The Shadowbolts Adventures

Chapters

Pick of the Litter Part 01
Pick of the Litter Part 02
Prank Wars Part 01
Homesick Part 01
Homesick Part 02
Prank Wars Part 03
Homesick Part 03
Homesick Part 04
Homesick Part 05
Homesick Part 06
Don't Do That
Homesick Part 07
Homesick Part 08
Homesick Part 09
Homesick Part 10
Prank Wars Part 04
Prank Wars Part 05
Homesick Finale
Where Oh Where Is Sunset Shimmer
Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 01
Sonata Cheating Heart Part 01
Pick of the Litter Part 04
Fur Crying Out Loud Part 01
Fur Crying Out Loud Part 02
Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 02
Fur Crying Out Loud Part 03
Pick of the Litter Part 05
Pick of the Litter Finale
Spike the Dragon Babysitter
Sonata Cheating Heart Part 02
Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 03
Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 04
Fur Crying Out Loud Part 04
Prank Wars Part 02
Pick of the Litter Part 03

Pick of the Litter Part 01

Lemon Zest's eyes began to open lazily, showing her a familiar view of her bedroom as the first rays of morning light began to seep into the window just a short distance up the wall. A lazy smile spread across her lips as her mind recalled the fun she had had the night before. Fun that had resulted in her blanket being strewn out across the floor. Though the summer heat that had taken told of the Crystal City would have probably made her chuck the blanket regardless.

Her calm reflection was interrupted when she noticed grunts and high-pitched yips from the bed behind her, along with uncomfortable vibrations in the mattress. She rolled to her back curiously to see Sour Sweet's arms furiously trying to fend off the eager affection of Lemon Zest's little dog, Mina. Lemon couldn't help but smile at the small tussle, at least until Sour rose to a sitting position, snapped the dog up by her stomach, and hefted her over her head like a furry football.

"Don't... you... dare." Lemon Zest glared with all her might.

Both the human and the puppy seemed to freeze. Sour Sweet's eyes darted back and forth between Mina and Lemon Zest, then she pointed at the dog with her free hand. "She started it." Lemon Zest's glare only grew deeper. "Oh come on, you know I can't stand being woken up!"

"Put her down, Sour Sweet."

"Fine, take her side..." Sour Sweet growled at the puppy as she slowly lowered her to the mattress. Mina seemed unphased by the rough treatment, immediately bouncing back and forth between the two girls and yipping excitedly at the top of her lungs. "What the heck is her problem, anyway?"

"I don't know, usually she's pretty calm." Lemon Zest ran a hand through her dog's short fur. Mina jumped in her hand, nuzzling her arm with her nose and darting licks out against her skin before turning away from her. She yipped at the door before turning back to her as if expecting something. "It's not even breakfast time yet... but it looks like she wants us to follow her."

"So let's not."

"Sour Sweet..." Lemon grunted warningly.

"What? If you give a brat what she wants she'll just keep being bratty!" Sour Sweet folded her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"She's a puppy! Come on, let's just go see what she wants." Lemon nudged her shoulder companionably.

"Why do I have to go? You're her mom."

"Well, if I'm her mom you're like her future stepdad." Lemon Zest quirked her eyebrow teasingly. "Right?"

"I... wh..." Sour Sweet stammered and sputtered as her cheeks began to glow bright red. Without saying another word she began to climb out of bed, smoothing down her nightgown as she went.

Lemon Zest followed suit, and soon the two girls were tailing Mina towards the linen closet at the end of the second floor hallway. Several towels had been yanked roughly out of the lowest stack and piled on the floor, where several tiny wiggling forms could be seen moving across the fabric. Mina yipped again and moved to join them on the towel.

"Huh..." Sour Sweet blinked. "So much for Mina being a puppy."

"She has babies! Oh my gosh!" Lemon dropped to her knees in excitement, reaching a hand across the towel to scratch Mina's head furiously. "Oh my gosh, you're such a good girl! And they're so beautiful! Just look at them! Eeeee!"

Sour Sweet knelt down beside her with her arms wrapped around her knees. "There are seven babies there. That's a lot of babies."

Lemon Zest squealed obliviously as she carefully lifted one of the tiny puppies into the cupped palm of her hands. "I can't wait for Twilight to see these little guys! She's going to flip out so hard!"

"What are you even going to do with this many babies?"

"Bring Twilight to see them! Duh!" Lemon Zest carefully set the tiny body down on the towel, where it immediately dragged itself to Mina's belly to join in the feast happening there. "I'm gonna go call her right now!" She jumped to her feet and ran back to her room, snapping her cell phone off of her nightstand and tapping Twilight's name.

"Hrghl.... hello...?" Twilight Sparkle's raspy voice came back over the speaker.

"Twilight! Guess what! You're a grandmother!"

"I... what? I thought I was awake..."

"You are!" Lemon Zest squealed and ran back down the hallway. "Look! These are your grandbabies!" Lemon lifted the phone to take a picture of the scene in front of her, and sent a snapshot of the feasting babies to Twilight.

"Are those... puppies?" Twilight gasped.

"Yes! Yes they are! Mina gave birth last night! Isn't it amazing!?"

Twilight's howling voice could be heard over the phone speaker. "Spike! What did you do!?"

"Um... Twilight?"

"Sorry, sorry." Twilight returned to the phone. "I'll come over as soon as I can, and we can discuss what we're going to do about this."

"What do you mean what we're gonna do about it? They're puppies, we can raise them! It'll be awesome!"

"Will your parents let you keep this many puppies? Because mine sure won't."

"I... well I haven't asked them yet..."

"If they say yes let me know, it'll be a huge load on my mind. For now, I'll be over soon."

"Alright... I'm sure Spike will want to meet them too." Lemon Zest giggled. "They are his babies, after all."

"Y-yeah, of course. He'll be with me. See you soon."

"Buh-bye." Lemon Zest hung up the phone and plopped down on the carpet in front of the linen closet, just watching the babies squirm and explore their towel. "Twilight's coming over to talk."

"Doesn't sound like a happy visit."

"Well I'm happy..." Lemon tried to straighten her back and put her chin into the air. "My baby had babies, what's not to be happy about?"

Sour Sweet looked over at her, then scratched the side of her head for a moment before reaching one arm out slowly to wrap it around Lemon's shoulders. Gently Lemon felt herself pulled against Sour Sweet's side in a half-hug. "Want me to stick around until you figure that out?"

"You don't have to... but yeah, I do."

Sour nodded with a soft blush on her cheeks as they watched the babies wiggle.

Pick of the Litter Part 02

Twilight Sparkle's footsteps along the sidewalk were quick and as heavy as a 120 pound high school girl could make them. There was a leash clenched tightly in her left hand, though the small dog that padded along by her heels didn't need any urging or help to keep up with her.

"Twilight, what's the big deal?" Spike grunted worriedly. "You've been quiet since we left the house, where are we going?"

"We're going to Lemon Zest's house."

"Really!?" Spike's ears perked up happily. "Okay! I can spend time with Mina!"

"You've been irresponsible enough already!" Twilight snapped. When Spike grunted and looked up at her in surprise she continued. "Your girlfriend just had a litter of puppies, Spike."

"Oh..." Spike blushed and almost seemed to beam as he walked. "Oh, wow... I'm a daddy..."

"You're too young to be a daddy!"

"I'm over a year old now, Twilight." Spike shook his head. "Besides it... it just felt right when it happened, you know?"

"Well it wasn't!" Twilight blushed furiously. "You're not even married!"

"Uh... do... dogs get married?"

"That..." Twilight grumbled into silence the rest of the way to Lemon Zest's house, where Lemon met them at the door with a nervous smile.

"Hey, come on in." Lemon stepped aside to let them in, with Sour Sweet standing close behind her.

As soon as they entered Spike darted away from them, yanking the leash right out of Twilight's grip as he bounded for the staircase. "Hey! Spiiike!" Twilight shouted after him, but he was already gone.

"I guess he can smell them from here. Hehe... it's cute..." Lemon smiled.

Twilight grunted and turned to Lemon stiffly. "Did you talk to your parents? What did they say?"

Lemon nodded. "Yeah, I talked to 'em... they said we can keep one... the rest have gotta go as soon as they can."

"I was afraid of that." Twilight plucked her phone out of her pocket and did a quick search. "It looks like they need to stay together for eight weeks at least..."

"After that..." Lemon looked down with a sigh. "Spike and Mina are gonna be devastated, aren't they?"

Sour Sweet slipped an arm around Lemon's shoulders. "It could be worse... they could've been born dead..." Twilight and Lemon just stared at her for several long, silent moments. "What? It's true."

Twilight slipped her phone back in her pocket. "Come on, we should tell them. The puppies are upstairs, right?" After Lemon Zest nodded the trio made their way up the staircase towards the linen closet at the end of the hallway.

Most of the puppies had drifted back to sleep, though two of them had returned to Mina's belly for another meal. Mina was resting calmly with her chin on one leg, silently watching over them as her tail slowly waggled back and forth, through the air and beating on the ground. Spike was huddled against Mina's back, his cheek draped over her shoulder as he watched the tiny puppies, not taking his eyes off of them, almost as if afraid they would vanish if he blinked. They both looked positively thrilled at what was sitting before them.

Twilight came to a stop in the middle of the hallway, bringing her friends to a halt behind her. "M-maybe we don't have to tell them right away... we have a little while..."

"Yeah... eight weeks is a long time in doggy years anyway... we can tell them when the time comes." Lemon smiled sadly.

So instead they gave the new family some time and space to spend on the towel, huddled together in the linen closet while the girls retreated from what they knew would someday have to be done.

Prank Wars Part 01

Canterlot High School was bustling with activity as students milled about the front courtyard and the sidewalks leading up to the palace of education. Socialization and laughter had become the school's defining features, which made Sunset Shimmer smile broadly as she watched from a short distance away. She had never been so happy to have a plan thwarted in her life as she was to end up not permanently destroying this school and enslaving the people within it.

Her smile didn't waver as the bus she had been waiting for pulled up, and the door opened. Twilight Sparkle was waving behind her as she hopped down the final step to the sidewalk, then wrapped Sunset in a curiously tight welcome hug.

"Hey!" Sunset returned the hug. "Are you okay? You're weirdly huggy today."

"I had a long day yesterday." Twilight pulled back after a moment with a soft smile. "But it'll be nice to get back to normal with some nice stimulating friendship and schoolwork."

"Do you want to talk about it? Did Timber Spruce do something to you...?" Sunset's blood began to boil at the thought.

Twilight raised her hands and shook her head quickly. "It's nothing like that, I promise! We can talk about it after school." Cooling down slightly, Sunset nodded and turned to walk with her towards the courtyard, where she noticed an unusually large crowd had gathered around the rebuilt Wondercolt statue out front.

In fact, as they approached they noticed Vice Principal Luna had climbed up on the base of the statue and was furiously pulling on something hidden by her body. The closer they got to the crowd of students the louder the sounds of giggling and mysterious murmurs became as they all watched the Vice Principal hard at work.

Sunset Shimmer spotted their group of friends among the crowd, giggling to themselves with rosy red cheeks and bright humorous grins as they stood near the steps leading up to the front door. "What's going on? Did something happen to the Wondercolts statue?"

"Oh yeah, someone made our statue real happy." Rainbow Dash snickered as she pointed over Sunset's shoulder. The two newcomers turned to look to see a rather large, and rather stiff-looking set of male genitalia glued to the underside of the Canterlot Wondercolt. Vice Principal Luna was tugging and prying as hard as she could to remove the new appendage, but it looked like it was stuck on pretty good.

"Keep it up Vice Principal Luna! He looks like he's enjoying it!" Rainbow Dash howled in laughter despite Luna's warning glare over her shoulder.

"Whoa..." Twilight immediately turned bright red. "When did that happen?"

"Some time over the weekend." Rarity scoffed and shook her head. "It's simply barbaric and crude..."

"And yet you're laughing." Rainbow Dash's laugh lowered to a snicker.

"A thing can be barbaric and crude and slightly humorous... but it's still disrespectful regardless."

Sunset interjected curiously. "Do they know who did it?"

Applejack waved her hand in the air like she was swatting a fly. "No official word, but things like this aren't that unusual, and it always turns out to be-"

"-Crystal Prep." The five longtime Wondercolts stated in unison.

"What? But aren't they our friends now?" Sunset asked. "It seems wrong to accuse them like this..."

"We're friends with five of them, darling." Rarity dismissed her concern. "That still leaves an entire school of jerks to deal with. Er... no offense, Twilight."

"Don't look at me, I think it was them too." Twilight jerked her thumb towards the statue. "Even Sunny Flare and the others think the school is still pretty rotten overall."

"If you ask me we've been enemies for way too long," Pinkie Pie declared. "Somebody needs to spread the magic of laughter and friendship to all of Crystal Prep!"

Twilight looked down unsurely. "I don't know, Pinkie. That sounds admirable, but if someone doesn't see things the way you do, you can't really force them to."

"Watch me!" Pinkie punched her fist into her palm determinedly.

"Pinkie Pie!" Vice Principal Luna marched over to them, having successfully dislodged the body part and clutching it in her palms as she approached. "As an official representative of this school I cannot allow you to retaliate for this in any way."

"I wasn't gonna retaliate. I was gonna make peace and laughter!"

Luna stroked her chin with one hand, clutching the body part to her chest with her other arm. Rainbow Dash's snickering could probably be heard at Crystal Prep Academy. "I don't know. Coming from you that sounds an awful lot like retaliation."

"Please, Vice Principal Luna?" Pinkie Pie cupped her hands in front of her. "Pleasepleaseplease?"

"As I said I cannot formally grant you permission to do anything at all to Crystal Prep, even if it's friendly." Luna turned to march past them. "But I don't have cameras there." She continued her way into the building, leaving behind a trail of snickers and laughter as she passed the students on her way towards her office with the phony phallus clutched against her chest.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Pinkie Pie jumped up in excitement. "Excuse me, I have plans to make!" Pinkie Pie nearly vanished from the spot, leaving the front doors of CHS swinging wildly open.

"This is gonna get weird, isn't it?" Twilight asked. Her other five friends could only nod, aside from Rainbow Dash, who was too busy laughing wildly on the pavement.

Homesick Part 01

The sun had passed its zenith by the time the school bell rang, and the students of Canterlot High were unleashed upon the unsuspecting town. The hoots and hollers didn't bother the two girls who emerged from the front doors together, walking in silence as they moved down the concrete walkways towards the sidewalk. Sunset's gaze swept back and forth across the courtyard, watching all of the students frolic and roughhouse as they left the school grounds.

Their prior conversation didn't resume until they had put enough distance between them and the other students to properly hear one-another without shouting. "Anyway, that's kind of the deal. In a few weeks we're gonna have to take Spike's babies away and... I just don't want to. I feel like a terrible person for even considering it, even if conceiving them was irresponsible in the first place. Hey... you don't want a puppy do you?"

Sunset shook her head. "Sorry, my apartment has a strict no pet policy." She slipped a comforting arm around her friend's shoulder. "You're not a terrible person, Twilight," Sunset assured her with a smile. "No matter what you decide to do, we all know you'll do what you think is best for Spike."

"That's profoundly unhelpful."

Sunset Shimmer chuckled. "Sorry, I can't think of a solution, only offer some emotional support."

Twilight giggled back. "It's okay, that helps in itself." As they reached Twilight's bus stop to wait for her ride back into the city, Twilight turned on her friend with a curious look. Her eyes flitted down from Sunset's face to her chest, bringing a soft blush to Sunset's cheeks. "If it's not too personal, can I ask you something?"

"Of course... you know I'm an open book to you." Sunset nodded.

"You've been rubbing your pendant a lot since we got back from Camp Everfree." Twilight nodded toward her chest. Sunset looked down to see that her fingers were indeed wrapped around the tiny stone dangling from her neck, her thumb stroking the top of it. "Is there a particular reason?"

Sunset closed her fist around the stone with a soft blush, blocking it from view. "Sorry, I barely even noticed. I have been feeling a little strange since we got our pendants, though."

"Strange?"

"Yeah. I know we've encountered a bunch of magic recently, but this is the first time since I got here that I've just been surrounded by magic without some kind of burst that vanishes almost immediately. It feels different, it feels almost... nostalgic."

"In a good way or a bad way?"

"I couldn't even tell you that." Sunset gave her a wry smirk. "As I said, I feel strange." Both girls looked up as the bus pulled up to the sidewalk beside them, and the doors opened to let a few passengers emerge onto the sidewalk.

"Well you know if you need someone to talk to you have my number, or you can come visit any time." Twilight Sparkle smiled. "I don't know if I have any solutions, but I can offer emotional support."

Sunset grinned back. "It's okay, that helps in itself." She waved as Twilight slipped into the bus just before the doors closed, and it went rolling on down the street towards the city.

As the bus pulled away, she was left staring at the Wondercolt statue in the middle of the courtyard, and the mirror that sat beneath it. The land of Equestria was only steps away... and she had never considered going back. This was her home, after all. This was where she'd made her life and her friends. Still, she had to admit that something felt like it was missing... perhaps it would be nice to see her old stomping grounds again. At least for a while. At least to say...

She turned away from the Wondercolt and jogged towards her apartment, slipping inside with a relieved sigh and dropping her backpack to the floor. Once her shower was done and she had a granola bar in hand, she wandered into her bedroom and plopped down on the mattress. It was only moments later before her magic book ended up on the mattress beside her, with a pen held loosely in one hand.

Hey Princess Twilight. It's been a while. How have things been going there?

Sunset knew it could be a while before there was a response, so she flopped back on her bed and took a bite of her granola bar. It surprisingly wasn't long at all before she saw the soft glow from the page signaling a response.

A lot has happened since you all came flooding through last time, but things have settled down about now.

Yeah, sorry about that again. We wouldn't bother you if it weren't important.

It's no trouble at all, you know if you need anything you only need to ask.

Sunset Shimmer hesitated for a moment, then steadied her hand before writing again. Actually, I was wondering if I could spend some time in Equestria this weekend. Not for too long, just for a little while to remember what it was like there.

You don't need my permission to come through the portal, Sunset Shimmer. You're welcome in Equestria any time.

Technically the portal leads to your house, so it feels nice to ask.

I'll grant you that one, haha. But no, I don't mind you coming through. If you want we can set up a small place in Ponyville for you to use when you do decide to visit.

One thing at a time, okay? I just want to see it first.

This weekend, then. Just come through when you're ready.

Okay, thank you so much. I'll be coming through on Friday. I'll see you then. Sunset Shimmer set down her pen and stared at the text on the page. Just like that, with no fanfare or drama, she was set to visit the land she had once fled from and tried to conquer. It felt strange to her. Even though she had been through the portal a few times since leaving, she had yet to really visit for any length of time. Part of her wondered if it was even like she remembered it...

Well, the date was set. She would find out soon...

Homesick Part 02

A lot of people wouldn't consider the Happy Cat Diner to be the most dignified place to work. Sunset Shimmer didn't really mind it, though. Growing up as a pony in Equestria, she rarely wore clothes anyway, so she didn't mind wearing less of it here in the human world. If humans had an obsession with ogling her boobs they were free to, she was getting paid for it after all. Besides, the owners were actually quite considerate about it, and made sure they were well paid and taken care of.

So it was with a clear mind that she made her way to the lockers in the back room at the end of her shift, trailed close behind by Adagio Dazzle, the friend she had helped to get a job here after discovering her homeless in the street some time ago.

"Good work today, Adagio." Sunset turned toward her with a smile. "I think things went really smooth."

Adagio gave her a tired thumbs up as she trudged her way towards her own locker to pry it open and begin changing out of her jeans and cowboy hat. It had been a long day, but Sunset had had something on her mind for a while.

"So, Dagi..." Sunset approached her friend with her hands clasped in front of her. "You've been in the human world for a long time, right?" There was a moment of silence before Adagio moved the locker door out of the way so she could fix her with a droll glare. "Right, stupid question. A thousand years. Got you." Adagio nodded and turned back to her locker. "Anyway, I actually had plans this weekend to see Equestria again... I thought maybe you three would want to tag along. It has been a long time after all."

There was silence, as expected, while Adagio slipped on her plain white t-shirt and thick hoodie over her normal blue-jeans. The locker closed, and suddenly Adagio was fixing Sunset Shimmer with a long, intense stare, as if trying to search her soul for something.

"I promise this isn't a prank or a joke. I just thought you might like to see the old stomping grounds again."

Adagio lifted her hand to her chin, narrowing her eyes as if in deep thought. Then she reached behind her to the small array of flags tucked into the back of her jean pockets. Do you want to come home with me? She took out an empty flag to scribble on it really quickly. We can discuss this with the others.

"Sure, I'll come along with you."

One quick wardrobe change and bus ride later, and the two working girls were approaching the homeless shelter at a quick, even pace. Past the lobby and down the hallway, they entered the room that Adagio was helping pay for. They found Aria Blaze lying on the bed staring at the ceiling, and Sonata Dusk sitting on the floor with a box of markers, trying to draw a picture of a flower on a blank sheet of paper.

Adagio snapped both of her fingers, which drew her Life Partners' attention to them. After that, she gestured to Sunset with a flourish and stepped out of her way.

"Oh, uh... thanks, I guess." Sunset giggled nervously at suddenly being the center of attention. "I was just wondering... I'm planning to go back to Equestria for the weekend. Would any of you like to go with me? I know it's been a long time."

Aria's face was blank, but Sonata placed a finger to her chin and stared at the ceiling as if in deep thought. After a couple of long moments she looked back down at her drawing, then held it up and pointed to it as she shook her head. "It's alright, you don't have to go. I know you have friends here now." Sunset assured her with a smile. "I just thought I would extend the offer."

Adagio let out a soft sigh as she walked across the room, shaking her own head and placing a gentle hand on Sonata's shoulder. Sonata seemed oblivious to the gesture as she resumed her coloring. Sunset flashed her an understanding smile and a thumbs up before turning back to Aria, who was still giving her a blank stare from her place on the bed.

"Aria? Do you want to go?" Sunset gave her the best smile she could muster, but Aria didn't respond. After a minute of staring Sunset finally brushed off the non-reaction. "Alright, it's no biggie. It's been a long time, I'm sure you've all built up quite an attachment to this world. It's a nice world." She turned back to the door and gripped the doorknob. "I'll make sure to swing by and say goodbye before I go." She turned the knob, but was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.

Aria Blaze was standing behind her, gripping her arm as she turned. She gave a slow nod as soon as she had Sunset's attention. "Oh, yeah? Great, that's cool." Sunset smiled in relief. "I could use some friendly company there. Do you think you can get to Canterlot High on Friday afternoon, after school lets out?" Aria released her arm with a curt nod. "Great. I'll see you there, then."

With that, Sunset left the three former-Sirens to their daily business as she made her own way back home with a slight bounce in her step. Going back to Equestria was going to be so strange... it was nice not to have to do it alone.

Prank Wars Part 03

Canterlot High looked the same as ever... except for one notable difference on this particular Friday morning. It took a moment to notice that the front wall had been changed, painted over with a key image that they instantly knew had to have come from their Crystal Prep rival. As they looked up at the painting brushed across the walls surrounding the door frame, only one phrase came to Sunset's mind.

"Well... shit."

Rainbow Dash collapsed to the pavement in uproarious laughter. Painted on the front wall of Canterlot high was a weirdly well-rendered image of a human butt, with the cheeks being spread out to either side of the large doors, which were strategically positioned right where the anus would be on an actual person.

"I uh..." Twilight gulped and adjusted her glasses with a nervous whimper. "We have to walk through there, don't we?"

"I just don't understand how it's so... magnificent." Rarity gestured to the giant ass with both hands. "How does one render something so crude so beautifully?"

"Must be a real artist over there," Applejack agreed with a nod.

"Or someone really wanted to drive the point home," Fluttershy spoke softly through a nearly full-body blush. "N-not that there's anything ugly about a butt..."

Pinkie Pie was staring up at the painting with a hand on her chin right under her pursed lips. "I guess my cake just wasn't friendly enough. I'm gonna have to work super hard to make them understand that our schools can live together in peace and harmony!"

"I don't know, Pinkie..." Sunset coughed into one hand. "If this is how they respond to cake, maybe that's all the answer you're going to get. Not everybody is going to be friendly."

Pinkie Pie gasped in shock. "No, you're wrong! Everybody can be friendly, we proved it at the Friendship Games! We just have to keep extending the olive branch as many times as it takes!"

Rarity interjected calmly, "that sounds great darling, but what if they keep poking us in the eye with said branch?"

"The brown eye..." Rainbow Dash chortled, then fell into another laughing fit.

"I know I can do this!" Pinkie punched one fist into the other. "I just need to do more planning! Don't worry girls, I've totally got this!" She whirled to rush inside, pushing right through the butt-doors like nothing was wrong, and drawing an even deeper blush from Fluttershy and Twilight.

"Maybe they'll let us have class out here today..." Fluttershy groaned.

"Come Fluttershy, regardless of any crude defacements, it's still just a door. You have my word you'll be fine." Rarity slipped an arm around her friend's shoulders and turned to push her towards the doors, where Vice Principal Luna was just getting on the phone while shaking her head balefully at the wall.

"Come on, Twilight." Sunset took her friend's hand to pull her towards the building as well. "Let's get to class, just close your eyes and let me steer." Sunset giggled softly and headed for the doors, ignoring the paint surrounding them.

Homesick Part 03

"You're definitely coming back... right?" The slight waver in Twilight Sparkle's voice punched Sunset right in the gut.

With a chuckle Sunset pulled her friend into a tight hug. "You couldn't keep me away, Twi. It's just for the weekend, I promise."

School had let out, the students were heading home for the day, and Sunset Shimmer was waiting in front of the magical doorway mirror for her travelling companion to arrive. The other students ignored the two girls hugging beside the Wondercolts statue as they went about their own lives, which suited Sunset just fine.

Sunset and Twilight continued to chat softly between themselves as the school courtyard emptied of all other human life. It was too very long before they finally noticed Aria Blaze approaching from the sidewalk, flanked on either side by her two life partners, Adagio Dazzle and Sonata Dusk.

"Hey." Sunset cast them a bright smile as they approached. "Are you two sure you don't wanna come with us? I'm sure there's room for more."

Adagio shook her head, shoulders her way past her fellow Dazzlings, and marched her way up to Sunset in a hurry. Suddenly she grabbed Sunset's hair, jerked her head forward, and shoved a note in her face. If anything happens to Aria, don't bother coming back.

Sunset let out a soft, nervous laugh as she reached up to push Adagio's hand down from her face. "Haha... I... I won't let anything happen, so relax." Adagio still looked tense, but with the huff of a grumpy bull she pulled back to take her place at Aria's side. Aria just rolled her eyes at Adagio before stepping forward with her hands jammed into her pockets.

"Are you ready to go?" Sunset resumed her old smile. Aria gave her a silent nod.

"Take care of yourself, Sunset Shimmer." Twilight gave her a cute smile and a small wave of her hand. "I'll see you on Monday!"

"You know it." Sunset winked.

Aria turned back to her life partners, stared at them blankly for a few seconds, then waved them off with a brief gesture and stepped through the portal without a word. Sunset stared after her stunned for a brief moment before following her through the polished mirror.

She found herself in darkness, though she felt her hoof bump against a soft, scaly hide. "Aria? Is that you? I can't see anything."

Suddenly a voice echoed through the dark room as a light began to twinkle through the darkness, lighting up the shining walls with a rainbow of colors. "Welcome friends, to the Equestrian Palace of Friendship!" Suddenly a blue-coated pony appeared underneath the rainbow light ball with one hoof raised into the air. "I am your Great and Powerful Hostess, Trixie Lulamoon!" She swept her hoof to her right, where another spotlight lit up a grey-maned pony in a blue dress. "This is your second Great and Powerful Hostess Maud Pie!"

She whipped off her hat and threw it into the darkness between herself and Maud, where it landed on a third pony's head as another spotlight came on. "And this is your third Great and Powerful Hostess, Starlight Glimmer! Together we are..."

The three ponies threw up their hooves and spoke in unison. "Welcoming you to Equestria!" Maud jiggled two pompoms in her hooves lifelessly.

"Wow! Um... thank you?" Sunset smiled nervously as the rainbow of light faded and the normal lights came on.

Starlight Glimmer approached Sunset with a nervous smile. "Princess Twilight sends her apologies, but she got called away to Canterlot on royal business. And I know we didn't exactly get off on the best hoof the last time you were here... but she asked me to greet you and make sure you're comfortable, and I would like to do that for you."

"Um, thanks... yes, that would be nice. Things were a little tense, last time we met." Sunset Shimmer spoke as Starlight's companions approached. Sunset decided not to point out how familiar they all were, that would just make things weird. "As you probably heard, I'm Sunset Shimmer, and this is my friend, Aria Bluh...." She turned to point at Aria, only to pause in her tracks the moment she saw her.

Aria's scales were glittering in the light, coating a body that was equal parts curvy and sleek. The fins that replaced her forelegs, and the single tail that replaced her hindlegs looked like gossamer webbing several layers thick, and yet so thin she might break it if she even stepped on it by accident. Her face was the kind of beautiful that Sunset Shimmer couldn't even describe if one asked her to. It had a gentleness that tugged at her heart, though her eyes were dull and seemed disinterested in the proceedings.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Aria Bluh." Starlight held out her hoof.

"Blaze!" Sunset blushed deeply. "Her name is Aria Blaze."

"Oh, sorry." Starlight smiled nervously.

"It's okay, my fault." Sunset coughed. "Anyway, I actually wasn't planning to stick around here. I was hoping you could help me catch the next train to Canterlot. I haven't been back in a pretty long time and I would... like to, you know, visit... some of my old..." As she spoke Maud marched up to her, forcing her to back up until she was pressed against the wall with Maud's face nearly pressing into her chest. "Um, hello?"

"For goodness' sakes, Maud, personal space." Starlight blushed.

Maud spoke in a flat tone. "Where did you get that rock."

"Rock?" Sunset Shimmer looked down. While the rest of her human clothing had vanished on her way through the portal, the magical stone she had gotten from Camp Everfree was still swinging from its rope around her neck. "Oh! I just found it in a cave on Earth."

"May I study it."

"What's so special about that rock, Maud?" Starlight asked as she and Trixie moved up beside their friend.

"I don't know. I can't identify it." Maud stared at the rock like a very bored dog eyeing a bone. "Why do you think I'm so excited."

Sunset placed a hoof over the stone. "If I let you study it, do you think you can tell me anything about it?"

"I can do my best."

Trixie placed a hoof against Maud's flank. "Maud has a serious rock fetish, nopony knows more about rocks than her."

Starlight blushed. "It's a scientific interest, not a fetish!"

"And you'll give it back?" Sunset asked warily.

"You have my word." Maud nodded almost imperceptibly. "I'll give it back when you return from your trip through Equestria."

"Okay." Sunset slipped the necklace off to hand it over to Maud, who immediately took it in her hoof and whirled to make her way to the door without another word. "Um... good luck!"

"Well, it looks like Maud's weekend is suddenly full." Starlight turned back to Sunset Shimmer. "We're your hosts while you're here, so just tell us what you want to do and where you'd like to go and we'll make it happen.”

"Canterlot." Sunset nodded firmly. "I'd like to go to Canterlot."

Homesick Part 04

Aria Blaze looked down curiously as she hovered in the air, Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer both watching her with wary eyes. The throne room in the palace of friendship was pretty much empty, giving them plenty of space to work on the sea pony and the small collar that hovered its way across the room towards her.

"Keep an eye on the magic spikes..." Starlight Glimmer advised.

"I've got a handle on it, just keep her steady." Sunset Shimmer stuck out her tongue in concentration as the collar approached through the air. It flipped open and slipped around Aria's neck like a snake coiling around its prey. Aria's eyes pulsed brightly with magic for a brief moment as the clasp snapped shut.

"Is that gonna do it?" Starlight asked.

"One way to find out. Are you ready, Aria?" Sunset asked. Aria shook her head rapidly for a moment, then fixed Sunset with a sharp glare and nodded her head. "We'll let go in three.... two... one..." Simultaneously the light from the two unicorns' horns faded, leaving Aria hovering in the center of the room. Experimentally Aria flapped her fins, and was sent cruising at a slow speed towards the front door. She dropped through the air as she went from the table to the floor, but stayed 3 feet above whatever was beneath her.

"Looks perfect." Starlight grinned. "You won't be breaking any speed records, but you can get around on land without dragging yourself around the floor or being carried."

"Huzzah!" Trixie threw her forehooves around Starlight's neck. "Trixie continues to be proud of you, Starlight!"

"It was a team effort..." Starlight blushed.

"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without you." Sunset gave Starlight a loose hoof bump. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Starlight's blush finally faded. "Anyway, are you sure you wouldn't like us to come with you to Canterlot? It's our job to show you around and keep you safe..."

Sunset waved off her offer. "Relax, it's been a few years, but I've been to Canterlot before. Just point us in the direction of the Ponyville train station and we can find our way from there. And... we might need a few bits."

Starlight nodded. "Of course, Princess Twilight told us to give you some when you got here." Starlight handed over a small purse. "Just head down main street right outside the door, it'll be on your left. If you hit the end of town, you've gone too far."

"Great. Thanks again, for everything." With a bright smile Sunset waved farewell to Starlight and Trixie, and left the palace with Aria floating at her side.

Ponyville was a really tiny town to have the princess of friendship living in it, Sunset suddenly realized. The roads weren't even paved, comprised of entirely dirt and loose rocks, and almost all of the buildings were businesses with very few dedicated homes, which meant the population was probably so poor they couldn't afford multiple buildings.

"I didn't think this place would be so... rustic," Sunset quipped.

Aria nodded. "Yeah, it's a hole."

"Mmhmm.... wait, Aria!?" Sunset glanced over, halting in her surprise. "You talked!"

"Yup."

"I thought you took a vow of silence after your jewels were destroyed."

Aria shrugged her fins. "That's more Adagio's thing, I just humor her. She does it out of shame and respect for others."

"And you...?"

"Have no shame or respect for others."

"Well..." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck as she resumed her forward motion. "You shouldn't be ashamed, anyway. You don't sound bad."

"Yeah, yeah, friendship ho or whatever." Aria grumped.

Realizing that trying to convince her otherwise was a losing battle, Sunset just sighed and let the moment sit. At least it was something that she had someone to talk to on this trip. That would have to be enough for now.

Homesick Part 05

The train from Ponyville tooted its horn as it chugged relentlessly down the tracks, making its way across the lands of Equestria. The carriage swayed beneath Sunset Shimmer's hooves, rocking from side to side with each turn. The screeching and rumbling of the steel wheels had soon turned to a dull roar, becoming comforting rather than distracting. For the moment, Sunset could sit and relax in the little room that she and Aria had reserved, taking in the sights. The sun was making its way towards the Western horizon, casting long shadows on the meadow that was flying past the window. Ponyville grew more distant, the tiny town growing tinier with each passing second. Cloudsdale drifted through the sky some miles away, its own movement lost to that of the train. It wouldn't be long before the train turned towards Canterlot mountain, but for now, its namesake city was in full view, its spires glimmering white and gold in the light of the sun. Water cascaded from its decks in blue and white, matching the natural waterfall flowing from the mountain beside it. The view was almost breathtaking.

For Sunset Shimmer, at least. A casual glance away from the window showed Aria Blaze idly staring up at the ceiling from her position hovering in the direct middle of their private train car with her fins curled in around herself. She paid no mind as the shadows of trees whipped across her from outside. When she didn't move for ten minutes straight, despite Sunset ordering a few snacks from the train's attendant, Sunset couldn't keep her silence anymore.

"You were gone for a long time," Sunset noted curiously. "You're not curious at all about what Equestria looks like now?"

Aria's reply was curt and flat. "Not really."

Shared silence overwhelmed them again as Sunset took a bite of a good old fashioned Milky Hay. Wonderful as it was, the nearly-forgotten taste filling her mouth wasn't enough to ease her mind. Neither was the sight of White Tail Woods crawling by outside, its far-away leaves blending together into one solid mass of green.

At last, Sunset Shimmer spoke again. "Are you okay, Aria?" Aria's eyes snapped to her, though the rest of her body remained motionless and silent. "You just seem... bored. Honestly if you didn't want to see Equestria, I don't even get why you came. Not that I mind the company."

Aria shrugged, her shifting scales sparkling orange in the setting sunlight. "I don't really know why I came either. Probably shouldn't have, I have no real reason to. Guess I was mostly just bored."

Sunset cocked her head. "Bored? Don't you do anything during the day?"

"I sleep." Aria's eyes turned to the ceiling again. "Sleep and read magazines and... sleep."

"No offense but"—Sunset paused for a few moments as a sudden shudder surged through the carriage—"that doesn't exactly sound healthy."

"So?"

"So nothing, really..." Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of her neck nervously, glancing at the floor before returning her gaze to Aria. "I'm just... glad you came. It's nice to have a friendly face here in Equestria with me. I didn't see a lot of those when I lived here, especially towards the end."

Aria snorted. "Yeah, being ambitious will do that to ya. Nobody wants to feel like you're gonna take what little power they have."

Sunset shook her head. "Yeah, maybe..."

Aria turned her eyes on Sunset again. "Why did you come back? To eat Haybars and watch the scenery?"

"Not entirely..." Sunset Shimmer looked out the window again. Her eyes briefly focused on her own reflection before settling on Canterlot. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips for a split second. "Seeing my old home will be nice... but I also feel like I need real closure."

"Closure?"

"Yeah. You know, setting aside my old life and getting ready to put everything I have into my new one."

Aria gave a quick roll of her eyes. "Psh, a second life... that's a laugh."

Sunset's eyes were still locked on Canterlot. "Well I believe in it."

"Why?"

"Because I need to." Sunset nodded with her lips set into a firm line. "It's either that or sit around hating myself until the day I die..."

"Which you will."

Sunset looked up at Aria oddly. "Yeah, I will die someday. That doesn't mean I'm going to just lie around and wait for it... I mean, I have time left. Either I use it or I don't." She looked out the window at Canterlot again. "And between you and me? I'd rather spend it with a clear conscience."

There was silence for several minutes aside from the train's wheels beneath them rumbling their way along the tracks and the occasional thudding of hoofsteps as ponies walked past the door to their rooms. Sunset shifted, propping her hooves against the short windowsill. The sun was now drifting towards the horizon, painting a dark silhouette against the pale purple of the mountain, as though a city-shaped hole had been cut out of the mountain. Sunset glanced up out of the corner of her eye as Aria's head appeared beside hers, peering out at the scenery.

"It wasn't on a mountain, last time I was here," Aria remarked.

"No, I guess it wouldn't have been." Sunset smiled. "A lot changes in a thousand years.

"Too much. This train didn't exist back then either."

"Is change that bad?" Sunset ripped open one of her Milky Hays and held it up to the floating sea pony.

Aria eyed it for a few brief moments before wrapping her left fin around it. "We'll see."

Author's Note

This chapter was edited by Bootsy Slickmane.

Homesick Part 06

Celestia's sun had drifted just beyond the horizon by the time Sunset Shimmer emerged from the train station with Aria floating beside her like a sentient party balloon. The rest of the ponies piled out around them, chattering among themselves as they rushed to meet friends and family, or made their way towards the hotels for their first night in Canterlot. Sunset just stood in place on the grass outside the station, looking out across the city that had felt so distant for the last several years, and yet now flooded back into her memory as if she had never left.

The sight of the train station was one she'd seen often enough, growing up. Her parents were always dragging her off to resort towns. She never had any interest in skiing, sunning, or whatever else they would do on vacation. She just did the same thing she did at home: stay in her room with her books.

"At least some things don't change." Aria's voice called her suddenly back to the present. There were several unicorns marching past them, turning their noses into the air as they neared the pair and marching on in silence until they thought they were out of earshot. "Canterlot unicorns still wear their dicks on their foreheads."

Sunset Shimmer smirked. "Present company excepted, right?"

Aria pursed her lips. "Eh, jury's still out on that one."

Sunset Shimmer shook her head with a small chuckle as she turned to march out across the train station's lawn. It was nice to have company. "Come on, let's go get a room for the night." Aria floated along behind her.

The soft crunching that accompanied her hoofsteps eventually turned to harsh clicks as grass gave way to stone streets, the scenery growing more urban with each step farther from the city gates. The two travelers were soon surrounded in white marble, with accents of gold and regal purple scattered here and there. Hoof-carved statues of unicorns stood guard on more than a few rooftops, watching with gemstone eyes as the ponies went about their lives below. Even higher up, colorful flags rippled violently in the strong mountain winds.

More of Sunset's memories came to the surface once they neared her old neighborhood. There was her favorite smoothie shop, run by a pony whose name she never knew, but whose face she'd never forget. A glance through the window didn't show her any familiar faces, though, and so she carried on her way. They passed by the old library on Woodlog Street, as well. She used to frequent that library as a filly, at least before she started her training at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.

Thinking of her time as a filly didn't even feel like a decade ago... it felt like several lifetimes had passed since then. And thinking about who she had been was like looking at a completely different person... she hoped.

The final rays of the sun were fading into the pale light of Luna's moon by the time they reached their resting place for the night. It was one of the fancier hotels, its tower reaching high above most other buildings in the area. Twilight had left them quite a few bits to burn during their vacation, so Sunset checked them into one of the larger suites near the top. It was quite a journey up the stairs, but the view made it worth the trek.

From the wall-sized window, they could look out upon almost the whole of Canterlot and its host mountain, winding streets sprawling out from the castle on the South-Eastern side. The city was dotted with lighted windows, but most of the scenery was lit only by the rising moon. The Royal Sisters' palace was the centerpiece amid the castle's array of turrets and spires, and Celestia's School for Gifted unicorns was nestled in nearby. It felt funny to see the city from this angle, looking out toward the palace. Growing up in the castle, she'd usually be looking out in the direction of the hotel, instead.

After a time, Sunset turned away from the window. The white walls, despite being draped in curtains and dotted with jewels, were comparatively drab. The room had only one bed, but it was big enough for four ponies to share, let alone the two of them. "Do you want to share the bed?" she asked. "Or are you comfy up there?"

Aria shook her head. "The bed sounds good. This isn't nearly as comfortable as it looks. It's like lying on a moving plate of glass."

"Ouch, point taken." Sunset followed Aria to the bed, her hooves sinking into the room's thick, white carpet. Once Aria was over one side, Sunset's magic tugged the collar from her neck and the sea pony plunged into the sheets with a bouncy puff. Sunset crawled into the bed on her right, curling up on her stomach as her horn brought the sheets up to her shoulders.

Sunset laid in bed for a few long minutes before speaking, her eyes taking in the dark swirls in the marble ceiling as her mind wandered through all her memories of Canterlot. "So tomorrow we can get some food, maybe take in a show or two... but I would like to get to the palace at some point."

"The palace? Pretty high view of yourself you have there."

"I guess..." Sunset hugged the blanket tighter around herself. "It's where I spent a lot of time growing up..." She glanced over at Aria. "Where did you grow up, if I may ask?"

Aria pursed her lips for a moment with her chin resting on her pillow, the blanket pulled up to her neck. "Aquapolis. Man, it's been so long I actually forgot for a few minutes."

"Eugh, I don't know if I'd want to forget my hometown."

Aria shrugged. "What're you gonna do? Anyway, I'm tired so... goodnight." Aria closed her eyes and turned away from her, abruptly ending the conversation.

Sunset sighed. She would have to sleep now... and bring the dawn even sooner.

Author's Note

This chapter was edited by Bootsy Slickmane.

Don't Do That

The town of Ponyville was a quiet, peaceful town enjoying a quiet, peaceful night. Until the earth suddenly started to squirm and rock like the world's biggest Pinkie Pie party was making its way right down the center of town.

The deafening noise and motion didn't quite fling Starlight Glimmer out of bed, but it was enough for her to leap out in a panic under her own power and dart for the hallway. "Aaagh! What the heck is that!?" her hooves suddenly slid out from under her as the earth gave one final jerk. She slid across the polished floor on her back straight out into the hallway, where she slammed roughly into the wall with her hindhooves over her head. "Owww!"

"Starlight!" Trixie came bounding down the hallway as the thunderous noise slowly faded into the distance. "Starlight, are you okay?"

"I think so..." Starlight rolled onto her side, rubbing her butt with one hoof. "What in Equestria happened? I've never felt anything like that..."

"It was an earthquake. Trixie has been through a couple in her many travels." Trixie rushed over to help Starlight to her hooves. "But I've never felt any inside a town before, magic usually keeps the earth stable in settlements."

Starlight pursed her lips in thought. "Which means something made this happen... possibly something underground."

The two of them gasped in unison. "Maud!"

Their hurried hooves made quick work of the short distance between Twilight Sparkle's palace and Maud's cave just outside of Ponyville. They dropped down the opening into the cavern that led to Maud's small grassy underground paradise, where they found all of Maud's belongings and a pretty large assortment of stones from the ceiling strewn about the cave floor.

"Maud! Are you here?" Starlight stepped forward hurriedly.

Trixie rushed further into the cave. "Where are you, Maud?"

There was the soft rustle of boulders as a muffled, low voice drew them in the direction of a table near the mirror-still lake. The two unicorns rushed to the rock pile they found there, and began furiously digging with their magic until they finally uncovered Maud's head.

"Maud! Oh my gosh, are you okay!?" Starlight frantically redoubled her efforts to pull her friend from the cave-in. "We need to get you to a hospital!"

"I'm fine." Maud replied flatly as the two unicorns moved the last, and largest, boulder from her body. "Thank you. Those were quite heavy."

"You're lucky there weren't any more or you would have been flattened." Trixie scolded her as they helped the earth pony to her feet. "Perhaps you should come to the surface until we discover what caused this to happen."

Maud blinked at her after climbing to her hooves and brushing off the front of her dress. "No need. I think it was me."

"You?" Starlight's eyes widened. "What do you mean it was you? How could you possibly cause an earthquake?"

"Do you remember the rock Sunset Shimmer left with me." Maud directed their attention to a small wooden table nearby, upon which a small red rock with a long string attached sat innocent and unassuming. "I hit it with a hammer. Then the earth shook."

"A hammer?" Trixie gaped in shock. "A hammer did that!?"

"It was just a tap."

"That's positively terrifying..." Starlight shivered. "The idea that a small rock could make all of Ponyville shake..."

Maud blinked at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Wake me? You almost destroyed the town! Not to mention nearly killing yourself!"

"All in the name of science." Maud approached the rock and plucked a large mallet from the floor with one hoof. "Now to test if a bigger impact increases the intensity of the reaction." She hefted the hammer over her head.

"Don't do that!" Starlight jerked her head back, magically yanking the hammer out of her grip. "It's dangerous! Besides, that rock doesn't even belong to you! Can't you find better tests to perform that don't provoke violent magical reactions?"

"I've already done those," Maud pointed out. "Now I need to confirm my theories with practical tests."

"Well find softer practical tests."

"I don't know, Starlight..." Trixie nudged her side. "They do say that fortune favors the bold."

"They also say that collapsing buildings kill ponies." Starlight stamped her hoof down. "And Princess Twilight may not be here to do anything, but I'm not letting her town be destroyed while she's not around. Least of all by my friend. So please, just test gently."

Maud stared at her for a moment, then turned her gaze on the rock. "Can I drop it on the ground."

"No."

"Can I throw it in the lake."

Starlight narrowed her eyes. "No!" Maud just stared blankly at her. "Don't give me that look, you need to consider the safety of other ponies, and yourself."

"Fine. I suppose I have a few more observational tests I could perform. Though they're imperfect for my purposes."

Starlight shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that will have to do. I'll even help you with it. Perhaps after some breakfast."

"Breakfast sounds good." Maud turned to march towards the two unicorns, but her tail swept across the table, sending the small stone flying.

Two screams cut the air, piercing, shrill cries of sheer absolute terror, that lasted long after the stone hit the ground. The two unicorns stood clasping each other in fear until eventually they realized that nothing was happening.

Starlight's heart finally started back up again almost a full minute later, and she released Trixie from her grip. "I... oh... geeze... it... didn't."

"Huh." Maud stared down at the rock. "Fascinating. I wonder if it was the lesser impact that made it fail to respond, or if it was another factor. This requires further-"

"No it doesn't!" Starlight grabbed Maud in her magic and yanked her out of the cave. "We're going to breakfast and not taking hammers to powerful magic stones!"

Homesick Part 07

The capital city of Canterlot was a place many ponies believed to be the pinnacle of pony society. Refined, evolved, whatever word one chose to use for it. Back when she had lived and studied here, Sunset Shimmer had believed that being born here simply meant she was better than other ponies. She was a refined unicorn with great power destined for great things. Now, however, after living with her friends in Canterlot High for a while, she just kind of found the city quiet and boring.

At least she had Aria Blaze here with her to make the sights interesting. They explored the upper class areas of the city, got a zesty lunch from a small restaurant they discovered called The Tasty Treat, and nearly had a heart attack when a brisk wind came close to catching Aria's fins and hurling her floating weightless body clean off the mountain.

"That explains why other sea ponies don't use this technique very much, huh?" Aria noted through gritted teeth after Sunset pulled her back to Canterlot with her magic.

After that they decided to stay indoors as much as possible, taking in a show in the entertainment district called Gabby's Great Guffaw, in which an overly talkative griffon girl got herself into all kinds of whacky hijinks. It was an okay show, Sunset thought. It was a little goofy for her tastes, but she got a few chuckles out of it.

"Back in my day griffons didn't come to Canterlot," Aria noted with some bemusement. "Let alone star in stage shows."

"I imagine a lot has changed since your day." Sunset kept her gaze forward as they marched up the central streets of Canterlot, winding their way through the upper class part of town. "Ponies, griffons, and even dragons tend to get along pretty well now."

"Including sea ponies?" Aria raised her eyebrow as another unicorn pair passed by them, turning their noses up just slightly as they passed. "Because I've gotta say, I don't feel gotten along with."

"Yeah, that..." Sunset blushed. "I don't honestly know. I've never seen a sea pony in Canterlot, but I always assumed it was because they simply don't come on land... for obvious reasons."

Aria huffed. "Whatever, like I want to talk to any of the Canterlot dickheads anyway." Her gaze turned upwards along with Sunset's as they approached the royal palace. Their forward progress came to a halt right outside the front gates, where they stood motionless for several minutes before Aria spoke again. "Well? You've got business, right?"

"Did you ever get the feeling you were about to make a huge mistake you can't take back?"

"Not really. Got the feeling Sonata was going to, a lot, but not me."

Sunset gulped. "Maybe I should-"

"Oh shut up." Aria whirled on her. Sunset blinked in surprise and took a reflexive step back. "We both know you didn't waste your time coming all the way out here to have lunch and watch some lame comedy skits. So get your tail in there and tell Celestia... whatever you were planning to tell her. You've got this, just start moving." One fin slapped with surprising sharpness against Sunset's flank, pushing her through the open gates and into the castle courtyard. "I'll be waiting out here, where I can't be arrested or sent through any more portals."

"Nopony will arrest you, I doubt Celestia even remembers you. Nopony else did except Twilight."

"Seriously?" Aria growled. "All of that and we don't even get a holiday or something?"

"Sorry, just a legend in a dusty old book of legends."

"That figures..." Aria shook her head. "Just go, before I come push you in there."

"I'm going, I'm going!" Sunset Shimmer made her way up to the palace... and immediately began to regret her decision all over again.

The palace was usually open to the public during the day, though naturally guards were everywhere, so nopony questioned her as she made her way towards the royal throne room. The closer she got, the more she felt her brain turning to static. There were so many words that she could use, and yet it was as if she couldn't clearly grasp any of them. She kept slamming them together in her mind into nonsensical phrases that soon broke apart again, leaving her with no plan and nothing to say. There was so much to say, and yet no good way to say it.

Her body was almost on autopilot when she turned into the throne room. The instant her hooves tromped against the smooth, thin red carpet that led up to the throne, the two voices that had been coming from the room fell silent.

Princess Twilight rose to her hooves in surprise. "Sunset Shimmer?"

Princess Celestia's surprised gaze followed Sunset as she made the long walk up to the steps at the bottom of the throne. Twilight was watching her in stunned silence from her position beside the throne. The only sound was the muffled, steady thumping of Sunset's hooves on the carpet.

It felt like a silent eternity before Sunset reached the steps, staring up into Celestia's eyes. Words simply wouldn't come to her now. She had known this was a mistake. She wanted to say something, she needed to say something, and yet she couldn't. She would look like an idiot if she just turned around and left, making a fool of herself as she fled her princess in humiliation for the second time. She just needed words to speak.

So without thinking of what might come, she opened her lips and forced herself to say the first thing her lips would form. "You were right."

Celestia's gaze softened immediately, and she made her way down the steps towards her. She stopped just in front of Sunset Shimmer with her wings spread out regally to her sides. "If I had known the full truth... things wouldn't have gone as they did." She wrapped her wings around Sunset, pulling her against her chest with a hoof around her neck. "I'm sorry I failed you as a mentor, Sunset Shimmer..."

So am I, Sunset couldn't quite make herself say. Instead she leaned weak and feeble against her princess' chest, waiting to be able to speak again... if she ever would.

Homesick Part 08

Twilight Sparkle had volunteered to take care of the rest of Princess Celestia's daily chores, so she and her former student were able to spend the rest of the day exploring the old familiar castle grounds together, while Sunset Shimmer filled her in on what had happened in the human world, and indeed, what the human world was like in the first place. Celestia knew a thing or two about the magic mirrors, but she had never visited the human world for any real length of time.

"It sounds like you've found a real place for yourself there." Celestia's smile was warm and genuine as they passed through the outside gardens together. "I'm so proud of you, Sunset Shimmer."

"I don't know if I've done anything to be proud of..." Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of her neck. "All I've done since I stopped being awful is my best to not be awful..."

"And that's the most difficult thing one can ask of a pony." Celestia stopped in her tracks to turn towards her. "Changing the world is easy by comparison to changing yourself... and when I look at you I barely see the same pony." Her smile took on a slight smirk as she pushed Sunset Shimmer's head up to fully meet her gaze. "Well... mostly. I can still see the passion in your eyes."

"Ahehehe..." Sunset blushed deeply. "Um... thanks? Heh..."

Celestia smiled warmly as they resumed their walk, making their way towards the front gates after circling the perimeter of the palace. "How long are you staying?"

"I'm probably leaving for Ponyville again tonight. I have school on Monday." Sunset saw Celestia raise her eyebrow curiously. "Humans go to school for a really long time. Plus my friends are there. I don't wanna leave them hanging."

"I see." Celestia chuckled lightly as they turned to pass through the gates. "I suppose I will let you get back to your new home, then. And you know you can visit here any time you'd like."

"Yeah, I know that now, thank you." Sunset's smile was genuine as they passed through the gates, at least until she spotted Aria still hovering near the gate with her face stuck in a newspaper, as if nopony would notice that it appeared to be floating from the front and held aloft by a pair of fins. "Uh..."

"Oh my, we have another unexpected guest." Celestia approached the hovering newspaper curiously. "All the way from Aquapolis? Did you come to see me?"

"Oh, Celestia!" Sunset rushed up beside her with a nervous smile. "She's with me! This is my friend from the other world! My really good friend! Heh... say hi, really good friend!"

After a few moments Aria lowered the paper, looking up at Celestia's face despite hovering off the ground. "Hey..."

"I see." Celestia smiled and nodded back. "Aria Blaze, if my memory serves me correctly."

"Y-yeah!" Aria blinked in surprise. "You do remember me?"

"You left quite the impression." Celestia giggled. "I always felt it was a shame to waste your beauty and talent on evil."

Aria blushed. "Yeah, well, I got none of that left, so I guess there's no point in being evil anymore."

Celestia cocked her head curiously. "None of that left?"

"All of that was from our magic stones... without those, well, you can hear the truth." Aria looked away from her nervously.

Celestia glanced down at Sunset, who fired back a nervous grin and a cough. "I see..." Celestia look at the sea pony once again. "Well then, thank you for keeping my student company on her journey. and remember that you can return to Equestria any time you wish, as well."

"Thanks, but I don't think so. We may have been born here, but this doesn't feel like home anymore."

Celestia nodded. "I understand, Princess Luna went through something similar when she returned. Of course... you weren't born here in Canterlot..." Celestia gave her a sly smile as Aria glanced up at her. "The day is waning and I can't expect Twilight to lower the sun on her own, so I will have to bid you both good evening. I hope you enjoy your stay in Equestria, and look forward to meeting you both again."

"Thank you, princess. We're having a great time." Sunset Shimmer waved with an enthusiastic smile as Celestia made her way back to the inner palace. "Well... that was so much less painful than I expected."

"Yeah..." Aria trailed off thoughtfully.

"Come on, I would like to catch the next train back to Ponyville. To make sure we can get back to our world before nightfall." Sunset whirled to rush towards the train station.

"Sunset?" Aria floated after her. "You don't think... there might be time to see the ocean while we're here, do you?"

"Oh... sorry, but that's just way too far away. We only have the weekend. We'll have to schedule another time to come back."

Aria nodded slowly. "Right, of course... another time..."

Sunset glanced over at her guiltily. The girl had just ridden with her across Equestria to see Sunset's hometown, it felt terrible to leave here without seeing hers, but the trip would add another day or two at least, getting her in trouble for missing school...

But maybe friendship was worth it.

Homesick Part 09

The Friendship Express was rolling along its tracks through the center of Equestria as Aria Blaze began to stir from her deep, restful slumber. The sun was rising in the distance, its golden light shining in the private room Sunset Shimmer had gotten for them for the trip back to Ponyville. But wait... something was wrong. The trip from Canterlot to Ponyville was only two hours, and they had been riding all night. Had they both fallen asleep and missed their stop?

"Hey, hey Sunset Shimmer." Aria pulled herself off of the fluffy couch and across the floor to nudge her companion's sleeping flank with her muzzle. "I think we missed our stop."

Sunset waved one leg dismissively at her. "No we dint... I told 'em ta... wake us when we git thar..." She snored loudly.

Aria growled, then opened her toothy jaws and clamped down on Sunset Shimmer's hindleg. Sunset's eyes shot open and she reflexively sprang up like a cat, but she quickly slammed face-first into the wall of the tiny compartment and collapsed to her back on the couch. "Ow! Sunova... what in the world!?"

"Don't brush me off." Aria scuffled over to her again. "We've been riding way too long, I think we missed our stop in Ponyville."

"Oh..." Sunset rubbed her head gingerly as she sat up. "We're not going to Ponyville."

"We're not?"

"Nope." Sunset glanced out the window with a smile. "In fact it looks like we're almost there."

Aria pulled herself up onto the couch beside Sunset with a grunt so she could see out the window. Trees were rushing past outside, but the forest was soon left behind. Grassy plains stretched out before them, ending in a strip of yellow sand before giving way to a sparkling ocean. Little specks of white sails drifted across the blanket of blue. She could see train tracks further ahead, turning toward the water and leading into a small town that was nestled right on the coastline. There weren't many buildings, and some of them were even built right out over the water's surface.

"What are we doing here?" Aria turned back to Sunset suspiciously. "We won't have time to get back to Ponyville unless we leave immediately."

"Nope."

"Won't you miss school on Monday?"

"Yep."

Aria narrowed her eyes at her for a moment, then began to relax somewhat. "You didn't have to do this. I can deal with not getting what I want."

"It's one day, after having a perfect record and grades for several years. I think I can take the hit." Sunset floated Aria's collar up to her to snap it into place. Aria jerked slightly as she was suddenly lifted into the air, and floated freely out into the center of their private room. "Come on, let's go get some grub before we pull into the station."

Breakfast was quick and light, as the two of them sat in friendly silence. By the time they finished, the train had reached its destination, and they emerged onto the tiny station platform. Only a few ponies came out with them, and even fewer were waiting to board in their place. The salty sea smell washed over them as they paused for a moment to take in the view. The port town wasn't much to look at, and one might be surprised to learn that a large portion of the continent's fish was funneled in through the little fishing village known as Ponyfish.

"Not the most creative name, is it?" Sunset asked wryly, her muzzle pointed at the sign above to the ticket office.

"And Ponyville is?" Aria pointed out.

"Point taken."

Sunset led the way through the village, following the narrow dirt roads around the plain, wooden buildings that littered the area. Of the ponies they passed, most were earth ponies, and all of them greeted the two travelers with warm smiles and nods. Unlike the unicorns in Canterlot, they didn't pay Aria a second glance. Living this close to the ocean, they probably encountered sea ponies way more often than most of those living in the center of the continent.

In no time at all, they'd reached the shoreline. From the dirt streets sprang a sprawl of docks, reaching out into the waves to greet the incoming ships. Sunset and Aria turned away from them, travelling along the beach a short distance from the town.

"I've never actually been this close to the ocean before..." Sunset lifted a hoof from the sand to block out the sun as she stared out across the water. "It's really something."

"It's been a while for me too..." Aria pushed herself out over the water, though the collar kept her floating above the surface. "Uh... little help?"

"Right." Sunset's horn pulsed, and as soon as the collar clicked loose, Aria found herself dumped into the ocean waves.

She held her breath at first, but Aria soon remembered that her gills would take over. For several minutes, she allowed the ocean waves to engulf her, sweeping her back and forth under the water as she waggled her fins against the sweeping tides. But some instincts would never die, and her tail fin began to push against the current, driving her forward. Her fins steered her back and forth through the water as the fin rising from the top of her head down her back kept her stable.

Like a dream she forgot several lifetimes ago it came rushing back to her, until she was zooming through the water, between the reefs on the ocean floor and around several slower schools of fish. An involuntary grin split her lips as she suddenly turned back towards the sky, breaching the surface as top speed and soaring into the air with her fins spread out to her sides. She caught sight of Sunset Shimmer watching with wide eyes from the sandy shore, just before gravity yanked her back down into the water.

Aria broke the surface again facing the beach. "Are you coming out here or not?"

"Oh! I... never learned how to swim." Sunset Shimmer blushed, her ears drooping and muzzle dipping slightly.

Aria smirked. "Come on. Am I gonna let you drown?" Sunset Shimmer just stared at her for a disturbingly long time. Aria's smirk faded. "No. No I'm not. Besides, how would I get home to Adagio and Sonata? I'll make sure you won't drown. Trust me."

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to have a little fun." Sunset Shimmer took a couple steps out into the water, stopping to shudder for a second as the cold waves lapped at her hooves. She took in a breath and marched ahead, her tail being washed against and away from her legs with the motion of the ocean. She stopped once the water reached her chest, shivering in place as Aria swam up to her. Sunset winced and pulled a foreleg up from the water after she felt something brush past it, but a look down didn't reveal anything through the wash of white froth and sand.

Aria reached her as Sunset dropped her hoof back down. "Hold still. I haven't actually done this before." Aria tugged at Sunset with her fins, pulling her deeper into the waters. She then popped her head from the water and pressed her lips to Sunset's. She felt the unicorn freeze in her fins as she took a deep breath in through her nose, then exhaled it through her mouth and between Sunset's lips.

As she pulled back Sunset's cheeks were bright crimson with her mouth hanging open. A few soft squeaks emanated from her throat as she stared in shock, trying to get words out. "I... wh... why did you..."

"Don't flatter yourself," Aria said dismissively. "It was a sea pony water breathing spell."

"O-oh..." Sunset coughed. "Did it work?"

"One way to find out." Aria grabbed Sunset around the waist and yanked her away from the shore, ferrying her out into the ocean before turning suddenly downward straight towards the bottom.

"Aaaugh! What're you... I mean..." Sunset gaped and gulped for a few seconds before her chest began to rise and fall more normally again. "You know I'd be dead if it didn't work!"

"Nah, I told you I wouldn't let you drown." Aria smirked, her eyes bearing a twinkle that Sunset had never seen before. "Now come on, it's been a thousand years. Let's go see if anything's changed..."

Author's Note

This chapter was edited by Bootsy Slickmane.

Homesick Part 10

It was as if she entered a third world. During her studies, Sunset Shimmer had certainly read about the oceans of Equestria, but she had never seen one, let alone entered one. Now as she clung to Aria Blaze and watched the world pass by her, she was drowned in the sheer scope of it.

Every sound that reached her was far quieter than on land, and seemed to be coming from every direction at once. Mixed with the pressure of the dense submarine atmosphere, it felt oppressive and closed in, which created a bizarre dissonance in Sunset's mind when paired with the visuals surrounding her. Vast fields of sand and rocks stretched out in all directions. The familiar horizon was absent from her sight, the ocean floor fading away into a blue fog, instead. Little gold and silver fish swam through a labyrinth of colorful coral, like tiny citizens roaming a sprawling underwater city. A school of fish flowed in unison out of Aria's path, as though the critters shared a single mind.

The bottom drifted away from them as they headed farther out, the water getting deeper with each pump of Aria's tail. Eventually, the floor gave way entirely to a dark, seemingly bottomless abyss, the sight of which made Sunset's heart feel hollow and cold. Colossal rock formations jutted up from the darkness, seeming to dwarf Canterlot Mountain in size. Dark shapes swam past from every angle, some of them almost too small to see, and others too big to ignore. The long, haunting call of a lonely whale washed over them, answered by another a few short moments later as the two breathtaking creatures met and began to spiral around one-another on their way into the distance.

Her miraculous breath almost ceased entirely when the scattered golden light from the ocean's surface shone across the blubbery flesh of a creature she could only describe as a giraffe the size of ten houses with fins where its legs should have been. She had never known of anything like it before, not even in her browsing of the old Canterlot Archives. The rumbling sound that echoed through the ocean waves was as chilling as it was beautiful, though despite the chill it made no motion to give chase as the two of them passed directly between its swaying fins.

"What is that?" Sunset Shimmer asked breathlessly as they move beyond the majestic creature.

"Oh, that's Nessie. She's been around since I was here last."

"How do we not have any books on her in Canterlot? She's huge and gorgeous!"

"It's the weirdest thing, no matter how many times she pops to the surface nopony up there ever believe she exists." Aria shrugged.

"Well I'll make sure to tell them..."

"You do that." Aria smirked. "Let me know how it goes."

They continued to fly through the waters until eventually Aria seemed to tire out, grunting and panting as she moved. "I think I need to rest for a minute..."

"Then let's rest... um, this charm will last for a while, right?"

"It'll last until you leave the water again."

"Then yeah, let's rest."

Aria stopped moving entirely, swiftly coming to a stop. For just a moment, they floated silently in the gentle ocean current. Then gravity did its thing, and the two of them began to drift down from the golden waters near the surface and into the depths. In the growing dark, the rocks and reefs blended together to look like massive, misshapen monsters, motionless as they waited for prey. Occasionally, one of the freakish shapes got up and moved. It felt like an alien world that had never before been explored by either human or pony kind.

Aria still held Sunset in her fins as the two at last reached the deepest waters they had yet seen, reaching the ocean floor. Creatures skittered and scrambled to get out of the way before they were squished. Little clouds of sand and dust swirled outward as they landed amid piles of seaweed. Little light came down from the surface, and it was already fading rapidly as the day came to an end.

"Uh... Aria..." Sunset squinted, but almost immediately found it was no use. "How do you get around down here? It's so dark..."

"Give it a second." Aria insisted. Sunset gulped, but waited patiently as the darkness cut them off from the rest of the world entirely, plunging them into pitch blackness.

They sat in the void with the water rushing in their ears until slowly, like dozens of stars beneath their butts, a soft blue glow began to light up the ground around them. Unlike the stars however, this glow was moving around, trekking back and forth across the rocky terrain. Sunset gasped and wanted to retreat at first, but she quickly realized that there was a bubble around them where the moving lights didn't approach. It was as if the lights could sense them.

"What are those?" Sunset asked breathlessly.

"Some kind of algae or bug, I think." Aria's fishy tail flicked carelessly at the rock beneath them as she watched the little lights march along on their seemingly designated paths. "I'm no biologist; they could probably tell you more in Aquapolis."

Sunset put a hoof to her chin. "So much down here is undocumented... are things between the sea ponies and land ponies really that cold?"

Aria shrugged. "I'm no politician either, and I don't really care either way. But if you still don't know anything about the oceans after all this time..." She snickered. "Let's just say I still don't feel that bad about using the Siren Stones."

"I see... I had no idea that kind of rift still existed in Equestria. With all the talk of harmony between the three pony races I thought it was..."

"All of the pony races? Guess not."

They lapsed into silence once again in the soft blue glow of the moving algae. It was several more quiet moments before Sunset suddenly realized she was sitting on Aria's lap, and the sea pony hadn't said a word about it, instead just watching the lights move with a half-interested gaze. The unicorn slowly slid off of her tail to plop down on the rock instead. The lights moved out of the way to keep the same bubble around them as before.

"Do you want to go to Aquapolis?" Sunset asked.

"Not really." Aria shook her head. "This is nice enough."

"Why not? It's your home, right?"

"Nah. My home's wherever Adagio and Sonata are. Has been for a long time. I probably wouldn't even recognize Aquapolis if I went there."

Sunset nodded. "I understand."

Aria spoke again after several long moments of silence. "Thanks for this, though."

"You're welcome." Sunset smiled brightly. "Is it safe to sleep here...? It's getting really late."

Aria nodded. "Yeah, but you might wanna come closer. It's easy to be separated by the current if we pass out here."

Sunset yelped and practically threw herself back into Aria's fins. "Don't you leave me down here..."

Aria laughed and threw herself down flat on the small rocky outcropping with her fins wrapped around Sunset's back. The water was clearly softening the pressure, however. She was half lying and half floating. "I'm not leaving you down here. I need you to get me home."

Sunset nodded and lay her head on Aria's chest, staring down at the glowing critters that surrounded them until her eyes began to close, and she began to drift to sleep along with the drifting ocean currents.

Author's Note

This chapter was edited by Bootsy Slickmane.

Prank Wars Part 04

Crystal Prep was a beautiful building suitable for being one of the most esteemed schools in the state. It was a high class institution, where the best and brightest minds in the Crystal City would sharpen their minds on a daily basis to prepare for a future that would contribute to the greater good of not just their families, but to the country as a whole. This place had produced countless students who had gone on to change the world.

It was also full of bright, colorful balloon animals who appeared to be frolicking and playing in the hallways.

"You've got to be kidding me." Indigo Zap rubbed her eyes as the double doors swung closed behind she and her four best Shadowbolt friends. "Balloon animals?"

"Grrr..." Sour Sweet growled and clenched her fists. "They did it again!"

Indigo Zap shook her head in bemusement. "Who exactly are you feuding with? Ponyacci?"

"I don't know!" Sour Sweet hooked her hands in front of her chest dramatically. "Some CHS scum."

Sugarcoat rubbed her chin with one hand. "This may be a weird mess, but look on the bright side."

Lemon Zest cocked her head curiously. "What bright side?"

Sugarcoat grinned. "This is Principal Cinch's problem."

As if on cue, a shrill, piercing voice echoed through the empty hallways. "Was it you? Somebody is responsible for this, and I am going to find out who it was! Nobody defiles the halls of Crystal Preparatory Academy! This is an institution of higher learning, not an amusement park!" Her shrill cry faded as she rounded the corner further down the hallway and caught sight of the five friends in the lobby. Her eye was twitching as she marched rapidly towards them with her fists clenched at her sides. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't us! We just got here!" Indigo Zap exclaimed.

"That doesn't mean you didn't do this over the weekend!" Cinch crossed her arms over her chest, giving them a stern glare. "Unless you have some sort of alibi?"

Indigo Zap straightened her back and jammed a thumb into the chest. "We don't need no stinking alibi! We're innocent until proven guilty!"

Principal Cinch's eyes narrowed dangerously, as if she could burn holes in them just with a single look, but her tension soon eased somewhat. "Very well then, maybe I can't punish you without proof, but you will spend your lunch time removing these balloons from the school grounds."

"What!?" Indigo exclaimed. "Why us!?"

Cinch just gave them a cheeky smirk as she adjusted her glasses on the top of her hooked nose. "Surely such innocent, upstanding students as yourselves are eager to give back to Crystal Prep. All I ask is a little bit of your time." The five friends exchanged swift glances, but none of them said anything more. "Good, if you miss even one of them you'll have detention for the rest of the week, so I suggest you take your time and be very thorough."

Taking their silence as obedience, Cinch was more calm as she turned to make her way back through the hallways towards her office. Students and rubbery animals alike seemed to duck out of her path to avoid touching her.

"So much for your upside..." Lemon Zest rubbed the back of her neck. "This sucks..."

"Those CHS bitches are so gonna get it now!" Sour Sweet declared with venom in her eyes.

"Sour Sweet, this feud is what got us into this mess," Sunny Flare pleaded with her hands in front of her. "Please let this go, for your own good and the good of all of us." Her words fell on deaf ears, however, as Sour Sweet marched on ahead of the group towards her first class. "Lemon Zest, do something! She's your girlfriend!"

Lemon Zest rolled her eyes. "Pfft. I can barely keep her from throwing my dog across the bedroom, you think she listens to me when she gets riled up?"

"Well she won't listen to any of us. Just try, will you?"

"Fine, I'll try." Lemon sighed. "I gotta admit I am a little worried when she gets like this. It's like she doesn't listen to anything or anybody."

Sugarcoat raised her finger pointedly. "You knew that going into this relationship. Time to step up and face her head on."

"It's definitely better than dealing with Cinch." Indigo Zap shuddered at even having to say the name. "A little good fun is one thing, but this could go bad for us in a hurry."

"Yeah, yeah..." Lemon Zest bit her lip. "I promise I'll do my best to get through to her..."

Prank Wars Part 05

Pop.

One by one Sour Sweet's needle punctured the balloons, which fluttered into the basket held out by her left hand. Three more animals met their grizzly end the same way moments later as she moved through the music room. She couldn't believe somebody had managed to slip these stupid things into every single room of Crystal Prep, besides the ones that were locked. It occurred to her that Cinch could probably check security and see who did it... but she was Cinch. She didn't care who really did it.

The next few balloons met a particularly vicious stabby end.

Sour Sweet glanced over her shoulder curiously when she heard the door open. Sonata Dusk grew a wide, lopsided grin on her lips the moment she spotted Sour alone on the room, and darted in without a moment's hesitation to rush up to her with a paper flapping in her left hand.

"Hm?" Sour Sweet turned on her friend curiously. "What is it? I have a lot of balloons to pop and-holy crap!" Sour Sweet's eyes widened when Sonata held the paper up in front of her face. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen drawn in Crayola marker. It was a flower of several different shades all blended together with meticulous care. The flower was surrounded by scenery of a bright, grass and flower-filled meadow complete with shadows from the pulsing, violently fiery sun and the white and grey clouds hovering over the distance, which themselves were casting shadows across the grass.

Sour Sweet was dumbstruck for several long minutes. "I've never seen anything like this... how did you do it?"

Sonata seemed to barely be restraining her giggles as she responded swiftly with her hands, in the sign language Sour had been teaching her since they met. [I have been practicing drawing for a long time. I love drawing].

"Dang, I had no idea. That's really cool." Sour Sweet looked her friend in the eyes with a smile tugging at her frowny cheeks. "Is this for me...?" Sonata nodded so vigorously her ponytail almost slapped herself in the forehead. "Sonata, that's... mnnngh!" Sour Sweet yanked her friend into a tight hug that smashed the picture between them. "Thank you!"

Sonata hugged her back until the hug finally fell away. Sour Sweet caught the picture before it could fall to the floor, and set it down on the grand piano for later retrieval, surprised at how relaxed she suddenly felt after the morning's difficult turn of events. "You don't know how good this makes me feel... but it doesn't mean I don't have a bunch of stupid crap to deal with."

[What is wrong] Sonata asked with a worried frown on her face.

"If I don't pop all of these balloons by the end of the day I'm gonna get detention." Sour Sweet growled. "I didn't even blow up any of these stupid balloons, the stupid CHS jerks did..."

[I can help] Sonata signed instantly.

"Hey, no way, I couldn't ask you to-" Sour Sweet tried to protest, but Sonata was already pushing her way into Sour Sweet's pocket and pulling out one of her spare needles. She held it up and poked one of the balloons vigorously, causing it to burst and plop to the tile like a wet pile of noodles.

Sour Sweet couldn't wipe the smile from her lips. "Heh... well, if you want to, I guess I can't stop you."

The mass murder of rubbery animals continued for some time, with the two girls laughing and giggling as they made a game of each trying to pop more than the other. The trickle of stretchy flesh into Sour Sweet's basket was swift and merciless.

"Hey, um..." A voice suddenly interrupted the two girls, who turned to find Lemon Zest approaching them with a nervous smile on her lips. "Sour Sweet? Can we talk?"

"Sure." Sour Sweet turned towards her with her back straight and a bright smile on her lips. "What's up, Lemon?"

Lemon Zest took a deep, calming breath before she spoke. "Sour Sweet, I really think you should consider leaving CHS alone."

"Oh, sure, yeah," Sour Sweet replied.

"I mean it's just a... um... what?" Lemon Zest blinked in surprise.

"Eh, those jerks aren't worth it. I have better things to do with my time." Sour Sweet's good mood felt so unbreakable she was swaying back and forth between her heel and her toes.

The utterly blank look on Lemon Zest's was so adorable she couldn't resist pulling Lemon Zest into a reassuring hug and kissing her cheek. "You need to relax, you're gonna get old and wrinkly worrying so much."

"Uh... right..." Lemon squeaked.

"Now come on, there are more balloons to destroy!" Sour Sweet listed her needle and whirled back to Sonata, who stood at swift attention with her right hand in a salute and her left hand holding her needle in front of her like an offering. "You better not have slain any enemies when I wasn't looking! Now let's go!" Sour and Sonata resumed their assault, while Lemon Zest just stared after the two of them with a blank, dumbfounded look on her face.

Homesick Finale

It was almost evening again by the time the Friendship Express rolled back into Ponyville with Sunset Shimmer and Aria Blaze on board, and by the time it slowed to a stop at the station the two ponies were locked in a rather vigorous conversation the likes of which they had never shared before. About Equestria, about the ocean, and about the Equestrian history that Aria had missed while they were stuck in the human world.

Aria was swimming through the air with her collar in place as they left the train station and turned towards Twilight's friendship palace. "Princess Luna seriously spent a thousand years on the moon? Sheesh, and I thought we had it bad in the human world. How did she not go completely bonkers?"

Sunset shrugged comfortably. "I don't know, can't say I've talked to her. When she got back I was in the human world too. According to Twilight she's at least more sane than you would expect."

"Which isn't saying much." Aria snickered.

The curious ponies who passed them in the dusty streets went ignored as they made their way up the town center to the crystalline castle, where they found Starlight Glimmer and Trixie sitting in the throne room with a massive book perched between the two of them. Their horns were glowing brightly with unicorn magic as Trixie chanted clearly magical words under her breath, though their magic faltered when Sunset Shimmer entered.

"Ah! Sunset Shimmer!" Starlight Glimmer jumped out of her seat and rushed to greet them. "And Aria Blaze. I was starting to wonder if you were coming back. I thought you'd be back yesterday."

"We had important business to take care of." Sunset smiled up at her sea pony friend. "Is Princess Twilight not back yet?"

"Nope, you managed to beat her back."

"Well, that's okay. I guess we'll just retrieve my necklace and be on our way, then." Sunset nodded.

"Ah, of course... that." Starlight Glimmer gestured for the two of them to follow, then turned to lead the way down the hallway towards the back of the palace. "That rock of yours is a heck of a thing, as it turns out. I've been keeping it in the palace for the last two days just so there was no chance of it destroying the town."

"Destroying the town?" Sunset Shimmer's eyes shot wide open. "Are you serious?"

"She's exaggerating." Trixie waved her hoof. "She just got freaked out by a measly little earthquake."

"An earthquake?" Sunset Shimmer gaped.

"See Trixie? That's how you react to an earthquake." Starlight nodded in satisfaction as they reached one of the back rooms and pushed the door open. "Don't worry though, we've kept everything under control. Especially since Maud refuses to leave the rock alone." Sunset Shimmer stepped into the room to find Maud Pie peering through a microscope at the familiar glowing red stone on a string. There was a less shiny rock sitting on the table close by, on top of a pad of paper. "Hey Maud, it's time to give the rock back to its owner."

Maud looked up from the microscope. "Boulder is going to miss her."

"Her?"

Maud nodded. "Yes. Maggie and Boulder have become quite close."

"Well maybe they can visit later, Maud. We're not keeping it." Starlight smiled wryly. "Now come on, give it back."

Reluctantly, Maud rose from her seat, set Boulder back into the breast of her dress, and brought Sunset's stone back to hand it over to her. "Take care of her for me."

"I'll do my best." Sunset Shimmer slipped the necklace back on with her magic. "Did your studies yield any results?"

Maud nodded. "Yes. I wasn't able to do every test, but as far as I can tell the rock is made of pure Magicite."

"Magicite?" Sunset Shimmer raised her eyebrow. "What's that?"

Maud shook her head. "Nopony alive today really knows. We do know its primary function is to amplify or enhance magic, and it's one of the primary components of all of the most powerful magical artifacts currently in existence today. The Alicorn Amulet, the Bloodstone Scepter, and others all owe their potent magical abilities to this substance. Or perhaps, they amplify an ability the wielder already has. As I said, nopony really knows."

"Holy crap..." Sunset Shimmer put a hoof over her stone. "If it's that powerful, why are such artifacts so rare?"

"No veins of Magicite have ever been found. Its origin is a mystery, and not a single pure sample of it has ever been seen in recorded pony history." Maud blinked slowly. "So you can understand my excitement."

"Yeah, I'll say. This is a heck of a find, isn't it?" Sunset Shimmer cast a swift glance at Aria. "Hey, do you think the Siren Stones were made of this stuff too?

The sea pony's eyes had fixated themselves on the stone, almost as if giving their own soft, ruby glow in response to it. But the transfixed look in her eyes faded so quickly that Sunset could have simply imagined it, as she met Sunset's gaze and lifted her head into the air with a careless shrug of her fins. "I dunno, maybe, don't care..."

Maud continued. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I would like to look at the cave where you found these rocks. There could be some kind of clue to their origin there."

"Sure, we'll have to set something up." Sunset Shimmer nodded. "For now I've already skipped one day of school, and should try to focus on that for a while."

"Then don't let us keep you." Starlight Glimmer gestured to the door and turned to lead the small group towards the mirror room. "And do feel free to come back any time. Princess Twilight left specific instructions for us to entertain you whenever you appear."

"Thanks, but I'll try not to abuse the hospitality." Sunset Shimmer approached the mirror with Aria, then slipped off the sea pony's collar with her magic and passed it back to Starlight. "And here, hold onto this. In case you need it again here, because we don't need it there."

"Will do." Starlight gave a swift salute. "Later."

With that, Sunset Shimmer and Aria Blaze moved through the mirror back to their new home world. Sunset was glad to have bonded with the former siren, there was a sense of camaraderie and comfort that simply hadn't been there before.

Though for some reason, Aria seemed to be avoiding looking directly at her... perhaps she was just nervous about their blooming friendship.

Where Oh Where Is Sunset Shimmer

It was a bright, crisp Monday morning as Twilight waved to her friend, Starswirl, and jumped down the last step of the bus that took her to Canterlot High School each morning. It had been a long weekend hanging out with her Crystal Prep friends, but now the school week had arrived, and she was ready to hang out with her Canterlot High friends. She felt blessed to have so many people who cared about her, but there was one particular person she really wanted to see after a full weekend of her being gone to another world.

As Twilight made her way towards the courtyard, she spotted her friends gathered in front of the mirror in a small pile, though one was most definitely missing among their ranks.

"Hey!" Twilight waved enthusiastically as she approached her circle of friends. "What's going on?"

"We were just discussing Sunset Shimmer..." Rarity trailed off, rubbing her arm nervously with her left hand. "You see..."

"She ain't come back yet," Applejack blurted out before holding her hands up at Twilight's somewhat panicked look. "But I'm sure she'll be back any minute."

"Oh..." Twilight blinked and turned to look at the mirror. "Are you sure she just didn't oversleep?"

"None of us can reach her on her phone," Fluttershy pointed out. "Either she turned her phone off or she doesn't have it..."

"B-but... she said she'd be back on Monday..." Twilight stared at the mirror. "She said she would come back..."

"And I'm certain she will, darling." Rarity slipped a comforting arm around her slender friend's shoulders. "She was simply delayed is all, I'm certain of it. Now come, we have classes to get to."

Twilight let herself be led, but couldn't remove her mind from the mirror. Sunset Shimmer was an alien from another world, she had known this since they met... but they had become such good friends since the Friendship Games. The idea that Sunset Shimmer would simply stay at home... it was such a painful idea, and yet also one she could understand. Perhaps once she saw her home again she had changed her mind about coming back...

Perhaps Twilight Sparkle would never see her again...

The day felt so gray she didn't even hear what anybody said to her. The people were gray, the floors were gray, even the words in her textbooks, usually such exciting windows into the knowledge of the universe, felt like dull, lifeless, boring blobs of useless gray. The clouds themselves darkened as the day went on to match her mood, turning a dull gray that blanketed the city itself in gray. Even the rain that began to patter appropriately on the gray cement outside only made the world look more gray.

Her eyes were unfocused when she stepped outside of the front entrance to Canterlot High into the rain. Most of the blurry students who rushed past her had grabbed umbrellas or were holding their poor, precious books over their heads, but Twilight just marched limp-shouldered away from her favorite institution of learning towards the mirror.

Suddenly, a blob of color appeared before her eyes, a blob made up of yellow and orange stripes. Twilight's eyes darted open and she ran for the figure that had just emerged from the mirror.

"Sunset Shimmer!" Twilight threw her hands forward as she ran.

"Uuaaaargh!" Suddenly Sunset Shimmer flew towards her through the air powered by Twilight's burst of magic, slammed face-first into Twilight's chest in the middle of her run. They both crashed to the ground in a pile of sopping wet limbs and groans. "Hi... Twilight..." Sunset grunted.

Aria Blaze had her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips as she moved to stand over them. "I'm not gonna lie. That was hilarious."

"I-I'm so sorry!" Twilight could feel the heat in her cheeks. "I didn't mean to! It just happened!"

"Don't worry about it..." Sunset wrapped her arms around Twilight with a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry I was late, we just got caught up with something in Equestria."

"Heh..." Twilight sniffled, thankful that the rain was obscuring the tears of joy running down her cheeks. "I knew you would be back..."

"Come on." Sunset Shimmer climbed to her feet and pulled Twilight to hers as well. "We're all gonna get sick if we don't get dried off. Why don't you both come to my place? It's the closest by far, and we can figure out getting you home later."

Aria shrugged. "I have no plans."

"Okay." Twilight nodded. "Thank you."

So the three girls turned to rush down the sidewalk towards Sunset Shimmer's house, where warm towels and cocoa would await them. Twilight Sparkle barely cared about the rain, though. She had almost lost her first best friend... she was just glad to have her back.

Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 01

Sunset Shimmer usually spent her days outside as much as possible, though coming home was inevitable on the weekdays, especially when it was raining. It wasn't that she was ungrateful to have a roof over her head, she simply hated the person that she was sharing that roof with. But after being kicked out of Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope, she hadn't had much choice but to either sit in the streets waiting for something bad to happen to her, or take the first offer that came along to give her a chance at a real future.

Despite that, sitting on the comfy couch with a magazine resting in front of her was almost not worth listening to Principal Abacus Cinch march back and forth across the living room of her luxurious Crystal City estate. The old bat hadn't stopped moving since school let out, ranting and raving about the sheer disrespect Indigo Zap and her friends had shown her.

"They take advantage of my school!" Cinch's fists were clenched at her sides as she marched back and forth across the living room. "They take advantage of my willingness to teach them! They take advantage of me and have the audacity to talk back! Let alone pull this stunt with the balloon animals! It makes a mockery of me and everything I have ever given them!" Sunset Shimmer could only roll her eyes and try to keep her attention on the magazine as the rants continued, going in endless, nauseating circles.

After a while Sunset finally slapped the magazine closed and stood to retreat to the stairs, but she froze at the bottom step when her name was spoken in a shrill, demanding voice. "Sunset Shimmer! Come here!" After a long, steadying breath, Sunset Shimmer turned away from the stairs to meet her benefactor in the small study, where she was sitting at her desk typing away at a computer. As she approached the desk Cinch glanced up at her out of the corner of her sharp, hawkish eyes. "I have something I want you to do for me."

"Sure," Sunset Shimmer nodded disinterestedly. "What is it now?"

Instead of responding, Principal Cinch pulled a sheet of paper out of the printer on the desk and pushed it into Sunset's arms. She always got like this when she had something she wanted to convey without having to say it, as if somebody were waiting at the window with a tape recorder to catch her doing something nefarious. As far as Sunset was concerned, it was ridiculous and just a sign of how paranoid she was getting in her old age.

Sunset leaned against the kitchen counter as she read the note with her new instructions. At first she was amused, but her amusement turned to disgust when she reached the end of the page and read what Cinch actually wanted her to do with this information. Disgusted not just for having to do this in public, but for what it would do to Sugarcoat. She had no particular love for Sugarcoat... but she had to admit there was a grudging respect for the Shadowbolts representative. Plus Sugarcoat was friends with Sunset's best friend Night Glider. If she did this...

"I don't think Dean Cadence will let me do this," Sunset Shimmer pointed out. "Even if you try to tell her to let me at the intercom."

Cinch grinned the mad grin of someone who had it all figured out. "Dean Cadence is taking a vacation in three weeks. You'll have ample opportunity that week."

"I just don't know if this is something I can do," Sunset Shimmer continued. "Besides, can't I get in major trouble for this? I mean, this is a really public thing, what if the other students gang up on me instead?"

Cinch stood from her desk. The way her hands clasped behind her back was a little too calm for Sunset's comfort. "I assured you when you first transferred to Crystal Preparatory Academy that I would watch out for you. My assurance still stands."

Sunset Shimmer didn't back down as the much taller woman stood to her full height. "This just... I don't think it'll do what you think it will. We tried targeting Sugarcoat before and it didn't- HNGH!" Sunset Shimmer grunted as a hand locked onto the neck of her shirt and shoved her roughly back against the kitchen countertop, bending her spine over backwards as Cinch towered over her.

"You're a smart girl, Sunset Shimmer, unlike those ungrateful brats." Cinch pulled her off of the kitchen counter now that she was silent, dragging her through the house to the living room, where she spun Sunset towards one of the windows beside the front door, and one hand sharply pressed her face up against the glass. Sunset gritted her teeth against the impact and the cool glass against her cheekbone. "You know exactly where you will go if you don't work with me."

"I... didn't mean any... disrespect..." Sunset Shimmer didn't try to struggle, with her cheek pressed into the window and her hand yanked painfully up between her shoulder blades. "I just want to know... it'll work."

"Trust me, Sunset Shimmer." Cinch released her after a few moments and took a step back, folding her arms in front of her as if nothing had happened while Sunset rubbed her aching cheek and turned back towards her. There was a trace of madness in Cinch's eyes as she spoke. "This is something that needs to be done."

Sonata Cheating Heart Part 01

It used to be that the best part of Lemon Zest's day was the feeling of accomplishment that came from good grades. Now, however, the best part of her day was when the final bell tolled and she was able to slip on her roller blades and leave the grounds with her girl. This was her plan this average school day as she rounded the corner of Crystal Prep Academy on her wheels with her hands behind her back in a casual fifteen mile-per-hour stroll.

She slipped between the other students on her way towards the front sidewalk, where she found Sour Sweet just reaching the end of the school lawn with her new friend walking close by her side. Sonata Dusk was her name, Lemon remembered after some mental digging. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and Sour Sweet had a big happy smile on her lips as Sonata's hands flipped around in front of her, making various shapes with her fingers.

"Hey, girl!" Lemon Zest turned her feet sideways and began to circle quickly around Sour Sweet and her friend. "School's out! Woo!"

"Woo!" Sour Sweet hooted as she and Sonata pumped their fists over their heads until Lemon came to rest in front of them and wrapped her girlfriend up in a tight hug. "Hey! I guess you're doing your post-school skating?"

"You know it!" Lemon Zest winked as she pulled back. "You coming with?"

"Totally!" Sour Sweet turned towards her new friend. "You wanna come too?" Sonata nodded vigorously.

"I dunno." Lemon Zest put her hands on her hips as she looked Sonata up and down appraisingly. "Can she even stand up on a pair of blades?

Sonata grinned and jammed her thumb confidently into her chest with her hips in a cocky pose.

"I think that sounds like a challenge!" Sour Sweet clenched her fists with a grin. "Let's roll, girls!"

It wasn't long before they hit the road, with Sonata Dusk borrowing a set of Sour Sweet's skates and protective padding. The girl was so thin that Lemon had expected her to rarely get out and exercise, but somehow she pushed herself along with such power and grace that she was practically circling around Sour Sweet with an eager grin.

"Holy crap, Sonata!" Sour Sweet grinned appreciatively. "Is there anything you can't do!?" Sonata was rolling backwards at high speed as she flipped her hands around in front of her again. Sour Sweet laughed. "Haha! Yeah, I can't cook either! Fuck it, that's why we have takeout and microwaves!" Sonata pumped her fists into the air as if in agreement.

"Hey, I like cooking!" Lemon Zest slid up beside them. "A meal always tastes better when you make it yourself! Like winning a race! It's no fun if you don't run first! Well... not as much fun, anyway." Lemon giggled.

"Hah! Good, you can be the homemaker while I go out and storm the world!" Sour Sweet surged ahead of her, struggling to keep up with Sonata's pace even going backwards.

Lemon Zest pushed herself to keep up with Sour Sweet fairly easily. Lemon spent way more time on a pair of skates than Sour Sweet did, but however fast she went Sonata still seemed to hover right in front of her with that bright, innocent smile, even going backwards.

Curiously Lemon pushed herself just slightly faster, but Sonata turned to face forward and kept pace with her with a wild grin on her lips. Lemon went faster and faster still, but Sonata continued to keep pace with her with seeming ease.

Sour Sweet was cackling madly behind them. "Don't let me hold you back! Three two one go!"

There was a moment of silence where Lemon and Sonata exchanged a steady glance, then they both took off down the street. The wind whipped Lemon Zest's hair back behind her, while Sonata's single long ponytail was almost completely straight behind her like a flag in a wind storm as they roared down the sidewalk towards their destination, Sour Sweet's house.

Lemon Zest cut one of the corners so tight she had to leap a row of bushes, landing easily on the far side. A quick glance over her shoulder showed Sonata matching her move with the grace of a ballet dancer, and quickly closing the distance between them again. No matter how hard Lemon pushed herself to get ahead, Sonata simply refused to fall behind for more than a few seconds.

Over several more bushes, kicking her way over a row of garbage cans, taking a turn by rebounding off of a light pole on the corner, Sonata matched her move for move, easily making up any ground she lost on each maneuver. It was less like a race and more like she was just copying what Lemon was doing.

"Are you taking it easy on me!?" Lemon shouted through the wind. Sonata put one finger to the side of her lips guiltily. "Stop it! I told you it's only fun if you try!"

Sonata nodded and suddenly, in a burst of speed, began to pull ahead. Lemon's eyes went wide in shock at how fast she was. She pushed herself as hard as she could, and for a moment seemed to be catching up, but what little ground she gained was quickly lost again as Sonata widened the gap between them before they reached their destination.

Sonata was still spinning when Lemon Zest rolled up to her with her arms limp at her sides. "Where did you learn to do that?" Sonata wiggled her hand in front of her with a shrug, though she continued to skate in small circles on the street in front of the house.

"Hah! I think I can guess who won!" Sour Sweet grinned as she rolled up to the two of them, where Lemon was standing in awe while Sonata was half-skating half-dancing her way back and forth across the street. At the sound of her voice, Sonata rolled up to her and threw her hands victoriously into the air. "I thought it was you!" The girls wrapped each other in a tight hug. "You're amazing, Sonata!"

"Yeah... amazing." Lemon Zest mumbled under her breath.

"Now come on." Sour Sweet pulled away from her friend and jerked her thumb towards her house. "Let's work off that exercise with movies and popcorn."

Sonata clapped and turned to follow her inside, while Lemon rolled after them more slowly, and silently.

Pick of the Litter Part 04

The growing puppies were bouncing around Lemon Zest's bedroom floor, chasing each other around the carpet as their parents, Spike and Mina, stood careful watch together from near the foot of the bed. The sound of panting and yipping puppies and the playful tiny shadows they cast across the room in the fading light of the sun outside gave the room an air of joy that did battle with the sadness of the scene. A sadness that only grew when the puppies moved to challenge their mother, growling at her and leaping on her only to be batted to the floor with a casual swipe of one paw, where the puppy yipped and moved to apply apologetic makeup nuzzles.

Twilight Sparkle closed the bedroom door slowly and made her way out to the living room with a heavy heart. The puppies were four weeks old now, halfway to the point where all but one would have to be given up for adoption. Despite Indigo Zap's assurance that they would find a way to keep them with their parents, and multiple group meetings since then, not a single opportunity or idea had come up in the intervening weeks.

Lemon Zest looked just as dejected as Twilight felt, sitting in the living room recliner with her chin resting in the palms of her upturned hands. "It's like watching a movie, isn't it?" She huffed sadly. "You know the bad stuff is coming, but there's nothing you can do about it."

Twilight plopped down on the sofa beside her friend. "I actually didn't think Spike was ready to be a father when I first heard... but he's been amazing at it. He always wants to come over and see the kids, he and Mina get along beautifully, and he's actually matured a lot since then." Twilight pulled off her glasses and rubbed the crook of her nose between her fingers. "I feel like this is my fault. I mistook him for a puppy when he was ready to start a family... and now that he has, I'm just gonna have to tear that family apart..."

The silence consumed them for several more long minutes. These sessions where Spike asked to visit his family had become one of the hardest parts of Twilight's week. She could only sit here stewing in her guilt, listening to the slow ticking of the wall clock beside the kitchen entrance as it counted down the hours to when these visits would have to end.

"Do you think..." Lemon took a deep breath, as if finding the courage to finish her thought. "Do you think we should tell him?"

"Right now?"

"The longer we wait the worse it's gonna be, right?" Lemon asked. "Besides, doesn't he deserve to know?"

"Wh-what if we find a solution in the next four weeks?" Twilight asked.

"What if we don't?"

Twilight gnawed on the earpiece of her glasses as she thought about it before speaking. "It's funny, in my mind I know that's correct. It's a fundamental part of psychology. Well... human psychology, anyway, and Spike isn't really human, but he's not entirely a dog anymore either, so I guess he would think enough like us for human psychology to apply to him. But then that's only a theory, maybe some time we could come up with some kind of test for his intelligence and aptitude... for..." Twilight trailed off slowly when she caught side of Lemon just staring at her with a steady gaze.

Rambling wasn't going to let her avoid this question, Twilight told herself. The answer was yes... but she found that despite the answer being obvious, it was the most difficult conclusion she had ever reached.

"Do you want me to tell him?" Lemon asked. "I don't mind."

"It's my responsibility." Twilight nodded and stood from the sofa. "I'm his mommy..." Twilight blushed suddenly. She had never called herself that with anyone else in the room. "I mean I'm... you know..."

"Hehe, I know." Lemon Zest stood and pulled Twilight into a comforting hug. "I'll be right out here when you're finished."

"Thank you." Twilight briefly hugged her friend back then steeled herself and turned to march back towards Lemon Zest's bedroom, where the happy doggy family was obliviously playing and bonding.

She felt like a monster... but Spike deserved to know.

The bedroom door closed behind her with a soft click as Twilight leaned her back against the hard wood with her hand lingering on the door handle. Spike's eyes darted back to her with a bright smile when his sensitive canine ears detected the door and the movement in the room.

"Hey! Do you wanna come say hi too?" Spike's tail was wagging so hard it pounded into the carpet on either side of his legs.

"Spike..." Twilight slid down to her butt in front of the door. Mina wasn't going to understand anything they said, not on the level Spike would, but she still felt like it would be wrong somehow to talk about this right next to her and the babies. "Could you come over here please? We need to have a talk about something."

"Oh, sure!" With a bounce in his step Spike skipped across the carpet to meet her near the door, stopping and sitting obediently in front of her knees. "What's up?"

Staring into those large, wet eyes Twilight could barely bring herself to say anything more. She didn't want to hurt him, she didn't want to have to see the sheer joy in those eyes fade even a little bit... but as his mother, this was something she had to do. It was her responsibility, and it would hurt less coming from her now.

"Spike..." Twilight reached out to pull Spike into his lap where she knew he was most comfortable, running her left hand slowly through his fur. "The truth is... we can't keep all of those puppies."

Spike blinked up at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Twilight gritted her teeth, then took a deep breath before continuing. "Our parents won't let us raise this many puppies at once... in one month they're going to make us give away all but one to loving families."

Spike's body tensed under her hand. "Give away...? But they're my puppies, Twilight. You wouldn't do that..."

"It's the last thing I want to do, Spike, but it's out of my hands. We're still trying to think of a solution, but if we can't... we're going to have to find them loving homes."

"W-with your friends... right?" Spike stood up on her knees worriedly, his tail no longer wagging.

"N-no..." Twilight looked away. "If we can't find good homes with people around town then... we're going to have to take them to the animal shelter."

"What!? Twilight, no!" Spike put his paws on her chest in a panic, leaning against her hard enough to push her back against the door. "Please! I'll take care of them! Nobody will have to do anything, I'll do it all, I promise!"

"It's not about effort, Spike." Twilight brought her hands up to his cheeks, rubbing them as she met his frantic gaze. "I believe that you would make an amazing father to these puppies... but our parents simply won't allow it, and as long as we live with them, we don't get any say in the matter." Twilight gave him a sad smile. "We're still looking for a way around this... but I thought you should be ready for it if... if that day comes."

"But they're my children, Twilight..." Spike whimpered. "How could you ask me to choose one of them...? To send the rest away to some cold animal shelter?"

"I assure you the shelter will take care of them. Fluttershy works there, she'll make sure they're given the best care and the most loving homes."

"But their place is with me! With us!"

"I know how you feel, but-"

"No, you don't!" Spike jumped off of her lap. His whole body was quaking, whether from fear or sadness or anger she couldn't tell. "How would you know!? You're not a parent! You don't know anything about how I feel right now!"

"Spike, please..."

"You wouldn't tell a human to do this!" Spike whirled to face Mina and the puppies, who were as oblivious as ever on the other side of the room. "You're only saying this to me because we're just dogs, and dogs can be split up and sent away and nobody will care! Well I care Twilight! Maybe I'm a dog, but I care! And I won't let you take my babies away!" Without looking back Spike bounded back over to Mina.

Mina looked up at him over her shoulder, and gave his chest a soft nuzzle as he approached. Spike knelt to lie on the carpet beside her, resting his chin across her belly once again as he resumed a much more watchful perch over the puppies. The puppies were now settling down for a nap, curling up in little furry piles against Mina's warm, furry stomach.

Twilight rubbed her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet, wiping the moisture from her cheeks before slipping her glasses back into place.

"M-maybe I don't understand, Spike..." Twilight turned the doorknob. "But that doesn't mean I won't do everything I can for you..." Spike didn't respond to look back as she slipped through the crack in the door, and pulled it silently closed behind her.

Fur Crying Out Loud Part 01

Sugarcoat liked Crystal Prep Academy. She knew her friends were getting tired of the jerks, bullies and overall self-centeredness of the faculty and student body, but for her it was the perfect balance of learning, being left alone by the bulk of the school, and being able to have friendly private chats with her friends. If it wasn't for Sunset Shimmer and Principal Cinch carrying on with this petty, pointless grudge, she would almost say her school life was perfect.

The lunchroom was typically pretty quiet, and today was no exception. The scattered murmuring of students was quiet enough to hear her own footsteps as she made her way across the room to where her small circle of friends was gathered, with a special guest joining them on the bench directly beside Sour Sweet.

"Well hello there." Sugarcoat plopped down on the other side of Sonata Dusk, who waved back with an enthusiastic grin. "Why are you sitting with us?" Sonata put her hands together with her fingers forming a little heart, then leaned her cheek against Sour Sweet's shoulder. "Ah. Does Lemon Zest have competition?"

"She does not..." Lemon Zest growled and grabbed Sour Sweet's hand from the other side almost protectively.

Sour Sweet, meanwhile, was bright red and looking happier than Sugarcoat had ever seen her. Come to think of it, she had been remarkably lighthearted over the last month or so. Sugarcoat couldn't complain. If juggling two honeys was where Sour Sweet found her happy place, she wasn't one to step in and stop her. So she let the subject drop and began shoveling the half-potatoes half-gruel into her mouth until suddenly static echoed out over the school intercom.

"Good afternoon fellow students." Sunset Shimmer's voice echoed out of the intercom. "I thought we could start a new tradition here at Crystal Prep! Fanfiction Fridays!" She cleared her throat loudly over the intercom.

"Has she lost her mind?" Sour Sweet snickered. "Seriously, has she gone completely stupid?"

"Living with Principal Cinch finally broke her." Sunny Flare shook her head. "Maybe we should try to stop her from humiliating herself."

It was too late, however, as Sunset Shimmer continued. "Be sure to thank our wonderful author for her contribution, as we're going to read an excerpt from a steamy little Zootopia tale called In The Shadow Of Grief, by our very own Sugarcoat."

Sugarcoat's spoon dropped to the plate in front of her, as her hands went cold almost instantly. It felt like every pair of eyes in the cafeteria had turned on her at once.

"She could scarcely believe where she was." Sunset Shimmer's voice took on a powerful, steady tone.

This date had been like a dream, the kind of dream that lasts only a short time as one sits on the precipice of the real world. She knew that surely such a dream would have to end soon, and she would awaken alone in her bed with the sheets strewn about the room and her body sweating and in need, but to her shock and amazement, the ending didn't come before his gentle touch guided her to a seat on the edge of his bed."

"Thank you for spending this time with me..." Nick's lip twitched into a sad half-smile as he sat beside her, clutching one of her hands in both of his. "Ever since Judy fell down that elevator shaft... I felt like my life would never be complete again."

"I know what you mean..." Sugar lifted her paws from the bed to place them comfortingly on his shoulders. "I miss my sister dearly... but we must move on. It's what she would want us to do."

"I know..." Nick's gentle eyes stared deeply into hers as his paws slipped around her slender bunny waist, sliding her ever-so-slowly across the sheets towards him.

Her own grip tightened on his shoulders, holding onto him as if seeking a rock to cling to in the wild, churning sea of her emotions, a rock that she knew would never let her go. The moment passed by in a perpetual eternity as his arms pulled her just close enough for their snouts to touch, for their lips to meet, and for her heart to melt.

There was no doubt in her mind that this was right, as his gentle paws laid her down on the luxurious silk sheets. Her thin day dress crumpled up around her waist as his firm touch began to explore her tiny bunny body, across every curve, but always stroking the right way not to disturb the flow of her thin coat of fur. His hands gave her comfort even as they set her mind and body on fire, alight with something that she had long ago given up when her first love had walked away from her for another bunny...

As his lips pressed into her neck, drawing a grunt of growing pleasure from her lips, she suddenly knew that he would be the one to free her from her own insecurities.

"Oops!" Sunset Shimmer cackled over the intercom. "It looks like we're out of time! If you want to read the rest of this masterpiece, along with plenty of other works by our own esteemed author, you can find them at www dot Fimfiction dot net. I think we can all agree that they're worth checking out! I'll see you next time!"

The click of the intercom cutting off left the cafeteria in complete silence. Sugarcoat didn't think her heart had ever beat so fast. The faces of those seated around them were twisting into various expressions ranging from disgust to humor. Even her friends had pale expressions of shock in their eyes as they stared at her with open mouths.

"So..." Jet Set commented from the next table over. "You can tell us what the fox says?"

All at once the cafeteria exploded into riotous laughter that drowned out all else. Sugarcoat was barely thinking as she stood from the table and turned to march towards the cafeteria doors as quickly as her legs could carry her. She thought she heard her friends saying something under the wave of laughter and continued jeers that barely registered in her mind. She didn't care about anything that was said now, her fight or flight response had kicked in long ago, and thankfully Twilight had left her with the perfect place to flee to...

Fur Crying Out Loud Part 02

Back when Twilight Sparkle attended Crystal Prep High School, she had been special enough to earn herself a special private study space from Dean Cadence. Of course, after she left the room had remained empty, until she bequeathed it to Sugarcoat. Naturally, this was the first place Indigo Zap and their circle of friends rushed to after Sugarcoat vanished from the cafeteria like a cat seeking shelter from the storm.

"I can barely believe that really happened." Lemon Zest had her hands clenched in front of her with a look of worry on her face. "It really happened, right?"

"If it didn't, someone would've woken up by now." Sunny Flare assured her.

Indigo Zap clenched her fists in front of the door. "I can't believe Sunset Shimmer would stoop that low. Dragging someone's private hobby out for everyone to hear like that. I wanna go slug her one!"

Sour Sweet threw her hands into the air. "Finally someone is talking sense around here!"

"Please don't, you'll just be doing her work for her," Sunny Flare pointed out.

Sonata tapped Sour Sweet's shoulder and made a few quick signs with her hands, which Sour Sweet translated for everybody else. "Sonata says she thought the story sounded really good. She should be proud."

"Yeah, that's not really the problem here..." Sunny Flare replied.

"Well? Are we gonna stand out here the rest of the day or go be there for our friend?" Lemon Zest rubbed her arm. "Because part of me wants to stand out here all day..."

Sugarcoat's voice was only slightly muffled by the door. "You know I can hear you out there."

"Busted!" Indigo exclaimed.

Sugarcoat continued. "Come in or not. It won't change anything. I'm not leaving."

The gathered friends exchanged a glance and only the slightest of nods before Indigo Zap gripped the door handle and pushed her way inside.

It had been some time since they had been in Sugarcoat's private school laboratory. It actually looked like a nice little room now, complete with wall furnishings, a couple of bookshelves lined up in the back, and even a futon for napping set up between the computer desk and the bookshelves. There were two displays on the computer desk, though only one computer, that looked a lot newer than the one Twilight had left behind. Sugarcoat was seated on the wheeled chair in front of the desk as funny cat videos played on the monitor, though she wasn't smiling.

"Dang, Sugarcoat." Indigo looked around at the room in awe. "This is like a whole little house you have here."

"You must spend a lot of time here..." Sunny Flare noted.

"Yes, well, I'll be spending more now." Sugarcoat glanced towards the back. "I need to find a place to fit a microwave and a fridge." She looked back up at the gathered group, who had all fallen silent as they stared at Sugarcoat. "Go ahead. Laugh, ask, whatever your impulses tell you to do. I suppose I have nothing further to hide from you girls anyway."

Sunny Flare took a deep breath. "First off, this doesn't change anything, okay? We still want to be your friends."

"Noted."

"Secondly..." Indigo rubbed the back of her neck. "Just out of friendly curiosity... was that what it sounded like...?"

"Fanfiction of my own bunnysona fucking Nickolas Wylde? Yes." Sugarcoat smirked. "I assumed that would be obvious."

Lemon spoke up next. "But... why would you write that?"

"He's hot." Sugarcoat turned towards her monitor with her fingers making a pyramid in front of her. "His smooth personality, his take-charge attitude, always being the smartest person in the room and still having the capacity for moments of quiet sensitivity... mmmh..." Sugarcoat was practically purring by the time she finished speaking, if a human girl could pull that off.

Sour Sweet grunted. "I don't know if I like the way you're looking at those cat videos." The others all whirled on her in surprise, while Sugarcoat just punched the monitor with her index finger to turn it off.

"Hey, she didn't mean it!" Sunny Flare raised her hands calmingly. "I guess we're all just a little confused about... you know..."

"Well I don't want to fuck animals." Sugarcoat swiveled to look at them directly now. "And I don't own a fursuit either, if you were going to ask."

Lemon scratched her forehead. "I don't even know what that is..."

Sugarcoat smirked. "Feel free to look it up." Her smirk faded as she leaned forward in her seat with her elbows on her knees, reaching up with one hand to push her glasses into place on the top of her nose. "Yes, I do have a thing for anthropomorphic cartoon characters. No, I don't want to fuck actual animals or pretend I am one in real life. I enjoy dwelling in my fantasies sometimes. It's a break from the rules and standards of the real world. You already know that about me."

"I think I understand." Sunny Flare nodded. "And as I said, whatever you're into, it's perfectly fine. It doesn't change how we see you. Right girls?" Everyone else in the room nodded.

"You don't nod." Sugrcoat pointed at Sonata. "I don't know you well enough to get a nod from you." Sonata looked down guiltily.

"And if anyone else tries to give you crap about this, we'll be there to get your back too." Indigo Zap gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up and an exaggerated wink. "Nobody's gonna harass our friend for being who she is."

"I feel like you're promising the impossible... but I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless." Sugarcoat stood from the computer chair to march up to her friends, reaching her arms out to pull them into a group hug that they gladly entered. One hand pushed lightly on Sonata's chest to evict her from the hug-pile. "I don't know you well enough yet."

Sonata Dusk sighed, but kept on smiling as she watched the friends bond.

Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 02

Sunset Shimmer turned off the intercom with a flick of her finger and leaned back in the principal's heavy swiveling chair. From the computer screen in front of her she had been reading Sugarcoat's fanfiction story, posted under the name SugarHopps. Her hand pushed the microphone away from her lips as her eyes continued to skim the lines of text with idle curiosity. From her time in Starlight Glimmer's orphanage, she had rarely ever been exposed to such things.

Cinch's hands clapped together from her position on the other side of the desk, where she had been listening the entire time. "Exactly as I would expect from my prized pupil, Sunset Shimmer." Cinch gave her a Cheshire grin with her hands clenched in front of her. "Very well done indeed."

"Thanks, I guess." Sunset shook her head and ripped her eyes away from the text so that she could vacate the seat, which Cinch promptly took back. "Can I go now?"

"Of course." Cinch nodded as her finger closed the web page with a click of the mouse. "I will meet you at the house later. Perhaps we'll have your favorite meal tonight."

"Great..." Sunset Shimmer left the principal's office in a hurry, pulling the door tightly closed behind her.

The day passed in a daze of curious gazes out in the hallways. Some laughing, some glaring, some unsure of how to look at her. She had never cared how the others saw her anyway though, so she paid their reactions no minds as she went through the motions of her remaining classes. She was somewhat surprised not to see Sugarcoat or her friends anywhere for the rest of the day. Either she got lucky, or they were avoiding her.

Sunset Shimmer's hand tugged on the tie around her neck as she emerged from the hallways of Crystal Prep out into the parking lot at the end of the day, surrounded by the sea of students leaving in sets of two or three, or even by themselves. She emerged from the crowd marching towards the parking lot. She pulled her thick leather riding gloves out of her pockets as she approached the shining red and chrome motorcycle parked in the first spot in front of the school's double doors. She slipped the gloves onto her hands and unlocked her helmet from the handle bars to slide it on.

Before she could, however, she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Hey, what in the world is your deal?"

Sunset Shimmer didn't look back. "Is this really necessary, Indigo Zap? I think we both know what the deal is at this point."

Indigo's heavy footsteps marched right up behind her back, but stopped short before the smaller, but beefier girl would touch her. "I thought you had some kind of understanding with Sugarcoat! I thought you were changed!"

"I think we established before that you're not very bright." Sunset turned around with a wry smirk on her lips. "So I'm not very surprised to see you confirming it again."

Indigo Zap growled. "This isn't a joke! Sugarcoat was seriously hurt by that! She thinks she's not gonna be able to show her face in Crystal Prep again!"

"That was the idea. Now if you don't mind." Sunset Shimmer slipped her helmet on, but Indigo grabbed her wrist to pull her away from the bike. "Hey!"

"I don't care why you're doing it, or what kind of influence Cinch has over you." Indigo Zap squeezed her wrist painfully tight and turned her around so that they were face-to-face. "If you go after any of my friends again so help me..."

Sunset smirked back again. "Yeah yeah, you'll get yourself expelled retaliating. I'm pretty sure I've heard that line from you before." Sunset Shimmer dropped her helmet to the pavement as she took a step towards her, pushing their chests together into a long staring contest. "The problem with threats is that eventually you have to make good on them, or nobody will take them seriously anymore." Indigo Zap gritted her teeth, with a combination of anger and uncertainty in her eyes. "So go ahead. Do it." Sunset Shimmer opened her jacket with both hands, exposing her torso to her. "Get yourself expelled. I won't fight back."

Indigo narrowed her eyes sharply. "You have changed..."

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes. "And you haven't. Now if you're not gonna grow a spine, back off so I can get out of here." Indigo Zap took a few steps back, so Sunset swept her helmet off of the pavement again, sweeping it onto her head and tucking her hair underneath as she moved to straddle her bike seat.

"I think Sugarcoat likes you, you know." Indigo's statement caught Sunset off-guard. Her hands froze on the bike's steering column. "As a person, I mean. She's not gay."

"I don't care either way." Sunset slapped her facemask down. "You're all a means to an end. That's all you'll ever be to me. Including Sugarcoat. Tell her that." The engine between her legs roared to life and she pulled out of the parking space before beginning the long, needlessly winding ride back towards Principal Cinch's house.

When she got there she shot right through the living room, and managed to make it to her bedroom on the second floor without a peep from Cinch, which was exactly the way she liked it. She pulled her boots off and leaned back on her luxurious, freshly scented bedsheets. Though her eyes kept drifting curiously towards her computer.

Fur Crying Out Loud Part 03

"Yip, yip, yip!"

"Ee, e, e, eeee!"

"Tell us what he says!"

For the rest of the day the comments and laughter had followed Sugarcoat around the school like an unbearable musk she could not escape. She didn't mind being ignored, she didn't even mind being hated, but the constant attention was almost more than she could bear. It was only a small consolation that she was pretty sure it would be less intense going forward into the future, though there was a very real possibility of it following her around for the rest of her school life.

"Are you sure you're okay?" At last school had let out, and Sunny's Flare's comforting hand on her shoulder guided her away from the school along a somewhat more serpentine route than she would normally take to avoid the other students.

"Not really." Sugarcoat shrugged casually. "But what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know." Sunny Flare patted her shoulder comfortingly. "But if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know."

"I will... thank you." Sugarcoat nodded, and the two of them lapsed into a friendly silence, though Sugarcoat was pretty sure there was a hint of unease from her friend. She didn't mention it however until they rounded the last corner leading up to Sugarcoat's house at the end of the street.

Sugarcoat didn't like awkward silences. "Is there something you want to say to me?"

Sunny Flare blushed. "Please don't see me as judgmental."

"That depends on whether you sound judgmental or not."

"It just feels... sudden, is all." Sunny Flare shook her head. "How long have you had this particular interest?"

"A few years, maybe." Sugarcoat shrugged. "I never really did anything with it until recently. Too focused on studying."

"Weren't we all?" Sunny Flare chuckled as the two friends approached the house at the end of the block. "I guess the honest version is that it sounds... weird, to me, to think of you that way. But that doesn't mean I'm going to try to push you away or spend less time with you. I just hope you feel comfortable coming to me with this kind of thing yourself, in the future."

"I don't." Sugarcoat shook her head. "Not after hearing that it does change how you see me."

"I... yeah, that's fair." Sunny Flare blushed deeply and cast a guilty glance at the ground.

Without looking back Sugarcoat moved to unlock her front door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sunny. It's been a really long day."

"Yeah, I understand. Goodnight." Sunny's voice faded behind her as Sugarcoat closed the door and locked it with a swift swipe of her finger.

With a heavy sigh she made her way upstairs to unwind from the long school day. She got herself a nice warm shower, a fresh pair of loose sweat pants and a simple tank top, and a bowl of strawberry ice cream before making her way into the office on the first floor, where her computer was quietly humming its way through its idle processes.

The computer booted up and Sugarcoat set to work doing her daily browsing as she shoveled spoonfulls of dairy and sugar into her mouth. A few webcomics, a few message boards she occasionally frequented, broken up by a few short funny videos. It wasn't until she felt her muscles finally begin to relax that she allowed herself to check in on her latest internet work, and navigate her way to Fimfiction dot net.

Her latest story, In the Shadow of Grief, was doing quite well. A majority of the comments and responses were quite positive, though as with all such things there was a significant amount of biased backlash. Normally she would ignore this, too, but after the day she had had, the number of thumbs down grated on her nerves more than it typically would.

She noticed after a few more strawberry bites, however, that she had received a private message. Despite her blog, she really wasn't very well known for her writing, and rarely got any direct contact with anybody, so she found herself intrigued by this. She was less intrigued and more disgusted when she clicked on her PM folder and found that the new message was by a user named 'Sugarcoat'. A quick check of their profile confirmed that the account had been made today.

Sugarcoat considered simply deleting the message and contacting the moderators about harassment, but the message itself sounded strangely innocuous.

Sugarcoat: Hey, I read your new story. I just wanted to let you know I think it's really good.

Sugarcoat leaned back in her seat for a moment with a scowl on her lips. It was probably leading into some kind of troll, why else would they use Sugarcoat's real name? But perhaps she could have some fun with them at least. So she responded.

SugarHopps: Thank you, I spent a few weeks working on it.

The reply was surprisingly immediate, as if the troll was sitting at the computer waiting for her.

Sugarcoat: It shows! You should definitely keep at it.

SugarHopps: I had every intention of doing that. I'm actually thinking of a sequel right now.

Sugarcoat: Really? Can I ask what it's about?

SugarHopps: It's about Judy coming back to life and getting into a kung fu rap battle with Sugar over Nick's affections.

Sugarcoat: Hm. Maybe you should work on your concept a little more. I know you can do better!

SugarHopps: What, really? No condescending claims that it's a masterpiece because you're only throwing praise my way ironically?

Sugarcoat: No way, I genuinely enjoyed it. I mean sure, the plot is a little cheesy, but the writing is just so full of emotion. I can tell you really cared about it. Plus it was really hot!

SugarHopps: Who are you? There's no way you go to my school.

Sugarcoat: I'm a friend who enjoyed the story. I think I'm gonna read more, in fact.

SugarHopps: Sunny Flare? Are you trying to cheer me up?

Sugarcoat: Try again.

SugarHopps: Twilight Sparkle? Did someone tell you what happened?

Sugarcoat: Afraid not.

SugarHopps: I would guess Sour, Lemon, or Indigo, but they're not introverted net dwellers like some of us.

Sugarcoat: It's a mystery!

SugarHopps: If you really enjoy the story, and you really want to be my friend, why won't you tell me who you are?

Sugarcoat: Maybe I'm not ready for that kind of commitment! I'm shy!

SugarHopps: Fluttershy?

Sugarcoat: Now you're just making up names.

SugarHopps: Right. Well, thank you for the kind words, I suppose.

Sugarcoat: You're welcome! I'll get around to reading some of your others too, but time is limited tonight, so I'll leave reviews when I do get to read them! Talk to you later!

SugarHopps: Okay. Goodnight.

Sugarcoat leaned back in her seat with her fingers in a pyramid in front of her chest and her eyes staring into the screen as if she could find the mysterious fan through sheer willpower. It didn't work, however, but it still lightened her heart to know that someone at Crystal Prep, evidently, didn't think that she was a freak to be shunned. Someone had actually enjoyed the story on its own merits.

It was a petty thing hardly worth feeling better about... but her heart still lightened just a little bit.

Pick of the Litter Part 05

The room was dark, but the moon was bright, so Spike didn't have any trouble seeing when he opened his eyes. His sensitive ears could hear Twilight's breath falling into a rhythmic sleeping pattern, something he had started picking up on ever since that magic ray had hit him at CHS. She was fast asleep until morning, though she was also kind of a light sleeper. This was good... he didn't want her to wake up. At least, not until he was ready.

His tail was still on the bed as he sat on the mattress by her head, staring down into her peaceful face. She had raised him since he could remember, cared for him, fed him, exercised with him... she had always been there. He could barely imagine what his life might have been without her, cold and alone on the streets like those other dogs you might see on TV sometimes. He would always be grateful to her... he would always love her.

And yet, even this couldn't stop him from turning away from her and padding his way rapidly towards the window. He had been practicing for a while to use his claws to unhook the latch on the window, and gently push it open. He hesitated for a brief moment, glancing back at Twilight's sleeping form out of the corner of his eye. But it was only for a moment before he hurled himself out into the night, and into the waiting embrace of the tree beside the house.

The branches snapped and split under his weight as his tiny body plunged through them, but he managed to reach the bottom and land of the grass with only a soft thud and a yelp as his side planted into the ground. He barely even allowed himself to register the pain. He could hear Twilight's voice from the bedroom, awakened by the commotion, so he whirled to rush away from the house as fast as his tiny legs could take him, making a straight line for Lemon Zest's place.

He reached the house within a few minutes with his tongue flapping in the wind. He didn't even slow down before racing to the gate leading into the side yard, towards which he flung himself high into the air. His paws pushed against the bars of the gate until he hurled clean over the top, flopping through the air to the other side to resume his trek around the house and towards the back door. He didn't have time to think. He'd been making this plan since Twilight told him the truth, he knew exactly what he had to do.

He could hear Lemon Zest's voice from through the back door, muffled by the wood. So he flung his body against the door to create a massive thumping sound.

"Eeep! I just heard something!" Lemon Zest squealed from inside. Spike dove off of the small stairway behind the back door, tucking himself into the stairs' shadow just before the door opened and Lemon Zest stepped outside in a pink nightgown with her cell phone against her ear. "I thought it was the door, but I don't see anything... are you sure this is where he's-hey!"

Spike darted inside and rammed his body against the back door to slam it shut. He hurled himself into the air again to click the lock with one of his claws right before he heard Lemon Zest yanking on the door handle and pounding on the wood.

"He just locked me out! Spike, open the door! This isn't funny! Spike!"

Ignoring the pounding on the door behind him, Spike raced upstairs to Lemon Zest's bedroom, where he found Mina and their puppies asleep on the carpet at the foot of Lemon's bed. He raced up to her with a worried whimper and nuzzled his cheek heavily into her side.

"Mina!" Spike hissed as loudly as he could without awakening the babies nearby. "Mina, we have to get out of here!" Mina lifted her head with a curious whimper and responded with a deep yawn. "I'm not going to let them tear us apart. We're going to Equestria, where we can be safe as dragons and nobody will try to separate our family." He marched around her and gently plucked the babies off of the floor one by one, setting them on Mina's back and nudging her with his nose until she rose to her feet. "It's not ideal... but I don't want to lose any of you."

Mina barked in what he had managed to figure out long ago was agreement. Her tail was wagging despite her letting out one more yawn and stretching out with her puppies lying peacefully on her back. Spike nuzzled her cheek with his own, then rushed out into the hallway and towards the front door. Mina padded her way along behind him more carefully, so as not to spill their babies all over the carpet.

They reached the front door, where Spike leapt into the air to unlock it, then leapt again to grip the doorknob between his forepaws. The door clicked open just enough for him to drop to the tile floor and pry it the rest of the way open with his claws. As soon as the door was wide enough, he stepped aside to wave Mina out onto the porch, then stepped out himself.

"Mina!" Lemon shouted from the side yard, where she was straddling the top of the locked gate. "Spike, stop! Please!"

"Crap! Come on Mina!" Spike darted across the lawn towards the street, looking back only once to make sure Mina was on his tail. She was following as close as she could, but she couldn't run at full speed with her babies nestled on her back.

The wind was howling through his sensitive ears as they left Lemon Zest's house behind. His heart wouldn't let him stop or slow down, pounding so hard he could barely think at all. All he could think of now was reaching that mirror, through which he could see the salvation of disappearing into another world.

"Spike! I mean it! Stop!" Spike yipped in surprise and looked back to see Lemon Zest hurtling towards them at full speed on a pair of roller blades, sliding them on so fast she was still wearing her nightgown and no padding whatsoever, though she did still have her cell phone clenched in her palm. "Get back here with Mina! We just want to talk to you, okay!?"

"I know what you want!" Spike panted sharply. "You want to take my babies away! Well I'm not letting you! We'll go away and be a family!"

"We don't want to do that, Spike!" Lemon Zest rolled up beside him, slowing to keep pace with the two running canines. "We want to keep your babies! And we'll find a way that you won't have to give them away! I promise! Just come back!" Lemon Zest skated closer and took a swipe at Mina, who yelped and jerked sideways away from her, barely dodging it.

"Hey! Leave my mate alone!" Spike threw himself at Lemon Zest, clamping onto her ankle with his teeth and yanking on it with all of his might.

Lemon Zest howled in pain and surprise as her skate slide right out from under her and she collapsed to the street, where her body bounced across the cobblestone road for several feet before coming to a stop on her back. Spike could taste the small bit of blood on his tongue as he leapt over her for Mina, who had come to a stop and begun whimpering at the sight.

"Spike...!" Lemon Zest rolled to her side with a painful grunt. "Please don't take Mina away! I love her!"

"So do I..." Spike stuck his chest out. "That's why I have to get her away from all of you..." He approached Mina and gave her a slow lick on her cheek before walking past her. For a brief moment Mina looked back and forth between Spike and Lemon, before finally turning to follow him once again.

The sun was beginning to rise by the time Canterlot High School came into view. It had been a long run through the night, but they were finally here. Freedom was in sight... but his heart sank slightly when he saw that, so was Indigo Zap's car, just coming around the corner behind them.

Pick of the Litter Finale

Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle was quiet in the early hours of the morning. It was that special time between the peaceful rest of the night and the hustle and bustle of the day where all one had to worry about was sitting in a chair with a tall glass of cold milk and a stack of pancakes sitting on the table in front of them. It was a time of silence, where friends and family could relax and simply enjoy being with one-another for just a little while.

It was a time that Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike were enjoying as they slowly munched on their fluffy breakfast, when suddenly a clamor arose from the hallway. It grew louder and louder, until the kitchen door flew open and a small army of dragons fluttered through the room.

"Keep running! We're so close to freeeeedoooooom!" Spike's voice howled as ran right across the top of the table in a panic. Dishes flew from the polished wood as a bigger dragon girl and a bunch of tiny green and brown dragons chattered in high pitched voices as they bounced after the two bigger dragons. The noise seemed to vanish out the door to the foyer as suddenly as it appeared, and as soon as the dishes stopped spinning on the floor, silence reigned again.

Twilight and Spike exchanged a confused glance, then both looked to Starlight Glimmer. Starlight stared back blankly with a half-chewed pancake in her mouth as she replied. "I didn't do it."

***

The palace doors clanged open just before Spike emerged out into the growing daylight beyond. He skidded to a stop in the dirt just outside of what appeared to be a massive crystal palace shaped like a tree. He heard his beloved and his children coming to a stop all around him as they stood and took in the sight of this new place. It looked nothing like the world he was familiar with. There was no pavement, not even any people walking the dirt roads. Everything he had overheard from Twilight was true. This place was full of ponies... ponies who, oddly, seemed to recognize him.

"Hey Spike!" A female pony with a light green coat waved as she passed. "How's it going?"

"You know me?" Spike blinked for a moment, then his eyes went wide. "Crap... they know me here!" He grabbed Mina's claw in his own. "We have to get out of here!"

"Spike, I don't understand. What's going on!?" Mina protested loudly, but she didn't resist being tugged along. The newly awakened dragon babies had leapt onto their shoulders while they were standing still, and now clung to their scales as they barreled down the town center. "Why are we running away from Lemon Zest? Where are we going?"

"No time! I'll explain later!" Spike panted as he ran as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

They had made it to the next street before he heard a voice howling from behind him... Twilight Sparkle's voice. "Spike! Stop! Please, we can talk about this!"

"Mina!" Lemon Zest cried out beside her. "Come back! Please!"

"Lemon Zest?" Mina glanced back and began to slow down, but Spike's grip on her claw continued to urge her forward.

"Come on! I'll explain when we lose them!" Spike turned to yank her through one of the larger crowds, pulling her down a shady alleyway between two of the wooden buildings. "We've got to get out of town! We've got to-hrk!" He gasped as he was suddenly yanked to a stop so suddenly that his arm almost wrenched out of its socket.

Mina had stopped moving and, being almost double his size, brought him to a stop along with her. There was a frightened look on her face as she stared into his eyes. "Spike, I'm confused! Please tell me what's happening!"

Spike turned towards her, gripping one of her claws in his own. "Mina, they're going to take our babies away! They've been talking about it for weeks!"

"What!?" Mina's arms wrapped around the tiny dragons dotting her arms, holding them nestled snugly into her chest. "N-no! Lemon Zest wouldn't do that!"

"They're going to take us back and do just that if we let them catch us!" Spike clung to her claw desperately. "That's why I brought us here! We're dragons, we can go wherever we want in this world! Nobody can mess with us, nobody can take them away from us, we can disappear into this world forever!"

"Forever?" Mina looked down with wet eyes. "I don't want to disappear forever..."

"Spike!" Twilight's voice echoed sharply down the alley. Spike gasped, immediately moving to put himself between the three approaching ponies and his family. Twilight Sparkle led Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap towards them at a slow walk. "Spike, we can talk this out. You don't need to keep running away."

"You're lying, Twilight, I know you are! You're still planning to take them away!" Spike tried to push Mina away from them, but the larger dragoness refused to budge. "Mina, please, let's go! We need to move!"

"Mina, don't..." Lemon Zest hurried forward. She was limping on her right hind leg, which had several bleeding scars dripping from her ankle along with several smaller cuts across the rest of her body, but she kept walking regardless. "Please, don't leave me. I love you, I love all of you."

"Don't listen to them!" Spike threw his arms around Mina, furiously trying to pull him away from the approaching ponies. "Please let's get out of here..."

Mina shook her head quickly and hugged the tiny dragons tighter against her chest. "I don't know what to do... I'm not used to thinking like this..."

"We can help you, Mina." Twilight Sparkle spoke in a soothing voice. "Just come back, and we'll help you. I promise."

Spike gritted his teeth and clenched at Mina's shoulders as his blood began to boil. She was still lying... she would say whatever it took to get them back. They would lie to Mina, take her back because she was their property, and when the time came take her babies away anyway. Because they didn't matter... they were dogs.

"Leave us alone!" Spike whirled on the ponies with his jaws wide. Emerald green flames of rage burst from his lips to engulf the stunned equines. It burned for longer than seemingly any fire should, but soon it began to peter out, showing the ponies standing unharmed behind a transparent crimson bubble. A new pony had joined them, a Twilight Sparkle with a pair of wings attached to her sides.

"That's quite enough of that, Spike." Princess Twilight fanned her wings calmly to put out the rest of the emerald fire that was burning on the ground.

"Whoa, it really is the other me..." The Other Spike on the princess' back stared at the two other dragons with a look of bewilderment in his eyes. "Weird..."

"Princess Twilight..." Spike fell to his knees like he'd seen many humans do on many occasions. "You can't let them take us back! You can't let them take our babies away!"

Princess Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Taking babies away?" She peered at the family of dragons before her, then turned back to the ponies gathered behind her. "Does anypony want to explain what he's talking about?"

"Of course, Your Majesty..." Twilight cleared her throat with a blush. "We'll tell you anything you want to know..."

It wasn't long before they were back in Princess Twilight's palace seated around the dining room table. Tea had been served to all of those gathered to help calm frayed nerves. Spike had never had tea before, and he wasn't sure if it was because of his new dragon tongue, but it didn't taste bad.

"We're still trying to think of a way around our parents' restrictions..." Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "But... if we can't, there's simply nothing we can do."

"I see..." Princess Twilight looked back at Mina with a gentle gaze again. "You've been quiet since we came back, Mina. Do you have something you want to say?"

"I love Lemon Zest..." Mina's arms were patting and batting at the tiny dragons as she spoke, who were cooing and giggling in oblivious happiness now that the danger and panic had passed. "And I love my babies... I don't want to leave, and I don't want anyone to go away..."

"I think we can all agree with you, Mina." Lemon Zest gulped. There was a bandage wrapped around the wound on her ankle now. "Just tell us what we can do..."

"You can... leave them here." Spike's voice echoed across the vaulted room, though it didn't come from Spike. Other Spike was standing by the doorway with his claw resting gently on the doorframe. "I may not be much of a dragon... or a grownup... but I mean... maybe I can do some good, you know?"

"Leave them in Equestria?" Twilight blinked in surprise. "I'm sure that's not possible... is it? Wouldn't that hurt some kind of interdimensional balance or something?"

Princess Twilight stroked her chin. "Sunset Shimmer has been in your world for quite a while, and nothing has gone wrong. Plus the Dazzlings have been over there for a thousand years. Besides, who am I to get in the way of one of the most generous acts I've ever heard?" She gave Other Spike a warm smile. "If you're absolutely sure, then of course they can stay here. If you think you can handle them."

"Yeah, I mean... I don't know, but I'll do my best." Other Spike's cheeks were bright red as he approached the two other dragons. "They may not technically be mine... but how could I turn away from this?"

"And we can come see them?" Mina hugged her babies tighter again. "Any time?"

"The portal is always open." Princess Twilight nodded with a gentle smile. "You don't even need to ask."

"Okay..." Mina slid off of her chair to approach Other Spike. "Please take care of them..."

"Of course I will." Other Spike was grinning madly as the dragons were laid on top of his arms and shoulders.

"This is Pluto, Bolt, Balto, Dogmeat, and Odie." Mina named off the puppies one by one as she left them with their new caretaker. Even after she had handed them over, however, she just continued to stare at them longingly.

Spike moved up behind her and slipped a claw around her shoulders, hugging her comfortingly against his side as he gave Other Spike a grateful smile. "I can't thank you enough for this. Just tell me what you need some time, any time, and I'll do it for you."

"You don't need to thank me," Other Spike replied sheepishly. "I'll make sure they get raised right, I promise."

"Okay... and we'll do our part too." Spike nodded and gently pushed Mina away from the table. "Come on... we shouldn't keep the nice ponies too long..."

"B-bye bye..." Mina waved slowly back at Other Spike and the baby dragons as she was slowly pushed towards the door. "Bye... bye..."

"Awww, Mina..." Lemon Zest threw a hoof around Mina's back and pulled her into a tight hug as they approached the door, where the ponies were now gathered. "We'll come back very soon, I promise! And they'll still be here!"

Spike winced as Lemon took a jittery step back. "I uh... didn't get you too deep there, did I?" Spike rubbed the back of his head. "I was trying to stop you, not hurt you..."

"It hurts like the dickens." Lemon Zest nodded with a hint of a glare in her eyes. "But I get why you did it... and I forgive you."

Indigo Zap stretched out with a yawn. "Let's go girls. This world is cool and I'm glad everything worked out, but we've been up half the night and I need my shuteye."

"Come on, I'll show you back to the portal." Princess Twilight lead the procession through the palace towards the back.

"Twilight, I..." Spike blushed. "I'm sorry I put everybody through all of this." Twilight glanced down at him out of the corner of her eye as she walked. "It's just... I would do anything for my family, you know? They're my family, they're my responsibility... and I love them."

Twilight glanced down at the floor for a moment before slipping one hoof around his shoulders and pulling him close against her flank. "I do know... and I feel the same way. I'd do anything for my family too. Even if it was reckless and irresponsible... I understand."

Spike smiled. "You'll be a good mother someday, Twilight..."

A slight smile tugged at Twilight's lips. "Thank you, Spike. For what it's worth... I couldn't be more proud of what a loving, dedicated father you are." She gave him one more soft squeeze with her hoof as they approached the portal and emerged out into the courtyard of Canterlot High School, with tiny puppy Spike held snugly in the crook of one of her arms.

Spike the Dragon Babysitter

Being the Dragon Lord was a big responsibility. The Dragon Lands were massive, as befitting the engines of destruction who inhabited it. Keeping control of such creatures was a task for only the strongest, wisest, and most cunning of those creatures. Rarely was Dragon Lord Ember summoned outside of her lands, and even more rarely would she respond to such a summons. But getting an urgent summons from her first, and currently only, real friend was enough to bring her straight to Ponyville.

Ember set down on the dirt outside the palace of friendship with a heavy thump and marched rapidly up to the large double-doors, flinging them open with a single mighty shove of her claws. Her armor glinted like fire in the orange rays that rained from the sky as she marched into the foyer with her claws tensed and ready at her sides.

"I came as soon as I got your message, Spike!" Ember's sharp eyes cast around the room for any sign of danger. "What did you need..." Ember trailed off when all she saw was Spike sitting in the center of the room with a dazed look on his face. There were 5 tiny dragon whelps flitting back and forth across the room, two of them on wings and three on foot. Perhaps related to this was that the walls and drapery were on fire in numerous places, and there were several shattered pieces of pottery strewn across the floor.

"Spike?" Ember approached her friend with a confused look. "What in the world is going on here?"

"Heeeelp..." Spike muttered meekly. "They're so fast, and they're destroying everything!"

"Well duh, of course they're destroying everything, look how flammable and fragile the stuff in this house is." Ember stamped down on one of the rug-flames, putting it out with her tough, fireproof scales. "Where did these little guys even come from?"

"Two of them are girls..."

"That's not even close to the point." Ember raised one finger. "Are these babies yours? Who's the mother?"

Spike waved his claws in front of himself. "No! They're not mine! Er... technically..."

"Technically." Ember tapped her foot expectantly.

Spike blushed. "They're, uh... from another dimension where it looks like I've started a family with one of my good friends from Fillydelphia?"

"Mmhmm." Ember pursed her lips. "Do you do anything like a normal dragon? At all?"

"I don't even know how normal dragons have babies." Spike protested, then practically disappeared behind his blush. "N-not that I'm asking! Look, I just need help managing these little guys. I promised to take care of them but I have no idea what I'm doing."

"And what makes you think I know how to take care of babies? I'm a Dragon Lord, not a Dragon Babysitter." She added with a grumble, "however much Garble makes me feel like I'm babysitting sometimes."

"But you're the only dragon friend I have."

"I thought you said you had a dragon friend in Fillydelphia."

"You're my best dragon friend!"

Ember smirked wryly. "Right."

"Please, I don't want you to stay long, I just need advice on how to take care of a dragon. That's it..."

Ember winced at the sight of those big, wet puppy dog eyes. It was as embarrassing as it was heart-melting. "Fine, fine! But dragons aren't that complicated." Ember looked up as one of the drapes fluttered down from the window as a pile of ash. "First of all, there's a reason dragons live in caves. All of this flammable cloth has got to go."

"Aw man, all of it?" Spike whimpered. "Rarity's going to be so mad that I took down all of her pretty decorations..."

Ember smirked and crossed her arms over her chest."Would she prefer to see it all turned to ash?"

Spike's eyes followed another piece of drapery as it slowly fluttered to the ground in burning pieces. "Uh... no, not very likely."

"Then let's do this." Ember cracked her claws together and slapped the front door closed with the tip of her tail.

Dragon-proofing the house involved chucking almost anything made of cloth into a barn Applejack generously donated to their cause. It was lucky that this particular tree was, for some reason that escaped Ember, made of crystal that could stand up to the whelps' fiery breath. Once all of the cloth was gone, they began bringing in chunks of stone from the nearby mountain to fashion into serviceable furniture, melting and molding it into shape with white-hot bursts of dragon fire.

Spike ran a claw over the stone sofa as Ember set it down in the main living area. "Wow, these are pretty awesome. I totally feel like a dragon now, at least until... hey, how long does it take dragons to grow into adults?"

Ember shrugged. "I don't know if you've noticed, but no two dragons are identical. Could be a few years, could be a few months."

"Really? So, technically, I could already be an adult?" Spike twiddled his thumbs. "I mean... is it possible I'm never going to get bigger than this? Outside of greed-rampages..."

"Sure, it's possible." Ember raised one claw to give Dogmeat something to perch on, where the tiny dragoness curled up into a ball in the palm of her hand. "It's also possible this is as big as these little guys are gonna get. But if that's how it is, that's just how it is, you know?" Ember pulled the tiny dragon closer and began to stroke her back with one finger. "I've never been one to judge based on size, as you well know."

"Heh, yeah..." Spike smiled.

"Well, I'm glad we got the palace ready for dragon-raising, anyway." Ember wiped at her brow with the back of one hand. "Why didn't you get Twilight to help you, anyway?"

"And prove that I can't keep my promises?" Spike blushed.

"You ponies have some weird hangups." Ember smiled as she watched the babies begin to slow down. Fatigue seemed to finally be catching up with them. "Hey, it's been a long day, why don't we put these guys to bed and relax a little before I head home?"

Spike nodded. "Sure, let's set them down in their room, and then Rainbow Dash set up a chillaxing room near the roof. We can use that."

"Right behind you." Ember followed Spike upwards through the crystalline tree palace. They stopped off in the room next to Spike's to deposit the now-sleeping dragon whelps in their now-stone bed before making their way further up the steps.

Her lips pursed in thought as they neared the roof. When they reached their destination, she finally began to take off her armor piece by piece. "Do you really not know how dragon mating works?"

"Guh? Well... uh..." Spike blushed deeply. "Nobody's ever been able to tell me before... I know there are eggs involved..."

Ember laughed as she dropped her gauntlet to the floor and plopped down in the comfy chair right beside the magical looping water in front of them. "Maybe I'll clue you in some time."

"With... visual aids?"

"Don't push it."

"Right." Spike plopped himself down on the chair beside her, so that they could spend the rest of the day chillaxing and bonding with light small talk. It had been a long time since Ember took some time away from the Dragon Lands. It was definitely nice to spend such time with a good friend.

Sonata Cheating Heart Part 02

"Ow, ow, ow..." Lemon Zest winced as she tugged on the bottom of her shoe, trying to pull it onto her lightly bandaged foot. There was a sharp pain shooting up her leg every time she tried to pull on it, despite giving her ankle a whole day to heal. "Geeze, it feels like my leg is about to fall off or something..."

"Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?" Sour Sweet was already dressed in her school uniform, with her arms crossed over her stomach. "It looks pretty purple to me..."

"Come on, how bad could it be? Spike's a little doggy. Besides, it was okay yesterday, it has to be better by now." Lemon managed to get her shoe into place and rose to her feet. The pain was so bad she couldn't even shriek, only collapse slowly back onto the mattress with a soft whimper emanating from her throat.

"Hey, don't push it!" Sour Sweet sat down beside her and grabbed her hand. "What the heck was that? It wasn't that bad yesterday, was it?"

"No... it hurts a lot worse than it did yesterday." Lemon Zest whimpered.

Sour Sweet gripped her hand in her palms. "I think it's seriously twisted. Maybe you should stay home from school today and rest up, if it's not better by the time I come back we'll get you to the doctor."

"Stay home?" Lemon Zest stared up at her blankly. Images of Sonata Dusk walking around school with Sour Sweet danced in her head. Laughing, giggling, batting her adorable little eyelashes. This would lead into kissing, bathroom makeout sessions, secret orgasms in gym class, marriage, adoption, and growing old and withered to be buried in a single casket together after they pass away during the same car crash fifty years from now.

"N-no! I'm fine! I promise! Just help me up..." Lemon Zest grabbed her hand firmly and tried to pull herself up from the mattress. Her teeth gritted against the pain despite leaning against her girlfriend for support. She could barely touch the floor with her foot, it felt like the shoe had been replaced with a powerful vice grip.

"Sit down already, Lemon! Don't torture yourself for no reason!" Sour Sweet pushed her down onto the bed again with a hand on each of her shoulders. Lemon collapsed onto the mattress on her back with a heavy whump. The pain in her leg faded into a dull throb as the pressure was lifted from it, though it didn't go away entirely. "Seriously, I'm not listening to any more complaining, stay home or I'll duct tape you to the bed."

"But..." Lemon Zest trailed off. She really couldn't see herself leaving anyway. "Okay... but promise you'll come back after school is out."

"Come on, do you really think I wouldn't?" Sour Sweet punched her shoulder lightly with a friendly wink. "Besides, maybe missing school is for the best. Who knows what kind of crap is gonna go down today after that shitfest that happened on Friday with Sunset Shimmer on the intercom..." Sour Sweet put a finger to her chin for a moment. "Hm, you don't think I could stay home with you, do you? Nurse you back to health?"

"Nurse?" Lemon Zest blushed at the idea of Sour Sweet in a white nurse's outfit. "That does sound nice, but don't let me pull you out of school. I'll be okay, really. We should have a pair of crutches in the hallway closet I can use while you're gone."

"Right, I'll grab 'em for you!" Sour Sweet darted out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

With a resigned sigh Lemon Zest sat up and very, very gingerly peeled her shoe and sock off of her wounded foot. The bite marks were small and had healed over pretty quickly yesterday, but her ankle was swelling regardless, despite the disinfectant they had used after getting home.

Lemon Zest glared over her shoe at the puppy dog who was sitting on the edge of her bed, with her tongue lolling out and her tail wagging as she sat at attention, as if awaiting her morning scratches. "I blame you for this." Lemon Zest huffed. "You and your mutiny..." Mina bounded up to her and began to lick her face, licking away the anger after a few moments. "Bah... at least you'll be here with me." She wrapped her arms around Mina tightly. "You won't leave me by the end of the day..."

"What was that?" Sour Sweet asked curiously from the doorway.

"N-nothing!" Lemon Zest blushed in embarrassment as she reached for the crutches offered by her girlfriend. "Try to have a good day! Don't let the jerks around there get you down!"

"I never do, we both know those dickwads can't handle me." Sour Sweet flashed a somewhat frightening grin as she turned toward the door with a wave. "You take care of yourself! I'll be back this evening!"

"Later..." Lemon Zest waved until she was gone, then wrapped Mina up in another lickful hug.

Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 03

The students of Crystal Prep Academy typically didn't pay much attention to Sunset Shimmer unless she was provoking them. She had their respect, and with their respect came their silence... usually. Now though, they were giving her attention. The uncomfortable kind of attention that she kept throwing around glares to stop, but which kept coming her way regardless. It was one thing for rumors to spread from student to student, and quite another for Sunset to literally broadcast one of 'her' plots against the so-called Shadowbolt Five for all to hear. But there was nothing to be done for it. So she took the stares in stride, at least until she heard a familiar voice barking from behind her.

"Sunset Shimmer." Dean Cadence's voice was stern, and her glare was intense as Sunset turned to look back at her with her books clutched against her chest. "Please see me in my office."

"If this is about-" Sunset was cut off before she could finish.

"Now." Cadence pointed into her office. Sunset cast a wayward glance at some of the other students surrounding them, who quickly looked away and rushed down the hallway when they noticed her gaze. With a resigned sigh and an attempt at a rebellious look, Sunset Shimmer marched into the dean's office and plopped down on the thick swiveling chair in front of the massive oak desk.

"I assume you know why I asked you in here." Cadence was more calm as she walked around the desk to sit in her own high-backed seat, though her eyes were no less intense. "Word has reached me that you took it upon yourself on Friday to publically humiliate one of your fellow students."

"Who said that?"

"That's not important." Cadence's face was a stone cold mask. "I don't know how you got past Principal Cinch in order to do this, but that kind of behavior is completely unacceptable." Cadence leaned forward. "Do you have any idea how hurtful that was?"

Sunset Shimmer put on a smirking mask. "No, are you gonna lecture me about it?"

Cadence's eyes narrowed. "Do you have any remorse at all for what you did?"

"Come on, why so serious?" Sunset Shimmer snickered. "It was a joke, nobody's hurt by it." She put on a shrill mocking voice. "Oh no, somebody's feeling bad, I'll spend my whole life living in regret."

"Feelings are nothing to scoff at."

"Are you planning to punish me somehow?" Sunset flicked a dismissive hand in her direction. "Oh wait, we both know you can't touch me without Principal Cinch's approval."

"As a point of fact, I do have her approval." Dean Cadence stood up.

"Wait... what?" Sunset watched in surprise as Cadence moved around the desk. "You're kidding me."

It was Cadence's turn to smirk as she put her hands on the arms of her chair and leaned down in front of her face. "You're going to spend two hours after school with me every day for the next two months, or until we can get to the bottom of your attitude."

Sunset Shimmer gritted her teeth. That old bat had handed her over to Cadence, probably to avoid any suspicion of her own involvement with this. Of course Dean Cadence was going to find out about it at some point, just because she wasn't here at the time didn't mean she couldn't hear them talking in the hallways. Maybe Sugarcoat's friends had even gone to her.

Cadence cocked her head curiously as her eyes searched Sunset's. "Do you have anything to say to me?"

No matter how much of a snaky bitch Cinch was, Sunset still couldn't afford to let on that anything was strange between them. So she plastered a smirk across her lips as she met Cadence's eye. "Are you finished being smug for the day?"

Cadence lifted herself upright again and clasped her hands behind her back. "You'll come back to my office immediately after school. We can have a nice long talk about what is making you behave this way."

"What are you, some kinda therapist?"

"I do have a PHD in psychology." Cadence's smile was less severe as she led the way back to her office door and opened it for her. "I would like to help you, Sunset Shimmer... but if you won't allow me to do so, I really have no choice but to punish you."

"I don't need help." Sunset jammed her hands into her pockets as she retreated out into the school hallway. "I know exactly what I'm doing, and I have everything under control."

Cadence seemed disappointed at her response. "Then I'll see you exactly ten minutes after the final bell rings."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you." Sunset shook her head and marched away from her down the hallways. Cinch had promised to protect her from this kind of punishment. She said she would use her authority to make Sunset's school life easy...

Sunset wasn't sure what was more pathetic. That Cinch had stabbed her in the back to avert suspicion from herself, or that she was surprised about it.

Cracks in the Crystal Sunset Part 04

Screw this school. Screw it right in its ear. Sunset Shimmer was rarely in such a bad mood since she'd started here, but now as she swam upstream through the throng of leaving students, she just wanted to bash in the skull of each and every student she passed. Her spindly little arms would never let her do it, even if she found an opportunity, but at least she could glare death at them until their snickers and stares fell away from her.

She emerged from the crowd further up the hallway near Dean Cadence's office when she nearly ran right into one girl who was standing with her arms folded and a frown on her face. Sunset had just met her recently, but the girl had started hanging around her like a gnat every so often since then. Sunset was annoyed at first, but over time she grew to appreciate the mute girl's presence in her life.

"What is it, Sonata?" Sunset Shimmer demanded. "I have detention, I can't play with you today."

Sonata lifted one hand and began flapping her fingers, flapping her tongue in time with her hand and gesturing to the ceiling with the other. "What, you're mad about what happened on Friday? Come on, it was a prank! Everybody pulls pranks!" Sunset Shimmer protested.

Sonata put her hands over her chest, then mimed breaking something as her eyes went wide and pained. "You're being melodramatic." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Sugarcoat's heart isn't broken, it bruised her pride at worst."

Sonata jammed a finger into Sunset's chest with her lips pressed into a thin line. Sunset Shimmer just huffed in irritation. "Look, I hate charades as much as the next girl, but I'm going to get in bigger trouble if I don't get to detention!" Sunset grabbed the girl's arms and pushed her more roughly to the side than she'd intended. Sonata stumbled back against the lockers with a loud clang, which reverberated loudly up and down the otherwise empty hallways.

"Sunset Shimmer!" Sunset Shimmer wasn't sure when, but Dean Cadence's office door had opened, and the dean herself was standing in the doorway glaring sharply at her.

"I-I didn't mean to!" Sunset Shimmer gestured hurriedly at Sonata. "It was an accident! She was in my way and I just-"

"Sonata Dusk." Dean Cadence gave the mute girl a small smile. "You can go now, I'll see you tomorrow."

Sonata looked back and forth between the two of them, rubbing at her shoulder with a stunned look on her face before she whirled to race away from them as fast as she could.

Sunset stared after her for a moment, then slowly turned to meet Cadence's eyes once again. The dean stepped aside and gestured into her office. "Please come in." Sunset remained silent as she entered, and the door was closed behind her. "Sit." Cadence put her hands on the back of the chair in front of the desk, where Sunset Shimmer sat with her hands folded in her lap. Cadence moved back to her desk and sat down, leaning forward against the wood with her elbows. "Now, are you sure you have nothing to tell me?"

"Nope." Sunset Shimmer shook her head. "Nothing."

"You seem frustrated."

"It's school, everybody gets frustrated."

"True enough, to an extent." Cadence leaned back with a sigh, rubbing her belly with both hands as she peered curiously at Sunset Shimmer. "It's going to be a long two hours, you know."

"You can end it at any time."

"Hah! I guess I can." Cadence giggled disarmingly. Sunset just scowled. She wasn't sure if she was being mocked or manipulated here, but she didn't like it either way. "Your file is surprisingly sparse, as to your history. It doesn't even have a current parent or guardian listed."

"Isn't that interesting?"

"It's troubling."

"I'm eighteen, I can take care of myself while I finish high school."

"If you need help we can provide it for you."

"I said I'm fine."

"Yes, you did." Cadence's demeanor remained casual and light, no matter how intense their conversation got. Sunset had to admit, it made her loosen up a little herself. There was something distinctly unthreatening about the girl. As if no matter what she said she wasn't being judgmental or accusatory. "But these outbursts of yours say otherwise... I'm not angry at you Sunset Shimmer, I'm worried about you."

"No shit." Sunset smirked.

Cadence's attitude remained light. "If you don't want to talk I brought a book I can read."

"Do I get one too?"

"No."

"Hmph, there's the evil in you."

"If you say so." Cadence reached under her desk and pulled out a copy of Ender's Game, which she flipped open with one hand to a previously placed bookmark. "I'll see you in two hours, Sunset Shimmer."

"Whatever..." Sunset Shimmer just scowled and leaned back. She could deal with a little boredom... she wouldn't be broken by it. Not even two months of it...

Shit, this sucked...

Fur Crying Out Loud Part 04

Twenty minutes past the hour. The school bell had ceased to chime quite a while ago, and the last peep from the hallway had faded into the distance. Sugarcoat stared at the door from the safety of her hidden school laboratory, the website displayed on her computer forgotten as her ears strained for any trace of sound that might indicate a trap waiting to be sprung. But as far as she could tell the coast was clear... enough, at least.

She turned off the web browser on her computer and very cautiously pushed the laboratory door open. The hallways were empty on both sides, and there wasn't a sound to be heard, so she slipped out into the hall, made sure her laboratory was secure, and began to make her way towards the exit. It was a long ending to a long day, full of taunting, hooting, hollering, and general shenanigans from her fellow classmates. Every spare moment not in class had been spent in her little hidey-hole. Her stomach was growling from a skipped lunch, but she could make up for it simply enough with a big dinner.

She wasn't sure how she missed the sound, but somehow as she rounded the final corner to the exit she felt another body slam into her back, sending her tumbling to the floor with a heavy, pained grunt on her hands and knees. Her glasses tumbled from her nose and clacked against the hard polished floor.

"Ah, crap!" Sugarcoat felt through the blur in front of her for her glasses. When she finally found them she pulled them right up to her eyeball, where she could barely bake out a long crack spider-webbing across the lens. "Well if that isn't a perfect end to a perfect day..."

She could feel the air around her waving with some frantic motion, and she narrowed her eyes over the rim of her useless glasses to see another blur standing a short distance in front of her. It was moving, but those motions were nearly impossible to make out. "Well, are you happy? You got me, you broke the furfag's glasses, now go home and let me get outta here." Sugarcoat pushed the figure away irritably with one hand and climbed to her feet.

She brushed one hand against the wall as insurance as she made her way towards the bright light at the end of the hallway. She felt a hand trying to grab hers, but she lashed out with an irritable growl. "No, your job is done! Go away! I'm not falling for it!"

She heard a shrill squeak moments before an unfamiliar voice cried out. "I'm sorry, okay!? I didn't mean to do it, it was an accident!"

"Eh?" Sugarcoat narrowed her eyes at the blur again, trying to focus just enough to get a sense of who was standing in front of her. The long, luxurious ponytail and vivid raspberry colored eyes were the biggest giveaways. "Sonata Dusk?"

"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Sonata took one of her hands in both of her own. "Please let me help you get home, it's the least I can do!"

"You can talk?" Sugarcoat asked dumbfounded. "What's with the silent treatment if you can talk?"

"I... it's my voice, as you can tell. I mean... it's terrible."

"Your voice? Don't be stupid, your voice sounds perfectly fine."

"No it doesn't..."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Wh-no! I wouldn't do that! I just... I mean..." Sonata squeezed her hand. "Right now just let me make it up to you. Tell me where you live and I'll get you there."

"I'm not that blind that I can't find my own house." Sugarcoat grumbled. "But it would make me feel safer, I guess. Just don't try any funny business."

"No way!" Sonata pulled Sugarcoat along with her as they sped more quickly towards the door. "Just tell me where to go and we'll get right there!"

"Thanks, turn right at the sidewalk." Sugarcoat rushed along behind her. Sonata followed her directions precisely, without variation, leading Sugarcoat home with quickness and urgency. "So what kept you at school so late, anyway?"

"I was trying to talk to Sunset Shimmer." Sonata Dusk whimpered. "But she seemed really, really angry at me for some reason."

"Really?" Sugarcoat mused. "Are you two close?"

"I think we're friends, but I tried to tell her what she did hurt you, and she just got mad at me for some reason. I'll try to talk to her about it tomorrow."

Sugarcoat grunted. "Don't do that on my behalf. I think I know what her problem is, and it's not something you can fix. It's not something anyone can fix."

"But she did something that hurt you... I'm sure if we can make her realize that she'll come apologize!"

Sugarcoat shook her head. "Life isn't always that simple, Sonata. Some people just won't learn a lesson unless someone teaches it to them the hard way. Others simply don't have control over their own lives."

"Oh..." Sonata trailed off for a moment. "Do you think that's why Dean Cadence told her to come to her office?"

"She did?" Sugarcoat asked curiously.

"Uh-huh. Right after Sunset Shimmer pushed me into the locker."

"Yeah... I guess it probably is. This is my place." Sugarcoat pointed, and Sonata made her way up towards the house with her in tow. They reached the door, which Sugarcoat opened before turning back to the ponytailed girl. "Well, thank you for bringing me home, at least. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome! Bye-bye!" Sonata turned away from the door, but her blurry form didn't seem to go anywhere. It stood looking up and down the street from Sugarcoat's doorstep.

Finally Sugarcoat sighed. "You don't know how to get back to the shelter from here, do you?"

"Nuh-uh..."

"Come inside for a minute while I get my spare glasses, and I'll walk you home."

"Really?" Sonata squealed. "Oh thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Sugarcoat blocked an incoming hug with one arm. "And keep that to yourself." She pushed Sonata inside the house with her arm and closed the door behind them.

Prank Wars Part 02

Crystal Preparatory Academy was usually a quiet place. A place where one could walk around the hallways and not be bothered by idle conversation. Most students were too busy looking after themselves or giving each other mean looks to worry about having anything resembling a normal conversation. There were a couple of exceptions here and there, but for the most part, Sour Sweet's journey through the hallway was as peaceful as ever until she reached the cafeteria at lunch time.

"Eh?" Sour Sweet gasped in surprise as the cafeteria doors swung closed behind her. Lined up on the farthest table were four giant silver trays, upon each of which sat a cake nearly as big as her torso. They were covered in icing of various shades, and since so much had been cut out of them she could see that each was a different flavor as well. Her eyes drifted up the wall to see a wide banner hung on the wall proclaiming Dig in! From your friends at Canterlot High!

"Retaliation!" Sour Sweet pumped her fists into the air.

"Chocolate." Sugarcoat corrected her as she approached with a paper plate in her hand and a fork between her lips. Sunny Flare was right beside her with her own slice, this one of strawberry. "You should get a slice before it's gone."

"I'm not having any of their mockery cake!" Sour Sweet pointed an accusing finger at the spongy food on the other side of the room. "That's their retaliation!"

Sunny Flare narrowed her eyes. "Retaliation for what, exactly?"

"For this!" Sour Sweet pulled out her cell phone and pulled up a picture of her handiwork on the Wondercolt statue to show it to the two girls.

"Mmm..." Sugarcoat grunted. "That is some serious detail. I didn't know you were an artist."

"My parents made me do a lot of crap when I was younger to try to 'calm me down'." Sour Sweet scowled. "Before they finally turned to drugs."

"Sour Sweet, why did you do that?" Sunny demanded. "The Canterlot High students are our friends now."

"Psh, only seven of them are. The rest are fair game! And they've responded to it!"

Sugarcoat mused for a moment, then pointed her fork at Sour Sweet. "If they respond with cake every time you prank them then by all means, prank away."

"No! Don't prank away!" Sunny Flare waved her hand in front of Sour Sweet to get her attention. "We're better than that now! We're better than the rest of the students in this school! The jerks, the bullies, the self-centered know-it-all punks..." Sunny caught the eyes of a small group of students who were now glaring at them from nearby. "No offense."

Sugarcoat slipped a companionable arm around Sour Sweet's shoulders. "Then again, being a good person doesn't mean backing down from a challenge, does it?"

"Heck no!" Sour Sweet exclaimed eagerly.

Sugarcoat lifted her plate into the air. "We're good, but we're strong! We stand our ground!"

"Damn right we do!" Sour Sweet pumped her own arm into the air.

"No!" Sunny Flare waved her arm, furiously trying to catch Sour Sweet's eye. "You have to pick your battles and-"

"You heard the lady!" Sugarcoat declared. "To battle!"

"Aaaaargh!" Sour Sweet rushed from the cafeteria with her arms clenched over her head, as if seeking out her next opponent to fight.

Sunny Flare cast Sugarcoat a baleful glare. "You're going to Tartarus for that."

Sugarcoat just smiled. "Hey, if I am, at least it'll be with cake." Sugarcoat stuffed another bite of cake into her mouth, making an exaggerated moan of pleasure around her fork. "Mmmmmmmff. Besides, at least she'll be messing up Canterlot High instead of Crystal Prep for a change."

Sunny growled. "If she gets hurt, you will pay for this."

Sugarcoat shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen?" Their eyes met for a few moments before she spoke again. "I know what you're thinking, but we don't live in a cartoon, so it'll be fine." Sugarcoat made her way past Sunny to dump her empty plate in the trash and leave the cafeteria.

"Ugh..." Sunny Flare rubbed her forehead. "This is going to get messy..."

Pick of the Litter Part 03

"I'm sorry, darling. I simply can't take on any more pets. Opalescence is extremely territorial and jealous."

"I understand, Rarity..." Twilight's shoulders were slumped as she spoke into her cell phone with her head turned down into her chest. "Thanks anyway..." She hung up the phone with a flick of her thumb and let it clatter to the carpet in front of her recliner. Her head slung all the way down, smacking into the upturned palms of her hands.

"That... doesn't look like a positive sign," Indigo Zap noted.

Twilight lifted her head from her chest to look over at her five Crystal Prep friends. They had gathered at Sunny Flare's place for an evening of wild studying, but Twilight simply couldn't put Spike's predicament out of her mind. None of her Crystal Prep friends could help... and after a few phone calls, it turned out none of her Canterlot High friends could either. Fluttershy had offered to take them in at the animal shelter she worked at... but that didn't solve the problem of taking them away from Spike.

"I feel awful... and I don't know what to do. It kills me to not know what to do..." Twilight shuddered.

"I can't blame you," Sunny Flare told her gently. "Could you imagine being told you had to give up your baby?"

Sugarcoat huffed from the sofa. "Tch, he's better off. Money-sucking shit factories are not worth it. Even ones that cute." She flicked a popcorn kernel into her mouth.

"Why is everybody talking like it's already over?" Indigo Zap punched her fists together. "We have seven more weeks to go, we can find a way to keep them together! We just have to keep looking!"

Sour Sweet squealed. "Oh totally! We just have to keep a positive attitude until magic fairy dust flies out of our asses and solves all our problems."

Sugarcoat popped another kernel into her mouth. "We really don't hang out together enough anymore."

"Maybe we could let them loose in the forest so they can grow up big and strong and come back as battle-hardened adults their mommy can be proud of?" Lemon Zest suggested.

Indigo hesitated for a moment. "Yyyyeah, let's make that Plan Z."

Lemon Zest gaped. "Whoa, if we have that many plans already, what are we so sad about?"

Sour Sweet put her hands on her hips. "Personally I think Twilight just needs to man up and tell her parents she's keeping the puppies! She's old enough to make decisions!"

Sunny raised a finger. "She's also old enough to be kicked out of the house she doesn't own if she starts making frivolous demands."

"Besides, her manning up would cost a lot of money." Sugarcoat popped another kernel.

"It would?" Lemon blinked in confusion.

"Anyway, we need a real solution!" Indigo Zap interrupted before things could get any more awkward. "And we don't have to come up with it tonight, right? We have seven weeks, that's almost two whole months."

"Who says you suck at math?" Sugarcoat quipped.

"We all just need to keep our eyes on the prize and our minds open for solutions." Indigo turned on Twilight with a cocky grin and a wink. "You bring us a problem and we'll solve it for you. Just leave it to us."

Twilight had already started to smile halfway through the exchange, and was now looking back and forth between the five Crystal Prep Shadowbolts. She nodded swiftly when Indigo addressed her. "Yeah, I know I can count on you all. And I'll keep thinking about it, too. No giving up on Spike until there are absolutely no options left."

"That's the spirit!" Indigo gave a half-hearted fistbump. "Sorta. I was more going for 'never give up, never surrender', but giving up only at the end works too."

"Oh, sorry." Twilight blushed. "It's just that, logically speaking, failure is always a possibility, no matter how much you may wish it weren't or how small those chances might be, you can and will fail at something eventually. It's logistically impossible to never surrender."

Sour Sweet crossed her arms over her stomach. "And you all call me a buzzkill."

Sunny Flare stood up and clapped her hands together. "Well then! Now that plan 'keep an eye out for a plan' is in full effect, how about we spend the rest of the evening watching our movie and then turn in for the night? We all have school tomorrow, so we can't be up too late."

"Yes, mom." Sour Sweet clicked her tongue.

"Don't you mom me, young lady. Now sit down while I go get another bowl of popcorn since Sugarcoat finished off half of that one."

Sugarcoat rubbed her belly. "Worth it."

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Indigo, please put on the movie. Twilight, would you like to help me heat up some more popcorn?"

"Of course." Twilight bounced up from the chair in strangely high spirits and followed her friend into the kitchen. Nothing had been solved, and yet it felt like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Truly friendship was a wonderful thing.