself and your business with far greater certainty if you had just gone with Trixie’s scheme.”

Applejack just gave me an incredulous look, as if I had just asked her to throw her hat into a bonfire. “I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I did something like that,” she remarked. The confusion in her tone seemed like even considering my idea was an alien concept to her. It was enough to make me feel guilty for having thought of it in the first place.

“But this business is your family’s livelihood. I don’t want to be the one responsible for damaging it.”

My friend just chuckled and shrugged before leaning back against the adjacent bleacher row. “No need to be so melodramatic, Sunset,” she said. “Sure, a bad day of sales wouldn’t be great, but it ain’t like my family’s hanging on by a thread. Heck, the second year I did this festival, we lost about three-quarters of our stock when a wayward firework from Trixie’s show set the whole stall on fire.”

And I thought I could have streaks of bad luck. Applejack had a point, though; I was being far too hard on myself again. I had always aimed for perfection throughout my life so it was difficult to settle for less. It was hard to let mistakes slide when you felt like you were already on your last chance in life.

“At the risk of sounding redundant, thanks for taking a chance on me, AJ.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Applejack said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “That’s what friends are for.” My friend fell silent for a few moments as she stared off at the grassy enclosure below. I could see a pensive look in her eyes, but it took a while before she finally found the right words. “Do you think you’ll return home when that portal opens up again?”

“I honestly haven’t given it much thought,” I answered. Unfortunately, such a prompt response was because it was prepared in advance and I realized I wasn’t being entirely honest with my friend. I was still stuck in the mindset of trying to avoid upsetting any apple carts. “Okay, that’s not entirely accurate, I’ve given it some thought.”

“And?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “On the one hand, I want to stay here where I have friends, and something resembling a stable life.” Yet at the same time, I wondered if I was fooling myself into thinking I had stability in this world. What kind of future could there be for a washed-up magic prodigy? High school didn’t last forever, and I doubt Celestia and Luna would let me stay with them indefinitely. “But Equestria is still my home. I’ll always be a pony pretending to be a human. And…”

I trailed off at the end, unsure if mentioning the last part would be appropriate. Considering how it led me down such a dark road in life, it seemed counter-productive to my rehabilitation, but it was an unavoidable truth. I don’t think there was anything that could ever fill that hole in my life.

“Is it selfish to want my magic back?”

“Can’t say I know the answer to that,” Applejack said with a reluctant shrug. She sounded disappointed in herself, as if not having an answer was something to be ashamed of, even if she never understood what having magic was like. “I reckon that depends on why you want it back, and what you’re willing to give up for it.”

A part of me was scared to consider that question as there was still a good chance the answer was ‘anything and everything.’ Perhaps in a few years’ time, when the portal opened up again, I would have a more definitive answer, but for now it might be best for my own sanity just to push the question from my mind. I knew for certain, however, that I wasn’t prepared yet to give up my friends for it. If I tried to go through life alone, again, I’d wind up right back where I started, except in Equestria that pit would be somewhere at the bottom of Tartarus.

“Maybe if we see Twilight again I can—” I halted my train of thought when I noticed Applejack making a ‘stop talking’ gesture with her hand. For a brief moment, I was puzzled but then I glanced in the direction she was looking and noticed an unexpected face standing at the base of the bleachers.

It was Flash Sentry.

Suffice to say, his arrival brought flashbacks of yesterday's disaster to mind. "What's he doing here?" I asked my friend in a hushed whisper.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Applejack replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

“I can hear you,” Flash said before walking a few steps up the bleachers.

Annoyed, I once again looked to Applejack with an expression that screamed ‘suspicion.’ I already had enough encounters with Flash for one weekend, and I wasn’t going to sit by and let myself get made a fool of again.

“Don’t look at me, I had nothing to do with this,” Applejack insisted. Given how apologetic she had been about yesterday’s ordeal, I was inclined to believe her. She could be stubborn even at the best of times, but even she knew a lost cause when she saw it.

Though apparently Flash didn’t share that sense of pessimism. “Applejack, do you mind if I have a word with Sunset in private?” When we both gave him a skeptical glance, he donned a reassuring and disarming grin. “I won’t bite; I promise.”

I was beginning to suspect why Flash had sought me out. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that he chose to do so now that Applejack and I were, in a way, indebted to him. I’d even say it was very clever of him if I didn’t also know for a fact that Flash Sentry had all the tactical acumen of a pigeon trying to play chess. However, even if this hadn’t been schemed in advance, he nonetheless held a significant advantage over me, and I just hoped that he wouldn’t use it to browbeat me.

Applejack looked nervous, too, though perhaps for different reasons. Her day had already reached its quota for disasters and insanity, and the last thing she needed was her co-worker making a scene in the middle of a fairground.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her. I felt I owed it both to her and myself to give Flash a honest-to-goodness chance at a dialogue. He waited for me at the bottom of the bleachers, and then led me away until Applejack was out of earshot. There were still scattered gatherings of people nearby, but nobody was going to be eavesdropping on a couple of teenagers at a festival. “So what is this all about Flash? Calling to collect on my debt already?”

“Are you hungry? I haven’t had anything since the pie,” Flash commented, as though ignoring everything that I had just said. Maybe he was trying to deflect the issue, or perhaps he was genuinely hungry.

I was growing suspicious, but I played along. “I suppose I’m a bit peckish as well,” I answered.

“Wait right here.” Flash didn’t even give me an opportunity to speak before hurrying off to some vendor off in the distance. That just left me standing about looking confused as I tried to make sense of what he was doing. He was up to something, but I didn’t know what exactly. The uncertainty grated at my mind until I was ready to wring his scrawny neck when he returned carrying a pair of some unknown food that had been put on a stick and deep-fried. “So, Sunset, on a scale of one to ten, how badly do you want to take one of these corn dogs and stab me in the eye with it?”

“I’d say a seven,” I said with a harsh frown. “Did you just pull that in order to aggravate me?”

“I wanted to see how you’ve changed,” he said as he handed me one of the corn dogs.

The scent of fried oil and mustard did little to help my focus as it teased at my growing hunger, but I pushed that aside to focus on Flash. “If you want to make sense, I would suggest you start doing so before I get stabby.”

He just laughed at my attempt to sound menacing. No doubt wearing a maid outfit did not help my position. “Yesterday, I made the mistake of convincing myself that absolutely nothing had changed about you,” Flash explained in a surprising show of frankness. “I was so certain of it that I went in looking for even the slightest sign, and I pounced on it once I saw what I had wanted. I didn’t show you the smallest degree of trust, and I’m sorry about that.”

Needless to say I was a bit surprised. After yesterday, I did feel an apology was deserved, but I hadn’t expected to get it. “Well… yeah, you should be,” I said with an unsteady tone. “And, um, I… guess I should say sorry too.” My eyes drifted back to the item in my hand. “And how does the corn dog tie into this?”

Flash smiled and took a bite out of his snack, most likely using the chewing time to work out what he wanted to say. “Sunset, I know today went badly, and one person tried to ruin things for you. But if you want people to trust you, you need to start trusting them first.” He took another bite, this time not even bothering to finish before continuing. “I mean, if you can’t even trust me enough to eat a simple corn dog, how are you ever going to enjoy life?”

That was a very peculiar way of demonstrating his argument. Indeed, I had spent most of my time since the delivery pondering whether the snack in my hand was safe to eat. I was a vegetarian, after all, so a deep-fried sausage on a stick was about as appealing as a rotting carcass. Yet how many people spent their days weighing the pros and cons of accepting offered food? I needed to stop fretting over ulterior motives, and the only way I could see to do that was to open wide and take a big bite out of it.

In retrospect, it should not have surprised me that I was greeted with a familiar flavour. The inner portion of the corn dog was actually tofu. Were I not so caught up in my paranoia, I would’ve trusted Flash Sentry to remember this most basic of preferences.

“I couldn’t even trust you over tofu on a stick,” I lamented.

“See? I’m not that forgetful,” Flash replied. He gave me a reassuring pat on the back, but stopped when he noticed that my expression had grown even disheartened.

“You were never forgetful,” I said. If I was going to start trusting people, then he deserved to know that he was never the horrible boyfriend I routinely painted him as. “You never forgot the birthdays because I never told you my real one. It was never even the same date from one year to the next—I’d just swipe your phone and change the calendar on it so that it looked like you had missed it.”

“Wait, are you saying you moved your birthday?” Flash asked. He looked less surprised than I had expected, although given everything that I had revealed about my past proclivities this probably seemed obvious. “Ha! I knew I wasn’t going crazy!” he suddenly exclaimed. He threw his arms into the air, cheering and dancing like a frat boy at a party. “I was right! I was one-hundred percent, undeniably, without a doubt, right!”

Normally I would contest somebody breaking out into a spontaneous victory dance, but I decided that it was the least I could do for him. A part of him had probably suspected foul play over the forgotten birthdays since the beginning, but who in their right mind would accuse their girlfriend of intentionally lying about their birthday? Somebody who wanted to be single, that’s who.

Flash, always late to the party, paused in mid-stride when he realized that his actions may not be the most appropriate. He tossed me an embarrassed grin as compensation. “Ah-heh, guess I should save that for later, huh?”

“Up to you. I think you’ve earned it,” I answered with an indifferent shrug. He decided to take up my offer and resumed the victory jig for a few more rotations. For a brief moment, things between Flash and I felt surprisingly… normal. It reminded me of some of our dates back when we were together, particularly when he took me to a sports game and I had to watch him break out the embarrassing victory dances when our team scored.

After several spins into his dance, the inevitable dizzy spell kicked in and he stumbled about in hopes of regaining his balance. I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics, which I suspected were intentionally inflicted upon himself. Then I said something that I don’t think either of us expected to hear. The sort of thing that if somebody that morning had told me about, I would never have believed them.

“You’re a good guy Flash Sentry,” I said in almost a wistful sigh. “I really hope nothing I did ever makes you think otherwise. And if Twilight knew what she missing out on, she’d find a way to come visit sooner.”

Apparently I still had a talent for making Flash turn several shades of red. “R-really? I mean, the stuff you said yesterday made the Twilight thing seem so final.”

I had almost forgotten about the Twilight-related barbs I had thrown about the day before. There were many things about yesterday I now wished I could do over again, and the stuff pertaining to Princesses in other dimensions came in near the top of the list. It wasn’t so much how blunt I had swung the truth hammer about, but rather what I would need to do now in order to make amends for it. As this was not something I wanted anybody to hear, random stranger or not, I motioned for Flash to follow as I led him to a secluded area between some tents.

I did a few more quick checks to our immediate surroundings to make sure that nobody could eavesdrop on the conversation. There was the occasional person who walked along the nearby path, but that was about it.

“Okay, so you know how Twilight is, um… different from most people right?” I began. Despite knowing that this explanation was going to sound ridiculous no matter how well I phrased it, I still felt foolish as I fumbled through my words.

“You mean the whole sprouting wings part?” Flash quipped with a chuckle. Always like him to try and make every situation feel a bit like a joke. “Or the part where she dances like she’s got two left feet?”

Somehow it didn’t surprise me that Twilight was a horrible dancer. To be fair, neither was I when I first came through the portal, but I took measures to help familiarize myself with the bipedal lifestyle. But regardless of Twilight’s choreography, I still had to figure out how to explain the situation to Flash without revealing too much to him. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, but rather I felt that the more detail I went into, the crazier it would sound. After pondering the issue, I finally had an idea.

“Give me that for a second,” I said as I snatch the half-eaten corn dog from his hand. “Okay, so here we have two corn dogs, or at least so they appear at first glance.”

“I know, Sunset, I bought them. Remember?”

“Don’t interrupt me, I’m trying to explain things so that even the little hamster inside your head will understand,” I deadpanned in response. “As I was saying, at first glance both appear to be the same: they both have a corn-batter coating that’s deep fried, and smothered in various sauces and seasoning. Inside, however, they are quite different and that’s because they have very different origins.” I wasn’t sure how well my corn dog analogy was going with Flash, but he seemed to be following along so far. Having dated for some time, I knew what his ‘glazed over’ face was. “So while this corn dog was raised on a pig farm with all sorts of other piggies, this other one actually originated in a field of soybeans. It came from a world very different from the pig’s world, so different that the pig would probably never be able to fully understand the soybean’s world. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Are… you saying that Twilight is made of tofu?”

“It’s a good thing you’re cute,” I said with a tired sigh.

“Does this make you tofu as well?”

If I had a free hand, I would’ve buried my face in it, but I had to settle with giving Flash the most disappointed stare of my life. “What I’m saying, Flash, is she’s from another world. That’s why you can’t get in touch with her, and why she’s stuck there for at least another few years.”

“With the tofu people?”

“Now you’re just doing that on purpose!”

Despite the initial burst of ire, the two of us were soon having a good laugh over it. I realized he was just trying to ease me away from the tension and anxiety that must have been evident in my mannerisms. He could be a real dork at times, but he had a knack for being able to get me to relax.

“Twilight’s from a world that’s very different from this one,” I continued, now without the weight of worry upon my shoulders. “And it may be for the best if those worlds were kept as separate as possible.”

“You’re still here, though, so it might not be that bad an idea,” Flash replied with a hopeful grin.

At this point, I had to just ask him the question that had been on my mind. “How in the world can you still pine for a girl after everything I just told you? I mean, I know you can be a hopelessly romantic cornball at times, but even this is pushing it. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but what chance do you honestly think you have?”

Then Flash surprised me once again. I think that’d be the third or fourth time tonight, which was quite the streak for him. He just shrugged with that same goofy smile on his face as if I had asked him something as simple as ‘what are you doing tonight?’

“Honestly? I probably don’t have any chance at all,” he stated outright. “Yes, I’m probably setting myself up for disappointment, but the one thing that hurts more than disappointment is regret. I’d rather try to fly and fall, than never dream of the sky, you know?” He reached over and took his corn dog back, finishing it off in one giant bite while I still mulled over his words. “You used to be so ambitious before; that was one of the things I had always liked about you.”

“And look where that got me.”

“So? Just means you need to change your goals, not abandon the game altogether,” Flash said with his mouth still full of food. “I like to think I know you well enough to at least say with confidence that you’ll never be happy just sitting back and playing it safe all the time.”

“You think you know me?” I replied with a skeptical smirk.

“Sure; your favourite colour is red, but it has to be the same shade as a rose. You like your coffee black because you think sugar distracts from its purpose, and that milk should only be used alone or with cookies. You spent a year with an umbrella tucked in your backpack because you still don’t trust weathermen. In class, you routinely ignore questions or get them wrong despite knowing full-well what the answers were. You push people away, but are terrified of being forgotten. And you have this tic where your right eyebrow quivers whenever you get angry.”

That was five times now, and I was beginning to wonder if Flash had some insider information on me that I was unaware of. I just stared in a dumbstruck awe as I tried to fathom when and where he picked up on those things. Had I given him far less credit than I should have? Given how quickly he was listing them off, it wouldn’t have surprised me if that list went on another minute or two.

“Wait, you knew that I wasn’t angry with you earlier today?” I asked.

He gave a modest shrug. “I might not know when you’re lying, but I think I’ve seen you angry at me enough times to know when you’re faking it.”

It felt like everything I had thought I knew about Flash Sentry had just been thrown out the window. In retrospect, I was so self-absorbed back then, it was entirely possible that I wrote him off as a threat simply because I was so confident in my initial impressions of him as being an easy mark. I should’ve realized that when he managed to work up the courage to dump me before I had a chance to bring my plans to fruition. Looking back at it now, I wondered how long he knew I was a messed up, lost cause when we were dating.

“Did you actually eat that pie to help out Applejack?”

“I’d be lying if I said that was my only reason,” he answered with a half-hearted shrug. “I guess a part of me still couldn’t just stand by and watch that crowd eat you alive.”

I knew it. “Gotta save the damsel in distress,” I said with a quiet chuckle. “You are such a cornball, Flash Sentry.”

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” Flash said as he joined in on the laughter. He looked skyward and let out a long, contented sigh. I envied his ability to stay so cheerful and optimistic, even after everything the last few months had put him through. Even the knowledge that Twilight was far away, unable to reach him, didn’t seem to dampen his spirits. “I should get going,” he announced all of a sudden. “You got a friend to get back to, and if too many people see us chumming it up, they might think we really were in cahoots.”

“Thank you, Flash; I really needed this talk,” I said. For a moment, I felt a bit awkward about how to part ways with him. He lingered in a sort of limbo of relationship, neither friend, enemy, nor acquaintance, and I wasn’t sure how to express my gratitude. Finally, I just decided to throw caution to the wind and I leaned over to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “I hope you find the girl you deserve.”

Now it was Flash’s turn to be surprised. I imagine he didn’t expect that kind of a thanks even if I had been sitting at a fairground kissing booth. He flustered and tried to hide his embarrassment behind a forced chuckle. “Don’t mention it,” he said in a haste. “Just do me a favour and stop being so scared of things; it doesn’t suit you, and you deserve to find your own happiness.”

“There you go being cheesey again,” I laughed before giving him a playful push.

“Hey, you started it!”

I decided then and there that I would heed Flash’s advice; it was time to stop being afraid of every action and consequence, or how it might affect my life at school. And there was a phone number written on a piece of paper in my pocket that was the perfect place to start.

Act IV-I

Despite sending a text message to Twilight Sparkle the day after the Harvest Festival, the two of us didn’t begin to exchange messages in earnest for several days. The main culprit behind the delays, I suspect, was that Twilight simply wasn’t used to receiving frequent messages from anyone besides her family. Unlike most teenagers, she didn’t appear to live with her phone glued to her palms, and it was actually two days before my initial message even got a response, which consisted of ‘my brother gave you my number, didn’t he?’

Fortunately, despite some initial disparaging remarks, Twilight soon got over her brother’s meddling and our back-and-forth messages became a regular occurrence. After a few days, I found myself getting more excited whenever my phone beeped and I saw her name on the screen. It wasn’t as though texting was a new thing to me, but I never felt that same exhilaration whenever it was Pinkie Pie or Applejack. Most of the messages between Twilight and I were quite innocuous as well; it took a few days just to get her to use more than one-sentence responses. It was a week before Twilight actually sent the first text of the day, and I felt a bizarre thrill when I woke up that particular morning and saw a text from Twilight warning me of impending thunderstorms.

Apparently amateur meteorology was another hobby of hers.

I awoke on a Friday morning to the chiming and buzzing of my cell phone. The morning weather report from Twilight was becoming something of a routine to my morning, and thanks to her fanatical devotion to punctuality, it made for a better alternative to an alarm clock. From within my warm cocoon of duvets, I blindly palmed the bedside table until I managed to grab my phone, and then retreated once more into my cozy sanctuary.

Twilight’s message read, ‘Sunny but cool today. Strong northeasterly wind. Be sure to wear a coat. Hope you have a good day.’

I wondered if that warmth and rush I felt was that magic of friendship the others were always telling me about. Was it weird that I didn’t feel the same about my other friends? I worried that it made me a bad person, or perhaps that I wasn’t really much of a friend to them. Much in the same way that tofurkey wasn’t real turkey, and it just made everyone at the table uncomfortable but unable to say anything because the hostess still had a twelve-inch carving knife in hand.

As I sent back a text relaying my thanks and wishing her a good day, I heard something from out in the hall that was becoming an increasingly regular occurrence in the household: Luna raising her voice at something. I was about to shrug it off as just one sister playing a prank on the other, and return to enjoying a few more minutes of lazing in bed; however, the conversation parked itself right outside my bedroom.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” Luna demanded, making no efforts to conceal her annoyance.

“Because I didn’t know until last night,” Celestia answered. Her voice carried its usual diplomatic tone, but I sensed a bit of tension underlying it. “It’s one weekend, Luna, I think you can manage it without me.”

“It’s not about the meetings! You said you would always keep me informed,” the younger sister snapped. “And you knew what I had planned this weekend. What am I supposed to do now that I’m stuck watching over her? This is so typical of you—shoveling things into my lap without even asking me about it first.”

“She’s a big girl, she can handle a day by herself.” I could almost feel the eye-rolling in Celestia’s tone, and the frustrated growl that followed it suggested that Luna wasn’t happy about the response. “Please, Luna, don’t make this an issue about you and me: this is necessary for the school.”

The conversation didn’t go any further, and Luna departed with little more than a frustrated growl like some Tartarus-spawned demon. It was only once the walking nightmare was a safe distance away did I finally head downstairs to get breakfast. I felt like a gazelle on the way to the watering hole, unsure of what dangers might be lurking just out of sight.

So imagine my surprise when en route to the kitchen, I saw Celestia in the front hall, already fully dressed for work and with a small suitcase in tow.

“What’s going on?” I asked, feigning ignorance. I could’ve mentioned that I overheard some of the conversation, but it was second-nature to me to always keep my cards close to my chest, and in my early-morning state, I wasn’t thinking about proper etiquette.

There was the briefest hint of surprise on her face, and were I not a more observant person, I would’ve blinked and missed it. “Oh, good morning Sunset,” she greeted. “I’m afraid an emergency meeting was arranged with the regional school board and the Ministry of Education, so I’m going to be out of town until Sunday evening.”

“You mean… I’m spending the whole weekend with Luna in charge?” I replied. Though I acted surprised, in truth I was feeling quite nervous about the prospect.

Celestia saw through my facade, and she donned her always comforting and reassuring smile. “I know that you and Luna don’t always see eye to eye, but please try your best to get along,” she asked. “I don’t expect the two of you to be best friends or anything, but please try not to set the house on fire while I’m gone.”

I promised to try my best, but I worried that empty platitudes might be all that I could offer. To say that we didn’t see ‘eye to eye’ was like describing the banishment of Nightmare Moon as a simple difference of opinions. Luna and I hardly even looked at each other these days, and the less we spoke, the better both of us seemed to be. As Celestia said her farewells and departed, I was contemplating how to best avoid Luna for the next sixty hours. With any luck, maybe I could even spend the next few days without ever having to say a single word to her.

Of course, the moment I believed that was a possibility, the universe decided to put Luna two feet directly behind me so that the moment I turned around, I was staring straight into her disapproving frown.

Whoever thought Nightmare Moon was terrifying had clearly never dealt with Vice Principal Luna before her morning coffee.

“G-good morning, Luna,” I greeted while trying to force a smile.

“What, are you a weathergirl now?” she snips in response. “How do you know what kind of stinkin’ morning it is?” She let out a disgruntled snort and then took a slow sip from the coffee mug she carried. “Celestia has informed you of her departure, correct?”

I responded with only a silent nod.

“I hope you understand that the only reason she’s being dragged out by the school board is because your antics have left such a gaping hole in our budget. Now Celestia has to go before those self-absorbed bureaucrats and practically beg for emergency funding.”

While this wasn’t the first time that school finances has been mentioned around me, I hadn’t realized how dire the situation had become. I again answered with a silent nod, but this time because my thoughts were now on Celestia’s predicament. I knew little of how this world handled administrative duties, but back in Equestria going to your boss and asking for more money was seen as a sign of poor leadership. Judging by Luna’s scowl, she held me responsible for this new mess, and I couldn’t blame her for that sentiment.

“Now I’m going to lay down some ground rules so that we both might survive this weekend,” she explained while still glaring down at me like a stern-nosed drill sergeant. “You will not bother me with anything unless it is important. If I instruct you to do something, you will comply. Be aware that I will not drive you anywhere, or feed you anything, or clean any of your messes. You will tend to your own needs, and I will tend to mine.” So far it wasn’t anything I didn’t already expect, but Luna still had a way of delivering the information as though she were handing down a prison sentence. “And you will be quiet during this weekend. If I have to leave my room to tell you otherwise, I assure you that you will regret it. Otherwise, you have free reign of the house. Is this understood, Miss Shimmer?”

Even though nothing Luna said came as a surprise to me, it nonetheless felt belittling for her to spell out all these rules to me like something terrible would happen the moment Celestia left. There was due caution and then there was the vacuum of trust that existed between us.

Actually, a vacuum implied that it was merely devoid of anything; it would be more accurate to describe it as a No Man’s Land of trust, where even the slightest inkling of movement was pounded into oblivion by artillery.

“Now get ready for school, we leave in twenty-five minutes,” Luna instructed.

“Twenty-five minutes?” I repeated in disbelief. “But that’s almost half an hour earlier than when Celestia leaves.”

“I’ve got to do Celestia’s duties on top of my own, so I need more time to prepare,” she explained in her typical blunt fashion. “You can either get ready now or you can walk to school. Take your pick.”

With my options being either to submit to Luna’s ridiculous and arbitrary departure schedule, or brave the elements and walk to school, which would require me to leave at roughly the same time, my choice was obvious.

*******************

“Holy enchiladas, Sunset! You look like you woke up on the wrong side of every bed today.”

Pinkie Pie’s surprise was warranted when she set eyes upon on me: my disheveled hair and the frown etched upon my face was a stark contrast to my friend’s cheerful and bubbly demeanour. I looked like I had just gone five rounds toe-to-hoof with a windigo, and got walloped in each one. Just on the opposite side of her, Rainbow Dash had also gotten a peek at my new hair style, and was two seconds away from falling out of her desk in a laughing fit.

“My breakfast was a piece of cold toast, and I didn’t have enough time to dry my hair before running to school,” I answered, followed by a tired groan and faceplanting into my textbook. And even despite my best efforts, I arrived at school late, missing the entirety of homeroom and just narrowly arriving in time for first period.

“But I thought you rode in with Celestia every morning,” Pinkie Pie remarked. “Unless you were in a convertible, or a motorcycle, or like an airship. Or maybe a convertible motorcycle airship.”

I didn’t even bother to dignify Pinkie’s ramblings with an answer. In the time since the Fall Formal, my relationship with Pinkie and her friends has undergone a rapid transition from ‘target of opportunity’ to ‘trusted friend.’ It was quite jarring for me emotionally, as many times I felt myself wanting to react to them like I used to—bullying Fluttershy, taunting Applejack, deceiving Rainbow Dash—but all of them managed to survive the transition. Nowadays, I could talk to Applejack or Rarity without those old hatreds flaring up. The exception to that, however, was Pinkie Pie; a person who I admit I would not normally associate with even if they were the only person within a hundred miles. Maybe I just didn’t like the random tangents, or perhaps it was her relentless optimism, or perhaps it was just because I envied her ability to be what I could never be anymore - universally adored.

At the time, however, a lot of that aggravation came from the fact that she always steered every conversation back to the same point.

“Hey, if you’re feeling down, maybe I can help!” Pinkie offered before she began shimmying her desk closer to mine. “We need to turn that frown of yours upside-down, and maybe get Rarity to help you with your hair. You know what always cheers me up real quick?”

I turned my head just enough so that I could see Pinkie out of the corner of my eye, which was just enough to give an effective, hateful glare. Not that such things ever worked on her. “Pinkie, if you say ‘party’ just so you can ask when my birthday is, I will staple your lips together.”

“Boy, somebody sure is a crankypants,” Pinkie replied, undaunted by my verbal barbs. “Guess that just means I’ll have to work even harder to get you smiling again.”

I should’ve realized sooner that trying to push her away would only invite her to try harder. That kind of persistence I could’ve admired were it not being levied against me. With any luck, though, the teacher would start the lesson and that’d be enough to keep Pinkie off my back for a little while.

That rescue came in the form of a series of quick taps of a ruler against a desktop. “Okay class, it’s time to begin today’s lesson,” the teacher called out. “So please quiet down, and Pinkie put your desk back into its proper place.”

Listening to a teacher’s endless droning was not what most people would consider enjoyable, but for me, the escape from having to endure someone else’s endless prattling made class feel like a paradise. I felt bad for taking enjoyment in avoiding Pinkie, but today my patience had already been worn to a nub before it even began in earnest.

For whatever reason, perhaps a foolish attempt to recover some semblance of happiness in my day, I carefully pulled my cell phone out and brought up the last message I got from Twilight. It might have just been wishful thinking, but seeing her message of ‘hope you have a good day’ helped give me some shred of optimism.

And then, of course, came Pinkie Pie once again. “Hey, what’cha looking at?” she asked while peering over my shoulder.

Having her suddenly appear at my side startled me so much that I almost fell from my chair in my desperate attempt to hide my phone.

“Pinkie, do you mind?” I whispered back in hopes I don’t draw even more attention to myself. A smarter person would’ve just told Pinkie the truth about my newly established correspondence with Twilight, but Pinkie was about as good at keeping secrets as she was keeping her voice down.

“Oh, right,” she apologized in a prompt fashion. There was a fleeting moment of relief until she somehow managed to sit down on the two inches of seat that was available on my chair. “So who were you texting?”

“It’s… uh, nobody really,” I hastily replied. Lying might not be the smartest move, but I was nervous, and like always my nervousness had me falling into comfortable and familiar habits. “It’s… just somebody I know, that’s all.”

“Oooo! Is it a new friend of yours?” Pinkie asked, leaning in once more to try and catch a glimpse of my screen. Thankfully, I was more prepared this time around and kept my hand over the screen. “Is it anybody that I know?”

“No, it’s not anybody you know,” I snapped back. I was forced to keep a hand across her face just to keep her at bay, but in my haste I accidentally pushed too hard and Pinkie fell out of the chair. While some teachers might have been willing to ignore a couple of whispering teenagers, the moment somebody’s butt hit the floor, that tolerance vanished faster than the cafeteria’s fruit parfaits.

I didn’t even have time to hide the evidence before I was stared down by a frowning teacher. No words even needed to be exchanged as an outstretched palm gestured all that needed to be done. With a disheartened sigh, I surrendered my phone, and the class eventually resumed, albeit with a few disapproving glares tossed in my direction.

Despite the loss, I found some solace in the fact that Pinkie was back at her desk, and I could focus on my work in relative peace. Or at least that had been the hope. The distractions had left me so frazzled that I could barely focus on what the teacher was saying, not to mention I had already missed everything up to this point, so I was trying to catch-up with no gas in the tank.

And just because the universe liked to remind me that I can never know peace, not even five minutes had passed before I felt something flick into my hair. At first, I thought it was just another paper ball, but it felt less like it was pitched and more like a lob. That meant either it wasn’t thrown with malice or it was committed by the weakest, most girliest pitcher in the entire school.

And Fluttershy was three classrooms down from mine.

When I checked my hair, what I found was a wad of paper folded into a tight triangle, rather than the crumpled mess I often found. Confused didn’t even begin to describe what I felt because this archaic form of passing notes went the way of the dinosaurs once everybody had cell phones surgically attached to their palms. I unfolded the note and was greeted to a faint ‘pop’ and a spray of confetti. That answered my question as to who was responsible, though that just left me with other questions.

Rather than drive myself insane pondering unanswerable questions, I chose to see what Pinkie felt necessary to communicate. Within the note was just the word ‘sorry’ with a picture of a sad kitten hastily drawn next to it. Out of curiosity, I glanced over to Pinkie and saw that she was trying her best not to look like she was watching and waiting for my reaction. Given that she was trying to peek over the edge of her textbook while still sitting three feet to my right made her about as subtle as a herd of elephants doing a line dance.

I scrawled ‘why?’ on the note and waited for the teacher to turn away from me before tossing the note back to Pinkie. A few seconds later, the note came flying back, although my friend’s aim was off and the note ended up landing and falling down the front of my shirt.

“Really Pinkie?” I sneered in a whisper.

I checked my lap to see if it had fallen through, but seeing no sign of it, I was reluctantly forced to reach up into my shirt to find the accursed note. Under my breath, I grumbled about how I wouldn’t have had to deal with this brand of nonsense if I were still a unicorn.

“Is everything okay, Miss Shimmer?” the teacher’s voice cut in once again. This time, though, it drew everybody’s attention to me with my arm still half-way up my shirt.

Not wanting to embarrass myself even further with the truth, I decided that the best defense was a good offense. “What? You think I got a demon stuffed in my bra?” I contested. This strategy also had the added benefit of buying me a few more seconds to grab the note.

As much as I imagine the teacher would’ve liked to make a bigger issue out of this, the further distraction from the lesson couldn’t be afforded. With an eye roll and a shrug, the teacher went right back to the lesson. With enough people already snickering and casting wary glances in my direction, I bided my time until I could open the note with a bit more security. The note went:

‘I’m sorry because I got your phone taken away and it was clearly making you happy because I saw you smiling when you were looking at it and you were all frowny-face before that so clearly what was on your phone was super-duper important. I just got carried away because I wasn’t able to make you happy but your phone did and so I wanted to see what it was so I could maybe do that too. But now you have no phone and all sad again and that just makes me super sad. Forgive me?’

In all honesty, I was surprised by her earnest response. I was expecting more confetti to fly out of somewhere, but instead I had a genuine answer and a heartfelt apology. Now I felt like an absolute heel for being so hard on her in the first place. It was still easy for me to forget to take other people’s feelings into consideration. I was so wrapped up in my own concerns that I didn’t even stop to think how Pinkie Pie was feeling seeing a friend in dismay. Even now as I continued staring at her note, I could see my friend out of the corner of my eye waiting in tense anxiety for my response.

As I didn’t want to risk drawing any more attention to myself than I already had, I conveyed my apologies as best I could through a quick smile and a silent nod.

Silent-as-a-spring-breeze Pinkie Pie, however, jumped to her feet in celebration and shouted, “Yes!”

“Miss Pinkie Pie, please take your seat.”

Unsurprisingly, nobody was bothered by Pinkie’s outburst. Even the teacher just shrugged it off and resumed his lesson once my friend took her seat. I wished I could get away with things like she did, but when you spent the past couple years building a reputation of backstabbing, it’s no surprise when people learn to always keep an eye on you. Or perhaps it was more because Pinkie had spent her years at school finding ways to brighten the day of those around her. As I listened to the snickers from the surrounding students, I sensed no malice in their tone like they had with me. They found her antics amusing, and they loved her for it.

I began to wonder if my frustration with her was because I resented her so easily having everything that seemed impossible for me to reach. Did those feelings make me a horrible friend?

As the lecture began to wind down to its conclusion, the teacher announced, “For the next project, you’ll need to organize yourself into groups of three.”

No prizes for guessing who I was going to have to group with.

*******************

In the old days, when group projects came around, I would often just join up with the people I pegged as the most intelligent, capable, or easily manipulated. It was child’s play to convince the brainiacs in my classes to do all the work for me, not that I couldn’t do the assignments myself if need be. Now, though, the only people I could convince to work with me are the few friends who’ll still talk to me, and neither Pinkie Pie nor Rainbow Dash did I consider to be intellectual powerhouses.

That meant, for once, I was looking at doing most of the work for this project. I didn’t mind that, though, as I knew that Dash and Pinkie could pull most of their own weight, but if I wanted good marks then I was going to have to carry the bulk of the burden. Just another case of sleeping in the bed I made.

Still, the prospect of a group project with my friends remained a promising one, assuming that I could survive being stuck in close proximity with Pinkie Pie for so long. But believe it or not, my greatest concern as the weekend began was not having to spend a Saturday afternoon with Pinkie, it was convincing Vice Principal Luna to let Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash come over to work on the project.

Although I had spent many a lazy Saturday with my friends, they had yet to visit me in my new home, and that was because I felt it was improper for me to invite friends over to a house I had no claim to. I still considered myself nothing more than a guest in Celestia and Luna’s home, and while I wouldn’t have felt hesitation asking Celestia, her sister was another story. Even knowing that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had very valid-sounding reasons for why their home was unavailable that weekend, Luna could still very well refuse just to make my existence all the more difficult. While I doubt Luna would sabotage my school work, forcing us to go to a library or some other venue was within the realm of possibility.

This challenge is what led me to try my hand at cooking dinner that evening. I pinned my hopes on some vegetable stir fry winning me enough favour from Luna that she wouldn’t object to granting me a small boon. Though my experience in the kitchen was limited to pre-packaged foods with the most complex instruction being ‘add water and stir,’ if cooking and baking could be tackled with ease by people like Pinkie Pie, it shouldn’t be too challenging for a person of my intellect.

Cooking was just chemistry that you got to eat afterwards.

There’s a curious sense of fulfillment that came from cooking your own meal from scratch. I had to make a few substitutions with the recipe I got from the internet, but I saw no reason why I couldn’t use things like asparagus and eggplant. The sweet fragrance of peanuts began to fill the kitchen as the oil heated in the frying pan. It didn’t take long before I was humming to myself, dicing peppers and peeling carrots. Unfortunately, my sense of perfectionism had me turning back to the recipe every few seconds just to make sure I was doing things correctly, to the point where I almost cut my thumb thanks to my carelessness.

My plans to have everything ready to surprise Luna when she returned, however, failed to come to fruition when the radio that had been blasting tunes suddenly fell silent. Perhaps in my constant double-checking, I had underestimated how long I would need.

“What is going on?” Luna asked as she stood in the doorway.

I looked to the diced vegetables on the countertop. then to the frying pan just behind me. and then to the large kitchen knife I held in my hand.

The only response that came to mind was, “Is that supposed to be rhetorical?”

The frown that soon adorned her face told me otherwise. “I’m referring to your antics in class today,” she explained. “Texting in class. Disturbing the lesson. Assaulting another student.”

While my new life meant owning my mistakes in both past, present, and future, it didn’t include readily accepting other people’s misinterpretations. “Assaulting? I gave Pinkie a slight nudge and she fell out of my chair.”

“That’s not how the other students described the incident.”

“Because they’re a reliable source of information,” I scoffed while waving my knife around. “I bet if you ask them, they’ll describe me as some violent sociopath.” Unfortunately, I realized a bit late that my words were not in sync with my appearance. Her skepticism hardened as she watched me try to deftly put the knife aside.

“I can’t imagine where I might get that idea,” Luna replied, letting some sarcasm slip into her voice. “I mean, aside from throwing books at students, trying to smash the Wondercolt statue with a sledgehammer, and getting arrested for a cafe brawl.”

Try to defend myself and I get three separate incidents thrown at me. Luna definitely subscribed to the ‘shock and awe’ method of discipline, as I had no way to fend off that many accusations at once. I had to redirect the conversation away from them.

“I’m trying to change, Luna! Everybody else understands that it isn’t going to be a perfectly smooth transition, but I’m doing the best I can.” As far as defenses went, this was about the equivalent of trying to lock the door while she still had a fire axe. It was a stalling action against somebody who was used to hacking through verbal tripe and excuses on a daily basis.

I did, however, succeed in cracking her stoic facade. “This isn’t your best! And if my sister would stop coddling you, you’d get the proper rehabilitation you deserve.”

“Your idea of rehab is sending me to jail! That’s just the quick and easy solution for you, but I guess it makes sense since you’ve done nothing but treat me like a criminal since I’ve moved in,” I snapped back. Despite knowing full well that getting angry wasn’t going to help, Luna was throwing torches at my short-fused temper.

“Property damage, attacking other students, and we’ll pretend that trying to hypnotize the school to conquer another world doesn’t sound completely ludicrous!” Her voice was flaring, but I could tell she was trying to restrain herself. Did Luna have just as bad a temper as I did? I had no idea, but a smarter person wouldn’t have been trying to find out by poking the tiger. “Anybody else who had pulled that would be spending their days in juvenile hall. At least in there you’d be taught how to control yourself rather than all this hand-holding ‘just try harder next time’ nonsense that Celestia has you undertaking.”

“Hey! What Celestia and my friends are doing for me is working!” Perhaps it was my lingering guilt over my past relation with Princess Celestia, but I felt a need to protect her.

“Only when they’re around to keep you on a leash. You’re just being taught that your relapses are honest little mistakes. You’re not learning how to control yourself because this soft-gloved approach is not giving you any reason to.”

I could feel the raw heat of my rage beginning to boil over. She was insulting everything that I had been working so hard to accomplish like I could just flick a switch and stop being who I was. “Is it so much to ask for just a little benefit of the doubt?” I shouted. “Why must everyone keep treating me I’m always going to cause a problem wherever I go! I’m not some ticking time bomb!”

Luna calmed all of a sudden, which from anyone else would be reassuring, but that just warned me that she was getting precisely what she wanted: more proof that I was doing the same song and dance.

“You sound pretty explosive to me,” she answered.

“Well guess what, Luna, nothing bad is going to happen here.”

“Your cooking oil is on fire.”

That was when I realized that the heat I was feeling was not the figurative fire inside but the literal one behind me. I spun about to see yet another disaster of my carelessness raging out of control on the stove.

“Golden throne of Canterlot!”

If I had my magic, I could snuff out those flames in a heartbeat, but the conventional means of fire suppression seemed to elude me in my panic. The cacophony of the fire alarm didn’t do any favours for my concentration. In haste, I grabbed a nearby towel to try and smother the flames. That just succeeded in setting the towel on fire.

“That’s not helping! That’s not helping at all!” I yelped before flinging the towel towards the sink. Once I had it contained, I was more than content to let it burn itself out. Just as I was about to turn my attention back to the oil fire, Luna proved to already be on top of the situation, dropping a pan lid overtop of the flames and snuffing them out.

“So much for dinner,” Luna remarked, moving the frying pan off the active element. “Now would you like me explain to you the extent of your mistake, or would you prefer if we just shrug and you promise to do better next time?”

Now that was just twisting the knife. I had already started one fire, but Luna seemed intent on making sure the figurative fire kept burning. There was only one way for me to deal with this and keep my sanity intact: I headed for the door.

“Oh, to Tartarus with this!” I shouted upon my departure.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Luna called out.

“To get dinner!” There was no point trying to broach the subject of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash with so much anger and hate being volleyed about. Some time away and some food in my belly might help cool me down. I could manage with one of the two, but angry and hungry was a recipe for disaster. Even as I put more and more distance between me and home, I was still cursing and grumbling to myself. How could she just keep treating me like this? I wanted to just scream out loud, but that would just draw more unwanted attention. Eventually, though, I realized that I could use somebody to talk to.

I reached for my phone and fired off a quick text message that read:

‘This day has been awful. I could use a friend right now. Are you free to talk over dinner? I’m heading to the MacDougal’s on Bridle street.’

It was a longshot, but at this stage all I had left in me was hope. The anger had burned everything else in me, leaving just ash and cynicism behind. The long walk to the MacDougal’s gave me plenty of time to think, as well as feel that hope begin to slip further and further away. I was just about to write off any chance of a reply when I felt my phone vibrate. The message back read:

‘So sorry to hear that. I think I know where that is. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

People might say to always wait a few moments before replying to message, but I didn’t care if I sounded desperate.

‘Thanks. I’ll see you then, Twi.’

Act IV-II

I was in quite the surreal emotional state by the time I arrived at MacDougal’s. On the one hand, the sense of anger and indignation over my spat with Luna was still scratching away at my mind like a stubborn itch beneath, threatening to drive me insane. How anyone can act so self-righteous after allowing a grease fire to break loose was beyond me. However, I didn’t want to descend into blaming Luna for every raw deal that’s happened, or otherwise things would never change. Pointing fingers may have felt cathartic, but it was rarely constructive.

Contesting those frustrations was the sense of anticipation of Twilight’s arrival. It was a mixture of excitement and trepidation, like a kid on their first day of school. It wasn’t the first time I had met somebody for a meal at a MacDougal’s, I did date Flash Sentry after all, but it was the first time I had done so of my own volition. And it was with Twilight Sparkle, of all people: a person whom I should have been avoiding for a number of reasons that my rational mind still liked to remind me about.

But I didn’t care about rationality; I didn’t care that Twilight Sparkle might have been one ‘Eureka’ away from discovering Equestria and throwing the entire cosmic balance of the universe out of alignment. I was, like many young teenagers, riding high on a sense of euphoria, unconcerned with the possible consequences and thought myself invincible. Were I more astute, I might’ve remembered what happened the last time I threw caution to the wind.

It wasn’t until well after I had arrived at MacDougal’s that the gravity of the situation began to sink into the anger-brewing cauldron of my mind. This would technically be the first time Twilight and I had gotten together intentionally rather than by fortuitous coincidence. MacDougal’s wouldn’t normally be my first choice, but I hadn’t the luxury of ample time to prepare or consider alternate venues. I didn’t even remember to bring enough money to offer to pay for her meal, which seemed impolite given that I had invited her out. She was my friend, though, and this is what friends did, right?

As I sat in the back corner of the restaurant, glancing to the nearby door every time I heard it open, a tiny worry began to gnaw at my mind. As I still knew little about friendship, I began to wonder if spontaneous dinner dates at a MacDougal’s might have sent the wrong message or come off as cheap and pathetic. The lack of a car and funding limited my options for life outside of the school.

Those worries and concerns began to fall to the wayside when I heard the nearby door opening, and was greeted to the reassuring sight of my friend. She didn’t look either angry or annoyed to be here, and when she saw me waving at her, a smile was sent back my way. I felt my smile brighten, and if it had grown any more brilliant, I would’ve blinded passing airplanes.

My elation soon gave way to surprise and confusion, as Twilight entered the restaurant carrying with her a large dufflebag as well as pulling along a plastic bin mounted on wheels. Rarity was typically the one who traveled with an ensemble of baggage, though I suspected that Twilight wasn’t hauling the latest in autumn fashion.

“Hey Sunset, sorry I’m a little late,” Twilight apologized as she set her bag down on the table. The heavy, resonating thump it made against the table made me even more curious as to what she had brought with her. “Is there a power outlet nearby? I have to plug a few things in.”

“I think there’s one by your feet,” I said while gesturing downward. “And there’s no need to apologize; I only just got here myself.”

That was a lie; I had been waiting for close to half-an-hour by that point, but I didn’t want to make Twilight feel bad. I was already starting to feel guilty about dragging Twilight out here when she, apparently, was already preoccupied, a fact made evident as I watched her unpack. She began taking out all manner of gadgets and tools, including an excessive number of cords and power bars. I would’ve offered some help, but I was so hopelessly lost in comprehending the mess in front of me, I would’ve had more luck trying to set the clock on an old VCR machine.

Despite the sense of confusion, there was an accompanying sense of intrigue when I started looking at some of the items more closely. There were a number of tools and devices for scanning and analyzing, some of which I easily recognized while others looked as though they had been fitted together in somebody’s basement.

Finally I just asked what had been plaguing my mind. “What’s with the mobile laboratory?”

“Oh no, this isn’t the mobile lab. This is the workshop,” Twilight corrected me between plugging in cables. “Well, half of it, actually. I was in the middle of some work when you texted me, but I figured I could do both at the same time. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, of course not,” I insisted. “I’d hate to be responsible for interrupting your work. To be honest, I was more worried that I’d be interrupting your dinner or something with your family.”

“I usually have late dinners,” Twilight explained. Once she had most of her things unpacked, she slipped into the seat across from me and immediately started working. Or at least, I presumed it was work since I couldn’t quite make sense of what she was doing. “My parents were surprisingly supportive. They practically shoved me out of the house, and told me to call if I needed a ride home.”

I imagined with her inactive social life, Twilight’s parents relished any opportunity to get her out of the house. “I guess that answers my concern about whether your parents were okay with this or not.”

“My dad literally threw his wallet at me as I left,” my friend replied while holding up the aforementioned item.

“At least that’s a good sign of his trust,” I said while trying to avoid laughing too loudly. “You could treat yourself to something nice now.”

Twilight looked at the wallet with visible apprehension, which was surprising to me since most people I knew wouldn’t think twice about helping themselves to everything in their parent’s wallet if given the opportunity.

“I better not,” she eventually said while grabbing a couple of small bills. “Money is tight enough at home as it is.”

“Really?” I blurted out without realizing how inappropriate it might be to intrude with this line of questioning. “But you go to a fancy private school and everything.”

I regretted my poor self-control immediately upon seeing my friend’s mood take a downward turn. I might not have been getting much better at friendship, but I sure was improving my aim when it came to putting my foot in my mouth—didn’t even need to aim at this point. She let out a disheartened sigh as guilt anchored her gaze to the tabletop. “That’s exactly the reason why,” she explained. “Even with them both working, the tuition costs for Crystal Heart barely leaves them with anything left over. I mean, they try to tell me that we don’t have money problems, but I’ve seen the bills and I can do the math.”

“Doesn’t Crystal Heart have scholarships and such?” I was almost certain of this fact because I recalled a number of occasions where Gilda insisted that I could get a ‘free ride’ into Crystal Heart. It was more than likely that I was being misled, but to what degree was the question.

“They do, and I’ve got some, but they’re only enough to make going to Crystal Heart even remotely feasible for my parents,” Twilight continued. “I’ve even got an arrangement with Head Master Sombra that they’ll reduce my tuition costs if I can win academic competitions for the school. I try to do what I can, but it’s not always enough.”

A sense of guilt stemming from the burdens she has placed upon others—now why did that sound so familiar? Hers might have had a more easily quantifiable value attached to it, but the guilt was the same as mine. For both of us, just going to school was taking a toll upon those who cared for us.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if it felt like Crystal Heart was worth paying all that money for,” she added, followed by a disappointed sigh.

Now that remark caught me by surprise to the point where my instinctive ‘shocked gasp’ caused me to almost inhale my drinking straw. After a few violent coughs, I managed to pull the offending object out of my larynx and blurted out, “Not worth it? I thought it was the best school in the entire district.”

“It is,” she answered, although in an unconvincing fashion, as she slumped over and rested her chin in her hands. “I mean, it’s supposed to be, but I’m not really challenged by the curriculum. I’m getting top marks and acing my tests just as I was back in my old school.”

Given how many times I had done assignment and homework for her classmates, particularly Gilda, I could understand how someone as gifted as Twilight could feel bored by her schoolwork. It would also explain why she’s undertaken this extra research project, if only to offer something of a challenge to her mind. If idle hands were the devil’s playthings, imagine what an idle mind could do.

“The other students don’t help much either,” Twilight continued in a low grumble. “The Headmaster really fosters a competitive environment, so that just leads to everyone trying to one-up each other. I swear, half of them are buying their answers online these days.”

“Oh, that’s just awful,” I answered with a nervous chuckle. Thank goodness there was still one person in the world I could lie to and get away with it.

“Some days I wonder if Crystal Heart is the best place for me, but I don’t want to disappoint everyone after they’ve worked so hard to give me the chance to go,” my friend lamented. She was looking more forlorn by the minute, which was beginning to worry me. “There’s nothing wrong with Crystal Heart; it’s just… I know there’s more that’s out there.”

I knew what it felt like when you yearned for something more fulfilling, but before I could say anything to comfort my friend, I heard the most peculiar noise. At first it was only just loud enough to catch my notice, and it took a few more moments of listening before I realized that it sounded lyrical, almost like a guitar lead-in.

“Where’s that music coming from?” I asked to nobody in particular.

Twilight looked equally perplexed before a shameful realization dawned upon her. “Oh, right! That’s my phone,” she said before reaching into her bag.

“That unfamiliar with the concept of people calling you, eh?” I couldn’t help but throw out that quick tease, if only to help offset the recent air of negativity.

It seemed to work as Twilight responded with a sarcastic smirk, “Oh very funny, Sunset,” she replied. The call consisted of a quick string of terse replies, mostly of the ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ and ‘it’s okay’ variety. The impatient pace made it sound like Twilight wanted out of the conversation as quickly as possible, though I didn’t know the cause until after she hung up. “That was Shining Armour,” she answered without prompting, “apparently my parents mentioned this outing to him.”

It probably would’ve been a bit too rude to laugh, so I had to make do with a restrained snickering. “Maybe they’ll put out a newsletter next,” I remarked. My reward was a brief and sheepish giggle from my friend.

“What am I doing?” Twilight suddenly blurted out, followed by a swift slap to her forehead. “I came out here because you wanted somebody to talk to, not so you can listen to me ramble on about my problems.”

“Except now I’m going to feel bad because my problems don’t seem nearly as bad when compared to yours,” I replied. I gave a quick smirk to let Twilight know I wasn’t trying to make her feel guilty, but financial strains seemed like a real, tangible problem that was worth worrying about. In contrast, a spat with an ornery woman felt like complaining about the rain while your neighbour’s house was on fire.

“Oh. Glad I could help then, I think,” she replied with a confused stare. After we shared a quick laugh, we went and bought some food. As it turned out, this world’s Twilight liked big, greasy burgers to a surprising degree.

I actually found it almost hilarious to watch her eat. She was about as messy with her food as she was with personal grooming, which made me thankful that I had grabbed a lot of napkins. When she asked me why I was laughing, I had to pretend it was nothing despite how much her feeding frenzy reminded me of how dinners sometimes went back in Equestria.

“Wow, you never realize how hungry you are until you start eating,” Twilight commented between mouthfuls. She wasn’t understating either, as I was still grazing on my fries when she began her second burger. “So what happened today that was so terrible? I remember your first text message today said something about running late for class.”

“It wasn’t the lateness,” I answered as I tried to not allow the memory to sour my mood. “I mean, being late to class didn’t help things. It’s just that Luna keeps treating me like I’m some delinquent just because I got into a little bit of trouble at school, which totally wasn’t my fault either.”

“Who’s Luna?”

Twilight’s question caught me off-guard despite it being such a simple inquiry. I had been so worked up over my dispute with Luna that I hadn’t even stopped to think how I would explain my homelife to Twilight. I couldn’t answer that I happened to live with my principal and vice-principal because that would just raise even more questions. I considered Twilight Sparkle my friend, but I wasn’t confident enough in that friendship to feel safe revealing the darker parts of my past.

“She’s… a friend of the family,” I replied with the safest-sounding answer I could muster on short notice. It wasn’t entirely wrong as she was a kind of like a friend of the family—it’s just that I was the only member of said family. “She’s looking after me for the weekend, but we don’t really get along.”

“How so?” Twilight asked, driven by her insatiable curiosity.

Even though thinking about Luna was likely making my blood pressure jump up a few notches, some fresh perspective might help me figure out a solution for the long term. Or at least a solution that didn’t require a shovel and a large, abandoned field. I tried my best to explain what happened today without getting into too many details about certain events, but it was hard to explain why Luna mistrusted me without explaining the whole ‘raging she-demon’ episode and the events that surrounded it.

“And that’s when the frying pan caught on fire. The argument fell apart immediately afterwards,” I said to conclude my recount of the past few hours. “A few text messages later and here we are.”

For her part, Twilight had remained quiet during my explanation. Though she divided her time between her food and tinkering with her project, I could tell that she was taking in every word. “She sounds a little biased if you ask me,” Twilight commented. “She certainly seems to know a lot about your past activities.”

“Well, she might also be the, um… vice-principal at my school,” I admitted after some hesitation. “Back when I used to be a bully, we had a lot of run-ins.”

“Sounds awfully personal to me.”

“Obviously!” I exclaimed. “That woman hates my guts, and would probably dance in joy to see me locked away for the rest of my life.”

“That sounds like a bit of a hyperbole,” Twilight remarked. “Now psychology isn’t one of my strong suits, but if you ask me, it sounds like your transgressions are aggravating some pre-existing stressor.”

As I had a mouth full of french fries at the moment, all I could do to express my confusion was peak an eyebrow at my friend. “You think there’s something else that’s bothering her?” I asked once I was able to.

Twilight shrugged, taking a cautious approach as to avoid saying anything with absolute certainty. “From what you’ve described, I don’t think she hates you specifically. I mean, it sounds like she wants you to be a better person, too, just not in the way it’s currently being handled. If she really hated you, she’d want you gone for the sake of being gone.”

I mulled over what Twilight said in silence, save for the quiet slurping as I drained the last of my cola. Perhaps there was some underlying issue that I was unaware of. We had been able to be in the same room without arguing in the past, so why was this weekend so much worse? It must’ve had something to do with whatever business Celestia had with the school board. Maybe the financial strain was worse than either of them were telling me.

“I’m sorry that I’m not exactly providing anything useful. People skills aren’t really a strong suit of mine… as you’ve probably guessed,” Twilight commented to break the silence. It wasn’t until she spoke that I realized that I had been stewing in my silence and chewing on the end of my straw for close to five minutes now. She must’ve misinterpreted my silence for disapproval.

“No, no! You’ve actually given me a lot to think about,” I hastily replied. Unfortunately, Twilight did not look convinced of this. Perhaps I had been too quick to insist otherwise that I sounded insincere. “You know what, let’s just stop fussing over our problems and talk about something better.”

“Such as?”

“How about this?” I asked as I gestured to her array of scattered tools and parts. “What exactly are you working on? This doesn’t look like the kind of stuff that Crystal Heart would assign to a student.”

“It’s for my research: the strange energy readings, remember?” Twilight informed me. “I’ve been hitting a few roadblocks when it comes to tracking and analyzing sources, and that’s because my geiger counter just doesn’t have the capacity to resolve between different types of energizing particles.”

“Too many false positives?” I replied.

She nodded and then adjusted her glasses, leaving a ketchup smear across the tip of her nose. “I thought I had found a good lead a few days ago, but then it turned out somebody had thrown out a bunch of old ceramics.”

“Mind if I take a look at it?” I asked.

“Go ahead. Just be careful with it.”

I hefted up the incomplete device, which turned out to be a fair bit heavier than it appeared at first glance. The rear panel was off and a bunch of wires and circuits hung out of the back, though it was hard for me to make sense of Twilight’s engineering. Would this device actually do what Twilight says it does and accurately pinpoint magical energies? If anybody else had been trying to construct such a device, I would’ve dismissed any real concern, but Twilight Sparkle was persistent, if nothing else.

I glanced up to Twilight and asked, “Are you sure this is safe?”

“Of course. I mean, it’s not going to explode. Or at least, I’m pretty sure it won’t.”

I was confident that it wouldn’t either, especially given that its power source appeared to be the battery from an old cell phone, but the device wasn’t what I had been asking about. “I meant, is it safe to be poking around at strange energies? You have no idea what it is or what it could do.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the point,” she replied as though I had pointed out something painfully obvious. “I mean, how can I ever hope to understand it if I don’t try to take a closer look?”

“It could be dangerous.” It likely wasn’t, but if I oversold my concerns then perhaps I could at least cool Twilight’s ambitions. “It could become a sort of Pandora’s box, you know?”

“Of course it could be dangerous, but that’s always a risk when it comes to the unknown,” Twilight replied, sounding almost offended by my concerns. “Pandora’s box was just a myth ancient people used to explain what they couldn’t understand. Science gives you the answers so long as you have the willingness to seek them out. Running from the unknown wouldn’t have helped us discover antibiotics, or harness the power of the atom, or build rocket ships that can carry us into space.”

I was taken back by Twilight’s passion towards her chosen field. It was a reminder of the stark contrast between our motivations: her passion versus my sense of necessity. It was humbling, and it left me wondering how I ever got a higher score than her in that physics contest. Maybe she was sick that day.

“You’re right. I didn’t mean to suggest you slow down. I was just… worried about you,” I said with a half-truth cover-up. “Poking around strange energies and building gadgets in your basement—feels like something out of a sci-fi movie. I’m half-expecting some horrible disaster like you get turned into a mutant or something.”

“You seem pretty normal so far,” Twilight replied with a shrug. “And you’ve been exposed to whatever it is in large quantities. Do you feel like you’ve mutated? Maybe an extra limb or able to see into ultraviolet frequencies?”

“I feel pretty normal.” Or at least as normal as a unicorn-turned-human could feel. To be fair, I had only spent a little over three years in this body, so there may have been things that I was still oblivious about. With any luck, I would never wind up as surprised as I did when I discovered what stubbing your toe felt like.

I tried to steer the conversation to a new topic and asked about Twilight’s day, but that just led us right back into talking about the item I still held in my hand. Apparently, the only noteworthy thing she did today was design and begin work on her newest science gadget. Since it seemed to be the only thing that she was keen on discussing, I decided to stick with it and asked if she could explain how her device worked. The love of learning and the love of teaching often went hand-in-hand, and as I had hoped, Twilight took up the offer with an enthusiasm I had rarely seen in her.

She switched over into the seat next to me in order to better explain, as well as to grab a few of my french fries. She started by explaining the shortcomings of her old equipment, and how the difficulties discriminating between the various background sources of electromagnetic interference made it harder for her to isolate the strange energy readings. Apparently she needed to build something she called a phase discriminator, which was just a fancy way of saying she made a sensor that could filter out the background noise.

What Twilight was missing the most, however, was a good source of field data. With the portal to Equestria closed for now, all she had were bread crumbs to pick at. The only real magical thing left on this side of the portal was myself and an old book that sat at the bottom of my locker. I reassured myself that the most Twilight would accomplish is chasing after wisps and ghosts for the next couple of weeks, followed by some frustration once she realized this. As her new, and likely only, friend, I would no doubt have to offer what comfort I can, all while trying to sound as though I was not relieved by her failure. That was assuming she ever finished her new scanner to begin with.

“Now there is still one other technical problem I’m having trouble with,” Twilight commented, wiping away some excess ketchup from her lips. “Do you know much about wiring circuits? Maybe you could take a look at it.”

I gave a modest answer of, “I’ve jury-rigged a few contraptions in my day.” In Equestria, technology of this caliber was rare, so any equipment I needed to study magic often had to be built from scratch. “What sort of problem is it?”

I flipped the device over to look once more at the exposed wiring and circuits, only to inadvertently discover for myself what that technical issue was. My finger must’ve hit a button or the turn jostled something sensitive because the device suddenly let out a piercing, wailing klaxon. As one could imagine, Twilight and I became everybody’s favourite patrons.

“Why is it doing that?” I shouted over the almost-painful racket.

“I needed a warning system just in case I come across any source that’s putting out potentially dangerous amounts of energy,” she explained, shouting while clasping her hands over her ears, “so I threw in parts from an old alarm clock. I think I might’ve miswired something though because it keeps going off like that.”

“You might’ve created a bypass for the power supply,” I answered, though in all honesty I was only making an educated guess. “And without the phase discriminator, the uncalibrated sensor is detecting everything.”

“If you leave it alone, it stops after about five minutes,” my friend reassured me. While I might’ve been able to endure the noise for that long, I was reluctant to subject everyone else in a hundred metre radius to the same torment.

That wariness soon became concern when I noticed several hateful stares being leveled in our direction. “Isn’t there some faster way?” I asked.

Twilight quickly shook her head. “Not unless you want to tear the alarm out, along with everything connected to it.”

Tempting as that was, I obviously couldn’t ruin Twilight’s project. However, that didn’t stop another patron from reaching the same idea with far less sense of restraint. As I was too distracted trying to figure out a way to shut the device down, I didn’t notice the approach of an familiar and angry patron until the scanner was wrested from my grasp.

“Hey, that’s not—!”Alas, before I could say anything further, the thief proceeded to smash the scanner against the table, creating an even bigger ruckus and scattering Twilight’s tools and bits of circuitry across the floor. It wasn’t until several strikes in that I noticed that the irate misanthrope swinging the scanner about was none other than Gilda.

“That’s enough!” I shouted, springing to my feet and grabbing Gilda’s arm before she could bring the device down once more. The noise had already long since ceased, so the last few hits did nothing but rub salt in the wound as Twilight watched her work be decimated before her eyes. “What is wrong with you? That was completely uncalled for!”

“Your stupid toy was ruining everyone’s dinner,” Gilda snapped back. “I just did what everybody was thinking of.” On the bright side, she did stop her mindless carnage, but that was only to turn her attention to me. “Just be grateful I didn’t smash it over your dorky little head,” she added while prodding me in the chest with what remained of the device.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Twilight was left petrified in her seat, either from shock and horror or from fear of Gilda; perhaps both. It was up to me to stand up to Gilda for her, even though I had sufficient experience to know that this was a one-sided battle. Anger made for a powerful motivator, however.

“You are such a neanderthal, Gilda,” I sneered at her. “You just bully your way about doing whatever you want, and you break whatever it is that annoys you.”

“Your point?” Gilda replied, sounding undaunted by my remarks.

“One of these days you’ll run your mouth off at somebody who’s not afraid of you and can withstand the one tool in your arsenal.”

As far as threats go, that was about as menacing as threatening to sully her knuckles with my face. She chuckled whimsically, as to be expected, and then tossed the broken gadget to me. At the same time, she made a half-inch lunge towards me; a feint just to get my reflexes to kick me. And it worked, too, as my arms became a jumbled mess of noodles trying to both catch the device and protect myself piloted only by reflex and instinct. I wound up knocking the scanner straight into my jaw, followed by a frantic flailing to grab hold of it. By the time I managed to secure what remained of Twilight’s invention, my display had succeeded in throwing most of my credibility and dignity out the window, leaving Gilda laughing alongside a chorus from elsewhere in the restaurant—no doubt her own little entourage.

As I stood there pondering how much damage the broken scanner could do to a person’s skull, I was startled by the sudden weight of Gilda’s arm draping across my shoulder. Since it was unlikely that Gilda would’ve forgotten how to employ a headlock, she undoubtedly had an ulterior motive to her sudden chummy appearance.

“Maybe you’re right, Shimmy; perhaps I do tend to use violence a bit too readily,” Gilda mused as she pulled me in so close my shoulder became intimate with her armpit. She then shot me the sort of wicked grin that made your intestines knot up in dread. “Interesting choice of friends you have, Dorkle,” she called out to my still-petrified friend. “Say, do you remember all those times that you said that you knew I was cheating on stuff, but you just didn’t have the proof to back it up?”

When Twilight began to nod, I realized precisely where Gilda was going with her question. Sadly, unless I was prepared to silence the misanthrope by force, there was nothing in this world I could do to stop this ship from sinking.

“I’ll save you the trouble: I totally cheated,” Gilda boasted before she started patting my shoulder. “And this little brainiac is the one who’s been giving me the answers all these years.”

One could see the emotions on Twilight’s face as her mind cycled through various stages of shock, disbelief, disgust, and crushing despair. All I could muster was a silent, mortified stare that only became further entrenched as a sense of betrayal consumed my friend.

“She… she helped you cheat?” Twilight asked, a small, fleeting part of her still in denial. She looked to me probably expecting a flat-out denial, but I couldn’t muster any words. I had lied to Twilight about so much already, most of which were lies of omission as I feigned ignorance in the face of her research, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to deceive her so blatantly. Small white lies and silence were one thing when it was to protect Equestria, but to betray my friend’s trust just to save face? That was something that Applejack would have me strung up by my ankles for.

Though I was silent, Gilda had no qualms about twisting the knife some more. “Of course she did,” Gilda said. “Ol’ Shimmy here was one of the best in the business—had scores of clients. She’s done, like… close to hundred assignments and projects for me by this point. Honestly, I kinda lost track after the first few months.”

“H-hundreds?” my friend repeated in disbelief. “She can’t be serious, right Sunset? Sh-she’s lying… isn’t she?”

“She’s just being modest,” Gilda insisted, giving me a painful pat on the shoulder. She then pulled out a folded-up ten-dollar bill and slipped it into my coat pocket, making sure that Twilight could see every moment of it. “Here’s an advance on that next project, by the way, I’m sure you’ll have it done to your usual standards.”

Now that last part may have been a lie, but the damage had already been done. Denial would probably just make me look foolish and desperate. It might’ve been a mere ten-dollar bill for Gilda but it may as well have been a ten-tonne anchor around my neck.

Before she left, Gilda leaned in close and whispered to me, “You’re right. That was way better than just punching you.”

Gilda’s malicious little chuckle echoed in my ear as she strolled away, leaving me in a silent stare-off with my friend. I was too scared to speak, and my friend was left almost catatonic by this news. For someone who prided themselves on their hard work and education, discovering your one friend profited off the deception and fabrication of knowledge was like Applejack waking up one morning to discover her brother secretly prefers peaches.

Twilight didn’t need to say anything, of course; the look of despair and betrayal on her face said everything that was needed.

Act IV-IV

Hard as it may be for some to believe, there was a time when I was not some power-hungry misanthrope, or a manipulative schemer. There was a time when the sweet and innocent person that others saw was not a carefully constructed facade. I used to look back on those years and scoff at my childish naivety and complacency, but in retrospect I think I only convinced myself of that so I wouldn’t realize what a mistake it was to leave Equestria. I was young, vibrant, and so full of curiosity. There were no aspirations of being the best, no vendettas against my superior, or rampant paranoia; just a filly who leapt out of bed every morning at the prospect of learning magic from the greatest pony in the whole kingdom.

And like every child, I loved my birthdays. My parents weren’t the most affectionate of ponies, but hosting a birthday party once a year allowed them to give the impression that they cared. It may have not been a suitable replacement, but when you’re a child it’s hard not to love a room filled with balloons, cake, and all of your friends. It’s also a good way to develop a childhood fear of clowns, but that’s another story altogether.

While I could be justified in citing my parents as the root cause of a number of my personal failings, my guilt over birthdays was a demon of my own creation. It all began with my first birthday while under Princess Celestia’s tutelage, which was roughly six months into my studies. Most fillies would have been ecstatic at the idea, but I felt differently that morning.

“Good heavens, Miss Shimmer, are you still in bed?”

Kibitz was Princess Celestia’s Royal Schedule Advisor, which typically didn’t involve me except when my tardiness interfered with Her Majesty’s schedule. I answered with but a quiet murmur, followed by pulling all of the blankets over my head in order to cocoon myself in my bed. Unfortunately for me, a stubborn and petulant child was, by far, the least troubling obstacle that Kibitz has had to endure in his duties. The seasoned unicorn simply trotted over to the window and drew open the curtains, bathing my bedroom in the near-blinding daylight.

“Come on, the day doesn’t last forever and Her Majesty is expecting you for your mid-morning lessons,” Kibitz announced. “And you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve managed to re-organize the afternoon schedule and got you an extra twelve minutes and forty-five seconds for your lessons.”

“Okay Mr. Kibitz,” I groaned back. As I wormed my way across the bed, my progress was impeded as Kibitz’s magic grasped at my blanket cocoon.

“Sunset, is there something troubling you?” he asked, now sounding less like the stuffy time-keeper that he often was. “Normally you’re bursting out of bed at daybreak, and your reaction to the news of additional time was tepid, at best.”

“It’s nothing. I’m fine, really.”

“Don’t try to obfuscate the truth from me, miss, I can sniff them out from a hundred yards,” Kibitz warned me. He proceeded to unravel me from my blankets and then set me down on the floor. “Now Princess Celestia would be dismayed to see her prized student arriving in such a dismal mood, especially on a splendid day like today. I think both you and I would hate to disappoint the Princess, so why don’t you explain to me what seems to be the trouble, and we can see if there’s something we can do to nip it in the bud, eh?”

Even though it had only been a year, my time spent at the Royal Palace felt like my greatest dreams coming true. As such, I felt very shy about saying anything negative about my experiences, out of respect for my hosts and fear that I would be seen as ungrateful. However, I was equally afraid of disappointing my mentor, so after some nervous shuffling and staring a hole through the floor, I gave him my answer.

“Well, Mr. Kibitz, it’s, um… you see, it’s my birthday today.”

“Then it does me great honour to be the first to wish you a happy birthday, Sunset. However, that still does not explain why you are so sullen this morning? Are you not happy for your birthday?”

“Except I don’t really have any friends here to celebrate it with,” I explained. “All my friends are back home.”

“I see, now it all makes sense,” Kibitz replied as he stroked at his beard. “A birthday is hardly a festive occasion if nopony is there to celebrate it with you. Have you spoken to Princess Celestia about this?”

I shook my head, feeling sheepish and embarrassed. “I didn’t want to bother her with it.”

She was the Princess, after all, responsible for looking after an entire kingdom. I was still young and impressionable so I had this foolish notion that my purpose at the castle was to study and nothing more. To distract the Princess with trivialities such as birthdays was tantamount of blasphemy. Why, she might have even banished me to the moon for such a selfish request. I was too young to even risk going to the moon.

Kibitz would have none of my shenanigans, however. “I promise you, it shan’t be any bother to her,” he insisted as his magic began gathering up all of my books and scrolls. “To be honest, I’m surprised that you’ve been here for almost half-a-year now and have yet to make any real friends.”

“I don’t need anypony to be my friend,” I admitted, trying to sound more proud than upset by the fact. I probably would’ve had better luck convincing Kibitz that I was a reborn Princess Luna. When he gave me a demanding and skeptical glare, I soon folded. “They laughed at me; they said my mane looked dumb,” I whimpered.

In retrospect, personal grooming was not high on the list of priorities for a bookworm filly who considered debating the merits of Winkel-Tripel versus Hobo-Dyer to be an excellent use of an afternoon. Kibitz just looked at the flat, bowl-cut mess that was my mane, hefting the ponytail portion at the back while examining it with his detail-minded gaze.

“Perhaps we should schedule you some time with the royal mane stylist the next time the Princess has an appointment,” he suggested.

“Well, I don’t know,” I replied with a hint of reluctance and skepticism. “I kind of like the way my mane is now. It’s practical; keeps it from getting in the way of my view.” In retrospect, I was more adverse to the change rather than any actual attachment to my current style. At the same time, though, I was being given an opportunity to partake in something that few ponies could: getting my mane done by the same pony that did the Princess’. There were probably a million and one fillies who’d trample me underhoof for such a chance. “I suppose I could give it a try, though.”

“That’s the spirit!” Kibitz congratulated me with a playful punch on the shoulder. He then set my loaded saddlebags upon my back and ushered me along. “Now let us be on our way; we can’t keep the Princess waiting forever.”

As I was still feeling melancholy over my birthday situation, I spent most of our walk through the castle hallways reminding myself that learning about magic was my mission here and that I shouldn’t be slighting my gracious hosts with complaints about little things like birthdays. In hindsight, that line of thought was definitely my father’s influence. I became so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn’t even notice that Kibitz wasn’t leading me to the study hall where my lessons were usually held. In fact, it wasn’t until Kibitz swung open the grand hall’s doors that I realized something was amiss.

The sight I was greeted to left me speechless, staring in awe-struck wonder with my jaw hanging open like a newborn filly’s first birthday party. Before that day, I thought I had been to a birthday party, or at least had known what one looked like, but what I saw before me sure blew all of those preconceptions out of the water: the entire hall was adorned in bright balloons and colourful banners from one end to the other; there were petting zoos and games and ponies doing balloon animals and face-painting; and smack in the center of the hall was the biggest cake I had ever laid eyes upon.

My brain didn’t overcome the initial shock until Kibitz reached over and closed my mouth for me.

“I… what?” I stammered in disbelief. I turned to the aged stallion, grinning as the realization dawned upon me. “You knew the whole time, didn’t you?”

“I would be a poor excuse of a Royal Schedule Advisor if I missed an important date like today, now wouldn’t I?” he replied. He lifted off my saddlebags and gave me a gentle nudge forward. “Princess Celestia will be along shortly to join in the celebrations. Why don’t you run off and have yourself some fun, hm? And not to sound like the Princess, but do try to make some friends.”

“Thanks! And I will!” I exclaimed as I galloped off, fueled by juvenile exuberance.

Like any child, I rushed ahead with reckless abandon, soon finding myself surrounded by ponies I didn’t recognize. I didn’t care, though, and raced over to the closest snack table that I could find. How often did a filly get to eat cupcakes and cookies for breakfast, after all? When I got to the table, though, I discovered that the sweet treats were, in fact, sandwiches and crackers adorned with fancy spreads and smelly cheeses. Not a serious issue, in retrospect, but for a young filly it was a bit of a disappointment. Those ‘grown-up foods’ just made me wrinkle my nose as the pungent odours overwhelmed me.

“Excuse me, miss,” a stuffy-shirt voice spoke up behind me. I looked behind me and saw a primped-up unicorn not much older than myself. His excessively-groomed decorum looked familiar—one of Celestia’s distant relatives if memory served. “You’re blocking the way to the hors d’oeuvres.”

“Sorry!” Given that he looked important, or at least self-assured enough, I stepped aside in a prompt fashion. “Um, are there any other snacks?” I asked.

It took the other pony a moment to realize that I was addressing him, and after it became apparent, he regarded me with a stare that felt like it was sucking all the self-esteem out of me. He even decided that finishing the cheese cracker he stuffed into his mouth was more important than answering one simple question.

“Other snacks?”

“Yeah, like maybe something sweet.” I tried to hide my growing nervousness behind a polite smile, but that just made him roll his eyes.

“There’s the cake in the center,” he finally answered.

“What about something smaller? Maybe some cupcakes?” Not that the giant cake didn’t look tempting, but the birthday cake was always reserved for the climax of the party, not the start, so I didn’t want to go straight for it.

“Cupcakes?” he scoffed back. “This is the Royal Palace. Just what sort of party do you think this is?”

“O-oh, I—um, I just thought—”

He didn’t wait for me to finish and instead turned his attention back to gathering more snacks for himself. “Why don’t you go find one of the entertainers and play with the other fillies?” he suggested before trotting off.

“O-okay,” I quickly nodded. I felt foolish enough so I decided not to draw more attention to my apparent social faux pas by disagreeing. “Th-thanks. Um, my name is Sunset Shimmer, by the way.”

There was no answer, however, as he had already walked several feet away, which may as well have been the far side of Equestria for all it mattered to him. Despite this little hiccup, I reminded myself that stuck-up ponies were a bit a dozen in Canterlot, and I shouldn’t let one pony ruin the mood. Besides, my naive mind rationalized that perhaps parties in Canterlot were just done differently than they had been back home. Kibitz did fuss about excessive sweets, after all, so perhaps it was a regional thing.

I decided to grab one of the hors d’oeuvre just to get a taste of how Canterlot ponies did parties.

It was the first of many decisions I would come to regret in life.

After depositing what remained of my snack into the nearest potted plant, I decided to investigate what else the party had to offer. I wandered around the perimeter to start with, seeing what some of the other ponies were doing for fun. A lot of the grown-ups appeared to be more interesting in just talking amongst one another, something the adults in Canterlot seemed to love more than their own reflection.

The few colts and fillies my age were congregated around the various entertainers. That was when I saw one pony who was making balloon animals for some of the kids. Balloon animals! One of those would be guaranteed to bring a smile back to my face. As I raced towards him, all the possibilities began to rush through my mind—perhaps I would ask for a balloon-poodle. Or maybe a balloon-tiger. No, wait! A balloon-dragon! Nothing in all the realms of Equestria was better than an expertly-crafted dragon, brought to life by the finest balloon-magic in the kingdom.

Excitement continued to grow as I drew closer, compelling me into a near full-blown sprint. But that excitement soon turned into dismay when the balloon-wielding pony turned to face me. That’s when I sat it: the white face paint, the oversized shoes, the giant bulging eyes, the bright red rubber nose.

“C-c-c-clown!” I blurted out, skidding it a halt just feet away from him.

Clowns—why did it have to be a clown? What sort of syphilitic mind could invent such a terrifying abomination of an equine? I stood in the grand hall, frozen in fear as my gaze fixated on his horrid, bulbous visage. He flashed a cheerful grin at me, but a grinning dragon would have had better luck in availing my anxieties.

Naturally, I did what any child would do when confronted by one of their greatest fears: I turned and ran, screaming at the top of my lungs.

It was a good thing that nobody at Canterlot High ever discovered my childhood fear; otherwise, my reign of terror would’ve been very short-lived.

I sought refuge beneath one of the dining tables, using the silken tablecloth for concealment while I waited for the clown to move on to another filly. In retrospect, he probably forgot about me the moment I was out of sight, but at the time I was convinced clowns were the natural predator of innocent little fillies, thus necessitating a cautious approach.

Unfortunately, before I could venture out, one of the clowns started doing a bunch of party tricks right next to the table. The phobia left me paralyzed under the table, unable to even dare to move lest I be spotted by the red-nosed menace. This left me trapped under the relative safety of the table for Celestia-knows how many minutes. I lost track of time as I was more fixated on the horrible fates that could befall me if I were to be discovered.

What I would’ve given for Celestia to swoop in and save me right then and there.

Salvation did come, eventually, but in an unexpected way. A young unicorn poked her head in under the table cloth and gave me a quizzical stare. “What are you doing under here?” she asked, sounding almost amused by my hiding spot.

“What? Oh! I’m, um… n-nothing!” I stammered back, once again feeling sheepish and anxious as I fumbled my answer.

“Well if you keep hiding under here, you’re going to miss out on the cake,” the filly informed before disappearing behind the tablecloth again.

“Cake!” I yelped as I sprang to my hooves. The fear of losing out on cake was far more motivating than any fear of clowns. However, as I raced out from under the table, my horn snagged on the tablecloth. I pulled the entirety of the table’s contents with me, creating a huge, clattering disaster behind me. As a growing number of disapproving eyes were levied against me, I could only manage an embarrassed grin and a half-hearted, “Oopsies.”

Unfortunately, the adults around me were not content to just let this issue slide. As I untangled myself from the tablecloth, one pompous-looking mare approached me.

“Excuse me, but where do you think you’re heading off to?” she asked, though even the young me could recognize that her tone meant she wasn’t actually interested in my answer. It was the typical parental ‘I don’t like what I’ve caught you doing’ tone.

Even though I didn’t know who this pony was, she was intimidating nonetheless with a scornful gaze and enough jewelry to make anyone think she’s somebody important.

“I-I was just going to get some cake,” I explained.

“After leaving behind that disaster?” she answered, pointing at all of the spilled appetizers and glasses that my haphazard exit left behind. “Now I don’t know what kind of household you’ve lived in, but one does not just make such a mess and do nothing about it! It’s incredibly disrespectful to the other guests and especially to our most gracious hostess.”

Whoever this mare was, she knew how to layer on the guilt like peanut butter. She prattled on for a few minutes, explaining the depravity of my inconsiderate behaviour and how it was ruining the enjoyment for those around me, and how selfish it was for me to think that I could cause such trouble without taking any responsibility. She wasn’t wrong with what she said, but she wasn’t pulling any punches despite dealing with but a child. I tried not to let her words affect me too much, but it was hard for a child not to feel disheartened when somebody was scolding you as though you were the worst pony in the whole world.

“—I should drag your parents over here and explain to them what an inconsiderate filly they’ve been raising and—”

“No! Please don’t!” I pleaded with the mare. Though my parents were miles away in another city, I feared that this incident would be brought to Princess Celestia’s attention, and I didn’t want to offend my mentor with a display of inconsiderate behavior, especially during a party that Celestia organized for me. “I-I’ll clean it up, I promise!”

“Hmph, now that’s more like it,” the mare replied, smirking in triumph before heading on her way.

As I couldn’t see any waste bins nearby, I spread the tablecloth out like a tarp and began piling up all the spilt food, plates, and glassware into a pile in the center. On the bright side, it made for a good opportunity to practise my magical dexterity, grabbing individual pieces of broken glass rather than scooping it all up with one magical shovel. It made for a bit more work, but I relished any opportunity to use my magic, even for mundane tasks.

Once I had finished cleaning up and soothed my guilty conscience, I was once more gripped with renewed excitement. It was time for cake; it was my birthday party and I had just finished cleaning a big mess, so I deserved a reward. There would be cake, and no clown or uptight mare was going to stand in my way! I was ready to fight through Nightmare Moon herself if that was what it took.

With all that enthusiasm in mind, you can imagine how devastated I felt when I reached the table where the cake had been and discovered nothing but a silver platter with a sprinkling of crumbs and icing upon it. I was too stunned for words. How could this have happened? The cake was there just a few minutes ago. It wasn’t as though it just grew legs and walked out the door.

Well, that’s technically possible if one cast a self-locomotion spell on the cake, but who would do that?

A quick glance about the room, however, and I soon realized that the cake didn’t need to grow legs to walk away, it just hitched a ride with things that already had legs. Almost everyone at the party was strolling about with a slice of cake on their plate, happily munching away at pieces of my birthday cake.

This was an absolute injustice! A crime against all equine kind!

“Wh-what happened to the cake?” I asked to the nearest pony enjoying ill-gotten goods. “How is it all gone?”

“Hrm?” Once again, the guests of the party seemed to be taken by surprise to be approached by a little filly. “Oh, yes, I suppose it is all gone. I guess they didn’t make the cake large enough for the crowd.”

“N-nopony saved me a piece?” I whimpered in disbelief. “But… but that was my cake!”

“Your cake? My my, somebody has a sense of entitlement,” the pony scoffed before trotting away.

I allowed him to leave without further harassment, as I was still too stunned to respond. It was like seeing a fully-grown stallion suddenly jump out in a wig and dress; your brain needs to take a few moments just to make sure it’s not suffering from a stroke or a hallucinogenic drug.

“But it’s my birthday,” I murmured to myself.

Oh well, who needed cake anyways? It’s not like it’s one of the best parts of a birthday party anyways. Cake is overrated anyways: just loads of sugar and fat. It’s not healthy for a growing filly to gorge themselves on so many empty calories. Besides, I lived at the Royal Palace, so it wasn’t as though I couldn’t ask for some pastries or cake to be sent to my room at any hour of the day, not that I abused such a privilege since I was still wary of asking too much of my hosts.

Suffice to say, the party was doing little to instill anything that resembled joy into my life, unless joy normally tasted like tail sweat. There was still one last thing I could do that could make this party worth all the effort put into it, and that was to make some friends. A good friend could make even a colonoscopy better, which coincidentally enough was what my time at the party had felt like thus far.

I eventually managed to find a group of colts and fillies about my age that looked the most likely to give me a chance. Most of them were playing around with their balloon animals, though a few of the colts had balloon swords and were in the midst of an epic duel. As I drew closer, my nervousness and anxiety began to scream from the back of my mind to just turn and walk away, to spare myself what would surely be yet another embarrassing disaster.

Maybe life would have gone differently for me if I had listened to that voice.

A more astute pony might’ve realized that something was amiss when, one-by-one, all of the colts and fillies’ heads turned in my direction. Some of them looked on with curious gazes, others with awe and wonder. Now I wasn’t so self-absorbed at that age to believe that my mere presence warranted such response, but they were nonetheless all looking in my direction so I knew I had to say something.

“H-hello everypony, my name is Sunset—”

“Oh my gosh, it’s Princess Celestia!” one of the fillies shouted.

I didn’t even have time to say ‘what?’ before the rush of ponies charging past left me sprawled across the floor in a dazed mess. Once the room stopped spinning, I was able to see the source of all the commotion. Sure enough, it was Princess Celestia’s arrival that garnered everyone’s attention.

And why wouldn’t she? She was the Princess, after all; the most admired and beloved pony in the entire kingdom. Ponies would trample each other underhoof, as nearly demonstrated just a few moments ago, just for a chance to be within hoof’s reach of her. Before becoming her pupil, I would have happily shoved my grandmother down the stairs and ridden upon her back like a toboggan if it meant getting close to the Princess.

It was then I finally realized that the ponies here might’ve been attending a birthday party, but that was not why they were here.

*******************

“Sunset, are you in here?”

Not many ponies can say that they’ve ignored Princess Celestia, especially when she’s calling your name, but I was in little mood to talk. In fact, the only thing I wanted at that moment was an invisibility cloak so I could disappear from the world altogether. Instead, however, I had to settle with just hiding under my bedsheets again, which is about as conspicuous as wings on a pig.

The fact that my tail was dangling out from under the bedsheets didn’t help me either.

Nonetheless, I remained steadfast in my silence. If Celestia wanted conversation, she would have to drag it out of me, which in retrospect is hardly an obstacle for one as powerful as she. But the Princess was a patient pony, not one to force conversation when it wasn’t necessary. Instead, she set herself down on the bed next to me, trying once more to coax me out.

“I couldn’t find you at your party,” she continued. “You haven’t been hiding up here the whole time have you?”

“Why not?” I murmured in response, though still hidden beneath the quilts. “It wasn’t my party, anyways, it was your party. That’s why everypony was there; why all the grown-ups were having their stupid grown-up conversations, and eating their stupid, icky grown-up foods.” I allowed myself a quiet, heartbroken whimper. I didn’t want to come across as some whimpering cry baby, but it was hard to keep my emotions contained. “Nopony knew who I was; they didn’t even care.”

In response, all I heard was a faint muttering of ‘oh dear,’ followed by a prolonged silence. Had I made similar remarks in front of my family, my father would’ve rebuked me to the point where I would’ve felt like I had single-handedly ruined the party. As a result, I was a very confused filly when met with this reaction. Curiosity eventually overpowered my bout of self-pity and I soon poked my head out from under the blankets. What I saw left me in disbelief: Celestia looked absolutely crestfallen.

“Princess Celestia, what’s wrong?” I asked, now more concerned about her than anything that I had been feeling.

“I wanted to make this day special for you,” Celestia explained. “Watching you spend the past few months here without making any friends, it was heart-wrenching for me. It felt like I was failing you. No filly should be spending their childhood alone, least of all one as special as you.” Then Princess Celestia did something I did not expect. “I am so very sorry, Sunset.”

A Princess apologizing? But that would’ve required her to admit to fault or error. I was a filly that saw Celestia as this grand, infallible being; how could she be wrong about anything?

“I-it’s not your fault,” I hastily replied. “It’s just a party. It’s not a big deal—really.”

Her wing suddenly swooped around me, drawing me in closer until I was nestled alongside her. “Your compassion is touching, Sunset, but it is equally important to be honest and open about how you feel. You cannot expect ponies to be honest with you if you do not learn to be honest with yourself and with others. So please, speak from your heart.”

“Okay then,” I nodded slowly, “in that case, I thought there were too many grown-ups there. The things grown-ups do for fun is boring, and they just make everything around them boring. And the food was gross. Why weren’t there any cupcakes? Or fritters? Or ice cream?” Honesty had a rather therapeutic effect, and it didn’t take long before I was spouting every grievance I had been holding in. “I mean, who serves cheese at a birthday party? Especially the stinky blue kind! I mean, it’s just all ‘bleck!’ you know? Plus they ate all the cake before I ever even got close to it. I’m beginning to think everyone just came in order to take a slice because they devoured it faster than a flock of parasprites! Then there were the clowns. Why did there have to be clowns?”

“Do you not like clowns?”

“Clowns are filly-abducting demons wrapped in red rubber and face paint! They are not ponies but an amalgamation of lies and horror, made manifest by the will of a demented mind!”

After such a thorough venting, I had to take a moment to catch my breath and let all the emotion wash over me. Celestia, for her part, found a small source of amusement in my sudden outburst, which was quite a departure from the soft-spoken nature she must’ve grown used to.

“Do you feel a bit better now?” she asked.

“A little,” I nodded.

“It’s funny; you would think with all the parties and galas and festivities that I’ve hosted over the years, I would know what to do to celebrate one filly’s birthday,” Celestia remarked, a wistful sigh following afterwards. “I’m so very sorry for what happened today. I had wanted to give you something special for today, and instead I only made you feel worse. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course! I could never be mad with you,” I insisted, oblivious to how quickly that sentiment would change in the future. I tried to offer what comfort I could by giving the Princess a hug, even though my tiny hooves could barely reach around her figure. “It’s just a silly party, anyways. To be honest, I’d really like if I could just spend my birthday with you.”

“Then allow me the chance to correct this injustice,” Celestia suddenly announced. She had a playful smirk on her face, one that filled me with joyful anticipation. Her magic hoisted me off the bed as she got back to her hooves and she set me down upon her back.

“What are we going to do?” I asked as I grasped my hooves around the base of her neck. I was already giddy with excitement just at the idea of getting to ride around on the Princess, so one could imagine what I felt wondering what else she had in store.

“First off, we are going to go down to the kitchen, and we are going to get you another cake—a proper one this time, made however you want!”

“Really? Any kind of cake I want?”

“To your heart’s content.”

“Then I want a chocolate cake. No, wait! A vanilla cake—wait, I got it! A chocolate and vanilla cake! With lots of strawberries and rainbow sprinkles!”

Celestia laughed as she trotted off towards the kitchen. “Now that sounds like a cake worth celebrating with,” she replied. On our way out, we passed by her Royal Schedule Advisor. “Mr. Kibitz, clear the rest of my schedule for today; I shall be spending it with my pupil.”

The rest of the day was spent with Celestia and I enjoying cake by the fireplace in her quarters. We talked about life, the places we’ve been, our dreams for the future, and every other subject an inquisitive filly could conceive of. By the time we had finished the cake, including sharing slices with patrolling guards and some of the cleaning staff, I had long since fallen asleep alongside the Princess. It was by far the best birthday I had ever had.

Princess Celestia must’ve really enjoyed the evening, too, as it became a yearly tradition for us. Whenever my birthday came around, we didn’t bother with any kind of fancy parties or social gatherings; just us and a cake by the fireplace.

In retrospect, perhaps if we hadn’t committed to our new tradition, I might’ve had a more successful birthday party later and formed meaningful relationships with other ponies. And that by focusing so much more on my relation with my mentor, I ignored learning lessons about friendship. Instead of exposing me to others, I became insulated from them. None of that is to imply Celestia made a mistake or should burden any of the blame for my eventual failings in life; after all, it was only one day out of the year, and I chose to let the ruins of my first birthday keep me from even considering approaching any of the other fillies in school. I had the Princess and my magic, and that was all I decided I needed.

Of course, like many of the good things in my life, I eventually took this tradition for granted and decided that it was secondary to my pursuit of magic and knowledge. Apart from my later expulsion, my last birthday under Princess Celestia’s tutelage was the biggest mistake of my life.

*******************

“Sunset Shimmer? Are you in here?” Celestia called out, which broke the tranquility of the castle library. Though I didn’t answer back immediately, the Princess was able to follow the sound of my twinkling magic to eventually find me behind a fortress of tomes and texts, otherwise known as my second bedroom at the castle. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Oh! Sorry, Princess Celestia. I’ve been busy studying,” I replied, not that the answer wasn’t obvious at first glance.

“I suppose I should’ve expected this,” she remarked as she shifted some of the books aside to afford a better view of me. “I was hoping that we might be able to spend some time together.”

“Will this be a lesson? Should I bring my notebooks?”

“No, this isn’t any kind of lesson.”

“Oh. Um, in that case, could we maybe do that tomorrow? I was hoping to be able to finish this book tonight.”

Were my muzzle not buried in the aforementioned books, I might’ve noticed how disappointed my mentor looked. “Do you know what day it is?” she asked, not trying to sound incessant but clearly attempting to nudge the conversation in a particular direction.

Again, though, I was so busy reading that Nightmare Moon could’ve dropped into the chair next to me and I wouldn’t have noticed until the eternal night ruined my lighting.

“Of course,” I answered, “it’s three weeks from my next exam. That’s why I need to make sure I know these books cover to cover in preparation.”

“Sunset Shimmer, you don’t need to spend every waking hour studying. You can take a night off from studying and still be more than capable of passing all of your exams with flying colours.”

“Well, I know that, too, but it’s why I’m here after all,” I replied with an amused chuckle. “I’m here to study and learn magic, so it’s kind of wasting my potential to bother with anything else.”

“Do you really consider spending time talking with me to be wasting your potential?”

“W-what? N-no! I didn’t mean it like that all your highness,” I quickly stammered in a verbal retreat. “It’s just… I know you’re busy and all, so I don’t want to take away from your important duties of running the kingdom. And these studies are very important to me, so I would really like to get them finished.”

Celestia eventually let out a quiet, defeated sigh. “Very well then, I shall leave you to your books.”

“Unless you want to talk about, say, magic mirrors.”

“Good night, Sunset Shimmer.”

The Princess then left, leaving me to spend the rest of the night pouring over my textbooks and wondering why so many of the night guards were eating cake.

*******************

“It never once dawned on me that perhaps Princess Celestia looked forward to those nights even more than I had. My expulsion was difficult, but I brought that upon myself by ignoring the real lessons she was trying to teach me. But what I did to her, taking something that was so important to her and throwing it aside like it meant nothing—I deserve far worse for that.”

Once I had finished my story, I felt a strange sense of emotional fatigue about me, as though my heart had decided to run its own marathon. When I finally glanced up after having spent most of the story staring shamefully into my clasped hands, I saw two faces looking quite surprised, and one on the verge of tears.

“Um, Pinkie Pie, are you oka—”

“That was so sad!” Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, lunging forward and throwing her arms around me. She squeezed tight, burying her face into my shoulder as she continued to sob and blubber uncontrollably.

“Pinkie, you’re… hugging me.” I was so taken by surprise that my brain had trouble formulating a response beyond stating the obvious. “Could you stop that? Please?”

But she didn’t. She just kept on crying.

“Please stop crying,” I continued pleading with her. I looked to the others for help. “I don’t—what do I do? Oh god, please stop crying already.”

Fortunately for me, Luna decided to intervene and she gently eased my friend away. “Okay, give her some space,” she suggested. “I know it’s sad and all, but crying isn’t very productive.”

“O-okay.” Pinkie nodded between sniffles.

I wasn’t sure what Luna was planning, but I could tell she was up to something when she motioned for me to shift my seat so that Pinkie and I were facing one another. Luna herself sat just off to the side, almost like an intermediary.

“Now I first want to say that I am still trying to wrap my head around Sunset’s story,” Luna began. “Suffice to say, it’s hard for me to picture something involving my sister, yet also not my sister because she is a giant magic horse.”

“Pony,” Pinkie corrected.

“Well, Princess Celestia is pretty tall. Horse wouldn’t be an inaccurate term, at least from this world’s perspective,” I replied.

“Do you even have horses in Equestria?” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“From a scientific standpoint, we often used the term horse to distinguish the modern pony species from some of its distant ancestors,” I explained. “It was also once used to refer to inhabitants from Saddle Arabia, as they’re much, much larger, but that has its roots as a derogatory term so it’s sorta frowned upon these days.”

“Girls!” Luna called for our attention once more with a firm tone. “I think we’re getting a little distracted. What the two of you need right now is an honest and serious conversation about this whole birthday business, with emphasis on the honest and serious part. So that means no jokes from you, Pinkie, and no more obfuscation from you, Sunset.”

“What’s obfuscation mean?” Rainbow asked, raising her hand up.

“It means she wants me to be completely honest,” I answered. “And I suppose that is something I still need to get in the habit of.”

“And why do you believe that’s the case?” Luna was beginning to sound less like a vice principal and my daily tormentor, and more like her sister.

At first I just shrugged my shoulders and gave the sort of ‘I dunno’ that one would expect from most teenagers. She wanted honesty, though, so I decided to say the first thing that came to mind.

“I guess I’m just always worried that the more people find out about me, the less they’ll like me. It didn’t take much for the school to universally revile me, and they haven’t even seen the real nitty, gritty details of the kind of person I was.” Once I put the first few thoughts to word, though, the rest began to flow quite readily. I was still nervous, though, fidgeting in my seat like a prisoner under interrogation, but I willed myself forward anyways. “So I’ve always got to watch my step and what I say because I know I’m still treading on thin ice with everyone.”

“But we’re your friends,” Pinkie replied. “I mean, you already tried to take over the school, how bad do you think you’ll overstep if you just stay honest? It’s not like you’re going to wake up one morning and decide to start being evil again.”

“Things don’t fall apart all at once, Pinkie. I didn’t lose my standing with Princess Celestia in one fell swoop—it was little by little. So who knows where that line will be when you decide that I don’t deserve something even as simple as a birthday party.”

I must’ve struck a nerve with Pinkie because she suddenly shot up from the seat like her rear-end had caught fire. “Don’t you dare say that about yourself!” she bellowed.

Though I was taken aback by the sudden intensity, I realized soon that it wasn’t anger or malice that fueled her, but a passion of a different variety.

“You are not some horrible monster that needs to be locked away or never allowed to have any good things in their life! You are Sunset Shimmer, and you deserve to be just as happy and to have lots of friends and wonderful memories just like everybody else! Even if we stop being friends, you would still deserve to have all of those things because everybody deserves those things, no matter what. You might think you don’t deserve a party, but I think you deserve one even more because you should never think so little of yourself. You’re smart and confident and driven and I’m always super jealous of your hair. You’re wonderful, and you’ve got to believe that with all your heart!”

When Pinkie Pie first said that she was willing to be my friend, many weeks ago, I was skeptical of what I could possibly learn from her. Applejack helped me to understand the importance of honesty. Fluttershy showed me that kindness was not just a net balance of gains and losses. What could Pinkie have shown me with her constant need to make people laugh or throw parties? What did the Element of Laughter really mean?

“I know it might just seem like a party to you,” Pinkie continued with barely even a pause for breathing, “but I want to throw you a party because you’re my friend. Parties make me feel great, but more importantly it helps make my friends feel great. It brings all the important people in your life together and you get to make all kinds of wonderful memories that you get to carry through your whole life! Even if we’re not always friends later on, I still want you to be able to look back on these years and still feel happy about them, and maybe even help to keep reminding you about how great a friend you’ll always be to me and to others.”

That’s when I realized how blind I was being to something that had been staring me in the face. Laughter wasn’t just about making a person feel good in the moment, it was hope; it was joy; it was optimism. It was the rosy tint in your eyes that could let you wake up in the morning, look out the window, see nothing but gray clouds and rain, and still say to yourself ‘today is going to be a great day!’ Pinkie had always been trying to do more than just make me smile and giggle, she wanted me to feel good about my life—past, present, and future. She wanted me to believe in myself that I can always build a better day.

She had always been trying to inspire me, even if she didn’t necessarily realize it herself.

“Oh wow, feeling… kinda dizzy now…” Pinkie began to waver, murmuring inaudibly before eventually falling back into her seat in a tired heap. Perhaps the next time she went on a rant, she’d remember to breathe.

As for myself, I was still staring with my mouth hanging open like an idiot.

“I… I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about it,” I eventually stammered out. “I always thought you just wanted to throw a party because that’s what you like to do. I never even really stopped to consider that it was for my sake, or that maybe I could use some cheering up in my life. I guess guilt has a way of making somebody get a little fixated on trying to right all the wrongs, even when it’s self-destructive.” I gave her a weak smile and then reached over to grab her still tired hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t take you or your party seriously.”

“Does this mean… that we can have a—?”

“Yes, Pinkie, you can throw me a birthday party.”

Despite her fatigue, my friend managed to throw up one arm in celebration. “Go Pinkie.”

Act IV-V

“Oh, wow! I can’t believe your birthday is only a few weeks away! I’m really going to have to pull out all the stops if I’m going to get something super fantastic planned in time.”

“Pinkie, it’s just one birthday party; how much time could you possibly need?”

“You can never have too much time,” my friend insisted despite my continued confusion. “Like my Grandma Pie used to say, ‘a minute of preparation is worth an hour of fun,’ and I’ve got thirty thousand minutes to prepare for this!”

How Pinkie could do that kind of mental math in a few moments and yet still struggle with her algebra was a mystery to me, but it did bring about a quiet chuckle as I guided my friend to the door.

“Just don’t forget to finish the rest of the assignment, okay? I need these grades a lot more than I need a party.”

“I won’t let you down, and that’s a Pinkie promise!”

To no surprise, ever since I caved and relinquished the closely-guarded secret of my birthday, Pinkie had not stopped talking about it. Granted, it had been only a few hours, but the evening was growing late and I needed to send Pinkie back home before her parents started calling, or worse, her sister Maud.

That girl frightened me in ways I had not thought possible.

“Hey, you think maybe we could throw the party at my place?” Pinkie suggested. “I mean, I know you’re still a little sensitive about the whole ‘living with the principal’ thing.”

“Your place sounds just fine, though I doubt the party will be anything more than just you and the other girls. It’s not like people are climbing over each other to be seen with me these days.”

“Don’t sell yourself too short, Sunset,” Rainbow Dash chimed as she passed me on the way out. “We’ve still got a few weeks to fix you up. I guarantee you, by the time your party hits, it’ll be the place to be.”

It’d take nothing short of a miracle, or perhaps saving the entire school, to change anyone’s opinion about me. However, I didn’t want to sound too pessimistic, so I just smiled and nodded along while I ushered them away.

Before my friends made their final departure, Pinkie Pie decided that she needed to throw one last wrench in my carefully balanced world. “Hey Luna,” she shouted out to the vice principle still lingering over my shoulder, “since you fixed our problem, maybe you can fix Sunset’s boy problem too!”

“I do not have a boy problem!” I shouted in a blind panic before slamming the door shut. For a brief moment, I prayed that I was fast enough to keep Luna from getting any ideas, but that lasted only as long as it took for me to turn around.

“Boy problem, huh?” she asked in a rhetorical fashion with an almost Cheshire-like grin.

“There is no boy problem,” I denied once more.

Much like my other friends, though, the more I denied the existence of something, the more curious Luna became. It was not in quite the same fashion, though, as she was smart enough to know this wasn’t just a case of ‘the lady doth protest too much.’ She followed me to the kitchen, grabbing a slice of leftover pizza in the process as well as a six-pack of cola from the fridge.

“So if it’s not a boy problem, what is it that you’re hiding from them?” she asked, her words muffled by cheese and pepperoni.

“I’m not hiding anything from them. Why do you always have to presume there’s some ulterior motive?” Yet again, my attempts at denial fell upon skeptical ears. I tried to retreat back to the living room, but, for once, Luna did not skulk back to the seclusion of her bedroom and instead continued her pursuit of me. I tried turning on the television in the hopes that something on it might distract Luna, but at this point I was grasping at straws.

“It’s been a working strategy for dealing with you thus far. It’s not my fault you’re a creature of habit,” Luna continued as she sat down on the opposite end of the couch. “Now, you don’t strike me as the type to be embarrassed about boy problems, so if you haven’t corrected your friends by stapling the answer to their forehead, then it’s probably because it’s more useful as a smokescreen.”

“How in blazes did I ever get away with anything?” I scoffed. It seemed like every day was another reminder that I was as transparent as the Emperor’s New Clothes to every adult around me.

Luna just had a good laugh at my frustration, but not in the malicious manner. “I had always been suspicious of you and your antics ever since you came to Canterlot High, but my sister was always telling me to give you space and dismiss any of my concerns. It was like even before you moved in, she was looking out for you.” The last part sounded like Luna had her own frustrations on the matter, which reminded me of the whole reason we’ve been having this conversation for the past few hours.

“Do you have any idea why?”

“I had my suspicions… but nothing concrete,” she answered with a resigned sigh. It was probably not the first time she’d contemplated the issue, though perhaps the first time she’d discussed it with anyone. “Want a cola?” she offered out of the blue.

It was curious to think that, just a few hours ago, we were almost at each other’s throats, and now she was offering me a drink like we were just two friends hanging out together. Maybe now that we’d done away with our old preconceptions of one another, we were now able to start anew and look at one another with a fresh perspective. I was no longer the unruly teen undeserving of my station in life, but just a girl trying to make things right again; and Luna wasn’t the vindictive warden I had labeled her as, but a woman struggling with her own demons and the shadow they cast. I still didn’t know what these demons were, as she had yet to uphold her side of our bargain, but I didn’t want to come across as pushy. The peace treaty had not yet been signed: too much aggression could put us right back into a state of war, and I wasn’t going to risk that after already opening myself up to her.

Having a mental fortress doesn’t do much good if you unlock the front gates.

Remembering what Flash Sentry taught me about trusting others, I accepted the peace offering without a second thought. I was content to enjoy what civility we had going, and turned my attention to the television.

“Anything good on?” Luna asked between sips from her own beverage.

“Beats me,” I answered with a shrug. “I was never much for watching TV.”

“Likewise.”

“I remember seeing a nice-looking television set in your room, though.”

I continued flipping through the channels, barely even paying attention to what was on them.

“That’s for my Gamestation,” Luna explained.

I glanced over to Luna, giving her a puzzled stare, and then back to the television set in front of us. Now, Celestia wasn’t much for high-tech gadgets or extreme luxuries, but even she saw the benefit of owning a fifty-five inch LED television set. It could almost be considered a sin to have a Gamestation in a household and not have it hooked up to the biggest screen available.

“Why’s it in your room and not down here?” I inquired.

“Because my sister dislikes all the noise it would make.”

“Okay, but Celestia isn’t here right now.”

At that moment, it was as though a light turned on inside Luna’s head; as if the thought had never even crossed her mind. Perhaps she had just been such a creature of habit that once she got set in her way, she didn’t bother changing it even when there was literally nobody to stop her. Within twenty minutes, she had moved her Gamestation into the living room and we were playing some shooter game involving heavily-armoured men with big guns and bigger chins. I’ve never had much interest in video games, but they were something that this world possessed a huge advantage over Equestria in. Back home, the best we had were these large arcade cabinets that were decades behind this world’s standard.

After all, how could one expect a pony to use a controller with hooves? It’d be like trying to send text messages with your elbows.

Eventually, between firefights against seemingly endless waves of ugly aliens, I probed Luna for more information. “So what’s your theory, anyways?”

“I don’t really need a theory; I’ve beaten this game before.”

“I meant about your sister.”

“Oh, right,” Luna murmured, sounding almost disheartened by the subject. “When Celestia first started teaching, she was the type of teacher to get involved and engaged with her students at every opportunity, no matter how small. If she had a problematic student, she found a way to make them love learning again; if one was struggling, she helped uplift them.”

For a brief second, I thought she was talking about Princess Celestia.

“But there was a brief period where Celestia and I were out of contact—”

“You mean when you were in juvie?”

Luna shot me an annoyed glare for a brief moment, which left me fearing that she was about to strangle me with a game controller cord. Thankfully, she seemed to let the comment slip by. “Yes, when I was incarcerated, I didn’t keep in touch with her. However, when I got out, that… enthusiasm in my sister had been diminished. She still loved to teach, but she always kept herself at more of a distance.”

“What do you suppose happened?”

“I’ve asked but she doesn’t talk about it, so it has to be something significant,” Luna said with an uncertain shrug. “A bad student who she couldn’t handle, or maybe a co-worker that gave her problems. My guess is she had a student that she failed in some way, and she’s blamed herself over it ever since.”

That also sounded much like the Princess I knew. Studying in Canterlot enabled me to read up on the legend and stories surrounding Nightmare Moon, and though I only spoke to her about it once, even a person as self-absorbed as I had been could see the guilt that laced her response. She told me the truth of it, albeit very briefly, and then brushed the issue aside, stating that it was ancient history. From what I had heard about the past few years in Equestria, I had wondered if Celestia would’ve sent me to Ponyville were I still her student during that 1000th summer.

“Maybe I could try asking her about it,” I remarked.

“She’ll lie about it. Or deflect. Believe it or not, but I’m probably the more honest of the two of us.”

Hearing Luna say that with a straight face was like Discord genuinely describing himself as rational and level-headed compared to Princess Celestia. But perhaps there was some truth to what she said; Luna could be blunt and tactless, but at least you always knew where you stood with her. Then again, yaks were honest, too, but that didn’t lessen the property damage.

With the subject of Luna’s honesty having been brought up, I decided to test that and steer the conversation back towards the one thing I had been waiting for.

“So how did someone like you wind up in juvie?” I asked.

No doubt Luna expected me to broach this subject at some point given that she had promised me answers, but even still she must not have been fully prepared as she abruptly paused the game. She let out a discouraged sigh, most likely feeling the same sense of apprehension that had been riding alongside me when I told my story.

“Tia and I… we lost our parents to a car crash a long time ago,” she began, clearly not wasting time in getting to the heavy parts. “Since my sister was legally an adult at the time, she was given guardianship over me. She insisted on it since she didn’t want to risk having her only remaining family sent away, but…”

With just as much indication, Luna unpaused the game and I was forced to shift my attention back to the screen lest I wished for my video game avatar to catch a rocket to the face. I wasn’t sure why she wanted to continue playing during the conversation, but I had to keep pace with her unless I wanted her to become distracted by my ineptitude at this game.

“Between her university courses and handling the family finances, Celestia barely had enough time to deal with her own problems, let alone a brooding little teenager who felt completely alone in the world,” Luna continued. I couldn’t help but notice her becoming more tense as she continued, her motions becoming more aggressive and jerky in the game. “I was angry and trying to struggle with my grief, and the one person who could’ve helped me through that was too overwhelmed to notice anything else.”

“I’m sure she was doing the best she could given the circumstances,” I replied, though having trouble dividing my attention between the game and the conversation.

“I know that now, but try telling that to a fourteen-year-old snot-nosed brat who decided that the world and everything in it sucked.”

“So what did you do?”

“I did what most petulant teenagers do: dressed in dark clothes, spent hours in my room brooding, wrote garbage poetry thinking it was deep and meaningful—”

“Did you ever tell Celestia that it wasn’t ‘just a phase?’” My playful grin didn’t last very long as an explosion and a scream soon echoed from the television set; my little soldier had suddenly been reduced to a pile of bloody giblets. “Hey!” I shouted in protest. “I just finally upgraded my laser rifle.”

“My finger slipped,” Luna replied.

“With your rocket launcher just coincidentally pointed at me?”

“I’ve got seven more rockets if you want to keep this up.”

“Fine; I’ll be good,” I grumbled in defeat. Digital or not, it was never a good idea to annoy somebody with a bigger gun than you. “So what happened exactly to land you in juvie?”

“I felt alone and unwanted, so naturally I latched onto what sense of acceptance I could,” Luna continued on. “Fell in with some bad crowds—alcohol, smoking, general trouble-making things that young teens with too much time and money on their hands get into. I thought they were my friends, but they were just using me to get at my family’s money.”

Exploiting the insecurities of the outcast, that was something I knew all too well. Snips and Snails, for example, craved acceptance and attention from powerful figures. I’d almost go so far as to say they almost yearned to be subjugated. Either way, twisting them to my will was child’s play when I first met them. And from the other side of the fence, I was reminded of my dealings with Diamond Tiara, who took advantage of my insecurity with my friends, though she was far less subtle about it. With all the confusion and uncertainty that came with adolescence, I realized how important it was to have true friends that you could count on to help guide you and protect you.

Maybe if Snips or Snails had some other friends, they wouldn’t have turned to me.

“What did your sister think of your friends?” I inquired.

“As I said, Tia was so busy with everything on her plate that she hardly took notice of my friends. At least, not until the bank called and told her that I had managed to drain several thousand dollars from the savings accounts Mom and Dad left for us.”

“T-thousands?” I blurted out in disbelief. So great was my shock that I didn’t notice nor care that my little soldier was reduced to a smoldering crater in the absence of my guidance. “How in the world did you manage that?”

Luna paused the game once again, if only to prevent my failures from dragging her progress down as well. “You’d be amazed how quickly you can go through money when you’re trying to impress older kids,” she answered. “Buy a few meals here, movie tickets there, gifts every couple of weeks, and don’t forget the beer money. One of my ‘friends’ had a fake ID, but I supplied the money because, well, everybody loved having me around for that. Made me feel like I was wanted; like I mattered.”

“And I take it Celestia did not take kindly to the missing money and how it was being spent.”

“More so when she found out that I was able to take the money because I cracked her passwords for the online banking,” she explained with a quiet sigh to herself. “We got into such a huge argument because of it. Well, she just wanted to scold me and have me promise not to do it again, but I saw it as an opportunity to finally vent all my grievances at a sister who I felt was largely absent from my life. Tempers boiled over, things were shouted, and I may have pitched a few vases and other things at her. In the end, we stormed off in separate directions to cool off. And then I decided to do something really stupid.”

“Couldn’t be any worse than trying to brainwash your classmates into a personal army.”

We both had a quick laugh after that. Normally I wouldn’t think of using the things I was most ashamed of as a tension breaker, but I think we needed a good laugh at that point. It was probably a good sign that I could look back at myself and make a joke of it.

“No, but I did get drunk and steal her car,” Luna explained once she settled down. “Managed to wrap it around a lamppost, too. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in an emergency room, handcuffed to the gurney.”

“Ouch,” I murmured, feeling all the humour pour out of the conversation faster than a jug of Applejack’s fizzy cider after a Wondercolt’s game. “You weren’t hurt too badly, were you?”

“Physically, no. Emotionally, I was still wrecked worse than the car. And of course I was now looking at criminal charges for fraud, underaged drinking, motor theft, and driving under the influence.”

“I know you said that Celestia tried her best, but you also mentioned during our, um, argument that Celestia didn’t ‘save’ you,” I commented in a careful probe for the last missing details. “What did you mean by that exactly?”

“Well, when the lawyers heard the whole sob story, they tried to make a deal,” Luna explained, her voice growing more dour. “They said what I needed was guidance and therapy, not confinement, so they were willing to give me a lighter sentence that avoided any jail time, but there was one major condition.”

“And that was?”

“Celestia had to agree to resume guardianship. They felt that in order to rehabilitate, I had to stay with family, otherwise I’d risk getting lost in the system going into foster care.” Luna’s gaze shifted away from me as she slumped forward in her seat. Her eyes went to the nearby window, gazing out to the stars and moon in the sky. “All she had to do was say yes and I could go home. But she didn’t. I know I shouldn’t blame her: she was overwhelmed with school and finances and everything. She had no idea how to take care of a normal teenager, let alone a troubled one. She was drowning in reality and a lifeline was thrown to her. Who wouldn’t take it?”

“But you’re her sister!”

“And I took complete advantage of that trust!” Luna snapped back in a surprise turn. It was almost as though she was torn between being angry for what was done and being angry at herself for creating the situation. “I was her sister and I took advantage of her just to get chummy with a bunch of low-lives. She had every reason to cut me loose.”

“And yet you still resent her for it,” I remarked.

“Yes! I mean, no. I mean… I don’t know what to think some days.” With a frustrated groan, the younger sibling fell back against the couch, sprawling across it and staring aimlessly at the ceiling. “Do you have any idea how long a thousand days in juvenile hall is?”

“But you came out of it better, didn’t you? You’re the one who kept insisting that juvenile hall would be good for me.”

She gave a silent nod, followed by a deep sigh. “Juvie gave me structure… order… discipline. I attended courses so I could still graduate with a high school equivalency, and there were even workshops on computer science that I got really involved with. By the end of my stay, I was practically running the computer lab there. Yet, despite all the good, I still spent the entire time being angry at my sister. At the time, it felt like the undeniable proof that my sister was abandoning me, and that she didn’t care for me at all.”

I could relate to those feelings as well. I remembered leaving Equestria for this world, thinking that Princess Celestia had abandoned me as well. A sense of betrayal was a great way to solidify one’s anger and focus it like sunlight through a magnifying glass, only with far more devastating results.

“I’m starting to think we should start a club or something,” I remarked as I joined Luna in sprawling across the couch. “Like a ‘Blame Celestia’ club.”

“Or maybe ‘Celestia-holics Anonymous.’”

“My name is Sunset Shimmer, and I’m a Celestia-holic.”

“The first step to recovery is admitting you have a Celestia problem. My name is Luna, and I am a Celestia-holic.”

After another uproar of laughter to pull us out of the sullen atmosphere, we were able to resume our game with a better understanding of one another. I never would’ve thought I’d have so much in common with Luna, but people are always so full of surprises. I’d consider myself fortunate if I could become half as successful in life as Luna has.

“So how did you smooth things out with your sister?” I asked during a particularly long loading screen. “I mean, you two get along perfectly well these days, at least from what I’ve seen.”

I was surprised when Luna just gave a half-hearted shrug in response. It didn’t give me much hope for a solution that I could apply to my own life.

“I grew up and eventually realized why Celestia made the choices she did,” Luna explained. “They might not have been the best choices, but neither were mine. We were kids, as much as we wanted to believe otherwise; my sister went from being a university student having the time of her life to being forced to take care of a whole household and a moody teenager in the span of a few days. How could you expect any teenager to go through what we had and be able to make calm and rational decisions?”

Luna then suddenly fell silent as she stared at me with a look of stunned realization on her face. I think a light bulb just click on in her brain because she soon looked like somebody who just realized they were trying to push on a ‘pull’ door.

“Kind of like you, I suppose,” she eventually continued. “But as I was saying, I eventually came to the conclusion that I had two options before me: I could keep hating my sister and let it ruin my relationship with the only family I had left; or I could accept that we all made mistakes in the frantic mess of life, and just move forward with our lives.”

“So you just… let go of everything that happened? Just pretend it doesn’t exist anymore?”

“On the contrary, I remind myself of what happened on a regular basis,” Luna insisted. “As the expression goes, we all makes choices, but it’s the choices that make us. We can choose to let our past chain us down, or we can choose to use it as a roadmap to become the person we want to be. The past is not today, if you choose it.”

“My past is not today,” I murmured quietly to myself. It was catchy; had a nice ring to it. It felt like the sort of thing you could put on a poster underneath a scenic picture to motivate people. Luna was right, though: I didn’t have to let myself continue to be defined by my mistakes. I didn’t have to be Sunset Shimmer, former student of Princess Celestia, anymore. I could be something, someone, new, but what?

That was something I would have to discover for myself.

.

*******************

Another thing I discovered about Luna that evening was that she was quite the movie buff. Much like her gaming habits, it was kept to the seclusion of her room where the noise wouldn’t bother her sister, and judging by Luna’s preference to movies with earth-shaking explosions and near-deafening amounts of gunfire, the arrangement was understandable.

“Do you think there’s really a spot on the human head that if you shoot it, it’ll explode?” I asked idly after a particularly violent scene.

“Guess that depends on how big a bullet you use,” Luna replied.

That had been the general extent of our conversations for the past few hours. We had said everything we needed to say to one another and had finally come to an understanding. Though there was no formal agreement, I got the feeling that my life wouldn’t be put under the same level of scrutiny as it had been before. So with nothing else to do, we relaxed on the couch and watched movies late into the night with a giant bowl of nachos and cheese. The only conversation between us was the occasional random question when nobody in the movie was talking. And I wasn’t the only person with inane questions.

“So in your world, is there also a Luna, by any chance?” she asked while trying her best to sound like she didn’t care about the answer. “I’m just asking cause, you know, I’m just sorta curious.”

Seeing as I was trying to be more honest and open with people, I figured there was no point in holding back at this stage. “Princess Luna used to rule Equestria alongside Celestia, but grew hateful of her sister’s popularity and success, and invoked a powerful dark entity. That entity corrupted and turned her into the being known as Nightmare Moon. She then attempted to overthrow Celestia and got subsequently banished to the moon for a thousand years.”

Luna’s response was a simple, “Hm.”

The silence that followed was accentuated by a faint crunch as she ate a few more chips.

“But on the bright side, from what I’ve heard, Princess Luna has been reformed and is back to ruling the kingdom with her sister,” I quickly added on, just so that Luna didn’t think everything was horrid in her counterpart’s life.

“So a thousand years imprisoned on the moon, but she gets to be the nigh-immortal co-ruler of a kingdom,” Luna mused between mouthfuls. “I’m not entirely sure which of us got the better deal in life.”

Before either of us could ponder on that question for long, we heard the front door unlock, followed a moment later by a familiar and most-welcomed voice.

“Luna! Sunset! I’m home!”

“You’re home early, sis,” Luna bellowed back. “How did the meeting with the supreme overlords go?”

“The members of the school board,” Celestia promptly corrected, “expressed their disappointment in my apparent mishandling of safety and maintenance that has resulted in so much of our budget being diverted to repair the damage caused by the gas line explosion.”

I instinctively sunk into the couch a few more inches, if only to avoid being seen as the conversation mentioned the damage that I had been responsible for. I was still half-expecting them to hand me the repair bill, or at least part of it.

Now, Luna and I were still in the den trying to hold a conversation with somebody in another part of the house down the hall, so it wasn’t until Celestia walked on over that she noticed what the two of us were up to. There was a brief glimmer of surprise on her face, but it was very restrained. Instead, she just smiled as she watched Luna and I be more fixated on the movie than the conversation.

“I see the two of you aren’t at each other’s throats, and the house hasn’t been damaged in any crossfire,” Celestia remarked with evident amusement.

“Give us a bit more credit, dear sister,” Luna replied. The feigned indignity in her voice was so thick you could’ve used it to bludgeon someone. “We’re both mature, rational, and reasonable individuals; there’s no reason to believe we couldn’t settle any differences of opinion in a calm and civil manner.”

It would’ve taken a lot of willpower for me to have kept a straight face while Luna spoke, so instead I preoccupied myself by stuffing a handful of chips into my mouth so any giggles and chortles were mired in a bog of melted cheese. It was at that moment that Celestia noticed something unusual, or so I deduced from the perplexed look she had on her face.

“Are you eating my kale chips?” she asked.

Now I had been the one that prepared the snacks for tonight’s movie, so I was quick to jump to my defense by stating, “They were the only thing even resembling chips we had left.”

Luna, meanwhile, was busy looking at the chip in her hand. Evidently, she had neglected to bother inspecting her food before eating any of it during the entire movie, as she was just as surprised as Celestia was. In her defense, the lights had been off the entire time and there was enough cheese smothered over them that you’d think kale naturally grew in zesty orange.

After staring at the kale chip in her hand, Luna eventually replied, “Huh, so I am.”

She then went right back to eating, much to her sister’s delight. No doubt green-coloured foods were not a common part of Luna’s diet, so Celestia was just glad that she was eating something healthy; though the melted cheese probably countered any benefit.

“You’ve always said you hated kale.”

“I know I did, but,” Luna paused for a second and looked to me with a smile on her face, “it wouldn’t be the first thing I’ve misjudged today.”

Despite her tired and disheveled appearance, no doubt from endless meetings and sleepless nights, Celestia smiled brighter than a midday sun. “I’m glad that things worked out,” she said before continuing on her way upstairs.

Personally, I was surprised by Celestia’s brevity. I had anticipated the usual barrage of questions about life and schoolwork, especially considering I went into the weekend with a major assignment to finish. And surely she would be curious as to why the two of us were getting along so well now. As it turned out, I wasn’t the only one thinking things were strange.

“That was rather terse,” Luna commented. “You’d think she’d be happier.”

“Maybe she’s just tired,” I offered as a possible explanation.

“Maybe. It just… I dunno, it seemed like she wasn’t surprised at all; like she was expecting to come home to this.”

“Expected? That’s just silly,” I scoffed at the notion. “I mean, how could she have anticipated me breaking into your room.” In addition, the only reason I broke into Luna’s room was because Pinkie Pie tempted me into it, and how could anyone predict what that girl will do. “The only way Celestia could’ve had the slightest idea of what would happen is if she convinced Pinkie Pie to talk me into breaking into your room, which you left alone because there were no groceries because Celestia ‘forgot’ to do the shopping. And she wouldn’t do something like that, would she?”

“No! No, of course not. She’d never,” Luna insisted almost entirely by reflex. The look on her face, however, did not align with her words. She pondered in silence for a moment before getting up and heading to the stairs.

“TIIIIIAAAAAAAAA!”

Act V-I

To say that the Canterlot High Battle of the Bands was a turning point in my new life would be about as much of an understatement as saying that Discord’s reign in Equestria was just a mild inconvenience. While I had known that it’d take an act of monumental proportions to change the school’s mind about me, nobody was anticipating yet another Equestrian-born lunatic bent on enslaving the school populace.

And not just one lunatic, but three of them.

In retrospect, a part of me couldn’t help but feel some pity for Adagio and her co-conspirators; whatever kind of life they had here in the human world, it may not have been perfect, but they had a small amount of Equestrian magic to make things easier for them. The three of them could have lived a comfortable life here, but instead they let their ambitions get the better of them and now what little magic they had was gone forever. If I had possessed even a fraction of my magical abilities from Equestria, I would’ve fought to protect it with every ounce of my being and not risk it for anything. Their life from this point on would no doubt be a lot more arduous. With any luck, they’ll be able to use this as an opportunity to learn the lessons about humility and friendship that I had.

Except maybe the air-headed one. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she turned up at school the next day and acted as if nothing had happened.

Of course, in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Bands, I was thinking none of these things. I was just relieved that I didn’t have to be the one on the receiving end of the giant, technicolour, magic friendship laser. It made for one heck of a lightshow, too. An older me might’ve worried about how the world might take to the sight of a giant magic unicorn firing rainbow lasers and magical-transforming rockers, but according to the internet video comments that Pinkie Pie showed me, everybody thought it was some ‘totally cheesy CGI effects.’

Also, about a third of the commenters thought we had turned into cats as some homage to an old rock band, while another third thought it was dogs. That wound up sparking an internet argument that went on for days afterwards.

Don’t ever change, internet.

But again, I was not thinking of these things. Hours after the show, I could still be found lounging on the stage, gazing up at the twinkling array of stars above. There was a peculiar sense of tranquility about them as they glistened tirelessly in the cosmos, a reminder of infinite depths of time and the universe that seems to serve as an anchor for my thoughts and feelings in the turbulent sea that was my life.

Almost everybody had long since left the show, but I stuck around for my own reasons, one of which being that my ride home was still indisposed at the time. I was in no rush, however, because as far as I was concerned, my life was perfect now—the sky could’ve opened up and dropped a whale on me and I still would’ve been smiling afterwards. And it wasn’t just because I helped defeat a trio of evil magical beings from Equestria that not even the great Starswirl the Bearded could best; it wasn’t even because I had gone from being the least popular girl at school to being hailed as its newest hero.

The only thing that mattered at the end of the night was the fact that I had my friends and the knowledge that our friendship was stronger than ever before. When Twilight Sparkle returned from Equestria to help us stop the Dazzlings, I have to admit that I had been a bit jealous of her. When the situation was dire, all of my friends turned to her, and when she arrived, they were elated beyonds words. It was enough to make even Pinkie Pie’s normal behaviour seem dour in comparison.

Now it wasn’t any of my friends’ fault that I had spent the past few days feeling as though I were being dragged along for the ride like a lost puppy while Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, saved the day once more. Still, the whole ordeal came very close to shattering my spirit altogether, and then trampling all over it just for good measure. The Dazzlings, especially Adagio, was better than I had been at pinpointing the exact source of my insecurities and striking it with all the precision of a laser-guided missile. It didn’t help that I had made it easy for her with all my gloom and self-doubt. If she had handed me a sword, I probably would’ve thanked her before falling upon it.

But that was all in the past now. I knew with absolute certainty now that I wasn’t just some replacement to Twilight or some pity-case. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity—they were my friends and I was theirs. Their friendship was worth more than all of the magic in Equestria, though I hadn’t fully realized that sentiment at the time.

After all, if I had learned all of my lessons during the Battle of the Bands, there wouldn’t be much point to the rest of my story.

“Hey Sunset, sorry I took so long.”

Twilight’s voice, announcing her arrival at the stage, snapped me out of my basking in the post-musical glow. She had changed out of the stage costume and was back to looking like her normal bookworm self, which reminded me far too much of the other Twilight, whom I wished I could’ve been celebrating this victory with. My friend took a seat on the edge of the stage beside me, though I was still laying on my back using my bunched-up coat as a pillow. After so many hours of standing, the opportunity to lay down and spare my feet the relentless burden of gravity for a few minutes was like a gift from heaven.

“No big deal,” I reassured her. “You were chatting it up with Flash, anyways, and none of us wanted to hurry you two along or anything.”

Rather than reassure her, however, my words had the opposite effect and left Twilight trying to hide her blushing cheeks behind a nervous grin and a half-hearted chuckle. “I-it wasn’t that long, was it?” she asked. I didn’t need to answer since the fact we were the only two people remaining made the answer clear. “Did… did everyone already leave?”

“Fluttershy’s dad is taking everyone out for victory pizza,” I answered. “I told them we would catch up with them. Again, so you and Flash wouldn’t feel rushed.”

Twilight and Flash had wandered off from the rest of us close to an hour ago. Nobody outright said anything, but we were all thinking the same thing about what may have been transpiring while we discussed plans for the victory party. Knowing Flash, it involved a lot of him making a complete but adorable fool of himself. He may have been a hopeless romantic, but a modern Trotspeare he was not.

“Well, Flash and I had a lot of catching up to do, you know?” Twilight insisted while discovering new shades of red that her face could mimic. “Oh my, i-is it getting warm here or is it just me?”

“Probably all the spotlights,” I suggested as a convenient cover.

Figuring all her ‘catching up’ with Flash might leave her feeling parched, I had kept a fresh bottle of water with me and offered it up to her. She took it with all the haste of a person dying of thirst, chugging down a mouthful the moment it was in her hands. Unfortunately for her, I still had a devious side to me and decided now would be the opportune moment to ask the main question on my mind.

“So have you two kissed yet?”

Twilight got a solid two-and-a-half, maybe even three, feet of spray with her spit-take, which left me in a laughing fit. Even the Princess’ meanest stink-eye couldn’t stop my enjoyment. Just because I was reformed didn’t mean I couldn’t partake in a harmless prank or two.

“It’s not like that,” she insisted between coughs, tugging at the collar of her shirt as though it were constricting around her. “We’re just—I mean, he’s—and I’m a—!”

As Twilight struggled to finish a complete sentence, I managed to calm down enough to throw her a lifeline. “Come on, Twi, you don’t have to act like this is some scandalous affair,” I reassured her. “Considering how much stress we’ve all been under the past couple of days, I think you’ve earned yourself a little R-and-R.”

Once she had managed to cough all the water out of her throat and calm down enough to form coherent thoughts, her expression took a more worried turn. “Before coming to Ponyville, I never even bothered with friends, much less something beyond that. I’d have only the slightest idea what to do under the best of circumstances, and these are far from it. I mean, we’re literally from two different worlds!”

“So? You think you’re the first person to try something long distance? You make it sound like you’ll be on other sides of the globe rather than just other sides of a magic portal.”

“I know that, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m a—” Twilight stopped herself for a moment to glance around, just to make sure nobody else was in earshot, “—I’m a pony. He’s a human. What if he freaks out about that?”

“Pinkie and the others didn’t,” I reminded her.

“None of them want to kiss me!”

“I’m sure Pinkie would if you asked her nicely enough.”

“I—what?” There was a brief flash of frustration but she soon realized I was just trying defuse the tension and sighed in appreciation. “You know what I meant, Sunset.”

Though Twilight’s position was an understandable one, she hadn’t spent the past weeks dealing with Flash’s repeated inquiries, nor understood the boy to the extent that I did. Seeing her fret over this pony-related issue seemed laughable to me, and while it was tempting to express that feeling openly, I kept all the laughter internalized.

“He’s already seen you sprout magical wings, on two separate occasions!” I emphasized this fact, in case it somehow went over her head, by waving a pair of raised fingers in her face. “Plus he’s witnessed you defeat evil demonic beings with a giant, rainbow laser beam, again on two separate occasions. I think it’s safe to say he got the hint that you’re not a normal girl.”

“But I’m not even that! I’m a pony, remember?” Twilight replied. “You’re the only one here who really knows what I am. If Flash and I were ever, you know… serious. He’d eventually have to see it. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself keeping that kind of information from him.”

“Twilight, you have to understand that Flash Sentry is a hopeless romantic,” I stressed to my friend, throwing my arms up into the air in exasperation. “You’re a princess from a magical, faraway kingdom, for crying out loud! You’ve practically stepped out of a fairy tale for him.”

“You really think he won’t mind?”

A simple yes might have sufficed but I wanted to hammer my point in so I sat up and collected my thoughts, if only to create a dramatic pause. “Twilight, what I’m about say I want you to commit to memory, for it is going to be a nigh-perfect recreation of how Flash Sentry is going to react to the news. And when the day comes and he creates this moment almost word for word, I will be there to shout ‘called it’ and immortalize the moment with a selfie.”

“This isn’t necessary, Sunset,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Shhhh, I’m getting into character.” It was a simple process that required me to empty my mind of all thoughts, save for every sappy romance movie and song I had endured whilst dating. I began by grasping my friend’s hands with my own, holding them up to our face as our gazes met. “Twilight Sparkle, ever since we first met, I have been entranced not only by your smile, but your compassion and selfless spirit,” I started off with a slow and deliberate pace. “True beauty comes from the heart, and yours shines brighter than any star in the sky. It doesn’t matter what form it takes, its beauty remains the same. And that is why I will always love you, Twilight Sparkle, no matter how many legs you walk upon.”

Now I might’ve been regurgitating words that were as empty as all the times I had told Flash Sentry that I adored him, but my acting skills must have been better than I thought because my friend was beet red across her entire face. Or at least, that’s what I thought at first.

“Am I interrupting you lovebirds?” Luna’s voice perked up from right behind me.

“It’s not what it looks like!” I blurted out. So startled was I that my heart almost jumped out of my chest and ran for the hills screaming like a child. “I can explain, I swear!”

“Hey, you don’t have to explain anything to me,” Luna said, holding up her hands as a gesture for me to stop. “We were all young, wild teenagers once upon a time. I’m just here to tell you that we’re ready to leave.”

Luna left without another word, leaving me now red across the face and my friend trying her best to restrain a chortle behind her hand. No doubt Luna was having her own giggle at my expense, but it was my fault for setting myself up for that.

“L-let’s just get going,” I hastily insisted as I hopped off the stage. “Before Pinkie and Rainbow Dash eat all the pizza.”

I made sure to drag my feet on the way back to the car in order to give my face time to return to its normal tones. However, what gains I made were dashed when I noticed Luna still smirking at me when Twilight and I got into the backseat. If there was any kind of merciful god out there, the car would be engulfed in flames when it started up and I would be spared from what was to come.

“Thanks for giving us a ride, Principal Celestia,” Twilight said in greeting to her mentor’s duplicate.

“It’s least I could do,” Celestia replied. “And there’s no need for such formalities, considering you’re not technically a student of mine.”

“Sorry. I guess it’s just a force of habit,” my friend replied with an apologetic grin. “It feels weird just saying your name without anything else attached to it. At least I’m not accidentally calling you Princess Celestia.”

“I’m sure my sister would secretly relish such a slip of the tongue,” Luna quipped.

Without missing a beat, Celestia met her sister’s piercing wit with her own swift rebuttal. “Aren’t you the one with the ‘Princess of the Night’ nickname when you play your games?”

“That’s different,” her sister huffed before letting the subject drop.

“As I was about to say,” Celestia continued, using the rear-view mirror to check on me and Twilight, “I want you two to know that I am incredibly grateful for everything that you’ve done for the school these past few days. And I’m especially proud of you, Sunset Shimmer. You’ve changed in so many ways since you started down this new road, and you’ve stuck with it even when it seemed like everyone was turning against you.” Her expression dampened for a moment, a remorseful glint in her eye for the briefest of moments. “I know you might think it unnecessary, but I do feel I need to apologize for my behaviour. You and your friends needed help and we turned you away.”

“You were kind of under mind-control at the time,” Twilight tried to reassure the sisters.

To no surprise, neither of them felt comforted by this fact. “I for one am a little frustrated at having my free will repeatedly torn away from me,” Luna grumbled in response. “The next time some denizen from your realm wants to cause trouble, could they try something new? Maybe time travel—at least that would be interesting to hear about afterwards.”

“We’ll be sure to bring that up at the next staff meeting,” I replied.

Not wanting to keep everyone else waiting, the car stirred to life and pulled out of the amphitheatre parking lot, poised and gentle much like its driver. I settled in for what I still hoped to be a peaceful car ride, but for that to happen, everyone had to stay content with the silence. Sadly, nobody told Twilight that.

“So do you think I should give it a try? Me and Flash, I mean,” Twilight asked, picking up the conversation where we had left off.

Despite being the last person in the car that should be giving advice on relationships, I nonetheless offered my encouragement. “I think you should seriously consider it. There’s definitely that spark of interest so you should explore it and see where it leads. What have you got to lose?”

“Considering we just had to stop a trio of sirens in a magical battle of the bands, I wouldn’t put anything outside the realm of possibility when it comes to potential hazards.”

While Twilight had a point, I doubted that Flash Sentry was hiding any secret pools of eldritch power. The guy wears his heart on his sleeve, after all; if he were any more transparent, he’d be invisible.

“Wait, Flash and Twilight?” Celestia chimed in from up front. “When did this start happening?”

“At the Fall Formal,” Luna explained. “Didn’t you see them dancing together?”

“I was busy dealing with the giant hole in the front of the school.”

At the time, I hadn’t realized it, but that marked one of the first occasions where the disaster of the Fall Formal was mentioned and I didn’t feel an immediate barrage of guilt and shame. I was too busy bracing myself for something worse than shame.

“Personally, I am very surprised at this behaviour from Twilight,” Luna began, “considering that only a short while ago Sunset was confessing her undying love for her.”

“Wait, what?” Celestia exclaimed, slamming on the brakes and bringing the car to a neck-jerking halt. “When did—Just how much have I missed?”

Poor naive Twilight was blindsided by this sudden verbal assault by Luna and was left looking like somebody threw a wig onto a tomato. Despite knowing better, I was no less left fumbling over my own words as I tried to mount a defense.

“T-that’s not what I was doing!” I insisted. “We were talking about Flash Sentry!”

“So you were confessing about your love to Flash?” Celestia asked. Whether she was genuinely confused or jumping on the bandwagon was anybody’s guess, but the results were the same. “It might not be a good idea to carry a flame for ex-boyfriends, especially the ones that broke up with you.”

“Twilight likes Flash!”

“So it’s both of you?” Luna continued on with her feigned ignorance. “You shouldn’t let a boy come between the two of you. It could ruin your friendship and poison the relationship.” She then paused, if only to bask in the glow of my and Twilight’s burning faces. “Or is this some sort of three-way love triangle you have going on?”

My friend, still mortified, shot a nervous glance over to me. “Maybe we should try holding still. I hear her vision is based on movement,” I whispered to her.

“She can smell fear,” she replied.

“I can also still hear you.”

“Okay, that’s enough, sis,” Celestia finally intervened. “You keep that up and Twilight will never want to come back and visit.”

My friend and I were able to breathe a sigh of relief as Luna relented, albeit with an exaggerated roll of her eyes at the three of us, as though we were somehow depriving her of something more than just passing amusement. Either way, peace returned to our vessel for the remainder of the journey.

*******************

Despite the stubborn insistence of some of the people present, the fact that it was a school night meant our pizza-laden celebrations could not last forever into the night. Nor could they move to a new venue after the staff at the pizzeria told us we had to leave so they could close shop. Though there had been no shortages of offers, eventually Twilight decided that she would spend the night at Pinkie Pie’s place and that we would all meet at the statue tomorrow before school so we could bid her farewell.

As much as I would’ve enjoyed having Twilight crash at my place, I was so exhausted from all the day’s events that I just wanted some peace and quiet. Not to mention there would have been further discussions about a certain young boy and I didn’t want to think any further on that subject. At least not when Luna was still lurking about in the shadows.

Between all of the food and the fatigue, I opted to fall face-first into my bed at the earliest convenience, which would’ve made the night unworthy of note were it not for an unexpected intrusion.

It started with just the lightest of knocking, followed by Celestia poking her head in through the opening. “Sunset? Could we talk for a moment?” she inquired.

Though I was half-awake and still buried face-first into a pillow, I nonetheless made a waving gesture to beckon her in along with a muffled guttural reply that sounded more like a cat snoring. Whatever it was, it had to be important for Celestia to bother me so late at night.

Once I managed to roll over enough to see my caretaker sitting on the bed nearby, I murmured in a half-awake daze, “What is it, Celestia? Is something wrong?”

“No, no. Of course not,” Celestia insisted, though the worry lacing her words and expression gave me mixed signals. “I just… wanted to make sure everything was okay. It had been a rather exciting few days and—”

It didn’t take a clairvoyant to see that Celestia was trying to work her way to what she wanted to talk about, which was something important despite her words to the contrary, but the late hour and exhaustion left me with as much patience as a coffee addict first thing in the morning.

“Just tell me what’s wrong so I can go back to sleep.”

Normally being so snippy with Celestia would’ve earned me a reprimand, but instead it had the desired effect and forced my mentor to refocus her thoughts. “At the pizzeria, I overheard Twilight mention that she could travel freely between our worlds now,” she began. “That she didn’t need to wait thirty moons like we had been led to believe.”

“Yeah, she said she can use the magic in our linked journals to open the portals when she needs to,” I answered, gesturing my head to the aforementioned book that now sat on my bedside table. “So no need to worry as much about other evil magical beings from Equestria since Twilight can just open up the portal and hop on through now.”

“That is a small comfort, although one I hope we never have to rely on again,” Celestia said with a somber nod. “It’s just that tomorrow morning, you’re going to be seeing Twilight off as she returns home.”

Since my brain was still sound asleep, I had no hope in following Celestia’s concern, which did little for my patience. “So? What about it?” I murmured.

“That’s your home, too. Remember?”

It still took me a few seconds to realize what was at the root of Celestia’s concerns, but the realization eventually hit like a behind-schedule freight train. There was a way home for me now. No longer did I have to consider Equestria a sealed-off realm that I was exiled away from, forced to endure a thirty-moon-long penance for my sins. I could go through that portal tomorrow and be a unicorn again, have my magic again, and all I’d need to do is ask Twilight if it was okay. In fact, I wouldn’t even need her permission; I could just jump through the portal ahead of her and throw the consequences out the window. The one thing in life I still yearned for, my magic, was within arm’s reach now.

That led to the inevitable question as to why this was worrying Celestia. Surely she would welcome the chance to be free of the burden of having to continually pick up after my mistakes.

Unless that wasn’t what she wanted.

The realization shook my mind awake at that point. “Do you not want me to leave?” I asked.

“This isn’t about what I want,” Celestia replied with a disheartened sigh. “Or at least, it shouldn’t be. I took you in because I told myself that this was what was best for you to learn and grow as a person. It felt like the best option since you were going to be remaining here at the very least until the next time the portal opened.” She paused and sighed once more, casting her gaze out to the window where one could see the moon in the distance. “I can’t force you to stay here, however I might feel about it. I like having you here.”

“You… like having me here?” I repeated in disbelief.

Celestia gave me a quizzical look as though she couldn’t understand how this was somehow a shocking revelation to me. “Sunset, look around you—I’m single and I live with my sister who is also my only remaining family. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Luna has her own interests once school is finished, but for me it’s… quiet,” she explained.

For a moment, I wondered if Princess Celestia ever experienced similar sentiment. She might’ve ruled from a palace full of ponies, but there was always that separation of royalty and etiquette that kept Celestia above the others. She helped occasionally at her School for Gifted Unicorns, but it was more often just as oversight rather than something direct. Did Princess Celestia take on a personal pupil for these similar reasons? To have somebody close that wasn’t bound by the normal social etiquettes that was rife in Canterlot.

Maybe the Princess and the Principal had far more in common than I expected.

“I love my work at the school,” Celestia continued on. “It’s not quite the same as being a teacher, but I enjoy it nonetheless. Each day I get to watch my students grow and learn, shaping into the adults they’ll one day become.” She turned her gaze back to me and the sullen look upon her began to brighten once more. “Having you here these past few months has given me something to look forward to when the school day ends. I liked hearing about how your day went even when it’s just complaining about something Yearling assigned for you to do. I got to watch you grow into a better, more brilliant person each and every day and it’s… it’s everything I imagined it to be. But like I said, you being here has never been about what I want; it’s about what’s best for you.”

The problem with sticking to only what was best for me was the presumption that any of us knew what that really meant. How many people had experience reforming magical-unicorn-turned-teenaged-delinquent? We were all just trying to make the best of a bad situation with the lessons that life has taught us thus far. Would returning to Equestria, a realm where I would be reunited with magic and surrounded by the familiar, be a better option for me? I knew I would enjoy having my magic back, not to mention being able to walk on four hooves again, but would I learn anything? Was I ready to venture out on my own again? I didn’t know what my future held, either here or in Equestria, but the one thing I did know was how I felt about this world and the people here. And I let Celestia know this by reaching out and resting my hand atop of hers.

“I like being here, too,” I said. “I like having friends, and people who care about me for who I am rather than what I can do or who I happen to know. And while it might be a bit unorthodox, living with you and Luna, it… well, it feels like I’m part of a family again. I never realized how much I wanted that until now.”

Judging by the way the tension melted from Celestia’s posture, the weight of the world had just slipped off her back. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around me, sighing in relief as she embraced me like a daughter.

“Whatever happens, Sunset, wherever life takes you, know that you will always have a home here,” she whispered. With her concerns allayed, Celestia headed on her way to retire for the night. “Best you get some rest now, we’ve both got a big day ahead of us.”

“Big day? Is something happening?” I asked. With the Battle of the Bands over, I saw nothing monumental to look forward to tomorrow aside from perhaps a pop quiz.

“I get the feeling you’ll find life at school a bit different tomorrow,” Celestia explained, pausing in the doorway. “As for myself, I’ve got some big messes to clean after all of this.”

And with that, she closed the door behind her. Being too tired for even the simplest trains of thought, I collapsed back into bed and went to sleep. Perhaps if I had been more awake, I would’ve noticed the worry that had still lingered in her voice at the end.

Act V-II

“Sure wish you could stay a bit longer,” Applejack lamented, flourished with a bittersweet smile.

It was a sentiment that the others and I shared as we huddled beneath the pearly white sentinel that watched over our school and contained the magic portal linking the two worlds. Unlike the last time they bid farewell to Twilight Sparkle, however, we could all reassure ourselves with the knowledge that we wouldn’t be waiting years for the next chance to see her.

“I do too,” Twilight replied, “but I have responsibilities back in Equestria.”

Just behind her, Pinkie Pie was taking a strong interest in the magic portal, which took my attention away from Twilight for a moment. It didn’t surprise me that Pinkie would be the one most curious about the other side, as demonstrated as she experimented by putting her hand through the seemingly-solid stone base of the statue. Emboldened by her experiences, Pinkie stuck part of her face through, too, and likely would’ve done more had I not reached over and grabbed her by the shoulder. One Pinkie Pie was trouble enough for the universe; I didn’t want to unleash a second on an unsuspecting Equestria.

“Maybe another time, okay?” I whispered to her as I eased my disappointed friend away.

“Aww, but I wanted to see what it was like to be a pony,” she pouted in her usual, playful fashion.

“Since now we can open the portal whenever we need, this isn’t really good-bye, it’s just good-bye until next time,” Twilight continued on, pausing only briefly when she noticed Pinkie and I behind her. She must’ve realized what was going on when she saw Pinkie’s still bewildered expression because she quickly hid a polite giggle behind her hand. “You know, Sunset, you can come visit Equestria too, if you’d like.”

Despite the subject of Equestria being one that weighed on my mind like a pallet of bricks, I tried not to let that burden show with a haphazard grin and a dismissive chuckle. “Oh, I guess that’s true, isn’t it?” I replied. It didn’t help my nerves that all my friends had fixated their gaze upon me, no doubt all wondering whether their friend and newest member of the Sonic Rainbooms would be staying or going. After a few moment’s pause, I finally answered, “I’ll… I’ll think about it. I’ve still got a lot to learn here. Plus I still owe Pinkie here a birthday party.”

“A birthday party?” Twilight repeated.

“Oh! You should totally come, Twi!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pushed past me. “There’s going to be cake and music and balloons and clowns and—”

“No clowns!” I snapped a bit too hastily.

“Right, no clowns,” she apologized. Not that it mattered, because now everyone was having a quick snicker at my panic-induced objections.

“But seriously,” I tried to push the conversation back on track, if only to avoid further embarrassment, “it would be nice to have you there. I think we’re still trying to figure out a date for it, but I can message you the details once I know.”

Everyone looked to Twilight in anticipation, as if trying to collectively will a ‘yes’ into her mind. She didn’t need the help, of course, because apparently only a fool would turn down attending a party planned by Pinkie Pie. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she reassured us.

After a quick round of hugs for each of us, we waved good-bye to our friend just before she disappeared through the portal. We were all a little saddened to see her leave, but there was little time to dwell on it since we still had a school day ahead of us. I, most of all, felt reassured by the weighty presence of the magical journal that now lay at the bottom of my backpack. Part of me wanted to write Twilight a message as soon as possible, but I knew I should give her a bit of space. It’s been a hectic few days, after all.

“Glad to hear you’re gonna be sticking around for a while longer,” Rainbow Dash remarked as we all turned to start heading back to the school. “To be honest, I thought you would’ve jumped at the first chance to get back to Equestria.”

“I don’t come off like that, do I? That I want to leave?” I asked with a mix of concern and curiosity.

“You had been a bit mopey lately,” Rarity answered as she fell into step to my right. “I do suppose the rest of us had been a bit preoccupied with the band for a while.”

“It’s not your fault,” I waved off my friend’s concern. At least, it wasn’t entirely their fault, but I had no interest in laying blame at their feet. “Adagio did a pretty good job of making me doubt myself. She was… very good at her trade. I saw a lot of myself in her.”

“Except you learned your lesson,” Applejack said, taking a hint of pride due to her part in that. “Plus, you’re a heck of a lot better singer than they are now.”

Pinkie suddenly donned a wide grin as she bounced up ahead of us. “Ooh! Think we could try teaching them friendship next?” she suggested.

The bewildered expression from the rest of us was at least reassuring in that we were all of the same mindset on the subject. Though at the same time, none of us could really dismiss the idea altogether. After all, they had done that to me.

“Maybe later, if they really want it,” Rainbow Dash finally answered. “Though we already got our hands full with this troublemaker.” She then gave me a playful punch, which left us all laughing while strolling through the front doors.

That laughter came to an abrupt halt, however, once we stepped inside and every student in the hallway noticed our arrival. Now for Rainbow Dash and the others, they were used to lots of cheers and applauds, but for me it still felt surreal. Everyone was clapping and cheering for us, shouting things like ‘go Rainbooms’ and ‘you girls rock.’ I wasn’t the only one feeling a little uncomfortable, of course, as I felt Fluttershy’s fingertips digging into my shoulders as she took refuge behind me. Were the heat of the legions of stares any more intense, my friend would’ve been reduced to a scorched husk.

Lucky for both of us, Rainbow Dash was more than willing to absorb our share of the limelight. She took the lead, basking in the glory of our newest conquest. The rest of us just rolled our eyes and used it as a convenient distraction to slip by and get to class without too much commotion.

For me, I was still half-convinced that I would wake up at any second and find myself still locked underneath a concert stage, listening to my friends bicker and argue. People were waving to me, and not just because I happened to be standing next to somebody they’d wave to normally. They were making eye contact and everything, which only made me feel more awkward as I tried to smile and wave in return.

Probably looked as forced as if I were being held at gunpoint.

Suddenly a voice spoke up from directly behind me, calling out, “Morning Sunset!”

Followed in rapid sequence by a second, “Morning!”

And third, “Hey Sunset!”

When I heard the first voice, I tensed almost purely by instinct, expecting something like a paper ball or an empty can to come flying in at any second. It wasn’t until the third voice that my brain finally caught up and realized that they belonged to Apple Bloom and her friends, who greeted me as they raced past me in the hallway. I only managed a haphazard wave before they disappeared around the next corner into one of the classrooms ahead.

Celestia wasn’t kidding about how much things would change. Despite the universe’s uncanny ability to home in and bombard any sense of optimism I had in the past, I dared hope that my life had finally turned around for the better.

*******************

By lunchtime I could already say with certainty that today had been one of the most unremarkable days at school in a long time, and I mean that in the best way possible. Spirits at the school were at an all-time high and I had played a part in that. I didn’t want to let all the popularity go to my head, but it was hard not to let my ego swell just a little bit after getting so many high-fives in the halls that my palms were numb.

Before I could join my friends in the cafeteria, with the hopes of celebrating the day with a parfait or maybe a brownie, I had to swing by Ms. Yearling’s classroom as she apparently wanted to speak with me about newspaper business. The timing was fortuitous since my newfound reputation meant that I could probably drop the pseudonym and return to writing articles with pride again. As I approached the classroom, I could hear Yearling talking inside. Normally it wouldn’t be a matter of concern, except that it sounded like a very heated conversation.

“Listen, I don’t care what it means, you know how I feel about you pulling stunts like this unannounced,” Yearling said in a tightly restrained tone. Peering through the door window, I could see that she was on her cellphone, which made the conversation very one-sided for me. What really drew my attention, though, was an unusual item of jewelry that Yearling held in her free hand. It consisted of a beetle-shaped pendant, made entirely of gold and studded with colourful gemstones, suspended on a thin golden chain. It looked expensive, if a bit gaudy, which was very unlike Yearling’s neat and professional attire.

“I’m not jealous!” Yearling suddenly shouted into the phone. “I just don’t want you crashing on my couch for a month like you did the last time!”

Now there was a level of anger I didn’t see Yearling express very often. As I didn’t want to eavesdrop any further on this conversation, lest she turn that anger towards me, I decided to knock on the door to let her know I was here. Either she’d usher me away or finish her conversation quickly, but at least I’d be able to say I went to meet with her.

“If I so much as see your shadow, I will shove my foot so far up your—” Yearling stopped abruptly upon hearing me at the door, and for a brief moment it looked like she really wanted to finish that sentence regardless of my presence. Cooler heads prevailed, however, and Yearling ended her conversation with a very brief, “I’ll call you back.”

If I didn’t know any better, she looked embarrassed for a second, as though I had just caught her with her pants down.

“I’m not interrupting something important, am I?” I asked as I took a few cautious steps into her classroom.

“Hardly. If anything, you’re saving me from having to deal with something I’d rather not,” she answered. She quickly tossed the pendant into one of the desk’s many drawers, which seemed to alleviate her mood as soon as it was out of sight. “So how fares the life of Sunset Shimmer now that she’s no longer Canterlot High’s most hated attendee?”

“I honestly can’t tell if you’re being serious or not,” I deadpanned in response.

As if for the sole purpose of confusing me further, Yearling snickered at my confusion. “I mean it,” she eventually insisted, although no less convincing. “You’ve gone from trying to take over the school to saving it; it’s like something out of a storybook. Must be nice to be out of the metaphorical dog house.”

“It’s… certainly nice not to have to worry about incoming fire,” I replied. “Was there something you wanted to speak to me about?”

From one of her desk drawers, Yearling produced a simple computer tablet. “One of the kids in the computer lab was able to create a mobile app for our school newspaper,” she explained whilst tapping on the tablet’s screen. She then handed it over to me. “Thought you might want to take a look since you’re going to be on the front page when we go live.”

“You mean like my picture?” I asked as I scrolled through the template sample. It had a somewhat conventional layout of headlines with sample boxes that one could click on to reveal full articles, but considering it was designed by a teenager as a school project, I wasn’t about to nitpick. The important thing was that it appeared to be robust and versatile, which was more important when it was being handled by teachers and students who knew little about programming.

“I meant an article,” Yearling answered with a roll of her eyes.

“I was actually thinking it might be a good time to drop the Gabby Gums penname.”

“I concur,” she nodded in response. “Glad we’re on the same page.” I handed her back the tablet and she gestured for me to take a seat. “Think you could perhaps write something up about your experiences with the Battle of the Bands? People are going to want to know what really happened.”

“Does anyone even realize they spent the past few days being mind-controlled by the Dazzlings?” I replied.

“I’m sure word will get around quickly–Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie have messages about it all across their MyStables pages,” Yearling explained. “Probably a good idea that everyone is told, that way they know that there was a reason they were acting like jerks to each other.”

“Ah, yes. That’s a good point,” I muttered to myself. As I recalled, the students got very competitive during the Battle of the Bands, and I could still vividly recall the barbs hurled at me when I was on stage for even just a brief moment. “Wait, wouldn’t you have already assigned somebody to do a story on the Battle of the Bands?”

“I did,” Yearling replied with a half-hearted shrug, “but the whole darn article was about how wonderful and amazing the Dazzlings were so I think it’s best if we don’t publish it.” Her chair squeaked and groaned as she started leaning back, giving me a half-apologetic, half-complementary expression. “I know this is short notice, but you’re the best candidate for getting an article done in such a short time. You seem to work well under pressure.”

“Compared to evil magical beings, a newspaper article is going to feel like a vacation,” I replied with a modest chuckle.

“I’m seriously starting to consider taking one of those,” she said, followed by a wistful sigh. “Somewhere nice and warm without crazy magical happenings going on every other month. And ideally with a bar that serves you those drinks that come with little umbrellas in them.”

I had trouble picturing Yearling on a beach with a fruity, umbrella drink, but at the same time, I knew very little about her beyond the classroom setting. Fortunately, this little impromptu meeting presented an opportunity to see what I could dig up. The fact that she was willing to make off-hand remarks about vacations was already showing more openness than she usually demonstrated.

“So what’s the deal with that necklace? I didn’t know you were the type to go for bugs,” I inquired with a casual tone in order to hide the fact that my curiosity had been nagging since the start of the conversation.

Once again, I saw a flash of unease across Yearling’s face. She was quick to suppress it, though, hiding behind an air of indifference as she shrugged it away. “Just an unwanted gift from somebody.”

“A special somebody?”

“Please,” Yearling dismissed once again, almost in disgust. “Blondie knows me well enough to avoid getting me something so tacky.”

Despite my curiosity towards the name, I refrained from getting nosey of my teacher’s personal life. “So what will you do with it?”

“Would like to strangle a certain someone with it,” she muttered to herself. She must’ve confused her interior and outer monologue because she once again flashed a brief look of embarrassment and quickly followed up with, “Just gonna toss it in a box with all the other junk I’ve collected over the years.”

“Are you okay? You seem… angry.”

Yearling took a moment to pause and reflect, no doubt mincing her words over in her mind in order to keep me at a comfortable distance. I spent enough years psychoanalyzing fellow students to find easy targets to recognize a private individual when I saw one. After a few inaudible murmurs and pursing her lips in thought, she just gave an indifferent shrug.

“Guess I am,” she declared. “I usually try to check my personal luggage at the door, but some things are just harder to ignore than others.”

“Anything I can do to help?” It felt like a rather meaningless gesture, offering help to somebody who asked for none on a problem I knew nothing about, but it was the thought that mattered. Or at least that’s what my friends kept telling me.

Perhaps there was merit in my friends’ advice, as Yearling flicked the tiniest of smirks in my direction. “It’s just dull and tedious grown-up issues, kiddo. Don’t be in such a rush to get away from the trivialities of youth.” Any problem was going to seem boring to me when compared to the excitement and disasters of the past few months; however, Yearling was clearly uninterested in revealing more of her life as she steered the conversation back towards me. “So what’s next in your master plan?” she inquired.

“What do you mean?”

“You moved in with Tia and Luna so you could straighten up and fly right,” Yearling explained, shifting her posture once again in her seat such that she leaned forward over her desk. “I think it’s safe to say that you’re not a horrible person anymore, and you’ve managed to earn back the trust and admiration of your peers. Most people would call that ‘mission accomplished.’ So I say again: what’s next?”

I wished I had more to give for an answer than a brain-dead gaze as I tried in vain to muster up something that resembled a long-term strategy. For the last few months, I had been living almost day-to-day, focusing on the immediate problems ahead rather than some over-arching plan like in my evil days: fixing my mess with Diamond Tiara, surviving the county fair, becoming friends with Twilight. The only time that long-term thought entered my mind was when I was contemplating how long I’d have to live at the bottom of a hole for my latest disaster to subside.

“I don’t really have any plans,” I eventually answered with an honest shrug. “I mean, I’d hardly say I’m done learning about friendship and being a better person.”

“Those are lifelong goals, Sunset; you should never think you’ve finished improving yourself. You honestly think Celestia or I have perfected the art of being a good person?”

Were she talking about Princess Celestia, I would’ve said yes without hesitation, but Principal Celestia was her own person, with her own flaws and biases. She was a far better person than I could ever hope to be, but at the same time I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was also just better at hiding the skeletons in her closet.

Seeing my silence as a consent to keep talking, Yearling continued on with her inquisition. “Have you given any thought about what you’d like to do with your life?”

Once again, silence proved to be more telling than any words I could’ve pulled from my purse.

“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders there, kiddo; it’d be a shame to see it go to waste,” Yearling said. And for a change, I could instantly tell how sincere she was being.

“I didn’t realize you cared so much about lil’ old me.”

“I’m as surprised as you are,” she answered with a casual shrug. “I fear some of Tia’s infectious optimism has finally gotten to me.” We both shared in a quick laugh at that sentiment. It would be an understatement to say that Celestia maintained a sunny outlook on life, and both of us were better off because of it. “Seriously, though, you ought to start considering your options—your academic scores give you a lot of options for your future. Have you thought about journalism?”

“Not sure how much I’d enjoy a future of writing top ten clickbait articles,” I said, allowing some cynicism to slip out. School journalism was enjoyable enough for a hobby as a teenager, but the real world was far more convoluted. Not to mention I still wasn’t certain whether my future was going to be in this world or Equestria. I wasn’t going to burden Yearling with that added detail, so I just left up a veil of typical teenage apathy. “It’s still early in the school year, so there’s plenty of time for to figure things out.”

“Try not to take too long,” Yearling reminded me. “The end of the year will be on top of you sooner than you think. You’ve got the time, you’ve got a platform to showcase your work, and an editor who’s willing to give you way more operational freedom than she ought to be.”

Yearling was essentially handing me a free pass to use my column space to write whatever I want, perhaps in the hope that by doing so I will stumble across a passion for the art of journalism. It was an amusing coincidence considering not too long ago, I was using my column as a free space to slander and suppress anyone that I felt was a threat to my rule. Maybe Yearling was testing my character by seeing what I would do now that I had the same level of power as I did before my downfall. As a wise person once said, if you want to see the true measure of a man’s character, give him absolute power. It might’ve just been a school newspaper, but the principle was the same.

“I’ll… um, see what I can do,” I reluctantly accepted. Yearling was putting a lot of trust in me, which left me feeling a lot more pressured than I thought I would. I didn’t want to let her down, especially since she had finally turned her opinion of me around.

*******************

I spent the better part of the school day glossing over my lessons and contemplating my discussion with Yearling. Things like algebra and biology felt like low priorities when it came to figuring out what to do with my life from this point. For most of my life, the path that I was to take had been neatly laid out before me: as a child I was given to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns to study under the Princess; in exile, I schemed and plotted my way to the top of the social ladder in preparation to obtain absolute power and exact my revenge; as a pariah, I had to follow the guidance of my new friends and caretakers in order to redeem myself.

Now, though, I had accomplished that goal. As Yearling said, learning about friendship and how to be a better person was a lifelong process, so it would always be in the back of my mind. So where would I go from here? It was like being left on the side of the road without a map or even basic directions. For the first time in many years, this once-exiled unicorn was free to decide her own fate.

And by Canterlot’s gilded halls, was that a terrifying thought at times. Whatever future I decided to pursue, it would limit the majority of my time to just one world, much like how Princess Twilight’s responsibilities kept her in Equestria most of the time.

As the school bell rang, heralding our freedom for the day, I had at least calmed my nerves enough to avoid any mental breakdowns when I got home. I convinced myself to push the issues of the future aside for the time being, and to just focus on the next task ahead of me, which was getting a new article ready for the paper.

Now I wanted something a bit more substantial than just a mere public service announcement about the lingering after-effects of song-based mind control. I wish I could’ve pawned it off onto some other writer at the paper, but who else even knew the first thing about mind control? Hopefully my tenure as a journalist at school wouldn’t be surmised by ‘Resident Mind Control Expert.’

Not exactly something you can put on a resume or college application form.

I decided to seek counsel with one of my friends, as I had proven time and time again that I routinely made poor choices when left to my own devices. Unfortunately, between Applejack having chores at the farm, Pinkie Pie needing to babysit, Fluttershy volunteering at the animal shelter, and Rarity's work at the boutique, the only one of my friends at Canterlot High who was not already committed to a cause was Rainbow Dash.

That fact alone left me dragging my feet through the halls after class, and in no hurry whatsoever to find my friend. My apprehension wasn’t because Rainbow Dash was a bad or uncaring friend, but more due to the fact that she rarely thought more than five paces ahead of herself, let alone five or ten years down the line. She’ll no doubt tell me not to worry about it, and that I’ve got months or even years to decide what I want.

Still, the company of a friend was needed so I marched on regardless, passing by empty classrooms and students loitering in the hallways. Pangs of envy rang through me as I heard their laughter and carefree chatter—either they were better at hiding any worries they may have had or they just didn’t care.

The sense of melancholy lingering around me like a bad stink was soon dissipated when I caught wind of a familiar voice off in the distance. Rainbow Dash was always one of those people you heard well before you saw them.

“Our next game against Crystal Heart is coming up in a few days!” Dash’s voice echoed down through the halls, carrying with it her typical zeal and fury. “Now they may have put up a tough fight last time, but they just took us by surprise! This time around, we’re putting in double the effort and double the training so that we show them who’s boss!”

I eventually found Dash in the hall just outside one of the locker rooms, surrounded by her fellow members of the soccer team. Judging by the presence of their bright blue uniforms, the Wondercolts were on their way to hit the field for some practice when their captain decided on a last minute pep talk. A casual observer might think Rainbow Dash liked giving such talks as it keeps her as the center of attention, but it didn’t take long listening to her to realize that it wasn’t about self-aggrandizing, but a genuine desire for the team and its members to succeed.

Being the center of attention was just an added bonus.

As she was busy with her talk, Rainbow Dash didn’t see me approaching, but I also opted to stand off to the side to wait until she finished.

“Our defense last game was too aggressive—we kept over-extending ourselves and that Lightning Dust character kept capitalizing on it,” Dash continued on. “And we can’t keep giving the ball over to them like we did last match. I want more wind sprints, and more ball control drills. Twice as much, in fact!”

The other players clearly didn’t like the idea as there came an immediate round of groans so unanimous you’d think that our team had been replaced by zombies.

Dash met the groans with a frown, as if the very noise was a gross offense to her. “Come on, team, don’t give me that!” she snapped in response, taking a harsher tone. “Crystal Heart might be some fancy expensive school with top level athletes, but we’re Wondercolts! And that’s not something you can buy with any amount of money! We stood up against the Dazzlings, we stood up against Sunset Shimmer—”

“Come on, Dash, I’m standing right next to you.” My protests went ignored, however, though whether by intent or ignorance I did not bother to discern.

“We’ve won over every adversary that’s come along! Every time somebody thinks they’ve got us beat, we just come out even stronger! That’s what it means to be a Wondercolt, and that’s something no other school can claim!”

“Um, Dash?”

“Not now, Shimmer, I’m in the zone,” my friend waved me off without even looking in my direction. “As I was saying, those hardships we faced before brought everyone in the school closer together. We bonded not just as classmates, but as friends.”

“Dash, you need to—”

I tried to get my friend’s attention by tugging at her sleeve, but she brushed me aside once again. “In a second!” she insisted. “Just remember team: we’re all Wondercolts, now and forever, and we’ll always have something that no other school can possess—”

“Seriously, Dash...”

“—the magic of friendship!”

“RAINBOW DASH!”

Finally, my friend had enough of my constant interruptions. “For crying out loud, Sunset, what is it?” she turned and shouted.

“Dash, you’re flying!” I explained while pointing to the foot-and-a-half of empty air beneath her shoes.

The rest of the team stared on in a mixture of awe and wonder at their team captain, who continued to rise up above them like a heaven-sent saviour. Enshrouded in a vibrant aura of shimmering blue, adorned with majestic sprawling wings, Rainbow Dash had somehow summoned forth the Element of Harmony magic within her. And while I gazed at her in confusion and disbelief, Rainbow Dash’s response was all too predictable.

“Sweet! I’m flying!” she exclaimed, followed by an immediate loop-de-loop through the air. “I didn’t even need my guitar this time!”

“Exactly,” I replied. “How are you able to do this? There are no elements! There’s no music! This shouldn’t be possible!”

“Who cares? This is awesome!” she cried in delight. Wasting no further time with wild speculations, Rainbow Dash flew off down the hall with reckless abandon, weaving through students and sending several diving for cover.

Meanwhile, I was still struck with an overwhelming sense of dread. How could this be possible? They had never been able to summon their magic and pony up without outside assistance before. Just when I thought I had a grasp on how magic worked in this world, it pulled out a brand new surprise for me. If we couldn’t control the magic inside us, then there was no telling when it might rear its head again. The first image that came to mind was Dash pulling out her wings in a middle of game just to show off to a crowd, and before you could say ‘magical school girl,’ Canterlot High would be at the center of a huge investigation and my secrets would be dragged out for all the world to see.

I had to get to the bottom of this.

“Rainbow Dash, no flying in the hallways!”

“Yes Principal Celestia...”

Act V-III

When I first joined Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns as the Princess’ personal protege, I thought she knew everything there was to know about magic. She was, after all, the most gifted and magical pony in the entire kingdom, and it was natural for a naive, young filly to think that Celestia was the end-all, be-all when it came to magic. It wasn’t long into my studies before I realized that even if you combined all the knowledge of Celestia and other brilliant minds like Starswirl the Bearded and Coperneighcus, you would barely even scratch the surface when it came to magic.

Exploring the frontiers of magic and uncovering its long-lost secrets became a new passion of mine. Like many of my hobbies, though, it too fell victim to my growing ambitions, and my search for the unknown was corrupted by my need for more power. What easier way to surpass the Princess of Equestria than to gain knowledge that she lacked? It was a plan that proved to be about as foolproof as every other scheme of mine.

In the human world, I had figured my days of delving into the catacombs of arcane knowledge were behind me; my appetite for knowledge had to settle instead for quantum physics and calculus, which weren’t nearly as interesting for me. As mentally stimulating as they were, I had always preferred more hands-on exploration, and I could only stare at a textbook for so long before I yearned for the heat death of the universe.

That all changed, however, the day that Rainbow Dash decided to throw everything I knew about magic out the window before flying out of it herself. It was as though something dormant inside me had been stirred awake, albeit with all the subtlety of bashing it over the head with a crowbar.

I had to find the answers, and I vowed not to rest until I discovered the truth.

“Hey Sunset, we got your text message!” Applejack announced as she and the rest of my friends filed into their usual practise room at the school. With the exception of Pinkie Pie, each were carrying their instrument along with their puzzled expressions, no doubt wondering why I had urgently beckoned them to partake in some rehearsal.

In truth, my exact words were ‘need musics now!’ In my defense, I was a bit too excited to send a proper message.

“So what exactly is going o—holy sweet applesauce! What in blazes is all this stuff?”

The ‘stuff’ as Applejack so eloquently phrased it, was a large number of computers, sensors, and other lab equipment I had borrowed and jury-rigged together in the short period of time since Dash’s transformation the day before. I had tried my best to make enough space available for my friends to still rehearse, but one could only push aside so many industrial-strength power cables. The entire array flickered and hummed like the nerve center of a computer lab, accented only by the occasional sputter and flicker as some of my home-made equipment protested against the amperage being forced down their gullets.

“Just a little lab equipment I whipped together,” I explained as casually as one would detail the current weather. “We need to run some tests.”

“Are you okay, dear?” Rarity asked, trying her best to remain polite despite a growing sense of concern. “You’re looking a little… ragged.”

I found the question almost humorous, chuckling out loud while I grabbed another heavy-duty cable and plugged it into the computer array beside me. It coughed and churned to life to a symphony of beeps and bloops, followed by a loud vibration that required several strikes with a wrench to silence.

“Never felt better!” I insisted.

“And the dozen empty coffee cups?” Applejack inquired, directing everyone’s attention to the collection of paper cups strewn across the room.

“Seventeen, but who’s counting?” I corrected her. In retrospect, I may have taken that vow a bit too seriously. “I mean, I had considered trying to put in an IV line, but after the fifth cup my hands were shaking too much to make it work.”

Unsurprisingly, my friends were less than convinced of this. Still, after numerous promptings on my part, they began to set up their equipment in the only clearing at the center of the room. I had hoped for more enthusiasm from my friends, but they continued to glance about nervously at all the equipment around them, as if one of them would burst into flames at a moment’s notice.

“Now as you may know, Rainbow Dash was able to pony up yesterday without use of her instrument,” I said with the hopes that some explanations would help allay their fears.

“Yeah, we know. She hasn’t been able to shut up about it all day,” Applejack replied.

“Exactly, so that convinced me of how imperative it is that I deduce how magic works in this world, as it clearly doesn’t follow the normal laws of magic that we have in Equestria,” I continued to explain. “I stayed up all night getting all this equipment together so that I could properly monitor you five as you pony up using your instruments. If I can understand how the music influences your magic, then I can formulate a theory as to how it functions without music.”

I grabbed one of the aforementioned home-made devices, which consisted of a colander and an array of electrodes and wires, and proceeded to strap it down upon Fluttershy’s head. In my blind enthusiasm, I probably mistook her paralyzing fear for consent.

“Are you sure you don’t need some rest?” Fluttershy asked.

“One hundred and ten percent,” I once again insisted. “Did you know we spend almost eight hours a day sleeping? That’s a whole third of our life doing nothing! Imagine what I could accomplish with all that extra time.”

Yet again, my genius was ignored in favour of the pervasive sense of uncertainty and dread that continued to cling to the room like a bad odor. I opted to continue ignoring their concerns and went about hooking up the rest of my friends to the various monitoring equipment. Out of everyone, at least Pinkie Pie seemed to be somewhat enthusiastic about the idea, stating that all the electrodes I put on her made her feel like a ‘party robot.’

“Is this safe?” Applejack voiced yet more concerns.

“Don’t worry, I brought a fire extinguisher,” I said in order to demonstrate that I wasn’t being completely irresponsible. For some strange reason, that just seemed to worry them more than anything.

Undaunted by their lack of faith, I pressed forward and continued with the set-up. Soon, I had the entire band hooked up to every sort of sensor and computer analyzer that our school had available. It may not have been an array worthy of the great pony analysts of the past, but I was still just a high schooler.

Out of all of my friends, Rainbow Dash had remained the quietest during this time. However, while she didn’t object with words, her body language spoke volumes as she continued to shuffle and fidget against the cables, growing more impatient with my preparations.

“Can we just get on with this?” she finally spoke. “I feel like I’ve been standing here for hours!”

“It’s been fifteen minutes,” I shot back. “And I’m almost ready. I just need one last thing.”

Sadly, between the dozens of empty coffee cups, miles of cabling, and more discarded granola bar wrappers than I could count, the ‘one last thing’ in question appeared to be missing. Under normal circumstances, such a minor setback would’ve been ignored, but my mind, which by now was embalmed in pure caffeine, proceeded to go nuts.

“Wait a second, where did it go?” I called out in growing dismay before racing to the nearest pile of refuse to start sifting through it. Worry turned to panic in short order, again assisted by the twin cocktail of sleep deprivation and caffeine overload. My friends probably would’ve come over to assist but the sheer number of attached wires made it impossible to move without tripping everyone up. “Oh no! Nononononono! This can’t be happening! Not now!”

“Is everything okay, Sunset?” Rarity asked.

“No! Nothing is okay!” I shouted in response, dashing across the room to continue the search. “It’s gone missing! The most important part of this entire process is gone. What am I going to do? This is the worst possible thing ever!”

“And I thought Rarity could be a drama queen,” Applejack muttered under her breath.

Eventually, after nearly being hit by an empty cup I threw across the room in the midst of my search, Fluttershy spoke up. “Um, what exactly are you looking for?”

“My lab coat!” I shouted while throwing my arms up in borderline hysteria. “I can’t do science without my lab coat!”

“Sunset, we’re going to start playing now with or without you,” Rainbow Dash warned.

“One must always wear the proper vestments when in the temple of science!”

“Sunset!”

“Fine, fine! Can I at least get another cup of coffee before we start?”

“No!” my friends shouted in unison.

Despite my delusional misgivings and the pervasive dread that I was somehow offending the great gods of science, I nonetheless grabbed my clipboard and hurried over to my workstation. It was time to roll up my sleeves, get my hands dirty, and do some proper science and experimentation. Perhaps it was my nerves so addled by caffeine, but I felt a rush of excitement at the prospect of venturing once more into the unknown. Magic was unheard of in this world so I was pioneering this new field of research, except perhaps with the exception of Twilight Sparkle who was still oblivious to the true source of her research.

“Okay girls, now I want to start off with just some base-line readings,” I explained as I settled in behind my computer. “I just want you all to play together like you normally do, pony up, and then keep playing for a few more minutes.”

“Only you could make rocking out sound so boring,” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” I tried to reassure her. “You won’t even notice I’m here.”

After a quick round of nervous glances and a silent but fruitless game of ‘who wants to tell Sunset she’s acting a little crazy,’ my friends turned their focus to their music. In hindsight, they were understandably nervous being asked to play while hooked up to a room full of questionable electronics, but at least one of them knew how to look past their fears.

“Beep boop, engaging party mode!” Pinkie shouted out before drumming out a steady rhythm for the others. Soon the others joined in and their fears were swept away in the music.

Sadly, my obsession with scientific pursuit left me fixated on my computer monitors rather than enjoying the music itself. In fact, it was barely even a minute into the solo before I started considering getting earplugs just so that I could focus on the results rather than the ‘obtrusive background noise.’ The fact that I considered it as such lent credence to just how addled my sleep-deprived mind was at that point. However, my focus was soon rewarded as streams of data began pouring into my computer, followed shortly thereafter by my friends turning into their pony forms one by one.

And each time one of my friends transformed, it was accompanied by a burst of new data: numbers rattling off by the scores, waveforms spiking, and a lot of things turning bold and red, which I didn’t realize was an issue until everything on the screen was flashing red.

“Oh, no! Stop pla—!”

In another moment of prophetic hindsight, I realized too late that the amount of magic the girls gave off when playing together was far more than what my computers could handle. Shoving that much energy and data through the computers was like trying to force a dump truck through your front door, and the end result was just as disastrous. With a single, echoing bang of protest, my computer belched out a thick cloud of rainbow-coloured smoke before falling dead and silent.

“My goodness, are you okay Sunset?” Rarity called out.

After a fit of coughing whilst clearing the air around me, I managed a weak thumbs up to reassure my friends. “Just… overloaded the computers a bit,” I explained. Attempts to get my computer working again were met with a sharp hiss and a spat of sparks. “Okay, girls, new plan: we test you one at a time.”

*******************

It took about a quarter of an hour to get my computers back up and running, much to the relief of the growing impatience of my friends. On the bright side, I did have their music to help motivate me along, though they kept the tempo light in order to avoid triggering their transformations again.

The new round of tests were going to be simpler, if only to avoid another electrical mishap. The last thing I needed was all my data being destroyed because I got too ambitious with my methods. I decided Fluttershy would be the first to test, if only because I theorized her gentle nature might mean that her magical output would be the least stressing on the machines.

“Okay Fluttershy, we’re all set to go. Are you ready?” I called out to my friend who stood nervously amidst a tangled mess of hanging cables.

“If I said ‘no,’ could we stop?” she replied.

“Come on, this is for science,” I reassured her. “Just do it for me, please?”

It took a little bit more coaxing, but eventually Fluttershy started shaking her tambourine about. Thankfully, despite being terrified of the stage, along with so many other things, she had a habit of getting lost in the music just like the rest of us. Within moments, a golden aura enveloped her and the magic spilled out in all its brilliance. Or at least, so I presumed since I was once more glued to my workstation, monitoring the sensor readings. Of particular interest was the oscilloscope’s readings, which was fluctuating in wild, unpredictable patterns, not to mention flashing in every colour of the spectrum, which was particularly confusing given the oscilloscope could only output in green.

“Fascinating,” I murmured to myself, scribbling notes all across my clipboard. “The measurements are unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” The patterns on the scope began to change and contort away from the typical wave-like pattern, forming a shape that I almost didn’t believe at first. “Is it me or does that look like a butterfly?”

Before anyone could even suggest an answer, there was sudden vibrant flash from Fluttershy’s direction. Apparently, her magic was only now just erupting out in full force, unleashing a swarm of colourful, shimmering butterflies throughout the room. And for some particular reason, many of these new fluttering friends decided to get nice and cozy with Rarity—perhaps having been attracted to all of her shiny jewelry. Sadly, the sentiments were not mutual.

“EEEEEK! They’re in my hair! They’re in my hair!” Rarity shrieked in distress.

“Don’t panic, Rarity, you’ll just—!”

My warnings came too late as she tried to flee from the technicolour swarms, only to trip over some of the power cables. The screams were soon replaced with a cascade of crashes as cables and equipment were ripped violently from their housings. While the noise did scare away all the magic butterflies, it left a good portion of my equipment in ruins.

“Sorry…”

“Not your fault, Fluttershy,” I sighed in response. “Hey, Rarity, are you okay?”

“Just peachy,” she groaned in response.

Refusing to let this setback deter me, I pressed forward with my next friend. “Who wants to go next?” I called for a volunteer.

“I’ll go,” Applejack said as she stepped forward. Her willingness was a refreshing change and I hurried to get her connected to one of the still-intact monitors, lest she change her mind in the interim. “Listen, Sunset,” she began as I attached additional sensor nodes to her, “I can appreciate your hands-on, go-get-em approach, but is all this really necessary?”

I just laughed right back at her. “Necessary? Ha! Was it necessary for Forssmane to demonstrate the feasibility of cardiac catheterization by conducting it on himself?” I replied.

“I have literally no idea how to respond to that.”

“You can start by playing,” I instructed. “Trust me, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Seeing no other way forward, Applejack began strumming her bass guitar, putting out a steady melody that the others were able to enjoy while they waited. Ever dutiful, I paid more careful attention to the data outputs in order to avoid any further accidents. After about half-a-minute, I caught a glimpse of Applejack hovering a few feet off the ground in the midst of her own transformation. Not wanting to overload anything this time, I decided to stop this particular experiment short.

“That’s enough, AJ. Just stop for a second,” I instructed.

Though surprised by my request, Applejack nonetheless complied. As the music faded, she settled back on the ground and her pony accessories faded from sight. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

“I just want to get a bit of preliminary data before we get too far,” I explained. Tapping a few keys, one of the computer stations began printing out some of those results. There was a surge of excitement as I tore away the first page and looked it over. “Okay, according to these numbers… ‘Your greatest fear is your own ambition.’ Hold on, why would it even say that?” I quickly checked the second print-out to see what it contained. “‘Also, clowns.’ How did this—I wasn’t even testing for that!”

Off to the side, Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried, and failed, to hide their snickering.

“This machine is clearly defective!” I shouted in frustration before delivering an unceremonious and poorly-thought-out kick, which just hurt both my foot and my pride. “Okay, we’re moving on to plan C. Rarity, front and center!”

“There’s no need to shout,” Rarity politely reminded me.

My ever-decreasing patience was not lost on me, prompting a defeated sigh on my part. “You’re right,” I admitted, “I’m sorry, I’m just—this is getting very frustrating for me. It’s like the answers are dangling in front of me, taunting me by staying just out of reach.”

I turned away from my friends in order to avoid further shame. It was finally setting in that in my overzealous pursuit, I wasn’t being very kind or fair to them. The stress was getting to me and I was taking it out on others, and that realization just made that feeling worse. My friends, however, demonstrated that they were far more forgiving and understanding than I was being as, one-by-one, they swarmed me in an uplifting group hug.

“It’s okay, darling, we’ve all been there before,” Rarity reassured me. “We’ve all held ourselves to lofty expectations before and then struggled to meet them. We know that frustration.”

“You just need to take a deep breath and remember that you don’t have to solve every mystery in a day,” Fluttershy added.

Applejack soon joined in on the uplifting advice with her typical brand of country idioms. “Exactly! You just gotta tackle this problem one apple tree at time.”

And for some reason Pinkie Pie tossed in a quick, “Beep!”

I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, but it was nonetheless comforting to hear her voice as well.

“And you were right, this has been pretty fun despite all the science stuff,” Rainbow Dash chimed in at the end. “It’s not nearly as boring as I thought it would be.”

And just like that, all the guilt and shame melted away. It was still a strange feeling to have people rush to my side at the slightest hint of depression with nothing but the intention of uplifting my spirits, as opposed to my old ways where I homed in on the emotionally isolated with all the good intentions of a cruise missile.

“You girls are the best,” I sighed contently once my emotional batteries had been recharged. “If you want, we can finish the rest of this later.”

“Well we’re already here and set up, there’s no harm in finishing,” Rarity suggested, followed by a round of nodding heads.

“Would you be willing to go next?” I offered.

“Of course, darling, I’d be happy to,” she replied.

I directed her back to the clearing at the center of the room and set about prepping some new equipment for the next battery of tests. “Now for this test, it will be important for you to try and stay still,” I instructed. “I’m going to be using a series of lasers to—”

“Lasers?” Dash interjected in a burst of excitement.

With a roll of my eyes and a quiet chuckle under my breath, I quickly explained, “They’re for measuring thermal energy and other outputs along the electromagnetic spectrum.”

“And now that sounds boring,” Dash sighed in defeat. She fell into a chair near the window and propped her feet up on one of the amps. “Congratulations, you made lasers boring.”

Rarity’s enthusiasm began to waiver again when she saw just how many lasers I had set up: at least a dozen attached to a couple of steel poles so they could be aimed at various points along her body. It was almost like a laser-powered holiday tree, minus the tree, presents, and everything else that people associated with the holidays.

“Now just remember, Rarity, you’ll want to try and minimize any excessive body movement,” I reiterated one of the more crucial parts of the experiment. “Also, don’t look directly into the lasers.”

With a flick of the proverbial switch, I activated the sensor array and signaled for the band’s pianist to work her magic. This time around, I wanted to see her transformation as quickly as possible so Rarity went for one of her favourite solos, unleashing a dazzling display of rhythm and magic. Her radiance became accentuated by a flurry of magic diamonds that began to swarm around her. As mesmerizing as the display was, though, her new accessories began refracting all of my lasers, creating a light show across the ceilings and walls. The others enjoyed the show, of course, letting out a chorus of ‘ooo’s and ‘ah’s as streaks of lasers danced above, but the display was throwing all of my measurements out of the window.

For a brief moment, however, I allowed myself the opportunity the enjoy the spectacle as well. Who said science had to be bland and boring, after all? It was almost breath-taking in its beauty. It was majestic; it was awe-inspiring.

And then it was going straight into my eye.

“GAH! My eyes!” With all the grace of a drunk and blind ballerina, I yelped and flailed in panic. Once again, the copious quantities of cables reached out and grabbed hold of me, sending me cascading to the ground and dragging all the laser sensors along with me. The experiment was brought to a crashing halt with my friends swarming to my side.

“Okay, I take back what I said about lasers being boring,” Dash said as she and the others hovered over me. “Are you okay, Sunset? How many fingers am I holding up?”

My eyes were still welded shut so I couldn’t answer even if I had wanted to. “My god, it’s full of stars,” I groaned once I tried to see the world again. “No, wait, that’s just my retinas burning in agony.”

“Maybe we ought to take a break,” Applejack suggested.

“Noooo!” I groaned in protest. “Must continue the experiment. Just… just somebody help me up.” I pawed at the air for a few moments before one of my friends grabbed my hands and helped hoist me back to my feet. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

“It’s me, silly,” Pinkie Pie answered instead. “Fluttershy’s behind you.”

I squinted and leaned for a closer look. “Eh, close enough for jazz, I guess.”

“Oh, can I try that next? Jazz sounds like fun!” said our drummer, now bouncing in excitement.

At least I could count on Pinkie remaining gung-ho, even when the experiments had proven to be one mishap after another. But if she wasn’t going to be dissuaded then I wasn’t going to give up either. Since a good portion of my equipment had been rendered useless thanks to the experiments thus far, I opted for something simpler and more robust. I attached a number of electrode leads to my friend, which would feed biometric data into the remaining computers. Trying to measure the effects of magic directly had proven problematic, so I decided to try measuring its indirect effects on the human body.

As Pinkie began with a steady beat, I turned my attention to my monitors. I needed her drumming for a few minutes in order to establish a baseline of her physiological responses.

“Good, good,” I murmured to myself in the midst of my note-taking. “Oxygen saturation is at maximum, respiration rate is steady, pressure is good, and pulse rate is steadily increasing.”

The pulse rate was the only thing changing, as to be expected with the increased activity. I watched with intense focus as the coloured line pulsed across the screen, jumping up and down in a steady, rhythmic fashion—up and down, up and down, one after the other.

One beat.

Two beats.

Three beats.

There was something almost hypnotic about the readings. A sudden spell of drowsiness washed over me; my eyelids felt heavier and heavier with each passing pulse. I swear, even the noise it made started to sound like ‘sleep… sleep… sleep…’

It made for a very compelling argument, or at least so it seemed at the time. There was no reason I couldn’t shut my eyes for a little while: Pinkie was so busy drumming she wouldn’t even notice me sleeping, and the computer was recording all the data regardless. Resting my forehead against the monitor for support, I was whisked off to the land of puffy white clouds and blissful dreams.

Sadly, my brief stint in dreamworld was short-lived; I was jarred awake by an abrupt upswing in the drumming, accentuated by a loud ‘watch out!’ What my friends were warning me about was the barrage of several dozen balloons of every shape and size imaginable, which had been launched from the drum set like some kind of balloon-cannonade. There was no time for me to dodge, and all I could do was try to shield myself from the coming onslaught with my clipboard. The barrage struck with all the ferocity of a thousand leaves of paper, which made sense since they were all just made of rubber and lots of air. Had I been more awake, I would’ve realized it sooner rather than bracing myself and looking like an idiot as the balloons bounced off me or whisked through my hair.

“Sunset, are you okay?” Applejack promptly called out.

Taking a few seconds just to collect all of my senses after such an abrupt wake-up, I gave a smile and a thumbs-up to let everyone know I was still intact. Magical or not, they were still just balloons.

“Heh. You know, for a second I was expecting an explosion or something,” I chuckled back.

“I didn’t accidentally ruin your science, did I?” Pinkie asked.

“It’s fine—the computer’s been recording the data anyways,” I reassured her. “In fact, let me just hit the save button before I lose any of this data.”

Unfortunately, I had neglected to take into consideration what happens when scores of balloons rustle through your hair. The moment my finger came within an inch of the computer terminal, there came a static jolt of such resonance that even the god of thunder would’ve stood up and paid respect.

The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground, staring at the ceiling with the biggest headache known to man and pony-kind.

“Wowee! I didn’t know a person could jump like that!” Pinkie exclaimed as she and the others rushed to my side.

“Why do my feet feel weird?” I murmured, still disorientated.

“Probably cause your boots are still on the other side of the room,” Applejack answered. “Now come on Sunset, let’s get you up.”

With Dash’s assistance, Applejack hoisted me back to my feet and then lent their support as I stumbled back to my workstation. There was a massive scorch mark across the now-cracked screen, and several of the keys had been melted into unrecognizable blobs. The scent of scorched plastics and solder was the key detail that let me know that the machine was, in technical terms, bricked.

“I am beginning to notice an unfortunate trend with this experiment,” I sighed, overwhelmed by exhaustion, pain, and disappointment. “Well this has been a waste of a day—barely any good data at all, and a whole lot of broken computers I’m going to have to explain to Celestia afterwards. This is so coming out of my allowance…”

“You know what I think?” Dash said as she pulled me away from the smoldering remains of my broken dreams. “You are way too tense right now—you need to unwind a bit.”

“I think she needs a whole lot more than just that,” Applejack chimed in, but was promptly ignored by her friend.

“I think it’s time for you to let loose a little,” Dash suggested as she hefted up her guitar and shoved it into my arms.

I stared at my friend in disbelief for a few moments while awkwardly cradling her precious guitar in my arms like a bundle of firewood. “Are you sure that’ll actually help?” I replied.

“Positive.”

Rainbow Dash’s assertions were further bolstered when the rest of my friends nodded in approval. If they thought a little time on the guitar would help me relax, then who was I to argue? I was the person, after all, who thought staying up all night modifying computers and lab equipment was a good use of time, and look where that got me.

“Could we at least plug me into my laptop so I can record the output?” I asked, hoisting up a few cables.

“Fine,” Rainbow said, laughing quietly to herself while slowly shaking her head. “Can’t just shut off that brain for a minute, can you?”

“I don’t like being in the dark about things, especially things that can cause problems for me,” I explained. After a few moments of testing the chords on the guitar, I felt confident enough to try out a few solos. “Okay girls, let’s see how much I still remember.”

I started off slow, strumming out a few chords as I worked into a steady pace. I was still fighting varying levels of fatigue and frustration, so my focus was scattered worse than Pinkie Pie’s. Little by little, thoughts and worries about magic began to drift from my mind, carried away on the steady current of the beat. Tensions slowly melted away, replaced by the warmth of the music inside me. The tempo picked up its pace, and my hips swayed side to side as the music flowed through me. In no time at all, my troubles were barely an afterthought and I was no less concerned about magic than I was about what note to play next, each of which flowed from my fingertips with barely a thought to them. I could hear my friends clapping and cheering, but if they were saying anything in particular, I couldn’t tell. I was lost in the catharsis.

My spirit soared with every note, and soon I felt as light on my feet as I did in my heart. It was only then that I realized how literal that feeling was when I chanced a quick glance downward and noticed I was levitating above the ground. I didn’t care enough to say anything, though, nor interrupt my playing. It was as though there was this fire burning inside, growing more intense with the music, and it was screaming to be released. Far be it for me to deny what my heart cried out for, so I ended my solo with one final crescendo, and let the magic explode in a blaze of sound and fury.

I wasn’t sure how it was for the others, but for me, ponying up provided a strange sense of comfort; it was like slipping on your favourite sweater on a cold winter evening. It was the small piece of home I could still carry with me. As my feet touched down, I remained silent and basked in the warmth of my transformation, which was far more intense than I remembered it being.

“Sunset, you’re on fire!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Heh, that was pretty impressive, wasn’t it?” I replied with a modest chuckle.

“No, I mean you’re actually on fire!”

“What do you me—Oh sweet Celestia’s horn!”

Perhaps if I had been paying more attention, I would’ve noticed that all my magic-infused music was overwhelming my poor, little laptop. Rather than just coughing and fizzing out, however, it decided to quit the mortal realm with a funeral pyre. I must’ve stood too close to the flames as there was now a section of my coat ablaze.

Panicked didn’t even begin to describe my mad scramble to wriggle free of my coat with one arm while keeping Rainbow’s guitar a safe distance from the flames with the other. Once I was free, I threw the coat onto the ground where Applejack, as the only sensible one of us it seems, blasted it and my laptop with a fire extinguisher.

Any sense of relaxation or ease I may have had were now as smothered as the flames had been. I sighed, staring in disbelief at the powder-covered remains of two of the most significant possessions in my life.

“Are you okay?” Rarity asked, putting an arm across my shoulders.

“I really liked that coat,” I whimpered.

“I guess that answers my question about whether that was real leather or the fake kind,” my friend added in a quiet mutter under her breath.

“I give up,” I groaned in dismay. I sulked on over to a nearby pile of cables and cords and sat down in the middle of it like a deflated beanbag chair. “I have no idea how magic works in this world.”

“Sunset, dear, I know things didn’t go too well today, but you can’t let it get you down,” Rarity tried to offer some reassurances. “It might be a good time, though, to step back and collect yourself before making another attempt. And you can look on the bright side.”

“What bright side?” I replied.

“Well, now we have the perfect opportunity to update your wardrobe,” she suggested. “I mean, I know you liked that coat but I think you’re due for a new make-over to help differentiate the new Sunset Shimmer from the old one.”

Despite the timing being a bit out of place, Rarity did have a good point. I had done so much to turn my life around, perhaps it would be good for me to shed the look that accompanied the old me for so long and adopt a new style. If her intention had been to give me something better to think about, it definitely worked.

“If you ask me, if Sunset wants to get to the bottom of this magic problem, she should get help from a magic expert,” Dash suggested.

“We don’t have any of those,” Applejack deadpanned, parroting the same thought that I had. “Wait a moment, you better not be thinking that crazy theory that I think you are.”

“It’s not crazy! I’m telling you—Daring Do is real!”

Whatever Rainbow Dash and Applejack were arguing about, I wasn’t paying enough attention to make out any further detail. In fact, wherever their conversation went, it was something that I was going to have to concern myself with at another time. Once I was off my feet, it didn’t take long for me to be whisked away once again to dreamland, and this time for a good, long while.

Act V-IV

Anybody who’s ever pursued research of any kind, be it scientific or magical, knows full-well that it is a journey that is often fraught with setbacks and obstacles. It is a little-known fact that Starswirl the Bearded had to spend a month as ‘Starswirl the Eyebrow-less’ after his experiments looking into the interactions between magic and lighter-than-air gases.

The short version of his results: methane and magic made for an unstable combination.

As for myself, however, I had to sit and stew in the kitchen until Celestia got home from work to find out how deep of a metaphorical pit I would be in. While spending most of the school day asleep in the rehearsal room was enough to land me in the dog house, that didn’t begin to compare to my reckless and unauthorized use of school equipment, most of which had been damaged or outright destroyed by my experiments.

Whether by feelings of pity or a need to keep an eye on me, Luna kept me company in the meantime. She sat on the opposite side of the kitchen island from me, casually checking her phone every few minutes to see if there were any notifications from her sister, or so she claimed.

All I could do, however, was ponder all the possible ways my life could be made more miserable. The failures of my experiments, along with my favourite jacket, had already dampened my mood, and the cherry on top of this awful sundae was that my cell phone had also been destroyed by the experiments. It had been in my coat pocket and the magic electrical discharge had turned it into a fancy paperweight.

So not only did I not find any answers; I lost my coat, my phone, and my laptop. I probably left a good portion of my dignity behind as well, but at least the only witnesses were my friends.

I sat quietly on my little stool, tapping my fingers against the granite countertop in a slow and rhythmic fashion. Eventually, the awkward silence compelled me to say something, even if it was the first idiotic thing to pop into my mind.

“Well, at least I didn’t blow up part of the school this time,” I said, followed by the most forced chuckle in the history of the world.

“I would hope that by now you would’ve set a slightly higher bar for yourself,” Luna replied. She smiled afterwards, letting me know that she’s not trying to be demeaning. “She isn’t going to be angry, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Me? Worried? Oh, hardly.” I tried to laugh off her concerns but made little headway. After a few agonizing moments of silence, Luna’s phone suddenly rang, to which I responded in a calm and rational manner: screaming followed by falling off of my stool.

“Just keep telling yourself that; one day it might come true,” Luna quipped before answering her phone. The conversation was brief—little more than a series of ‘mm-hm’ and ‘yeah’ before it was over. “Are you going to hide down there all night?” she asked once done with the phone call.

“Maybe she won’t notice me if I play dead.”

Realizing that it was childish to stay on the floor, I reluctantly climbed back onto the stool. I must’ve sparked some sense of pity in Luna, because she gave me a reassuring smile to help calm my nerves. It was strange finding comfort from her given that only a short while ago she was among those calling for my head.

“Did she sound upset?” I asked after a prolonged silence.

“She’s… under a fair amount of stress right now.” A delicate answer from Luna, which did little to help my anxiety. “Now this magic that you were investigating—is it something we need to be worried about?”

“Yes and no,” I answered as best I could. “Magic in and of itself isn’t a huge concern, at least not from my perspective. I’ve been using and studying magic for most of my life, so for me it’s just another part of life. What I’m concerned about is that I don’t know how differently the rules of magic apply to this world compared to my world.”

“Hence the experiments.”

“Exactly,” I affirmed with a quick nod. I was glad to see that Luna at least understood my reasoning. “I’m not worried so much about magic, rather it’s the unknown that’s bothering me. Especially if we’re trying to avoid drawing any more attention to ourselves or blow up parts of the school again.”

Luna let out a disquieted sigh. No doubt she was still just as bothered by unknown threats as she had been back when my fate was being discussed. Hopefully she didn’t consider throwing me and my friends out in order to protect the school.

“Normally I would say to leave such mysteries to the experts, but you’re probably the closest thing we have to one,” Luna remarked, albeit with notable reluctance as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “What about in your world? How does magic work there?”

“Well, in Equestria, magic is a force that exists naturally; it permeates through the world and resides in all living creatures to some extent,” I explained, although it felt like I was just regurgitating the opening lines of ‘My First Spellbook’ that’s given out in magic kindergarten. “And a unicorn possesses a natural ability to harness the magic inside them. Most are limited to a very narrow range of spells pertaining to a given specialty, like a pony who specializes in glass-blowing would have magic that assists in that task. However, in rare occasions you can have a unicorn who’s talented in magic as a whole, such as myself, which makes it very easy for them to learn how to channel their magic to all manner of effects.”

I was half-expecting Luna to be staring off into space with glazed-over eyes, but instead I was surprised to see her regarding me with an amused smirk across her face.

“Is something wrong?”

“Sorry, I was just picturing you as a unicorn,” she replied.

“I’ll have you know that Princess Celestia once said that I was the prettiest filly in my grade,” I remarked with no shortage of pride in my tone. We both had a good laugh after that, which I sorely needed. The levity was cut-short, unfortunately, when I heard the front door opening and closing, which could only mean one thing.

Celestia was home.

I could hear her drawing closer to the kitchen, my chest tightening with each audible step. Her arrival was accompanied by a curious aroma of hot, fried food. My fears were confirmed when I saw the principal entering with a family-sized bag of MacDougal’s in tow.

“That’s not a good sign,” I murmured under my breath.

Celestia took a seat at the island, positioning herself such that Luna and I sat to either side of her. She looked tired, both physically and emotionally, like a soldier home from a long-fought war. There was a prolonged, painful silence around the table for a couple of minutes, save for Luna helping herself to some of the contents of the MacDougal’s bag.

“Sunset, what were you thinking?” Celestia finally spoke up at long last. As I had been led to expect, there was no anger or malice in her tone. Unfortunately, she sounded disappointed—very, very disappointed. Part of me would’ve preferred anger; at least I knew how to deal with anger.

There was no point trying to wrap this with noble intentions because she knew I was no longer guided by ambition or greed. The truth was far more simple.

“I was just trying to find answers.”

“By jury-rigging school equipment and conducting live experiments on your friends?”

“When you phrase it like that, you make me sound like some kinda mad scientist,” I remarked. I quickly realized that my nonchalance might not go over well with Celestia, so I tried to downplay the whole disaster. “I mean, yes, things got a little out of hand near the end, but it’s just a few broken computers. I’ll figure out some way to repair the damage or I could maybe get a job to at least pay back some of the damages. And I’ll make sure to catch up on all the work I missed because I slept through school.”

“You think I’m concerned about old lab equipment and you missing a day of class?” Celestia asked with a tone of restrained exasperation. “Sunset, you could’ve been seriously hurt. There was an electrical fire; there was power surge! The inside of one of the computers looked like someone had gone over it with a tesla coil!”

It was strange: I had almost forgotten all about the fire that claimed my coat, and the electrical discharge that let me tap into my inner pegasus and fly across the room. The fact that Celestia was so concerned for my safety hadn’t escaped my notice, which just made me feel worse. I had expected an earful about breaking school property and costing them more money, but I had forgotten about the other party that had been at risk: me.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” I hastily spat out in order to try and placate my guardian. “I made a mistake—well, several mistakes—it won’t happen again.”

“You’re darn right this won’t happen again, because I don’t want you doing any more of these experiments.”

“What?” I gasped in disbelief. “You can’t be serious. How am I supposed to figure out how Rainbow Dash started flying through the halls?”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Luna asked her sister, surprising both of us by advocating for me. “This magic could have negative repercussions if it’s left unchecked.”

For her part, Celestia kept her shock in check, at best only betraying her thoughts with a brief lifting of her eyebrows. “Right now, the only risk from Rainbow Dash flying down the hallways is if she does so recklessly,” she answered. “Frankly, that’s a risk that’s far easier to mitigate.”

While I had been prepared to accept the consequences for my reckless behaviour, I hadn’t envisioned something so drastic. And emboldened by my recent successes at school and beyond, I felt confident enough to stand my ground against what I felt was an overreaction.

“Oh, come on!” I exclaimed, “this is magic, not splitting the atom! I may have overestimated what the machines could tolerate, but this is far from dangerous! This is completely unnecessary.”

“You set yourself on fire!” Celestia rebuked.

“I set my jacket on fire, and it’s not like anybody got hurt—well, not seriously hurt.”

A smarter and more observant me would’ve realized sooner that testing Celestia’s patience when she was in a MacDougal’s mood was not the best choice. Better choices could’ve been made while intoxicated at a free seminar for time shares. Just because I was popular at school again didn’t mean I was done being an idiot.

“You were lucky that you got away without any injuries; the next time might be different, and I will not have you putting yourself or anyone else in jeopardy just to satisfy your idle curiosity.”

I took great offence to my drive being described as mere ‘idle curiosity.’ I liked to believe that my ambitions served a greater purpose than simply being something to sink my time into.

“This is unbelievable,” I scoffed in disgust. “You don’t trust me, do you? What, do you think if I start studying magic I’ll turn back into that bloody she-demon again? I helped saved the school—saved you, might I add!”

“This isn’t about trust, Sunset Shimmer!” Celestia shouted as she slammed her palm against the table. “This is about your safety and that is non-negotiable!”

“‘Safety,’ my cutie marked flank!” I snapped back before storming out of the room.

“Your… what?”

“Pony saying!”

*******************

With my phone and computer destroyed, I spent the rest of the evening brooding in my room. Besides finishing off what school work I had missed due to sleeping through the day, I had little else to preoccupy my time. I had no desire to leave my room and run the risk of another confrontation with Celestia. It was better for both of us to give the other some distance in order to let tempers cool.

Sadly, my school work took only about an hour to complete and my skewered sleeping cycle meant that I spent the next agonizingly-long hours laying in bed with nothing to do. I went through a lot of brainstorming, trying to figure out how I could circumvent Celestia’s restrictions. The school was out of the question at this point: no doubt tomorrow would see her distribute a memorandum barring me from any extracurricular use of computers or scientific equipments. I could just imagine the library adorned with posters of my face with warnings of ‘do not allow near computers unsupervised!’

There was always the public library and its computers, or perhaps I could get a job and buy myself a replacement laptop. The hardest part would be gathering data without alerting Celestia, as any of my friends could potentially be recruited to keep tabs on me.

It was a poisonous thought to have, contemplating whether I could trust my friends, but it was hard for my mind not to start taking every possibility into account. Though I trusted them implicitly, they were still bound to their promise to Twilight Sparkle to help look after me, and if Celestia can convince them that it includes spying on me, then it remained a real possibility. Not to mention I’d hate to have to put them in a position where they might have to lie on my behalf.

It was beginning to look like I would have to concede defeat in this situation, as there was no realistic way to gather data and conduct research without having to cover my tracks with lies and obfuscations. I wasn’t so idiotic as to think that was anything resembling a good idea.

I let out a quiet sigh of resignation, folding my arms behind my head and braced myself for a long night of wallowing in ignorance. But then I heard a noise come from the window: a very faint ‘klink’ noise as if something just hit the window. Once I heard that noise a second time, I knew it couldn’t have been my imagination.

As it was dark outside, I had to open up the window in order to see what was going on, only to catch a pebble square in the forehead.

“Ow! What in the—”

“Sorry! I was aiming for the window!”

Imagine my surprise to see Twilight Sparkle standing outside my window, looking very sheepish and apologetic for having beaned me with a rock. What in the name of Celestia she was doing at my place in the middle of the night was a complete mystery, but one that I intended to get answers for shortly.

“What is going on, Twilight? What are you doing here?” I asked, still rubbing the sore spot on my forehead.

“Well, you see, I needed to talk to you, but I couldn’t get a hold of you; none of my texts or phone calls were getting through.” Not what I asked, but at least she was speaking in coherent sentences, so I wasn’t about to dissuade her.

“My phone got electrocuted,” I explained.

“Oh. Um, did you get any of my emails?”

“My laptop caught fire.”

“Wait, you mean like literally?” Twilight asked in momentary disbelief.

“Funeral pyre and everything; it’s a long story.”

Whatever answers Twilight expected, they were obviously nowhere close to the truth. She just continued staring in disbelief for a few more seconds before I gave her another verbal nudge to bring the conversation back on track.

“Twilight, it’s the middle of the night,” I reminded her. “What couldn’t wait until normal business hours?”

“We need to talk. May I come in?”

“Why didn’t you just knock on the door like a normal person?” Now considering how my day had gone, I was arguably the last person who should be criticizing others over what constituted ‘normal,’ I was already on thin ice with the house overlords and didn’t want to push my luck.

For her part, Twilight responded with a sheepish grin and a nervous chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Ah-heh, well, I was trying to avoid waking anybody else up—”

“Which you already did!” Luna’s voice suddenly rang out. I leaned outside and saw Luna poking her head out from her own bedroom window. “Now, would you just invite her inside before you wake up the whole neighborhood?”

“I might’ve gotten the wrong window at first,” Twilight offered as an explanation.

It was a good thing that it was so dark because otherwise Twilight might’ve seen me rolling my eyes in disbelief. I told her to wait by the front door and then hurried to let her inside. I was in for my second surprise of the night when I opened the front door and Twilight barged on in with an overstuffed dufflebag in tow and a corkboard tucked under one arm.

“You wouldn’t believe what’s been happening in the past few days,” she blurted out the second she was inside. “In fact, I almost didn’t believe it myself, but I didn’t know who else to turn to if I wanted to verify my data.”

Since I didn’t want to disturb everyone else in the house, I led Twilight up to my room so we could continue the discussion in private. In the back of my mind, I felt an unsettling tingle, as though my subconscious were trying to alert me to something that the rest of me hadn’t clued in on yet. Had I not been so distracted with my own problems, I wouldn’t have panicked so badly when I did.

Once in my room, Twilight Sparkle threw her bag onto my bed and began unpacking, taking out several file folders haphazardly stuffed to capacity, a number of homemade electronic devices, and several metal poles, the purpose of which became evident when she assembled the poles together into a rudimentary easel. I took a seat on the edge of my bed and waited for the inevitable presentation.

“Sunset, has there been any strange occurrences at your school in the past week?” Twilight asked in the midst of her setting up.

Since I couldn’t mention evil Sirens from Equestria attempting to harvest the school for magical power, I had to offer up a feigned look of confusion as I shrugged my shoulders. “We had a big music festival, but that’s about it,” I added.

Once the easel was ready, she put the corkboard on it and started pinning up numerous graphs, charts, equations, and other scientific oddities that it was too late at night for me to make sense of.

“It all happened just a few days ago when my seismograph picked up a sudden disturbance,” Twilight began to explain. She held up a long stretch of paper, showing what I presumed to be a reading of the aforementioned sensor. “At first I thought it might’ve been just an isolated incident or perhaps an artifact from construction work, but then I saw these data samplings I got from the sensor arrays I put in place around Canterlot High from around the same time period.”

“You put sensors around my school?”

“Well I couldn’t go inside so I had to settle with installing them on the school grounds around the building,” Twilight explained, misinterpreting my remark for disappointment rather than disbelief. “But look at all these energy spikes, all at different times and in different locations! Some of them only last a few moments, but there’s a few that lasted for several minutes.”

That was when my weary mind finally put the pieces together and realized what all the numbers and graphs were pointing to: they were all the moments where magic was being used at the school. I recognized a few of the time stamps, such as when the other Twilight Sparkle came through the portal, or when the Dazzlings were siphoning energy from the audience during the Battle of the Bands, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what fifty-foot magic alicorn corresponded to the biggest spike in her data.

In all the excitement of dragging my name out of the mud and Rainbow Dash’s persisting magical abilities, I had neglected to consider that other people might notice things like giant, fluorescent alicorns.

Unfortunately, I got so lost in thought restraining my panic, I hadn’t paid attention to what Twilight was saying, as she had been rambling on about her data and findings. I only snapped back to the conversation when she said, “—do you think you can help?”

“Wh—Oh! Yeah, sure. Of course!” I blurted out without even thinking.

“That’s fantastic! Just keep this with you at school, carrying it around in your backpack or something, and just let me know if it picks up anything unusual,” Twilight said as she suddenly dropped a toaster-sized piece of electronic onto my lap. “The on switch is right here, and try not to let it overheat too much. It should have enough range to cover most of the school as you go about your day.”

I think I had just volunteered to be her guinea pig.

“Oh, I’m not sure if it’s a great idea to be carrying something this big around,” I said in a desperate attempt to back out of my promise without making it obvious. “Maybe this isn’t such a great idea.”

“It’ll be safe, I promise,” Twilight insisted. Seeing my lingering doubt, she clasped her hands together. “Pleeeeease?” She sat down next to me, taking one of my hands and holding it tight. “This is really important for me, Sunset. Whatever these readings are, whatever these strange energy waveforms are, they’re big! And I mean like ‘front cover of Science Monthly’ big. This could even get me a scholarship after high school. But I really, really need your help. You’re the only other person I can turn to for this.”

There was no easy way out of this, but any hope did not lay with trying to weasel out of this arrangement. I could figure something out later, but for now I had to give Twilight what she wanted to hear.

“Okay, okay, I’ll see what I can manage,” I said while offering a reassuring smile.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” In her excitement, Twilight threw her arms around me, squeezing me to the point of turning a touch red around the face. At least one of us was excited.

Before she could crush all of my ribs, I tried to distract her with something to talk about. “So what are some of these other toys you’ve managed to slap together?” I asked as I pointed to the nearest unfamiliar-looking device she had unpacked.

“These things?” Twilight replied, taking the bait. “Just some of the prototypes for my next batch of scanning equipment. I think I’ve managed to adjust the sensitivity for the phase discriminators enough so that I don’t have to worry so much about chasing false signals.” She held up one such device, which looked very similar to the one she had shown me back at the MacDougal’s restaurant some time ago; it was more refined and less held together by duct tape. It still reminded me of something from a cheap sci-fi film, but Twilight had already shown her aptitude for homemade electronics. “This should even be able to capture an active sample if I manage to find one, which will let me analyze the waveform patterns in better detail.”

As she flicked the device on, I felt my heart tighten in my chest. She had it aimed right at me, and as sure as the sun rises in the morning, the machine began crackling and beeping in a fury of noise and lights. I thought for certain I was going to be in for a difficult explanation when Twilight suddenly applied some percussive maintenance, and continued smacking the side of it until it stopped making any noise, save for a faint, repetitive beep.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized. “The sensors on this thing need recalibrating every other hour, it seems.”

“Y-you sure that’s the problem?” I asked despite all logic dictating I should leave the matter alone.

“If anybody was putting out readings like this, they’d be glowing,” Twilight replied. She was still fixated on her device, so thankfully she didn’t notice how relieved I was to hear that. “That or melting into a pile of radioactive goo.”

“Nope, no glowing here.” At least not since my experiments.

“Isn’t this exciting? We could be on the verge of a huge scientific breakthrough,” Twilight said. She was practically bouncing on the spot in her excitement, to the point where I was beginning to wonder how somebody could still be this energetic in the middle of the night.

That brought a curious thought to mind. “Twilight, when was the last time you slept?”

“Ummm, I’m not sure. What day is it today?”

I could only bury my face into my palm. If she had to ask, then the answer was never going to be something reasonable; at least that was another thing we had in common. But thinking about our shared irrationality made me realize that she was pursuing much of the same information that I had been. I didn’t necessarily need to conduct my own experiments because Twilight had gathered a smorgasbord of data for me.

“Say, do you think you could go over some of this data with me?” I asked as I gestured back to Twilight’s easel. “Maybe I could help you disseminate it.”

“Really? You want to see all the raw data?” Twilight asked.

“Of course. This all looks really fascinating.”

Those were probably words that Twilight rarely heard uttered without being stuffed to the brim with sarcasm. She had a look of genuine surprise about her, but soon realized my sincerity and nodded in agreement. She grabbed one of her dossiers and opened it up for me to see. The first sheets I saw contained a number of line graphs showing measured outputs over time from the sensors she had placed around Canterlot High.

“Wow, Twilight, these are really extensive,” I remarked in a mix of awe and disbelief. I was even a little jealous; it made the small amounts of data I collected look like crayon drawings. “Where did you manage to get all the equipment for this?”

“From the science lab at my school, though I’ve had to modify them extensively for this job,” she explained. She reached over and pulled a few sheets out to the forefront. “Here’s some of the drafts I did for the alterations…”

Twilight and I went on to talk about her research for hours. It was equal parts impressive and horrifying to see just how organized and methodical she was in her approach to discovering the nature of magic. Were the possible dangers to Equestria not so prevalent in my mind, I would’ve been more than eager to help her with this journey of discovery. As it stood, however, I had to do whatever I could to delay Twilight without her knowledge, at least until I knew enough about the magic in this world so I could keep Equestria safe.

“Now as you can see on this page, I’ve overlaid the waveforms from the first data samples I gathered from your school, as well as the first and second samples I collected from you…”

I felt guilty that Twilight was so close to finding the answers, but I couldn’t tell her what the mystery really was. First off, she’d never believe in a concept like ‘magic,’ which is understandable, but she’d also never settle for just being told the answer. She’d have to find the magic for herself, to study and analyze every facet of it, and I was still worried about what those consequences might be. Our worlds simply weren’t ready for each other, and I wasn’t going to let my past mistakes cause more grief for Princess Celestia.

Twilight Sparkle was my friend, but I had to keep feigning ignorance. It was a bad decision, but it was for the right reasons, wasn’t it?

Things quieted down after a while, if only because exhaustion had left me unable to really formulate any questions, so I simply read over the notes as best I could. Eventually, I concluded that there had been a reasonable length of time to entertain Twilight’s visit and that I had flown past it by several miles. This became all the more obvious when I realized it took me ten minutes to notice that the page I had been trying to decipher was upside-down.

“Okay Twilight,” I said whilst stifling a yawn, “I think it’s time to call it a ni—”

I stopped abruptly when I looked over to my friend and realized that she was no longer sitting next to me. Instead, she was curled up on the bed alongside me, sound asleep. It would seem that she shared similar sentiments. Now I could’ve woken her up or called her parents or otherwise done something to help get Twilight home, but I was too tired to really care. I just grabbed the blankets, pulled them over the two of us, and went to sleep as well.

I could worry about the repercussions in the morning.

Act V-V

In all the excitement of my impromptu slumber party with Twilight, I had neglected a few of my usual school-night essentials, such as setting my alarm clock for the morning. Things still worked out in my favour since the morning sun piercing through the nearby window, the curtains for which I had neglected to close for similar reasons, was enough to stir me awake.

In typical teenager fashion, my first response to the arrival of a new day was to grumble incoherently, pull the blanket over my eyes, and then huddle in closer to the warmth of my pillow. I tightened my arms around it, nestling my face into the soft, inviting contours, and letting my worries wash away beneath a soothing, rhythmic heartbeat.

Except pillows weren’t supposed to have heartbeats.

When my brain finally clued in on this, my eyes shot open and I discovered that I was not nestling my head into a pillow, but rather upon Twilight Sparkle.

Turned out I was a bit of a sleep-cuddler.

By some small miracle, Twilight had yet to wake up. Either she was a heavy sleeper or was far more exhausted than I had anticipated. Neither possibility did much to alleviate my paranoia that even the slightest motion or wayward breath on my part would rouse my friend from her slumber. Ever so gently, I lifted my arm that had been draped around her and pulled it back to safety, followed by a gentle roll to the side to extricate myself. With any luck, she’d wake up none the wiser about any embarrassing sleeping habits.

Woefully, it seemed as though I had exhausted what luck I had been allotted for the day, for when I tried to pull further away, I discovered that my arm was pinned underneath her. At first I wondered how I didn’t realize that sooner, but that was because I had lost all feeling in that arm. It was little more than a big, fleshy noodle attached to my body right now, and I couldn’t go anywhere until I found some way to get Twilight off of me. It felt rude to just wake her up, but I had no idea how long I might have to wait.

Maybe it would be better to just wait; eventually Twilight would arise and we could go about our day. It wasn’t like there was anything explicitly embarrassing about having my arm pinned under my friend. It wasn’t as though it were by any conscious action on either of our parts. But still, she got embarrassed easily, and I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

I couldn’t help but wonder why I was concerned about what she might think.

Eventually, I concluded that I needed to know the time before I could make a better judgement about whether to wait or just bite the bullet. That proved to be out of reach as well, as my alarm clock sat on the bedside table, which just so happened to be on the opposite side of my friend. After several minutes of contemplation and trying to spontaneously develop telekinetic powers, I finally decided to go for it and reached out for the clock.

Despite being so close, it was more difficult than I had anticipated, mostly due to one of my arms being pinned and half-numb. I had to lean precariously close to Twilight just to reach over her, close enough that I could feel her breath against my lips. It would be really awkward if she woke up right then and there. The blasted alarm clock sat just narrowly beyond my reach—I could feel my outstretched fingers just brushing against it.

I just needed a little bit more reach.

“Wake up, you two!” Luna’s voice suddenly bellowed from outside, followed by a thunderous pounding against the door.

There went all my hopes for subtlety.

There was no time and I was too close to move as Twilight lurched upwards in her half-dazed panic. I suspect she would’ve yelped something too, but due to my awkward position, her sudden movement led to her smashing her forehead square into my nose.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” Twilight blurted out.

“No, it was totally my fault!” I hastily replied, one hand clasped over my battered face.

As Twilight backed away, it freed my arm at long last, so I tried to quickly get up. Except that in my haste, I tried to push myself up using the arm that had just been freed, which was still half-numb and had all the support and stability of a wet noodle. No sooner did I put weight on it did it collapse underneath me, and the conversation came to an abrupt halt as I headbutted my friend in the gut.

*******************

Twilight and I made for quite the spectacle when we eventually sat down at the kitchen island: my disheveled friend was still doubled over in pain and I had large wads of blood-stained tissue paper stuffed up each nostril. Luna was both confused and amused when she saw us, and at least she made the attempt to try and hide the smirking.

“Is everything okay?” Luna asked, setting down some glasses of orange juice for us.

“Nothing happened,” Twilight and I replied in unison.

Despite doing nothing to sate her curiosity, Luna was polite enough not to press for any further details. She just shrugged her shoulders and went back to preparing her morning cup of coffee. “Celestia had to go into work early today, so I’ll drive you to wherever you need to go,” Luna offered to my friend. “Do you need me to drive you straight home or…?”

“I have everything I need, and I’ve got a spare uniform at school; you can just take me straight to Crystal Heart,” Twilight answered. “I’m really sorry to make you go through all this for me.”

Luna gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s no problem at all,” she said. “I’m sure Sunset Shimmer will be more than willing to do a few extra chores around the house as compensation.”

As far as reparations went, taking out the trash and vacuuming around the house a couple of extra times over the next week was a small price to pay. As my friend and I set about fixing up a quick but hearty breakfast, things were still a little awkward between us. We both felt bad for accidentally hitting the other, but I suspected she was still silently pondering over why I was hovering mere inches away from her face. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to be the one to be the first to shine a light on the subject, just in case my suspicions were wrong.

“I know you said you have a change of uniform at school, but it might still be a good idea to take a shower and clean yourself up beforehand,” Luna suggested.

“I’d really appreciate it, if you don’t mind.”

“My sister would have my hide if I sent somebody off to school looking like you do right now.” Luna headed for the kitchen exit, grabbing a slice of toast on her way out. “I’ll go grab some spare towels from the closet.”

With Luna gone, I was left alone with Twilight and the awkward silence. I would’ve been content to preoccupy myself with eating, but my friend had other things on her mind.

“I don’t look that bad, do I?” she asked.

My first instinct was to insist that she looked fine, but I remembered that Twilight valued honesty over flattery so I gave her a quick lookover. “Well you do look like you slept in your uniform and just crawled out of bed,” I answered, noting her wrinkled clothing and frazzled hair. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend a few minutes with a comb, either.”

“Oh, right. Of course,” she nodded in agreement, followed by a nervous chuckle. As she was about to take a sip of her orange juice, she paused and glanced my way again. “So, um, did you sleep well last night?”

Her question took me by surprise, and I was thankful for the fortuitous timing that I happened to be drinking at that exact moment, which bought me precious seconds to maintain my composure. Did she know about my sleep cuddling? She was sound asleep when I woke up, but that didn’t rule out the possibility that she might’ve woken up at some point during the night and saw. I couldn’t discount that she might just be asking to be polite. I decided to play it cool and wait to see where she went.

“It was fine: a completely normal and uneventful night of sleeping,” I replied.

“Good. That’s good. Very good,” Twilight said before taking a cautious sip. “Um, when I woke up, why were you—?”

She was about to ask the question that I had been dreading. I had told myself to just approach the issue calmly and politely, but instead I just blurted out, “I was trying to reach my alarm clock!”

“R-right! Of course, your alarm clock!”

“It was morning, after all,” I added as she appeared relieved at my explanation. “It’s important to know what time it was.”

“Especially with it being a school day and all.”

“Wouldn’t want to oversleep and be late for class.”

“That would be bad,” Twilight nodded hastily.

“Very bad.”

“Extremely bad.”

“Glad that matter’s all cleared up,” I sighed in relief.

We both let out a somewhat forced chuckle, which helped ease tensions a little bit. When Luna returned to inform us that the shower was ready, Twilight was the first to get up and hurried on her way with a hasty thanks.

“Are you sure everything's okay?” Luna asked as she took a seat across the island from me. “Your face does look a little banged up.”

“We just sorta… forgot about each other when we woke up,” I answered with the best subtle alteration of the truth I could manage on short notice. “I suppose neither of us are used to the idea of slumber parties yet.”

“I must say, I’m starting to like this Twilight a bit more than the other one.”

“Why’s that?” I asked between mouthfuls of toast.

“For starters, I don’t have to worry about power-crazed megalomaniacs with this one,” she answered before flashing a quick smirk to let me know that she’s just teasing me. “I guess she just feels a bit more ‘normal’ compared to the other, though I suppose that’s only true for people originally from this world.”

I wasn’t entirely sure if I could consider either Twilight Sparkle to be ‘normal,’ but at the same time that wasn’t something that concerned me. They were both my friends, and one just so happened to live on the other side of a magic portal. Of course, with the portal to Equestria now able to function on demand, I suspected I would be seeing Princess Twilight more often and without the need for calamitous events to justify visits.

“You also seem a lot happier when she’s around,” Luna added, which caught me off-guard.

“I’m… happier?” I repeated in disbelief, as though such words were alien to me.

“It’s probably more of a combination of things,” she answered. “After all, the past couple of weeks have been eventful for you, especially with what happened at the Battle of the Bands. You’ve got a lot going for you now, but even when things were tough you always seemed more relaxed and less guarded when you were with Twilight.” She then offered an uncertain shrug and finished off the last of her coffee. “Or at least that’s how it appeared to me, but what do I know? Celestia’s the one with a major in psychology.”

While what she said held truth, I was still a bit skeptical about whether I was ‘more relaxed’ when around Twilight Sparkle. If anything, her arrival usually brought along some source of worry, mostly pertaining to magic, but it was hard to deny that I did feel a connection to her that I didn’t share to the same extent as my other friends. I figured it was by simple virtue of Twilight being the first friend I chose for myself, rather than being given, but maybe there was more to it than that. I didn’t know enough about friendship to have a definitive answer.

In the end, the fine details didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. If anything, it just meant that I needed to step up and be a better friend with the others so that it didn’t feel like I was favouring one over the others.

*******************

By the time I arrived at school, my concerns had shifted away from Twilight Sparkle, and back to the important matter facing me: my research into the magical phenomenons surrounding me and my friends. With Twilight continuing to make progress in her own endeavours, I needed to keep pace if only to stay one step ahead of her. It was a haunting possibility that was as difficult to ignore as the heavy piece of hardware that I had unwittingly agreed to carry around with me. Considering it was about as portable as carrying a cinderblock, I decided to just leave it at the bottom of my locker for the time being so I could worry about it later.

Maybe I could even take it apart later just to see how Twilight was making her monitoring equipment.

For now, though, I wanted to pursue my own avenues of research, and I decided to follow up on one of the suggestions that a friend made: consult with an expert. Princess Twilight Sparkle might’ve been on the other side of a portal, but now with an easy and reliable means of communication, her advice was always within reach. Once I had stashed my books and the other Twilight’s experimental device into my locker, I grabbed my magic journal and sat down to make a quick note.

Hey Twilight. I know we haven’t written each other as much as we should, but I suppose we’re both busy now with our new roles in life. I can’t begin to imagine how time-consuming being a princess must be. Still, I could really use your advice right now. As you know, even without you here, our friends are able to pony up, but now Rainbow Dash is able to do so without playing her music. It makes me think her magic might be changing. I’m trying to figure out how and why, as I want to keep magic under control here at CHS, even if I haven’t quite wrapped my head around it. I’m not sure I have enough experience with friendship magic to solve this, but people will be looking to me for answers. I don’t want to let any of them down. I hope to hear from you soon.

PS - a certain mutual acquaintance continues to ask about you. Should I tell him anything?

Once my message was complete, I put the book back into my locker. As much as I wanted an answer, I figured it could be a while before I got a response and I didn’t want to disturb any of my classes with my magical, vibrating book.

“Hey Sunset!” Rainbow Dash’s voice called out just as I finished putting the last of my things away. She was accompanied by the rest of my friends, each of whom bid me a good morning in turn. “What’cha writing to Twilight about?”

“Just hoping to get some advice,” I answered while slamming my locker shut, “this whole magic thing is proving to be a bit trickier than I had expected. I figured my best bet would be to consult with somebody that’s got experience with magic in this world.”

“Maybe that means she’ll come and visit again,” Fluttershy remarked, clasping her hands together at the thought. “It’d be so nice to just hang out without having to worry about sirens or demons or anything like that.”

There was a round of nods in agreement, and I felt a similar sentiment; it would be nice to maintain a connection with Equestria that didn’t revolve around having to stop rampaging monstrosities; plus consultations would be infinitely easier face-to-face.

“I’ll be sure to let you girls know the moment I hear back from her,” I reassured my friends. “I just hopes it’s soon because I’m really grasping at straws with this whole magic business.”

“You know, Twilight isn’t the only expert you could try reaching out to,” Rainbow Dash mentioned as she saddled up alongside me and threw her arm across my shoulder. “There are other experts in magic, you know?”

While I would jump at the opportunity for more help, seeing all of my other friends rolling their eyes or hiding their faces in shame did not fill me with confidence. Applejack even went so far as to mutter under her breath, “Not this again.”

“You’re not going to suggest Trixie, are you?” I asked with all due caution.

“Of course not,” Dash scoffed, much to my relief. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a book to hold out for me. “I’m talking about real magic.”

The book, unfortunately, inspired in me the same sentiments that our other friends had just expressed, though I had enough sense not to display them so openly. “This is a Daring Do book,” I deadpanned.

Despite the five-against-one odds, Rainbow Dash remained undaunted in her belief. “I’ll have you know there’s strong evidence that suggests that the whole series is based off actual real world events, and that Daring Do is not just a pen name,” she insisted while continuing to ignore the disapproving glares of the others. “And if you’ll recall in ‘Daring Do and the Temple of the Silver Moon,’ the cultist leader was able to use, and I quote, ‘ancient, long forgotten magics.’”

“For the last time, Rainbow Dash, she ain’t real!” Applejack shouted.

“Ignore these nay-sayers,” Dash once again brushed aside the criticisms of her friend and led me away. “Just come with me and I’ll prove it to you.”

“Where exactly are we going?” I inquired, reluctant but not unwilling to go along.

“To the library!”

“There’s three words you rarely hear from Rainbow Dash,” Applejack chuckled to herself.

“I heard that!”

As there was still time before classes began, I saw no harm in following this lead for now. While all logic told this would probably end with me telling Rainbow Dash not to believe everything she read online, there was still the tiny, minute possibility that there was a kernal of truth hidden amongst the absurdity. Plus, I was still a relative newcomer to this world, so it wasn’t impossible that magic existed at some point and got lost to history.

It sounded almost reasonable when phrased like that.

When we reached the school library, I had expected, or rather hoped, to be led to the history section; instead, I was taken to one of the computers where Dash fired up a web browser. Five minutes in and I was already beginning to second-guess my decision. Nonetheless, I remained silent and waited to see what corner of the internet I was about to be taken to.

“‘What Would Daring Do? The Number One Daring Do fan forum,’” I read aloud once the page loaded. “I’m not about to read some nonsense about lizard people and chemtrails, am I?”

“Please, Sunset, give me some credit,” Dash scoffed at my skepticism. “I and several other like-minded individuals have spent the past few years scouring the internet and the world, amassing the greatest collection of evidence that all points to the undeniable truth that Daring Do is real!”

She then clicked on a link labelled ‘Daring Do: Myth or Truth?’ As the forum itself was a disorganized mess of nerds arguing amongst each other, sprinkled with flashy avatar pictures and posts that were three-quarters gigantic, self-aggrandizing signatures, it was hard to make out what evidence Dash was referring to. Somewhere amongst all the bickering, I imagined Rainbow Dash’s own comments existed, but until she pointed to her forum name of ‘Daring_Dashie’ I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

“For undeniable evidence, this ‘QPants99’ fellow seems to think you’re spouting a load of nonsense,” I remarked as I pointed out to one particular post on the forum. It was filled with condescending remarks about the intelligence of anybody who prescribed to Dash’s theory, and went on far longer than any sane person would consider reasonable for a discussion.

Granted, that was perfectly normal on the internet.

“Don’t believe his lies,” Dash snapped in disgust. “He’s just some stuck-up ‘original trilogy’ elitist who wouldn’t know an awesome story if it came along and smacked him in his stupid, ugly face!”

“Gee, Dash, and I thought you only got this competitive when you were on the playing field.”

My quip went unnoticed as Dash became preoccupied with defending her online honour. “Call my theories stupid will he,” she grumbled in the midst of furious typing.

Realizing this might take longer than I had expected, I pulled up a chair and waited for metaphorical arrows to be loosed. After several minutes and what I estimated to be at least a few thousand words’ worth of impotent rage, I decided to attempt to nudge things back to what was important.

“Come on, we don’t have all day,” I reminded her.

“I can’t just stop, Sunset,” Dash barked back. “He’s wrong! And I have to tell him that!”

My resultant palm-to-forehead was loud enough to provoke a call for silence from the librarian, but none of that stopped Dash from her one-girl crusade against the slanderous QPants99. Eventually, I had to give her an ultimatum.

“Sixty seconds and leaving, Daring Do or not,” I warned her.

“Alright, alright!” Dash protested. “Lemme just finish this up. ‘And that is why book number six is the best of the second-trilogy novels.’ Ha! Let’s see him stand up to that scathing rebuttal!”

“I’m sure he’ll be inconsolable.”

“No more distractions, let me show the evidence,” Rainbow Dash said, finally getting back on task as she opened up a new web page displaying numerous images of newspaper articles. “Right, now as it has been clearly established through all the novels, these books do not take place in a fictionalized world. Even the earliest books make references of real world events, such as the upset win of Trottingham over Manechester City back in oh-six.”

I didn’t know enough about this world’s history to have ever noticed or refute such a claim, so I nodded in response with the hopes that it would move the conversation along. For her part, Rainbow Dash was far more enthusiastic than I had ever seen her before, at least for something not related to sports. Normally she avoided things such as research like the plague.

“Now the first book is ‘Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.’”

“A classic, might I add,” I chuckled briefly.

“Well by extrapolating the approximate time period based on references to real world events and narrowing the possible geographical locations, we were able to find this!”

“A newspaper article in… who knows what language?” I replied once I saw the ‘evidence’ my friend presented. There was a caption of translated text beneath the picture, but I had no way of verifying that the work was accurate and not just what the person wanted it to be.

“Ah, but note the location,” Dash said as she invited me to take a closer look. “That’s less than fifty miles from the stretch of jungle featured in Sapphire Stone. And also look at this: a picture of an ‘unnamed explorer’ that was credited with finding the lost temple.”

Now just like with Bigfoot or the Yeti or UFO’s, no picture was ever clear or definitive; after all, if we did have an undeniable picture of Daring Do, there wouldn’t need to be any speculation about it. To that end, all I saw was a black and white, blurred photograph of some woman wearing a pith helmet who happened to be hacking her way through some jungle growth with a machete.

“That could literally be anybody,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but check out this photo from an article of ‘Old World Archaeology’ magazine,” she continued unabated while pulling up the next picture. At first there was nothing out of the ordinary in the picture: just a bunch of archaeologists and their underlings proudly standing before their latest find, which was still half-buried in the desert sand. “Notice anything familiar?” Dash inquired.

It took me a few seconds since I was more focused on the people in the foreground, but eventually I noticed somebody toiling way off in the background: it was a woman, dressed in khakis and wearing a familiar-looking pith helmet. I had to admit that there were some similarities, but the picture didn’t allow for much detail to be made. At least it was in colour, however, so whoever this woman was happened to have a tan complexion and gray hair. It might not be ‘literally anybody,’ but it didn’t narrow things down much.

“That dig site is the same one featured in the third novel,” Dash added. “She doesn’t take credit, but she’s always there at all the big finds.”

Rainbow Dash proceeded to showcase a whole gallery’s worth of pictures, all following the same trend of featuring explorers and professors working in the field with a familiar pith helmet-wearing woman conspicuously in the backdrop. In all honesty, it was a lot of circumstantial evidence at best; that woman could just be a reliable guide or research assistant, or even just a photographer with an affinity for archaeology.

Now to the credit of my friend, now bordering on crazed stalker, and her like-minded associates online, they had managed to stockpile a massive collection of pictures and random newspaper articles. However, aside from making me feel kind of sorry for whoever this woman was, I saw no real evidence that this woman was Daring Do or that the character even existed. I was just about to call it quits when one of the pictures caught my eye.

“Hold on a second,” I said as I pointed to the lower portion of the screen. “Could you make that image down there bigger?”

Though confused at first, Rainbow Dash was curious enough to follow my instructions without any questions. The picture that had caught my attention was as poor quality as most of the others, likely taken on somebody’s cellphone, that appeared to show the familiar helmeted woman at some kind of bazaar. While you couldn’t see her face, as was common in most of the pictures, you could see what she was examining at the behest of a vendor. It was an amulet: one made of gold and sculpted into a very beetle-like shape.

“I’ve seen that amulet,” I said as I turned my attention back to Dash, “Ms. Yearling was holding it while she was on the phone with somebody the other day.”

“Are you sure?” Dash asked, visibly surprised.

“Well either that amulet or at least one very darn similar to it.” On any other day, I might’ve dismissed it and chalked it up to a mere coincidence, but in light of Dash’s ‘evidence’ it created a mystery that I couldn’t justify ignoring. “But how many people have giant, gold-bug pendants?”

Rainbow Dash leaned back in her seat to take a longer look at the pictures. She folded her arms behind her head and began humming to herself, sounding reminiscent of a high-voltage powerline, as she mulled over my observations. “Doesn’t the woman in the picture remind you a bit of Ms. Yearling?” she remarked.

As I paused to look at the picture, along with some of the accompanying photos that seemed to follow the figure through the bazaar, I couldn’t help but notice that she did look vaguely familiar. The colours matched, but without a clear image of her face in any of the pictures, it was impossible to say.

“I don’t know, that could still be anybody,” I said with a half-hearted shrug. “And Ms. Yearling wears glasses, not to mention she’s our English teacher.”

“Our English teacher who just so happens to love using Daring Do books for teaching material and routinely talks about the historical background of the settings,” Dash reminded me. “Haven’t you always found it weird how Ms. Yearling always has the latest Daring Do books before their street release?”

“Wouldn’t know, Dash, because some of us don’t obsess over those kinds of details.”

Rainbow Dash shot me a quick pouty frown before replying, “Well she does, and it is weird.”

“This is absurd,” I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest. “Ms. Yearling is our teacher; she couldn’t possibly be Daring Do. Where would she even find the time?”

“I dunno, during summer vacation maybe,” Rainbow Dash answered with an uncertain shrug. She logged off of the computer and got back to her feet, taking me by the arm in the process. “Easiest way to get to the bottom of this is to go confront Ms. Yearling ourselves.”

“You can’t be serious,” I protested, though only verbally at the moment. “This is just… crazy!”

“As crazy as three magical sirens from another world hijacking a music competition to feed off the energy of a hypnotized populace?”

We stood in absolute silence for a few moments with Dash gazing at me with a cocksure grin plastered across her face. She had me; she had me against the ropes and she knew it. The sheer amount of willpower it took for me to utter the next few words would have been enough to lift the moon, pluck it from orbit, and then smash it into Canterlot High, which would have been a preferable alternative to having to admit to the truth: I just got outwitted by Rainbow Dash.

“Okay, you win,” I relented with a tired sigh. “Let’s go see what Yearling has to say about all of this.”

*******************

Since the discussion in the library had been so close to the start of class, we had to wait until the lunch break before we had the free time to approach Ms. Yearling with our suspicions. Despite my initial misgivings, I couldn’t help but feel a small tinge of excitement when Rainbow Dash and I proceeded on our way to Yearling’s classroom. There was definitely some real mystery in play here, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Perhaps I could even make a half-decent article for the school newspaper out of the experience.

However, compared to Rainbow Dash, my enthusiasm was like idle whistling to a full-throated opera. She was about as close to flying down the hallways as one could get without the use of wings. It might’ve been for different reasons, but it was refreshing to see my interests aligning with those of my friends for a change. I had been worried I would be chasing magic around this world all by myself for the most part, save for what help I might be able to get from Twilight Sparkle when opportunity arose.

“What do you think we should do? Maybe we should tag-team her—you be the good cop, and I’ll be the bad cop!” Dash suggested as we drew closer to our destination.

“I’m thinking we just have a frank discussion with her; we present our findings, and see how she reacts,” I replied.

“Gah, why do you have make everything sound so boring?”

“Hate to break it to ya, Dash, but that’s how life usually is. It’s not all magic and laser beams.”

“A girl can still dream, can’t she?”

When we arrived at Yearling’s classroom, I was greeted to the very surprising sight of the remainder of our friends waiting patiently at the door. Not that their presence was a bad thing in any way, but I hadn’t expected any of them to tag along given their previous skepticism of Rainbow Dash’s theories.

“Hi girls, what are you all doing here?” I asked, opting to cut straight to the chase.

“Well, seeing as Rainbow Dash went on all morning about what you two had dug up in the library, we’re all naturally a little curious to see what happens,” Rarity explained.

“And wouldn’t it be so cool if there really was a big celebrity like Daring Do hiding under our very noses?” Pinkie Pie chimed in with her own reason for being excited. There was a round of nods in agreement from the others, save for Applejack who maintained her skepticism of the claim.

“Of course, now I’m on the hook for a cider if it turns out Dash is right,” Applejack added, glancing over to her overly-competitive friend. “I’m just here to make sure she doesn’t try to pull a fast one over me.”

Feeling a bit more comfortable knowing that my friends were with me, I cut ahead of the eager Rainbow Dash. “Given I have a fairly good rapport with Ms. Yearling, let me go in first and handle all the talking,” I suggested.

I grabbed the door, turned the handle, and proceeding to push it open, or at least that had been the intention except the handle didn’t turn in the slightest. Given I hadn’t expected Yearling’s door to be locked, I was halfway through the push before my brain even realized the door hadn’t actually budged and I slammed my face into the door like an idiot.

“For Celestia’s sake, right in the snout!” I cursed, clasping my hands over my already-abused nose.

Fluttershy was the first to rush to my side. “Oh dear, are you okay?” she asked as she pulled out a handkerchief. Moving my hands aside, she started dabbing at my still-tender nose, checking to make sure I wasn’t leaking.

“I think I’m good,” I eventually reported. “I think it just felt worse because my nose was still sore from this morning.”

“What happened this morning?”

Fluttershy’s inquiry caught me off-guard, more because I had forgotten that none of them could really be privy to what had actually transpired. My brain froze on the spot, and in that momentary panic, I spat out the first thing that came to mind.

“I walked into a door!” Of course, I didn’t realize that was what had just happened until five seconds after that knowledge would’ve been useful.

My friends all started to giggle, now convinced that I had some affliction that drove me face-first into doors. “Gee Sunset, don’t they have doors in Equestria?” Dash remarked between chortles.

“Oh, har har,” I scoffed in an attempt to hide any hint of embarrassment on my part. I gave the door another test, but to no surprise it was just as locked as it had been ten seconds ago. “This is really strange: Yearling usually isn’t the type to lock up at lunch hour.”

“Ms. Yearling took the day off,” Fluttershy informed us. “Something about a family emergency.”

“Well why didn’t you say so before I smacked my face into the door like an idiot?” I snapped.

Sadly, I might’ve come across too strongly as Fluttershy recoiled slightly, making a prompt and timid apology. “I-I’m sorry, I thought you all knew already,” she squeaked.

“No no, it’s my fault! I shouldn't have snapped at you like—I’m sorry,” I quickly apologized in turn. “But I guess this little mystery is stuck waiting for a while longer.”

While I had been reluctantly willing to wait another day for answers, Rainbow Dash was less inclined to admit defeat. “Not unless somebody uses their amazing lock-picking skills?” she suggested in a none too subtle fashion. She grinned knowingly, nudging me with her elbow as if I hadn’t already figured out what she meant.

“Dash, I am not breaking into Yearling’s classroom,” I scolded her. “I can’t believe you would even suggest that.”

“It’s a victimless crime,” Dash replied, still undeterred. “You said she had the amulet in her desk—we just go in, take a quick look, and leave. That way we’ll at least know for certain it’s the same amulet when we actually go talk to her. I know you wanna know as badly as I do.”

Rainbow Dash’s last remarks weren’t entirely inaccurate: a part of me did really want to get some answers. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take a little peek,” I mused to myself. After a quick check for any teachers or staff, I set down my bag and fished out my lock picking kit.

“You still carry those with you?” Applejack remarked in disbelief.

“It’s a legitimate hobby,” I shot back. “And sometimes I need to get into places that people accidentally lock.”

Applejack probably rolled her eyes in response given the guttural tone of her response, but I was too busy focusing on the lock before me to notice. For reasons I was not proud of, I knew the locks intimately and it took me only a few seconds before being rewarded with the ‘click’ of a yielding door. I gestured the others to follow, and despite some of their misgivings, everyone soon shuffled through the door.

Once we were inside, I locked the door behind us and we made our way to Yearling’s desk, save for Applejack who kept watch at the door. Perhaps she felt if she didn’t personally benefit from my breaking and entering, she could consider herself not to be an accomplice of it.

Breaking into the locked drawer that I saw Yearling stash the amulet proved to be no more challenging than the classroom door—the price one pays for ‘built by the lowest bidder.’ Inside the drawer, not only did we find the amulet, but also a thick, leather-bound ledger.

“This is definitely the same amulet we saw in the picture,” I remarked. I lifted the amulet out, taking the utmost care with it since it looked very expensive, which was often synonymous with fragile. “But Ms. Yearling said that someone gave this to her. Maybe she’s not the person in the picture.”

“What’s that on the back?” Fluttershy asked, pointing to the amulet’s opposite side.

Turning the amulet over, we all saw what appeared to be some kind of hieroglyphic etched into it. “Don’t have the slightest clue,” I remarked. The marking looked like a backwards ‘c’ with a star in the middle, though for all I knew that was just the signature of the artisan who made it. “It looks like there’s a hinge right here too; I think this amulet might actually open up or something.”

“Well it wouldn’t be a Daring Do adventure without a mystery to unlock,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“This doesn’t prove anything. Ms. Yearling could’ve gotten this amulet in any number of ways,” I replied.

As I had been so fixated on the beetle-like trinket, I hadn’t noticed that Rainbow Dash helped herself to the ledger and had been flipping through the pages. Her eyes were now widened like a child that’s just awoken to Hearth’s Warming Day.

“Check this out,” Dash said as she set the book down for the rest of us to see. In it were numerous pages of handwritten notes, along with pictures and other pieces of paper pinned to the pages. There were a lot of hand-drawn pictures and maps, including hieroglyphics that looked very similar to the one on the amulet. Dash’s finger was pointing our attention to one particular passage. “‘August fifth. Confirmed my suspicions: Caballeron is in pursuit. Spotted one of his favourite henchmen scouting the bazaar today. I fear my previous contact may have gone turncoat. That or I’m getting sloppy. I’m too close to leave now. Meeting with the vendor is still on for this afternoon. I’ll just need to get creative to get past Caballeron’s eyes.’”

“That sounds vaguely like—”

“Like somebody writing about their adventure?” Dash interrupted me. “I think these are Daring Do’s notes! She must keep a journal and then turns them into a novel later once the adventure’s over.”

I leaned in for a closer look, examining the numerous pages of the journal: some were written with diligence and careful attention to detail, while other entries looked as though they were scrawled while riding on horseback. Some of the illustrations drawn displayed a keen eye for detail, including one that detailed some kind of statue of a canine-like deity, complete with jeweled eyes. There was also a smaller note of ‘might make a good cover?’ scrawled beneath it.

“Okay, I’m starting to think there might be some credence to your ‘Daring Do’ theory,” I said, much to Rainbow’s delight.

Before we could explore the journal any further, though, Applejack started waving for our attention. “It’s Ms. Yearling, she’s heading this way,” she whispered as loudly as she could without alerting anyone outside the room.

“What? I thought she wasn’t in today?” I yelped in disbelief. While Dash and I had wanted to speak with Yearling about the Daring Do theory, getting caught red-handed breaking into her desk was not the best way to open a dialogue.

Not unless we wanted that dialogue to end with us getting dragged to Principal Celestia’s office.

Everyone looked to each other in hopes that somebody would have a plan. “What do we do?” Fluttershy asked in growing panic.

Well if nobody was going to step up and take control, then it fell on me to save our collective butts. “Quick, the supply closet!” I ordered as I put the amulet and book back into the desk.

While the others raced for the closet, I had to stay behind to make sure everything was exactly as we had found it. One by one, my friends piled into the tiny storage space that was never designed to hold five teenagers, let alone six once I dive in.

“Sunset, hurry up!” Rainbow Dash called out to me.

“I have to lock this back up,” I replied. While unlocking the drawer may have been a walk in the park, reversing the process while seconds away from being caught in the act made it feel more like bomb disposal. When I heard the doorknob begin to jiggle, I threw all caution to the wind and brute forced the lock closed, which twisted my torsion wrench into a horrid shape. It got the job done, however, and I dashed for the supply closet, diving headlong in anticipation of the classroom door opening any second.

To say the inside of the closet was cramped wouldn’t be doing the situation justice. The locker I got stuffed into was cramped, but even that felt like an auditorium compared to this. Being the last one in, I was pinned between the door and who I presumed to be Pinkie Pie considering how squishy she was. It was too dark to tell who was where, but I was more concerned about the doorknob that was pressing into my spine.

“Is everyone okay?” I whispered.

“Somebody’s hand is on my butt,” Rarity protested.

“Well excuse me, but I can’t exactly move at the moment,” Applejack replied. “Maybe if somebody would get their knee out of my back, I could.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Mmphhhff urrmph imff burffferf!”

“Who was that?” I asked.

“I think that was Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie Pie answered.

As one of the closet to the door, I had the luxury of being able to hear what was happening in the classroom. I whispered for everyone to quiet down and pressed my ear against the door. I heard the classroom door finally open, which took a lot longer than I would’ve expected for somebody who should have keys for the classroom. The footsteps that soon followed were very subtle, almost like they were sneaking as well. After that came a minute or two of rummaging through drawers.

“Ah-ha! Found it,” Yearling’s voice sounded from the other side of the door. “I knew this was a good idea—advantage goes to Daring.”

After a short, self-congratulatory chuckle, I presumed Yearling raced out the door because her footsteps were more hurried and the door slammed shut a second later. After giving it a few more moments so I was sure we were safe, I turned the doorknob and the six of us were belched out from the closet.

Last one in, first one out, and thus I was at the bottom with my friends all piled atop. Just beside me was Rainbow Dash, whose head had somehow been lodged into the tangled, infinite void that was Pinkie Pie’s hair. Released from the closet, Dash was able to finally pull free, gasping loudly for air before collapsing to the ground.

“I have stared into the abyss… and it was pink,” she panted between heaving breaths.

While my friends collected themselves, I pulled myself out from underneath the heap and headed back over to check on Yearling’s desk. I had my suspicions as to what had transpired, but I needed to confirm it for myself. Sure enough, the drawer was unlocked and the amulet was gone.

“Looks like she took the amulet,” I reported to my friends.

I was just about to mention what I heard through the door when I noticed something amiss with the drawer. There was something thin and metallic just barely sticking out of the lock. Shame I didn’t have my magic to just grab the mystery object, but at least with my fingers I was able to work it free. The item in question was a twisted piece of thin metal, more specifically it was a broken bobby pin.

“Something fishy is going on here,” I called out to my friends. “Why would Ms. Yearling need to break into her own desk?”

“Well it’s a little bit too late to ask her now,” Applejack remarked, now standing by the windows. As I joined her, she directed my attention to Ms. Yearling, who had just hopped onto a motorcycle parked on the side of the road. After a few quick revs, she sped off down the road, taking with her the amulet and any chance of getting answers for today. There was no way we were catching up to somebody on a motorcycle, especially since we still had the rest of the school day to finish.

“Great,” I sighed in dismay, “now I want to know even more.”

Act V-VII

“Okay, I can understand that you need the library card in order to access the secured archives at the university library, and I can understand that you needed to borrow the car because you can’t take us to this library on just a motorcycle. But what exactly did you need the one thousand dollars for?”

Though the question had raged on in my mind for almost the entire duration of the car ride between Ms. Yearling’s place and the library at the local university, I had waited until we were just pulling into the library parking lot before popping the question. I had chosen to bide my time before asking because I wanted to wait and see if the answer revealed itself or if Derring Do offered up the answer on her own. However, given the fact that Rainbow Dash spent the entire trip talking Derring’s ear off, I never had a chance to get a word in anyways.

“I dunno, dinner maybe?” Derring answered with an uncertain shrug before stepping out of the car. “I mean, I am a little strapped for cash, but I just wanted to see how much I could get away with.”

“Wait, you mean you didn’t actually need the money? You just… asked for it because you could?” I asked in disbelief. “That’s… that’s practically stealing!”

“Honestly, you’d think she’d learn after so many times. Still, she managed to haggle me down to five hundred, which is better than the last few times,” Derring replied. “And she could’ve just said ‘no.’”

I was still in such utter disbelief at her brazen attitude that I couldn’t even formulate a response. It was probably for the best since I didn’t want to start an argument with the person I still needed to ask for help from. Besides, we were at our destination and a part of me was still excited to see what Derring Do had in mind. Research had always been a crucial, albeit a bit boring, part of all of her adventures according to the books, so I wanted to see how an expert handled the task. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was still just over-the-moon excited to still be basking in her idol’s radiance, even if some of that shine was beginning to come off from my perspective.

The library at Canterlot City University hosted some of the largest collections of historical documents this side of the continent. From what Ms. Yearling told us before we left, she does some work with the university during the summer, and that affords her the privilege of being able to access the archives that are otherwise restricted for the average researcher. While I felt uneasy about such an act of deception, Yearling’s deadpan explanation made it sound like this wasn’t the first time they had used their identical looks for personal gain.

“Except when she first said ‘no,’ you insinuated you’d ask Blondie for money instead,” I pressed on.

“If Dee could ever learn to trust somebody, she’d realize that Blondie would’ve said ‘no’ even faster—mostly because I owe her a few grand,” Derring’s tone made it sound like she was more annoyed that I was still pressing the issue rather than any of the actual accusations being made. “Trust me, you have no idea what it’s like trying to deal with my sister, so stop pretending like she’s some kinda saint.”

While it was tempting to just flat out deny Derring’s assertions, I decided to take a moment to consider her words. Needless to say, I liked Ms. Yearling leagues more than her sister, but I also knew one far better than the other, and I only knew her as a teacher. I didn’t know nearly as much about her as a person, though what I had seen suggested that she was a woman with a bit of an insecurity issue.

“Don’t pay any attention to Sunset’s fussing,” Dash reassured her idol. “She can just be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, like your sister.”

“So much for loyalty,” I muttered under my breath, but otherwise remained silent as we headed into the library.

The massive oak double-doors that greeted us as we walked up the stairs gave the impression of the traditional, stuffy archives back in Equestria, but upon stepping inside we were welcomed into the embrace of one of the most modern libraries in the region. And it was massive, too, with a wide-open atrium reaching all the way to the skylight above, spanning up five separate floors with a lavish, glass-walled elevator in the middle of the atrium servicing the entire height of the building. Rows upon rows of books lined every nook and cranny, along with banks of public computer terminals and, according to the library map, a plethora of study halls and conference rooms for every want and need. It made the library back at the Royal Palace look almost minuscule in comparison.

And that was only what was visible from the main floor, as the map conveniently located next to the main door indicated that there were a couple of basement levels containing the treasured archive, which housed the library’s most valuable assets.

“Good afternoon Ms. Yearling,” an elderly woman greeted us from behind the checkout counter. “Are these two young ladies guests of yours?”

“Heya Inkwell. These are just a couple of students of mine,” Derring replied without hesitation. It was safe to presume it wasn’t her first time pretending to be her sister. “I’m going to be taking them with me into the archives, okay?”

“Just be sure to put back everything when you’re finished,” Inkwell said with a polite nod. “You three have a lovely time.”

We continued on our way, strolling through the vast atrium, which included a sizable statue of a familiar-looking man holding a heavy tome under one arm. To be precise, it was less the man that looked familiar and more his impressive beard. I spent a few moments gazing at the figure, remembering a similar pony-like statue back in Equestria. How many hours and lonesome nights did I spend in the libraries of Canterlot? Far too many to count, that’s for certain. They were the sites of my greatest triumphs, but also my worst failings.

It was a bittersweet reminder of the old days.

“Hey Sunset, hurry up!” Rainbow Dash called out to me, albeit in a hushed voice as to not disturb the other library patrons.

Derring and Dash had kept walking when I was romping through the fields of nostalgia, so I hurried along and joined them at the elevator.

“Everything okay, kiddo?” Derring asked.

“I’m fine. Just… remembering things,” I explained. “My lust for knowledge once led me down some dark paths, is all.”

Derring cocked an eyebrow before she replied, “Geeze, you’re sounding like a Saturday morning cartoon villain.”

We all shuffled into the elevator and descended to the archives level.

“So Derring, how many of the villains from the books are actually real?” Dash asked once the doors had closed and she could return to normal volume. “Did you actually fight on top of a runaway tank?”

“They’re all real,” Derring answered, proudly. “Well, I mean all except for Ahuizotl, obviously; Dee just used him whenever she didn’t feel it was appropriate to use the actual antagonists during the expedition, or when it just made things easier for her to move the plot along. The adventures are real, but they usually didn’t involve saving-the-world-level events. The real conflicts around archaeology tend to be a lot more mundane.”

“Such as?” I inquired.

“Usually money,” Derring said with an indifferent shrug. “Sometimes it’s somebody funded by a rich dude who wants to add something to his collection, sometimes it’s just a really competitive rival archaeologist, and sometimes it’s just a matter of pride.”

I wasn’t sure which category Derring fell under, but I got the impression she wasn’t of the noble stock of explorers who believed that ancient relics belonged in a museum. In fact, I was beginning to wonder what, if anything, this Derring had in common with the one from the books, aside from having endured the same ordeals.

“What about the runaway tank?” Dash asked again.

“Oh yeah, I definitely had a full-on brawl atop of one of those,” Derring said as she flashed a brief but triumphant grin. “Granted, it was probably going much slower than the book makes it seem. It was a forty-year-old piece of machinery and I was too preoccupied to pay attention to how fast it was going.”

The elevator came to a halt and we disembarked. The air in the basement level was a lot crisper and cooler, the mark of precision-controlled air conditioning. “The two of us aren’t going to cause any issues going into these archives, will we?” I asked, just to be on the safe side.

We stopped just outside a solid glass door, which opened after Derring swiped her keycard through a reader. “You’ll be fine, we’re going to the least-secured of the archives anyways,” she explained while we headed inside. “These books are valuable, but they’re not going to fall apart if you touch them with your bare hands.”

The archive room we entered felt a bit more like a sterile lab than a proper library. There were, as before, a number of bookshelves housing some of the older pieces belonging to the library, as well as a separate room which undoubtedly held the really valuable stuff. I felt almost relieved we never went to that part of the library since I didn’t trust myself, or Rainbow Dash, with such priceless antiquities. Derring told us to wait by the door as she disappeared into the rows of bookshelves.

“Isn’t she so awesome?” Dash whispered, grinning brighter than ever before. I suspected she had been holding that in since we got in the car with Derring, but had enough restraint not to let it out until she was out of sight.

“She’s pretty cool, I guess,” I answered back, although with far less enthusiasm than my friend.

“You guess? What’s wrong with you? I thought you were a Daring Do fan.”

“I am! But that’s not the same Daring,” I argued. “The Daring in the books was brave and adventurous, clever and resourceful, but most importantly she was a moral compass in a world obsessed with power and greed. This woman? I’ll give her points for being adventurous, but she seems as self-serving as all those villains she supposedly dealt with.”

Rainbow Dash gasped in horror, as though I had just pulled the rug out under her entire world view. “You… traitor,” she sneered. “You’re just taking Yearling’s side on this.”

“Yeah, I am. I like Yearling; I don’t like how Derring appears to treat her own sister.”

“You just don’t understand siblings.”

“True,” I mumbled with a quick nod. “But you’re an only child, too.”

“Yes, but I’ve hung out enough with Fluttershy and her annoying brother to know what siblings can be like.”

I had to concede that there may have been factors that I was still not aware of, particularly of this ‘sibling business’ that seemed to be commonplace. Their relation looked a lot more antagonistic and one-sided than what I saw with Celestia and Luna, but there were some similarities. I just didn’t know enough to say with certainty, which was beginning to drive me insane.

Before I could say anything further, however, Derring returned with several heavy tomes in her arms. “Get over here,” she said as she gestured to a nearby work table. We all grabbed a seat while Derring set a book down for each of us, followed by taking out the golden amulets and setting them down in the center. “Okay, so these dusty ol’ things were written by my great-great-great-grandpappy, one of the best archaeologists there ever was. Once discovered an ancient mummy’s tomb after he tripped and fell through the ceiling while at a dig site.”

“Wasn’t that in one of the Daring books?” I remarked, though mostly to myself.

Derring flipped the golden amulets over, showcasing the small carved symbol located on each underside. “I want you two to look through these books and find any sign of any of these symbols,” she explained.

“You got it!” Dash exclaimed.

At least her enthusiasm remained undiminished, though that may have been because she didn’t realize how dreadfully boring the next couple of hours were going to be. Were we in a movie, we could’ve just skipped past this bit or at least replaced it with an entertaining montage, but instead we were treated to combing through page after page after page of dry and heavy text about ancient cultures, languages, and rituals. I might’ve been able to fast-track the process if I had just skimmed through, looking for just references to the particular symbols, but I wanted to be thorough and read through much of it, looking for any mentioning of ancient pendants or beetles or anything resembling what I was dealing with.

Unsurprisingly, after a few hours of this monotony, a certain somebody started to lose her passion. “Oh my gosh, this is soooo boring,” Dash whined. She was just about to drop her face straight into the book, but was fortunately intercepted by Derring’s hand.

“Listen, I know this can seem a bit dry, but research is an important part of any expedition,” Derring said in the first case of behaving like how I expected an archaeologist to act. “You look like you play sports, right? Just think of this like training, except for your brain.”

“I guess you have to spend a lot of time doing research to become an archaeologist,” I remarked, feeling a brief surge of respect for the woman.

“Oh, I’m not technically an archaeologist; those guys have PhD’s and stuff. I’ve never done any postgraduate stuff,” Derring answered.

And there went all the respect.

“Wait, do you have any formal education in the subject?” I remarked in disbelief.

“Of course I have some! Got my undergraduate degree in history—I majored in archaeology.”

“Oh my goodness,” I groaned, burying my face into my palm. The famous explorer had only a few more years worth of education over me, which was a stark contrast to the Daring Do in the books who was an accomplished doctor in the field and spent her non-adventuring days lecturing at the Royal Canterlot University. It was one of the things that I had admired the most about the character: she wasn’t just some thoughtless, gung-ho adventurer, but a well-read and educated individual who excelled at her craft. Daring Do offered a breath of fresh air compared to most stories aimed at people my age, which typically involved sword-wielding warriors or love-struck teenagers.

“Don’t you start getting on my case,” Derring shot back, stabbing an accusatory finger in my direction. “It was bad enough with my sister: finish your homework, stop wasting money, get a real job, go back to school, take that doctor’s offer! I’m my own bloody woman, I can make my own decisions and I don’t need Dee or anyone else going around acting like a self-appointed guardian.”

It sounded as though I had just hit a nerve with her, but while I was quick to apologize, it was easy to see where some of Derring’s grievances stemmed from. “Okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said. “I was just… surprised. I guess I was just expecting something more like the Daring Do from the books.”

“I figured as much. I swear Dee uses those stupid books sometimes to make subtle suggestions about what I should do with my life,” Derring continued on. “You know, when we made the first Daring Do book together, we agreed to split the money equally. Since I was out of the country most of the time, I let my sister handle the finances. You’d think that kind of gesture would earn a little trust? Nope! Every time I need money it’s like pulling teeth and I get the whole twenty questions treatment.”

That did sound a little unfair, but it also ran counter to what I knew about Ms. Yearling and how she carried herself. “Did… something happen to make her start doing that?” I asked.

“Well she said it’s because I’m ‘too irresponsible with money,’” she answered while throwing up some air quotes to emphasize how absurd she found the premise. “So I made a few poor investments and had a couple of bad outings at the casino; she doesn’t understand that those were business expenses. I was casing clients, which sometimes means spending a little money here and there.”

“And… how much exactly have you lost with these ‘business expenses?’” I inquired.

Derring shrugged. “I dunno, like around a hundred grand; a hundred and a quarter maybe.”

The urge to shout ‘maybe that’s your problem’ was so overwhelming, it almost felt like the words were trying to kick their way out of my lungs. Willpower triumphed in the end, however, and I held my tongue with a polite smile. While I was definitely gaining some insight, at the same time I was beginning to get on her nerves, which wouldn’t help me in the long run. I still needed her help, after all.

“Speaking of the books,” I began, in an attempt to steer the conversation to a more pleasant subject, “some of your adventures had some pretty… magical going-ons. Was any of that based on reality?”

“Magical going-ons? Which one was that?” Derring replied with visible confusion.

A disappointing answer at first, but then I realized that she might not have perfect memory of every adventure she’s been on. “Daring Do and the Temple of the Silver Moon, I think,” I answered. “It’s the one where you had to track down this magical amulet that had once been the focus of obsession for your estranged father.”

“Oh right, that one,” Derring nodded in response. She paused for a second, scratching at her chin as she pondered it over. “I remember seeing a lot of weird things happening in that temple, and the guy who I was trying to keep amulet away from was, like, proper crazy. He definitely believed in the magic stuff.”

“So did you see him use the amulet like in the book?”

“Yes and no,” she said, leaning back in her seat. “He definitely tried to cast some spells, and I did see some crazy things afterwards, but that poison dart he had hit me with earlier in that chapter had me seeing a lot of things that weren’t real.”

The news was disappointing, although not unsurprising in retrospect. In the book, the aforementioned poisoned dart had just left Daring Do feeling weak and sluggish, but it was easy to deduce that Ms. Yearling had changed some of the details for dramatic effect and to avoid suggesting that the lead character was on the trip of a lifetime. Winners didn’t do drugs, or at least that’s what all the posters say.

“Why are you asking, anyways?” Derring asked, giving me a curious look.

“Just curious,” I hastily replied.

“No you weren’t,” she replied. “When I answered, you looked really troubled by it. I’d expect random curiosity from your friend but you—you sound like you got a bit more invested in this.”

“She’s just trying to figure out how my magic powers work,” Dash answered in a manner so blunt and unceremonious, I was almost knocked out of my chair. Of course she was going to say something stupid to try and impress Derring Do.

“Wait, you mean like real magic?” Derring repeated with understandable skepticism.

“Yeah, I get wings and can fly. It’s a bit of a long story but it is so cool! You have to let me show it to you one day!”

“Rainbow Dash!” I exclaimed.

“What?”

“You’re not supposed to just tell people that! We’re trying to keep this a secret, remember?”

“No, you’re trying to keep this a secret,” Dash shot back. “I think this is awesome and I should be allowed to share this with the world.”

I could’ve spent the next year lecturing Rainbow Dash on all of the reasons why that was a stupid attitude to take towards her magic right now, but I had neither the time nor the energy to indulge in that whim. Not to mention, Derring was just shaking her head in disbelief with a quiet chuckle on her lips.

“Oh, you kids these days,” she chortled. “Such wild imaginations.”

At least Derring Do remained skeptical, which was a small miracle all things considered. It might’ve left my friend’s ego a little bruised, but it was for the greater good that we didn’t broadcast our magic powers to everyone we passed by. For the moment, everyone’s mood for conversation was dampened and we returned to our work in silence. Our chat had distracted me a little bit, so I had fallen behind far more than I would’ve preferred. It didn’t help that I was still partly distracted by my contemplation over Derring Do herself. It was beginning to sound like a case of one sibling wanting freedom, and the other wanting to maintain a degree of control and security. Both had their own reasons for wanting things their way, and I was beginning to feel a little torn about who was in the right. After all, while I didn’t know siblings, I could recall to a time where I resented a certain figure of authority telling me what I could and couldn’t do.

Now my reaction to that control and my reasons for doing so may have been wrong, but that didn’t make what I felt any less real or important. I thought my ambition could set me free, and while I only traded one set of chains for another, freedom and independence were not unworthy goals. There were days I wondered if things could have gone better if Princess Celestia had chosen another way to stop my downward spiral—if she had just taken the time to understand my grievances rather than just insisting that I needed to be patient and wait.

Not that I blamed her for any of her choices; the life I enjoyed now was a direct result of it. However, the more time I spent in this world, and particularly around Principal Celestia, the less I saw the Princess as this nigh-infallible being. Pondering the past wasn’t going to change anything, of course, but it did give me something to consider. Even if Ms. Yearling was more in the right, it didn’t necessarily mean she was going about the problem in the correct way. As always, more information was needed if I wanted to act on this.

“Okay, I gotta take a walk and stretch my legs,” Dash announced all of a sudden as she rose from her seat. “There should be laws against making me sit for that long in one spot.”

“You’ve watched movies longer than this, Dash,” I replied.

“But those were cool and interesting. This is just boring,” she rebuked. “Plus I need to use the bathroom.”

Though I had no idea why she didn’t just lead with the bathroom remark and leave it at that, I chose to remain silent and went back to my research while Rainbow Dash headed upstairs to find the restrooms. However, if I had been expecting some more solitude, I was about to be disappointed.

“You don’t like me, do you?” Derring asked, waiting until we were alone in the room.

“What? No! Th-that’s silly.” Once again, an almost instinctual response that was about as effective against her as a wet napkin is against small arms fire.

Derring’s disbelief was written all across her face, too, so I knew I was busted already. “Give me a little credit, Sunset. When you spend enough time working around people who don’t speak the same English, you learn a thing or two about reading body language.”

“It’s not you, just that you’re… well, I just don’t really agree with how you treat your sister, that’s all,” I answered as diplomatically as I could. “But at the same time, I’ll admit that I only know her as a teacher, in which she has always treated me fairly, most of the time.”

“She probably just likes you better,” Derring replied. Thankfully, my answer didn’t seem to upset her; if anything, she appreciated the truth for a change. “I swear, sometimes I think she’s just constantly disappointed I’m not perfect like her vision of Daring Do.”

“Do you… regret helping create Daring Do?” I asked, going on a hunch.

“No! Never,” Derring immediately replied. “Daring Do has made my sister a small fortune. She’s set for life; and once Blondie gets around to manning up and making an honest woman out of my sister, they’ll both get to live happily ever after. I’ll be the first to admit that I can get a little self-absorbed, but I would never, ever do something like that to her.”

Were it not the passion lacing her voice, I might’ve not believed her. However, before I could ask another question, we heard knocking at the glass door. It was Rainbow Dash, and she was back a lot sooner than we had expected. In fact, given how frantic she was knocking at the door, it made me wonder if she made it to the restroom at all. Since the door was locked, Derring had to get the door for her.

“Is everything okay, Dash?” I asked as my friend scampered back inside.

“Um, I guess that depends on the answer to the next few questions,” Dash said, at which point I noticed she had her phone out. “Hey Derring, you said that Dr. Caballeron is a real dude, right?”

“Yeah. He has the chest and I’ve been working my butt off just to keep a few steps ahead of him,” Derring replied.

“Does he look like this?” Dash then held up her phone, showing off a picture of an older gentleman with dark, slicked-back hair, and a lot of stubble. What was more concerning was the fact that it was clearly a picture of the man standing in the library atrium. We didn’t even need an answer since Derring’s expression confirmed everything we needed.

“And… um, how many henchmen would you say were accompanying him?” Derring inquired.

“Maybe a dozen.”

“Wow, he’s pulling out all the stops this time,” Derring said with what could’ve been interpreted as a hint of awe in her voice. “We better check this out.”

We grabbed the amulets and then headed towards the stairwell, as the elevator would be far too exposed for us. A quick sneak up to the main floor and then peering through the window in the stairwell door confirmed everything that Derring had feared. There were a lot of henchmen out there, as it wasn’t too difficult to tell the difference between a hired goon and a random college student working on an essay. They were fanning out through the building in search of her, along with a few standing at the exit.

“This shouldn’t be a problem for you, right Derring?” Dash remarked.

“I fear you may be overestimating my abilities to deal with hired goons,” Derring replied as she backed away from the door. She didn’t look worried, fortunately, but nor would I have described her look as confident.

“Come on, you could fight your way past these guys. You took on like two dozen goons in ‘Daring Do and the Girl with No Name.’”

“With Blondie’s help. Listen, a good adventurer knows when to fight, and knows when to run—now is the time for the latter.” Derring gestured for us to follow, leading us back downstairs. “Okay, now let me think. They’ve got us outnumbered by quite a large margin, and no doubt all of the exits are being watched at this point.”

“We could create a diversion. Maybe pull the fire alarm?” I offered as a suggestion. It wasn’t an original idea, unfortunately, as it was something that Daring Do used to escape a similar situation in one of the books.

Unfortunately, Derring was quick to point out a fatal flaw in that plan. “There’s not enough people here to create a suitable crowd. We’d be spotted easily if we tried to escape.” She paced back and forth across the hallway a few times, clearly considering her options. In all honesty, I was out of ideas—this was beyond the scope of problems typically faced by a teenager. If we had been in Equestria, the solution would’ve been easy: teleportation.

“Really wish I had my magic right about now,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Maybe I can call Dee, get some back-up or something,” Derring said as she whipped out her phone. Unfortunately, once she dialed, she stood there idle with the phone up to her head for a lot longer than one would’ve expected. “Oh come on, pick up the darn phone,” she growled through gritted teeth. “You better not be screening my calls or you’re so off my Hearth's Warming card list!”

“I could try texting some of our friends,” Dash offered as an alternative.

“Forget it. I doubt any of them would be able to get here soon enough anyways. We’re on our own.” Derring turned to look at the stairwell once again, and then back to us. “We do have one advantage, though; they don’t know about the two of you.” She then handed me the amulets. “Take the elevator to the upper floors and find somewhere to lay low. Once I’ve led them away, you can sneak out at your leisure. Take the amulets back to my sister’s place and just wait for me there. I’ll catch up to you when I can.”

While I wasn’t fond of the idea of splitting up, especially in the face of a numerically superior force, Derring Do did present a good argument. So long as they were just chasing her, Rainbow Dash and I would be safe. There was no time for debate, and in the absence of any better ideas, Dash and I made for the elevator. As we had hoped, no heed was given to a couple of teenagers riding the elevator up to the top floor.

“Well, this is certainly becoming my second-most eventful outing to a library,” I remarked in an attempt to steady my nerves.

“Libraries are usually more boring than this,” Dash replied.

Unsurprisingly, the presence of Dr. Caballeron and his men made many of the other library patrons curious, which we used to our advantage so that we could watch what was happening without appearing conspicuous. We positioned ourselves close to the stairwell and elevator, just in case we needed to make a quick exit, and just leaned against the railings that offered us a view of the atrium down below.

“So do we, like, wait for a signal or just keep an eye for when all the action begins?” Dash asked, sounding almost bored as we continued our vigil.

“We just have to do what Daring would do in a situation like this and trust our instincts,” I replied. To be honest, I wasn’t fond of the waiting either. Would Derring Do try something bold and dramatic to break through the scores of thugs, or would she employ wit and guile to make her escape. If I were to guess, I would vote for the later: a library wasn’t a very suitable place to start a commotion, and as Derring said, the odds were a bit too heavy against direct confrontations. At the same time, that could be what Caballeron counted on, since being a long-time rival of Derring Do would afford him some insight into how she operated.

Assuming the real man was as devious as the book’s incarnation.

As the minutes ticked by, the hired cabal spread further throughout the library. One was even skulking about the top floor, but once again Dash and I didn’t stand out from the dozens of other youngsters who were busy watching whatever was unfolding down on the main level. As for Dr. Caballeron himself, he just stood waiting patiently in the atrium, no doubt with a smug little smile across his stubble-covered face.

Finally, though, some sign of activity began to spring up. A few of the thugs that had been milling about the ground level broke into a sprint towards the stairwell. Had they found Derring Do already? Maybe she was trying for a direct approach after all. The downstair hallways were a lot narrower than the upper levels, which could be used to limit numerical advantages. It still sounded far more violent than most of Daring Do’s methods, but I had to remind myself that Derring and Daring weren’t the same people.

“Do you think she’ll make it?” Dash whispered.

“I don’t know,” I replied with growing unease. “I think we need to start considering contingency plans.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine. This is Derring Do we’re talking about.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” I said as I gave a subtle gesture back to the atrium ground level.

Two of the hired goons were making their way back to Dr. Caballeron, and being held firmly between them was Derring Do. We were too far away to make out anything being said, but it was safe to presume that Caballeron wasn’t going to be asking her for a casserole recipe.

“Maybe she let them catch her,” Dash suggested. “Now that they think they have her, they’ll leave, and then she can escape later.”

It was a reasonable explanation, though I had no way of knowing if that had been her plan or not. It could very well have been a last-second decision, or perhaps there were a bunch of thugs still in the basement level now sporting bloodied noses. We had no way of knowing and I wasn’t going to make any sudden moves until I knew for certain. Once Derring and Caballeron finished their exchange, the former was escorted out of the library, most likely to a large panel-van waiting outside. Unfortunately, this did not result in a mass exodus of muscle-heads as we had anticipated, but rather they began to spread out once more. It looked like they were searching the library once again, but this time it looked like they were interrogating the patrons as well. It didn’t take long for us to realize what was happening.

“Oh no, they must think Derring hid the amulets in the library,” Dash remarked.

“She did: on us! We need to get out of here!”

A quick glance about revealed that Caballeron’s men were spreading quickly throughout the library, including a few riding up in the elevator and a couple more emerging from the stairwell. We had no choice but to flee deeper into the library. It wasn’t a fool-proof plan, unfortunately, as the library’s floor plan consisted of four ‘wings’ connected to the center atrium, which limited our mobility and made it easy to cover all the exits, as they were only located near the atrium. There might’ve been a few fire escapes, but I didn’t want to risk announcing our exodus just in case more were waiting by the exits.

We continued our evasive manoeuvres through the aisles of books, attempting to keep one step ahead of the various henchmen scouring the library. If any of them saw us, they’d shake us down, and running would only make us look suspicious to them.

“We need a better plan than this,” I lamented as we paused briefly at the end of an aisle of art history books. I glanced around the corner to look for signs of any henchmen, but didn’t see any in the vicinity. “This is a holding pattern at best; circling the drain at worst.”

Unfortunately for me, Rainbow Dash wanted to channel her inner Daring Do, and saw her opportunity just across the hall. Lining the opposite side of the corridor were a number of study rooms, where one could get some privacy for their work, and while they consisted of little more than a small room with a large desk, they also included an equally sizeable window.

“I got an idea!” Dash said as she took hold of my wrist. She didn’t even wait for a response before she dragged me across the hall and into one of the study rooms. “We can climb out this window, just like Daring would.”

“Are you insane? We’re five stories up,” I pointed out, not that facts had much hold on Rainbow right now. “Maybe if we were on the second floor I’d be okay with the idea, but this isn’t worth risking our lives over.”

“Derring Do asked us for help, and I intend to deliver on that,” Dash boldly proclaimed. “Rainbow Dash does not back down from a challenge, and she does not abandon her friends. Or, well, sorta friends, I guess. Do you think Derring would consider me a friend after this?”

“Guess that depends on whether we get out of here or not.”

While Dash worked on getting the window open, I stayed on guard and soon overheard the sound of opening and closing doors coming from nearby. I carefully opened the door and peeked out, which confirmed my suspicions.

“Dash,” I whispered once I closed the door again, “there’s a guy checking all the study rooms.”

“This stupid window isn’t budging!”

“What are we going to do? He’s going to catch us!” I felt the panic beginning to rise up the back of my neck. We were cornered, and while it was tempting to chastise Rainbow Dash for leading us in here, it was a step further than any plan I had available. “We have to get out of here!”

“We can’t do that; we’ll be caught,” Dash replied. “Derring’s counting on us! We have to do something.”

“Well… what would Daring Do do in a situation like this?” I couldn’t come up with a plan on my own; every logical plan that came to mind had huge gaping holes in them. I needed something unpredictable—something crazy.

“Let me think! Let me think!” Dash pressed her palms to the sides of her head as she bounced about in thought. Judging by the sounds outside, we had only a few moments before the door swung open and we’d be caught. “I’ve got a plan—no time to explain.”

Without warning, Rainbow Dash shoved me up against the wall and moved to pin me up against it. “Dash, what are you—?”

“Just play along,” she whispered. She then grabbed me by the back of the head and pulled me into a kiss.

My mind froze for a second, along with every muscle in my body. I wanted to shriek and push her away, but thankfully I was able to get my brain back in order and realized what her plan was. Or at least what I hoped her plan was. As crazy as it might’ve been, it was only going to work if I played along. With my only options being ‘guaranteed to get caught’ and ‘probably going to get caught,’ I had to go with the choice that had some chance of success. Thus, I wrapped my arms around my friend and pulled her in even tighter for the best faked make-out I could muster.

Good thing I had plenty of experience faking sincerity with Flash Sentry.

Kissing Rainbow Dash was an odd experience. I had never kissed another girl before so that in itself made it unique, but at the same time we were both on edge and running on fear and adrenaline, which dampened any sense of passion or emotion. I had no doubt that she, like myself, was just going through the motions while imagining somebody that we would rather be locking lips with.

She’s a lot softer than Flash Sentry, which made for a nice change of pace.

Of course, before I could even consider trying to get some enjoyment out of the experience, the study room door opened. Time to manufacture some outrage.

“Hey, do you mind?” Dash immediately exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh, get out, you pervert! Before I call campus security!”

“You darn creep!”

Between the risk of attracting the attention of the authorities, and the unlikelihood of a couple making out in a remote backroom being involved with Derring Do, the quite-flustered henchmen made a hasty apology before shutting the door again. We waited for a few moments to make sure he was well and truly gone before we were both finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe that actually worked,” I remarked, still trying to calm my frantic heart rate.

“It worked in the Daring Do books; I figured it would work here, too,” Dash explained.

“You can take your hand off my butt now.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. Just needed to make it look authentic, ya know?” Dash flashed me a quick grin before we both succumbed to a quiet chuckle. “Come on, we can still try the window route.”

I still wasn’t sold on that idea, but without better alternatives, I continued to follow my friend’s lead. This time around, though, I helped her with the stubborn window and together we were able to force it open.

“So Dash, first time kissing somebody?” I remarked with a devious little smirk.

“Yeah—er, I mean, no! Of course not. I’m awesome—I kiss people all the time.” Needless to say, I didn’t believe her, and I just responded with an incredulous gaze that conveyed that sentiment. “Uh, s-so maybe it was. I’m just busy, that’s all. It… it didn’t show that badly, did it?”

“It was far from an ideal circumstance, so I wouldn’t judge it too harshly. You can always hit me up for some free lessons if you need ‘em,” I reassured her, then gave her a playful pat on the shoulder. “But just as a point of advice for your next partner, try to remember that it’s a mouth, not an oyster.”

With the window now open, I poked my head out and checked our surroundings. I was immediately reminded of just how high up five stories was, and just how uncomfortable I was with that notion. Now I wasn’t afraid of heights, but I was extremely uncomfortable with the prospect of falling.

“I thought you were a vegetarian,” Dash commented.

“I am, but sometimes you’ve got to eat what’s being served if you want to keep the gryphon diplomats happy.”

“I still can't believe you got to hang out with gryphons...”

Now it was my turn for a crazy idea as Rainbow Dash’s mentioning of my homeland spurred my brain into action. “Hey, what if we can get your magic working again? We could use that to fly us out of here.”

“We’re a bit short on guitars for that plan to work,” Dash replied.

“But you’ve been able to summon your magic without music; we just need to recreate that moment. Do you remember exactly what was going on through your mind when it happened?”

“Okay, well… um, let’s see. I was in school with the soccer team, and I was giving them a pep talk,” Rainbow Dash said as she mentally walked through the events leading up to her previous transformation. “I needed to get them pumped up and ready for the next match, because I wanted them to succeed. Since I’m the captain, it’s up to me to help inspire them and lead them to victory, for themselves and for Canterlot High.”

“Right! Of course! You’re connected to the Element of Loyalty,” I postulated. “Your magic must come out when you’re showcasing that virtue. Quick, you gotta start thinking loyalty stuff.”

“Are you sure just thinking it would help?”

“You’ve got to try, Dash. Derring Do is counting on you, remember? I know you can do this, I believe in you!”

“You’re right,” Dash exclaimed. “I can do this, and not just because flying is totally awesome, but because everyone is counting on me. I can’t—no, I won’t let them down. I’ve got to do this: for every Daring Do fan out there.”

And just like, my friend began to shimmer and shine, lifting off the ground as the eldritch energies transformed her into the winged heroine we needed. I was just about to cry out in delight, but managed to restrain myself so I didn’t attract everyone in the immediate vicinity to our whereabouts.

“Sweet, it worked,” Dash said, thankfully exercising similar restraint in her excitement. “Hands down, this is the best trip to the library I’ve ever had.”

With Dash all set, I chanced another look out the window, just to make sure there wouldn’t be any witnesses to our escape. “Um, m-maybe I should just give you the amulets,” I suggested as my uneasiness with the prospect of falling crept back into my mind. “I could just walk out the door and meet you.”

“No way, we’re riding out together in style.”

Once again, Rainbow Dash didn’t even give me a chance to respond before she wrapped her arms firmly around my waist and out the window we went. Seeing the ground so far below and feeling the wind rushing through my hair soon brought about a whole new feeling.

“Oh my gosh, you’re flying!” I exclaimed. “This is awesome!”

“I know, right?”

We flew a few laps around the library despite the pressing need to get back to Ms. Yearling. It was hard not to get lost in the exhilaration of the moment, since this would be the closest I’d probably ever get to flying on my own.

“Okay, I think we should land now,” I suggested to my friend.

“What do you mean? It’d be so much faster to just fly back to Yearling’s like this.”

“We might get spotted, and your magic is still relatively new. We don’t know how stable it is.”

Rainbow Dash groaned and rolled her eyes, clearly unhappy that I was bringing her fun to a close. “Okay fine,” she grumbled before beginning a descent. “Maybe I should just make you walk back on your own for this.”

And in that instant, her magic and wings suddenly vanished, and we assumed all the flight properties of a fully-stocked vending machine. A slew of very unladylike profanity ensued as we careened back to earth. Fortunately, we were low enough to the ground that the vertical fall wasn’t an issue, but with our forward momentum we sailed across the library parking lot and crashed right into Yearling’s parked sedan. Being the lower of the two of us, I slammed into the rear windshield while Rainbow Dash bounced across the roof before rolling down onto the hood, knocking the radio antenna off in the process.

“I take back what I said,” Dash groaned, “this was the worst library trip ever…”

Act V-VIII

It took a lot longer to make it back to Ms. Yearling’s place than I had anticipated. Between the numerous scrapes and bruises that Dash and I sported, and the fact that the crash wrecked Dash’s cell phone, it was a long and painful walk. In truth, it was more of a hobbling than anything, with my friend limping along with the help of my shoulder to lean upon. As tempting as it may have been to find the nearest ditch and just lay down until the cold embrace of death took away the pain, paranoia kept me moving.

Say what you will about hope, but at that time, fear was what gave me wings. Every time I heard the rumble of an engine, I feared I’d look over my shoulder to see another panel van pulling up alongside us to drag us away.

It was late in the afternoon by the time that Dash and I reached Yearling’s home, much to the surprise of all of our friends. In actuality, we didn’t so much walk through the front door as we fell against it and let gravity do the rest of the work. Our collective ‘thump’ served as the herald for our arrival.

“Oh my goodness! Rainbow Dash! Sunset Shimmer!” Rarity shouted, being the first to react. She and the others raced over to our motionless, groaning forms still prostrated in the front hallway.

“Are you two okay? What happened?” Fluttershy asked.

She and Rarity helped Rainbow Dash to her feet, while Applejack assisted me. We were carried over to the living room where I was set down on the couch and Dash settled into an easy chair. Somehow my back was in even more pain than when I was still sprawled across the trunk of Yearling’s car.

“Gravity is a harsh mistress,” I groaned before rolling onto my stomach to take the pressure off of my lower back. “Also Dr. Caballeron ambushed us at the library; he’s kidnapped Derring Do.”

The news brought a round of gasps from my friends, but it wasn’t until I heard the front door slam shut that I realized there was one voice absent amongst them. Ms. Yearling strolled into the living room, a noted lack of concern upon her expression as she regarded the two of us. If she was surprised at the news, she did an excellent job of hiding her emotions, though it was also possible that she was so used to news like this that it just didn’t disturb her anymore.

“Where’s my car?” she asked.

Also possible that Ms. Yearling just didn’t care.

“It’s back at the library parking lot,” I explained.

“And there might be a few dents in it shaped like our butts,” Dash added. “We kinda crashed into it.”

Ms. Yearling’s normally calm composure cracked for a brief instant, her gaze betraying a sense of utter confusion as her brain tried to wrap around how we managed to accomplish such a feat. Had it not been for the events of the past few months proving that anything was possible when it involved the six of us, including wanton acts of destruction, she never would’ve believed us. She must have eventually decided to just accept the answer as it was, and spare herself the mental anguish of trying to understand the mechanics. In the end, our teacher just walked off towards the kitchen while muttering something under her breath.

“So what exactly happened at the library?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash was eager to regale the others with the tale of our exploits and adventures at the library, or at least a revised version of the events that painted Dash as a sort of Daring Do Junior. She obviously left out bits about what we did inside a particular study room, other than saying that she single-handedly outwitted Caballeron’s minions and flew us to safety. Given that I was in too much pain to care about who got credit for what, I refrained from challenging any part of the story.

“What are we going to do?” Fluttershy, the most worried of my friends, lamented. “We can’t just leave Derring Do with Dr. Caballeron; he’ll be furious once he realizes that Derring’s given you the amulets.”

To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Rainbow Dash was the first to stand up and speak. “Easy—we rescue her—ARGH!” Sadly, trying to get out of a chair was a bit too much for her to handle at the moment, as she went completely rigid. She howled in agony, grasping at her lower back. “Owowowow! Pain. So much pain!”

With Fluttershy’s help, she was eased back into her seat, whereupon she let out a tired groan. It appeared that Dash was in no condition to go anywhere for the moment. As the others continued to ponder our options, Ms. Yearling returned from the kitchen carrying a tray that housed a couple glasses of water and several ice packs.

“Here, take these,” Yearling instructed as she began distributing the ice packs.

With Applejack’s help, we arranged a bunch of ice packs across my lower back, which felt like a godsend.

“You’ve got a lot of ice packs for an English teacher,” I remarked when I noticed that Dash had several to herself as well.

“Yes, well, when your personal life seems to be filled with adrenaline junkies, you start keeping a stockpile for when things inevitably go sideways,” Ms. Yearling answered. Along with the glasses of water, there were a number of pills on the tray as well, of which she handed two to me. “These should help take some of the edge off. Not allergic to ibuprofen, right?”

After tossing back the pills and some water, I noticed that Ms. Yearling was not displaying any level of concern for the situation. “You seem remarkably calm for somebody whose sister just got kidnapped,” I pointed out.

“Probably has a lot to do with me not caring,” she answered with an indifferent shrug. “I clean up enough of her messes and mistakes without getting dragged into her work-related buffoonery.”

Suffice to say, everybody was surprised to hear that level of callousness from her, especially considering Ms. Yearling had always been one of those teachers who went the extra mile for her students. I couldn’t even begin to calculate just how much I owed her for taking a chance with me despite having always been one of my harshest critics. Everyone knew her as a compassionate person who helped those around her. She had a three-legged dog, for crying out loud!

How could she be so cold?

“But your sister’s in trouble!” Dash exclaimed, vocalizing our collective disbelief.

“Who’s going to have to learn to grow up and take responsibility. Maybe we’ll get lucky and this will knock her ego down a little,” Yearling snapped back, almost taking a hint of offense at our remarks. “Besides, it’s Caballeron: he can be a bit greedy and underhanded, but it’s not like he’s some murdering psychopath.”

While that was a safe assumption to make, especially since Yearling probably knew the infamous antagonist far better than any of us, that didn’t quell anybody’s unease. If I were reading about all of this in a book, I would have felt completely confident that Daring Do would’ve been able to escape from Caballeron’s clutches with little more than a few trifling remarks. This was the real world, however, and Derring’s fate was very much an unknown factor at this point. It just didn’t sit right with me, and my friends shared in that view.

“You can’t just abandon her! What kind of twin sister are you?” Rainbow Dash continued pushing her case.

“Oh, I can’t abandon her?” Yearling shot back with an amused and incredulous look on her face. “She’s the one who runs off on the slightest whim! Always just another expedition, another jackpot just around the next corner! ‘It’ll be different this time, trust me,’ she’ll go. Every. Single. Time!” Clearly Rainbow Dash had hit a nerve with her last remark, though even in an outburst, Ms. Yearling seemed to maintain some measure of control. It wasn’t like when Luna exploded at me. “I am trying to build myself a life here, and I will not have her sweep through here like a hurricane every time she feels like taking my time, my money, or my girlfriend.”

“Who’s taking me now?” came a woman’s voice all of a sudden from the direction of the front door. I couldn’t see who it was from where I was laying on the couch, but I did see how Yearling’s expression turned fearful for a moment.

“Oh! H-honey, you’re home!” Yearling stammered, desperately trying to straighten her posture as though she could hide her rush of anxiety. “I… um, I thought you’d still be at work.”

“Boss sent me packin’ once I finished up all the paperwork,” the voice replied, followed by some footsteps. Eventually, a blonde Amazonian of a woman strolled into my line of sight, moving to Yearling’s side though repeatedly casting a sideways glance to the rest of us. There was no doubt that it was Blondie, as I recognized her from the picture I saw earlier, plus the way she immediately greeted Ms. Yearling with a quick kiss on the cheek.

“How’s your hand?” Yearling asked, her voice now softer and more concerned.

“Just a couple of cracks. Doc says to just keep it in a splint for a while,” Blondie answered as she held up the aforementioned splinted limb. She looked once again in my direction, then back to Yearling. “So who’re the young’uns? We ain’t adopting now, are we?”

“No, no. Nothing like that,” Yearling replied with a sheepish giggle. “These are just some of my students.”

Blondie took another long look at us, particularly at those of us who happened to be laying down with numerous ice packs. “What the heck kinda English class you teachin’?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Oh. Well, it’s nice to meet y’all. Name’s Blondie,” she greeted, waving at us with her good hand. She then flashed a brilliant grin and threw an arm around Yearling’s hip, pulling her in close. “Hope you girls ain’t givin’ my gal pal here too much trouble.”

Ms. Yearling was cycling through several shades of red during the introduction, though her meek smile suggested that our stoic teacher was unused to public displays of affection. In fact, her face turned almost a complete crimson when Blondie’s hand disappeared behind her backside. I had to fight down an urge to giggle, watching my teacher struggling to keep control alongside a woman who clearly had little sense of restraint.

Unfortunately, at least for our teacher, Rainbow Dash did exactly what everybody expected. “Blondie, you gotta help us! Derring Do’s been kidnapped by Dr. Caballeron!”

“No! Don’t listen to her!” Yearling yelped.

“Your sister was in town and you didn’t tell me?” Blondie asked in a rhetorical fashion.

“She… she showed up unannounced. Like always. I told her to leave you out of this, so she took those two with her instead,” our teacher explained while pointing a finger in our direction.

“And now Dr. Caballeron has your sis. Great plan, dear. Why not just handcuff Derring to a lamp post next time—make it real easy for him.” Blondie groaned and rolled her eyes before fishing her car keys out of her pocket. “Welp, guess I better go get her before something silly happens.”

No sooner did she hear the news did Blondie turn for the exit, much to our delight. However, she didn’t get very far as Yearling, in a panic to stop her beau from running out the door, grabbed hold of her belt with both hands. The size difference between the two, though, meant that Blondie managed to make it several feet, dragging Yearling behind her, before finally realizing someone was slowing her down.

“Is something the matter, dear?” Blondie asked, frozen in mid-stride.

“Don’t play dumb! You know I’m not letting you walk out that door,” Yearling snapped back.

Blondie just chuckled quietly to herself. “Dear, you best let go of my pants or I’m going to sling you over my shoulder.”

“Y-you wouldn’t dare!”

The other woman cracked a cocksure grin and feinted a move towards her, which prompted Yearling to quickly relent and jump back before she could get grabbed hold of. Of course, no sooner did she jump did she realize that she had been tricked, which only flustered her further. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or feel a little sorry for her.

With few alternatives available, Yearling changed her approach and went for a softer, more pleading tone. “Blondie, please, you’re already hurt. You need to be resting, not running off to do something even more reckless.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll take it easy,” came the response. Judging by how quickly Blondie appeared to relent, she had little intent on ever carrying out the original plan. Maybe it was her roundabout way of de-escalating the situation, as Yearling was much calmer now. “Dee, why do you always get like this every time your sis is around? You know I hate seein’ the two of you like this.”

“Question!” I interrupted while raising my hand. “Why do people keep calling you Dee? Like, I can understand if it was just your sister trying to be annoying, but Celestia and Blondie here have both called you that as well, and clearly not to piss you off. What gives?”

“‘Cause that’s short for her name,” Blondie answered, sounding surprised by the question. “She’s Daring Dee. She only started calling herself Yearling when she started writing all those Daring Do books.”

“So you’re both Derring’s?” I remarked in disbelief.

“No silly,” Pinkie chimed in. “Hers is spelt D-A-R-I-N-G, like the books.”

“How did she—?”

“Don’t ask,” everyone else chimed in to cut Blondie off.

“Why the name change? Daring Dee sounds so much cooler,” Dash asked.

To me, the answer was obvious now that I had spent enough time around both sisters. Of course, Rainbow Dash would be confused by it, since given the chance she’d probably change part of her name to ‘Daring’ as well. “Because she wants to be her own woman and not just another Daring,” I answered. “Isn’t that right, Ms. Yearling?”

“Didn’t want people thinking I’m something that I’m not,” she sighed, but nodded in agreement. “And I much prefer Yearling.”

“Wasn’t that the name of that riding horse at the county fair?” Blondie remarked.

“I have fond memories of that horse.”

While my friends and I were grateful that the shouting and simmering tempers had finally calmed down, that still left the question of what we were going to do about Derring Do. As awesome as it would’ve been to see what Blondie could do to Dr. Caballeron and his henchmen, I got the impression she wasn’t about to defy Yearling’s wishes. For her part, our teacher remained committed to focusing on what was important to her.

“Why don’t you sit down and relax, Blondie, and I’ll fix you something to eat,” she offered as she gently pushed her special someone towards the couches.

Blondie just shrugged her shoulders and went along, no doubt tempted by the offer of being waited on by her partner. She took a seat next to me, using what space of the couch I hadn’t occupied with my recovery, and let out a weary sigh upon putting her feet up onto the nearby coffee table.

“Excuse me, Ms. Blondie,” I spoke up, a little uncertain how to best address the woman whom I’ve only just met. “Do you mind if I ask a bit of a personal question?”

“Hey, ain’t no need to be so formal around me,” Blondie reassured me with a friendly grin. “What’s on your mind, bacon-head?”

“I’m… sorry? Bacon?”

“Your hair reminds of me bacon,” she answered, pointing to the aforementioned locks. “Which reminds me—hey sweet-cheeks! Could you make me a BLT?”

“Already doing that,” responded the voice from the kitchen.

“That girl spoils me,” Blondie chuckled to herself. “Um, anyways, what was your question again?”

I was a bit wary of pursuing my line of questioning, but I had a hunch that I wanted to explore, even if it meant asking something that really wasn’t my business to know. “You and Derring used to be together long ago, right? The two of you seem to be cut from the same cloth, so why did you decide to be with Ms. Yearling instead?”

At first, Blondie just raised an eyebrow at me, but the brief spell of anxiety was subsided when she donned another smile and stifled a quiet chortle. “Tryin’ to figure them out, too, huh?” she remarked, to which I nodded. “Derring and I get along plenty fine now, and I’d like to think we’re good friends, but we made a lousy couple when we tried.”

“Why’s that?” Dash asked the obvious follow-up.

“Because sometimes what you want in a friend ain’t the same as what you want in a partner,” she answered. She folded her arms up behind her head, sinking deeper into her seat. “Sure, Derring’s fun and all, but that’s all there ever was; eventually I reached a point in my life where I wanted somebody who I could settle down with. I just couldn’t get that with Derring. Those adventures we had were great—some of the best times of my life—but what I have with Yearling is a million times better.” Her eyes drifted in the direction of the kitchen, a contented smile crossing her face. “This is a far better adventure for me.”

It was the answer that I had hoped for, though it still sounded strange coming from somebody whose literary counterpart was known for their foul language and surly attitude. Maybe living with Yearling had tamed the once wild girl.

“Does Yearling know this?” Rarity chimed in. She had since strolled over to the couch and was now leaning over from behind it.

“Beg yer pardon?”

“Well, it just seems to me that Yearling has some… confidence issues when it comes to personal relationships,” my friend continued to explain. “Issues that seem to worsen when her sister is around.”

Her mouth opened in anticipation of a response, but whatever Blondie had in mind seemed to turn into little more than hot air. Certainty degraded into doubt as she pondered Rarity’s words, occasionally trying to muster an answer but falling silent each time.

Eventually, she had to concede in part, remarking, “She’s doesn’t actually think I somehow prefer Derring over her, does she?”

“I think it’s less of a matter of what she thinks, and more about how she feels,” I replied. “And I’m sure you know Derring Do well enough to understand that she does possess a rather… dominating persona.”

Blondie didn’t have an immediate response. Judging by the way she pursed her lips and stared at the ceiling, she was wading neck-deep in thought. And she held that pose for the next few minutes, only finally breaking from it when Yearling returned with another tray, this time carrying one delicious-looking BLT sandwich.

“Here ya go; nice and crispy, just the way you like it,” Yearling said as she set the plate down. However, when she noticed her partner’s contemplative stare, her cheerfulness subsided. “Is… is something wrong?”

“Are you seriously still jealous of your sister?” Blondie asked in a blunt and straight-forward tone.

“Wh-what? No! Why would you think something so ridiculous?” Yearling stammered back. I don’t think anybody in the room believed a word of that, least of all her girlfriend.

Thankfully, Blondie wasn’t upset by the half-hearted denial. She reached out and took Yearling’s hand, pulling her over until her girlfriend was perched upon her lap. Despite her unease with yet another display of affection in front of others, our teacher was held down by her beau’s embrace.

“Yearling, sweetheart, you know I love you, right?” Blondie said in an almost playful manner.

“... yes,” came the mumbled response. Yearling must’ve realized where the conversation was going because her expression and gaze dropped to the ground, looking rather meek and defeated.

“So why do you keep thinking that Derring is going to steal me away?” Blondie carried on. “We’ve been together for quite a few years now. I left your sister for a darn good reason.”

“Because she’s a selfish jerk?”

“Well that too,” she chuckled. “Your sister is just out for a laugh and a thrill, which is all fine and good on a Friday evening after you’ve had a few ciders, but it ain’t something you can take to the bank.” Her hands shifted down to wrap around Yearling’s waist, linking fingers at the small of her back. “You are hands-down the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and everything that I wish I were better at being. You’re smart, well-spoken, thoughtful and considerate, compassionate and generous, and most importantly you are patient enough to put up with all of my shenanigans.”

That was enough to prompt a quiet round of chuckling from everyone in the room.

“But darlin’, you need to get it through that thick, pretty head of yours that your sister is still my friend. Full stop. And I’m allowed to spend time with my friends, even if it does sometimes mean doing stupid things. Otherwise she’d get into even more trouble, as so clearly demonstrated by today. I know you care about her too; you just have trouble saying it in a way that doesn’t sound like you’re criticizing her or putting her down. I can’t just abandon her, and I ain’t gonna let you do the same either because you only got one sister. Take it from somebody who doesn't have any family: you ruin this, and you’ll wind up regretting it for the rest of your life.”

“Blondie, I…” Yearling tried to muster a response but it seemed shame weighed down what words she had available. “I’m so sorry. God, you must think I’m being awful right now…”

“Don’t fret about it. We all have our faults,” Blondie reassured her. “The important thing is we watch out for one another and aren’t afraid to tell the other when they’re being a bit silly.” She leaned in to plant a quick kiss on Yearling’s forehead, which helped to alleviate her gloominess. “Now, if you won’t let me bail your sister out of trouble, then you’ll have to go do it yourself.”

“What? Me?” Yearling squeaked in disbelief.

“Well unless you want to send those kids to do it.”

Not that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have given both legs for the opportunity to do so. Even I wanted to help despite the numerous bruises I now sported as a result of my last venture to help. How often did somebody get a chance to see the real-life adventures that went into the Daring Do novels?

Then came the expected wail of protest. “But… I’m no adventurer! I teach high school English! I have papers to grade!”

I, however, had just the answer to that concern. “Except you’ve spent years writing about Daring Do and Dr. Caballeron,” I pointed out. “You’ve probably read your sister’s notes about him a dozen times over. You know how he thinks, and you’ve always been the brains of Daring Do.”

“Yeah, teach, you could totally run rings around Caballeron,” Rainbow Dash said as she threw in her support. “We’ll even help you. I mean, we’ve all read most of the Daring Do books because of your classes.”

“And it’s not like you’ve never done this before—you and Derring did ‘Quest for the Sapphire Stone’ together,” Rarity added in. “Surely if we all put our heads together, we can figure out a way to outwit Dr. Caballeron.”

“Guess I don’t have much of a choice,” Yearling acquiesced with a resigned sigh. She pivoted atop of Blondie, swinging her legs up and aligning herself such that she was using her girlfriend for a chair. “Just need to figure out what we can use to gain the upper hand on him.”

A question for the ages, that was certain, especially considering how many unknown variables we still had to contend with. The biggest one, which I voiced right away, was also the most crucial. “Do we even have a way for figuring out where your sister is?”

“Try her phone’s GPS,” Blondie suggested, apparently content to serve as impromptu furniture for the moment. “She’s got one of those ‘find my phone’ tracking services.”

“You really think Caballeron would just let Derring keep her phone active and on her?” Applejack voiced a shared skepticism amongst us.

However, it wasn’t that much of a stretch once I thought about it. “Except as far as Dr. Caballeron knows, Derring’s on her own. He doesn’t know that any of us are aware that he has her, or that we’ll attempt a rescue.”

“And he’s definitely the type to be that over-confident,” Yearling nodded in agreement. She pulled out her cell phone and with her girlfriend’s assistance, they were able to look up where Derring’s cell phone was located. “Huh, looks like her phone is located in the trainyard district.”

Despite having lived in the city for my entire human life, the name ‘trainyard district’ was unfamiliar to me. Granted, giving what the name suggested, there was little reason for a teenager such as myself to venture near such a place. As Blondie was prompt to explain, it was an industrial park, rife with old, unattended buildings that would be ideal for holding somebody captive. It sounded almost too clichéd to be true, but then again there was a reason such tropes existed in the first place.

Rarity pulled up the approximate location on her own phone and then passed it over to me so I could get a look. “Do you know the area well?” I inquired.

“Sorta,” Blondie answered with a quick shrug. “I used to work around there back when I was doing odd-jobs. I think I remember this building, too; used to be an old warehouse for some shipping company.”

“We should be able to find plenty of satellite pictures of the building on the internet,” Yearling mused before handing her phone back to Blondie. “Take Pinkie and Fluttershy and see what you can find out about the building online.”

“What about the amulets?” Dash asked.

To be honest, I had almost forgotten that I still had the aforementioned ancient relics. Thankfully, crashing into Yearling’s car didn’t smash them into pieces, though I suspect that I have a few beetle-shaped bruises on me now.

“Derring was trying to figure out what the symbols on them mean,” I explained as I dug them out from my pocket and held them out for Yearling to see. “You got any insight on them?”

“Let me take a look,” Yearling replied before reaching over and plucking the amulets from my grasp. She leaned back in her ‘seat,’ prompting a few uncomfortable groans from her girlfriend, as she examined the amulets in closer detail. There was a fair amount of humming and hawing, much like when she passed judgment on the grammar in your latest essay. “It looks familiar,” she concluded after a couple of minutes, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen symbols like these in some of Derring’s notes.”

“But Derring didn’t recognize them,” I replied.

“She probably forgot—surprise, surprise. I read over her notes a hundred times when writing a book, which is about ninety-nine times more than my sister.”

Yearling excused herself for a moment and retreated to another part of the house, returning several minutes later with an armful of books of various shapes and sizes. It seemed that Derring Do made notes on whatever sources of paper she had available, including one ‘book’ that appeared to just be a bunch of loose sheets clipped together. She returned to her ‘seat,’ dropping into it with enough force to knock the wind out of her girlfriend. Whether this was intentional or just a result of Yearling being too preoccupied with her her pile of notes would forever remain a mystery. She tossed a few over in my direction with the orders to ‘make myself useful.’

Reading Derring’s notes was oddly as interesting as the Daring Do novels themselves. It felt more raw and visceral seeing the unfiltered descriptions of events and people. Even some of the people who eventually became allies of Daring’s had rather colourful descriptions, some of which were enough to make even Princess Celestia flustered. Some of them didn’t even sound anatomically possible.

“Wow, your sister is a real potty mouth,” Pinkie remarked, having apparently read the same passages over my shoulder.

“You should’ve heard some of the stuff that she didn’t write down,” Blondie chuckled.

After a short while and several dozen pages later, I came across a charcoal tracing consisting of bizarre glyphs. “Hey Ms. Yearling, is this one of the symbols on the amulets?” I handed the notebook back to her.

She took a closer look, then compared it to the amulets along with some notes in a book she had been looking over. “It definitely shares some of the same characteristics, likely derived from the same proto-language that we’re looking for. Reminds me of an old far east numeric system.”

“Wait, we went through all this nonsense just for a bunch of numbers?” Dash asked incredulously.

“Were you expecting more of a eureka moment?” Yearling quipped back. “It could still be crucial, though we’ll need the chest to be sure what these numbers might mean. Not every discovery is ground-breaking, unfortunately; I remember back in college I had a classmate who spent a week translating an ancient stone tablet only to find out that it’s just some guy complaining about an order of bricks.”

While I thought the information was interesting, if still perplexing, Rainbow Dash was clearly disappointed by it. She sank into her seat with a heavy sigh, looking all the more bored while the rest of us toiled away on our plans for saving Derring Do.

“So what kind of numbers are we talking about?” I asked.

Ms. Yearling pursed her lips in thought once more as she gave the three amulets one more look-over. “If I had to wager a guess: one, two, and three.”

There was a part of me that did share in Dash’s disappointment, though I knew it was a foolish thing to do. Still, I wound up muttering to myself, “Well… that’s somewhat anti-climactic.”

“Just remember that the good part comes when we save Derring Do,” Blondie reassured us.

“Speaking of which, we still haven’t a clue how we’ll accomplish that,” Yearling pointed out. “I can’t exactly just walk up and ask him to let my sister go.”

Or could we? This was Dr. Caballeron, after all; a man who was once fooled by Daring Do wearing a cheap beard. In fact, thinking along those lines gave me an idea. “Say, Ms. Yearling, does Dr. Caballeron even know that you exist?”

“I don’t think so,” Yearling replied, uncertain of where I was going with my question. “Usually not much room in the conversations for family with all the menacing monologues and vows for revenge. Why do you ask?”

“Because I have an idea: do you still have that costume from the convention?”

Act V-IX

“So that’s the place?” I remarked as I peered through a pair of binoculars to a dilapidated-looking building down the road.

“That’s where Derring’s GPS signal is coming from,” Yearling answered, her expression weighed down by a weary uneasiness.

It took a little time to finally get everything together, but now that we were armed with something resembling a working plan, we could see about getting Derring Do back. I was once again sitting in the passenger seat of Ms. Yearling’s car, except now it was the vehicle’s proper owner that sat behind the wheel. Despite a few dents on the roof and a broken antenna, the damage wasn’t as bad as I had thought, or at least that’s what Blondie had insisted. It didn’t help me feel any less guilty about it, but I was able to push those feelings aside in order to focus on the task at hand.

And speaking of that task, we had managed to convince Ms. Yearling to bring everyone along. There was strength in numbers, after all, even if most of those numbers were just high schoolers. It may not seem like much, but there used to be a large crater in front of my school that stood testament to just what my friends were capable of.

They were probably all hoping for a little bit of magic right now, too.

In the back seat were Rainbow Dash and Rarity, both of whom were looking at some print-outs we made of the building. It was amazing how much information you could find online. I handed the binoculars back to Ms. Yearling and she surveyed the building off in the distance. It looked innocuous enough: the kind of brick and mortar building with broken windows and an old chain-link fence that would be a staple in any TV crime drama.

“I haven’t seen any sign of Caballeron or his men,” Yearling reported, voicing the same skepticism that she had since we set out. “Maybe he smartened up enough to know to send out a decoy.”

“Patience, Yearling,” I reminded her.

We had only been staking out the warehouse for less than hour, parked on the side of the road a couple blocks away from our objective. Behind our car was Blondie’s, who had driven Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack with her. The four of them set out on foot to do some reconnaissance, something that Ms. Yearling vehemently objected to, but was eventually convinced by Blondie to relent. Once again, we had the advantage of anonymity and Caballeron’s overconfidence on our side, so a couple of teenagers walking down the road wouldn’t stand out.

“Are we sure this plan is going to work? I mean, Derring doesn’t usually wear this stuff except out in the field,” Yearling remarked once she set down the binoculars.

She was referring to the old Daring Do costume she now wore, the one I originally saw in the photograph. We had Rarity touch it up a little bit to make it look more authentic and lived-in, I thought it looked very convincing, despite our teacher’s objections.

“Just throw a coat over it and you’ll be fine,” I replied. “It’s the acting part that’ll sell it, after all. You need to act like your sister.”

“You mean like a selfish jerk?” Yearling grumbled like a pouting child.

“Yearling! She’s not that bad,” I snapped back. Normally I wouldn’t have even considered talking back to her with such a tone, but the events of the day had blurred the line in the student-teacher relation. “I mean, I know she can be a bit self-centered, but she’s just trying to find her own way. She’s not a lot different from how I used to be, and you were willing to cut me some slack.”

“You had Celestia to watch over you,” Yearling replied. “Maybe if I could find somebody to play babysitter for my sister, I’d be willing to go a bit easier on her.”

Before the conversation could go on any further, there came a tapping on the driver’s side door. It was Blondie along with my friends. When she leaned in through the open driver’s side window, she donned a triumphant grin, which was a welcomed sight.

“So we took a nice long walk around the place,” Blondie began her report. “There wasn’t much sign of our wayward adventurer, but it looks to me like they’re hunkering down for the night. Now some nice folks running a taco truck did say they saw some panel vans arrive earlier this afternoon, and they went inside our mystery building.”

Dash leaned in from the back seat, having found something far more interesting than news of Derring. “You brought us some tacos, right?”

“You bet’cha!” Pinkie announced as she held up a large paper bag.

“Celebratory tacos,” Blondie informed us with an ever-widening grin. “The best kind of tacos.”

She left the food with Rarity, trading it for a copy of the map. She whipped a pen from her pocket and began scribbling across the map.

“So our warehouse is surrounded by the chain-link fence with a gate here, though it’s secured with a chain and padlock.”

“I should be able to get us past that easily,” I remarked.

“Good. Saves us from having to climb a fence,” Blondie replied with a quick nod. “Now the main doors for the place are down here, which had a guy sitting on watch. Large windows here, here, and here, and the loading docks are along this side of the building.” She started marking the aforementioned items on the map, which gave me the impression this wasn’t the first time she’s staked out a building. “So multiple points of entry, but their proximity means they can be easily watched by only a couple of eyes. Wouldn’t be surprised if a few guys remained on guard in these windows. Our best avenue of approach is along the east wall, which doesn’t have much of anything of value to us.”

“What about these big skylights,” I asked, pointing to the panes visible on the map.

Applejack pointed out the obvious problem with my suggestion. “How would we get up there?”

“Who’s good at climbing rope?” Blondie’s insinuation raised a lot of eyebrows from us, though Rainbow Dash and Applejack nonetheless raised their hands in response. “Excellent! I got some rope and a hook in the trunk.”

She handed off the map to Yearling and headed back to her car, leaving the rest of us looking a little confused.

“Should I even ask why she happens to have a rope and grappling hook with her?” I remarked.

“I’ll be grateful if that’s the only thing from her old days she brought along,” Yearling sighed. “Okay, so Blondie, AJ, and Dash go to the rooftops to provide surveillance; Rarity and Pinkie will stay on the streets to keep watch in case anybody decides to leave the party; and Fluttershy will stay with the car.”

Noticing my name was notably absent from the list, it gave me an unsettling feeling as to where I was going to be. “And me?”

“You get to come with me and watch my back,” Yearling stated plainly. “How’re the decoy amulets coming along, Rarity?”

“Considering I had to make them out of left-over arts and craft supplies, I’d say I did a rather spectacular job,” Rarity beamed with only slightly restrained pride. She reached into her bag and pulled out our freshly made fake amulets, handing them over to Ms. Yearling. “Just be careful with those; I don’t know how well the paint has dried just yet.”

“What do you think, Sunset?” Yearling asked, holding them out for me to inspect.

Upon a closer evaluation, it was remarkable what Rarity was able to pull off with just some old clay and paints. Thankfully, the originals weren’t exactly works of art either so the dried blobs of paint and unsteady markings weren’t going to send up any red flags, at least not right away. As Rarity had warned, it was still a little sticky to the touch; hopefully Caballeron didn’t have sweaty palms.

With one final inspection, and a deep breath to calm her nerves, Ms. Yearling pocketed the amulets and exited the vehicle. “Okay, you all know where to go. Keep your phone lines open and your mics muted so you can keep abreast of any developments,” Yearling instructed. “If things go sideways, just scatter as best you can, and call the police once you’re safe.”

“Are you sure we can’t just call the police now?” Fluttershy asked.

“But where’s the fun in that?” Blondie jokingly replied as she strolled back, now toting some rope and a bag full of Celestia-knows-what. At least, it sounded like she was joking. “We’ve never needed the cops before, so why start now? Besides, Derring always said it’s like cheating to just call in the police.”

“That certainly sounds like the sorta thing she’d say,” Yearling sighed.

“Hey Pinkie, mind if I borrow your phone for the mission?” Seeing as mine was still sitting in a shallow grave, I’d need something to help keep in touch with the others. As Rarity and Pinkie would be working together, they’d still have a phone between them.

“Okie dokie,” she cheerfully replied before tossing the phone my way.

We took one last look over the map, grabbed our bags, and then split up into our respective groups. Blondie and her team took a slightly more roundabout path in order to avoid suspicion, and we all met up again at the locked gate.

“You sure you can take care of this?” Blondie asked, examining the lock and chain holding the gate shut. “We could just climb the fence.”

“I’d rather have a quick exit route available, if it’s all the same to you,” I replied as I reached into my bag to grab my lockpicks. “Just give me a minute to crack this thing open.”

“Well I dunno,” the skeptical blonde continued, “that looks like one of them LockCo brand padlocks. You know, the kind with the commercial where they show this criminal trying to break into it using a hammer, and then a crowbar, and then he takes this big ol’ gun to—”

“Got it.” Took a bit of willpower not to sound too smug as I tossed the lock aside and pulled away the chains, but it was hard not to smirk at Blondie’s bewildered look.

“Remind me never to buy a lock from those guys again.”

We split up again once we were inside the perimeter, with Blondie taking her group towards the east side of the building, while we continued our approach from the south. The outer yard was mostly bare, save for a few abandoned metal containers, numerous rusted barrels, and an old trunk that looked like it had seen better days back when I was still in diapers. We used the containers to conceal our approach, racing from one piece of cover to the next with Yearling taking the lead.

We scampered across the courtyard until we finally reached the edge of the building, pressing our backs against the wall and taking shelter underneath a rickety, old awning.

“So what do you think? We could try for one of the windows up there,” Yearling said, leaning out enough to glance upwards.

“Better than trying the front door,” I answered. I glanced about to try and figure out how we could get to the windows, but there was little in the ways of hand-holds. The side of the building was just a pragmatic slab of stones and bricks. There was, however, one of the abandoned metal crates near the windows. “Hey Yearling, think you could give me a boost?”

“Good thinking.”

While I might’ve been able to climb atop of the crate without help, given that it was only about seven feet high or so, I didn’t want to alert the whole neighborhood of our arrival in the process. Getting a little boost from my teacher made the climb much easier, and I, in turn, helped her scale the side of the crate afterwards.

“Gotta say, I thought dealing with the Dazzlings was going to be the last of my crazy adventures,” I remarked once we were both on top of the crate.

While we now had the elevation, the open windows in question were a good three feet or so from the crate itself. Yearling began eyeing the gap, perhaps trying to summon her own inner Daring Do. It was by no means a long jump, but neither of us were the type that did much jumping in our day-to-day lives.

“You’re far too young to think you’ve hit the highlight of your life,” Yearling said as she stepped back, lining up her approach. “And honestly, would you really want that?” With a short burst of speed, she flung herself across the gap and just narrowly made it through the open window.

When she phrased it like that, it did sound naive to think that my adventures were all in the past. With Equestrian magic showing no sign of fading away, I was going to have my hands full for the foreseeable future. And as crazy as the day had been, it was proving to be far more entertaining than toiling over chemistry homework. I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.

Except maybe a smaller gap to jump.

“Really wish I could fly like Dash right about now,” I muttered to myself. After a few breaths to steady my nerves, I lunged up and over, and promptly slammed chest first into the window frame. “Stupid bipedal locomotion!” I grunted and wheezed before Yearling reached out and pulled me in.

“Okay, we’re inside on the second floor,” Yearling reported to the others with her phone. “Is everyone in position?”

“Got a nice view from up here,” Blondie replied. “Looks like Caballeron’s holding your sis in the big ol’ center room. She’s tied to a chair and the doc’s doing his usual song and dance.”

As for us, we were in what looked like an old office, probably once used by the warehouse’s foreman. While I crouched down behind a run-down desk in order to wait out the dull ache in my chest. This place was a dump; the air was still damp with the scent of old chemicals and years of dust build-up, everything not made of concrete groaned whenever we shifted our weight, and there were enough pieces of broken metal and discarded screws that I made a mental note to check on my tetanus record as soon as I got home.

Yearling glanced out the door, checking down the hallway in both directions. “Any sign of the chest?” she asked over the phone.

“Give us a second,” Blondie responded. “Okay, we got what looks like a fancy box in the… northwest corner room. I can see a couple of dudes guarding it, but they seem more interested in watching the game.”

“Then wait for our signal.” Yearling then gestured for me to follow and we proceeded into the hallway.

We had to keep our heads down, however, as the opposite side of the hallway consisted of grimy or broken panes of glass, affording an overview of the main chamber. Since it was an abandoned warehouse, there wasn’t much present, save for old shelves and much of the same trash and discarded containers that had decorated the courtyard. The hallway connected to some metal catwalks that lined the perimeter of the building, which connected to catwalks above and the ground via a number of stairs. It meant an easy means to move about without having to go to the ground level and narrow passages to limit any numerical advantage.

A few tables and chairs had been set up for the comfort of our kidnappers, and in the center was Derring Do and Dr. Caballeron. It was like watching a scene straight out of a Daring Do novel, except without the plot armour to ensure that our heroine escaped without a scratch. A few of the hired hands were milling about, but most seemed to be gathered around a portable television set up in the far corner, near the room where the chest was being held.

From where we were, we couldn’t quite hear what was going on between Derring and Caballeron, though I imagined it involved a lot of gloating and witty rebuttals. It didn’t look like our stalwart adventurer was injured or mishandled, but the books had always portrayed Caballeron as the type to let others get their hands dirty.

“All right, Sunset, you know the plan,” Yearling whispered to me.

I gave her a quick thumbs-up and then we split up, with each of us heading down opposite direction of the hallway. Yearling headed onto the catwalk, remaining silent as she crept into position while I stopped at the junction between the hallway and the open catwalk, waiting for her signal. Thankfully, the setting sun helped cast plenty of shadows across the catwalks, making it easier for us to stay hidden. Now all I had to do was sit and wait, whether to continue with the plan or to run for the window and hope that I had better luck jumping out of it than in.

I kept an eye on Dr. Caballeron as I waited. He was still talking to Derring, and I could make out a few words when he raised his voice, but nothing out of the ordinary. He’d insist that she should ‘join him’ and she’d say something that made the doctor frown. But then he’d smile confidently once more, making what I imagined to be an empty threat as he stroked the stubble upon his chin.

Yearling waited until she was far enough along so that when she finally stood up and made her presence known, every set of eyes looked to her and far away from me.

“Nice place you’ve got here,” she called as she stepped out into the light. A quiet chuckle escaped her lips as she leaned casually against the nearby railing. “It’s got a nice, eighties action film feel to it.”

I wish I could’ve seen the look on Caballeron’s face when he turned his gaze upwards and saw his arch-nemesis looming over him. However, I had more important matters to focus on and began my slow and careful trek along the perimeter.

“Derring Do? Wait, how? But you’re—” Caballeron exclaimed, swinging his gaze frantically between the Derring above him and the one tied to the chair beside him.

“Oh come on, did you really think you’d be able to catch me that easily?” Yearling said with a trifling laugh.

“But if you’re… then who is—?”

“That’s a body double I hired so that you’d waste your day following her rather than me. Didn’t think you’d honestly get this far without realizing that it’s not me.”

“Don’t listen to her! She’s just trying to steal my thunder!” the real Derring Do exclaimed. Either she was able to quickly deduce our plan or she really didn’t like the idea of somebody mistaking her for her sister. “I’m the real Derring Do, that’s just my stupid twin sister!”

“You don’t have a sister!” Caballeron snapped back, swinging back to Derring. “In all of our years, you’ve never once mentioned siblings!”

In all fairness, it did sound rather unbelievable to have somebody pull out an identical twin out of the blue. Even if Caballeron was smart enough to realize he was in the midst of a ploy, he had no way of knowing which was telling the truth.

“Seriously, Caballeron, she looks nothing like me. I’m almost hurt that you can’t even recognize me,” Yearling pressed, playfully laughing all the while. “If you check her pockets, you’ll find the five hundred bucks I paid her.”

Sure enough, Caballeron sifted through his captive’s pockets and pulled out a wad of twenty dollar bills, much to Derring’s protest. “Give that back! I haggled for that cash fair and square!”

“Be quiet and let the grown-ups do the talking!” Yearling snapped at her sister. “Now, let the girl go, and you can have the stupid amulets.”

Caballeron continued to stare at the evidence before him, taking careful calculations as how to avoid falling into whatever trap Derring had set for him. When Ms. Yearling took out the fake amulets and held them out for him to see, the pressure to play ball increased. Now if he had been smart, he would’ve deduced that Derring was clearly not working alone and should, thus, put his lackeys on high alert. As it was, however, everyone continued to stare off towards Yearling like a bunch of obedient school children. All the while, I continued my silent trek across the catwalks until I was nearly overtop of the room containing the chest.

“You spin an interesting tale, Derring Do, if that is indeed who you are,” Caballeron mused, turning towards Yearling. “But I’m going to need something a bit more concrete. Considering how many times you’ve tried to outwit me in the past, you can understand a man possessing a healthy skepticism.”

“Oh, does this mean I get to reveal some secret information about you that only I would know?” Yearling said with a few excited hops. “You spent five years claiming your favourite colour was aubergine because it sounded more cultured, despite the fact that you were really thinking of auburn and actually had no idea what aubergine was.”

That clearly wasn’t what Caballeron had in mind, as he shifted uncomfortably on the spot, clearing his throat to hide his obvious embarrassment while the nearby henchmen snickered amongst themselves.

“It’s an eggplant, by the way.”

“Th-that’s not quite what I meant,” Caballeron stammered through his recovery. “Besides, you could’ve learned that anywhere. I’m talking about concrete and immovable evidence that only Derring could produce.”

Oddly enough, now it was Ms. Yearling’s turn to be taken aback and fumble her response. “Y-you can’t be serious. Here?”

“Well unless you don’t want to save your… innocent little patsy here,” the sinister doctor mused. He patted Derring on the head a few times, flashing a malicious grin towards the other sister.

“I’m not a patsy, you dim-witted simpleton!” Derring continued to holler, but to no avail.

Yearling bristled and grumbled under her breath. As I had gone as far as I could across the catwalks while staying hidden, to get to the chest room, I needed to take the nearby stairs down to the main floor. That took me precariously close to some of lackeys and I didn’t feel safe enough to traverse further.

“Alright, fine!” Yearling shouted back. “But your henchmen need to cover their eyes. This ain’t no peep show!”

I wasn’t sure if this was just a ploy to help me along or a genuine concern, but either way it seemed to convince Caballeron, who proceeded to order his lackeys to cover up. It still struck me as an odd request, but I wasn’t about to let a golden opportunity slip by, so I began sneaking down the stairs and towards the chest room. My curiosity, however, did override my better judgment so I lingered a bit to see what exactly my teacher was so concerned about.

That’s when I noticed Ms. Yearling was undoing her pants. She pulled them down part-way on her right side, just enough to reveal a large tattoo on her upper thigh of a compass rose. The matching tattoo she got with her sister back during their college years.

“Happy now?” she called out.

“Yes, quite.”

With everyone still covering their eyes, I picked up my pace across the last stretch of open ground and into the room. Once inside, I was able to let out a small sigh of relief. Sitting before me on a simple folding table was the chest that all this fuss was about. To be honest, I was a little disappointed in what I found. In the Daring Do novels, the ancient treasures were always held in these elaborate, gold-encrusted chests with intricate carvings depicting great kings or ancient battles. What I got instead was a decrepit box made of wood and cast iron, faded and worn by the ravages of time. Honestly, it looked like a few hits with a sledgehammer would break it open, let alone requiring some intricate locking system.

Speaking of locks, while Ms. Yearling distracted Caballeron with the fake amulets, I had the real ones. Figuring out the locks might be a difficult task, but it looked like it would be a lot easier than trying to carry the chest out of the room.

I pulled out the amulets and kept them in one hand while I used my other to examine the locks. They looked sturdy enough despite their age, but there didn’t seem to be much sign of a keyhole. In my examination, however, I felt a subtle depression under my fingertips, and it felt vaguely beetle-shaped.

“Now what are you hiding here,” I murmured to myself as I took a closer look.

There was some old grime across it, but with a little bit of spit and elbow grease, I was able to clear away some of the mess. It revealed a very familiar-looking symbol.

“That’s from one of the amulets.”

I found the matching amulet and, since most keys involved shoving one thing into another, I placed it against the depression and pushed in. It gave way just slightly, but it refused to budge more than a hair’s breadth.

“Could it be too rusted? No, it definitely moved. Something beneath it is preventing it from moving. Unless…”

The numbers, of course! It probably didn’t just matter about matching the symbols, they had to be done in the correct order. I began scouring more of the chest’s surface and soon uncovered two more similarly shaped indentations in the metal. I found the point marked with the one symbol and this time repeated the process with the appropriate amulet. This time the amulet sunk into the metalwork with ease and I was rewarded with a ‘click’ as some spring-loaded metal panels popped up, one from the chest and another from the amulet itself.

The way the two panels were positioned, pressed up against one another, it immediately reminded me of a key ignition, so I grabbed the pieces and gave it a clockwise twist. The chest rattled and creaked, but I was rewarded with yet another ‘click,’ which I hope meant one of the locks released.

“Yes,” I whispered to myself, pumping my fist in victory.

Once I repeated the process with the remaining two locks, I slowly pried the lid open. Inside was an object wrapped in several layers of cloth, not much larger than a pineapple. Since I didn’t want to risk damaging the object with my grubby fingers, I grabbed it, cloth and all.

“Sunset to Blondie, I have the macguffin. I repeat, the macguffin is secured,” I whispered into my phone. “Prepare for extraction.”

I headed back to the catwalk, making sure to keep my head down while Yearling continued to keep everyone distracted with her negotiations, which seemed to have stalled. Now it was just a matter of getting back to the window and slipping out with none the wiser. I had to be a ghost—a whisper of a shadow in the night.

“Come on everybody smile, smile, smile! Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!”

And it was just at that moment, standing in front of a couple hired goons, that I realized that I forgot to set Pinkie’s cellphone to vibrate. Every set of eyes in the building spun around to focus on me.

“Who the devil are you?” Caballeron asked.

So what do you say when you’ve been caught with your hand in the cookie jar? If you’re clever, you could come up with something witty in response, as opposed to me who just said the first thing that came to mind.

“Uhhh, hi there. Big fan of yours. Loved you in ‘Ring of Destiny.’”

“Get her!”

“Oh ponyfeathers!”

I bolted for the stairs as if Nightmare Moon herself was after me. I had a decent-enough headstart at least, so I was able to keep ahead of them as I scrambled across the catwalk. I glanced across the warehouse to see if Yearling was in any position to help, but with the charade in pieces, she had her hands full evading some of the other hired goons. Each step prompted a cacophony of rattling metal bars and screws, which at the very least meant I could tell they were behind me without looking.

Unfortunately, the idiot minions were not quite as absent-minded as I had hoped, as one of them had taken the stairs onto the catwalk up ahead of me and was now threatening to cut me off. It was time to improvise a new plan, and lucky for me there was another level of catwalks above and a set of stairs just up ahead.

“Blondie, I need a rope! Aim for the catwalks on the upper level,” I shouted in my phone.

As I reached the top level of the catwalks, I saw what I had called for: a rope descended from the open skylight and dangled just alongside the railing up ahead.

“Grab on, we’ll pull you up!” Applejack shouted from above.

It’d be a lie to say that I wasn’t a bit nervous about the idea of hanging onto a rope, suspended a good thirty or more feet above a hard concrete floor, while also keeping hold of a priceless artifact. Since I only had one hand to hold onto the rope, I quickly tied it around my waist for extra security.

“This is almost an exit fit for Daring herself,” I chuckled to myself.

Once I signaled to my friends up above, they began hoisting me upwards. All the pressure against my lower back was not doing any favours for my sore bones, but I had to grit my teeth and bear with it as I was inched closer and closer to the skylight. I looked below to check how the others were doing. Ms. Yearling was doing a good job of evading the goons by hopping from the catwalks to the ground. In all the confusion, nobody was paying much attention to Derring Do, who was still tied to her chair but was now slowly hopping her way across the warehouse while trying to wriggle her arms free of the ropes.

She definitely had Daring Do’s tenacity.

Disaster struck when the rope, being pulled and grinding against a rusted, old window frame, suddenly snapped. All I could do was scream as I fell victim once again to the capricious whims of gravity. I swore I saw my life flash before my eyes in that instant: I thought about every act of cruelty that I carried out in the name of ambition; my desperation in finding redemption in the eyes of my community; every fit of laughter shared with my friends; every tear shed over a sappy movie; every lunch in the cafeteria sharing photos and stories of the day.

Somehow, in the frantic flailing that consisted of my plummet, the part of my brain that still concerned itself with things like survival managed to grab the catwalk railing as I passed by it. Contrary to what movies and comic books make it seem, grabbing hold of a ledge or railing while in freefall hurt like somebody just replaced my shoulder joint with a red-hot cannonball.

Better than the alternative, however.

The sudden shock from the abrupt stop flung the relic from my grasp, but thanks to quick reflexes I was just able to grab hold of it. Except it wasn’t a firm grip, especially as the cloth wrapping began slipping from the weight. I couldn’t drop the thing—not from this height.

That’s when I noticed Derring Do was just below me, albeit still tied to her chair, hopping across like a mad and desperate fool. It was a long shot, but it was the only chance I had.

“Derring! Heads up!” I shouted just as the relic slipped from my grasp.

The still-restrained adventurer looked skyward and her eyes went wide when she realized what was plummeting towards her. Thinking fast, as she is rather adept at, she flung herself, chair and all, onto the ground, facing upwards. She slid across the ground, just in time to get underneath the relic, landing square on her belly and knocking the wind out of her.

It kept the relic intact, which was all that mattered to her.

Even though I now had both hands free, I was in no better of a situation. All of those movies I watched with Luna made hanging by your fingers look a lot easier than it actually was. I managed to get my other arm up just as the other one gave out, which meant I had simply traded one arm for the other. It was just postponing the inevitable as the other arm would just give out eventually, same as the other.

“Somebody! Help!” No harm in shouting out. Maybe somebody could figure something out quickly. Try as I might, I couldn’t get a firmer grip; my fingers were beginning to slip. If I fell, best case scenario would be me spending the rest of my high school in an intensive care unit and getting my diploma in a wheelchair.

For some reason, as my grip gave way, my thoughts went to Twilight Sparkle: my friend who I might not get a chance to say goodbye to, and wouldn’t learn of my fate unless she watched the evening news.

Then a miracle occurred.

“I’m coming, Sunset!”

It was Rainbow Dash, her voice beckoning my gaze towards the skylight. What I saw would’ve taken my breath away had I not already spent most of it screaming. My friend, driven by equal parts bravado and loyalty, had dove headlong through the skylight. As she did so, a vibrant blue light engulfed her and an instant later I saw my winged friend swooping in towards me.

She grabbed hold of me only moments after I had lost my grip, whisking me through the air with such speed that everything around me was a blur. The next thing I knew, I was sliding along the concrete floor, coming to a halt upon bumping gently into the far wall. And somehow, Derring Do and the relic were right next to me as well.

“What just happened?” a disorientated Derring Do muttered.

Rainbow Dash must’ve grabbed her as well during her daring aerial manoeuvre.

“I happened,” Dash exclaimed, landing just behind Derring.

“Holy cheese, you got wings!”

Luckily, Rainbow Dash took her idol’s shock in stride, and she didn’t get distracted by her usual need to showboat. “I told you about them at the library, remember?”

“Dash you… you saved my life.” It might’ve felt like stating the obvious, but I was so convinced I was doomed that I was only just now coming to grips with what happened.

“We’re not out of this yet,” my friend reminded me.

Spurred back into action, we quickly untied Derring Do, helped her back to her feet, and we ran for the exit. The plan was to get out as quickly as possible once we had Derring and the relic, so I had to trust that Yearling could make her own way out.

“Fluttershy, we’re coming out hot!” I shouted in my phone as we shoulder-checked the exit door open. “Start the cars!”

“But… but I only have my learner’s permit,” Fluttershy replied. “I’m not allowed to operate a car without a licensed driver with me.”

“Start the car or we’re running home: take your pick!”

All I got back was a terrified squeak, but it sounded close enough to an affirmative so we went with it. As the three of us scampered across the courtyard, or rather two of us with Dash flying alongside us just because she could, I glanced over and saw Applejack and Blondie quickly rappelling down the side of the building in order to join in the retreat.

“Where’s my sister?” Derring asked, looking back towards the warehouse.

The answer to that question came just moments later when Ms. Yearling suddenly smashed through one of the second-story windows, feet first and swinging from a large length of chain. The unfurling chain slowed her descent, allowing her to land safely into a forward roll and then break into a mad sprint to join us.

“That… was so… awesome!” Dash exclaimed in a high-pitch squeal.

*******************

“You should’ve seen the look on Caballeron’s face when Ms. Yearling appeared! He looked like he had just seen a ghost!” I exclaimed, followed by an uproar of laughter.

We returned to Ms. Yearling’s home, spirits higher than ever thanks to the success of our rescue mission. It wasn’t until we had reached our destination that we were finally able to let down our guard and officially call this a victory. There had been no sign of pursuit by Dr. Caballeron or any of his minions, which may have had something to do with Rarity and Pinkie Pie finding where they had parked all their vans, and then discreetly letting all of the air out of their tires.

We were all looking forward to being able to sit down and relax for a change, and several of us were really keen on celebratory tacos. Personally, I just wanted to lay down and be thankful that I was still alive.

“And you should’ve seen me when I swooped in and grabbed Sunset just as she was falling,” Rainbow Dash added, having spent a good portion of the trip talking non-stop about her ponying up again. Considering what she did was pretty spectacular, we all allowed her to indulge in her ego for a bit.

“I just hope we didn’t make any problems for ourselves down the road because you used magic in front of so many people,” I commented before throwing myself across the couch. Though I said nothing of it, everybody knew that I was sore all over. I’d be content if I didn’t have to move a muscle for the remainder of the day.

“Oh, please. I was flying way too fast for anybody to know what they saw.”

Her reassurances did little to comfort me, although she soon had support.

“She’s got a point,” Derring Do chimed in. “I mean, all I saw was a technicolour blur and then I was next to you on the other side of the warehouse.”

We all gathered in the living room, finding seats where we could and occasionally having to use our friends as seats, and handed out the tacos for a well-deserved meal. Nothing like beans, salsa, and guacamole to end an eventful day.

“So I guess I ought to thank you all for the rescue,” Derring remarked between mouthfuls. “Not that I couldn’t have gotten out of their on my own, but you certainly helped speed things along.”

“We totally saved your butt back there.” Despite her insistence, Yearling didn’t sound too concerned over who got credit for what. She didn’t agree to go along with this plan for the glory, after all. “And I hope you realize the risk I’ve brought to myself now that Dr. Caballeron knows I exist.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine. He’s not like that.” Just then, Derring’s phone began to ring. “Well speak of the devil. Here, let me put this on speaker.” She tapped a few buttons on her phone and then set it down on the coffee table. “Derring Do residence, how may I help you?”

“Don’t think you’ve won, Derring Do! This isn’t over!” Caballeron sneered from the other end of the line.

“Except I’ve got the relic, the amulets, and the tacos. I’m three-for-three, so that’s definitely a win for me,” Derring replied. While her smile couldn’t be conveyed over an audio line, her triumphant tone just screamed ‘smug, victorious grin.’

In the face of overwhelming evidence, even a stubborn villain had to cut his losses and save what little of his pride he could. “Very well, but next time things will be different. Mark my words, Derring Do!”

“You’re always free to try again; I’m only ahead by eight points now,” Derring said, followed by a round of chuckles from the rest of us. She leaned in and looked about to hang up and leave the good doctor stewing in his own failure, but then she said something none of us expected. “So are we still on for dinner at the end of the month?”

“Oh, of course! It’s been so long since we’ve had you over.” Caballeron’s tone swung about so quickly it almost gave the rest of us whiplash, now sounding as if addressing a long-time friend. “You know the missus has been looking forward to seeing you again, and she’d never forgive me if I let you forget.”

“Is she going to be making her balti gosht?”

“Just the way you like it.”

“Yes! So looking forward to it!” Perhaps I had just hit my head too hard, but to me it sounded as though Derring was more excited about this balti gosht than she was about the priceless relic she kept in her lap. “Say ‘hi’ to Saffy and the kids for me.”

“I’ll send your best regards.”

As Derring hung up, she settled back into the couch and folded her arms behind her head, looking smug and triumphant. “Best day ever, I’d say,” she remarked, still oblivious to all the incredulous looks the rest of us were giving her.

“What the hay was that?!” I exclaimed at long last.

“Um, dinner plans?” Derring replied, giving me a puzzled look. It was only then she noticed everyone else was sharing in my expression. “Is… is something wrong?”

“Why are you making dinner plans with your arch-nemesis?” Though I shouldn’t have needed to point that out.

“Because we’re friends?” Once again, Derring looked to us as though we had started babbling nonsense.

“I thought Caballeron was a greedy, selfish jerk who was only interested in archaeology to get rich quick,” Dash stated, relying upon her reservoir of Daring-related trivia.

“Sure, but that was from before I introduced him to his wife. He really mellowed out after that, and once the kids came along then all he was concerned about was a steady paycheck, health insurance, and a retirement portfolio.”

“So what does he do nowadays then?” Dash asked.

“He took a teaching gig at Oxtrot University. He is a doctor, after all.”

While I was just surprised, the same could not be said for Ms. Yearling, who looked apoplectic. She rose from her seat and marched over to her sister. “But what about the kidnapping? The hired thugs? I thought your life was in danger!” Before anyone could say anything, she reached down and pulled her sister up to her feet by the scruff of her collar. “Explain, now!”

“Danger? Oh, come on. This is Caballeron we’re talking about,” Derring waved off her sister’s concerns. “Sure, he won’t tie me down onto a slow-moving death trap anymore, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t have some fun like we did back in the old days. The goons, the chasing, the constant attempts to sabotage one another—they motivate us both to think smarter and work faster. And it makes the whole process a lot less boring than it usually is.”

“You mean… there was never a kidnapping?”

“Of course not! He ties me to a chair and tries to get me to surrender, while I try to escape. If you had arrived about an hour earlier, you probably would seen him feeding me snack cakes while we watched the soccer game.”

“You were never in any danger…” Yearling muttered in disbelief.

Derring just laughed it off, patting her sister on the shoulder. “Seriously, sis, do you think I would’ve taken these two if there was any actual danger involved? Did you really think I’d be that irresponsible?”

I expected some sort of harsh, lengthy rebuttal from Yearling espousing the importance of honest and open communications, but instead she decided to go for a much more primitive form of expression and just punched her sister in the gut. It was hard enough to drop Derring to one knee, clutching at her gut while gasping to catch her breath.

“Point… noted,” she wheezed.

“Once you’re done eating, I want you out of my house,” Yearling stated flatly.

Without another word, she stormed off to another part of the house, her bedroom I presumed. The rest of us just stared on in disbelief, save for Blondie who looked like a parent having to chase down their tantrum-spewing toddler.

“I’ll try talkin’ to her,” Blondie excused herself before giving chase.

And things had been going so well. While I could understand Yearling’s reaction, I wasn’t sure if it was entirely warranted. “Are you okay?” I asked, offering Derring a hand back to her feet.

“I’ve had worse,” she answered with a groan. After I helped her up, though, she managed a weary smile and gave me a grateful pat upon the shoulder. “Kinda used to her being a drama queen.”

Having lost her interest in celebratory tacos, Derring Do just gathered her things together and bid all of us a fond farewell. I was still reluctant to allow things to just end like this, with Derring and Yearling clearly still at odds with one another. I followed her outside, though I was still trying to figure out what exactly to say even as she began packing her things away onto her motorcycle.

“So… what happens now? You’re just going to leave like this?” I wish I had something more poignant to say, but sometimes simplicity worked.

“You saw how my Dee was,” Derring answered while stuffing her relic into a sidebag. “If I stayed any longer, she’d be breaking out the ‘you need to be more responsible’ speech again.”

“Not telling us about this whole arrangement with Caballeron was pretty irresponsible.”

“I didn’t ask you guys to launch a rescue attempt,” Derring said with a sudden upswing of anger. “In fact, I told you and Rainbow Dash to go back to Yearling and wait for me! You guys were the ones who decided I couldn’t help myself and you had to do it for me!”

While not the most responsible choice, emotional impulse compelled me to meet the escalation in kind. “I fell off a freaking catwalk for you and your treasure hunting game! The least you could do is act a little grateful for the risks I took.”

Derring Do didn’t say anything right away, instead opting to answer with a pouty frown and folding her arms across her chest. “I guess you have a point there,” she muttered back. “I… I suppose I owe you an apology then. I’m so used to doing things my way, it’s not always easy to take other people into account. So I’m sorry, Ms. Shimmer, I honestly didn’t think anybody would bother worrying about me.”

“It’s okay. It’s not always easy to keep others in mind, but it’s still important.”

“Probably best for me to be on my way,” Derring continued with a half-hearted shrug. “Yearling was bound to go off on another ‘go back to school’ lecture, and I get my fill of that from Caballeron and his wife.”

“They pester you about that?” I asked, confused by the remark.

“Yeah, Caballeron keeps offering me a spot in his post-graduate program,” she explained, letting out a quiet laugh all the while. “Part of his whole ‘join the dark side, Derring Do’ bit. He gets a laugh out of it every time. And I always have to be ‘I’ll never work for someone like you!’” However, she quickly noticed I wasn’t laughing. “Hrm, guess it’s more of an inside joke.”

“So why don’t you take him up on it?”

“I’m fine the way things are now,” Derring insisted, though I had trouble believing that to be true. “Besides, my sister needs the material for her Daring Do books, and I’m not cut out for the scholarly stuff…”

“He must think you are if he’s making the offer,” I countered.

“He’d be the first to think that.”

I had spent the better part of the day getting to know the Daring sisters. In one there was a woman who was intent on maintaining control over every aspect of her life, fueled by a sense of insecurity; and on the other side was a woman who refused to be controlled by anyone or anything, going to extreme lengths to relive the adventure and excitement of yesteryear. Deep down, though, it felt as though both of them wanted the same thing, but were too proud or stubborn to openly admit it to the other person. Maybe it was time for somebody to grab a carrot and stick.

“I just had an idea,” I said as I suddenly took Derring by the arm. “Come on!”

Perhaps fueled by a sense of obligation over my near-death, Derring Do followed along without any protest, though she repeatedly expressed curiosity over what my intentions were. I told her to just wait and see since I didn’t want to get anybody’s hopes up or, more realistically, cold feet. I brought Derring back inside and eventually tracked down Ms. Yearling who was brooding in her bedroom with a frustrated Blondie standing nearby.

“What are you two doing here?” Yearling asked in an accusatory fashion.

“I’m taking a page from Celestia’s playbook, and fixing this,” I boldly proclaimed. “The two of you have been letting your stubbornness and bitterness get in the way for too long. Now I want you both to have a seat and listen.”

“Hey! We’re the adults here!” Yearling protested.

Thankfully, I had some unexpected but not unwelcomed support from Blondie. She positioned herself at my side, folded her arms across her chest, and then bellowed like a steely-eyed drill sergeant, “Sit down and shut yer yaps now!”

And when a six-foot-four woman yells at you to sit, only a fool would choose not to plant their bottom on the nearest surface. The twins promptly sat down on the bed, falling silent as they both stared at me with a mix of curiosity and nervousness. With Blondie at my side, I felt more comfortable continuing on, even as my friends began to gather outside the door just to see what was going on.

“Okay, it’s time for the two of you to own up to some truths,” I began as I paced about the room. I took a few deep breaths, which may have come across as creating a dramatic pause, but I just needed a moment to formulate my thoughts. “Ms. Yearling, you are a great teacher, and you’ve made for yourself a fantastic life with somebody who truly cares for you. However, you are a bit of a control freak, and you keep letting your jealousy of your sister’s popularity get to you.”

“You’re… jealous of me?” Derring asked in disbelief. “But you’re the one who’s always yelling at me to fix my life.”

“And despite that mess, everybody who’s met the both of us prefer you over me,” Yearling replied, rolling her eyes. “You’ve always been the popular one. I mean, you’re Daring Do, or at least as far as every fan of the book is concerned. You had teenagers volunteering to put themselves at risk just to help you. People cheered the last time I had to take a sick day.”

“In our defense, it did postpone a quiz,” Dash quickly chimed in.

“Listen, that redhead over there has spent most of the time I’ve known her defending you,” Derring continued on. Much to my relief, neither of them sounded even in the same postal code as being angry. “And from what I’m told, you’re the best teacher that school has. At the end of the day, who do you think is going to have a bigger impact on these kids’ lives? When was the last time you saw a valedictorian thank a literary character?”

Since I didn’t want the conversation to be focused entirely on Yearling’s failings, I steered the conversation towards the next issue. “As for you, Derring Do, you’ve spent so many years doing things on your own that you rarely stop to consider the needs of others anymore. Everyone around is growing up, starting families, and building a future, while you continue to seek instant gratification and reliving the past. I think that’s made you uncomfortable because you don’t think you can.”

“I am not!” Derring snapped back, earning a harsh glare from everyone else in the room. It quickly eroded any sense of defiance and prompted her to slump her shoulders in defeat. “O-okay, maybe I am a little.”

“Why would you think that?” Yearling questioned in disbelief.

“It might have something to do with a sister who probably hasn’t given her a genuine compliment since before ‘Quest for the Sapphire Stone,’” I answered, giving her a disapproving stare of my own. “Did you ever stop to consider that Derring brought you on that adventure because she wanted to spend time with you? To share her world and her interests with you? The two of you used to be inseparable, remember? For her, Daring Do wasn’t about glory or fame or money, it was about two sisters collaborating on something.”

Yearling looked to her sister with genuine surprise, all of her prior frustrations and grievances seemingly melting from her face. “Is… is that true?”

Her sister just gave a sheepish little shrug, looking almost embarrassed to tell the truth. “I always said the first book was the best,” she answered. “It wasn’t because the adventure was spectacular, it was because I got to do it with you. Being a team was the best part. It’s why I keep asking Blondie to come along because I figure maybe that’ll get you to join as well.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because all you tell me to do is go back to school or get a proper job,” Derring snapped, though not from anger but another emotion building up inside her. “It’s just another excuse to get me out of your life. And every time I give you notes, all you do is fret and complain about the stuff I wind up doing! You never once go ‘good job sis’ or ‘way to go.’”

Derring paused for a brief moment, looking away from everybody else in an attempt to hide what was welling up in her eyes.

“Can’t you just be proud of me for once?” she whimpered.

“Oh, Derring.” Overcome with guilt, Yearling wrapped her arms around her sister and pulled her in close. “You’re my sister, and I will always, always be proud of you. I just… I guess I just worry about you, and I do a lousy job of expressing that worry, don’t I?”

Derring just nodded with a murmur of a response, but kept her face buried in her sister’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” Yearling said in a whimper of her own. “I keep insisting that you need to be a better sister, without even realizing that I wasn’t being a very good one to you either.” She then broke away from the hug, bringing her sister back out to arm’s length so she could look her square in the eyes. “Can you ever forgive me?”

Derring was still trying to hide that she was crying a bit, but managed a weak smile in response. “Depends—are you willing to forgive me, too?”

“If I may interrupt,” I spoke up again, even though I was hesitant about butting into the conversation at this juncture. “I have something of a compromise to propose.”

“A compromise?” the sisters replied in unison.

“Yes, because while it’s good to see you two recognize the problem and commit to fixing it, having a road map to do that will help things along,” I explained, using my own experience to help guide me. “One of you wants approval and cooperation, and the other wants responsibility and commitment. I think I have a way to do that.”

Derring must’ve caught on to what I was alluding to as she tried to respond. “You’re not suggesting that I—”

“Let me finish, please,” I quickly replied. “Now Derring Do has so informed me that Dr. Caballeron has an open offer to take her into his graduate program. I think it would be a good idea for her to take the good doctor up on this.”

“That sounds like just Yearling getting what she wants,” Derring replied with a hint of skepticism.

“Ah yes, but in return, Yearling must promise to help support you during this process,” I continued with my explanation, while turning my gaze to my teacher. “Because your sister will need that help in order to succeed, and I mean more than just financial. Give her something to look forward to at the end of the road. Be there for whatever problems arise. And once Derring’s completed the program, I think she’d make a great partner to help you with future Daring Do novels.”

They both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, hopefully fighting through their typical urge to just think of themselves. Slowly but surely, the sisters began to smile again, followed by embracing each other in a heartwarming hug. The sisters weren’t the only ones caught up in the moment, as Blondie rushed over and bear-hugged the two of them.

“Oh, well ain’t this just the sweetest thing! My two favourite gals together again!” Blondie squealed in delight, fighting back her own tears of joy and remaining oblivious to the twins squirming for air as she crushed them.

I couldn’t help but hide my giggling as I watched the twins wrestle their way free of Blondie’s crushing affection. Eventually, they managed to break free and were soon gasping for breath between fits of laughter.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Yearling asked her sister. “You’ll be giving up your adventures for quite a few years to go back to school. It’ll all be ‘Derring Do the boring grad student’ rather than ‘Derring Do the intrepid explorer.’”

“Yeah, I think I’m okay with this,” Derring nodded back. While she didn’t sound excited, she did sound hopeful, which was far better in the long run. “If it means the two of us can be sisters again like we used to, I’m willing to deal with a few adventure-less years. Just promise me that when I’m a big-shot proper archaeologist, you’ll tag along on some of the expeditions.”

“You become a big-shot proper archaeologist and I’ll fund you an expedition.”

Things quieted down, though neither sister moved from the bed just yet. They were still absorbing everything that just happened, until finally Derring Do reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

“I… um, I suppose I should call Dr. Caballeron and let him know,” she announced as she started sifting through her contact numbers. A moment later she had the phone to ear her and an anxious look on her face as she listened to the ringing. “Hey Caballeron, it’s Derring again. Listen, uh… is that spot in your program still available? I had a, um, re-evaluation of my priorities. What? No, I’m not going to—” Derring’s face turned a deep shade of scarlet as she grumbled, “Don’t make me say it.”

She nervously glanced to the rest of us, and then let out a mournful groan.

“I want to join forces with you Dr. Caballeron…”

*******************

It was late into the evening by the time I staggered through the front door and into my home. Despite being tired, sore, and way behind on my homework, I still felt apprehension upon my return. It’d be a lie if I said that my time spent with Yearling and her sister hadn’t served an ulterior motive in keeping me away from home and, more specifically, Celestia.

We hadn’t spoken a word to one another since our argument over my reckless pursuit in satisfying my magical curiosity, and unfortunately the events of today only demonstrated how dangerous my behavior could get. The whole day basically justified most of the worries that Celestia had, and I hadn’t even made much progress in my search. At best, Ms. Yearling promised that she would round up all the notes and books she had used to research the magic parts of Daring Do, but I wasn’t optimistic on that front anymore.

Magic just wasn’t a natural part of this world.

At least Rainbow Dash was learning how to harness her magic, though hopefully she wouldn’t jump through any more windows.

“I’m home!” I called out despite my inclination for the opposite. Trying to hide wouldn’t work anyways since Yearling would’ve already sent a message to Celestia explaining my prolonged absence. She thought she was doing me a favour, but it could just as easily set me up for disaster.

At first, I thought I might be okay since nobody responded to my announcement. I could understand Luna not saying anything as she was probably in her room wearing headphones and unable to hear anything short of the second coming of Discord. Maybe Celestia had already gone to sleep and I could at least have some more time to collect myself before facing the music in the morning. However, that hope began to flicker like a dying candle when I heard the faint mumblings of the television.

As I crept into the living room, my fears were confirmed when I saw Celestia lounging across the couch, reading a book while listening to the late night news. Was she ignoring me? She had to have heard me enter, so this had to be a deliberate act. Maybe she wasn’t sure what to say, just like how I felt right now. If she was unwilling to say anything to me, then I knew I had to take the opportunity while it was still available and retreat to the sanctuary of my room.

Except I had just spent part of my day convincing two grown women to talk their problems out as well rather than continuing to act on pride and preconceptions. It’d be rather hypocritical to let myself fall into the same cycle.

So swallowing my pride, which thankfully these days was still about as large as Pinkie Pie’s sense of subtlety, I stood before Celestia and spoke my mind.

“I’m… sorry about what I said during our argument and for getting so angry,” I began, which was enough to pique her curiosity. “I left Equestria because I thought Princess Celestia was trying to hold me back, and when you told me to stop studying magic here, it felt just like a repeat of that whole ordeal.” I let out a soft chortle in disbelief. “So it turned out I had learned from my mistakes, and now knew them so well I could repeat them exactly.”

“Sunset—”

“Please, let me finish,” I interrupted with a raised hand. “It was wrong for me to get upset and say those things. I didn’t stop to really think about how you felt. For me, I grew up around magic; I used it every day for even the simplest of tasks. So naturally for me, I see wielding magic about as casually as you see driving a car down to the school. But magic was never that to you—for you, it’s been this dark, dangerous thing that’s threatened to take over the school and hurt the people you care about.”

Likewise, if I had taken some pickup trucks from this world and dropped them onto a house in Ponyville, the inhabitants would naturally start to feel a bit wary whenever they see one.

“I was inconsiderate to your feelings, and for that I am deeply sorry. I promise I won’t do any more experiments.”

Were this Princess Celestia, I would’ve expected a brief but polite lecture about the lessons I had learned, and the importance of accepting responsibility and forgiveness. And I wouldn’t have had an issue if Principal Celestia had elected to go the same route since I so obviously still had much to learn. Instead, however, she just smiled to me as she set her book down and turned the television off.

“Have a seat,” she invited me over, patting the spot beside her.

I set my bag down and joined her on the couch, and was pleasantly surprised when she put her arm around my shoulder. She pulled me in a bit closer and gave me a firm, but reassuring squeeze.

“I feel I owe you an apology as well,” she began. “My decision was… hasty, and motivated by fear rather than sound reasoning.”

“But you have every right to be concerned about the dangers,” I hastily replied.

“That is true. The concerns may be justified, but that doesn’t make what I decided the right choice,” she went on. She leaned back in her seat, guiding my head onto her shoulder as she let out a heavy sigh. For a brief moment, there was nothing but the stillness of her breath and the droning whirl of the ceiling fan above. “I’d be lying if I said the thought of more magic in my school doesn’t frighten me a little, but that fear is born mostly of ignorance. I should’ve been more open-minded when you tried to reassure me.”

“I… I may have been overselling my case a bit,” I reluctantly admitted. “I really have only the faintest idea of how magic works here, and I’m not even entirely certain about what little I think I know.”

Celestia gave me a few light pats and a reassuring little smile. “But I trust you’ll be able to figure it out in time. You just need to be patient.”

“So wait, are you… saying you’re okay with me continuing my research?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow to convey my confusion.

She answered with a quiet nod before responding, “You’re a bright young girl, Sunset Shimmer: passionate, dedicated, and most importantly, curious. That kind of curiosity shouldn’t be stifled; the more you try to contain it, the more powerful it will become. Plus, I think after today we can both agree that even if I did tell you to stop, you’d go ahead and do so anyways, but taking even greater risks in the process.”

I was surprised by Celestia’s sudden change in policy. Much like my obsession with the magic mirror, she recognized my insatiable curiosity, but instead of trying to put a stop to it, she’s chosen to help guide it in order to minimize the risk. I wasn’t about to argue against a decision that worked in my favour, but I couldn’t help but feel like she was giving me more than I deserved.

There were, of course, a few conditions to this arrangement. “Just promise me you won’t do anything crazy without telling me, and that you’ll do your best to stay safe, okay?”

Her request was more than reasonable, so I didn’t hesitate to nod back and seal the deal with a warm hug. “You’ve given me so much, Celestia; I don’t want to lose your trust.”

“And I don’t want to lose you again.”

I felt her hand gently brush along the back of my head, drawing me in closer so that my head nestled just under her chin. It instilled a strange sense of comfort and tranquility, as if there was absolutely nothing in the world that could harm me at this moment. I wish I could’ve stayed there forever.

Act VI-I

Life at Canterlot High had settled into a familiar and comfortable routine for me. Every day, I would head into school and spend the day with wonderful people I considered my closest friends. We’d laugh, we’d cry, we’d share embarrassing pictures of one another, and every few days we’d have a practice session for the Rainbooms in the music hall. I wasn’t just an outsider forced to cling to these girls as the only source of refuge in a school full of animosity and mistrust towards me; I was a part of a community again. When I spoke, people trusted me, and I no longer had this nagging voice at the back of my mind insisting that everyone was mocking me the moment I looked away.

Even better, the question of magic in this world wasn’t keeping me up at night anymore. Sure, it was still something to be concerned about, but it no longer represented an immediate danger to myself, the school, or Equestria. From my observations of Rainbow Dash, I hypothesized that she was gaining the ability to summon her Equestrian magic through great displays of loyalty. So far, none of the other girls have demonstrated spontaneous ‘ponying up,’ and even tried a few experiments with them. None bore any fruit. It made sense, of course, since one couldn’t just artificially create a sincere display of honesty or generosity in a lab. It’s also possible that the magic inside the others just hasn’t developed enough to trigger without the use of our instruments.

More research was going to be needed, but much to my friends’ collective relief, I decided against further experiments for the time being.

No doubt Celestia was glad to hear that as well.

I hadn’t even thought about magic much in the weeks following the venture with Ms. Yearling. That changed, however, when I was summoned to meet with her before class one day. Due to my position with the school newspaper, it wasn’t uncommon for me to meet with her outside of class, so I thought nothing of it until I arrived at her classroom.

Since her last run-in with her sister, Ms. Yearling had undergone something of a change herself. While she sat at her desk amidst a pile of graded papers and open textbooks, which was often the case when we met, she seemed more relaxed and at ease as of late. She regularly wore her hair loose, and I hadn’t seen her with her glasses for at least a week. In a way, she began to resemble her sister more now, or rather made less of an attempt to hide the familial connection. In her hand was a tablet, which was the focus of her attention when I arrived.

“Good morning, Ms. Yearling. You wanted to see me?” I greeted.

“Ah, Ms. Shimmer! I was just doing another read over your latest article,” Yearling said. She set her tablet down and gestured to the empty chair on the opposite side of the desk.

“I take it you don’t mind me exposing your big secret to the world?” I asked. The article in question detailed my experiences with Ms. Yearling and her sister, shedding light on the truth behind the legend of Daring Do. Granted, if it wasn’t me revealing the truth, then it would be Rainbow Dash sooner or later. She had a million and one pictures with Yearling and her sister, and it was only through desperate pleas and numerous autographs that they managed to convince her not to plaster all of those pictures over the internet. Still, it was only a matter of time before she broke out one of those pictures to settle an internet argument on those fan sites she frequented.

Yearling set the tablet down and gave me a reflective look. “My sister’s letting go of her childhood fantasies; I figured it’s due time for me to do the same,” she answered. “I’ve always liked the anonymity, and it’s certainly been amusing watching people on message boards try to piece together my identity. I even sometimes threw a red herring in just to watch the fans go rabid trying to fit it into their puzzle.”

She paused for a moment to chuckle quietly under her breath as she no doubt replayed such a moment in her mind. “Anyways,” she continued, “it’s a good piece of work. I’m, um, grateful you left out most of our… shameful moments.”

“Just because it was an expose didn’t mean I had to put all the details in. I know what it’s like to have done things you’re not entirely proud of.”

We exchanged warm, knowing smiles before Yearling reached down to something on the floor near her desk. She set down a sizeable box, which overflowed with numerous books and rolled-up parchments.

“It took me a while to dig it all up, but this is everything I used for research in Daring Do’s magical encounters,” Yearling explained with just a small hint of pride. “Or at least all the stuff that I could find translations for. A lot of this magic stuff is written in dead or secret languages. Almost as if they didn’t want people figuring out their secrets.”

I immediately grabbed the first book within reach and began to flip through the pages. It was one of Derring Do’s journals from her expeditions, not too dissimilar to the one I found when I broke into Yearling’s desk. As I expected, it detailed a lot of about old myths and legends from ancient civilizations, though one of the sketches included caught my attention. It was an image of a relic composed of a diamond-shaped jewel set in an amulet bearing the visage of a horse with wings and a horn.

“Hold on, is this the Alicorn Amulet,” I muttered under my breath.

Though intended as rhetorical, Yearling heard my words and expressed her own confusion. “It is, but how did you know that? I changed it’s name and appearance in the novel.”

“Back in Equestria, I read about such an artifact. It was said to bestow whoever wore it with unparalleled magical abilities,” I explained to my teacher. “I guess it’s not just the people that have duplicates on this side of the portal.”

“For what it’s worth, my sister said she wore it for a while and didn’t feel anything magical.”

Yearling then looked into the box, pushing aside a few books and scrolls and rummaged around the bottom in search of something. She then pulled out what I thought for a second was the actual Alicorn Amulet, suspended from a small metallic chain.

“Now are you sure your world’s amulet looked like this?” Yearling asked.

“Identical. Is… is that really—?”

“Of course not,” she answered, putting my concerns to rest. “The real thing is worth millions of dollars, after all. This is just a copy. The museum we gave it to thought about selling these in their gift shop, and I got sent a few copies for approval. Eventually, it was decided these things were a little too pointy to be selling to young children.”

Upon closer inspection, the amulet Yearling held was an obvious replica, crafted with cheap plastics and tin rather than ancient magics and the souls of the damned. We packed everything back into the box, and with a few grunts, I hefted it into my arms.

“Well, thanks for all the material. Hopefully I’ll find something useful in all of this,” I said. I then began the slow process of trudging towards the door whilst carrying twenty pounds of old books. “If nothing else, I know a few people who will be super jealous I get to read these things.”

“Glad to be of help. Feel free to keep it for as long as you need. It’s not like those things were doing me any good taking up space in the attic,” Yearling said as she turned back to her work. “Oh, and happy birthday, by the way.”

Those last words stopped me dead in my tracks. “Wait, I never told you when my birthday was,” I remarked. “Let me guess, Pinkie Pie told you.”

“In a manner of speaking,” Yearling replied.

“Listen, I really don’t want to make a big deal out of it,” I said in a desperate plea. “It’s hard enough knowing that Pinkie’s probably got this huge party all planned out for me. You think it might be possible to keep it all on the down-low?”

“Uhhh…” Yearling trailed off in a worrying fashion as her eyes made a nervous glance towards the far side of the classroom.

I followed her lead and that was when I saw it.

Strung along the entire length of the back wall was a massive banner, painted over with all manners of sparkles, streamers, and festive iconography. Most importantly, in large, vibrant letters were the words ‘Happy Birthday Sunset Shimmer’. Knowing my friend, there was probably one of those hung in every room I had a class in, which meant by lunchtime, everybody would know what day it was. I hadn’t a hope in this world or Equestria of escaping that fate. I just stared at it in disbelief, slack-jawed and dumb-struck.

“In all fairness, you probably should’ve seen this coming,” Yearling remarked.

“And yet I never seem to learn,” I grumbled to myself.

Granted, as far as problems went, having a friend that cared too much was about as selfish as they came. As I turned to head to my locker, I reminded myself that the worst case scenario was that I might feel a little uncomfortable at some point; on the other hand, I would probably have a better-than-average day thanks to this. Perhaps I could even leverage the special occasion for an extra parfait from the cafeteria.

Since my hands were full carrying my new personal library, opening the door again involved a delicate juggling act involving balancing the box upon a raised leg. No sooner did I open the door, however, did Pinkie Pie suddenly burst into view, accompanied by a spray of confetti and a deafening blast from a party favour.

“Happy birthday, Sunset Shimmer!”

Once again, I should’ve seen that coming. Instead of smiling and thanking my friend for her thoughtful greeting, I shrieked like a spastic banshee and toppled over beneath a pile of old books. So much for meeting the day with dignity. Now make no mistake, Pinkie Pie was amongst my closest friends, but there were days where it felt like she would be the death of me.

*******************

By some grace of a divine power, I managed to make it through the first half of the day without any of my worst fears being realized. To be fair, those worst fears included things like Pinkie leading a marching band through the halls to sing me happy birthday, and the school being overrun by clowns. With those metrics, the day had been a success thus far. In fact, with the exception of Ms. Yearling and Pinkie, nobody had made much mentioning of my birthday at all, even despite the giant banners in class. It made me increasingly nervous as the day dragged on.

Maybe I had hyped up my fears too much. Maybe Pinkie Pie had given me a false sense of how much people cared about the birthdays of others. As a whole, the school and my friends had all been remarkably quiet about the whole affair.

Too quiet, in fact.

My suspicions only grew when lunchtime rolled about, and I saw no sign of any of them between leaving class and arriving at my locker—not even so much as a wayward speck of glitter. I was even half-expecting Pinkie to somehow burst forth from my locker the second I opened it, even going so far as to physically brace myself as I swung the door aside. Of course, there was nothing but my coat and books inside because only a person who had taken a complete leave of their senses would’ve expected Pinkie to hide in a locker like some kind of birthday guerrilla.

“Are you okay, Sunset?” Flash Sentry’s voice perked up from behind me.

“I’m good; just paranoia slowly eroding the last vestiges of my sanity,” I replied in jest.

“Wow. I never realized the whole birthday thing had you this worked up.”

“It’s my own fault, really,” I reassured him. “I’ve gotten myself so convinced that my birthday would just be a horrible mess of guilt and bad memories, that I’m starting to subconsciously look for reasons to justify it.”

As I put away my books, Flash leaned against the lockers beside me and put on his familiar, goofy but reassuring smile. “Well if anybody can change your mind about this, it’ll be Pinkie. I gotta say, I’m a little jealous of you now. She’s never planned a birthday party for me before.”

“That’s because I didn’t let her, remember? I think I threatened to throw her party cannon into a lake if she tried.”

“Oh… right.”

I doubt it was Flash Sentry’s intention to remind me of how much of a control freak I had been during our sham of a relationship: he was far too much of a harmless goofball for that. Nonetheless, I made sure to reassure him of that before his embarrassment threatened to devour him. A quick snicker was enough to convey my sense of levity and all was right with the world again.

As there was still no sign of any of my other friends, I figured they were laying in wait for me somewhere. There was no point in keeping them waiting so I put the last of my things away and headed towards the cafeteria.

To my surprise, Flash fell into step alongside me. “So I heard the birthday party was going to be this weekend.”

“No point having it in the middle of the week,” I answered. “Pinkie keeps telling me that it’s going to be a surprise party, but I don’t quite see how I’ll be surprised given that she hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

Normally I wouldn’t second-guess somebody wanting to keep me company, but my vigilance had been set to maximum for today so it didn’t take long for the voice in the back of my mind to start nagging as to why Flash was still here. He usually ate with his bandmates, and given that he hadn’t even mentioned Twilight Sparkle yet, he must’ve had ulterior motives. Given that Flash Sentry was well-versed with my ‘suspicious gaze,’ he quickly deduced what was going on in my mind.

“Come on, Sunset, I’m trying to get back into your good books, remember?” Flash said in an attempt to cut-off my accusations before I could make them. “You’re making me feel like a criminal with that look.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, I’m just—you know, a bit on edge.”

“Just relax! It’s your birthday: nothing’s going to suddenly jump out and bite you.”

“You’re right,” I said with a resigned sigh. “I’m just so used to things going wrong for me. I want this day to be good, but it feels like the moment I drop my guard is the second things will go sideways.”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff, Sunset. So what if things go a little sideways? As long as you keep your chin up, you can fix things in no time. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Another interdimensional monster tries to take over the school?”

We stopped just outside of the cafeteria to have a good laugh, which worked wonders on easing my nerves. It was still hard to believe that a few months ago, I would’ve dreaded bringing up anything related to the Fall Formal, but now I was able to laugh about it, at least in certain company. Perhaps I had been getting too paranoid with Flash. It was obvious now that he was just doing what he always did: trying to get me to relax and not stress out over trivial matters. I was just about to thank him for his efforts, but then I realized he deserved more than just a few trifling words for everything he’s done for me.

“Say, Flash, you think you might be interested in coming to the party this weekend?”

“Is that an invitation?” Flash replied in disbelief. “I heard you wanted it to be something small. You know, just you and your friends.”

“It is, I mean I do, or at least I think I do. I’m… I’m not entirely sure what I want anymore,” I tried to explain myself. It probably came off more as a ramble than a coherent plan. “What I’m trying to say is, I’d like for us to be friends again, and I’d really like for you to be there. I understand, though, if this is a bit too quick.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m used to you moving at your own pace,” Flash laughed off my concern. He was, of course, referring to how we first started dating, which included a very upfront request from me. Always taking the initiative helped keep me in control of the relationship.

I dared to flash a hopeful smile. “So… you’ll come to the party?”

“Sure, I’d love to.”

It’d be a lie to say that my reasons for inviting Flash Sentry were entirely for my own benefit, but I wanted to make it a surprise for him so I kept quiet about what I really had in mind. Just because it was my birthday party, didn’t mean I couldn’t have my own plans in the works.

“Oh, before I forget,” Flash said as he suddenly reached into his coat pocket. “I got you a little something for your birthday.”

“What?” I remarked in disbelief. “Flash, you really didn’t have to get me anything. I think I’ve put you through enough birthday-related grief to last a lifetime.”

“Yeah but I wanted to anyways,” Flash answered, still struggling with whatever he had tucked into his coat. “Pinkie said you had some bad experiences with birthdays and that was why the whole thing bothered you so much. I thought, you know, maybe I could help fix that by showing you that there’s nothing to be scared of—even a gift from your ex.”

Just as he finished speaking, he finally freed the item that had somehow gotten entangled in his coat. However, he somehow managed to also lose his grip on it and a small velvet-covered box tumbled from his grasp on to the floor. It was long and narrow, about the length of my hand and half the width of my palm, which left me curious as to what he might’ve gotten me for a gift.

“Oh geeze, sorry. Don’t worry, it’s not fragile—I think,” Flash said in haste as he dropped to a knee to pick it back up. He quickly inspected it for any sign of damage, then smiled and held it up to me. “See? It’s still good!”

At that instant, the cafeteria doors burst open as Pinkie Pie and the rest of my friends poured out to a jubilant cheer of, “SURPRI—… ise?”

Their cheers and joy took an abrupt shift hard enough to give them all collective whiplash as their eyes laid upon the sight before them. For at that instant, what they saw was Flash Sentry down on one knee, holding aloft what appeared to be, due to his hand obscuring part of the box, a palm-sized velvet box. The seven of us just stared at one another with slack-jawed looks of varying disbelief, ranging from ‘forgot to study for the final’ to ‘waking up to discover your family’s been replaced by changelings, all of whom are now in the form of Maud Pie.’

That last one was mine.

Applejack was first to finally break the silence. “Well I’m certainly surprised.”

“Okay, very funny girls, but this totally isn’t what it looks like,” I said in an attempt to drown my embarrassment beneath a generous serving of bravado. “Flash here was just—get back up, Flash!—he was just giving me a little birthday gift, that’s all.”

“It’s just a pen, seriously!” Flash exclaimed, opening the box to show my friends. “It’s a harmless little gift.”

“Wait, you got me a pen?”

Flash turned to show me his gift. It wasn’t just any random pen from a dollar store shelf, but a proper fountain pen. It had a black body stylized with gold lacquer, creating a sunrise-like pattern that wrapped around the whole length, save for a small space where my name had been engraved on a small brass plate.

I was still staring in disbelief as Flash slowly set the box into my hands. “This is… nobody’s ever given something so thoughtful before. It’s beautiful, Flash. Thank you.”

Back when we were dating, I never gave him much control over birthday gifts. I always insisted on something specific and, almost always, very expensive. He was eager to please so it never took much effort to get him to buy what I wanted. I never even bothered to keep any of his gifts for more than a few weeks, often either tossing them out or using them as bargaining chips in my fool-hearted quest for domination.

“Aw, shucks, it was nothing,” Flash insisted, a sheepish chuckle under his breath. “You always seemed to like writing, even back when we were, you know, dating. I figured a serious writer deserves a serious pen, and that there is very… um, pen… ish.”

“You don’t need to sell it, Flash. I already love it.”

With one last playful laugh, I snapped the box shut, and turned to my friends, a few of whom were trying to hide their snickering. Once they realized I was looking their way again, they all straightened up.

“Now what exactly have you five been scheming up?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing much,” Applejack insisted in an unconvincing manner. “Just a lil’ something to show our appreciation.”

Before I could say another word, Rarity and Fluttershy hurried to my side, with each taking me by the arm to guide me into the cafeteria. I felt less like a birthday girl and more like a convict being led to the hangman’s noose. I began to have flashbacks to my first birthday party at the Royal Castle: a cold deluge of indifference drowning any hope or aspiration. It was only by the grace of Fluttershy and Rarity’s reassuring presence that kept me from hurling the nearest water fountain through a window and sprinting for the hills.

As I was led into the cafeteria, a wave of relief washed over me when I realized that I wasn’t being led into some balloon and confetti-covered hellscape. In fact, the cafeteria was exactly as it always was, with the lone exception of an empty table with a colourful tablecloth laid overtop. No prizes in guessing where I was being taken to.

Everyone else in the room just went about their business as usual, except that everyone I passed paused for a moment, turned to smile and wave at me, before wishing me a happy birthday. Nothing dramatic or over-the-top; just a simple ‘happy birthday Sunset’ before they continued on their way. It was warm, but not overwhelming, and somewhere along the way, as the well-wishes continued pouring in, I stopped being scared. I still felt lost, like a child being led through a crowded mall, but I had my friends with me so I knew I would be okay.

I was finally guided into a chair that had been adorned with plush, red velvet cushion that had Rarity’s handiwork written all over it. It was perhaps a bit opulent for a mere birthday, but I wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity to avoid using the cheap and hard plastic chairs in our cafeteria. It was all about easing myself into the spirit of the day, one baby step at a time.

“I thought you said you said you were going to keep things small at school,” I said to Pinkie Pie.

“This is small for her,” Applejack answered instead. “You should’ve seen what she did for my birthday last year. We’re still finding wayward apples around the school.”

“And I’ll have you know this is the smallest cake I could find,” Pinkie added. She set a plate down before me, upon which stood a lone cupcake. Even despite it’s size, it was adorned with mounds of frosting, sprinkles, and a sun-shaped wafer biscuit. And somehow, she still managed to get ‘Happy Birthday!’ written on it in red frosting.

“Wow. You do not do things in half-measures,” I remarked in a mix of disbelief and awe. I would’ve expected at best a cupcake from Sugarcube Corner and a birthday card, but even in the face of my stubbornness, Pinkie kept her personal touch all over every aspect.

“This is… this is better than I ever could’ve hoped for,” I stammered while unsuccessfully trying to keep my emotions in check. “I know I’ve been a bit irrational about this whole affair, but it means a lot to me that you were all still willing to cater to these childish whims.”

A hand fell upon my shoulder as Fluttershy sat in the seat next to me. “There’s nothing wrong with being scared of something that’s hurt you in the past,” she reassured me. “We’re always here to help you with any problem, even the ones you think are childish.”

“Oh, you girls are just the best!” Overcome with emotion, I reached out and pulled the two nearest in for a hug, which prompted the rest to join in.

“Yay! Group hug!” Pinkie shouted in glee. She practically threw herself atop of the rest of us as she embraced us tight.

With everyone bundled up close, Rarity whipped out her cell phone and snapped a picture of the six of us together. If nothing else, at least I would have that picture to remind me that I no longer needed to be held down by my past. I was able to breathe easy, knowing that I could look forward to the coming party with renewed hope.

But as I said, the moment I let my guard down is when things start to go wrong.

Act VI-II

Dear Princess Twilight,

I’m sorry I haven’t written to you in a while. Things have been so busy here that I’m having trouble just keeping track of it all. I would’ve thought for sure that things would quiet down now that the Dazzlings have been dealt with.

I hope things are well for you in Equestria. We really need to catch up at some point. In fact, Pinkie Pie is throwing me a big birthday party this weekend. You should totally come by. I haven’t really had a proper birthday celebration in a long time, especially with friends, and it’d really mean a lot to me if you could be there.

Anyways, I gotta run. Rainbow Dash is waiting on me.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Sunset Shimmer

*******************

“Thanks again for sticking around to help me with my research, Dash,” I thanked my friend. Once I shut my locker, I hefted my big box of research material from Ms. Yearling and the two of us proceeded on our way to the exit. Ever since I was given the collection of Derring Do’s research, I had been eager to start delving through the pages, and using the study halls at school made for an ideal setting.

Convincing Rainbow Dash to continue helping my research proved to be far easier than I could have imagined, though I fear it’ll be a one-time affair.

“You know, when you asked me if I wanted to help you go over Derring Do’s journals, I envisioned something a little more exciting,” Dash remarked as she slung her backpack over a shoulder. “Gotta say, I can definitely see why Ms. Yearling handles all the writing for the novels.”

“Oh come, Dash, it wasn’t that boring.”

Needless to say, Rainbow Dash didn’t make for the best research assistant, but she was all I had available. Out of all of my friends, she was the only one who knew the Daring Do novels cover-to-cover, which I had hoped would help my efforts in some respect. I did feel a bit bad about exploiting her fanaticism towards all things Daring Do, but it wasn’t as though I tricked her into spending the afternoon with me. In my defense, I couldn’t help it if Rainbow Dash agreed to help me catalog the journals without even thinking about what the task entailed. Plus, she stuck around even after she realized what we were actually doing, which I appreciated a great deal.

“If you want to help me carry some of these books back home, I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge for your troubles,” I offered.

My friend paused and stroked her chin in a playful attempt to feign deep consideration. “In that case, I suppose I could let this slide,” she eventually replied. She helped herself to several of the books from my box, though it didn’t escape my notice that she didn’t grab any of the heavy ones. “By the way, did you find anything useful yet?”

“Nothing yet,” I answered, followed by a resigned sigh. “There’s a lot of interesting history and mythology in here, but not a lot of tangible things about magic directly.”

“What about that unicorn amulet thingie you mentioned earlier?”

“Alicorn Amulet,” I corrected my friend, “and the mere fact that it exists in this world has me concerned. It does lend some credence to the possibility that magic may have existed in this world in the past.”

“Are you sure? It’s just a name, after all.”

Rainbow Dash’s skepticism had been something I considered. In fact, I hoped that it was just a mere coincidence simply because the Alicorn Amulet was not something I wanted more than one of to exist. From what I could remember from my days as Celestia’s pupil, the amulet was dangerous beyond comparison. If that kind of magic existed in this world, then I worried what might happen the next time a magical megalomaniac came through the portal.

“The fact that they look identical is too much for me to write off,” I explained. “I don’t know much about the one in Equestria, but I’m not sure if that’s because nobody knows or Princess Celestia just kept that knowledge from me.”

And given how my time as Princess Celestia’s pupil ended, one could not blame her for keeping information about powerful ancient relics away from me.

“From what I’ve read so far in Derring’s journals,” I continued on, “the cultists believed the amulet contained a fragment of their god, just like in the Daring Do novel. Hence all the evil rituals and practises that surrounded it.”

“Heh, remember the part where the cult’s leader tried to rip out Daring Do’s heart during the final confrontation?”

“That part was uncharacteristically dark for a Daring Do adventure,” I quipped.

When we reached the school’s exit, we could see through the glass that the weather outside had taken a turn for the worse. Our once pristine skies had been shrouded in ashen hues and from their cold, sun-forsaken cores came a cold and seemingly endless deluge. It was the kind of rain that swept in sideways in waves and always managed to find a way to go straight up your skirt despite any precautions taken. Rain that was so overwhelming, a canoe seemed like a reasonable suggestion to make. All of this wouldn’t have been an issue were it not for the fact that the day had started bright and sunny, and that I was carrying a box full of irreplaceable books.

“If her chest were a stormcloud, she would have cursed lightning and bled her heart dry upon them,” I murmured under my breath.

“Wow. My mom was really off about the forecast today,” Dash remarked.

“This is why I don’t trust weathermen.”

“Maybe you should leave the books in your locker.”

Dash’s suggestion was a sensible one, perhaps even the most logical and prudent course of action. However, I was far too stubborn, or stupid depending on who’s answering, to change course now. I was getting these books home, and no amount of rain was going to stand in my way.

“I’ve got a plan, but I’m going to need your help,” I said as I turned to my friend. “Toss your books back in here and then take my backpack.”

I set the box down and we traded items, with my friend carrying my bag while I focused solely on the books. Next I removed my coat and draped it over the box, which should keep the contents dry so long as I kept a firm hold on it. Since my favourite jacket had been treated to a funeral pyre, I had been making use of an old hoodie, which would only keep things dry for so long before it became water-logged itself.

“There’s an umbrella at the bottom of my bag,” I continued explaining. “Try to keep it over the box to shield it as best you can.”

“And what about us?” Dash asked, heeding my instructions nonetheless. “You realize we’re going to get soaked, right?”

“We’ll live.”

It wasn’t like either of us would melt when in contact with water, and Rainbow Dash has played enough soccer matches in the rain to prove that she wasn't adverse to a good soak. Plus, the bus would be arriving soon so there wouldn’t be any need for us to wait outside for more than a few minutes at best. Once I had all of my things ready, I waited at the door for Dash to join me, which after several moments I noticed was taking longer than it should’ve. I glanced over and saw my friend still struggling just to get my umbrella open.

“Come on, Dash, we don’t have time for this.”

“It’s not my fault; your umbrella is a piece of garbage,” she snapped back. She pushed and pulled repeatedly, trying to get it expand, but something kept getting snagged and she’d start all over again. “Where did you even get this?”

“At a discount store,” I answered.

Rainbow Dash gave me an incredulous look.

“What? I used to live in a shoebox, remember? I can’t afford nice things.”

Whether she accepted my explanation or not, Dash redoubled her efforts and pushed as hard as she could on the umbrella. At last, it opened up, but not without a loud and unsettling tearing noise accompanying it. Both of our eyes looked up to see one of the arms had managed to tear apart the stitching, leaving a lengthy rend across its radius. As much as I would’ve liked to chastise my friend for her ham-fisted clumsiness, she probably did have a point about it being a piece of garbage. Plus, I didn’t have time to waste.

Tear or not, we soon headed out into the rainstorm, pushing headlong into the proverbial wall of water. The wind and cold cut straight through every layer I wore, stabbing chilled daggers into my core. Undaunted, though, we hurried along as best we could. Dash did her best to stay at my side, shielding the worst of the rain from our precious cargo, but the winds buffeted her from every angle. Just keeping the umbrella steady was a challenge unto itself.

Unfortunately, due to our slow progress and my poor sense of timing, when I looked to the street in the distance, I could see the bus making its approach.

“Quick or we’ll miss it!” I shouted.

Without another thought, I sprinted towards the bus stop, throwing all caution to the raging winds around me. So focused was I that I didn’t even notice at first that Rainbow Dash wasn’t keeping pace; she was, in fact, several meters behind me, flailing to get the umbrella back under control. What was supposed to shelter us had become as wild and uncontrollable as the rainstorm itself, and were my friend any lighter, the wind surely would’ve carried her off by now.

Weighed down by books and rain-soaked clothes, I watched as the bus whisked past the bus stop and continued on its way down the road. I shouted and pleaded for it to slow down for even just a moment, but even I could barely hear my voice over all of the rain, let alone somebody down the street in a giant metal box.

Moments after my voice had fallen silent, Dash stumbled to my side with my umbrella conspicuously absent. We both stood at the side of the road in silence for a few seconds, watching as the bus drove further and further into the mist.

“Ah man, we just missed it,” my friend lamented.

“We should’ve just run straight from the start instead of wasting all that time at the door,” I groaned. I was about to lay the blame at Dash’s feet for taking so long with the umbrella, but I managed to fight down that compulsion. It was petty and childish, and the rational part of my mind knew it was a trumped-up charge. “And where did my umbrella go?”

“Um, over there,” Dash said as she pointed to the street. “Kinda had to let it go.”

I followed her lead just in time to watch my umbrella, now inverted, bounce across the street and sail off into the distance.

“Why would you do that?” I murmured under my breath.

“It was junk, Sunset,” Dash insisted. “If anything, I did you a favour.”

“Except now what are we supposed to do?” I shouted back. “Because if you haven’t noticed, it’s still raining like a weathermare went postal!”

“What’s a weathermare?”

“It’s a pony thing!”

Unsurprisingly, Dash did not share in my sense of concern. “Just relax,” she insisted, “we’ll just go back inside and wait until the next bus shows up.”

“Except it’s way past school hours; the doors have surely locked behind us.”

“Oh. Right.” My friend then averted her gaze, trying her best to suppress any awkwardness from her premature reassurances, as well as avoid upsetting me further. No doubt my face broadcasted my displeasure plain enough for even a blind man to recognize. “Well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

“Figure something out?” I repeated in disbelief. “And how exactly do you propose that? It’s not like somebody is just going to pull up beside us out of the blue and offer us a ride.”

At that exact moment, just because the universe loved to spite me when it was the most embarrassing, a car suddenly came to a halt just in front of us. It wasn’t any car I recognized at first, but when the passenger-side window lowered, there was a familiar face on the inside.

“Lightning Dust!” I exclaimed when I saw her smiling turquoise face.

“What are you doing out here like this, Sunny? It’s raining like cats and dogs out here.”

“No, really? I thought it was just the clouds crying.” Despite my sarcasm, I couldn’t help but smile in relief.

“Very funny, you big joker,” Lightning replied with a laugh before the side door opened. “Need a lift?”

“Yes! Very yes.”

Despite not wanting to seem too desperate, my friend and I scrambled into the car like a pair of drowning rats, which wasn’t too far from the truth given how waterlogged we’d become. As I had the box, I climbed into the back seat and secured it next to me, taking the opportunity to check on its contents. Much to my relief, the contents appeared to be unsoiled by the rain. The same could not be said for me.

From a cursory glance, the car was quite luxurious with a spacious interior and inviting, leather-covered seats. For a vegetarian and former equine, I couldn’t help but feel as though I were committing a cardinal sin for enjoying the comfort as I had. Rainbow Dash, up in the front passenger seat, had no reservation about taking advantage of our new shelter.

“Nice ride!” Dash exclaimed before she buckled her seatbelt. “Ooo, are these heated seats?”

“With built-in massagers,” Lightning boasted. “The controls are on the armrest.”

As Rainbow Dash fiddled with the controls, Lightning peered over her shoulder to check on me. “You okay back there?” she asked.

“I am, thanks,” I replied. “You have no idea how glad I am that you came by when you did. What are you doing out here anyways?”

“Had to chauffeur my ol’ man out to a meeting. Hence why I get to drive the nice car,” she answered, patting the steering wheel with pride. “What about you? What’re you still doing at school and with all that stuff?”

“We’re researching some old books about—” Dash began, but her words were cut off abruptly when I kneed the back of her chair. I had been willing to give her a pass about discussing magic with Derring Do, but students from other schools was off-limits.

“It’s for my school newspaper,” I answered instead.

“Aw, not going to ask me for another interview?” Lightning jested.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the other girl’s remarks, then narrowed her gaze and leaned in close. “Wait a second,” she began, “I recognize you now. You’re that striker from Crystal Heart! Sunset, what are you doing fraternizing with the enemy?”

I rolled my eyes, unsure of whether or not to dignify her with an answer. I never got the chance to make a decision, however, as Lightning Dust was quick to intrude. “She’s allowed to have other friends, including people from Crystal Heart,” she scoffed in amusement. “I mean, if you can’t see how awesome I am, don’t take it out on your friend.”

I doubt it was Lightning Dust’s intent to shame me or cause me any distress, but hearing her refer to me as a friend made me realize that I hadn’t been as good a friend to her as I should’ve. Outside of the occasional text message and friending each other on MyStables, we hadn’t spent any real time together. The fact that I had ignored somebody who had offered me their friendship hit harder than any rainstorm.

I could’ve said something along the lines of how I had been busy and she had just slipped my mind, but that felt more like an excuse than justification. It was a sobering reminder that I still had a lot to learn about friendship, and I needed to be more considerate and aware of those around me. True, she hadn’t made many attempts to reach out to me either, but I had no idea what her circumstances were. Perhaps deep inside she didn’t have the same confidence as her bravado on the soccer pitch would suggest. Perhaps she’d been legitimately too busy, which was possible given that Crystal Heart Academy was a tough school to excel in. I wasn’t about to hold her to standards that she wasn’t holding me to.

Rainbow Dash darted her gaze between me and Lightning Dust for a few moments before finally flashing a reassuring smile towards me. “So she’s really your friend?” she asked.

I nodded. “She’s pretty cool once you get to know her. I think you’d really like her.”

Satisfied with my response, Rainbow Dash leaned back into her seat, sighing contently as the heated massage went to work. “Well, if Sunset vouches for you, then you can’t be all that bad. Even if you do play for Crystal Heart.”

“Oh, come on. You make it sound like we’re evil,” Lightning replied with a good-natured chuckle. “Crystal Heart Academy has a good soccer program; I need something like that to make sure I get noticed by the college scouts.”

“Aiming for one of those big sports scholarships?”

“Exactly. And from there, it’s on to the professionals! Don’t be surprised if one day you see the name ‘Lightning Dust’ gracing all the headlines in the sports world.”

“Well I’ll have you know, I competed in the senior championship league while I was still a junior.”

“Regional Championship three years running.”

“District Championship MVP four years running.”

I smirked to myself in silence as Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash continued with their futile show of one-upmanship, content to spend the remainder of the car ride pouring over my books. After a few minutes, they gave up on trying to one-up each other and just settled on talking about something soccer related that went completely over my head. I only knew enough about the game to write a decent article for the school paper, so when they started talking about leagues and point spreads, it all became white noise to me. At least the two of them were finding common ground.

*******************

With the help of my directions and the car’s built-in GPS, we soon arrived at my home. I had listened to far more soccer-related conversation than I had ever thought humanly possible. Even though the subject matter left me sitting on the sidelines, I was nonetheless glad to see the two of them getting along so easily.

“Anyways, we’re finally here,” Lightning spoke up, directing her newfound friend’s attention to the house before us. We pulled into the driveway and that was when Lightning tossed a playful grin over to Dash in the passenger seat. “You know, for a Wondercolt, you’re not quite as lame as I thought you would be.”

“That’s because you spend too much time listening to Gilda,” Rainbow Dash answered back. “And you’re not half-bad yourself. We should totally hang out later.”

“Why not now?” I suddenly suggested. “Would you like to come inside and stay for a little while? I mean, if you’re not too busy.”

While it hadn’t been my original intention, I saw no reason to pass up an opportunity when it presented itself. I had felt bad for not being as good a friend as I could’ve been to Lightning Dust, so what better time to start making amends than right now? If we parted ways with just a promise to meet again later, I could just end up repeating the last several weeks of continuous ‘maybe another day.’

Much to my delight, Lightning Dust grinned and shut off the car. “Sure, I’m down for that. Beats doing chemistry homework.”

“Hey Dash, could you unlock the front door for me?” I asked as I held out my house keys for her.

Rainbow Dash raced ahead to get the front door, and with Lightning Dust’s help we got everything inside with only a minimum of soaking. I was already so drenched from head to toe that water had become a second skin to me. On the bright side, getting wet as a pony was far more of an inconvenience, as you couldn’t just change out of your soaked fur like you could with a set of wet clothes. A drying spell might’ve come in handy, but Dash and I would have to settle with towels and blankets.

As we hung our coats in the front hall closet, Lightning Dust took a moment to take in the surroundings. “Hey, nice digs you got here,” she said after an impressed whistle. “What kinda work your folks do?”

It was an interesting thought that I had long since become accustomed to the pristine white halls of my home. I had even stopped thinking of it as just Celestia and Luna’s house that I so happened to be sleeping in. Hearing Lightning Dust talk about the household as though I were just another normal teenager living with their parents felt strangely reassuring. Like with Twilight, there was no baggage of my past deeds weighing me down or making me question whether the smile I was looking at was genuine or just forced politeness.

“Celestia and Luna are the principal and vice-principal at Canterlot High. In fact, they’re probably still there, again,” I answered. “But they’re not my parents. I’m… uh, kind of adopted.”

“Geeze, you live with the principal? That’s gotta be harsh.”

“It’s actually not that bad,” I explained as the three of us headed into the living room. “They respect my independence, and I respect that their advice and suggestions are generally well-founded and with merit.”

“Wow, look at you Ms. ‘Relationship Built upon Mutual Trust and Respect,’” Lightning joked, waving her hands in the air as she feigned awe. “Wanna trade parents? Yours sound way more reasonable than mine.”

“Feel free to make yourself at home.” I suggested as I gestured to the nearby couch. “I need to get changed into something less waterlogged.”

“Don’t suppose I could borrow some, too?” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“Of course.”

Rainbow and I headed upstairs and we quickly changed out of our wet clothes, leaving them in the bathroom to drip over the tub. I loaned my friend a spare pair of pajamas since it was late afternoon and neither of us were interested in anything but warmth and comfort right now. After taking a few minutes to dry our hair, we returned to the living room to find Lightning had already figured out the TV controls and found a soccer game to watch.

“Hope you don’t mind,” she said when she noticed our arrival. “It’s a Premier League game—I’ve been waiting all day for this.”

“Sweet! Me too!” Dash exclaimed. She rushed over to join Lightning on the couch, vaulting over the back to land the spot next to her fellow soccer fan.

Rainbow’s enthusiasm must’ve caught Lightning’s attention because she regarded the other girl with a scrutinizing, but hopeful gaze. “On the count of three, we both say our favourite football club,” she proposed.

Dash nodded in agreement.

“One, two, three—”

Both girls then shouted in unison, “Manechester United!”

Their eyes shot wide open as both gasped in shock and amazement, hands clasping over their mouths. From my perspective, it looked like they both just discovered the meaning of life, which just left me even more confused.

“They do exist,” Lightning murmured in awe.

“I thought I was the only one. I never believed I would meet another.”

“How long have you known?”

“Six, maybe seven years,” Dash answered in a somber whisper. “But I think a part of me has always known. I’ve always felt… different from the other girls.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Lightning said, her eyes looking almost tearful. “Have you… did you ever come out to your parents?”

Dash nodded again. “I was lucky. My parents have always been very supportive, even if they didn’t always understand my passion. I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it hadn’t been for them.”

“I remember when I first told my dad,” Lightning began. Her voice became melancholic and her gaze drifted away to the nearby windows, watching as the rainwater poured down. “He said he understood—that he accepted me. However, I could see the despair that gripped him. It was like he was watching his dreams die right before his very eyes. I tried so long to make him understand, but it’s never worked. He’s just too stuck in the past: believing that love should only exist between a fan and… Liverfoal.”

“Liverfoal? Oh, you poor soul.”

I was beginning to think that somewhere along the line I had stepped through another magic portal because nothing I was witnessing made any sense to me. I had never seen Rainbow Dash look so emotionally invested before.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore.” Dash offered her support, placing her hand atop of Lightning’s. “I’ll be here, by your side the whole time.”

“Thanks, Dash. You have no idea how much this means to me.” Lightning flashed a sweet and cheery smile to her new friend before her eyes darted back to the television. “Have you, um… you know, ever done it with another fan?”

“Not for a lack of trying, but it never got anywhere,” Dash admitted while hiding a faint blush on her cheeks. “I just couldn’t find the right person. You?”

Lightning shook her head. “This would be my first time, too.”

“A fair warning though, I can get a little… intense. Rough, even.”

Playful features began to spread across Lightning Dust’s face as one hand started to unfasten the top buttons of her blouse. “I prefer it that way,” she teased.

At that moment, the television panned to a scene of numerous soccer players, all dressed in brilliant red and white uniforms, pouring out onto the field. Lightning Dust sprang to her feet and pulled open her blouse, revealing a matching red t-shirt with a golden crest and the words ‘Manechester United’ written across it.

Unfettered by any sense of restraint, she began to holler at the top of her lungs. “GO MANECHESTER! WOOOOOOO!”

Rainbow Dash jumped up from the couch and joined in on the cheering, whooping loudly before she exchanged high-fives with her friend.

Off to the side, I remained seated on the couch, dumbstruck in bewilderment at what I had bore witness to. In Equestria, I had seen magic twist the very fabrics of reality, watched creatures that existed only as myths and legends to most, and studied the myriad of mysteries that permeated through history. Throughout all of those years, there was always an underlying foundation of unshakable truth and congruency.

But there was no sense to this; only madness.

Yet, somehow, there was a beauty to it: a friendship at the very core where all the chaos swirled around it like an emotional maelstrom. It was equal parts terrifying and magnificent to behold. Maybe that was what it was like to really ‘hit it off’ with somebody. Perhaps this was what it would be like to an outside observer if they watched Twilight and I spending time together.

Funny how friendship could still find ways to astound me.

*******************

Once my initial shock had dissipated, I was able to enjoy watching the game with Lightning and Rainbow. It was a noisy and chaotic affair, but it was fun all the same. We gorged ourselves on nachos and cheese and leftover pizza, and emptied the fridge of all of Luna’s Alpine Mist. I felt like such a pig, but it was worth it. It may not have been Equestrian cooking, but this world couldn’t be beat when it come to snack foods.

By the time the game ended, the rain had let up. Rainbow Dash got changed back into her clothes and my guests prepared to leave. Lightning offered Dash a ride home, which she took up in a heartbeat, no doubt because it meant spending an entire car riding continuing their Manechester United love affair.

I still didn’t understand them, but in a way that just made me love them even more.

“Now that was a great game,” Lightning said as she threw on her coat. “We should totally hang out again to watch the next one. Maybe we could do it at my place.”

“Sounds awesome!” Dash exclaimed.

I opened the door for them and waved good-bye as they both left. “Let me know, too,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind joining you for another match.”

“Does that mean you’re willing to join Team Manechester?” Lightning asked with an expectant grin.

I gave a nervous chuckle. “I… I’m going to keep my options open, for now.”

Both of my friends looked disappointed by my answer, but soon regained their cheerful outlook when they looked to each other. At least they could still share in their passion together.

Rainbow Dash gave her new friend a playful punch in the shoulder before remarking, “You know, I’m glad we bumped into you today. No telling how long Sunset would’ve kept you as her little secret.”

“Wh-what? Secret? I never—” I stammered in an attempt to downplay the remark.

“Oh? So I’m all taboo now, huh?” Lightning mused. Lucky for me, she appeared to take the idea in stride. “Were you going to hoard me all to yourself?”

“You should’ve seen her this one time when my friend and I confronted her about it,” Rainbow Dash continued, denying me any opportunity to continue my defence. “She was all ‘we’re just taking it slow’ and ‘he’s really shy.’ Wait… I thought you said it was a guy, Sunset.”

“Only because you had already convinced yourself of that.”

Though I was calm on the outside, internally I was about ready to have another panic attack. Somehow, Dash had gotten it into her head that Lightning Dust was the friend that I had been texting in secret. Since it was near impossible to dislodge Dash once she had latched onto an idea, I had no choice but to run with this falsehood. The truth would’ve just added more complications that I wasn’t prepared to deal with.

“Well, I can’t blame you for wanting to keep all of this to yourself,” Lightning said with a hearty laugh. “Sorry, Sunny, but you’ll just have to learn how to share like everyone else.” She then nudged Dash with her elbow and gestured towards her car. “Come on, RD, let’s hit the road.”

As the two headed on their way, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Oh hey! I just had a great idea!” She stopped mid-step and glanced over her shoulder towards me for a moment before resuming her pace. “I’ll tell you once we’re in the car.”

Perhaps I should’ve been more worried about whatever schemes my friend was devising, but I was so relieved to be out of that awkward conversation that she could’ve been plotting my exile for all I cared. Whatever it was, I would deal with it at another time.

As I shut the door behind me, I noticed my backpack, sitting in the corner of the front hall, was vibrating. Since I wasn’t smuggling live animals in my bag, unless I had somehow gotten my belongings switched with Fluttershy’s, there was only one possibility: the magic journal. I practically tore open my bag in my haste to grab the journal, so excited was I see what Twilight’s response was.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

I would love to see you and the girls this weekend. Maybe after the party, we can work together on that magic research that’s been giving you so much trouble. I can bring some books from my library.

By the way, this birthday party: is it just going to be the seven of us or will there be others?

Not that I’m asking about anybody in particular. I just want to know if I need to dress appropriately. Not that I would necessarily dress different because some random guy may or may not be present. Or girl. Because we’re all friends here. Yup, just friends. Why am I still writing? I’m going to stop writing now.

I’ll see you Saturday.

Act VI-III

By the time Saturday came around, my sense of trepidation had long since subsided. Today was not going to be a horrid repeat of the experiences of my youth, and I knew that because I had faith in my friends. Unless Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to fill her home to capacity with every clown from here to the western coast, I was confident I could handle it. Plus, I had my own surprises for the day, with confirmation from Twilight Sparkle that she would be coming through the portal to join the party.

Just the thought of seeing the surprise on my friends’ faces when Twilight arrived was enough to put me in a good mood when I awoke Saturday morning. Just because it was my birthday didn’t mean I couldn’t give something back.

With Pinkie Pie’s ‘Super Fantastic Surprise Birthday Party for Sunset Shimmer’ scheduled for the afternoon at her place, I had the morning to make any last second preparations. I still had no idea why Pinkie insisted on still calling it a surprise party, but that was what she had printed on all the invites. At least she was having fun with it.

A small part of me was even beginning to feel excited for the big event. The slumber party during the ordeal with the Dazzlings had been the only real party I had attended since coming through the magic portal, so my experience with them were limited. Even though I had been crowned Princess of the Fall Formal on three occasions, I never paid too much attention to the actual event, beyond a few dances to keep up appearances.

I pictured something involving a lot of music, a lot of dancing, a lot of pictures, and enough food to sate a dragon.

However, a party proved to not be the only surprise I had in store for the day. It was just before noon when Celestia announced that she wanted to take me to the mall so I could pick out a new phone. Having felt disconnected from the world after turning my old phone into an expensive paperweight thanks to my mishandled experiments, I jumped at her generosity. It should have occurred to me sooner that Celestia didn’t just suggest things out of the blue for no good reason.

But what did I care? I got a new phone for my birthday, which become the sole focus of my attention during the entire car ride back from the mall.

“And now if the stars are all aligned, I should be able to restore my contact lists from the online back-ups,” I mused out loud as I played with my new phone.

“I still remember when contact lists were kept in a little black book that you carried in your coat pocket,” Celestia remarked, her lips curling in amusement. “You kids have it so lucky these days.”

“Oh, believe me: I fully understand the luxury I’ve got here. Back in Equestria, we don’t have anything like these. Most folks had to rely on our equivalent of the postal service, which at least had the small advantage in that our mailmen can fly. If I wanted to write to the Princess, however, I had to use a special enchanted tome, and it’s not as though you could just drive down to the mall to pick one of those up.”

After a few more taps and waiting for my phone to download the relevant data, I was soon reconnected to the social lifeblood of adolescence known as the internet. My first order of business was to log into my MyStables account to announce to the world of my triumphant return.

‘The Sunset Shimmer Show returns to the air! Same Sunset time, same Sunset channel!’

“Thanks again for the new phone.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Celestia replied.

“First a home, then a second chance, and now this? I can’t help but feel like you’re spoiling me,” I admitted. While it was certainly fun to be spoiled, I couldn’t help but recall that my old way of thinking was, in part, due to being given so much privilege. I worried about falling into my old way of thinking if I started being given everything rather than earning it.

For her part, Celestia found my remarks more amusing than anything. “It’s your birthday: you’re entitled to a bit of spoiling. Besides, I feel better knowing that I have a way of keeping in touch with you.”

My older, more cynical way of thinking would’ve interpreted that as ‘keeping tabs’ rather than ‘keeping in touch,’ but the wiser me recognized her real intentions. She cared about me, so naturally she’d want a way so that we could easily communicate, much like my old magic journal kept me in touch with the Princess. And I, too, preferred having a lifeline as well: I was no longer so proud as to think that a phone call for help was beneath me.

“Plus, I get the feeling I’m going to be wanting to take a lot of pictures today.”

“Nothing too scandalous, I hope.”

I rolled my eyes as Celestia chuckled under her breath. “Well obviously I won’t post those ones online,” I joked.

Just then my phone buzzed in my hands, chiming the factory-default melody as I had yet to download any new ringtones. The fact that I had yet to do so was the clearest indication on my other-worldly origins.

Checking my messages, I was pleasantly surprised to see who the first to respond was.

Twilight Sparkle: You’re back! You’re still using the same number, right?

I smirked and snickered to myself before typing in a quick response.

Sunset: If this were the wrong number, I wouldn’t be able to message you back telling you that :)

Twilight Sparkle: Oh. Right, of course. I knew that.

Twilight Sparkle: Any big plans for the weekend?

Sunset: Nothing fancy. Hanging out with friends, finishing up some school assignments. You?

Twilight Sparkle: I don’t mean to brag, but guess who’s going to be spending the day at the Canterlot University library researching 6th century dynasties?

Twilight Sparkle: The answer is me, by the way.

Sunset: Try not to hit the books too hard, okay?

Twilight Sparkle: I would never mistreat a book. Oh. You meant that as an idiom. I really need to keep remembering that.

Sunset: At least your catching on faster these days.

Twilight Sparkle: *You’re

Were it anyone else, I would’ve rolled my eyes, but for some reason I found myself chuckling instead as I read over my friend’s messages. I wondered if she had missed our little chats as much as I had.

“Already messaging with Twilight, I take it?” Celestia commented. No doubt she noticed my glowing smile, which I have been told I tend to wear whenever I texted with Twilight.

“I’m getting too predictable,” I remarked, sharing in Celestia’s amusement.

When the car lurched to a halt, I glanced up from my phone and saw that we had arrived home. Before I could hop out, however, Celestia gave me that concerned look that heralded one of our all-too-frequent heart-to-heart talks. I knew a lot of people who complained about parents being ‘too nosey,’ but I still needed all the help I could get and I wasn’t about to turn any of it away. Plus, she just bought me a phone and put it under her own plan so she had earned the right to pry however she wanted.

“I take it Twilight wasn’t invited to your birthday party?” she asked.

“I just… I already invited Princess Twilight to come to the party,” I explained since Celestia knew the answer to her question already. “Introducing her to my other friends is one thing, but an alternate-dimension version of herself? That might crack her brain a little bit.”

“I know that protecting Equestria is important to you, and lacking any real knowledge on your homeland, I have to trust your judgement, but at the same time, it’s becoming more and more obvious that all this compartmentalizing is a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t need to know much about magic to know that a house built upon so many lies will inevitably come crashing down.”

She was right, of course; painfully so. Since stating that was redundant at this point, I opted to continue stewing in silence until she opted to continue the dialogue. What could I say to that? I had never intended for things to get this far. Twilight Sparkle was a shy and soft-spoken bookworm: I never expected her to fall so completely for this friendship.

Or myself for that matter.

Every week she was drawing closer to figuring out the source of her anomalous sensor readings, and if nothing else, I needed to protect her from that. Magic in this world didn’t behave like it did in Equestria, and even in my homeland, it was dangerous if handled by an inexperienced person. There was no telling what kind of damage could be inflicted if Twilight used her scientific knowledge to try and dissect the magical energies in the portal.

“I haven’t said much on the matter because I didn’t think it was appropriate to try and force you to do something you were uncomfortable with,” Celestia continued. “I have faith that you’ll be able to figure this out at your own pace, but now I’m beginning to worry that you might be avoiding the issue.”

I sighed to myself, wringing the back of my neck with one hand as I wrestled with my thoughts. “I’ll… I’ll figure something out after the party. I’ll have a lot less on my plate then,” I offered up as a consolation.

“You have something very special with Twilight Sparkle. It’s worth preserving,” Celestia reminded me.

“I know, I know,” I groaned in disappointment, mostly at myself. “Hopefully this won’t ruin the party for me. I’d hate for Pinkie to have gone through all this effort just for me to be a wet blanket.”

“I have a feeling that won’t be an issue.”

“I’ll just have to remember to act sufficiently surprised,” I said, hoping a bit of levity would brighten my spirits. After exiting the car, just as we reached the front door, my phone buzzed again with a new message. “Heh, Pinkie’s asking if I’m all set for the ‘big surprise party.’” I was still chuckling to myself as we headed inside. “Like, seriously… what does Pinkie think she’s going to accomplish if she keeps warning me.”

That was when I turned the next corner and was greeted by a faceful of confetti and the wail of a party horn.

“Surprise! Happy birthday! ” came the bellowing cheer.

Surprise didn’t even begin to describe what I felt as I took in the sight before me. The entire living room, as well as what I could see in the rooms beyond, had been decorated with balloons, banners, and all other manners of festivities. The furniture had been pushed to make space for snack tables and there was no mistaking an entire DJ table that had been set up on the far side. Most stunning, however, was the fact that it wasn’t just Pinkie Pie and my friends standing in the center of the room, but the dozens of Canterlot High students who stood behind them and had joined in on the initial cheer.

Just from a cursory glance I could see the familiar faces of Flash Sentry, Lyra, Bon-Bon, Sandalwood, and Trixie. It looked as though half of my grade had been stuffed into the house.

It wasn’t until Photo Finish raced to the front of the crowd and snapped a picture of me that my brain kicked back into life.

“Pinkie, what’s—I don’t understand. You said the party was this afternoon at your place.”

“I wanted this to be a surprise party,” Pinkie explained with her usual air of carefree innocence. “Since you already knew a party was coming, I just asked myself, ‘what would Sunset do in this situation?’”

“Misdirection, of course,” I muttered under my breath.

“I learned from the best!”

“What about the others?” I asked as my gaze panned to the scores of students across the room.

While I hadn’t been against the idea of inviting more people to the party, as evident by the fact that I had extended an offer to Flash, I never imagined Pinkie could get so many people together under one roof. Were her parties that good that people didn’t care who or what it was about?

“Believe it or not, when word got out that Pinkie was planning a party for you, folks started pouring out of the woodworks to offer their help,” Applejack explained. “Some of them brought food, some helped with the decorations, and of course you got Vinyl over there on the music.”

One of my classmates, Bon-Bon, stepped forward, offering a sincere smile mixed with a undertone of humility. “After the whole incident with the Dazzlings, we all began to realize that you really have changed, and that we haven’t been the most… charitable to you. We wanted to make it up to you, and to say that we forgive you, too.”

I had always been a proponent that the students of Canterlot High deserved whatever form of justice they deemed fit after everything I had put them through. From my perspective, becoming the least popular thing at school since the ‘mystery meat casserole’ was a small price to pay in order to build my life back up. Things at school had improved a lot since the Battle of the Bands, to the point where I felt that my past deeds were considered, at the very least, water under the bridge.

What I saw now were scores of my peers, joined together in a singular voice to tell me that they were more than just willing to forget the past, but forgive me for it as well. I had spent many nights in bed, dreaming of the day where I’d feel accepted again in my community, but it had always felt like exactly that: a fantasy.

As my brain still churned to process everything that had just happened, Pinkie Pie slid over to stand beside me. She looked to me with an anxious, but hopeful smile: clearly waiting for a final verdict.

“So…” Pinkie began, her voice mirroring the sentiment of her expression, “do you like it?”

I was still scrambling for words, but I knew I had to say something, and quick. In the next ten seconds, either words or tears were going to start pouring out, and I had to make a decision as to which. I eventually just went with the first thing that came to mind.

“It’s perfect.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Pinkie Pie let out such a delighted squeal that one would think she was the birthday girl. In her defense, planning this party couldn’t have been easy.

“Oh, I’m so super-duper glad to hear that! I was so worried that you might not like it, especially since you kept saying that you didn’t want it to be a big affair. I was leaning towards something small with just the six of us, but then I thought that might be good for one party but it’s not going to do anything to help with your fears of big parties because it wasn’t a small party that hurt, it was a big one!”

Whatever else Pinkie had to say in her hasty diatribe went unnoticed by everyone else at the party. The rest of us were all more fixated on the fact that she had started glowing and was now levitating several feet off the ground. Just like Rainbow Dash a few weeks earlier, Pinkie had just ponied up without any influence from her music.

“Hey, why is everybody staring at me like that? And why am I so high up all of a sudden?” Pinkie asked once she noticed something was amiss.

“Well, you are kinda floating,” Applejack answered.

“Floating? Oh no!” Pinkie gasped. “I didn’t mean for this to happen! It was an accident. Nobody look at me! This is supposed to be Sunset Shimmer’s day! Nobody pay attention to me!”

Unfortunately, since she was glowing and hovering above our heads, the only way she could even attempt to try and mask herself was to pull the magic-extension of her hair out front to hide her face behind. I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh as my friend frantically tried to avoid becoming the center of attention. She was never going to succeed, but it was sweet that she was trying nonetheless.

Luckily for Pinkie, one of us wasn’t too distracted by the floating, magic pony-girl to notice something else of importance.

“Pinkie! Ceiling fan!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Sure enough, Pinkie glanced up and saw the whirling blades mere inches away from her. “Eek! Somebody grab me! Somebody grab me!”

Sadly, the one thing that she shouldn’t have done—panic—was the exact thing she did. In her flailing, her hair got snatched by one of the blades. The ceiling fan proceeded to spin her about like a sling before pitching her towards me and my friends.

“Raritycatchme!” Pinkie blurted out. A second later, she crashed into her aforementioned friend, leaving both of them sprawled across the floor at my feet.

“Oh my goodness! Are you two okay?” I asked.

Pinkie was quick to spring back to her feet, though whether it because she was unharmed or just driven by her desire to not cause a scene and take away from ‘my day’ remained a mystery.

“I’m okay!” she insisted while giving a thumbs-up. “That was actually kinda fun until the whole ‘crashing into Rarity’ part.”

I offered my hand to Rarity and soon had her back on her feet. “I’m fine as well—more startled than anything, really.”

Now that everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, I turned to my friends and all the other party-goers. “I just want to say right now, thank you all so much for this. So I guess without further ado,” I then grinned and pointed towards Vinyl at her station, “DJ, some music please.”

As a familiar Rainbooms classic belted out over the speakers, we all let out a cheer and got the party rolling. People were dancing and mingling, and somebody had brought that rock band video game and set up at the television. No doubt Rainbow Dash would be facing quite a few challengers over the course of the party. As for myself, I wanted to mingle with the crowd so that I could, at the very least, give my personal thanks to each of them for coming. It wasn’t as difficult a task as I had expected because everybody was eager to chat me up. They all wanted a picture with Sunset Shimmer, which was still hard to believe considering only a few months ago they were more inclined to run in terror than put an arm around me and smile.

After close to an hour of mingling, I had to retreat to the kitchen for a moment in order to quench my parched throat. It was there that I bumped into one party guest that I hadn’t spoken with yet, and had been very curious about doing so.

“Hello there, Trixie,” I greeted.

Hunched over a tray of cupcakes, Trixie hadn’t noticed my arrival until I spoke up, prompting to the girl to spring upright with the half-eaten cake still in her mouth. She finished off what she could as quickly as possible before greeting me with an understandably wary smile.

“H-hello, Sunset. Nice party you have going,” she said, still with pink frosting across her lips.

“Thanks. Now I’ve gotta be honest for a moment, I’m surprised to see you here. I would’ve thought you’d be the last person to volunteer to spend time near me. Did you really offer to help with the party?”

“I did, actually. I brought some snacks,” she explained before directing my attention to a bag of pretzels on a nearby table. When I turned back to her, I expected her to be beaming with her usual sense of pride, but her expression had softened even further to something I never thought possible from her: humility. “Listen, Sunset, I, uh… I know I’ve said and done some things that haven’t been very… charitable to you. I was just so convinced that this whole ‘new you’ was another ruse.”

“Well, to be fair, it’s certainly something the old me would’ve tried at some point,” I replied with the hopes to ease some of her nervousness.

“Exactly! So I think it’s probably good if we just let bygones be bygones and not fuss about who said what—”

“Or who pulled which levers,” I said with a smirk.

“Yes, that too.”

It was a relief to see Trixie had a change of heart, though I doubt it meant seeing the end of her showboating ways. So long as it meant I wouldn’t have to worry about her trying to sabotage any other efforts on my road to redemption, then I was more than happy to let the past stay where it is. Besides, if she was at my party willing to forgive my past deeds, then it’d be rather hypocritical to not extend the same courtesy.

“Let’s start things anew then, shall we?” I suggested before grabbing a cupcake off the tray. “Although, now that I think about it, we do have some guitars and amps here: we could have a little rematch later, if you’re up for the challenge.”

“A rematch, huh?” Trixie replied, her eyes lighting up in excitement. She grinned playfully while stroking at her chin, no doubt with visions of glory filling her head already. “It’s not quite the same audience, but Trixie would be willing to accept such a challenge. But don’t think she’ll go easy on you just because it’s your birthday.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” I gave her a playful punch before continuing on my way. “I’ll go find Rainbow Dash and run it by her, not that she’ll need much convincing.”

Finding my friend was easy enough since one could always count on her being where the party was the liveliest. In fact, I found her with the rest of my close friends, all of whom were excited to finally see me return from my mingling with the other guests. I suspect for them it was like seeing the return of a prodigal son.

“Enjoying yourself so far?” Rarity asked, eager to gauge my opinion.

“Better than I ever imagined,” I replied. “Honestly, I’m not even sure what I was so worked up about anymore.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash said before giving me a reassuring nudge with her elbow. “Sometimes you just get worked up over nothing. We’ve all been there. Well, I mean, most of us. Not me, of course, because I’m me.”

“Didn’t you have a panic attack in the locker room when you first tried out for the soccer team?” Applejack asked.

“What? No! That’s just ridiculous,” Dash scoffed at the idea. “Like I would ever do something as silly as that.”

“Pretty sure I still have the picture of it on my phone somewhere.”

Applejack pulled out her phone and began searching through its contents. However, the device was promptly snatched from her grasp by her friend.

“You can’t prove anything if you don’t have any evidence!” Dash then led her friend on a merry chase through the house, frantically trying to find the aforementioned picture so that she can delete it. Hopefully the two wouldn’t cause a commotion, but I was smart enough to know not to get between those two.

“Darn it, I needed to tell Rainbow Dash something,” I muttered under my breath. I’d just have to track her down later, I figured. It wasn’t as though she was going to bail on the party any time soon.

In the meantime, I was more than happy to converse with Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity.

“So,” Rarity began while regarding me with a devious look of playfulness about her, “what’s this about personally inviting Flash Sentry to the party?”

Caught by surprise, and made all the more nervous by the way my friend was looking at me, I tensed up and tried to deflect with a ham-fisted excuse. “Oh, him? I just… thought it’d be good for our friendship. I’m allowed to try and be friends with my ex, aren’t I? Totally no other reasons involved.”

I tried to hide my nervousness behind a forced laugh, but it may as well have been transparent for what it was worth. I probably should’ve told her the truth right from the start, but a part of me had wanted to keep Twilight’s arrival a surprise, and I was, if nothing else, stubborn despite all common sense.

“Really now? Are you sure it isn’t because somebody else might be stopping by?” Rarity mused.

Oblivious to the concept of subtext, Pinkie jumped and threw both of us off of our game. “Is it Twilight? Did you invite her to come party with us?”

Why couldn’t they just let me have this one gesture? If I told Pinkie now, everybody would know within a half-hour, including Flash. The look of anticipation on my friends’ faces were burning a hole through my will power, and there was no way I was going to be able to withstand the peer pressure.

That was when the doorbell rang.

“Is that the door? Oh, I better go get that!”

I hastily excused myself. Under my breath, I thanked whatever powers that be for saving my butt. In fact, I was even a little excited since it could very well be Twilight at the door, thus saving me from having to hide this any longer. However, when I opened the door, instead of being greeted to the sight of my far-away friend, instead I met somebody much closer to home.

“Lightning Dust!” I blurted without thinking.

“Hey there, birthday girl!” Lightning Dust replied, thankfully mistaking my shock for excitement. “Sorry I’m a little late, but I had to pick up a few things on the way here.”

“What are you—” I stopped myself part-way when the answer hit me square in the head. “Rainbow Dash invited you, didn’t she?”

“Said something about this party needing to be twenty percent cooler,” Lightning explained with a quick shrug of her shoulders at the end. “Not sure where I fit into that numerically, though I’m pretty sure I’m at least thirty-five percent.”

Despite the surprise, I found myself glad to see Lightning at the party. Introducing her to my other friends would liven the party up a little bit. “I’m glad you’re here. Why don’t you come on in, and you can meet the rest of my friends.”

“Actually, I’ve got a few things in my car I’ll need to get.”

“Need a hand with it?” I asked. I wish I could say my offer was completely altruistic, but it kept me from having to face more questions from Rarity and Pinkie for a few more minutes. Lightning accepted and we headed to her car, whereupon she popped open the trunk to reveal a pair of large baskets filled with fruit of all shapes and sizes. “I think we’re pretty good for snacks, actually,” I remarked.

“It’s better than that,” Lightning said. Her face was beaming with excitement, which made me all the more curious. She unloaded the baskets and set them aside before reaching in and taking out something very large and wrapped in a woolen blanket. “You can have the honour of carrying this,” she said before dropping it into my awaiting arms.

The sheer weight took me by surprise, almost causing me to double over before I could adjust to it. “Holy cheese, what is this?” I said in disbelief. It was long and narrow, but far heavier than I could’ve possibly expected.

“My claymore.”

“Seriously?”

Lightning just pulled back some of the blanket, revealed the silvered hilt and leather-wrapped grip of the medieval weapon. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“And the fruit?”

“Up for some real life fruit ninja?”

I was soon grinning just as wide as Lightning. “This is going to be so cool!” I exclaimed. “Come on! We can set up in the backyard.”

It took a lot of willpower not to giggle like the over-excited school girl that I was as the two of us carried all the supplies into the backyard. Lightning had even brought along a makeshift wooden stand so it was safe to assume that this wasn’t the first time she’s pulled this party trick. It didn’t take long for others at the party to notice what we were setting up, and we soon had ourselves an audience.

“Woah! Is that a sword?” Dash said after worming her way to the front of the crowd. She was soon joined by my other close friends, all of whom were equally curious.

“It sure is,” Lightning answered. She took the sword from its wrappings, revealing the hefty blade for everyone to see.

“By the way, this is Lightning Dust,” I introduced her to my friends and classmates. “You already know Rainbow Dash, and with her are Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.”

“Heh, cool cat ears,” Lightning remarked.

“C-cat ears?” I repeated. It took me a moment to realize that she was referring to Pinkie’s pony-form ears, which she must’ve mistaken for a clothing accessory.

“These aren’t cat ears, they’re—” Pinkie Pie’s words were cut-off abruptly as Applejack slapped her hands over her friend’s mouth.

“Technically, they’re pony ears,” Applejack explained. “Y-you know, because we all go to Canterlot High and stuff.”

Somehow, none of our behavior or nervous grins raised Lightning Dust’s suspicions. “Oh right, I remember now,” she said with a nod of her head. “Bunch of you guys were wearing those in the bleachers during that last game we played at your school.”

Once again, it was all too easy to just let Lightning Dust believe the lie that she reached on her own power, rather than having to go through a long-winded explanation of other-worldly magics. It was a conversation that would have to occur at some point, but I wanted it to be at a better venue than my birthday party. The last thing I needed, especially now, was a freaked out teenager armed with a claymore.

And speaking of giant, unwieldy swords, we soon got the stand set up and Lightning Dust balanced the first offering, a cantaloupe, upon it.

“I think the birthday girl should have the first honour,” Lightning said. She rested the tip of the blade against the lawn and leaned it forward in offering to me.

Just as I was about to accept, though, my phone began to buzz. Given that almost everyone I knew was at this party, that narrowed down who it could potentially be.

“Give me a moment, I’ve got to check this message,” I insisted as I grabbed my phone and headed off to find some privacy. As I had expected, it was from Twilight Sparkle, who had sent me a picture of herself at the library, holding a huge book with the biggest grin across her face. The accompanying message read, ‘they just got the 8th edition! Best day ever!’

I wasn’t sure exactly what book she had or why the eighth edition made it so much more special, but she was happy about it and that was all that mattered.

Sunset: Having a good time, I take it?

Twilight Sparkle: I wish I could live here forever.

Sunset: Where would you sleep?

Twilight Sparkle: On a pile of books.

Twilight Sparkle: Have you met up with your friends yet?

It was hard not to feel a pang of guilt, realizing that I was in the midst of a huge party with one of my best friends completely unaware of its existence. I wished there was some rational explanation or justification for what I did, but the truth was a lot simpler: I panicked because I was scared.

Scared of losing control. Scared of being known. Scared of all the unknown possibilities that came along with upsetting the delicate balancing game that my life had become. So I did what most people did when they were scared, and fell into the old habits that were comforting and made me feel secure. Lies kept me in control and allowed me to dictate the flow of events, which meant I could remain prepared. Some people stress-ate—I stress-lied.

Sunset: Not yet. Probably going to meet with them later.

“Hey, Sunset!” Lightning Dust’s voice snapped my focus away from my phone just as she arrived at my side. “Stop hiding in your phone; you’re keeping your adoring fans waiting.”

Before I could even answer, she had plucked my phone from my grasp and dragged me back to the others. She had a point, and I soon convinced myself that I shouldn’t be letting outside issues distract me from the party. It’d be rude to my guests, after all. Once we returned, Rainbow Dash handed me the sword.

“I still can’t believe people actually went to war with something this heavy,” I grunted at first. I struggled to keep the weapon held aloft as I took my first steps towards my cantaloupe adversary.

“It was used by people who consider throwing telephone poles a national sport,” Lightning remarked. “Now you gonna be okay with that?”

“Don’t worry, I got this!”

I didn’t.

Since using a sword came about as intuitive to me as baseball, knitting, and anything else that required good hand-eye coordination, entrusting me with a sword ranked high on the list of bad ideas. I, however, didn’t care for a second because I was just looking forward to cleaving a melon in half, which was going to be awesome in every sense of the word.

Or at least, it would’ve been if I hadn’t swung like a blind oaf, missing the target altogether. The sheer weight of the sword and my haphazard form meant the only thing I hit was the ground after the swinging blade pulled me off balance and I fell over.

“You okay there, Sunny?” Lightning asked.

I answered with a simple thumbs up.

“Good.” Lightning then turned to the other party guests. “Please tell me somebody was recording that.”

As certain as Princess Celestia enjoyed her cake triple-layered and with extra strawberries, a half dozen of my friends and classmates also gave a thumbs up whilst holding their phones in their other hand. At least I could look forward to having a laugh over my impending internet fame.

While getting back to my feet, my attention was piqued by a sudden hush of silence that fell over the crowd. My curiosity didn’t have to wait long for an answer as I soon found myself standing face-to-face with a frowning Luna. In retrospect, perhaps I should’ve realized that swinging around a medieval weapon in the backyard might upset some people.

“What are you doing?”

“Making fruit salad?” I offered as a paltry excuse.

“Sword,” Luna demanded, hand outstretched.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured in defeat. Reluctantly, though, I surrendered the weapon and stepped back, expecting a lecture to follow.

“I’m very disappointed in you, Sunset Shimmer,” Luna began, her gaze narrowing upon me. “You were holding it all wrong: it’s a sword, not a baseball bat. Now go over there and grab that melon.”

Worry turned into a curious excitement as I heeded her command. Swinging the blade around in a quick flourish, Luna hefted it upright and grasped it firmly with both hands.

“Now throw it at me like you mean it,” she ordered.

Mentally, I weighed my options: at first this sounded a bit risky, but even if she failed, then there’d be enough cell phone video of her getting hit by a cantaloupe to erase my earlier mishap from memory. It was a win-win for me, regardless of the outcome, so I pitched the cantaloupe with all my might. There was only the briefest flicker of reflected light as the claymore scythed through the air, capitalized by a heavy ‘thump’ as the melon split in half, with the two pieces sailing past Luna and landing a few feet behind her.

The crowd of partygoers erupted into a cheer as Luna hefted her sword above her head.

“There can be only one!”

“Where did you learn to do that?” I remarked in a mixture of disbelief and awe.

Resting the blade upon her shoulder, Luna made little attempt to hide her smug sense of amusement. “Let’s just say Canterlot University offers better alternatives to ‘basket weaving 101’,” she answered. “Now come over here, I’ll show you how to do it properly.”

After a few helpful pointers, we were soon taking turns hacking apart all manners of melons, pineapples, and squashes. It was equal parts destructive and delicious. Soon, I had scores of pictures on my phone, half of which were of Dash showing off. After about an hour or so, we ran out of things to dismember, and despite Rainbow Dash’s repeated petitions, we decided against finding other food items to serve up as sacrifices.

Once the bulk of the party transitioned back inside, I was reminded of the idea I wanted to bring up with Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, Trixie is up for a guitar rematch if you’re interested,” I proposed to my friend.

As expected, she needed little convincing. “A rematch? Ha! Didn’t think she’d want to lose again so soon,” Dash said with a trifling laugh. “You want to join in too? We could make it a free-for-all and see who the best guitarist is. I mean, as long as you don’t mind losing on your birthday.”

“Oh, it is so on now!”

We headed back into the living room, where my friends had set up our instruments for the inevitable rock performance.

“You both play guitar?” Lightning asked, having overheard part of our conversation. “Heh, this party is getting better and better by the moment.”

“You play any instrument?” I asked.

My mohawked friend shook her. “Nah. With all the early morning soccer practices, I’ve never had the time for that.”

“Well prepare to have your mind blown by my awesome shredding skills,” Dash boasted while giving Lightning a friendly nudge with her elbow.

Before I could grab a guitar, however, the doorbell rang once more. As I went to go answer it, I started getting a nagging feeling at the back of mind. It was as if my subconscious was trying to remind me of something critical that the rest of me had yet to realize. It wasn’t until I opened the door and saw Twilight Sparkle staring back at me did the answer finally hit me in the face.

Twilight Sparkle: the Princess of Friendship.

And the girl who looked identical to one of Lightning Dust’s classmates.

“Happy birthday Sun—”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence as I gave a measured response of quiet dignity. In other words, I shrieked like a startled newborn and slammed the door in her face.

“I heard a scream; is everything okay?” Lightning’s voice perked up from behind me.

This time, I managed to keep my reaction contained despite my heart tightening in my chest. “It’s good!” I replied with the best reassuring smile I could muster on short notice. “I just… uh, gotta take this outside. Could you let Rainbow Dash know that she can start without me?”

No doubt my behaviour struck her as odd, but Lightning must’ve felt inquiring would’ve been impolite given the venue. “Okay then, but try not to take too long or you’ll miss all the fun.”

Once Lightning Dust had ventured back into the living room, I opened the front door again and stepped outside. Somehow, I had to explain myself to Twilight.

Assuming I didn’t resort to more lying.

“H-hey, Twilight! Crazy seeing you here,” I greeted, followed by a sheepish chuckle.

My friend raised a puzzled eyebrow. “You invited me, remember?” she replied. “Is something wrong? You look nervous.”

“What? Me, nervous? Where would you ever get such a ridiculous idea as that?”

Suffice to say, Twilight was not convinced by my reassurances. “Are you sure? If there’s something troubling you, you can talk to me about it. Is it the party?”

“Party? What party?”

“The party I can see right over there,” Twilight answered as she pointed to the nearby living room window. One would’ve had to have been blind to not notice what was going on inside, and once Rainbow Dash started playing guitar, only the dead could remain oblivious. No surprise that she was playing ‘Awesome as I Wanna Be.’

In hindsight, I have no idea what I was trying to accomplish by denying the party’s existence. I panicked and grasped at whatever straws I could that may have kept Twilight at bay. If the conversation persisted any longer, I was liable to crash-tackle her before letting her inside.

“O-oh, right. That party.” I was at the end of my rope: all the golden words in my purse have been spent, save for the truth. Then again, if anyone could understand my dilemma, it’d be the only other Equestrian present. “You see, the thing is—”

I never got to finish my sentence, however, as a flash of cyan from the living room window drew both of our attention to the party.

That’s when the realization struck. “Oh no, the music!” I gasped.

I raced back to the living room, only to confirm what I had feared: Rainbow Dash had ponied up, and was now shredding a guitar solo while levitating above the cheering crowd; all except Lightning Dust, who was just staring in stunned silence.

Act VI-IV

“Oh no! Oh nonononono! This isn’t happening—this can’t be happening!”

Some people worked better under pressure; some handled panic with an air of grace and dignity, as if their thoughts became focused into a laser. I was not one of those people. The last time I went into a full panic, I crash-tackled my friend in front of the whole school and nearly cost the Rainbooms the Battle of the Bands competition—or it would have, had the judging not been rigged beforehand.

I just wasn’t used to working under pressure. Throughout my entire life, up until the Fall Formal, rarely was I in a situation where I didn’t have complete control over the outcome. My tutelage under Princess Celestia represented the greatest challenges to be set against me, and I made them look like foal’s play. When you never needed to work under pressure, you never learn how to handle it.

And that inexperience was showing as my brain went through every stage of panic imaginable. It wasn’t too unlike the five stages of grief, except with less crying and higher blood pressure.

I continued to stare in disbelief through the window at my magic-infused friend performing what would otherwise have been an awesome rock performance. It wasn’t until a voice spoke up behind me that I remembered that I wasn’t alone.

“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked. It was clear she was worried and wanted to help, but was too polite to try and force her way into my problems, at least just yet.

“No, no! It’s fine. I’ve got this under control,” I blurted back to my friend, though I doubt my wide-eyed expression helped my argument. “I knew I shouldn’t have left Rainbow Dash alone. She’s always looking for an opportunity to show off! How could she be so careless?”

I must’ve been clenching my fists tighter than I thought because Twilight suddenly took me by the hand and turned me to face her. “Sunset, calm down,” she said in a firm but polite tone.

“Right. Calm. Of course,” I stammered back. “Can’t solve problems while panicking. I can fix this: m-maybe if I bash Lightning Dust over the head, she’ll forget everything she saw. That’ll fix things.”

Unsurprisingly, my suggestion of violence was poorly received. “Sunset!” Twilight snapped, shaking me a couple times. “You’re starting to scare me, so please talk to me.”

Her voice provided the necessary anchor to ground my thoughts until the initial burst of anxiety subsided. That didn’t leave me in any better of a state, but at least it wasn’t going to lead to any rash decisions.

“Oh sweet Celestia, I’m so doomed,” I groaned.

“What do you mean? Why?”

“Because Lightning Dust just saw Rainbow Dash pony up! Now everybody’s going to find out about the magic portal, and it’s gonna get taken away by some men in a black van, and I’m gonna wake up in a science lab with probes shoved into every one of my orifices! I like my orifices unprobed, Twilight! Unprobed!”

Even Twilight was taken aback by my remarks for a moment, no doubt because nothing I said would make sense to anybody other than myself. “Sunset, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down. Listen to the sound of my voice and take some nice, slow breaths,” she instructed.

I heeded her instructions, and with each inhalation, I could feel my heart beginning to settle once more. After several seconds with my eyes closed and only her voice to coach me along, I felt something resembling serenity return to my mind. I was, by no means, out of the woods just yet, but at least I could think straight again.

“Feeling better?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

I nodded slowly. “A little, yes.”

“Now, perhaps you can tell me what’s going on from the start.”

Was it really going to be as simple as that? As I stood outside my home, which a part of me was still worried might soon become an ex-home, I took a moment to consider my options in full. Maybe it was time to stop hiding from the truth and tell somebody what was really going inside the swirling, chaotic storm that was my mind. If anybody would understand my fears about Equestria and living as a pony-turned-human, it’d be Princess Twilight Sparkle.

What did I have to lose by telling her the truth?

With my thoughts under control again, I was able to focus and formulate a plan of action. I just had to tackle this one issue at a time.

“I’ll explain once we get you inside,” I said before grabbing Twilight by the wrist. “Also, I need you to be quiet and follow me upstairs. I promise it’ll make sense when I explain everything.”

With everybody at the party focused on Rainbow Dash and her extended guitar solos, it was easy to whisk Twilight past all of the crowds and upstairs to the relative safety of my bedroom.

Once I closed the door behind me, I felt a little more secure. “Okay, nobody should bother us here for a while,” I said, mostly to myself.

“What exactly is going on, Sunset?” Twilight asked. Her concern was evident, but so was a growing undertone of impatience. “I thought this was just a birthday party.”

“It is, but it’s gotten… complicated,” I tried to explain. Perhaps it was time to just be direct with it. “Listen, I made a new friend here: her name is Lightning Dust.”

“Why do you not sound happy about that?”

“I am, it’s just—” I stopped mid-sentence as I tried to pick my words carefully, but once again my compulsion to obfuscate was beginning to rear its ugly head. I knew I just needed to get it out into the open before my bad habits kicked in. “Lightning Dust goes to another school. She doesn’t know anything about magic, or at least I was trying to keep that part of our lives secret, but now Rainbow Dash just went and let that cat out of the bag.”

“Is it really that big of a deal if this Lightning Dust knows about your magic? I mean, I told Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and the others that I’m a pony princess and they accepted it. Plus, the whole school has seen us ponied up. What’s the problem with one more girl?”

“Well, it’s because she’s… uh, you know, it’s not like…” I began to stammer and fumbled with my words as my mind tried to apply logic to the situation. The more I tried to put a rational explanation to my worries, the more they felt overblown. The truth, I began to realize, was far simpler. “I… I’m just… what if it freaks her out? What if I lose her as a friend?”

Twilight put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I was worried about the same thing when I had to tell my friends about who I really was,” she said. “I know it can be scary, but if Lightning Dust is your friend, then you need to place your trust in her, and your friendship.”

For somebody who prided themselves on being so smart, I had to hear the same message a lot more than most people to get it through my skull. My fears and paranoia were getting in the way of me forming meaningful friendships with others. I needed to stop being afraid of the truth.

“Well, if Lightning Dust isn’t freaking out when I get downstairs, I suppose I can take that as a good sign she won’t when I tell her the whole truth,” I muttered to myself.

“If you’d like the moral support, I can go with you,” my friend offered.

I was just about to accept that offer when the other issue that had been plaguing my mind sprang to the forefront. “Yeah, about that,” I began with a nervous grin. “You see, there’s also the teeny, tiny issue that Lightning Dust might also happen to know the Twilight Sparkle that goes to her school.”

“Oh,” came Twilight’s response. “That might be a bit harder to explain.”

“Hence why we’re hiding upstairs,” I added. “Also, I haven’t told the others, but I sorta caught the other Twilight Sparkle snooping around our school and investigating the statue out front.”

“Investigating?”

“Our fight at the Fall Formal might’ve attracted some outside attention,” I explained. “People knowing about our magic is one thing, but the portal is our only link back home. If people find out about that, I could get stranded here and it could mean humans wandering into Equestria.”

“I could see that being problematic,” Twilight nodded in agreement, much to my surprise. “And I know how determined I can get when it comes to solving a mystery.”

Ever the problem-solver, Twilight began to pace back and forth across my room, one hand rested upon her chin and tapping the side of her face at a steady tempo. I hoped she could come up with a plan because the only thing that came to mind involved removing either Twilight or Lightning Dust from the party. Needless to say, that wouldn’t make me a very good friend to whichever one I chose, and thus only a choice of last resort.

“I’ve got it!” Twilight suddenly announced. “Rarity’s downstairs, right? I’ll need her help with this.”

“I’ll text her to come up here,” I said as I pulled out my phone. I didn’t even know what Twilight had in mind, but I knew it’d be better than anything I could devise. Just that fact alone was a huge relief to my already frayed nerves. One desperate and discrete message later, and Rarity was knocking on my door within minutes.

“Sunset? Are you in there?” she called out.

At first, I only opened the door a crack, just to make sure she was alone. “Quick! Get in before anyone sees you.”

Whatever confusion she might’ve held was brief as Rarity was soon elated with the sight of her friend. “Twilight! Darling, when did you arrive?” she exclaimed before she raced over and hugged her friend. “And why are on earth is Sunset hiding you up here?”

“Apparently, she’s a little worried because her new friend goes to school with this world’s version of me,” Twilight explained.

“Oh, right. Lightning does go to Crystal Heart,” Rarity said with an understanding nod. “I suppose that could make things a little confusing, but what’s wrong with just explaining the truth to her?”

“That Twilight and I are actually from a parallel dimension where everybody’s talking magical ponies?” I asked in a rhetorical fashion.

Rarity pursed her lips in thought for a moment before giving a reluctant nod. “Hm, I suppose that could be a little hard to swallow when you put it like that,” she mused. “I mean, it seems normal to me, what with all the demons and other magical monsters we’ve dealt with.”

“Perhaps one day our two worlds can have more open relations, but I don’t think it’d be fair for us to make that decision,” Twilight continued. “To that end, I was wondering if you could maybe help me with a disguise: like the one you had for me back when I first visited Canterlot High.”

The challenge was met with a trifling laughter from our fashionista friend. “Give me a few minutes, and I can have you looking so fabulous, even Flash won’t be able to recognize you.”

“Well, we don’t have to go quite that far,” Twilight replied with a faint blush.

With the Twilight problem being addressed, I felt confident enough to go downstairs and settle the issue with Lightning Dust. With luck, any sense of confusion and bewilderment at seeing Rainbow Dash sprout wings and float across the living room would’ve dissipated by now, and she’d be more receptive to an explanation. The fact that nobody was screaming bloody murder was a promising sign.

By the time I arrived back in the living room, the music had subsided and been replaced with ecstatic cheers. Unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash was still on the far side with her guitar, bathing in the adoration of her peers. I pushed my way through the crowd until I eventually found Lightning Dust, who still stood wide-eyed and agape.

Despite all the panic going through my mind about how this conversation might go, I figured my best bet would be to pretend that everything that just happened was completely normal, which in a way it was for the rest of us.

“Hey, LD,” I greeted as I gave her a nudge with my elbow. “Pretty awesome show, huh?”

“Did… did I just see Rainbow Dash flying?” Lightning eventually stammered out. “Th-that was all just special effects, right?”

“Nope, that was all me!” Dash said as she joined us, having overheard the remark.

“Those are real?” Lightning said as she pointed to my friend’s wings. Still skeptical as to what she was seeing, she reached out and gave one of the wings a few tugs. “How is this even possible? Are… are you an alien?”

“Nothing so outlandish, it’s just magic,” I explained, continuing my matter-of-fact charade.

“Magic? Like ‘abracadabra’ sort of magic?”

Dash and I both nodded in the affirmative.

“Woah,” Lightning murmured under her breath. She tugged on Dash’s wing again, stretching it so that she could get a closer look at it. The mixture of confusion and awe on her face worried me, as I still couldn’t tell if she was going to freak out or accept our answer. Slowly but surely, and much to my relief, her eyes began to light up. “This. Is. Awesome! Oh my gosh, how fast can you fly with these? Can you transform at will? Is there any way I could do this too? This is so cool: it’s like something out of those silly cartoons my little sister watches!”

“Slow down there, Lightning,” Rainbow insisted before pulling her wing back in. “It’s better if you ask Sunset. I know I’m awesome and all, but she’s the real magic genius around here.”

Feeling a little embarrassed thanks to my friend’s praise, I tried putting on an air of humility with a sheepish chuckle. “I’m hardly a genius: I only just barely figured out how to activate the magic.” Despite having Lightning’s undivided attention, at least I didn’t have to worry about her freaking out anymore. “Anyways, it’s all a bit of a long story, but the short version is that my friends and I have this sort of… friendship-powered magic. So far it’s just us, it’s still a bit sporadic even at the best of times, and we’re really, really trying to keep this on the down-low.”

That look of puzzlement returned to Lightning’s expression. “Friendship magic?” she repeated. “That sounds a lot less cool when you say it like that. And was I the only person here who didn’t know about this?”

“Well we did kind of have a giant magical battle with Sunset in front of the whole school,” Rainbow Dash boasted as she playfully nudged me with her elbow.

Lightning looked to me once more with that expression that pleaded for clarification, like a puppy staring at a high-pitched whistle.

“You remember how I mentioned I had a bit of a bad phase?” I remarked with growing embarrassment. “I might’ve tried to… you know, use an ancient magical artifact to imbue myself with dark magic and take over the school.”

“Seriously?”

To which Lightning’s remark was answered by a near-unanimous ‘uh-huh’ from everyone else at the party.

“Raging she-demon and everything,” I added.

“And you’re all cool with her and just hang out together?”

There was another round of murmured confirmations, much to Lightning’s surprise.

“I feel like I’ve walked into a story that’s half-way finished.”

“Don’t you worry,” Rainbow Dash reassured her as she slung an arm across our newest friend’s shoulder. “You hang around us long enough, and you’ll hear all the stories soon enough. Spoiler alert, though: I save the day a whole bunch.”

“Okay, Dash, that’s enough. You don’t need to oversell us that much,” I reminded her. And just like that, a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Lightning Dust had learned about our magic and she didn’t immediately call the nearest psychiatric hospital. In fact, it seemed to make our friendship even stronger than it was before, or at the very least more enticing.

Perhaps now I could get back to enjoying my birthday party properly.

Before I could lose myself mingling with my friends and classmates once more, a flash of movement from the stairs caught my attention. It was Rarity, descending alongside a seemingly-unfamiliar girl. Given this mystery guest was wearing one of my hoodies and an old pair of jeans, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was Twilight Sparkle. She had donned a lengthy blonde wig and some large sunglasses to help obscure her identity further.

“Nice work there, Rarity,” I remarked as the pair approached me. “I almost didn’t recognize her for a second.”

“Do you think I look okay?” Twilight asked as she nervously twirled some of her ‘hair’ around one finger. Rarity had to swat her friend’s hand down before she accidentally tore off the wig.

“You look fine,” I reassured her. I draped an arm across her shoulders and started walking her towards some of the other party guests. “Now why don’t we find Flash? I’m sure he’s dying to see you again.”

Twilight tensed up for a moment, although her resistance to my guidance was a paltry show. “S-shouldn’t we go say hi to the other girls first?” she stammered at first. “We don’t need to do this right away.”

“Nonsense! There’ll be plenty of time for the rest of us to catch up. You’ve got to strike while the iron is hot!”

I had to admit, I was taking a far more vested interest in this arrangement than I should’ve. Considering everything I had gone through to make this happen, however, I felt justified in playing a more aggressive role. Besides, sometimes young love just needed a swift kick in the pants to get it moving.

We wormed our way through the crowded living room. Twilight’s disguise appeared to be working better than I hoped because nobody stopped to say hello to the Fall Formal Princess. The penultimate test came when we inadvertently bumped into Lightning Dust, who was making her way through the crowd in a hurry.

“Oh, sorry about that!” I apologized in haste. I felt my heart begin to tighten, as the next few seconds would determine whether our careful machinations were worth the effort.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lightning replied. “Hey, have you seen my claymore anywhere? I lost track of it when Rainbow Dash did her music thing.”

How somebody could lose a five-foot slab of steel was beyond me, but it did sound important. “I think I saw Bulks with it last,” I said as I gestured off towards another part of the house.

“He better not be trying to one-hand it again.” Lightning was just about to head on her way, but stopped herself when she noticed my disguised friend. “Hey, who’s your friend here? I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

“Oh. Uh, this is—”

“Amethyst Star,” Twilight introduced herself without missing a beat.

“Lightning Dust. Nice to meet’cha.”

I was just about to relax again when Lightning cocked an eyebrow and leaned in closer to Twilight for a moment. This party was becoming quite hazardous to my blood pressure.

“Say, have we met before? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.” Lightning pursed her lips, one hand resting on her hip and the other tapping upon her chin, all of which prompted me to quickly devise a half-dozen different escape routes. The curious teen leaned in ever closer with her face contorting as she sorted through every mental file she could.

Every passing second drew us closer to being discovered, and my own anxieties were stripping away at my mind like it were an onion. I was a fool for thinking such a haphazard disguise would be able to convince anybody with one functioning eye: the wig looked cheap and plastic, Twilight had way too much hair to hide, nobody could realistically hide their identity just by concealing their eyes and cheekbones, and she was still the same shade of purple as before. Our hubris was about to blow up in our face like a cheap science experiment volcano. I had to do something before I ruined one of the few good things still left in my life!

“Trottingham under-sixteen regional soccer championship?” Lightning asked, snapping me out of my panic.

Twilight offered a simple, apologetic shrug. “Sorry, but I’ve never been to Trottingham before,” she answered.

“Guess I must be going crazy. Anyways, I’ve got a sword to track down.” Convinced it was all in her head, Lightning Dust continued on her way, and I was able to step back from the edge of an anxiety attack.

It worked. I couldn’t believe the disguise actually worked. I wanted to drop to my knees and praise whatever powers that be for this small mercy, but I didn’t want to reveal how panic-stricken I had been to my friend.

“Huh, so that’s Lightning Dust,” Twilight remarked. “She seems nice.”

“Do you know her from the other side?”

“I’ve met a Lightning Dust, but only briefly. She was friends with Rainbow Dash while they were training at the Wonderbolt Academy.”

As curious as I was, I decided against probing any further. This Lightning Dust wasn’t the same as the one from Equestria, and I didn’t want to risk giving myself false impressions by hearing stories of the pony version of my friend. Anything worth telling I felt I would’ve already known.

We continued on, and I soon found Flash Sentry lounging with his bandmate friends. When he saw us approach, the confusion on his face was evident for a brief moment, but he soon began to put the pieces together and his expression lit up.

“Hey Sunset,” he greeted after he hurried over to us. “Is this… um—”

“It’s me, Flash,” Twilight said before lifting her sunglasses enough for him to see her eyes.

“I knew I recognized that smile,” Flash said, wasting no time in turning on his patented charm. I had to hide my snickering, but it also made Twilight blush a little. “So what’s with the get-up?”

“It’s a long story. There’ll be time to explain it all later, but just trust us when we say it’s for an important reason.” Twilight’s explanation was enough to sate the other teen’s curiosity for the time being. Compared to what everyone at Canterlot High had gone through over the past few months, something as mundane as wearing a blonde wig was a welcomed change.

“Now you two play nice,” I said as I gently eased my friend towards Flash. “And if you need privacy, you’re welcome to use my bedroom.”

The two of them immediately turned as red as a tomato, and after a few seconds, so did I as the implications of my remark set in.

“That sounded better in my head,” I muttered. “I… uh, I’m gonna go now.”

I made a hasty retreat before I made things more awkward for any of us, finding some refuge in the relative tranquility of the kitchen. I kept an eye on Twilight and Flash; I watched as they began to talk. He smiled and said something that made Twilight laugh, then soon he was laughing as well. I remembered when we used to do the same as well, although I was usually faking it. At least now Flash might have a chance with somebody who’d appreciate him for who he was.

“A bit unusual to be standing on the sidelines at your own party,” a familiar voice perked up behind me. I turned around to see Celestia at the kitchen island, in the midst of preparing a sprawling birthday cake covered with strawberries and rainbow sprinkles. “Or are you just taking a moment to enjoy the fruits of your labour?”

“I guess you would know what that feeling is like,” I remarked as I shot back a playful smirk. I walked over to inspect the cake, or at least pretend to.

Celestia was still placing the candles, of which she had about a dozen set down already. “If you enjoy seeing those around you succeed, perhaps you should consider teaching as a career,” she suggested. Pausing for a moment, she did a quick count of the candles already placed. “I realize this sounds a little foolish but… how old are you exactly?”

“Just go with eighteen,” I answered.

“Is that the truth?”

“No, but the truth is irrelevant at this point.”

Celestia raised a concerned eyebrow. “I don’t quite follow what you mean.”

Letting out a quiet sigh, I grabbed a stool and parked myself on the opposite side of the island from her. “The way I see it, however old I was before stepping through that portal is meaningless. It’s like what you said to me when you first took me in: I was in such a hurry to stop being a child that I never actually matured past that. I think the portal recognized that, too, so when it spat me out in this world, it put me into a body that reflected my emotional maturity. And really, when we first met, would you have pegged me as anything other than a typical self-absorbed fourteen-year-old?”

Slowly, Celestia nodded in understanding. “That is certainly true, though you’ve come a long way since your first days at Canterlot High.”

“Plus, I got myself checked by a doctor last year, and he said my growth plates put me somewhere in the mid to late teens.”

“You know, you could’ve just led with that,” Celestia remarked with a brief chuckle.

I couldn’t help but laugh along with her. “But that wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting to talk about.” Once we settled down, I gave her a heartfelt smile. “Thanks for letting us have the party here. If we had tried something this big at Pinkie’s place, it probably would’ve driven her parents mad.”

“It was the least I could do.” It shouldn’t have surprised me that she had been willing to play host. “I must admit, though, I made the offer because this birthday is clearly an important point in your life, and I selfishly wished to be involved in it while I still could.”

“While you still could? I don’t understand.”

With everything she’d done so far to help me on my recovery, a little party was likely a triviality, and especially when compared to the task of managing an entire school. It also spoke volumes to how the students felt about her that they were all willing to hang out and have a party right in front of her. Canterlot High was turning out to be the best place for my rehabilitation.

“As I said, you’ve made a lot of progress since the Fall Formal,” Celestia answered. Her eyes fell to the cake she was preparing, planting each candle one at a time with care and precision. “Certainly exceeded every expectation I had for you, and then some.”

“To be fair, nobody expected somebody would try to take over the school using Equestrian magic a second time,” I remarked. My attempt at levity did little to change Celestia, which forced me to consider her words further. “Wait, are you worried that I won’t need you anymore?”

“I’ll always be here if you need me,” she reassured, “but I’m not going to be surprised if that’s few and far between anymore.”

I reached across the island and set my hand atop of hers, hoping that the momentary contact would help make my words more meaningful. “Celestia, I wouldn’t be where I am if it hadn’t been for you,” I reminded her. “And the peace of mind knowing that you’ll always be there for me when I’m feeling lost or alone is one of the best things you’ve ever given me.”

Celestia smiled back. “It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”

I wanted to say something else, something to add to my remarks to make it more poignant, but instead all I could do was smile. That probably conveyed more meaning than anything I could’ve thought of.

The moment was short-lived, however, when Rainbow Dash barged into the kitchen. “Sunset! Come quick, we’re going to have a guitar shredding free-for-all between you, me, Trixie, and Flash!”

I shot a quick glance back to Celestia, not necessarily looking for permission but rather to ensure that she’d be okay without me.

“Oh, get going,” she said while shooing me away. “You wouldn’t want to keep your fans waiting too long.”

*******************

By the time the party had settled down, it was late in the evening. We sang, we danced, we laughed, and we stuffed our faces with so much cake that I didn’t even want to think of anything sweet for the rest of the night. And needless to say, I was dead on my feet as I shuffled back into the living room where the last party guests, my closest friends, were.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thank goodness that’s finally over,” I said with a weary groan.

Once I had reached the couch, I unceremoniously collapsed into its warm embrace between two of my friends. On one end was Applejack, who slouched low and had her feet up on the coffee table, and on the other side of the couch, Pinkie Pie was collapsed across the cushion and armrest like some kind of giant pink cat.

“I’m party pooped,” Pinkie declared to nobody in particular.

“Can’t… move… too much cake…” came Rainbow Dash’s slothen whimpers. She was beneath the coffee table, having taken refuge there a short while ago so that she could lay down without anyone tripping over her.

Fluttershy and Rarity were sharing one of the easy chairs, both having fallen victim to post-party napping. I would’ve offered either of them a spot on the couch, but I didn’t have the heart to wake them up.

In fact, the only one of my close friends not already collapsed in a tired heap was Princess Twilight, who was saying goodbye to the last our of party guests. Given how it had been more than fifteen minutes since she walked Flash Sentry to the door, it was probably more than just a farewell. My suspicions were only furthered when she returned, sporting a hint of crimson upon her tired expression.

“So how did it go?” I asked, mustering what energy I had left for a Cheshire grin.

Twilight must’ve caught on to my insinuations, or at least imagined something equally embarrassing because she turned an even deeper shade of red. “W-what? N-nothing happened! We just talked,” she stammered.

“Something totally happened,” I chuckled and gestured for my friend to join me on the couch, shuffling over just enough to make room for her. “Come on, no need to be shy among friends.”

Twilight accepted the invitation, taking a seat next to me in just as tired a fashion as I had. “I haven’t danced that much since the Fall Formal,” she remarked as she pulled off her wig.

“Yup, that was one hay of a party,” I nodded in agreement. “Though next time, maybe we can make it a smaller affair. The big party was nice and all, but now my feet hurt and I’m pretty sure Luna is gonna have a fit when she sees what we did to her Alpine Mist supply.”

“But you had fun, right?”

“Of course I did, Twilight,” I replied, “but let’s not get focused on me. It’s time to spill the beans.”

“S-Sunset, please,” Twilight pleaded as she wrung her hair. “Flash and I talked for the most part.”

“And?”

Twilight began to fidget in her seat, one finger twirling at her hair while the other tapped on the couch cushion. “He… um, might’ve possibly suggested the idea that we could consider going on a… uh, date.”

Suddenly, Rarity bolted upright, no doubt awoken by the siren’s call of romance in the air. “Did somebody say date?” she called out.

“Looks like Flash finally popped the question,” I answered with a teasing chuckle.

“Oh, that’s wonderful, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. The news seemed to have reinvigorated her as she hopped from her chair and hurried over to her friend’s side. “Did he suggest someplace romantic? I know this lovely little bistro downtown that serves the most eloquent candlelight dinner for the couple on a budget.”

“He didn’t suggest anything specific: he just asked that if I had free time that maybe we could have lunch or dinner tomorrow,” Twilight answered.

“That sounds like Flash alright,” I remarked. “He likes to start things slow and simple; he won’t break out any of the really charming stuff until the third date.”

“So when’s the big day?” Rarity continued to interrogate our friend.

Twilight gulped and donned an apologetic grin. “I… um, said I’d have to check my calendar.”

“You what?” Rarity and I shouted in unison. It was loud enough to startle the rest of our friends, particularly Fluttershy who let out a yelp as she flailed and fell out of her seat in a half-asleep panic. There was also a loud thump from the coffee table, no doubt from Rainbow Dash forgetting what she had been resting beneath.

“I said I’d have to see how my schedule was,” Twilight reiterated. “I have a lot of responsibilities back in Equestria, remember? I can’t just brush those off.”

“But Twilight, this is young love we’re talking about! You can’t just squander that,” Rarity pleaded with her, grabbing Twilight by the shoulders in the process. “You must seize the opportunity while the fires of passion are still burning bright!”

“Rarity, he’s been pining for her since the Fall Formal,” I reminded her. “I think their love will survive a few days while Twilight checks her schedule.”

As Rarity relaxed her grip, I eased her away. Twilight may have been the Princess of Friendship, but she was as inexperienced as the rest of us when it came to matters of love, and I didn’t think she needed more anxiety on top of what she must’ve already been feeling. As was stated, she had responsibilities, and she was mature enough to know what was more important in the grand scheme of things.

“First chance I get, I’ll go back to Equestria to check to see when I’m free,” Twilight explained. “I don’t suppose anybody has any books on courtshipping norms in this world? J-just in case there’s any differences from those in Equestria.”

“Don’t worry; it’s pretty much the same,” I reassured her while the others giggled amongst themselves. “Why don’t you stay the night? I can give you some advice if you really want to score points with Flash.”

“That’d be great, if Celestia doesn’t mind me staying.”

“Don’t worry, we were already planning on crashing for the night,” Applejack stated.

Despite her exhaustion, Pinkie still managed a quiet cheer as she threw a hand into the air. “Woo, slumber party!”

“Oh! Speaking of party, we almost forgot the most important part.” Rarity’s look of surprise left me confused for a moment, as I had thought we finished all the crucial stuff. The girls even sang me ‘Happy Birthday’ and made me make a wish before blowing out the candles. It all made me feel a little childish, but my friends—and especially Pinkie Pie—helped me to understand it was okay to stop acting your age once in a while.

As Rarity raced out of the room, I was left to stew in my curiosity while all the other girls looked at me with excitement on their faces. Something big was on its way, but for once, I was looking forward to this surprise. The wait wasn’t long: Rarity soon returned to the living room carrying several boxes of varying sizes, all wrapped in bright and colourful paper.

“Yay! Time for presents!” Pinkie cheered.

“Oh my goodness,” I gasped. “Girls, you didn’t have to get me these.”

“It’s hardly a birthday without presents, darling,” Rarity assured me. “Besides, we wanted to. You are our friend, after all, and I simply couldn’t let you go around wearing those hoodies day in and day out.”

“Come again?”

My question was answered by her putting the first of the boxes into my lap, and gesturing for me to open it up. Just one look at the immaculate and shimmering pink wrapping and the silky ribbons was enough to confirm that this had been hand-wrapped by Rarity. I almost felt bad when I began to tear away at it, spurred on by insatiable curiosity. Inside the gift was a brand new leather jacket; it had a more contemporary style as opposed to my old ‘biker chick’ look, with a shorter cut and cuffed sleeves.

“Rarity, it’s gorgeous! Did you make this yourself?”

“But of course,” Rarity boasted. “A special moment like this requires a special touch. And Fluttershy helped pay for the materials.”

“I think I’ve got the perfect top to go along with this.”

“Open mine next!” Pinkie exclaimed as she shoved the next box into my hands. “This one’s from me and Rainbow Dash!”

“This isn’t going to explode in a blast of confetti when I open it, will it?”

“Uhhhhh… I plead the fifth.”

As it turned out, she was just pulling my leg because when I opened her gift, all I found were a pair of boots. It was hard to say which had impressed me more: the boots or the jacket. They were calf-high with a solid heel on them, which meant they were going to be both stylish and practical. I also noticed both the boots and the jacket shared an orange chevron marking on them, which led me to correctly guess that Rarity had some inspiration for the design of her coat in order to make them the perfect pairing.

“These are incredible!” I exclaimed. “I can’t wait: I have to try them on now!”

To no surprise, they fit like a glove, but what could one expect from Pinkie, the girl who epitomized party perfection. I did a few laps around the couch to try them out, and they were surprisingly comfortable. I could likely go an entire day through school with ease while wearing them. Next, I threw on the matching jacket and did a quick pirouette to showcase my new look to my friends.

“Now be honest, how do I look?”

“Absolutely fabulous, dear!” Rarity exclaimed. She did always take a certain degree of joy seeing her friends enjoying her creations, and I felt surprisingly invigorated by the new attire. The others nodded in agreement soon after.

“Heh, you know, I wish I had gone first ‘cause now mine’s probably gonna look boring in comparison,” Applejack commented as she handed me the last of the presents.

“Don’t be so modest,” I reassured her. “Not everything needs to be frilly or glamourous to be special.”

I wouldn’t expect fancy clothes or pretty boots from someone like Applejack. Knowing her, it’d be something much more practical, but memorable all the same. Upon opening her gift, I was greeted to the sight of a messenger bag, which had embroidered on its surface an image of my cutie mark. Granted, my friends only knew it as the symbol on my magic journal, but seeing it presented to me still made me feel a little teary-eyed.

“It’s beautiful, Applejack.”

Despite the minor hiccups and mishaps, the day had turned out to be one of the best birthday’s I’d ever had.

Act VI-V

It was close to noon by the time I shambled out of bed, still half-asleep and in such a disheveled mess that even Discord would’ve insisted I tidy up. I would have slept in even longer, but I was drawn to the kitchen by the delectable aroma of fresh-made pancakes. The other girls were already awake and eating, each one wishing me a ‘good morning’ as I stumbled in.

“Hurry up, Sunset, before Pinkie eats them all,” Rainbow Dash said as she waved me over.

Pinkie tried to say something in her defense, but her mouth was so full of food that all she accomplished was spraying Dash with flecks of her breakfast.

I took a seat at the dining table next to Twilight, just in time for Celestia to drop off a fresh stack of pancakes for us. Before I could start eating, however, my attention was drawn to my fellow Equestrian who was reading a book while she ate. Not just any book, either, but one of the journals that Ms. Yearling gave me. She was so absorbed in her reading that she barely even acknowledged my arrival.

“Find anything interesting in there?” I asked, if only to garner her attention.

“Nothing that’ll help you understand magic in this world any better,” Twilight reported. “But it is fascinating that this world has much more documented history about the Alicorn Amulet than mine.”

“Considering how much of it involved talks of ‘dark rituals’ and ‘ancient gods’, I’m not entirely sure you can call it a documented history,” I remarked. In truth, I hadn’t finished reading all of the journals given to me: my interest in them had taken a dive when most of them turned up nothing useful. “Makes for good storytelling, but it doesn’t really do much for figuring out real magic.”

“If what Derring Do writes here is accurate, this world’s ancient past isn’t too dissimilar from Equestria’s,” Twilight said as she flipped to the next page. “Hm, this is interesting. ‘The document was rough to translate, but according to it, the sect once worshipped a god of shadows and nightmares, and possessed a ritual that they believed could imbue a devoted servant with a fragment of the god’s power. This would invariably drive the recipient insane, so they used the ritual on an amulet instead in the hopes of creating a reservoir of the god’s power that could be called upon when needed. This relic would become known as the Alicorn Amulet.’”

“Man, I remember ‘Daring Do and the Temple of the Silver Moon’,” Dash said with a wistful sigh. “That one was so awesome.”

“It’s curious we don’t have the same book in my world,” Twilight commented. “But I suppose there are enough discrepancies in the histories of our two worlds to result in different adventures.”

“Not to mention that we’ve got two Darings,” I added.

As food was short-lived when surrounded by seven teenagers, I quickly claimed a few pancakes for myself. As I ate, it was hard not to think about the other Twilight Sparkle, who I felt I had neglected these past few days. I still felt guilty about not being able to share my birthday party with her. She should’ve been there. It was one of the best days of my life, and I couldn’t share it with the one person I wanted to the most. Not that I didn’t appreciate everything that Pinkie and the others had done for me, but I was failing in my lessons on friendship by trying to cordon off parts of my life from each other. Twilight Sparkle deserved better than to be treated like a second-class friend; she deserved a whole lot better than me.

I vowed that the next chance I got, I would find a way to make amends.

“Hey Sunset, wat’cha thinking about?” Pinkie spoke up, snapping me from my train of thought. “You had that scrunched up look that you do whenever you’re thinking really hard.”

“Just… uh, thinking of what I’d do for today,” I answered, which wasn’t too far from the truth.

“I have just the idea,” Rarity proposed. Judging by how she was almost bouncing in her seat, she was more than just a little excited. “Who’s up for taking Twilight to the mall so we can get her something fabulous for her first date?”

“Hey, that’s a great idea!” I exclaimed.

“A-aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves,” a suddenly flustered Twilight spoke up. “We haven’t actually agreed to a date. I still have to see if I have time for one.”

“No harm in making sure you’re prepared,” I reassured our jittery friend, though at the same time giving her a playful nudge with my elbow. “Plus, it’d be nice to spend a day hanging out without any huge parties or world-threatening disasters going on.”

Twilight pondered over her options, pursing her lips as she hummed and twirled loose hairs around her finger. “I suppose there’s no rush for me to get back to Equestria just yet,” she eventually decided, which was followed by a round of cheering from the rest of us.

********************

After everyone went home to shower and freshen up, we all met up again at the mall a few hours later. Spending a few hours with my friends at the mall was a welcomed change of pace. The birthday party had been a blast, but it was hard to have conversations when thirty other people had been packed into your living room, and Rainbow Dash had the music cranked up to eleven. On top of that, I was no longer in a state of perpetual anxiety over what might happen if certain people ran into one another.

Twilight had stuck with me while the other girls returned home, so when we arrived a bit ahead of schedule, we passed the time by hanging out at the food court. Despite the usual lunch-hour crowds, we had managed to find a table to ourselves just to talk, though I refrained from sitting and just leaned up against it.

“I really like your outfit,” Twilight commented in order to break the silence. “It looks great on you.”

I had taken the outing as an opportunity to also try out my new clothes in public. I paired the books and jacket with some jeans and a soft blue skirted shirt. It was hard not to feel invigorated when you first try on a new look; I felt like a whole new person. For a moment, I couldn’t help but wonder why it had taken me so long to ditch my old threads. Perhaps there had been some sense of security in it, like a child clinging to a blanket they had long since outgrown.

“Thanks. I do look way better in a jacket, don’t I?”

Twilight giggled, no doubt amused by my brief flare of unrepentant vanity. “It’s definitely more stylish than the hoodies.”

“I feel like I could take on the whole dang world in these.” I shot a playful grin over to my friend, which prompted her to roll her eyes while laughing.

“So Sunset, let’s just say hypothetically that I do go on a date with Flash Sentry,” Twilight began, and the cautious tone returned to her voice, “what exactly is the proper etiquette? I’ve never really been on a real date before.”

I tapped my fingertips upon the tabletop as I thought over my response. Despite my eagerness to help Twilight out in this new venture, I was uncertain of how much help I could actually be. While it was true that I had dated Flash, it was less of a relationship and more just manipulation. That involved a lot of laughing at his jokes, playing to his ego, and not shying away when hormones inevitably kicked in. None of that felt like the right kind of advice to give. Maybe it was just better to admit that than give my friend false hope.

“Honestly, Twilight, just keep doing what you’ve done so far,” I answered. “You’ve managed to keep his attention for this long, so you’re clearly doing something right.”

I could tell by Twilight’s expression that there were some hints of disappointment. If she were anything like the Twilight of this world, she was so methodical and studious that everything in life had to be able to be boiled down to a simple checklist—something that assured success by simply following one step after the other. Sadly, there was never going to be any ‘checklist to a perfect date.’

“You’ll be fine,” I reassured her, reaching over to pat my friend on the shoulder. “It might sound a little clichéd, but just be yourself. The basics of dating aren’t that different from friendship—just with a bit of kissing added to the mix.”

“Oh sweet Celestia, I hadn’t even thought about the kissing! Wh-what do I do if that happens? I’ve only had these lips for maybe a week in total. I can still barely write with these hands!”

“You could always ask Sunset to teach you,” Rainbow Dash’s voice intruded.

Both Twilight and I turned to see the rest of our friends arriving.

“D-don’t listen to her,” I stammered out whilst trying to keep my face from turning red. The last thing I needed was Twilight getting ideas because she was already near panic, and when you were in such a state, even crazy ideas seemed reasonable.

Thankfully, Rarity stepped in and saved me from any further embarrassment. “I hope we didn’t keep the two of you waiting too long,” she said before hooking an arm around Twilight’s. “Now come along, I saw this cute little ensemble on the way here and you’ve got to try it on.”

Despite whatever apprehensions she may have felt, Twilight nonetheless followed along as her friend dragged her towards the first of many clothing stores. Before I could fall into step alongside them, my phone buzzed with the alert of a new text message. As a precaution, I allowed all of my friends to get ahead of me before I checked.

Twilight: Do you have time for us to meet? There’s something I need to talk to you about.

It was puzzling to see the other Twilight Sparkle be so direct out of the blue. Her adherence to politeness alone usually demanded a ‘good morning’ or ‘hello’ at the start of all of her messages. It was almost as startling as the fact that Twilight ended a text with a preposition. Maybe somebody had stolen her phone and was trying to lure me out.

It might’ve been a crazy thought to even entertain, but life thus far had taught me to expect a lot of things that sounded crazy at first.

Sunset: Is everything okay? Can’t you tell me over texts?

Twilight: It’s too important: it needs to be face-to-face.

Her response only worried me further, but despite wanting to press further, I had to respect her wishes. Me criticizing somebody about withholding information was about as outlandish as Nightmare Moon complaining about somebody turning off all of the lights. But what could be so important that Twilight couldn’t tell me over a text or a phone call? Could it be something so anxiety-inducing that she could only feel comfortable in my presence?

Twilight: Are you available on Monday?

Sunset: I have a meeting with one of my teachers after school. I should be free after dinner.

Twilight: Could we meet for dinner? There’s this new place I think you might enjoy.

Now that was starting to sound more like the Twilight Sparkle that I knew. It looked as though she wanted to invite me out to dinner from the start, which I had no objection to. My worries began to melt away at the thought of a casual and relaxing meal with my friend.

Sunset: Dinner sounds great. I should be free for any time after five.

Twilight: Would you be able to bring the scanner with you?

It honestly took a few moments for me to recall what Twilight was referring to: the jury-rigged sensor device that she had asked me to carry around at school had sat in my locker almost the entire time. As much as I would’ve liked to help my friend in her pursuits, I could only pretend to help when it came to investigating the magic at Canterlot High. I couldn’t imagine there’d be much useful data since there’s been very little going on around the school involving magic. Maybe she had finally given up on this particular avenue of research.

Sunset: No problem.

Twilight: Good. I’ll double check the address and make a reservation, and then send you the details afterwards. Does this sound acceptable?

Sunset: Sounds fantastic. I can’t wait!

Twilight: Great. It’s a date!!

Not since King Ramsay the Flatulent, ruler of Yakyakistan, uttered his infamous ‘pull my hoof’ had three words left a person so utterly paralyzed in indecision. It’s a date? Did she just ask me out? Did I just agree to a date? I couldn’t have: she wasn’t the type to do something that bold. But she just said ‘it’s a date’. Why would Twilight end with that choice of wording? Her messages came off as anxious and nervous originally, but now she appeared jubilant. And two exclamation points? Launching intercontinental ballistic missiles would’ve set off fewer alarm bells than Ms. Grammar Queen electing for superfluous punctuation.

For a second, I pondered whether I had inadvertently stepped through another magic portal and was now in a realm where my friend had been replaced by an air-headed valley girl, and I was about to get bombarded under a mountain of emojis and acronyms. It wasn’t until Applejack noticed I had fallen behind, slack-jawed and gaping at my phone, that I was finally pulled back to reality.

“Hey Sunset, you okay back there?” Applejack said as she nudged my shoulder.

“Sorry! Just got distracted with something,” I hastily replied. I reminded myself that I was reading too much into my friend’s messages, and the only reason the concept of dating crossed my mind was because I had been so focused moments earlier by Princess Twilight’s situation. I pocketed my phone and hurried to catch up with the others.

********************

“Oh, I just found this most adorable little mini-skirt you just have to try on!” Rarity exclaimed with the same unmitigated zeal that’s been on display for the better part of an hour. I had to hand it to her, she had been bouncing off the walls of the mall almost as much as Pinkie Pie had been during my birthday party.

There was no better person to turn to if you wanted to look your best.

Twilight and I were at the back of one of the mall’s many clothing stores: my friend was in one of the changing rooms while I lingered outside serving as a sorting rack with the ‘reject’ pile in one arm, and the ‘maybe’ pile in the other. The rest of our friends were scouring the store and returned every couple of minutes with something else for Twilight to try on.

“I think it’ll go fantastic with that halter top that Pinkie Pie picked out,” Rarity continued on.

The changing room door opened just enough for Twilight to poke her head out. One could see the look of ‘out of my depths’ written across her face, but at least that hasn’t gone into a blind panic just yet.

“Thanks Rarity, I’ll try those on next,” Twilight replied as she took the offerings. “By the way, do you have any advice regarding Flash? What should I do to look, and be, my best?”

Rarity offered a sagely smirk, flicking her hair to the side as she strode back to her friend’s side. “Well, darling, you have to remember a date is all about putting your best foot forward,” she explained. “Naturally, appearances are paramount. If you look like a princess, he’ll be guaranteed to treat you like one. It’s also important to be bold and decisive: you can’t be afraid to make the first move.”

“I’d suggest not speaking in iambic pentameter,” I added.

Twilight flustered around her cheeks. “Oh, right. Of course! That would be quite silly.”

“You’re still doing it.”

“It’s a nervous tick!” With that, Twilight retreated back into her changing room.

“I remember my ‘first date’ jitters,” Rarity said with a playful laugh. “I spent hours trying to fix one little obstinate curl in my hair. I was so obsessed with trying to make it perfect that I almost called the whole night off. It took my mother and Sweetie Belle a while to talk me down.”

“I don’t remember ever hearing about this,” I remarked.

“It was during your… um, rebellious phase,” she answered. “It didn’t really pan out: my Prince Charming turned out to be quite the frog.”

Luckily, there wasn’t any chance of that happening with Flash. He could be a bit of a goofball and a die-hard romantic, but a heart-breaker he was not. If he had been, I would’ve smashed both of his kneecaps before letting him near Twilight again; not that she needed any kind of protection.

“What about you?” Rarity asked of me. “You must’ve had first date jitters before.”

“Not really: when I was dating Flash, I never thought of it as such,” I explained, no longer feeling the same degree of shame I once had when describing my past relationship. “Technically, I’ve never had a real first date to get jittery about.”

“A pity,” Rarity mused, arms folded with one finger tapping at her chin. “If only we could find you a date on short notice; then you could have a little double-date.”

The mere mentioning of me dating made my brain immediately jump back to my text messages from the other Twilight, triggering a panic reaction before the rest of me even realized what was happening “D-date? Me?” I exclaimed. “Oh, nononono! I am so not ready to make that leap.”

I was spared further mental strain when the changing room door opened up again and Twilight’s hand, holding a couple of brightly-coloured garments, poked out. “These two are a bit too big for me; if you can find them in a smaller size, we can put them in the ‘maybe’ pile. I definitely like the halter top.”

“I’ll get right on it,” Rarity said as she took the clothing.

She hurried off back to the showrooms in search of her new quarry, leaving just Twilight and I to marinade in our anxieties. Despite my best efforts, parts of me were still contemplating my last message from the other Twilight Sparkle. I wasn’t sure whether to be worried or terrified. What could she want from me that necessitated such cryptic messaging? I leaned against the wall next to the changing room, folding my arms as I pondered my situation.

“Hey, Sunset?” Twilight’s voice called out from behind the closed door.

“Yes?”

“If I go on this date—”

“You mean when, don’t you? I think we’re past the point of pretenses.”

“Okay, fine,” Twilight said with a resigned sigh. “When I go on this date, do you think you could, maybe, find a way to keep in touch? In case I need any advice or have a question.”

Leave it to Twilight to have backup plans in mind. “Sure. I’ll see about finding you a cell phone you can borrow so you can text any of us if something arises,” I suggested.

“I’ve seen you and the others doing that ‘texting’ thing,” Twilight commented. “I’m going to need a lot of practise if I’m going to do that with these hands.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I recalled the first time I saw her attempt at handwriting. It looked as though somebody had a seizure while holding a pen. Before I could trot too far down memory lane, my phone buzzed again.

“Oh, hey! Flash Sentry just texted me,” I spoke up for my friend’s benefit.

“W-why’s he texting you?” Twilight asked as she opened the door and nervously peered out. “Is he asking about me?”

“Because as it stands, I’m the only means he has to communicate with you,” I explained. If only we could get cell reception in Equestria, I wouldn’t have to play as the go-between for the pair. Not that I begrudged them for it; if anything, I felt some obligation to make amends to Flash for my past transgressions. “He’s asking me for restaurant suggestions. I imagine you don’t really care as long as it doesn’t involve meat, right?”

“That isn’t going to be a problem for him, is it?”

“Nah, we’ve got loads of places that can cater to us veggie-lovers. Plus, he did used to date me, remember?” I reassured her while typing out a response. “I’ll tell Flash to pick out something with a good vegetarian menu.”

“Thanks. For all of this, I mean. I really appreciate the help,” Twilight said, offering a brief and sincere smile.

Just as I was about to answer, a flash of movement from the store floor caught my attention. At first I thought it was just one of my friends, which was true, but I soon realized that the amber mohawk belonged to Lightning Dust, and she was heading right towards me. Thinking fast, I did the only thing that came to mind: I jumped forward and shoulder checked the changing room door shut, which resulted in a thump and distressed yelp from Twilight as the door slammed into her face.

“Lightning Dust!” I called out not only to get my friend’s attention, but to warn Twilight what was happening. Hopefully, she’d understand why I just bruised her nose.

“Hey, Sunset! Fancy running into you here,” Lightning replied, grinning brightly. “Wow, when did you get those new threads?”

“My friends gave them to me at the end of the party,” I explained. I couldn’t help but show off a little bit. “Not bad, huh?”

“Not bad? You look amazing! I’ve never even seen a coat like that. Where did your friend get it?”

“You remember Rarity? She’s something of a miracle worker with a sewing machine,” I explained with no shortage of egotism. I was beginning to understand why Rarity enjoyed her fashion so much; looking fabulous did wonders for your self-esteem.

“Really? Rarity made that?” my incredulous friend remarked. “Do you think I could ask her to make something like that for me? All I’ve got is this ol’ team jacket.” To emphasize her point, she did a quick spin to show the aged leather of her own attire, the back of which sported a faded ‘Shadowbolts’ logo.

Not wanting to make promises I couldn’t keep, I had to give her an uncertain shrug. “You’d have to ask her. I can’t imagine something like this is quick or easy for her, but there’s no harm in trying.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time I see her,” Lightning said, smiling optimistically. “Say, you doing anything later this week? Manechester United is taking on Trottingham Forest on Monday.”

I could only presume that she was talking about soccer again. Unfortunately, as amusing as it could be to watch her and Rainbow Dash bound around my living room like a pair of overgrown toddlers on a sugar rush, I already had plans. “Sorry—my Monday’s all booked up.”

“Even in the evening?”

“I’ve… got dinner plans.”

“Oo, is it a hot date?”

A blast of heat struck my face as I stammered back, “I-it’s not a date!”

Lightning Dust just burst into laughter, likely not believing a single word I said.

“W-well, how about Tuesday?” I asked in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation back to the original subject.

For her part, Lightning didn’t take long to calm down. “I’ve got soccer practices on Tuesday and Thursday,” she said. “Well, how about we do some clothes shopping together? We could make an afternoon out of it.”

“O-oh, um… well, you see…” On any other occasion, I would’ve jumped on the opportunity to spend more time with her, but with Twilight Sparkle trapped in the changing room, my hands were tied. I couldn’t even tell Lightning the truth, or even a half-truth since it would either reveal too much or come off as brushing her off. If we really were friends, there shouldn’t have been any excuse not to find a way to spend time together.

I was soon at the point where throwing the clothes I held at Lightning Dust and running for the nearest fire alarm became an idea worthy of consideration. By my estimate, if I hit her in the face with the whole pile, I’d have a good six or seven seconds to make my move, but would that be enough? I was going to need a miracle—a miracle or a very convenient distraction.

“Hey Lightning, I think I managed to find one in your size.”

In walked my miracle, who also happened to be my least favourite person in the city. It was Gilda, who entered the changing room area carrying a pair of low-cut t-shirts that would give most fathers a heart attack. Whatever she was about to say next, however, was postponed when she noticed me standing next to her friend.

“Hello Gilda,” I greeted in a cast iron deadpan.

“Shimmer,” she replied in kind.

Off to the side, Lightning Dust was already burying her face into her palm as if her uncle had just begun his annual drunken tirade at the family holiday dinner.

“Can’t be happy just ruining my academics, you gotta steal my friends away, too?” Gilda sneered.

“Lightning’s a big girl; she can make her own decisions.”

“I’m sure she’ll wake up soon enough and realize you’re just some lame, self-righteous dweeb that’ll turn on her the second she becomes inconvenient.”

“Okay, time for us to go!” Lightning interrupted before she began pushing Gilda towards the exit. “I saw enough of this kind of bickering when my parents divorced, I don’t need it here.”

“Fine. Anything’s gotta be better than hanging around that loser,” Gilda said with a roll of her eyes.

Just before the pair left, Lightning Dust looked back to me and mouthed a hasty ‘sorry’. I smiled and shrugged for a nonverbal ‘it happens’. Once the pair were out of sight, I was finally able to relax again and breathed a small sigh of relief. All of this sneaking around was doing a number on my blood pressure.

“Can I come out now?” Twilight’s voice whispered out. Glancing over, I could see the door open just ever so slightly and my friend’s eye peering through.

Of course, the moment one instance of panic ended, a new one began. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay? I am so, so sorry!” I exclaimed as I hurried to check on her. “I-I didn’t know what to do, and I just panicked and did the first thing that came to mind!”

“It’s okay. I’m fine, really,” Twilight insisted, though she still cradled her nose in one hand. “Just try to give me a little bit more warning next time, okay?”

At least I didn’t try to hide her under my skirt.

********************

Monday came about a lot faster than I had anticipated, which wouldn’t have caused me as much stress as it had except that I had no further communications from Twilight Sparkle—the native one—since her last message of ‘it’s a date’ save an email with directions to where we were to eat. As if that hadn’t been enough cause for concern, I arrived at the restaurant in a timely fashion, only to be stuck waiting well past the agreed meeting time.

With anybody else this wouldn’t have been an issue, but Twilight prided herself on her punctuality almost as much as Rainbow Dash and her ability to kick a ball. At least she had booked reservations, so I had been able to sit inside the relative warmth and comfort of our assigned booth while I stared out the establishment’s front window. The restaurant itself was of the far east fusion-style, so it meant lots of fancy calligraphy and stylized dragon and bird motifs adorning the walls, plus several gold-trimmed statues of cats.

I kept my hands warm with a cup of green tea while I tried my best to ignore the delectable aromas wafting through the air, and the large bowls of noodles that passed by my table every so often. I could hear the hiss and sizzles of vegetables being grilled on the far side of the building, tantalizing my ears as the fragrances continued their assault. If Twilight didn’t arrive soon, I was going to have to order an appetizer just to maintain my sanity.

On the bright side, the wait gave me time to browse the menu. I was impressed by the selection of vegetarian dishes available, which included an assortment of soups, noodles, and curries, each one looking more delicious than the last. It was almost a pity that I could only pick one.

“Hm, ‘rice noodles in a spicy green coconut and lemongrass soup topped with tofu and stir-fried vegetables.’ That sounds promising,” I murmured under my breath before licking my lips in anticipation.

As I sipped my tea, I casually glanced to my backpack that sat beside me. Inside was the jury-rigged scanner that Twilight had asked for me to bring along, though I still had no idea why. Just having it next to me made me nervous, and not just because magic had been popping in and out of my life like a stubborn case of acne; it pinged every couple of minutes. And not a subtle ping either: it sounded like it was hunting for submarines in the restaurant’s fish tank. All it’d take was one paranoid waitress and I’d have the bomb squad on my case before I could even finish my appetizers.

After more than half-an-hour of waiting, I heard knocking from the window: it was Twilight Sparkle. She smiled and waved before she hurried off to the door. I was still a little worried about what this evening was intended to be. Just to be safe, I dressed in my new usual attire—nothing too fancy, but still looking presentable. As for Twilight, she wore a simple pink sweater vest with a matching bow tie and blue blouse, and a purple skirt to complete the look. I couldn’t deduce her intentions from her clothing since she had always favoured the prep-school look even in her casualwear.

Twilight had a backpack with her too, which looked to be loaded down with something heavy. I prayed I wasn’t about to exchange the small but bothersome pinging device for something even bigger and more conspicuous.

“Sorry I’m late,” Twilight apologized profusely as she arrived at the booth. “I got a little carried away with my latest research and completely lost track of the time… again.”

“Happens to the best of us,” I reassured her. “So how was your weekend.”

“It was great! I can never pass up an opportunity to spend time at the Royal Canterlot library. What about you? Do anything special?”

“Oh, no. Not really.” Two minutes in and I was already lying to her face.

“Did you bring my scanner?”

“That I did,” I said as I hefted the device onto the table. “I don’t know how good the data will be: I haven’t exactly been able to carry it around given it weighs more than a cinder block.”

Twilight opened my bag and pulled her device out, to which her eyes lit up like a child on a Hearth’s Warming day. “Actually, wherever you stored it, it was able to get some very good readings,” she explained.

“Wait, how can you tell that?”

“Because it sends me data,” Twilight answered as though the answer should’ve been obvious. “I set the device up to piggyback off your school’s wi-fi to email me a preliminary report every six hours.”

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised she went to such lengths: she rarely did anything in half-measures. After removing a small memory card from the scanner, she rummaged through her backpack and pulled out her laptop. It appeared that whatever she had wanted to talk to me about was less important than her scientific pursuits. Then again, she’s gotten so involved in her work at times that she’s forgotten to eat or sleep.

I waited patiently while watching Twilight go into her work mode; her fingertips blazed a trail across the keyboard like a concert pianist. Despite my curiosity, I refrained from saying or asking anything for the immediate moment.

“I’m… going to go to the bathroom,” I said as I got up from the table. All that green tea had run straight through me, so I made a quick retreat to the little filly’s room.

With any luck, my friend would be finished with her computer by the time I got back. At least Twilight was acting like her usual research-obsessed self, otherwise I might’ve been worried about the whole ‘it’s a date!!’ thing that had been racking my mind all day. I should’ve known better than to think Twilight would ask me out on a date. By the time I was washing up my hands, I had convinced myself a fool for having caused myself so much mental duress.

“Sunset, you silly girl,” I chuckled breathlessly to myself. “Your worrying is going to ruin a perfectly good evening.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bathroom door open, and in strolled the familiar face of my friend.

“Oh, hey Twilight,” I said, purely by instinct.

“Sunset? W-what are you doing here?” she exclaimed in response.

“I said I was going to the bathroom. Weren’t you listen—” My words came to an abrupt halt when I glanced up to what I thought had been my needlessly confused friend, only to see a Twilight Sparkle that was wearing jeans and a familiar halter top.

This was the wrong Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh no…”

Act VI-VI

There were not enough words in all the languages on either side of the magic portal to describe how much I wanted to crawl into the deepest, darkest pit and just hide for the rest of my life. Despite the temptation to run out of the restaurant, screaming and wailing like a banshee, I had to stay one step ahead of Twilight if I was going to make it out of this with some semblance of my dignity intact. I had to take control of the conversation.

“Twilight, what are you doing here?” I asked despite having a good idea of what the answer was. If she was at a nice restaurant wearing the fancy new clothes Rarity had bought for her, then she had to be on her date with Flash. “Last time we spoke, you said you were going to wait until the weekend for your date.”

“I did, or I mean, I was,” my friend explained. “But when I asked some of my friends in Equestria for advice, Rarity over there said I should be assertive and ‘seize the opportunity’, as she put it. Since that’s basically what the Rarity here said as well, I decided to stop thinking and just go for it!” There was a growing giddiness in her voice: a kind of teenaged excitement that only came from smashing through personal boundaries and realizing the freedom that came with it. I could practically see the energy radiating from her, as well as a spring in her step and the ear-to-ear grin. “Next thing I know, I’m jumping through the portal, then I got Rarity and Pinkie’s help, and just showed up at Flash’s door. It was just so… wild and spontaneous—my heart’s still racing a little bit from it.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” I remarked, feigning disbelief. Just my luck that she decided to be spur-of-the-moment on the least convenient day for me. At least she was happy about it, so I couldn’t begrudge her sudden paradigm shift. “Still, that’s great to hear! I bet Flash was surprised to see you again so soon.”

“You should’ve seen the look on his face,” Twilight gushed with a giddy bounce in her step. “But what are you doing here?”

“I… uh…”

“Unless…” she continued as a sudden realization dawned upon her, “you’re here in case I need any help with my date!” Before I could consider correcting that belief, my friend threw her arms around me in a tight embrace. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she exclaimed. “I was nervous about this whole night, but knowing you’re here is going to be a huge relief!”

Far be it for me to correct somebody when they were making a mistake in my favour. “W-well, you know me, always trying to help,” I said while patting her on the back. “I was trying to figure out a way to let you know, but it seems you’ve already beaten me to the punch.”

It was easy to get somebody to believe a lie when they practically gift-wrap it for you. I was able to breathe a little easier, and not just because Twilight released me from her bear hug. Now that I had her reading from the right script, it was just a matter of keeping her from getting too curious about my business at the restaurant.

“So here’s what I was thinking,” I started my proposal, “you continue your date as usual and if you run into any problems, you can text me. Did you manage to get a cell phone from anyone?”

“Yeah, Pinkie Pie’s letting me borrow hers for the night.” Twilight pulled out the familiar pink device, beaming with pride as she no doubt spent hours practicing her texting. “Are you sure texting is the best, though? Couldn’t I just run over to wherever you are when I need help?”

“Oh no. Nonononono,” I hastily corrected her. “It’s best if you don’t let Flash know that I’m here. He might think I don’t trust him and that I’m keeping an eye on you two. Let’s just keep this our little secret, shall we? In fact, unless it’s absolutely necessary, just pretend I’m not here either.”

Though a little uncertain, Twilight nodded in agreement. “Um, okay. If you think that’s for the best.”

“Trust me, this is for the best,” I reassured her.

Granted, it was for my best, but that wasn’t too far from the truth. Her date would end in a spectacular fashion if my dinner companion discovered a doppelganger dining at the same restaurant. Or worse, if Flash accidentally confused his Twilight for mine. For everybody’s sake, I had to keep the Twilights separate and oblivious to the other.

“Now you be sure to have fun,” I said as I excused myself. “And remember, just be yourself. There’s no need to overanalyze things.”

Said the girl who spent most of the day overanalyzing one text message.

Given how I had spent over half an hour waiting for one Twilight Sparkle without noticing the presence of the other, it was a safe bet that she and Flash were somewhere on the other side of the crowded restaurant. With any luck, they’d never notice us, and all I really needed to worry about was keeping my Twilight Sparkle from noticing the other one. If necessary, I could at least explain myself to Flash Sentry and Princess Twilight without anyone going into an existential crisis.

I returned to my table to find the other Twilight Sparkle in almost the same state that I had left her in. If anything, she had gotten a little worse as she now had a second computer sitting on the table and was alternating between the two, much to the curiosity and confusion of the other patrons.

“So… have you decided what to order yet?” I asked in a desperate attempt to remind my friend of where we were. If she kept using the table as a workstation, there was a good chance Princess Twilight might notice her. “Surely you can do this all when you get back home.”

“Why would I wait?” Twilight mumbled, glancing upwards from her screen.

I gestured to her surroundings with the hopes she’d clue in on what I meant, which she thankfully did a few moments later when a faint blush crept across her face.

“O-oh, right. Dinner.” She was just about to grab one of her machines when she stopped herself, then glanced over to her other computer, and then once again back to the first. She bounced between the two a couple more times as the indecision soon overwhelmed her. “Uh, could I keep at least one out? Please?”

I started feeling bad for her, so I had to compromise. “Okay, but only one,” I said.

And just like that, Twilight was back to being all smiles and sunshine as she put one of her laptops away, and resumed her work on the other. I couldn’t help but wonder what dinnertime must be like at the Sparkle household, and how often her parents must have had similar discussions in the past. Still, her eccentricities were what made her who she was, and I honestly wouldn’t have her any other way.

“My goodness, some of the data here is beyond anything I had anticipated,” Twilight said as she toiled on her work. I was still trying to decide on an appetizer when she spun her computer around to show me a number of charts and graphs, all of which were adorned with colourful wavy lines. “Look at this! Do you know what this all means?”

Now I was smart, especially for a high school student, but what she was showing me was beyond my ability to comprehend with only a cursory look. With enough study, I’m sure I would reach whatever conclusion had my friend looking so giddy, but in the meantime I just had to respond with a befuddled stare.

“These are waveform patterns from the energy readings I’ve been gathering over the past couple of months,” she explained while pointing to the relevant figures. “Look at these: some of the patterns are identical to one another!”

“Meaning…?”

“That this isn’t just some random natural phenomenon like I originally hypothesized; these are discrete, recurring energy patterns. Whatever is creating these, it’s exhibiting signs of… intention, of control. Whatever this is, it must be something that’s harnessable.”

Taking a closer look at the data and their timestamps, I was able to hypothesize what some of the readings must have been. Though nothing major had occurred at school lately, that didn’t mean our magic sat idle the entire time. Our band rehearsals, for starters, often resulted in all of us ponying up, and Rainbow Dash used whatever excuse she could to sprout her wings so she could fly about. Those moments had to be the recurring patterns that Twilight’s device had detected.

“W-well, if it’s something deliberate, then it might not be as extraordinary as you think,” I remarked. “Maybe your machine is just picking up somebody’s science experiment.”

“I highly doubt it at this stage,” Twilight said, spinning her computer back around. “Canterlot High’s electricity use has remained fairly consistent over the past month, with no spikes in energy consumption corresponding to the appearances of the anomalies. Whatever’s the source, it’s not from conventional means, which is the most puzzling part.”

“How so?”

“It’s just… these energy spikes come out of nowhere and then disappear just as suddenly,” she explained. The strain of uncertainty on her face made me begin to wonder how often she stayed awake at night pondering this over to no avail. It reminded of the look Applejack often had when she ran into a math problem she couldn’t figure out. “It’s like it’s ignoring the very Laws of Conservation, like some kind of…”

“Magic?”

There was a flash of indignation on my friend’s face before she promptly settled down and smirked. “Right. Joke,” she murmured, mostly to herself.

“You’re catching on faster these days,” I mused before offering my friend some tea. “Would you like to take a look at the menu?”

“I… I guess I should do that, huh? Kind of silly to invite you out to dinner and not bother with the dinner part,” Twilight apologized, followed by a sheepish laugh to hide her own embarrassment. I watched as her eyes began to scan across the menu and the enthusiasm visibly drained as she turned the pages. “Oh, um, these are certainly some… uh, interesting choices.”

“I take it you don’t eat eat much exotic foods, do you?”

“W-what? No!” Twilight stammered. “I eat… other stuff. Just not this stuff. Usually.” She gave me a sort of pleading, apologetic stare for a moment. “Does instant ramen count as exotic?”

I honestly felt a small tinge of pride in my friend: clearly she was a creature of habit, but here she was forcing herself outside of that comfort zone for my sake. And how did I repay her? With lies and obfuscation. It was enough to make me question who was really teaching whom about friendship.

“They have some proper ramen actually,” I suggested while pointing to it on her menu. “Way better than anything you’d cook in a microwave.”

After a few minutes, she eventually decided upon a chicken ramen, while I ordered something called a yasai itame, which I had no idea what it meant, but the description sounded absolutely delicious. While we waited for our meal, my curiosity eventually got the better of me.

“So Twilight, what was this thing you said you needed to talk to me face-to-face about?”

“Oh! That?” Twilight suddenly stammered as her face started turning red. “W-we don’t need to talk about that just yet! We can save that until later.”

Her sudden bout of anxiety did little to allay my own, but I knew better than to push the issue. Even if my curiosity was gnawing away at my mind like a pack of rabbits on a fresh head of cabbage, I had to exercise more patience. Before I can say anything further, however, my phone began to buzz. I checked my messages and it took me a second to remember that the other Twilight Sparkle had Pinkie Pie’s phone, so the messages from her were showing up under the latter's name.

Pinkie: Flash is asking me about what music bands I like. I don’t know any of the musicians here. What do I say?

“Is everything okay?” the Twilight across the table from me asked.

“A friend of mine is on her first date,” I answered truthfully as I saw no need to lie about that particular detail. “She’s a little nervous, so I offered to be available for advice if she needed it. I just wasn’t expecting it quite so soon.”

“That’s very nice of you to help her out,” Twilight replied, much to my relief. “Is your friend okay?”

I waved her concern off with a playful chuckle. “Nah, just a bit of her perfectionism playing on her nerves,” I insisted.

“Well, I know what that’s like,” Twilight said with a laugh.

“Just give me a second to answer her back.”

Pinkie: Help! He’s giving me a weird look. I can only stall for so long!

Sunset: Just tell him the truth. Or mostly truth. Tell him you only really know local bands from where you live.

With the message sent, I was able to turn my attention back to my friend. It took a bit of coaxing, but I was able to get Twilight talking about things not related to her scientific pursuit. We caught up on the latest happenings at our schools, and what we’ve been up to since we hadn’t had much opportunity to chat over the weekend. She went on for a while about her research project at the Canterlot university library, which was far more interesting to listen to than I would’ve expected. I didn’t know a lot about this world’s history so it was a good opportunity to learn something new, and Twilight seemed to enjoy teaching me the subject. It only stopped when our food arrived and we became far more preoccupied with tastier matters at hand.

“Hey Sunset, can I ask you something personal?” Twilight inquired while stirring her noodles about.

“What’s on your mind?”

“What made you choose to be a vegetarian?”

I gave an indifferent shrug, if only to buy myself some time and give the impression the subject wasn’t that significant. It gave me time to devise a truthful answer better than ‘because I was a horse.’

“I’ve always been one: my parents were vegetarians and they raised me as one,” I answered. “Meat was never really an option around my home, so I never thought twice about it.”

“So you’ve never tried meat? You’ve never been curious?”

“Well, I’ve tried a bit of seafood on a few occasions. It was a dinner party I got dragged into so I had to make nice and be polite.”

To be frank, those occasions had been more about keeping Princess Celestia happy than the griffon diplomats that she was entertaining. The last thing either of us wanted were unhappy griffons because one little pony wouldn’t slurp down an oyster or two. They took a lot of pride in their cuisine, and were rather sensitive about any perceived slights.

And my friend wasn’t the only Twilight to be curious about vegetarian entrees, as my phone buzzed once more.

Pinkie: Sunset, help! We need to talk. Meet me in the washroom.

“Is your friend okay?” Twilight asked, having noticed my expression dropping the moment I read the message.

“It’s uh… I think my friend is overthinking things,” I explained. “Will you excuse me for a moment? I need to make a call.”

Thankfully, the Twilight across from me was understanding and I hurried off towards the washrooms with the hopes that I could talk my other friend down from whatever mental ledge she had perched herself upon. When I arrived, she was already impatiently pacing back and forth, and only stopped when she saw my presence. I soon noticed the menu she clutched in her grasp, and had a strong suspicion what the problem was.

“Oh thank Celestia you’re here!” Twilight exclaimed as she raced over to me. “I don’t understand half the stuff on this menu. Could you help go over it with me?”

“Of course, Twilight, but I think that’s a bit excessive,” I replied. That didn’t dissuade her from shoving the menu in my face, so I took it and showed her the vegetarian section. “Okay, so here’s the section that you’ll want to order from. Some of these are pretty spicy so avoid anything with the little red chili next to the name if you don’t want to burn your tongue.”

“What about this?” Twilight asked, pointing to another menu item. “What’s a bok choy? I’ve never heard of that.”

“I don’t think that grows in our neck of Equestria,” I answered. “It’s a kind of a mix between a cabbage and a celery, but it’s got a really strong taste to it. I think you’d like it.”

“So what do you think I should order?” my nervous friend asked.

“Why didn’t you just ask Flash?”

“I… I didn’t want him to think I was dumb because I couldn’t figure out the menu.”

Spurred on by the pang of sympathy I felt, my put an arm around my meek and anxious friend and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Twilight, you’re probably the smartest girl he’ll ever meet,” I reassured her. “Stop worrying about being perfect, and just be yourself.”

“But Rarity said—”

“She meant putting your best foot forward, not second-guessing every step you take,” I interrupted. “You want your friends to be the kind of people who accept you—imperfections and all. Relationships aren’t any different in that respect.”

Slowly, Twilight’s confidence was able to rebuild itself, and she eventually smiled back to me. “Thanks Sunset,” she said before giving a quick hug. “By the way, Rarity also said something about ‘showing a little cleavage.’ What did she mean by that? I’m not going to have to handle anything sharp, am I?”

There was a conversation that felt as welcoming as a bout of dysentery. “Don’t worry about that,” I said as I guided my friend to the door. “You can ask Rarity about that later, but for now you need to get back to your date before he starts getting curious.”

Just before we exited the washroom, I made sure to check outside so that we didn’t bump into the other Twilight. Once I knew the coast was clear, I sent my friend on her way and hurried back to my own dinner.

“Disaster averted?” Twilight asked as I sat down in my seat.

“For the moment,” I sighed. I had a feeling this was not going to be my last trip to the washroom for tonight. Not wanting my meal to get cold, I ate a little bit faster to make up for all the lost time. There was a pleasant heat to my meal, though I wouldn’t have minded it being a bit spicier. Either way, this restaurant was going on my list for repeat visits.

Twilight paused partway through her own dinner and eyed my food with a curious gaze. “What did you order again?”

“Yasai itame,” I said with a mouthful of stir-fried vegetables. “It’s got, um, noodles in a spicy soup topped with a whole bunch of vegetables and peppers.”

“Is it good?”

“I’m enjoying it.”

“Could I try some?”

Twilight’s request caught me by surprise; soups weren’t typically a sharing food, at least not when you didn’t have any spare bowls on hand. But if Twilight was as picky an eater as I suspected, I didn’t want to squander the opportunity to help broaden her horizons.

“Of course,” I said with a smile. Using my chopsticks, I stirred up a small bundle of the noodles, snagging a few bean sprouts and onions in the process, and then used a spoon to scoop up some of the broth and an assortment of mushrooms and greens. I held it out to my friend, who nervously eyed my offering for a brief moment. “Come on, Twi, it’s not like I have cooties.”

“No, but you could have infectious mononucleosis.”

“I don’t have mono, Twilight,” I deadpanned. “I’ve only kissed one person in the last six months and I was her first.”

“Her?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Twilight looked to my offering once more, a flicker of apprehension on her face, before she glanced back to me. “Y-you know, I’ve read in some studies that mononucleosis can be transmitted up to a year and a half after a patient’s shown no signs of—”

Now she was just getting cold feet, so I opted to give her the nudge she needed and shoved the food into her mouth mid-sentence. There was a muffled, surprised yelp, but she didn’t have much choice at that point but to chew and swallow.

“See? It’s not so bad,” I reassured her.

At first, Twilight just stared at me with an open mouth, as if about to unleash some kind of tirade about personal boundaries and informed consent, but all that came out was a strained, drawn-out murmuring. Her face began to turn red and tears collected at the corners of her eyes as her grumblings finally coalesced into words.

“H-h-h-h-h-ho-ho-hooooot,” she squeaked. She began panting heavily while using her hands to try and fan the sweltering heat in her mouth. “Too hot!”

I wasn’t sure whether to feel sympathy or just laugh as Twilight searched for something to quench the inferno on her tongue. Sadly, we had no milk on hand so the only saviour she could turn to was the lukewarm tea, which she chugged back with frantic abandon. As her cup ran dry, the weary teen fell back into her seat with a cathartic sigh.

As for me, I went back to eating my noodles.

“Drama queen,” I said between mouthfuls.

“How can you just eat that stuff without even so much as a twitch?” Twilight, still red-faced from the ordeal, asked in disbelief.

I shrugged before eating another bite, making sure to exaggerate my enjoyment. “Mmmmm, so good! It’s just got that perfect balance of heat and savoriness.”

At least Twilight was able to laugh at herself, and after a quick giggle she was back to eating. For a brief moment, I was able to relax and just enjoy the moment with my friend. With everything that had happened over the past few days, it felt like I had spent more time worrying than living carefree like a teenager should. Why couldn’t I just let my hair down and unwind like Princess Twilight? She didn’t fret late into the night about implications of humans crossing into Equestria or being stranded on this side of the portal forever.

If anything, Princess Twilight had more to worry about when it came to the long-term safety of Equestria. If the worst came to pass, she could seal the portal from her end of it, and leaving me stranded in the human world was hardly the worst fate to endure. The fact that I hadn’t even bothered to visit Equestria since the portal became a more permanent fixture just emphasized the extent of my reluctance.

As I watched my friend slurp up her ramen, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Equestria wasn’t what I was afraid of losing. Maybe I just kept telling myself that because it sounded less selfish that way. Maybe Twilight wasn’t the only person at the table I was routinely lying to.

“Is something wrong?” Twilight’s voice perked up, snapping me from my trance. I must’ve been staring at her longer than I realized for her to have noticed. “Is there something on my face?”

Thinking quickly, I pointed to my nose. “You got a little soup there,” I lied.

“Oh! Thanks,” Twilight said before cleaning the non-existent blot. “Did I get it?”

“You’re good.”

And then my phone buzzed again.

“Seriously, what now?” I mentally groaned as I reached for my phone once more.

Pinkie: emgency need wrdsnow goin t ou.

Oh, sweet Celestia; she’s panic texting now. There was no time to contemplate what sent the other Twilight into such a tailspin because I deciphered the last part of her message meant she was coming over to talk to me. I had to get my dinner companion out of sight before somebody had to start explaining the finer details of interdimensional travel.

What was I going to do? I had to act fast.

With my friend momentarily distracted by her meal, I slapped my cup of tea with enough force to fling it and its contents across the table, splashing across Twilight’s clothes. Thankfully the tea had spent enough time cooling that I didn’t have to worry about scalding her. Then it was just a matter of some good old fashion manipulation.

“Oh my goodness! Twilight, I’m so sorry!” I yelped in feigned distress and shock. “I am such a clutz.” I grabbed the few napkins we had in a fruitless attempt to clean up the mess whilst continuing my spew of apologies. “H-here, lemme help with that.”

“It’s fine, really. Accidents happen,” Twilight insisted, right on cue. “I’ll just go tidy up in the restrooms.”

My timing couldn’t have been better, as Princess Twilight showed up at the table less than a minute later.

“He wants me to talk about myself!” she said unceremoniously as she dropped into the seat across from me. “Like what my home is like and who my friends there are and stuff!”

“That’s pretty normal for dating,” I deadpanned as my patience for her neurosis had reached its limits.

“But what am I supposed to say? That I’m the Princess of Friendship who also happens to be a winged unicorn and I happen to have six friends who all have the same name of the friends I have here, and I grew up in Canterlot, which just so happens to be completely different from this place despite having the same name, and was taught magic under an immortal Princess named Celestia who happens to act the same as the Celestia you know!”

Her rambling only stopped when she started to hyperventilate.

“Breathe, Twilight,” I said with a stern tone.

“W-what am I going to do? What am I going to say?” Twilight continued as he clasped her head in her hands and leaned upon the table. Clearly her battle between rationality and panic was becoming a sordid affair. “I’ve never had to go into that kind of detail about myself before. I haven’t even explained anything about the magic portal.”

“Then why don’t you?” I postulated, which left Twilight staring at me as though I had started speaking in tongues. “Maybe it’s time to start easing him into who Princess Twilight Sparkle really is. I mean, he’s seen enough magic to know you’re not an ordinary girl, so he’s probably ready for the next step. Now you don’t have to go into every detail about Equestria, but there’s no harm in explaining how you were the personal student to the Princess of the realm, and have spent most of your life studying magic.” I offered her a quick, reassuring smile, which seemed to alleviate some of her anxieties. “Flash likes you, and I mean he really likes you: so put a little bit of trust into him. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He thinks I’m weird?”

“He’s already seen you dance.”

I was certain Twilight knew this already, but the added confirmation from a third party was enough for her to push past her worrisome nature. The panic began to fade from her expression, replaced with a self-assured smile as she looked back to me. “You’re right. I keep telling myself that I have to be perfect tonight, but… I don’t. I just need to be who I am,” she said with growing confidence. “My goodness, I can’t believe I’ve been running to you over every little hiccup. I must’ve looked like a complete fool.”

“A little, but it’s part of your charm,” I said with a playful smirk.

Twilight snickered at my wisecrack, which hopefully melted away the last of her worries.

“I suppose I owe Flash an apology then, and not just because I intentionally spilled soy sauce on him so he’d go to the washrooms and I could sneak away to talk to you.”

Flash Sentry was in the washrooms? As in the washrooms that were three feet to the left from the one that the Twilight Sparkle was in right that moment cleaning herself up as well? There were so many words that were unsuitable for uttering in polite company that I wanted to shout at that moment, but instead had to settle with something less thought-out.

“Golden throne of Canterlot, you sent Flash to the washrooms?” I exclaimed, slamming my hands on the table as I bolted to my feet. “Are you insane?”

“W-wait, what? That’s bad?” a panicked and confused Twilight stammered back.

“There’s no time to explain! Just get back to your table, now!” I pulled Twilight from her seat, ignoring her confused wailing as she tried to comprehend what social faux pas she had just committed. As I had neither the time, nor the inclination, to explain myself, I just had to settle with covering my tracks by sheer calamity. “Fly you fool! Before all is lost!”

I shoved my friend back towards her table and, thankfully, she raced off without further protest. Once she was far enough away, I turned and booked it for the washrooms. Knowing my luck, it would only be a few more moments before Flash and Twilight exited their respective bathrooms and wound up with an unexpected face-to-face. I had to run interference if I were to have any hope of surviving the night.

The plan was simple: I’d just have to distract Twilight in the bathroom for a few minutes until I felt it was safe to bring her back out. I could probably just go on another apology spiel about spilling my tea all over here—I wouldn’t need to keep her occupied for too long.

Too bad plans never survive first contact with the enemy. Just as I arrived at the washrooms, the door to the men’s room opened and out came Flash Sentry.

“Sunset!” he said, surprised for only a brief moment to see me.

“O-oh! Hey Flash, f-funny running into you here,” I lied with the biggest grin I could muster. He just hardened his gaze in response. “Well, can’t blame a girl for trying.”

He sighed under his breath. “I guess I should’ve realized sooner you’d be here.”

“I thought Twilight could use the emotional support. I was hoping to just stay in the background,” I explained myself. “I had no idea that she’d get this… worked up about a date.”

“You ever thought she got worked up because she knew you’d be here?” Flash suggested. I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed by my presence, or just relieved that his date’s behaviour had a logical explanation behind it all. “Twilight can take care of herself, but if you’re here then she knows she can run to you every time she hits the slightest bit of doubt. I know you’re trying to help, but I fear you might’ve been more of a crutch.”

In hindsight, everything he said made sense. I thought that Twilight knowing I was here would be the support she needed to be confident, but instead she just ran to me with every question rather than trying to learn how to stand on her own. Sure there might’ve been a moment of nervousness and discomfort, but Twilight probably could’ve worked through that if she hadn’t an easy out with me. Even though she had asked me to stay in touch for that support, it might’ve been the greater kindness to let her discover the way herself.

“Guess I should scratch off ‘dating advice’ from the list of things I could still be useful for,” I said with a weary groan. “I’m really sorry; I didn’t mean to make such a mess.”

“Your heart’s in the right place: you’re trying to help your friend,” Flash reassured me while patting me on the shoulder. He smiled that same goofy grin he always did when he wanted to cheer someone up, and it worked every time. I might’ve only dated him for popularity, but I could appreciate his charm. “She’s lucky to have someone like you looking out for her, even if it’s not always necessary.”

“Heh, well, you know me: can’t just let things be, can I?”

“It’s part of who you are,” Flash said with a nonchalant shrug. “But it wouldn’t hurt for you to relax a little bit. The world isn’t going to fall apart if you stop micro-managing it for a little while.”

“And here I thought I was going to be the one doling out all the advice tonight.” I chuckled quietly under my breath, feeling humbled once again by Flash’s astute observations. “I’m sorry if I messed up your date…”

Unsurprisingly, Flash just shrugged it off, like water rolling off a duck’s back. “Date wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for you, so I’m not exactly in a position to complain,” he said. “And speaking of date, I should get back to mine.”

I would’ve let him go on his way, except just at that moment, the other bathroom door opened and Twilight strolled out. Thankfully, Flash had his back to her, so he remained oblivious to her presence, but I still needed to keep the conversation going for a little while longer.

“A-actually,” I spoke up just as he was about to turn to leave, “I should probably mention that… um, Twilight was rather nervous with regards to talking about herself. She’s worried you might think she’s… weird.”

“You know I’ve seen her dance, right?”

“That’s what I told her.” As I spoke, my eyes looked past Flash and kept track of Twilight as she headed back towards our table. I noticed her pace seemed a bit more hurried than one would expect, but I dismissed it as a girl just wanting to get back to her friend.

“Well, I’m not going to think she or her tofu world is weird,” Flash reassured me. We shared a quick chuckle, recalling the conversation we had back at the county fair. I was surprised he even remembered that, but then again, he was exactly the type to keep such details in mind. “After all, you’re from the same world too, and I never thought you were weird.”

I smirked and rolled my eyes in amusement. “Even when I turned into a demon?”

“That was more frightening than anything.”

“Oh, you,” I said as I gave him a playful shove. With Twilight out of sight, I could finally let Flash go back to his date without worry. Hopefully this would be the last of the fires I’d need to put out tonight. “Just be sure to keep an open mind, okay?”

“After the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands, kinda hard not to.”

I swear, nothing was ever going to phase him at this point. Between the demons and the magic girls, he’d seen enough crazy, inexplicable things to last a lifetime. Once I finished waving farewell to him, I raced off to rejoin my friend and, with any luck, finally finish my dinner.

Or at least that had been the plan. When I arrived at my table, there was no sign of Twilight or even her things. There was just a couple bills sitting on the table, no doubt payment for her portion of the meal. Where did she go? And why?

“Excuse me,” I said, waving down a nearby waitress. “Did you see where my friend went?”

The waitress looked to my table and thought for a moment. “Oh, she left a few moments ago.”

“D-did she say why?”

“Sorry, she didn’t anything to anyone,” the waitress answered with an apologetic shrug. “She was staring at her phone and looking pretty torn up, though; she must’ve gotten bad news or something.”

Bad news? What could be so terrible that she would leave all of a sudden without even so much as a good-bye? I whipped out my phone and tried texting her.

Sunset: Is something wrong? Why’d you leave?

After the longest, most agonizing minute of my life, a message came back.

Twilight: I’m sorry I bothered you. I’ll leave you alone.

Sunset: Leave me alone?

The saying goes that a picture was worth a thousand words, and when Twilight responded to my query with a picture, the only word that came to mind was far too rude to say in public. It was a selfie of me, Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie at my birthday party. There was even a caption along the bottom: ‘shame you didn’t get invited’.

Who could’ve sent her that? Why would someone do that? The answer became apparent upon further examination of the picture and I saw who was holding the camera.

It was Lightning Dust...

Act VI-VIII

As anxious as I was for a certain after school meeting at Sugar Cube Corner, there were other matters that still needed tending to. While I didn’t feel nearly as bad as I had the night before, I wasn’t back to my cheerful self: the matter of Lightning Dust still hung over my head like a bad hangover. At some point, I was going to have to explain to my friends that Lightning and I were no longer on speaking terms. How Rainbow Dash would react to that news worried me the most: she had finally found somebody to share her football fetish with and I may have just burned it all to the ground.

I prayed that Lightning Dust wouldn’t be so vindictive as to take out her frustrations with me on Dash, but I couldn’t rule it out. She was angry, and part of me wouldn’t blame her for wanting to break all ties with anything related to me. Sadly, there was nothing I could do about it except come clean about what happened, and hope that Rainbow Dash would do what was best for her.

As much as I would’ve liked to fix things with Lightning Dust as well, that was impossible until my erstwhile friend realized why what she had done was so wrong.

So deep in thought was I, that it wasn’t until I heard a familiar voice calling out my name that I remembered that I was standing outside the front statue at Canterlot High. I glanced over in the direction and waved when I saw Pinkie Pie approaching, accompanied by Twilight Sparkle—the Princess, that is.

At first, I was surprised to see the other Twilight still on this side of the mirror, but in retrospect it just made more sense. However late her date went, it would’ve been easier to just crash at a friend’s place in this world than make the portal jump back to Equestria, especially since we spent so much on her outfit and wouldn’t want it accidentally destroyed by a magic portal.

“Morning you two,” I greeted. “So how’d the rest of your date go?”

“Oh! It went… well,” Twilight answered, obviously caught a bit off-guard by the abruptness of my questioning. Judging by the faint red blush now gracing her cheeks, things went a bit better than just ‘good’. “You kinda disappeared all of a sudden from the restaurant, though; did something happen?”

“I’ll explain when the others get here,” I answered, adhering to my renewed vow of honesty with my friends. Since classes were set to begin soon, it wouldn’t be a long wait. “Let’s not worry about me, though, let’s hear more about the date. You gotta share the details, Twi.”

“Only when everyone else is here,” Twilight insisted with a nervous laugh. She probably wanted the same thing I wanted: to minimize the amount of time spent explaining potentially embarrassing details.

“Trust me, I’ve been trying to get the juicy details from her all morning,” Pinkie Pie added. “This girl is as tight-lipped as they come. She could even resist the ultra-powerful ‘Pinkie pleading eyes’.” She promptly demonstrated this by going full-on doe-eye on our friend, complete with quivering lips and a pitiful, puppy-like whimper.

It was a gaze that could shatter even the most granite-like of hearts; a look that bore straight into my heart of hearts, unleashing a torrent of guilt and regret that almost made me want to drop to my knees and confess my sins right then and there. It was only through sheer force of will, and averting my gaze, that I was able to resist. No doubt, Twilight felt similar as she, too, looked away.

“Pinkie, stop that!” she said in a playful squeal. “I promised you I’d tell you everything once everyone was here, and I meant it!”

And in an instant, Pinkie’s expression snapped back to her usual look of unbridled cheerfulness, with a perky response of, “Okie dokie loki!”

Luckily for all of us, we didn’t have to wait very long for the other girls to show up. “What’s this about ‘once everyone was here’?” Rainbow Dash called out as she, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all arrived.

“Looks like you’re up, Princess,” I announced before giving my friend a playful nudge with my elbow. Even though I had my own things to announce, letting Twilight go first gave me at least a few more minutes to brace myself. Besides, may as well let the good news start the day.

“Yes, you simply must tell us how the date went,” Rarity said. She was, unsurprisingly, the most eager to hear all the details, if the way she was bouncing on the spot was any indication of her enthusiasm. I was fairly anxious to hear more as well, but I did a better job of hiding it.

“It was great, or at least, I think it was. I know I don’t exactly have any frame of reference by which to judge the evening, but I had a fun night,” a nervous Twilight said, much to everyone’s elation. Seeing everyone’s excitement seemed to ease her embarrassment. “Dinner was fantastic even though I didn’t know what half the things on the menu were, and I might have panicked a little bit when he asked questions that I wasn’t sure how to answer without going into too much detail about Equestria, but…” She paused for a moment and looked to me, smiling warmly as she placed a hand upon my shoulder. “You were right when you told me to stop worrying about every little detail and to just be myself. I was so scared of making the tiniest mistake that I paralyzing myself. Thank you so much for being there for me.”

There was a collective ‘aww’ from the other girls as Twilight conveyed her gratitude by throwing her arms around me. Now it was my turn to feel embarrassed, because everything that I had told her were the lessons that I had obviously failed to learn myself, which was only going to result in my confessions making me look all the more hypocritical, or at the very least, foolish.

“And what about after dinner? What happened next?” Rarity asked, hungry for every little detail. No sooner did Twilight let go of me did our eager friend saddle up alongside her, hooking arms to ensure no escape until she was satisfied.

“He took me out to see a movie,” Twilight began, blushing again. “During dinner I mentioned that I had never seen any movies here, so he was really excited to take me to my first one.”

This piqued Rarity’s interest even further, though at this point every detail was just another step on Mount Elated. “Ooo! What kind of movie? Was it a romance?”

“Bleh, chick flicks,” Dash voiced her disgust. “I bet he took her to a horror movie. Nothing works better for a date than horror!”

“You have a weird definition of date,” Applejack interjected with a roll of her eyes.

“Nonsense! All you gotta do is wait for the scary part,” Dash explained as she slid up alongside Fluttershy. “And then when your date gets frightened—BOOM!” She then slung her arm around her friend’s shoulders and pulled the timid girl in close, who let out a startled squeak. “You swoop in for the brownie points!”

“Oh, I’d rather just go to a nice family movie, like the kind with the singing animals,” Fluttershy remarked, sounding wary of even the thought of being within a hundred miles of a horror film.

“I’m not sure what kind of movie it was trying to be,” Twilight admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. “It was about this boy who goes to a school to learn magic. I mean, I can relate to the topic, but they got their fundamentals of magic all wrong. Not to mention, some of the incantations they used just seemed like complete fiction.”

“Well, maybe you can write the studios an angry letter and explain what they did wrong,” I joked. We all shared in a quick laugh, which helped to settle my growing sense of dread that the conclusion to her story would soon be at its end and it’d be my turn.

“So what happened after the movie?” Rarity continued with her inquisition. “Did Flash walk you home?”

“He took me to the park first, actually,” Twilight answered. She smiled and blushed again, though I couldn’t help but notice it was less so of the embarrassed variety. “We just walked through the park for a little while; he even took me up some hills so we could look at the stars.”

As the other girls cooed and awed at the details, I couldn’t help but feel relieved that her night went as smoothly as I had hoped. “Wow, Flash really pulled all the stops for you. I’m surprised he didn’t have a string quartet waiting for you.”

“Wouldn’t that be a little strange though?” Applejack remarked, scratching her head. “I mean, once they’re done playing, all you’ve got are a bunch of strangers standing nearby while you’re trying to have a romantic evening.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Rarity scoffed. She tugged on Twilight’s arm, pulling her away from the offending country girl as if a few extra inches of distance would make the criticisms irrelevant. “I’m sure her definition of a romantic evening would involve a rodeo and a line dance.”

“Ain’t nothing wrong with those!”

Before Rarity and Applejack could start bickering like an old married couple, I ushered Twilight along on the original topic. “So Twi, did the two of you ever wind up… y’know.” I smirked knowingly and nudged my friend, followed by a quick wink.

“O-oh, that? W-well, you see, the thing is—I, I mean that is to say, we—” Twilight stammered and fumbled with her words while a free hand began fidgeting with a few loose strands of hair. The way she danced around the question was far too amusing for me to interrupt, so I just let her continue at her own pace. “Technically not so much a ‘we’ in the strictest sense, though not that he didn’t—er, what’s more accurate to say—”

Sadly, while I enjoyed watching my friend wrestle with her words like a kitten entangled in a ball of yarn, Rainbow Dash lacked the same patience. “Come on, Twilight! Out with it!”

Recoiling back, our tongue-tied friend finally just blurted out, “I kissed Flash!”

There was a round excited gasps, save for myself since I suspected this was the answer she had been stumbling towards.

“Aww, how romantic,” Rarity cooed.

“Ha! I knew you had in you,” Applejack congratulated.

Dash relayed her sentiments with a loud, hearty slap on the back as she said, “Way to go, Princess!”

“This is so exciting!” Pinkie squealed in delight. “I knew it was a good idea to bake these in advance!” She then reached into her backpack and pulled out a container, which housed a series of cupcakes with icing that, together, spelled out ‘congrats on 1st date.’ Everyone promptly helped themselves to one because who wouldn’t want a cupcake first thing in the morning?

“So how did it happen?” Fluttershy asked, giving voice to the curiosity that everyone now felt, myself included.

“W-well, it was nothing special,” the modest princess answered. A faint hint of pride could still be heard in her voice, despite her attempts to remain otherwise. “We were walking through the park, ready to call it a night, and it started to get a bit cold so he let me borrow his coat.” She began to smile as her eyes drifted upwards while she reminisced. “He was holding my hand as we strolled through the park, looking up to the stars, and I just thought to myself ‘this really is the best night ever.’”

A quick glance over to Rarity saw her already tearing up in joy, as if fulfilling her romanticisms by proxy. I was just relieved that their date went off without any further complications, because the last thing my conscience needed was ruining yet another relationship for Flash.

“The next thing I know, I’m grabbing Flash by the collar and kissing him,” Twilight said with a sudden burst of excitement. It wasn’t too unlike the schoolgirl giddiness I saw back in the restaurant, complete with a bounce and rhythm to her words. “It was just like Rarity said: I just had to go for it! I haven’t felt that kind of rush since I opened up my first Encyclopedia Britannimare! I’m still getting goosebumps just thinking about it.”

“I guess this means there’ll be a second date, huh?” I remarked.

“I hope so,” Twilight nodded eagerly. “I’ll still need to figure out when I can take time away from Equestria again, not to mention it would be more expedient to devise a way for Flash and I to directly communicate so we don’t have to relay everything through you.”

“You could always get him a journal like the ones you and I share,” I suggested. “Just ask Princess Celestia: she knows how to make more of them.”

“Of course, that’s perfect!” Twilight exclaimed. She once again showed her appreciation by giving me a hug, except that in her haste she forgot she was still holding a half-eaten cupcake, which was promptly smeared across the back of my coat. “Uh, whoopsies. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about, it’s just a little bit of cake and frosting.”

“By the way, Sunset, you said you were going to explain what happened to you last night once everyone was here,” Twilight reminded me, regarding me with a curious gaze and an innocent smile. If only she knew the kind of anxiety she just renewed in me just by reminding of that.

“Oh, right! That thing. The thing I said I would totally talk about,” I answered back. My words were followed by a bout of the most forced laughter I’d ever mustered as I tried to cover up my nervousness. It was like trying to stretch my underwear over the hood of a Buick.

“What’s she talking about?” a confused Applejack inquired.

I was still pretending to be finding the whole situation hilarious, so Twilight wound up bringing the others up to date. “Sunset was at the same restaurant as me and Flash last night after Rarity told her.”

“I never told Sunset that,” Rarity spoke up. “Did you tell her, Pinkie?”

“Wasn’t me.”

Well, I was never expecting that lie to hold up to much scrutiny anyways, but at least it lasted long enough to suit my needs. What was a little bit more rope for the noose anyways? As all their suspicious glares turned to me, I could feel their judgement bearing down upon me, and what little façade of calmness I could muster began to crack under the weight of it all.

“Ah heh heh, s-so funny story about that…”

********************

Sugar Cube Corner usually brought about a sense of serenity and peace with its inviting atmosphere and friendly company and fragrant treats. Just the scent of their cinnamon rolls alone was enough to make even the most stressful of days melt away like the warm icing atop their golden, spiced curves.

By the gilded throne of Canterlot, was I hungry, but I promised myself I wouldn’t indulge on the cafe’s sweet treats until I made things right with Twilight. If nothing else, the thought of a hot strudel with its flakey, golden-brown pastry was enough to compel me to see this through. I used to think that this place was nothing more than a childish diversion from greater ambitions, but perhaps even my old, evil self knew that one bite was enough to make me forsake all other goals.

“I wonder if I could get a job here,” I thought to myself, then realized that any sort of employee discount would be more devastating to my thighs than the One Hundred Pastry War.

I stewed in silence, alternating between fidgeting with my phone, my bookbag, my empty mug, and seeing how many seconds I’d killed since the last time I checked.

Twenty-eight…

I knew waiting at Sugar Cube would be horrid for my blood pressure, but I just had to keep reminding myself that Twilight would be arriving soon. She had to. I had put all my chips into this one play, and if I wound up getting stood up, I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to look myself in the mirror tomorrow. The old me would’ve used an opportunity like this to grind an opponent into dust and ensure they never dared to lift a finger against me again, and I could only pray that what I did hadn’t turned Twilight into a tenth of how cynical and heartless I had once been.

I couldn’t let her become like me.

Lucky for me and the protesting wails coming from within me, I heard a tap from the nearby window. It was Twilight, standing out on the sidewalk; she smiled and waved to me. Actually, it was less of a wave and more like a wiggling of her fingers in my general direction, as if too much movement might scare me away. She looked tense—nervous even. Was she scared?

Whether I was ready for it or not, I’d have the answers soon as Twilight entered the cafe to the chiming of an overhanging door bell.

“H-hey Twilight,” I greeted, trying desperately to keep my own anxiety from seeping into my voice. “I’m… uh, I’m glad you came.”

“And I’m glad you asked me to,” my friend replied. She sat down in the seat across from me, keeping her bookbag in her lap and hugging it close. “There’s a lot I want… no, I need to get off my chest.”

“Twilight, there’s something I need to say first—”

“Please, this is important. I need to say this before we go any further,” she cut me off.

“So is what I have to say.” Whatever she wanted to tell me, I had to get my apology in first; she needed to know how I really felt. “It’s too important to wait; you have to hear me out.”

“No, please, let me go first.”

“I need to tell you the truth.”

Eventually, we both got too desperate to wait for an opening and just blurted out in unison, “Sunset (Twilight), I’m sorry I hurt you!”

Recoiling back in shock, we just stared at one another as if we had just woken up in an alternate dimension where everything was opposite. The confusion on her face no doubt mirrored my own as our brains struggled to restart after such an abrupt stall.

“I don’t understand,” I finally muttered. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

There came a heavy sigh from my friend as her shoulders slumped forward and eyes fell to the tabletop. “Because I haven’t been a very good friend to you,” she explained in a soft, mournful tone. “You’re the first real friend that I’ve had, but I’m still new to friendship. There’s still a lot I need to learn about it. I know I can be a bit boring… and weird… and awkward… and I ramble about things that most people don’t care about.”

It was tempting to interrupt her right there and insist that she had been nothing but a wonderful friend, but my curiosity compelled me to silence. If I wanted to fix this mess, I needed more than empty platitudes: I had to understand her.

“And then I look at you: you’re always so confident, and sure of yourself. You’re cool, you dress amazingly, you’re always so compassionate and thoughtful, and your hair is like… I swear you use some dark magic to make it look that incredible every day,” Twilight continued. Anybody else rambling like that I might’ve mistaken for jealousy, but from her I could sense remorse and sadness. “I would always think to myself, ‘why would somebody so incredible keep wanting to spend their time with someone as plain as me?’ It’s… it’s stupid, I know, but that thought was always there. At the restaurant, when I got those messages from Lightning Dust… and the picture…”

“It confirmed everything you were afraid of,” I said with a sigh, mostly to myself.

Twilight nodded in silence before taking her glasses off so she could wipe a loose tear from her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Sunset… I shouldn’t have believed her. A real friend would’ve trusted you, or at least talked to you, but I just ran out on you. You’ve done so much for me, and I let you down at the first sign of trouble.”

I couldn’t help but be reminded of myself after the Fall Formal; I had lost so much confidence in myself that I was always half-convinced that my friends were prepared to drop me like a bad date the moment things got difficult. Doubt had a way of worming its way into every thought, making even the most routine things painful to endure. There were so many times I just wanted to give up just so that I didn’t have to listen to the voices in my head telling me how I would just fail again. If only we both knew how well we understood each other’s pain.

“Twilight,” I began, reaching across the table to take her hand, “if you feel like you’ve failed me as a friend, it’s only because I’ve failed you as one first. I kept you at arm’s length and patted myself on the back for being such a ‘good friend’ when the truth was, I was protecting myself because I was… scared.”

“Scared? Of what?” The misery that I had seen in her face began to disappear, replaced with the same sort of confusion I was feeling a few moments ago.

“Losing you,” I answered truthfully. “I’m not exactly an expert on friendship either, and I’ve mostly been coasting along on the fact that you don’t know enough either to realize how bad I really am. I should’ve invited you to my birthday party and I shouldn’t have lied to you, but I was scared of what might happen if I did. I’m sorry, Twilight, I should’ve put more trust in you, and in us.”

Had she been angry with me after what I had just said, I wouldn’t have blamed her for it. I squeezed her, and she smiled back to me, and my world just brightened up. She reached over and placed her other hand overtop of mine, at which point I almost wanted to just start crying.

“Sunset, I know you have trust issues,” she reassured me, “and I know that it’ll take time for you to open yourself up to me, if you ever feel I’m deserving of it. You don’t have to lie to me: I’ll understand if you’re not ready to discuss certain things with me. I’ll be here as long as you’ll have me, and I’ll be ready to listen when the time comes.”

Thankfully, I still had a free hand because it was getting very hard not to get teary-eyed. “You’re too good to me,” I replied while choking back a few tears. “I don’t know how you put up with a crazy girl like me.”

“I think we’re both a little crazy, in our own ways,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “The important part is we’re there for each other. Maybe we’re both not good at friendship, but we can learn how to be better at it together.”

“I’d like that.”

As I assumed Twilight probably felt about as emotionally spent as I did, we both just leaned back in our seats and took a moment to collect ourselves. It was weird how I went into the cafe thinking I knew exactly what the problem was, only to be thrown another curveball. Friendship sure could be a wild ride, and today just reaffirmed how much of a novice I still was. At least I had hope, however; hope that with enough time and patience, that little voice of doubt in my head would finally be silenced.

“By the way, Twilight, what was the thing you wanted to talk to me about last night?” Given that we had aired most of our souls by this point, I saw no harm, and importantly no fear, in asking. Or so I had thought, because Twilight started to blush again at the mentioning of it.

“O-oh, that? G-guess I completely forgot about that, huh?” she nervously replied. Her hands withdrew back to her backpack and she grasped and fidgeted with the straps, her eyes darting around the cafe as if assessing its security. “I-I suppose it’s as good a time and place as any. Oh, this feels weird, though; I thought I’d be better prepared.”

Fearing something incredibly awkward, I tried to backpedal. “We can talk about it later, if it’s too much for right now.”

“N-no!” Twilight insisted with a surprising second-wind. “We’re friends, and I can’t expect you to be open with me if I don’t do the same.” She paused and took a few calming breaths, which at least gave me time to brace myself as well. “O-okay, this is… um, a little embarrassing for me to talk about. It’s not exactly something I’ve shared with many people—”

“Seriously, this can wait if you want someplace more private.” Though I knew I was probably over thinking things, my heart nonetheless decided to start racing on its own.

“I’m fine, really. I want to say this; I have to… because I don’t want to live with the regret of wondering ‘what if’,” Twilight continued on. The glow in her cheeks grew more intense as she bashfully struggled to keep eye contact with me. “I-it’s something that I’ve been thinking a lot about these past couple of days, and I wasn’t sure how to ask you. Honestly, I’m still a bit nervous, but this is important to me and I trust you. Sunset, I want to ask you…”

“L-listen, Twilight, we don’t—”

“Could you ask A.K. Yearling to autograph my Daring Do book?”

“Wait, what?”

If Twilight noticed my stunned look of bewilderment, she didn’t pay it much heed as she explained herself.

“I read the article you wrote for your school paper,” she said before clasping her hands together. “Please, oh please, I’m, like, A.K. Yearling’s biggest fan. I have all of her books in first edition hard cover, and the anthologies, and the limited edition reprints, and even the erroneous print of Sapphire Stone that had Daring Do spelt with two ‘o’s on the cover.”

Despite her explanation, I was still sitting there looking as dumbfounded as before. For some reason, I had somehow gotten myself worked up thinking she was going to ask me about something completely different. Once I had managed to restart my stalled brain, I flashed a sheepish grin back to her.

“I’ll try asking her the next time I see her. I… uh, wasn’t aware that my article had attracted readers outside of my school.”

“Are you kidding? It’s making rounds across almost every Daring Do forum on the internet,” Twilight explained, looking surprised by my humility. “There’s been huge debates over its validity, and normally I’d be skeptical of someone claiming to personally know the author of Daring Do, but when I saw that you wrote the articles, I knew it had to be true. It’s surprising, too, because usually the things that ‘AwesomeDash99’ posts about are pretty unsubstantiated.”

“AwesomeDash99?” I repeated. Suddenly my article’s sudden fame made a bit more sense. “Um, did you like the article?”

“I loved it!” Twilight exclaimed with a burst of excitement that surprised even me. “I mean, I was a little disappointed to read that the Blondie-Daring ship never re-materialized, but at the same time, Daring Do is just an amalgamation of the two sisters, so technically it’s not entirely untrue.”

I recalled hearing something similar from Rainbow Dash in the days after the whole ordeal with Yearling and her sister. While I would’ve loved to have listened to my friend gush about my work, there was one other thing that I had intended to do since I had Twilight’s attention. I took one last deep breath to calm my nerves.

“By the way, Twilight, there’s another reason why I asked you here,” I began.

“Is it to introduce me to your other friends from school?”

“I want to introduce you to—” I said followed by an abrupt pause. “W-wait, how did you—”

“Those girls over there have been watching us this entire time,” Twilight explained. She pointed to a table on the side of the cafe where Pinkie Pie and all of my other friends had been sitting and waiting. They weren’t doing a good job of hiding their interest as most of them had ear-to-ear grins from having watched me mend my friendship. “So either those are your friends, or you’ve got a very enthusiastic fan club.”

“I asked you girls to be discrete!” I shouted over to them.

“We are,” Pinkie insisted. “I put away the balloons and confetti!”

I raised a skeptical eyebrow, followed by a clenched fist that I then slammed upon the tabletop. A loud and festive ‘pop’ rang out in the cafe as bursts of confetti flew out in all directions from the table’s underside, all of which almost made Twilight jump out of her seat.

“Okay, so maybe I missed one,” my confetti-obsessed friend said while offering an apologetic grin.

Laughing it off, I turned back to Twilight, who was still re-adjusting her glasses after the jump scare. “Want to go over and say hi?” I offered. “I think you’d really like them.”

I watched in silent hope as Twilight’s eyes panned over to my friends. I could see the brief flickers of doubt and confusion, like a child standing outside the doors on her first day of school. But as her gaze settled back on me, those fears seemed to melt away, and she smiled to me with a reassuring confidence.

“I’d love to.”

I walked her over to the rest of my friends, whom thankfully managed to restrain themselves enough to not crash-tackle her at the first opportunity. Even Pinkie was keeping herself contained, albeit she was bouncing on her seat like a hyperactive child with an overloaded bladder.

“Girls, I’d like you to meet my friend, Twilight Sparkle,” I began. “And Twilight, these are my friends: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.”

“Hi,” Twilight greeted with a cautious wave. “It’s… um, nice to meet all of you.”

“And I think I speak for everyone when I say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Rarity replied, putting her best foot forward with a heart-warming smile and a flutter of her eyelashes. “We’ve all been looking forward to this.”

“Oh? Has she told you a lot about me?” the always-curious Twilight asked.

“On the contrary, she’s actually been very tight-lipped on the subject, but we could tell there was something special going on—she’s had this… air of jubilation about her.”

“We were beginning to think she was just going to hog you all to herself,” Rainbow Dash joked. She grinned and winked to me, letting me know that there were no hard feelings about it. “But we knew she’d come around eventually, and that the wait would be totally worth it.”

When I brought Twilight over, I had worried about her getting a little embarrassed, but instead I was the one tugging at my collar and flustering around the cheeks. Before I could become any more self-conscious, we took a seat and Twilight began to get better acquainted with my friends. In retrospect, my fears were grossly overblown. I was so terrified that sharing Twilight with the others might diminish or deprive me of what we had, but friendship wasn’t like a bowl of candy—you didn’t lose it just by spreading it around. The best thing you could do with a friendship was share it with others.

As they began to share in stories and laughter, I leaned back in my seat and just watched as my friend spread her wings. The others really did love having her around, even if she hadn’t looked exactly like a certain pony princess.

And, of course, it didn’t take long before she got into a verbal showdown with Rainbow Dash over who was really the biggest Daring Do fan at the table.

Act VII-I

I’ve always been ambivalent about winter. Back in Equestria, Canterlot in particular, weather was a controlled cycle, so I cared for it about as much as any seasonal decoration. Sometimes I wondered if they invented winter if only so the fashion designers of Equestria had an excuse to make a completely different set of clothing for everypony to wear. It was cold and dreary at times, but it made studying by the fireplace in the evening more enjoyable, and it provided a convenient excuse to practice the arts of cryomancy. Everyone got excited around wintertime, but I viewed it with the same deference I gave switching from a light coat to a heavier one.

The things that everyone else got excited about when the snow began to fall just didn’t matter to me back when I was a unicorn. Family, friends, outdoor activities: they were things that ‘lesser’ ponies wasted their time on. And this sentiment carried across when I left Equestria, with the only difference being that I felt very foolish in the first year when I spent an hour searching the school library for a weather schedule.

However, there were a lot of things I didn’t understand back before the fateful Fall Formal, so when wintertime came about at Canterlot High, I endeavored to keep an open mind and do everything in my power to get myself involved in whatever it was that made this time of the year special.

Granted, none of this came about from some pro-active sense of enlightenment or desire to correct all the wrongs of my past, but rather a spur-of-the-moment, half-baked reaction when Rarity popped the question at school:

“So Sunset, what did you do for the holidays back in Equestria?”

“W-well, you know, we did stuff… with things, and the decorations.” I fumbled about in my feeble attempt to not come off as pathetic as I envisioned the truth to be, but all it took was one skeptical look from my friend to put a stop to that. “I… never really did anything. I got dragged to the occasional party, but I didn’t have much choice since I was Princess Celestia’s student: I had to make an appearance. Truthfully, though, those parties were an absolute bore. Just lots of old, stuffy ponies making small talk over fizzy drinks and fancy cakes.”

Just the thought of them was enough to make me want to yawn. Had I been a more sociable pony, I would’ve spent that time hanging out with the other students of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns; however, I was a Grade-A Butthead back then, so I always ducked out once Celestia became suitably distracted entertaining her guests. The food at the very least made the brief public appearance worth the hassle.

“What about from before you were Celestia’s student? You must’ve done something with your family.”

“Same story, except minus the grandeur of the Royal Palace.”

Rarity gave me a sympathetic look. “Did they at least have Hearth’s Warming in Equestria?”

“Yes, we do have that,” I said. That much I did know since it seemed to be a tradition on both sides of the portal to do school productions of the ‘Story of Hearth’s Warming’ every year. “It has a bit more historical significance in Equestria, since we literally had evil spirits that tried to freeze the landscape until we learned to work together. I think it’s more-or-less celebrated the same in both worlds. As always, though, I was more concerned with certain selfish ambitions to pay any real attention.”

As we walked through the hallway on our way to our next class, Rarity offered me a reassuring smile. “In that case, you can count on me to make this your first real Hearth’s Warming with us!” She threw an arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close. “We are going to do it all, darling! The Hearth Warming parties, caroling in the evening hours, building snowmen in the backyard, ice skating in the city park, hot cocoa by the fireplace, and the best part of it all: the holiday shopping!”

I ascertained by how hard Rarity squeezed me on the last point that she really liked the holiday shopping part. I remembered in previous years seeing internet videos of people acting like wild animals in shopping malls during big sales, and I worried that I lacked the fortitude to endure such an ordeal.

Part of me wanted to insist that Rarity was making too much of a deal about this, and that my inexperience with the holidays didn’t mean I had to dive headlong in. But how many times so far had I insisted that my friends not fret over me, only to be proven wrong in the end? I was going to get the full package of the Hearth’s Warming holiday experience, so I figured I may as well embrace it.

“Sounds like I’m going to have a busy holiday.”

Not that being busy with friends was such a bad thing, especially since it had been several weeks since I had solved my biggest worry by introducing Twilight to the others. All of my worries had proven to be for naught as she assimilated into my circle of friends without any difficulties. I made a mental note to check and see what sort of plans Twilight had over the coming weeks, though I suspected that her past had been as bereft of holiday parties as mine had been.

“Quick holiday newbie question,” I asked with a raised finger. “Do you and the others do gift exchanges? I know families do that, but I wasn’t sure about friends.”

“Oh, but of course!” Rarity exclaimed as wide-eyed exuberance overtook her. “Why, it’s one of my favourite parts of the holidays. There’s nothing like the feeling of finding that perfect gift for your friend, wrapping it in the most elegant paper, and then watching their expression on Hearth’s Warming Day when they open it up! Even just thinking about it makes me feel like I’m floating on air!”

I smirked with a knowing chuckle. “That’s because you are.”

“I am?” Rarity’s disbelief was momentary, as it only took a quick downward glance to confirm that she was floating through the air. She was still tethered to me by her arm around my shoulder, which left her being pulled alongside me with her feet trailing behind us like a child’s balloon. “Oh dearie me, I better be more careful now that it’s the holidays. I don’t want to get carried away by the breeze.”

“Just stop thinking generous things and it should go away after a few minutes.”

The fact that neither I nor Rarity nor the scores of our classmates around us were bothered in the least by the fact that somebody was defying gravity spoke volumes of how often these magical flare-ups had been occuring. Just a week prior, Rainbow Dash got herself stranded in the rafters of the gymnasium because she wanted to ‘try something she saw in a comic book.’ At this rate, we were going to be the first school ever to have ‘no flying in the hallways’ codified into the student handbook.

I found myself fixated on Rarity’s ringing endorsement on the art of gift-giving. She wasn’t lying about that uplifting feeling, as the thought of bringing such joy to my friends left me in a blissful daydream. It sounded like the perfect way for me to get involved in the holiday spirit, and with everything my friends had done for me since the Fall Formal, I really wanted to show my gratitude.

“Do you mind helping me with picking gifts for the other girls?” I asked my still-floating friend. “I really want to get something special for them.”

“I would be glad to help out. How about I come by your place after school today? We can start by brainstorming ideas, work out a budget—”

“A budget? Uh, h-how much do you think I should spend on a gift?”

“However much you think your friend is worth, obviously.”

As I wasn’t about to value one friend over another, the logical conclusion would be to figure out how much of a budget I had, and then to divide it amongst them. It was a simple and straightforward plan that left me feeling hopeful for the future, so naturally things started to go wrong almost immediately.

********************

“How in the Seven Pillars of Equestria am I out of money?!”

Luckily for me, my over-the-top reaction to my financial woes was in the presence of the one friend who could appreciate a bit of melodrama. As my head collapsed onto the kitchen island, Rarity, who sat opposite of me, reached across and reassured me with a few pats on the shoulder. I could only muster a defeated groan before I lifted my head up just enough to cradle it between my forearms.

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks,” Rarity said as she offered a comforting smile.

We had gathered in my kitchen after school to start preparations for our holiday shopping, but while Rarity had used the time to peruse online stores and catalogs, I had been reviewing my finances. Even going in, I knew my coffers had become rather barren, but I hadn’t realized the extent until I looked at my online bank records. I usually kept my money in a shoebox, but since I moved in with Celestia she’d helped me open up a student banking account under her name. It had helped keep me better organized, but it was a lot easier to lose track of my exact balance when I didn’t have a physical pile of money to serve as a visual aid.

“Take a look for yourself.”

I held out my phone for her to browse, and as she scrolled through the records, the change in her expression was all the confirmation I needed. She went from cheerful optimism to the kind of look a person got when they realized they were the sole common denominator in all of their dysfunctional relationships.

“Wow. Never realized how much we went to Sugarcube Corner until you see it all on one page,” Rarity said, though the calmness in her tone didn’t match the twitch in her eyebrow.

Who knew their triple berry parfaits were as devastating to my wallet as they were to my hips.

“Maybe we could just—oh, no that won’t work. Perhaps we can go to—wait, that store closed ages ago.” Rarity fumbled around trying to put a positive spin on my situation, but it was impossible to deny that it was very difficult to be generous in the holiday season when you didn’t have two bits to rub together. “W-well, you had to stay afloat before the Fall Formal. You must’ve been able to get money back then.”

“I helped people cheat on their school work, remember?”

“Oh, right.” The look on my friend’s face affirmed that she was genuine in her forgetfulness. To be fair, looking back on my old life, even I felt like it had been a lifetime ago. It was easy to forget that once upon a time I used to lie, cheat, and steal my way through life. “Don’t lose heart, Sunset, this is just a… uh, minor obstacle to overcome, that’s all!”

“It’s a bit more than a ‘minor’ obstacle. I’m flat broke,” I lamented. “I wanted this holiday to be something special, but what can I do when I’ve got nothing to my name?” Not wanting to give in to despair, I sat back upright and took a few deep breaths to settle my nerves. Losing my composure wasn’t going to solve my problems, after all. “I just… I can’t help but remember my birthday, and how great the gifts you and the others got for me were. Making me a new jacket couldn’t have been cheap, even for you.”

“Well, back before I had a job, I found the best way to work around a tight budget was to get creative with my ideas,” Rarity said.

I fell into a pensive silence as I considered my friend’s suggestion. It didn’t take long for the realization to hit me like a festive Yule log. I almost felt like an idiot for not realizing that the answer was right in front of me.

“Of course, that’s it!” I exclaimed, much to my friend’s delight. “I need to get a job!”

“That’s… a great idea,” Rarity replied, although I was so wrapped up in my own pride that at the time I thought she was being sincere.

“I know, right? I’ll just hit the mall after school tomorrow, and I’ll check to see who’s hiring.” Feeling a surge of excitement and determination, I grabbed my coat and my friend and hurried for the door. “If we leave now, we’ll have plenty of time to scour the mall before it closes.”

“I’m not entirely sure this is the best idea, darling. The mall can be a bit of a zoo this time of the year.” Rarity’s warning, however, fell on deaf ears. I was simply too drunk on zeal and bravado to change course at this point. After all, I now had a clear and definitive objective in mind: go to the mall, get a job, and secure this holiday as the best Hearth’s Warming ever.

********************

It should come as no surprise that I was back home in under two hours. As I burst through the front door, I let out an exasperated, relieved sigh before I fell to my hands and knees. I was flustered, disheveled, and still gasping for breath in a desperate attempt to stop the trembling in my arms.

“What… what in the hay was that?” I exclaimed in frightful disbelief. “That was no mall… that… that was something straight out of the pits of Tartarus!”

Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see were swarms of people, packed together until everything was just one uniform mass of flesh and tacky sweaters. Trying to navigate through that had been like trying to sail in the midst of a storm without any sense of direction, left purely to the whims of fate and chance. Never before had I endured being smothered and crushed so repeatedly, and even moving from one shop to the next required squeezing through gaps that would’ve given a cat pause. And that was during the better moments; other times I just had to push through wherever I could and hope that I would wind up where I needed to when I emerged.

Even having Rarity with during the ordeal proved to be of little help, as we repeatedly got separated whenever I foolishly looked away for two seconds and discovered my friend beside me had been replaced by another grandmother unable to remember what the latest ‘must have’ toy was called. I had dealt with dragons and griffons and other mystical beings during my tutelage in Equestria, but none of that could have prepared me for the mayhem that was a shopping mall in December.

It was just chaos: endless, unadulterated anarchy. The kids, the shouting, the pushing, the carols, the constant barrage of glitter and tinsel, the sweltering heat of a thousand souls crammed together in a singular obsession…

And the music. The same merry jingles blasting out of every speaker on an infinite loop. If I had to listen to yet another rendition of ‘Rudolph the Red-Eyed Windigo’ one more time, I was liable to deck the halls with my face, over and over.

Forget fire and brimstone: I had seen what real eternal torment was.

Trailing a few steps behind me was Rarity, who despite having gone through the exact same marathon of being squeezed through a grinder of our fellow denizens, looked no worse for the weather. In fact, she even somehow managed to emerge with a few shopping bags of her own and a fruit smoothie despite the fact that I was fairly certain that I never went anywhere near the food court. Granted, I could’ve walked past Princess Celestia and not noticed given that I was never able to see more than a few feet ahead of me in that sea of shoppers.

“I warned you that the mall wasn’t the best idea,” Rarity said before she set down her bags. She helped me back to my feet and offered her shoulder for support as I hobbled into the living room so that I could collapse once more, but at least this time onto the couch. “The crowds can be absolutely dreadful this time of the month, and all the shops would’ve hired their seasonal workers weeks ago.”

I couldn’t recall whether Rarity had warned me or not, but I knew that I had been so fired up about my ‘brilliant plan’ that I wouldn’t have noticed if a bomb had gone off beside me.

“Well, that was a waste of an afternoon then,” I said, followed by a disheartened sigh.

“If you need some money, I could—”

I knew what she was about to offer, so I made sure to crush that idea before it could take root. “No way! Nuh-uh! I’m not asking anyone for handouts. I’ve been given enough by you and the others, I’m not taking one cent more.”

The debts I had accumulated since the Fall Formal were enough to fill a ledger cover to cover, and while I knew there was no way I could ever repay all of it, I owed it to myself and to my friends to start giving back. Thankfully, Rarity understood this right away, and she nodded in understanding.

“There’s got to be a way to earn a quick buck in this town,” I muttered to myself before I rolled onto my back and tucked my arms behind my head. I spent the next few minutes staring a hole through the ceiling as I racked my brain trying to figure out a solution. For a problem that sounded so trivial from the outside, it was proving to be more than a match for my wit. It felt like saving the school from the sirens was an easier task by comparison. If only I could’ve gotten paid for that.

My ramblings and lamentations had not gone unnoticed by the other occupants in the house. Drawn to my groan of dismay like Pinkie Pie to freshly-baked cake, Celestia walked into the living room with a look of curiosity and concern.

“Is something the matter, Sunset?” she inquired.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

I answered more on instinct than reason. I didn’t like burdening people with my problems, least of all the people who had done the most for me already. I knew that was an irrational belief, but it was still an ingrained habit of mine. Thankfully, Rarity knew when to give me the metaphorical kick in the pants to help me along.

“She just found out she has no money left for holiday shopping,” Rarity explained without a second-thought.

“And I’m not going to borrow, beg, or steal for it,” I reiterated, just in case Celestia tried to make a similar offer as Rarity had. I don’t know why I added ‘steal’ at the end, but it seemed prudent to include.

If Celestia was worried, she did a masterful job of hiding it, as her expression retained that same calm and controlled look of contemplation and consideration. “So you’re looking for a job to earn some money then?” she mused as she strolled over to the couch. She leaned over it just slightly, resting her elbows on the back of the couch such that she could look down upon me. “I could see about drafting a list of extra chores around the house you could do in exchange for some money.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t know if that’ll be enough,” I answered. “I mean, how many extra chores could you possibly need done around here?”

And even if I did all of the household chores for the next few weeks, how much could I get away with asking for as compensation? I could already picture Celestia insisting on overpaying me, which would just be giving me free money by a different name. I couldn’t let her do that for me: I needed to earn this money fair and square.

“Have you considered tutoring?” Celestia offered as an alternative.

I remembered the first time she made that suggestion, way back when I had first moved in with her. The memory was still so fresh that I even spouted the same general answer as I had back then.

“Who’d want me as their tutor?”

All it took was one incredulous glare from both of them to remind me that I wasn’t the social pariah I had once been. I flashed a sheepish grin and hid my embarrassment behind a forced laugh.

“Uh, how much does tutoring even pay?”

“Through our school’s program, I think it’s about eight dollars an hour per student. You might have to sign up with several students to make enough money for what you want, but with the final exams coming up, there should be a lot of students looking for extra help.”

It was an answer so simple and obvious, I almost wanted to hit myself for not realizing it sooner. The final exams meant everybody was scrambling to squeeze out every point they could, which meant lots of tutors and cram sessions. With my brains and popularity, I could probably have half the school scrambling to get involved. I was soon enraptured with thoughts of me at the head of a large after-school study session with scores of students all paying eight-dollars a head per hour to learn from me. Even just a dozen students at that rate would net me over a hundred dollars for a one hour session.

“This is a great idea, Celestia,” I said once I snapped out of my fantasies of fortune. “Is there somewhere at school to sign up for this?”

“Ms. Yearling handles the administration of our tutoring program. Just speak with her tomorrow and she can organize the paperwork for you.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate this.”

“Happy to help,” Celestia said as she donned a motherly smile. “Dinner should be ready soon. Will you be staying, Rarity?”

“I’d love to, but I really should get home before it’s too late,” my friend answered as she checked her watch. “I promised Sweetie Belle I’d help her with her homework tonight.”

Feeling rejuvenated now that I once again had a workable plan going forward, I sprung back to my feet and walked my friend to the door to see her out. “Thanks again for all of your help today,” I said just as she stepped outside.

“It was my pleasure,” she replied. “And I’ll ask my sister if she needs any tutoring help for her exams. Perhaps tomorrow at school we can print up some fliers to help advertise.”

“Not a bad idea.”

We exchanged a quick hug before she headed on her way. However, just as Rarity reached the end of the front walkway, she stopped and turned back to me. “And don’t forget to get Celestia a nice gift for Hearth’s Warming, too!”

“I wouldn’t dream of forgetting,” I called back before I closed the door.

I had totally forgotten.

Granted, I had only been thinking about my holiday shopping for a grand total of ten hours so far, and had been fixated on the job problem for a portion of that. Still, as I continued staring at the front door in silence, I felt a pang of guilt that Celestia hadn’t been one of the first people to come to mind. She had gone far above what any of my friend’s had done thus far: asking for almost nothing in return, she had let me into her school… her home… her life.

If Hearth’s Warming was about the bonds of family and friends, then I needed to get Celestia a gift that represented just how important she’s become to me.

I needed ideas, but thankfully I knew exactly who to turn to for that. I was soon knocking on Luna’s door, keeping a watchful eye for the elder sister all the while.

“Hello, is dinner ready?” Luna asked upon greeting me.

“Soon. I was wondering if you had any idea about what I could get Celestia for Hearth’s Warming.”

“Get her a book.” Luna’s answer was prompt and to the point, as to be expected, although it felt a little uninspired. “She likes mystery novels and books on gardening. Those are my usual fallback ideas.”

“Is there anything you’d like for Hearth’s Warming?”

Instead of answering right away, Luna just pulled out her phone and tapped a few buttons. A second later, I heard a ping come from my own.

“Emailed you my wishlist,” she explained. “You should consider making one for yourself when you have the time: I find they make shopping for people a lot easier.”

I thanked her for her time and retreated to my room for the time being. I had a lot to think over, not just about my money issue, but also Celestia’s gift. The book idea was decent, but it still felt impersonal. Despite having lived under her roof for the past few months, I didn’t know much about her beyond her current duties as principal and her past once-troubled relationship with Luna. A few hobbies, yes, but a meaningful gift had to be something more than that. I knew this was to be my mission this holiday: the perfect Hearth’s Warming was going to require the perfect gift for her, and to do that I would need to find out everything I could about Celestia.

Maybe I should’ve just gotten her that book…

Act VII-II

“Okay, so just sign here, here, and here; then date here, and finally list all the subjects and grade levels you’re willing to offer. Put your most preferred subjects in the first column, and then your ‘less preferred but still willing to sell yourself’ in the second.”

The school’s tutoring program was more thorough than I had envisioned; though to be fair, I had no idea what to expect when I approached Ms. Yearling after class the day after my fruitless expedition to the mall. Everyone else had long since stormed out of her class once the bell rang, so we were able to talk candidly without intrusion.

After filling out a half-dozen forms, she double-checked all of my grades, and then ran me through a test she liked to call ‘explain it to me like I’m five,’ where I had to elaborate on complex subjects in simplified terms. We were finished in less than half-an-hour, though Yearling explained to me that it only went that quickly because she already knew how good of a student I was.

“Now I gotta warn you, you’re kinda late to the party,” Yearling said when I handed the signed forms over. “The big rush for snatching up tutors to prepare for the final exams was last week. Pretty much everyone who’s looking for help has already signed up and been assigned a tutor.”

I felt an all-too-familiar pang of despair beginning to gnaw at my insides. “Is there… really nobody left?”

“I didn’t say there was nobody left,” Yearling reassured me, although her uneasy expression didn’t fill me with confidence. “There’s always a few late stragglers, but those are usually the less serious studiers. If you’re looking to make money, I can’t guarantee you’ll get much from this. You’re basically scrounging for table scraps at this point.”

That only served to sink my spirits faster than going for a swim while wearing concrete sandals. It was foolish to think that I was the only person who’d try to take advantage of the final exams to fatten up the holiday coffers. I had to start considering whether I’d even be able to afford presents for my friends, let alone establish a reasonable budget for it. If it came down to it, however, I was willing to forgo gifts for my friends in order to get something for Celestia. I knew my friends would understand how important that would be to me.

“Is there anything you can do to help? Maybe some of the others might be willing to… loan me their students?”

I knew my words sounded desperate, but I was; if I thought it would help, I would’ve dropped to my hands and knees to beg for it.

“I’ll ask around: there might be a few tutors who’ve bitten off more than they can chew,” Yearling said. It was a small hope, but a hope nonetheless, and I’m sure the look of relief on my face did not go unnoticed. “Everyone’s always so worked up about what they’ll get for the holidays, and here you are trying your hardest to be able to give something to others. Good to see some kids still remember the holiday spirit.”

“Technically, I’m learning it for the first time,” I said with a sheepish smirk. With the subject of the holidays now on our minds, I decided to distract myself by indulging in a bit of curiosity. “So what are your plans for the winter break?”

“Well, with sis in graduate school, I was planning to go visit her with Blondie,” Yearling said as she took my papers and began sifting through them. “However, apparently she and Caballeron are out in the field for the next month or so, which she neglected to tell me until the last second.”

“I take it that’s not the usual sort of plan you have?” My follow-up question was met with a puzzled stare from my teacher. “I’m new to holidays, so I’m curious what other people typically do.”

Anyone else asking something like that would’ve probably been dismissed offhand or seen as nosey, but my inexperience was well-understood by those around me. Even someone as private as Yearling was willing to help with my extra-curricular learning.

“I’ve never been much for big gatherings, to be honest,” she admitted, which didn’t surprise me in the least. “Blondie doesn’t have any family, and, until recently, I wasn’t close to mine; so we would just spend the holidays together with a big bucket of caramel popcorn and our favourite Hearth’s Warming movies.”

“Which are?”

“Nightmare Before Hearth’s Warming, and Die Hard.”

“Those don’t sound very festive.”

“Well, Blondie and I aren’t much for tradition,” Yearling said, followed by a quiet chuckle. “Or rather, we didn’t have any traditions to rely upon, so we started making our own.”

I had to admit, there was a definite romantic appeal to the idea of forging new traditions with the people you cared about. Being new to this world, I had no legacy or heritage to call upon; nobody in this world would care about old pony traditions, even if I had bothered to remember any from when I was one. All the more reason I wanted to make this Hearth’s Warming into something worth remembering in the future. I wanted to be able to one day look back and say, ‘this is when it all started.’

To that end, I had to start asking the questions that were bothering me the most. “Miss Yearling, could I… um, ask you about Celestia?”

“Doing some sleuthing for gift shopping, I take it?” Yearling asked with a playful little grin.

“That obvious, huh?”

“If you had wanted to know for the sake of knowing, you would’ve gone straight to the source. I’m surprised you need to ask at all; you’ve been living with her for a while now.”

Yearling pointing that out only served to deepen my sense of shame. While I had picked up little bits and pieces about my caretaker in those weeks, I still felt like I only knew the bare minimum. It was like staring at a lake, but never knowing how deep it went.

“I guess I’ve been… avoiding it,” I admitted with great reluctance.

“Scared?”

“Wh—I’m not scared! What do I have to be afraid of?” I snapped back, perhaps a bit too defensively.

Unsurprisingly, Yearling wasn’t dissuaded by my denial, offering an indifferent shrug at first. “Being known? Being vulnerable to someone?” she speculated offhandedly. “You’ve gotten close to your friends, but Celestia isn’t just a friend: she’s been your keeper. Unlike everyone else, she holds power and authority over you still. You could avoid Rainbow Dash if she ever makes you uneasy, but at the end of the day, you sleep under the same roof as Celestia.”

I hadn’t envisioned that my quest to learn more about my caretaker would require such self-reflection. It was surprising how close to the mark Yearling was: unlike my friends, a part of me was still… afraid of Celestia. It wasn’t a fear in the traditional sense, but rather a wariness because I still felt compelled to protect myself.

“Guess I’ve still got a lot to learn, huh?” I muttered, more to myself than the person sitting opposite of me.

Yearling leaned forward to rest her chin upon her palm, cupping a hand over chin and mouth. She then flashed a whimsical smile through the gaps between her fingers. “You and Tia have a lot in common in that respect.”

“Meaning…?”

“Despite being such warm and kind-hearted people, the two of you still keep people at an arm’s length,” she elaborated. “I’ve known her since college, and I still barely have a complete picture. I can’t recall her ever getting in touch with anyone she knew from high school, and I’m pretty certain that I’m the only person from college that she still keeps in regular contact with.”

My first reaction was an understandable, ‘that can’t possibly be right! Celestia is a social butterfly for whom people would flock to like a throng of hungry students to the cafeteria on Frogurt Friday.’ Once I thought about it, however, I began to realize I couldn’t name a single friend of Celestia’s aside from Yearling. Everyone she spoke to on a regular basis either lived or worked with her. Granted, there were probably lots of people who lived their lives like that, but even still, it felt unsettling to acknowledge that Celestia didn’t appear to have many close friends. Lots of work friends, lots of acquaintances, but close friends?

“So what was she like in college?” I asked, growing ever more curious.

“I’d say she was a lot like she is now, except less tempered by age and experience,” Yearling answered, followed by a sudden flash of laughter. “Or maybe I was just a bad influence on her.”

“You were a bad influence?” I remarked in disbelief.

“Try not to let it shatter your worldview, but once upon a time Tia and I were young, wild girls just like you and your friends.” I still found that hard to believe, despite all logic saying otherwise. “Of course, by the time I met her, she had already lost her parents, so she was running her household, working a part-time job, and looking after a little sister who decided to enter a rebellious phase.”

I remembered how that story ended: with Celestia being pulled in so many directions that she let her own sister go to juvenile detention just to keep a grip on things.

Yearling rested back in her seat, which creaked under the shifting weight. Her eyes drifted upward as if in a nostalgic daydream. “I remember when we met; she seemed like the perfect student: elegant… polite… responsible… beautiful…”

“Geeze, you sound like you had a crush on her,” I said with a playful laugh.

“She might’ve helped me realize that I was into girls,” Yearling admitted as a hint of red flashed across her cheeks. “Despite all her responsibilities and commitments, she still had a childish side to her. It took me a while, but I eventually learned how to coax that part out of her.”

It still felt alien to be thinking about Principal Celestia anything remotely like how I or my friends would behave, but I had to remind myself that she wasn’t always the responsible, dutiful school administrator I know her as today. I had to spend a moment just to force myself to picture her young, vibrant, and carefree—or at least as carefree as Celestia could get—surrounded by other teenagers while gossiping about the latest bands or who was dating whom. A part of me still doubted that Celestia did any of that even when she was a teenager.

“What sort of things did ‘childish’ Celestia do?”

“Oh, you know… silly things,” Yearling continued, still sporting a dopey grin. “She used to be a huge prankster back in college. Like, one time I accidentally spilled some water on her bedding, and she got upset. I told her that ‘it’s just a little water.’ The next day after class, I open the door to my room and every single inch of flat surface in my room has these tiny little cups, like this big.” She quickly gestured with her fingers a span of about two inches, which made it sound like those plastic cups that nurses use to hand out pills. “Every single one of them was filled to the brim with water. Like, perfectly, too. More than perfect. You know when you fill something right to the top and then it has that little bulge that goes just a bit higher than the brim but stays in because of the surface tension? That was every single cup!”

“That… must’ve takens hours.”

“All. Freaking. Day.” Yearling had this look like she couldn’t decide whether to be angry, despite the event having happened years ago, or laugh out loud. “To top it all off, halfway through cleaning it up, Celestia walked by and said, ‘it’s just a little water.’”

“That is some serious dedication to the pranking arts,” I remarked in a mix of awe and disbelief. Even Rainbow Dash, the most prolific prankster in our group, never went to lengths like that. She would’ve gotten bored before she even finished setting it up.

“She pitched in with cleaning up, though, which is so typical of her. Even when she purposefully inconveniences you, she has to help people out.”

As odd as it was picturing Celestia behaving so childishly, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. Those days might be long gone, but it was clear by the way Yearling told it that it was still a cherished memory of hers. However, it didn’t get me any closer to figuring out a present for her, not unless I wanted to try and resurrect this prankster side of her.

Then, almost as if she could read my mind, which in itself was a terrifying thought, Yearling said, “Guess that kind of story doesn’t help you much, does it?”

“It was still nice to hear.”

“All this talk is making me thirsty,” Yearling announced before she rose to her feet. She gestured for me to follow suit, which I would’ve even without the prompt. As classes had ended, the halls were almost completely deserted, save for the custodians and a handful of club members. “Have you considered getting her a book? I know she really likes gardening and mystery novels.”

“Luna already suggested that.”

“Figures.”

While I had expected to be led to the nearest vending machines or a water fountain, instead I was taken to the teacher’s lounge. Yearling strode in without apprehension, naturally, but I hesitated at the boundary. The lounge had always stood as a sort of mystical ‘no-go zone’ for students: the final refuge of the faculty to get away from the insanity and chaos that was the high school student body. It felt almost sacrilegious for me to enter.

Sensing my apprehension, Yearling took me by the wrist and pulled me in. “Come on already, we don’t bite.”

Inside the lounge was a surprisingly plain-looking room. I had envisioned some kind of oasis, but it was a room just like every other one at Canterlot High, with the same blue linoleum flooring, the same tacky teal-coloured walls, and even the same humming overhead fluorescent tubes. We weren’t alone in the room either: on the far side of the room, Ms. Harshwhinny was taking a nap on an old leather coach; Ms. Cheerilee and a couple other teachers were sitting around a table in the center of the room playing some sort of board game; and off in the corner, Mr. Cranky was trying to have a private phone conversation with his wife on a smartphone that he still hadn’t quite figured out how to use.

None of them even paid any attention to me.

As I gawked at my teachers like a child staring at a zoo exhibit, my attention was snapped back to reality by the application of ice-cold tin against the nape of my neck. I yelped and leapt forward an inch, only to realize that it had been Ms. Yearling, who had a can of cola in each hand and a sly grin upon her face.

“You okay?” she asked before handing me one of the colas. “You looked a little spaced out for a second.”

“Sorry, it’s just a little… odd. Seeing you teachers hanging around like this, I mean.”

“Why’s that?” Yearling’s tone was inquisitive, but I got the sense she knew what my answer would be.

“Everyone here just seems so… so…” I trailed off as my attempts to put my thoughts into words eluded me somehow.

“Normal?” Yearling suggested, followed by a sharp crack and a hiss as she opened her drink. “When most of the adults you interact with everyday are either teachers or your parents, it’s easy to forget that we’re not too different from you teenagers. Sure, we’ve got a bit more experience, but there isn’t some yawning chasm between us. We’re still prone to making dumb decisions spurred on by irrationality. Take Cheerilee for example, she still fumbles and blushes like a schoolgirl when she tries to ask someone out.”

Yearling’s remark was promptly answered by her co-worker throwing an empty soda can at her head, which bounced harmlessly off amidst a chorus of laughter.

Once again, I felt foolish for not realizing something that seemed like it should’ve been obvious. The people in this room weren’t fundamentally any different than my friends. I could just as easily see Applejack and Rainbow Dash playing board games, Rarity texting on her phone, and Fluttershy taking a nap on the couch. This scene could easily be me and my friends, save for it being a teacher’s lounge.

As it was starting to get late, I thanked Yearling for the drink and her advice and headed back to my locker. Yearling followed along, though I didn’t know why at first: it looked like she had something else to say, but every time she opened her mouth it just hung empty for a second before closing up again.

“You know, Celestia used to play the guitar,” she finally spoke up, just as I had finished gathering my things from my locker.

“Really? I’m guessing she wasn’t the rocker type, right?”

“She knew a few of the popular songs of our day.” Yearling paused again, that same pensive look on her face she had a few minutes earlier. I opted for patience, despite an overwhelming urge to grab her by the collar and shout ‘out with it!’ “It’s how she first met Sombra, actually.”

“Captivated him by song, eh?”

“More like hit him in the head with the guitar case. Knocked him down a flight of stairs, too.”

“Ouch.”

“You should… um, you should talk to him if you really want to know more about Celestia. Just don’t tell anyone that you got this from me? It’s always been a sore subject with her.”

Her last remark explained why she had been so hesitant to start with. I could still recall what happened when I first witnessed Sombra and Celestia having a conversation, if one could call it that. It was one of the times I had seen her avoid a subject not because it was difficult or not appropriate, but because she was ashamed of herself.

“Aren’t most ex-boyfriends?” I said with a knowing chuckle.

“True, except he’s her ex-husband.”

If I had an answer, all rational thought took a backseat as the revelation took a sledgehammer to my brain. I stood in the school doorway for about half a minute doing my best impression of a lobotomy recipient.

“Ex… husband?” I murmured to myself in a stupor. “Her… him… marriage? I don’t—what happened?”

“Those answers, I’m afraid I don’t have,” Yearling said as she gently eased me out the door. “I was at the wedding: wore the tackiest yellow dress as the Maid of Honour, too. But afterwards I went globetrotting with my sister and doing all the stuff that eventually became the Daring Do books. When we met up again, they were separated, and she wouldn’t tell me anything.”

I couldn’t help but notice the melancholic undertone in her voice; a despair that brewed from a feeling of isolation and impotence when a close friend shuts you out. I had a feeling that was a sensation that I had unknowingly inflicted on my friends as well every time I was too pig-headed to face my problems head-on.

If I were to find answers, I would have to go behind Celestia’s back and speak to the only other person who knew the truth.

********************

Given the nature of my request, I didn’t feel right making my case over text messages. If I just showed up at Headmaster Sombra’s home or workplace and started asking questions, I suspected I would get shut down faster than I could say ‘divorce settlement.’ I would need help with the matter, and the first and only person that came to mind was Twilight. She was one of his prized pupils, after all, so I hoped that would be enough to at least get him to listen to me.

I was grateful that Twilight was willing to make time to entertain a visit to her home. She, too, was in the midst of preparing for the final exams, and unsurprisingly she took it with a level of focus and determination that would’ve been more at home during bomb disposal. Then again, to her, failing the exams would be just as destructive to her life as any explosive. However, when I first asked if we could have a get together, she sounded reluctant to have me come visit. At the time, I figured she just didn’t want to interrupt her study schedule.

It was Wednesday after school when I arrived at her home, though I was surprised when the front door opened and I was greeted by someone else entirely.

“Hey, Sunset! Long time, no see.”

It was Shining Armour, which in itself wasn’t too surprising except that he also happened to be wearing the second-ugliest sweater I had ever seen. It was adorned with colourful images of candy canes and gingerbread men, and all across it were little brass bells that jingled with every movement he made. I would’ve thought that kind of wardrobe would’ve been reserved for punishment of unspeakable evils like saying ‘yes’ when your girlfriend asks if her pants made her butt look big.

“What are you wearing?” I blurted out without a second thought.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen an ugly Hearth’s sweater,” Shining answered with a carefree grin. If my rudeness had bothered him, he did an excellent job of hiding it.

“I know of them, but I’ve never seen someone wearing one that didn’t involve losing a bet.”

“Call it something of a family tradition around here,” he said before gesturing for me to enter. Once he closed the door he turned to the nearby stairs and shouted, “Twily, your friend is here!”

“Just tell her to come up to my room,” Twilight’s voice echoed back.

To my surprise, that remark appeared to ruffle his feathers far more than what I had said moments earlier. “Twilight, your friend is here. The least you could do is greet them at the door.”

There was a pronounced silence until eventually a dreary, “... Fine.”

“And you better still be wearing your sweater.”

“Fiiiiiine.”

A few moments later, Twilight’s head poked around the corner at the top of the stairs, as if to confirm that I had, in fact, arrived. However, rather than be reassured at my presence, she shrunk back at the sight of me.

“Come on, Twily, don’t be shy now.”

Twilight’s reluctance at her brother’s last remarks had caught my attention and curiosity. I had said that Shining’s sweater was the second-ugliest sweater I had ever seen, and that was because the grand prize belonged to my friend, who wore a sweater of bright greens and reds and decorated with a large, cutesy caricature of a windigo that was dolled up in bells, ribbons, and a big stocking cap. Beneath the mythical horse were the words ‘Warm your heart’s hearth’ in big, block letters. One thing I could never quite get about the human world was how they managed to take something as terrifying and dangerous as a windigo and turn it into something cute and marketable.

“Heya Twilight,” I greeted whilst trying to hold down my snickering.

Without even saying a word, I could already tell that Twilight did not enjoy being seen in her current state. In a show of sudden assertiveness, my friend came down the stairs and took me by the wrist. “Come on, we’ve got no time to waste,” she said as she dragged me off to the her room.

“You two have fun!” Shining called out.

Twilight’s room was in a surprising state of disarray, which was a stark contrast to the methodical, organized fashion that my friend usually conducted herself with. However, as we sat down and made ourselves comfortable, I realized that the ‘mess’ was organized in its own way. All about her room were stacks of papers, notebooks, open texts, and assorted flashcards, and each section pertained to a different subject, and, as I would learn later, it was all organized in chronological order of the exams. Go figure that her at her worst would still be more organized than me at my best. There was even an hour-by-hour schedule scribbled on a nearby whiteboard, which had her studying for the next hour and a half before she would be afforded a fifteen minute break.

“Okay, we’ve only lost two minutes and forty seconds of studying time. We can get back on track if we buckle down and skip the next scheduled break,” Twilight said. She took a seat at her desk while I made myself comfortable on her bed. As she gathered her next batch of study material, I fished out of my bag whichever textbook my hand happened to find first. I figured I could study for a while before I asked her about getting in touch with Sombra.

“I’m fine, by the way.”

“What?” Twilight muttered, already nose-deep in a book. It took her another second to remember what social etiquettes were. “Oh, right! S-sorry, I guess I’m a little distracted.”

“You’re probably used to studying on your own, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“Me too,” I reassured her. “I just hope I don’t slow you down: I heard Crystal Heart’s curriculum is way tougher than mine.”

“Considering how much of Gilda’s school work you used to do for her, I’m sure you’d be fine.” We both had a good laugh. I still remembered how bad I felt when Twilight first found out about my old job. It was reassuring to see that she could crack jokes about it now. And she was right: I had plenty of experience with her school’s mock exams and assignments, and I had never had much problem with them.

Once the ice had been broken, we were able to maintain a measure of smalltalk while we studied. After a while, however, my curiosity finally got the better of me. “So where’d you get a sweater like that anyways?”

Twilight flinched a bit, a combination of surprise from the subject but also the sudden break in her focus. “O-oh, this? I… uh, Shining got it for me,” she admitted. “Looks pretty stupid, doesn’t it?”

“You can take it off if you want while we study. I won’t tell him.” In all honesty, I thought discarding her sweater would have been the first thing she did once we were safe in the sanctuary of her room. It wasn’t even the right size for her, which seemed like an odd mistake for an older brother to make.

My friend paused to look down at herself and the gaudy woolen garment she wore. Her fingers curled around the edges of the sleeves, which were a touch too long for her frame, before she drew her arms in. “He’s always gotten me a sweater for Hearth’s Warming,” she explained meekly. “It just started out as a mistake when he ordered the wrong item from a catalog. I was embarrassed by it at first, so he ran out and bought himself a sweater that looked just as bad. Since then, it’s sorta been a, um…”

“Tradition?”

“Yeah,” she said with a slow nod. “I know they look really stupid.”

“Honestly, I’m kind of jealous.”

“Really?” replied my skeptical friend.

“I’ve never really had a proper Hearth’s Warming,” I explained. Much like the subject of my old job, details of my former life were much easier to discuss now that I was no longer living in fear of my past. “I’ve never had any traditions, family or otherwise. This is my first real holiday, so everything is kind of new to me.”

Without a word, Twilight got to her feet and rushed over to her closet. I watched in growing curiosity as she sifted through her wardrobe and returned to me holding a bright red sweater with a picture of a cat wearing holiday attire.

“I know it’s not much, but would you like to join our tradition?” she asked as she held out the sweater for me. “If only just for the afternoon?”

And that’s how I wound up spending the afternoon in my own ugly Hearth’s Warming sweater. We even took a few pictures together, if only so I could send them to Rarity and see what kind of reaction it spurred. I never imagined wearing something so gaudy would be enjoyable, but friends could make even the strangest things fun. It was nice to get a taste of another family’s tradition. It made me wonder if I would ever be a part of something like that.

We returned to our studies, and when the first scheduled break arrived, I took the opportunity to finally discuss my problems with Twilight.

“Say, Twilight,” I began whilst nibbling on one of the shortbread cookies we had gathered for a mid-afternoon snack, “would you be able to help me get in contact with Headmaster Sombra?”

“Sombra?” my friend replied in such surprise that she spewed out a flurry of shortbread flechettes. “Why do you need to speak with him?”

“I’m trying to think of a good gift to get Celestia, but I realize I don’t really know enough about her. There’s only a few people who really know her, and the only one I haven’t spoken to yet is him.”

“I suppose I can try asking him tomorrow at school,” Twilight replied with a nervous fidget of her hands. I could tell she was a little wary of the nature of the request, but her desire to help out a friend compelled her to agree.

“It’d really mean a lot to me if you could,” I tried to placate her concerns. “It’s not like I’m asking for a biography: I just need better ideas for a gift.”

“Have you considered getting her a book?”

“Of course you would suggest that.” Even that idea was beginning to feel a bit outside my reach, thanks to my financial situation. I let out a sigh and shoveled a few more shortbread cookies into my mouth in order to quell my despair, which must’ve caught Twilight’s attention.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked.

I shouldn’t have had issues discussing problems with my friends, but for some reason I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed as I answered, “I’m… kind of broke right now. Even if I figure out what to get, I probably won’t be able to afford it.”

“Have you tried looking for part-time work?”

I nodded. “Everybody’s already hired holiday staff. I’ve tried signing up to do some tutoring at school, but I think everybody who’s looking for help has already found one.”

There was no expectation of a solution when I told Twilight of my plight, nor was I looking for sympathy—although a hug or a reassuring pat on the back would’ve been nice. Instead, though, my friend hopped to her feet and bolted to the door.

She opened the door and stuck her head out into the hallway to shout, “Hey Shining, you said someone on your team needed a tutor, right?” I couldn’t make out the response, but Twilight followed up with, “Could you come up and tell Sunset what you told me earlier?”

A moment later, Shining Armour stood in the doorway. “You’re looking to do some tutoring?” he asked, to which I nodded. “Well, one of my players could use some help. Her grades have been slipping lately, and if she doesn’t do well on her exams, I might be forced to suspend her from the team.”

“You suspend players for poor grades?”

“Crystal Heart has rather strict guidelines about maintaining grade point averages while in any extracurricular activity,” he explained. “I’ve been pushing for her to get help, but she says she doesn’t want anyone to find out she’s struggling, which I suppose is to be expected when your student body is as competitive as ours.”

“And you think I can help? Aren’t there professional tutors that she could turn to?”

“She doesn’t want her father finding out either.” The frustration in his voice was understandable; I would too if I were trying to help a friend who just threw up one excuse after another. I hoped none of my friends ever felt that way when I was being obstinate.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out how I could be the ideal solution to this problem. “So if I tutor her instead, then nobody at Crystal Heart finds out, and I can just be passed off as a friend if her family sees me.”

Interpreting my quick thinking as a sign of interest, which it was rapidly becoming, Shining put on a bright grin. “I can run the offer by her and arrange the first session if you want,” he offered.

I didn’t want to sound like my only interest in this situation was the money, but it’d be a lie to say that it wasn’t one of my top priorities. Time was money, as the saying went, and I had little time to spare before Hearth’s Warming was upon me, so I needed to know if that time would be adequately compensated.

“How much are they willing to pay?”

“I’ll cover the expenses,” Shining offered, which caught me by surprise. He was really going out of his way for one of his players. I would’ve said something, but I reminded myself that helping me had likely cost Celestia a fair bit as well. “I’ll give you fifty up front, and another fifty once the exams are done.”

A hundred dollars may not have sounded like much, but for a teenager it was nothing to balk at. I could afford some nice gifts with that kind of extra cash in my pocket, and if Yearling came through in getting me a few clients to teach, my financial troubles could be solved.

“You’ve got a deal! Just tell me when and where!” Perhaps I was a little too enthusiastic. “Oh, thank you both so much! You have no idea how much this is going to solve all of my problems. By the way, who’s the student?”

“Lightning Dust. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Knowing full well that the future of the holidays hinged on this job, I had no choice but to muster up all the sincerity I could fake when I replied, “Of course not. It’ll be a piece of cake.”

This Hearth’s Warming season was going to get a whole lot worse before it got any better.

Act VII-III

In the days following the study session, the situation regarding my finances and gift-hunting had improved somewhat. Ms. Yearling was able to wrangle a few students free of their original tutors to toss my way, all of whom, I’m told, jumped at the opportunity to be tutored by the Sunset Shimmer. Save the school from a bunch of Sirens and all of a sudden everybody loves you again.

Also, Rarity convinced Sweetie Belle and her friends to get some extra lessons from me, though when we did our first session, I discovered that they were unaware that I was expecting to be paid. They thought I was doing it out of the goodness of my heart and as a favour to Rarity. I tried to tell them the truth, but after they gave me a bunch of homemade cookies as thanks, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for money. It was a good thing I never got a job in retail because I would’ve been a horrible salesperson.

At least I got some cookies out of it.

In the end, with the students that Yearling got for me to tutor, it looked like I would be able to afford some modest gifts this year. It still hinged on the tutoring that Shining Armour was arranging for me. That job alone was still going to make up the majority of my holiday budget, so despite my misgivings about Lightning Dust, I was determined to see it through. We didn’t need to like each other for tutoring to work: students learned from teachers they loathed all the time. At the same time, however, nobody ever credited a teacher they hated for their academic success.

As cynical as it sounded, whether Lightning passed her exams or not wasn’t going to affect my payments; so long as I made a genuine effort to teach her from now until the start of the exam period, I would be okay. All I needed at that point was to receive confirmation of the first session.

The only other problem I had going forward came from when Twilight texted me about finally getting Sombra to agree to a meeting. According to her messages, it took some time just to get a hold of him due to end-of-term work, and even then he had his reservations about the whole idea. It wasn’t that he was suspicious of us, but apparently meeting with people at the behest of a student could be construed as favouritism.

It made me wonder what the other students at Canterlot High thought of Principal Celestia for taking me in. As far as I knew, none of my friends or classmates had ever raised any objections to how much time I spent with Celestia outside of school—not that I spoke about it much—but maybe Sombra was referring more to the parents than the pupils themselves. Crystal Heart Academy was a private school, after all, and an expensive one: tuition fees came with a lot more expectations.

For the sake of keeping a proper appearance of neutrality, the meeting point with Sombra was set at a local coffee shop. A part of me would’ve preferred the familiarity of Sugarcube Corner, but I knew that I couldn’t afford putting what little money I had at risk. Moreso since they introduced their new salted toffee milkshake.

Despite the sensitive nature of the subject, I asked for Rarity to accompany me. It would save me the trouble of relaying all the information to her when I invariably fail to come up with a gift idea on my own.

As the final classes of the term had come and gone, and our holiday break was underway, we met with Sombra early in the afternoon. The winter was still mild, but the walk to the coffee shop from Celestia’s house was long enough that I was grateful for the miracle of central heating. The shop itself was not too dissimilar from that of Sugarcube Corner, with a warm but spartan decor of barebone furniture and re-used mason jars that brought about a sense of homeliness to it, as if having gathered in your friend’s kitchen rather than a place of business. Rarity and I arrived to find the headmaster already at a small table in the far corner, past clusters of aspiring writers and toiling college students, reading one of those fancy e-book tablets while sipping his coffee.

“Good afternoon Mr. Sombra,” I greeted before taking a seat at the table. “Thank you again for agreeing to meet with me.”

“Ms. Sparkle can be very persuasive when she sets her mind to it,” he replied as he set his tablet down.

I gestured over to my friend beside. “This is my friend, Rarity, by the way.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Rarity greeted with a quick, polite bow.

“Likewise. Now, would you girls like to get some refreshments first?”

“I’m… on a bit of a tight budget right now,” I declined.

Rarity, on the other hand, took up the opportunity to get herself a light lunch. While she was gone, I figured I may as well get straight to the point.

“This is about Celestia, isn’t it?” Sombra asked, beating me to the punch. It appeared he had little interest in making small talk either.

“Ah, yes, actually. Did Twilight tell you already?”

“I doubt you’re looking to enroll at Crystal Heart Academy, so I can’t think of any other reason for you to be so determined to meet with me,” he explained. He spoke with the calm, deliberate pace I expected from a school administrator. Even the pauses in which he drank his coffee seemed to be placed at the precise moments to add the most weight to his words. “The only common ground we have at this point is Celestia and Ms. Sparkle, the latter of whom was the one who arranged this meeting in the first place.”

“Heh, guess there’s no pulling a fast one on you,” I said with a nervous chuckle. I hadn’t expected my intentions to be so predictable, but if he already knew and agreed to the meeting then perhaps my chances were better than I first thought. “I’m just hoping to find out more about her so I can find the perfect gift for her this Hearth’s Warming. With everything she’s done for me, I want to make this holiday special.”

A warm smile crossed his stern, angular features. “Have you considered getting her a book?”

“It’s been suggested a few times.” I was beginning to wonder if there was something behind the constant book recommendation, as if there was an inside joke that I was too obtuse to pick up on. “But I can get her a book anytime of the year. Hearth’s Warming is special, so I want this gift to reflect that.”

“If Celestia knew the lengths you were going to just for her sake, she’d probably consider that enough of a gift in itself,” Sombra said, followed by a quiet, nostalgic sigh. “She was always sentimental like that.”

I nodded in agreement. The fact that Celestia wasn’t a very materialistic person was part of the reason why I was having such trouble to begin with. Before I could say anything else, Rarity returned and took a seat next to me. She had brought back with her a small sandwich, but I also noticed she had two glasses on her tray, one of which she set in front of me.

“I thought you might like a smoothie,” Rarity explained.

“Thanks. My throat’s actually feeling a bit dry already.”

As I drank some of my mango-strawberry smoothie, I wondered if I would ever be able to match Rarity’s talent for generosity. Even without me even saying so, she anticipated the dry weather’s effects on me, as well as what I would like. I used to be able to do something like that as well, except that I took people’s desires and dreams and crushed them, so why did it feel so much more difficult when I wanted to do something nice for them?

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you and Celestia first meet?” I asked, opting to approach the subject at a casual pace.

“Did you really come all this way just to hear me talk about old college stories?” Sombra replied with a good-natured chuckle.

“I bet it was something romantic,” Rarity said.

“She broke my ankle.”

“What,” Rarity and I said in unison.

Our response left Sombra in a brief fit of laughter, but he flashed a reassuring smile once he had calmed down. “There’s a bit more to it than that. We first met back in college—she was just a freshman, but I was already in my third year by then. The faculty of education was holding this sort of ‘meet n’ greet’ party where the students could mingle and chat with their seniors and chat with some of the professors. It was mostly just an excuse for the new kids to meet others in their program, and for the older ones to get together and drink.”

I had a lot of trouble picturing Celestia as a college student, if only because my image of such people stemmed primarily from movies and TV shows. Most depictions painted them as ill-kept sloths that slept through classes, drank all the time, and wore bed linen to parties. Just seeing Celestia in a wrinkled t-shirt during laundry day still made me double-check that I hadn’t stepped into an alternate reality.

“During the tail end of the gathering, a bunch of my classmates and I were talking about some big changes in the education system that the government was proposing. It got… a bit heated at some points: we were all a little drunk at that point, and some more than others. Suddenly out of nowhere, this pink-haired girl butts into the conversation and just starts weighing in with every criticism she had of the proposed changes. And I’m not talking just like vague talking points, I mean she went through it piece by piece like she had spent the entire night researching it.”

Which, knowing Celestia, was entirely possible. Still, I was a little surprised she was so passionate about teaching even during the first year of college. That wasn’t much older than I was, and I still had no idea what I would do with my future, or even which side of the portal I would do it on.

“And I take it you were smitten by Celestia’s eloquence and passion?” Rarity asked.

“Actually, at that moment I was pissed because some drunk, uptight, little freshman was butting her nose in on my conversation.”

Sombra’s remark left me scrambling to keep my jaw from hitting the table. “Celestia was drunk? Wouldn’t she have been… like, eighteen at most?”

Sombra nodded unabashed. “She wasn’t completely inebriated, but her arguments probably would’ve made more of an impact if she didn’t keep losing her balance,” he explained. “It was an official event, so we weren’t supposed to be serving alcohol to the underaged, but there’s always somebody who’s willing to impress the new kids by getting them something under the table.”

Rarity exchanged glances for a moment. I could tell she was thinking the same thing that I was: ‘Celestia broke rules? Knowingly?’ One would’ve thought that to be against some sort of cosmic imperative, or at least a municipal bylaw.

“So what happened next?”

“I did what any self-respecting college junior would do: I spent the next hour and a half arguing with her.” He let out a mirthful chuckle before calming himself with another sip of his beverage. “I was so infuriated with her, but at the same time I had never been driven to be so passionate about anything.”

“What exactly were you arguing about?” I asked, curious as to what could drive the two to argue for such a length of time.

“Honestly, I don’t even remember. Something trite, no doubt… but I guess it seemed important at the time.”

I discovered with a quick glance to my friend that Rarity was enjoying the details of this story far more than I was, albeit for entirely different reasons. I had been worried that reality wouldn’t have lived up to Rarity’s romantic expectations, but it seemed she was captivated by it all the same. At the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but still wonder how something that sounded like something out of a romance movie, or at least a romantic-comedy, could’ve ended with one side refusing to talk about it. All I could do was contemplate the possibilities.

“And even at the end of the event, I was still chasing after her, trying to argue my point,” Sombra continued on. His voice snapped me out of my speculative trance, and made me realize that I had zoned out for a couple of minutes. From the sound of it, however, I didn’t miss anything too important. “So we’re at the top of the stairs, and Celestia’s slinging a guitar case over her shoulder because apparently she came to the event right after a practice session. Both of us were so riled up from all the arguing that we weren’t paying much attention to our surroundings. She turned around abruptly and—pow! Guitar case hits me right in the head and down the stairs I go.”

“Not quite the fairy tale romance, huh?” I said with a half-hearted grimace.

“It wasn’t the most auspicious start, but breaking my ankle falling down a flight of stairs did help reset things between us,” Sombra continued on. “Oddly enough, it wasn’t until we were sitting in a hospital emergency department that we finally introduced ourselves to each other. Stayed with me for the entire time, too.”

“Oh, how sweet,” Rarity cooed.

“That is so Celestia,” I added. It matched what Yearling had told me as well.

“Once we had stopped arguing, things just sort of… progressed from that. We were dating before the end of the month, living together before she finished college, and married not too long after that.”

While it was interesting, it didn’t get me any closer to figuring out gift ideas. It was as Yearling described, that the younger Celestia was not fundamentally any different than the one I already knew. The nagging curiosity about what happened next in Sombra’s story persisted at the back of my mind, making me restless. How could I segue into something that was surely a difficult subject for him?

“Is this really all just about getting her a gift?” Sombra asked.

I had a mouthful of smoothie at that moment, which led to a hacking fit as I was taken back by the nature of his question. “What? Of course this is about the gift,” I insisted between coughs. “I-I mean, for the most part, it is… sorta.” I felt a burst of heat as I stewed in embarrassment, but Sombra’s expression remained unchanged. “I want to understand her better. I’ve been living with her for a while now and there’s still so much about her I don’t know. It feels like…”

“Like there’s still a wall between you two?”

Sombra’s words surprised me with their accuracy, as I could only nod in response.

“I wish I could say that’s something new, but she’s been that way for as long as I’ve known her.”

“Even during your marriage?” I asked, opting to play that card.

“Aye, even then,” he said with a somber nod. “I don’t think it’s ever anything personal, she just doesn’t like people seeing the less flattering parts of her.”

“Well, who would?” Rarity chimed in with her thoughts. “I know I always prefer to put my best foot forward. And it was a while before we could even talk about the Fall Formal around Sunset.”

“True, but if I asked you to name one of Ms. Shimmer’s worst qualities, what would you answer?”

Rarity didn’t answer at first, but instead looked to me with a hint of worry painted on her face. Naturally, she wasn’t about to just answer such a question with me sitting next to her, but I was curious as to where Sombra was going with this line of questioning, so I gestured for her to answer. I figured I was self-aware enough to know what my bad qualities were, which were numerous. If anything, I probably thought worse of myself than any of my friends did.

Even then, Rarity still looked as if in the midst of a fierce battle between curiosity and conscience. Finally, though, she uttered out, “She… still has trust issues.”

Despite the mental preparations, hearing that from a friend still stung.

“But you still consider Ms. Shimmer a close friend, correct?”

“Of course!” Rarity quickly insisted, perhaps to redeem herself from her previous statement. “She’s my very dear friend, and I think the world of her.”

And just like that, the sting was gone.

“I’ve no doubt she is; that’s why you were considerate of her feelings while at the same time able to express your own,” Sombra continued on. “With Celestia, she just buried those parts of her. It was a long time before I found out the truth about what happened between her and Luna. And it’s not about pride, I can tell you that much. It’s more… a skewed perspective. A misguided belief, perhaps? It’s hard to put into words.”

Watching Sombra as he considered his words and spoke, I felt a hint of reluctance behind them. I felt like I understood that apprehension: talking about Celestia in a remote coffee shop felt like we were going behind her back and conspiring against her. I remembered when she asked me to not ask about this chapter of her life, and I was betraying that trust in a way. There was no shortage of guilt swirling inside me, but the more I heard, the more compelled I was to see this through. I had faith that whatever I learned, I would still cherish my relationship with Celestia; that she would still be the same wonderful person that I had gotten to know over the past few months.

How naive I was.

“What happened to you two? Why won’t she talk about it?” I pressed on, despite some of my deeper concerns.

His expression grew more listless, the smile on his face and the shimmer in his eyes going almost as gray as his complexion. It dawned on me, far too late, that trying to force this conversation was as difficult for him as it would’ve been for Celestia. I hadn’t even stopped to consider how he might’ve felt having to recount such memories. He had seemed more at ease with his past, but just because he appeared that way did not mean it was what he felt inside. Before I could even begin to apologize, he spoke up again.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Shimmer, but I can’t tell you,” he said, a defeated slump of his shoulders.

“Can’t… or won’t?” Rarity challenged.

His silence and averted gaze was all the confirmation we needed.

“Seriously?” I snapped as all sense of sympathy fell to the wayside. “You said yourself that you suspected what this was all about. Don’t tell me you came all this way just so you could say ‘no’ to my face!” It took me a moment to realize that I had let my voice get out of control, and when I noticed the concerned glances from the other patrons in the coffee shop, I slunk back into my seat. “Sorry,” I murmured. “I’ve no right to get angry with you. I just don’t want to leave empty-handed.”

“I had come here wanting to tell you,” Sombra admitted, followed by a quiet sigh. “In truth, I had been debating whether to tell since the day I met you. But seeing you here today… I’m afraid I just can’t do it. For what it’s worth, I do think you deserve to know, but it’s a conversation you need to have with Celestia, not with me.”

Now it was my turn to hang my head in defeat. “Okay, I understand.”

While I was busy feeling dejected, Rarity took it upon herself to try and salvage the situation as best she could. “Please, Sombra, there must be something more you can suggest for a Hearth’s Warming gift,” she spoke, soft and sweet, “Sunset is really hoping to make it something more personal than a book you can pick up at any online store. If you have anything more you could offer, we’d be in your debt.”

It took a stern heart to be able to resist Rarity’s charm, and even Sombra was soon breathing a quiet sigh as he began to reconsider his position. I could never manage her skill at persuasion.

“The kind of gift you want is one that tells a story,” Sombra suggested after a lengthy pause. “So rather than just trying to look at Celestia alone, think about the history you share. Get her something that she’ll look at and go, ‘I remember the time’.”

The history we shared; that gave me a lot to consider. It hadn’t even been half a year since I was taken in by the person whom I regarded only as a Principal up until then, and even for a short while after. Still, in that short period of time, a lot has happened between us, and we’ve grown closer than I ever thought would’ve been possible. I was certain there would be something in all of that time together that I could draw upon for inspiration.

I gave up on trying to coax any further information out of Sombra, at least with regards to my selfish curiosity. It didn’t stop Rarity from probing for more details about his romance with Celestia, such as where they went for their honeymoon, how he proposed, and such, but my quest was about Hearth’s Warming, not Hearts and Hooves Day.

By the time Rarity and I left the coffee shop, I was no closer to an idea than I had been that morning, save for the nagging thought that maybe I really should just get her a book.

“I don’t know about you, but I found that to be a very enlightening experience,” Rarity commented as we strolled down the sidewalk.

“Really? And what did you learn from all of that?”

“That Sombra is still very much in love with Celestia.”

“Yeah, I got that impression too, though I wouldn’t have been confident enough to say for certain.”

Exposed once more to the crisp winter air of Canterlot, we hurried along until we were able to find some measure of refuge in a bus shelter. A few minutes of waiting in the cold was preferable to walking all the way home. We sat in silence for a while, huddled close together with our hands tucked into our armpits in an effort to stay warm for just a little longer. For my part, I was lost in thought about Celestia and Sombra, wondering whether love and relationships were all they were cracked up to be if somebody as compassionate as Celestia couldn’t make it work.

Some days adults just didn’t make any sense, and it was moments like those that made me realize I still had a lot of growing up to do.

“I feel like we left that with more questions than we began with,” Rarity commented, breaking the silence.

I nodded back. “In hindsight, I shouldn’t be surprised. Celestia told me a while ago that this would happen if I tried to talk to Sombra about them.”

“Still, it was an enlightening talk,” Rarity said, flashing a warm smile that somehow managed to melt away my worries in an instant. “He cut quite the dashing figure, don’t you agree? Handsome, in a sort of ‘leading actor’ kind of way.”

“Come on, Rarity, this is supposed to be about Celestia. Focus more on the gift ideas, less on the headmaster’s chiseled good looks.” We both had a good laugh, which definitely helped me because I was getting far too wrapped up in my quest for the ideal gift. If I kept worrying, it would just make me anxious and I’d lose sight of the bigger picture or do something crazy in my desperation for an answer. “Although I’m not sure if there’s anything we can use in what we’ve learned today.”

“Yes, that is a bit tricky, isn’t it?” Rarity murmured, cupping her hands over her face to puff a few breaths of warmth upon them. “If I had more time, I’m sure I could design her a lovely work ensemble, or brainstorm some better ideas.”

“Tell me about it,” I said with a resigned sigh. “Feels like she’s been dedicated to teaching ever since she started college. Probably even before then, knowing her.”

I had expected some form of moral support from my friend, be it a literal or figurative pat on the back, but instead she fell silent as her eyes narrowed, as if focusing on some unseen object before her. A surge of excitement sprung up in my chest: she was about to have a flash of inspiration! It was still just formulating, but I could almost see her brain churning away to turn a hazy and vague concept into something concrete and tangible. This was why I brought her along in the first place. This was the genius insight I had hoped for.

As her eyes lit up and an excited, triumphant grin crossed her features, I could feel my own excitement beginning to overflow. She turned to me, and with absolute joy and pride in herself said, “You should get Celestia a book!”

I must’ve looked pretty stupid as I stared dumbstruck at my friend, stunned as my train of thought slammed the brakes so hard my brain smashed against the inside of my skull. That had to be on purpose.

“Come again?”

“A book, darling,” Rarity repeated with a clap of her gloved hands. “A scrapbook, to be precise—filled with things from her years of teaching and your time together. It’d be a celebration of her career.”

“A scrapbook, huh?” I murmured, more to myself than any sort of clarification. At first it sounded strange, but the more I mulled it over, the more it made sense. As Sombra said, I just had to look at our history together, which while brief has been full of memorable moments. I wasn’t sure how much there would be to build a scrapbook from, but lucky for me, there were readily available sources for the highlights of her teaching career. “I think I’ve seen copies of Canterlot High yearbooks at our place. I bet we could get lots of pictures from that.”

“You could probably ask Photo Finish or someone from the yearbook committee if they’ve got files of the originals you could use,” Rarity suggested. “I can give you their numbers if you don’t have them already.”

After bouncing a few ideas and suggestions back and forth, I was left feeling confident once more about Hearth’s Warming. A scrapbook would take some time and effort, but those I had plenty of.

“I’ve never made anything like a scrapbook before. I… don’t suppose you could help me a little bit with this? Maybe a few pointers or a reference guide?”

Arts and crafts were not one of my strong suits, at least not when it came to things like paper and glue. If someone were to ask me to assemble an ad hoc magic analyzer from the school’s tech lab equipment then I would be okay, but cutting paper in a straight line with scissors? I was still a pony playing the part of a human.

Rarity threw an arm around my shoulder and flashed a heartfelt smile. “Of course I’ll help you out.”

********************

Fortunately for us, Celestia was busy with school board meetings, which not only meant that Rarity and I had the next few hours to rummage freely through old photo albums and yearbooks, but it also meant that my friend could join me in playing my newest, favourite game with Luna: arguing over which take-out to order because Celestia wouldn’t be home to cook dinner. It was a contest of not only trying to put forth the strongest points of your preferred ethnic take-out, but also appealing to Luna’s fickle appetite.

It was sort of like a debate club, except the moderator could arbitrarily decide that she’s in the mood for shawarma after twenty minutes of debate over pizza toppings.

“This one’s from two years ago. I think there’s some good pictures of you and Celestia together at the Fall Formal,” Rarity said as we sifted through the stacks of old yearbooks. As it turned out, Celestia kept more than just a few of them from years past, she kept all of them. We had turned the living room into a book fortress with all the stacks we made, sorted by the quality and quantity of usable images, as well as subject matter. “And do you think we can get tacos delivered?”

“I’m not sure Celestia wants reminders of the low-points in my life. Regardless of how nice it might look, the me back then was just a lie,” I replied without lifting my gaze away from the photo album I was scouring through. It had a lot of pictures from her youth, but nothing that really hinted at ‘Celestia the educator.’ “There’s a good taco place nearby that does take-out. Luna might be willing to make the drive if we make a good case. We should have a couple alternatives just in case she’s not interested.”

Rarity had moved to another book, one notably much older if the numbers I saw on the spine were correct. “We can always go with pizza as a backup,” she suggested. “Oooo! This book’s from the year that Celestia won the ‘Educator of the Year’ award for our district.”

She flipped the book over and showed me a page-sized picture of Celestia standing holding an impressive-looking little trophy. All around her were what I could only presume to be her students, as the picture’s caption referred to her as ‘Canterlot High’s Rising Star,’ so it had to have been from before she became principal.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Celestia look quite so happy,” Rarity commented.

She did look radiant, I had to agree. It looked like the kind of beaming smile that came from a happiness you only experienced a handful of times in your life. I wouldn’t have been surprised if even her wedding photos paled in comparison to this.

“We definitely need to include this,” I said as I gestured to a nearby pile. “Put it over there with the other ‘must haves’.”

“Do you think we should include some pictures from the Battle of the Bands?” Rarity asked. She set her book aside and grabbed a new one from the pile to continue her search. “I mean, it might not have been pleasant being under a Siren’s spell, but it did help turn things around for you.”

The school event itself was a bit iffy, in my opinion. Under normal circumstances, it might’ve made for some good memories, but thanks to the Sirens, it had been mired with petty squabbling and infighting. Everything from after we had dealt with them, however, had potential. Then again, I didn’t want to make this scrapbook all about me, so we decided to put that idea in the ‘maybe’ stack for now.

Noting that we were beginning to reach the bottom of our piles, I got back to my feet to scour the bookshelves once more. Unfortunately, a quick walk around the ground level revealed there to be no further shelves with which to pull from.

“Feels like there should’ve been more yearbooks,” I muttered to myself after I did a quick tally of our current stacks. I headed upstairs to consult the other source of Celestia-related knowledge we had available. “Luna! Do you know of anywhere else that Celestia might keep old yearbooks or photo albums?”

“Check the basement storage; there should be some boxes from when she taught in Fillydelphia,” Luna’s voice responded through her bedroom door. “Also, have you two decided on dinner?”

“We’re thinking tacos.”

“Is there even anybody who delivers?”

“No, but there’s a place that does take-out about ten minutes from here.”

There was a brief, pregnant pause while I waited at the top of the stairs.

“Have your orders ready soon. Tonight, there shall be tacos.”

“Huh, got it on the first try,” I mumbled to myself with a hint of satisfaction.

With the topic of dinner settled, I headed down to the basement storage to look for the boxes that Luna had mentioned. The storage contained an assortment of old boxes, all of which were neatly stacked and labeled, which was unsurprising given Celestia’s professionalism. Passed boxes marked ‘college’ and ‘Luna’s old stuff,’ there was one tucked away in the corner with the word ‘Fillydelphia’ scrawled across the side, although it lacked the tidy penmanship that the others had.

I hefted up the box and returned to the living room, where my friend and I set about searching the contents of our newest repository of Celestia-related history. “Hey Rarity, do they call Fillydelphia the ‘City of Sisterly Love’ here, too?”

“That’s what I’ve heard,” my friend agreed, “though I’ve never been there myself. Have you?”

“Only in Equestria. I used to live there before I enrolled in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I don’t remember much about it, to be honest.”

Inside the box was an assortment of odds and ends: an old desk lamp, some outdated textbooks, a flag that said ‘Go Tigers!’ that I presumed belonged to the school she taught at, and our sought-after stack of yearbooks. There were five of them, and on the cover of each were the words ‘West Fillydelphia High School.’ We each grabbed a book, and set to work.

Flipping through the pages, it wasn’t too unlike our own yearbook, except older and feeling a bit more generic and sterile, as if the people on the yearbook committee didn’t want to risk breaking from tradition. It didn’t take long, however, to find a picture of Celestia, still young and adorned with her pink hair; she stood alongside Sombra and several other faculty members, and I couldn’t help but notice that she was the only one that looked happy to be there. Reading through a few of the captions confirmed what I had suspected: this book was from her first year teaching full-time.

“Looks like she was very popular with her students,” Rarity commented.

She flipped her book around to show me a picture of Celestia standing amongst a crowd of seated teenagers. It was a scene that we were all too familiar with, but rarely did I see a teacher in the midst of a lecture so clearly holding the attention of everyone in the class. Not a single face looked bored or disinterested, and while I couldn’t make out what book Celestia held in her hand, the size suggested it was a novel of some sort. Just below it was another picture of several teachers being taped to the walls of the school, and amongst them was an almost entirely-taped over Celestia. It must have been a charity event judging by all the enthusiasm on display.

“Looks like they’re having loads of fun,” I remarked, feeling almost a bit envious of them.

“Makes you kinda wish she was our teacher, doesn’t it?”

“A bit, but then again if it were her, it would kinda feel like being I was being taught by my mom.” I was half-way through a chuckle when I noticed Rarity was smirking while raising an eyebrow. A flash of heat struck my face as I realized what I had just said. “N-not that I think of her like that!” I hastily stammered.

“Of course you don’t, darling,” my friend said, hiding a teasing laugh behind the yearbook. She made a show of flipping to the next page, still giggling as she watched me stew in my embarrassment.

I was content to just sit and wait for the burning sensation to go away when something caught my attention. Rarity’s eyes suddenly went wide as she let out a gasp. She stared at the yearbook for a moment, then her gaze flickered to meet mine. For the briefest of moments, I swore I could see… fear. I had seen enough terrified faces to still recognize it in an instant.

“What’s the matter, Rarity?”

“N-nothing! I… uh, j-just got a papercut!”

People did not gasp in horror at papercuts, unless you were particularly squeamish, which I knew wasn’t the case here.

“Let me see that!” Without even waiting for a response, I took the book from her, and what I saw left me speechless. It was a simple picture, like so many others, and for a moment I thought that my mind was merely playing tricks on me. It was Celestia, standing at some sort of award ceremony alongside a teenager who had all-too familiar red and golden hair.

Just below it was the caption, whose words hit me like a thousand tiny, sharp rocks.

‘Sunset Shimmer credits her stunning victory at the District Math Olympics to her teacher and mentor, Celestia.’

“Luna, Sunset… I’m home!”

Act VII-IV

She knew.

She’s known this entire time, ever since the first day I stepped into Canterlot High, that I couldn’t possibly be who I said I was.

Even though I had no way of knowing at the time, every fiber of my being knew that this was what everybody had hinted at. This was what Sombra felt I deserved to know, and why he couldn’t be the one to tell me. If he had told me the truth back in the coffee shop, there was a good chance that I wouldn’t have believed him. The idea of Celestia keeping something like this from me? I would’ve said it was preposterous an hour ago—that he must have been mistaken.

This was not just some honest mistake, some hazy memory that escaped Celestia’s notice. She had walls of pictures of her student’s accomplishments; she remembered each and every one. The only way for me to have never been told that Principal Celestia had personally taught this world’s Sunset Shimmer was because she didn’t want me to know.

It was a bitter truth to swallow, but the proof was staring me in the face.

It was an image I couldn’t stop staring at either. They both looked so happy in the photo, and so proud of what they had accomplished together. Celestia even had that smile on her face, that wide, beaming look of elation that never seemed to show itself in her pictures at Canterlot High. Everything in that picture just felt so warm and genuine.

So engrossed was I in my discovery, I didn’t hear when Celestia opened the front door. I didn’t hear her announcing that the meetings had ended early and she wanted to know if we were interested in going out for dinner. And I didn’t even hear her when she stood in the living room doorway, asking what Rarity and I were doing with all of her yearbooks. The only thing that caught my attention was the look on Celestia’s face when she realized what I held in my hands, and why I looked as though I had just seen a ghost.

Her lips moved. She said something, but I couldn’t hear it.

Or rather, I didn’t want to hear it.

The situation was delicate, to say the least: the truth had been pulled into the light, and my mind had been turned into a swirling cauldron of clashing thoughts and feelings, all vying for attention. My heart felt like a proverbial powder keg just waiting for the spark. At that moment, the one thing we all needed the most was a calm and direct conversation.

Naturally, I would be having none of that.

“You lied to me!” I shouted at her. “Everything right from the start was a lie, wasn’t it? It was never about me, it was never about doing right by the student, it was all about her!”

“Now, now, Sunset, there’s no need to shout,” Rarity interjected. No doubt she picked up on my anger that bubbled its way to the surface, so she tried to calm me down before I did something stupid. A noble, but futile, gesture. “There’s no need to jump to conclusions. Just give her a chance to—”

“Then she can tell me that I’m wrong!” I snapped back before holding up the book for Celestia to see. “Come on, just say it! Say that this is all just one big misunderstanding!”

There wasn’t as much anger in my voice as I had thought there would be. Looking back, I wasn’t demanding her to answer, but begging for it. I so desperately wanted to hear those words from her. I wanted her to walk over and wrap her arms around me, so that she could tell me how sorry she was for never telling me, and to reassure me that while I was justified in being upset, I was jumping to wild conclusions in my confusion. Because if that wasn’t the case, then it meant everything up until now was based upon that other Sunset Shimmer’s existence, and none of Celestia’s decisions had anything to do with me. It meant that she didn’t take me in, shelter me, guide me, teach me, and give me a second chance at life because she believed in me, or saw some great potential hidden away.

I wasn’t anyone special: I just happened to have the same face as someone else.

Anger began to crack and crumble within, as something even stronger threatened to break me. There was a cold, but familiar, sense of creeping dread to an extent that I hadn’t felt before. It was kind of like the night of the Fall Formal, when I first awoke at the bottom of that crater, broken and powerless: an emptiness inside, as if my entire world had turned to dust around me.

This was worse. This was everything I had built my life on dropping out from underneath me. No rock bottom—just an endless freefall as I stood there, waiting for an answer.

And yet she said nothing. She just remained motionless in the doorway. There were many things that were hard for me to envision about her: Celestia being a teenage girl, Celestia being purposefully messy, Celestia sleeping in past noon. What I saw was the one thing I never thought I would see in my life: Celestia afraid.

She was petrified in fear, as if the slightest movement or sound would set me off like a bomb. Maybe that wasn’t too far from the truth. However, the longer she stayed silent, the more I felt the last vestiges of willpower begin to wane.

“Please, Celestia,” I murmured as my hands began to tremble. “Just tell me she wasn’t important…”

Once again, all I got was a heart-wrenching silence.

The book slipped from my grasp as my trembling worsened. Only when it fell to the ground did Celestia finally move, but all she did was lunge for the book, hastily scooping it up and checking for damage.

There was my answer. Even when she was just a picture in a book, that Sunset Shimmer was more important to her than the one that stood right in front of her. The next couple of minutes were something of a blurr. Through all the twisted, conflicting thoughts and feelings, only two things came through clearly. The first was that I wanted out of there, so while Celestia was distracted by her precious yearbook, I bolted past her towards the exit. The other was the last words I said to her before storming out.

‘I hate you.’

It’s hard to race out of a house in a dramatic fashion during the winter. I grabbed my boots and coat on the way out, but I didn’t stop to put anything on until I had run about half a block from home. It had been snowing throughout the evening, so by the time I stopped, my socks were already wet and my feet were freezing. Putting my boots on didn’t help much, but it kept things from getting worse when I continued on my way.

I ran and ran and ran, without a single care as to where I was going or when I would stop. All I knew was that I just had to get away from there, away from her. It wasn’t terribly cold outside, but I had neglected to bother with a hat or gloves, so after running for who knows how long, the evening chill was now biting. I eventually had to stop, as each breath felt like icicles tearing at my throat, and chilled tears were stinging my eyes and face.

Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was all the running, maybe it was just all the emotions finally becoming too heavy to bear, or perhaps a little of each, but I finally just fell to my knees and started crying. It wasn’t some sniffling trickle of tears, but a complete and utter cascade of every pent-up emotional I had been keeping in.

“It’s not fair!” I cried out, probably louder than I ever had before. The tears just poured out after that. “I did everything you asked of me! I played by the rules! I learned about friendship! So why? I was finally happy!”

I don’t know how long I kept crying; it seemed like an eternity before it felt as though every last tear had been shed.

Endless questions and doubts continued to circle my thoughts, each one like an anchor upon my heart. Why did this have to happen? Hadn’t I paid for my sins? Hadn’t I already suffered enough? I thought I was special, that I meant something to her, but now it seemed like I was just a memory for her. It couldn’t have just been a coincidence that Celestia kept this from me. If it had just been a case of ‘oh, I knew a Sunset from way back’ then she would’ve told me by now. The other Sunset Shimmer was the keystone to everything: to all that Celestia was, to the bridge that we had built between us, and to all the happiness I thought I could call my own.

Everything was built on a lie.

“It’s… not fair…” I whimpered as the last of my energy left. “I finally had everything I wanted.”

Had it not been so cold outside, I would’ve stayed in that spot for most of the night, but as the snow began to rob my hands and legs of their feeling, I had to force myself back to my feet. Somehow, whether by fate or some subconscious directive, I discovered that I had stopped right in front of the statue outside Canterlot High. I would’ve dismissed it as coincidence, except that it was more than just a statue, it was the link back to Equestria. Was my subconscious self trying to tell me something? As I stared in silence at the snow-dusted stone before me, one thought came to mind.

Maybe it was time to go home.

If I went back to Equestria, I’d be my old self again: I’d be surrounded by ponies like me, and I’d have all of my magic back. I’d be back to square one when it came to friends, but the thought of staying felt too painful now. I didn’t want to go back into that house of lies. I didn’t want to be in a world where I couldn’t trust the person I thought I had been closest to, not that I ever really belonged here. I knew if I gave myself time to think, indecision would be the death of me, so before I could second-guess any further, I lunged into the portal.

Or so I thought.

Twilight must’ve been doing maintenance work on the magic mirror, or something, because instead of plunging through an interdimensional gateway, I slammed face first into the marble facade. The next thing I knew, I was sprawled across the snow with a dull ache across my whole face.

“So the world would even deny me this,” I thought to myself as I stared up at the night sky.

I watched as snowflakes danced before my eyes, fluttering on gentle breezes and twinkling like false stars in the moonlight. It was a picturesque holiday night, like something out of a picture book. A part of me wished I could’ve been spending it doing real Hearth Warming activities, rather than doing a starfish impression on the school grounds. I sighed and closed my eyes, and let the cold leach away any strength and feeling that was left in me.

After a moment, my thoughts turned to wondering what happened at home after I had fled. Did Rarity try to give chase? Did Luna chastise her sister for keeping this secret from all of us? Did Celestia even care that I was gone? Maybe she had already given up because she knew there was no coming back from this.

What did any of it matter anymore?

Was this how Princess Celestia felt when I turned my back on her?

I began to feel tired, sleepy even. The longer I stayed, the less I wanted to get back up. I knew this was no place to rest, but for the moment, so long as the heartache disappeared, I didn’t care where I was.

My senses began to ebb and wane, leached away by the cold and dark. It was quiet, though; peaceful, even. Out here, I was numb to the world. I didn’t even care when Celestia entered into my field of vision, looming over and shouting something. Whatever her words were, I couldn’t hear them. Maybe I didn’t want to.

I just wanted to stay numb to everything…

********************

When my senses began to return, the first thoughts that crossed my mind was wondering why it felt like there was something hot and heavy atop of my chest. The bright lights of the interior blinded me for a second when I opened my eyes, and I began pawing around with my hands to make sense of what was going on. I quickly discovered the source of the weight and heat was a towel-wrapped hot water bottle resting atop of me. I was also buried under layers of blankets, and I soon realized that I was staring up at a very familiar-looking ceiling. This led to three realizations in rapid succession.

First, I was in my bed.

That meant I was back home.

And where did my clothes go?

I still felt a bit drowsy, and not the ‘just woke up on a Monday morning’ kind of sluggishness. My head was pounding too. My hand instinctively drew to the epicenter of the ache, and winced when I felt a fresh, bandage-covered bump on my forehead. I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought.

Putting the water bottle aside, I sat up with an involuntary groan, like some zombie rising from the grave. That’s when I noticed that Luna was in the room as well, sitting quietly in an easy chair that had been strategically placed in front of the bedroom door. I wasn’t sure if that was to keep me from leaving or Celestia from barging in. Either way, I felt grateful that she was willing to serve as a barrier between us.

“Good, you’re finally awake,” Luna said with a noted hint of relief.

“What happened? I remember… being outside the school, and I was… laying in the snow.”

“And there’s where Celestia found you, half-frozen and barely conscious.” A frown and a stern gaze preceded her next words. “Running out into the night in the middle of winter? I understand you’re upset, but what you were thinking?”

A part of me had trouble believing the severity of what happened, but it explained why I was half-naked and wrapped up like a burrito. In my angst and confusion, I didn’t even stop to think about the kind of temperature I had exposed myself to. If they hadn’t found me, I seriously could’ve seriously hurt myself, or maybe even died.

With that in mind, all I could mutter back was a shameful, “I’m sorry.”

She let out a lengthy sigh, and as if having exhaled all of her frustration, donned a reassuring smile. “The important thing is that you’re okay.”

After a brief but awkward pause, I asked the inevitable, “So what happens now?”

“That depends on you,” she answered as she rose from her seat. “Naturally, you must decide what’s best for you and your life. All I can say is, running away rarely solves one’s problems.” After pushing the easy-chair out of the way, Luna opened the door to leave. “My sister’s up in her room. You can talk to her when you’re ready. I’ll text your friend to let her know that you’re okay.”

“Thanks.”

If only somebody had slapped some sense into me before I ran out of the house and nearly gave myself a concussion. She was right, of course; whatever decision I made in the end, I could only do so after speaking with Celestia. I needed to know the truth, once and for all.

Just as she was about to leave, Luna stopped in the doorway and glanced back to me. “You might want to consider that perhaps you’re not the only person who saw you living here as a second chance.”

Though still groggy, I nonetheless got out of bed and changed into dry clothes. My thoughts were still consumed by Celestia and the other Sunset Shimmer, but with Luna’s words still ringing in my ears, I was able to take a breath and look at things with an objective eye. Celestia lied to me, that much was undeniable, so what mattered now was why. Just thinking about the possible reasons made my chest feel like it was in a vice, but no matter how scared I was, I knew I had to face this.

I couldn’t let things end like this.

No sooner was I dressed did I find myself standing outside of Celestia’s bedroom, though it took several moments for me to work up the nerve to knock on the door. There wasn’t an answer, but I could see light through a gap in the doorway, so I decided to head in anyways. She sat at the head of the bed, cross-legged and hunched over the same yearbook as before, no doubt opened to the same picture that had started this whole ordeal. I had never seen her look so… defeated.

I wanted to be upset with her. She had been deceiving me from the very start, for as long as I’ve known her. She took me into her home and said that she would guide me, help take care of me… but was I even the one she was thinking of when she said those things? Yet the longer I stared at her, the more sympathy I felt. This was not the machination of some demented manipulator like I had once been; this was a woman shackled by the chains of her past. How many times have I run away from a painful truth?

I remained silent as I sat on the bed in front of her, crossing my legs and assuming the same posture as her. We made eye contact for a brief moment, but it was enough for me to see the fear and turmoil inside her.

“‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t feel quite adequate, does it?” Celestia murmured as her eyes fell back to the yearbook.

“I don’t want an apology,” I replied, “I just want the truth.” I looked down at the picture that she had been staring at so wistfully, her fingers tracing against the young student’s face. “Winner of the Math Olympics—she must’ve been pretty brilliant, huh?”

A melancholic smile flashed across her face. “Shone brighter than the sun,” she answered. “But it was always hidden away behind the clouds. I just wanted the world to be able to see what I could.”

I reached over and gently placed a hand overtop of hers. “I’d like to be able to see.”

“Well, it all started about twelve years ago…”

********************

Back then, I was still just a fresh, young teacher who still had a lot to learn about life and the real world. West Fillydelphia High was my first real teaching position, and I was lucky to have even been able to get the job in the first place; mostly because Sombra had already been working there too.

I was having lunch in my classroom with Mrs. Inkwell, who was both friend and mentor to me at the school. She had been teaching at West Fillydelphia for longer than anybody else, and had bailed me out of trouble on more occasions than I’d care to recall.

“So how are things at home?” Inkwell asked no sooner had she sat in the chair opposite of me.

I knew what she was hinting at, as it had been the workplace gossip for the past couple of days, so I already had my remarks prepared. “Sombra’s only been made the acting Vice Principal. Everybody's making it sound like he’s now King of the school.”

“With the way Mr. Graycoat is, he may as well be,” Inkwell said with a knowing laugh.

“I realize he’s not known for his assertiveness, but that doesn’t mean Sombra will take advantage of him.” I knew my friend didn’t mean to imply my husband would act unprofessionally; if anything, she and many others sounded delighted that he was taking the post.

“Still, very exciting if you ask me. Plus the extra money will come in handy for when you start that family.”

The fine mist of coffee I wound up spraying across the desk amused her to no end.

“I-I don’t think now is a good time to be worrying about that,” I stammered back. “It’d be better to let Sombra get settled into his new position before we plan for any major changes.”

That was a half-truth, and not even a very good attempt at concealing that either. Truthfully, we had been trying, without success, to start a family for at least the past couple of years, if not since we got married. At the same time, though, Sombra’s had his hands full ever since he found out he was going to be made Vice Principal after the sudden vacancy. It made for a lot of stress and long evenings at work.

“Besides, this is only a temporary thing. I’m sure Sombra will be back in his old position before long.”

Inkwell glanced to the door for a second, as if to make sure there was nobody eavesdropping on us. She beckoned me closer and whispered, “Between you and me, the old vice principal didn’t leave voluntarily. Graycoat actually suspended him, but he didn’t want to draw any attention to it.”

I raised a curious eyebrow, as this was the first I had heard of such a thing. “To what?”

“He was caught having an affair with a student.”

“Noooo,” I gasped without even thinking. “A student? Really? And the principal is keeping everything quiet?”

“Well, the student was above the age of consent, so there’s nothing illegal about, but it’s still unethical, and it’d be a huge scandal for the school. With the School Board looking to shut down underperforming schools to consolidate their budget, everybody’s trying to avoid anything that might put them on the chopping block.”

I wasn’t surprised just at the former vice principal’s alleged indiscretions, but also how my friend could be so casual about it. In retrospect, after thirty years of teaching, Inkwell had likely seen everything under the sun and knew getting worked up about the issue wouldn’t solve anything. There might’ve been some pragmatism behind her behaviour as well, since she had no desire for the school to get shut down either.

“I can’t believe somebody would take advantage of a student like that,” I murmured under my breath, still incensed at the news.

“I’m surprised you didn’t already know.”

A disgruntled snort preceded my next remarks. “I imagine they told Sombra, but he decided against sharing those details with me.” He probably knew, rightly, that I would get upset at such news. I had half a mind to storm into the principal’s office to give him my two cents, which, again, was the whole reason why my husband kept it a secret in the first place.

And speaking of my better half, a knocking at the classroom door drew our attention to his arrival. I still wasn’t used to seeing him dressed so formally, but he had insisted that the black suit was needed to reflect his new position.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Inkwell, do you think I could have a word with my wife for a moment?” he asked as he strode into the classroom.

She gave a polite smile and nodded before excusing herself.

“‘My wife’?” I repeated with an amused smirk. “I thought we said we’d keep things professional while we’re at work.”

“What’s the point of a promotion if you don’t get to enjoy a perk or two?” he replied as he sat on the edge of my desk. The amusement in his expression vanished in a heartbeat, however, as professionalism took over. “Listen, Mr. Graycoat needs me to look over some more reports today, so it’s probably going to be another late night for me. Also, I might need to come in on Saturday for some other things.”

“But our plans—”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Sombra hastily apologized. “Things are really hectic around the school right now, and I’m trying to put out all these fires while learning the ropes at the same time.” He took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll just be a few more weeks, I promise. Things will be back to normal soon.”

Things wouldn’t, of course, but neither of us had any way of knowing that at the time. For the moment, it was just a little road bump in an otherwise happy marriage.

“Anyways, the real reason I’m here is there’s a matter with a student I was hoping you could look into,” my husband continued as he fished a folded paper from his pocket. “There’s a student in your homeroom class whose grades have been on a bit of a downward trend.”

“Who’s the student?”

“Her name is Sunset Shimmer. All the contact information for her parents is on this,” he answered as he handed me the slip of paper. “Take a look over her records, speak with her other teachers, and arrange for a parent-teacher interview.”

I recognized the name, but that only led to more confusion. “I don’t have her in any of my regular classes,” I stated with some concern. “Are you sure you want me to handle this?”

“I have every faith in you, dear.”

“Now you’re just trying to butter me up.”

********************

When I first met Sunset Shimmer, she didn’t stand out to me at all. I was her homeroom teacher, so while I saw her every day, I never taught her directly. The extent of our interactions were limited almost entirely to taking attendance. She was one face out of twenty-eight I saw each morning, and she would always sit in the back corner of the classroom and wait in perfect silence until the bell rang for first period. Given how chaotic a classroom full of teenagers could be even for an experienced teacher, I took this aspect of hers for granted.

I always figured she was a bright, mature student who didn’t need my guidance or diligence. A simple, trouble-free student—it was every teacher’s dream.

It wasn’t until the day of the parent-teacher interview that I realized that I still had a lot to learn about people and the world. My first tip-off should’ve been when none of my phone calls were returned and I had to arrange the interview via email, all of which had time stamps in the middle of the night. In my youth and enthusiasm, I overlooked the red-flags in the hopes of making a difference in a student’s education.

The alloted hour of the interview came about one Thursday afternoon, only a few days after I had been first given the task. I was waiting in my classroom, arranging all of the documents I had assembled in order to make my case, when the knock at my door finally came. However, I was in for a surprise when the door opened and only Sunset Shimmer entered.

“I’m here for the interview, Mrs. Celestia,” Sunset announced. There was a sense of reluctant compliance lacing her words, emphasized by the bored look in her face. Most students looked at parent-teacher interviews with anxiety or trepidation, or at the very least a sense of annoyance, but she looked almost… indifferent.

“Where are your parents?” I asked, noting the obvious absence of any other adults in the room.

Her answer came in the form of piece of paper that she handed me, followed by a quick explanation, “I’ve my father’s signed consent to conduct this interview in his absence.”

Unorthodox didn’t even begin to describe the situation, but the letter said exactly as she had described. It was possible that this had been a bluff or a forgery, but I saw no immediate reason to cancel things. If I really felt her parents were being kept in the dark, then I could follow up with them afterwards. In fact, this gave me perhaps just as good an opportunity since I could speak with her one-on-one.

“Very well then, have a seat,” I said as I gestured to the empty chair opposite of me. “Tell me, Ms. Shimmer, do you enjoy coming to school here?”

“Does any teenager enjoy going to school?” she shot back with a half-hearted shrug.

“True, but I meant this school in particular. If you were free to choose which school you went to, would you be happy with West Fillydelphia?”

Sunset looked confused at first, clearly not expecting this exact line of questioning. “I dunno… I guess,” she managed to utter out, perhaps trying to discern my true intent before committing to a proper answer. “Aren’t we supposed to be talking about grades and stuff?”

“I think you know how that story goes: ‘your grades have been slipping recently, and we’d like you to make a renewed effort to change that before you jeopardize your academic future.’ And then you’ll make some vague, non-committal response that you’ll try harder. If I pressed, I could probably even have you agree to some kind of action plan, but none of that is actually going to matter once you leave this room, will it?”

She didn’t answer at first, but the way she shuffled in her seat and averted her gaze meant that I wasn’t far from the truth. Eventually, she muttered out a few words, “Why am I even here then?”

“I’ve spoken with your other teachers,” I began, opening a file folder to a sheet where I had made my notes. “They all painted the same picture: ‘Incredibly gifted, but apathetic. Spends her time in class at the back alone. Never participates in discussions unless called upon. Wasted potential.’ It seems to me like you just don’t care at all.”

“So what if I don’t? It’s just school.”

“That’s not a very good attitude to have,” I answered with a reassuring smile. “This is high school; this is a time for you to be discovering your passions and figuring out the kind of person you really are. It’s a time for making friends, not hiding in the back corner waiting for the day to end.”

For a brief moment, Sunset let go of her aloof façade, frowning with a sort of look of disgust. Despite initial misgivings, for once at least I got an honest emotional response from her.

“Do you even have any friends at school?” I asked, plain and simple.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” she snapped back. “You’re my teacher, okay? Your job is to worry about my grades.”

“My job is to prepare you for the next stage of your life,” I shot back. In the face of her growing agitation, I remained patient. “School is more than just learning how to write tests and essays. It’s about meeting people, trying new things, discovering new perspectives, and learning how to learn. I don’t want you looking back on this ten years from now wishing you had done more when you had the time.”

Now I thought I had been pretty convincing, but Sunset thought otherwise. Her brooding expression didn’t change much, but she also didn’t immediately answer. Eventually, she muttered something that sound like, ‘what’s the use?’ but when asked, she denied saying anything of the sort.

“I think I’ve heard enough,” she eventually announced as she rose to her feet. “Is there anything else?”

“Yes, your grades have been slipping recently, and we’d like you to make a renewed effort to change that before you jeopardize your academic future.”

********************

Though I got a vague, non-committal pledge to do better, I wasn’t convinced that this issue with Sunset Shimmer was over just yet. If anything, it was only the beginning. In the following weeks, I made an effort to keep an eye on her during homeroom. As I had mentioned before, she was quiet so I had a tendency to overlook her in the past, especially when the twenty-seven other students in homeroom often vyed for my attention.

Day after day, I watched as she arrived at homeroom, alone, kept to the back corner of the class, and left with barely more than a few words spoken. None of the other students ever tried to approach her, although it was halfway through the semester, so her reputation as a ‘loner’ had probably already been cemented amongst her peers.

I wished there was something I could do for her. She was far too young to already be bored with her day to day life, but if nothing at school could spur her interest, then what could I as a teacher do? When I inquired with my colleagues, I discovered I wasn’t the first teacher of hers to try and reach out to her, but all I could learn from their failures was that she didn’t seem to care for anyone or anything, at least not when approached directly.

However, I wasn’t convinced of this. I may have only been teaching for a few years, but I refused to believe that any student could go through seventeen years of life without finding something they loved. It was unorthodox, but I decided one day to tail Sunset Shimmer during lunch hour and after class, just to see what she did when she thought nobody was paying attention.

At lunch, instead of heading to the cafeteria, she ate out in the courtyard just behind the school, which surprised me at first as it was a pretty popular hang-out spot for many of our students. The small patch of grass and trees in the middle of Fillydelphia, intermixed with benches and concrete paths, was often frequented by skateboarders, musicians, athletes, and those who just preferred being outdoors. Given her demeanour in class, I had expected her to retreat to somewhere quiet and tranquil, like the library, but this was a good thing. This meant there was something that drew her here. Alas, by the end of the break, I had yet to figure out an answer: all she did was eat, silent and alone.

The next few days were no more successful, as Sunset Shimmer adhered to her strict and solitary schedule. I would’ve been impressed by her dedication did she not appear so indifferent to its significance. I was just about to give up when one Friday after school, I finally caught a lucky break. On my way back to my classroom, I came across a most curious sight of Sunset Shimmer huddled just outside a classroom door, peering in through the window of the closed door. And like the last piece of the puzzle falling into place, the answer to the question I had been looking for became clear.

Why else would a girl gaze longingly into the music room?

Sunset was so engrossed that she didn’t hear me approach, not until I was standing right behind her. “Looking for something, Ms. Shimmer?”

She let out a cross between a squeak and a yelp as she spun around and adhered her back to the door, as if trying to blend herself in with her backdrop. “M-Mrs. Celestia!” she stammered. “I-I-I w-was just… um, looking for… someone…”

It didn’t even sound like she could convince herself of that, let alone me.

“I-I’ll just be on my way.”

Before she could run away, I blocked her path and gestured to the door. “Would you like to go inside?”

She froze for a moment, perhaps trying to determine if I was serious or not. “Would… that be okay?” she murmured.

“Of course, Mr. Treble is a good friend of mine,” I reassured her. Though I wasn’t part of the music department in an official capacity, I did help him out with the various clubs and bands in the school. He even trusted me with a spare key to his classroom. “He won’t mind if we go inside for just a little bit.”

I eased Sunset aside and unlocked the door. I said nothing as I went inside, and, sure enough, she trailed behind me, like a lost kitten. The music room was a large, spacious chamber with an assortment of electric keyboards lining the walls, and several lots of communal instruments for use during class. I watched her gaze as she scanned across the room, and it felt almost serendipitous when it settled on one of the guitars.

“I owe you an apology, Sunset,” I said before walking over to where several guitars were lined up against the wall.

“That’s right, you do. Sneaking up on people like that is just plain rude.”

“Not that,” I replied with a trifling laugh. “Back during our interview, there was something that I neglected to ask, and in failing to do so, I’ve done you a disservice.”

Sunset tilted her head ever so slightly to one side. “Ask me… what?”

“What do you want out of high school?”

I didn’t expect an immediate answer; I just wanted to plant those words in her mind. From her averting, pensive gaze, I got the impression that was probably the first time anybody’s ever posed that question to her.

“I want to graduate,” she answered.

“I would hope so,” I shot back. As she tried to fumble her way to a ‘proper’ answer, I picked up one of the guitar cases and set it down on Mr. Treble’s desk.

“I… I want an education.” There was a hint of panic in her sinking eyes, like a child standing in front of a teacher who was still waiting for an answer.

“That sounds more like an answer from a brochure than a teenager.”

“I… I want… I want—”

The strumming of a chord stopped the girl dead in her tracks, and when she lifted her eyes again, she saw me sitting on the edge of Mr. Treble’s desk with the guitar resting upon my lap. She watched in absolute silence as I played through a light warm-up, the music gently filling the otherwise silent room. It was far from the first time I had played in front of a student of mine, but there was something about that moment that made it particularly special to me.

Only once I stopped did Sunset realize she had been letting her guard down, and she quickly averted her gaze once more to put on that forced air of indifference. By that point, I don’t think she was even able to convince herself of that. I simply waited for temptation to draw her eyes back to me; it wasn’t hard for me to tell what the answer was, even if she couldn’t speak it.

Sometimes saying nothing could provide just as many answers.

“Do you know how to play the guitar?” I asked.

She remained silent, but subtly shook her head. I held out the guitar and gestured for her to come and take it. It took a bit of coaxing, perhaps because she wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t some elaborate ruse, before she shuffled over and took a seat on the desk next to me.

“Good, now just rest it on your legs here, and put your right arm like this… and your left hand up here.”

I began teaching her the basic hand positions and how to run through some simple exercises. She took to it like a duck to water. The way her eyes lit up the first time she struck a note was the sort of moment that every teacher dreamed up. It was like she had been asleep all this time, and was just finally waking up and realizing just how beautiful the world could be. Time flew by faster than either of us could’ve anticipated, and the next thing I knew, it was already starting to get dark outside.

“Oh dear, it’s getting awfully late. We should probably call it a day,” I announced before rising to my feet.

“Do we have to?” Sunset blurted out. She looked to me with pleading eyes, her arms wrapped around the guitar in a protective embrace. “Can’t we just… stay a little bit longer?”

I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about sending Sunset home, but somebody had to be the responsible adult. “You should head home. Your parents are probably wondering where you are.”

“That’d be a first,” she muttered back.

Though disheartening, the response didn’t surprise me. I wanted to help her, but as a teacher there was only so much I could offer. Perhaps, I thought, it would be enough for her.

“What do you want out of high school, Sunset Shimmer?”

I didn’t see any hesitation this time when her gaze met with mine. “I want to learn how to play!” she said, her voice filled with conviction. “Please, Mrs. Celestia… teach me.”

Passion and enthusiasm like that was such a rare sight in students; it made it all the more important to cherish and nurture it when it came along. I couldn’t help but smile back to her. “Then how about we meet again after school on Monday, and we can continue the lessons?”

And that’s when she let it out: a smile, brighter than anything I’d seen from her before. It was like the parting clouds after the rainstorm, that once-in-a-blue-moon expression that most teachers could only dream about.

“I’d like that.”

It was such a simple, innocent offering. I never imagined in even my worst nightmares how things would eventually turn out.

Act VII-V

Act VII-V

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Sunset Shimmer I knew in Fillydelphia was driven once she had something to set her mind to. I dare say that her first taste of the guitar lit something of a fire in her spirit because no sooner did school end on Monday did I find her standing outside my classroom, ready and eager to continue where we had left off.

One lesson turned into two, which soon became three, and then turned into a regular, thrice-a-week meeting. Most students that I’ve met who were learning to play guitar lose some of their enthusiasm after the first few days, when they’ve realized it was going to be many weeks and a lot of work before they could impress the girls at parties, but nothing hampered Sunset’s enthusiasm. There were days I was certain that if I didn’t end things for the day, she would’ve kept going all through the night without pause.

Despite my curiosity, for the first few weeks I kept things focused strictly on the music. It was hard for me to ignore the voice at the back of my mind that wondered, sometimes lamented, how someone who seemed so alive when they had a guitar in hand could be so apathetic in the rest of their school life. She had all the hallmarks of a troubled home life, but in the arrogance of youth, I thought I could handle it on my own. Yet at the same time, I dragged my feet in confronting the issue because that same youthfulness meant I had never done this before. I knew the theories of what to do, but what I learned in teacher’s college didn’t always translate perfectly to the real world.

Though I had made progress, she was still closed off, withdrawn; her days in class were still spent in the back corners saying nothing to those around her. I worried that even the slightest mistake could cause her to withdraw. But was I doing that for her sake, or my own?

That thought didn’t cross my mind until after a few weeks into our after school lessons. Classes had just finished for the day, and I was about to get prepared to meet with Sunset when I had something of an unexpected visitor.

“Music lessons? Since when you have started helping out in that department?” Sombra’s voice perked up just over my shoulder. I must’ve been lost in thought for him to have snuck up on me in my own classroom.

“Just a little something for an extracurricular,” I explained.

“Oh? I haven’t heard any of this before.” Despite the two of us always insisting on maintaining professionalism at work, he couldn’t help but take advantage of the moment of privacy. He draped his arms over my shoulders and nestled his head next to mine, letting out a throaty purr as his overgrown sideburns tickled my cheeks. “I hope you’re not planning on staying out too late tonight.”

I gave a mirthful chuckle. “Has the gracious Mr. Graycoat finally seen fit to return my husband to me? I was beginning to wonder to whom you were actually married to.”

“I promise it won’t be much longer,” he said with a remorseful, but optimistic, undertone. “But I was thinking tonight we could pick up some pad thai from your favourite little restaurant, and curl up on the couch with a nice Pinot noir. How does that sound?”

“Toss in a little something from the bakery for dessert, and you’ve got yourself a date, mister.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard to arrange. Do you think you’ll be done with your ‘extra-curricular’ by—”

He never finished that sentence, however, as something began to buzz and vibrate in his coat pocket. I could practically feel him grimace alongside a very audible groan. For the first few seconds, he refrained from moving, as if hoping he could just pretend that he couldn’t hear his phone ringing. In the end, he resigned to his fate and stepped away to answer the call.

“Yes, hello?” he began, terse and impatient. His expression quickly grew worse. “What do you mean he—?” His words came to an abrupt halt as his eyes darted back over to me, and the realization that he was about to lose his temper in front of me helped him regain his composure. “I’ll be over in just a minute: don’t let him leave.”

After he hung up, Sombra shot me a guilt-riddled look that told me everything I needed to know.

“Vice Principal Sombra to the rescue again?” I quipped.

“I swear to god, I’ve no idea how this school has managed to function for as long as it has,” he answered, though he could have been voicing his frustrations for his own sake. “I’ll try to have this done as quickly as I can, I promise.”

He wouldn’t, though, and I’d eventually spend another quiet evening at home all alone, but by that point I had gotten used to it. At the very least, I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about being on my own for very long, and not more than a few seconds after my husband left did I hear new, lighter footsteps at the door.

“Um, Ms. Celestia?” Sunset’s voice chirped up, which had an immediate, uplifting effect on my mood.

“Ah, hello there. Is everything okay? You sound a little uneasy,” I replied.

“Oh! Well, uh… I sorta overheard some of your conversation with Vice Principal Sombra,” she explained. “I thought maybe you might be too busy to—”

“I would never,” I reassured her. After gathering up my notes and belongings, the two of us headed on our way to the music room. “Sombra and I were just trying to arrange some plans for later, that’s all. But I made a promise to you first, and that will always take priority.”

My words seemed to placate her worries. However, as we strolled down the hallway together, her curiosity began to override any sense of politeness. “So… you and Vice Principal Sombra are together?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the innocent and excessively polite way she phrased it. While Sombra and I tried to keep things professional at work, we didn’t exactly hide our relationship if it ever came up. I had presumed that most students already knew of this, but if Sunset lacked any friends at school, then there wouldn’t have been anyone to tell her.

“Yes, he’s my husband. Though with how busy he’s been lately, even I find myself forgetting at times.”

“How long have you two been married?”

“Almost five years now.”

We arrived at the music room, and soon we were in the midst of our lesson, guitars in hand. I soon forgot all about my familial troubles; in fact, a part of me hoped that Sombra would be too busy so that I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about ending the day’s lesson early. With a bit of coaxing, between our various exercises I managed to get Sunset to talk a little bit about herself. It was hard to get her to put the guitar down for even a second, but once I broke out the afternoon snacks, even she couldn’t say no. We chatted while we ate; as it turned out, we followed a few of the same television shows, and we wound up debating the finer points of the character development for most of our break.

Or rather we debated which two characters would be better together.

As the last of our food vanished, Sunset veered the conversation in an unexpected direction. “Ms. Celestia, um… these lessons aren’t being a bother to you, are they?”

“A bother? My goodness, where would you get that idea?”

Her gaze fell to the side as she nibbled at her cookie in a deliberately slow manner, as if stalling for time. “Well, I know you only started doing this because of the interview, and you’re only my homeroom teacher so you were probably told to do that as well. I… I don’t want to be the one keeping you away from people you’d rather be with…”

I reached over to offer a gentle pat on the shoulder for reassurance. “Sunset, please don’t think that I would ever be here with you if I didn’t want this. Yes, I was instructed to conduct the interview, but everything since then has been entirely my choice.” I was relieved to see the worry melt away from her expression, though I was still left curious. Her concern seemed to be rooted deeper than just what she witnessed between my husband and I. “May I ask what prompted this concern?”

She hesitated to speak up at first, no doubt brought about by a longstanding unfamiliarity with having somebody willing to listen. I could tell something far greater was on her mind. It was written all over her body language: how she avoided making contact, how her shoulders hunched forward and her head stooped low, and how she kept shifting in her seat like she was sitting on a pebble.

“My parents… they’re getting divorced,” she murmured, her tone seemingly crushed by an overwhelming sense of shame.

“I’m very sorry to hear that.”

“They’re always arguing with each other,” she continued on while her gaze remained fixated on the floor. “Sometimes it’s about money, sometimes it’s about someone forgetting something important, sometimes it’s about things I don’t really understand.”

I stepped from my desk and crouched down in front of her, ensuring that we could see eye-to-eye again even when she couldn’t lift her gaze. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m here to listen if you need me to.”

“What does it matter? They don’t care… nobody ever cares.”

Her gaze looked as hopeless as her words felt. It sounded all too familiar, as well: they were the exact same sentiments that my sister once held during her troubled teenage years because I had been too preoccupied with my own troubles to give her the attention she needed. Maybe it was selfish of me to think that I could somehow make amends for my past transgressions through Sunset. Maybe my compassion was the cruelest thing I gave to her.

I placed my hand over hers, which drew her eyes to meet with mine. “I care, Sunset, more than you could imagine.”

Though she said nothing, her eyes spoke volumes to me. I saw a wary desperation in her, a yearning to trust held back by long-standing fears. I suspected, just as had been the case during our early conversations, that such compassion was something that would always exist just outside her reach. To be offered it so suddenly left her on unfamiliar ground and unsure of how to even react, let alone proceed.

I pulled a desk over so that I could sit next her. She was still hunched over with her hands tucked between her knees, but every so often she shot a nervous sideways glance over to me.

“Are things okay at home?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It’s… fine, I guess. My parents are always working late so it’s quiet most of the time.”

“No siblings, I take it?”

She shook her head.

“What kind of work do your parents do?”

“I dunno,” she said with another shrug. “Business stuff, I think. Dad often goes on about some deal or project he’s working on, usually after Mom gets mad at him for being out so late or for drinking so much.”

The last part set off every alarm bell instilled into me by teacher’s college. “Does your father drink often?”

I felt my heart sink when she nodded. “It wasn’t always like that. When I was little, he used to take me out for ice cream. ‘Good little girls get ice cream,’ he’d always say. We’d walk through the park afterwards, and watch the ducks in the ponds.” A faint smile creased her features, but faded soon after. “They used to wait until I was asleep before they started arguing, but now they don’t care if I hear everything—like when they fought over who would be stuck taking care of me after they split. I guess I’m not a good little girl anymore: good girls don’t waste their time on guitars.”

“Now you know none of that is true,” I said in gentle reassurance. “You’re a brilliant young girl, and I know for a fact that your grades have improved a lot since we started these lessons.”

“W-well, I just thought… since you were going through all the trouble because of my grades. B-but you’re a teacher. You’re paid to care and say stuff like that.”

“I’m paid to teach and encourage, not to lie,” I corrected her. An idea suddenly crossed my mind, or rather something that I had been considering for a while but decided then and there to put it into motion. “And trust me when I say this, there are plenty of people here who would care too, if you would just give them a chance.”

Flickers of hope and doubt flashed in her eyes as she stared back in absolute silence. She was a forgotten child, still fearful of daring to hope. I just smiled as I got to my feet, and offered out my hand to her.

“Come on, I’d like to show you something,” I invited, gesturing her to come hither with my fingers.

Though still wary and uncertain, Sunset rose from her seat and fell in line beside me.

“Oh, and bring the guitar,” I said before we left.

We strode through the hallways, saying nothing but occasionally glancing to one another to try and better read the situation. I tried to be as reassuring as I could without spoiling the surprise, and I could tell that a part of her was keeping an eye on the nearest exit just in case. No doubt her curiosity began to flare up as we drew closer to our destination, and the muffled sounds of a drum beat could be heard. We arrived at a windowless door, and I gave a few knocks before opening it.

Inside were close to a dozen students, sitting around one of the rooms that had recently been converted into a practice hall for the bands. It was a mix of seniors, freshmen, and everything in-between, all with their instruments, and all of whom turned to look at Sunset and I in the doorway.

“Sorry, Ms. Celestia, were we being too loud again?” the young lad at the drums spoke first.

“Quite the opposite, really,” I reassured them. After all, it had been just loud enough to catch Sunset’s attention. “I’m actually here wondering if you could all do me a favour. This is one of my students, Sunset Shimmer.”

As I gently eased my pupil to the forefront, she tensed up and only managed to stammer out a quick, “H-hello.”

“I’ve been teaching her guitar for the past few weeks, but I thought being around some like-minded students might help her as well,” I continued on. “Would it be okay for her to sit in on a few sessions of your club?”

I could see the tension building inside Sunset; teenagers could be unpredictable and she could only imagine the worst possible outcomes. Would they ridicule her for needing a teacher to introduce her? For having only started to learn the guitar? For being too quiet? Too nervous? To be honest, that fear crossed my mind as well, but I had spent enough time with these students to know that they were better than that.

“Of course! We’re always looking for new members!”

********************

It was the high school fairy tale that almost every teacher dreamed about: teacher finds neglected, underperforming student; teacher finds and ignites student’s passion in learning; student makes new friends at school thanks to newly discovered interest; student lives happily ever after.

By the time springtime came around at West Fillydelphia High, it had seemed that Sunset had reached that last stage now that she had befriended almost the entire music club. I was surprised that we kept up our regular lessons even after she joined the music club, as I had expected and resigned myself to the fate of having less and less importance in her life now that she had friends her own age. And yet, three times a week I would still find her waiting outside my classroom door, eager for another lesson.

Truth be told, I was relieved that our lessons continued unabated for the moment; a part of me had grown to look forward to our time together, and the thought that one day she would no longer need my tutelage saddened me. She was in her senior year, so it was inevitable that she’d graduate and go out into the world to begin the next chapter of her life. But that came with the territory for a teacher: every year started with new faces, and ended with bittersweet farewells. I found solace in the reminder that there would always be another Sunset Shimmer just around the corner.

“Ms. Celestia?”

It was lunchtime at the school when Sunset’s voice snapped me from an engrossing train of thought that left me staring a hole through my reheated casserole. I had intended for it to be a working lunch so that I could finish grading some quizzes, but the fact that less than a tenth were done attested to how much my plans had gone awry.

“Sunset, what are you doing here? You should be off having lunch with your friends.” Despite my frayed thought process, I couldn’t help but feel a small tinge of relief in a friendly face.

“Just because I have some friends now doesn’t mean we can’t have lunch together once in a while,” Sunset answered with a hint of whimsical amusement. As she approached my desk, I noticed she had her lunch bag in hand. “You said you had something you needed to discuss with me, so why not kill two birds with one stone?”

“I meant discuss with you after school. You didn’t need to go out of your way just for this,” I insisted, but nonetheless felt grateful for the company.

Indifferent to my remarks, Sunset pulled up a chair and took a seat opposite of me. By the time she finished unpacking her lunch, I had realized that I couldn’t muster up the will to turn her away, even if she was interrupting my work.

“You’re the one who kept insisting I not eat alone, so why should you be any different?” she answered back with a playful smirk. It was brief, though, as she suddenly looked away with an uneasy look. “Plus, you seemed a little… distracted during homeroom today. I was a little worried.”

I was taken aback by Sunset’s concern, not just for the sentiment itself but because I was normally much better at keeping problems at home from spilling into my professional life. Either I was getting sloppy, or she was becoming very observant of me.

“I didn’t realize it showed that badly,” I said with a wary, sheepish smile. “But it’s nothing you need to concern yourself about. Just a little… trouble on the homefront.”

Sunset clearly wasn’t interested in buying anything that I was selling. She gave me a sardonic stare and quipped, “It’s Sombra again, isn’t it?”

She was right on the money, and my dismayed groan when I buried my face into my palms was all the confirmation she needed. Were she any of my other workplace colleagues, I wouldn’t have felt the same reservation about airing my personal problems so openly, but to do so in front of a student made me uneasy. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself, but it was more likely that I just didn’t want to paint myself in a bad light in front of Sunset Shimmer. I was more worried about what she might think of me as a person rather than a teacher.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sunset asked in an attempt to break the silence.

“It’s… complicated.” It wasn’t, but I was grasping for any excuse to save face.

“That’s what my parents say whenever they just don’t want to explain things to me.”

I had no idea if that were true, but it did trigger my aversion to doing anything that her parents would. I had no choice but to confess. “I… I think Sombra might be seeing somebody else,” I blurted out before I could second-guess myself into silence.

“What?! No way!” It took Sunset a moment to realize that she should’ve kept her voice down, which prompted her to hastily clasp a hand over her mouth and lean in closer. “What makes you think that?” she whispered. “Does this have to do with him always working so late?”

“Maybe. I don’t know,” I answered, keeping my voice low as well. I didn’t want to burden Sunset with this knowledge, but once I got started talking about it, it felt like somebody had turned my anxiety dial up to eleven. “I mean, it’s gotten better lately, but he’s more secretive about it now. He’ll go out at late hours in the night without even telling me, and he’ll take calls on his phone but leave the room before saying anything.”

“Have you tried following him?”

“I’m not tailing my husband,” I snapped back, aghast. “This is real life, not some Prancy Drew novel.”

Sunset just raised an eyebrow, which made me immediately feel old and dated when I realized she had no idea who I was referring to. Had it flown any higher over her head, one would’ve been able to hear the sound of jet engines.

I let out a weary sigh as the shame washed over me. “I peeked at his cell phone and found a bunch of text messages on it. He’s apparently been having ‘secret’ meetings with the same person for weeks now. The messages never say much, but it’s always got things like ‘come alone’ and ‘everyone’s away right now’, and he keeps calling her ‘mi amore’.”

At first, I had expected Sunset’s interest in the subject to wane as it became apparent this was just some ‘grown-up’ issue, until I remembered that talks of relationships and infidelity made up about half of the gossip amongst the students. At least I didn’t have to worry about Sunset spreading it to every set of ears in a hundred meter radius. Even with the realization that this could’ve been a gossip gold mine, my pupil appeared to consider the information with the diligence and maturity one would’ve expected from an adult. Rather than ridicule or amusement, she regarded me with a visible concern I would’ve expected from my closest of friends.

“Are you okay?” she asked, straight to the point.

I hunched forward, cradling my head in both hands as if all of my worries decided to come crashing down at that moment. “I don’t know anymore. I keep telling myself that it can’t possibly be what it looks like, and that there’s a logical explanation for it all that I’m just not aware of yet.”

“Maybe there is, but that won’t change the fact that he’s meeting somebody in secret. Unless there’s a surprise party involved, nothing good ever comes from going behind your partner’s back,” Sunset speculated. It was hard to deny the logic, but it was hard for me to think of my husband in such a negative light. What’s more, I began to worry that bringing up homelife problems with a student could undermine Sombra’s authority as the school’s vice principal. Her disgust was palpable as she folded her arms and made a showy huff. “You should confront him,” she announced with a pointed wave of her fork. “Frankly, you deserve somebody who treats you with respect. If I were Sombra, everytime I had to stay late at work, I’d make sure to come home with a big box of chocolates or a bouquet to apologize! Maybe a shoulder massage just for extra measure.”

At least she was passionate in her support, which was a stark contrast to the listless, apathetic teenager I met at the start of the school year. While her words failed to assuage the worst of my anxieties, it did offer some reassurance in validating my fears; it wasn’t just me ‘overthinking things.’

“With compassion like that, I’m sure you’ll make some boy very happy one day,” I remarked with a quiet chuckle to myself.

“Please,” Sunset scoffed at the notion before unceremoniously shoveling a wad of kale and romaine into her mouth. “Boys are gross,” she declared, still with a mouthful of lettuce. “And stupid. And selfish. Plus they smell bad.”

I couldn’t help but chortle at her sudden, juvenile display. It was always amusing to see her wild swings between mature perspectives and childish responses. If anything, it kept things from ever getting boring.

“They still have their good points. I’m sure that in time, you’ll come to appreciate them.”

Sunset sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry in my general direction surmised her opinion on the matter.

As cathartic as it was to give air to some of my personal grievances, the professional in me insisted that I keep such matters away from my workplace. Thus, the momentary distraction brought about by the subject of boys gave me the opportunity to steer the conversation to warmer waters. Though I had earlier said it could wait until later, the reason I wanted to talk to her in the first place provided an easy out for me.

“Well, since I have you here, there’s no point in waiting until after school to bring this up,” I segued into the new line of discussion. “You’ve heard about the Math Olympics, right?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow whilst sipping away at a box of juice. “You mean that thing where all the nerds get together and answer math questions for nerd points in order to crown one of them King Nerd?”

“I’m noticing something of a negative stigma you’ve attached to it,” I remarked with a hint of disappointment. “Either way, the big competition begins at the end of the month, and I’ve been asked to help with the prep sessions. I was hoping that you could participate in the competition this year.”

“What? Me?” Sunset exclaimed, almost spilling her drink in the process. “Y-you can’t be serious. Do I look like a math nerd to you?”

I gave her a reassuring, but knowing, smile. “No, but you do look like one of the top five best math students in the school. I dare say that if you had been performing at your best since the start of the year, you’d be the top student in the school.”

Her boisterous charm fell silent in a heartbeat, her head dropping as modesty and embarrassment spread from ear to ear. It might’ve been a bit excessive, but it got her attention. “Y-you really want me on the team?”

“I’d like it if you could join us.”

Her wavering, uncertain gaze flicked back and forth between me and her half-eaten lunch for what felt like the longest ten seconds of my life. “Well, I guess if you’re helping the team prepare, then it wouldn’t be so bad,” she eventually concluded. “When would these prep sessions be held?”

“After school on Wednesdays and Fridays until the competition.”

“What?” came the expected cry of disbelief. “But that’s the same time as our guitar lessons!” Her mouth hung open, and I could tell she had more she wanted to say. Something held her tongue, though, or maybe she didn’t know quite how to phrase what she felt. Either way, what her words failed to convey, the pleading look in her eyes did not. I hadn’t anticipated quite this level of attachment, but I came prepared.

“It’s only for a few weeks, Sunset,” I reasoned with her. “And it’s not like we’ll be seeing less of each other; we’ll just be doing something different during that time.”

“But that’s not the same,” she whined. “T-there’ll be other people. It… it won’t be just the two of us.”

“Well then… how about we meet on the weekends?” I asked after a frantic scramble for a workable solution.

“Would it be okay to meet at your place?” Sunset asked. “It’d be… kinda hard to hide it from my parents if we met at mine.”

In hindsight, I should’ve been able to see the signs sooner, but at the time, I was too fixated on keeping her happy and involved with the school. And when I saw her eyes light up at my suggestion, the only thing I could think of was, ‘where’s the harm in any of this?’ It would only be for a few weekends, after all; things would be back to normal in no time at all.

“Sure. It’s only for a few weeks; it shouldn’t be a problem.”

********************

“What is this?”

I was left momentarily stunned, but that was an understandable response as I didn’t expect to be confronted by my husband in the middle of our kitchen. He held aloft a sheet of paper, which only caused me more confusion when I recognized it as its purpose shouldn’t have provoked such a look of discontent from Sombra.

“It’s a request for short term leave,” I answered bluntly. “Were you looking through my things?”

“It was sticking out of your bag,” he answered back. His guard was still up, which only worried me further. Why would he feel the need to be agitated over this? “But that doesn’t matter, since you’d have to hand the form to me anyways.”

“Yes, but on Monday when we’re at work.” Despite my annoyance, I began to suspect that I was going to be grateful that this conversation happened at home rather than in his office. “Is there a problem with my request? I’ve already spoken with one of our usual substitutes and he’s available to fill in for me.”

“It’s the reason why that’s the issue,” he said as he pointed to the bottom field on the paperwork, wherein I wrote down the purpose to my request. “Why are you taking time off to go to the Math Olympics district finals? You were only needed to assist with preparations; you don’t need to accompany the team.”

“I’m not going there in the capacity of a teacher.”

Sombra slammed the form on the nearby counter, his face contorting in barely-restrained fury. Despite his appearance, though, I could tell this ire was not directed at me. We’ve had our arguments in the past; I’ve seen him angry at me before. Instead, this appeared to be directed at the situation as a whole, like a man cursing the cruelties of fate. “It’s because of her again, isn’t it? That Sunset Shimmer girl!”

Though I knew the malice was not intended for me, the venom in which he spoke Sunset’s name unsettled me all the same. I needed to keep calm, however; and I reminded myself that this was just his anger speaking.

“It’s a two-day event in another city; her parents aren’t able to attend, so she asked me to come along instead.”

He sighed and fell silent for a moment, giving me a brief glimmer of hope that he was coming around. As he meandered through the kitchen, hand brushing through thick locks of ebony hair, I only grew more anxious as it became apparent that this was just worried pacing for him. He eventually stopped next to one of the dining chairs, setting his hands against the backrest as he stooped forward ever so slightly. It was a posture that I had seen him take a hundred times before with students; I never imagined I would be on the receiving end of it.

“I think you’ve been spending far too much time with that child,” he started in an ice-cold tone that alarmed me far more than his anger ever could.

I wasn’t about to be intimidated, not as a teacher or as a wife. Slamming my hand down on the table, I leaned in to meet his steely gaze in kind. “If I am, it is only because the people who should be supporting her have failed in their duties.”

He paused to take a deep breath; a clear sign he was trying to keep himself calm. Had I been a student, he probably would’ve started shouting already. “People are starting to take notice, Celestia; they’re starting to talk.”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type to put much stock into rumours,” I remarked in disbelief. “I’m providing the student with the support and encouragement she needs to succeed. I thought that’s what teachers were supposed to do.”

“It’s one thing to help a struggling student with extracurriculars and supplemental lessons, but you’ve been doting over her for months, and now you’ve been inviting her into our home! What would people say if they find out about that?”

“Who cares what they think!” I snapped back. “We’re teachers; our job is to help students, especially the ones who need it the most. What do I need to do to prove to you that nothing inappropriate or unethical is happening? I’m not like your predecessor.”

“It’s not about what is or isn’t happening, it’s about how things look,” Sombra warned me with growing impatience. “We’ve already had one scandal fall upon us; we can’t afford even the appearance of impropriety!” His knuckles were beginning to turn white, which should’ve been a sign for me to tone back the rhetoric a bit, but since when did people think rationally in an argument?

“I’m not going to abandon her!”

“For god’s sake, Tia, I know you’re crazy for one, but she’s not your child!”

“Well maybe that wouldn’t be a problem if you could just give me one already!”

I knew saying that was a mistake the second the words left my mouth. The brief flicker of pain, of betrayal, across my husband’s face was the firm backhand of reality I needed to knock some sense back into me. There were lines that you just weren’t supposed to cross with the people you loved, and I took a running leap at it. Letting out a heavy sigh, I felt all willingness to fight leave upon my breath. I was still upset, but now left too emotionally spent to feel or act upon it.

“Sombra, I—”

“I’m going for a walk.”

Though his words were cold and resolute, I could sense that he was just hiding the pain underneath; a pain he didn’t dare to show in front of me. As he marched for the door, I knew I should’ve stopped him, but I convinced myself that he just needed some time to calm down so I could reason with him. He was in the wrong; he had to be.

Looking back, I wasn’t nearly as grown-up as I always thought I was. I was far too naive; too certain in my own infallibility simply because I had done everything right so far in life under my own guidance. Besides, I loved my husband, I loved being a teacher, I loved helping my students, and I loved Sunset Shimmer.

How could I possibly be wrong?

Act VII-VI

“Did you see the look on all those nerds’ faces when I won? Ha! I wiped all those smug little grins off in a hurry, didn’t I?”

To say that Sunset was elated in the aftermath of the district Math Olympics competition was the understatement of my entire teaching profession and then some. Our school’s team exceeded all of my expectations when they took the grand prize, but the highlight of the evening for Sunset and I was when she was announced as the winner for best individual performance, as well as the team’s ‘most valuable player.’ I was so proud of her; it was irrefutable validation of all the effort I had put in. A darker part of me wished that Sombra could’ve been there to witness that victory, if only so I could have rubbed it in his face. It was juvenile and petty, and I knew it was wrong the moment it crossed my mind, but there was no harm in just a thought, was there?

As for my pupil, she was over the moon because of her success. I wished she could’ve been a bit more gracious in her victory, but seeing that it was probably one of the first shining moments of her teenage years, I was willing to give her some latitude.

“You know, Sunset, you call those other students nerds, but if you won the competition, what does that make you?”

We were walking on our way back to the hotel after the competition, both of us beaming with pride. Sunset still cradled her new trophy, a humble little token made of faux-bronze shaped into a pi symbol, with all the care and concern as a mother doting on her newborn infant. It was as if she believed it would vanish the second she let it go from her grasp. She stopped mid-stride in response to my question, and flashed me a quick stink-eye just to let me know that she was on to my attempt to instill some sense of empathy and consideration into her.

“I guess that would just makes me Queen of the Nerds,” she concluded with a feigned haughty tone. It was hard to give her a disappointed stare when I was smirking so much. “Okay, so maybe they weren’t so bad for a bunch of math dor—er, I mean, enthusiasts.”

“You shouldn’t begrudge people for being passionate about something.”

Realizing her error deflated her enthusiasm and ego a bit, which left her hanging her head for a brief moment.

“I don’t,” she insisted in a half-grumble. “Maybe I’m a little jealous they can be so open about it. At least my parents don’t pay enough attention to ask why I come home late from school so often.”

“Well, now you can tell them that you just won a big, prestigious competition.”

To my surprise, my reassurance had the opposite effect, as Sunset looked even more wary and quickly averted her gaze. Even if I hadn’t spent so much time in the past year with her, that behaviour alone was enough to set off every teacher alarm in my head. A heavy, sinking sense of dread began to creep upon me.

“Sunset, your parents know you’re here, right?”

“T-they know I won’t be home until tomorrow,” my pupil answered, while finding the most interesting lamppost across the street to admire.

I leaned over to try and get her to look me in the eye, but she just kept turning her head in order to avoid it, almost to the point where I feared she’d twist her own head off. “Did you tell your parents that you’d be here, in this city, competing in the Math Olympics?”

“I… might not have mentioned it…” Whatever else Sunset said after that came out as nothing more than incoherent murmurings.

Not that I was paying attention since the only thing running through my head was my husband’s voice going ‘told you so.’ “Sunset, you can’t just do that. They’re still your parents,” I chastised her. “You know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is, right?”

Still looking away, she managed to find her voice after a prolonged pause. “You don’t need to be a prophet to know they’d never make time for me,” she answered in a somber tone. “They certainly wouldn’t start now. It’s all just client meetings and projects and business trips for them.”

“Still, you shouldn’t have told me—”

“I said they wouldn’t be able to make it, and that part is still true.”

Looking back, I realized she had, in fact, only told me that her parents were unavailable. I only presumed that this meant they were aware of what was going on. It didn’t excuse what Sunset did, but it made me take notice of my own preconceptions. In the end, I was the adult, and I should’ve known better. Despite a strong defense, Sunset could see that I still wasn’t happy about it. We were splitting hairs and arguing over semantics at this point. She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and finally managed to force a meek, remorseful gaze back to me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mislead you,” she apologized. “I would never lie to you. Y-you know that, right?”

At least she was quick to recognize her mistakes, and since I felt I had erred in jumping to conclusions, I decided that Sunset’s sense of guilt was enough punishment for now. Besides, I wanted that day to be one of happy memories for her, lest I scare her away from getting involved in academic contests in the future.

“I know you wouldn’t,” I reassured her. With a hand on her shoulder, I coaxed her back to a walking pace. “But promise me that when you get home, you’ll tell them where you were and what you accomplished. Can you do that for me?”

Sunset nodded, but said nothing else.

Not wanting my pupil’s mood to be left dour for the remainder of the day, I decided to spring my surprise on her earlier than I had planned. It was as good a time as any, really, and it was becoming sorely needed. I took Sunset by the hand and began leading her in a new direction, which caught her attention right away.

“W-wait, isn’t the hotel that way?” she stammered, but followed along dutifully nonetheless.

Wanting it to be a surprise, I kept her in the dark until we reached our destination just a few blocks down the street. At first glance, the simple brick-faced cafe did little to stand out from its surroundings, but upon stepping inside, we were greeted to the decadent fragrances of sweet vanilla, hot fudge, and fruity syrups.

“This is…”

“The best place in town for ice cream,” I interrupted, “or so I’ve been told.”

Sunset almost leapt out of her boots in her excitement, letting out a jubilant squeal as she bounded over to the order counter. “Best. Day. Ever!”

It was impossible to deny that my spirits felt uplifted as well with my earlier concerns melting to the back of my mind until I couldn’t even remember why I felt that way in the first place. By the time I joined my pupil, she already had her face planted against the glass case displaying all the ice cream varieties available.

“So many flavours… so hard to choose…” Sunset murmured under her breath.

“Well, feel free to pick whatever you want: it’s my treat.”

Sunset gave me a wide-eyed stare after hearing the offer, as though such a concept was unfathomable for her. But her eyes soon began to sparkle, her lips curling into a brilliant grin, before she turned to the young woman behind the counter.

“I’ll take the biggest sundae you got!”

My wallet soon came to regret the offer, as the largest item on the menu had the fitting name ‘Kitchen Sink’, and while it did not come in a container as large as one, the behemoth mountain of fudge-covered ice cream did include almost everything but. It cost more than most meals, and while I would have liked to remind Sunset on the virtues of restraint, when would I ever have a chance to spoil her like this again? As the two of us sat down in a corner booth with our desserts, I became increasingly envious of the black-hole that was a teenager’s stomach. The towering pile of cream and sugar dwarfed my order of a more sensible strawberry parfait, which was easier on both my wallet and my hips.

“Are you even going to have room for dinner tonight?” I asked with noted concern.

“Who needs to?” she answered, a hungry gaze still fixated on the monstrosity before her. Unwilling to waste another moment, Sunset grabbed her spoon and dove in headlong.

Despite my worries, it was still amusing to watch her voracious appetite at work. “Just be careful not to eat too quickly,” I reminded her.

“Please, I’m not a child,” she scoffed between mouthfuls in a manner least befitting of what she claimed.

Thankfully, she was too preoccupied to notice my somersaulting eyes. The atmosphere was sweet and tranquil, and perhaps from a distance we gave an air of mother and child. It reminded me how long it had been since I had done anything similar with my parents. They had been gone for several years by then, and back then I was your typical teenager: absorbed in my own world of friends and hobbies. As I grew older, the memories of them became ever dimmer, fading away like stones eroding along the shoreline. I hoped that today could be a memory that Sunset would be able to cherish for years to come.

At the same time, though, I couldn’t shake some of the things that my husband had said to me days earlier. Maybe a part of me did wish that Sunset could’ve been the daughter that I never had. Was that so wrong of me? It wasn’t as if I were stealing her away from her parents; they barely even paid attention to her. People who grew up without parental guidance regularly found substitutes in other people. I wasn’t breaking any rules or ethical codes either, and I wasn’t giving her any unfair advantages in her school work. Besides, I was only ever going to be a supporting character in Sunset’s story: in a few months, she would graduate high school and move onto the next chapter of her life, and I would be little more than fond memories.

“So have you been giving any thought as to what you’ll do after you graduate?” I asked, since the subject was on my mind.

Sunset gave me a ‘deer in the headlights’ stare for a second, spoon still in her mouth, before casting a sideways glance in her telltale sign that she had apprehensions about her answer. “I… um, hadn’t really given it much thought,” she answered, albeit muffled until she finally took the spoon out. Tapping her spoon against the rim of her bowl, she continued to fidget and avoid direct eye contact as she clearly stalled for time. “I was, like… maybe thinking of going someplace local. M-maybe a school for music and stuff…”

I could tell that she had spent more time thinking about her ice cream choices than she did about her post-high school plans. While that disappointed me as a teacher, it was not unexpected: so much of her life had changed in such a short time that the factors influencing her decision now were probably never even considered at the start of the school year. I wouldn’t have been surprised if her original plan was to go with whatever university or college her parents pushed upon her.

I must’ve been reflecting on that for too long, as Sunset took notice of my silence. “Are you… disappointed?” she asked, shrinking in her seat.

“Of course not,” I reassured her, putting on my best smile. “But as your teacher, I would be remiss if I didn’t try to push you to a high standard. There are some excellent local universities, but I just want to make sure you’re not considering those simply because it’s safer.”

The fact she fell silent and looked away was enough to confirm my suspicion, but I waited nonetheless for her to muster the courage to speak her mind. “If I leave for university… I’ll be alone again,” she bemoaned.

“And I know that can be scary, but you’ve made so much progress in just this year alone. You should never be afraid to pursue your dreams, and I have absolute faith that you’d be able to make new friends wherever you choose to go.”

Sinking in her seat, Sunset replied in a barely audible mumble, “But I want to stay with you.”

Now I was confident that I heard her correctly, but all the same I asked in response, “Sorry, what was that?”

Despite being meant as an innocent and innocuous question, it nonetheless startled Sunset. “N-nothing, I was just—oh, my ice cream’s starting to melt!”

I couldn’t help but giggle quietly to myself as she tried to hide her embarrassment by diving head-first into her sundae. She couldn’t hide forever, however; she’d have to face me at some point.

“AGGHHHHHHHHH!”

I peaked around the side of the sundae and found my pupil grimacing with her head clutched between her hands. “Eat too quickly?”

“N-no,” she stammered back. “I’m just… in awe of how delicious it is.”

She must’ve realized how ridiculous she came off, as she started to laugh, which soon infected me. By the time she settled down, it seemed her nerves had calmed down as well.

“I’m touched that you think so highly of me,” I continued the conversation from where we had left off. “But you’ve an opportunity to go places and do things that a lot of students never get. When I was your age, I had no choice but to stay local for college. Between my grades, my finances, and taking care of my younger sister, it was simply impossible for me.”

“If I do leave, you won’t… forget about me, right?”

“How could I possibly forget about someone as incredible as you?”

“O-okay, I’ll… I’ll think about it,” a thoroughly embarrassed Sunset replied.

In truth, I was just as disappointed about the prospect of her leaving, but I couldn’t give voice to such selfish whims. Even as I encouraged her to seek out the world, a part of me was touched to hear that she wanted to stay somewhere close to me. As her teacher, though, I had to content myself with what time we had together while wishing silently that things could stay that way forever. Looking back, though, I was in complete denial.

I did love her.

********************

For most people, the end of the school year was greeted with a mixture of jubilation and trepidation. Everyone looked forward to the freedom of the summer holidays, but dreaded the one last obstacle that were the final exams. For the senior students, it also meant saying farewell to one chapter of their life before the next big step to becoming true adults. For myself, it was always bittersweet to say goodbye to those that I had helped guide and mentor over the past year, but I was always proud to send them off to their next adventure in life, where I had no doubt they would find success.

That year, there was far more bitter than sweet, as the concept that Sunset Shimmer would be graduating drew closer to becoming reality. Though I had told her that I would never forget about her, I couldn’t help but wonder if the sentiment was mutual. If I asked, I was certain she’d insist she would never, ever forget about me either, but when I thought about my own life, how many teachers did I say that to when I was growing up? How many teachers could I even put a face to anymore? After four years of college life, would the name ‘Celestia’ even matter to her anymore.

With any other student, this was just an accepted part of the profession, but with the end of the school year only a few weeks away, I found the concern occupying my mind more and more. It was unethical to play favourites amongst my students, but with graduation only a few days away, I felt a growing urge to do something, say something, to properly convey to Sunset how much the past year had meant to me. I would miss her expectant stares when she waited outside my classroom at the end of the school day; I would miss the excited bounce in her step when we walked to the music room together, and most of all, I would miss how she smiled whenever she held a guitar in her hands.

I may have been young and naive back then, but I was certain that I’d never have another student that measured up to her.

One Friday after classes had been dismissed, I was feeling particularly melancholic over the prospect of the ending year, and sought to alleviate my concerns with a heavy dose of wistful nostalgia.

When I arrived at the school music room, I discovered I was not the only person making use of it. The real surprise, however, was the fact that it was my husband that I found there, alongside another woman whom I didn’t recognize. It was a slight relief that when I entered, they looked to me with a hint of surprise, but no embarrassment or panic, so at least I hadn’t walked in on anything inappropriate. Judging by how they stood at the head of the classroom with my husband making sweeping gestures towards the seating areas that they were discussing something school related.

The woman, though, didn’t appear to be any school official that I was familiar with, so despite the seemingly school-related nature, she nonetheless left me feeling concerned. With long, flowing curls of magenta hair, she looked to be a bit older than me, but her poise and demeanour betrayed a maturity beyond my own. There was a sort of regal air about her; an aura that said in a polite, dignified tone, ‘why yes, I am exceedingly wealthy.’

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” I apologized once I realized my mistake.

“Actually, quite the contrary,” the woman replied, her words spoken with a velvet-like elegance to them. “Mr. Sombra was just giving a tour of the facilities, but I’m rather interested in meeting some of the faculty here.”

Seizing the opportunity, Sombra stepped closer and pulled me in with an arm across my shoulder. “And I couldn’t think of a better person to start the introductions with. This is my wife, Celestia: she teaches social studies, but she also helps out with extracurriculars in the math and music departments.” A part of me couldn’t help but feel a little relieved that he stated in no uncertain terms what our relationship was. “Celestia, this is Mi Amore Aria.”

In that moment, I realized the name couldn’t have been a coincidence and I remembered the text messages I found on my husband’s phone. The ‘Mi Amore’ in his missives wasn’t him flirting, it was about the woman before me. That just lead to a far more unsettling question: why did Sombra feel a need to hide his activities with her? And why did she have such an interest in the school and its staff?

As we shook hands, Miss Aria gave me a curious look and smirked for a moment. “The district Math Olympics, correct?”

“Come again?”

“Your photo was in the local papers after the Math Olympics a few months ago. You were alongside one of your pupils, a Miss…”

“Sunset Shimmer.”

“Such a wonderfully dedicated teacher,” Aria complimented me, albeit in a tone that sounded less altruistic than I would’ve imagined. “I do hope you’ll be open to exploring your employment opportunities when the time comes.”

“I… beg your pardon?” Normally such a comment would’ve rolled off my back without a second thought, but I noticed my husband recoil ever so slightly when Aria spoke. I had seen such a reaction in enough students to know that something was amiss and he knew what. “Dear, is there something you wish to discuss?”

“We’re entering a partnership with the district school board,” Aria explained before my husband could even fix his feigned stoicism. “The Mi Amore family has recently gotten involved with the education sector. While we wholeheartedly believe in the value of a public education system, in recognizing that there are challenges that the current system simply isn’t capable of meeting, we have decided to take a more proactive approach.”

The way she spoke with rehearsed precision made my skin crawl. The words leaving her mouth felt more like a swarm of locusts than anything I would’ve considered enticing. This was not, however, the first time I had come across someone who advocated for private education, which she was doing regardless of how much she tried to dress it up as if she were doing a public service. Since the last time I got into an argument over the finer points of public versus private systems, I married my opponent, I just opted to maintain a polite facade.

“So what exactly does this partnership entail, and what does it have to do with our school?”

I also wanted to ask why was she conducting secret meetings with my husband, but I couldn’t reveal the fact that I knew about those—not yet, at least.

With a hint of surprise, Aria looked over to Sombra and remarked, “Have you not explained things to your staff yet?”

“That was going to be the subject of Monday’s staff meeting,” he groaned whilst burying his face into his palm. Eventually, he realized the futility of trying to maintain the charade. “The truth is, Celestia, the school board has decided that we’re to be shut down.”

“What? I thought they weren’t going to vote on it until the summer break!”

“Officially, yes, but my sources tell me that the decision’s already been made: the vote at this point is just a formality.”

I may as well have been told I was dying by the way I just stared in slack-jawed disbelief. All the work I had done building myself a future at the school and community was about to go up in smoke. That on its own was worrying enough, but my thoughts soon turned to another concern.

“What’s going to happen to all the students that aren’t graduating this year?”

“Given the haste of this new arrangement,” Aria said as she stepped in to answer with a disarming, diplomatic smile, “the Mi Amore Foundation is prepared to offer a steep discount on tuition for the current body for the next school year.”

My gaze narrowed on the woman, as I had to fight down the rising sense of disgust. “Well that’s awfully generous of you,” I said with a forced stiffness that made no effort to hide its true nature. “I can’t help but wonder what you set to gain by not simply filling the classrooms with new, full-tuition students.”

Her expression made a subtle change, her smile not so much diplomatic, but possessing an air of collected arrogance about it. It was a stark contrast to my husband who was clearly in damage control mode.

“Now dear, this really isn’t the time and place to be discussing such minute details when the arrangement is still in its infancy,” he insisted. However, neither I nor Aria moved an inch as we stared one another down.

“You’re clearly a perceptive woman, Miss Celestia, so I won’t insult your intelligence by claiming pure altruism here,” Aria said, almost as if taunting me. “As the Mi Amore family is making its first step in this endeavour into private education, a school with three-quarters of its roster already filled will make for a more enticing proposition for new students, as well as provide a testing bed while we refine our new learning programs.”

Were I more astute at the time, I would’ve noticed the growing panic in my husband’s expression, as this was the exact sort of conversation he wanted to avoid, and this was because he knew precisely how I would take the news.

“Are you kidding me?” I wanted to say, but what actually came out of my mouth included a few extra words that are best not repeated in polite company. I turned to my husband, having decided that I wouldn’t waste further breath on Miss Mi Amore, to continue dispensing my two cents on the matter. “How could you agree to this kind of proposal? She’s going to turn our students into guinea pigs and advertisement material!”

“I know it’s not perfect, but it’s better than just letting everybody be scattered across the district,” Sombra pleaded in a rather futile effort to calm me down. “And it’s not as if they’re going to be tossed some radical new curriculum with no oversight. We’ll have an opportunity to shape it to exactly how we want it.”

“We?” I repeated, taken aback for a moment in surprise. “You mean to tell me, you’ve actually agreed to join this… this… extortion racket?”

A heavy, unsettling sigh floated from his lips, like a doctor ready to deliver the bad news. “They’ve agreed to make me principal during the transition period. If everything goes smoothly, then they’ll hire me permanently for the position.”

“You… you… sellout!”

Whether it was simply pride or personal offense from my remarks, Sombra’s brow furrowed deep as he stared me down. “Pull your head out of the clouds, Celestia, this is done for. The system is failing our students! You should know that better than anyone else because of your pet project.”

“What do you mean? In a few weeks, Sunset’s going to graduate near the top of the honour roll.”

“Yes, because you’ve taken a considerable amount of time out of your own personal schedule to mentor her every step of the way. Do you know how many teachers ignored her problem? How many just wrote her off? If you hadn’t been there, do you think someone else would’ve caught her, or would she have just fallen through the cracks?”

Sombra knew how to make a cutting argument. I had no response because I knew he was right. If I hadn’t taken Sunset under my wing, she would’ve continued to be miserable, and there probably wouldn’t have been a single other teacher who would’ve made the effort to save her. It wasn’t as though my coworkers were callous; they just had their hands full already. Between preparing lesson plans, marking tests and papers, supervising extracurriculars, and managing their own personal lives, how many people would have the time to take on a near full-time mentorship? I only managed because I was still relatively new both to the job and the city, so my workloads were light and I had few social commitments, and my husband’s long hours at work meant I had more free time than most.

“Celestia, I’m not saying what you did isn’t commendable,” Sombra continued while taking a more merciful tone. “But there are Sunset Shimmers in every grade, every year. These students shouldn’t have to hope for someone as charitable as you to swoop in and save them, because there’s no way you can be there for everyone. I know this isn’t perfect, but we have a chance here to make a better school: one where everyone can get the help and attention they need. Isn’t that why we became teachers?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I knew my husband had his ambitions, but I never imagined he would go to such lengths to reach them. Maybe the ends did justify the means, but my younger self could not look past how wrong everything about the arrangement felt. As much as I wanted to press the issue further, I knew my emotions would get the better of my judgment, and I didn’t want to argue with Sombra in front of others.

“We will discuss this at home,” I hissed to him before I pushed my way past. Another minute in that room and I was liable to do something rash.

********************

Under normal circumstances, after a fight with my husband, I would’ve jumped into the car, driven home, and spent the rest of the evening binging on ice cream while watching sitcom reruns. However, Sombra and I drove in to work together, and it was raining that afternoon with the forecast calling for even worse in the evening. As upset as I was with him, abandoning him at work in the middle of a rainstorm was a level of pettiness I wasn’t prepared to indulge in. Yet.

Instead, I merely retreated to the relative safety of my classroom desk, burying my face into my arms so that I could wallow in my own misery. The whole conversation with Miss Mi Amore and my husband just kept playing over and over again in my mind. It all still felt so surreal to me. I knew Sombra had his ambitions, but to go so far as to partner up with some greedy bloodsucker in order to get it? I thought him better than that. His concerns and grievances weren’t wrong, but there had to be a better way than just surrendering ourselves over to whomever cut us the biggest check.

That was not how I envisioned my career as an educator. I had wanted to build myself a legacy: to watch my community grow and blossom into something that I could look back upon with pride. Most of all, I had wanted to build that dream with him. Life had a strange way of crashing down atop your hopes and aspirations without even so much as a ‘heads up’. There didn’t seem to be any easy answer to the issue either: if I talked Sombra out of taking the position, he could come to resent me for stifling his aspirations; if I stayed and helped him, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to reconcile that with my beliefs.

Just as my despair began to feel suffocating, she showed up.

“Is something wrong, Celestia?”

I wasn’t surprised to see Sunset Shimmer now sitting opposite me, her usual warm smile replaced with a worried stare.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little tired, that’s all.”

She frowned and leaned in closer, almost as if for a moment our roles as teacher and pupil reversed. “Do you normally cry when you’re tired?”

It took a cursory finger sweep for me to realize that she wasn’t just trying to bluff me out. “It’s just… some things at the school will be changing; things that I didn’t expect. Things that I wasn’t prepared for.”

Sunset reached across the table and rested her hand atop of mine. It was a rare feeling to be comforted by someone other than my husband. I had few close friends in Fillydelphia, and my only remaining family was working on her college education as well. The fact that she was my student and almost a decade my junior didn’t matter to me—I needed a friend, and Sunset was the only person there for me.

“They’re shutting down the school.” I knew that telling people before a formal announcement was made could upset Sombra and Mi Amore’s time table and plans to control the narrative, but I saw no reason to make things easier for them.

“Seriously? But I thought—when is this happening?”

“Over the summer. The announcement will probably happen on Monday,” I explained as I straightened my posture. I took a moment to gaze out the nearby window; my classroom was at the front end of the school, so I was always able to watch as students left for home. It had always been a calming sight for me, and one that I realized I would soon be losing.

Sunset just stared in stunned silence for a moment, which was understandable, but she didn’t look nearly as distraught as I felt. Of course, she would be leaving soon, so what happened to her old high school probably mattered little to her. The only important things about this place were myself and the friends with whom she’d be graduating alongside.

“What’s going to happen to you?” she asked with a wariness to her voice.

“I… I honestly don’t know,” I answered in reluctance. “The school is going to be taken over by a private enterprise, and Sombra is going to be put in charge. I could try to find work at another school, but I only got this position because Sombra was able to pull some strings for me. I could maybe work in the private school when it opens but…”

“Do you really dislike the idea of working at a private school that much?”

Had my husband asked such a question, I would’ve been certain it was meant as a provocation to draw out another one of our usual debates of private versus public systems. Sunset, though, was genuinely curious, and perhaps just trying to help me understand my feelings better: much like how I chose to simply ask questions of Sunset in order to find out what she really wanted from school.

I sighed, if only to buy time to collect my thoughts. “You remember what I told you around the time we first met? A school is not just about tests and essays and homework, it’s about preparing students for the next stage of their life. It’s a foundation upon which the rest of your life is built. Every child deserves that, not just the ones who can afford it. Working there would just feel like a betrayal of that. I just can’t support that in good conscience.” It sounded naive when I said it out loud, which only made me feel more foolish and uncertain about the whole thing. Maybe my husband had a point; maybe we could do more good if I followed him down that road. “I always knew my husband and I would come to an impasse about this at some point, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. Not like this.”

“Well, he’s a jerk for dropping this on you so suddenly,” Sunset said without hesitation.

I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment, though I had to be the adult and keep the smirk on the inside. “He knew I’d object. Maybe even try to intervene—rally the other teachers against him. If he left me without any alternatives, I’d probably be easier to convince.” With the way I phrased it, it sounded almost nefarious, like a coup. Sunset was angry because she didn’t know him like I did. His methods might’ve been a bit underhanded, but his intentions were honest and noble.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

“Sombra had always wanted to run a school together with me,” I continued on despite no prompting. “We used to talk about it long into the night when we were just starting out. I always loved how passionate he could be about it. He was never the type to sit idly by when something was wrong, not when he knew he could do something to fix it. I think that’s why he insisted that I look into your case in the first place; he didn’t trust the system to take care of you.”

Sunset sank into her seat in a move that mirrored her own deflating fury. “I guess he can make a good decision once in a while,” she murmured, sheepish and conflicted. She must not have liked the idea of feeling indebted to him, but the relationship we had wouldn’t have occurred had Sombra not decided to take the unorthodox route. He could’ve passed Sunset off to one of the other teachers or the guidance counsellor, but I think a part of him knew what the girl needed—someone that could truly inspire Sunset to be the best she could. “You said that running a school was his dream, but what about yours? Is that really your dream as well?”

“My dream?” It was a simple question, one that I had asked numerous times over to my students. Despite always expecting an honest answer from them, when put on the spot I felt a hint of anxiety. “I suppose the one thing I’ve always dreamed of is putting down roots and settling down, raising a family.”

“Putting down roots?” my visibly confused pupil replied. “That’s it?”

“Why? Is that not progressive enough for a modern woman in this day and age?” I quipped back. I realized that a bit more was needed for everything to make sense for her. “Sunset, I was around your age when I lost both of my parents. Instead of taking tentative steps into adulthood, I was thrown head first. I suddenly had to start dealing with taxes and finances, legal matters, and a little sister who took the loss even harder than I did.”

“So you dreamed of the thing that you lost in your childhood?” Sunset asked, always trying to figure out the puzzle ahead of schedule.

“In a sense,” I said with a subtle nod. “But it wasn’t just about replacement. Nothing in my life was the same after that day. As I grew older, I would always hear my peers and colleagues talk about the lives they’ve built—about people they’ve known since childhood, about the places they’ve watched grow and change, about friends who’ve been with them so long they were like an extended family. I never had any of those. Nothing in my life was stable after my parents died. I had to change my college plans, and I had no time for my old high school friends. What little time I had to myself outside of study was occupied trying to manage the rest of my life. I had to learn how to do taxes, maintain a house, cook proper meals, even how to change a tire or fix a lightswitch.” As the weight of my words beared down upon me, it felt like it took all my strength just to keep my head up. “I thought once I graduated, got married, and found a job, I could find that stability again, and start building that… thing that everyone else seemed to enjoy.”

“Haven’t you and Sombra tried, you know, having a family? You two have been married for several years now, right?”

A heavy, sinking sigh was my immediate response, and one that gave Sunset enough of an impression that I could see her immediately regretting having asked the question. It wasn’t her fault, though; how could she have known. It wasn’t something a girl her age should ever have to think about.

“We’ve tried, but…”

“I-it’s okay, you don’t need to say any more. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“You don’t need to apologize, Sunset,” I reassured her, even though it was a painful subject to bring up. “We tried. We tried everything, but after enough doctor visits, you have to accept the truth that it’s never going to happen.”

“Was it… because of him, or…?”

I offered up a silent shrug at first, though it felt insufficient. “Some days, I want to blame him; other days, I want to blame myself. Most of the time, though, there just isn’t anything or anyone to blame. It’s just how things are, and you have to learn to make peace with it.” To no surprise, the soberness of the subject matter had snuffed out any spirit of optimism in the air. As much as I would have liked to otherwise, I had to be the adult and put on a brave face. I forced out a faint smile before reaching over and patting my disheartened pupil on the shoulder. “For all the good and bad, though, it’s part of what has made me the person I am, and it’s helped me learn to better appreciate what I have with my students. Between my husband and my wonderful students, what more could a person ask for?”

Alas, my hopes were for naught, as Sunset’s gaze sank even further, until she wasn’t even looking up at me. I presumed it would just take her a bit longer to accept things, but I neglected how passionate she could get as well.

All of a sudden, she slammed her hands down and rose to her feet with a loud declaration, “This is complete bull!”

“Calm down. I know it’s far from ideal but—”

“This isn’t fair at all, and you know it!” Sunset shot back, refusing to yield. “He’s your husband; you’re supposed to support one another but he’s forcing you to choose between your dreams and your principles just so he can get to his dreams a little bit sooner! Why do his aspirations get to take priority over yours? Why does he get to make the decision without even so much as talking to you about it?”

“That’s not—he’s just trying to do what he thinks is best for the students,” I replied in a fumbled attempt to placate my student.

“Stop defending him! Why are you protecting a man who’s not even taking your feelings into consideration? This is your life—your dream—and he’s taking control of it! You told me I should always fight for my dreams, so why aren’t you?”

A part of me did wonder why I was defending my husband. Maybe I should’ve been as angry about it as Sunset was. The decision did upset me, but it was a matter I wanted to settle in private and with a calmer mind.

“I understand your frustrations, but this is my problem to solve,” I said as I rose to my feet. “The term is almost over, you have more important things to worry about.”

“What are you talking about? There’s nobody more important than you!” Sunset exclaimed, seizing my hands with both of hers and holding tight. I thought she had been frustrated, but as her eyes locked with mine, she looked scared more than anything. “You’re the person who looked out for me when everybody gave up. You’re the only one who ever cared about what I wanted. When everything in my life was gray, you showed me how beautiful the world could be.”

Even though she didn’t need to say it, those words nonetheless felt heartwarming to hear: the explicit confirmation that this bond we had wasn’t just my imagination, and that she did cherish our time together just as much as I had.

If only it could have stopped there.

“You have been, without a doubt, the best student I’ve ever had,” I replied, feeling my heart swell with pride. “But you are still at the start of your life’s story, and I can only play a small, supporting role in that. There’s a new chapter for you just waiting to be discovered, and you have your own dreams to pursue.”

“But that’s not what I want!” Sunset’s voice began to tremble, as did her hands. I had no idea why she was suddenly getting so emotional. “You taught me not to give up on my dreams.” Despite her hands feeling so small and frail compared to mine, her grip was almost crushing, as though letting go of me for a second would see me whisked away forever. “I-I was going to wait until after I graduated to say this, but my only dream is to stay by your side forever!”

I should’ve realized what Sunset was insinuating sooner, but between the distractions of my original dilemma and the sudden swings in the direction of the conversation, my thoughts and focus were scattered to the winds.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m in love with you, Celestia!”

Before I even had time to react, Sunset had closed the gap and caught me in a forceful, if awkward, kiss. Her lips were warm, but trembling; I could feel the entirety of all of her hopes and fears pouring into me. A girl just looking for love, taking a blind leap of faith in a desperate gambit, and leaving her heart open and vulnerable. Were any other person on the receiving end of this act, I would’ve commended her courage and prayed for her success. In that moment, however, all I could think of was how quickly this one act could destroy my career if anybody happened to pass by the classroom. Never mind just losing my job, I could lose my entire career and reputation: I might never be able to work as a teacher again.

When I should have been thinking about how this display of misguided adoration could hurt Sunset’s future, both as a student and a person, all I could see was my dreams going up in flames.

I did what any sensible person should do, and once I had realized what was happening, I pushed her away. Alas, in my haste and panic, I had put enough force into it that I wound up inadvertently knocking her over in the process.

“What are you doing? I’m married, for god’s sake!”

“To a man I’ve watched ignore you and take advantage of your kindness. A man that you’ve complained about time and time again,” Sunset replied. Her shock at my response was evident, and the fear in the eyes should’ve given me pause, except that I was just as terrified. Both of us saw our worlds crumbling beneath us. “People who love each other, support one another, not strongarm them into giving up their dreams. He doesn’t love you, not like I do. I’d never do anything to hurt you!”

“Th-that’s not true.” I shouldn’t have been stammering; I should’ve been more resolute, but too many things had happened, there was too much on my mind. “Yes, things between me and Sombra are… strained right now, but that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped loving one another.”

“But does he? Does he really? When was the last time he put his job aside for you?” Sunset challenged with growing determination. Was it bravado fueling her, or just desperation? “How many times have you taken time out of your personal life so we could be together? You’ve probably spent more time this past month with me than him.”

“Y-you’re my student! It’s not—”

“Only for another month, then I graduate. And then a few months after that, I’ll be eighteen—an adult!” She slowly got back to her feet, her hands reaching out to take hold of mine again. “Forget about him. It’ll just be you and me, together, like it’s always been. I-if you’re worried about what others might think then we can just leave; find a place where nobody knows who we are. I know I can’t give you a family like you’ve always wanted, but… but I love you more than anything in this world. I’d do anything for you. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”

So terrified was I of the prospect of somebody walking in at that moment, that without evening thinking I found myself recoiling away from her. Just a few minutes prior, I would’ve been willing to do anything, endure any hardship, if it meant making her happy. Anything but this.

Sunset must’ve been able to sense my apprehensions as I could see her own expression begin to waver, desperate hope turning into a slow boiling terror. “W-what’s wrong, Celestia? Don’t you… don’t you love me, too? You’re not really going to choose him over me, are you?”

I thought I had been prepared for any situation that a high school could throw at me, but on that afternoon, my mind had gone almost completely blank. I had to say something, but I didn’t know what were the right words.

Finally, I answered with the first thing that came to mind, “You don’t love me; you’re just confused.”

“How can you say that?” Sunset shot back. “I’ve seen who you really are every time we’ve met outside the classroom, when you’re not putting on a face for everyone else. Think about all the time we’ve spent together; how happy they made you. That’s the real Celestia—who always smiles when she watches the sun set, who always takes that extra moment to savour the aroma of the day’s first cup of tea, who watches me so intently when I’m practicing guitar, and who always takes the time to make me feel special.” Sunset slowly shrunk away, drawing her arms inward as her timid gaze met mine. “That’s the Celestia I fell in love with.”

It was clear that she wouldn’t be dissuaded, least of all by my lack-lustre resolve. Though it pained me to admit it, I had to be firm with her; I had to be cruel.

“That is enough!” I barked at her, catching my pupil by surprise. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t love, this is just you caught up in warm, fuzzy feelings because you don’t know any better. You don’t understand what love is, what it takes.” My initial outburst soon subsided, like a heavy weight finally easing off my shoulders. “How could you understand: you’re still just a child. Everything at your age is just sunshine, and rainbows, and cotton candy dreams.”

“B-but… but I need—”

“Go home, Sunset Shimmer. I can’t give you what you’re looking for.” My words came out colder than I intended, but my emotions were burnt out by that point. Watching the tears begin to stream down her face was nothing short of torture, but what more could I expect? I broke her heart, and the sight of her as she realized her world was crumbling around her was my punishment.

“Y… y-you said…” She couldn’t even manage a whole sentence before she started weeping into her hands. Her sobbing hung in the air as she raced out of the room, leaving me to sit alone and ruminate on my sins.

I collapsed once more at my desk and buried my head under my arms. I didn’t know whether I wanted to cry, scream, or just bang my head against the wood until I couldn’t feel anything. Those emotions, though, were as indecisive as the rest of me. The only thought that ran through my head was the repeating of ‘how?’ How did I not notice this? How did I let things get this way? How could I have stopped this before it got to this point?

I was a fool for letting myself get so carried away. As much as I would’ve liked to, it was hard to blame Sunset for what happened. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t understand the nature of the love between us. In the end, she was just a child, trying to make herself into an adult before she had learned everything she needed to.

Life could be a cruel teacher, and while I hated myself for having to break her heart, I tried to console myself with the knowledge that she’d grow past this. Maybe even be stronger for it. She wasn’t the first girl in the world to have a crush on their teacher. Everyone eventually grew out of it; for many it was just another stage of adolescence.

She’d be fine, in time. As much as she would protest otherwise, she didn’t need the likes of me anymore. I was never intended to be anything more than a single chapter in the story of her life, one that would soon be closed. That was how it was meant to be, even if a part of me wanted it to be otherwise. That’s just how life was.

There was only the pattering of rain against the windows to remind me that the world was still moving forward, regardless of how much I wish I could turn things back. I wasn’t sure how long I intended to sulk, and it was all too tempting to change my mind and give chase, if for no other reason than to spare Sunset from having to walk home in such poor weather.

I was eventually pulled out of my emotional tailspin when I heard the peculiar sound of hurried footsteps coming from the hallway. With most of the students having already gone home, it was quite out of place, and it sounded heavier than that of the typical teenager. I looked to the door just in time to see not one, but two of my coworkers race past my door. Why were they in such a rush?

Spurred on by curiosity, I got up and was just about to head into the hallway when yet another coworker darted past my door: this time it was Sombra. He didn’t even appear to have noticed me.

“He would never run at work,” I muttered under my breath. “Unless…”

Something was wrong. He wouldn’t run unless something was wrong. As a sense of dread began to well up inside, I chased after my husband, who led me outside to the front of the school. There was a crowd gathered outside near the street next to a parked car, and it struck me as peculiar that nobody seemed to care about the heavy downpour. Even Sombra ran out without having bothered with a coat.

As I got closer, I noticed that the car’s windshield had a large web of cracks in the center of it. Did somebody get hurt? There was a lot of commotion going on, so it was hard to see past all the people who had crowded around.

Finally, I was near enough Sombra to speak up. “What’s going on here?”

He spun around, his wide-eyed and panicked expression surprising me almost as much as my presence had surprised him. “Dear, you shouldn’t be here. J-just go back inside and wait for me.”

“Why? What’s going on?” When I tried pushing my way past him, he stepped in front and physically held me back.

“Celestia, please! You don’t want to see this!”

Growing more worried, I pushed harder. “What do you even mean? What is this all ab… out…” My words trailed off into silence as I caught a brief glimpse through the crowd. I could see a hand laying on the street, draped in strands of gold and crimson. “S… S-Sunset? Sunset!”

And just like that…

She was gone…

Act VII-VII

I still remember the night my parents died.

We were supposed to go out for dinner together as a family, to celebrate the end of the school year, my graduation, and something about my father’s work that I was too self-absorbed to pay any real attention to. I backed out of it, though, at the last minute; I was in the middle of a phone call with my best friend who was regaling me all the details of how she hooked up with the captain of the baseball team at a graduation party the week before. When you’re eighteen-years-old, those details were the single most important things in the world, and it was the age before everyone had a cell phone so I had no intention of leaving my coveted spot next to the telephone. As for Luna, she was just starting those teenage years where being seen in public with her family was considered worse than the plague.

I figured my parents deserved a night for just the two of them. God knows between sports, clubs, student councils, and the selfish need to follow every latest fashion trend made raising two teenage girls a full-time job in and of itself. Mom and Dad promised they would pick us up some burgers or something on the way back. The only thing I said to them as they left was, ‘remember, no pickles.’ They were the last words I would ever say to them. Luna didn’t say anything.

Again, no cell phones, so when the hours passed and nobody returned home, I didn’t give it a second thought. I was still too preoccupied wondering if perhaps my friend could use her newfounded relationship to put in a good word for me with the baseball team’s assistant captain. I had no idea what had even happened until the police showed up at our door.

I don’t even remember what the police officer said. The rest of the night became something of a blur, lost in a swirling miasma of emotions. The biggest thing that stuck with me ever since that night was that emptied, hollow feeling that followed. It was as if somebody had just reached inside and tore out a huge part of me. It became almost sickening when the realization finally set upon me that nothing in my life was ever going to be the same; things could never go back to the way they were. My parents were gone; my sister would drift away from me little by little; and though my friends tried their best, none of them knew how exactly to deal with me anymore. It was like I was suddenly a different person to them: it was like I was some broken toy to them.

I had never felt more alone in my life.

Though it felt like my world had ended, the real world kept moving forward, and I had no choice but to keep with it if I didn’t want to be left behind. Soon I had to start attending college courses, I had to get a part-time job, I had to keep on top of ever-increasing piles of school work, and I had to watch over a younger sister who needed far more help than I was capable of giving, not that I realized it at the time. The thought of trying to survive an entire year at college felt like an impossible task. ‘How could I ever be okay again?’ I often found myself thinking.

But then I met Daring Dee, long before she took up the pen name of A.K. Yearling, and she helped me find myself again. She was patient and caring, asking nothing of me except for a chance. And, as though I were some stray kitten, little by little with small gestures and gentle coaxing, she lured me out from the room that I had locked myself away from the world in. I don’t know what compelled her to reach out to me, but sometimes a person didn’t need a reason. She never handled me with kid gloves, but she never tried to pry either. Even without knowing the whole story, I could always tell that she accepted me for who I was, imperfections and all.

Not too long after that, though, came my chance encounter with Sombra at a faculty-sponsored party that Dee had convinced me to attend. At the time, I just told myself that I was only going to keep my friend company, and that I would be home before the sun could even start to set. Little did I realize how much my life would change from that one night alone. Romance was the furthest thing from my mind when we first met; in fact, the only thing on my mind at the time was telling him what I thought of his opinion and where he could stuff it. He was driven, and passionate, and he had a sort of antiquated charm about him that felt out of place in a modern college campus. A person could spend an afternoon with him and swear he came from some royal family in a distant land on the other side of the world. He was one of the few people I knew in college who would regularly challenge me, not just by taking a contrary position to whatever I was arguing at the time, but by reminding me day after day that I could do better, be better.

Somewhere along the way, in the years of college and those that came after, ‘I’m not okay’ gradually became ‘I’m fine’. Or at least, I thought I was. I soon had a husband and a promising career ahead of me; I had coworkers that I enjoyed and considered friends, and I had students that looked up to me and respected me. I thought I had everything I could ever need.

But then I met Sunset Shimmer, and it felt as though a light turned on inside; a light that shone upon a part of me that had been left in the dark for so long that I had forgotten it even existed. A small, forsaken recess in my soul that I had walled off years ago, and before I could even be consciously aware of it, she had planted herself inside it. It became our little private garden, our hideaway from a world that felt increasingly cold and distant. For a time, it felt as though every little decision, every crossroad in my life, had led me to her. I always insisted that everything I did was to help her and to protect her, but in hindsight, it would not have been unfair to say that she was saving me as well.

And when she was gone, it was as though the light in my life had gone out.

It was some hours after the incident before my husband and I were finally allowed to return home. We spoke with cops and detectives and school officials, or rather Sombra did while I had stayed in his office, huddled under a towel and soaked with rain. If anything was said to me, I cannot for the life of me remember any of it.

Only after I was settled into our car did the initial shock finally begin to wear off. It was the night of my parent’s death all over again; just nothing but a cold, numbing emptiness for all of my guilt and fear to coalesce and grow. The rain was still coming down hard, which at least kept me from being in complete silence on the drive home. My husband kept giving me worried sideways glances every chance he could. He probably wanted to say something, or felt he had to, but even he was at a loss.

As for myself, I could only continue to wallow in silent disbelief. ‘How?’ just kept running through my mind over and over, along with images of her heartbroken expression before she stormed out of my classroom. It all seemed so unreal. How could something that was so full of life and energy just suddenly be gone? Surely some sort of cosmic law of conservation was being violated by this.

Eventually, though, even the silence got too difficult to endure. “So what’s going to happen now?” I murmured, still gazing blankly out the window.

“The… uh, school board will handle most of it from here,” my husband answered, ever the administrator. “They’ll notify the rest of the faculty, and the lawyers will handle any of the legal matters; the union reps will contact us if the police have any questions; and I’ll see about drafting an announcement to inform the students… though I suspect word will spread pretty quickly on its own over the weekend.” He let out a heavy sigh that had an almost palpable tension within it. “God, I knew one day I’d have to handle something like this, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

It wasn’t what I had hoped for, but then again I wasn’t certain what kind of response I truly wanted. He probably felt just as uncertain as I did, and looked for answers in the safest, surest way he knew how—via his job. I wished I could’ve done the same, but my job was what led to this situation in the first place.

“I… I think you should take some time off work next week,” Sombra suggested, perhaps sensing my continuing unease. “The school year is almost over; we can find someone to cover your duties in the meantime. I… I know the two of you were close, and that I didn’t always approve of what was happening but… I’m sorry.” I think he was grasping at straws by that point—a desperate attempt to find the right words to comfort his wife. Maybe he felt compelled to do something, anything, even if it was little more than countering any growing sense of impotence. “We’ll get through this, Tia, okay?”

Had it involved anyone other than Sunset, I probably would’ve been able to find solace in his words. That day, though, he chased an impossible dream, and there were no words that could’ve changed how I felt. How could anything ever be okay again after this?

I wasn’t even sure if I could get through the entire car ride home. The same nagging thought kept rampaging through my mind like a mad bull. A part of me just wanted to scream as loud as I could, if only just to relieve the pressure. I felt like I was going to explode if I didn’t say something—do something. Anything!

An actual explosion might’ve been better.

“This is all my fault.” I didn’t realize what I had uttered until long after the words had passed my lips in little more than a quiet murmur.

“Now that’s just ridiculous,” Sombra shot back almost instantly, much to his credit. “Listen, it’s normal to want to try and find someone or something to blame in these situations, but you can’t just—you were her teacher, not her keeper. You’re not responsible for everything that happens to her. She ran out into the street, you didn’t—”

“Yes, I did,” I snapped, guilt overriding every ounce of logic I had remaining. “She trusted me… she opened herself up and confided in me, and I… I hurt her when she was most vulnerable…” Words and tears just tumbled out, and while I buried my face into my palms in an attempt to hide it all, I felt like all my shame was on display for the world. “I pushed her away. She trusted me, and I betrayed her.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” my understandably confused husband replied. “Did… did the two of you talk before the accident? What did she say?”

“She said she was in love with me.”

No sooner had I said that, the car screeched to an abrupt halt, which almost threw me into the dashboard. We were lucky that the traffic was light or we could’ve been involved in an accident of our own.

“In love?” Sombra repeated with a hinted note of creeping worry.

I nodded back.

“W-well, that’s… that’s just youth talking. She was obviously confused a-and… and reading too much into things. You can’t blame yourself for her misguided feelings.”

“I know that!” I insisted. “She was just a child—she couldn’t possibly know what she was talking about, but that doesn’t matter! Those feelings were real for her, and I wasn’t thinking about that when I answered her. I was… I was only thinking of myself, of my career…” I sunk further into my seat as every sentence grew harder to speak. “She needed help then more than ever, and I pushed her away. I should’ve known better.”

And that, in my mind, was the worst part of all: I should have known. I was the teacher, and she was the student; I was supposed to be the one to act calmly and deliberately, to not allow emotions to run rampant. It was an easy cop-out to try and shoulder some of the blame onto Sunset Shimmer: she was a lonely teenager, acting on irrational impulses and emotions.

But what teenager didn’t do that?

Not that I was acting any more rationally during or after the incident. It just went to show that being an adult didn’t mean we were infallible actors always running off logic and sound judgement. And at the time, I couldn’t appreciate just how impossible of a situation I had put my husband into, who now had just as many things to worry about plus a wife who was in a mental, guilt-ridden spiral. We were all still in shock, really, and grief does a terrible thing to a person’s judgement. I can understand why my husband then suggested what he did, even if, looking back, it was the advice that would doom our relationship.

“Listen, Tia, we’ll get through this,” he reassured me, turning his attention back to driving. “But… it’s probably best if you don’t mention that conversation to anyone. At times like these, people just want someone to blame. They’re not interested in understanding.”

He was trying to save me from others just as much as save me from myself. Blame was such an easy trap to fall into. It made the world seem less chaotic, less uncontrollable. If there was someone to blame, then things could be fixed, made right, or prevented from happening again. But chances were, there was probably nothing I could’ve done at the time to change how things ended up. It was more than likely I had put Sunset Shimmer on her path the moment I invited her into that music room. Or maybe I was just finding more ways to blame myself.

Things, I was convinced, would never be fine again.

********************

In the wake of Sunset’s death, I followed my husband’s suggestion and took a leave of absence for the remainder of the school year. People knew that we were close, so nobody thought twice about it; just another person dealing with their grief. The school held a memorial service later that week, but I couldn’t bring myself to attend. I don’t recall even leaving the house for quite some time. To be honest, much of the aftermath had become something of a blur of endless days locked away in my own misery. I was terrified of what might happen if I went out into the world again—of what I might do to myself, what people might do to me if they knew…

For the first time ever, I found myself grateful that the school year was over. If I had to tread those halls again, I was liable to have a complete breakdown, not that my heart wasn’t already shattered to pieces. She was gone, and in my isolation, the only thing I wound up doing was becoming ever more convinced that I alone bore sole responsibility for what happened. Of course, I had the conclusion I wanted and just spent the weeks dredging up every piece of evidence that supported it.

Soon, the summer months came and, just as my husband had told me, the school board voted to shut down our school. After giving the news a few days to circulate through the community, he and the Mi Amore family swooped in to save the day, pleading to re-open the school under private ownership in order to allow the students to continue their education and graduate together. It made for excellent headlines and photo ops, and from a business standpoint, it was a brilliant move that kept them in the discussions for some time. The discount they offered for the returning students was something of a bargain as well, or so I was told by my husband, who made it a point to emphasize the fact that he had pushed hard for that. In fairness to him, had I been in a better state of mind at the time, such news would have helped redeem his actions in my eyes, but the only sinner I was fixated on was myself. Schools politics had become a distant concern for me.

One of the hardest things about dealing with death is that you so rarely can put the rest of the world on pause while you deal with your grief. People had to get back to work, the students had to finish their classes, and the world needed to keep moving forward. Sombra had been patient enough with me, but even I realized that I couldn’t stay holed up in my home forever. Unfortunately, by the time I reached that point, the summer months had already passed by, and I hadn’t given a second thought about my career. Taking up the Mi Amore offer to work at the school with my husband was out of the question; it was no longer a matter of philosophical viewpoints towards private education, but rather the school itself had become a poisoned well. There was just no way I could go back there.

That left me with only one other real option, and that was to find work elsewhere in the school district. If I hadn’t been borderline catatonic throughout the summer, I may have already had a new position lined up and waiting for me in the new school year, but I hadn’t, so I was forced to find work where I could as a substitute teacher. It was probably for the best, really. Teaching just didn’t feel quite the same anymore; it didn’t fill me with the same energy as it once had. The students deserved a teacher who could give them their all, and I was still stuck second-guessing myself whether any decisions might lead to another tragedy.

Maybe it was paranoia, or just anxiety, but every time I tried to teach, I just saw Sunset Shimmer everywhere. Every student, every question, every decision just felt like it connected back to her in some way or another, and that everyone around just somehow knew what I had done. It was crazy, of course, but I had no outlet for my guilt, and nobody to console me. Once the new school started up, Sombra was even busier than he was when he had been acting vice principal, and few of my former coworkers reached out to me. The rational side knew that it was probably just due to them being busy as well, but my growing anxiety said it was because they knew as well. Or at the very least, had suspicions. My relationship with Sunset wasn’t something I hid, and given the unspoken reasons as to why the previous vice principal left, surely everyone was hypervigilant for inappropriate relations. Maybe they were all just avoiding me.

Just like when I lost my parents, it was as though a gaping hole had been left in my life; an emptiness that just swallowed up any hopes and happiness. Unlike the previous, however, that hole never seemed to close up. It just… lingered, like a festering wound, never fully leaving my thoughts, even as the weeks and months passed by. I thought, perhaps, that I had been getting better, but looking back I think I was simply getting accustomed to those empty feelings. Ignoring the pain was no substitute for healing.

And that’s why all those feelings I had kept inside came to a head one fateful autumn afternoon.

I was at the grocery store, one of the few places I still frequented, albeit more out of necessity than anything. Little by little, ever since that fateful day, I had been crawling back out into the world for something other than work. A walk here, a small trip to the shop there; never anything spectacular, but what I needed was a sense of normalcy. Finding comfort in returning to a routine was one of the few vestiges of solace I could still find in life. Despite my best efforts, that heartbroken look of hers was still etched into my mind. As it was the middle of the day, everyone I knew was at work or in class, so my emotional guard wasn’t prepared when I turned the corner of the aisle, in search of tomato sauces, and I found myself face-to-face with a familiar young man.

“Oh, Ms. Celestia! H-hey.”

It was a student of mine, or rather a former one; a student that had since graduated and whose college courses didn’t require his presence at this hour of the day. More importantly, he was one of Sunset Shimmer’s friends from the music club—the drummer that I first introduced her to. He wasn’t the first former pupil of mine that I’ve run into, but he was among the ones I least wanted to see right now.

“Hello there,” I replied, mustering up what levity I could on short notice. “Have you settled into your new classes at college? You said you were going into… history, right?”

“Yeah. It’s, um, it’s going well. It’s… it’s good. The professors are great, although they don’t quite measure up to you. Met some interesting classmates—actually getting set up for a little house party.”

“That would explain all the soft drinks you have there,” I said, gesturing to the numerous boxes in his shopping cart.

“Well it’s the least I could do,” he said with an embarrassed chuckle. He seemed tense, anxious even. It felt as though he wasn’t sure what to say, but at the same time compelled to do so. “Um, h-how are you doing? You, uh… never came back to classes after… you know.”

I felt guilty to be on the receiving end of his sympathies. They were far more than I deserved, and if he knew the truth, I doubt he would’ve even taken the time to speak with me. And of course, I couldn’t tell him the truth about how I was either, lest that lead to even more questions. All I could do was put on a fake smile as I replied.

“It’s been tough, but I’m managing.”

“Good. That’s… uh, that’s good to hear.”

At first I thought he just wasn’t convinced, but as he lingered around in awkward silence, his eyes constantly darting between me and the floor, I began to get the impression there was something else weighing on him. It made me anxious: did he know something? Did he have suspicions? I couldn’t stay any longer, if for no other reason than a worry I wouldn’t be able to maintain the facade of calmness.

“A-anyways, I should get going. You take care now.”

Turning to leave, however, just appeared to give the young man the last kick of courage he needed. “Ms. Celestia, wait!” he blurted out. Now I had little choice but to hear whatever else he had. “Um, l-listen, I know this might be asking a lot,” he began, a faint quiver in his voice, “but people said they saw Sunset Shimmer go into your classroom that day. Before the accident.”

I couldn’t deny that: my classroom was on the way out for a lot of students so it was easy for anyone to have seen her enter at the time. “She… she was. We talked for a bit.”

“About what? If you don’t mind me asking.” He looked nervous, as though he was dreading every time I spoke.

“School, mostly. I just found out the high school was going to be closed down, and she was still uncertain about where she’d go after graduating.”

“Did she seem like something was bothering. Like, home life, or school? Did she say anything strange?” I thought he was probing for something, but I couldn’t tell what exactly it was. It definitely wasn’t about what actually happened, or otherwise he would’ve been a little more direct. I should’ve realized what was happening sooner because he was searching for answers, but for a different reason.

“I’m… not sure I follow.”

“It’s just that everyone in the music club knew something was bothering her,” he explained. “She was distracted when we chatted, and you could hear it when she was playing that her mind was somewhere else. We all kept asking, but she always just brushed us off.”

There were few things worse than seeing somebody fret over something that you knew the answer to, but couldn’t say. It made sense that Sunset Shimmer had been anxious in the weeks leading up to the end of the school year: she was so scared of what was going to happen to us once she graduated. I still couldn’t understand why it had to be me? There were so many good people around her to choose from; people her age who could better understand her.

“I just… I just don’t understand how this happened. When she—” He stopped abruptly, just as the quiver in his voice returned, and at first I thought he was getting anxious again, but then I saw a glistening in the corner of his eyes. He wasn’t scared; he was just on the verge of crying. “She ran out into the pouring rain without her coat, or an umbrella, or even her bags. That’s not a thing a person normally does. And sure it was raining hard, but it wasn’t as if you couldn’t see a car in that weather. There’s no way an accident like that could’ve just happened unless she… unless she…”

He was about one finished sentence from a complete breakdown, but in retrospect, when I reached and embraced him in that grocery store, it was less about comforting him than it was for myself. I didn’t want to even consider his implications to be the truth. The pain was bad enough without twisting the knife.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I reassured him gently. He had probably told himself that a hundred times over, but maybe hearing it from someone else was what he needed, as he began to calm down soon afterwards. “You did everything you could for her.”

It was easy to forget that I wasn’t the only person struggling with their grief, and maybe not the only person who had yet to move forward, try as we might. There wasn’t time to worry about how things might look, a teacher hugging a former student in the middle of a busy grocery store. Sure, some people stared as they passed by, but they otherwise gave us our space. I thought for certain that he would pull away, but he held onto the embrace.

“I miss her so much,” he whimpered softly.

With a heavy sigh, I nodded back. “Me too.”

“Why did she have… why couldn’t she just talk to us? I thought we were friends. I just don’t understand.”

There was a part of me that was screaming to tell him what really happened, about why he had to spend his summer nursing his grief rather than playing music with his friend; that he had been the best friend Shimmer ever had and how her eyes always brightened when he was around. Had things not ended the way they had, I would’ve sworn that she had grown sweet on him. Not only did he have to cope with losing whatever hopes and dreams he had of a future with Shimmer, he had to do it all without knowing the truth. There was probably some self-serving, half-baked reason that I convinced myself was reasonable as to why I remained silent, but looking back the answer remained the same as always: I was still scared of the truth.

“Life isn’t always kind enough to provide us with answers,” I said in a paltry attempt to provide some kindness while I cruelly kept him in the dark. “We’ll all have to learn how to cope without them, just as we must learn how to live without her. Just… promise me you’ll remember her for the bright and wonderful person she was.”

We stood there for a good two or three minutes, maybe even longer. He sobbed quietly the whole time. I don’t know if anything I said made a difference for him; I like to think that they helped a little. And if nothing else, I gave him an ear to voice his grief to, and a shoulder to cry on. How often was a boy afforded the opportunity to do so without the fear of shame or ridicule? I wanted to join him, but it would’ve attracted too much attention if we both were. Plus, I just lied to him, so if nothing else I didn’t deserve any such solace.

********************

The encounter at the grocery store left me with a lot to dwell on for the remainder of the day. Most of it was just guilt and self-loathing, replaying the scene over and over in my mind as I cursed my cowardice more with every cycle. The worse my sense of guilt, the more I hated myself for staying silent, which in turn just made me feel even guiltier. This self-reinforcing cycle kept spiraling throughout the rest of the day, and by the time my husband returned home, late in the evening, I had reached a breaking point.

He found me in the bedroom, hunched over a suitcase that I was in the midst of packing full with whatever clothing I could fit into it. Not even the neat and orderly sort of packing either: I was cramming in pants and blouses into it like I was stuffing a holiday turkey. It was an understandably worrying sight for my husband, who stood in the bedroom doorway for several moments before speaking up.

“Tia, what’s going on here?” he asked, a wariness in his voice that was to be expected.

Even though this was a conversation I knew was coming and had tried to mentally prepare for it a dozen times over, all I could manage was a meek utterance of, “I can’t stay here.”

A pretty self-evident answer, obviously, since one didn’t pack a suitcase with the intention to stay, but my growing anxiety offered little else. My train of thought had grown despondent over the course of the day, and now that I had to face Sombra, everything just fell apart. It was like stagefright except the audience was your own nagging, frantic thoughts.

“I… I don’t understand.”

“I can’t stay!” I snapped. “I… I just can’t. I ran into one of her friends today. At the grocer. He wanted to know why it all happened, a-a-a-and I couldn’t tell him.”

“Her friends?” Sombra repeated as he tried to piece together my ramblings. “You mean one of Sunset’s friends? Honey, I know it still hurts, but you don’t need to keep punishing yourself over it. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Didn’t I?” I shouted as I swung around. “I lied to him, Sombra. He just wanted to know why his friend had to die, and I lied to his face. And then he thanked me afterwards. He trusted me! What kind of person does that to one of their students? To anyone, even?”

It was obvious that I was in the middle of an emotional crisis. As a teacher, it was something we had training courses about—how to recognize, how to contain, how to manage. Whenever I sat in those lectures, I always found myself wondering what was going through the mind of a person when they were in the midst of a crisis. How could a person lose all hold of their rationality. That evening gave me some first-hand experience with it. Sombra approached me, and he made a valiant effort to try and comfort me, but the moment his hands touched me, I just instinctively pushed him away. I felt… vile. Unworthy of any kind of human affection.

“I can’t do this anymore! Everyday I’m either lying to myself or I’m lying to the world. It’s… it’s suffocating me, Sombra. I’m tired of being afraid of everyone, and I’m starting to hate myself for it.”

Despite his calm composure, it would be inaccurate to say that the events surrounding Sunset’s death hadn’t affected my husband. I doubt anyone could handle that plus a new job plus a wife who was spiralling further into despair. I was so fixated on my own problems, I never considered how he was coping. He tried to be as supportive as he could in the intervening months, but me pushing him away must have been the final straw.

“For god’s sake Celestia, can you just stop and listen to yourself for one second?” he snapped back, the last vestiges of restraint buckling in his voice. “What happened to Sunset was tragic, but that was her doing. You didn’t ask for her to have feelings for you, and you turned her down like any responsible adult would. If you keep this up, all you’re going to do is ruin both of our lives. Is that what you want?”

In his own cold logic, Sombra was right about a great many things. I could never control Sunset’s reaction, and while my reaction had been in haste, few would argue that it was unwarranted. At the time, grief made it hard for me to mentally separate moral responsibilities from legal ones. I didn’t care to parse the differences, and rather than recognize his concern for our well-being, I hooked onto the entirely wrong interpretation.

“Our lives? What about hers? The only thing you seem to care about is that blasted school that you stole!” Again, I was going after what I knew to be a soft target and unfairly so, but if I were thinking rationally, I wouldn’t have been in such a panic in the first place. “I was entrusted with her, and I let her down, and yet the only thing that seems to matter to you is how things will reflect on you. Well, just because you didn’t care about her, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to.”

To no surprise, he didn’t take the accusation well. Now it wasn’t just a matter of defending his position, but his own integrity. “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have asked you to look into her case in the first place!” he shot back. “You were the one who tempted her along with all that guitar playing. If you had just known your place as a teacher and didn’t string her along, none of this would’ve happened!”

“So it would’ve been fine if she were just emotionally dead? You’ve seen what usually happens to students who’re like how she was—high school becomes a miserable experience, and they carry those scars with them into adulthood.”

“At least they get a chance to be adults!”

It took every ounce of willpower I had not to slap him across the face for that. While I regretted how things ended, I refused to believe for a second that I should’ve let Sunset Shimmer wallow in her isolation, that reaching out to her was wrong. To accept that would undermine everything I believed in as a teacher. Unable to find the right words to throw back at my husband, I just glared fiery daggers at him for a few seconds before I could straighten out my thoughts.

“I’m going back to Canterlot,” I stated, barely able to contain my anger. “I’ve already made arrangements to stay with my sister. I need to… find myself again, or figure out a way past all of this. To do that, I need some time away from this city, and everything connected to her. And that includes you.”

Looking back, the news probably hurt him far more than I could’ve anticipated. He did what he often did when he was hurt, though; he got even angrier, which just made it all the harder for me to realize what I was doing to him. “You know what, fine! Leave! It’ll only be a few weeks before you realize what a mistake this is.”

While I wasn’t technically finished packing my suitcase, I had enough to make due, so I decided to leave right then and there. It wasn’t far to the nearest bus stop, and I was prepared to wait at the station for however long it took to catch the next train to Canterlot. If I hung around, there was a good chance that he could talk me out of this, and, rightly or wrongly, I knew I had to do this. Maybe it was selfish of me to go and throw away my entire life without even consulting him beforehand, but I was convinced I knew how he would answer and that he would never go along with it.

“Well, if you’re right then this won’t be a big deal, and I’ll be back in before Hearth’s Warming,” I said, continuing my reckless defiance. I grabbed a few more personal effects on my way out, including my guitar of all things, but stopped just shy of stepping out the door. “You can save all your ‘I told you so’s for then. Until that day, however, don’t bother trying to contact me.”

Whatever response he might’ve had, I didn’t stay around long enough to listen. I had said what I needed to say, and so out the door I went. I never once looked back.

And that was the end of my life in Phillydelphia.

********************

Canterlot was a breath of fresh air, if for no other reason than it simply being a far smaller and less crowded city. More importantly, it was still home to me, and the familiar sights and sounds that I had grown up around provided a small comfort for my grieving heart. My sister, though somewhat reluctant to share her small apartment with me, was nevertheless understanding and patient with me. I had always felt a little guilty that I never told her the full extent of why I needed to leave Phillydelphia, but I believe a part of her knew that something was wrong and that I needed time to heal. She probably chalked it up to a fight with Sombra, which wasn’t too far from the truth.

After a few weeks, I realized I couldn’t just sit around and mope in my sister’s apartment, however. I was, in fact, very close to admitting that my husband might’ve been right and that I had made yet another huge mistake. Stubbornness and a well-timed suggestion from my sister proved to be just what I needed. Luna had only just started teaching herself, and she asked for a little bit of assistance, even if it meant unofficial, unpaid assistance. She had a good relation with the principal at her school, and she asked for a favour that at least allowed me to help her as a sort of teaching assistant for a little while.

It wasn’t much, but it got me back into a classroom and on a slightly longer basis than just a couple of days as a substitute. After a few weeks of this arrangement, however, the principal asked if I could help some of the other teachers, and this soon led to more requests and more helping out. Before I knew it, months had passed and I was soon being offered a temporary teaching position, at least until I decided to return to Phillydelphia.

Obviously, I never did go back. Months turned into years, and temporary eventually became permanent. During that time, I eventually did contact Sombra and we finally had the discussion that had been hanging over both our heads for so long. Neither of us really apologized, so it didn’t come as a surprise when I explained to him that I had no intention of going back. Things had been difficult in our marriage for a long time, Sunset’s death just proved to be the final nail in that particular coffin.

My arrangement of sleeping on my sister’s couch eventually changed, too; at first it became a cot in the corner, but after a couple years, we moved out of that tiny apartment and found a house together. Several years later, the principal, who took a chance letting me stay, retired, and on a whim, I applied for the position.

And that’s how I became the principal of Canterlot High.

It was surreal, not just how things turned out, but how quickly time just flew by without me even noticing. It wasn’t until I found myself standing on the grounds just outside the school, surveying what was now to become my school and a new chapter in my life, that I realized that the pain and grief had long since vanished. The thoughts of ‘my life will never return to normal’ had become a distant memory. Life was indeed something resembling normal again, and while a part of me still missed Sunset Shimmer, I had learned how to live with that emptiness. I comforted myself with the fact that I knew as principal I could do everything in my power to ensure that there would never be a repeat of that tragedy.

“Excuse me, but are you… Principal Celestia? I was told to talk to you about enrolling.”

Then you showed up.

Author's Note

Before anyone asks, I'm not sure what this'll mean for me going forward, but this chapter's been sitting half-finished through all of 2020, and I just needed it finished. I still don't feel like it's my best work, but at least it's done. Maybe I'll revisit it another day, but it's very low priority.

Hope everyone is staying safe.

Act I-I

The saying goes that the road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions. It was a sentiment that rang particularly true when I found myself staring into the metaphorical swirling, black abyss that was soon to be my inescapable future. In those brief but agonizing seconds, it was hard not to use that time to reflect on how I wound up in this debacle. A part of me wanted to cry out against fate; to make one last stubborn refusal against the implications that my life was going to amount to little more than a warning sign to future generations. The rest of me, though, was desperately trying to hold itself together, lest I lose grasp of what little willpower remained in me. I thought I had felt fear before, or at the very least knew what fear was, but the universe decided that I needed one last wake-up call before the end.

After all, who wouldn’t be scared of being banished to the moon? Granted, it wasn’t the most original of punishments, but desperation called for immediate solutions, not creative ones.

It took every scrap of mental fortitude I had left not to run for it; to break down and give into the fear and darkness that crept through my very being. Only one thought kept me locked in place, and I played those words over and over again in my mind like a broken record player.

“I deserved this.”

On the bright side, I told myself, as though it could possibly make impending doom more palatable, there was a good chance I would become the next ‘Mare in the Moon’ legend. I doubt I’d get any holidays named after me. Celestia had told me on numerous occasions that I would leave my mark on history, but I had hoped for something more along the lines of having a school named after me, or maybe even a tasteful statue. It wasn’t the end that I had wanted, but it was the end of the road that I had paved for myself, and nobody was going to say that Sunset Shimmer didn’t at least go out with her integrity.

So how did I wind up here, standing at the precipice of expulsion from the earthly realms? Like any story that’s worth telling, it’s a long one, involves a girl, a sprinkling of magic, a couple of guitar solos, and a bell.

*******************

It all began in the days following the Fall Formal at Canterlot High School. The memories, and bruises, of my spectacular failure were still fresh. Years of hard work and planning had all fallen apart right before the finish line thanks to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. In hindsight, I probably could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had used more competent assistants, or just told Principal Celestia that we had somebody trespassing on school property.

Getting struck down by a massive friendship-powered ray of eldritch energies had a strange way of offering a new perspective. I had spent years feeling powerful, as if I owned the entire school, but all that power was meaningless in the end—swept away in a technicolour shower. I don’t think there had ever been, or ever will be, a moment where I felt as weak and pitiful as I did when I sat at the bottom of that crater, surrounded by people who now had nothing but contempt and scorn for me. If anybody in the school needed a reason to hate me, turning into a rage-spewing she-demon gave them plenty of fresh new options. But if I thought hitting rock bottom was hard, it didn’t take very long to discover that crawling out from that pit was going to be even worse.

The gravity of the situation didn’t sink until at least the following Monday afternoon. Given that I assumed there would be nothing but further ridicule and punishment waiting for me like a bear trap, I felt no inclination to return to Canterlot High any time soon, and had been holed up in my apartment since the Fall Formal. What was the point? Everything that I had worked towards was gone, and I had gone from Queen Bee to being marginally more popular than head lice.

As I lay on my bed, curled in the fetal position, life for me appeared to be over for all intents and purposes. In my delusion of total dominance, I had never once considered alternatives if things didn’t go my way. What do you do when your plans for world domination fall through? And really, who would care if Sunset Shimmer didn’t attend class any more? Just off the top of my head, I could think of at least a dozen people who would’ve greeted such news by throwing an impromptu party in the hallway, and perhaps even a ticker tape parade for the ones who saved the school. The rest would have muttered little more than a ‘good riddance’ before returning to the monotony of high school life. There was nothing left for me at Canterlot High—no friends, no future, and most importantly, no magic. The bleak and empty existence of a magicless life was the only future I had to look forward to, and a part of me wondered if I had the strength to even try and go forward.

However, it seemed like the universe wasn’t even going to afford me the luxury of brooding in peace as the cell phone sitting on my bedside table went off in a cacophony of wails, beeps, thumps, and other strange sounds that made me wonder why I ever let Vinyl recommend me a ringtone. I grabbed the nearest pillow and buried my head under it in the hopes that the infernal noise box would cease its racket. Who in the world would even want to talk to me at that moment?

Frustration and curiosity eventually overrode my better judgement. After the hundredth ring, I grabbed the phone, flipped it open, and shouted ‘what?’ with enough force to blow out a speaker. Any sane person would have taken the hint and hung up at that point, but I was to discover that I had a most formidable opponent against me.

“Sunset Shimmer, we need to talk.”

Principal Celestia. She ranked just below ‘rabid monkey’ on the list of things I wanted to deal with today.

“No, we don’t,” I replied before popping the battery out. Hearing silence once more in my apartment felt oddly therapeutic; a brief respite and reminder that there were still some things in my life I could control. It was a paltry show of defiance, but when your sense of self-worth was hanging out in the gutters, you clung to whatever power you could. Sooner or later, Celestia was going to have that chat with me, but I saw no reason why I should make it any easier for her. If she wanted it, she would have to get off her butt and come get me.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what Celestia did. I hadn’t even set my phone down when the knocking began. At first, I didn’t believe that Celestia could’ve tracked me down so soon, but she appeared to be one step ahead of me even in that respect.

“I know you’re in there, Sunset, I heard your phone,” came the muffled voice of the woman who would be deciding my fate.

What I wouldn’t have given at that moment for an invisibility cloak, teleportation spell, or a window that could open wide enough to climb out of. I became lodged in a trance-like stare, watching anxiously as though the door would fly off its hinges in the next few seconds. Eventually, I was snapped out of my daze when I heard Celestia utter something I didn’t anticipate.

“Sunset... please, can we talk?”

Apparently all it took was saying ‘please’ to get me back on my feet. Perhaps if Twilight Sparkle had just said ‘give me back my crown, please’, the embarrassment of the last few days could have been avoided altogether. Celestia sounded... concerned. The Celestia that I had grown up with had a caring and nurturing side to her as well, but that just concealed the potential for a divine fury when one did find a way to anger her. If blowing up a foyer and attempting to enslave an entire school populace didn’t get Principal Celestia’s fetlocks in a fit, what did? Still on threat level ‘picante red’, I edged towards the door and, while keeping the chain lock in place, cautiously opened it.

An unsettling and disarming smile greeted me, the kind of smile your doctor gave you before the needle came out. “You didn’t come to school today,” she stated.

“And what gave that away? The cheers and jubilations of a relieved student body, now free from the torment and tyranny?” While there was no point in pretending to be sweet and innocent around Celestia anymore, some barbs might convince her to make whatever speech she had in mind a quick one. “How necessary is a face-to-face talk just for you to say, ‘don’t come back’?”

“May I come inside? This hallway isn’t exactly the best location to conduct school business.”

Principal Celestia’s patience had always been rather impressive, even in the face of somebody who obviously wanted nothing to do with her. Compared to my experiences with Princess Celestia, they were on even footing, but whereas the Princess had centuries to develop it, the Celestia before me had managed the same feat in a few decades. I shuddered to think what she could accomplish with a nigh-immortal life span.

“No,” I promptly replied.

“Please,” Celestia began as the pleasant and calm demeanour began to subside, “open this door.”

It became apparent that I had made a dent in the normally invincible armour of Principal Celestia. A smart person would’ve taken that as a clue to shut up and open the door, but I was far from finished when it came to the business of making stupid choices.

“I said no,” I reiterated. “We’re not at school, so that means you have no power here!” Failing words of a hopeless girl; if they reeked of desperation any worse, the neighbors would’ve caught wind of it, assuming they could smell anything other than the ashes of my burnt-out dreams. Nonetheless, I remained defiant. My apartment may not have been much, little more than a single room with a bathroom attached to it, but it was one of the few things in my life I still had control over. The only way I was letting her in was over my cold, dead body.

If I had any uncertainties about this realm’s Celestia and the limits to her patience, and how they stacked against the Celestia I knew, those questions were soon put to rest. Her eyes narrowed, the calm, placating smile began to straighten, and I swore I could feel a shiver crawl up my spine.

“Sunset Shimmer, open this door... now!”

Though the sudden vice-like grip around my heart was a definite reassurance that I was still alive, if only for that brief moment, whatever sense of defiance I had left just keeled over.

“Yes, Principal Celestia,” I squeaked.

Lapsing back into her patient benevolence, Celestia gave a brief ‘thanks’ just before the door opened up. As she stepped in, I noticed that she had a file folder tucked under one arm and a loaded-down plastic bag in the other. Given that my doorway opened directly into the rest of my single bedroom apartment, Celestia’s grand tour involved only a slow pan from left to right.

“So this is where you live,” she commented. It was as though she had never seen an apartment before. To be fair, Canterlot High was in a well-off neighborhood, so I reckoned every other student lived with their parents in a nice suburban house with a white-picket fence and a dog named Fido. In comparison, my single bedroom, was furnished with little more than the bare necessities. Celestia’s gaze went from the kitchenette to her left, the bathroom ahead of her, the bookshelf that served as the sole source of decoration, and then the bedroom half of the apartment, which also doubled as the office, study hall, living room, and dining hall. Honestly, what more could a girl want—other than perhaps working air conditioning, windows, hot water, or neighbors who didn’t like to listen to R&B at two in the morning.

“I’d offer you a chair, but I don’t own any,” I commented.

Celestia didn’t seem bothered and made an immediate path to take a seat on the edge of my bed. “You’ve been living here alone for three years?” she commented while taking another look around my meagre abode. “This would explain why I could never get a parent-teacher interview arranged.”

“I was always surprised at how easy it was to convince the teachers that my parents were ‘busy’ on those nights.” When a teacher had a dozen parent-teacher interviews to do in a night, having one less probably made their lives more bearable. Add in the fact that, until the Fall Formal, the teachers of Canterlot High thought I was a model student and there was rarely a need to speak to my non-existent parents. My back-up plan of having to hire an actor for the job, thankfully, never had to be called upon.

Celestia invited me over with a few gentle pats on the mattress beside her. Despite all the rational parts of my mind telling me to keep as much distance as possible, those parts had been terrified into submission. Sealing the deal, Celestia opened the bag she had brought along, revealing some boxes of take-out, presumably the kind eaten with chopsticks. Hunger overpowered what few senses remained, and I was soon sitting next to my principal, ready to tear into the box.

“I figured you might have been hungry,” Celestia explained before handing me a pair of chopsticks. “Still vegetarian?”

I had only ever mentioned once to Celestia that I was a vegetarian, and that was almost three years ago when I first came to Canterlot High. Was her memory that good, or was she just better at bluffing than I had ever been? Just to confirm, I opened up the box and found it filled with an assortment of noodles, tofu, and vegetables mixed with what appeared to be a black bean sauce. Overwhelmed with feelings of confusion, surprise, and humility, the best response I could muster was a half-hearted ‘thanks’ before eating.

I had expected Celestia to start discussing the disciplinary measures being levied against me, but she appeared to still be enamored with my housing. “I must admit, I am curious as to how you, a teenager with no parental support, was able to lease an apartment for such a long time,” she said.

“Not too hard,” I replied between mouthfuls. “Just a matter of finding a landlord who’s willing to take cash with few questions asked.”

“And where exactly did this money come from? I imagine they don’t have dollar bills where you’re originally from.”

“No, but apparently the exchange rate between your dollars and my shiny coins was extremely high,” I explained. “Took a while to convince the pawn shop owner that they were from some tiny, obscure ancient kingdom.”

As I continued to eat, Celestia rose to her feet and took a slow walk around the apartment. Though I had little, she nonetheless stopped and examined every piece of furnishing and property I had. A part of me was nervous about what she was doing, as though she were inspecting every aspect of my life in order to determine whether the punishment she had in mind was sufficient or not. Normally I did not care for what others thought, but between my battered sense of worth and the fact that it was Celestia, even if it wasn’t the Celestia I grew up with, I was wary of what she might think of me now.

“Is this one of the school’s guitars?” Celestia asked as she picked up the instrument from its hiding spot beside the bookshelf.

“When the school got those new guitars a couple years ago, Mrs. Song was going to donate the old ones to some charities. I... um, convinced her to let me take one home instead.”

“If I recall, you told her that your father destroyed your guitar in a drunken fit,” Celestia replied, sounding more amused than disappointed in the lie that I had used to manipulate the school music teacher. I tried to bury the new bout of shame with a mouthful of noodles, but Celestia probably saw right through the ploy. “She probably would’ve given it to you even if you hadn’t made up that story. She was very impressed by your enthusiasm in learning how to play.”

I knew that Celestia was trying to use the compliments to help build up my self-esteem, but I only felt more guilty. I enrolled in Mrs. Song’s classes because I needed to get better with using my hands. The ‘natural talent’ that people thought I had was, in fact, the product of spending two hours a day practicing for a month straight. The fact that Mrs. Song mistook my determination for a musical passion was an unintended side effect that, until now, I thought nothing of.

“I haven’t really played that in a long time.” It wasn’t the best answer, or what Celestia likely wanted to hear, but I was trying to move the conversation away from subjects that only served to make me feel worse.

I had hoped she would move to somewhere else in my apartment, but Celestia’s ever-vigilant eyes fixated on my bookshelf next. “You have a lot of textbooks,” she commented whilst browsing my collection. Most had been gathered from used bookstores and the occasional church book sale.

Old textbooks weren’t hot sellers, so it was easy to haggle the prices down to something more manageable for a lone teenager on a budget. As Celestia continued to peruse the library, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed in deep thought. When she uttered a short ‘hrm’, I realized that she had clued in as to the significance of my collection.

“Some of these textbooks aren’t from our curriculum,” she stated aloud, “and these novels are all part of the school district’s recommended reading material for students.” She paused for a moment; though whether it was to formulate her thoughts or to heighten the tension, I did not know. “Sunset, what do you do for money? You couldn’t have possibly survived three years with just what you brought.”

I froze mid-bite like a disobedient child caught with stolen cookies in their mouth. After forcing the mouthful of noodles down, I managed a weak, worried grin and replied, “The... internet?”

“Please tell me it doesn’t involve a webcam.”

“Ew! No,” I immediately snapped back. There were many things that the old me was—self-serving, arrogant, cheat, liar—but desperate was not one of them. Oddly enough, ‘desperate’ did describe the new me.

For once, it appeared that Celestia took my words at face value, but her curiosity was still running rampant through my apartment. The next victim of her prowling was my laptop, which she opened up once she took a seat on the bed again.

“Hey, you can’t just look through—”

“Eat your lunch, Sunset.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied with a defeated sigh. Though annoyed and concerned that she was now trying to search through my laptop, I remained silent as I was confident that my personal files were safe from prying eyes.

“For a girl as smart as you, I would’ve thought you’d choose something other than ‘password’ for your password,” Celestia commented after a couple of quick keystrokes. Lucky for me, the mouthful of tofu kept my profanities from being coherent. In my defense, computer safety wasn’t even a concept back in Equestria, and not something that had been high on my priorities.

I sat in silence, shoveling down the last of my lunch, and waited for the inevitable as Celestia combed through the contents of my laptop. As I only used my computer for work-related matters, it did not take her very long to find the source of income.

“These are essays,” Celestia began with growing intrigue. The laptop screen began to fill with various text files as she continued to delve through each document. “Some of these essay topics aren’t part of our school’s curriculum... and we don’t even teach this subject... and is this a... college-entry essay?” She then looked at me with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. “Sunset Shimmer, are you selling essays online?”

“I... like to think of it as selling knowledge,” I replied with a half-hearted attempt to put a more positive spin on academic fraud. The frown I got in response told me that she did not share in my sense of humour. “I, er, also sell my services in completing take-home tests, book reviews, and basically any kind of homework somebody doesn’t want to be bothered with doing.”

“How much do you charge for these?” Celestia asked, reading over one of the larger essay projects I had finished.

“Well the one you’re reading is a hundred and fifty,” I pointed out. “Short assignments can be as low as ten dollars, while larger projects are negotiated based on size, requirement, and how desperate the person is.”

Celestia, understandably, was not enthused by the last few words. True, she was bothered by the whole thing, but the insinuation of extortion did not sit well with the principal. She let out a long, tired sigh before closing the laptop. I feared that this was the quiet lull while the executioner readied their axe of discipline. She was preparing for the final blow.

“I cannot help but feel disappointed by this revelation, Sunset Shimmer,” she began. I could feel the axe beginning to line up against the nape of my neck. “From what I can see, you have been acting as an accomplice to academic fraud for quite some time.”

The axe began to rise above her head…

“You have been profiting off other students’ struggles while at the same time undermining the principles of our education system.”

And here it came…

“But I can’t help but be a bit impressed at the same time.”

“What?”

I must have stared at Celestia with an idiotic, dumbfounded look upon my face for a solid half-minute before she finally finished her thought.

“While I obviously cannot approve of your methods, judging by the schedules and work tables I saw, you’ve been handling the extra workloads of almost half-a-dozen students at any given time for almost three years while still maintaining top-percentile grades at Canterlot High. You’ve got files for international students, advanced programs, and even college-prep courses. You could’ve been riding a full scholarship at a private academy rather than profiting off of academic fraud. Where did you even find the time to do all of this?”

“What do you think I do when I’m not at school?” I replied with a hint of sarcasm.

“A few days ago, I would’ve assumed the answer to be the same things that other teenagers do outside of school,” Celestia said as she finally grabbed the file folder that she had brought with her. “But clearly, you are not like other teenagers.”

“What gave that away? When I turned into a fiery demon and tried to take over the school?” The sarcasm probably was not helping me, but after listening to Celestia pick apart my life for the past several minutes, I was beginning to lose patience. “I knew you’d be curious, but I wasn’t expecting this sort of inquisition.”

“Nobody ever expects my kind of inquisition,” Celestia answered with a smirk. “I always knew you were different, but I never realized the extent of it. If you’re going to continue being a student at Canterlot High, certain corrective measures must be taken.”

“Continue?” I repeated in disbelief. “I’m not expelled? You’re not going to, like, turn me over to the police? I—”

“Used an allegedly extra-dimensional artifact to transform into an apparent demonic entity,” Celestia interrupted, reading from the documents now on her lap. “And then proceeded to subjugate the entire school student body and faculty, culminating in a confrontation that resulted in extensive damage to school property. Did I miss anything?”

“I also threatened to smash the statue out front with a sledgehammer.”

She ignored my remark and continued. “Sunset, what do you think will happen if I file this report to the district superintendent? Or even the police?”

“I get banished to the moon?”

“They’re going to think I’ve lost my mind,” Celestia stated. “To be frank, I spent most of the weekend trying to convince myself that I hadn’t.”

I was still in disbelief that Celestia was willing to keep me as a student. The old adage of keeping friends close and enemies closer did come to mind, although I refrained from voicing that thought. If Celestia did want to keep me as a student for the sole purpose of ensuring I didn’t cause any more trouble, then who was I to argue? The alternatives were far worse, and what principal would let me transfer to their school if they found out even a fraction of the things I did?

“I don’t want to force you to return to Canterlot High, and I get the distinct feeling that you don’t want to be forced out either,” Celestia continued, her voice taking a more concerned undertone. “I’m willing to let you return, if that’s what you want.”

At first, I couldn’t find the right words to respond with. With all the emotional turmoil I had been throwing myself through over the past several hours, it was hard for me to process how I felt as Celestia offered me a second chance. Eventually, I managed a quiet nod.

“Now make no mistake, Sunset Shimmer, changes to your life will need to be made, and you will need to make an effort to demonstrate that you are trying to change. Otherwise, I will file this report, regardless of how it might make me appear,” Celestia warned. “And the first change is that you are going to shut down this side business of yours.”

“But you can’t! I need that money,” I pleaded. Next month’s rent was riding on the next few assignments that I still had to finish. Principal Celestia may have been willing to grant leniency, but my landlord had no such sense of charity.

“I know, but you’re better than this, Sunset. There are other options—better ones. And when we get back to school, we can figure those options out. Now get yourself cleaned up and ready to go. If you hurry, we can make it back before afternoon class starts.”

“You’re kidding.”

*******************

She was not. Within half an hour, I was standing before Canterlot High once more. A week ago, I thought I owned the school, but now the very thought of walking through its halls were filling me with trepidation. Going back so soon was a horrible idea, and I was not hesitant to share these thoughts with Celestia.

“Have I mentioned how bad of an idea I think this is?” I quipped as we walked to the side entrance that was now serving as the school’s entryway thanks to my impromptu renovations. “It’s only been one weekend. Maybe you should, like, suspend me for the next week. Give them time to forget about it.”

“Do you honestly believe that a week will be enough for them to forget?” Celestia replied as she continued on ahead. She paused momentarily at the door, looking back to ensure that I had followed.

I let out a heavy sigh before taking that first step. She had a point, of course, but that didn’t mean I felt any better about it. “They’re going to hate me.”

“They probably will, at first,” Celestia answered with a reassuring bucketful of ice-cold reality. “But hiding in your apartment won’t help. A day, a week, a month; it won’t change how they feel. You can only affect change if you’re here. It might mean enduring a few cold shoulders, but I wouldn’t be asking this of you if I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Despite Celestia’s words of reassurance, I had the feeling that I was going to be seeing so many cold shoulders that I would need a parka to make it through the day, assuming I didn’t get tarred and feathered first. Fear and apprehension were not emotions that I had much experience with, but I could tell that the three of us were going to become close friends before things improved.

With one last calming breath, I gestured for Celestia to open the door, and we stepped inside. I had held onto the hope that we would arrive just after the afternoon classes began, but luck would not grant me such paltry mercies. The hallways were packed with the students preparing to return to class, and all semblance of conversation screeched to a deafening halt. Were it not for the fact that Celestia stood right behind me, I would’ve turned and bolted out that door like Nightmare Moon herself was after me.

“Come along Sunset,” Celestia said to break the silence as she began down the hall. I had an opening to run, but with the principal beckoning me along, I realized that fleeing would only cement my reputation. If I was going to show the other students that I wasn’t still some egomaniacal monster, I had to yield to the principal’s authority.

As I began my slow march through the hall, I tried my best to keep my eyes down. I didn’t want to make eye contact with any of them; no need to betray how terrified I truly was. If looks could ignite, I probably would’ve been reduced to ash in an instant. Instead, I had to endure dozens of hateful glares and catch the occasional whisper of discontent. Since I was still with Principal Celestia, glares and whispers made up most of the dissent. It appeared as though those would be the worst of it, right up until an empty soda can hit the back of my head.

As Celestia was ahead of me, she didn’t realize anything was amiss until the can hit the floor, at which point she glanced back. “What was that?” she inquired.

“N-nothing,” I insisted. I could have told her truth, that some jerk threw a can at me, but how would the populace react if I tried to play victim at a time like this? They hated me already, and maybe, just maybe, I deserved a lot more than just a pop can to the head.

If Celestia saw through my lie, she made no indication of it, and instead just continued on her way. The crowds began to thin as we drew closer to her office, and while I would have loved to have taken shelter within it for the rest of the day, Celestia had other plans in mind.

“Now I want you to go to class, and I will see you at the end of the day,” Celestia explained as we stood outside her office.

“You want me to go to class—alone?” I asked in disbelief. Celestia’s presence was the only thing separating me from the proverbial pack of wolves that now formed the student body. “Why not just paint a bulls-eye on my back and start handing out daggers?”

“I think you may be getting a little paranoid, Sunset,” she reassured me. “If you are sincere in your remorse, they will forgive you in time. Yes, they might give you a hard time, but if at any point you feel as though you are being harassed or threatened, then just speak to me. You are a student of Canterlot High, and you are entitled to the same safety and dignity that everyone else is.”

While what she said, in theory, was all well and good, it didn’t change the fact that I was going to be wandering into a classroom full of students whom I have respected neither the dignity or safety of for three years. If there was any justice in the world, I would be stuffed into a locker before the day was over. Actually, if that was the only thing I had to look forward to, I would’ve been content to suffer.

Despite every rational fibre in my being telling me that the best response for me would be to hide until the day’s end, I nonetheless agreed to tough it out and head to class. However, I needed a few things from my locker first so I made a quick detour. When I reached my locker, though, I discovered that it would be far from quick. From the book of ‘I should’ve seen that coming’, my locker had been given a brand new make-over, courtesy of my new, adoring fans. A crude caricature of my more crimson side had been painted across the locker door, along with ‘loser’, ‘crazy’, and ‘crybaby’ in various styles that led me to believe that this was the work of more than one person. The painting of me overemphasized the more inhuman aspects of that form with long, pointed horns, massive wings, and a ghoulish visage that made me look more like a gargoyle than anything.

This was what my fellow students saw me as now: not some teenaged girl, not some arrogant tyrant, but a monster, and a pathetic one at that. As tempting as it was to go right back to Celestia, this was neither harassment, nor threatening. Plus, they were right: I was a monster, and I was pathetic. But it was also just a locker, and I reminded myself that, by tomorrow, it will have been scrubbed clean by the janitors.

“Personally, I think they’ve really captured your essence,” came an all-too-familiar shrill. I didn’t even need to look to know who would have the gall to start throwing around their weight now that I had been dethroned.

“Go away, Trixie, I’m not in the mood,” I grumbled back. Maybe if I ignored her, she would go away. The girl did live on attention, after all.

“Not in the mood? Oh how terribly inconsiderate of me,” Trixie replied with enough sarcasm to choke a large mammal. “I am so very sorry. We wouldn’t want you to get angry and turn into a harpy again.”

“Demon, Trixie. I turned into a demon,” I corrected her whilst fighting down every urge to meet her sarcasm in kind. “Harpies are bird-like creatures. And that was a one-time affair.”

“Well that’s a relief,” she said, continuing her sarcastic trend. “I guess that means I don’t have to worry when I do this.” I was half-way to getting my books in order when Trixie swatted at my collection, causing me to drop them all to the ground. “Oops!”

A week ago, Trixie wouldn’t have dared to try such a stunt. I was almost impressed by how quickly she moved to capitalize on my new bottom-rung social standing. Unsurprisingly, an audience began to gather, giving Trixie all the attention her ego needed. After taking a few seconds to unclench my fists, I took a calming breath and proceeded to gather my books again.

“This is going to be a long day,” I groaned under my breath.

“That’s it?” Trixie remarked. Her sarcasm gave way and betrayed a sense of annoyance that replaced it. In hindsight, it was obvious that she was trying to provoke me, but at the time I was too caught up in my own worries to care about analyzing the motives of another. “You nearly wreck the school and tried to turn me into a mindless slave, and this is all you have to say for yourself?”

“It wasn’t personal, I assure you,” I answered even though I knew it wouldn’t satisfy her. This time I paid more attention in keeping myself between Trixie and my books. While having my back to her might not have been smart either, I knew her well enough to know that she rarely escalated beyond words. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m in a hurry.”

“Just going to walk away? I guess you really are just pathetic now,” Trixie continued to taunt. Not content to let me go in peace, when I tried to pass Trixie, she stuck out her foot and next I knew, I had face-planted the linoleum.

Then came the chorus of laughter. If anybody had missed the dance and needed affirmation that one could ridicule me without fear of retribution, my face-down sprawl provided all the assurance they needed. Justice was a harsh mistress, but I certainly could not blame any of them. How many of these kids had I shoved aside, ridiculed in front of their peers, or made the centre of unfounded rumours? I kept reminding myself that this was the burden I was going to have to bear for a while.

“No wonder you had to use mind-control, it’s not like anybody would ever like you otherwise,” Trixie continued rubbing salt into the wounds.

“Just ignore her,” I reminded myself.

“Don’t know why you came back. It’s obvious nobody wants you here.”

“Deep breaths, Sunset. Words can’t hurt.”

“Maybe you should just go back to where you came from, freak.”

“Okay. Time for some of my own words.”

I had been willing to endure some ridicule, but Trixie had worn out my patience in record time. I reached for the heftiest textbook in reach, the ever-reliable algebra book, and then, in one fluid motion, rose to my feet and hurled it at the offending blue-haired miscreant. Unfortunately for me, Trixie’s years of dodging fresh produce while on stage had instilled cat-like reflexes in her. I don’t think the book had left my fingertips before Trixie was already well out of its trajectory. The textbook sailed right past her, through the air and down the hall, and straight into the trophy display case at the end of the hall. The panes of glass were no match for six hundred pages of algebra, and everyone in the hall fell silent as the sound of cascading glass echoed through the halls.

And standing not two feet from the display case, gazing at the textbook now lodged in our Junior Varsity Softball Regional Championship trophy, was Vice Principal Luna.

Act II-I

I don’t think there was ever a time before in my life where I felt more relieved for it to be Monday, and for me to be back at Canterlot High. It was a remarkable change of pace considering how I felt about returning only a week ago, but sadly my change in perspective was not because of a newly-founded appreciation for school. Things at school were the same, or at least I hoped they were, but my home life had hit a speedbump. As was often the case, I had arrived early at school, having been driven in by Celestia and Luna, and waited patiently by the front statue for the arrival of my friends.

“Sunset Shimmer!” For once, I felt a surge of optimism when I saw Pinkie Pie bounding across the school grounds. She was bright-eyed and cheerful as always, but when was she ever not like that? I was glad that she was the first to find me, as her boundless energy was a great way to start the school day.

Trailing a few feet behind her was Rainbow Dash, whose dragging feet and stooped-over shoulders hinted at a serious case of ‘The Mondays.’ She barely even acknowledged when I waved to her.

“Good morning,” I greeted just seconds before Pinkie Pie landed in front of me. I glanced past my friend to the slow-poke who was still sulking across the lawn, stifling a quiet giggle at the sight. “Don’t tell me she’s still sulking about Friday.”

“You know how Rainbow gets when she doesn’t get her soccer game on,” Pinkie replied.

“It wasn’t fair!” Rainbow Dash shouted, finally joining in on the conversation. When she finally reached the statue, she unceremoniously dropped her backpack to the ground and curled into a ball at the base, like a sulking little gargoyle. “Everything was set up, and we were all ready to play. Then—BAM! Stupid rainstorm just starts pouring and everybody wusses out. It’s like they’ve never played in the rain before.”

“And upon the arid, golden hills of the earth ponies, she piled upon all the hate and rage of her people. If her chest were a stormcloud, she would have cursed lightning and bled her heart dry upon them.”

To no surprise, my little rendition got nothing but confused stares from my friends. On the bright side, the bewilderment did get Rainbow Dash to stop sulking for a few seconds, if only to ask what the heck I just said.

“Sorry, line from a play of Equestrian antiquity,” I explained. I leaned back against the statue and cast my eyes up to the clouds. Friday may have had a freak flash rainstorm, but today was nothing but shining radiance. “The earth ponies were pleading for rain from the pegasi, but Commander Hurricane was so angry at them that she instead called down a terrible storm, flooding the fields of the ponies below. Of course, that only ended up hurting the pegasi, too, since they relied upon earth pony farming for food. Rain always seems to remind me of that passage.”

Back in Equestria, I rarely gave much thought to the weather. It was in the domain of the pegasi, after all, and meant little to a unicorn such as I. Canterlot was a prosperous and privileged city, so it was rare for them to get much in terms of rain, lest the Weather Control Division get their own downpour of complaints from citizens who wielded wealth and anger in equal amounts. Here, though, weather seemed like a random force of nature, dictated by laws of science. And even though the best the people here could do was make educated guesses as to how the weather would change over time, I was nonetheless intrigued and impressed by their attempts to understand the world around them. The people here strove to understand things they could not control, whereas ponies could control but few cared to understand.

I had to admit, my thoughts still continued to drift to my encounter with Twilight from days ago. I wondered how her efforts would fair in attempting to understand something so convoluted as Equestrian magic. It worried me that she was sniffing around the school, and the possibility of a return visit weighed on my mind. If she were like the Twilight I knew, tenacity would be a key feature. I tried to placate my concerns by reminding myself that she was trying to study something not even of her world, so that should limit what answers she could find. But would the complexities of magic elude her science forever, or was I fooling myself into thinking that magic was something that was beyond comprehension?

I hadn’t told any of my friends about the encounter. For some of them, I feared that they would try to seek her out, ultimately causing more harm than good as secrets get brought to light, and for others, I feared backlash, especially from Applejack who had made her thoughts on the matter quite clear. In retrospect, admitting the truth probably would have saved me a lot of heartache, but how often did I make the smart choice on my own? Maybe if I had a friend who I could go to for advice, but everybody I knew also had a connection with Twilight Sparkle, so it would be impossible to get an impartial opinion on the matter.

“So where were you all weekend?” Rainbow Dash asked, snapping me from my contemplations. “I tried texting you a bunch of times, but you never answered.”

“That’s because I’ve been unplugged,” I answered with a groan. “I met with Fluttershy on Saturday to help out at her animal shelter, but the rest of the weekend was spent stuck inside. Celestia, understandably, was not happy to hear about my...extracurricular activities last week.”

“How bad did she take it? Did she get angry?” Rainbow asked before pausing from a second bout of confusion. “Wait, does Celestia even get angry?”

I scoffed quietly under my breath, rolling my eyes before replying, “No, she just gets disappointed—very, very disappointed.” Just like from Fluttershy, disappointment seemed to cut deeper than raw anger. Perhaps my friends were learning how to handle me just as much as I was learning how to interact with all of them. “So until next week, I’ve got no phone, no laptop, and no television. Basically, unless it’s for something school-related, I am barred from anything with a circuit.”

“Harsh.”

“I screwed up; I ought to be punished. It could’ve been worse, and Celestia has a pretty big library of her own so it’s not like I’ll be bored.” I answered with an indifferent shrug. If Luna had been the one to decide my punishment, I probably would’ve been thrown to the curb without so much as a ‘thanks for all the fish.’ “You know, I think this is technically the first time I’ve ever really been grounded.”

“Do you think Celestia would let me throw you a ‘Congratulations on getting grounded’ party?” Pinkie Pie asked, though whether she was being genuine with her inquiry was a mystery to me.

“I think that defeats the purpose of being grounded, Pinkie,” I answered. Though in all fairness, Celestia didn’t object to me spending time with Fluttershy over the weekend, so it was entirely possible that I was still free to spend time with my friends. After all, I was supposed to be learning how to be a better person from them, so keeping me away from them would only hurt my rehabilitation in the long run. A party was probably still out of the question. “Why would you even throw a party for that?”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie answered with a shrug and a laugh. “I’ve thrown parties for all of my friends, and now that you’re my friend, I have to throw you one, too. I mean, it’s this or I wait until your birth—” Pinkie Pie suddenly fell silent, her expression freezing into a look of abject realization. For a second, I thought she had caught sight of somebody throwing a cupcake into the garbage, but then she let out a horrified gasp and grabbed hold of me by the lapels. “Oh my god, this is horrible!”

“It’s just Monday, Pinkie, they’re not that bad,” I said since I hadn’t the slightest clue as to what she was referring to.

“Not that!” she answered, pulling me in closer. “I just realized the most horrible of horrible things! This is, like, ten times more horrible than the time I realized that bran muffins aren’t really muffins!”

Even though Pinkie looked as though she was a hop, skip, and a jump away from a full-blown panic-attack, I could only muster a puzzled stare and a half-hearted shrug as I tried to make sense of the enigma that was her mind. If I kept asking questions, though, eventually the puzzle pieces would fall into place. By the laws of averages, eventually something would come out of her mouth that made sense, right?

“I’m pretty sure bran doesn’t detract from their muffin-ness,” I answered. It was unlikely that Pinkie’s concerns were anywhere close to being related to bran or muffins, but whatever it was, I got the nagging suspicion I wanted to keep it at bay for as long as possible.

Sadly, my attempts to distract Pinkie with a muffin-tangent proved fruitless. Her eyes widened as she drew me in closer, a look of absolute horror captivating my gaze. “I don’t know when your birthday is,” she revealed.

The confusion that once clung to my face dropped faster than a two-legged pony in a six-legged race. “Really? That’s the emergency?” I deadpanned. “For a second, you had me worried that it was something serious.”

My indifference did not go over well with my friend, who suddenly began to shake me about. “How can this not be serious? This is super serious!” she cried out. “It couldn’t be more serious if I had a big, giant hat with ‘serious’ written all over it!”

“It’s just a birthday. It’s not as though mine is a big deal,” I replied, though my words were slurred and jumbled as I was jostled about like a maraca.

“Just a birthday? Just a birthday?!”

I watched as Pinkie’s mind appeared to grind to a screeching, gear-shattering halt as it attempted to comprehend my apparent indifference to birthdays. In that brief moment, I was able to escape from her grasp, granting my own mind some respite. My friend just stood there with her face twisted in shock and confusion and hands grasping at her hair, silent and motionless. Rainbow Dash and I exchanged nervous glances for a moment, both of us wondering whether I had somehow broken Pinkie’s brain.

Suddenly, as if time was trying to catch up in order to make up for its delay, Pinkie Pie burst back to life. “Oh my gosh, how could you say that your birthday isn’t a big deal when birthdays are, like, the biggest of big deals!” she blurted out faster than a person could sneeze. “It’s only the most important day of the year when you remember that you’ve been around for a whole ‘nother year! And everybody gets together and celebrates what an amazingly awesome and super-fantastic person you are and—”

Having heard enough, I quickly planted my palm over her mouth, muffling the rest of her raving until she clued in that my gesture was a request for silence.

“Listen, Pinkie, I appreciate the thought, but I am just not interested, okay?” I said in a firm and even tone. As tempting as it was to brow-beat her with harsh words and cynicism, that was the way of the old Sunset Shimmer. Asking politely still felt kind of strange for me, but Fluttershy spent most of Saturday explaining the importance of good manners. “Please just let it go.”

Since I couldn’t spend the rest of the day with my hand over Pinkie’s mouth, I had to withdraw and hope that a verbal tsunami didn’t follow suit.

“Could you at least tell when me your birthday is?” Pinkie asked in a surprisingly terse manner.

“No. You’d just throw me a surprise party anyways.” I almost felt insulted by the idea that Pinkie Pie believed I could be fooled so easily. However, I knew that she would not be content to sit idly by while this mystery lingered on her mind. Eventually, she’d find out the date, but with any luck, it would be well after my birthday has passed, and I would be in a better frame of mind when the next one rolled up.

Pinkie Pie realized that I wasn’t going to play along, but she decided not to press the issue with me. She gave me a long, hard stare before uttering, “Okie dokie loki.”

Without another word she headed on her way, leaving Rainbow Dash and I to exchange confused glances.

“You realize she’s not going to let this go, right?” Rainbow Dash finally asked after a brief moment of silence. “It’ll probably be easier just to tell her now and get it over with. Besides, Pinkie throws the best parties ever. How could you not want one?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I realized I had only traded Pinkie Pie’s question for somebody else’s. “I’m sure they’re fantastic,” I replied, “but I just don’t want that. Maybe next year I’ll feel more up to it, but right now I just—” I paused for a moment as I tried to collect my thoughts. Birthdays were a difficult subject for me, and it wasn’t something I wanted to ruminate on. “It’s just not a good year for that. Now could I borrow your phone for a second?”

“Um, sure. Why?” Rainbow asked, but nonetheless handed the aforementioned item over.

“I just need to text Celestia and let her know that Pinkie Pie will probably try to get access to my student record,” I explained while typing the message out. “Might as well let Celestia know that she can let Pinkie see the file, if only so nobody tries to break into the school records later.”

“I thought you wanted to keep that from Pinkie.”

“I do,” I answered before tossing the phone back. “However, the date I gave for the school records is a fake. If Pinkie sees that, she’ll let the issue drop and try to surprise me in April. By that point, though, my birthday will have long since passed. And, who knows, maybe I’ll have changed my stance on the issue by then.”

“So that means your birthday is between now and April then, right?” Rainbow asked.

I froze for a moment, realizing my foolish mistake in presuming that Rainbow Dash would not have deduced that. In trying to keep such information away from Pinkie Pie, I had only succeeded in giving it to her friend. So much for clever plans. I could’ve asked Rainbow Dash to keep that information to herself, but why would she? She owed me no loyalty, and certainly not more than she owed to Pinkie. If I answered the question honestly, as I should since I’m supposed to be a better person, then Pinkie would find out. If I tried to deny, Rainbow would just take it as confirmation that she had been correct.

Lucky for me, salvation came in a most unexpected form. Ahead by the school doors, I saw Ms. Yearling emerge. I thought nothing of it at first, but she spotted me in short order, and it soon became clear she was seeking me out.

“Sunset Shimmer,” she called out. Once she knew that she had my attention, she gestured for me to follow her inside. “We need to talk.”

Even if it was a teacher with whom my last encounter involved confessing to stealing school property, I was nonetheless relieved to have a legitimate excuse to put some distance between myself and any inquisitive friends. Whatever purpose Ms. Yearling wanted me for, she did not say immediately, and instead led me into the school. Her calm professionalism made it impossible for me to get a read on the situation, so I couldn’t tell if I was a lamb being led to slaughter or salvation. It wasn’t until we reached her classroom that she started to make her intentions known.

“It seems I have a bit of a staffing issue at my little newspaper club,” Yearling began, taking a seat behind her desk, “and that I have you to thank for it.”

When she motioned for me to have a seat, I grabbed the nearest thing I could, a desk, and dragged it over to make an impromptu chair. “You’re welcome?” I replied, confused as to her insinuations. “I take it you’ve looked into Diamond Tiara’s...business dealings?”

Yearling nodded slowly, though her unchanging stoicism gave me feelings of apprehension. I got the impression I was not about to be given a pat on the back and a ‘good job,’ though I had no desire for congratulations. Personally, I would have been more content if my entire dealings with Diamond Tiara were sealed away inside an enchanted safe and then launched into the sun.

“So the good news—well, good news for you—is that Diamond Tiara is no longer a part of the newspaper,” Yearling explained. To be honest, I was surprised that she managed to oust Tiara from her job as student-editor. I had expected some kind of protracted battle between the two, though perhaps it only seemed anti-climactic because I was getting the Cole’s Notes version.

“How’d you manage that? I didn’t think there would be any evidence linking my actions to her.”

“There wasn’t, but Tiara didn’t know that,” she explained. “I convinced her that since the issue would bring about a great deal of embarrassment for the newspaper and Canterlot High, I was willing to be merciful and allow her the dignity of resigning from her position in exchange for letting the issue slide.”

“I’m surprised your boss was okay with this,” I commented.

“Actually, the whole arrangement was my suggestion,” a familiar voice perked up from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Celestia strolling in. “Ms. Yearling wanted something more public, though I had to remind her that stocks are no longer allowed as a punitive measure.”

“Only because you’re no fun anymore. Years have made you soft, Tia, and I’m not just referring to all the cake,” Yearling responded. I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or amused by Celestia’s interjection. I got the impression that despite the apparent verbal jab, their words were rooted in familiarity rather than contempt. “Anyways, downside is that without Diamond Tiara, we’ve also lost Gabby Gums.”

As Apple Bloom and her friends had already confessed to me their disdain for the gossip column, the news came as no surprise. Were I in their situation, I wouldn’t have waited until Ms. Yearling finished saying ‘Tiara resigned’ before high-tailing it out of the club. They had their freedom, which meant I had my security. I would have considered this to have been the best possible outcome were it not for the fact that such good news would not normally require both Yearling and Celestia just to deliver. I suddenly felt very caged in with predators stalking from both angles.

“And this has to do with me because…?” I was hesitant to ask, but I decided to get it over with, as I had a sneaking suspicion as to what pallet of bricks was about to be dropped unceremoniously onto my head. No point in allowing them the satisfaction of seeing me squirm in uncertainty.

Yearling smirked, a playful but unsettling sort of smile. The kind you would expect from a hunter who had just cornered their prey. “Well, since this whole debacle has left me short-staffed, I thought it would be fitting for you to help fill that void,” she explained. And just in case if I was too stunned to understand, Yearling reached into a nearby drawer and pulled out a pocket-sized pad of paper and a pencil, which she handed out to everybody who joined the newspaper club as a contributor.

I took a moment to just stare at the items laid before me. My previous time at the newspaper club had been enjoyable, as far as my memory could recall, but I had joined purely for personal gain. “Should I spell out all of the reasons why this is a horrible idea?” I answered back.

“Only if you want me to spell out all the reasons why I don’t care, and why you’ll do it anyways,” Yearling poignantly rebuked.

Before I could attempt to chastise her for the apparent indifference to my personal feelings, as well as what appeared to be forcing me into what is supposed to be a voluntary after-school program, Celestia stepped in.

“What Ms. Yearling means to say is that she is confidant that we can address your concerns in a productive manner,” Celestia explained before shooting a stink-eye at her colleague. “For example, if you are worried that people might not want to read something with your name attached to it, then you can use a pseudonym for the time being. I believe the name ‘Gabby Gums’ just became available.”

I had to give credit to Celestia for already heading off one of my biggest concerns. I would have felt more appreciative were I not being shoehorned into the job in the first place. Given how Celestia explained the situation, it was apparent that she already gave her blessings for this arrangement. In fact, I would not have been surprised if my services had been offered up as compensation to placate Yearling and her desire for a more public punishment of Diamond Tiara.

Even though I was being volunteered against my will, as far as after-school clubs went, the newspaper had always appealed to me the most. Yearling said I had a knack for wrangling out the truth; it was just a shame that I used it for ulterior motives rather than a genuine desire for journalism.

I let out a sigh, and picked up my new tools. “Pinkie Pie did say that I should get involved in extracurriculars.”

“And I know just the perfect way to ease you back in,” Yearling spoke up in a sudden burst of energy and enthusiasm that caught both Celestia and I off-guard. “The big soccer match between us and Crystal Heart academy was re-scheduled to after-school today. How does a little sports journalism out in the field sound?”

Once again, it did not sound as though I was being given a choice in the matter. However, an article on the big soccer game would be an easy first assignment: give a hot-headed athlete a chance to showboat in the spotlight and they won’t care who they’re talking to. Plus the students of Crystal Heart Academy didn’t know anything about me so they were all safe to talk to, with the exception of a certain former client of mine.

In a surprising move, though, Celestia was the one to voice concerns on the choice of assignment. “Do you really think that’s a wise move? It’s just a friendly soccer match. Surely you could find something more challenging.”

“Sunset Shimmer hasn’t written an article in over half-a-year, she needs something simple to get back into the workflow. Besides, Wednesday’s edition has a big empty space where Gabby’s column used to be.” Equally surprising was Yearling’s resistance; she seemed calmer than Celestia, as though she did not feel threatened or pressured by the principal’s presence.

“But she doesn’t know how to get home from Crystal Heart Academy. It’s pretty much in the opposite direction from the school,” Celestia countered, unabated. I couldn’t help but notice that Celestia’s arguments sounded more...desperate, if only because I was used to her always having carefully considered and formulated answers. If debating were a sport, I’d say she was off her game. “It’s far too much a distance to expect her to walk on her own, and the academy isn’t going to offer any transportation.”

If I noticed that Celestia was grasping at straws, then Yearling saw it a mile before I even had a glimpse. “Then do what every other parent and legal guardian does, and pick them up. You should be finished working by the time the game’s finished. If not, I’m sure Sunset wouldn’t mind waiting a few minutes. It’d even give her time for post-game interviews.”

“You know how busy I am, Dee. The school budget is in absolute disarray,” Celestia replied, bordering on pleading.

“Perhaps she can bum a ride off one of the other students. Rainbow Dash is her friend, if I’m not mistaken.” It was a swift and precise rebuttal from Yearling, though I was more surprised by the fact that she had apparently been keeping tabs on my social life.

“She has no cell phone. What if something happened to her while she’s out?”

“Come now, Tia, I know you dislike private schools, but now you’re just being paranoid.” Yearling was clearly toying with her opponent at this point. It might be more accurate to say that Celestia was a victim caught in a trap by an opponent who had prepared a counter for every step of the process. “Sunset Shimmer is a big girl: she can handle going to another school for one afternoon. Unless there’s a reason why you don’t want her going to Crystal Heart in particular?”

The debate came to such a sudden halt that I almost got whiplash just standing on the sidelines. Celestia remained silent for a moment, staring at her fellow educator as her expression hardened. “No, I suppose I don’t,” she answered with all the brevity of a person turning down the super-size offer at a cashier. She then walked out the door without another word, not even a ‘goodbye’ or ‘take care’ to either of us.

I didn’t say anything until the door slammed shut. “What just happened?”

“What you just witnessed was Celestia losing an argument. Cherish this memory, for these moments are a rarity to behold, existing to most as mere rumours or urban legends—like unicorns, or Frogurt Fridays in the cafeteria.”

“I miss Frogurt Fridays,” I muttered with a sigh.

“We all do.”

*******************

“And you’re okay with that?” Applejack’s concern was understandable and expected. Still, I could not help but feel a bit annoyed when she asked given that I had fielded similar questions all day from my friends since telling them of my new position in the newspaper club.

“The newspaper club isn’t a bad gig,” I answered before stopping at my locker.

The end of the school day meant it was time to find a way to the big soccer game over at Crystal Heart Academy. Unfortunately, the only means of transportation I could think of, other than a lengthy sprint across town, was hitching a ride with the team itself on their bus. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to being stuck in a cramped steel tube filled with jocks who, with the exception of one, all hated my guts. True, Rainbow Dash was my friend, and a loyal one at that, but would she be willing to stick her neck out for me if one of the other players wanted to give me a hard time? What if the whole team came after me? Not only did I not want to test that theory, I didn’t want to put Rainbow Dash in the middle of that.

“I agree that joining a club is a step in the right direction, but it’s...you know, ain’t exactly fair to force you into it,” Applejack said.

She presented a valid point, and one that I had considered over the course of the school day. While I was not thrilled about being coerced into my new position, I decided to give Yearling and Celestia the benefit of the doubt that this would help me in the long run.

“As much as I hate to admit, Celestia was right about one big thing: I do need an adult in my life. I might not be able to ever have a real set of parents in this world, but Celestia has done a pretty decent job so far as a substitute,” I explained. “I need supervision, guidance, and, occasionally, somebody to put their foot down and force me to comply even if I don’t agree with it at first. I’m sure your parents have had to force you to do things that you didn’t enjoy at the time.”

“Uhh, yeah...there’s been times like that,” Applejack replied, suddenly become distant for a moment. I must have touched on a sensitive topic, though I was unaware of my exact faux pas. I had to remind myself that not everybody had rosy lives, as much as I liked to think that I was the only person that the universe liked to screw around with. “Anyway, what do you think you’ll do your first article on?”

“Yearling’s tasked me to do the soccer game today, so I’ve got to catch the bus over to Crystal Heart.” Since I planned to return home immediately after the game, I had to pack light, otherwise I would be hauling a heavy backpack all across the soccer field. Lucky for me, the homework load for today was light or could be put off until tomorrow. I only needed to grab a couple of small textbooks for tonight. Once my pack was loaded, I closed up my locker and we headed on our way.

“Do you need a lift?”

“You’re going to the game?” I replied.

“Eyup,” Applejack answered with an enthusiastic nod. “Got permission to sell some fizzy ciders for refreshments at the game. Big Mac is coming around with the truck and we’re gonna head on over. You’re welcome to tag along.”

“Thanks. I’d really appreciate that.”

“We could give you a lift home, too, if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to make you drive all across town just for me,” I insisted. “Plus, Principal Celestia said she would pick me up after the game.” Now, I could’ve taken up Applejack’s offer and spared Celestia the trip, but her initial reaction to the news of my travel to Crystal Heart had made me curious. Perhaps making her drive out to the academy would shed some light as to the cause for her concern. It was a long shot, but even in the worst-case scenario, the drive home would give me the opportunity to talk with her.

“So what’s it like living with her? Does she act like a principal when she’s at home?”

“I’m not entirely sure what to make of it,” I answered honestly. “I don’t see a great deal of them outside of school. Luna usually retreats to her room once she’s home, and Celestia typically works on administrative stuff in the living room until six-ish. Then she makes dinner, and if she doesn’t go back to her work afterwards, she spends the rest of the evening with the television or a book.”

To be fair, it had only been a little over a week since I moved in, so I had only seen a small portion of their home life. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to presume that they were holding off on any of their usual activities until they felt more comfortable with me around, and I with them. The fact that Luna still forbade me from entering her bedroom was a prime example.

“Is she treating you okay?”

“We still don’t talk much,” I said with a quiet sigh. There were some conflicting emotions with regards to that matter; on the one hand, receiving guidance would be hard if I never spoke to the person that was supposed to be doing the guiding, but she was still Celestia. I still saw my old mentor whenever I looked at her.

“Give it time. Nobody is expecting things to change overnight.” Applejack gave me a few pats on the shoulder to help reassure me, which, surprisingly, did help uplift my spirit. Even if it was just one step at a time, progress was still being made in my life, and I couldn’t give up on it. I already learned the hard way what happens when I try to force change too quickly.

Our little pep talk came to an abrupt halt when we came across a most curious sight in the hallway. In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been too surprising, but nonetheless I wound up staring in stunned silence for several seconds at what could only be described as the single-worst example of a disguise since the time Snips and Snails tried to pass themselves off as cheerleaders. It was Pinkie Pie, of that there was no doubt, but she was trying to conceal her identity by wearing an oversized coat, and those novelty glasses that included a fake nose and moustache. Perhaps it might have been a more effective disguise if she had taken any measure to conceal her ridiculous amounts of pink curls.

“Pinkie Pie, what in the world are you doing?” Applejack asked.

I refrained from answering that question since the reasoning was obvious to me. We were just outside the room where all the hard copies of the student records were held, and judging by how Pinkie was hunched over the door, she was trying to gain entry in order to pull up my records and find my listed date of birth.

“Pinké? ‘oo ees zis Pinké?” she answered in an accent so horrid that a Frenchman somewhere just choked on his baguette. “Juicy Madam La Flour.”

“Two things Pinkie,” I announced, “first off, you’re not fooling anybody. Secondly, you can’t pick a lock with just a bobby pin. It doesn’t work like that.”

Most people when confronted with the obvious truth would just accept it and move on with their lives. Most people, however, do not count buckets of turnips as sources of guidance and inspiration, so rather than abandon her futile quest, Pinkie Pie just doubled-down on her insanity and went straight back to her attempt at subterfuge.

I was beginning to feel embarrassed by proxy, so I motioned for Applejack to just keep moving. Once we got around the next corner, I was no longer able to contain myself and let out a quick snicker, which soon evolved into full-out giggling.

“What exactly is so funny?” Applejack inquired.

“I used to sneak into that room so many times in the past,” I answered, fighting through the fits of laughter. “The door’s lock has been broken for years: the door is just really stiff.” I wondered how long it would take for Pinkie Pie to eventually realize she was being held up by an unlocked door, but even if she did get inside, the records room was about as organized as the aftermath of a tornado. There was a reason why everyone used the electronic database.

“So why is she trying to get into the records room anyways?”

“How should I know? I barely understand half the things she does.” I did feel a bit guilty lying to Applejack, but I knew what would happen if I told her the truth. All that would happen is that I would have a third person on my case about avoiding my birthday, which would just hasten its spread to the rest of my friends. I already made the mistake of giving too much information to Rainbow Dash, so I was going to be more mindful about what I said around the others. One or two friends I could stonewall, but if all five of them ganged up on me, then avoiding the issue might become impossible.

I knew that I would have to let them in sooner or later. They all enjoyed such a close kinship, and I was never going to achieve that if I kept them at arm’s length. I just didn’t want to think about my birthday, impending though it may be, because the one thing I wanted was also the thing I was most afraid to ask for.

Stepping out of the school, I spotted a few of our friends in the distance. They were saying their farewells to Rainbow Dash, who was adorned in her soccer gear and looking as eager as a puppy with a new toy. Luckily for me, Applejack only had us pass nearby to the group: close enough for them to see us, and for all of us to exchange waves and shouts of ‘good-bye’ and ‘have fun,’ but not close enough for anybody to say much else. I wondered if Rainbow Dash had made any mention of Pinkie’s new quest to Fluttershy or Rarity. It was a question that would have to wait until tomorrow at the very least.

Up ahead, I could see a parked pickup truck loaded down with boxes of what I could safely presume to be fizzy apple cider. I had never been able to picture fizzy cider as a beverage of choice for soccer games, but I also didn’t sell the stuff for a living, so what did I know? It made me wonder if I should have packed a water bottle since I did plan to spend most of my time talking with fans and players. Applejack would never let me live it down if I had to buy a fizzy cider from her.

“You ever been to Crystal Heart?” Applejack asked out of the blue as we walked to her truck.

“I’ve walked by the school property before, and I’ve met a few of its students,” I answered, deciding to leave out the exact details of those student contacts. “And you?”

“Nope! First time visiting. I hope they ain’t too rich and fancy for some good ol’ country ciders.” Though on the surface, she sounded very optimistic, I couldn’t help but notice a faint undertone of uncertainty. Were she anyone else, I would have described it as ‘worried,’ but I figured it was just Applejack exercising her usual brand of pragmatism.

As for myself, I wasn’t worried in the least, which was a nice change of pace. Though the issue with Pinkie Pie still played at the back of my mind, it wasn’t the kind of thing a person loses sleep over. All I had to look forward to was a relaxing afternoon watching a soccer game.

What could be more stress-free than that?

Act IV-III

Life had a funny way of working in a circular fashion. My journey into the frightening and alien realm of friendship and understanding started with me shunning the outside world from the relative sanctuary of my bed. Barely even a month later, though, and I was back into that familiar fetal position. At least this time I had warmer blankets with which to take shelter under.

Yet even cradled in comfort, a part of me yearned to be back at the bottom of that crater: a pit where I could wallow in my own misery, alone and forgotten. Having the world hate me was something that I quickly came to terms with, and felt entirely justified. I could survive with the world hating me.

But having Twilight Sparkle hate me? That I wasn’t so certain about. The very thought had been so terrifying that it had crippled all rational thought with the brutal efficiency of a crowbar to the knees. Once Gilda had finished airing my dirty laundry for Twilight to see, I bolted out the door at the first possible opportunity. Didn’t even bother saying good-night.

I panicked and I ran like some timid little forest rodent. Was it a stupid move to make? Of course it was, but that fact didn’t sink in until after I had marathoned all the way home and locked myself away. Maybe if I had stayed and held my ground I could’ve explained myself. Twilight knew I had a less-than-pristine history, but she had always been content to sit in ignorance of my past sins. How could I explain the reasons why I helped so many cheat without explaining why I was on my own, and who I truly was. If only I hadn’t given into my fear...

By Celestia, was I pathetic.

Sadly, by the time that Saturday morning rolled in, I was still too emotionally rattled to think straight. I didn’t sleep well either, which didn’t help matters in the least. It was another bad dream involving old ghosts mocking my stellar decision-making skills and reminding me that I was always just one slip-up away from falling back into that hole. It was becoming so familiar I was beginning to think it had me on speed dial. Sometimes I wondered if my subconscious was out to get me.

This time around, though, there would be no Celestia knocking at my door to save me, at least not until she returned from her business meetings tomorrow night. If I was expecting salvation from Luna, I’d have more luck developing a time machine and undoing my mistakes before they happened. She’d sooner hold my head under the water than help me out.

Out of twisted curiosity, I checked my phone to see if there had been any messages during the night.

There had been none.

The faint, whimpering sound that followed was the last remnants of my self-worth throwing itself off a cliff. Without any real glimmer of hope, I resigned myself to hiding out until I eventually worked up the courage to contact Twilight again. There wasn’t a force in the universe that was going to get me out of bed until then.

“Gah, I need to pee,” I grumbled in resignation.

After a few minutes of debating and uncomfortable squirming, I eventually relented and slunk out of bed. I could go back to sulking after I had relieved myself. Fate, however, wasn’t the type to let me wallow in self-pity. When life closed one door, it just kicked open another.

“Morning Sunset!”

Upon opening my door, I was immediately greeted to the sight and ear-splitting cheer of one Pinkamina Diane Pie. So sudden was her onslaught of unbridled cheer and confetti that my first reaction was to shriek like a school filly and slam the door shut. My nerves had been so thoroughly frazzled from the night before that I was half-a-twitch away from not needing that bathroom anymore. For a brief moment, I thought that I might still have been dreaming, or that my mind had finally decided to let go of the wheel, but then I heard a muffled noise.

“Owie…”

Since figments of one’s imagination did not suffer pain, that had to be a flesh and blood Pinkie out in the hall. I put on my best apologetic smile and opened the door, more cautiously this time. Sure enough, there stood my friend, rubbing the new sore spot on her nose. Standing alongside her was Rainbow Dash, who appeared to be snickering at me, no doubt because of my bizarre reaction to Pinkie just seconds ago.

“What are you two doing here?” I asked, wary of my friends’ sudden arrival at my door.

Despite all my yearning for the contrary, it was Luna that answered the question. “You have an assignment to do, remember?” she remarked, wearing that same expression of tired impatience she always seemed to have when addressing me. It was as though I were just a continual source of disappointment for her. “I would’ve liked to have known in advance that you were inviting your friends over.”

“I… had been meaning to tell you,” I sheepishly replied. I didn’t want to start another argument so I avoided any mentioning of yesterday’s events. “Is it okay if they stay for a while?”

“Just try not to make too much noise,” Luna answered. Much to my relief, she didn’t put up any resistance to letting my friends stay, save for that single caveat. It was a rare moment where I was glad that I had been wrong and that my paranoia about Luna had been shown to be little more than that. “I’m going to trust that you have enough sense to finish your assignment rather than goof around.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about us,” Rainbow Dash insisted in my stead. “I need to do well on this assignment anyways, otherwise my mother is going freak out something fierce, so I am one hundred times more motivated to making sure this gets done!”

I wasn’t certain if Luna believed my friend or not, but either way she refrained from saying anything further and retreated back to the relative safety of her room. As for myself, normally I would’ve felt hesitant about spending an afternoon trying to get the two least work-orientated girls I knew to sit down and finish an assignment, but I saw an opportunity to distract myself from my current woes. School work was easy, safe, and predictable—it was exactly what I needed.

Right after a trip to the bathroom.

*******************

Any hope that I had of using my school work as a distraction soon proved to be fleeting at best. While Applejack held steadfast to her committment of truth and honesty, Rainbow Dash proved to be far more flexible in her definition of ‘honesty.’ Her usual motivation with regards to work was barely above zero, so a hundred times that was still very little, as demonstrated by the amount of time she spent laying on my bed complaining of boredom.

“Can’t we at least take a break?” Dash whined as she rolled onto her back. Her head dangled over the side of the bed next to where I sat on the floor, which wouldn’t have been so distracting were she not breathing right into my ear.

It was amazing how little things could irritate you so quickly when you were emotionally exhausted. “Could you knock it off?” I snapped back. “Maybe if you finished your part of the work, we could all take a break.”

Unsurprisingly, my ‘motivation’ did little to move her along, other than making a face at me with a mocking echo of ‘we could all take a break.’ “What’s got you so wound up, anyways? I thought this schoolwork stuff was a piece of cake for you,” Dash replied.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that Dash was just manoeuvring her way to convincing me to do her share of the work, too, which wasn’t a bad plan except that it was completely transparent and I was in no mood for games. Sadly, as it was considered bad form to threaten corporal punishment on teenagers, I was hard-pressed to find a way to coax my friend from her procrastination.

“Didn’t you say your mother would get angry if you got a bad mark on this?” I asked in hopes a reminder of the consequences could convince her.

“Only if she finds out.”

Legends speak of a magical garden in Equestria, where the sun greets you every morning with her warm embrace; where the rivers flow not of water, but of sweet nectar that could quench any thirst; where the animals welcome you into their lands with flowers and song; and an endless supply of sweet and delicious fruit to keep you sated. A land, they say, of endless bliss and joy that would make your heart and soul sing praises every waking moment.

Even if I teleported straight into the middle of that magical, blessed land, it could not quell the seething rage I now felt and was seconds from releasing against Rainbow Dash. How could anybody be so casually irresponsible towards their own education? What kind of justice was there in the universe that could reward such a lackadaisical attitude with popularity and success? Clearly I should’ve just learned how to play soccer rather than fuss over polynomials and thermodynamics.

By the heavens, I wanted to throttle the life out of Dash right then and there. It would’ve been easy too—she was too busy playing some fruit slicing game on her phone to notice me. I could just reach out, put my hands around her throat, and squeeze until her head turned purple.

Luckily for both of us, Pinkie Pie was able to step in at just the right moment to take my attention away from murderous thoughts.

“Here you go, Sunset! I got the first part of my assignment done!” she exclaimed while holding up several pages of drawings.

“Why were you doodling, Pinkie?” I replied, shifting my anger to her now. “What is so wrong with you people that something as mundane as answering a few questions seems to be beyond your comprehen—” Somehow, my brain managed to put a lid on my boiling cauldron of fury by casually glancing at the aforementioned doodles and realizing something. “Did... did you answer all the questions through comics?”

“Mm-hm,” Pinkie answered with a nod. She seemed to be quite pleased with her work, too, and with good reason. “I call it ‘Sunny Skies,’ which follows the crazy adventures of two horses named Sunshine and Sky who are also super best friends forever!”

Flipping through the pages, I had to swallow my pride and admit that Pinkie found a rather creative way to complete her assignment. The thoroughness and delivery of her answers wasn’t the only thing that caught my attention.

“I can’t help but notice that this Sunshine character looks a bit like me,” I replied. I didn’t even bother mentioning who the bubbly, curly-haired ‘Sky’ character reminded me of.

“Any resemblances to real-life people, living or dead, is purely coincidental,” Pinkie insisted as she took her drawings back. “I’m thinking of having the next story arc be about Sky getting to plan the biggest, best birthday party ever for Sunshine.”

And there went what relief I had foolishly allowed myself to indulge in. “Please, just focus on our work,” I sighed.

“Is everything okay, Sunset?” Rainbow asked, sounding more curious than concerned. “You’ve been awfully cranky today, and I mean, like, worse than the old you.”

“It’s nothing,” I insisted foolishly. “Just… a rough day and a worse night.”

Telling them the truth might’ve been easier, not just for my immediate relief but for the long run as well. In my fear of making my life more miserable, though, I tried to keep my problems with Twilight from mixing with anything else.

Rainbow remained skeptical, however, and continued pressing for answers. “So what happened? Bad grade on a quiz?”

“No,” I groaned.

“More graffiti on your locker?”

“No.”

“Somebody slipped some balogne into your lunch?”

“Please stop.”

“Missed the bus home?”

“No.”

“Strong breeze in a short skirt?”

“No!”

Then Pinkie Pie decided to chime in. “Problems with that person you’re secretly texting?”

“Yes—I mean no!”

Too late.

“Wait, what? Secret texting?” Rainbow Dash asked, her curiosity now dialed up to eleven. “Start spilling the beans, Sunset.”

“There’s nothing to spill,” I snapped back. If I had any hope of keeping my relations with Twilight a secret, I had to give them something believable as a decoy. In retrospect, I don’t know why I didn’t just tell the truth; maybe it was just my need to control things in my life. I wanted to tell them, but only when I was ready. “They’re just messages to a friend, okay? It’s no big deal.”

“So why all the secrecy then?” Rainbow asked with a cheshire grin. “You’re not chatting up Flash Sentry again, are you?”

“Flash and I are cool, but it’s going to be a while before we can be ‘buddies’.” Lying about it being Flash might’ve been the quickest exit to this problem, but even I had enough foresight to know that they’d eventually ask Flash and he’d contradict me, bringing the conversation right back to where we are now. “It’s just somebody I met recently, and I’m taking things slow.”

“Oooo, is it a boy?” I don’t know how Rainbow Dash made that jump in logic—she must’ve figured my reluctance to share details was from the embarrassment of an infatuation. The problem now, though, was the more I denied it, the more Rainbow would believe she was right because denial is exactly what an embarrassed person would do.

“It’s not a boy!”

“It’s totally a boy,” Rainbow Dash whispered over to Pinkie.

On the bright side, I had my opening to lead them away from the truth. Is it really lying when they won’t believe the truth?

“Fine, it’s a boy!” I shouted in defeat.

“Oooooooo!” my friends chimed in unison.

“What’s his name?”

“Is he cool?”

“Does he go to our school?”

“Does he play any sports?”

“Is he cute?”

“One at a time, girls, one at a time!” Now that I had them convinced they had ‘worked’ the truth out of me, they’d believe pretty much anything I said at this point. However, I didn’t want to reveal too much so I figured a little bit of creative licensing with the truth wouldn’t hurt. “For starters, we’re just friends. We met at the soccer game at Crystal Heart, and he’s really shy, so I don’t want to rush anything—and that includes introducing you or any of the others. I’m sure you’ll get along but, no offense, you girls can be a bit… intense. It could scare him off.”

While Pinkie Pie maintained her cheerful exuberance, my answer appeared to be unsatisfactory for Rainbow Dash, who frowned and rolled over on the bed once more. “Well that was a lot more boring than I had hoped,” she remarked.

Thank Celestia for short attention spans.

“So when do we get to meet him?” Pinkie Pie asked, her enthusiasm unabated.

“When the time is right, okay?”

“You promise?” Pinkie said as she leaned in closer. She looked unsettlingly serious for a change. “Pinkie promise?”

“Y-yeah, of course. I promise.”

“Say iiiiiiiiit.”

By the Throne of Canterlot, could she be persistent. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” I monotoned while making the appropriate hand gestures to satisfy her ritualistic needs.

Despite my unenthused manner, my friend was placated. “Okie dokie lokie,” she replied through an ear-to-ear grin.

I was able to breathe a sigh of relief for a short while, now that the crisis had been averted. No doubt this issue would pop up again from my other friends, but so long as I remained consistent in my story, they’ll be none the wiser. Normally, I’d be worried about Pinkie trying to pry into my life, but she held her Pinkie promises to a level of sanctity that would make religious zealots seem mild and restrained.

Sadly, I was still no closer to getting Rainbow Dash to work on her assignment, but I had to settle with what victories I could. I had a feeling that by the end of the afternoon, I was going to be very disappointed with her, and by ‘very disappointed’ I mean ‘so angry with I could throw her out a window.’

*******************

By the early evening hours, all three of us were still safe and sound in my room. Through some stroke of good fortune, along with a lot of bribing and begging, I managed to convince Rainbow Dash to finish most of her assigned work. I did, however, take the more difficult questions off her hands, if only to preserve my sanity after enduring hours of listening to Dash try to talk herself through problems that I could finish in my sleep. In hindsight, that might’ve been Dash’s plan the entire time, in which case that was very clever of her.

“Okay, I think that’s enough work for one afternoon,” I announced, followed by a tired sigh. “We can finish up the rest of it during class next week.”

“Finally!” Rainbow said with great relief. “Hey, do you think we can watch a movie on that big screen downstairs?”

“I don’t see a reason why not,” I answered, “as long as somebody actually brought a movie to watch.”

“You mean Celestia doesn’t have anything worth watching?” Pinkie asked.

I paused to ponder it but eventually just shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t think Celestia has any movies at all.” In my weeks thus far living with the two sisters, I hadn’t seen anything that even resembled a DVD beyond things related to school business. I wasn’t even sure if Celestia owned a DVD player in the first place. Books had always been more of her thing.

When Rainbow Dash gave an indifferent shrug, that was her way of answering that she brought no movies with her. “Guess I should’ve realized Celestia and Luna were as boring at home as they were at school,” Rainbow remarked.

“It’s not that bad,” I insisted, though I soon found myself unable to back that up with any evidence. “I mean, I’m rarely bored living here, but I guess after three years on my own, I’m a little used to the isolation.”

“You know what we could do?”

“Pinkie, you better not be suggesting a party.”

“How about a… joyous gathering of your friends?” Pinkie offered as an alternative.

I let a silent glare of disapproval be my response.

“Come on, Sunset, you know Pinkie would throw you an awesome party. Why are you still hung about that?” Rainbow asked. “Is this some pony thing that we ‘humans’ wouldn’t understand?”

“No, it’s a Sunset Shimmer thing that you wouldn’t understand,” I growled back. I did not want to get bogged down in another conversation about my birthday, especially considering all of the other problems I had on my shoulders right now. If anything, my patience was at an all-time low. “So I’m begging you, please, leave it alone.”

“Wow. Didn’t realize you felt so strongly about it,” Rainbow grumbled back. She sounded equal parts surprised and disappointed, but I think it had a lot to do with the continuing boredom she was faced with again. She sprawled across my bed once more, like a lounging cat, and turned to her phone as her last vestige for entertainment.

“Maybe you girls should just go home. No point in you sitting around here, bored out of your skulls,” I said reluctantly. Those words felt like waving the white flag as a host. Can’t even really entertain two of my friends for one afternoon, how lame was that? It didn’t help my sentiments about how horrid of a friend I was proving to be.

My friend, however, disagreed with my assertion. “There must be something fun we can do,” Pinkie said. “What does Luna do for fun?”

“Beats me,” I answered. “She’s always locked away in her room.”

Unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash’s curiosity was piqued by this. “Oooo, maybe she’s hiding something in there,” she mused out loud.

“Can we not talk about Luna?”

“Why? Afraid she’ll pop up if we say her name too many times?” Dash teased. Though my apprehensions did sound like paranoia, my relations with Luna have always seemed to function like Murphy’s Law. “Luna, Luna, Luna!”

As if driven by some supernatural urge to haunt my every waking moment, no sooner did Dash finish speaking did a knock echo from my bedroom door. Even Dash looked a bit surprised by the ominous timing. Putting my paranoia aside, I went to see what Luna wanted to speak with us about.

“Hello Luna, is everything okay?” I asked after cracking the door open.

“I’m going out to pick up dinner and groceries,” Luna explained in her typical to-the-point attitude. “Apparently in my sister’s haste, she forgot to do any grocery shopping.”

“Oh, um… that’s interesting.” I honestly wasn’t sure how to respond to her, though my constant paranoia blinded me from seeing the obvious.

“Meaning I’ll pick up something for you and your friends if you’re interested,” Luna was quick to inform. “Any objections to pizza?”

“Nope.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Pizza would be great, thank you,” I answered. Eating a bit of humble pie still felt awkward despite the routine occurrence.

“I’ll make sure one doesn’t have any meat,” Luna said before she left.

Once Luna left, I was forced to acknowledge to myself that maybe Luna wasn’t entirely evil and out to get me. Even if she did sound like she was being compelled by obligation rather than compassion, it was still nice of her to make the offer. She could’ve just thrown a pizza at us like we were tigers in a pen and be done with it.

Suddenly, Dash got that sort of wicked grin that makes sane people worry what you’re up to. “Hey, who wants to go see what Luna keeps in her room?”

Suffice to say, I voiced my objection in a polite and level-headed fashion. “Are you out of your freaking mind? Do you have a death wish? Because I don’t!”

“Like she’ll find out,” Dash replied.

“The instant that Luna even thinks I’ve been inside her room, I may as well shoot myself to the moon and make camp for the next millennia.”

“The moon?”

“That analogy makes perfect sense back where I’m from!”

My friends were uninterested in any history lessons, and instead seemed to switch all their attention to this new obsession. “But what if she’s got something super cool in her room?” Dash suggested, as though I were ever motivated by things that are just ‘cool.’

“She locks her door,” I tried to dissuade them.

“So? You said you can pick locks, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but that’s with simple locks like on desk and cheap padlocks. Doors tend to have larger and more sophisticated mechanisms.”

If only Rainbow Dash could be argued with using things like logic. Her mature and articulated rebuttal consisted of clucking like a chicken. It was like trying to argue with a child. If I had my magic, I could’ve zipped her lips shut, but instead I was forced to wait until her patience ran thin and she grew bored, which was all of ten seconds. Thank goodness.

“Maybe Luna’s hiding away her terrible dark secret that will reveal all the reasons why she’s treating you so badly,” Pinkie Pie chimed in with her suggestion.

“Now that’s just absurd,” I scoffed, folding my arms in a huff. But then I started giving Pinkie’s argument a bit of thought. “You really think she’d hide stuff like that in her room?”

“That or a super-embarrassing secret hobby,” Pinkie answered.

I had to admit, there had always been a lingering curiosity in the back of my mind about what Luna kept locked away in her makeshift dungeon. The mere fact that she was so protective about it just made me think it was more than just being territorial. Despite my misgivings, my curiosity was hooked. Surely it couldn’t hurt just to take a quick look, now could it?

“I guess I could give it a shot,” I continued musing out loud. “The lock was there before I moved in, so she couldn’t have installed it anticipating someone like me breaking in.”

“Come on, Sunset, the more you wait, the less time you’ll have,” Rainbow enticed me further.

And that’s how I got talked into breaking into Luna’s room. As far as dumb moves go, this was par for the course when it came to my track record. Within minutes, we were huddled outside of Luna’s door with Pinkie Pie on look-out, and an impatient Rainbow Dash looming over my shoulder.

“You know, when you said you could pick locks, I envisioned something way cooler,” she remarked. Unsurprisingly watching somebody hunched over a door handle with a bunch of picks and a torsion bar didn’t offer much excitement for my friend. It didn’t help that I was taking my time, if only so I didn’t leave behind too much evidence that the lock had been tampered with.

“Picking locks isn’t about ‘cool,’” I replied, “it’s about patience and preci—”

“Booooooooring!”

“There’s no pleasing you, is there?” The process probably could’ve gone faster had Dash not insisted on lingering so close. I was used to picking locks quickly and without an audience, so her presence was a bit unnerving, as was the sound of her breathing against my ear. “Okay, Rainbow Dash, how is this for cool?” I said with a triumphant grin. With a twist of the wrist, there was a rewarding ‘click,’ followed by the door slowly swinging open.

A tense silence swept out from the room, as though we had just unlocked the path to some ancient and forbidden evil, which arguably wasn’t too far from the truth. I, for one, expected Luna to swoop in like some horror movie monster to put an end to my quest for the truth. But when nothing emerged, the three of us were able to breathe a small sigh of relief. That did not, however, alleviate all of our worries as a faint glow pulsing in the otherwise darkened room left us even more nervous than before.

“W-well, it was your idea, Dash, you go in first,” I suggested while pushing my friend to the front.

“Hey, it’s your home and your handiwork, you totally deserve the honour,” Dash insisted before quickly trading places with me.

Filled with trepidation, we crept into the room, one timid step at a time. You’d think we were trespassing into Nightmare Moon’s lair rather than a vice principal’s bedroom, but for me they may as well have been the same. As the curtains were drawn shut, I palmed the nearby wall until I managed to find the light switch and flicked it on. What we saw was… surprising, in a way, though if we had been rational children, none of what we saw should’ve been too stunning.

It was a bedroom, after all, so there was some very ordinary and non-menacing furniture like her bed, with sheets folded to the point where you could bounce a quarter off its surface.

“What is that?” Rainbow asked in a rhetorical fashion as she gestured to the nearby desk. Upon it was enough high-tech gadgets, computers, and electronics to make any nerd’s heart skip a beat, full of blinking lights and cable bundles.

“Now that’s a computer set-up,” I remarked. Now that the initial fear had subsided, I felt no hesitation about taking a closer look. “Three wide-screen monitors… a water-cooled tower… and are these noise-cancelling headphones?”

“Ooo, fancy,” Pinkie said as she picked up the aforementioned headphones. She hopped into the nearby chair and took it for a few spins, giggling all the while.

Rainbow Dash was on the other side of the room, looking through the contents of a bookshelf. “Bunch of stuff on computers here. Who knew Luna was such a nerd,” she commented.

“This explains where all of her paycheck keeps going,” I murmured to myself. Honestly, the stuff on her desk alone cost more than what I spent on a year’s worth of rent. It was all very clean, too, which was impressive given the usual stereotypes that surrounded people with so much computer equipment. There wasn’t even a crumb of food marring the otherwise well-worn desk.

Not too far away was a second desk with a computer, though it was more of a workbench as the much older and cheaper computer system had been removed from its casing and the components were spread across the work surface. Something about the computer tickled my curiosity, but it wasn’t until I stared and pondered at it for a few moments that a suspicion came to mind.

“Hey Pinkie, do these look like the old library computers?”

“You mean the ones we got rid of last year?” my friend replied, still spinning in the chair.

“Yeah. Looks like Luna is doing some upgrades,” I said while noting a graphics card that had looked a bit newer than the surrounding components. It seemed like an unusual task for her to be undertaking given that the computer system just a few feet away likely had a processor chip that cost more than this one’s entire system.

I decided not to think too much more on it as I continued on with my search of Luna’s room. The more I lingered in her room, though, the worse I felt. This was going a bit beyond just satisfying curiosity and into the realms of snooping. I kept telling myself that this was my best chance at getting to understand Luna and maybe even an upper hand in our constant struggles, but those rationalizations felt more like an excuse.

Still, the repercussions I faced, both from within and without, remained the same regardless of how long I remained. I saw no reason to stop if I could get some answers.

I decided to join Rainbow Dash over by the dresser, which housed a number of picture frames and other items that looked like mementos. There were a few family portraits not too dissimilar to the ones that hung in other parts of the house: a smiling family of a young Luna, Celestia, and two adults I presumed to be their parents.

“It’s hard to imagine Celestia and Luna as kids,” Rainbow commented. “Looks like Luna used to really like soccer, though. That’s pretty cool.” She gestured to one picture of a very young girl in soccer gear, posing for the camera with a bright-eyed smile. Dash had a point: it was hard for me to consider that the girl in the picture is the same person that’s brought me so much grief in the past few weeks.

It didn’t take long for me to notice that there was a gap in the timeline of pictures I saw. There were a handful of pictures from her early childhood and a bunch from the more recent years, but nothing in-between. The closest I could find was a graduation picture, but that’s from her college years. No bright, cheerful smiles to be found in any of the adulthood photos.

“Anyone else notice that there’s no pictures of their parents from, like, the last decade or two?” I remarked with a growing sense of unease.

“Hey Sunset, look at this,” Pinkie called out. She waved me over and directed my attention to a framed document on the wall. It was one of those ornate official documents with the embroidered trimmings and a shiny seal of authenticity smacked across it.

“It’s a certification from a GED,” I answered after skimming across the cursive-font title.

“A what now?” Rainbow asked.

“General Educational Development,” I explained, though spelling out the acronym did little to alleviate the confusion. “It’s a program that offers tests and certifications for people who weren’t able to participate in the conventional education system.”

“Meaning…?” Rainbow said, evidently still failing to follow along.

“This is a high school equivalency certificate,” I answered more plainly. “Luna never graduated from a high school.”

“You certainly know a lot about those things.”

“Because I considered getting one of these a few years back, before I hatched my grand scheme of revenge and world domination.”

“You mean before you decided to steal a magic crown and replace it with a cheap replica?” Dash replied.

“There was more to it than that,” I insisted, though why I was offended I can’t say for certain. “You make it sound so rudimentary when you say it like that.”

“Well it wasn’t like it was something you’d see in a Daring Do book.”

“Nevermind,” I said with a sigh, pushing my thoughts away from my old machinations. The focus here was Luna’s past, not mine. “I’m beginning to get a sense of what happened here. The high school equivalency, the gaps in the pictures, the authoritarian-like rule—it all points to one conclusion.”

“So what is it?” Dash asked with growing impatience.

“Yes, please. Enlighten us.”

That was a voice that made the three of us freeze on the spot. One by one, each of us turned our gaze towards the door, where Luna stood with an expression that could be best described as if a ticking time bomb had an angry face.

“If we don’t move, maybe she won’t see us,” Pinkie Pie whispered.

Needless to say, nobody bought into that theory, but even still, we all remained motionless as though the next breath would be our last.

“You have until the count of ten to get out of the house before I do something that you’ll regret,” Luna warned.

Now none of us knew what exactly that entailed, but the wild fantasies of young minds were more than sufficient to fill the gaps with horrific fates. I, personally, envisioned something along the lines of cleaning all the bathrooms in Canterlot High with a toothbrush after a bad day of Taco Tuesday.

“Now hold on a second,” Dash interjected as she stepped in between Luna and I. “Before you do anything else, this whole idea was—”

“Until the count of three. One… two… “

Seeing Luna removing what little safety buffer she had, Rainbow turned to me and displayed her stalwart loyalty. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you Sunset,” she said, giving me a hasty handshake. She then grabbed Pinkie by the wrist and the two raced out the door without even looking back. Now it was just me and Luna, like a sheep trapped in a cage with the lion.

Time felt like it slowed to a glacier’s pace, with the tense silence making it all the more unbearable. She just stared at me, arms folded across her chest with her usual disapproving scowl. Was she waiting for me to make the first move? There was no easy lie or convenient scapegoat for this, though, as the situation was exactly what it looked like. It’s not as though I tripped and my lockpicks fell into her door.

Maybe her vision really was based on movement.

Maybe I was already dead and the rest of my conscious perception hadn’t caught up to it yet.

But then I realized why I was in Luna’s room in the first place. As I had said moments ago, there was only one logical conclusion to reach from what I had seen—I knew Luna’s dirty little secret now.

Emboldened by this knowledge, I proudly declared my defiance. “You know what, I don’t need to be afraid of you anymore! I know why you’ve been so fixated on juvenile hall—because you’ve been there! You were a criminal! A juvenile delinquent!”

“So?”

And with but two letters, Luna not only took the wind from my sails, she cut down the masts and blew a hole in the hull. Dirty little secrets only mattered if the other person was ashamed or afraid of them.

“I was really hoping just saying that out loud would be enough to dissuade you,” I reluctantly admitted.

“Well now we both get to be disappointed.”

I wasn’t so much disappointed as I was confused. One did not put locks on a door just to be spiteful, so why did Luna feel the need to keep me out? Perhaps she accepted it as inevitable that I would find out that she had once served time in juvenile hall. Then I realized it had to do with why she went, not the fact that she did. I had to go on the offensive if I was to get anything. I was already going to be in for a world of trouble so I saw no reason to hold back.

“You know what, you’re nothing but a… but a… a hypocrite!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me: a hypocrite.” It had taken me a few seconds to figure out a decent accusation, but once I got it out, I had to sell it. So I straightened up, put on my best war face, and braced myself for my greatest feat of ‘making it up as I go along.’ “You’ve spent all this time acting high and mighty, but the truth is you were just as bad as I once was.”

Luna was predictably skeptical, but took up the challenge as another opportunity to browbeat me. “I am no hypocrite. That experience affords me the unique perspective of understanding why juvenile hall would be better for you in the long run.”

“So I can be a stuffy, anti-social shut-in who still lives with her older sister? I can see how it’s been just wonderful for you.” That was a low blow, I’ll admit, but I was desperate and I needed to rattle Luna’s cage to see what tumbled out.

“I am doing just fine,” Luna insisted. “And this isn’t about me, this is about you getting your proper punishment.”

“Well your sister thinks differently.”

“I don’t care what she thinks!” she snapped back through clenched teeth. She was getting angry now, which was normally when you should start running and screaming, but this time it revealed a chink in her normally impenetrable defenses.

“I bet it really burns you up inside having your sister lording over you all the time: being your boss, running the household, overriding your decisions.”

“Of course it bothers me! Who wouldn’t be annoyed?”

With great reluctance, I admit that I was growing less intimidated and more excited by the argument. It was like a game of cat and mouse, but instead I was chasing down somebody’s insecurity.

“You’re not just annoyed, you’re pissed off at her!”

“This is not about Celestia!”

“Ha! You lie like a rug,” I taunted, twisting the proverbial knife. “How does it feel knowing your sister picked me over you?”

Sometimes, though, you’ve got to be careful what you wish for. I soon began to regret my heavy-handed approach when Luna grabbed me by the collar and forced me up against her desk. She pushed against me with such force that I was almost bent over backwards, with my shoulders stopping only because there was a disassembled computer in the way.

“I hate you for it!” she screamed in my face. For a brief instant, I genuinely began to fear for my safety. Enraged didn’t even begin to describe what I saw in Luna; it was like a thousand years of bottled up emotions. “Why you? Why! What makes you so goddamn special?”

I didn’t say anything; I was too scared to say anything. Even as Luna shook me, slamming me repeatedly against the desk and computers, fear gripped my throat.

“You harass the students, and she looks the other way; you blow up the school, and she takes you into her home; you get arrested, and she has me save your sorry butt! She is bending over backwards to protect you! She’s risking her career right now covering for your screw-ups to the district school board!”

She slammed me against the desk again. Not hard enough to really hurt, but it was enough to start knocking things over. But there was something underneath all the anger spilling out, and it was welling up in the corners of her eyes.

“Why, Sunset Shimmer? Why does she keep giving you everything that she never gave me? Where was my rescue? Where was she when I needed that mercy and understanding?” Her grip suddenly began to loosen as her gaze sank straight to the floor. “Why did she let them take me away…”

Things went eerily calm in the room all of a sudden. With Luna backing away, I had an opportunity to escape, but now I felt more compelled to stay. Perhaps it was because things started to actually make sense for a change.

A quiet, disheartened murmur eventually broke the silence. “Get out.”

“N-no. I don’t think I should.” If I had turned and left, I probably would’ve gotten off free as a bird. We would’ve avoided each other until Celestia returned, and I could’ve left this mess to her more experienced hands. But I saw an opportunity to do something that I hadn’t considered before: to understand Luna. “I… I want to stay and talk. I want to understand what happened because… because I think whatever happened is the reason why your sister is going to such lengths for me.”

“That would require her to admit she screwed up, and my sister, the model of perfection, does not does make mistakes,” Luna scoffed, sounding more bitter by the minute.

“Just because she might be too ashamed to admit it doesn’t mean it’s not affecting her,” I countered. I knew for a fact that Celestia made mistakes, and she’s even admitted a few to me. “If you’re the real reason why I’m still free rather than sitting in a concrete cell, then I want to know what happened. Because… I don’t want to hate the person that I should be the most thankful to.”

Luna slunk over to her bed, collapsing onto it with a tired and disheartened groan. “You want to know what happened?” she asked, glancing over to me. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You have to tell Pinkie Pie the real reason why you’re avoiding your birthday.”

If Luna was trying to avoid talking about her past without making it obvious, she did a good job at it. I wanted to know, but at the same time I didn’t want to have to talk about my own sins in order to do so.

“But d-didn’t you already send her away?” I replied.

“Your friends are eavesdropping through the door.”

“No we’re not!”

“Pinkie! You’re not supposed to say that!”

“Oops, my bad. I mean, yes, we totally are!”

I sighed in dismay as my friends made their entrance, both grinning sheepishly all the while. If they were both here then they likely heard every bit of our conversation, which made it all the harder for me to say no to Luna’s deal. Maybe it was time to stop hiding from my past. I joined Luna with my own equally disheartened groan and fell onto what space was available on the bed.

“Okay Pinkie, why don’t you take a seat. It’s storytime.”

Act IV-VI

The next morning, my journey down to the kitchen in a half-awake stupor was broken from its usual routine when I noticed a peculiar fragrance in the air while en route. It had a sweet and warm aroma to it, growing more intense and inviting with every step. When I found the source, I was greeted to a number of surprises.

Firstly, both Celestia and Luna were already in the kitchen, which was unusual as Luna was not what one would describe as a morning person. In fact, she hated mornings about as much as cold coffee and poor wifi reception and slightly less than frontal lobotomies. I had thought it would take a full-scale invasion to get Luna to wake-up early on a Sunday, but the second part of the surprise revealed something more compelling.

“Ah, good morning Sunset,” Celestia greeted me. “You’re just in time for waffles.”

Yes, waffles; and not the frozen, store-bought variety either. Sitting on the breakfast table before Celestia were pair of large, golden-brown waffles, smothered in maple syrup, whipped cream, and strawberries. These were freshly made, and their source proved to be the final piece of my morning’s surprise. Luna was making the waffles, standing over a waffle iron holding a bowl of what I could only presume to be hand-made batter. I was almost too stunned for words. Luna was the kind of person who thought a microwave pizza took too long, and here she was going through all the labor of making waffles from scratch. Had I stepped into another parallel dimension?

“We have a waffle iron?” I remarked in disbelief. “And you cook?”

“We do, and I do,” Luna chimed in response. “Given everything that happened yesterday, I figured we needed something to mark the occasion. And contrary to what some older sisters who shall remain nameless might suggest, I am not completely incapable of preparing my own meals.”

“True as that may be,” Celestia replied, “but you can’t subsist on a diet of waffles alone.”

“Not with that attitude,” the younger sister quipped.

Though I had yet to shake the sense of confusion, the idea of fresh waffles gave me something more enticing to think about. After fetching myself a glass of milk, I joined Celestia at the breakfast table. I noticed she wasn’t reading the newspaper like she usually did, but was instead reading over some papers in an open folder. I couldn’t make out what was on them aside from lots of numbers, but judging by the school district’s mark at the top of the page and Celestia’s expression that screamed ‘this is what makes school administrators wake up in a cold sweat,’ I figured it had to do with her meetings yesterday.

“How bad is it?” I inquired.

With a disheartened groan, she replied, “Better than I had feared, and worse than I had hoped.”

“So on a scale of ‘one to fired?’”

“I’d say a six,” Celestia said, thankfully managing a weak smile back. “The good news is that the board has agreed to provide some measure of emergency funding to the school; the bad news, though, is that it will only be for items they deem essential and will be approved on a per case basis.”

“Meaning that because the board has lost confidence in Celestia, they’re insisting that she has to come to them with hat in hand every time we’re about to run out of money,” Luna explained as she arrived at the table with a plate of fresh waffles in hand.

“Still, that does mean we don’t have to worry about losing teaching hours,” Celestia continued. “However, unless we can find other sources of funding, the school’s extracurricular activities are going to suffer the most. We might even need to cancel a few of the clubs just to save money.”

While normally I would’ve been lamenting the fallout of my sins, particularly on my fellow students, but it was hard to focus on anything when you were hungry and fresh waffles were staring right at you. The smell was so enticing I was tempted to jump out of my seat and snatch them from her grasp. I should’ve too, as what followed suit was nothing short of ‘cartoon villain’ level of evil.

“Now no more talking about work while in the presence of my waffles. It upsets the dining atmosphere,” Luna insisted, but had yet to set down the next plate.

“What would you suggest we discuss instead?” Celestia asked.

Luna suddenly looked to me and smirked. “We could always ask Sunset about her boy problem.”

“Boy problem?”

“I do not have a boy problem!”

Luna and Celestia just exchanged playful glances, all but confirming that this was just a clever ploy that the two of them were in on. It was like being hunted, except with words and an absence of the sweet release of death at the end.

“Well, without any breakfast conversation, there’s not much point in breakfast, now is there?” Celestia mused to her sister.

“And without breakfast, then there’s not much point to these waffles,” Luna added. She made an effort for a dramatic pivot before a slow and deliberate march towards the garbage bin.

Hunger made for a very powerful motivator, especially first thing in the morning, and it cannot be stressed enough about how intoxicating the aroma was. It was the sort of fresh-baked bouquet that would’ve made grown men push their own grandmother down a flight of stairs just to get at, and Luna was about to toss them away like week-old leftovers. The closer she drew to the garbage, the louder my gut snarled in protest. My mind fell into a panicked frenzy trying to quickly weigh what I had to gain with what I was risking, a process made all the more difficult by Celestia being not in the least bit subtle about how much she was enjoying her breakfast.

“This definitely needs more whipped cream,” Celestia announced.

“Oh, come on! Now this just isn’t fair!” I protested.

Alas, my words fell upon deaf ears. As I watched Celestia take another mouthful of her fresh-baked delight, my stomach was ready to climb up my throat and throttle my brain for its insubordination.

Finally, my willpower cracked. It was simply no match for the primordial need to feed.

“Okay, I’ll talk! Just bring ‘em back!” I yelped as I threw my arms up in defeat.

“I’m glad you’ve decided to see reason,” Celestia reveled in her victory. “So why don’t you tell us a bit more about this boy problem? Maybe we can help you find a solution.”

I sighed and groaned, more from the realization that my secrets could be wrested from my grasp with only a judicious application of fresh-made waffles. At least I had breakfast to soothe my wounded pride.

“For starters, it doesn’t involve any boys,” I answered before taking that first mouthful. To say that it was the best tasting breakfast I’ve had since living in Canterlot would be as much of an understatement as saying that Nightmare Moon was a bit of a grouch.

“Oh! So it’s a girl problem?” Celestia replied with a hint of surprise. “Well, I do understand that the adolescent years can be a very confusing time for a young woman. Why, back when I was in college, my roommate and I—”

“N-not that kind of girl problem!” I almost choked on my waffle in order to blurt that out, stopping the conversation before it went off in the wrong direction.

“Wait, wasn’t Ms. Yearling your roommate in college?” Luna asked.

“That’s right, and you know how Yearling is now, just picture how she was back in college when everyone was really adventurous and wild,” Celestia explained, chuckling quietly to herself as she began to reminisce. “Why, there was this one time during our third year at a friend’s birthday party when—”

“Lalalalala! I’m not hearing any of this!” I shouted with my hands clasped over my ears.

Now there were a lot of things I would have gladly endured instead of talking about my Twilight Sparkle-related problems: being coated in honey and thrown into a pit of fire ants; having my appendix removed by a blind and drunk surgeon; or even listening to the entirety of all Yak poetry, including the masterpiece ‘Ode to the Tangled Brown Knot of Fur I Found on my Belly one Autumn Eve,’ a poem that was once misconstrued as a declaration of war. As I soon discovered, there was something that could compel me, and that was listening to Celestia talk about her wild college years.

“Very mature, Sunset,” Celestia replied. “Why don’t you tell us about this problem then?”

“Well for starters it’s not really a ‘girl’ problem, rather it’s a ‘friend’ problem who just so happens to be a girl,” I began.

“If this is just a friend, why are you so secretive about it?” Luna inquired.

There was a question I wasn’t sure I wanted to answer. Telling either of them about Twilight was probably just as risky as telling any of my friends. However, they would just turn the thumbscrews more until this information was dragged out of me.

I would not make a very good spy.

“Well, the reason is… um, that friend… it’s Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh god, did you steal something from her again?” Luna groaned almost immediately.

“It’s not like that at all!” I quickly insisted. “I mean, it’s not even the same Twilight.”

“Not the same Twilight?” Celestia repeated.

Lucky for me, Luna decided to alleviate her sister’s confusion and spare me from another long talk about the nature of Equestria. “You remember all the stuff I told you last night? About her world and how it has a Celestia and Luna in it as well.”

“Oh right,” Celestia nodded in understanding. “So the Twilight Sparkle we met was the one native to Sunset’s original home, and the one in question here is the Twilight that’s native to this world. But then why all the secrecy?”

I let out a quiet groan as I mentally braced myself for what would surely come. “Because none of my friends know that I’m friends with her. I’m worried that if they find out, they’ll want to be friends with her too in order to compensate for the other Twilight’s absence, and then something will eventually slip that reveals the other Twilight’s existence and that’ll just lead to a lot of questions that I’ll have trouble answering.”

“That actually makes sense,” Luna remarked.

“Wait, you agree with me?” I replied in disbelief.

“Well, you could maintain plausible deniability if it were just a slip of the tongue, but there are photos from the Fall Formal of her,” she explained. “The school board is breathing down our necks enough as it is without drawing more attention with doppleganger students or magic portals.”

Now I felt even worse for bringing this subject up. I hadn’t considered what it could mean for Celestia and Luna, though the risks to Equestria were still a greater concern in my opinion. At least Luna was understanding, which was a small, yet surprising, comfort; Celestia, on the other hand, was less so.

“She’s still keeping secrets from her friends, though,” Celestia pointed out, more to her sister than to me. “This isn’t good for her in the long run, especially since we’re trying to avoid any further deceptions.” She then turned to address me again. “How did this even happen? If you knew it would be a problem, why did you go along with it?”

“It just… sort of happened, you know?” I offered up as a paltry excuse, as though friendship was something you could just trip and fall into. “This Twilight… she’s not like the other one. I mean, they have a lot in common, but she’s not nearly as confident or outgoing. When I met her, it seemed like she didn’t have any friends at all, and I knew how that felt.

Celestia sighed and gave a half-hearted smile. “Well, problems or not, I’m proud to hear that you’re out there making new friends” she said. “I might not agree with you keeping this from your friends, but I understand your concerns.”

“It won’t be forever. When I think she’s ready, I’ll introduce her to the others,” I insisted. “Not that it really matters at this point; I’m not sure Twilight is going to want to speak with me again.”

“Oh right, the girl problem,” Luna mused.

“Must you keep calling it that?”

“Apologies. I just find this… refreshing. It’s nice to deal with a problem that doesn’t involve magical beings from other dimensions running rampant.”

Though her chuckling did annoy me, I couldn’t fault Luna for finding amusement where she could. Given my recent track record for problems and the resultant collateral damage, a mere disagreement between two friends was seen as a walk in the park.

“Anyways,” I said as it finally came time to explain the heart of the problem, “Twilight found out that I used to sell essays and such online, in particular to a classmate who frequently gives her a hard time.” I could still remember the look on my friend’s face when the realization set in. Though she never outright said it, that sense of horror and betrayal was self-evident. Having a conscience was no fun, especially when your past mistakes kept coming back to ruin the few good things in your life. “Twilight is a model student; she prides herself on her academics. She knew I used to do bad things—I’ve told her so—but I don’t think she expected helping others cheat.”

As I sat in silence, eating my waffles in order to avoid looking too anxious, Luna and Celestia exchanged glances and began to mull over my problem. For a moment, it looked as though the two sisters were conversing using some form of psychic connection, but the more probable explanation was that they just knew how the other thought well enough to know the outcome.

“You can handle this,” Luna announced to break the silence. “My way would’ve been more fun, though.”

“Why am I getting a sudden sense of dread and terror?” I asked as I watched the younger sister walk away from the table.

“She’s just being melodramatic,” Celestia reassured me. “I think I know how to fix this, but you’ll have to trust me on this.”

*******************

On the list of unexpected things to find on a Sunday morning, the look on Twilight’s face when she opened the front door and saw me standing on the other side suggested that I ranked somewhere below ‘finding a rabid wolverine in your underwear.’ On the bright side, she didn’t immediately slam the door in my face, so at least I had an opening to say what I needed.

“Hi Twilight,” I greeted.

“S-Sunset? I—but… what?” Twilight stammered at first. I gave her a few more moments to try and unclog her brain. “How—I mean, what are you doing here? D-did Shining tell you where I live?”

“I need you to come with me,” I explained. I gestured over my shoulder to Celestia and the car parked by the side of the road. “It won’t take long, but there’s something I have to show you.”

“Oh, um… I can’t. I, uh… I have a lot of work to do and—”

Just then, another voice spoke up, causing Twilight to freeze on the spot. “Who’s that at the door, dear?”

An older woman walked into view, standing behind Twilight with a curious but optimistic look upon her. It wasn’t hard to deduce that she was Twilight’s mother as my friend looked thoroughly embarrassed, though because of which of us was left to be seen.

“Oh! Are you Twilight’s friend?” she inquired.

I nodded and bowed my head politely. “I like to think that we’re friends. My name is Sunset Shimmer.”

“Twilight Velvet; it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

At first I had been a bit nervous being faced with Twilight’s mother; you can never be certain if they’re the sweet and doting kind of mother or the ‘grizzly bear in disguise’ variety. I had yet to see evidence of which, but at least she was welcoming despite the recent troubles.

“I was hoping I could just borrow Twilight for a little while,” I explained to Velvet. “It’ll only be for an hour or so, I promise.”

“Of course, of course! Just be sure to bring her back in one piece,” Velvet replied with a quick chuckle under her breath.

“B-but Mom, don’t I have… chores or things to do?” Twilight replied, apparently desperate for a valid excuse to stay home. “I mean, Dad asked if I could—”

“Don’t you worry about your father. He’ll be fine on his own,” Velvet insisted as she gently eased her daughter out the door. “Just be sure to give us a call if you need a lift or are planning to stay out late.”

“R-right, of course,” Twilight nodded, unable to refuse her mother’s instructions by her rigid adherence to being the dutiful daughter. As the door shut behind her, Twilight looked at me with nervous and uncertain eyes. She was still torn about what to think of me in light of the recent revelations. “I-I should go back inside, I think I forgot my coat and—”

“Twilight, please.” I grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her before she could retreat back into her home. I took care not to hold on too tight; just a firm enough grasp to let her know how I felt. “I know learning about the things I used to do was a shock, and I’m sorry you found out in that way. I… I wish I could say I would’ve told you eventually, but the truth is that I was too ashamed to admit it.”

“Ashamed?” Twilight repeated, though not in the curious or uncertain manner. “I spoke to Gilda after you ran off; she said you’ve been running this business for years, that you’re one of the best in the business.”

“Well, yes, I did operate for a long time,” I replied, trying to avoid sounding like I was bragging or even remotely proud of that. “I don’t know about being the best, but I had a reliable client list.”

“How many?”

“Clients? Oh, I… I don’t know. They came and went so fast—”

“How many!” Twilight repeated, firmer this time.

“Five hundred and eighty-seven individual clients, and a fifty-nine percent retention rate.”

For a moment, Twilight just stared at me in bewilderment, perhaps unsure of whether to be mad or impressed by the volume. Sadly, she did not share Celestia’s sentiments about my old business.

“I can’t believe this,” Twilight murmured to herself. She began pacing a circle around me, frantically running her hand through her mess of hair. “I thought we were friends, but all this time you’ve been undermining the foundation of our education system; the very cornerstone of civilization.”

“Okay, now I think you’re just being a teensy bit melodramatic.”

“Is it?” Twilight snapped back, pointing an accusatory finger at me. “The human race used to be just a bunch of hunters and gatherers living in caves and being terrified of their own shadows. It was only through learning that humanity began to progress, understanding and mastering the world around them, and passing this knowledge on to the next generation. And once we mastered the written language, humanity could amass a whole generation’s worth of knowledge, and not just preserve it, but build upon it.”

I never realized how passionate on the subject Twilight was. I knew she hated cheating, but I just had it pegged down to her being a goody-two-shoe and nothing more. This was far more than just a moral standing; this was like an insult to the very fabric of her universe.

“Education, Sunset, is what lets each generation make itself greater than the last, rather than just stagnating in a pool. We stand upon the shoulders of those who came before us, reaching to ever greater heights! Cheating undermines this entire principle, not just depriving one’s self of knowledge but ruining the chances of those who depend upon you to know.”

And here I had foolishly thought I could not feel any worse about this situation than I already did. What a fool was I. Hopefully Celestia knew what she was getting me into with this plan of hers, because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could last.

On the bright side, at least she relented long enough for me to get a word in, despite every urge I had to run and hide.

“I know I’ve been something of a disappointment for you, Twilight, and I’m sorry,” I began. “I can’t change what I did, and I don’t want to stand here making excuses. I’m just asking for a little bit of your time. I want—no, I need to show you something… about me, and who I really am.”

After a brief spell of her pondering her options, Twilight finally sighed and nodded. “Okay, I’ll come along. Lead the way.”

*******************

It was an awkward and quiet car ride for the three of us. There was enough tension in the air that even one poorly-chosen word could make the car explode, which made me grateful that Celestia chose to remain silent beyond a brief introduction. She didn’t want to intervene as I needed to fix this problem on my own. A couple of times, Twilight asked for more details about where we were going, especially as the car drove through unfamiliar parts of town, but I remained steadfast in my secrecy.

Our initial arrival didn’t help my friend understand much. When we pulled up to the run-down-looking building in a somewhat sketchy part of town, I think she was left even more confused. It was only until after several flights of stairs, thanks to an elevator that’s always broken, we arrived at our destination.

“Okay, this is it,” I announced as we stood outside a rather ordinary wooden door. “I think it goes without saying that I have a lot of trust issues. I lie, obfuscate, deflect, avoid, or just flat-out deny a lot of things because I don’t like feeling vulnerable. The people that know you the best are the ones that can hurt you the most, and when you can’t trust people, that makes anybody close to you feel more like a threat.”

Now I was just stalling, and the rational part of me knew that; just babbling on while I pretended that finding the key in my pocket was like digging for lost treasure. With a moment of clarity, I forced myself to unlock the door before doubt tried to steer me off-course again.

“Anyways, so here’s something that I really don’t like people knowing,” I said.

I pushed the door open, revealing a tiny room, all but empty save for a bare-bones bed frame that sat in the corner. Slowly, Twilight walked further into the apartment, not that it took many steps given that it was about the size of a shoebox.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“This was my home,” I explained. When I took the last of my things and left that apartment, I had hoped to never have to step foot in it again. It was just an ugly reminder of what my life used to be like, but now I had to give Twilight the guided tour. “Everything I was used to fit inside this tiny little space.”

“But… this is a dump,” Twilight replied. “How could a family even live in this little space?”

“There was no family,” I answered. Her eyes widened as the realization sunk in. “It was just me, alone in this room: no friends, no parents, and no overbearing goofball brother.”

“It was just… you? Alone?” my bewildered friend repeated. “How long were you—”

“Three years.”

“What about your parents?”

“Gone.”

I gave my friend some time to process this information, which it seemed like she needed. Maybe it was because I didn’t come across as the type who lived alone in squalor, or maybe she just lived a sheltered life, but she had a lot of trouble comprehending that this nightmare of a room used to be my reality.

“How could you—how could anyone live like this?” she asked.

“By doing whatever it took to survive,” I answered bluntly. “I lied, I stole, I cheated. I once swiped a whole box of fruit cups from my cafeteria. But for money, my mind was the only thing I had available to me. I’m not denying that it was wrong, but it was what stood between me and having absolutely nothing.”

Once again, my friend took a moment to consider my words and continue examining the apartment. The air still reeked of old fish from the neighbors and the light still flickered from time to time. She walked over to the lone window and tried to get it open in order to get some fresh air, but alas the window had been broken for ages and would likely remain that way until the end of time.

“I can’t believe you used to live like this,” Twilight murmured under her breath. She turned to me and offered an apologetic look. “Didn’t you get… lonely?”

“I was in a bad place during those years,” I offered up as explanation since ‘bent on revenge and world domination’ felt a bit unbelievable. “I thought I didn’t need anyone, especially since I had the students at my school under my thumb. Once I lost my standing, though, I realized how wrong and, yes, how alone I really was. But this is who I was: one forgotten teenager living in squalor, trusting nobody but herself. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I want to trust people again, and I want people to be able to trust me as well.”

When Twilight walked up to me and smiled to me, I felt a huge weight suddenly jumping off my shoulders. “I’m sorry I got upset with you. I guess it’s easy for me to act like a saint when my life must seem like paradise compared to this,” she said before taking my hand. “Gilda made it sound like you did it because it was easy money and you didn’t care about school or working hard. I got too caught up in my emotions when I should’ve realized that doesn’t sound anything like the person I’ve gotten to know.”

“Well, to be honest, it was usually pretty easy money,” I replied with a half-hearted chuckle. “Gilda didn’t exactly take advanced courses.”

As Twilight let out a restrained giggle, I felt my world brighten a hundred fold. So overwhelming was my relief that I immediately wrapped my arms around her and embraced my friend in a crushing hug.

“Sunset... rib cage... breathing!” Twilight managed to gasp out.

“Oh! Right, sorry,” I offered a quick apology while pulling away. “I’m just really relieved. My mistakes have cost me a lot already, and I didn’t want them to take you away too.”

Twilight offered me a much gentler hand on the shoulder to reassure me. “I’m not going anywhere, Sunset.”

Now while I would have enjoyed continuing to bask in our renewed friendship, the lingering stench of dead fish can ruin any atmosphere, so we made a quick exit.

“So, any other secrets you need to get off your chest while we’re here?” Twilight asked as we made our way down the stairs.

Without missing a beat, and just because I was feeling playful and optimistic, I replied, “I’m secretly a magical unicorn from an alternate dimension.”

As I expected, Twilight had a good laugh at that. We both did, and it was a much needed one, too.

“And the woman in the car, Celestia, she’s…?”

“Just my principal,” I answered. “She might’ve… strong-armed me into moving in with her and her sister when she found out about my living arrangements.”

“At least that means she cares.”

“Have I mentioned that woman is terrifyingly good at knowing exactly what to say or do to get somebody to do what she wants?” When I phrased it like that, it almost made it sound like Celestia was some master manipulator, which wasn’t the image I was trying to get across. “Like, you know how in those movies where the hero goes to see the fabled oracle or prophet or whatever? But instead of telling the hero what he wants to hear, he says something contradictory, which winds up being exactly what the hero needed to hear. Celestia is like that prophet: always seems to know exactly what I need to hear.”

Twilight giggled a bit at my analogy. “It sounds like you both admire and fear her.”

“I swear that woman must have, like, a triple PhD in psychology.”

“I don’t think that’s a real thing.”

“I’m sure she’d find a way to still have one.”

Heaven help us all if Celestia ever decided to start using her powers for evil instead of just giving life advice to juvenile delinquents like myself. If she had been the Princess of Equestria, perhaps I would still be studying magic at the Royal Palace instead of learning high school algebra. Unless tossing me out was what I needed back then, too.

Twilight and I returned to the car to find Celestia still waiting for us; her expectant smile turning all the brighter when she saw that the two of us were in good spirits. “Everything’s right with the world again?” she asked, even though she didn’t need an answer.

“Was bringing me out here all her idea?” Twilight inquired.

I didn’t have an immediate answer other than trying to hide my embarrassment behind some sheepish laughs, but thankfully Celestia was there to provide yet another save.

“I might’ve given her the suggestion,” she said, “but it was Sunset’s determination to fix things that mattered most.”

“Well thank you all the same,” Twilight replied. “You must be really dedicated to be willing to take in a student like you have.”

“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Celestia insisted with a dismissive hand wave.

Before we got into the car, Twilight paused all of a sudden and stared at our driver with a curious and scrutinizing eye. It left Celestia and I a little confused, at least until Twilight popped the question.

“Do you know a man named Sombra?”

“I—uh, y-yes,” Celestia stammered back, for once caught off-guard by somebody. “How did you know?”

This captured my interest immediately as the subject of Sombra was something that I was still immensely curious about, but could never bring myself to pry deeper out of respect for Celestia. Twilight, thankfully, had no knowledge of this.

“Sombra’s the headmaster at my school,” Twilight began, oblivious to Celestia’s unease with the subject. “He’s got an old picture in his office of him with a young woman, who I’m guessing is you. Although she had pink hair in the picture.”

“Oh god, he kept that picture?” Celestia groaned in despair.

My thoughts, however, fixated on a different detail. “You had pink hair?”

Celestia immediately flustered red, bristling as she replied, “I was young! It was a different time; lots of people dyed their hair back then!”

It took considerable willpower not to start giggling out loud. “I know, but… pink?” I replied. “Are we talking like hot pink? Neon pink? Cotton candy pink?”

“It was more of a baby pink. Like the colour of clothing for infant girls,” Twilight answered.

I couldn’t hide the look of amusement on my face, much to Celestia’ chagrin. “Just get in the car,” she instructed with growing impatience. “And the next person to mention pink gets to walk home.”

After that little revelation, I wouldn’t have had any problem walking as I would’ve had the mental image of a pink-haired Celestia to keep me entertained during the entire journey. While with Luna I had the stories of her misguided youth to remind me that she was a mere mortal, it was still difficult at most times to picture Celestia as anything but the patient and benevolent school administrator she is now. It wasn’t as bad as Princess Celestia, whom you couldn’t separate from her royal heritage with a precision cutting laser, but she was still an adult through and through. It was as though everything from before her days as a principal no longer existed and she was just born into the world this way.

The ride back home was quiet for the most part, in part because I was too busy trying to keep from smirking or giggling at the thought of Celestia with a hot pink haircut. I made a mental note to later ask Luna if there were any photos of Celestia during those particular ‘adventurous’ years. I was content to sit in silence, but Twilight still had questions.

“Did you really spend all those years in that apartment by yourself without any friends?”

“More or less,” I answered with an indifferent shrug. “It wasn’t like I was completely isolated, though. I had… associates at school, and my business clients.”

“But what did you do for fun?” Twilight asked. “It must’ve been rather boring.”

It was hard for me to explain the absence of boredom since I couldn’t elaborate on how I had been so dead-set on taking over the school and Equestria that recreation rarely entered my mind. How do you explain that kind of fanatical devotion? I couldn’t just shrug it away; I was trying to hold myself up to better standards.

“I know she liked to relax with her guitar,” Celestia chimed in. Whether her interjection was an act of mercy or just a desire to be a part of the conversation, it mattered not as it gave me something truthful to give in response.

“I’m not sure I’d call it relaxing,” I answered. “To be honest, it started out as just another assignment for school.” Looking back on it, I first started playing guitar because it helped with my manual dexterity. I had always viewed it as just another piece of work, but I continued playing even long after I had mastered the use of these five-pronged appendages. Perhaps a part of me did enjoy the music, even if the revenge-obsessed part of me didn’t acknowledge it.

“Maybe I could hear you play some day.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t want to hear that. I’m so out of practise, it’ll sound horrible,” I insisted in a rare display of modesty.

“Don’t listen to her,” Celestia intervened once more. “She’s much better than she gives herself credit for. I dare say that she probably could’ve made decent money with her performances rather than having to resort to doing other people’s schoolwork.”

“Like anybody would pay money to see some high schooler play,” I said whilst rolling my eyes.

“You shouldn’t dismiss the idea so readily,” Twilight replied. She sounded less like she was trying to be emotionally supportive and more her usual logical self, which in itself was more reassuring. “People in this city have always been very supportive of the arts. At Crystal Heart, we’ve used ticket sales from recitals to fund a number of field trips and purchase new equipment.”

Twilight’s words left me pondering in silence for a moment, but not about my own guitar skills. Instead, it was on another issue close to home. “Hey Celestia, you said the school needed to raise money, right?”

*******************

“Are you sure about this? The student response to this Musical Showcase has been overwhelmingly positive.”

“It’s going to take more than just a ‘this was my idea’ to get people to trust me again,” I answered as Celestia and I made our way down the school hallway. “Trust is something I’m going to have to build slowly, not with huge, grand gestures. If people found out I had something to do with this, it might hurt ticket sales, and I don’t want to ruin a good thing.”

“If you say so,” she replied, still unconvinced but reluctantly accepting my decision. She was just about to continuing speaking when my cell phone started chiming. Once I was done checking the messages on my phone, she asked, “Was that your friends?”

“Yup! Rarity and the others are making posters for their new band in the gymnasium and they want me there to check out the finished product,” I explained. It was hard to hide the excitement in my voice at this stage. I was elated to be able to give something back to my friends, even if they weren’t aware of my involvement. Rainbow Dash in particular had been excited about the music festival, proclaiming that it would be the ideal venue to ‘showcase her awesomeness.’ Quite frankly, I’m surprised she hadn’t thought of something like this sooner.

“I couldn’t help but notice on the registration forms that the Sonic Rainbooms only has five members,” Celestia added, adding extra emphasis on the number in particular. It was easy to guess why she was bringing this up and the scrutinizing gaze just cemented the fact. “Have you even told them that you can play the guitar?”

“I’ve… been meaning to get around to it,” I replied with much reluctance. “I just didn’t want to hurt their chances, you know? Who’d pay to see the most hated girl in school?”

Celestia let out a disheartened sigh. Even with all the progress I’ve made, there were a lot of things I was still hesitant or outright afraid of.

“Just promise me you will after the showcase. I know they’d all love to have you be a part of their band.”

“I will, I promise,” I said with a quick nod. “Maybe after this showcase is done, people will be in a better mood and they’ll start to forget about me.”

Our stroll through the halls came to a stop as we reached the gymnasium doors. I was just about to head in when Celestia stopped me.

“You know, if you’re looking to improve your reputation, I might have an idea,” Celestia suggested, catching my attention almost immediately. “We have some new students transferring to the school today, and I was thinking it could be of real benefit to you and our new students if you were to give them a tour around our facilities.”

“You want me? To show new students around?” I replied with enough skepticism to make a person question the colour of the sky. It seemed like an absurd proposition, but when Celestia simply nodded in response, I was forced to give it some more thought. “So you want these brands new students to have me as their very first contact at this school? If you’re going to pick somebody to make introductions, shouldn’t it be somebody with a better reputation?”

But no sooner did those words leave my mouth, did I start to realize the fallacy of my assumptions. Celestia didn’t even need to answer as she smiled knowingly while I trudged through the mental swamp.

“Except they’ll be new here and won’t know anybody’s reputation,” I continued, although now speaking more to myself than Celestia. “Which means they’ll be able to get to know the new me before anybody has a chance to start telling them about the old me.”

The ear-to-ear grin was enough to let Celestia know that I was on board with the idea, but nonetheless she had to make sure.

“I take it that’s a yes then?”

“Oh, hay yes!”

“Excuse me?”

“Pony saying—don’t judge me.”

Thankfully, Celestia merely chuckled and spared me any further embarrassment. “I’ll see to it that you’re notified when the new students arrive,” she informed me before we parted ways.

I was once again feeling excited and even optimistic about my future. It was still going to be an uphill battle, but I knew I had my friends to turn to whenever I needed help. As tempting as it was to plot some grand stunt to try and win back the hearts of everybody at the school, like maybe convincing Celestia to bring back Frogurt Fridays, the atmosphere still wasn’t right. Anything I did would just be viewed with skepticism at best and revulsion at worst. Besides, it would take something of equal magnitude as me mind-controlling the entire school to undo the damage I did, and things like that just don’t happen at Canterlot High.

After all, it’s not as though there’s anyone else from Equestria to stir up trouble.

Act V-VI

By all logic and reason, I should’ve been able to put the entire Yearling affair into a box labelled ‘pointless things not worth wasting oxygen thinking about’ and shoved that into the back of my mind for the remainder of the school day. While it had only a loose connection to my future goals in life, it had nothing to do with trudging through the rest of my classes. And yet somehow I couldn’t get the thought of Yearling and that amulet out of my mind. It got so bad that I was picturing my trigonometry homework through a lense of Daring Do, calculating the angles of her swings as she traversed the hazards of some lost temple.

Maybe that was how Rainbow Dash managed to make math bearable for herself.

I just couldn’t stop thinking about Yearling, which wouldn’t have been so disconcerting had it not felt so reminiscent of my former obsession with a certain magic mirror. Why did Yearling break into her own classroom just to take back an amulet that she had been so dismissive of not too long ago? Perhaps she had known I was eavesdropping and put on a show to throw off any suspicion. The Daring Do of the novel series was known for her cunning and guile, and frequent use of misdirection to throw her enemies into confusion. If Yearling had been hiding amongst us for so many years, it would make sense that she had learned how to cover her tracks and avoid suspicions.

However, one thing she couldn’t account for was somebody as driven and perceptive as me.

The moment the bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day, I bolted out of my seat and hurried to regroup with the rest of my friends. Fortunately for me, I was not the only person filled with a Yearling-inspired zeal, as I almost ran headlong into Rainbow Dash while on my way to find her.

“We need to find Ms. Yearling!” we shouted in unison.

There was a brief pause with both of us grinning like idiots when we realized we were of one mind. The rest of our friends joined us soon afterwards, though Dash nor I gave them much heed, caught up in our excitement as we were.

“If we’re going to find her, we need to come up with a plan,” I suggested.

“Ms. Yearling and Principal Celestia are practically best friends. There’s no way this big of a secret could’ve been kept hidden,” Dash replied. “We should go to Celestia and see what we can get out of her.”

“That might not be a good idea right now,” I admitted with a hint of humility and shame. “Celestia and I kind of got into a bit of an argument yesterday, and we haven’t exactly patched things up between us yet.”

“An argument?” a worried Rarity chimed in as she appeared at my shoulder. “Is everything okay? This is about the whole debacle in the music room, isn’t it?”

I let out a wistful sigh before nodding. My first instinct had been to deflect or avoid the question so that I didn’t get them embroiled in an affair that wasn’t their responsibility, but I reminded myself that they were my friends. I could share with them my burdens and concerns without having to fear reprisal or judgment.

“Celestia felt that I was being too reckless with my experiments,” I explained. “She wants me to stop, and I may have been a bit too full-throated in my defense.”

“Terribly sorry to hear that, darling,” Rarity said as she added to her condolences with a pat on my shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s fine. Sorta,” I politely insisted. Perhaps another time I would’ve enjoyed talking the situation over, but I had more pressing concerns on my mind. “We just need to give each other a little time to cool down, and then I’ll go beg for forgiveness or something.”

While I didn’t believe for a moment that Celestia would refuse to help out of sheer spite for our current disagreement, she’d likely suspect that this unorthodox request would relate to my research into magic somehow. Since it was tangentially related, I’d have to lie, which was a tactic that didn’t appear to work with Celestia anymore. Things were tense enough between us already without me throwing more gasoline on the fire.

“The school records should have Ms. Yearling’s home address,” Rainbow Dash suggested, unwilling to allow my personal problems to distract her from her new mission in life. “We could always check with the main office and see if they’ll help.”

“The office staff isn’t going to give that information out just because we ask them,” I reminded her. “And I’d really prefer if we didn’t have to resort to lying to get what we need.”

“We could try waiting until everyone leaves and then sneak into the office and—”

“Definitely no!” I interrupted before Dash could even suggest what she was about to. “I am not breaking into the main office. An empty classroom was one thing, but that’s taking it too far.”

“I know where Ms. Yearling lives.”

“Okay, fine,” Rainbow Dash agreed, though shrugged it off as though it were of little concern. “Maybe we can check online, like on MyStables or a phone directory.”

I pursed my lips and tapped my chin as I pondered over the suggestion. “It’s possible, though I doubt she’ll have her address publically available on her MyStables page, assuming she even has one. Still, it’s better than anything we’ve got right now.”

“Oh, I’ve got an idea!” Dash exclaimed in ever-growing excitement. “We go to the office and we explain to them that we need to speak with Ms. Yearling right away, which isn’t a lie since that is what we want to do. We convince them to give us her phone number and then—”

“I have Ms. Yearling’s phone number and address.”

“Dash, that might not be a lie, but that’s still a lot more deception than I’m comfortable with,” I said with an exasperated sigh. Dash might’ve been exercising her creativity, but I feared she was over-complicating the issue.

“You want to find Ms. Yearling or not?” she snapped in an accusatory fashion.

“Um, excuse me, but I know where to find—”

“I’m just saying that if we’re not careful, all this deception will bite us in the butt,” I countered. “Ms. Yearling is still our teacher, after all, and I’d rather avoid getting on her bad side. Maybe we should just—”

Before I could continue, there was a sudden ear-splitting whistle, silencing both me and Rainbow Dash. Once our eardrums recovered, we saw that the source of the auditory assault was Applejack.

“If y’all are done squabbling, I do believe Fluttershy might have a suggestion,” Applejack informed us while gesturing to our soft-spoken friend.

“Oh, um, thank you,” Fluttershy said with a quick and polite smile. “I just wanted to say that if you need to know where Ms. Yearling lives, I have her address on my phone.” She held out the aforementioned device, revealing an entry in her contact list for Ms. Yearling, which included her address, phone numbers, and email address.

“Well why didn’t you say so sooner?” Dash exclaimed as she snatched the phone from her friend.

Fluttershy said nothing in response, merely giving her over-enthusiastic friend a short, disappointed glare that went ignored due to Rainbow’s single-minded drive.

Suffering from less tunnel-vision than my companion, I chose instead to ask the more obvious question. “How’d you get Ms. Yearling’s contact information?”

“She adopted a dog from the animal shelter where I volunteer,” she explained. “I helped her with all the supplies and got Indiana all settled into his new home.”

“And here I had always pegged her as more of a cat person,” Rarity remarked with a hint of surprise. “What kind of dog?”

“A golden retriever: the friendliest, most adorable one we had at the shelter, too.”

Seeing as I wasn’t too concerned about the sort of pets that Yearling kept, I went over to check on Rainbow Dash who now had her own cellphone out. She had a map open on her phone while keeping Yearling’s information out on the other, and was pinpointing our destination relative to our current location. I refrained from asking for a progress report, and just waited until she had a triumphant grin on her face.

“Got it!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Ms. Yearling doesn’t live too far from here. We should be able to take a bus to within a few blocks of where she lives and then walk from there.”

“Great! Let me just get my things and we can meet at the bus stop.” I was just about to part ways with Rainbow Dash when I paused and looked to the rest of my friends, realizing that the two of us had been making plans without consulting with any of them. “Do any of you girls want to tag along?”

The others looked among themselves for a moment and gave a collective shrug.

“Well it’s this or chemistry homework,” Applejack replied. “Pretty obvious which will be more interesting.”

*******************

“Look, there she is!” Dash exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

Our plan so far had proceeded smoothly: we took the bus to within a few blocks of Ms. Yearling’s address, and then we traveled the rest of the distance on foot. Like Celestia, our English teacher lived in one of the city’s many quaint suburbs, which meant a pack of youngsters roaming the streets raised few suspicions. Much to our good fortune, there was also a park not too far from Yearling’s home and within direct line of sight. This provided the six of us with plenty of trees and foliage to use as cover to mask our approach.

“Where? Let me see,” I whispered back once I finally caught up to my enthusiastic friend.

Rainbow Dash had run off ahead the second she caught a glimpse of Ms. Yearling’s house in the distance. At first, I was worried she’d just run up to the door and start banging on it, but she managed to stay level-headed enough to hide behind a bush. It was just large enough to provide cover for me and Dash, which forced the rest of our friends to hang back and find concealment elsewhere. As I pushed the foliage aside, I finally spotted what had excited my friend so much. Across the street sat an otherwise ordinary-looking suburban house: a more conventional-style brick-and-mortar abode compared to the modern chic architecture of Celestia’s residence.

The house, of course, was of little concern, as we were both more interested in what was out in the front yard: Ms. Yearling.

“What’s she doing?” Pinkie asked from several feet back, hiding behind an oak tree.

“Raking leaves,” I deadpanned.

I wish I could say that I was being sarcastic, but that did appear to be all that Ms. Yearling was doing. She was out in her front yard, rake in hand, gathering up all the leaves, and tossing them into a large, brown paper bag. It was as boring and monotonous as it sounded, and with the exception of her occasionally pausing to pull out her cellphone from her back pocket, there was little else going on.

“M-maybe she’s just waiting on somebody,” Rainbow Dash suggested. “Or maybe she’s just trying to uncover some secret treasure.”

“In her front yard?” I remarked.

“I used to try and dig up stuff in my backyard.”

“And did you ever find anything?”

“Well, I thought I found an arrowhead once,” Dash answered, though her excitement soon subsided, “which turned out to be old dog poop.”

“Hey look, that must be her dog,” Applejack observed. Unsurprisingly, she was more interested in seeing the kind of pet that Yearling had. A golden retriever came bounding along across the yard, making a dash towards the pile of leaves that Yearling had just gathered up, and promptly dove headlong into it, scattering the leaves in all directions. “Am I the only one noticing that her dog only has three legs?”

It would’ve been hard for anybody with at least one working eye to have missed the canine’s lopsided gait when he ran for the leaves. One of his hind legs was indeed absent, though that proved to be no impediment for him.

“He lost it in a car accident when he was young,” Fluttershy answered with a somber undertone. “It made it so hard to find a family that’d adopt him, but when Ms. Yearling came to the shelter, she fell in love with him the moment she laid eyes on him.”

“Aw, that’s kind of sweet of her,” I remarked.

“Guess she’s got a soft spot for special cases, eh Sunset?” Dash said with an insinuating smirk. “Of course, you’d know that better than any of us.” She chuckled and then nudged me a couple of times with her elbow.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash, I get it; I am the dog in this analogy,” I groaned under my breath.

My sardonic reply had less to do with Dash finding amusement in the comparison, and more to do with how our afternoon has turned out. All throughout the day, I had grown excited in anticipation of finding some answers, but all we found instead was a dead-end. It was almost as disappointing as the time when I was a filly and caught Princess Celestia sneaking out of my bedroom, thus leading me to realize that the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real.

“So all she’s doing is raking her yard?” Applejack asked. From her tone, it was easy to tell she was growing impatient, and it was a sentiment many of us were feeling. Only Rainbow Dash still clung to the hope that the scene before us was some kind of elaborate ruse.

Dash and I kept watching, however, even as the minutes continued to drag by. Dash was convinced something would change, but I was just being a stubborn idiot who didn’t want to admit this plan was a bust.

“Why would she take a day off from work and spend it raking leaves?” I asked in ever growing confusion.

“Ever thought she just really hates a messy yard?” A voice appeared at my shoulder. And it wasn’t just any voice, it was Yearling’s.

Dash and I both let out a startled yelp, falling to the side as we turned to see Ms. Yearling crouched down next to us. Or at least it looked like Yearling. She had a far more outdoorsy, casual attire than what I was used to from her. Instead of the simple blouse or cardigan that was at home in the classroom setting, she had an old, beaten-up leather coat and a pair of hefty hiking boots. Also absent was her usual stern, analytical gaze, replaced with a more careful and curious expression as she regarded the two of us.

“Wh—how? Where did you come from?” I stammered in disbelief.

“I walked,” she answered plain and simple. “Now what are you two doing snooping around here? You weren’t sent here by a tall guy with greasy hair and lots of face fuzz, were you?”

Of course, I didn’t have the slightest clue as to what she was referring to, but as I continued with my bewildered, dumbstruck staring, I noticed that she happened to be carrying a motorcycle helmet under her arm. This had to be the woman who broke into the classroom. But if she wasn’t Yearling, then who was she?

“W-we weren’t snooping,” I answered, blurting out the straight-up denial without even thinking. I was just stalling for time, hoping that I could figure things out in the few seconds I had bought.

“Right, of course, because kids just love sitting in bushes these days,” the woman replied.

Before either Rainbow Dash or I could answer, however, a set of arms suddenly breached through the bush and grabbed hold of us both. To the tune of another panicked shriek, Dash and I were pulled through the foliage and hoisted up to our feet in one swift motion, confronted by a very angry-looking Ms. Yearling. Clearly our commotion from a few moments ago hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Sunset! Dash! What in blazes are you two doing here?” she demanded.

“This is totally not my fault this time!” the other woman blurted out as she shot to her feet. “I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s not.”

Now I had thought Yearling looked angry when she pulled me through the bush, but seeing the other woman made her absolutely livid. If looks could ignite, everything before her would’ve been reduced to an ashen wasteland. Every instinct was screaming at me to run but she had a vice-like grip on me at this point. It was enough to make me begin considering gnawing through my own wrist as a last resort.

“What are you doing here?” Yearling barked at the other woman. “How many times do I have to tell you to not just show up unannounced! You call first!”

“Well I tried, but you kinda hung up on me before I could get to that point,” the doppelgänger explained. “I mean, I was at the airport when I called, it’s not like I could just turn around and leave.”

Yearling’s frown only intensified, which did little good to my wrist bones. “It’s quite easy: you just turn around and walk in the opposite direction from here,” she said through gritted teeth. “You can start by doing that right now.”

“Oh, come on sis!”

“Sis?” Myself, Dash, and the rest of my friends all shouted in unison. In retrospect, I should’ve put the pieces together sooner, but everything had happened so quickly that I wasn’t able to keep up.

For some reason, Yearling fell silent and looked at me and Dash, as if having forgotten that we were still standing next to her. With a heavy sigh, she released us, and I could take a few cautious steps back in case the situation got even worse.

“I take it you know these kids?” the sister asked, gesturing to me and my friends.

Pinching the bridge of her nose as she fought down the whirlwind of conflicting emotions, Yearling answered in a disgruntled murmur, “They’re students of mine.”

Though wary of provoking my teacher further, I nonetheless had to sate my curiosity so I raised my voice cautiously. “Could one of you please explain what’s going on?”

“Follow me,” Yearling instructed as she turned and headed back towards her home. She had the look of a defeated woman at this point, and I began to feel some regret for having intruded on something that appeared to be very important. “No point having this conversation out in the open. I’m sure we can all agree that’ll be for the best.”

“Indeed, since you clearly have a snooping problem,” the sister added.

As the damage had clearly already been done, none of us saw any reason to back out now and we all went inside Ms. Yearling’s home to, hopefully, learn the truth. Once again, the contrast to Celestia’s preference for modern chic was apparent the moment we stepped inside, as the interior was adorned with the kind of furniture that probably predated most of us by several decades. It was the kind of rustic decor that one would expect in the home of a renowned, tenured college professor—the kind that smoked from a mahogany pipe, wore fuzzy sweater vests, and found everything ‘quite fascinating.’ It reminded me far too much of the old-money aesthetics that my parents favoured so much.

Most of my friends were intrigued by the decor as well; Applejack and Rarity both smiled and nodded approvingly, though each having their own reason for liking the particular rustic and pragmatic style; Pinkie Pie liked all the paintings and pictures that Yearling had a fondness for; and Rainbow Dash continued gushing because she thought she was now in the home of Daring Do herself. The only person not focusing on the home itself was Fluttershy, not just because she had apparently visited before, but because Yearling’s dog had not forgotten about her and was busy lavishing her with slobbery kisses.

“Hello there Indiana! Oh, I missed you too,” she cooed, giggling as she tried to calm him down.

“I see literally nothing has changed since the last time I visited,” the sister commented as our procession headed into the living room.

We gathered around the coffee table, finding what room we could to sit on or around a large, brown leather sofa. Once again, Fluttershy remained the exception as she opted to sit in the middle of the floor so that she could continue lavishing her affections on Indiana.

As for Ms. Yearling, she paced about the room in the small stretch of open ground between the coffee table and fireplace behind her. She still had that same exasperated and irritated look on her face, the kind that made me worry for her blood pressure.

“Guess there’s not much point in beating around the bush,” Ms. Yearling said with a sigh. “Girls, this is my sister—Derring Do.”

Rainbow Dash gasped in excitement, her grin stretching so far across her face that it threatened to split her ahead apart. “Daring Do!” she squealed.

“No, silly,” Pinkie replied. “Derring Do. With an ‘e’ and two ‘r’s.”

“Wait, how did she—?”

“Don’t,” Yearling interrupted her sister. “Greater minds than yours have tried.”

“So you two are, like, twins?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yes, though I’m the prettier one,” Derring replied with a playful smirk.

“We’re identical, you idiot.”

“Tell that to your flabby butt.”

“It is not—!” Yearling had to bite down on her lip just to keep any profanities from slipping out, much to her sister’s amusement.

“So she must’ve been the one we saw breaking into Yearling’s desk,” I remarked once I fully digested the new information.

“You broke into my classroom?” Yearling snapped at her sister.

Despite the outburst, Derring remained unphased. “Huh, that might explain why these kids tracked you down,” she commented while tapping her chin. “But yeah, I had to get the amulet back, and you weren’t in. What was I supposed to do? I tried calling.”

“I was at the hospital,” Yearling explained.

The answer, despite being delivered more calmly, got a far more energized reaction from the sibling, who jumped to her feet. “The hospital? Oh my god, is Blondie okay?”

“She’s fine; she hurt her hand working last night and I spent most of the night waiting with her in the ER.”

The news brought a huge sigh of relief from Derring, who then fell back onto the couch. “Don’t scare me like that,” she remarked. “Her hand, huh? I see she still hasn’t changed.”

“Hold on a second,” Dash said, waving her hand in the air for attention. “Is this the same Blondie as the one from ‘Daring Do and the Girl with No Name’?”

“One and the same,” Yearling confirmed.

“So the books are real?” I asked for verification.

“Complete, one hundred percent truth,” Derring answered, which just made Dash squeal even louder.

Yearling, on the other hand, scoffed and rolled her eyes. “The Daring Do novels are just based on your expeditions,” she said. “I have to make up half the events that happen just to make them more entertaining for the readers, and leave out all the stuff you do that wouldn’t be age appropriate.”

“Ruined half the fun with that decision,” Derring muttered under her breath. The comment seemed to go unnoticed by the sibling, who continued on with her thoughtful pacing.

While I had more questions, I didn’t get an opportunity to give voice to them as Rainbow Dash was far more eager to get all the questions she had answered. She had already shuffled her way across the couch until she was sitting next to Derring Do. “So you really went and found the lost Sapphire Stone?” she asked.

“Technically we both did,” Derring said while pointing over to Yearling. “Dee here figured it’d be a good research opportunity for her next novel so she tagged along. Too bad somebody couldn’t handle a little excitement because those were good times.”

“I got shot by an arrow!” my teacher snapped back. “And my name is Yearling!”

Once again, Derring was flippant in her response, “You had mom’s helmet.”

“Which just barely saved me from a lobotomy.” To emphasize her point, Yearling lifted up part of her bangs, revealing a small sliver-like scar near her hairline. “And I only got this because I had to save your irresponsible hide after you went into that trap-infested tomb in the first place.”

“You’re the one who set off the trap.”

“You were distracting me!”

“Because you were lecturing me non-stop.”

“I was lecturing you about the traps!”

As the situation was rapidly spiralling out of control, I took a page out of Applejack’s playbook and loosed a piercing whistle to snap both of them out of their tirade. Once both realized they had been bickering like children in front of actual children, they fell silent for a brief spell.

“I get the impression there’s some lingering hostilities here,” I remarked. “Maybe the two of you should separate for a minute to cool down, okay?” The last thing anyone needed was a neighbor filing a noise complaint with the police.

“I’m going to go put on the kettle,” Yearling grumbled, not wanting to admit defeat but still using the excuse to put some distance between her and her sibling.

“Bring out some Earl Gray while you’re at it, Dee,” Derring shouted.

“It’s Yearling!”

As I got the impression that much of the grievances laid on Yearling’s side of the battle, I decided to use the opportunity to speak with her alone. “You girls wait here, I’ll be right back,” I said as I got up to go after her.

I followed Yearling into the kitchen, though I refrained from speaking up initially. Instead, I chose to watch her from the doorway for a few moments as she went about preparing to make some tea. She was still tense, as that was plain to see, and her jerky, erratic motions conveyed a sense of frustration. I was treading into dangerous territory, part of which I felt a little responsible for as the presence of me and my friends seemed to make things worse for her.

I knocked my knuckle against the doorframe to announce my presence. “Um, Ms. Yearling, is it okay if we could talk for a bit?”

Out came another one of those heavy sighs, the kind that are almost instinctual when you’re on your twelfth hour and the world is demanding you go on for a few more. “It seems my life is being turned into an open book right now, so why not?” she answered.

Her answer didn’t inspire much confidence. “M-maybe I should go back to the others.”

“No, no, wait!” she called out before I even turned around. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be getting snippy with you—you had no idea the mess you were stepping into.” Yearling gestured to the nearby kitchen table and I helped myself to a seat. Before sitting down herself, she poured herself a glass of water. She offered me a glass as well, but I declined.

“Were you and your sister always like this?” I asked.

“Only since I started writing Daring Do,” she explained. “I mean, we had grown a bit apart after college, but that’s pretty normal for any pair of siblings. Growing up, we were like a lot of identical twins: virtually inseparable. We even got matching tattoos when we turned eighteen.”

As an only child, the dynamics of a sibling pairing was a mystery to me, and even moreso for twins. I had trouble picturing life with something so constant as an identical twin following you through almost every moment and experience. It was disheartening to see that Yearling and her sister had such a damaged relationship, especially since Celestia and Luna demonstrated an ability to work past differences and maintain peace and harmony. There must have been more to this story that I had yet to discover.

“So what changed?”

Yearling gave an uncertain shrug. “We just started becoming different people, I suppose. Little by little, she grew more cavalier, and I became more reclusive. When college hit, that divergence became all the more apparent as she opted to follow in mom’s footsteps while I went into English literature.”

“Your mother did archaeology as well?”

“She was the original Daring Do,” Yearling answered, a soft and somber smile crossing her face for a moment. Her eyes remained fixed on her glass of water, which she had yet to actually drink from. “She was the first inspiration for the character, but she didn’t have many notes from her years in the field, so that’s when I turned to my sister and got dragged along for the whole Sapphire Stone quest.”

“But you have to admit, that gambit turned into a huge success for you.”

“I know, but nearly getting lobotomized has a way of putting life into perspective for you,” she exclaimed, her grip suddenly tightening around the glass. “She was so flippant about it, too, even when I was bleeding all over my face. She’s just so… irresponsibly reckless! And for every novel, I had to read about all the insane and dangerous antics she kept getting mixed up in. Did you know she once stowed away on a pirate ship to get to her next destination?”

“Yeah, that was in the fifth Daring Do book,” I replied. The whole scene sounded more heroic and daring when you just thought it was all fiction, but realizing now that Derring spent days inside a tiny box surrounded by people who would’ve thrown her into the ocean if they had caught her felt less inspiring. I couldn’t begin to imagine what Yearling thought of that when she first read about it.

“And then there’s Blondie,” she added. Her voice trailed off afterwards, however, replaced with a wistful sigh and the light tapping of her fingernails against the glass.

Blondie was the other major character in ‘Daring Do and the Girl with No Name,’ a tough-talking, no-nonsense bounty hunter who served as alternating between antagonist and reluctant ally to Daring Do throughout the story. It ended with her becoming a romantic interest for the adventurer, but at the end of the story, Blondie went her own way. Remembering back to my conversation with Yearling back in her classroom, it appeared that Blondie went from one Derring to the other.

I noticed that Yearling’s gaze shifted from her glass to a nearby picture frame. In it was an image of Ms. Yearling, seemingly dressed as Daring Do, standing alongside a taller, blonde-haired woman adorned in cowboy finery. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who the other woman in the picture was, and that the way they were embracing each other meant their relation was very intimate.

“Where was that picture taken?” I asked, hoping to shift Yearling to a more pleasant memory.

“Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention from a few years back,” Yearling answered. My plan seemed to be working as she began to smile more pleasantly as she reminisced. “The only way I could get her to agree to come along was to dress up like that. She got a kick out of it; said it reminded her of the old days.”

“Did she really bluff her way out of a stand-off with a lit stick of dynamite? Or did you embellish that part of the story?”

My question was met with a brief chuckle at first. “That was actually one of the few scenes I had to tone down just to make it seem more plausible,” she explained between chortles. “She was always a wild one, that Blondie. It always makes me wonder why she chose to go for the quiet life with little ol’ me.”

“Because she cares about you deeply?” I offered as a token of support.

“Maybe. I hope so,” she shrugged, sounding a bit disheartened. “Blondie and my sister were cut from the same cloth, fueled by passion and adrenaline, and some days I feel like I’m just ‘Derring Do lite.’ And it doesn’t help that whenever my sister does parachute back into my life, she drags Blondie off on another wild goose chase.”

“Really? But Blondie’s only been in one novel.”

“For every Daring Do book, there’s five or six Derring Do failures,” Yearling explained with no attempt to hide her contempt. “Last time she talked Blondie into helping, they both came home covered in mud and bruises. And every time I voice my concerns, they just wave them off, and tell me to take the giant stick outta my butt.”

It seemed to me that the problem in this family was a bit more complicated than I had initially thought. If I didn’t know any better, it almost sounded like Yearling was jealous of her sister. It sounded absurd to me, since from my perspective it looked as though my teacher had built for herself a very good life: a stable job, a committed relationship, and she could’ve had all the fame she wanted if she just went public about being the author of Daring Do.

“It’s not always like that, is it?”

“It’s been like that for the past several years,” Yearling said with a tired groan. She rested her chin upon her hand and then vented her annoyance with a puff of air against an errant strand of hair. “The only time she ever calls is when she needs me to wire her money; she’ll just walk back into my life on a whim and take whatever she wants, and before I can even get a word in she’ll be off again on another one of her ‘big finds.’”

I was beginning to understand why Yearling warned me about getting involved in her problems back when I interrupted her phone call. While at first glance it felt similar to some of the problems I’ve faced or seen others faced, this was underscored by a lifetime of grievances. How could I even begin to understand the entirety of this problem with such a small snapshot of it? It felt like trying to map the world without ever having stepped out of your front door.

Before I could even begin to ponder what I could say or do to help the situation, Rainbow Dash suddenly burst into the kitchen looking as giddy as a filly on her birthday.

“Sunset! Sunset, you have to see this! Derring’s gonna re-enact the famous sword fight scene from the first book,” Rainbow explained.

“Not in my house, she’s not,” Yearling snapped as she jumped to her feet. She raced back to the living room, shouting, “Derring, that sword’s an antique, not a toy!”

Rainbow Dash was about to give chase, perhaps to watch the ensuing argument between the sisters, but I took her by the wrist to stop her. “Hey Dash, can I ask you something real quick about Derring?” I said to pique her curiosity. “What’s your impression of her?”

For a brief moment, my friend just looked at me as though I had just sprouted a horn and wings. “What do you mean by that?” she asked.

“Like what kind of person is she?” I reiterated. “It’s pretty obvious that Ms. Yearling doesn’t like her sister much these days.”

Rainbow Dash gave me an uncertain, perhaps even indifferent, shrug. “Not sure why anybody would think that,” she replied. “Derring Do is awesome. She’s been telling us all about the things that happened during ‘Quest for the Sapphire Stone’ that wasn’t included in the book. Did you know Ms. Yearling is terrified of spiders?”

Since I was the last person in the world that should be ridiculing others for their phobias, I refrained from saying anything and instead tried to keep the focus on the conflict at hand. “I’m worried about Ms. Yearling. This whole thing with her sister seems to be really stressing her out.”

“Yearling just needs to chillax,” Dash reassured me as she headed for the exit once more. “If you ask me, it’d do her good to take that giant stick out of her butt.”

Fortunately, she was looking the other way so she didn’t see me rolling my eyes in disappointment. In hindsight, asking Dash for an objective opinion about Derring Do would be like polling Nightmare Moon about Princess Celestia’s leadership skills. With a quiet sigh under my breath, I followed my overly-excited friend back to the living room, where Yearling was putting the antique sword back onto its mount over the fireplace. Since there were still questions lingering on my mind, I decided to speak up.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Derring Do, what is the significance of that amulet you took? It must be important for you to break into a school for.”

“Oh right, those things,” Derring remarked as if only just remembering their existence. “It’s actually part of a set of three amulets, known as the Amulets of the Three Kings. Even on their own, they’re pretty spectacular, but they’re also said to hold the key to opening an ancient chest containing even more lost relics.”

“That old story?” Yearling remarked, folding her arms and leaning against the fireplace mantle. “Haven’t you gone after that four or five times now? Last time you came back with about ten grand of debt and a bout of malaria.”

Sporting a wide, triumphant grin, Derring reached into her coat pocket and pulled out three near-identical golden amulets. “Except this time I’ve got the whole set,” she said. “So now all I need to do is figure out how these ‘hold the key.’”

“What about the chest?” Dash asked. She stood just behind the couch, leaning over it while looking more energized about the prospect than anyone else. Even without her wings, I was almost certain that the excitement alone would lift her off the ground.

“Caballeron has it; I’ll need to figure out a way to swipe it from him later,” Derring explained. From the way she said it so casually, you’d think she was just picking up milk from the corner store. “No point in letting him know that I have all the amulets until I’ve figured out how they work.”

Dash let out another girlish squeal, leaning even further over the couch. “He’s real too?”

“Well, d’uh! He’s only my biggest rival these days,” the idolized heroine answered. “Of course, he’s not as bad as the books make him seem.”

It was hard to deny that I was beginning to feel some of the excitement that had already overwhelmed Rainbow Dash. I had grown to admire the Daring Do books just like everyone else that had Ms. Yearling for a teacher, and now I was getting to see how those adventures unfolded right before my eyes. Plus it meant I could question both of them about any potential magical dealings they might’ve encountered. For now, though, I wanted to see where this mystery led, then I could indulge in my own pursuits.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Ms. Yearling, who maintained the professional stoicism that she often held in the classroom. Whether she didn’t believe her sister’s hype or just maintained a degree of caution, I couldn’t tell. “And this is the part where you say you need something from me, isn’t it?” she asked.

“I just thought you might be interested in getting in on the action, Dee,” Derring explained, dangling the amulets out to try and entice her sister further. “This’ll be way more interesting than anything that ever happens at that high school of yours.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Applejack remarked.

“I have my own life to worry about, Derring,” Yearling informed her. “I can’t go gallivanting off on another adventure just because you say it’ll be fun. Besides, since when have you ever really needed me for this? I write books, not comb through old ruins or dig up lost treasure.”

There was a brief flash of disappointment on Derring’s face, though it went ignored by her sister. To me it seemed like Yearling was turning down a real opportunity to try and fix things, but at the same time this could’ve been a song and dance that the two had gone through several times over. I just didn’t have enough information to make a real judgement.

“Maybe we could help,” Dash volunteered in a move that shocked nobody at all.

And in equally predictable fashion, Yearling was quick to shut that idea down as well. “Oh, no! I’m not letting you get dragged into her mess as well. This isn’t some story book; my sister’s work is no place for children.”

Normally I would’ve been one to agree with Yearling, but I saw an opportunity to help all the parties involved. “Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh, Ms. Yearling? We’re in the city; not some ancient ruin in the middle of a jungle,” I chimed in as I stepped in front of her to force myself to be the focus of her attention. “Helping Derring Do could be a good learning experience, and if we’re providing the help, then your sister won’t need to turn to anybody else for help.”

I made sure to put extra emphasis on the last part so that there was no confusion as to whom I was referring to. She wasn’t happy about the idea, that was plain to see on her face, but she was smart enough to recognize an opportunity when it presented itself.

Of course, she couldn’t sound too eager, lest she reveal her motives. “Well I still think it’s a bad idea,” she said with a feigned display of indignity, “but we’re not in school, so it’s not as if I have any authority over what you do in your free time. Derring would still have to agree to it.”

“I dunno; I’ve had bad experiences working with kids,” Derring replied while scratching her chin. “These students of yours any good, Dee?”

“Yearling!” she snapped back. “And yes, I would say they are. Sunset here once almost overthrew the entire school.”

“Like figuratively?”

“No. Literally. She’s very… resourceful.”

Hearing somebody use my past misdeeds as a selling point made me feeling a little self-conscious. The way she phrased it made the whole incident seem so innocent and innocuous, despite the horrible ramifications that would’ve arisen had I succeeded. All I could do was hide my growing embarrassment behind a nervous little chuckle.

To my surprise, Derring flashed me a wide, approving grin. “A rebel, huh? Thinks outside the box, and plays by her own rules. I like it!” She held out her clenched hand, and we exchanged a quick fist bump that left Rainbow Dash aghast with jealousy.

“Just try not to get into too much trouble, okay?” Yearling offered as a parting piece of advice. Despite her misgivings about the whole idea, she did look a little relieved to see that her sister wouldn’t be taking anything of hers.

“We’ll be fine,” Derring reassured her sister for the hundredth time. “Also, I’m going to need your access card for the library archives, your car, and a thousand bucks.”

“WHAT THE H—”

Author's Note

For those wanting to learn more about Blondie, you can read her adventure in What Would Daring Do?

Act VI-VII

My mind was a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions as I stood outside the restaurant. They cycled through so quickly that I barely even had time to be consciously aware of what I felt at any given instant. Do I cry? Do I scream? Do I race down the street wailing like a grief-stricken widow? Do I punch the nearest wall and shatter every bone in my hand? Everything and nothing seemed like a worthwhile answer, and my inability to focus on one particular state meant I was paralyzed in indecision.

I wanted to chase after Twilight, but she had left in such a hurry that I had been forced to settle the dinner bill, which ate what precious little time I had in that window of opportunity. By the time I hit the streets, my friend was long gone and she wasn’t responding to any of my texts.

Whatever my next step was, I had to do it quickly because I couldn’t let Princess Twilight or Flash Sentry see me as I was. My mind was too fraught running through every doomsday scenario to have any chance of pretending I was anything but panicking. At some point in my disheveled thought process, I started walking in a random direction, perhaps if only to put some distance between myself and anybody I knew. I was about three or four blocks down the street before I even realized that I was sitting at a bus stop bench, gazing mournfully at my phone.

Her last message to me still lingered on my screen, a monument to my foolishness, along with about a dozen messages from me as I desperately tried to get her to talk to me again. Either she was ignoring my messages, or she stopped caring about them. How bad could things have gotten for her to be that callous all of a sudden?

“What am I going to do?” I whimpered, clasping one hand over my eyes as if I could contain what was already welling up.

It took some time before the shock wore off and something resembling coherency began to return to my mind. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure how long I had been sitting at that bench, but a cursory glance at my phone revealed it was now late in the evening. Twilight was probably home by now, and who knows what Princess Twilight and Flash Sentry were up to at this point. Knowing him, he was probably walking her home, though I had no idea whether that meant the portal back to Equestria or just the abode of one of her friends. At least they were still having a good night, so it hadn’t been a complete disaster.

Though if I had to be honest, it didn’t feel like much of a consolation prize at the moment.

I needed to fix this.

There had to be a way to make things right.

I had to talk to Twilight. If I could just speak with her, I was certain that all of this could be cleared up; that it was just some kind of misunderstanding.

The desperate thoughts of a desperate mind.

But if she wasn’t answering my messages, what were my options? Going to her house? I could see that going south very quickly, and knowing how parents could be, her mother would probably be in full-blown grizzly bear mode if I showed up at the door. Trying to steal a dragon’s horde would probably be an easier goal than trying to get past a loving mother with a hurt child. Besides, I didn’t know what exactly had set Twilight off. I had the picture, but that didn’t give me the whole story. A smart, rational girl like her wouldn’t just flip out at one picture.

Or would she?

I know Princess Twilight Sparkle wouldn’t give up at the first sign of trouble; she was as tenacious as they came. But I wasn’t dealing with an Equestrian Princess, I was dealing with a shy teenager who had a history of being bullied. I was her friend; her only friend as far as I could tell. Friendship was not something that could be underestimated: it was a powerful force, and more than enough to crush every dark ambition I ever held. At the same time, though, it was an uplifting force, too. Thanks to people like Applejack, Fluttershy, and all of the others, I was in a far better place, mentally and emotionally. They had become something of a lifeline to me, and I began to consider what I might’ve meant to Twilight Sparkle.

If something went wrong for me, I could always go to any one of my friends, and if the problem stemmed from one of them, I always had others to turn to. And beyond that, there was also Celestia and Luna, both of whom could offer their own particular brand of advice. I had a veritable safety net of friendship to cushion the landings I’ve endured and will encounter in the future, which given my track record was going to be numerous and frequent.

In contrast to my blessings, Twilight had only me and her family to turn to, and sometimes it could be hard to turn to parents about friendship problems. There was also her big brother, but I had no idea how much their relationship had been mended since we met. Whatever elation and uplift she gained from friendship, there was a good chance it had just been pulled out from under her.

Was that what the caption meant? Is that what happened? Did Twilight think I didn’t want to be her friend anymore? If I found out my closest and only friend had a birthday party in secret, I’d feel pretty devastated too. But why would she run off and not talk to me instead?

Could she be just as distraught as I felt right now—barely able to think clearly as sorrow and anger battered against the gates of my mind like a barbarian horde. Friendship was life-giving, and thanks to my foolish and careless actions, that may have just been cruelly ripped from her life. There was no telling how she might react to that.

“I’m such a fool,” I murmured weakly. As I wiped a few loose tears from my eyes, I gazed at my phone once more. Still no messages.

I needed answers, and if I wasn’t going to get them from Twilight then my next best bet was to turn to the person who most likely sent the picture to her. I opened up my contact list, found Lightning Dust’s address, and began plotting my route.

I should’ve just gone home.

********************

Finding Lightning Dust’s home wasn’t too difficult for me thanks to modern technology, with the only major obstacle being the sheer distance I had to walk. Thankfully, I was very motivated, and that only grew more intense the closer I got to my destination. The picture sent to Twilight was, without a doubt, taken by Lightning Dust. I could vividly recall the moment she pulled me aside for it. I remembered the warmth and joy I felt when she lifted the phone up: like a crowning moment of triumph to immortalize me bringing a new friend into my life.

But why would Lightning Dust send that to Twilight Sparkle? I know the two didn’t see eye-to-eye and generally kept to their own cliques, or rather Lightning stayed with hers while the latter was something of a loner at Crystal Heart Academy.

It still made no sense, even after I pondered the issue over for the hundredth time upon reaching her home. Lightning wasn’t cruel; while it was true that she had partaken in using the ‘Dorkle’ moniker before, I had thought those days were behind her. She was a good person.

Wasn’t she?

I didn’t know what to think anymore, and the more I tried to, the more irrational my thoughts became. What happened couldn’t have been an accident—the message that accompanied the selfie was proof enough of that. If it was intentional, then what was its aim? Why torment Twilight like this? By the time I reached the front door, I had half a mind to kick it down and start demanding answers.

“I swear, if Lightning is still bullying Twilight, I’m going to shove my foot so far up her—”

The door swung open, and Lightning Dust’s smiling visage greeted me. That just irked me even further, like she was taunting me or something. She better be innocent because Celestia help her otherwise.

“Hey, Sunset! What brings you here at this crazy hour?” Lightning asked. The smile on her face began to fade, however, when she realized my expression was not mirroring her sentiments. “Uh, is everything okay?”

“Did you send this picture to Twilight Sparkle?” I said as I held up my phone.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. That was me.”

The fact that she barely took more than a second to look and answer the question just enraged even further. It took every ounce of willpower I had left not to drive my fist into her face in that moment.

“What the—why would you do that?” I shouted in disbelief. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how she could be so flippant about it, especially as I stood there in abject horror at the news.

“Hey, no need to thank me.”

Thank her? Thank her? The only person that should’ve been thankful was Lightning Dust: thankful that I wasn’t choking the life out of her. I was becoming so embroiled with rage that it was taking every bit of concentration to not explode, which didn’t leave much mental energy to form coherent thoughts.

“I—thanks? What?” I stammered.

“Sunset, Sunset, there’s no need to be so coy around me,” Lightning said in an apparent attempt to calm me down. She saddled up alongside me and threw her arm around my shoulder, donning a self-assured grin as she pulled me close. “You’re trying to be the ‘good girl’, I get that, but sometimes you can be a little too good for your own good. You see some sad chick being all lonesome so you offer a hello and smile to be nice; the next thing you know, she’s hooked onto you thinking you’re her new best friend. Now she’s bothering you at all hours of the day, she’s crashing your birthday parties, and you’re so embarrassed by her that you’ve gotta shove her into the nearest closet whenever somebody you know is nearby, and you’re running out of lies to text her back with.”

Oh god, she knew. But how?

The party.

She must’ve seen me when I answered the door and saw Princess Twilight outside. Sure, it wasn’t the same Twilight as we were talking about, but she didn’t know the difference. All she saw was me screaming and slamming the door in my supposed friend’s face. But what about the text messages? How did she know I was lying to Twilight in my texts? She would’ve had to have gotten her hands on my phone…

“Hey, Sunset! Stop hiding in your phone; you’re keeping your adoring fans waiting.”

Back at the party; she took away my phone for a few minutes. It wasn’t long, but my messages to Twilight must’ve still been on the screen.

“So now you got this total loser clinging onto you, cramping your style, and you’re too nice to tell them to just back off and give you some space,” Lightning Dust continued, having mistook my horror-struck silence as compliance. “We’ve all been there, Sunset; we’ve all had that one friend we don’t like hanging around us, but we can’t bring ourselves to do something about it. It’d be like… kicking a puppy.”

“S-so you…”

“I did it for you. I told her to buzz off, and when she didn’t believe me at first, I showed her the picture, and explained that you just didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth,” she said—neigh—boasted. Then she had the audacity to laugh, like this whole thing was just one big amusing joke to her. “Now I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you’.”

“Y-you did this?”

“Well I can’t take all the credit for it,” my supposed friend interrupted with a modest shrug. “I was racking my brain all day trying to figure it all out, but it wasn’t until Gilda suggested that you were probably embarrassed by Dorkle but too much of a ‘goody goody’ to say anything about it. The ‘goody goody’ part is all Gilda, by the way.”

Gilda. Why did it not surprise me that she had her dirty claws in this affair. Silver lining, however, was the mentioning of that name gave my anger something to focus on. My thoughts became clear again, although tainted by a burning rage. I had a bad enough track record when it came to decision-making when I was calm and rational.

“How could you do that?” I finally snapped, pushing away from Lightning. That cocky grin of hers finally dissipated, and she stared at me with reluctant disbelief.

“Come on, Sunset, you don’t have to pretend anymore. I’m your friend; I ain’t gonna judge you.”

Flash Sentry once said my right eyebrow twitched when I was angry; by this stage it was probably doing the River Dance. “My friend? Twilight was my friend! I’m not embarrassed by her!”

“What, seriously? You and Dorkle? You deserve way better than a weirdo like her.”

“Stop calling her that!” I snapped as I grabbed Lightning by the shoulders. “And she’s not a weirdo: she’s shown me nothing but kindness and understanding and patience. I’m the one who is thankful every single day that she’s willing to put up with me and still call me her friend.”

It was only then that Lightning Dust finally got it through her head that I wasn’t stunned with gratitude, and that I was genuinely and justifiably angry with her. She didn’t look as concerned as I would’ve liked however, and it soon became apparent why.

“Well, you sure have a funny way of showing it,” Lightning said as she pushed my hands aside. “Maybe if you didn’t spend so much time running around behind everyone’s back, you wouldn’t be sending so many mixed signals.”

My more rational side was willing to accept that my hubris had played a major part in this, if not the vast majority of it, but I wasn’t about to have Lightning push aside her role in this mess. I didn’t make her hit the send button, and I wasn’t going to be remotely happy until she owned up to it. Of course, I was in no state to be concerned about rationality; I was angry and my sights were fixed on Lightning Dust.

“If you were confused, you should’ve talked to me first. You had no right to do this to her,” I shot back, punctuating my remarks by poking the other girl in the chest. “You are going to call Twilight right now and you are going to apologize and explain to her that you made up everything you said.”

“What? You want me to apologize to Dork—er, Twilight?” Lightning replied. At least she was smart enough to use the right name for a change, though that might’ve been influenced by how I tensed up the moment the ‘D’ rolled off her tongue. “You have any idea what’ll happen to me when the rest of the school hears that I had to pucker up and say sorry to her? Fat chance on that,” she scoffed and turned. “I’ve got it hard enough just being the new girl at school. I don’t need to torpedo my cred with this.”

“If you’re really my friend, you will fix this!”

“Why bother? You’re better off without her anyways.” She spun around to face me again, hands on her hips with a look of stubborn defiance upon her face. “And think about it: if she had really been as good a friend as you say, she wouldn’t have believed me so easily. Seriously, a few texts and a picture was all it took, so she must’ve already suspected it herself. In a way, it’s kinda her fault too.”

In hindsight, she may have had a point. If I had treated our friendship with the care it deserved, Twilight would’ve never doubted it. Lightning may have played a part in it, but this mess really was my fault. I failed our friendship. Were I in a better frame of mind, I would’ve recognized that perhaps by owning up to my failures, I could’ve better convinced Lightning Dust to take responsibility for hers, but instead I wound up doing something infinitely worse.

I grabbed Lightning Dust by the collar and pulled her in real close. “You are going to call Twilight right now, or I swear I’ll—”

“Or you’ll what?” Lightning scoffed back with a look of dismissive amusement. “Hit me? Good luck with that. If you couldn’t take Gilda in a straight-up fight, you probably wouldn’t last half a minute against me.”

The threat of force was good when the person was already weak and afraid of you, but if you wanted to convince somebody normally confident that they needed to fear you, then you had to go with a different route. For someone like Lightning Dust, the key was finding the thing in life that would make them, as Luna would put it, reevaluate their priorities. Lucky for me, I already knew where to apply the pressure.

“Like I’d need to lift a finger against you,” I shot back as I tightened my grip and my resolve, “because if you had used your head for a second, you’d remember who Twilight’s big brother is.”

“H-hey, wait a second! A-as far as Twilight’s concerned, you’re the one who’s been stringing her along,” Lightning shot back. For a brief moment, however, I saw her resolve start to waver. That was all the opening I needed. “Shining’s gonna be mad at you, not me!”

“Twilight’s at home, probably crying herself to sleep right now, so as far as Shining is concerned, I’m still his lil’ sis’ BFF. How hard do you think it’ll be for me to convince him that poor Twilight is being bullied again and is too scared to say anything about it? He’s already got a weepy-faced sister and your lies all over her phone. Just imagine the tales of misery I could weave for him.” Between my words and the malicious grin across my face, Lightning was soon crumbling under the pressure. I could see the fear in her eyes already as she no doubt knew where I was ultimately going with this threat. “You’ll be on the bench faster than you can say ‘white knight’, and I bet you’ll be real popular with the college scouts when you’re stuck on the sidelines. Good luck getting your sports scholarship after that.”

“Y-y-you w-wouldn’t! Y-you can’t!” Lightning stammered. The last of her resistance had come crashing down, now replaced by an overwhelming sense of self-preservation and damage control.

“Just watch me! You were at my party; you’ve heard the stories about me,” I barked, pulling hard on her collar so she was pulled up onto the tips of her toes. “Now I want you to text Twilight that you were lying to her, and then you will leave her alone. If you so much as even look at her funny, I’ll find out, and I’ll show you why everyone at Canterlot High was terrified of me!”

“O-okay, you win! I’ll text her!” Lightning pulled out her phone as she raised her arms in surrender. “L-look, I’ll do it right now, too! Just chill out, okay?” I just scowled and waited for her as she frantically typed her messages in. Once she hit ‘send’, she turned the phone around to show me the proof. “There! It’s done! I can’t promise she’ll read it or believe me.”

With nothing left to do here, I let go of the other girl while giving her a light shove towards the door. “For your sake, you better hope she does.”

“I can’t believe you’re picking her over me!” Lightning barked back in a futile effort to save face. At this point, I was far beyond the point of caring what she thought of me. “I thought you were cool, Sunset, but you’re just as Gilda said.”

However, that didn’t mean I was going to just let her fling mud at me, even if it was of no threat. “Gilda is a brute and a vulture, but as much as I didn’t like her, I was willing to respect that you two were friends!” I was done here, so I turned to leave. “And if you can’t understand why I’d pick Twilight over you, then I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.”

“You’ll regret this!” Lightning Dust shouted from her doorway, a final stab of a wounded pride. “This is the biggest mistake you’ll ever make in your life!”

And then the door slammed shut, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

“One of many…”

********************

Twilight wasn’t the only one who’d be crying themselves to sleep that night. By the time I finally got home, it was late in the evening and I was drained both physically and emotionally. The maelstrom of my mind had gone silent, but in its wake was a pervasive numbness that left me unable to even utter a hello to Celestia when I passed by her in the hall while en route to my room. Once I was within the darkened confines of my sanctuary, I crawled under the bed sheets and prepared for a long night of wallowing in my self-loathing.

Though I was too exhausted to be angry anymore, I nonetheless hated myself, completely and utterly. This entire ordeal—all of the grief, heartache, and despair—was because of my failings, both as a friend and as a person. I destroyed one friendship, and another one was still up in the air about whether it would survive the next few days or not. No amount of mental gymnastics could rationalize away the pain, and the truth was as unavoidable as the tears that were soon staining my pillow.

This was my fault, and I deserved every bit of misery that came with it.

I hadn’t felt this hopeless since the days after the Fall Formal; in fact, it felt about a hundred times worse. Both times I fell due to my own foolish pride, but what made this so much worse was that I should’ve known better. Back then, I was an angry and ambitious rebel, bent on getting revenge against those who I felt had wronged me. I didn’t know any better, and that’s why Princess Twilight and the others had no hesitations about giving me another chance. They saw a seed of goodness in me, a hope for redemption, but now I’ve just let everybody down and proved that I hadn’t learned a darn thing.

What’s worse was that I was going to have to own up to this mistake to all of my remaining friends, as there was no chance I’d be able to make it through the week as an emotional zombie without them noticing. They probably won’t hate me for it, but I could easily see them getting quite upset about it with me. I had gone behind their backs and repeatedly lied to their faces about it.

I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to cast me out. Who’d want to be friends with a habitual liar crippled by trust issues?

After some time, not that I was paying it any heed, there came a knocking from my bedroom door.

“Sunset? Is everything okay?” Celestia’s voice called out from the other side.

If I said ‘yes’, I’d be lying to her as well; if I said ‘no’, then she’d come in to try and help. Even just admitting the truth, that I was far from okay, felt like a lead weight lodged in my chest. As much as I wanted to say anything, I couldn’t muster the strength to do so. All I could do was curl into a ball, and hug my tear-stained pillow closer to my chest. Knowing my always-perceptive caretaker, she’d understand what the silence meant.

Sure enough, a few moments later there was a noticeable shift in the mattress as Celestia sat down next to me. The bed sheets were slowly pulled away, and she coaxed me up. She didn’t say a word; she didn’t need to. The sight of her warm and compassionate smile was enough to break down the last few emotional walls I had left. As they came crumbling down, I threw my arms around her and buried my face into her chest, and allowed all the anguish and emotion to pour out.

For her part, Celestia knew that all she needed to do at the moment was to hold me close and give me the time I needed to vent. I think I cried for a good five or six minutes, but it could’ve been longer since the minutes seemed to blur like the rest of my tear-filled vision.

“It’s okay, dear,” she whispered.

Except it wasn’t Celestia’s voice; it was something far darker and more familiar. I pulled away, and instead of the sight of my caretaker’s sympathetic eyes, I was greeted to the sinister and piercing gaze of my own demonic visage. As I tried to break free, her claws tightened their grip around me, and she bared her fangs in a toothy grin.

“Just remember, you’ll always have me to look out for you,” the demon spoke.

“No!” I shrieked. “I’m not you! Get away! Get away!”

I awoke with a panicked gasp, bolting upright in bed as I frantically searched for signs of any sort of demon lurking nearby. It took a few moments of sitting in the darkened silence of my bedroom, save for the jackhammering of my heart, before the rational part of me realized that it was just a bad dream. After a few more breaths, I felt calm enough to lay back down.

“Must’ve dozed off,” I murmured under my breath. I confirmed as such on my phone, noting that it was a little bit after midnight. At least that meant I wasn’t literally confronted by my demons, but it was only a small comfort to my troubled soul. There was a deep, sinking feeling in my chest, and it was only getting worse.

Unsure of what to do, both in the short and long term, I climbed out of bed. I trudged out into the hallway and up to Celestia’s bedroom door. I wasn’t sure if this was the best idea, but it was all I had left. I knocked on her door, then opened it just enough to poke my head inside.

“Celestia?” I called out, my voice still as dampened as my spirits.

After I called her name a second time, I heard a quiet murmuring from the darkened room, followed a second later by a click as a bedside lamp was turned on. A confused, half-awake Celestia stared at me from the bed, her face partially obscured by a curtain of disheveled hair.

“Sunset?” she murmured before stifling a yawn. “What time is it?”

“It’s late, I know,” I answered, “but I… I really need somebody to talk to right now…”

I tried to keep a straight face, but I had no strength left to pretend that I was anything but desperate. I was at the end of my rope, and I think she could tell just by looking at me. I could feel my eyes beginning to tear up again, and I prayed she didn’t tell me to ‘wait until morning’ because I probably would’ve broken down right then and there if she had. Instead, she brushed the unruly parts of her hair to the side, and smiled to me.

“Of course,” she said in that calm and soothing tone that felt like a warm blanket around your soul. She got out of bed, grabbed her robe, and came over to me. Putting an arm around my shoulder, I was drawn in close as she accompanied me down the hall.

At first, I was a little confused as to why she led me down to the kitchen. As far as places go for supportive heart-to-heart talks, it was not the first place that came to mind. Her reasoning became clearer after I sat down at the island while Celestia walked over to the fridge. A moment later, a plate with a slice of left-over birthday cake was set down in front of me, and then she sat down next to me with her own piece.

She didn’t say anything right away, so for the first few minutes, the only noises were the clattering of forks as we ate in silence. I had to admit, this wasn’t quite the talk I had envisioned, but there was a small comfort to be had in the tranquil, pressure-free setting. Celestia was giving me the time I needed to work up the willpower.

Once I was ready, I told her everything; all the lies, all the deception, all of the running around behind my friends’ backs to keep them in the dark, and how I treated my friends like chess pieces in some twisted game. I explained to her how my lies led to my friend believing a falsehood and then betraying my trust, which while wrong did little to justify resorting to threats and extortion in order to gain her compliance.

“… And that’s how I managed to betray one friend’s trust, and burnt down the bridge with another. Two friendships made, and now two friendships destroyed; I’m a real piece of work, aren’t I?” I said as I ended my long-winded confession with a sigh. I had only eaten about half of my cake, and the spent the rest of my time just playing with some of the crumbs with my fork.

For her part, Celestia remained quiet, as I had expected. If she disapproved of my actions, she didn’t let it show, instead maintaining her look of support and sympathy. The only time her expression flickered was when I mentioned what Lightning Dust had done.

“How do you feel?” Celestia asked, finally breaking her silence.

“Awful,” I said as I buried my face into my free hand. “Like I’m the worst person in the world. Like everything I did and learned these past few months has been completely undone because I dove right back into my old habits when things got difficult. I’m just… I feel like a complete failure right now.” I tried to keep it hidden, but I soon began to sob. “I’ve let everybody down…”

I then felt Celestia’s hand in my hair, and she began to just gently rub the back of my head. There was a curious warmth to it, one that seemed to permeate through all the cold misery I was feeling. Funny how even a seemingly innocuous bit of human contact could make all the difference when you felt like an overused septic tank.

“Stumbling doesn’t make you a failure, Sunset,” Celestia said. “You made some mistakes and the results are regrettable, but this doesn’t have to be how this story ends.”

“But… but what if Twilight doesn’t want to hear me out? What if… what if I can’t fix this…”

Life was so much easier when the biggest problems I faced were those of a magical nature. When studying under Princess Celestia, I either knew the answer or I didn’t. There wasn’t any wiggle room, and it didn’t matter what the textbook thought of me, it couldn’t deny me the results if I knew what the answer was. If something went wrong with a spell, the problem was with me, and I could easily fix it with further study.

People, on the other hand, were fickle and capricious things, oftentimes driven more by emotions and biases than anything else. My own actions were proof enough that even the academically gifted were prone to bouts of irrationality and hysteria. Sometimes knowing the answer didn’t make any difference, and you could do everything right and still wind up losing. Whether or not I figured out how I could fix things with Twilight, there was no certainty she’d give me the opportunity or even be swayed by it.

As always, uncertainty was the poison eating away at my heart.

“Then you accept her decision, mourn what you’ve lost, you move forward with your life,” Celestia explained, “and you pray that, in time, hearts and minds will change.”

After digesting her words, I sniffled and wiped my tears away, feeling a bit more confident now. “And what about Lightning Dust? I’m not sure what to do about her. I’m still angry at what she did, but… what I did wasn’t any better. I still can’t even understand why she did this in the first place.”

“And you may never,” Celestia said, which didn’t alleviate any of my guilt or worry. “What you need to keep in mind, though, is that she is a girl just as you are: full of worries and fears and insecurities. She may look to her actions no differently than you did to all your deceptions; something that needed to be done.”

“Still… I can’t believe she would try to drive Twilight away like that,” I said with a tired sigh. “This wasn’t like her at all, but then again, maybe I didn’t know her as well as I had thought.”

“Just remember, you may not be the only person still struggling to understand what friendship means,” my caretaker reminded me. Her hand moved to my shoulder and pulled me into a gentle embrace. “All I can ask is not to be so quick to give up on her.”

I wasn’t prepared to write-off making amends with Lightning Dust somehow, but at the same time I knew it would be some time before I could be in the same room as her and not want to punch her in the face. How long it’d take for her to stop feeling the same way about me was anybody’s guess, but all I could do for now was hope for friendship to win out in the end.

“So… what do you think I should do?” I asked, feeling a bit nervous. I doubt she’d just hand me the answers on a silver platter, but she’d know what to say to put me on the right path to finding them.

“Tell me, why have you been keeping Twilight separate from everything else in your life?” she asked in that rhetorical fashion that hinted she knew what the answer was but wanted to hear me say it anyways.

“B-because she might… uh, she might…uh,” I stumbled over my words, trying to figure out a response that sounded less than foolish. “Y-you know, to protect Equestria and… stuff.”

Unsurprisingly, Celestia was less than convinced of this. “Was it really?”

I sighed and hung my head low, as if all the weight of my misdeeds decided to bear down upon me at that moment. “I’m scared I’ll lose her,” I said in a pathetic whimper. “Maybe she’ll see our magic and freak out, or maybe she’ll realize that compared to the other girls I’m a horrible person, or maybe she’ll just forget about me because she’ll have all these awesome new friends: friends that would never lie to her or hurt her…”

“Do you really believe that Twilight Sparkle would do something like that?” Celestia suggested. She lifted up my chin so that our eyes met again, and she gave me a hopeful smile. “The friend who texted you so regularly that I could set my alarm clock to it? The friend who’s turned to you time and time again whenever she needed help? The friend who sought you out in the middle of the night? Does that sound like someone who’ll just forget about you?”

“I… I guess it does sound kinda silly when you put it like that,” I answered with a small, sheepish smile. It was funny how certain I could be of something without realizing how foolish it sounded until someone else came along and pointed it out. Perhaps if I hadn’t tried to do everything entirely on my own, somebody could’ve been there to smack some sense into me sooner. “I’m in for a lot of apologizing, aren’t I? Think I should bake a cake?”

Celestia smirked and patted me on the head. “It’s not a bad place to start,” she said. “But perhaps now is the time to face your fears, and stop letting them cloud your judgment.”

I sat in silence as I digested her advice, along with the last few morsels of my leftover cake. I wish I could’ve been strong enough to stop being afraid of every little uncertainty in my life. The more I tried to run from the things that scared me, the more I became the thing I feared the most: the old Sunset Shimmer.

“Thanks Celestia,” I finally spoke up before rising from my seat. “I think I know what I need to do now.”

I returned to my bedroom and grabbed my phone. Despite it being the dead of night, I sent a text message to Twilight with the hopes that she might read it at some point.

Sunset: Twilight, I don’t know what exactly Lightning Dust has told you, but I want you to know that I’m not about to give up on our friendship, and I’m not giving up on you. I want to make this friendship work, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.

Sunset: I know I’m asking a lot, probably more than I deserve, but your my best friend, Twilight. If that still means something to you, I’d like to meet up again. There’s too much that needs to be said to be done over the phone. Tomorrow after school at Sugar Cube Corner.

It was a long shot, but it was all I had left. If this didn’t work then I’d probably spend the next few days curled up with a tub of ice cream. I was just about to set my phone down when all of a sudden it buzzed in my grasp. At first I thought I was just imagining things, that it couldn’t possibly be what I’d expected. There was only one reasonable answer for who could be texting me at this time of night, which meant I was both anxious and terrified of what the response could be. Feeling a lump in my throat and a heavy, sinking feeling of dread in my chest, I looked to my phone.

Twilight: *You’re