Sunset Shattered

Chapters

The Shattering of Sunset Shimmer
Thoughts from the dark side of the moon
What was I thinking again?
The morning after the dance
Awkward Reminders - Omake Interlude
A (more awkward than) Generous Visit

The Shattering of Sunset Shimmer

Tonight was the big night.

Sunset had committed to the plan for months, though the details may have been in flux till a couple days ago. Not even a princess would stop her from her final goal for the evening. No matter what, it would all end tonight. Sunset would get what she deserved.

"Boys, it's time. Get her dog and bring it here." She didn't look at her two lackeys, wearing those stupid top hats, as she ordered them around. Snails and Snips both hurried along with their task.

As she waited for their return, Sunset's mind drifted. She could hear the music escaping from the auditorium, and she imagined all those people enjoying their night. The students of Canterlot High had elected their favorite princess after all. Twilight and her friends would have felt as if they won, and were likely celebrating their triumph over the evil witch of CHS, if a pathetic broken thing like her could be called evil.

True, back home Sunset would be called an immoral villain, particularly with the actions she was contemplating taking once she had the crown later tonight. To think of going against the sun princess? To raise a hoof against the immortal leader of the preeminent nation in the realm?! Unthinkable heresy for an Equestrian pony.

Funnily enough, her brand of evil was barely a blip on the radar in the human realm. The ponies back home didn't know about the monsters she's been forced to live amongst. Sunset hadn't known in the beginning either, but these last couple months had opened her eyes.

The level of violence humans could come up with, even the children, made her want to retch. Sunset no longer asked for advice on pranks or sabotage from her minions after some of the things they came up with. She may have done much to the student body here. She had belittled them, divided them against each other, made sure no one could threaten her. Sunset knew she was a tyrant, but at least she had made sure none of the worse things happened.

Soon it wouldn't matter though. This would be Sunset's last night on earth, and if her short trip back to Equestria taught her anything, it was that anything she did would be ephemeral. She'd honestly be surprised if anyone at Canterlot High remembered her name a year from now. They forgot her quickly enough back home, and she had been the personal student of the closest thing ponydom had to a deity.

Sunset took a deep breath, and and refocused using her mantra. It didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore except what would happen in the next hour. She needed to focus, she had committed to this, and now it was simply time for the final act of her performance.

Soon enough Sunset saw Snips and Snails running towards her hiding place behind the statue with the equestrian turned puppy. She hadn't thought to ask what race he really was, though it didn't really matter. At the moment, he was a little dog, which was great for making the kidnapping easier. She grabbed the sledgehammer, took another deep breath and came out from behind the statue, as the boys passed by.

"That's close enough!" Twilight and her friends skidded to a stop in front of her as Sunset raised the sledgehammer in the air. Her threat clear by her posture.

"Twilight!" the purple puppy shouted out, before Snails clamped his mouth shut.

"Don't hurt him!" Twilight stepped forward, her hands balled into fists.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. I'm not a monster Twilight." Sunset had never considered herself a monster, no matter how ruthless she was as princess of the school, she never went beyond her self imposed limits. She just had to bluff, pretend to be one in order not to be eaten by the real monsters all around. She used all the lessons that Celestia taught her and survived, fueled by determination and spite.

"Let him go." Sunset ordered her accomplices, without letting her eyes leave Twilight. She never thought to keep him hostage for longer than it took to set up all the players right here by the statue. She looked on as Twilight kneeled to hug the dog, for a moment distracted by the return of her companion. Time to focus everyone back on her.

"You don't belong here." Sunset said as she stretched out an open hand towards the other Equestrian. No decent pony belonged here. No pony deserved what would happen to them if they were stranded here. "Give me the crown and you can go back to Equestria tonight!" she clenched her fist, "or keep it and never go home." Seeing her words getting to the princess, she kept up the pressure, "Tick-tock Twilight, we haven't got all night." she needled as she raised the sledgehammer.

"The portal will close in less than an hour, so what's your answer?" Sunset was sure that Twilight would capitulate. She'd been here for a couple days in a very controlled environment like the school so she probably hadn't realized what they were like, but she must be aware of all she would lose if she was stranded here. For a moment it looked like it was working as Twilight took off the crown from her head, but then the kneeling princess looked up after seemingly coming to a decision.

"No" Twilight declared, looking at Sunset's eyes.

"What? Bu-but Equestria?! your friends lost forever?! Don't you see what I'm about to do to the portal?" Sunset exclaimed, breaking character, in her confusion. This wasn't going to plan. There wasn't any good alternative that didn't involve violence or actually going through with her threat, which she couldn't for her plan to work. She needed a way to confront Princess Celestia as much as she needed that crown.

"Yes, but I've also seen what you've been able to do here without magic. Equestria will find a way to survive without my element of harmony! This place might not if I allow it to fall into your hands." Twilight replied as she stood back up. "So go ahead, destroy the portal. You are not getting this crown." Twilight finished placing the crown back on her head.

"Fine, you win." Sunset dropped the sledge hammer. It was clear to Sunset that the princess wouldn't willingly part with it.

As the girls celebrated, Sunset fumed as her plan began to fall apart at the final hour. The princess thought she would be too evil for the human realm?! After three years here, the most that anyone could factually say about her was that she was an unusually popular high schooler, and not to stand in her way.

Yes, she was a bit of a bully, had provoked minor fights between friends, yet for a school the size of Canterlot, there was negligible violence, drugs, or serious crime. People found their little cliques, and made their friends within them. It was organized, it worked, and no one would know all the things that the villainous Sunset Shimmer had protected them from.

The wannabe rapist senior was found with roofies in his backpack while driving home, the violent boyfriend suddenly going to juvie for shoplifting at the mall. Things still fell through the cracks as she wasn't omniscient, but the school was her fiefdom and she ruled it truly even if harshly.

It was funny, if the students knew all that Sunset did for them she may have just beat Twilight Sparkle in an honest race. However that reputation of power and danger was what allowed her to survive this long. She almost stopped once, before Flash opened her eyes. Thankfully she learned her lesson before ruining her reputation.

It didn't matter anyway. It would have defeated the purpose of making herself the villain for this night. No, Twilight's reaction was simply because Sunset did her job too well, and a simple threat wouldn't get her the crown. Well, if Sunset couldn't convince her to relinquish the crown with words, Sunset realized she wasn't above just ripping that thing off her opponent's head.

"Yeah, like she is SO SPECIAL!!!" Sunset screamed as she jumped and tried grabbing it from Twilight's head. This kicked off a scuffle among both groups, running and throwing the crown back and forth around the lawn, until Sunset caught it.

"At last! More power than I could ever imagine." Sunset gave herself a moment to gloat for what was going to happen. Finally, she would be able to kick off what she'd been waiting for.

Just one element of harmony would let her be a legitimate challenge even to the divine Princess Celestia. All she needed to do was make sure she kept her desire at the forefront of her mind as she put it on. She would show Celestia what she helped create when she put her on the path towards this hellhole. Let her choke on it.

The moment after Sunset put the artifact on her head, she felt indescribable pain. This was the element of magic, an item of power bereft of influence from the other elements to control it, being wielded by a self destructive mind. It was like jagged ice, and searing heat without end.

Sunset could feel it transforming her body. Worse, it was mutilating her mind. It interpreted her desire to be a challenge strong enough to threaten Celestia, and it was cutting out the parts of her psyche that were weak. Anything still equine enough to shrink away from what was happening was cut away with a scalpel made of acid.

This was a mistake, a horrible mistake. Sunset should have slit her wrists, or jumped in a river, anything rather than taking this last torturous step. She couldn't even keep hold of her anguish and grief, as the part of her that felt that was excised away. All that was left was pride and greed, revenge and insanity. Her last coherent thought beyond regret was to take solace in the fact that even though she wouldn't care to remember why she wanted this to begin with, at least Celestia would still be forced to put her down like a rabid dog.

That was all that mattered.

Just as planned.

As the she demon's head was covered by the top of the rainbow tornado, it felt a hundred needles with strings made of salt pierce her mind. They knit the quivering remains of her mind back together, each raw nerve forcefully clamped to it's mate. At some point some semblance of sanity returned to Sunset, yet still it continued. She could feel pieces fitting differently, some smoothed others scraped raw.

Missing sections were copied from her unwitting donors. Nothing but impressions of it staying within the forefront of her mind, slipping through like sand between her fingers. Fingers, not hooves? The holes in her mind were being filled with humanity. Her mind felt like Swiss cheese, as it was being turned into some chimera of pony and human. A part of her grieved as she realized she would not feel at home for long in Equestria again. That same part pleaded, desperate for the possibility that this light may undo it, give her some hope of returning to Equestria, of being happy living among ponies. But this was an emergency triage, and the gentle breeze across her psyche told her this magic had done its best, but would not be able to undo that scar. She would feel equally as human in her pony body as she felt pony in her human guise.

Finally, having repaired what it could, the magic reached for the part of her that always knew how to manipulate others for what she wanted, how to find the weakness in others, and made a little rip on the edge. It ached badly, like an opened scab. Sunset shrieked as her mind retreated inwards again. She knew that she'd be more sensitive to reading others than ever, but it would literally hurt her soul every time she exercised that skill in order to manipulate others in the future.

As all this was wrapping up in Sunset's mind, the physical changes also began to burn off, painfully at first, then waves of numbness, again and again, until she knew she was back to... well her new normal. Sunset felt like raw meat as the magic placed her standing on the ground, quivering in fear of herself, with everything stripped away, unable to hide behind her self delusions.

Suddenly she felt a great force slam her down, down, down until she was prostrated on the dirt.

The blinding light vanished, and Sunset looked up to see the princess above her, exuding resolute defiance, supported by the bonds of friendship from her companions surrounding her. She understood now. The light had prepared her for this moment, to fall upon the mercy of the benevolent being in front of her. While she would have to carry the sins of the old Sunset, in more ways than one, this was the first day of Sunset Shimmers life.

She was a convert to the magic of friendship.

Author's Note

Sunset in this scene is basically in a self destructive spiral, and not very coherent anymore. She hates being human, sees she can't return as someone replaced her life, and is just broken from living in a world so alien from her own (along with a specific trauma that will come up later in the story). Basically this is her very visible suicide attempt by Sun Princess, similar to how school shooters are basically doing 'suicide by cop'.

In a way it worked. The old Sunset is dead, and now there is a new Sunset, made up of parts from the original plus parts from each of the girls that rainbow lasered her.

Thoughts from the dark side of the moon

Sunset had been left behind.

She knew she would be. Logically it even made sense from a purely medical perspective, as it would be unsafe to go through a shape changing portal after turning into a giant demon, and getting blasted by enough Harmony magic to make a large crater in the ground. That didn't change the feeling of abandonment that joined the rest of the chaos that made up her jumbled mind. Her entire psyche felt like it had been shattered then the pieces put together improperly. In truth she barely even felt like her own self. At this point Sunset Shimmer was going through the motions, as her brain tried to make sense of everything.

After working on clearing the debris around the school entrance for an hour, her mind was beginning to shake itself off from it's numbness. As reality came back, Sunset began to think about how the next few days and weeks would be like, as she remembered all the bridges she burned thinking it would all end tonight. All the favors used up that she could no longer get back. She hadn't expected to be around to care.

She was so tired, numb from exhaustion and phantom pains, and whatever the magic did to her mind. She had no idea what her next steps would be. For the first time ever, the normally fiercely independent Sunset just just wished for anyone to tell her what to do, what to think, how to go on and wake up tomorrow and the day after and after and after and after and after...

Vice-Principal Luna had been keeping an eye on the delinquent teen while the dance continued. Sunset had been put to work while the rest of the students had returned to the Fall Formal, dancing the night away. Luna had let her mind wonder as she oversaw Sunset's labors. she hadn't gotten as deep an explanation as she would have liked from Twilight Sparkle, but she had gleaned that Sunset was tied to the world on the other side of the portal, and had wanted to use the students as a disposable army of some sort, for usurping the throne.

It sounded fantastical on its face, like something from a fairy tale, but she couldn't really dispute the magical explanation after what she witnessed. However something else kept nagging her about how easily her sister and she had seemed to accept Princess Twilight's very succinct explanations for the events of the evening, particularly around Sunset's plan. It just didn't make sense from what she knew of Sunset Shimmer.

Maybe she had planned to transform everyone as she did with her lackeys Snips and Snails? Even so, why was the conclusion of her plot so ham-fisted, so foolish? It just didn't fit. This girl had fooled the entire faculty for the last 3 years, had tested into some of the hardest classes, all while emotionally controlling the whole school. She had instincts to make Machiavelli jealous.

Luna was temporarily distracted from her musings at the end of the evening. She saw as Sunset Shimmer slowly petered out after hauling the last load of bricks and broken masonry away from the steps, seemingly mesmerized by the mound of debris she'd piled up. It was eerie, like watching a wind up doll lose power. Sunset's face made her wince, even with what happened earlier.

At this point of the night the dance was over, the princess had gone back through the portal, and the rest of the students and faculty had left. Only Celestia remained nearby, and she was back near the auditorium, locking up for the night. There would be a lot of paperwork to deal with in the morning, but the evening was wrapping up here. Well, except for the shell shocked hooligan in front of her.

Well, Luna mused, with how out of sorts the Sunset looked, now was probably the best time to ask. She was clearly as out of balance as she ever would be, so she may let much more slip than she would otherwise. Besides, something told Luna that it wouldn't be prudent to let her leave just yet, in her current mental state.

"Ms. Shimmer, come here. I need you to clarify some things for me." She called out, using her practiced, authoritative voice. It was guaranteed to be listened to by teenagers, no matter their innocence or guilt.

Sunset's numb face briefly flashed resignation towards the upcoming conversation, before stepping closer to the educator. "Yes Vice-principal Luna?"

Luna decided not to beat around the bush, and began her interrogation plainly. "First, did you expect to turn into that ... demon form... when you put on that crown?" Luna asked, waving a hand in the general direction of the new hole in the ground.

"No... no, I definitely did not see that coming. Usually magic boosting artifacts, even corrupt ones like the Alicorn Amulet, make changes much more slowly, and rarely anything as physically obvious like that, much less a supposedly benign one like an element of harmony. It-the crown... it did a lot more than just change my body... that thing wasn't..." Sunset tried to explain, before lifting a shaky hand and moving her hair away from her face "It shouldn't have been that painful. Definitely shouldn't have made me insane that-that... quickly? I-I think... I have a couple ideas why it did so, but there's no way to test it now..."

Luna looked at her student closely. She was shivering, huddling into herself with a haunted face. If Luna didn't know better she would think that Sunset was a victim of violent assault from her body language. Now wasn't the time to feel empathy however, as much as her instincts cried for her to soothe her student. She needed the answer to the next question to know what to do next.

"Sunset... I need you to be honest right now... did you plan to take the school hostage before hand? Damaging the school? Were you planning on hurting the other students?!" Luna demanded sternly, looking into the redhead's face, looking for any tics that may betray a false answer.

"No! Well, I... I guess, in a way I took a hostage to get the crown? It was only a dog and we didn't hurt him though! I... I would have made sure to take Princess Twilight and her pet back with me, but only so they wouldn't be stuck here for years. They aren't native to this world. If Fluttershy hadn't... well, I didn't actually want to involve anyone else in this." Sunset finally seemed to focus on Luna's face.

"If things had gone to plan no one here would have realized anything even happened until whenever you noticed I was gone..." Sunset's energy seemed to give out after confessing that she had planned to disappear off the face of the earth, as she went back to holding her arms close to her chest and looking away. Fresh tears began rolling down her dirt caked cheeks.

Luna thought that over. Personally, Luna didn't really consider Twilight one of her charges after learning that she had infiltrated the school. It sounded more like Sunset wouldn't have involved the students at all if she could. Well, Luna could work with this answer, but she decided to press a bit more, to make sure. "Oh? I thought the crown would make you invincible so why would you take the princess hostage when you left? Is it because she would be stronger than you on the other side?"

"She's... not exactly the princess I would be thinking of... that was supposed to be stronger than me... I wouldn't abandon anopony else to this side of the mirror..." Sunset wrapped her arms around herself tightly, clearly agitated about whomever she was thinking of. The way she phrased that seemed odd to Luna. Odd enough to dig into a bit later, particularly the use of 'anypony'. It did underscore Luna's current ignorance about the details of what was on the other side of the statue. Thankfully, Luna had experience in getting information out of teens, which was frankly an exercise in frustration at times, though it seemed Sunset had decided to be forthcoming.

"Oh, a sister of Twilight's then? Or maybe the king or queen?" Luna asked. Sunset's snort at the question was a bit surprising.

"Hahah... no. In Equestria the title of 'princess' is used for po-for those that ascend. Basically, they are extremely magically strong. I guess the closest you'd have here is imagine if suddenly someone achieved nirvana and became a demigod or super hero I guess? Basically they all have a lot of firepower." Again, Sunset seemed to stumble on how to refer to the inhabitants on the other side of the portal. Luna did want to know more, but the odd response along with the fact it was probably not as important at the moment as other answers made her change track again. Twilight had left a positive impression, but she wasn't saintly enough to compare to a religious leader. Something was definitely getting lost in translation.

"Ok, I'll need you to explain more on that later. For now follow me. Since you've missed all the buses, I'll drive you home." Vice Principal Luna ordered the girl. While she appreciated what Princess Twilight did to save the day, Luna wasn't going to let someone capable of dealing that much damage out of sight until she was under some form of adult supervision, never mind if it was through the use of a 'magical artifact'. A voice in the back of her mind couldn't help but compare some of the symptoms Sunset was displaying with red flags all educators were trained to look out for as well.

Luna's comment seemed to get a reaction form Sunset, as she suddenly had a look of fear on her face, before she looked away. "I can get home myself, thanks."

"It wasn't a question Sunset Shimmer. You just blew up the front of your school, and the only reasons we didn't call the police on you is that there is no sane explanation for what happened, none of the students were actually harmed except for yourself, and all the witnesses seem to be willing to simply go along with whatever Twilight Sparkle decreed." Luna replied stoically as she began guiding the teen towards the teacher's lot. "Not only that, but apparently you're an inter-dimensional exile left to our parole. That is definitely not on your file. I want to find out what else isn't in your file, including what kind of home life you have... if any."

Once they had gotten to the vice principal's car, Sunset seemed to have shut down again. If her eyes weren't open, and she didn't quietly give directions to her abode, Luna would have thought her asleep or catatonic. It was beginning to seriously worry the school administrator, to the point that Luna was considering doing something drastically stupid, as her instincts all seemed to cry against leaving Sunset alone and unsupervised in her current state.

They finally pulled up to a small, somewhat dilapidated apartment complex. Behind it, the start of Canterlots small industrial zone began, with warehouses ominously jutting up in the background.

"This is my stop. Thanks for the ride Vice-Principal Luna." Sunset quietly said while unbuckling herself.

"I'm going up with you. I want to confirm your living arrangements for myself." Luna replied, getting down from the car as well. She expected some excuses or platitudes from the teen, but beyond some nervousness on her face, she didn't argue at all, simply walking to the building in silence.

It was grimy, and each door they passed seemed to exude a new odor. Cat pee, cigarette smoke, marijuana, mold... until finally they got to a little door at the end, which opened with a whine after Sunset jimmied the stuck lock with her key a couple times. Luna was not impressed with what she saw inside, not so much the contents, which were actually quite organized, but the lack of items along with space. This couldn't have passed code as a legal dwelling.

It seemed to be a single room, with a kitchenette area, that held a sink, a moveable stovetop, and a mini fridge. There was a door at the back, which she presumed went to the bathroom, a jerryrigged pole with clothing hanging above a twin bed mattress that took up almost the entire floor space. It was as if someone had tried to live in a walk in closet. Sunset was looking at the floor, refusing to make eye contact, but she had shimmied out of the way so Luna could walk inside.

Luna found that the bathroom didn't even contain a shower. This was not reasonable. "Sunset... how'd you end up here?"

"I'm... this was originally the property super's office, but the guy that runs this place never used it, and I offered to rent it for a couple hundred... and so I got a place to live."

Luna looked around again. Honestly, she could probably fit all of Sunset's worldly possessions in a garbage bag, ignoring the mattress. Just standing here with the door closed was claustrophobic, and it was the final push in her mind. "Pack some clothes, and whatever you need. You'll be staying in my guest room tonight, until we can think of something better than this. I don't think it's a good idea to leave you alone right now anyway."

"It's not much but I've made due for a couple years ma'am. It's tiny but I just come back here to sleep mostly..." Sunset replied, showing the first hint of obstinance since being hit by the magic rainbow. Still, that was all she did, as she proceeded to wilt under the vice principal's stare and slowly gather her things.

Soon enough there was nothing left in the apartment at all that would betray that a young woman had lived there. Luna had been right in her earlier assumption. All of the girl's things did fit in a garbage bag with room to spare.

What was I thinking again?

After making sure everyone had left the school, calling up the security agency for a last minute night guard, have yellow tape to make sure no one decided to play around the crumbling school entrance, get an appointment for the damage to be inspected by an engineer, and closing up the school as best she could, Celestia finally had a moment to herself as she walked to her car.

Celestia watched as Luna had taken Sunset Shimmer with her. Truthfully it was probably best for the younger sister to do so, but Celestia couldn’t help the shiver of unease that travelled down her back. As she got in, she finally allowed her mind to begin to wander.

She had learned to take a hands off approach, and trust her sister to be capable. There had been a time when Celestia would have tried to micromanage everything, but years of estrangement, therapy, and experience as an educator and administrator had taught her to let things be. They truly did complement each other, and the students at Canterlot High had flourished under their combined oversight. Tonight she had to remind herself of that multiple times during this crisis however.

Celestia had always had an odd relationship with the Shimmer girl. On paper she was a model student, a true leader and overachiever, however the girl had always been slightly standoffish whenever they spoke to each other. It was clear over the years that she preferred going to Luna when she needed to speak with the school administration. Celestia knew that it stood out in her mind simply because it was unusual for anyone to take a disagreeable stance against her for apparently no reason. Celestia’s hesitance in stepping on Luna’s toes had stopped her from digging any further.

Luna and Celestia had previously worked out an unspoken agreement on how they managed the students, and while Celestia took the much larger piece of the pie, Luna took those that often required a more nuanced approach. Frankly, while folks thought Celestia the more personable of the two, Luna was actually much more able to read others. She had a gift for intuiting secret hopes and dreams of otherwise problematic students, and help them heal and get back on track towards fulfilling those dreams. Honestly there was never anything related to Sunset Shimmer that had required the principal's personal attention, at least till now. Celestia was afraid that even Luna’s talent would not be a match for the unique circumstances surrounding Sunset Shimmer.

Celestia’s hands shook as she sat in her car as her mind went over her own actions during the last few hours. Had she really spontaneously gone through a crowning ceremony for a magic princess in front of the blown out remains of her school lawn? Celestia had taken seminars on dealing with crisis situations ranging from earthquakes to active shooter situations, and always thought that she knew how she would react. Clearly she didn’t know herself as well as she had thought.

Celestia let her students continue to party for hours in an unsafe, bombed out school. Someone could have gotten hurt or died tonight, and she her reaction was to go along with some odd pageantry as if this was an 80’s coming of age movie instead of getting everyone to safety.

At this point, all she could hope was that no one from the school district looked too closely. A lot depended on them believing the story she had committed herself to, that the damage was related to a gas leak. Thank goodness there had already been a sizable capital allocation for building improvements in this year’s budget thanks to the affluence of the neighborhoods within the school district.

Celestia forced herself to drive home. Reaching her house, she parked her car diagonally in the car port, and walked inside in a daze. After changing into her pajamas, she prepared some tea to calm her nerves while continuing to try to make sense of it all. There would be no sleep for her tonight.

She clearly remembered that she believed that her actions made sense at the time, but honestly her thought process jarred with the rest of her mind. Now that she noticed it, Celestia could see clearly tell when her mental dissonance ended as well. The sensation was similar to the few times she woke up the morning after having overindulged with alcohol, remembering dumb decisions that made perfect sense the night before. However, there was a question she couldn’t answer to herself, and made it impossible to sleep.

Why did she still feel the need to give Sunset Shimmer a second chance to redeem herself at her school beyond all logic and what little protocol may be somewhat relevant? What was compelling her, and would it wear off?

The guest room at Luna's home was the only one that didn't follow the decor of the rest of her house. While she preferred winter colors elsewhere, in the southern facing room, she had opted for warmer tones, colors such as beige and pink with hints of green here and there.

It actually mirrored her sister's decor at her house, where Celestia had a guest room that clashed, with heavy black out curtains and painted in muted blues and purples. They had painted them a while back when they had found themselves back in each other's lives after years of estrangement. While they kept their own separate lives, they routinely stayed over often enough that it felt right to personalize their respective guest rooms.

Luna was happy that her sister had not opted to visit tonight, as she drove to her own home. While she would speak with her come morning, she was too tired to get into a deeper conversation this evening. Once inside, Sunset had taken a quick shower and was in bed in less than 15 minutes, though from the sound of it, her sleep was anything but restful.

Luna lay thinking on the living room couch. Dark thoughts should be mulled over in the dark hours of the night she supposed. She had known Sunset for almost 3 years. Actually, she had been the first student she'd spoken to after getting her new position as vice principal.

The girl had previously always been charming, but enigmatic. It would be a lie to say that she hadn't had a soft spot for Sunset, as the girl was one of the few students that seemed to prefer going to her rather than directly to Celestia for any problems. Luna came off as a bit of a disciplinarian as CHS, she knew, so students that weren't afraid of her were few and far between.

Luna had prided herself in being able to read the children that came into her office. It stemmed from her past as a guidance counselor. She'd seen a young woman with such potential in Sunset, perhaps with a bit of chip on her shoulder, not unlike Luna herself at that age. Luna never saw a hint of this coming, however. Her professional pride was bruised thanks to that. However there was something else that had begun to worry her more and more in the dark hours before dawn.

As she ran over the facts of the evening, she could see the incongruousness of everyone's actions during and after the fiasco. Tia's actions in crowning Twilight and continuing the dance after a 15 foot crater had been drilled in the front lawn of their school, Luna's own actions in having Sunset work around a potentially unsafe area to remove debris, and finally, promising to look after Sunset as she discovers 'friendship'. Luna knew this wasn't how she would have reacted normally, and the options that came to mind to explain it were ominous.

Were they all simply suggestible due to lingering effects of the mind control? Or did princesses in Equestria use magic to make sure their decrees were followed? Why was Princess Twilight so adamant that Sunset needed assistance and care, after battling her moments before?

She knew she would have difficult questions to ask her sister and the girl in her guest room come morning, and she felt the answers would change everything for quite a few people. There was one question that seemed to somehow become more and more urgent however.

What did the magic do to Sunset Shimmer, and was it permanent?

All across the Canterlot High school district, teens set to bed after their memorable evening. For most of them, their memories of the evening focused on the friendships and young romances, each the protagonist of their life. The odd events that interrupted their personal stories were labeled unimportant by their subconscious. Only those directly part of the events such as Twilight's friends, and those with particularly focused minds were able to maintain a sense of perspective around the relative importance of events for the evening.

So it came to pass that most students would simply have a sense of deep disapproval for Sunset rather than run to the media about the existence of magic, and talking dogs. The very few that were not deterred by the subtle after effects of the magic used were also disinclined to make any overt mentions either.

For the practitioner of human magic, Trixie Lulamoon, this was a vindication of her beliefs, something deeply personal. She already expounded on the existence of real magic with her every breath and no one believed her, so why would this change anything?

Lyra Heartstrings had a conspiracy theorist's heart, and she would post it on tor servers, in the darkest corners of the web, where others spoke of big foot and the Loch Ness monster, not realizing that the validity of her evidence would be orders of magnitude easier to prove if she had approached more mainstream media.

Flash Sentry would take very soft steps around Sunset until he could confirm her lack of remaining magic, for his own personal safety. A part of him knew that an objective third party would not blame Sunset for coming after him after what happened between them. That situation had ended up resolving itself and he had thought he had dodged a bullet with her when he finally broke up with her a few weeks ago, but seeing what she was willing to do made him wary. It's like his cousin always told him though, it's always the crazy ones.

Pinkie had woken up feeling pretty weird, with a belly as queasy as that time she found year old Halloween candy stashed in the basement, and ate some. Last night was crazy!

The sun was barely beginning to brighten the sky, the birds were chirping, and she had to get ready for her weekend job at the bakery soon. She sprung up from bed clear to the door, before cartwheeling down the hallway to the bathroom.

“Gooooood Morning Pinkie! Time to get ready for a new day!” She shouted at her reflection as she slapped her cheeks to wake herself up. Pinkie was not going to let a slightly upset stomach beat her, no sirree!

It took a bit longer than usual to go through her morning routine, as she had some caked on makeup to get off her face, as well as wash her hair due to yesterday’s festivities, but she was still making good time as she hurried downstairs to eat some Loopy Fruities cereal for breakfast.

“MMmmmmm…. Breakfast of champs! Says so right here on the front!” She exclaimed to the empty room. It was fun to be silly on your own sometimes. It was also fun to be silly around others too she supposed.

Pinkie quickly rinsed out the bowl and grabbed her phone before skipping outside. She glanced at it to see her messages, noting that she had a few from last night, but those were from her friends sharing their selfies between each other. Besides that, the group chat she’d opened was pretty empty at the moment. Oh well, the other girls were likely sleeping in this morning.

Speaking of friends… She went down her extensive contact list, until she got to a number she had rarely, if ever used. Pinkie prided herself in knowing the whole school's birthday calendar and phone numbers. It made party planning a breeze. Today however, it made it harder to convince herself that she couldn’t fulfill Twilight’s request just yet.

Good thing she had her friends though! She could just share the decision with the group and let everyone vote on what to do together!

Pinkie began to quickly enter her thoughts as a text, and sent them to the other girls. The little icon showed that everyone received them. She got a reply a minute later from Applejack, which made sense as farm living meant she would be awake already.

The rest of her friends answered in the next few hours. It ended up being a 3-2 split on either reaching out to Sunset immediately or just waiting until Monday. Thankfully, Rarity went ahead and volunteered to do the initial leg work around noon, so Pinkie could go back to focusing on what she needed to do today.

The morning after the dance

As early morning broke the next day, Luna groggily woke up with a painful crick in her neck. She’d fallen asleep on the couch, as she'd been worried she wouldn't hear her guest from her bedroom. She carefully tried to stretch out as she got up and went to her bathroom. Usually on Saturdays, Luna would sleep in, but today she would likely be busy mitigating the consequences of last night’s fiasco.

She saw that Celestia had sent her a text message at 3 am to let her know she would be by around 10 am. Luna had a good 4 hours worth of time then. While Celestia tended to be an early bird, she wasn’t as good as Luna at being functional when she lost sleep.

Luna changed into some casual clothes, opting not to risk a shower in case she didn’t hear Sunset, then peeked into the guest room. Sunset was curled up in the furthest corner of the bed from the door, still asleep, though the way she had contorted herself looked to be painful. Luna quietly closed the door and returned to the kitchen.

As someone who tended to sleep until the last possible moment, Luna usually had quick breakfast items that didn’t require preparation. The teenager could survive a morning with some corn flakes and a banana. She imagined that Celestia would have made crepes from scratch, with homemade creme fraiche or something, but this wasn’t a bed and breakfast.

Luna turned on the local news channel, keeping the volume low, while looking at the news on her tablet. It seemed no one had picked up on the damage to the school yet, though that would likely be out later in the afternoon.

Luna opened her tablet, and began writing out her notes and questions surrounding Equestria, magic, Twilight Sparkle, the portal in the statue, and anything else that came to mind.

As Luna worked on her notes, she heard a phone alarm go off in the guest room, and shortly after, footsteps. Sunset walked out stiffly, looking groggy and visibly aching with pain. “Good morning.” Luna greeted her, seeming to catch her by surprise. “You look like you’re in pain. Where does it hurt?”

“Uh… my back hurts pretty bad actually, and I feel like I strained some muscles all over.” Sunset replied, as she carefully walked towards the kitchen island in her bare feet.

“Does it feel serious, or is some tylenol enough?” Luna asked with some concern.

“Tylenol and a warm shower should take care of most of it... I think.” Sunset winced, making Luna doubt her a bit.

“Serve yourself some cereal. I’ll get the tylenol.” Luna stood up from the counter and went upstairs to get the medicine.

“Thanks.” Sunset replied quietly before she quietly took the medicine and ate in silence once Luna returned.

Luna debated if she should bring up her questions before or after letting Sunset take her shower. She finally decided to read through the news on her tablet while keeping her guest in her peripheral. Sunset moved carefully as she ate, though she only winced twice, once while reaching up for the cereal box, and when she sat down.

Once Sunset was done, she cleaned up and put everything away in a practiced motion. Likely, Luna mused, it was due to living in such cramped space, where everything not in use must be put away immediately. Afterwards the girl seemed to be at a loss for what to do, simply standing there.

Sunset's body language betrayed her apprehension, as she stood there with one hand holding onto the elbow of the other arm, while hiding her face behind her hair, looking at anything but her vice principal. It reminded Luna of another student at CHS. It was an almost perfect impersonation of Fluttershy to be honest. Well, at least Sunset had reason to be anxious she supposed. No matter what, they were due for a difficult conversation, though Luna would let her at least get herself ready for the day first.

“Go take a shower. The guest bathroom is the door on the right, past your room.” Luna gently ordered after a couple awkward moments had gone by, and it became clear that Sunset wouldn’t move on her own. Sunset immediately followed directions, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts once again.

Soon enough, Sunset was back out, in clean clothes, and looking much closer to her normal self. “Did the shower and medicine help with the pain?” Luna asked as she served herself her third cup of coffee, to get the conversation that needed to happen started.

“For the most part. My back still feels like someone used a cheese grater on it, and I think I twisted my left ankle since it feels a bit swollen.” Sunset aid, raising the aforementioned leg to show the bruised ankle in question, before turning around and surprising Luna by pulling up her shirt completely to show her bare back. “See? I think I might be scratched up there, but I can't tell how serious it is.”

Luna had a coughing fit as her coffee went down the wrong way in surprise. She instinctively looked away, before turning back and noticing the damage to the girl’s back. It looked as if someone had taken a cat and sicked it on her back. Patterned scratches crisscrossed her back from the top of her shoulder blades to the small of her back. None looked particularly deep, and wouldn’t likely leave any scars as long as they were kept clean, but it did seem rather painful.

“Sunset, put your shirt down, that’s inappropriate with any school employee besides maybe the nurse. Anyway, you’ve got quite a few scratches, though they don’t look deep. I’d make sure to put some antibiotic cream on them, but they shouldn’t even leave much of a mark.” Luna paused, hesitating for a moment.

“Now… I’d say those look like they came from the magic battle… is there… did it do anything else… I mean..." The older woman seemed nonplussed with how to continue until she remembered her notes. "Ok, I have some questions I wrote down, and I want to go over them with you now that we’re rested. Here read them, then let’s begin going down the list, starting with what exactly was that crown, and what’s on the other side of that portal.”

Sunset turned around after pulling her shirt back down, sighing before once again following Vice Principal Luna’s directions.

Celestia had arrived with a half dozen donuts at precisely 10, and apparently decided to be chipper this morning. After a few minutes dancing around all the subjects that brought Sunset to Luna’s home in the first place, Luna had simply asked Sunset to give them a couple minutes to get each other caught up.

“Tia, we are in over our heads with that girl.” Luna told her sister as Sunset marched into the guest room.

“Luna, can you give me the high level points? I think you would have told me if anything urgent had come up.” Celestia asked, some of her exhaustion from a sleepless night creeping into her voice.

“You’re right, we’re not in any immediate danger. Sunset can’t do any magic without a source or relic, and the reason she hadn’t gone back home to steal one before now is that the portal only opens a couple nights every 30 moons or so. That’s the good news and the bad news in a way… Sunset is pretty much stranded here for the next couple years as a human.” Luna looked her older sister in the eyes, her face dead serious as she gave her that piece of news, though it seemed Celestia focused on a different point.

“What do you mean ‘as a human’?” Celestia asked, ignoring her sister’s odd emphasis, focusing on the last piece of information.

Luna rolled her eyes, but couldn't really blame her for wanting to understand that doozie. “So apparently, Sunset and Twilight only look human on this side of the portal, kind of a camouflage effect to mingle with the locals if you will. In their normal bodies they would have access to the magic all the time.”

“Oh… so was the she-demon her original form or something? Gah! This is sounding like we are living in a cliche anime…” Celestia mused as she tried to make sense of it based on what little she saw last night. Luna barked a laugh at the unexpected comment.

“Not exactly. That seems to have been corruption from using the crown in a body not built for containing that amount of magic, from what she thinks. Apparently her original body is actually a lot less… human looking… than even the demonic look she had.” Luna took a moment to refill her mug.

After it became clear Luna wouldn't continue without some prodding, Celestia spoke up to continue prodding her. “What do you mean Luna?”

Luna seemed somewhat embarrassed at first by how ridiculous she was about to sound. "Ok… so… She’s apparently... I can't believe I am saying this... She says she's a unicorn Tia! Though, she debunked most of the stereotypes associated with them besides their magical nature. We don’t have any way to verify it though, and she’s 100% human right now, so it’s not too relevant." Luna suddenly looked gravely at her sister. "What’s more worrying to me is whatever the magic from the battle did to all our minds, Sunset included. Actually... she's probably the worse one off.”

“You-you’ve noticed it as well Luna? The more I look back at my actions, at all our actions, at the end of the dance, the more I feel as if we weren’t quite ourselves. It was as if we were acting out roles in a play. I should have called the police and laid criminal charges against her! I've always tried to give kids a chance, but after last night... What can she possibly say that would change that?” Celestia’s grip on her mug tightened, as her eyes darted around the kitchen.

Luna continued to stare seriously at her sister. “I felt the same way, though I figured out something more important this morning Tia… That girl in my guest room is not the one from before the dance.”

Celestia suddenly regained her focus, becoming indignant. “Come on Luna! I know you are likely feeling the same influence, but people don’t change that quickly. She’s spooked by what happened, but once the effects from last night pass, we’ll have a little terror in our hands. We need to figure out how to contain this so it doesn't hurt the children”

Luna simply shook her head at her in disagreement, but replied without raising her voice. “Tia… I don’t think you understand what I’m saying… we are feeling after effects of whatever hit her full on. I doubt she is going to return to her old self. That girl in there can barely think for herself Tia! She doesn't seem to be able or willing to tell any lies. She doesn't seem to have any drive to do anything unless I tell her to do something. She can barely function. She doesn’t talk like Sunset Shimmer, walk like her, or think like her."

Luna's throat felt like it closed up a bit, but she forced herself to voice her fears. "In a very real way, Sunset Shimmer I knew as a student for the last few years… she ceased to exist last night. That girl is just someone that happens to look like her, but there are things... missing.”

Celestia looked askance at Luna. “Are you talking about… possession? Mind control?! Luna, this sounds insane.”

“No no no… Just-look, just be around her and you’ll see what I mean. It’s like… she has all the memories, but she’s rebuilding her personality from scratch. I...she… look just… maybe treat her like you would a… well… a survivor ok? Or as someone that went through brain damage? That crown did more to her than our justice system ever could have! ” Luna pleaded. Her sister’s face becoming inscrutable as she took in Luna's words.

Sunset could barely hear the murmurs of conversation coming from the other side of the door. She tried not to think about what the sisters were saying to each other, though it was pretty obvious it was about her. She walked over to the bed and laid on it, covering her head with a pillow in order not to hear anything. She curled up around the other pillow, hugging it tightly to her abdomen. She focused on keeping her breathing even, as her eyes almost betrayed her by tearing up again. She'd had a good cry in the shower earlier after seeing her reflection, and it came on in an instant, just like this time around.

Her emotions were still all over the place, and she just felt fragile. She would be numb, but then suddenly it would all hit her at once. She knew that Vice Principal Luna had felt unsettled by Sunset's compliance, but she just didn't feel a need to argue at this point. Sunset was just drained, and it was easy to let the older woman tell her what to do. She was glad it had been her and not Principal Celestia that had decided to supervise her. Sunset had always felt uncomfortable being around the older sister. Seeing her mentor's face look at her with such distance, as if she were a stranger, was almost worse than the disapproval she knew she would receive if she ever returned to Equestria. Well, if one forgot the dungeon or exile.

The ringing of her phone proved a welcome distraction. "Hello, who is this?"

"Sunset, is that you? It's Rarity darling. Is now a good time?"

"uh... sure" Sunset sat up. "What's up? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong! Why-why would there be anything wrong?" Rarity replied nervously, before catching herself. "Actually, I was calling to ask you if you would meet with me later this afternoon? I can pass by your house if you prefer, or we could meet at the boutique?"

"I-I'm not sure if that's a great idea Rarity. I don't know that I can handle being in public right now." Sunset replied as she looked at the closed door of her room. "If-if it's really important to you... Let me double check something first... but you could come by where I'm staying right now."

"Thank you darling, and it IS important. The girls and I just wanted to... well, to make sure you were alright after what happened. Princess Twilight explained things a little bit to us, but we could all tell something more happened that night that none of us noticed until much later." Rarity's voice was in earnest, her earlier bout of nervousness completely gone.

"Oh... ... ... I'll text you the address as soon as I confirm you can come by." Sunset's grip on her phone had progressively tightened till her knuckles were white. Her stomach was rebelling against the donuts from earlier, all from Rarity's concern for her well being. Sunset could not for the life of her label the feelings going through her right now.

"That's fine. I've got to go back to work, but I'll try to head your way as soon as I'm done here for the day. Ta ta!" Sunset stared at her phone after Rarity hung up, before adding her number to her contact list.

"Vice Principal Luna? Mind if I ask you something?" Sunset called out as she opened the door. Both sisters looked up from the table.

"Yes Sunset?" Luna asked, suddenly noticing how much time had passed since she'd asked the girl for some privacy with her sister.

"Rarity called and asked if she could meet with me later this afternoon. Is it ok for her to come by here?" Sunset blurted out, aware of how delicate it may be for someone to know she was staying there. Luna frowned and seemed about to respond before Celestia interrupted her with a chortle.

"Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if a friend of yours came by to see how you were doing Sunset!" Celestia looked at Sunset slyly, consciously ignoring how her sister Luna looked on in growing frustration. "I know from Luna's comments that you're feeling a bit down, so it's good that a friend is coming by."

"I think it's mostly because Princess Twilight asked her to look after me. I think it's too soon to say I have friends ma'am." Sunset's reply seemed to have surprised Principal Celestia enough to cut her teasing short.

Celestia looked at Sunset's eyes, seeming to look for something before sighing. "Sunset... that makes it's even more important for you two to hang out. Luna? Sorry for volunteering your place like that, it's your decision. However I am sure that it can only help her if she has a support network, though you're the expert."

"Well, I agree Tia. That does means I won't be able to go with you to the school as I will need to stay and chaperone... I suppose you can do all the paperwork on your own however." Luna replied easily, getting the last laugh. "Now, I know you need to go to the campus soon, but why don't we all chat for a bit before you go. You were just saying that you and Sunset haven't really had a chance to know each other that well before now."

After spending an hour around Sunset Shimmer at her sister's place, Celestia had to concede that her sister's words no longer seemed far fetched. It was eerie how much the girl had changed in demeanor. That didn't mean that Celestia agreed completely with Luna's prognosis. She felt that there was more of Sunset still in there, and that her shell shock was temporary, but for the short term, they definitely couldn't leave that girl unsupervised.

The girl had still had the bad habit of shutting down even more than usual whenever speaking towards her however, and would phrase her responses to Luna whenever possible. Was it because she could feel that Luna had been convinced already, but Celestia was still wary? She had noticed that Sunset was circumspect in some of her answers surrounding her origins, and it hadn't felt like the right time to grill her about her motives.

It may be a bit morbid, but Sunset's current affliction also put Celestia's mind a bit at ease, as now she could simply focus on helping that girl pick up the pieces, and put herself back together again. Sadly she had to leave after only an hour to get back to the school and meet the contractors, and the school district representative to begin planning repairs.

There was one last thing that Celestia could do today in hopes of finding more clues about the mystery that was Sunset Shimmer. As principal she could inspect the inside of any student's locker. She would take care of it today. She wasn't sure she would find anything that would provide clues, but it would also make her feel safer that the girl did not have anything dangerous in there either.

Awkward Reminders - Omake Interlude

The boutique was having a slow morning, which was just as well as Rarity was still feeling somewhat beat from the prior evening. She took the time to restock the various displays with new inventory, as they had been a popular locale for the Fall Formal, thanks to her not inconsiderable influence in the fashion at Canterlot High.

Soon enough she had nothing much to do but wait for customers to come by however, and with the lack of tasks her mind began to wander. Rarity didn't know what possessed her to volunteer with checking on Sunset Shimmer. Finding out that she had been the architect for the implosion of her closest friendships going into high school was a slap to the face, even with everything else.

Thankfully she kept her sketch pad nearby for just such occasions, when she needed to distract herself from maudlin thoughts. She went about it, trying to let out some of her nervous energy into her designs. She refused to look at the clock or let her plans for the afternoon encroach on her job. She let her pencil dance on the pages, only pausing for the sporadic tinkling of customers coming through the door and attending them.

As she finished shading the sketch of the pair of dresses she had worked on through the morning, and took a moment to look at what she had drawn, Rarity had to suppress an unladylike curse. Staring back at her was a pair of complementing prom dresses. She could imagine the colors she would use for each. The only problem was that they were an improvement of a pair of dresses she had made before. Specifically, they were made for to be worn during her freshman Spring Fling.

After losing her friendships early freshman year, she had focused mostly on making connections with the rest of the fashion and creative focused at the school. Particularly, Sunset Shimmer had gotten close and helped her through that difficult time. She had been part of the student newspaper, and at the time had acted aghast that the strong group that she had interviewed had all stopped hanging out.

She had acted as a sounding board for Rarity, and even helped her push herself into going beyond doodling and modifying her own clothes, and taking the leap towards making them, offering herself as a model and photographer, promoting her to the rest of the student body. At the time, if someone had asked Rarity who her best friend was, she may have been inclined to mention Sunset Shimmer. Her freshman year looked to be turning up... and then came the Spring Fling.

As a way of thanking Sunset Shimmer for her support, Rarity had gone ahead and made her a dress. It was white and gold, almost tunic like, and more simple than the one on the sketch before her. Her sewing skills were not as advanced at the time and so it ended up much simpler than she had wanted, but Sunset had seemed to love it. Rarity had even gone ahead and made her own dress design compliment Sunset's. The problems began when they both decided to run for Spring Princess however...

Rarity knew that now she needed to focus on seeing how Sunset was holding up, and see for herself how much damage the elements had wrought on her. If she truly had been changed as much as they all feared. Part of her even missed the girl she had thought Sunset was, so long ago. However, even with the magic of Harmony, Rarity needed some form of closure for what happened between them before she could truly embrace Sunset as a true friend.

Author's Note

This my get removed from the story, but I decided to post the last iteration of Rarity's interlude, before simply continuing on and focusing on Sunset. I feel like if I don't post something however, I wasn't going to ever post anything.

This may get changed radically in the near future, or even removed and moved to 'Shards of Sunset' later, but at least now that it's out there it will let me stop hyper focusing on a character I love but apparently can't write well in an introspection piece. I got good feedback that it wouldn't impact the story either way, but I couldn't force myself to not include the backstory for the conflict that I envision for Rarity in the story.

In the movie, Rarity's comment about the Spring Fling is one of very few tidbits we have about what happened during Sunset's exile up to this point. We know generalities otherwise, but she mentions a specific event.

Rarity and Flash Sentry pasts with Sunset are fleshed out in my mind as prerequisites for some pivotal plot points later in the story. They are all part of the 'in crowd' so it makes sense in a sense.

A (more awkward than) Generous Visit

Luna felt exhausted after spending the rest of the morning with Celestia, dealing with Sunset Shimmer.

Thankfully Celestia had headed out soon enough. Luna could finally relax on the couch for a while, at least till it was time for Sunset's 'friend' to arrive. As she lay back, she heard the former unicorn in the guest room, apparently using the Acoustic guitar that had been stashed in the guest closet to practice.

It was surprisingly good for a novice, though it was clear enough that the girl didn't seem to be playing a specific song, rather practicing some scales and chords or some such. It was melancholic, but soothing in its own way. Soon enough the sounds of guitar strumming actually lulled Luna to sleep.

The next thing she was aware of was the doorbell ringing. Luna rubbed her face then forced herself to get up and let Sunset's visitor in.

"Thank you again for allowing me to come by for a visit Vice Principal Luna. We've simply been ever so worried for Sunset after everything yesterday." Rarity thanked Luna as she was let into the house.

"It's fine Ms. Rarity, just make sure to be discreet about the fact that you know where our little trouble maker is staying for the moment alright?" Luna replied bluntly, making sure that her message was received by the teen, before sitting back down on the couch she had been napping on while pointing towards the guest room. "Sunset is staying in the room at the end of the corridor to the right. Just following the guitar."

Rarity smiled and nodded, before walking to the guest room door, as the noise of the TV was turned up behind her.

Rarity paused front of the door, seeming to need a moment to listen to the simple music from Sunset's guitar. Finally she took a deep breath, put on one of her defining smiles, and knocked on the bedroom door.

The sounds of the guitar immediately stopped. However, the seconds ticked by without anything else to show that the girl in the room had heard. Finally Rarity cleared her throat before calling out, "Sunset darling? It's Rarity, may I come in?".

Rarity could barely make out the sound of footsteps before the door was slowly opened a few inches, "Hey Rarity... if you want."

She took the opened door as invitation to enter. Sunset had already gone and sat on the bed facing away from the door, giving her back to Rarity. Sunset's hair wasn't too messy, but it clearly needed a brush. Without being able to see her face, the only clue Rarity had for Sunset's mood was seeing her fidget with the instrument in her lap. Rarity struggled with what to say.

"Oh my. Miss Luna certainly had an... interesting... design choice for this room." Rarity focused on their surroundings, The purple haired girl not quite ready to try to break through Sunset's body language. Sunset began plucking at her guitar again, going through some spanish scales.

spanish scales

"... I'm glad you kept up your practicing even after everything. I was always amazed how quickly you picked up things... jealous even, sometimes at least." Rarity paused to see if Sunset would say anything, before slowly continuing, "In three months you were keeping up with Flash! It was quite the inspiration. If I hadn't been there that first day of class and heard you starting out I'd never have believed it." Sunset kept quiet, making Rarity have to force herself to keep her hands still from picking at her clothes.

Rarity finally thought to frame her words into a question, to try to force Sunset to finally speak.

"What was the real reason you chose guitar that day?" Rarity had no clue where this was coming from. She wasn't sure why she was bringing that all up. Sunset finally seemed to react, hunching over slightly and slowing down in her playing.

"Well... It really helped me with getting used to my hands back then." Sunset slowly answered back in a monotone. Rarity could recall how Sunset had gravitated towards those types of scale exercises that helped practice individual finger movement quite a bit more than strumming chords.

"I suppose I kept at it... cause it helped ground me too, on the worst days. You'd be surprised how pervasive music is in everyday Equestrian life..." Mentioning her former home seemed to suck the little energy Sunset had conjured up to answer Rarity's question, and she slowed to a stop, simply holding the guitar, though she still refused to turn around. Rarity looked around trying to come up with something to keep the tentative string of conversation alive.

"Ground you darling? What do you mean? Till this week you'd always seemed so in control of yourself however." Rarity asked quietly as she almost thoughtlessly scooted closer. Sunset hunched further, hugging the guitar to her chest at this point. The redhead took a few shaky breaths. Right before Rarity could ask her to forget the question, she began to speak.

"The world... THIS world I mean... it's a dark and scary place. You have no idea what it's like to be somewhere so alien yet almost familiar, like a dark reflection from a funhouse mirror." Sunset finally put the guitar to the side and brought her knees up on the bed and hugging them, hiding her face in her knees. "Even my body had been changed to fit in here, and after a while I'd have days where it became unbearable. I hated my skin Rarity."

"The worse were the times... Sometimes I'd be happy. Things would be going my way, or I'd be having fun, and I'd forget for a few days, and then I'd look in the mirror, or I'd be taking a shower, or I'd accidentally try a dish with ugh, meat in it... and suddenly it would hit me." Sunset shuddered. "I'd feel vertigo, or hyperventilate, I'd try to scratch it off... vomit my guts out... Remember that time in PE when I 'had a case of poison ivy'?"

Rarity did recall. One day while they were still friends, Sunset had been unusually reticent in changing into her PE uniform. When Sunset finally did Rarity had seen she had scratches all over her collarbone and upper chest area. Rarity had been aghast and rushed her to get some calamine lotion from the nurse's office. "I suppose it wasn't poison ivy at all?"

"No. I'd had a nightmare and woke up trying to get this human suit off."

"Did... did that ever go away?" Rarity asked tentatively.

"A bit... well, for a while... I guess I felt I got used to feeling dysphoria knowing there wasn't much I could do about it, and my dumb brain gave up or something. It came back pretty hard this last month though. You know, after..." Sunset began to share, but froze at the last second, as she finally turned to look at Rarity, whom had slowly approached, sitting on the bed herself, almost next to her without either of them noticing.

"Ah yes. I'd wondered what happened between you two. I don't need details however darling. I'm glad you haven't let that sour you to music however." Rarity added as Sunset flinched.

Sunset let out the breath she'd been holding, before turning back into her knees. "It's not like he invented the instrument Rare."

Rarity almost snorted before catching herself. "Well that is true enough I suppose. I hope you also kept up with your art then? Did you like those sketchbooks I gave you? You were quite good, I used to think it was a shame you didn't join any of the art clubs."

"Nah, couldn't make myself get back into it. Never ended up using more than just a couple pages in them. They're probably still stashed in the bottom of my locker. Sorry" Sunset spoke into her knees. Rarity wasn't sure what to make of that. Sunset really had a talent from what she remembered, and she'd seemed to have loved it.

More importantly though, Rarity couldn't take it anymore. That hair was driving her OCD insane. "D-do you think-I mean- May I brush your hair? It seems to be a bit wild today, though I can understand why."

"Fine. My brush is in that bag over there." Rarity glanced towards the corner that Sunset had shrugged towards. Indeed there was a trash bag, filled with what seemed at first glance simply clothes, though after opening it she saw there was a tied off grocery bag with bathing and grooming supplies. It was a simple detangling brush, from one of those generic pharmacy brands. Definitely not the best kind for Sunset's current hair needs, but beggars couldn't be choosers she supposed.

"Sunset darling, please turn around and let me get behind you dear. No, shift the other way, I want us facing the mirror on the vanity." Rarity softly ordered the other girl into place, before she began her task. A few minutes went by in silence as Rarity tamed Sunset's hair. The few times Rarity pressed on Sunset's shoulders or back the other girl seemed to flinch a bit, but she stopped shaking after the first minute. Rarity tried her best to only touch her hair, though Sunset seemed fine with the bristles going through her scalp.

"There, that's looking better. Hm... actually, let me see if I have some in my bag." Rarity rummaged in her purse, before pulling out some hair ties. " How about I put it in a french braid?"

"If that's what you want Rarity." Sunset responded, sounding far away. Her eyes were drooping and looked almost glazed in the reflection. Rarity paused a moment, before pulling out one of her emergency hair sticks to help her part the other girl's hair. She knew she was procrastinating, but there wasn't much more that she could do to delay asking the questions the others had wanted her to convey. She knew the first one she wanted to know herself.

"Sun, how hurt are you right now?" She finally blurted out, her fingers hovering over the girl's shoulder for a moment, before leaning in to run her fingers through her hair from the front, using the stick in her other hand to make the part straighter.

Sunset blinked, still looking zoned out. "Physically, it could be alot worse. Luna said my back is scratched up pretty badly. You can check it out if you want to put some more antibiotic cream on them. I also twisted my ankle but the pain medicine she gave me has helped a lot. My bones and chest just ache, but it comes on and off in waves, so I think it might just be psychosomatic at this point."

Rarity was perceptive in turns of phrase however, "Alright, I'll help you with your back in a moment then. Beyond the physical, how else are you hurt?"

"It's... hard to put into words." Sunset swallowed, snapping out of it for a second to look uneasy as she focused her gaze with Rarity's in the reflection. "I can't be sure without magic resonance tools to diagnose myself. Even if I had the tools, I can't channel my magic without a horn. However, I can tell something's changed. It's really hard to care or argue."

The girl waved her arm in front of her. "I haven't bitten your head off after making me stare at my reflection for over ten minutes with you. With how I've been the last month, I'd usually have had an episode by now." Sunset confessed. "I used to feel... so, so, so bitter about everything. I don't think I'd ever have been able to get over how my plans failed, and I'd probably keep blaming you girls and been self righteous about it all..." Sunset took a shaky breath "But here we are, with you doing my hair like in Freshman year, and I mostly just feel... awkward I guess."

"To be fair dear, this DOES feel a bit awkward for me as well." Rarity replied as she tied off the braids she had made and scooted back to look it over. Rarity had always wondered what was the catalyst that made Sunset decide to turn on her after Freshman year. She wasn't quite sure she was ready to ask for any details at the moment however.

" Now you mentioned you needed antibiotic cream on your back?" Sunset stood up and picked up the tube of cream on the vanity, before sitting back down and pulling the back of her shirt up to her shoulders.

Rarity let out a hiss at the scratches all over her back. It was quite a bit more than she thought. Soon enough Sunset copied her as Rarity carefully began to spread the cold cream over each of the scratches on her back.

"I think that does it. How're you holding up?" Rarity asked once all the cuts and scratches had a light film of cream over them.

"Honestly, I think I need to eat something. This is exhausting, and you don't feel like you're ready for that conversation either." Sunset murmured as she pulled her shirt back down, before adding "I'll try my best if you still want to go on after we eat something though. You might want to let Miss Luna know about food preferences though cause I'm pretty sure she's about to order takeout."

"Well then, let's join her in the living room."

The girls came out of the guest room just as Luna was about to call out to ask what they would like from the Neighponese restaurant.

"Thank you Vice Principal Luna, but I really must be heading out. Thank you again for letting me visit Sunset." Rarity preempted the educator before turning once more to Sunset at the door, "The girls all want to meet with you soon, but I think they can wait for you to be back at school. I'll let them know you're safe and recuperating."

Luna ended up not ordering from her favored restaurant, as their vegetarian options were lacking. Instead, some Mediterranean wraps would be delivered in time for a late lunch.

"Sunset, how did it go?" Luna asked after she had taken care of ordering the food.

"It wasn't anything I couldn't handle ma'am" Sunset replied, trying her best not to yawn.

"Do you need help with your back again?" Luna asked, in lieu of any actual topic to chat about.

"Oh Rarity already helped with that. I should be good till tomorrow morning." Sunset's reply surprised the Vice Principal a bit. She wouldn't have thought that would come up.

"Well then, why don't you put away your things. The guest closet and drawers should still have some room. You're free to use the washer and dryer as well. Let me know however if my sister's things are taking too much space and I'll move them out." Sunset simply nodded at Luna's orders and went back to the room.

Author's Note

To be honest, I simply can't find the energy to write. I don't think it's fair to keep folks expecting to see anything but once in a blue moon updates on any of my works unless something major changes in my life, medication or schedule.

I've got a couple tentative story lines plotted out in my head for this story, and some of my other work, but I'd love to find someone willing to either become a co-author or simply take over if they prefer to just boot me off the project.