Author's Note

So I apologize for the long wait. I was working on this and then soon enough Spirit of Justice came out so...yeah. By the way, I had a new idea for a story during my short hiatus so keep an eye out for that.

Chapter 11

It was happening again. I was in the park, witnessing the tragic event that had taken place. That woman...that's right she had escaped from prison and for all intents and purposes was mentally insane.

But who was the other girl? From my perspective she was a fuzzy image...even my subconscious couldn't remember who she was. “Don't you hate when you can't even remember the smallest of details?”

I looked behind and saw my shadow swinging slightly on the swing set. “Is this what you're going to do from now on? Repeatedly drill this traumatic event back into my head?”

“You think I'm doing this for pleasure?” My shadow stopped and looked out into the distance. I then realized we were now the only ones here...wherever “here” was. “You drove this memory to the back of your mind, hoping to rid of it forever, but you couldn't cause if you had such an event would've shattered your mind. As much as you may not want to, you have to remember…”

“I only remember the moment it happened,” I replied. “I can't even seem to remember the girl who was next to me unconscious.”

“You know her more than you think,” Shadow Sunset said. “A storm is coming...if you want to come out victorious you'll have to face your inner demons...which is pretty much me.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You'll find out soon enough,” my shadow said as she got up. Fog started to surround the area. “We'll meet again...but it won't be in a dream...at that time you'll be tested...to see if you have what it takes.”

I mulled over her last words as I sipped on a cup of coffee. It was eight-thirty and I had to jump into the shower in half an hour. I couldn't quite put together what was going on in my head but considering this was the third encounter, I knew this was no coincidence.

I couldn't tell anyone about this, mostly cause it sounded insane...but it also lines up with this sudden “End of Days”. “You have to remember…” It wasn't that simple and if I had shut it away in my head then I had good reason.

I had remembered shooting the mad woman, but nothing before it, nothing after. And carrying around a gun, shooting one didn't bother me? Something wasn't adding up...

Well, my shadow was right about one thing, something was on the horizon and it didn't sound good at all. Which brought me back to today. Were we really going to find anything important? I suppose in the end it's still a good bonding experience and between all of us, Twilight and I were the only bookworms.

After I finished showering and got dressed, I headed out to the library. It was close to ten when I arrived and no surprise Twilight was there before me. “Wow, Rarity wasn't kidding that thing is loud,” she commented.

“It's a motorcycle, they're always loud,” I said with an amused grin.

“Couldn't you just drive a car?”

“I would if the car I wanted wasn't so expensive.”

“...Anyway, I have a friend who works here and she can help us out.”

“Crystal Prep?” I asked.

“Yep, and I'd say she and I are practically equals when it comes to studies. She's not exactly the most talkative so...don't be put off if she seems kind of blunt.”

The Canterlot Library was pretty impressive as libraries went. It had three floors with no shortage of material at all. We went to the second floor to a more secluded area and went to an assistant's desk.

There was a girl at the desk wearing glasses and a black sweater and honestly looked like she just woke up. She was busy typing something on a computer.

Twilight went up to her and put on a big smile. “Hey Moondancer...what are you up to!?”

“Twilight,” the girl replied casually, not even looking at her. “Something I can help you with?”

“Oh you know me too well!” Even I could tell Twilight was trying too hard. “You wouldn't happen to have any books on the End of Days would you?”

That seemed to get her attention. Moondancer looked straight at her, incredulous. “Since when are you interested in that crap?”

“It's for research purposes that's all,” Twilight replied.

“Right...third shelf to the right has some rather interesting books...by the way I thought we were going to be doing a study group this weekend?”

Twilight suddenly face palmed. “Ugh, I forgot! I'm sorry Moondancer maybe we can meet this week. Oh I'm sorry Sunset, this is my friend Moondancer. Moondancer, Sunset Shimmer.”

“A pleasure.” Moondancer was back to her typing. “As you can see, Twilight has a bad case of forgetting stuff so don't bother planning stuff ahead with her.”

Twilight sighed. “Okay I deserved that…”

“But if you want to make up for it you'll pay for lunch sometime...oh and I want to borrow your book about Descartes.” She glanced over with a slightly mischievous smile.

Twilight grinned. “Alright, alright you win.”

“Good, I'll be looking forward to it then...now if you'll excuse me I need to work on this report.”

Once we started looking for books I commented, “She's an interesting one.”

“Yeah...we were really good friends in elementary school but one time I missed her birthday party and she held it against me for the longest time. I finally earned her forgiveness but I can't help but go out of my way for her.”

“So you made a mistake, you earned her forgiveness but you don't have to overdo it if she's not the type to forgive easily,” I told her.

“Don't worry, I know she seems kind of cold but she is really nice...but don't piss her off she's very good with computers.”

“...How good?”

“If you got dirt she'll find it,” Twilight said. “She got a guy in trouble by hacking and posting porn videos onto his social network profile - while he was on in the library!”

“That's...wow.”

“Yeah, I'd say she's a good friend.” Twilight looked at the books she was now collecting. “Hmm...these look like good books to start with. If there's anything in there about human sacrifices that's where to look.”

We spent the next ten minutes reading in silence. “Well...all I'm seeing is either a great flood or a meteor coming down and wiping us out…” I kept reading. “Huh...well this is different…”

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“According to this, there's an event called the “Grand Cross” where a light from the heavens comes down and destroys all but the chosen few who are deemed worthy of evolution.”

“Evolution? No wonder Moondancer hates this stuff…”

“And get this, before the event, there must be a sacrifice of a pure soul...but if they only need one, then why are all these students being abducted?”

“You think this is what Svengallop was talking about?” Twilight asked.

“It's possible...but why are these demons showing up?” I asked.

“... Harmonic Convergence…”

“Huh?”

“You know, when the planets line up with the sun,” Twilight said. “But instead of planets, think dimensions. In Nordic Mythology, there are supposedly Nine Realms...so it could be possible that what we've experienced truly is another dimension intersecting with ours.”

“So you're saying there could be a point where our dimensions completely intersect?”

“If that happens...I don't even want to think about the consequences…”

“Twilight, you're a genius.”

Twilight blushed while toying with her hair. “Well…I try…”

“I'll let the other girls know tomorrow and we'll go from there.”

Twilight sighed. “Crystal Prep is going to be pretty empty tomorrow.”

“That reminds me, did your brother or Dean Cadance…”

“No, they didn't mention what they saw, who'd believe them?” Twilight asked. “The three of us had a talk the other night and we promised to keep everything between ourselves. I didn't mention the Persona thing though…”

“Probably for the best. Well, I guess we're done here then...feel like getting an early lunch?”

The weekend passed and the school week began without any new incidents. As for school itself, it was the same old same, although many were talking about what happened at the concert. Needless to say, we had been the main attraction.

I was on my way to class before lunch when I almost bumped into Flash. “Oh hey Sunset,” he said. “Quick question, I saw you guys at the concert on Saturday but uh...who was the girl with the glasses?”

I smiled, figuring this question was going to come up eventually. “Her name's Twilight and she goes to Crystal Prep.”

“Oh.” Flash looked disappointed. “That would explain it.”

“You want to meet her I take it?” I asked somewhat teasingly.

“No no, I was just asking,” Flash replied, turning away in embarrassment. “I mean...if I did get to meet her that'd be cool.”

“We're probably going to be meeting after school so…” The last thing I wanted was to have someone find out about our secret but I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor guy.

“That'd be great but I have practice after school,” Flash replied, sighing. “Maybe another time.”

I chuckled. “I'll let Twilight know you want to meet her.”

“Thanks Sunset...you know that dance is coming up too.”

“Listen, I know what you're asking but I'll tell you what: if for whatever Twilight says no I'll go with you. Sound good?”

“Sounds good.”

“Ooh so Flash is interested in Twilight is he?” Rarity said, her eyes lighting up. We were sitting in the middle of the cafeteria. To no surprise, we had eyes on us constantly.

“And he asked ya to the dance too?” Applejack asked.

“I said I'd go if Twilight said no,” I explained. “Although I really doubt she will.”

“Well I suppose he could bring both of you,” Rarity said, rubbing her chin slightly.

“Pft, wouldn't surprise me if he did,” Dash grumbled, tearing into her lunch.

“Dashie's still feeling sore about Saturday,” Pinkie stated cheerfully.

“The hell I am!” Dash snapped. “That could've been me on stage! This is bullshit…”

Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw Trixie storming towards and she didn't look pleased. “Trixie must know your secrets!” she snapped, slamming down today's newspaper. It looked like the concert made the front page.

“Um...what secrets?” Fluttershy asked.

“Do not play dumb with the Great and Powerful Trixie! We all saw what took place on stage!” And of course she was causing unwanted attention.

“Oh darling, you just saw special-”

“Oh please, Trixie knows magic and illusions more than anyone and those were not illusions or special effects,” Trixie said, looking very skeptical.

“Alright, you got us,” I then said. “Truth is, Countess Coloratura and Applejack are close friends and she threw this idea out to us to surprise the audience. Everything you saw were either projections or really good special effects. That's all it was.”

Trixie stared at me for a long minute and quickly turned around. “This isn't over!” she snapped, stomping away.

“...So Applejack speaking of the dance, have you found a date yet?” Rarity asked. “I'd be happy to help out if if you want me to.”

“That ain't necessary,” Applejack replied. “Ah'm pretty sure somebody will ask me...Apple Bloom on the other hand has been rejecting guys left and right.”

“So has Sweetie Belle from what I've heard…”

“Heh, well I know Scootaloo's been wanting Pipsqueak to ask her,” Dash said with a grin on her face.

“Seriously!?” Pinkie gasped.

“...So are we just ignoring the fact that Trixie's breathing down our backs?” I asked.

“Please, all Trixie spouts out is hot air,” Dash replied. “She won't be an issue.”

“Um...I know we should be focusing on our daily lives but... shouldn't we be concerned about what's going on in the background?” Fluttershy asked.

“I suppose we should be...but we haven't heard anything new,” Rarity said.

“Which is why I'm thinking we need to take the offensive,” I stated. “We need to find these other members before they strike.”

“But how? It is a secret organization after all,” Pinkie said.

“Then we need to find clues, anything that can point us in the right direction.”

A smile then formed on Dash's face. “I may know someone who can help.”