Paths to Power: not-so-humble beginnings

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
Chapter 9: a gift of Magic
Chapter 10
Chapter 7

Prologue

Sunset Shimmer sighed once more. "So I'm going to just barge in, without a slightest care in the world, without even buying a measly pizza or a beer, much less having a proper invitation, and that's supposedly 'just how he rolls', and exactly what he would expect, right Dust? "

"Yup, Crash is an awesome guy like that, no strings attached. Besides, we are almost there, so no need to worry, unless you have changed your mind already. And honestly, that would look kinda dumb at this point, right Sunset?" Lighting Dust grinned, while steering their car towards another intersection.

"Fat chance." Surely, despite her calm demeanor, Sunset still had her doubts, quite a lot of them actually, but there was very little she could do about it at this very moment.

Howling Crash, who, according to the locals, has literally come out of nowhere about a year ago, was now mostly known in the CHS as a supposedlycharismatic leader of the Iron Griffins - a local group of bikers, consisting mostly of teenagers and those slightly above their twenties. For the most of Jocks and other delinquents he was some sort of a Idol figure and even if opinion of other cliques was often less than stellar, nobody could deny his general popularity in the school. And despite his apparent age of 17, his stance on the matter of any education as a 'most pointless waste of my time, ever' had left her with no chance to meet him anywhere near the CHS, so a more straightforward approach was necessary. As she learned, out of those griffins who actually studied at CHS Lighting Dust and Gilda were the most important, with the former being slightly more approachable. Still, she haven't really expected for Dust to simply say "Wanna know Crash? Sure, let's go to his place right after school, gonna be totally awesome!" the very first minute his name was mentioned in their conversation.

In the end, it was all about her reputation, so backing down was not really an option, even if it would mess with her plans for the evening or lead to some 'missing homework' issues tomorrow.

'Yeah, likely just your typical 'tough guy' with a big ego and supposedly mature view of the world.' She thought as they finally arrived to their destination. 'A couple of stupid parties, a few more pointless conversation and his reputation would be a part of mine, nothing really special' 'Crash's place' actually happened to be a rather good estate on the hill in the outskirts of Canterlot, featuring a big two-storied house, old-fashioned fence with metall 'pikes' an ornamental gate and a newer building, which appeared to be a workshop of sorts with a few bikes and some old-looking man tinkering with one of them. 'Just Add some money without any need to actually work and you have the whole case complete' bitterly thought Sunset. It certainly remained her of the nobility from other Canterlot, and those memories were definitely not pleasant. But still, if mooching of him would allow her to finally move out of the school library and this time preferably without any incidents involving seemingly abandoned buildings and homeless people - than all the better for her and her plans..

"That's Greasy Wrench - our mechanic" spoke Dust as she parked their car in front of the supposed workshop. "He may be a bit grumpy sometimes, but man, if someone knows this job - that would be him."

"Sup! So, would my ride be ready for the weekend with all the tuning and stuff? And is there anyone else at home beside the Boss?" she asked the man leaving the car.

"Unless something urgent pops out she should be" answered mechanic without even lifting his eyes from his work. "And aside from miss Gilda there's no one else"

"Well, that's what i wanted to hear! Thank ya Wrench." Dust grinned. "C'mon Sunset, i'm betting that you are no less hungry than me"

" 'miss' Gilda?" asked Sunset as they walked to the house, not even trying to hide her surprise.

"Keh. Well, he's a friend of their family and all that jazz, comes with a history and a few quirks on board. No one really minds though."

Sunset mentaly shrugged, while taking note to ask about it later. Various relationships of important people and even those relatively close to them could be important later on, after all.

As they went upstairs, Dust simply took the key out of her pocket and opened the rather impressively looking steel door. 'Either he actually trusts her for some reason, or just being careless' thought Sunset, moving in.

While she put her jacket off and swapped her boots for most generic rubber slippers, she was also greeted by sounds of machinegun fire coupled with some roars and exited yells, most likely belonging to Gilda, as she boasted her superiority over some "bugs".

Most of the first floor, four closed rooms aside was present as an open space, separated by the stairs. On the left side was a kitchen with a bar stand and a table and on the left side, one step down, was a spacious living room with two sofas, three chairs, one table with drinks and pizza's and finally some priced high-end home cinema hooked with one of the modern gaming systems. Gilda was occupying the latter, oblivious to the world around her and mercilessly destroying some weird "aliens" on the screen. The rich boy himself was sitting on one of the sofas, wearing headphones, reading a book of all things. As they moved to the living room he put his book aside, before removing the headphones. For a few moments roars and guitar riffs were even louder than game sounds, but then everything went off with a pressed button.

"What the .." started to protest Gilda, turning in her chair, before actually noticing them and the remote in the boy's hands. "Sheesh, at least it didn't die with all of my progress this time..."

The boy just smirked, before gesturing to Sunset.

"Good daytime, i'm Crash and you should be Sunset Shimmer from the CHS, that everyone started talking about recently. Please take a seat and feel yourself at home."

"Yeah," answered Sunset with a slightly gruff voice "That would be me." As she moved to the sofa and took a place opposite Crash, she took a better look upon him. If anything, he looked neither tidy nor exactly healthy, as his deathly pale, barely pink skin, eyebags and unkempt shoulderlength violet hair indicated.

'I really hope, that he's just some hardcore punk or something and not a real junkie, as it surely looks like it..' thought Sunset making herself comfortable.

"Well, there's a fresh pizza on the table, also beer, ginger ale and apple cider, whatever you prefer. We can also order something else, but it will take a bit of time to arrive, as after all I didn't really expect the visit from the most special girl in the neighborhood today."

'Yeah, let's start with the most cliche pickup lines possible' mentally frowned Sunset.

"And why would you say so?" she asked, feigning interest and slight amusement.

Crash chuckled, cracking his beer can open. "Well, someone of a poetic nature could possibly go for hours about your appearance alone, but while i would generally agree with it, it just isn't my forte. I'm speaking 'bout your smarts, 'bout your rather interesting powerplays at CHS, and most importantly..." he took a pause making a big gulp of his beer "about the sheer potential of your magical ability".

Chapter 1

Sunset was never this close to panic since she arrived in this world and found that her body decided to change. It just felt so unreal, to have this pop out of the blue and right in her face. Meanwhile, as she tried to formulate more or less coherent response, Crash calmly drank his beer and both Dust and Gilda, who joined him on the couch, started to gobble up pizza, as if nothing of importance was happening...

"D-Do you mean that new card game?" she finally managed, trying and slightly failing to keep her calm.

"There is one?" asked Crash "Kay, the local entertainment surely is fascinating in it's diversity alone. Still, i actually mean the stuff like this" and then he just levitated his beercan to the trashbin with a hand gesture. And, while there was no glow, or any other signs of your typical unicorn telekinesis, it finally dawned on Sunset that this supposedly magicless world wasn't actually as magicless as it seemed...

She briefly considered bolting for the door, before finally forcing herself to calm down and dismiss such foalish notions. It was actual Magic! Something, that was always her strong point, that he could always comletely rely on and ignoring any possibility to get it back was simply ridiculous! And besides, it definitelly wasn't an attack or ambush of any sort, as there was enough time and opportunity for it already and as far as intrigue was concerned, she was fully confident in her skills..

"So, actuall magic it is" She said coldly, looking right into his face while dropping her previous play completely. "What do you want, exactly?" Sure, there was a possibility to go for selective ignorance, but she needed a strong point to get a better deal for herself, and Crash definitelly wanted something from her.

"Idealy, i want partnership, but at least some cooperation would be nice" Answered Crash as Dust triumphantly smirked to Gilda, who muttered something unintelligible.

"And what would that supposed partnership mean exactly?" pressed Sunset " What would i have to do for what exactly in return?"

"Well, for starters there are basics, such as money and lodging. It may be less important in a long run, but certainly can spare time right now and make things overall much more comfortable. As something of a bigger importance, i can also provide magical help, such as enchanted stuff or lessons"

"And why are you so sure, that i do need them?" Surely, Sunset knew, that she undoubtedly did, but still, haggling could give her a better deal and among those things she would like to avoid at all costs, appearing (not to say, actually being) weak was near the top.

Crash smiled. "You see, with some help from a unified magical theory, that was created by those far superior to me in terms of skill and intellect, and the data that both Dust and Gilda gathered i can be reasonably sure that the probability of You using magic freely in your current condition tends to zero. After all, would it be otherwise, organisation of our meeting would be completely different"

Crash made a short pause, perhaps waiting for immidiate responce and then calmly continued: "As for your part of our possible agreement, first of all i would like your help in one rather personal matter. You see, i'm currently under effect of a certain curse that befall on our family some time ago and the traditional means were proven uneffective.." He sighed. "So my main reasoning for traveling here in the first place was a search for a magic previously unknown to us, simply for the lack of better options."

"Well, so far it seems fair, if not actually highly in my favor" thought Sunset "Sure, he may actually be that desperate, or there could be a ton of details, changing everything around..." She looked at the other girls, considering their possible role and deal in all of it. "Are there any further details, that i should know before i'l make my decision? And, say, mere hypothetically, what would you do if i would disagree in the end?"

Crash frowned "That would be most unfortunate. Surely i won't force you to go against your will, but, also mere hypothetically, should anything like a substantial threat happen to You, i won't help out of goodness of my heart, and the second possible deal would surely be different." He stretched himself and stood up "Sure, there is no rush to go for it here and now, and i would even recomend a good night rest before making this decision, but avoiding it doesn't do anyone of us any good. Now, if you would excuse me, there's something i really should do before the night, so if you need the details - Lighting or Gilda can tell you all that you want, i'm teaching them too, after all." And with a formal bow he headed to the stairs. As he reached them, he turned to Sunset once more and added "And yeah, before i forgot - try this pizza, it's actually a good one, special order and stuff. I'll be available in the morning in case if you would decide by then, otherwise just ask Dust to drive you to school."

As he dissapeared into the basement, Sunset turned towards Dust and Gilda, just as the latter finished her latest slice. "Yeah, 'bout that, i probably should actually get going, before my parents would start complaining yet again. Dust, sure there is no trouble if you would cover it alone?"

Turquoise girl smirked "Sure, no problem. See ya tommorow"

Seing the other girl leave, Sunset frowned, before adressing Dust with clear sarcasm in her voice: "Well... while i'm really keen to actually hear about your supposed training and the agreement, was it really what you call "to awesomely hang out"? "

Lighting Dust just shrugged, her victorious smirk still present: "Well, not exactly, for sure, but think about it - it's still not even eight in the evening, we have the most of the house to ourselves, there is best possible TV with cool video collection, latest console games and even the possibility to order best food around Canterlot for Crash's money!" Then she leaned towards Sunset and added "And what's even more important - there are no annoying neighbours, or actually anyone to complain if, say we turn the sound really loud, or even to look for us. Sure, more decent company would be better, but that can wait till the other time, after all i still have to explain you the agreement and other important stuff..."

Five hours later Sunset feeled better than ever since she entered the portal. Sure, that neighponese takeout, or whatever it was actually called, was allready good by itself, beeting Dust at one of these games has surprisingly proven to be even better, but the jacuzzi in the guest bathroom on the second floor, which, as Dust told her, was only for the "special" guests, was perhaps the best of it all. Not to mention the guest bed she now layed in, which definitely could compete with her old one in Canterlot.

Only her thoughts on the future deal prevented her from going asleep here and now. According to Lighting Dust, the details were mostly about the benefits and duties of being in the team, supposedly with main focus on "maximum realisation of their own potential", "possible mutual threats" and well, work on that special curse. And while it appeared that Dust's training had quite a lot of simple physical exersise parts, it also allowed her to do at the very least some basic telekinesis in a few month's worth of time, while also copled with school and goofing off. It also come out, that Crash had some usefull connections around, so skipping school with genuine papers mentioning fake "illness" was also an option.And supposedly Dust also learned some other spells which she promised to show off as soon as Sunset accepted the deal. As if it really mattered at this point...

Though after all, Sunset prided herself for her mastery of magic first and foremost, so if someone was able to teach someone with just "above average" talent and no prior experience telekinesis with that time, it surely meant that he could give her much more. Yes, there could still be a few details to haggle about or consider, in one thing she became certain - the Deal was to be accepted, and with that last decision sleep finally claimed her.

Chapter 2

Sunset considered herself a morning person, and usually it held true. Especially lately, as she had, much to her dismay, to stay in a school library, so getting up early has become a routine neccessity. As she finally become awake, however, a mere glance towards the window made it clear, that it was, at the very least, past 11 in the morning and any plans of going to CHS were very much forfeit at this point. And slight throbbing in her head aslo told, that, while yesterday's plum wine was actually good, and not even that strong alchohol-wise, perhaps it still was better to have less of it.

Groaning, she rose out of her bed and took a closer look at her current room. It was actually quite a big one - about 6 to 6 meters, featuring 5 small windows, a writing desk with a chair and obviously a big bed aside her. Still, it looked as if the room wasn't in a constant use, aside, perhaps some other guest occasionally sleeping there. Or was it actually prepared for her, to be yet another bait? She frowned. Maybe. It changed little anyway - she NEEDED magic. And there wasn't any other way around to get it - she had looked the CHS library and even that "Internet" quite throughly, even if she partially regreted the latter part of the search now. So, what if Crash simply wanted something from her? It was perfectly normal and logical after all, unlike all the crap about "selfless friendship" she detested. She could play the game too, and given time and opportunity, could be the one getting the most out of the deal, would Crash be guilible enough. And if not - even better, having someone actually competent with magic and a straight worldview could be rather refreshing...

She looked at the pile of her clothes laying on the chair under discarded bathrobe and frowned once more. She definitelly wasn't looking froward to wear all of them once again, but it's not like she had any choice in the first place. Asking Lighting Dust to wait, till she picked some of her stuff hidden in the library, was simply not an option however you look on it. And she wasn't THAT good in making excuses anyway. Well, maybe she should persuade Crush into buying her something good - he actually mentioned something about money and "resources" in his offer after all.

A few minutes later she was finally ready to face the new day in fullest, even if her slight hangover was still present, as she unlocked the door and stepped in the corridor. The first sounds she heard were of boiling water and humming, most likely by Crash. As she went downstairs, she saw him sitting behind the bar stand, looking into some papers, while a coffee machine aside him poured the black liquid in the cup.

"Good daytime" He greeted her without even lifting his eyes from the papers as she came closer "You can have the first cup of coffee if you want, and any snacks from the fridge. I'll finish this in five more minutes and then we'll talk."

Sunset frowned again. Was it some stupid test for patience, or did he simply took her "choice" for granted from the start? Sure, he was right here, but it actually felt grating for her. Well, coffee was something that she needed right now, so why not..

As she looked at him a few times while helping herself with toasts and some cheese from the fridge, she had to admit, that at least he looked genuinely busy with something, and not just dismissing her for some fictional reason. And yes, coffee was good. In hindsight it was strange to expect otherwise, with a professional machine to boot, but she was kinda used to be dissapointed in simple things in life at this point. And just as she was finishing her cup, Crash finally put his papers in a briefcase and took a seat across her.

"So, do you have a definite answer on my offer now, or do you need more time?"

This time his tone was straight business-like, without any feeling of familiarity or joking around. But regardless of what he wanted to achieve with it, she wasn't some clueless teenager to be goaded around...

"To be honest, right now i do not see any reason to say no, at least regarding the possible cooperation. Though, if you need my help with that curse of yours, i surely do need to know more about it. You know, something about how dangerous it actualy is, can it affect me or be transfered in some way and what can be required from my part. If we can come to agreement here, my answer would be simple yes."

Sure, the deal was too good to be rejected and she definitely needed it, but even if she knew little about actual curses, it wasn't something to be dismissed, especially if her assistance with a curse supposedly was the main reason that this deal was offered in the first place.

Crash actually smiled while hearing her answer, before answering in a more casual tone.

"Well, i won't go into all details right now as the whole issue is rather complicated, but i'll surely answer yor question. First of all, the circumstances that would allow the curse to affect you directly are rather specific, so, unless for some reason you would want to, you are completely safe in this regard."

At that point he smirked, as if it was really funny in some way, before continuing his explanations.

"Second, yes, the possible treatment or related research are likely to be dangerous, but little more so then any magical research involving high amount of energy or previously mostly unknown fields. And i have to assure you, that i would do anything i can to prepare a suitable place and all necessary precautions. And as for your part of the deal, well, at this stage i mostly want to study your magic."

Sunset mentally frowned hearing it. There definitely could be some catch or a trap for her. But in the end it just meant that she had to be more carefull and less trusting and for now it seemed rather easy. Meanwhile, Crash continued:

"You see, the curse afflicting me is a artificial one, and it was likely created having the magic of my family in mind. And, as it appeared later, the same could be said about other schools and types of magic known to us, in one way or another. And, unfortunately, my family mostly neglected the curse at first, as it was significantly less powerfull in the beginning and they had quite a lot of matters to handle back then. So, even if we have some theoretical solutions or general ideas on the matter, they cannot actually be implemented for various practical reasons. A different and previously unknown type of magic is likely one of the best way to either find a new working solution or to implement one of the known theoretical ideas."

That actually made sense as far as Sunset was concerned. But while receiving this explanation should have probably calmed her down she still feeled some doubts, as if something was still amiss, and something actually important..

"Local magic, is for the most part outright nonexistent as are those with potential to practice it, and even a few exeptions that got my initial interest, show little promise in the long run. Not due to their lack of effort though, i mean Lighting Dust determination to better herself is commendable, but the more she studies the practices, that i show her, the less of the different magic i see in her. As i theorised, there should be a local source of this magic, and in her case, the exposure to it ony gave her an 'initial spark', but little more for me to work with."

That was it! As Crash became a bit absorbed in his explanations, surely revealing more than she was initially expecting, it dawned to her, that like her, he could be from some other world too, what with referencing 'local' and 'nonexistent' magic. And if she was getting it right, then if equestrian magic was completely new to him, while actually affecting this world and it's inhabitants in some way, then not only couldn't he possibly be an equestrian himself, but unless he appeared in this world recently it was strange that he, or someone else from his family haven't gone to Canterlot earlier. Sure, she could be making a mistake, and there were other reasons that made revealing her thoughts not an option, but her mind was set in a turmoil: if his true form is also different, than who, or well, what he actually is? And could there be some other far reaching consequences for dealing with him, say for equestria as a whole? After all, she still planned to return and rule it as a princess among Celestia, as she rightfully deserved, so bringing ruin to it was counterproductive to her plans. Y-yeah that was a true reason, while she was concerned about it, honest!

Meanwhile, unaware of Sunset's turmoil, Crash was finishing his explanations.

"So, if my theory is right, then you, Sunset, should be significantly closer to this source of magic then anyone else i've met or observed so far. And, surely getting an actual control over your abilities and their potential is worth providing me with your assistance on the curse-related matter by itself?"

Sunset took a small pause to mentally calm down, even if it wasn't that easy in the situation. After all, even if she had to agree on the offer, the tone was also important and she just had to avoid showing her doubt at all cost.

"Yes" She finally answered. "Though i'd rather discuss the exact details of my involment once we get to them, as it's really not that practical to go into them now."

Crash shrugged. "That sounds fair, and as long as it's reasonable enough, i see no need to further formalise it at this point. I, on my part, reserve a right to limit or even stop my assistance to you, if, say for some reason the agreement would not work out for us, even if i sincerelly hope that it won't come to it. Now, if we are past it, there's two practical questions: do you need something unrelated to magic right now, or in the nearest future and do you mind answering a few question related to you magical ability? After all i'll likely need to properly prepare for our magical lessons, as we both are supposed to learn something new out of them, and some information may be crucial to it."

After all the revelations of these few minutes Sunset was definitely less doubtfull about mooching of him. She got a lot more serious concerns for a change, so why add 'appartment issues' and other such junk to them? And yes, 'him', as he was a human and a boy at this moment, so who was she to judge or bother with it?

"I'll answer as long as it's nothing really personal. And, i guess, i'll take up on your previous lodging proposal, and shopping for some clothes would be really good."

"You can take the guest room you slept in, if it's for your liking" answered Crash rather nonchalantly "And i guess Dust can drive you to a mall in a hour or so, would five thousand bits be enough?"

Sunset nodded. "Sure."

"Good, now to the actually important things. I'll try to avoid anything personal, and i'd rather hear 'i don't know' or 'i can't say it, because reasons' than a dishonest answer which would just give us both more problems to deal with. Also there's no hurry whatsoever, so if you need to think about it - just take your time. So, the first question is - were you able to use magic in a conscious way at some point in your past?"

Surely she had a lot of doubts and was hesitant to answer. But reflecting on the matter have never helped in her life before, not in the orphange and definitely not since her acceptance in the CSGO. Simply going forward with pride and confidence in her own abilities on the other hand...

"Yes"

"Are you able to consciously use magic right now, or given some preparation in the nearest future?"

The sooner would this be done, the sooner would she be back on her way to greatness..

"No"

"To practice magic before, have you used any kind of focus, that you don't have right now?"

Well, she had her horn back then, duh. And just saying it right now was stupid. Wait, was it some inconsistency here? After all some of the equestrians were using their magic without being unicorns, 'pony's internal magic' theory for pegasi and earth ponies aside..

"Define Focus"

"Should have thought about the terminology first, my apologies. Still, by focus here i mean any object, or well anything that you used to practice magic. I mean, yes, usually it's just some staff, rod or a trinket and it's used to amplify mage's power rather then necessary to do something at all, but after i've read about those weird schools who need to use their hair as their only focus or those with need for certain, hm, 'alchemical amplifiers' i won't be surprised by other non-conventional means. So?"

Using hair to do magic?! Has she heard it right? Regardless, her horn fitted the description, if rather weird one.

"It's yes, then"

"Hm" Crash paused, perhaps considering his next question. "Is the nature of this focus personal? Or rather is it's use currently unavailable anyway?"

"Yes, to both" Answered Sunset with a frown. "I hope that you leave it like that"

"No problem" He answered as he stood up stretching. "After all, i do have a working solution, that i use for Dust and Gilda. I'll just need to prepare a few spells, to take necessary measurements. Should be ready for this evening"

Was it really THAT simple? It's not like it felt insulting that a solution of her being unable to use magic was supposedly easy... but honestly that probably was the case. She was a prodigy, damn it! Someone to act and solve problems not to rely on other to solve her problems... especialy if it both involved magic and was simple...

"Would it require something on my part?" She asked, keeping her voice calm.

"Aside from holding a certain crystall? Not really. I mean we are mostly checking if it would work without major changes, and even then it will take a day or two to do a prototype, so we would be able to see what exactly we need for the better, or perhaps even a final version, as trying to produce one from the get-go would be rather costly and unlikely to succeed..."

He stopped himself and sighed before continuing. "Probably shouldn't bother you with all the details. Suffice to say, crafting foci is included in one of my main specializations in magic, and i do have the resources, so we can expect a success, even if may not happen today, or say within a week or two. After all, crafting a proper focus for someone with bigger potential is always harder."

And even if it meant that she had to wait a bit longer to get her magic back, his words still calmed her down. It sounded rather close to a cutie mark related talent and, well when your problem is solved by someone, who's mostly doing this kind oj work, it's one thing, and it's completely different when it's something easy that you were supposed to figure and solve on your own days ago.

"So if you have no further questions, i'll get to work on the spells. Dust should be here within two hour or so, i think, so feel yourself at home and all that."

"She actually lives here or something?" Asked Sunset. After all asking Crash about it seemed better than adressing Dust herself. And definitelly better than making a stupid mistake related to it and making everything difficult.

"Nah. Supposedly she lives with her family, but she surely hangs here most of the time, regardless of us training or not. May be some minor family issues, but as long as she doesn't bother talking about it and it doesn't interfer with anything - i don't really care." He shrugged. "Now, if you would really need me for some reason i would be in the basement preparing. Though i'd rather not be disturbed unless it's something among the lines of a giant monster rampaging through the streets or our neighbours turned zombies breaking through our gate."

"Where do you even get such ideas from?" Asked Sunset, slightly puzzled with his words.

Crash chuckled as he went downstairs. "Local culture in a form of films and games. They have like nothing with logic and accuracy but are funny like that"

'Well, being from another world or not, he surely is weird' thought Sunset 'I just hope, it won't make my life harder than it already is'

Chapter 3

Sunset hummed to the radio sounds, waiting for Lighting Dust to arrive with their food. The whole shopping trip by itself took three hours, not counting two more that she spent waiting for Dust back at home. So, once they threw the bags with all the stuff they bought to the backseat Dust suggested eating something before heading back.

After half a year in a new world Sunset had no more issues with most of the local food, hot dogs and burgers included, so she naturally had no objections and therefore was now sitting in the car looking forward to tasting that "spicy zebrican stuff" that Dust promised her and contemplating the recent developments.
On one hoof, there was a visible improvement in her situation, even in a trivial matters, such as finally solving a clothes issue and getting a decent living place and honestly at this moment Dust's company wasn't actually that bad. Not only was the girl useful during the search for the clothes and some other stuff, like a new phone, sparing Sunset time and effort, but also she wasn't even half as annoying as a typical jock, so considering the girl's supposed magical skill, there was some hope.

On the other hoof, she clearly remembered how such hopes were mercilessly crushed during her time in CSGU. Yes, her first year started great, as after the boredom of the orphanage the company of other unicorns really interested in magic was mostly welcome, and the lectures were interesting and useful at first, but then it all slowly changed. As her skills have grown much quicker than those of anypony else, the defining words for the situation were "waste of time". She had to waste her time while the professors explained the same material over and over again, just because some dunderheads found it difficult to keep up, she had even to explain it to those herself, when she was asked by the smiling teachers, she had to waste her time on various events these grateful morons dragged her to, just because they were stupid enough to decide that she was their friend, ha! And as they were unable to understand and accept any hints, she had to be rather blunt and straightforward about it. Still, it took a while before they finally left her alone as she wanted.

In the end, only her relationship with that Blueblood colt could be called productive. What he lacked in practice was covered either by his theoretical knowledge or by a few days worth of pedantic and sequential search in the library of his family's manor. And his editing and proofreading skills coupled with calligraphic writing earned them A+ for all the group assignments they have done together. To top it all off, he was always calm and never ever bothered her for something pointless, inane or outright stupid.

Sunset frowned, returning from her memories to the present. She needed Crash, that was obvious. But it wasn't that clear in Dust's case...

Her thoughts were interrupted by Dust herself, who finally arrived and put the food bag between them.

"Buck, that queue was annoying. Sure, it's Friday and a movie premiere in a theater nearby and all that jazz, but heck I hate those who cannot make their mind before it's their turn to order..." She stopped her rant with some visible effort, before sighing and finishing in a calmer voice "At least we can avoid sitting in a crowded hall... Go, dig in while it's still hot, we can talk after"

Fifteen minutes later Sunset was full and positively content with the changes in her life. The food may have been too spicy for someone else, but that was never a problem for her, not back in Equestria, neither here. And it definitely was delicious, especially those chicken pieces. She probably should start getting to the point, though.

"So, shall we head back now? And what do you want to talk about?"

Dust groaned. "Give me ten more minutes at least. Should have ordered less this time, but I guess it's the training influences..." She lowered the back of her seat before continuing "Besides that, Crash won't be ready with your focus for a few more hours at least and I really rather talk with you one on one without pointless distractions. So let's talk how can we be buddies and avoid getting in each other way." With those words she looked on Sunset, seemingly waiting for an answer.

"Let's." Agreed Sunset. 'Looks like I may have underestimated her a bit. Well, it's even more interesting to hear then.'

"Well, there are four main things for you to consider. First of all, there's a matter of my magical training. Nowadays, it's my top priority which simply trumps everything else, so even if I'm willing to sacrifice some time out of it for you in one way or another during the next week or so, it won't stay this way. I'll have my hours, you will have yours and I'd rather not be distracted, unless something REALLY important happens. Is this clear?"

As Dust talked, her expression changed from what Sunset saw as rather carefree, if a bit brash attitude towards a focused or even a driven one, what with that manic glint in her eyes. Though, she definitely could get behind such reasoning and if it meant less childishness, she believed that it also meant less problems in the long run.

"Crystal." Sunset smiled. "Mayhaps we aren't as different as one may think at the first glance.

Dust chuckled. "That's good to hear. Honestly I just had to get it out of the way.
And yeah, I understand that the rest of the talk may seem redundant, but it's still better than get into some stupid shit just because I missed something."

'That's more among the lines that i initially expected' thought Sunset. 'No reason not to play along though' "As long as it's not some long-ass and boring 'welcome to the gang' speech, I'm ok with it. And I never reject learning something useful."

"Well, I'm not a bucking teacher to do boring" replied Dust smirking "Now that you mention gang, let's actually talk people. Aside from Crash, me and Gilda there are more actual griffins members and, well, some other people who work for Crash one way or another. With an exception of Wrench, who is an ok guy, those do not really matter aside from their jobs, so like with our teachers a bit of fake respect and politeness works fine, especially as you won't see them much anyway. As for griffins, well, it's more about being sorta yourself but not entirely, simply because magic is a big secret and we definitely do not trust them completely. And yeah, we don't play nice, so even being jerk is fine as long as you don't go overboard with it."

Dust sighed and made a short pause to gulp her soda before continuing:
"Now, there's also my parents. Buck if I know what's wrong with them, but something is, and I really got tired on being dismissed and stonewalled so I just gave up on it. Even though I'm not gonna introduce you, eventually they would get your contacts and start bothering you as well. As, unfortunately, a simple ignore or having no phone doesn't work, the correct answer is sticking to some positive image of you in their eyes as long as it's consistent with your school behavior, keep the talk as short as possible without being outright rude and always talk that you have no idea where I am unless I'm right there or explicitly told you otherwise."

"Something else on it?" Asked Sunset. Well, it's not like she really cared, but she never saw Lighting Dust that snarky or bitter, so it should have been important.

"I wish." Grumbled Dust. "But enough with them. After all, I'd rather talk about those I actually care about. I'm not going to drone on how awesome my first true friend Gilda is, or some other sentimental crap, but honestly it won't be hard for you to get along. Yeah, nowadays she's even more of a goof than she ever was before and she can't keep up with me in terms of magic, but, well, not everyone can be the best, so at least give it a chance, kay?"

Sunset shrugged. "You know, I'm not being Jerk to someone for fun unless they deserve it, so there shouldn't be a problem" And honestly, both her CSGU and CHS experience told her, that Jocks were perhaps the easiest to get along with, so it wasn't even a lie. Also, it was perhaps the best moment to ask some questions on her own. "Dust, now that we are all that straightforward, are you and Crash a thing now or is it something in your plans?" Yeah, it could have been worded better, but she was sure that it was passable right now.

Lighting Dust smirked. "Well, the first answer is just no. I mean, I'm really happy to have him as a friend that I can both hang out with and truly respect and rely on if necessary, but it's more than just this curse of his to prevent our possible get-together"

Now that was also interesting "What's about his curse?" she asked.

"Well, that's something he will answer you himself rather soon I believe. Practical side of it is a bit personal and all that magical theory mumbo-jumbo ain't my strong point anyway." answered Dust. "Also, let's get to our third concern: the school and all that's actually important in it. We are obviously cheating with magic all the time, simply because all the subjects there are mostly irrelevant for us at this point and wasting time on homework is just stupid. Actually there are three main reasons why we are bothering with CHS at all: First, the issues with our legal status, which we could actually solve with some effort if it was the only matter; Second, we had an interest in you for some time, so being around helped; And last, but actually the most important thing there is that weird magic source that Crash wants to research and use."

"Magical source?" And the whole situation just got much more serious. Could it possibly mean...

"Yeah, it's actually the main reason why Crash got to be here in Canterlot in the first place. Supposedly some really hardcore magic shit is occasionally happening around, so that it could be detected from all around the world. And the most funny part is that the center of it is somehow tied with this statue in front of the school." Lighting Dust laughed as if telling some really good joke "I mean, I've read some really trashy comics about teens with superpowers and all the jazz, but actually having your ordinary school as a magical center of the world of sorts is a whole different story."
So it meant that at least He actually knew at least something. So, the million bit question was either 'how much?' or 'what should I do about it?'. Sunset frowned. It was big. She absolutely needed to figure it out, and damn it all to the Tartarus she needed her magic back!

Meanwhile, Lighting Dust returned the back of her seat in a vertical position before fastening her belt. "Well, I think I'm good to go. And while we're at it let's speak less work more fun. Have you ever tried a bike before?"

So, that was it. Now, as getting closer to both Crash and Dust became an obvious priority, perhaps she could or actually rather should get the most of it and just leave most of her reluctance or carefulness behind. Yeah, it looked more clear with each passing moment that meddling could have be more risky than rushing forward.

"Not really. Simply couldn't afford one, but I'm definitely interested."

Chapter 4

Sunset Shimmer never really counted patience as one of her many virtues, even if she was mostly fine with waiting when something was going according to her plans or wishes. As soon as she was losing control on the situation (and especially if there was little or none to begin with) she quickly become restless. And, again, she loathed nothing more than being powerless.

Her chatter with Lighting Dust while they were driving back to the mansion was pleasant enough, yes, but the turquoise girl got a call from her parents and had to depart shortly after, annoyingly saying that It was better to do her family socializing duty today, rather than getting issues with bigger event tomorrow and that she wasn't much-needed at the moment anyway.

So, with Crash still supposedly tinkering in the basement and nobody else to keep her company, she tried to distract herself by watching TV, but it didn't work for more than a few hours. And, as there was literally nothing better for her to do, she was reduced to pacing back and force, like some sort of caged animal.

Honestly, she definitely wouldn't mind a bit of alone-time in a slightly different circumstances, but right now her entire future was seemingly completely outside of her control and it was getting on her nerves.

Finally, after hours of waiting she heard steps and some humming from the stairs. As she hurried to face Crash she noticed that as the sun had already set and she hasn't bothered to turn the lights on, it was rather dark inside. Not that it mattered though... But as she saw Crash, she had to actually try hard to stifle a laughter.

"Something with my appearance?" Asked pale boy calmly

"Well.. excuse me, but you really do look like a vampire from those stupid horror movies." Explained Sunset, struggling to contain her nervous giggling "And even the scenery fits!"

Crash actually smiled. "Well, I do see the reference. After all, my looks aren't that dissimilar from some of the undead, especially at the first glance or in the dim light." He shrugged. "Still, the prototype is finally ready, so I would like for you to follow me for the initial testing."

"Sure. Right after you"

As they descended into the basement, Crash commented: "By the way, there are five rooms here that are open for you: it's a washer room, storage room, another bathroom, currently incomplete sauna and a training room that we are going to use right now. What lies beneath that door..." he pointed to the rather large and solid looking metal door currently separating the other part of the basement from them "is currently off limits, even if it's may change in the future.

Sunset nodded in agreement as they entered training room, which was... a bit larger than she had expected: a square with a side of at least fifteen meters, or maybe a bit more, and considering the depth of the basement and the fact that the floor here was three steps lower than that of a corridor she height should be at least six. Currently, aside from lamps on the ceiling, a few melee weapons hanging at one of the walls and the small wooden table with a pair of bracers and some kind of crystal on it, there was nothing else in the room.

Crash gestured to the table. "Now, these bracers are yours to try and the crystal is here for testing purposes. I have to warn you, this version is a bit heavy so take care."

As Sunset came to the table to get a better look on her supposed 'magical focus', she frowned recognizing the same design that Gilda, Lighting Dust and some other gang members wore in the school. In hindsight, the idea of it being something more mundane was good. It's not like she would be able to go to school with a proper staff, or something like that, and once she gained her magic back, like Tartarus would she give it up, even temporarily.

As she carefully took one of the bracers, which looked like it was made out of some kind of thick leather and, indeed was quite heavy, four or five lb's least. While she was fastening the straps, Crash commented once more: "The idea of the initial test is following: Once you will put these on we will wait a few minutes for them to attune to you as I will record the general readings for future use. Once you will feel the change, you should tell me so we can proceed"

As she finished putting the Bracers on, Sunset thought that aside from being heavy they were quite comfortable, if a bit large perhaps, covering her arms from the elbow to the wrists. It looked, like Crash got the measurements right, which could seem creepy, if you forgot that he had magic and quite some time to look for it. Still, she didn't feel anything else yet.

"How long?"

"At least five, up to fifteen minutes, unless there was some mistake on my part. And it's only a prototype after all, so I highly doubt they would even last long, but that's very useful to do anything better" Said Crash, while producing a notepad and a pen out of one of his pockets.
'I waited half a year for this to happen, fifteen more minutes is nothing compared to this' thought Sunset. Also, now was a decent time to ask him a question or two...

"While we are waiting anyway, I'm rather curious about the weight. And those weapons, are they actually real?"

"Well, the bracers have gold in them and there's no need to apply weight reduction to them at this stage. As for the weapons, well, they are not illusions or anything like that, but as there are some issues with local laws on steel weaponry these are made from duralumin. So, with a help of magic they are good for several types of training while still perfectly legal."

"Do you even need melee weapon training if you have magic?" wondered Sunset aloud

Crash smirked. "Well, unless the perspective of being beaten by a random peasant or a thug with a stick the minute your magic is unavailable for any reason is attractive to you, I'd say yes. Also, the training itself is good for endurance, coordination and broadens your general options. Basically, the main exception I see here, is if you are so bad with magic that really focused study and training is needed which doesn't leave time for anything else."

Worded that way, it made some sense at least, even if Sunset had doubts concerning herself. And at this very moment of a rather plain discussion she finally understood that she felt her magic back. Something felt different, yes, and perhaps it was different to put in words... stiff? heavier? But it all paled to the joyful catharsis of the moment. SHE. HAD. HER. MAGIC. BACK. It took her more than a few deep breaths to avoid some kind of a totally inappropriate or stupid reaction and to be able to speak and hear again.

"I'm feeling it!" Blast, too much emotion... but it was almost out of her control..

"Excellent." Crash smiled, doing some gestures with his left hand and preparing to take notes. "Now I would like for you to do something relatively simple, like, say levitating that crystal from the table. Just do not push yourself too far"

"Consider it's done" Said Sunset with confidence. Flexing her power just like thousand times before she took the crystal with her telekinetic grip... The blasted stone remained in its place. How?! Why?! She repeated, again and again, zoning out as Crash said something to her, and to no avail. Telekinesis, not even a proper spell, something that unicorn FOALS were able to do with little to no problems denied her. It was more than just humiliating. It was bucking outrageous! Her face hardened in a scowl as she glared on the stone. None dares to do that! None and nothing and definitely not you! She pulled. Then pulled harder. And then she threw all that she could to the blasted crystal!
A net of cracks cowered the crystal in blink of an eye and then with a loud BANG! it exploded showering the room in its shards... which rebounded on something invisible before they were able to hit her...

"Sunset" She heard the calm voice from her right "While I do understand your desire to do everything with the first try, it may be mostly impossible or even counterproductive."

She turned her head to look at him, still being unable to shake her stunned expression off.

He sighed. "Well, at least I got some data to go for the next phase. For now, please take the bracers off before they overheat and give you burns... and I guess make me some coffee, first option in the custom list. I'll join you in a few minutes, once I clear this out."

As she was finally able to shook her stupor off, she hastily began to remove the bracers, which, true to the boy's words were starting to smoke a bit. Meanwhile, Crash, calm and relaxed as if nothing serious was happening, has started to gather the shards by conjuring a small controlled bursts of wind with a few flicks from his left hand. Rather interesting way to do it... automatically noticed Sunset, still feeling unsure and way closer to outright panic than she ever wanted to be.

***

About five minute and half a cup of tea later, she didn't felt panicked or stunned anymore. Shame and embarrassment weren't much better though. Tartarus, it was as if she had her first big flare as a filly! She had a lot of pride on her control and precision and while doing dangerous and risky experiments in a controlled environment was one thing, something like this, with no real power to ensure her own safety felt outright stupid! At her best she would have no problems whatsoever, but in her current pathetic form she could have hurt her own eyes with all those shards!

She sighed once again as she heard steps on the ladder. 'I really hope that he won't press the issue any further' she thought 'That's enough embarrassment for one day'

As Crash leisurely moved to the table, he took some small flask from a small bag on his hip and poured a bit of a clearly alcoholic liquid in his cup.

"A local recipe, and rather good one I'd say" He answered to her puzzled expression. Sunset mentally frowned. Right after being overwhelmed with her emotions it was hard to keep them down, but she still needed to try better.

As he made a few gulps, he set his cup off and faced Sunset. "Well, let's start our debrief. First of all, it would save us time if you will save your questions till I finish my part, even if you would really like to see them answered."

And while she wasn't really nice to people, she wasn't that rude either! Unless they deserved it, off course.

"So, the idea for the initial vagueness of my instructions was that I tried to see if you were able to replicate your usual method of spellcasting with no changes outside of a different focus. As this was unlikely to succeed as is, I was planning to guide you through basic steps of working with a new focus to see which changes it would bring. And depending on the results of your casting and the data i was gathering, I had a few general routes to proceed from." He sighed, returning to his coffee, while Sunset was fighting her deepening embarrassment.

"Honestly it doesn't really matter much that this plan didn't work out. Neither the fact that I lost some resources that can be replenished. I mean, I have gathered some data to proceed further and few plans survive their execution with few or no changes... What I really want for you to see and understand is that I actually do NEED for you to be as close to fulfillment of your potential as possible and that I'm able to help you on the matter, but there's one thing that's needed on your part, for all of this to work well." He paused once again to finish his coffee before continuing.

"Your trust, that is. I understand that it's not something to be given lightly, or anytime soon. But unless you would at least hear me out, before rushing forward without sufficient control on your side, we would lose some time at best and face more dire consequences at worst." He stopped his monologue, and while he still kept the same calm and relaxed voice all this time, it became clear for Sunset that it was either the most serious matter for him personally or he simply was the best actor she has ever seen. After a few more silent second he asked: "Any questions on the matter?"

"Quite a lot of them actually" Honestly answered Sunset. "But I think that I really need at least some time to formulate them. It ... definitely isn't easy in any way after all."

"That would be fine." He stood up "I'll need at least till the Sunday evening to prepare for next phase, so I think we can discuss it then. Ask Dust or Gilda if you would need something unrelated to magic. Also Goodnight."

"G-night" Grumbled Sunset as she rose up. It seemed as her emotional tiredness had caught up with her in full. 'At least, I don't have to look up for crappy bed or early rise' she thought with clear satisfaction.

Chapter 5

Sunset Shimmer definitely couldn't call herself happy but at least the things were actually starting to go into the right direction. Now, if only she could have avoided her yesterday's blunder...

But alas, her past of making a foal out of herself at the very second she got a semblance of power back, was already set in stone. She sighed and continued to lie in bed as she considered her plans and possible options once again. With Crash still tinkering in the basement, as his note that she read at breakfast said and the rest of 'their group' supposedly participating in some gang-related event she had a whole day, if not a whole weekend for herself, so there was no one else to bother or distract her and, honestly, nothing actually to do. Unless one would count homework, but she decided just to ignore it this time.

Her earlier plans were focused on just relaxing today, but the whole "crystal incident" and the good sleep that she had after have made her more calm and relaxed than she was for a long time. Actually, now that she thought of it, her emotions, that she felt right before shattering that crystal, could have been one of the reasons that it happened that way at all! Unfortunately, she could barely remember the course on the emotional part of the magic.

And it was the CSGU fault! Honestly, what were they even thinking with that stupid program of theirs? That crap could be summed up in three lines: bad emotions - bad magic - Sombra - evil - do not touch; something something positive emotions - even more gibberish and obscure references and finally some mostly obvious but at least somehow useful stuff related on the cutie mark. Was it that hard to at least represent the material properly? In that case she would have actually studied it instead of memorizing a few gibberish lines to get her A and mostly forget it afterwards.

And yes, there was also something on the matter in the 'forbidden' books, but Celes.. that traitor has banished her before she could study it! Sunset frowned as her mood plummeted down at the reminiscence of her ex-teacher.

"Just you wait, princess" She whispered "I will ascend on my own power and then I will show you the whole depth of your mistake!" Still, saying it was one thing, but, despite everything that happened to her, fully coming to terms with it was totally different.
Sunset sighed. She should address the issue, yes, but it wasn't the time yet. Right now it was actually important for her to mention a possible influence of emotions on her magic to Crash. After all, even if it wasn't that important back in Equestria, she was basically learning how to do magic from scratch, so hiding such details from the single person who could help her at the moment could hinder her at best or lead to even worse consequences.

She was no fool to trust Crash completely and she definitely felt something off with his speech yesterday, even considering the possibility of him being completely honest with her. Sure, he needed her for something, but it was kinda obvious anyway, as why would he even bother with her otherwise?

Still, even if she completely depended on him in the matters of magic right now, it never meant that it would continue to be so, or that she should just drop her plans regarding the school completely. Sure, they won't be anywhere near the top of her priorities anymore, but having at least something to fall back on just in case - that sounded like a right thing to do. And, considering that she likely won't be able to properly concentrate on magic for a while, she had enough time for the Fall Formal preparation. Even if the mostly inevitable victory won't really give her that much joy with the new circumstances, it should still be worth it. Getting to know the rest of the gang won't hurt either, especially those going to the CHS... perhaps she should talk to Dust or Gilda tomorrow.

But enough rambling! Even if 'just winging it' became her style of sorts rather long ago, right now she felt like writing at least some sort of plan down. She sighed as she got up. There should be a notebook somewhere in her schoolbag...

***

Four hours later she wondered if her staying at the CHS library for most of her time in this world wasn't really as bad as she thought it was. Sure, there were many issues to annoy and distract her, but at least she had an opportunity to learn about this world by reading books and using school's internet access. The mansion, apparently, had neither books nor any PC for some reason. Perhaps Crash kept some books in the basement, but she would rather avoid interrupting him right now. So, once she was finished with writing down her ideas and even with her homework, she found herself behind the same game that Gilda was playing before out of sheer boredom.

"Guardians of Orion: The Klackon Invasion", what a pointless name. So far her experience wasn't that great, even if it was still better than just watching TV. It took her a while to get a hang of the basic controls, but with her character - a blue skinned girl with some sort of rather weak magic - dying over and over again, she felt like she was missing something important. As she was getting close to meet her demise once more, Sunset heard the door opening. She set the game on pause and turned just in time to see Gilda entering the living room with a pizza box in her hands.

"Yo, baconhead. Want some?" As the girl sat across Sunset she added "And yeah, your char just sucks at the solo-play anyway, so starting over may be a good idea."

Sunset frowned. At least it wasn't 'Sunny' or something even more stupid. Though it also presented an opportunity to learn something useful, even if starting with games could be a longer route... "And why would that be?"

'Gilda the Gamer' smirked, clearly waiting such question. "For starters, having no sustainable healing while the rest of your defenses consist of a shield that you cannot properly recast in combat and literally the worst armor for the situation is already a killer, but it only gets worse after that"

"But if she's that useless, why is she even in the game?"

"There are two ways, first she's really good support in group - you just focus on shielding your teammates and giving them a number of buffs depending on the situation. The second option requires you to forego shield completely and focus on melee with dodge and speed self-buffs. I wouldn't advise it to someone without a decent experience and it also works better with someone covering you."

That was actually kinda interesting. Maybe there was something more to these games than she initially thought... "So, what would you recommend then?"

"Either human engineer or a Mrrshan merc. They offer the most versatility, so you can try different play styles to see what fits you better, before actually committing to the certain build. Let me show you..."

***

About an hour later the first two game mission were finished in a three different ways and it definitely felt satisfying rather than infuriatingly unfair.

"Now, that's much better." Cheered Gilda "A refill pause is in order, I'd say. Beer or Soda?"

"Soda will do for now, I think. By the way, how come you're that invested in games? I mean it's cool, but there's also magic, the whole gang thing, family stuff... and yeah, the school too."

Gilda chuckled as she brought two bottles from the freezer. "It's really simple. I just happen to live with my brother here in Canterlot, and while he's the only family I do have around, he's also an ex-lead of the griffins and the gamer too. And neither of us was ever fond of school." She paused to open her bottle and continued after making a few gulps. "And with magic I do have more time, unlike Dust, so naturally I go for more fun."

'can't keep up with me in magic as not everyone can be the best' That was what Lighting Dust said, or at least something close enough.
"Hm? What are you both doing with magic then?" Sunset tried her best to display an interest in the topic, perhaps even slightly exaggerating it.

Gilda frowned for a moment. "I guess we're bound to talk about it anyway, so might as well do it right now. Besides, it's a cool enough tale and not overly long" She stretched herself, getting in a more comfortable position. "So, skipping some stuff that's insignificant right now, me and Dust were buddies for like two years before Crash appeared. School aside, most of the time that we spent together was in the gym with a few hangouts far and between. It was more of a convenience, to measure our progress against someone comparable, even if our motives were slightly different. I simply wanted respect from bro's pals in the gang and to be left alone at school, and well, being a wimp just sucks. Dust was determined to actually become a professional football player or an athlete at least. So, there's a thing about training - at certain point you just have to try fifty percent harder just to get one percent better, and unlike Dust I was never interested to that degree."

Gilda paused for a bit, perhaps remembering those events one again. Sunset knew though, that if someone got in a 'sentimental mode' like this, any interruptions, wrong nudges into certain direction or well, anything perceived as wrong would be taken as rudeness at best, so she decided to play a "grateful listener" to the fullest here, like in those old philosophy dialogues. That it was actually interesting also helped.

Meanwhile, Gilda continued: "Then Crash appeared. You may know, that it's a certain stereotype, how a wizard should look, or what he should be able to do. In most films or games it's some frail old dude with his staff, robe and a weird hat. I mean, in Zipang's games it might also be a curvy gal, or someone looking younger than a preschooler, but they are weird like that. The main theme here, is that we supposedly need someone to be a 'cool and strong guy' in films, and in games there is usually some fixation on balance. And yeah, there are also those goofy 'magicians', but it's hard to take them seriously. So, long story short, Crash appeared and now we know that real life is a completely different beast... I mean, yeah he got those flashy spells too, he shown us, classic like fireball, that kind of stuff"

Gilda grinned, supposedly showing some kind of explosion with her hands, before continuing. "But the real kicker is that he's more than capable physically, and flashy spells aside, his training is far better than any other I've heard about. And with a bit of magic the usual limits are also down in flames, so my bestie Dust is steadily going towards the superhuman category, while I'm kinda stuck on a lower level."
She sighed, before smirking. "I mean, it may be a slight exaggeration, and would it be someone else, someone I haven't known that good, I would be really jealous, sure. But right now? She deserves it, with that effort on daily basis. And it's something I cannot commit to, really. I mean, in a life-or-death situation, if I had no better choice, then maybe. So, I'm 'just' in a better form than I ever was, with spending like five times less time on it, and I'm learning enough magical stuff to have more assurance on my future than I would ever get from School or college. And it's a good deal, I'd say."

Finishing her story Gilda stretched once again and stood up. "But I think it's enough story time for today. You're gonna see this all for yourself soon enough anyway. Let me take a small visit to the WC, and we can continue with fun. A third mission is a real piece of work, I assure you!"

Author's Note

And that concludes the exposition/introduction arc. While the plot will (likely slowly) start to pick up from now, any feedback/commentary would be much appreciated.

Chapter 6

Sunset closed the browser on the library's computer and leaned back on her chair sighing. In the two weeks following her decision to take Crash's offer Sunset had some progress on multiple fronts, but still it wasn't much to be proud of. First of all, now she was able to reliably perform the two most simple spells of telekinesis and light, even if it still baffled her to even view telekinesis as a spell and not an inherent ability. Sure, comparing to her prowess as a unicorn it could be viewed as laughable and doing magic with these bracers instead of her horn still felt weird and unnatural, but it was something to begin with.

Crash himself remained being an enigma, as they barely interacted outside of her rather short magical training at the evenings, but for now she was mostly okay with it. After all, it's not like she needed to befriend him now or anything like that. His lessons were a good change, compared to her previous experiences so far: there was nothing unrelated to magic, no distractions of any kind, he gave clear, precise, straight to the point instructions and explained everything in detail if asked, instead of leaving her to 'guess it by herself'. And in those few cases when he offered no detailed explanation, he explained why and at which point they would theoretically adress it in the future. The differences in their respective basic magic aside, he seemed to be really interested in the possible influence of her emotions on the 'process of spellcasting itself'. As he added, they were still needing a better version of the focus, so for now he recommended a neutral and detached approach 'to establish a better baseline'. Finally, he promised to finish a first non-prototype version of her focus by Friday 'bare unforeseen circumstances' and she was looking forward to it.

It wasn't easy to just wait, but now she had most of her confidence back and it helped. Her new company wasn't bad either. Sure, she would prefer getting better at magic to most of their hangouts, but at least it was fun enough and she intended eventually getting a better grasp on what her 'companions' actually wanted and believed.

At School her association with griffins has become a rather common knowledge, even if she wasn't a formal member yet. It had an interesting side effect of teachers getting more strict with her, both in regards to her interaction with other students and for possible cheating at various tests. Ha, as if she ever needed that for something that easy. Sure, she had to put on hold if not completely abandon her plans in regards to that annoying group of girls and those few that she viewed as possible minions before were pushed away by the changes. But as Gilda would say if she would know about it 'And nothing of value was lost'. Sunset still planned to go for Fall Formal this year though, to prove a point to herself if nothing else.

At her spare time she renewed her search in regards to this world's magic using the internet in the school's library, using the explanations from Crash as pointers. But so far her research has been proven mostly fruitless, as all that she could find aside from works of fiction (usually really bad ones) and some weird cartoons were some ancient eastern breathing exercises and meditation techniques. And even if she could use some meditation occasionally..

A vibration from her phone confirmed that Dust's training should be over for quite some time already, and it was time to leave. She stretched and stood up, groaning. After a second thought, perhaps some of those other exercises could be useful too...

***

Only eight minutes later they were driving back to home, with some rock playing on radio, Dust humming to the beat and herself not even trying to hide a clear boredom from her face.

"Hey, Dust"

"Huh?" Questioned driver, while lowering the sound a bit.

"Why do you even need that training in the first place?"

"Cause it's fun, duh. And other electives do suck"

"Hm... Aren't we supposed to pick electives starting from the next year? And isn't it too easy to be fun with your magic?"

"Normally yes, but if you want for PE to be your only elective - than you have to take it right from the start. And I do use spells to make myself weaker and slower. What's the fun of beating the others at it otherwise?"

"Well, that's useful I suppose" And it surely was. Sunset made a mental note to directly ask about such kind of magic later. Could be useful in many ways. "Why doesn't Gilda join you then, instead of leaving school earlier? I'm sure, she doesn't want other electives later as well"

Lighting Dust visibly cringed before answering. "It's about a bad blood between her and Dash. Gilda said that they were rather close before as kids, but once she moved to CHS herself it really didn't turn out that well. So, considering both their tempers and pride, a prolonged meeting between them could turn to a fight really easy and Dash never missed a single training so far."

"Sounds reasonable to me" remarked Sunset. She maintained a pause a bit longer to collect her thoughts before continuing. "Can we just skip the school tomorrow? I'm bored out of my mind lately, and me taking you up to your word on the subject of riding skill training or magical showcase seems awesome!"

"Nah. I mean, I'm game as promised, just not on Thursday. Cranky is one of those stupid teachers that always make fuss if you skip their lessons on the matter of principle. Is Friday good for ya?"

"Sure" Sunset grinned. "I'd look forward to it"

***

As they arrived to the mansion, the first thing that catched their eye was rather big van with a griffin's logo on it, standing right outside of the mansions garage. In front of it's open hood stood Wrench, clearly doing some sort of check-up.
"Looks like Crash is going to Manehattan again." mentioned Lighting Dust as she parked their car.

"Does it happen often?"

"Well, up to your appearance he usually was away each Tuesday. It's some sort of business involving medicine as far as I know"

As she and Dust moved to the house proper, they greeted the mechanic to which he responded without even looking in their direction. Someone else could possibly find it rude, but Sunset only cared about the formalities so far as they were in her favor.

This time the TV-set of the house and it's powerful audio system showcased the joy of pirate life and booze. It was kind of catchy, if really loud, but Crash that was sitting in the chair of the living room somehow noticed their presence nonetheless, before turning the TV off. It wasn't the first time he done it, and that was a definitely useful skill to have.

"It's a rather unfortunate that I really should be going right now. I've finished your bracers about two hours ago " He said in his usual calm tone while gesturing to the box on the table. "For now I would strongly recommend to abstain from any use of magic in the next 24 hours and to wear them all the time that you won't be sleeping. Keeping them in the box for the night should help with a few minor issues that I wasn't able to fix this time."

Sunset's smile, that she displayed after hearing these words was one of the rarest moments when she wasn't hiding her emotions while experiencing a real happiness. "T-thanks. I'm.. grateful."

Crash nodded. "I'll return on the Saturdays morning, before the party starts. Feel free to relax as you see fit, but our proper training and study starts in the second half of the Sunday, so expect you to be ready for it."

"I will" She replied without hesitation.

"Good. See you later then" And with those words he picked up his briefcase from the table and nonchalantly walked out of the house.

"Is he often that aloof?" She asked Dust that stood on her right that whole time.

"Meh, he just doesn't really care about formalities and appearances, unless it's crucial to our plans. I surely can roll with it any time."

'A bit weird, but who cares, really.' Thought Sunset 'Now what else was important here? Right, that party thing'

"What is that party all about?" She asked Dust while moving to the fridge to pick herself some cider. "Aside from introducing me to the griffins proper, that is"

Lighting Dust followed her and picked a bottle herself. "There are few minor things aside of that, but you shouldn't really think about it. I'll tell ya if it comes up."

Sunset shrugged."Whatever. Any particular plans for the evening?"

"Well, I still need about four hours for my training and a decent shower right after, but then we can watch that newest horror flick. Gilda should be online right now, if you're interested."

"Sounds good enough for me."

Author's Note

Delayed mostly by my laziness and a few RL issues a 6th chapter is finally here!

Btw, , if someone would point me towards a decent free spellchecker (preferably without registration or any other associated garbage) that would accept text in a chunks of 1000+ words (the more the better) it would be really appreciated.

Chapter 8

Since the Saturday's early morning Sunset Shimmer felt quite a few things. None of them really pleasant, though. It was a rather nasty mix of annoyance, boredom, embarrassment, wounded pride and well - actual physical pain. And it was that blasted training to blame! Sure, it started quite well initially, but apparently knowing how to ride a motorcycle properly and teaching someone else were two different things... Maybe it should have been more obvious to her in hindsight, but here she was - in one of the most idiotic positions since her arrival to this world.

She simply couldn't make that turn properly and fell down. Naturally, her left leg got hurt, despite the 'protection' that she was wearing. At least Lightning Dust actually knew some kind of the pain numbing spell, though her ignorance of the actual first aid felt rather grating at this point... "Yeah, sure, Crash will fix it quick and without any stupidity of the hospitals" Sunset repeated Dust's words with a visible anger. She surely hoped so, after all when the spell had gone away during the night she was quickly awoken by the pain alone, and only the reapplying of said spell by Dust prevented her from calling the hospital anyway.

It was past noon already, and she could only helplessly lie in the couch and wait for Crash's arrival. She tried to distract herself by watching TV but it only worked for a short while. She looked outside, where a dozen of griffon guys were making some kind of a stage, most likely for their event today. Their work could have been done already, but given their speed and numerous breaks that they were taking, there was a distinct possibility to fail finishing it on time.

Finally, she saw the gate open and the van to roll inside. Seeing it has done wonders to the workers enthusiasm, two of which started to walk towards the van. As the it's side-door opened, Crash himself went out, in his 'biker' attire this time. He said what seemed to be no more than a few phrases to the approaching guys and rather lazily went towards the house, while thy started to unload some barrels. Sunset grunted. It's not like he had to run 'to her rescue', but somehow it still felt rather demeaning to her. She definitely needed to be more careful next time.

Soon, she heard the door open and close followed by some humming before Crash nonchalantly walked in the living room. "So, how bad it is?" he asked with a small smile on his face.

Sunset could only glare at him before rolling her left trouser up. Her eyes widened as she saw how strong had her leg swollen under her knee. 'Blast you, Lighting Dust! I swear, if...'

"A bit worse than what I expected, although better than it could be" Crash remarked as he went closer. "I hope you don't mind skin contact. It would make it simpler"

"Just... just do your thing already!"

Without any further comments he just sat on the other side of the couch and put his pale hand on her leg. Touch felt surprisingly cold, but strangely not uncomfortable so and was accompanied by a soft blue glow, not to dissimilar from the Equestria's magic. The pain disappeared quickly, though she could barely feel her leg anymore.

"So, a bit of a road rash, some muscle damage, a few fractures and ... a bit more muscle damage. Should take about fifteen minutes or so."

Now that was actually interesting. Sure, even unicorns and pegasi were more sturdy than humans to begin with, and there were various spells used for healing, some of which she even knew herself, but nothing nearly that good! Still, she had to be sure.

"Does that mean that there would be no need for any other treatment later, or something else?"

"No, unless you would get into some other trouble that would be it. Now, if time would be more of an issue I could have done this quicker. Around five minutes, I think, accounting for your magical resistance."

His smirk and general attitude told her that he should have felt proud of his abilities. Well, she definitely would be in his place. Though, it made her next question rather obvious.

"Would you teach me this spell later?"

Crash chuckled. "I certainly would teach you the basics, as I firmly believe that every mage should be able to treat his wounds at the very least, though I definitely do not recommend to study this discipline to such an extent as me"

"And why would that be?"

"Oh, it's really simple. You see, basics, or well lesser magic in general can be learned relatively quickly and used even if you do not understand it completely. Something more complex, on the contrary takes significant amount of time to master. Time, that you could have spent learning something else." he sighed. "With my condition I was pretty much forced to go this route as the only alternative would be having a dedicated specialist by my side all the time. And that wasn't exactly feasible for multiple reasons."

That sounded believable, to a certain degree at least. And anyway, there was no practical reason to dwell on it. She settled on waiting as a spell too its affect and her swollen leg slowly but steadily started to return to normal.

"Do you do this for other griffins as well?" She asked when the process was close to completion.

"Not really. Out of those who are in Canterlot only for you, Dust, Gilda and her brother. Others may be occasionally useful but introducing magic to them would create too much problems in the long run."

Considering how rare magic was in this world and how much power it could give.. yes she could get behind that reasoning. Though one thing was still unclear to her.

"This whole 'Griffins' thing. How do they even fit into this? I don't mean to pry too much, but honestly it was puzzling me for quite some time already."

As Crash finally finished with his spell, he stood up. "It was more of a coincidence at the start, not something I had in my initial plans to be honest, though I'm rather satisfied with the current situation. Now, I have a few more things to do personally, so a further discussion will have to wait." after some visible consideration he added "I'll have a few magic related tasks for you tomorrow. For now just try to relax and have fun. The main event should start around seven or so."

That said, he went to his beloved basement. Or something among this lines. Sunset sighed. On one hoof it was being rather convenient and predictable. She could even perfectly understand that in the reverse situation she wouldn't tell or show everything either. On the other hoof, she surely didn't mind having some fun at the expense of someone else. Especially if it just meant some money. On the third hoof, that bucking condescension! 'go and have fun, my ass'Honestly, if he would just be a simple minded, full-of-himself Jock-type guy it would be much easier. But being in such situation with a fellow magic-user just felt wrong to her. Well, couldn't be helped yet.

She spent a few more minutes checking her leg only to find no trace of the injury whatsoever. 'And I really should make a point of learning some decent healing spells. That good I may not need to be, but they are surely useful'

As she slowly stood up, she considered her options. She felt no desire to do her schoolwork or stay indoors anymore today. Perhaps a bit of a fresh air could help her.. Yes, that seemed like a decent idea. She considered calling Dust or Gilda but in the end decided against it. A simple walk would be just fine.

***

Well, after spending all those hours in bed, simply walking around surely felt good to her. Deciding to combine pleasant with useful, she took a bus to the city proper and walked to the mall. Surely asking Crash for some money to buy her a good laptop won't be hard, right? There was a question of getting an internet connection too, sure, but there supposedly were some remote options and she could always ask the shop's clerk about them.

About an hour later, when she took a card from a stupid looking guy with a smile glued to his face, she was mostly satisfied with her options. She certainly would prefer someone not trying to appeal to her that much(and fail miserably at that), but at least he knew his job enough. About five thousand, slightly rounded up. Not exactly affordable to her a few weeks prior, but now she definitely was entitled to small luxuries like that. With that in mind she went to the exit.

"But sis! Why can't we just go the Sweetie's home?! I wanna learn what has happened and why won't she talk to me!"

"It's a grown ..

Where did she have heard it before? Then she went in the mall's corridor and ... met Applejack with both her siblings. 'Buck!'

"..up things Apple Bloom ..." As the blond girl saw her, her face quickly turned to a clear contempt, accentuated by a deep frown. That was bad. Should she just run?

"Good to meet ya here. Very good. Mac, would you please lead Apple Bloom to the others? I'll join ya soon."

Applejack's giant of a brother looked uncertain, switching his glance between her and his sister. On hindsight, perhaps she should could have thought of a better plan before aggravating the duo... Or at least should have taken someone with her now... Blast! Well, even if devolves into a fight it won't be that bad, right? It's not like she wasn't in a fight before...

"I'll just wanna ask her a few questions, Mac. Ain't Rainbow to start a fight here." 'Mac' sighed and took the brat's hand.

"Hey, what is this all about?" the latter squealed as she was bring lead away. "Don't go all silent and mysterious on me again! Ah wanna know too!"

Answering a few questions, huh? Well, that's just easy, shouldn't have worried. Well, showing more confidence, she definitely could get out of it.

"So, what do you want?" Sunset tried to sound as nonchalant and confident as possible.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would ya frame Rarity? Just for stupid frilly contest?" Applejack sounded determined, even if it was clear that it wasn't easy for her to speak about it. "Ah would like to be ya up like ya deserve, but it won't help bringing my friend back. Knowing why may help though, so speak."

Should she tell some sob story to get off this? Or perhaps a partial truth could help?

"Weeell it was about this contest too, but that's only a part of it... my ... my mother loved to speak about friendship... like it's the best thing in the world or something. And I hated it!" For some stupid reason it suddenly felt right to speak about it to someone.. "Because it was just a lie! Always! And when I heard Rarity to go on and on how 'great' your friendship is, how supposedly 'precious' and how glad you all were to rediscover it again, I could barely handle my anger!!" She found herself much closer to Applejack with her fists clenched and with barely any trace of her usual composure.

Blond girl just stared at her back, speechless for a few moments

"Ah think that ya are lost. Lost and in need of help, I'd say, but it ain't my problem. Just don't go after my family or friends and we won't be enemies." With that she just started to walk past Sunset before stopping herself "And you still have to apologize to Rarity later".

Sunset just stood there for a while, trying to calm herself down. Luckily it seemed that no one else has paid any attention to her breakdown... BLAST IT ALL TO THE TARTARUS AND BELOW! Why was it so damn hard to just let it all go! And to tell it to someone as insignificant as..

She took a few deep breaths 'Calm down, Sunset. Yeah, shit like that happens. Everyone can do stupid shit and you are not an exception. The only thing that really matters now is getting your magic back and true power that comes with it.'

She straightened up. Yes, priorities. To get rid of their weakness one should just become strong, that was simple and straightforward. And no more moronic walking around alone, she had enough of it. She took her phone and pressed a first speed dial button.

"Yeah?" answered Dust after three beeps.

"Can you give me a lift from the mall to the mansion?"

"Ughh.. if you can wait for twenty minutes or so, I can, sure. How's your leg by the way?"

Sunset frowned. "Thanks for reminding me. It's good now. I'll wait for you near the southern exit."

"See you, then"

As she put her phone back her, she felt confident again 'Well, let's relax and have fun for a change. Don't think there would be much time for it afterwards'

Chapter 9: a gift of Magic

Considering how much having a hangover sucked, anything that helped with it so quickly and decisive was really good. Sunset was already sure that Crash could easily earn a fortune with his magical healing alone, but that would likely expose his magic way more than he seemingly wanted. Selling magical potions on the other hoof ... that could work. Especially considering that no one even needed to know that they were magical in the first place.

She took another sip of her coffee going through the yesterday's events again. It started with Crash healing her in the morning (and she wanted to get some healing spells for herself), after which she went to the mall to look for a laptop, then returned for the party which lasted till late in the night. It was quite relaxing, all things considered. She couldn't recall the party as a whole, but some things do stood out. Crash's announcement at the start. A group trip to some big open-air concert that was mentioned. Her introduction and all the looks that she was getting after that. Some drunk ex-griffon trying to challenge Crash and failing miserably to the laughter of the crowd. That punk-rock griffon band and their surprisingly good covers they were playing. Good for a bunch of goofballs that is. And that scene of Crash actually howling like a wolf... Sunset chuckled. Well, if friendship and parties would come with this flavor and not some useless baggage... perhaps she could tolerate it then.

There was supposedly something else, but as she failed to recall it, it was dismissed as unimportant. Surely she wouldn't forget anything worthy of note.

Just as she started to consider going to her room to check her magic related notes, she heard a bedroom door unlock and open and a loud yawn following.

"Feels good" voiced Crash from upstairs. "As much as it can be, that is."

She looked at him as he casually strolled down. Well, apparently he really saw no reason to take much care of his appearance. At least he's not looking like a hobo, she assured herself.

"Good daytime" he greeted her as he moved to the coffee machine himself. "I'll start with a theoretical part while I'm bothering with a breakfast here. No sense to waste any more time here after all"

Sunset just snorted. She wasn't feeling like she should bother covering her emotions with him present anymore. "And a few previous days do not count?"

"Not really. It's usually best to follow theory with practice and we couldn't do that without your focus being ready... There was also some trivial organizational and money related stuff ... and also a matter of making a plan and some other preparations for this study." As a coffee-maker started to work, Crash switched to cutting himself some slices of bread. "Keh, it's definitely more difficult to get a good bread or butter here than one would think... Anyway, let's start with the very basics again. Do you remember what I said about mana and elemental affinities during our previous experimental sessions?"

Sunset sighed, before starting to recite in her best impression of monotone. "Mana is a general term for a magical energy of any kind that is used by mages to do any kind of actual magic. There are many types and corresponding sources of mana and it is important to make a clear distinction between them because some of them may be more difficult or dangerous to use based on your affinity, various circumstances or your skill. An affinity is a trait defined by being able to use either certain types of mana and/or certain types of spells better than others."

"Good. It may seem redundant yes, but unless one is a sorcerer or any other kind of lazy goof, it's a really good habit to check and question your basics as you learn them." As he moved to the table with his breakfast in tow, he continued: "So, a fact that you lack a natural focus may be a bit inconvenient for you and perhaps more than a bit unconventional nowadays, but it's merely a consequence of a significantly bigger issue. You see, your overall mana capacity is quite high, significantly bigger than mine, for example, and it's even full to the brim right now. But for yet unknown reason you are currently unable to control or even properly feel it. So far you are limited by the amount of mana that your bracers can hold, and it's only a tiny fraction of what you could be capable of."

That made sense. If taken as truth it explained her problem and if she was remembering his other speeches correctly could even bring a solution to them... "So, if we skip that astral body part like you said before, cause it shouldn't work that way, is all that mana just 'saturating' my actual physical body right now? And it's also supposedly a wrong type that I should somehow 'convert' to another to be able to use?"

"Precisely. It's always good to explain things to someone who actually listens to you, that's to be sure" Crash smiled and took a few more bites and another sip of his coffee. "There's only one complication here, but it's a very important one. This type of mana of yours seems to be aligned with our mysterious Canterlot source here, located somewhere at the CHS. And I have a very big personal interest to check it as a possible solution to the main problem of mine."

Now, that was sounding much less appealing. "So, does it mean that I should limit myself to a 'tiny fraction of my possible power' because you need it?" It actually took a significant amount of her willpower to hold back anger. In the end, even tiny amount of magic was better than no magic at all, and she was in no position to refuse a deal at this point anyway.

"No, nothing of sorts" Answered Crash, chuckling. "What I mean, is that while converting this mana or getting rid of a portion of it otherwise is perfectly fine and should benefit you in many ways, we still want to keep a significant amount of it pure for various experimental purposes. I even have a few of them in mind right now, though they would have to wait a little bit more. I would try draining some of it myself, but I lack both knowledge or equipment for it, so that's not an option here"

And that reminded her of a dark magic that she got a few glimpses of, before Celestia's banishment of her, that is. 'Well, isn't it a good thing that we do not have one to criticize our choice of magic anymore, is it.'

"As it seems that you have at least some affinity with fire, we are going to avoid any offensive combat spells for now. That would be too dangerous without a proper setup that we simply do not have"

"How dangerous do we speak here?" questioned Sunset.

"Well, my direct magical offensive capabilities are quite poor, but in comparison if, say, I would throw a fireball at my best, the temperature of the fire in the explosion wouldn't be much higher than a hundred degrees, taking zero as an ice thawing point. It's quite bad, worth some burns but not immediately life threatening. You, on the other hand, if we account for the possibility of a flare, which may be insignificant but still is surely present, can reach a thousand quite easy. And would it, for example, accidentally explode in your hands..."

Sunset actually felt shivers down her spine. While thinking of such power at her disposal was great, she wasn't that reckless.

".. it wouldn't be survivable at this point. So, I think we should agree to focus on control and defensive measures first."

"Understood."

"Excellent! With all that in mind, I have three spells to suggest. Namely Spark, Warmth and a typical hard shield. Also, now that I'm finished, shall we move to the training room and continue there?"

Sunset nodded, even though it was a clearly rhetorical question. "Sure"

This time Crash went behind that metal door of his to "pick some essentials". Sunset still had her doubts about the efficiency of such measures to protect anything, but it was also likely that there were some defensive spells present, and there was no real incentive for her to focus on that any more.

In the training room itself nothing really changed. Not that it mattered much, but she was curious to any new implication of magic, with all the power and possibilities it would grant her.

"Our first spell to learn would be Spark." Crash started, as he entered the room with a bag in his hand "With emphasis on 'learn' and 'first', naturally. You see, that minor telekinesis or a light that you are able to use now aren't technically your spells, but a function of the bracers that you are wearing."

Magic granted by an item... this day was full of surprises, but surprisingly (heh) of a good kind. It could be a good idea to write down some of the more obscure equestrian magical theory, even the older more myth-related and perhaps even the supposedly disproven parts of it. She had a good memory, sure, but even she could forget it eventually and it could be actually useful...

"With that in mind I present you your first proper spellbook." Crash paused, taking a large leather covered tome form his bag and offering it to Sunset.

Sunset took the book with both her hands, but it was surprisingly light for it's size. Back in her fillyhood, when she was still in the magical kindergarten, that was exactly what she imagined as Her Own Very Magical Spellbook. Sure, back then, reality had shown her that it was merely a thing of past when the books were rare and expensive. And actually holding one now felt even more surreal...

"What does it actually do, outside of being a large book weighting way less than it should?" It may be rude on her part, but she had no use for sentimentality anymore, right?

Crash just smirked. "Well, to start with, it's durable. Being closed and locked it's significantly harder to physically damage than a piece of steel, and it's magical defense is even greater. Second, it's secure. While one of sufficient skill can force the lock open eventually, anything that is written by the complimentary stylus can only be read by you and the book's maker. Who isn't even alive at this point, so no one else. It's a thousand pages physically, but once you master the index, it would be five hundred times more. I had to lock off most of the material that the book already has, you know, maps, history and such, and some parts of it may be a bit out of date but otherwise the references are ready for use. And finally, as described in the detailed instructions on the last fifty pages, there are many other magical utilities that can be provided by the book, even if some of them wouldn't work here."

That was more than impressive. Though what did he actually needed from her, to give such 'gifts' so easily? She would take the book sure, and use it to it's fullest capabilities, but she had to be careful.

Meanwhile Crash continued. "I'd just add that it is quite valuable, so I do expect you to handle it with proper care. But let's move to the actual lesson." He took some kind of a metallic rod from the bag and showed it to her "This is a rod of Spark. Similarly to your bracers it allows you to use a 'Spark' spell. The difference is that it uses it's own supply of mana which should be enough for about a hundred charges. It can be used like this -" he pointed the rod to the wall opposing the exit and with a buzzing sound a small blue projectile erupted from the now glowing point and hit the wall a moment later. "or like this"

This time the projectile appeared as a tiny blue orb just above the index and middle fingers of his left hand that were pointed up. He moved his fingers around, moving the orb with them, before once again pointing to the wall and shooting the projectile there. Even though Sunset observed it more closely this time, she still saw no visible traces on the wall.

"A formalist may call Spark an offensive spell, but it was never the case. Being hit by one may sting a bit more than a mosquito bite, but this feeling goes away less than a minute after. It was purposely created to train one's control and aim, while also remaining as safe as possible."

He walked to the room's table and put the rod on it, followed by the four similar ones.

"I have written the appropriate theory for the spell on the first two pages of the spellbook, accompanied with the calculations that you have to complite for yourself. I expect you to be able to cast this spell on your own before all the rod charges would run out. Spark has some similarities to the Light spell, so focusing on that may help you. It's also perfectly normal to waste most of the rod's charges at first, while you get hang of it, so do not pay that much of a mind. I do have some minor things to do in the city, so you do have up to five to finish while I'm absent. And finally, I insist on casting the spell in this room only. Questions?"

"None so far" Even if she had some doubts about the calculation part, she was sure that she could figure it out in the process. She briefly wondered about reasons behind Crash changing his tone while explaining magic, but dismissed it in the end.

"Well, if you find some, you can always ask Lightning Dust. She learned this spell, after all. Have a good day."

As he left, Sunset looked to the tome that she was still holding in her hands. A wide and wholly sincere smile followed. It should be a good day indeed.

Author's Note

Any feedback would be appreciated, as usual.

Chapter 10

And a good day it was. Sunset had long forgotten the days when the magic was yet unfamiliar in her life and thus new and more exciting than ever after. Being reminded of that felt good. Strange, perhaps, but good for sure. She spent at least three hours just learning about the book itself, before having to give up for now. Some hidden test it may not be, but there was simply way too much to learn in one sitting. Heh, forget one sitting - she wasn't really sure how long would it take for her... especially considering that her knowledge of the new magic was sorely lacking.

So, here she was - lying with a magical stylus in her hand, calculating her first 'proper' spell as a human. She briefly wondered if this new knowledge could help with her eventual ascension, but could only chuckle at the stray thought. It was a long way to the top ... and falling in the canyon midways surely didn't help her. She checked her notes once again. 'Seems fine'

"Testing spark, try twenty three" she spoke taking a rod in her second hand once again. 'Pull the mana... yes ... skipping conversion ... now to shape it .." Yellow orb winked into existence at the end of the rod, only to fizzle out with a cracking sound half a second later. "Well, negative result still counts as a progress here, I guess. Let's redo the shaping part..." She quickly erased some of her writings with a stylus back side, starting them again. It surely was way more convenient than pen, not to mention outdated crap like quills.

"There you are. And I wondered where did those pillows from the couch go"

Sunset looked up to see Lightning Dust, who just entered the training room and stood in the doorway grinning. Being startled more than enough during her older studies had helped her with a few nice habits. Though while getting rid of typical 'being startled' reaction was easy enough, learning not to speak her mind to others was more difficult. A few stern lectures from Celestia helped to set her up to the right direction. Just being indifferent to most, especially when they needed something from her was enough for them to leave her alone. Luckily, her new allies were much better company anyways, as she doubted than any of them would just take 'no' for an answer. Except maybe Gilda, but in her opinion the latter was just the best combination of carefree, tact and indifference and have never bothered or distracted her so far.

"Well, Crash said to restrict using a spell to this room, and I definitely do not want neither walking back and forth nor lying on the floor."

"And what spell would that be?" Asked Dust with a visible interest.

"Spark" Answered Sunset with a slight annoyance "Just basics so far"

Dust shrugged "It makes sense to start with easier ones. Only took me three days to learn, unlike the rest of them. Oh, and why is your spellbook that big?"

"You have one too?"

"Duh" Dust moved closer taking a better look at the tome. "Nothing that fancy, but whatever works, I'd say. Makes some sense for you to have a bigger and better version or something like that" She grinned to her own joke.

"And what do you mean by that?" questioned Sunset.

"Well, if we are using Gilda's terminology, than according to Crash I'm best suited as a magical warrior or something and you are more of a 'squishy wizard type'. So it would make sense to follow the stereotype closer ... you just need some staff and a stupid hat with a robe for full set" She laughed heartily.

Sunset glared back "Not everyone wants to be a brute, you know!"

"Most who say that actually do, you know? Like nerds and other losers. They just never want to put any effort in it, that's for sure" Dust continued undeterred. "I'm about to start my morning routine. Join me for once, you would feel completely different!"

"Don't mind if I do." Grumbled Sunset as she stood up.

"Great! We should start with a small warm-up of breathing and stretching exercises!"

Wait a moment. Was she really goaded into it that easily? No matter, even if she had no desire to really focus on any physical activities, keeping fit was important enough. So why not?

***

Forty minutes of training and a shower later as she was sitting on the couch in her bathrobe while being not so sure of it anymore. Heck yeah, she felt different. "Should my body really ache that much?" A rhetorical question, sure, but she had to say it.

"A proper athlete would say that if you do not feel pain after exercises than you are doing it wrong." Answered Dust with a grin "Though in your case, I would just blame negligence. It's rather typical these days to be honest. First, people tend to mostly ignore their body fitness till they are around thirty or so, only to wonder later where did all their health problems come from." She shrugged. "I mean, unlike them we do have a magical bullshit to fix that kind of idiocy, but why not simply keep yourself in a good shape if you can?"

That was hard to argue with. Most problems could, and often should be fixed by magic, but with her situation in mind she had one very big reason not to become reliant on magic entirely. Being helpless was not an experience she would like to repeat any time soon.

"I'll add some exercises into my schedule, I think" She concluded to the Jock's clear approval. "Still, I have to figure out this spell today and Crash said that I can ask you for pointers..." She left her phrase open, waiting for Dust's reaction.

"Sure, no problem. I'll just grab my book so we can compare our final notes and go from there."

"Really?" Wondered Sunset aloud as Dust went to the stairs "I'd took you for one to explain it on the basis how it should feel and surely not the 'bookish' type."

"Nah, our magic does not work like that." answered Dust with a bored tone, while she went up "Unless we would be sorcerers of the same school or bloodline, that is. Crash had to explain it to me like three times in detail, but I got it in the end."

That was also interesting. Was it another test of her capabilities as a student, or had he just seen no reason to bother with such details yet another time, knowing that she would likely ask Dust herself? Was it some kind of 'nudging' into the necessity of teamwork, likes of which Celestia tried to use with her, or something else entirely?

Meanwhile, as she considered these possibilities and her possible response, Dust has supposedly taken her book and closed the door before going down.

"Among other stuff, the Spark is also overcomplicated in the theoretical part to help you learn other spells after. But at least we are learning with a greater emphasis on practice."

"What's the difference?"

"As Crash said, these rods are kinda costly to give them to an average student, so many either learn from rare examples provided by teacher or with a much greater emphasis on theory and personal trial and error. In the extreme cases learning even such a simple spell may take two or three months and it is considered acceptable."

"That's weird" muttered Sunset absentmindedly, paying more attention to the book that Dust brought. It was much smaller than hers, closer to a typical schoolbook. Dust took a similar looking stylus and proceeded to search for something on the pages that appeared blank from the unicorn's perspective.

"Found it! Check it out."

Sunset looked on the blank page for a few seconds more before finally connecting the dots. "Do you have a protection on your writings to hide them from others?"

"Ah, yeah. Sorry, I tend to forget about it. I'll fix it, just a moment" Dust took the book back and closed her eyes, visibly concentrating on something. Blue glow that was barely visible at first slowly spread from her bracers to her hands, before enveloping the book. A few seconds later, a text appeared on the opened page.

"Annnd done!" Exclaimed Dust proudly.

Sunset still watched at it nonplussed. "Considering how atrocious your handwriting is, I don't think that it would help us much."

"Hey! It's not that bad!" Dust tried to retort at first, before conceding "Well, maybe you need to get a bit familiar with it first... So, why won't you reveal your own notes?"

"Apparently, it doesn't work this way" said Sunset "It's specifically mentioned in my book that revealing it's contents to others is not a trivial matter, and I had no time to look for details yet."

Dust sighed. "That's magic for you. 'Kay, let's go through it step by step..."

Two hours, forty two spent charges and three pizzas later they were actually finished. Sunset looked at the orb of 'Spark' with a proud grin before shooting it to the wall. Aiming the spell was more like shooting with some ranged weapon rather than using any magic, which definitely felt unusual and got her some issues, hitting herself once included. One spell obviously didn't represent this new magic a whole, but the new experience was welcomed by her.

She wondered if the efficiency of her current teamwork was just a flick of the moment, caused by a fact that she was just starting her studies and if in the near future Dust would just hold her back like the other unicorn students in Equestria. It seemed rather likely, but for some reason she felt sad about it...

"So, I think we're done with it" Said Dust offering her one of the two remaining pizza slices. "Some other spells you were wanting to try today?"

"Yeah. Crash mentioned 'Warmth' and 'hard shield' as other basics for me." At least Dust wasn't envious - a welcomed development in her eyes.

"Well I have no idea about this 'Warmth', but shields are not that difficult. They come in three main variations - soft, hard and thaumatic" Dust grinned "May sound a bit silly, but it makes some sense in the end. You are supposed to use them in layers - first come soft shields that are supposed to block energy attacks, like magic rays, fireballs and stuff. Hard shields come after and should block bullets and direct weapon hits. And thaumatic shields are to be used against very specific shit like mind control. Crash said that there are a lot of them and most of the time you won't them unless you really know what you are ..." A Phone ringed with an annoying tone, interrupting her. "Fuck! Do they really have.." With clear annoyance she slowly took it and hesitated a few more seconds before answering.

"Yes, mom"

"..."

"No, everything's fine"

"... ... ..."

"Yes, I do remember"

"... ... ... ... ..."

Dust frowned. "Mom, do we really have.."

"... ... ... ... ... ... ..."

"Yes, I understand, but.."

"... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ungrateful ..."

At that point Dust just took the phone from her ear and closed the microphone with her other hand, while reducing the sound of the speaker.

"Hate them" She said to Sunset as if it explained everything "Plain and simple." She sighed and stood up. "See you in the school, I guess"

"Good luck"

"Thanks, I'll need it"

As Dust left, Sunset considered her options. Without further help there wasn't much that she could do here outside of doing 'Spark' a few more times, but there was no real need and she felt tired enough with the repetitions of the spell. Perhaps it was time to learn more about the book? Yeah, and the couch is surely more comfortable. She stood up and stretched.

Back in her filly days she often wondered if her being raised in an orphanage was good or bad. Nowadays she was definitely in the 'Good' camp. Less problems, less distractions, less responsibility, less bother in general. And looking at Dust's example, she definitely saw that there was no guarantee of worthwhile positive sides to having a family.

Chapter 7

'They surely do take their time' thought Sunset with annoyance. This morning she found a note in her locker which asked her to meet on the roof after the end of classes to talk about some rumors, which supposedly concerned her and their friend Rarity. Friend, heh.

On hindsight, perhaps her plans to interfere with the relationship of those five girls weren't among her best ones. But at the time she was mostly concerned with establishing a certain reputation in the school and Rarity's monologue on the "joys of their friendship" just triggered her at that moment. Now, as her biggest concern was tied to the magic again, her earlier actions seemed petty and perhaps even a bit childish. And rather unsurprisingly, even as she had to drop her follow-up to the "frame them all between each other" scheme, it surely didn't look like they were back together.

'Look - that's what a friendship is like' She wanted to shout in the princess face 'Just an illusion or a lie that breaks under the easiest strain'. But alas, she was grounded on the other side of the mirror and unable to do so, even if she wanted. Real pity, that's for sure.

"So, how long are we going to wait for the losers?" voiced Dust, who stood a few meters to the right of her, leaning against the railing. "I mean, I'm not in a hurry, but there surely is a better stuff to do."

"Five more minutes, I think" Answered Sunset, checking time on her phone. "They fail to show up, it's on them"

"Well, ten tops. If only to avoid Dash making a fuss about it. I mean, I wouldn't mind the fight itself, but hearing all that stupid shit from my parents afterwards would really suck.."

"Do they have to know?"

"With our well-fucking-meaning principal - Heck yeah, they do!" Dust grumbled, visibly annoyed.

"Well, ten minutes it is then" reasoned Sunset. "By the way, while we are still waiting, do we need to buy something today for our training to spare the time tomorrow?"

"Actually, yes. Stuff like knee pads is important and I know just the place..." Dust stopped as a door to the roof opened with a slight creak and two girls stepped through. Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Exactly as expected, then.

"Hey, what are YOU doing here?" questioned Rainbow right as she saw them.

Dust shrugged. "Do I really need a reason to hang out with one of ours? Ask your questions already and stop wasting our time please." Right before the hot-tempered girl could continue, she was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder.
"I know that you are mighty angry now Rainbow, but it ain't about you and Dust right now." Applejack paused, before looking into Sunset's eyes. "It all may be an honest misunderstandin', but there are many rumors 'bout Rarity as your rival for Fall Formall..."

"Yea, and you were doing that school newspaper thing only just before this whole mess started! Kinda suspicious, that you were only seen speaking to Rarity with it, right?" Interrupted Rainbow.

'Well, they are smarter than they look' Thought Sunset. 'It wasn't that hard to see, sure, but still' She could deflect the question one way or another, or even outright deny everything, it's not like they had any proof anyway. But what was the point? It's not like they mattered for her plans anymore... Then she noticed a certain movement on the stairs and the opportunity that came with it. She smirked and simply asked, keeping her voice quiet:

"So, what if it's my doing?"

Both girls just stared at her slack-jawed for a few seconds, before Rainbow started to growl.. "YOU!... YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHI.."

"NOW WHAT IS GOING ON HERE, YOUNG LADIES?" Vice-Principal Luna herself stood in the doorway glaring at them. "Aren't the rules on fighting in the school clear enough for you?"

Catched at the worst possible moment, Rainbow instantly stuttered. "Weell ... you see..."

"Initially we tried to resolve some things through discussion, like civilized adults" remarked Sunset coolly "Unfortunately, Rainbow here had a different opinion on the matter"

Girl in question turned to face her instantly, but could do little more than just glare in her direction. It even felt rather amusing, to be honest.

Vice-principal sighed. "Your discussion is over then. Sunset Shimmer, principal Celestia waits for you in her office. Rainbow Dash, please stay, as it seems that I have to remind you of the school rules once again. Lightning Dust and Applejack, you may leave. And I would be very disappointed to have you get into another incident today."

'Hmm, I wonder what is this call for meeting about' thought Sunset as she went to the stairs. 'Likely some useless moralizing again'

At least nothing else happened on her route to the Principal's office, so when she entered, fighting her annoyance to the best of her capabilities, she still had hopes to end it all over as quickly as possible.

"Sunset, it's good to see you..."

She didn't really listen to the Principal, as nowadays there was no real reason to. She had more than enough useless moralizing from Celestia's lectures back home, though the Princess at the very least was in a position of power that Sunset could respect. Actually useful parts of the lessons surely helped too, even though Celestia started to swap them more and more in favor of useless in their latest session. Would someone say that she would just sit and pretend paying attention while Her Majesty Princess of the Sun herself would outright waste their time on something so meaningless back in the beginning of her study, she surely would laugh them off. But, sadly it did became her reality in the end.

"Yes. I'm trying my best." she added at the appropriate time.

And Principal's speeches were never that useful to begin with. Sure, they might be effective for 'troubled teenagers', an inconvenienced adult like her it was merely annoying at its best.

"... and while I can't say it about the group as a whole, some of the 'Griffons' are really bad people, Sunset. Merely half a year ago five of them were arrested for a robbery, and with an exception of their ex-leader they were actually sentenced to prison later. Is this how you see your future?..."

At the mention of the 'future' by the woman Sunset really wanted to laugh in her face. Really? Comparing her to some two-bit crooks, that were too stupid to not get caught? As if she could offer something appealing herself, either in terms of the actual education or later job perspectives. Sure, some of this world sciences were more advanced than their equestrian counterpart, but that was more of the university material. Anything that the school could offer to her at this point she either knew already or had no need for. And it's not like she had any desire to become a scientist here to begin with.

In her 'worst case' plans, if everything else failed, and if she had to stay in this world for an undefined period of time, she considered pursuing business career. She was confident enough in her determination, ruthlessness and social skills to eventually succeed. If there was something that could help - it would perhaps a bit of sheer luck, but surely nothing that she could learn from the school course.

She also made a point for herself to ask Dust about those griffon thugs later. It seemed important enough after all.

"... Yes, I do understand your concerns, principal. It was never my intention to ..."

As their mostly pointless "conversation" continued, Sunset mind drifted from the discussed topics again. There were actually important things to think about after all. And even merely 'fun' activities looked more important at this point..

***

Thirty minutes later, when she exited CHS building she felt mostly content. Yes, it was annoying, but she had learned something of value at least. Patience and priorities - and everything would go her way. Eventually.

Dust waited for her, laying in the seat of the car with her eyes closed.

"Finally done?"

"Yes"

Dust sighed, getting her chair back into straight position "You know, I may not care that much for all this trouble in the looser's paradise, but that kinda came as a surprise for me, and unlike certain pink moron I do not like surprises."

The engine grumbled back to life, and the car started to pull off from the parking lot. After a short pause Dust continued "So, is there something else that may concern me or the griffins in general, that you can tell me now?"

"Not really"

"Well, that's good. Still, if you just happen to remember something - I would really like to hear about it first. To avoid unnecessary shit and all that.."

"Sure"

The rest of the road was spent in silence. Excluding some punk-rock music from the radio, of course.

Author's Note

*After reading the previous chapters by himself a few times*
*Cringe* Well, there's a lot of sloppy writing and quite a lot of various mistakes that even I can see... I really should do a serious rewrite sometime later. Can't do it now, unfortunately.