“Great work, Twilight.” Sunset smiled encouragingly. “Now ... concentrate. See how far you can hold that boulder out. Push your limits.”
“I'm trying.” I scowled as I telekinetically lifted a small boulder around fifteen yards away, inching it a little further. Every little bit I pushed was more and more strenuous. It seemed to help when I held my hand out, but I was definitely near my limit.
“I know you are.” Sunset measured out the distance between me and the boulder with a measuring tape. “And I know it isn't easy, trust me. I spent years learning magic, so I know all about this. But you aren't going to get any better at controlling your magic unless you push your limits.”
That was true, and it was why we had come to Applejack’s family farm to practice my newfound telekinesis. She had a fallow field that was perfect for us to test our abilities, and we were lucky to have it; Pinkie’s explosive powers was more than enough cause for concern, and the field was now a patchwork of holes, broken boulders, and dug up earth thanks to our experiments. It looked more like a war zone than a farm. We had gathered quite a bit do useful data on everyone’s abilities thanks to experimentation, not to mention the bonus of everyone getting a better handle on how their magic worked, but part of me did feel bad about how much we were tearing up part of Applejack’s property.
“I understand all of that,” I told Sunset, trying to keep the irritation out of my tone. “That’s why I wanted to do this.” It was certainly better than accidentally floating things around home or breaking objects like I had the first few days after getting back from Camp Everfree. That had lead to some very awkward conversations with my parents as I tried to avoid the whole magic issue. That wasn't something I wanted to talk with them about quite yet.
Sunset scribbled on her clipboard and then turned on her cellphone’s stopwatch app. “Okay, hold the boulder there for as long as you can. I'd like to see if we can increase the range and duration of your telekinesis.”
“It's worth a shot.” Even if holding the boulder in place was starting to cause me a headache. Droplets of sweat trickled down my brow as I kept up the effort. Still, we had come out here to do some practice. No sense putting that time to waste.
“So how are you feeling right now?” Sunset asked.
“Alright, but it's definitely harder holding up at this range.” My concentration momentarily waved and I grunted with effort as I caught the boulder just short of the ground. “Within ten yards I don't feel much of a difference, but once I get out to fifteen I'm definitely feeling the strain.”
“Is that so?” Sunset jotted some more notes down, a contemplative frown on her face. “That's interesting. That’s different from how it was for me when I was a unicorn.”
“How so?” I raised an eyebrow, my curiosity piqued. I'd asked Sunset about Equestria in the past, of course, but there was a lot of material to cover, and Sunset was sometimes pretty reluctant to discuss certain topics.
“Just that range usually isn't an issue for unicorn magic,” Sunset explained. “It depends on the unicorn in question and what sort of spell you're casting, but normally a unicorn wouldn't have to worry about this short a range to their magic. Of course, with telekinesis ... well, you don't want to hear a lecture.”
“Actually, I wouldn't mind hearing all about that.” I smile sheepishly. “I did spend a lot to time trying to prove that magic exists, and now that I'm talking to an actual expert...”
Sunset let out a weary sigh. “Of course. Maybe after we finish this up.” She pointedly lifted her clipboard, checking her cellphone for the time.
“Oh, right. Practice first, other stuff later.” Sunset was using up her free time to help me get using my magic down, and it would be really rude to waste her time. Feeling slightly embarrassed about letting myself get off track, I turned my full attention on the boulder, a task that was not getting easier with time. “Sorry if I'm being a bit annoying. It's just that all of this is a bit crazy, and I'm still trying get a solid grasp on it all. The magic, you being from another dimension where everyone was a magical pony, monsters from magical land of sapient equines, us getting these powers... It's nuts.”
“A bit, yeah.” Sunset gave me a half-smile. “But also really cool. For a while there I was worried I was going to be stuck in a world without any magic, so actually getting these powers is pretty great.”
I smiled back, encouraged by her enthusiasm. “I think so. I mean, other than the scary transformations where people become possessed by magical powers they barely understand and try and take over the world, or break the barriers between dimensions, or terrorize a bunch of kids going to camp, and—”
“Whoa, whoa, hold up there,” Sunset interrupted. She pointed at the ground beneath the boulder. “How about you put that down for now? That's good enough for the time period.”
I winced, putting the boulder down as I awaited the oncoming lecture.
Sunset must have seen something in my reaction, because she smiled as she placed a supportive gloved hand on my shoulder. “Magic can be a bit scary sometimes, yeah. But that only happens when someone can't control their power, or if it's in the hands of the wrong people. It’s really no different than anything else.”
“Um, right. I guess.” I rubbed my arm as I remembered Midnight Sparkle and the incident with Gaia Everfree. “It's still a bit scary, and I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it. I was trying to discover magic for such a long time, but now that I'm actually seeing it in action ... I don't know.”
“It’s a bit of an adjustment?”
I nodded. “It was a pretty rough transition into the world of magic after I screwed up the way I did.”
“Hey, you worked it all out.” She squeezed my shoulder. “You’re with the good guys now, and all practice will make sure you don't lose control again. You'll be fine, trust me.”
“I guess.” I let out a long sigh. “Even if I'm worried I'll start abusing these new powers.” I picked up a trio of rocks with my magic and twirled them around my hand. Telekinesis was the only magic I really had, not counting how I could fly when I ponied up. On the surface, being able to levitate objects didn't sound like a lot, but there were a lot of nasty ways someone could abuse that.
Sunset patted my shoulder and withdrew her hand. “As long as you're worried about abusing them, you're probably okay. It's when you stop worrying that you need to be worried.” After a moment Sunset added, “That sounded smarter in my head.”
I snickered. “They can't all be winners, right? Why I like to prepare all my speeches ahead of time.”
“In my defense, I've had a long day.” Sunset stretched out her arms as she yawned. “Rarity wanted some help with her shield powers, then Rainbow asked me to help her girlfriend get a handle on her magic, and now...”
“Sorry if I'm being a bother.” Friends weren't something I had in abundance, and the idea that I was annoying one of the few I had didn't sit well with me. Especially when Sunset had been so nice to me.
Sunset waved me off. “It's fine, I like helping. Though it would be nice if nobody else got crazy magical powers for a while.”
“That would be convenient, wouldn't it?”
A long silence fell over us before Sunset broke it. “I just jinxed us, didn't I?”
“How has our luck been thus far?”
Sunset pressed her palm to her forehead with a groan. “Good point. Ugh.”
I sighed, dropping the rocks orbiting my hand. If this trend continued, we were more likely to see an increase in the number of magical incidents than a decrease, with Canterlot High being the focal point of that activity. All my data thus far suggested as much. “We're doomed, aren't we?”
Sunset shook her head. “It might get rough at times, but we've managed in the past.”
“That's true enough,” I conceded. “These new magical powers give us a lot more options than we had. No offense, but from what you told me, using the Elements of Harmony to blast things with friendship rainbows doesn’t strike me as the most reliable method to deal with monsters, especially when you have to set up a full concert in order to use the Elements.”
“It happens when we need it, not when we want it.”
“I would prefer something that can be used on command.”
Sunset nodded in agreement. “I do like having powers we can use reliably and consistently.”
“How are yours going, by the way?” I asked. “I've been so wrapped up in my own practice that I haven't asked you.”
Sunset stiffened. “They're working well, though...” Her eyes flicked to the glove covered hands.
My teeth clenched in a grimace. Sunset had been pretty enthusiastic about everyone else getting magic, but she seemed a lot more reserved with her own ability to read minds. “So you've confirmed that your powers activate purely by touch?”
“There's mental effort involved too,” she clarified. “But I'm not 100% certain of my control. I can't be sure what I'm going to see when I go poking around someone’s head, and that’s a bit of a problem.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as I thought the problem over. “Think practice would help? I know practicing my magic has helped a lot. I'm not accidentally floating things around anymore, at least when I'm conscious. Still working on not doing it when I'm asleep, though.”
Sunset puckered her lips out in a frown. “Probably, but considering that involves getting inside someone else's head, it's a bit tricky to do. Not to mention ... well, sometimes I learn more than I'd like to.” She shivered. “Like what happened with Cloud.”
I winced. Sunset had learned a few facts about Cloud and Rainbow that were a quite a bit more intimate than she’d wanted to know. “Yeah, that does make things tricky. You would have to practice with someone who doesn't mind you poking around in their head.”
Considering everyone had thoughts and memories they’d rather keep to themselves, it was going to be difficult to find someone Sunset could practice with. Invasions of privacy were probably inevitable with this type of magic, and it would take a lot of trust between Sunset and whomever she practiced her magic with to keep the practice from becoming a disaster. Especially when the private thoughts about what that person really thought about Sunset were likely to come up. I knew enough about my own private thoughts to know how awkward that could quickly become.
The issues with her mind reading were probably another reason why Sunset barely had any skin showing. As things stood, it sounded like it was difficult to keep the thoughts of anyone else she had direct contact with out. That had to make traveling through the crowded halls of Canterlot High difficult.
Sunset leaned against a dense post and watched as a couple of Applejack’s horses grazed on the grass. “At least when it comes to Equestrian Magical Ethics, mind-reading is pretty strongly frowned upon unless there's a good reason for it. My power seem to be safe—Equestrian mind magic can be dangerous if it's done wrong.”
“How so?” The magic between our world and Equestria didn't seem to correlated very well, at best, but it might give some insight into what we were dealing with.
“Just...” Sunset frowned as she pulled her thoughts together. “Well imagine the mind is a giant library. If the magic's not done precisely, it's like someone going in and pulling all the books off the shelf, putting half of them back where they don't belong, and leaving the rest all over the place.”
“So it can mess up your head?” I asked to clarify. She nodded in confirmation. “That ... could be bad then. I could see why it's looked down on in Equestria if you could badly scramble someone’s head like that. Though it does seem like the magics of our world and Equestria are completely different.”
Sunset let out an annoyed huff. “Yeah, I'm still figuring out exactly how. It was even worse when we only had the magic of the Elements of Harmony to work with, since they're working by a set of rules even Princess Twilight hasn't completely figured it yet.”
I rubbed my chin. “It could be a matter of a difference of species. Assuming it doesn't come down to there being different dimensions. If not both. Our attempts to study out magic isn't made any easier by the fact that each of us are showing completely different powers. The only common thing between us is that all our new abilities seem to be monothemed, for the most part.”
Sunset nodded. “Yeah, that's part of it. It's just totally different. Most unicorns in Equestria had a specialization, but they could still do other things.”
“Naturally I just have my telekinesis,” I said. “Except I can also fly if I pony up, for whatever reason. Something that only seems to happen with me, Fluttershy, and Rainbow.”
“Yeah, since you have wings for some reason.” She hummed contemplatively. “Maybe because Princess Twilight does?”
“That's the only working theory I've got,” I said, not happy with the somewhat unscientific answer. “No other explanation seems to work thus far with the data we currently have.”
Sunset scratched her cheek. “And that part seems to be unique to us, since Cloud doesn't pony up when she uses her magic. Or at least, she hasn't yet.”
“Maybe that has to do with the medallions we got at Camp Everfree?” I suggested. “Or maybe the Elements of Harmony? We still don't know exactly how they work with ponying up.”
Cloud had just recently started showing her own magical powers. Though we could only really guess why that had happened, and I still wasn’t sure what to make of it yet. If more people started showing up with magical powers, who knew where it was going to end?
“Maybe, given Cloud's magic was contagious from Rainbow.” Sunset shrugged helplessly. “I really don't understand this world's magic.”
I sighed in sympathy with that sentiment. “That makes two of us.”
“So yeah, I came up with this cool new plan for how to win next week's game,” Rainbow Dash said with her usual level of enthusiasm whenever she talked about sports. “I ran it by Cloud earlier, and she thought it was awesome! This so gonna be radical!”
“That's ... good then,” I hazarded. We were at the end of our social studies class, with the teacher handing out the test we had taken the previous week, and Rainbow had taken the opportunity to talk about the soccer team. In truth, a lot of what she was talking about went right over my head, considering I wasn’t very familiar with soccer. It just wasn’t something I had found a reason to study thus far.
“It's gonna be so cool!” Rainbow’s feet thumped against the floor as she suppressed a squeal. “You'll be there for the game, right?”
“Um.” I looked to Rarity, who was sitting a couple of desks away from us for confirmation. This sounded like something you would do for a friend, but I wasn’t completely sure about that. “Sure?”
Rarity nodded. “You know we try to be there for every game you're in, Rainbow.”
“I'll try and work it into my schedule.” I pulled out my phone to make sure I could fit the game in. Scheduling had been difficult enough before I came to Canterlot High, but now I had to juggle in all the social activities I wanted to do. That was made doubly difficult consider those types of things were often much harder to predict ahead of time, like when I needed to study for a test or have a project ready.
“Cool.” A smirk grew on Rainbow face. “We can always use cheerleaders.”
I quirked an eyebrow at the change in topic. “Cheerleaders?”
“Yeah. You know—pom poms, cheering, all that stuff.” Rainbow waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
My eyes widened. “Oh no, nonono! I'm no cheerleader. Getting into that outfit, with the pom poms, and cheering in front of everyone...” My cheeks started burning at the mere idea.
Rainbow chuckled. “Didn't figure you would be.”
My eyes narrowed. “You're teasing me, aren't you?”
“Would I do that?” Rainbow asked with all the innocence of a cat with canary feathers in its mouth.
“Previous evidence says yes.”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “She is a bit of a tease, yes. Just try and not to mind it.”
I let out a huff. “As long as she doesn't expect me to actually be a cheerleader.” That was about the last thing I wanted to do. I'd probably only get laughed at if I tried.
“Nah, I don't think you'd be good at it anyway.” After a moment Rainbow added, “No offense.”
“None taken.” My attention was pulled away from my friends when the teacher placed my test on my desk.
F.
An F. I had earned an F! I’d failed the test?! How?! This wasn’t possible! I never failed! I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten a B. But this test was covered in angry red ink as my mistakes were laid before me.
This was a disaster. What was I going to do? What could I do?! The world started to spin as I considered all of the terrible consequences for messing up a test like this.
“Twilight?” Rarity asked, a note of concern in her voice. “Are you okay? You’re looking a little pale.”
From desk next to me, Trixie leaned over to look at my test. “Ouch, isn’t that shame? Trixie thought that test was easy. She got a perfect grade!”
“I-I need to go,” I blurted as the school bell rang—shooting to my feet and shoved my test into my backpack. I needed to go ... somewhere that wasn’t here. Anywhere but here.
“Hey, wait up!” Rainbow said as I bolted past her, bumping into a couple other students.
Next thing I knew I was in the girls restroom, my breaths coming in ragged gasps and a stinging in my eyes. My head spun as the reality of what happened crashed down on me. I had failed. Me. My parents were going to kill me. After all my assurances that wasn't going to screw around after transferring to Canterlot High, now I was bringing home an F. What would they do to me? Ground me? Tell me to stop seeing my friends? Pull me from school and send me back to Crystal Prep?
“Twilight?”
I jerked and spun to see Rarity standing behind me with a frown on her face. I hadn't even heard her enter. “Rarity?”
“Are you alright, darling?” she asked gently as she stepped closer to me.
I opened my mouth, by my throat clenched up, choking out the response. How could I talk about my failure like this? Could I? Would my friends think I was an idiot if they found out I’d failed?
“It's okay.” Rarity wrapped an arm around my shoulders and drew me close. “We can talk about whatever is bothering you. Just take a moment to relax.”
Rainbow entered and closed the bathroom door behind her, keeping her hand on the handle. “What's going on? Other kids are going to want in here soon.”
I knew I wasn't going to get away without telling them what happened. They wouldn't be satisfied until I did, and it wasn't like I could shut myself into the restroom forever and hide from the truth.
“I, I, I...” My shoulders hunched and I rasped out, “I failed.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “What, did you get an A-minus?”
“Rainbow,” Rarity chided.
I whine escaped my throats and I shook my head.
Rainbow braced her back against the wall as she kept a hand on the restroom door handle. “Hey, even your worst grades are way better than mine. Don't sweat it so much.”
“W-what did y-you get?” I choked out.
“A C-minus,” Rainbow grumbled. “Cloud busted my butt about studying.”
“I got an F!” A sob escaped my throat, and my shoulders started shaking as tears streaked down my cheeks. Even Rainbow had done better than me, and she always seemed to be struggling with her classes I worked hard, I hadn't slacked, I knew the material... What had gone wrong?
“What?” Rainbow blinked a couple of times. “You got an F? But ... that doesn’t make any sense! You're a total nerd!”
“Rainbow!” Rarity glared at Rainbow as she gently pulled me away from the doorway. “Could you make sure nobody bothers us? I'm trying to make Twilight feel better.”
Rainbow grumbled something I couldn't hear under her breath. “Fiiine.”
As if on cue, someone pulled on the other side of the restroom door. “Hey, let me in!” someone called out. “I need to go!”
“We’re having a private conversation!” Rainbow shot back, keeping a firm grasp on the door. “Buzz off and find another restroom!”
There was another attempt to pull the door open. “I’m gonna tell a teacher!”
“See if I care!” Rainbow growled. “Waste your time tattling to a teacher or go find another restroom. You can’t do both before next class starts.”
There was a last pull on the door, then silence.
Rarity guided me to the far wall and gently rubbed my back. “Now then, I know this is terrible news, but it isn’t the end of the world.”
I wiped at my stinging eyes. “This is a disaster! This is going to destroy my grade point average, and that's going to endanger the independent study program I wanted. My parents are going to be so upset with me when they find out. They were already really unsure about me transferring to Canterlot High, and now they're going to think I'm slacking because I’m putting a social life over my studies. And colleges are going to see my grades dropped after coming to this school and wonder if I have bad judgment. And what if everyone starts asking questions about all the magic stuff? What do I tell them? Do I be honest about how I went mad with magic and nearly destroyed the school over some dumb school event? No college will take in a student with that type of record! And-and-and...” My breath started becoming ragged as my chest tightened.
“Twilight, darling, calm down.” Rarity made calming down motions with her hands. “It's just a single bad grade. It's not the end of the world.”
Rainbow spoke up from the doorway. “I've bombed tests before, and I'm still awesome.”
Their reassurances didn't make me feel all that much better, though their presence kinda did. But I had no idea what I was going to do about this bad grade. This had never happened to me before. I studied really hard specifically to make sure something like this didn't happen.
Once my breaths started calming down, I spoke slowly and deliberately. “But this is everything. I can't get bad grades. My entire future depends on getting good grades. It's what I'm actually good at.”
“Well, let's have a look over it and see how bad it is.” Rarity smiled. “Maybe there was some sort of mistake.”
That didn't seem terribly likely. It was possible the teacher might have made a couple of mistakes due to the repetitive nature of grading, but enough to make that big a difference for my grade? It seemed unlikely. Still, I didn't see much of a reason to be stubborn. It wasn't going to get me anywhere.
So with a shaky hand, I pulled the test out of my backpack and handed it to Rarity. “I don't know what went wrong. I studied, I went to classes, I understood the material. This doesn't make sense. I thought I aced this test.”
Rarity’s eyes scanned the test, a befuddled frown crossing her face as she did so. “Twilight, this is a perfect test.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Here, look.” She gave the test back to me. “You even got the bonus question. That's a hundred and five percent.”
I looked at the test, and to my shock, she was right. Gone was all the red ink. The A+ was as plain as day to see. “But-but I failed. I saw the F!”
I reached in my backpack to make sure I hadn’t accidentally pulled out the wrong test, but there weren't any loose papers in there. All my schoolwork was nicely organized in a series of folders, each dedicated to a single class, and a quick check confirmed that nothing was out of place. A double-check of the test confirmed it was the one I had received just a little bit earlier. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. I hadn't accidentally been given someone else’s test; I had the right test, and all my answers were exactly as I remembered them. What in the world was going on?
Rarity but her bottom lip as she stared at me. “Well darling, you can see the grade right here.”
I couldn't bring myself to say anything for a painfully long moment as I looked between Rarity and Rainbow, each of them now giving me the type of frown you only gave to a crazy person spouting gibberish. “This doesn't make sense. I know what I saw. I'm not crazy.”
Because that's exactly what someone sane and rational says. Way to go, Twilight. Now they definitely had to think I was off my rocker.
“Riiiiiight.” Rainbow shot a loaded look to Rarity.
Rarity placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you need to go to the nurse's office? You do look a bit pale.”
I let out a long sigh. “I guess there’s no talking you two out of escorting me to the nurse?”
“Nope. You did kinda freak out on us there,” Rainbow pointed out with her usual brand of subtlety.
“Let's have Nurse Redheart look you over, just to be safe,” Rarity insisted, squeezing my shoulder. “Come on, we’ll help you there.”
“Alright.” I limply let them escort me to the nurse’s office. I just wish I knew what had happened.
Mercifully, it was already near the end of the school day when I went to the nurse’s office, and Nurse Redheart seemed content to let me relax in her office until the bell rang. Either Rainbow and Rarity insisting that I hadn't been feeling well had convince Redheart to let me skip the rest of my classes, or I really did look like that much of a wreck. It probably helped my case that I was normally a good student who wasn't the type to skip classes.
Not that I particularly enjoyed missing them. Not after what had caused me to come here to start with. I didn't feel particularly great right at that moment, but I was pretty sure most of that was just psychological in nature. Maybe everything had been a result of stress? It could have all sorts of health implications from what I had read. But I hadn't felt particularly stressed before I got my test back. In fact, I had been confident I had gotten an A for the test. And it wasn’t like talking with Rainbow and Rarity was causing me any kind of significant stress.. Nothing that should have triggered some sort of psychological episode.
Maybe I was just going crazy? Could I be cracking under the daily strain of life? There were certainly plenty examples of that, even before considering the possible side effects of magic. Sunset, Gloriosa, and I had all lost our minds thanks to magic. Was this simply something that was common for those who used it, like an allergy? Only instead of developing a rash of some other biological reaction it was largely a psychological reaction to the new powers being introduced. Was I just a ticking time bomb before I went off the deep end and—
And I had to remind myself of Sunset’s advice not to get myself wrapped up in that type of thinking. It wasn't healthy, even if it was all too easy to do.
As the school day came to an end, I was just as confused as when I had been when I first arrived at the nurse’s office. I hoped nobody would gossip about me and my freakout. One of the last things I needed was for my peers to think I was on the verge of losing it again.
Even though I didn't feel all that great, I decided to go ahead and head to the Sugarcube Corner to meet up with my friends. Maybe that would help me feel better. It was either that or head home to sulk, and that didn't sound like the best way to handle this.
I ended up meeting Rarity at the door to Sugarcube Corner as we were both about to enter. She looked me over and frowned slightly. “Still worried about that test, darling?”
Rarity seemed to have a pretty good sense for what people were thinking, so there didn't seem much point in lying. “Is it that obvious?”
Rarity put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. “Just try and put it into the past, all right? I talked with Rainbow, and she agreed not to mention what happened so we can avoid any embarrassment.”
I sighed and nodded. “I'll try.”
That seemed to satisfy her. “How about we head inside and just relax for a bit? It'll make you feel better.”
“Alright.” I opened the door for us and we entered the Sugarcube.
Sunset, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie had already grabbed a booth and had their orders in front of them. Though something seemed ... off with everyone. Normally everyone was excitedly chatting when I arrived for get-togethers like this, but now everyone was completely silent. Sunset was staring down at her smoothie, listlessly poking it with her straw. Applejack had some good brooding going on as she hid her face under her hat. For her part, Fluttershy looked between the others, sitting quietly with Angel Bunny in her lap. Pinkie seemed her usual peppy self, her full concentration on a big ice cream sundae in front of her.
I took my place at the table. “Hey everyone,” I said, the welcome stilted despite my attempt to sound cheerful. I got a equally stilted greeting in return from the group.
“Whoa, who died?” Rainbow came in behind me and Rarity and sat opposite of me in the booth.
“Not me!” Pinkie scooped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and hummed with enjoyment. “I've been waiting all week for this sundae! I can't go dying now until I've eaten every teeny tiny little bit.”
Pinkie’s cheerful demeanor made me wonder if she'd ever felt depressed a day in her life. She must have, no one could be that happy all the time, but if she had ever shown it I hadn't seen it.
Fluttershy looked around the table. “Is something the matter?”
Sunset poked at her smoothy some more. “I don't want to talk about it.”
“Aw c'mon Sunny, that's no way to be!” Pinkie poked Sunset in the arm. “We're your friends, you can tell us anything!”
Sunset’s grunted noncommittally.
“If it's any consolation, I had a rather beastly day as well.” Rarity cleared her throat and drew herself straight. “The less said about what happened at the pool, the better.”
Applejack covered her mouth with a hand as she suppressed a laugh, eliciting a glare from Rarity.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nuthin'.” It was obviously not ‘nuthin,’ because Applejack put on what was probably the worst poker face I had ever seen. There were cartoon bank robbers wearing a prison outfit carrying a giant bag with a money sign on it that looked more innocent than Applejack.
“Sounds like I'm not the only one to have a bad day,” I observed. There certainly seemed to be a pall over my circle of friends.
Rarity bit her lip and leaned forward as she lowered her voice. “I trust you'll all be discreet?” When she got confirmations from all of us, she said, “I ... accidently went out in my underwear instead of my bathing suit!”
Rainbow choked on empty air before breaking into a laugh. She quickly covered her mouth with both her hands and hunched her shoulders as the people in the booths next to us stared in our direction. For my own part, I felt my cheeks burn. I wonder how in the world Rarity could make a mistake like that? She was normally incredibly observant.
“Whoa. That doesn't sound like you at all, Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“It was utterly mortifying!” Rarity swooned, forcing Applejack to catch her.
Applejack rolled her eyes as she held her up. “Why’re you all hot and bothered? Ah've seen yer bathin' suit, an' compared to that yer undies were proper modest. Ah’m surprised the school lets you go around swimmin’ in that thing.”
“But it wasn't a bathing suit!” Rarity righted herself and crossed her arms over her chest as she fixed Applejack with a glower. “It was underwear!”
“Underwear for underwater!” Pinkie giggled. “It still works.”
“But Ah—if it covers more...” Applejack scratched the side of her head. “Ah don' get it.”
“That's still pretty embarrassing.” I didn’t even want to think about what it would be like if that happened to me. I’d probably die of embarrassment.
“Oh man, that's...” Rainbow suppressed another outburst of laughter and wiped her eyes. If she noticed Rarity’s furious glower, she didn’t acknowledge it. “Alright, everybody share up. If anyone's got something half that good...”
I hunched my shoulders. I didn’t like the idea of admitting my own incident, but Rarity had already done so, and I didn’t want her to be alone in this. Not when she had helped me earlier that day. “I, um, thought I failed a test when I didn't. I thought I saw an F on my test when I'd really earned a A.”
“Hey! Well done!” Pinkie scooped another spoonful of into her mouth. “And don’t worry about that oopsie. You probably just misread it and had yourself a little panic, no biggie!”
“That doesn't sound so bad,” Fluttershy agreed. “You still got an A.”
I sighed. “Probably.”
“Yeah, but how did you make a goof like that?” Rainbow waved in a vague circle. “I mean, you've seen enough A's in your life that I'm pretty sure you're not gonna read it wrong long enough to freak out.”
I groaned and covered my face. “I really wish I knew. I’ve been thinking about it from every angle, and I can’t figure it out.”
“No need to worry about it.” Pinkie patted me on the back. “It's in the past! I had something weird like that happen to me to today.”
Sunset looked up from her smoothly, the first spark of interest in her eyes I had seen thus far. “You too? Like what?”
“Yeah, it was the strangest thing!” Pinkie rubbed her chin as her gaze turned distant. “So I was cooking class and we were gonna make a nice apple pie, I couldn't wait! But when I got the butter out of the fridge, it felt really hot for some reason! I didn't say anything though 'cause I had to get into my baking zone! But then when I took my baking tray out of the oven, it felt super icy cold! It was so weird! Buuut I didn't mind too much. The pie still tasted good.” She licked her lips as she hummed.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “You didn't burn your hands or anything, did you?”
“Oh no no no no.” Pinkie vigorously shook her head. “Kitchen safety is the most important thing when cooking. Ever!”
“As long as you're okay then,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh yeah, never take those oven mitts off when handling anything fresh from the oven, even if it happens to be weirdly cold for some reason.” Pinkie shrugged and returned to her sundae.
“Smart call,” Applejack said with a nod, being someone who had plenty of experience with home cooking.
“Any other weird stories to share?” I asked. Pinkie’s story certainly sounded odd. Well, everything involved with Pinkie was odd. But there was a difference between Pinkie being odd, and something odd happening to Pinkie.
Sunset’s hand clenched and her knuckles went white. “I keep seeing my old self in the mirror.”
Applejack frowned. “You mean like th'unicorn you, or...?”
Sunset’s gaze darkened. “The bad times.”
Rainbow winced. “That sucks.” No one else said anything else as Applejack patted Sunset on the shoulder.
I stroked my cheek as I thought things over. “Anyone noticing a pattern here?”
“Hmm... now that you think of it—aah!” Pinkie dropped her spoon and held her head. “Brain freeze!”
Fluttershy patted her back. “Um, are you okay, Pinkie?”
Pinkie groaned. “I ate the ice cream too fast...”
Rainbow reluctantly raised her hand. “And since we're sharing stories, I got my butt absolutely handed to me earlier on the field. Like, worst I've ever done since first grade tryouts.”
“How did that happen?” Fluttershy asked.
“I don't know!” Rainbow waved her hands. “I just ... flubbed it! Every kick, every step, every damn move just went wrong! It was the dumbest thing.”
Sunset’s frown deepened. “I’m going to have to agree with Twilight. There’s definitely a pattern here.”
“Sounds like everyone has experienced something weird today,” I said.
Pinkie rubbed her chin. “I smell a mystery to solve! Maybe ... it's a ghost!
Fluttershy hugged Angel to her chest. “I don’t want to deal with ghosts. They’re scary. What if—”
Fluttershy was interrupted when Angel slipped out of her hug and jumped onto the table. His eyes glowed red, and before any of us could react, his jaws widened, revealing far too many crooked, sharp teeth within a mouth far too big for his head. He growled and hissed, spittle hitting Fluttershy in the face as he snapped at her. Before any of us could react, his teeth came to within a hair’s breath of Fluttershy’s throat as she pushed herself away. She fell out of her chair with a scream.
Rarity also fell out of her chair with a squeal, and I only barely avoided doing the same as everyone else cried out in shock. Rainbow zipped away in a blur, while Applejack grabbed her hat to whack the transformed bunny.
By the time we had all recovered and gotten to our feet, Angel looked normal again, rather than like some hell-beast ready to attack us. He looked around at us, wrinkling his nose at us as he glowered. Nothing happened for a long moment as we all waited for something to happen, but the seconds dragged on with nothing worse happening to us than Angel staring in disapproval at us.
“The crapping crap of craptastic, what just happened?!” Rainbow screamed, more or less saying what I was thinking.
Pinkie scratched the top of her head. “I'm ... at a complete loss!”
“We had all seen that, right?” I asked. “We couldn't have all suffered some kind of mass hallucination, right?”
From a nearby table, Trixie scowled at us over her menu. “Trixie wonders what could possibly cause all of you to react so badly to a rabbit?” Her scowl turn to Angel. “Trixie also thinks having a wild animal in a bakery is a health code violation.”
Fluttershy, breathing heavily and pale as a ghost, turned and ran. The sounds of her sobbing echoing in the Sugarcube before she hit the exit.
“Trixie wonders what could possibly have upset her? Did someone breathe too loudly?” Trixie shrugged and turned back to her menu.
“Shut it, Trixie!” Rainbow snapped.
Trixie rolled her eyes. “Trixie doesn’t need to take this. She’s suddenly not very hungry anymore.” She stood up and made her way to the exit.
Applejack crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Trixie leave. “Charmin' as a beaver's backside, ain’t she?”
“She could be such a nice magician for kids!” Pinkie threw up her hand in exasperation. “Instead she's just a big ol' jerk!”
“I'll be back,” Rainbow announced. “I gonna go after 'Shy.” She zipped out of the Sugarcube in a rainbow blur before any of us could say anything. That’s the issue with something with super speed, it was hard to stop them when they decided to get going.
Sunset frowned thoughtfully. “Just realized ... I saw my old self in the bathroom mirror ... right after Trixie left.”
Rarity gave Sunset a sideway look. “I was in the locker room with her when the ... incident happened.”
Pinkie gasped. “She was in my cooking class!”
“And her desk is right next to mine in my social studies class.” I frowned as I considered the facts. “In fact, she was the only other person to see the F on my test.”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “An' Ah'll betcha money Rainbow'll say Trixie was out on the field with her.”
I nodded. “Reminds me when I read something once about once being happenstance, twice being coincidence, and thrice being conspiracy.”
Pinkie gasped again. “A conspiracy?!”
Sunset looked to all of us. “I'd say it at least merits a bit of investigation.”
“We going to talk to Trixie?” I asked to confirm our plan of action.
“If she's the one common factor with all our ... incidents...” Sunset trailed off, letting the obvious hang in the air.
“Won't she just deny it, though?” Pinkie asked. “If she is the cause, anyhoo.”
Applejack nodded. “That's a fair point.”
I looked to Sunset, and idea coming to me. “We have someone who can confirm it either way. At least as long as Trixie knows what's really going on.”
Pinkie slapped a fist into her palm. “Oh yeah! Good thinking.”
Sunset grimaced. “That's ... technically true, but I don't like the idea of breaking into her brain just because we're suspicious.”
“Oh, right...” I slumped down as I remembered the whole ethics issue with Sunset poking around in people's heads.
Rainbow ran back inside the Sugarcube. “Hey Rarity, think you could talk to Fluttershy?” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I caught up with her, but she’s pretty upset right now. She can't even handle little kids in trick-or-great costume. Something genuinely scary is too much for her, and now she’s crying and … and I'm not good with touchy-feely stuff.”
Rarity nodded. “Of course, I’d be happy to—”
“Great!” Rainbow grabbed onto her arm, and they were gone in a blur and a scream, leaving us to our conversation. A few seconds later, Rainbow was back with a self-satisfied smile. “There, that should take care of that. So have you eggheads figured out what's going on? Because I'd really like to punch whatever made Fluttershy cry in the face.”
“We think it might be Trixie, but we don't have much in the way of proof yet.” Sunset said that like it had become a normal part of our lives—which to be fair, it pretty much had. “We could keep an eye on her and see if she does anything weird. Or worst case, confront her. She'd deny everything if she's guilty, but I don't think she's a good enough liar to trick us. Big difference between lying like a guilty person covering your tracks and telling the truth and being utterly baffled by the accusation.”
“Trixie hasn't struck me as ... subtle,” I said.
Rainbow snorted derisively. “Yeah, I bet if we ask her if she did something to us, she'll just laugh triumphantly about how The Great and Powerful Trixie has outsmarted us all and then drop a smoke bomb to try and make a lame getaway.”
“Except she might have magic powers,” I cautioned, “And ones we don't understand yet. If she does have access to magic, we don't know where they came from, how they work, their limits, and all the other nuts and bolts of her abilities.”
Sunset frowned. “That would change things. We could be walking into a lot of trouble if this goes bad.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Rainbow's eyes slowly narrowed and she turned to Sunset. “Wait a minute ... you said Cloud got her powers because she and I ... uh ... you know... Wouldn't that mean one of you, um, with Trixie of all people?”
It had been Sunset’s theory that Cloud had gotten magic powers herself due to her and Rainbow being ... intimate at Camp Everfree, when we first got all these powers. Though that was still an educated guess for why it happened.
Sunset’s gaze slowly looked at each of us in turn. “Either my theory needs a bit of refinement or one of us has terrible taste.”
I felt my cheeks burn at the suggestion. “It definitely wasn't me.” I hadn't even held someone’s hand romantically, much less done anything more risqué.
“Not me,” Rainbow was quick to say. “I'm already with Cloud. Besides, Trixie isn't nearly radical enough for my standards.”
Applejack glowered at Rainbow. “Don't look my way, Ah can't stand the braggart. And Rarity has standards, so don’t go pointing th’ finger at her either.”
“Wasn't me!” Pinkie said in a manner normally reserved for saying ‘not it.’ “Thought I thiiink if Trixie did that sorta thing, we'd definitely know about it. There'd be rumors at least!”
Rainbow glowered Sunset’s way. “Your theory needs work.”
I raised my hand. “All in favor of saying that Sunset's theory is a bust for the sake of our pride and sanity?”
Everyone was pretty quick to raise their hands alongside my own. Even Sunset sighed and put her hand up. “Even I'll grant that one.”
“So we need a gameplan for how to deal with Trixie,” I said, trying to get the conversation back to the topic at hand. We would figure out how Trixie got magic after we found out if she really had some form of magic first. “I'm not sure about trailing her for a long time to see what she does. That's pretty illegal, and confronting her at least sounds like a faster way to handle this.”
Sunset conceded the point with a nod. “With her powers, splitting up makes us vulnerable, and letting her run around doing whatever she wants just lets her cause more trouble for us and whoever else crosses her path.”
Pinkie blinked and looked between us. “Woah, we're not thinking of a fight are we?!”
“I don't want a fight ... but she might,” Sunset said grudgingly. “And if she does I wanna be ready. If she gets confronted by enough of us, she might back down and stop whatever it is she’s doing.”
“We can try and talk her into not doing this anymore?” I found my hands wring my skirt and I made them stop. “I would prefer that, really. That fight with Gaia Everfree wasn't exactly fun.”
Applejack grunted neutrally. “Assuming we can get through that thick head of hers.”
“And if she doesn't listen, then we kick her butt for making Fluttershy cry.” Rainbow punched her palm. “You know, for friendship and stuff.”
Pinkie raised her sundae. “For friendship and stuff!”
“For friendship and stuff,” the rest of us repeated with varying levels of enthusiasm.
I could only hope that we were making the right decision.
Author's Note
I would like to thank my editors Chengar Qordath, Comma-Kazie, and JakeTheGinger for all their help, and Rodinga, Trinary, and Swiftest Shadow for all their help prereading this chapter.
It wasn’t long after we left the Sugarcube Corner that we found ourselves waiting outside the mall. Sunset had sent Pinkie after Fluttershy while the rest of us concentrated on dealing with Trixie. For her part, Rainbow was running around trying to find our quarry and would lead us to her once she had. But for now, we waited.
Not particularly feeling like listening to silence and idling about, I asked, “So, what's the plan for when we talk to Trixie?”
Sunset grunted as she put her phone away. “We need something.”
I nodded. “We haven't exactly got a process down for what to do with people who suddenly have magic.”
“You mean you don’t have a book for that?” Applejack asked dryly. “Never thought Ah'd see the day.”
Sunset sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I suppose we'll have to ask her some very pointed questions.”
“An' what if she don't wanna answer 'em?” Applejack asked. “How're we even gonna get her to stick around an' answer 'em if we don't even know what we're dealin' with?”
Sunset’s nostrils flared. “Well what are we supposed to do? Kidnap her?”
I grimaced, recognizing her fraying temper. “I'd really prefer to not have to break the law like that.”
“Me either,” Applejack said evenly. “Ah'm just throwin' it out there that she might not wanna talk it out like ya'll did when we found out what happened.”
Sunset’s jaw clenched and her brow furrowed, but she closed her eyes and took a long breath. “It's ... a fair point.”
“But we can't exactly let her go around bully people either,” I said, flipping to the other side of the argument. “She can't keep harassing us or anyone else like this.”
“Can't argue with that.” Sunset rubbed her chin. “I guess if her magic's evil and coming from an external source like with Gaia Everfree, we can always take it away.”
“But what if Trixie has powers like ours?” I asked. “Can we even take away that type of magic?”
“She’s got a point.” Applejack crossed her arms over her chest. “It was a lot easier when all we had to deal with was something like the Sirens or demoness things. No offense.”
“We're used to it.” Sunset grinned and punched Applejack’s shoulder.
For my part, I couldn't help but rub my arm at the reminder of my own misdeeds. It was probably going to take a while before I could really put all of that business behind me.
Applejack must have seen my discomfort, because she patted my shoulder. “Anyway, uh, Ah got a few ideas if we have to throw down, but Ah'm all fer chin-waggin' our way through it.”
“I'd rather not have it turn into a fight,” Sunset agreed. “But we'll have to work it out as we go. Everything depends on how Trixie reacts when we catch up with her.”
I rubbed my brow as I considered all the problems that might pop up. “Great, improvisation. Guess there's nothing to do about it.”
“Only so much planning we can do under the circumstances,” Sunset conceded.
A rainbow blur zipped in and came to a halt in front of us, revealing Rainbow’s grinning face. “Hey guys, found her!”
“Gah!” Applejack jumped at Rainbow’s sudden arrival. “Do ya even know how to knock?!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Sure, how much time should I waste while Trixie's messing with us?”
“How about we concentrate on what's important right now?” I asked, trying to keep us from wasting even more time arguing.
Applejack squared her jaw, but nodded. “Fine, fine. Let's go. Where is the varmint, anyways?”
“She's hanging out at the park,” Rainbow said. “And I'm pretty sure I saw her doing magic stuff.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “‘Magic stuff?’”
“You know...” Rainbow waved her hands in a vaguely magical manner.
I frowned, not at all happy with the unhelpful description. “That's not very specific.”
Rainbow placed her hands on her hips as she glowered at us. “I'm not an expert like you guys, okay?”
I shrugged helplessly. Describing magical phenomena just didn't seem to be Rainbow’s thing. “We'll just have to see it with our own eyes then.”
“Definitely actual magic though?” Applejack stroked her chin. “You'd think she'd keep that to herself.”
“I think she was practicing, like we do,” Rainbow observed.
I pressed my lips together as I considered the implications of that . “That would make sense if she's only recently gotten magic. It took us quite a bit of work just to get the basics down.”
“And if she's already messing with us while she's still figuring her powers out...” Rainbow let that idea hang in the air.
“Yeah, we'd better nip that in the bud,” Applejack said. “ Who knows what she’ll get up to if she’s allowed to roam wild?”
“But why would she go after us?” Sunset asked. “I know we're not friends, but the only time she was outright hostile was while the Sirens were controlling everyone.”
“I've barely even talked with her,” I said. “I don’t know why she would hold a grudge against me.”
“Could be an ego thing.” Rainbow shrugged. “Maybe we're the best at magic, and she can't stand anyone being better than her.”
Applejack shot Rainbow a flat look.
Rainbow snorted. “Don't start with me, Applebutt.”
Sunset let out a long put-upon sigh. “Can we focus on what's important?”
“Fine, whatever,” Applejack grumbled.
Sunset glanced between us, a determined look in her eyes. “If we've confirmed that Trixie's using magic, the next step is to confront her.”
Rainbow lead us to the town park where—true to Rainbow’s report—Trixie had a table set up covered with magician paraphernalia. A top hat, a small wand, playing cards, and a variety of other objects covered the table, and Trixie seemed absorbed in practicing with them.
In silent agreement, we headed right for Trixie. If she noticed us as we approached he she didn't show it, as she shuffled her deck of cards in a calm and efficient manner. A lead weight settled inside my stomach as we got closer, and my heart rate quickened. I felt my confidence trickle away with every second, but I kept moving forward with everyone. They helped give me the confidence boost I needed to keep going, even if it felt like my knees were about to give out at any moment.
That, and I knew we needed to stop Trixie if she was abusing her magic—both for her sake and everyone else’s. Misusing magic always seemed to end badly, even for the one using it. The last thing any of us wanted was for Trixie to turn into some sort of she-demon that would start terrorizing everyone.
We all stopped in front of the table, and Sunset broke the silence. “Trixie.”
A feline grin spread across Trixie’s lips and she looked up at us. “My, my, my. It looks like Trixie has an audience.”
Sunset crossed her arms over her chest. “Right, let's get right to point. What's the deal with your magic?”
“What about it? Looking for a show?” Trixie purred, waving her short wand over the top hat. A trio of doves came flying out right at us, forcing us to duck. “You're going to have to pay admittance first.”
“That’s not the kind of magic we're talking about, and you know it,” Sunset growled. “Someone's been messing around with Equestrian magic.”
“What's the matter?” Trixie asked, positively dripping condescension. “Worried you don't have a magical monopoly anymore?” She lifted her hat and overturned it as at least four decks of cards neatly fell into a pile.
Either that was a particularly good stage trick or she was using some sort of magic. Even if I wasn't sure exactly what she was doing yet. Applejack’s eyes narrowed as she straightened her hat. “Ah think we're a bit more worried about you being a jerk to everyone.”
Sunset nodded. “Yeah. Nothing's wrong with anyone having magic, as long as they don't abuse it.”
“Like scaring Fluttershy,” Rainbow growled.
“You're one to talk, Sunset.” Trixie ran a hand through her hair in a flippant manner. “Or did you forget the whole she-demon incident? Here, let Trixie remind you.” She flicked her wrist to sent the top hat flying. It landed on the ground and a cloud of blue, sparkling smoke burst out from it. When I waved the smoke from my vision there was someone I had only seen in camera phone pictures on the internet standing before us.
The she-demon form of Sunset grinned nastily at us, wearing the top hat and outfit of a magician’s assistant. Sunset flinched back from the demon, and Applejack and Rainbow shifted into fighting stances. That left me to wonder what Trixie had done. Had she actually managed to summon whatever Sunset had transformed into, or was this something else?
The she-demon chortled and bared her teeth. “Hey Sunset, remember me? How about we turn our class into a bunch of meat-puppets again and try and take over the world. Wouldn't that be fun?” She laughed like she had told the funniest joke imaginable.
Sunset clenched her teeth and turned back to Trixie. “Yeah, I screwed up. That's exactly why I know how important it is to use magic responsibly.”
Trixie glowered at us. “So what're you going to do about the Great and Powerful Trixie? Blast Trixie with magical friendship rainbows? That seems to be how you deal with most problems.” She snorted derisively. “Or perhaps you want to give Trixie a friendship lesson?”
“If it comes down to a fight, we'll do what we have to,” Sunset snapped back, not giving Trixie an inch. “But I'd rather talk to you about how the use your magic to help people, and try to understand where you got it from. This doesn't need to get ugly.”
Trixie sneered down her nose at us. “Trixie is doing just fine on her own. Besides, now that Trixie has magic, she thinks it's time to get back a little payback for all you've done to her.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What did we ever do to you?”
That was something I wanted to know myself. I'd barely even talked to Trixie since coming to school, and I had no idea why she might have a grudge against me other than by proxy with my friends.
Something ugly flashed behind Trixie’s eyes. “First, you turned Trixie into a brain-washed zombie.”
“And loved doing it!” the she-demon laughed.
Sunset sighed and her head drooped. “Okay, I am sorry about that.”
Trixie wasn't done as she pointed a finger in my direction. “Oh, and don't think Trixie forgot how she ruined the Friendship Games. Trixie nearly fell into some hole in reality to who-knows-where! There was some manticore-thing just sitting here with its mouth open to eat Trixie!”
I winced. “Sorry...”
“And what about everyone else?” Sunset asked, some of the fire returning to her voice.
Trixie clenched her jaw. “Worst of all... You upstaged Trixie at the Battle of the Bands! You weren't even supposed to be performing at the concert! Yet there you were, stealing the spotlight!”
Rainbow quirked an eyebrow. “Wait, that's what this is all about? That's stupid.”
Sunset gaped incredulously. “You do realize we were saving the world from enslavement by the Sirens doing that. Including you.”
“That's besides the point!” Trixie stomped her foot. “You made Trixie look bad! After the concert all the other kids would talk about was your fight with the Sirens. It was like Trixie wasn't even there! How is that fair? Trixie didn't do anything wrong! Trixie's performance was spectacular!”
Applejack glowered. “She's a mit bit of a drama queen, ain't she?”
“That's putting it lightly,” Rainbow said. “What were we supposed to do, let the Sirens win? That's dumb. It's not like you would've won anyways—the Sirens were playing with the heads of the judges.”
I had to agree with my friends. Yes, Trixie had a right to be mad when she had been a victim of magic, but holding a grudge over some concert like this was pretty ridiculous. Some local school concert didn't amount to much in comparison to what would have happen if the Sirens had been allowed to do what they wanted.
Trixie’s eye twitched and she stomped her way around the table. “And none of that would've happened if it wasn't for Sunset.” She jabbed Sunset in the chest with a finger. “Everything started getting weird when you came over to our world! After you stole Princess Twilight’s crown it's been one crazy magic disaster after another. It's your fault you turned into a she-demon, the Sirens came because of all the magic that got thrown around to stop you, and since then thing have been becoming worse! Trixie couldn't even just relax at camp without some councilor going nuts and attacking Trixie with her magic. All of this started with you, Sunset, and don't think Trixie forgets that.”
Sunset clench her fist. “Okay, done with being nice and understanding.” I blinked as she brought up her fist and took a swing at Trixie. Her fist through the air, but instead of decking Trixie like I expected, Trixie disappeared into a puff of blue smoke. Sunset’s punch only met air, temporarily overbalancing her.
“Well aren't you a brute?” Came Trixie’s voice from seemingly nowhere. “Trixie shouldn't be surprised you would resort to violence. It's the only way you ever get anything done, after all.”
Sunset, along with the rest of us, swiveled her head to try and find Trixie. “Great, she's hiding somewhere.”
I couldn't find her anywhere. Had she turned invisible? Teleported? Entered another plane of existence? Stopped time and had moved while we had been frozen in place? Had she been here at all? It was impossible to tell quite yet without knowing what type of magic Trixie had. That was the crux of the problem: with magic, just about anything was on the table. It was like trying to play a game when you didn't know all the rules. It naturally put you at a disadvantage.
Trixie reappeared suddenly behind Sunset. One second she hadn't been there, and then the next she was. She leaned in to whisper to Sunset. “Maybe you should look right behind you?” Before Sunset could react, she shoved Sunset into a mud puddle that I was certain hadn't been there a second ago. Trixie clutched her belly as she laughed while Sunset cleared the mud from her eyes.
The she-demon joined in the laugh. “Isn't that a good look for her?” She grinned nastily. “Dirty and on her knees.”
“Hey, that wasn't very nice!” I snapped. True, Sunset swinging at Trixie hadn't been nice either, but Trixie hadn't exactly done much to earn sympathy today.
Rainbow glared daggers at Trixie. “Oh, that is it!” She charged at Trixie, but just like with Sunset, all she hit was a cloud of smoke. She bicycled her arms as she suddenly lost her balance and fell right on top of Sunset, covering them both with mud.
Sunset yelped as she found herself face first in the mud again. “Hey, watch it!” she snapped.
“Hey, it’s not my fault! She tripped me!” In the blink of an eye Rainbow was back onto her feet, her eyes burning with anger.
“Don't look at me.” Trixie reappeared behind her table, a look of contempt on her face. “It's your fault that you're such a klutz. Really, Trixie doesn't know how you ended up the soccer team's captain.”
Sunset climbed back to her feet and she scowled deeply when she looked to me. “Twilight, she’s probably just invisible. Throw some flour or dust or something around so we can find where she'd hiding.”
“Oh, okay!” I looked around, trying to find something I could use. It was something for me to do other than standing around looking helpless at least.
Trixie raised her hands and they went through a series of precise motions. “Don’t even think about it!”
A swirl of blue, sparkling smoke formed next to me. I stepped away from smoke as something moved out it. I blinked and nearly fell over myself as I saw just about the last person I ever wanted to see.
Midnight Sparkle laughed as she levitated before me. “Hey there, Twilight. Remember me?”
“B-b-but you don’t exist!” I cried. “You were only in my head!”
“Oh come now, Twilight, you’ll never be done with me.” Midnight laughed again and slashed her hand through the air, creating a portal. “And look, I even brought presents!”
“Snaaaaaaakes!” Dozens of slithering, squirming, scary snakes crawled towards me. I stumbled and almost fell as I backed away. They closed the distance between me, and I was forced to turn and run. Someone who sounded suspiciously like me screamed, and next thing I knew I was climbing my way up the first tree I could find. I winced as the torrent of snakes circled the tree, leaving me no escape if I even had half a mind to jump down. Which I most certainly didn’t—because there were snakes!
Not wanting to watch the snakes hiss and rattle at me all day, I turned my eyes back to everyone else. To my further embarrassment, I found I had made my way across half the length of a soccer field before I had finally found a tree to climb into. That wasn’t helped by the fact that everyone had been staring at me when I ran off, and it wasn’t hard to hear Trixie laughing at me. Yeah, I wasn’t going to be able to live this down anytime soon, I just knew it.
Rainbow turned back to Trixie with a glare. “Oh, that's just low!”
Applejack cracked her knuckles. “And Ah’ve seen enough.” She took a swing at Midnight, but Midnight teleported away and reappeared out of reach.
“Oh, you want to play too?” Midnight swept her hand through the air again and created another portal. From the dimensional rift rolled out a dozen giant apples, each as tall as a person, formed a circle around Applejack. They sat still for a long moment when they all opened a gaping maw with far too many sharp teeth inside.
“Whoa nelly!” Applejack took a step back, bringing her fists up. “Really? Yer attacking me with apples now?!”
“Get her!” Midnight cried, jabbing her finger at Applejack.
One of the apples rolled at Applejack, forcing her to hop to the side to dodge it. A quick straight punch blew the apple to pieces, but two more came on her flanks. Applejack rolled foward to avoid them and came back up to her feet, throwing an uppercut at one to sheer off a quarter of it. A fourth apple came up from behind her, and I winced as I saw she wasn’t going to evade it.
It rolled and bore its teeth to bite down on Applejack when a rainbow blur disintegrated it. Chunks of apple flew everywhere as Rainbow hit one oversized apple after another in quick succession. “Hey Applebutt, I know it’s hard to do when you’ve got such a big rear, but trying and watch it before it gets bitten off!” Rainbow called out.
“Watch yer own rear!” Applejack leapt past Rainbow to land in front of the portal as more apples started rolling out. With a mighty swing, Applejack took out one apple after another. But it soon became apparent that she couldn’t swing fast enough to stop the rush of apple and was soon pushed back. A full melee broke out as Applejack and Rainbow were pressed by what seemed like an endless army of apple-monsters.
I wanted to help, and I knew I could, but the fight was taking place beyond the range my magic. At least as long as I was stuck up this tree, which didn’t seem like something that was going to change anytime soon. I looked down and considered the idea trying to use my telekinesis to get rid of the snakes, but that prospect flew from my mind when I saw that a virtual carpet of snakes had formed under the tree. More and more of the vile things were pouring out of the portal to join their fork-tongued fellows, and there was no sign it was going to stop anytime soon. That was bad, really bad.
“Dammit.” Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Is that really the best you can do, Trixie? I make better magic in my sleep.”
“Oh really?” Trixie appeared in front of her with a puff of smoke, smirking as she flicked her nose. “Then why are you the one wallowing in the dirt?”
Sunset lunged for her and grabbed Trixie’s wrists. The two of them struggled against one another, with Trixie trying to pull away while Sunset held onto her. “Hey, let go!” Trixie twisted this way and that to try and break the hold. “Trixie didn't say you could touch her!”
“Yeah, you also didn't say I could do this.” Sunset’s eyes glowed, and I finally noticed that she wasn’t wearing her gloves anymore.
Trixie finally pulled herself free of Sunset and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. She reappeared in the open air, floating in place thanks to her magic. “That's it! Now you've made Trixie mad!” She raised a hand to the sky and clouds formed, thunder rolling through the sky.
Sunset turned to the rest of us, a smile on her face. “Relax everyone, I just read her mind, and she's just an illusionist! There aren't any monsters or anything!”
Applejack got hit in the back by one of the apple-monster and fell to the dirt. “They feel pretty real to me!” She kicked out with a leg to obliterate the offending apple and rolled back to her feet.
Sunset shook her head. “Don't trust your eyes, she's tricking them! She’s just pushing you while invisible. Close your eyes and pay attention to your other senses.”
Rainbow closed her eyes and listened. “Got her!” She zoomed, but instead of hitting Trixie she slammed into the table that Trixie had turned invisible sometime during the fight. Rainbow tumbled with the table and held herself when she was done rolling. “Oh-ho-ho! Ow!”
“Sunset, are you really, really sure all of this isn't real?” I called out. A shudder ran up my spine as I glanced at the carpet of snakes below me. “Because I really, really, really hate snakes, and I don't want to be touching the ground if there are snakes down there.”
Sunset nodded at me. “Yes, I'm sure! I read her mind and Celestia gave me anti-illusion training. She can't make anything real and she can’t hurt you. Now use your telekinesis to find her!”
Midnight laughed at me. “Yes, be a good girl come down where my snakes can give you kisses and hugs.” She made some exaggerated kissing noises to mock me.
I took a steadying breath and closed my eyes. Sunset wouldn’t lie to me. Certainly not if it would get me hurt, and everything we had seen would make sense if it Trixie was only making illusions. If I got down from the tree, all I would be dealing with would be illusionary snakes... Yes, that was so much better...
But my friends needed me. There might be a way for me to find Trixie and put a stop to this. Shame I needed to get out of this tree.
I steeled my resolve and started climbing down, ignoring the hissing snakes and the fight-or-flight instincts that told me I was going the wrong way. Soon I was back to the ground, and I shivered in revulsion as I felt the snakes climb up my legs with their scaly bodies. Within an instant, they were all over me, coiling their bodies around mine.
No, they weren’t real. Trixie must just have been play with my sense of touch. That being the case, I opened my eyes to see Midnight facing me.
She grinned nastily at me as she leaned closer. “Decided to finally come down, egh? Well how about—”
“I don’t have time for you,” I snapped, stepping past the illusion. Midnight tried taunting me a few more times, but I ignored her—her, and the snakes that most certainly didn’t exist despite my senses telling me otherwise.
Soon enough I was back into a range to where I could be useful to everyone again. I looked around the battlefield and found something I could use. Reaching out with a hand to a nearby water fountain, I levitated the water out of it and spread it into a fine mist. I closed my eyes as I spread the water out all about me and concentrated. Trixie could play with all of our senses by the looks of it, but there were still ways even an invisible person could be found.
“Oooh, using telekinesis to move some water around.” An illusionary copy of Trixie mockingly waggled her fingers. “Trixie is so scared.”
“Telekinesis is more useful than you might think.” There! I felt a space where the water droplets in my telekinetic grip were meeting resistance. I reached out with my other hand to the table and yanked the tablecloth from it, then zipped it over the area of resistance and wrapped it up like a birthday present. “Aha! Now I've got you!”
Trixie screamed in surprise as I lifted her into the air. Opening my eyes I could see that my telekinesis now held Trixie, and her invisibility dropped to reveal her. “Let Trixie down! You can't do this to her! Trixie has rights!” She kicked wildly, but I put my full focus on holding her in place.
“Good work, Twilight.” Sunset stalked towards Trixie, glowering at her. “Yeah, Trixie, you have rights. Like the right to remain silent.” She pulled her fist back for a punch.
“Not in the face!” Trixie screamed, closing her eyes as she leaned away from Sunset.
“Sunset,” I chided lightly. We're not here for revenge.” I glared Trixie’s way. “Not that she doesn't deserve it... But aren't we supposed to be better than that, right?”
Sunet held her fist up as the seconds drifted by, but then she slowly dropped her hand to her side. She let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her hair. “Yeah, you're right.”
When the punch didn’t come, Trixie peeked an eye open, then opened both of her eyes to glower at us when it was clear Sunset wasn’t going to sucker-punch her. “So now what? Are you going to blast Trixie with rainbow lasers? Strip her of her magic? Banish her to some dimensional prison?”
“Don’t tempt us,” Rainbow grumbled as she and Applejack stepped joined us.
Sunset crossed her arms over her chest. “How did you get your magic, anyway?”
“Don't you know?” Trixie snorted and turned her gaze away from us. “You read Trixie's mind, and you know more about this magic thing that Trixie does.”
“I didn't get all of it,” Sunset explained. “I tried to only get what I needed to keep my friends safe, not probe into all your secrets. I don’t use my magic just to hurt people.”
“Trixie doesn't know,” Trixie grumbled. “Everything was normal, at least as much as they can around here these days, and then a few days ago Trixie found out she could make illusions. Real illusions, or as real as illusions can get, anyways.” She shrugged.
“So what do we do with her?” Rainbow growled, her hand curling into a fist.
“That's what Ah'd like to know.” Applejack dusted herself off. “Can't say Ah liked the runaround she gave us.”
“We’re going to make it very clear to Trixie that she’s never going to do this again,” Sunset said. “She knows we can beat her now, and now that we know we’re dealing with illusions it’ll be even easier to beat her in the future if she doesn’t toe the line.”
I nodded. “We don’t want to fight you, Trixie, but we’ll do it if we have to.”
Rainbow rubbed her wrists as she stepped closer to Trixie. “And Trixie? You know how we kicked your butt? Well if you ever act up again, we'll kick it twice as hard.” She turned to go, but then stopped herself, looking at Trixie across her shoulder. “Oh, and by the way, I don't have any ex-villain issues or anything to prove, so...” She spun around and slugged Trixie in the gut.
Trixie let out a pained gasp as the air was knocked out of her. She coughed a few time before she squeaked out, “Trixie was winning most of our fight, you know.”
“You know, I think I've gotten over my issues.” Sunset flexed her hand and clenched it to get ready for a punch.
Trixie laughed in a forced manner. “Okay, okay! Trixie's learned her lesson! No need to hit Trixie again, she’ll be good!”
“Yeah, no reason to hit you ... this time.” Sunset grabbed Trixie by the collar and pulled her close. A malicious grin spread across her face as she stared Trixie in the face. It made me nervous just seeing it from the sidelines, much less what Trixie must have been feeling. “You know what'll happen if you set one toe out of line.”
“Trixie thinks she has a good idea,” Trixie squeaked, her smile brittle.
“Good.” Sunset let Trixie go and looked to me. “Let her go, Twilight.”
“Got it.” I dropped Trixie none-too-gently, happy that this seemed to finally be over. I didn’t particularly like intimidating Trixie like this, but I didn’t see many other options.
“Ow...” Trixie groaned and rubbed as her rear as she stood. “Are you done humiliating Trixie now? She just wants to go home and take a nice long hot bath.”
“Hmm...” Rainbow rubbed her chin, and a mischievous grin worked its way onto her features. She zipped by Trixie and muffled her hair, eliciting a snicker from Applejack. “There, now we’re done.”
Trixie glowered at us, blowing at her hair to get it out of her eyes. “Yes, very funny.” She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “Trixie really isn't cut out to be a villain.”
Sunset grinned. “Glad you realized that.”
The following weekend after our confrontation with Trixie saw me, Sunset, and Spike hanging out at my house’s backyard pool. After all the craziness of the last week, it felt good to just relax. I like studying and keeping on top of my school work, in addition to all my other projects, but even I liked to just lie around an unwind sometimes. Usually with a good book. Though just hanging out with friends was starting to grow on me.
“Thanks for inviting me over,” Sunset said as she applied some sunscreen to her arms. She was sitting on a poolside recliner in her swimming suit, a sunhat sitting on her head.
“You're welcome.” I kicked at the water as I held onto the poolside, just enjoying the nice, relaxing soak. “I thought it might be nice to invite someone over for a swim. It always felt a bit awkward to use it by myself.”
“Well, feel free to invite me anytime.” Sunset finished applying her sunscreen and sat at the edge of the water, smiling and idly kicking at it. “It’s nice getting to swim now and again. Especially when you have such a nice pool.”
Both of my parents had really nice jobs, so they could afford a pretty big home and all the nice things that went with it. Not that I had really gotten a chance to show it off or anything like that. The last time I had invited anyone over and they had actually come was ... fourth grade? I had more or less stopped bothering inviting anyone after no one showed up for my sixth grade birthday. No sense trying when I knew I was going to fail anyways.
I pushed aside those depressing thoughts and instead smiled at Sunset. “Great. I'm sure my parents would let me.” My smile became strained at the edges. “I think they're just happy that I invited a friend over, instead of just spending each weekend locked up in the basement working on a project or a book.”
Sunset slipped into the pool to float next to me. “It's good to have a bit more balance in your life. There's more to it that just studying.”
“That's what everyone kept telling her,” Spike said as he paddled his way past us. “Not that she'd ever listen.”
“I'm getting better now,” I said, a hint of guilt creeping into me. “I'm not only studying anymore. Of course, I'm not sure my parents would approve of the ‘Getting into fights with people abusing magic’ thing, either.”
My parents would probably freak if they ever found out about my magic. I had begged Shiny not to tell them about magic after the incident after the Friendship Games, and he had relented. Though that had been when I thought I was done with magic, but the events of Camp Everfree changed everything. Now I was in a situation where I couldn’t refuse to use magic, not in a way I felt comfortable with. It wasn’t like I could let Gaia Everfree or Trixie have their way and hurt people with their magic. Someone needed to put their foot down, and my friends needed me.
That brought me back around to what I was supposed to tell my parents. I mean, how in the world do you explain to your parents that something that was previously thought to be impossible was in fact possible, and could demonstrate it? That didn’t even get into the fights with other magic users. I’d never gotten into a fight in the past, and now I’d just gotten into a series of slugfests. It didn’t help to know that the fight with Trixie probably wouldn’t be the last one with a magic user. I couldn’t imagine my parents would be happy to find that out.
Sunset placed a hand on my shoulder. “You did the right thing, Twilight. I know it wasn’t easy, but you did good by helping us stop Trixie.”
I sighed and lay my head on to poolside. “Yeah, I know. I think I'm still getting used to all of this. It wasn't that long ago that I was petrified at the idea of using magic after it drove me crazy. Now I’m actively using it to stop others from abusing magic. That’s a lot of changes coming at me really quickly.”
“It's a process, and one you've been working on for a while.” Sunset smiled encouragingly. “And been doing a real good job at. You’ve come a long way already, and I’m sure you’ll go even further before we’re done.”
“Yeah, don't sweat it,” Spike agreed.
“Thanks. It's ... good to hear that.” It felt good to get some encouragement. It was better than the alternative, in any event.
“It's just the truth.” She patted me on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Trust me.”
“I guess you would know all about it,” I said. “Considering we're both on the ‘Reformed Evil Magic Users’ part of the team.”
“Twilight,” Sunset chided. “Don't focus so much on what we did in the past; learn from it. Don't repeat your mistakes. Make things right. But don't spend your whole life hating yourself for it, okay?”
“Especially when you're doing so much better now,” Spike agreed, climbing out of the pool to shake himself off.
“Okay, okay, I'll try and do that in the future.” I rubbed my forehead. “I'm probably just overthinking it.”
Sunset grinned and gave me a friendly punch to the shoulder. “You do that a lot.”
I smiled in embarrassment as I rubbed my shoulder. “It's a bit of a bad habit.”
“I've noticed.” Her face turned more serious as she frowned. “So ... you okay with everything that happened with Trixie?”
“I think I am.” I laid back and just floated in the water. “She shook me up a bit, but I think I have that whole incident in context now. We needed to stop her when we did. After all, we don't want her to go evil magic girl on us like we did.” I held up a finger when I sensed her protest coming on. “Just stating a fact, not feeling sorry for myself.”
“Yeah. If we were back in Equestria, I'd turn her over to the magi.” Sunset shrugged and pushed off to join me in the deeper part of the pool. “Unfortunately, all I can do here is try and scare her straight. We’re just going to have to hope that’s enough.”
I frowned as I considered the implications of all of that. “We're ... going to have to do that more than once, aren't we? I mean, if more people start showing up with magic powers and they abuse them?”
Sunset took her time before answering me. “Someone has to deal with this, and who's more qualified than us?”
“Considering the average person will think we're crazy if we start talking about people misusing magic?” Unfortunately, we didn’t have an authority figure I felt comfortable approaching. “I haven't even told my parents about the whole magic thing. I don't even want to consider trying it with the police. They’re liable to lock us up in a padded room for that.”
Spike jumped into the pool and his head reappeared on the surface a few seconds later. “Yeah, I mean people tend to freak out whenever they just hear me talking.”
“Yeah, it's us or nobody,” Sunset agreed.
“Pretty much, as weird as that idea is. I never quite imagined myself as magic police.” I waved vaguely in the air. “Or whatever this is.”
“In Equestria, we called them the magus corps,” Sunset said. “That’s pretty much what we are. We're teaching people responsible magic and dealing with those use it irresponsibly.”
I rubbed my chin as I floated about the pool, my organizational instincts were triggered. “We should probably come up with a name for this ... thing we've got going on. ‘Sunset and the magical friends she hangs out with to beat up evil magic users’ isn't exactly something that rolls off the tongue.”
“Good point.” Sunset frowned thoughtfully. “Cloud looked like an isolated case, but after Trixie ... yeah, we can't assume more won't be coming.”
“It strikes me as a better idea to assume this is going to be happening more often,” I analyzed. “These magical incidents seem to be happening at an increased pace. Best to plan for this getting worse than better. If we do that we'll at least be prepared. If this all blows over then the worst that happens is that we prepared for nothing.”
“Agreed. So then ... a name.” Sunset stopped to hug a wall as a pondering frown crossed her features. “All this magic going on ... it's like a huge oncoming storm.”
“Sure sounds like it,” Spike agreed. “It doesn’t smell like a drizzle.”
“So ... Stormbreakers?” Sunset grinned. “I'm sure Rainbow will like it. It sounds cool, right?”
I chuckled and swam over to Sunset. “I think so. And probably best we coin a name before she does. Otherwise she's going to name the team after herself. Something like Rainbow Storm.”
Sunset snickered. “Though you have to admit, her band name for the Rainbooms wasn't that bad.”
“I do like it,” I admitted. “It works for a band name.” Even if it was perhaps a little narcissistic on Rainbow’s end.
Sunset shrugged, and casually paddle to the other side of the pool. “Not like we have to figure it out right away. Just saying, a name isn’t our biggest problem at the moment.”
“No, and it probably wouldn't hurt to ask the others and brainstorm with them,” I agreed.
“Sounds like a plan.”
I stared up at the sky, wondering where all of this was going. If there was a storm on the horizon, we were going to need to be ready for it. Nobody else would know how to deal with a magical assault. “It's a start, at least.”
Sunset joined me at watching the clouds lazily pass us by. “Everything has to start somewhere.”
Author's Note
I would like to thank my editors Chengar Qordath, Comma-Kazie, and JakeTheGinger for all their help, and Rodinga, Trinary, and Swiftest Shadow for all their help prereading this chapter.
