Chapters 1 - The Beginning, Part 1
Sunset Shimmer's perspective - Thursday
Sitting in the loneliness of my study room isn't a fun way to be spending my lunch hour, but I guess it's how I'm spending mine. I refuse to go out into that torment again, from everyone, even my so-called friends, I don't want to have to face them, all of the people calling me evil, and a monster, blaming me for things I didn't do. It's horrible out there, I barely manage to get to my private study room I was awarded by Principal Celestia without being insulted.
I saw my phone light up again, I didn't even want to pick it up, I didn't want to look at the lit up screen with my "friends" on it. I just wanted to sit in the study room and ignore everyone. Crying.
It started a week ago, a harmless text, or so I thought, it just said, 'sorry' and the name that came with it was 3qkn0 a seemingly random set of characters, but I know now, that random set of letters, it can ruin someone, I feel like shit now, nothing they said was particularly bad, but what they know, and what they do, that's the problem, every time something happened, everyone knew, and I got a text telling me that people didn't like me, and over the week, I've been starting to believe it, with all of the lies going around, even my friends are starting to stop talking to me, and everything's going to absolute hell. Nothing about this is fun, every day, I'm losing sanity, losing respect, I'm going to quit, I have nowhere else to go, but I'm not staying here.
The bell rang signifying the end of the school day, and I'm still here, still feeling weak, light off, the dark slightly damp room barely enough for me to sit in, filled otherwise with brooms and mops. It was hell, and I'm going to do something about it. Maybe it's not the right thing, to leave like a coward, but I don't want to be here, so I'm going to leave, I pull myself up and wipe my eyes, opening the door of my study room just wide enough to see out, and seeing that the halls are as empty as ever, I quickly drop out of the room and start walking towards the principals office, it's one of Celestia's mentoring days, so I know only Luna will be in the office.
Walking along I have to pass the several other rooms, and I decide to check my phone, pressing the button on the side, the screen lights up, and it says, right in the center of my screen, 'don't say a thing ' apparently, whoever was in the other end of this conversation knew who I was, and what my plans were, as I went to put my phone into my pocket again, another message, 'I know you see this, turn around now ' now they were starting to scare me, whoever they were, they now know exactly what I'm doing, and they might try to ruin me more if I don't turn around, no, no, I have to be strong, I gotta just get passed this corridor filled with lockers, then I'm at the office, passing by lockers of all colours, much more customised than they were before the friendship games, it had become a tradition that students would decorate their own lockers, I could look at most lockers and know who they belonged to, looking at the ones on my right, there was a magician's hat, and stars all over the blue painted locker, Trixie's one, then there were two, in harmony yet contrast, one covered in slower sheet music, the other covered sporadically with notes, and a large vinyl record attached to it, Octavia and Vinyls lockers, across the top it said Melody & Scratch, running between the two, linking both musicians together. And continuing along, a locker with a door of clear plastic, on the other side there is a picture of me, and not a demeaning picture, one of my favourites, actually, with a small heart drawn in a corner, that one is Flash's locker, he thinks his crush on me is subtle, he's the only one who has been still talking to me. Continuing down the corridor, there were the lockers of Fluttershy, Lyra, and then they stopped, just before the office of the two sisters. I am worried, I don't know if she'll help me or not, the door is wooden, and unlocked, yet covered, so I push on it and push the handle down, it slides open easily, revealing Luna sitting back with a stack of untouched work on her desk, maybe she wouldn't be that helpful after all.
"Sunset Shimmer," she said, pushing herself up into her seat, "I've been hearing rumours about you all over, I assume this is about those?"
So she did know, maybe she could help then if she was on my side. "Yes, I've been getting avoided more and more as time goes on, and every time I go somewhere someone will pick on me, I've spent several days avoiding classes as much as possible... But I've been keeping up on my studies," I didn't want her to think I wasn't still trying because that gives her a reason to exclude me if she believes everyone else.
"Do not worry Sunset," she said, walking past me, "I believe you, but let's not stay here, follow me," she continued, leading me out the door, she started walking to the right out from her office, "I do not know whether any of these rumours are true or not, however, my job is to find the bottom of them, of course, in the mind of fairness I do not bias based on my personal belief, so I may assist others too, but I am going to say, I have heard a lot of rumours, mostly overheard, with some anonymous reports of what another student has heard," she went on, leading me to the end of the corridor and turning left, towards the front of the school.
"I get it, but all of the rumours I have heard were lies, I would never burst Pinkie's balloons or break her party cannon, she loves those things, I mean, old me might have, but that's not me anymore," I said, being stopped before I could continue by Luna.
"I understand this," she said, stopping me mid sentence, "and I agree that you would never do these things, or so I believe, but someone has been doing this, and we don't know who did it, so for now, it's unknown, but people are blaming it on you, alongside a whole load of other things," she continued, leading me to the front of the school, passed the large front entranceway, "so while I don't think you did we have to take into account the amount of things being pitted against you," she said, turning and walking towards the car park, "what we do know, is that someone is connected to the school security systems, and that they're quite likely a student, with a low degree in computer sciences, similar to that which you have," she said, "another reason it's pointed towards you, unfortunately, yet another thing we can avoid to get ahead," she said, by this point we were barely a few steps away from her car, "want to go talk at your house, or would you prefer somewhere else?"
I'm not entirely sure, do I want my house, because if this is one person, as Luna says, she will likely have access to my webcam, and other things in my house, would explain the sudden blackout during my shower yester- oh god, did they, oh. Oh, they would have, shit. "Can we go to yours, I think I may have a big problem."
"Uhm, alright then, let's go I guess, not exactly supposed to have students round, but I'll make an exception," she said jumping into the small dark blue car, starting the engine. I get into the car beside her and immediately we're off. "Sorry, not one for going slow," she said, putting her foot down, the little car screaming at being pushed so hard, before flying off down the straight street, directly towards Luna's house.
Well, 'house' in very inverted commas, I've never seen a house as big as this for two people before, because apparently, the principals' share a massive house, some parts were dark blackish colours, others a pale yellow or white. But overall it complimented itself really well, it looks like it had a lot of planning put into it. Even the door is birch and spruce wood, in an intricate pattern, resembling that of the two sisters back in Canterlot. "Wow, that's massive, just you and your sister live here, you said?" I asked, looking up towards the slightly shorter of the two principals.
"Yeah, just the two of us, it's a bit oversized, but it's got loads of spare rooms and stuff, so there's plenty of room for any of our interests," she said, drawing the key from her pocket and unlocking the door, "please, make yourself at home," she said, pushing the door open,"feel free to go get yourself a drink or something to eat and we can discuss the issue shortly," she said, walking up the central staircase.
"Okay, I'm gonna get a drink then I'll be in a lounge or something," I replied, or course, that would require finding a lounge first, wouldn't it. I turned to the right, walking along the carpet, I approached the main room, and quickly slipped my shoes off, not wanting to be disrespectful, entering, I pushed the light wood door, and it opened with little force, less than I anticipated, and it swung round and hit off of the door stop with a bit too much force, "wow I need to work on not breaking the doors I guess," I said to myself, pulling the door closed gently, I turned around into the room, seeing a giant TV against the far wall, and a kitchen area nearby, there was a giant red rug laid across the floor, with a three-person pale sofa facing towards the TV, I walked towards the kitchen, grabbing one of the random knives from the rack and spinning it a bit, as had became an odd habit of mine, I opened the fridge, still spinning the knife, and reached in and grabbed a canned drink of some sort, summer fruits, fair enough, and I started walking back towards the sofa, still spinning the knife for some reason and sitting down on the sofa.
After about 5 minutes I heard Luna's voice behind me, "you know, you really shouldn't spin a knife, you could seriously hurt yourself."
"Sorry," I replied, placing the knife on the sofa side table, before turning to look towards Luna, who was wearing a much more casual set of clothes, jeans and a crop top, it seemed she didn't care to wear her more formal school wear, "force of habit."
"Fair enough, well, anyway, these rumours about you, any idea who's spreading them?"
I should tell her about the texts, but knowing what they might have if they hacked into anything in my house, I really don't think I could use that getting out, "not really, I just know that everyone is believing them," I said, knowing it was wrong, but I can't risk this sort of breakout.
"Alright, well, what sort of rumours are they, which ones do you think are worst? That way we can start finding out who spread those ones and help to get everyone else to stop believing those ones first."
"I really, really hate all the rumours saying that I'm ruining my friend's projects, like, there are rumours that I destroyed Fluttershy's bird house and Rainbow Dash's strategies for her teams. I didn't even know Dash made written strategies."
Luna looked out the window quickly before returning her glance to me, "well we have no CCTV footage that shows it wasn't you, nor any showing that it was, obviously, so we will have to try to figure that out."
It's been a few hours, Luna and I have worked out plans to try and clear my name, and I'm feeling much better, "thank you for this, for all of this," I said, "I feel confident that we can stop these rumours now, where ever their coming from."
"Of course, anytime, so, do you want a lift home?" the older woman asked.
"Please yeah, that'd be great," I said, some time since I had come in the weather had gone from sunny to stormy and rainy, the vice principal quickly grabbed a jacket and threw it on.
"Right then, let's go, here, catch," she said, throwing a jacket behind her, I caught it and put it on, it was a little too big, but it was definitely better than that rain. "Chucking down a storm today, isn't it," Luna said, walking to get the car, "the weather said it'd be calm earlier, I suppose it was just wrong, but this is chaotic, even for these cooler months."
She wasn't wrong, the rain was going sideways, the wind nearly blew me off my feet when I walked out of the door. "Wow, this is obscene, I've heard of raining cats and dogs but this is insane, this is like raining ponies," I giggled at my own joke as I pulled the door to principal Luna's car shut behind me, I physically had to struggle to close the door behind me. "Alright, this just is not normal, when I get home I'm going to message Twilight immediately and see if there's any explanation for this."
"Which Twilight?" the principal asked, confused.
"Both," I replied bluntly, at this point magic or science, I don't even know if either can explain this. Then, as it to mock me, as soon as the engine started, the rain turned to hail and was blowing harder.
"Right, hold on, we're just gonna rush this," Luna said, putting her foot down, the car screeching down the road, "better," she said, the car basically flying down the road, no, wait, it is literally flying, not high, but this isn't on the road.
"Are you sure we're meant to be off the ground?" I asked concerned.
"Sure we are, it was an uphill, after all," she smirked, "although this is a bit long to be in the air for me, whatever," she said, slamming her foot down as far as it could go, the car now tyres spinning, we finally came back down, and I felt myself being thrown into the back of the seat, a quick slam to the left, and we were on my street, just next to my apartment block.
"Well, I suppose that is one way of getting here, thanks for the lift," I said, stepping out of the car, "I'll be in school tomorrow, hopefully, we can find out and stop these rumours."
"I sure hope so," she replied, waving me off as I walked to the front door of my apartment building, and used my key card to open the door. I walked in, and started over towards the elevator, "evening Mr Greg," I said, walking past into the elevator, Mr Greg was the doorman at my apartment complex, apparently solid gold "bits" are worth quite a lot here, who woulda guessed. I've been trying to limit my spending a bit, but I can't resist having a good place to live.
"Good evening Miss Shimmer, to your floor correct?" the medium height older male asked, he wasn't one for looks but he was certainly most polite, he had never said anything bad about her, and he had asked her about the rumours, but didn't believe them. He always seemed to wear this same black waistcoat and black trousers. He also always called her Miss Shimmer the first time he greeted her.
"Yes, please, any post or visitors today?" I asked.
"Not today Sunset, expecting any?" he said, getting his notepad out and quickly glancing across the page detailing today visitors, double checking nobody had come.
"Not really, just hoping one of my so called friends will come round or at least leave me a letter."
"That would be good, alright, here we are then, floor 13, want help with your bag?"
"No thanks, I got it, thanks, though.'
"Of course, have a good evening."
"You too," I said, walking out of the elevator, I got my phone out of my pocket and saw a new message, it read 'unlucky thirteen, I see, well I tell you this, you should have listened when I said don't tell her... ' this one wasn't from the usual 3qkn0, but from a different name, 'Info Broken', looking back, that text from earlier was a from him too. I walked up to my door, and reaching for the key from my pocket, pulled the door handle down to check, and it remained closed, good sign, nobody had entered and left it unlocked, inserting my key, I hope that nobody is inside, and twisting the key, everything seems normal, until I push the door open, "oh wow," are the only words I can make out, the sight in front of me, absolutely destroyed, food from my cupboards thrown everywhere, tv shattered, red sofa torn, the cushions in parts, it looked like someone had set loose a pack of dogs in here.
It was that Info Broken, it has to have been. No one else would have known. Alright, alright, I gotta calm down, I can't jump to conclusions, maybe Mr Greg knows what happened, I'll ask him, as I'm about to leave, I see a single thing left in its place, well, relatively, the glass table or was once sitting on was shattered, but it looked ignored, it was the book, the one link to the other world, why would that be left? I grab the book and put it into my backpack, emptying most of the other crap in it onto the floor, and turn out of the door, locking it behind me. I start storming down the corridor, much more speed that usual, until I soon approach that same elevator and press the call button, I see the LED display above showing which floor it's on, and it lowers down, 16, I start to think about what I'm going to say, 15, about who I'm going to blame, 14, about why someone would do this, 13, the doors slowly open, Mr Greg is standing there, as per usual, and I step into the elevator.
Cornering the older male I start to demand answers, "Alright! You told me nobody else had visited me!" I yelled at him.
"Miss Shimmer, whatever seems to be the problem?" he asks back, politely as ever.
"I'll tell you what the problem is, my room is absolutely trashed and you told me nobody else visited, so explain who did this!" I yelled, knowing that the other people who lived on my floor were Lyra Heartstrings and one of Pinkies older sisters, Limestone Pie I believe, as well as an old lady, who was very kind and we all respected, nobody on this floor would have dared damage another's property, as it would become quickly obvious which one did.
"Uhm, my apologies, I wouldn't let people out onto a floor where they are looking for someone who is out, so they must have asked for someone else, let me check," he said, checking his notepad for everyone who had visited floor 13. His eyes scanned the page, checking each entry and exit, and where they came from, checking and double checking, "I am very sorry Miss Shimmer, but nobody else has visited floor 13 today, actually, nobody has visited who didn't live here except for a small group who came in with one of the residents on floor 22."
"Alright," I said, starting to calm down, "it's ok, it's fine, I'll just go back to my room and see what I can salvage, because it's not like I've anywhere else to go," I continued, "thank you anyway," I said, becoming aware of the third person in the elevator, he was a blue haired male.
"Sunset, want me to help you?" he said.
"Flash," I said, realising who it was, "please, that'd be great, maybe we can figure out who did this too," I continued a little happier. "Sorry Mr Greg, I shouldn't have been so angry," I said, looking down, regretting what I had done, he is such a nice guy, I shouldn't have yelled at him.
"Oh that is quite alright Sunset, I assume this means you are leaving, Flash," he replied, looking towards my ex. Who just nodded in response, "alright, well I end my shift soon so it'll be Bulk Biceps taking the night shift tonight, as usual on Thursday." he continued, "I shall take a look at the floor 13 security and see if anyone noteworthy walked past."
"Thank you, well, we'll be on our way then," I said, stepping out of the elevator. I started to walk back down that same corridor, tears swelling in my eyes, replacing the anger the first time I saw what had happened in there, we got to my door in what seemed like seconds, and I quickly unlocked and opened it, pushing it open, "here it is," I said to Flash, his eyes widened as he looked into the wrecked apartment.
"Holy crap, it is bad," he said in reaction, "alright, well, let's see if there's anything in here, I'll search around down here, you go look upstairs."
"Yeah good idea, still, I wonder how someone could have gotten in," I said, walking upstairs, I walked into that familiar corridor to be greeted with destroyed photos of my once friends, of my family, of Twilight and me, the Equestrian one, and... There was one photo, that remained untouched, hanging on the wall, untouched, it was a photo of me and Celestia, back when I lived in Equestria, it was one of my few links back to that place, to being a pony. God am I glad it was left alone, I grabbed it and placed it carefully in my bag, before walking along the rest of my corridor, my first check was my bedroom, maybe the room would still be alright, maybe they had left it, I pushed the door, hoping again, that something would be okay, but as it opened my hope sunk away, seeing my normally perfect white bed covered in cuts and slices, and there was a horrible stench in the air, that of out of date milk, so this was a failure.
Looking around the room, my bedside tables were all upturned and had their legs kicked in, the doors on my closet were bashed and dented, and opening it, it seems like all of my clothes were wrecked, nothing was wearable in there, I'm going to need to visit some clothes store in the morning. Hopefully, something is still wearable, looking at it, though, everything was torn, opening my drawers, shirts were torn, shorts cut and bra clips destroyed, well, there's priority number one in the morning.
Leaving the room I saw all my photos smashed again, and entering the bathroom, the mirror shattered, written across it in red pen, 'I thought I told you before, don't talk to anyone, ' you know what, no, they won't control me, I'll find a way to take them down, looking past the shower curtain, in much smaller red pen, was written, 'yes, we saw, ' which shook my memory, and I rushed next door, checking my laundry room, there was a laptop in there, for simple reasons of I already have a PC downstairs, and I never close it, it has control over my house, so that means, when I thought there was a power cut, and jumped out of my shower to come fix it, they could see me, when I came through to turn the power on and grab a torch, and the lights flashed on, they must have taken a picture with my webcam, how much did they see, they would've seen everything, right?
Emotions flying through my head, sadness, anger, hatred, sadness again, and my eyes started to water up again. I started crying, tears flowing from my eyes, I didn't have much before, I have nothing now, they have this on me, I can't afford to not do as they say. I walked to my top step and started to cry like a baby, sobbing loudly. I failed to notice Flash walking up the stairs and unfeeling down in front of me.
"Hey, Sunset," he said in a slow soothing voice, "Sunset, there's no need to cry, they can't do anything, we will catch them, maybe we even already have."
"It's not what they can do, it's what they already did, they have things on me, pictures of me, straight after a shower. I hate them, I'm ruined now."
"Sunset, trust me if they can take photos we'll take them back, how did they get photos of you?" he asked, starting to smile slowly.
"On my laptop, they used my home control system, I think, they hacked in, and they took photos."
"They hacked in, well, let's go see just what my computing course has taught me," he said, slightly excited now, standing up in front of me, he lowered a hand to me, and I accepted it, letting him pull me back up, standing equal with him, I grabbed him into a big hug, and he stood there and just allowed me to hold myself around him.
"Thank you for believing me," I said, letting him go, "now, let's go catch whoever did this," I continued, walking towards the room which contained my laptop. We arrived at the door and Flash pushed it open, entering he turned on the laptop, and it's screen flashed into life, quickly he grabbed one of my crop top shirts from the pile next to the PC and placed it over the webcam.
"Can never be too safe," he said, logging in, windows would open and close every so often, but mostly it was just him typing into a black box, he was quietly talking about what he was doing, more to keep himself on track than anything else, but after about 30 seconds of me looking at the screen over his shoulder, he hit one last key and some numbers popped up in a box, he gave them a quick read then pushed back. "Well, they want to play a game it seems," he said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
"Not literally, but they're using multiple computers to get from one end to the other undetected, what they seem to have forgotten is how easy this makes it to trace them back, I mean it's time consuming, but we can trace them, is it possible I could borrow this laptop and trace them back?" he asked, looking at me.
"Sure, go for it, just be careful in case they try to hack it again," I said wearily.
"Don't worry, if they do, my job becomes so much easier."
"Alright, well, I think we've looked at everything, I've left some things that were still in one piece downstairs on the kitchen desk, go figure out what you want and I'll go call the elevator," he said, walking out of the room with the laptop, and turning towards the stairs, I took a deep breath of relief, knowing Flash would find out what happened, and realized just how bad my house actually smelled, I couldn't even sleep here if I wanted to. Alright, well, at least Flash seems to be ok with me staying at his tonight, at least I hope so, maybe not, I'll have to find somewhere else if not. Walking up to the desk in the kitchen, I saw a few things, some money, apartment keys, and a picture of myself, my favourite picture, I am glad that's still intact. Alright, money, keys, picture in my bag, let's go, I think to myself, walking out the front door of my apartment, I'm going to need that room fully remade, ugh, that's gonna cost me hundreds... At least if I really need to I can jump back to Equestria, although Princess Twilight wouldn't be too happy with it.
Walking up to the elevator, I see Flash and Lyra both standing there. "Hey, Lyra."
"Hey, Sunset," she said happily, "I'm going to see Bonbon, you got any plans?" she asked, obliviously.
"My room got absolutely trashed, like, almost everything was ruined," I said, I was still aware Lyra didn't like me, but she wasn't going out of her way to include me in anything, or avoid me.
"Oh my gosh, who trashed it, come on, let's go trash them," she said, I was a little more happy to hear that, I guess she wasn't as against me as I thought, although she could've been just caring about her own property.
"I don't know, that's what Flash was going to work out."
"Oh, him," she said, looking towards him with a disapproving look, he just smiled back.
"Always nice to see you to Lyra..." he replied, as the doors to the elevator opened, Bulk Biceps was standing there, wearing his full suit. He was smiling as usual, although, I didn't see him too often, "hey Biceps," Flash said, stepping into the elevator and standing in a corner.
"Hey," I said to the behemoth of a person, he easily stood above me by at least a foot, "just take me to the ground floor, I guess," I said walking in, "I'm gonna get some food before I decide where to go."
"Same here, and good evening Biceps," Lyra said, stepping into the elevator, easily standing a good 10 feet away from Flash in the opposite corner, the elevator was massive, some of the much higher floors could technically get a car to their floor and back with little trouble, assuming they had permission.
"Yeah, food." Bulk said, he wasn't exactly a soft looking person, or sounding, but if he is anything it's a soft kind guy inside, while initially some of the people in the building were scared of him, they all soon came to know him, and really like him now. "So, how's is everyone?" he said, noticing the tension so starting some conversation.
"I'm good," I said, "room, however, not so much, I'm probably going to go see Mr Greg and tell him that my room needs a complete remake."
"Oh, you know, people seem to be thinking bad of you, and I don't hold opinions of others very heavily unless you hurt me or my family, so whether the rumors are true or not, I couldn't care," he said, that was one of the few times I've heard him talk for that long continuously, he isn't really a talker. "Anyway," he said, as the doors opened, "here we are, ground floor, see you later," he said.
"Thanks, and enjoy your night, as best you can, bye," I said, waving as I walked away from the elevator, to both Flash and Biceps, Lyra walked next to before turning off towards the front door. Alright, now to the staff room. I walked to the staff room and knocked on the door before rolling back and forth on my feet, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and reached in to grab it, it was from that Info Broken guy, it read 'so, it's about time I tell you who I am, after all, it's been 12 hours since my job was done. I am Info, at least to you I am, I gather rumours and the likes, find out what is true, and sell it on, I also sell on other things, such as things that could be used for blackmail, and items which could be useful. Of course, as they do, so may you use my services, for a sum, and you may deny a service if someone tries to use it one you, by increasing the price. ' Okay, so now not only do I have some guy who raided my apartment and spread rumours, but I have this guy asking for money in return for help, brilliant. The door in front of me opened finally, and Mr Greg was standing there.
"Hello Ms Shimmer, what brings you here at this time?" he asked.
"Just a message today, could you tell whoever it concerns that my apartment was trashed so hard I can't live there and that I can pay for any costs necessary, and will find my own accommodation until required."
"Certainly, is that all?" he asked.
"Yep, thank you, actually, no, no, that's everything," I said debating whether I should tell him about the hack, but deciding against it as I know little to nothing about it.
"Alright, well, hopefully, you can find a way to have a good night, and if not, I'm sure we can find an empty room for now."
"Thanks, but I'm going to just walk around to Principal Luna's, I'm sure she won't mind too much."
"Oh no, you're not, I will not let you walk in this weather, come with me," he said, leading me to the staff door out through the staff room to the back of the building.
"Staff Only Greg," one of them said as we passed.
"Her room got trashed while she was out and she needs to go somewhere and it's raining. Tell me again that it's staff only." Mr Greg said, standing up for me, in my position of weakness.
"Fine, but don't make it a habit." the other man said, to which Mr Greg replied only by walking through silently, and I followed suit. He pushed open the door to the back of the building so we were looking out over a small courtyard I didn't even know existed, it was surrounded by hedges, and presumably the staff's cars. Looking at them, there were sports cars, big cars, small cars, and a van, knowing Mr Greg, the van was his. He started to walk away, towards the van. So he does own the van, nice, it's a nice looking van and all.
"Come on, we'll be there quickly," he said, getting into the large van, it was mostly a very pale blue, with white and yellow designs on it. It looked old, and very much used, yet still in a good condition in the interior, it looked pristine in fact. Everything about it was top condition, from the leather seats, to the wooden dashboard, to the red silk steering wheel.
"How did you afford this thing, it looks expensive s anything," I said, still amazed by the comfort of this worn looking van.
"This van has been with me for many a long year, trust me when I say this has memories." he said, starting the engine, "not all good, but they are memories... Let's go then," he said, pressing his foot down, the van going at a more moderate pace compared to Luna's sports car. It was much calmer too, I could actually sit back, and not be thrown back. "This thing used to have writing on it, I was thinking about getting it repainted, probably not with the same thing, but with something."
"Oh, what did it used to say?" I asked, partially trying to pass the time, partially interested.
"Oh, it was something stupid like 'I am the ruler, but you can call me Greg.' I believe, was years ago, though."
I giggled a bit at that response, both because it was stupid, and because I couldn't see Mr Greg having that written on a van, "that's brilliant, I love it," I replied. "Stupid, but brilliant."
"Thanks, I dunno, I liked it and all, but I wouldn't get it again now," he said, smiling. "Those were good days, though."
I looked out the window remembering the days I spent back in Canterlot, in Equestria, "I know the feeling," and I wasn't lying, often I wished I could go back there, but this is my home now.
"Huh, well, no point looking back on something and wishing to change the past, the past was good but this life is mine now, and I enjoy it," and to that, I agree, nodding in agreement, "well, anyway, here we are, I'll look over that security footage when I get back, so come see me in the morning, I'll be in the staff room until 8, then I'm off, so I'll leave any findings on my desk after that," he said, Friday was his one day off, so it was nice he was willing to come in in the first place, usually I wouldn't see him on Fridays.
"Alright, thank you very much," I replied, pushing the door open, "I'll see you later then, bye," getting out of the van, I waved to him while walking down the front yard of the principal's massive house, presumably, Celestia would still be out. I rang the doorbell on the front, and it sounded a short jingle through the house. I heard someone walking through the house opening all of the doors, and then I saw Luna through the glass on the door. She opened the door, and immediately stepped back, "hey," I said, as Mr Greg drove off behind me.
"Hello Sunset, I wasn't expecting to see you back here so soon," the principal said, "actually I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow."
"I know, I wasn't planning to come back here, but I went back to my apartment and it was trashed, to the point that I couldn't sleep in it if I tried, so I was wondering if I could stay here for a night or two? Just until I find somewhere else to stay or my room is cleaned." I asked, knowing that would be unlikely, but expecting in part Luna to help me.
"Sure, you can stay here a day or two, but you'll have to sleep on the sofa," she said, being surprisingly open to the idea, "in you come, it's chucking it down out there, come on," she said. I stepped just inside the door and she quickly closed it behind me, the house was much warmer than outside, and I'd only walked a short few feet from the van to the door, but already I was soaked right through, and I didn't have anything to wear either, since all of my clothed were wrecked. "Right, let me get you a towel and a blanket and pillow for whenever you choose to turn in," she said, disappearing upstairs, I quickly opened my bag and grabbed my book, it was completely dry still, somehow, and surprisingly enough, so were my other things, despite how heavily it was raining out there and how destroyed all of my school things got last time it rained that badly. I pulled my bag off and tossed it into the corner of the entryway, against the nearest radiator.
"Alright, here you go," the principal said, tossing me a towel, "dry yourself off and follow me," she said, still holding a thick dark blue blanket and a pillow of matching colour in her arms. She stepped through the door, I started rubbing my hair as dry as I could with a towel and followed shortly after her. "Here, you can sleep in here, I won't come in again after now, so you can get changed into a different set of clothes or whatever," she continued, opening the door to the living room, with its TV and massive sofa.
"Alright, thank you, I'll probably just put these clothes on a radiator and sleep in my underwear I guess, so that's good to know," I said, sitting on the sofa, turning on the TV and flicking through the channels.
"Alright, well, make yourself at home, and I'll see you in the morning I guess, make sure you're up in time for school and I can give you a lift if you want. Good night."
"Thanks, Luna, for letting me stay and for talking with me earlier, it really helped," I said, noticing my phone screen light up.
"No problem at all Sunset," she said, closing the door as she left. I quickly grabbed my phone and checked the message, it was from that info guy, right, what's this about.
'Hello, Sunset, so, as I said, I sell information, as well as many, many other items or services, of course, I can also offer a counter to them, for a price, but my client's names are never revealed. '
Huh, well, might as well see what this guy is up too. 'alright, so it's you who has been messing with me? ' I replied.
'Me? Ha, I don't care to attack people, I simply get paid to help people with things, I do something, they pay me, I forget about it. '
'So what sort of things can you do? What are your limits? ' I sent back.
'Well, I do hacking, photo editing and stalking commonly, as well as selling physical things on school grounds. I also can lockpick and pickpocket, but both are a bit personal for my liking. Anyway, as for why I contacted you now. Someone else, another of my clients, is paying me a large sum of money to do something to you, and since this payment was not privatised, and is so large, you now know they tried this. Therefore, if you wish to block this hit, just out pay their $54. '
'$55, block it ' I replied.
'Please confirm, you wish to pay $55 to me, and in the case that your block is not out paid again, it will be deducted from your account. '
'Correct, block it. ' I replied. Knowing those fifty-five dollars were approximately a tenth of a bit.
'Done, the other client has been notified of your block. '
I was alright with this. Hopefully, it was something big. He messaged me again, 'The other person did not go higher, your $55 has been removed, and you have just blocked a 1 patch phone camera hack, which is estimated to have lasted 3 weeks if it was allowed in. '
This makes it feel worth it, having stopped them from getting into my phone camera, I decided it was time to turn in and I'd deal with him in the morning. I quickly took off my soaked outdoor clothing, stripping down to just my underwear and tossed I it on the radiator, before lying down and placing my phone on the side, it is nice to know my phone isn't hacked, but I still wonder about the laptop. Aww well, I suppose I will deal with it in the future.
Another message, from that other person, 3qkn0. 'Block all you want. This is only the beginning. ' Maybe it is, but for now, I'm one step ahead.
I lay back, drifting quickly off to sleep, barely worrying about anything, I find myself sleeping within seconds.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading this, assuming you made it this far, you probably at least like it as a concept, any constructive criticism would be much appreciated, as would a like if you liked it. This is the first chapter in my first story, so I am completely planning on learning and improving my writing skills as this fic develops.
Also if you don't mind, help me out here, spot an error that I missed and let me know in the comments or with a DM please, I'll correct it as soon as possible. I do pre-read, then Grammarly scan, then re-read, but I still seem to miss obvious things.
Anyway, I'll leave you with a quick question, who's problems do you want to see next? Because all of the Humane 7 are having some sort of problems.
2 - The Beginning, Part 2
Sunset Shimmer's perspective - Friday
I feel good about today, I get to know who raided my room last night, and I also get to find out who hacked my laptop, and what they got from it. I hope. I'm still just lying here, same sofa, same condition, but at about seven in the morning this time. Might as well check my phone and see if Flash messaged me since last night.
Grabbing my phone, I see the screen light up at the same time, it's another message from Info, well, at least, that's the most recent one. Quickly unlocking my phone I jump into the text conversation between me and Flash, 'I got their IP, we can trace them, also, I managed to stop the file transfer, so they didn't get any images, and I have the files they tried to take. '
Brilliant, right, next, Info's message, 'what's this about someone's IP, did someone attempt to hack you? ' right, so, this guy is going through my phone too, alright, well, that's annoying, but sure, maybe he can help.
'Info, you're going through my phone messages I assume, and yeah, someone hacked me. I'm guessing that it was you? ' I replied, putting my phone back down and getting up, quickly pulling my shirt on from yesterday, which had mostly dried out after the crazy weather.
I reached for my phone again, and the message on it simply read 'no ,' alright, so, it wasn't Info, well, I'll figure this out later, for now, I've got to get dressed.
"Sunset, it's almost time to leave for school," Luna called, knocking on the door, "quickly."
"I'm almost ready, hang on, I'll be out in a minute," I replied, quickly throwing on my leggings and skirt, pulling my shirt over my head and my leather jacket that I wore most everywhere, I was ready in seconds, or at least, as ready as I could be. "Right, I'm ready," I called out, leaving the room I had slept in, phone in hand.
I quickly walked through to the front door of the building and saw Luna standing by the front door. "Good morning Sunset, come on, let's go, we'll get breakfast on the way," the principal said, quickly spinning around and opening the door, her hair blowing against her, looking out on the frozen-over driveway. "Alright, well, minor delay, quickly put your shoes on, I'll go get the car started," she said, pulling the door shut behind her, this is confusing, it was quite warm just yesterday, although it did start raining very heavily later, it wasn't actually that cold, even the hailstones were fairly warm, so snow today is a bit surprising, and this is from someone who can read minds. I pulled my shoes on quickly, a fairly cheap pair, the ones I wore to school on a daily basis, simple white and orange trainers. "Right, Sunset, whenever you're ready," Luna said, poking her head around the door.
I thought for a short while, before deciding I was going to go get my bag, for fear that someone might risk coming and stealing it from the principal's house. "Alright, give me a few seconds, just getting my bag," I replied, quickly running through the giant house, back to the room where I slept, and grabbing my bag, before leaving. "Right, let's go," I said jumping into the car.
"Do you actually have anything you need to study?" the older principal asked, looking at my bag and realising it looked suspiciously light, which she was right to assume, as I only really had a few pictures and my book to communicate with Princess Twilight in it.
"I leave all of my study materials in my room at school, besides, I'm working on the analysis stage of a program just now, so there's not really much I need more than the documents on my pen drive, which I leave in my locker."
"Alright then, if you say so," she said, before putting her foot down as hard as she could, even though she was a school principal and should probably be more careful, she was so reckless and always went at top speed everywhere it seemed. In fact, it felt even faster than yesterday as we arrived at out breakfast stop in no time, "right, what do you want?" she asked me.
"Just get me a sausage roll and coffee please."
"Right, 2 minutes," she said, getting out the car and running into the boring old food place, it did make some nice food, but it looked abandoned from he outside.
Having quickly eaten breakfast and started driving again, we arrived at the school. "Right, come on then, let's go," she said, parking the car at the side of the car park before tossing the door open and jumping out, "Oh, right, Celestia's back today, so I'll explain the situation to her, and she'll probably visit you in the morning, so be ready for that."
"Alright, thanks for the heads up, I'll probably be working when she comes around, oh, and if you see Flash Sentry today, mind sending him my way please?" I asked, remembering what he had said, and starting to wonder what sorts of files he had recovered. Well, anyway, time to get moving, I don't have any classes to be in today, but I also have quite a lot of work to do, and not too long left to do it, considering I've put it off a couple of weeks.
I've been here for an hour now, I've not got much done, and I've sort of just started working on this program, which I really should have been much further through planning by this point, but I've got a text, from Info, so maybe he's got something interesting to tell me. 'Hey, just thought I should mention that I wasn't the one who entered your room, so I have no idea what happened to it, however, I did recently sell a bump key to my other client, so I assume that was their use for it. So, what happened? ' it read.
'It got trashed, so now I need to pay to have it repaired, top to bottom, only a few things survived. Surprisingly, my more important things did. ' I replied, before putting my phone down and hearing a knock at the door. I quickly got up and hopped over to it, it was most likely either Flash or Celestia, so I might as well answer them quickly, as they're both going to be really helpful to me right now.
"Hey Sunset," I heard, it was Flash's voice, "I have the files here, and some good news."
"Come on in," I said, opening the door, "What's the good news Flash?" I asked, in quite a rush to find out what good could possibly come from this.
"Well, basically I managed to get the other persons IP address, and I told that to Mr Greg this morning so that household shouldn't be able to connect to your building at all anymore," he said smiling, "also, here are the files they were trying to receive, however, they did get one, I don't know which one, considering what you told me what they had taken images of, so I decided best not to open any of them. Also, I wouldn't even plug that in while you're connected to the internet."
"Course, and thanks a lot, Flash, you're the best," I said, hugging him tightly.
He lightly rubbed my hair, "no problem Sunset, just remember I'm here for you, and I always will be," he replied, as I released him he handed me the USB stick with the files on it, "right, here are the files, as I said I haven't been through them, but I did label the one they managed to get, hopefully, it's nothing major," he continued. The bell for class went and Flash turned towards the door, "well, I better be on my way to class, I'll talk to you later, bye."
"Alright, bye Flash," I said, unplugging the internet cable from my PC, quickly plugging the USB in, and rushing through my files to get it open, I only really care about the one file that they got. "Right, let's see," I said to myself, quickly scrolling through the folder of files, which were presumably to be sorted on the other end I quickly opened a random file, and seeing myself with little more than a towel around me, I slammed my face into the table, both pissed they took this and very relieved they never got it. Next, let's figure out which one they got, opening the file labelled 'stolen ', it's a simple image file, it doesn't look like it was taken from my webcam at all, as it isn't even of my apartment, and across the top it has written, in white text, 'Hey, I don't know who you are, but you shouldn't be accessing this computer, and trust me, I will trace you back, if you take any files. - Info '. Huh, so apparently, he actually cares to protect me, well, I wonder if he's a man of his word, if he is, he won't be tracing them back.
I quickly pull my phone out to message him, when it buzzes with a text from him, 'So, you're off of the school internet, and Flash's USB was plugged in, I guess that means you saw the file I left them? ' I smirked, so he knows, that means he's got a bug in my PC, better find and remove that, he'll probably find a sneakier way to get another one in, but who knows. Right, let's see, behind the PC, nothing plugged in, at the wall, nope, nothing, alright, how does he get into my PC?
I reply to his text quickly asking him exactly that, 'Right, thank you, for protecting me, but how do you know I plugged his USB in? '
'Well, that's simple, he stores it in his locker, and leaves it there over the weekend, it's easy to install some hardware into it without it being noticeable. Heck, I have one on half the students in your schools USBs. '
Right, that makes no sense, how does he even manage to change one of these, but I should remember this, maybe, just maybe, I can use this to help me later. 'Alright then, does that mean you have one on mine? '
'Now what use would it be to me if I just went about telling you these things, I might have one on yours, but maybe I don't. Oh, and by the way, you should really work on that program, just the basic premise taken from the basic plan looks interesting, and maybe I could use it when you finish it. ' Oh yeah, I still have Flash's USB plugged in. Hopefully, this guy is still on my side, and not already taking the photos off of it, although, maybe if he modded it he already took them, and could take them while they're unplugged. 'Thanks for the file transfer, I needed a processor. ;) '.
Shit. I quickly pull the USB out of my PC and toss it onto my desk, as far away from my PC as possible. Did he take anything, or was he just messing with me? Right as I begin to have a little freak out about this, I hear a knock on my door, "Sunset, are you in there?" It's Celestia, with her fairly calming voice.
"Yeah hey Celestia," I reply jumping up to open the door. "Luna said you'd be around so I've been expecting you for a while."
"Hey Sunset, I heard you had to stay at our house last night, and might need to stay around again tonight."
"Yep, if that's alright that is, I don't think my room will be fixed by tonight," I said sitting down at my PC again and plugging the internet back in.
"Sure, anything you need, as long as you're not destroying things feel free to stay as long as you need, as long as Luna's alright with it, that is."
"Thanks a lot, but my plan for tomorrow is to refurbish my room as much as I can, assuming I'm able to get into it."
"Alright then, anyway, what's actually happened, I only heard from Luna that you were having problems and had to stay at our house."
I looked around, trying to think of the easiest way to explain this, "basically, there have been rumours about me spreading around, about how I'm a horrible person, and about how I've been destroying other people's projects, and I swear I haven't done any of the things they say, and then just yesterday I went home to my room having been raided, so I came to yours to ask Luna if I could stay over," I replied, starting to tear a tiny bit while I was explaining it to her.
"Alright, do you know anything about, maybe, who spread these rumours? Or any leads we could take to get back to them?" she asked, "maybe anyone you know who could help us find leads?"
"Well, Flash Sentry would be helpful, most likely, and I can probably ask Equestria Twilight to come through on Sunday, and see if she can help me at all, as she would have a non-biased view on the matter, most likely," I said reaching for my bag to get the book that can contact Equestria out.
"Alright, thank you, anything I can do to help?" she asked, presumably realising she hadn't done anything to actually help me yet, not that I minded, her listening and saying she would do something was quite a lot.
"Not really, I mean, there is one thing you should certainly look into, this," I said, quickly grabbing the USB stick off my desk and tossing it to her, she caught it and read the name 'Flash ' written on it, and looked at me questioningly, as I had just said he was on my side.
"I thought he was with you on this?" she asked. "Is he someone I should be pulling up or what?"
"Oh, no, it's just someone else came in and broke into his locker and bugged it, so now when it's plugged in the person gets to see all activity and might have stolen some files from it, it also contains images, which I don't know the contents of, so please, don't plug it into a PC," I replied, hoping that Info didn't have them already, "Also I have a name, no idea if it'll mean anything to you or not, but it's one I've been getting messages from, someone called 'Info Broken', who's been constantly supplying me with information about what other people have been trying to do, and he might, or might not be on my side."
"Oh, him..." she said, rolling her eyes. "I don't know anything about him in real life, except that he can, as far as we know, go invisible and some other, magical, things, which is never good, and we know he sells and buys things from some of our students. Your old friend Pinkie buys fireworks from him we believe, but we don't have the evidence nor the patience to do something about it. Just, be careful of him."
"Ok, thank you. I didn't know if he was even slightly trustworthy, but thanks, well, magic is mine and Equestrian Twilight's speciality so maybe, we can stop him," I said realising what use he would have for a program that allowed me to further study magic, his plan was to play around it. "Now that makes sense, he wanted access to my program once I had made it, I didn't realise he had magic."
"It's rare to see it, but it is quite strong magic, in the end, we have seen him use powers similar to those nearby people used, back when there was some strange item, I believe the Alicorn Amulet, it was called, and he managed to draw upon its power without needing it, so I would be careful if you ever meet him," she said turning around, "alright, well, if there is nothing else you want my help with I'm going to go let Flash know his USB was hacked and I'll have someone look into the hardware of it."
"Alright, thank you, I think that's all for now, so I should probably get back to work on my program if that's alright."
"Of course, if you need anything later, just ask," she replied, turning to face the door, "good luck with the program."
"Right, thanks."
Finally, done with the day, I'm much further through the planning for the program, it's almost done actually, so I can soon begin with the code, anyway, schools over, it's time I start doing something else. I grab my phone and get ready to leave, quickly checking my messages, 'Hey Sunset, your room is cleaned enough that it should be habitable, and we've updated the security of the building and your room a lot, including a new, key card operated lock in addition to the current system. We're also willing to repay up to $5000 in expenses to fix the room and its contents. - Mr Greg ' Great, my room is cleaned enough, now maybe I should go see Twilight about these things, maybe Equestrian Twilight will still be on my side, assuming she hasn't heard about the happenings.
'Alright, thank you, Mr Greg, I'll come around tomorrow to rebuild my room, I will be out tonight, I've got someone I need to visit. '
'Certainly, I will tell the people who are to work on fixing your room to move some of the larger replacements in, and then we will leave the rest until tomorrow. '
Right, next things next, time to get that book to talk to Twilight out, I wonder, is that portal still in The Crystal Empire, or would it be in Twilight's castle or Canterlot. Alright, well, I'm going to go get some food first anyway, I wonder if any of my friends would allow me to explain what I think has happened to me. A quick message would solve the problem, but I presume I can just find them in the obvious places. Let's see, oh yeah, Pinkie has a party tonight, damn it, I wanted to go to that, aww well, she'll understand. I quickly log out and lock my PC, before leaving my dark study room and locking the door behind me, right, to the cafeteria, I start walking and immediately, moments in, I hear the voices of other school members, making stupid comments like, "Look it's the liar," and "Careful, she'll become a she-demon again," yeah, because that's something I would do, right, clearly... Walking through these corridors is so annoying, hearing all these rude comments, everyone standing as far from me as possible. Eventually, though, I manage to get to the doors of the Cafeteria, and I push them open, only to find Pinkie Pie inside, doing her usual, setting up her prized party cannon, loading it with her new more colourful, denser bottle of confetti.
"Pinkie Pie, hey," I said, hopefully, she wouldn't ignore me or worse, get mad at me.
"What do you want?" she asked, making it obvious she didn't want to talk to me, she'd only been here for 5 minutes and already there were banners hanging from the roof, and a disco ball hanging from the ceiling.
"Well, I came here, because I wanted to talk to you about something," I replied, trying to sound as though I had something really important thing to tell her, "also, the party is looking really nice already," I continued, looking around at all of the work she must have put into planning this.
"I don't really want to hear anything you have to say, not after what you did to Fluttershy's birthday, and Rainbow Dash's strategies, which, apparently, she makes. Although, thanks, I've planned this party for a long, long time now, so you better not mess this up," she said, looking at me with sinister eyes.
"Trust me, I'm going back to Equestria for the night, so I can't attend this party, but if anything does happen, know that I wasn't here for it to happen."
"Fine, I'll believe you, for now, but I will know if you do anything, so you better actually be going to Equestria."
"Of course I am. Well, anyway, I should be leaving now then, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about that last party, but you've got to know that wasn't me who trashed it," I said, waving to the pink party planner, "Bye."
"I don't believe you, but goodbye," she replied waving back, "maybe you can prove it later."
"Sure," I replied leaving the room and quickly reaching into my bag, pulling the book out of it. Wow, it's been a few weeks since I wrote in this book.
Dear Princess Twilight,
Things through here haven't been going all too well, I have someone out to get me and all of those friends I made hate me again because of the lies this person has spread, I know this is kind of sudden, but would you mind if I was to return to Equestria for a night, I kind of would like to see you and your friends for advice, plus we are desperately overdue for a catch-up.
Anyway, I will understand if you are too busy, or if there is nowhere for me to sleep, but if possible, I would really like to come through to Equestria, thanks in advance, and goodbye.
Right, hopefully, she gets that soon. And maybe I'll get a reply soon, for now, I don't know, I'm gonna go find Applejack or something I guess. Where would she be, I guess she'd be home by now, so to Sweet Apple Acres I guess.
"Hey, Applejack, you here?" I called out, as I approached the farm, she hadn't answered her phone while I was walking here, so maybe she was just ignoring, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to try. I saw the curtains in her bedroom close, "Right, Applejack, I know you're here."
"AJ doesn't feel like talking to you, to be honest, she doesn't want to talk to anyone, so if you could go, I'll try to get her to give you a call later," a familiar voice yelled. I tried to trace it back looking down, and I saw her little sister standing there. "Sorry, I wish she wasn't unhappy too, but somethings just didn't go her way, you know. I mean, she'd probably quite like to see you, but, just, not now, maybe tomorrow, okay?"
"Oh, ok, just let her know to message me tomorrow if she's up for it, thanks," I said, feeling the book in my bag vibrating, a new message from Twilight I guess.
"Of course, alright, see you then Sunset."
"Bye," I said, turning away, "I'll not be able to see her messages until tomorrow, by the way, so if she messages me tonight, I won't be able to reply," I continued, walking away from the farm and finding a park bench to sit on.
Quickly tossing my bag beside me, I begin to look through it to find the book message, not that that was particularly difficult. I quickly found it and pulled it out, flipping it open to the new message from Twilight.
Sunset Shimmer,
Twilight isn't here as of current, however, I'm sure she'd be perfectly fine with you staying here for the night, she should be back shortly, so feel free to come round anytime you'd like.
Also, I don't recognise your name and don't remember her mentioning you before, so I assume you're not from around here?
Not from around here, I suppose, maybe I once was, but Starlight Glimmer, I don't remember hearing that name before, well if she's a friend of Twilight I'd guess she's a nice pony. Quickly I put the book back in my bag and start walking towards Canterlot High, straight to that portal, luckily it's only a few minutes away so I don't have to walk for too long, still, I wonder where that portal is, hopefully, it's with Twilight, I don't really wish to have to see Celestia again.
A few minutes more of walking and I'm at the base of the portal, at the base of the destroyed statue, which we should probably repair soon... Well, final thoughts, remember what being a pony is like, 4 feet, no, hooves, no hands, magic, well, I suppose more magic, now, alright, big breath... And step into the portal.
The air around me changes, and I feel my body stretched and changed, I feel Equestrian magic flowing into my body and my tail forming, clothes becoming nothing, becoming a pony once again. Then, out the other side, into a giant... Crystal palace?
Well, I suppose Spike did say Twilight had a castle, so maybe this is it. Taking a look around the walls are all lined top to bottom with books, yep, this is Twilight's castle alright, well, maybe I should go find someone, maybe that Starlight Glimmer pony, maybe she can help me find Twilight. Step by step I've really gotta get used to having hooves again. After a few moments of nearly falling after every step, I quickly regain my balance, alright, let's go, "Hello? Anyone here?" I call out almost redundantly, considering the size of this room alone. No answer, well, I guess I should start roaming, I think there are pony versions of my friends here, so let's go and see if we can find any of them. Walking out of the giant room, my search immediately feels pointless, looking down the massive corridor spreading at least the length of Canterlot High, no way will I ever learn my way around this place.
"Hello?" I call out again, hoping for a response with the echo of the walls to aid me, although, apparently, there isn't any, so crystal absorbs sound well, good to know... I begin to ponder just returning to the portal and waiting for Twilight to arrive until I see a flash of light to my right.
"Hello there little pony, you're not from around here, are you?" He asked as I looked over there to see a part pony, part dragon, part, you get the idea, thing, looking at me funny. "Considering you just appeared and brought with you powerful magic I assume you're either looking for the Princess of Friendship or a fight, and today is your lucky day because I can help you to get either," he said.
"Well, I was looking for Twilight Sparkle, and I've not really gotten used to being a pony again yet, so I'd rather not fight," I said confused by his strange method of deduction, it felt like I knew it from somewhere.
"Oh, shame, I would've loved to show you some of my powerful magic. Capturing a villain would've been just the thing I needed to get my own throne."
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked, very much confused.
"Oh, I forgot how new you are, you wouldn't have heard of me. I'm Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, the most powerful draconequus in all of Equestria," Oh, and I'm willing to bet he's the only one. He was stopped in his tracks by an unfamiliar voice from just around a corner.
"Discord, stop bragging," the voice said, as she walked around the corner, at first glance, I mistook her for Twilight, but upon a second look, she was actually a completely different unicorn. "Stop being annoying and go get Twilight would you," she said, he sighed before clicking his fingers and disappearing, "sorry about him, he's just being his chaotic self, anyway, I'm Starlight Glimmer, you must be Sunset, correct? Twilight has told us all so much about you."
So Twilight mentions me, that's nice, I never knew that, well, maybe this will be a less awkward visit than I thought. "Yeah, that's me, I don't think I've heard of you before, so I assume you're a new friend of Twilight?"
"Well, I guess yeah, but I was originally a bit evil," Starlight replied, getting quieter at that last bit.
"Wait, really, you too, that pony must have a really impressive thing for finding us out, huh, I wouldn't have guessed it," I said, looking at her, trying to guess what she'd done.
"Right, here, I brought you your twilight," Discord said sarcastically, as he reappeared beside us, the outside light turning to a load of blues and purples.
"Discord. The Princess," Starlight said.
"Oh, yeah, I brought her too," he said, holding Twilight out in front of himself, she had a disapproving look on her face, she quickly teleported out of his hands, just in front of me, and promptly smiled.
"Sunset, how's it going, it's been so long," she said excitedly upon noticing it was me. "I was wondering why Discord grabbed me and teleported off, this is a good enough reason."
"Hey Twilight, things aren't going so well in Canterlot High, there have been rumours and all spreading everywhere."
"Oh my, that's horrible," she said, "come, we'll go discuss this in the main hall, there are seats there." She walked away, and Starlight and Discord followed, for a few steps, before Discord turned off into his own room, Starlight stayed with us the whole way to the room and followed us inside.
"Sunset, do you mind if I join the discussion? I want to see if I can help at all and if not you might be a good friend to have in the future if you move back here."
"Sure, come with if you want, I don't mind," I said, pushing the giant doors to the main hall open, and looking inside, it was absolutely massive. I can see why it's called the main hall, "so, is there somewhere specific I should sit?" I asked, to no-one in specific, noticing that all of the thrones had the symbols my friends were most known for.
"Nah, just pick any seat, I don't really mind," Twilight replied, and I took to the chair opposite hers, Pinkie's I believe, while Starlight sat next to her, in Applejack's seat.
A couple of hours of conversation later, I feel a bit better, Twilight and Starlight both helped me to feel better, and I think I know Starlight enough now to call her a friend. About halfway through our conversation Fluttershy and Discord came into the room, so I ended up talking to them as well, apparently, they get along really well.
"Well, it's getting rather late, don't you think," Twilight said, she saw Discord about to click his fingers, presumably to change the time of day to spite her, "Discord, don't even bother."
"Fine. But I was just trying to help, it would be nice to talk to Sunset some more, she's from a different world, and I want to know more about it," he said, trying to convince her to let him mess with the time, I guess.
"No. Anyway, as I was saying, it's pretty dark outside, so if we're about done here I guess we should go sleep, besides, we can talk again in the morning, right."
"Yeah we can, if you guys want, I'm in no real rush to head back to the human world, I mean, my school has ended for the weekend," I said, looking around at the confused faces of the ponies around me, "what? What'd I say?"
"Well, it's just that, we all finished school years ago, and I thought we were about the same age," the former evil purple pony said.
"Oh right, of course, our schooling system works very differently, I'll explain in the morning, for now, though, I kind of think we should get some sleep as like Twilight said it's getting dark out there." Discord again went to click his fingers, "and as Twilight also said, don't even bother..."
"Fine," Discord said, clearly a little annoyed that even I wouldn't let him do it.
"Alright, Starlight, you think you could show Sunset to her room?" Twilight said, "I gotta go find Rainbow Dash, she disappeared earlier without any explanation."
"Happily," she replied, walking to the door, "follow me," she said to me, leading me out of the room into the complex corridors of the castle, I'm gonna get a headache navigating this place in the morning, aren't I... "And then it's just up here, and then down here, and this is it," she said, having already led me halfway across the castle at this point.
"Thank you, I'll see you in the morning I guess," I said walking across the room and falling face first into the bed, it's tiring being a pony when you're so used to being a human. Having to balance and walk using 4 limbs, as well as having to use magic to eat food, so many times I was tempted just to dive face first into my food, but I decided that was extremely rude, especially in a castle.
"Alright, I guess I'll be off then, want me to come get you in the morning, so you don't get lost?" She asked, oh good, I really don't wanna have to learn the layout of this castle.
"Please do, I would get absolutely lost if you didn't."
"Alright, I'll come get you after someone else gets up and we can go to the throne room and talk some more."
"Brilliant, thanks," I said, "and if you see her again, tell her that I'm really thankful that she's letting me stay here."
"Will do, bye Sunset," she said walking away.
It just occured to me, I completely forgot to check who raided my room, maybe Mr Greg knows, I'll just ask him when I return tomorrow I guess. Normally this would be the time when I would sit on my phone messaging people or reading through recent news. But since I'm a pony right now, that's not really an option, so I just close my eyes and drift off to sleep.
Author's Note
Alright, there we go, Chapter 2, finished, took a lot longer than it should have, mainly because it's homework season, luckily, I've almost got the next chapter all ready to go, and it will be focusing on a different character, should be out in a day or so, however, I don't think it'll be quite as long, I'm gonna focus on making all the chapters about as long as the first, but I won't write because there is a word count.
Please, feel free to drop a comment down below, pick me up on any stupid errors, and let me know what you thought.
Info Broken's perspective - Saturday
They sell me as a bad guy, they think I'm a villain, but I'm only doing my job, I don't always enjoy what I do, but I get to stay here because of it, it's almost time for another day, with little happening, a Saturday. My clients are usually fairly busy on Saturdays, and so am I today.
My alarm goes off as usual, '6:30AM ' the screen reads, I'm up, first things first, time to check my phone, new message from a client, the one I nicknamed 'the party holder' - I don't care for real names, nor do I know most of my clients names, and they don't know mine, I prefer it this way. - the text reads 'Holding a party, I need some fireworks for the big event. ' Hah, they cannot go a week without fireworks it seems, apparently, they're too young to buy them themselves, or something, so I do it for them, for a slightly increased price, but not noticeably more than anyone else would charge, and I never directly meet them.
I quickly unlock my phone and reply, still in bed. 'Alright, I'll transfer the money and leave them in the usual spot, and I'll text you when they're there, the same batch as usual? ' I started smiling, this was one of my easier clients to please, and they never had bad intentions either, as far as I care to know.
Another message popped up, this one from a different person, the first one of the day to immediately remove my smile 'Hey, I need you to do something pretty big for me, someone's being a lying ass, and I want you to raid their locker and tell me what's in it and leave a note for them, which I've left outside the school, in the usual location. Thanks, and it's locker number 237. ' The reason this makes me sad is because I know that locker, it belongs to 'the pet keeper,' she often asks me to leave her things in it, such as maths study guides and English papers, nothing wrong with that, it's just I can get them cheaper than the school can, and they don't entirely mind me bringing them in, because it means they don't need to buy as many. Then when I actually go to deliver them to her, she leaves a little envelope labelled 'for Info,' with a little extra money in it and a cute drawing, she's a nice girl, and the first time I had to text her to be sure that was for me.
Hopefully, that note isn't sealed, because then I am allowed to read it, and if I can find a reason, I can not drop it in, if it is sealed I get paid more, though, so it's not all bad. Right, time to start doing something, I manage to pull myself out of my bed, and quickly grab a shirt and some jeans, as well as my black pullover, it's just a hooded jacket really, with loads of pockets and a built-in face scarf, so even if someone is waiting at my spot they don't recognize me, as well as the fact that I don't normally wear it, but instead put it in my bag and change it over when necessary, there are a lot of things I do to retain my secrecy, even when I buy things I try to avoid eye contact. Quickly, I put on my clothed and grab my wallet and keys, before looking around my large white-walled living room, checking I had everything I needed, and quickly re-checking my phone, I saw someone apparently knowing my identity, as I was notified of a post containing my name, always interesting to see their theories.
Sitting down on my leather sofa I quickly unlocked my phone and checked the post, nothing too serious, some logical guesses, some evidence and then, at the bottom, an IP address, my IP. Crap, this isn't good, I've got to change that before anyone with a decent sense for computers checks it. I quickly run up my stairs, basically flying up them, and jump to my computer across the room, I've got to fix this, I quickly log in, in within ten seconds, this is why you only lock it, quickly control R, run IPSwapper, list of IP's, control F, search for them, got it, swap with the person who made the post, perfect, I now own their IP, I shall have to get that replaced later, get off the radar again, but for now, it'll do, crisis averted, and just in time it seems. A reply to the post was sent, it was from someone called Twilight Sparkle, don't recognise that name, maybe they aren't a client. 'Hey, might wanna check your IP before you go claiming you know who they are, that IP runs back to you, so, maybe check again? '
Brilliant, they don't know, right, I need an IP scrambler apparently, I didn't want to have to use one, it slows down my internet so much, but aww well. Alright, that'sone hectic scramble done, now to go buy the fireworks, I guess. I quickly run downstairs again, check my phone once more, it's blank, luckily, and I'm off, leaving my house, I have my bag on my back, with only a jacket inside, and I'm going to go but fireworks, so I'm going to put that on soon, just in case the party holder is around, or anyone for that matter, I know not what they look like, I don't drive or anything, so it's a half hour walk to the firework store.
Finally, a minute or so away, ducking through a back alley, I decide it's time to put my jacket on, and quickly pull it over my head, before flipping the bag inside out, making it look like a completely different bag, hanging the strap around one shoulder with it lying on my side, rather than being a backpack, and I start to walk out to the store.
Then entering I hear the doorbell, and ignore it, walking to the counter of the recently opened shop, placing the list the party holder sent me on my way here on the table and just pointing to it, the people in this store know me, and accept that I'm a man of few words, when I don't have a good reason to talk.
They quickly grabbed all of the fireworks on the list and placed them on the table, and I handed over the money I owed, having already taken my pay this was coming from that, as it should. They placed all the fireworks on the table, and I placed them into my bag one by one, checking they were all there, before nodding across the table and turning to leave the store.
I walked out of the store and turned to face the school, my usual collection point was just behind that, assuming nobody else was standing about there, occasionally the one with the loud music and the dance step walk would stand around there waiting for the classical cellist, and they would go somewhere together or something, I've never heard much from them other than their music, so either they're just friends or that relationship is going extremely well.
Approaching the Canterlot High building it always seems larger than it should, it's a massive building, but it just feels, gigantic, however, that's not my course today, today I'm going to my drop off spot, at least for now, I remember my client who wants me to raid a locker, later, and stop having emotions, I shouldn't care about clients, I don't care.
Now, to the drop off location, I slowly walk around the school building, noticing the one with headphones and her cellist girlfriend were just leaving, I should really find out if they're dating. Walking into the drop off spot I quickly look around, before placing all of the fireworks on the floor in the corner, leaving the note I had as well, and leaving, quickly unlocking my phone and texting the party holder 'Fireworks, at the back of the school. ' Nothing too detailed, just enough for them to know to come collect them.
Next things next then, on to the client I don't want to have to raid, well, I suppose though, whatever pays the bills, can't be unreliable can I. I walk quickly to the other side of the building, to my collection point, and grab the letter that was sitting there, it is sealed, so I guess I can't check it, aww well, suppose I'm just breaking into her locker, alright...
I walk slowly to the front of the school, it's usually unlocked in case any students want to study, so I can walk right in, but then, I need to go quickly and sneakily. Luckily that's not difficult, I push the doors open and start my quick dash through the building until I get to locker 237, the butterfly covered one.
Quickly I start spinning the combination into the lock, I should still know it from last time, 2, 8, 4, 9, and... It's still locked, did I remember it wrong, quickly, I spin through the combinations I can remember, hoping one will open it, 1234, 9482, 0000, 4567. Crap, I don't know it, and someone's coming, you know what, note. I stand up, acting casually, and carefully slot the note into the grates in the locker, before turning away to leave, as casually as I can. Luckily, I am accepted around here, especially at this locker because I give her papers and study guides, so as long as I'm not breaking in it's ok. And they didn't see me trying to break in. Right, I need to leave, "Hey, Info, passing Fluttershy more papers are we?"
I remained silent, as usual around here, Sun Principal knows that I'm quiet so she should be alright with it, I started walking away fairly slowly, casually, like usual.
"Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you," she said, her voice more stern than usual.
Huh, what does she know about me, what did I do? "Principal, what's the matter?" I asked, putting on a bit of a fake voice, as I normally do when I have to talk.
"I've been told by some students that you've been harassing them, and their friends, so I just wanted to hear your side of it," she said, her voice already calmer than before.
"Which students?" I replied, I wasn't willing to answer without this answer, and would be very strong about it.
"None of your business, just a particular group," Alright, so it was probably that Sunset looking one, the only one who I can think of who would have even known my name, everyone else I hit is left in the dark, usually something lesser than a phone hack and a bump key. "However, you should know that you will be banned from school property if I find these claims to be true, and if you leave now without answering, then you shall not return."
"Trust me Principal, I would never personally attack any of your students, that's very unprofessional, and I could, for a price, help you find out who it actually was," I replied, knowing I couldn't tell her their name, but I could tell her what I call the client, which would probably help. "Good luck on that ban, I'll be on my way."
"Don't return," she said, as I turned and left the school, she now most likely knew my eye colour, but I have lenses, I'll just change them tonight, I don't think she saw my hair, but I'm getting it cut and dyed tonight anyway, it's getting a bit long and I'm starting to despise the brown colour.
As I walk out the front doors of the school, watched all the way by the Principal, I pull out my phone and quickly sent a reply to the person who ordered the hit, 'Hey, I managed to pass the letter in, but the locker has a new combination and the Principal was there, I can return tomorrow and try again, better prepared, or I can just leave it and refund you, your call. ' I typed, before flicking through to my conversation with the pet keeper student, 'Hey, someone ordered a full shakedown on your locker, however, as I am unable to get in as you changed your pin number and I did not have the essential tools, you are able to deny this shakedown, meaning that they learn nothing, for a fairly low price of $10. '
'Oh, I don't have any money right now... ' she replied.
'I'm sure I can block this and overlook the money, considering how cute those little notes you leave me are, besides, if I was counting you'd have definitely given me way more than $10. '
'Oh, are you sure, I mean, it's losing you money. ' She isn't wrong, this loses me money, but, to be honest, I think that she has out paid it anyways. Damn, I swore to myself I would never get any attachment to a client, but I've done just that, and look where that got me.
I approach a park bench just off school property, and just end up sitting on it, well, more lying across it, and opening my phone again, 'Listen, don't give me a reason not to do this for you, I hate this client, she always complains, whether I do what she wants or not. Let me go tell her that you blocked her advance and we'll move on and forget this. ' I send to the pet keeper, before flicking through to that strange, argumentative one, who types like I expect a freshman would, she's posh and rich, so she brings in money, but I hate her. 'Hey, client, your little raid was blocked, go do it yourself or up the price. ' I sent, I understood I was being bitchy, and that I shouldn't be rude to clients, but to be completely honest, fuck this one.
'Raise the price to $85. ' Maybe I can make some money from this.
I quickly send a message to the pet keeper, 'What do you say to a trade, I get your locker pin and send an incomplete list of items to my other client, in return, you can have half of what she pays for the raid. '
The pet keeping one replied quickly with 'Yeah, sure, give them a full list if you want, the pin is 8456, go for it. ' A bit too trusting of you ask me, I wouldn't have just been like that, but I guess she doesn't know the negative side of me, what I'm known for among most other students, and resented for.
'My other client raised further, to $100. ' I'm pushing it now, she can't want to know that badly, surely.
'Right. Take $250 and don't tell her. Okay. '
'Fine. An itemised list by tomorrow night, without a doubt. Please confirm you wish to pay $250 to me. ' I am basically laughing now, that's an obscene payment for anything that doesn't physically involve the other client. Well, might as well tell the pet keeper about the money inflow, but not where it's from, as I was paid for silence, '$125 paid into your account in approximately 5 minutes. '
Another message from the posh client, 'Yes, take the money, raid her locker, report back. '
'Done, money is taken, expect the itemised report within 36 hours. ' I said, quickly hoping into my bank app, and withdrawing the money from her account. Right so, what's next? I kind of want to meet this pet keeper girl, I mean, I'm getting a haircut and replacing my lenses tonight anyway, so it'd be a throwaway meeting, plus maybe she's got some valuable reason to be targeted. I quickly flicked open my conversation with her, 'Hey, completely non-business and random proposal, would you like to meet over dinner tonight? I'll pay and everything. Just you're my nicest client and I'd like to meet you. ' for what seemed like an eternity after that, the message 'the other person is typing...' popped up and disappeared several times, and I was starting to think she was going to try and reject me lightly or come up with an excuse when a message came through.
'I mean, I'm really shy, but yes, dinner would be lovely, my name is Fluttershy by the way, in case you were wondering. '
'Alright then, can you make it to that super fancy place on the same road as Sugarcube Corner in about 30 minutes? ' I asked, getting up and starting to walk towards my house, if I'm putting in any effort, better go all in and full fancy.
'Sure, I'll see you there, should I wear a dress or just casual? ' she replied, I was planning on just putting a decent looking shirt on as it's comfortable, so I guess that.
'Whatever you feel comfortable in. ' I replied, hopefully, this goes well, I'm actually, for once, kind of nervous about a situation.
'Okay, I'll see you there in about half an hour then. '
I quickly sped up when I saw that, realising that I didn't actually have that long before I had to be there. Alright, Saturday is usually quiet, so hopefully it stays that way all night.
Finally, I can see the restaurant, it's been about 25 minutes, so she likely isn't here yet, so I have time to get in the right mindset, quickly, remembering what I was potentially known for I unlocked my phone and put it on silent. Before quickly messaging the pet keeper. 'Hey, do me a favour, for today, can you not call me Info, just like, I dunno take, Ken, from broken, I suppose I'll be Ken, I just don't want people to know me for my work. '
Entering in the front doors of the large building, I quickly walked up to the front desk, and, looking around to see if Fluttershy was already here, realized I actually don't know what she looks like, which is rare for me, I've probably got a picture filed away somewhere on my computer, but it's there in case someone asks what she looks like, for business.
"Hello there sir," I heard from a waitress looking person, "are you looking for someone?" she asked, presumably seeing me looking around the tables.
"Uhh, yeah," I said, "A miss Fluttershy."
"Hang on," she said, looking down a list on her desk, presumably people who had arrived, "I don't think she is here yet, would you like to get seated and I'll send her your way when she arrives?"
"Please," I replied, she pointed down to the list on her desk, "my name's Ken."
"Alright," she said, writing on the paper, before walking towards a table, "right this way." She leads me to a table just outside, in the courtyard, before turning and asking me, "for two, correct?"
I just nodded and sat down, she placed some menus on the table, "would you like a drink while you wait?"
"No thanks," I replied, and she turned around and walked away.
"I'll be back when Fluttershy arrives."
"Thanks," I replied, quickly pulling my phone out of my pocket and opening my texts. 1 message, from someone asking for something, 'Hey, I was wondering, is it possible you can drop some papers for chemistry in my locker, please? ', it was the captain of the sports teams at Canterlot. Does she care about her grades? Huh, maybe that's why she's asking for me to do it now, so nobody else knows, well, I can.
'Sure, I'll have them in there by tomorrow, but it'll cost you $1, for printing, which is less than the schools $2. ' I replied, I am glad this is an easy request.
'Yeah, that's fine by me, take the money using what ever magic it is you use, thanks. '
'Confirm, $1 payment from your bank. ' I replied, I know she said yes, but I always double check, I may be willing to do fairly evil things, but I won't scam my own clients.
'That's what I said, go right ahead. ' Alright, there we go, I quickly flip the notes app up on my phone and write a reminder to give her notes and take the money.
Just after I replied I saw another new message arrive. A not so nice one, 'Hello, Info, I hope you know what I learned today, I learned your name, and face, now, send me the pictures you retrieved from Sunsets USB, or I will reveal them both. I don't really care which you choose, it's an equal trade.
Fuck, how did she, the, she what, when? It was the same girl who was picking on Sunset, and on a couple of other girls. I can't tell her I didn't get any, she knows the truth. I was about to have a minor panic attack when a girl sat down across from me.
I looked up from my phone, locking it and placing it down, before looking down again. "Fluttershy, was it?" I asked.
"Yeah, hello Ken, you look younger than I expected."
"Hah, you know, most everyone I meet tells me that I look younger than they expected, not that there are many who meet me, I'm actually just a year older than you are," I said, come on brain, you're gonna creep her out, knowing things she's never told you. What should I say, I don't want to be awkward, but I need to start a conversation.
"Hello, lovebirds, would you two like some drinks," one of the waitresses said, standing over the table.
I heard Fluttershy squeak a little when she said lovebirds and could see her blushing. "We're not lovers, just acquaintances," I said, hoping my wording was alright.
"Oh, my apologies, I shouldn't have assumed, anyway, would you like any drinks?" she asked.
"Yeah just a cola please," I said.
"Same here please," Fluttershy said, the embarrassment obvious in her voice. The waitress walked away and Fluttershy quickly smiled, "that was so awkward, can't believe she thought we were dating, so we really look like that."
"I'm just as surprised as you are," I replied, my focus half on her, half on what I should do about Sunset's images. "Maybe it's because you look so pretty," I said, being honest, but joking a little bit too.
"Okay," she said, shrinking down into her chair a little. "Sorry, I'm just really nervous." She pushed herself back up, "I've never been alone with a guy before."
"Trust me, I'm just as nervous, just a little more accustomed to being anxious after my work."
"Really, but you seem so calm," she said, "I don't think I could ever be that calm, especially in front of a stranger," she continued.
I took my jacket off, just now realising I had left it on, "oh, sorry, how rude of me," I apologised, as a bird flew down and landed on the table in front of me.
Fluttershy's confidence seemed to spike massively upon seeing it, "Hello Mr Bird," she said.
"Evening Fluttershy," the bird said... Wait, what, birds can't talk, or, I suppose they can, but not English. "Just dropping by, am I interrupting something?" it continued.
"No, no," I replied quickly, "don't worry about it."
"Oh, hello, I didn't know others could hear us, I should probably be going, I was just dropping in to check Fluttershy was still okay, and that's all, I'll be off now," the bird said, taking off.
So that just happened. "You can speak bird?" Fluttershy asked excitedly. I guess I heard what it was saying, and understood it, and replied, I guess that's speaking bird.
"Apparently so, I assume it's something you can do, if I can do it too?" knowing that it was most likely magic.
"Oh, um, yes," she said nervously, "I've been able to do it ever since I got this necklace," she said, pulling a gem necklace out from under her shirt, as far as I knew that was the source of her magic, which makes that one of the four natural magic items ever, the other three belonging to that band, the Dazzlings, I believe. As I began to question just how powerful that gem was, the waitress came and placed soup in front of us. "Thank you," Fluttershy said, her voice dropping to a very low volume.
"Thanks," I said, picking up my spoon, the waitress placed our drinks in front of us aswell and left. "You alright? You seem really nervous," I said, noticing just how shy she actually was, which was strange, she was usually quite open.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just, really nervous, I don't want to say anything stupid or embarrassing, it's taking all my strength to not freak out," she said, "like, just not knowing who you are very much, like, at all."
I sighed, knowing I would have to explain myself now, which means telling her what I do, she only ever ordered text books from me, so she really didn't know much about my work.
Over the course of the meal, I told Fluttershy about my work, and about what I did, she told me about hers, and we discussed all sorts of other random things, like my,l other friends, our families, and the like, I ended up telling her that I only lived here and did this job because my family disowned me, and this was the thing I was best at. Then, having just finished our desserts, we were just finishing our paying and leaving the restaurant, the night was dark, and sky clouded when the last few questions really messed up my plans.
"Who are your friends then? I told you about mine earlier, but you never mentioned yours," I said, just realising what I had missed.
"Well, I'm friends with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer."
Most of those names meant nothing to me, except the last two. Twilight was the one who almost traces my IP, and Sunset was the one who's images I had earlier stolen. I sighed quietly, "of course they are. Why wouldn't they be, shit," I said, lowering my voice towards the end.
"What, is there something wrong with them?" Fluttershy asked.
"Nope, nothing at all, just, well, some person doesn't particularly like Sunset, and well, it's kind of my safety against hers, and this makes that decision so much harder. Originally, I'd be selfish, but..."
"Oh," she said quietly, talking under her breath, "I see, well, it is your job, so it is your choice."
"Listen, Fluttershy, I know I seem like a nice guy, but coming to meet you was the hardest thing I've ever done, and someone was threatening my identity being revealed I was nervous it was, I don't want to have to make this decision, but if I make it against her, it's nothing against anyone else, it's my safety, my whole livelihood," I said, ashamed that I had to choose this.
"Yeah, I understand, can I ask you one last question?" she said, stopping and turning to face me.
"Ask right away," I said, I have no idea what she's going to ask at this point, it could be anything.
"This is my house here, by the way. Anyway, what's your name, like your real name?"
Ok, I knew this was coming, just, I didn't think I'd answer it honestly. Well, things have changed. "My name, it's... Discord."
"Well then it was nice meeting you, Discord," she said, wrapping her arms around me, hugging my tightly.
Author's Note
A slightly shorter chapter this time, I'm sort of thinking whether each in-universe Sunday should be a bunch of shorter stories, or just one large one like the others, so, expect one of those in a couple days, then I'll start getting ahead of the deadline after that.
Until next time, I hope you liked it, or if not, tell me why, I'm always looking to improve.
