Cover Story

by Short Stories

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Sunset Shimmer, Main 6, Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 2723

Sunset was never friends with any of them; it was all a big hoax.

Sunset was never friends with any of them; it was all a big hoax.

It took some time, but they finally figured her out.

This is for MLPFan234's contest! Follow them if you arent already, please!! :heart: :twilightsmile:

Marked as "Complete" for the time being.

Published 2015-09-26 05:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-09-26 05:10:01 UTC

If at first you don't suceed, try, try again.

Dear *Personal** Diary,*

I think I know know the meaning of the phrase "sickly sweet".

If I keep acting sweet and kind to these five (plus one, on occasions) nincompoops, I think I'll be sick to my stomach!

Calm down, Sunset; there's only a week left...a week left until your plan will fall into place. One week left until they know a spy has been among them the whole time.

Reminder: Make them opposite of themselves, might need Mr. Discord's help.

"Hey, Sunset, what'cha writing?" Pinkie asked, zooming over to where the annoyed girl sat on the steps of the school. Pinkie leaned over her shoulder and began to read out loud. "Dear Personal Diary..." Sunset interrupted Pinkie by practically slamming the book on the party girl's nose. That gave her some satisfaction, for a couple seconds. "Hey!!" Pinkie called, her voice sounding nasally due to the book pinching her sniffer.

"Sunset?" Rainbow asked, walking up to where Pinkie stood in pain, and Sunset sat in pleasure. "What are you doing?"

"Uh..." Sunset had to think fast,  knowing that if she stalled to long, Rainbow would know something was up. "Just...giving Pinkie a closer look, is all." She responded nervously, slowly opening the book. "Pinkie was curious to know what it said." She was pleased by how innocent the lie came out, and overjoyed that a lie came to her so fast.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Uh...huh." She mumbled, but it was clear to see she wasn't buying it. Pinkie walked over to Rainbow, rubbing her nose, giving Sunset a skeptical look the whole time. "Mind telling me what really happened, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, never taking her eyes off of Sunset.

"I was just reading what she wrote, and she slammed the book on my nose." Pinkie replied. She, to, was looking at Sunset rather then Rainbow. She took her hand off her nose and placed it on her hip. "Good thing I'm a fast reader."

"What?!" Sunset yelled, that last sentence making her freeze. Her friends looked down at her with increasing curiosity. Before they could say another word, however, the three girls all heard Fluttershy's voice.

"Girls! Girls!" She cried, her voice soft ad quite all the same; it was a wonder how they could hear her across the noisy courtyard.

Pinkie noticed her first, supposedly, because she turned so her profile was facing Sunset and began to jump up and down, shouting "FLUTTERSHY! Were over here! FLUTTERSHY!!"

It took a moment, but Fluttershy finally appeared at Pinkie side, grinning wildly. "Girls! Guess what?" She asked, having trouble masking her enthusiasm.

"What?" Rainbow and Pinkie coursed at at the same time.

Pinkie whirled around to face Rainbow, slight determination on her face. "Jinx! 10! You owe me a dollar!" She yelled. Rainbow sighed, rolled her eyes, fished a crumpled-up dollar out of her small shirt pocket, and handed it to Pinkie. She grabbed it, then held it up to the sun to make sure it wasn't copyrighted. "I'm good at that game." She mumbled.

"Sure." Rainbow responded, the turned her attention to Fluttershy. "Whats up?"

"Mr. Discord gave me an A on my save-the-jackalopes project!"

"So?" Sunset asked, then immediately tried to cover it up. "That's good, but, he's been giving A's out like candy lately."

"He never gives A's out on mythical creatures." Pinkie said, stashing the dollar in her backpack. "I should know, I tried to do a project about the candy monster, and he gave me a big, fat 'F'. She ended the sentence with an overly-dramatic frown.

You deserve it, Sunset thought, but decided to not speak her mind. "That sucks!" She said, faking a frown. She must have convinced her 'friends', because they all nodded in agreement. "That reminds me; I need to go talk to him about my homework assignment."

"He gave us homework?" Pinkie asked, facing Sunset again. "Was I not paying attention? What was it? We have the same class together, remember?"

"Yes...I remember..." Sunset scowled. "I just need to talk to him about a late assignment." She looked at her 'friends' faces, sensing that they all wanted to come with her. Alone, please." She added at the last second.

The three girls gave mummers of agreement, nodding their heads and looking at each other, as if sharing a message Sunset couldn't understand. "I'll see ya in gym!" Rainbow told her as Sunset stood up, grabbing her backpack, and, most importantly, her diary.

"See you then!" She responding, plastering yet another fake smile on her face. As soon as she turned around, however it melted into a scowl. She walked up the stairs, and into the building.

"Somethings not right with her." Pinkie said as soon as she left, "she's been acting weird for quite a while, and I plan to get to the bottom of it!"

Sunset slowly opened the door to the dimly-lit room, small goosebumps crawling up and down her arms. She wasn't sure where he was, but she knew that he was the master of surprise, so she was sure to keep her guard up as she took one, tentative step into the room.

Then another.

And another.

Then five more.

She reached his desk in those eight steps, but still saw no sign of him. She was about to give up a try again later when all the lights went out, and the door slammed shut. Unable to contain herself, Sunset screamed and ran towards the nearest window, which was opened slightly, and letting in a gentle breeze.

She tried to pry it open even more, so she could crawl out, but noticed that she was suddenly on the third floor. Mr. Discord's classroom was on the first floor.

"Mr. Discord, I know what your doing." Sunset called into nothingness, folding her arms over her chest. Nothing happened for a brief moment, but the man finally crawled out from under his desk, wearing his trademark grin.

"You should have seen your face!" He cried, "it was all like "ahhhh!" With a mix of "nooo!!" As he spoke, he made different faces for each word; Sunset not finding it amusing at all. She knew he used to be, and still was, an amazing illusionist, but his pranks made him seem like he was five years old, instead of 50.

"Yes, I know, I was scared."

"Scared?" He asked between laughs, "you were hilarious!" He had to lean on his desk so he wouldn't fall over. Sunset's expression didn't budge from the scowl she had, and her arms stayed crossed against her chest. That was a hard feat, considering that his laughter was probably the most contagious there was. (Pinkie's was second)

"Alright, alright, I can see that you mean business." He said as soon as he calmed down and noticed she wasn't laughing with him. He stood up, only to walk over to his desk and sit down in the brown, puffy chair behind it. He reached into his desk drawer to put on some faux glasses and folded his hands out in front of him. "What can I do for you?"

Sunset still didn't budge from her position, however, she did raise an eyebrow. "Lose the glasses." She commanded.

Mr. Discord sighed, then literally tossed his glasses away. "Your no fun." He pouted.

"I mean business, Mr. Discord."

"I already said that."

Sunset rolled her eyes and made her way over to his desk. She grabbed a spare chair along the way so she could sit down. "I need a favor."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, I believe you already made the quite clear."

"When?"

He opened his eyes and plastered on his grin again. "Just now!"

"Discord..."

"Now, now, young lady. I do let my students push me around at certain times, but you must call me Mr. Discord during school hours." Sunset huffed, trying to stay calm. She wasn't sure how much more of his antics she could take. "Is this about your mythical animal project? I'm not turning that grade to an A. I only did it to Fluttershy because she actually shows me respect."

That did it!

Sunset slammed her hands down on his desk, startling the teacher, and glared at him, teeming with rage. "CAN YOU STAY QUIET FOR FIVE. MINUTES?!" She screamed, her chest heaving up and down like a wild animal.

Mr. Discord didn't even seemed stunned, he just gave her a sarcastic look and leaned back in his chair. "All you had to do was ask." He joked.

"I am this close to slapping you, Discord. " Sunset growled. "I need you to hypnotize Fluttershy and her friends, its for a project I'm working on."

"Your 'project', of sorts, is just a convenient lie to cover up your real reason why you want them hypnotized, correct?"

"Uh..." Sunset took a step back; shocked on how he could 'read her mind'. How did he know? She thought.

"I need to know your true reason why you want those kind girls hypnotized."

"Um..."

Mr. Discord sat up abruptly in his chair, looking as serious as ever. "The truth, Sunset."

It was rare to see the teacher this serious, so Sunset would be lying if she said she wasn't a little scared. She tried to cover up her lie she was about to tell as much as possible. "I have a psychology class, with a project that's due in two days." Mr. Discord nodded, not buying it. "I choose the project to see how people react to certain situations, I had stress, hypnotism, and relaxation."

"So, if this so-called 'project' is true, what makes you think I'd help?" Mr. Discord asked; "I need the truth, Sunset. You and I both know that you are lying through your teeth." Sunset took a deep breath, about to say something, but Mr. Discord continued. "I think that you want those girls  hypnotized so they will spread disharmony and it'll make it easier to take over the school yet again." Again, Sunset tried to speak, yet the teacher interrupted her once more. "You and I know that this statement is correct, so, I will just have to think about if I do this or not. Will you give me all the praise, since I did most of he heavy lifting?"

"If it'll make you say yes, then sure." Sunset said. Her arms had themselves crossed over her chest again, something she didn't even realize until now.

"I'll meet you after school in the courtyard to tell you my final decision." As if on cue, the school bell rang just then, signaling the start of class. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to prepare for class. Have a good day. I'll meet you after school." As he spoke, he walked Sunset towards the door and shoved her out, waving in a seemingly-friendly manner,  then standing back as a mob of students ran into his classroom.

Pinkie being one of them.

Dear *Personal** Diary,*

I talked to Mr. Discord about the hypnotism, but he didn't seem that serious. At the end, he stopped all his joking and it seemed like he was reading my thoughts. He told him to meet me in the courtyard, after school, which is where I am now.  It's been five minutes since school has been let out. Should I just leave, and try again later? Or should I wait for five more minutes?

Give me advice, diary. I need this.

^_Sunset Shimmer_^

"Ah! there you are!" Mr. Discord called as he walked out of the school, making Sunset jump and turn around to face him. "We were wondering where you were." He had a look in his eye that suggested she should run. Now.

Sunset stood, but her legs were to sore from gym class to run away. Getting up was an effort by itself. "'We'?" She asked, taking a step back nonetheless.

"Yes." Discord said,his eyes glowing an eerie yellow. "'We'" On cue, six girls emerged from the building doors behind him. Sunset's 'friends', plus Twilight, they must have called her in the one class they didn't have together: gym.

"I knew she was up to something!" Pinkie cheered. "It took some time, but I finally uncovered her plan!"

Oh, this was going to be good. Sunset put on her best innocent gaze and stance-and hand to her heart- and asked"What plan? Pinkie, what are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with us, Sunset!" Rainbow yelled. "Pinkie got your whole conversation with Mr. Discord"--

He interrupted her by raising his hand in the air. "No need to be formal, Rainbow Dash. Just 'Discord' is fine." Rainbow let out an angry growl as Fluttershy gave him a slightly disappointed look while softly shaking her head. "What?" He complained. Fluttershy waved her hand in the air, silently telling him to say something more. He gave a defeated sigh, slouching over. Straightening up, he sighed once more. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash. Please, continue."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked at Sunset again. The whole time the small scenario was happening, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight walked over to Sunset and stood on both sides and behind her, to make sure she wouldn't run away. Rainbow pointed an accusing finger at Sunset as she tried speaking again. "Pinkie taped your whole conversation with Discord this morning!"

Sunset froze. "S-she did?"

"That's right! You didn't even deny you were trying to take over he school again!" Fluttershy replied. "You big...huge..."

"Say it! Say it!" Rainbow whispered, gently coaxing Fluttershy to say at least one swear word in her fit of rage.

"Meanie!!" Fluttershy finished.

"Goosebumps." Rainbow commented sarcastically.

"Ouch." Sunset said, being called a 'meanie' by the element of kindness was basically saying she was way more then a jerk in others minds "I never said I would take over the school, though..." Sunset let out a nervous laugh.

"But, like Rainbow said before, you didn't deny it either." Twilight said. "I don't think that reformation spell worked that well." This, she said to her true friends, while shaking her head. Her voice stayed perfectly calm all the while, something Sunset hated about her.

Sunsets voice took on a more defensive tone. "So what if I didn't?"

"It means ya technically agreed ta his deal." Applejack answered, "ya just didn't say 'yes' out loud."

"That...that doesn't mean anything!" Sunset was trying desperately to find a way out of this horrible conundrum, but failing miserably.

"It kind of does, darling." Rarity scoffed, "it's unspoken law."

"No, it ain't. At least, I'm not sure it is."

"Universal law, Applejack. A law that isn't really written, but it's still there." Rarity replied, not sure if that was the correct definition.

Sunset was gripping her head, trying to block out Applejack's and Rarity's pointless arguing. She couldn't find any way out of the grave she had dug for herself. Finally, something snapped in her, and she finally gave in."I-I-I-ugh! FINE! I'm  not reformed! I'm still me! Go ahead, try to reform me, but the ugly version will still be in side me!" She was heaving by the time she was done.

Twilight looked at all eight people, stepping back so she could take in the whole scene. "What do you say, girls?" She asked them, "should we try to reform her again?"

They all gave there small sounds of agreement, Pinkie's the loudest of them all: "I'll still be keeping an eye on her!"

All six girls got in front of Sunset, Discord standing back so he wouldn't get in the way; he used the glass door as a shield. "Ready, girls?" Twilight asked. All five nodded. Sunset shook her head, noticeably nervous. They all stood hand-in-hand, their magic consuming them slowly, they transformed into pony-human hybrids, hovered in the air, and unleashed their reforming rainbow upon Sunset.

Twilight's eyes were still glowing white seconds before they touched the ground, but what they saw was something none of them expected.

"She's gone!" Pinkie cried, which was obvious; who wouldn't expect that? But there was a huge smoldering spot on the pavement in the shape of Sunset's cutie mark, and her clothes were laid in a smothering heap.