Memories

by Aweirdassguy

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Slice of Life, Equestria Girls
Length: 9601

Sunset reminisces about the past.

Sunset reminisces about her memories of the past.

Originally called: "Thoughts"

This story is primarily to set up a background for future stories.

Published 2018-06-11 17:00:12 UTC
Last updated 2018-09-22 18:56:43 UTC

Mistakes

It was a lovely night. She lay down on the grass as she looked up at the night sky. Back in her world it had been her mentor, Princess Celestia, who had controlled the stars. Princess Twilight had told her the story of how she and her friends had used the elements of harmony to free her teacher's sister from darkness, and how she had returned to her post as the guardian of the night after having been banished to the moon for 1000 years. But even without the powers of either of the royal sisters, she thought the stars in this world were just as beautiful as those of her original home.

She thought back on the time she had last seen the majestic white alicorn. Although it hadn't been under the best of circumstances, she had returned to Equestria a short time ago. When Twilight had suggested that they seek the help of Celestia she was reluctant. She quickly realized however that Twilight was right, and that she would be able to help her in her quest to fix her friends.

Celestia's forgiveness, and then assistance, had meant a great deal to her. She would have to repay her old teacher's kindness someday. But that was something she could think about later.

If she was being honest, she was a little surprised that she had been forgiven so easily. Before then, the last time they had seen each other had been before... everything else. She snuck into a restricted section of the castle library without permission. Celestia had showed up and relieved her of her position as her pupil, something she could now see that she had completely deserved. But then, she thought it was in injustice. She had demanded that Celestia make her an alicorn. When Celestia refused she assaulted the guards escorting her out of the castle and run to a mirror that Celestia had shown her earlier that she had found out to be a portal to another dimension.

Since the portal only open for a period of three days approximately once ever two and a half years she had become stranded in this world. She had nopony to turn to, nowhere to hide, she had a strange, new body that she had no idea how to work, and on top of it all, she had no magic. All she had was a small bag of bits she had always carried on her in Equestria.

Once she had gotten used to moving around her new body she had found a place to hide out. It was an abandoned factory she had found after roaming the town for a few hours. She had lived there for only about a month. After selling the bits she had brought with her, had which turned out to be worth significantly more in this world, she had used almost all of the money to buy a small apartment for herself. The job she had taken shortly after arriving paid enough for her to buy food, with a little extra left over, but not much.

Once she had purchased the appropriate forged paperwork she had gotten herself enrolled in the local high school, CHS. From the first day she had set foot at the school as a student she had begun manipulating everypony, or rather, everybody, she had quickly learned, into doing her bidding and she very quickly gained the reputation of being a girl who could ruin your life in moment if you crossed her. She was the queen of the school.

But that wasn't enough.

She had wanted more. She had begun planning. She learned a month after coming to Earth that if you pressed your head to the portal you could sometimes see what was on the other side. She had heard Celestia talking about the elements with Luna shortly after Luna had been reformed and had returned to Canterlot. She had also heard the name "Twilight Sparkle" and had decided to keep an ear open in case she heard it again.

The things she heard. She had heard of Twilight and her friends not only defeating Nightmare Moon, but also Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra. Unfortunately for her, the mirror had been moved to a new location soon after that last one.

It didn't deter her though. On the 30th full moon since she had left Equestria she went through the portal prepared to spend the whole day in Equestria if that was what it took to find Twilight's crown, which she knew to be holding the element of magic. To her great surprise, she didn't have to wait long, for Twilight was sleeping just down the hall. If Spike's tail hadn't tripped her and woken Twilight up, she very well might have been able to make a clean getaway.

When Twilight had showed up on Earth soon after she had fled back through the portal. What confused her was when Twilight had mentioned having returned to be and leaving through the portal the next morning. From the Earth side, she had come through only minutes after Sunset had. They had just shrugged it off for the time being as "inter-dimensional time weirdness," but she still wanted to know what had happened, but again, that was something she could think about later.

Her plans for sabotage had failed once Flash had come to rescue and showed the cutouts from the original photos of Twilight, so she had to resort a more, extreme approach. She grabbed the sledge hammer she had kept from her time in the factory and stuck it in her bag as she hopped on her motorcycle to head for the dance.

Once she found Snips and Snails and tasked them with bringing her Twilight's dog she readied herself. Sure enough, only minutes later, Snips, holding Spike, ran up with Snails right behind him. She really didn't know what she was thinking, threatening to destroy the portal. She hadn't even considered that the hammer might just fly through the portal, leaving her weaponless. She was glad she hadn't embarrassed herself by trying to use the hammer.

After a quick skirmish she had gotten her hands on the object of her desire; Twilight's crown. As soon as she had it she had placed it atop her head. She had thought she was prepared for the power it would give her.

She was wrong.

It burned. It felt like a wave of fiery pain had been unleashed upon every inch of her body. She had never felt pain like that before and she still hoped never to feel it again.

After the pain had faded, she felt different, both mentally and physically. Her body felt bigger and stronger, it felt amazing. Her mind however, did not feel so amazing. At the time it seemed like all of her thoughts were cloudy, and she also felt a surge of anger. She didn't really know what she was doing, but it didn't really feel like her doing it.

Then came the rainbow.

The one thing she could compare the pain of being overpowered tainted friendship magic to, was the pain of having said magic ripped away from you in a deceptively colorful blast of power, only to be sent crashing down into a crater. From the moment she came to she could remember everything. The anger, the power, how she had blown up the front of the school and brainwashed all of the students at the dance, and how she had tried to kill the six girls standing above her. Being in the crater had been the worst moment of her life.

The magic forced her to see all of the pain she had caused over the years. All of the people she had hurt were now front and center in her brain and she couldn't get away. All she knew at that moment, was that she had been a horrible person and had done terrible things.

Things got better from there at least. When the girls had pulled her out of that crater it marked the beginning the next chapter in the story of her life.

Author's Note

Hey people, aweirdassguy here, but you can just call me "Red." This is the first story I have ever written for this site or any other, so I know it probably isn't the best, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. For those wondering, no this is not the end of the story. I'm not sure when I'll get another chapter out, but I'll get around to it eventually.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Readjustment (Pt. 1/2)

It was only when Sunset looked up at the sky that she realized how long she had been lying still. She often got lost in her own head whenever she was on this hill. It held some very important memories for her after all. It also offered a nice view of both the night sky, and the stadium. Right now though, it was getting late. Despite the cold she had chosen to leave her jacket at home. Sometimes she liked the nip of the cold night air on her arms, it kept her calm and gave her sense of strength, she was never sure why though.

She figured it was probably time to start on the 20 minute walk back to her home, so she stood up and started walking. As she reached the sidewalk she let her thoughts trail off once more.

After the fall formal she had come up to the hill often. That had been a difficult time for her. With most of the student body having front row seats to her being shot out of the sky by a group of magic girls, they had lost all of their fear of her, and their resentment grew even greater. She had been constantly bumped in the halls, shot with spitballs, and been on the receiving end of many other acts of general hostility from the majority of the students. The only ones who had been there for her were the girls, though she had a feeling that most of them were only helping her at first due to Twilight's request for them to do so.

It was only after one particularly bad day that had started with her locker being defaced with angry messages, been filled with rude comments, in whisper voices that seemed a slight bit too loud, and ended with books and papers being knocked from her hand and her helmet being painted hot pink and covered in glitter that she had finally realized that the girls had honestly begun to care for her, and her for them.

When she had gotten home that night she didn't do anything. She didn't do her homework, she didn't read another chapter of the most recent book to have caught her attention, she didn't even eat anything. Instead, no sooner than she had arrived at her apartment had she thrown her bag on the ground, alongside her boots, socks, and beaten up jacket, and climbed into her bed. She just sat there, not making any noise, not moving an inch, barely even remembering that she needed to breathe. She eventually fell asleep there, but not until having sat there alone for at least an hour.

When her alarm clock went off the next morning she didn't get up. She just turned it off and went right back to sleep. After last night, she was too tired to care that she would be skipping a day of school. She eventually found herself unable to rest anymore so she sat up and stared at the wall. She glanced at her clock and saw that it was 11:57. At first she was a little surprised that she hadn't gotten up and gone to school, but then the memories came flooding back to her.

As she sat there she started sobbing. She grabbed her pillow and pulled her knees up to her chest, letting the pillow soak up her tears.

She probably would have stayed like that for a long while if her phone hadn't started ringing. She picked it up to see Pinkie's name on the screen. She had no idea how Pinkie had gotten her phone number, she would just have to ask later, but for now she did what she could to stifle her sobs and answered the call.

No surprise came when the loud and cheery voice picked shouted her name. She began questioning her about why she hadn't been to school that day, asking if she was alright, saying something about her "Pinkie Sense" telling her that Sunset was in trouble. However, Sunset was surprised when Pinkie suddenly quieted down after hearing her response. Sunset had of course lied and said that she was fine, but her tone must have alerted Pinkie to the truth. In all of the time that she'd known the frizzy haired girl she had never heard her speak in such a dismal voice, not even when she had been on the verge of tears after falling for one of Sunset's many tricks.

The rest of the call was calm, freakishly calm considering who it was on the other end of the line. She hung up after only five minutes, which was incredibly short compared to a normal call from Pinkie.

She was again surprised a few hours later. At around 3:30 there was a knock at her door. She was annoyed at first, thinking that it was a neighbor asking to borrow a cup of sugar or something else that she wasn't in the mood for. She readied herself to just tell whoever was there that she didn't have whatever they were looking for, but when she opened the door she jumped a little. Standing right outside her door were Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

She hardly recognized the latter, as her hair had gone rather straight. It wasn't totally flat, but definitely more so than usual. Apparently they took her stepping back in surprise as an invitation come inside, because that was just what they did. She didn't know how either of them knew where she lived, but she would just have to put that question at the end of her ever-growing list of questions to ask Pinkie at a later date.

Fluttershy quietly asked if they could all sit down to talk. Sunset nodded silently as she sat down on the couch. Pinkie sat down to her right, and Fluttershy pulled up a chair that was pushed against the wall.

"Sunset, are you sure you're alright?" Pinkie asked calmly. Sunset was about to answer, but at this point, she didn't even know. At first she was just going to try to lie to them. They didn't really care, they were only there because Twilight had asked them to be there for her. But before she could formulate a response, she looked into Fluttershy's eyes.

Even in the dark room there was no doubt in her mind as to what it was she saw. She could see a sense of worry in her eyes, genuine concern for Sunset's well being. As she looked over to Pinkie she saw the same thing. It was right then that she realized these two really cared for her.

"I... I don't know anymore" Sunset said in a defeated tone, hanging her head as tears started welling up in her eyes.

Fluttershy stood up and joined the others on the couch, sitting to Sunset's left. She reached out and wrapped her arm around around Sunset's back which prompted Pinkie to do the same. She looked up just in time to see them both close their other around her front, bringing her into a tight hug.

As she let her tears flow freely, she heard Pinkie's voice cut in. "We all saw how everyone was treating you at school. We thought that eventually everyone else would see that you had changed, and that you weren't just some big meany pants anymore. When I heard your voice I could tell that something was wrong. I didn't tell the other, only Fluttershy. We decided it would be best for just the two of us to come check in on you after school let out for the day."

"But, why do you care so much about me? If anything you girls should hate me more than everyone else. At least they were only being controlled, I tried to kill you six! How could you forgive me for something like that?" Sunset managed to get out through her sobs.

It was Fluttershy who gave her an answer. "Because we could see you for who you really are now. At first we were worried that you would just go back to being a big bully after Twilight left, but you didn't. Since the fall formal we haven't see you do anything mean, even when others were being really cruel to you. The old you would have made sure they felt your anger, but you didn't. Twilight taught us that we should listen and forgive each other. Plus, she told us to be there that we should be there for you, so I'll be darned If I'm not going to at least try to be your friend."

At this point Sunset had stopped crying. In fact, a small, barely noticeable smile had begun creeping it's way onto her face. "I don't know what to say girls. That's probably the nicest thing anyone has said to me in years."

Fluttershy and Pinkie let Sunset go, the former returning to her chair. They continued talking for another half hour before Pinkie got a call from Mrs. Cake saying that she needed help in the bakery. They stood up and said goodbye to Sunset, both exchanging brief hugs with her before leaving.

Sunset felt much better the next day. She felt even better when she got a call from Pinkie, who was back to sounding like her usual bubbly self, inviting her out to spend the day with her and the rest of the girls at the mall.

She decided to take the bus instead of riding her bike, mostly because she didn't want to be seen in public wearing a pink, sparkly helmet. She met the girls in front of the fountain, and for the rest of the afternoon she was smiling and chatting away with her friends.

When the day inevitably came to an end, they made one last stop at the diner across the street to get dinner. While waiting for there food to arrive Pinkie told Sunset to close her eyes. She was confused, but did so anyway. When she was told to open her eyes again, she gasped.

Sitting on the table in front of her was a brand new. It was black, with yellow and red flames on the sides. Then, a slight shimmer caught her eyes. When she looked closely at it, she saw a small "SS" written in silver, slightly above the right side of the visor. She picked it up and turned it around. On the back was the eight-flared sun that was her cutie mark. It was perfect.

Rainbow spoke up after seeing the awestruck look on Sunset's face. "Yeah, it is pretty neat huh? Pinkie told us she saw your helmet when she and Shy visited you yesterday. I suggested that we should get you a new one. We all chipped in to buy it. I don't know how Pinkie got it so fast, but she had Rarity do your initials this morning right before coming here. So what'd you think?"

"It's amazing." Sunset finally spoke. "I don't know how to thank you girls for it."

"Oh don't worry about it darling, just consider it a gift from us, and always remember that we are here for you." Rarity said.

After eating their food and splitting the bill Sunset bid her friends farewell, thanking them again for their generous gift. When she got home that night she put her new helmet by the door and went up to her bed. She slept better that night than she had since before the fall formal.

Author's Note

Huh, I got this one out faster than I had originally anticipated, and this one is almost two thousand words. Oh well, the more the merrier right? I should have part 2 out sometime by the end of next week. Until then, keep life going on.

-Red

P.S. Constructive criticism (and spelling corrections) are always welcome.

Readjustment (Pt. 2/2)

Sunset awoke the next morning in a much better mood than she had in weeks. While yesterday had been fun, today she opted to stay home and watch TV. Throughout the day she received a phone call from each of her friends. They had mostly been short conversations, lasting no more than 15 minutes, just checking in on her. Pinkie however had been on the phone for nearly an hour, eventually ending the conversation by shouting something about cupcakes, and promptly hanging up the phone.

The next day when Sunset got up, she was still far happier than she had been since her defeat, but now there was an underlying sense of dread. She readied herself for the day regardless. She had already skipped on Friday, she didn't want another unexcused absence on her record.

Once she was ready for the day she picked up her helmet and backpack and stepped out the door. As she was about to hop onto her bike she saw her old helmet dangling from the handlebar. She gave it a blank stare for a few seconds and then she picked it up and dropped on the ground next to her. She would have to deal with it eventually, but not right now. She slid her new helmet onto her head, turned the key in the ignition.

She pulled into the parking lot and pulled her helmet off her head. She was going to put it on the handlebar as the usually did, but she stopped herself. Who was to say that the same person who had vandalized her original helmet wouldn't return and do the same to her new one? She instead decided that it would be better to store the helmet in her locker for the day to prevent anything from happening to it.

As she rounded the corner from the parking lot to the school's front entrance she saw her friends sitting on the steps waiting for her. She walked up to them and Pinkie greeted her with a smile coupled with a "Morning Sunny!" The rest weren't as energetic but still said polite hellos. Rarity had one more thing to say though.

"Sunset darling, how are you feeling?" Rarity gave her a slightly concerned look.

"I'm doing much better. Although I am still a little nervous." Sunset shuddered a little as she thought about what else the other students might do to her today.

She jumped a little when she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder, but quickly calmed down upon turning to see Applejack looking at her. "Don't you worry about that sugarcube. We've got your back, and we'll make sure that nobody messes with you."

Rainbow jumped up and put her arm around Sunset's shoulder, ruffling her hair with her other hand. "And if anybody does decide to mess with you, we'll make sure they know not to do it again."

"Thanks girls. What did I ever do to deserve friends like you?"

Fluttershy stood as well. "Everyone deserves to have good friends. Friends can make your life so much brighter. We had to show you that, and make sure that you always had someone to bring you back to the light, even in your darkest moments."

"Ah couldn't have put it better myself Fluttershy" Applejack said, as she walked over to her back and slung it over her shoulder. The rest of them did the same, then they walked into the school together.

Sunset was no stranger to the glares she received every time she entered the school. Ever since her defeat she had been unable to enter the building without at least a dozen students giving her the stink eye. This time however, they vanished quickly, upon seeing Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity returning their glares with twice the ferocity.

The message they sent was wordless, but clear: "If you mess with her, then you mess with us, and that would be a very big mistake."

For the rest of the day there were noticeably fewer spitballs shot at her and papers wads thrown at her head. Of course, not even AJ, RD, and Rarity combined could scare away everyone. There was still the occasional disturbance directed towards her, most of which came from Gilda's crew, or the "Griffins" as the like to be called.

Since the very first moments she had set foot in the school she and Gilda had been on rough terms. Gilda had been the one on top of the school's social hierarchy until Sunset showed up. She had dethroned Gilda in a matter of weeks. After a year, the list of people she had dirt on had grown to accommodate over half the student body, and every single one of the Griffins was on that list.

After Sunset was knocked clean from the top at the fall formal, Gilda had begun to reassert her dominance, starting with leading the charge against Sunset. There was nothing she could do to stop Gilda, or at least nothing she would do. She still had all of her old blackmail files on her computer, so if she really wanted to, she could have destroyed all of the Griffins in minutes.

That wouldn't be right though. Plus her recently acquired friends would have a field day ridiculing her, and that was not something she wanted, nor needed. Instead, for now, she was content to sit and wait it out. Eventually the storm would die down and she would be forgotten and left alone.

Until then however, she had to deal with the annoying paper wads smacking her in the head every 40 minutes.

When the school day had ended she returned to her locker, breathing a sigh of relief upon finding both it, and her helmet untouched. Thankfully her motorcycle was also exactly as she had left it. She hopped on her motorcycle and headed home.

Things improved for Sunset over the next few days. Everyone, even the Griffins were less hostile towards her. At first she was confused as the why the Griffins had inexplicably ended their assault on her, but then she heard certain rumors at lunch about Rainbow and Gilda talking to each other on the soccer field with angry glares.

After Gilda walked off Rainbow had resumed soccer practice, but after only two minutes had "accidentally" hit Gilda square in the nose with a soccer ball at full speed, resulting in a broken nose for Gilda, a garbled threat directed at Rainbow, and Coach Spitfire having to practically drag Gilda off the field to the nurse's office.

Everything was going wonderfully for her. Everything was great. Then she got the text.

It was a completely normal Sunday afternoon. Sunset heard her phone buzz with Pinkie's text-tone. She opened the message to find a video attached. She chocked on her soda and nearly dropped her phone when she saw a recording of Rainbow Dash, shredding on a guitar. The guitar playing isn’t what surprised her though. She had seen Rainbow play a few times before, and she almost lived up to her bragging. What had shocked her however, was the sight of Rainbow sprouting wings and rising into the air, her body surrounded with an aura of electricity, and her eyes glowing pure white with magic.

Author's Note

Just wanted to let you know that in this story the events of Anon-a-Miss never happened. So don't be expecting a chapter on that. I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out. As always you may criticize me as you wish, I only ask that if you dislike this story you tell me why. Red out.

Next chapter: Redemption

Redmeption (Pt. 1/?)

Author's Note:

For those curious about the part of the chapter title that says "Pt. 1/?", I'm not sure whether I'm going to split this chapter into two or three parts. When I do get it figured out I'll update the chapter title and get rid of this A/N

Sunset realized she had walked passed her apartment door when she saw the bus walked by the bus stop that she knew was by hear home. She turned around and quickly found the entrance to her building. She walked up the stairs and pulled the key to her door out of her pocket and stepped inside.

She slipped her boots and socks off, placing the former by the door, and throwing the latter in her laundry bag. She went up to her loft and pulled a pair of shorts out of her dresser, trading her jeans for them. She went back down to use the bathroom and brush her teeth before she could go to bed.

While she was brushing her teeth her mind returned to the clouds it had been in for the last hour, thinking back to the days following the message from Pinkie.

Pinkie quickly sent another text asking if she would be able to meet at the mall food court in an hour, to which she had agreed. At first she had calmed herself down with the thought that it was probably just special effects and video editing. Pinkie had displayed some degree of skill with it in the past, so it was within the realm of possibility. That excuse hadn't stopped her from being on edge until the meeting came though.

When she got to the mall she found her friends together at a table. She walked up and greeted them. Applejack and Rarity looked like they were about to say something back, but she quickly turned to Pinkie and Rainbow and asked, "So what was with the special effects in that video?"

This seemed to confuse Pinkie, as she simply tilted her head to the side and made a sound that was eerily similar to that of a pigeon. Rainbow, on the other hand, gave her the response she had been dreading for the last hour.

"There wasn't any editing at all, that was 100% my awesomeness! Who else has the power to grow wings just from playing music?" She said as a cocky smile made its way onto her face, whereas the shaky one Sunset had been holding up collapsed in an instant. The others groaned a little, Rarity bringing her hand to her face, but Fluttershy spoke up.

"Um... actually, I do too." They all, excluding Rarity, turned and stared at her. She blushed and tried fruitlessly to hide herself behind her hair. Rarity was the one who provided them with the answer they desired.

"You see, last Friday I accompanied Fluttershy to the animal shelter to assist her in her duties. To make a long story short we needed to get a group of hamsters under control and Fluttershy opted to do so by using her tambourine to lure them back into their enclosure. Whilst she was playing it she also regained her equine attributes from the fall formal, or as Pinkie has dubbed it, 'a pony up'. Fluttershy asked me not to tell anyone about it because she thought it would just be a one time thing and she didn't want to get any of you worried over nothing."

Sunset was still a little dazed by the fact that her friend had managed to use magic in a world she had thought had no magic for the last five years, but she still managed to register most of what Rarity had said.

Pinkie ran off for a few minutes to bring them food and they spend the next hour discussing the strange magical happenings. They eventually decided that they would have to run some tests later to see if it would happen again, or if Rainbow and Fluttershy had simply had one off occurrences. Sunset reasoned that it was likely a one time thing, just the excess magic they had absorbed during at the fall formal burning itself out with one last burst of energy. Somehow though, she knew in her gut that it wasn't true.

The girls finished their food and went their separate ways. Sunset hopped onto her bike and headed back home. As she was waiting at a stoplight she glanced at the sidewalk. For a split second, she could have sworn she saw a familiar purple figure, but it disappeared around a corner before she could get a good look. She would have stayed there for longer, but the driver behind her honked their horn and she looked ahead and saw that the light was green. She assumed it was just her imagination playing tricks on her, so she sped off down the road, not stopping once until she reached her apartment.

The next day at school had been totally normal. There were no new sighting of magic from any of her friends, so the day went on as usual. On Tuesday however, she almost did a spit take at lunch when Applejack delivered the news to her that she too had had her own case of magic appearing as she was playing music.

Sunset decided that they couldn't wait any longer to run their tests. "Okay, we need to get to the bottom of this, and fast. I have an old friend in the city that owes me a favor who has a lab and some equipment we could use. I can call him and see if we can go there this afternoon if everyone is okay with that."

The group gave a few murmurs of agreement. "Alright then. I'll call him after lunch and text you all when we can be there." With that they returned to their food.

Twenty minutes later Sunset found a secluded corner in the library where she could spend her free period studying, and make a phone call undisturbed.

Before the fall formal, the closest thing she had ever had to a friend in the human world had been Derpy Hooves. It wasn't that they got along, it was just that she could never bring herself to be mad at her no matter what. She had seen a few others try to bring her down, but all of their attempts just bounced off her, as if she was immune to the teasing. From all that she had seen, Sunset had deduced that the only way she would be able to affect Derpy would be with physical harm, and even back then, that was something she refused to do unless absolutely necessary. Even back then, she had some standards.

Derpy's seeming total resilience to every attempt made to get her down had earned her Sunset's begrudging respect, so Sunset never actually tried to do anything to mess with Derpy, making her one of the very few to be virtually unaffected . It hadn't been until their first year of high school that they actually became acquainted with each other though.

Sunset was renowned for being one, if not, the smartest student in the entire school, so it was no surprise to her that she received the occasional request from a parent to tutor their child. She rejected almost all of them. Unfortunately, her computer had decided that it no longer enjoyed its life and had completely stopped functioning, and it couldn't be fixed despite Sunset's best efforts.

Replacing it would cost a rather large sum of money, one she didn't currently have, and wouldn't have for several months at the rate she was currently making money. But then she happened upon an opportunity she couldn't pass up. Derpy's father, Professor Doctor Hooves, or just "Doctor" as he preferred to be called (she still had trouble believing that that was his actual first name), had sent her an email offering to pay her $40 an hour to tutor Derpy in her math and history classes.

She had promptly accepted his offer and worked out a schedule for when she could help Derpy. She had taken several other tutoring jobs in the past that meant nothing to her, but Derpy was different. Whenever she was around Derpy she couldn't help but feel some degree of happiness. Derpy too seemed to always be in a good mood. Throughout their tutoring sessions they had some conversations about different topics, eventually leading Sunset to question Derpy as to how she was always so perky.

"I don't get it. I see those people picking on you at school all the time, but you never seem to let it get to you. How do you do it? If they did that to me I would have ensured that they never tried anything like it again." Sunset had been running it over in her head for ages but she could never think of an answer that suited her. She had concluded to simply ask Derpy directly and finally get her answer.

Derpy smiled, a response Sunset hadn't anticipated. "When I was little, it did get to me, a lot. One day, after I got picked on real bad, I just went into my room and cried alone once school was over. After a few minutes my mom came in and found me there. She asked what was wrong, and when I told her what had happened she said to me 'Derpy those kids don't see just how perfect you are. If they want to say bad things about you, then it's their own fault that they'll never get to be friends with a girl as amazing as you, and no matter what anyone else says, you should know that your family will always be here for you anytime you need us.' After that day, I was never all that bothered by what they said. I just told myself that if they were going to judge me based on nothing more than the fact that one of my eyes is slightly different than theirs, then their opinions don't matter."

Sunset had been stuck staring blankly at her paper for few seconds after Derpy finished talking. She felt something then that she hadn't felt since before she first entered this world. She felt empathy for Derpy. After they had finished the lesson they kept talking for thirty minutes until Derpy's mom Roseluck got home.

Sunset bid Derpy goodbye and headed home. She hadn't noticed it until years later, but after that day, Sunset became much less aggressive in her endevours. She had no clue of the impact that Derpy had had on her that day.

After one of their tutoring sessions Doctor remarked that Sunset's intelligence was highly impressive for someone her age. He asked her if she would be willing to participate in a few studies he was working on for Canterlot University. In Equestria she had been highly interested in many different branches of science, from potion making, to the physics of transfiguration magic. Even wouldn't say no to a chance to contribute to the scientific understanding of the world, so she agreed.

After Sunset finished helping out with Doctor's studies he thanked her for her help, both with his research and with Depry's classes. He told her that if she needed anything she could call him.

She still hadn't once taken him up on his offer. Before the fall formal she had been far to stubborn to take help from anyone but Snips and Snails, who were really just there to do her dirty work. Since the fall formal she had had no reason to ask for his help. But now, she decided, it was time to call him and see if he could help.

She pulled her phone out from her back and scrolled through her contacts until she found him. She pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear. It only rang twice before he picked up.

"Hello. This is Doctor Hooves. How can I help you?" He asked.

"Hi Doctor, it's me, Sunset. I need small favor."

"Oh, hello Sunset, it's been quite a while since we've spoken. What do you need?"

"I was just wondering if my friends and I could use one of your labs and Canterlot U for an experiment we wanted to run."

"Of course you can. Why I'm available right after school if you want to come by today. You'll have to come by my office first though, you'll need to have some kind of adult supervision if you're going to be using our lab equipment. We don't want anybody getting hurt now do we?"

"Thanks Doctor, that's perfect. We'll be there at 3:30. But just a fair warning, you might be surprised by what we have."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That all depends on whether or not our results turn out how I think they might. Don't worry though, it's nothing dangerous... probably."

"Well alright then. By the way, you don't mind me asking what it is you're researching do you?"

"Sorry, but you'll have to wait until we get there to find out. Though if I'm being entirely honest, I'm not entirely sure what it is we're studying."

"That sounds a little ominous, but okay. See you in a few hours. Goodbye."

"See you Doctor, bye." With that, Sunset hung up the phone. She sent a message to all her friends, telling them to meet her in front of Canterlot University at 3:20, instructing Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy to bring their instruments with them.

She sighed, dropped her phone back into her bag, and turned to her books. "Why do I get the feeling this is going to end badly?"

Author's Note

Hey, I did it! I got 2000 words in a single chapter. I'm currently working on a blog post with some additional information about this story. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about the story, feel free to post them in the comment section bellow.

Additional information: Click Here

-Red

Redemption (Pt. 2/?)

As soon as school let out Sunset went straight to the parking lot and jumped on her bike to head home to drop off her school bag and change before driving down to Canterlot University. As she was about to step out the door she glanced at her guitar hanging on the wall by her bed. It gave her an uneasy feeling, but she pushed it down and returned to her bike.

By the time she arrived, Rarity and Applejack were already there waiting for her, Applejack with a bass slung behind her back. Fluttershy's car pulled up a few minutes later and she and Pinkie climbed out. Fluttershy grabbed a small bag from the back seat, which Sunset assumed held her tambourine. Rainbow walked up carrying a guitar case six minutes after the time they had agreed to meet.

After Rainbow received a brief scolding from Applejack for her tardiness the group headed inside. Sunset lead them to Doctor's office. She knocked and heard some papers shuffling around before a familiar voice called out "Come in, come in." The girls stepped inside.

Doctor took a small stack of papers and dropped them into a drawer, then turned to face Sunset. "Ah, hello. You must be Sunset's friends she mentioned on the phone. Shall we make our way to the labs then?"

"If you're ready."

"Of course. Follow me." He stood up and walked out the door passed them. He lead them down a stairway and down a long hall. When they reached a locked door Doctor pulled out a keycard opened and opened it.

"So now are you going to tell me what exactly it is you're doing?" Doctor asked as the entered the lab.

"We'll find out together in few minutes." Sunset said. Pinkie was the last to enter the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Well, that’s a bit ominous, but, alright, if you say so. Do what you need to do for your experiment, just don't break anything." He turned and walked into a smaller room meant for observation. He took a seat in front of the window.

Sunset grabbed a lab coat from a rack by the door and traded it for her jacket. She also pulled on a pair of gloves from the observation room.

"Okay then. Fluttershy, you're up first. Just grab your tambourine and come over here." Fluttershy pulled her tambourine out of her bag and walked to the spot Sunset had indicated.

Sunset went over to one of the machines, grabbed a few electrodes from the side, and walked back over to Fluttershy. She started sticking them on Fluttershy. She also stuck one on her tambourine. "Alright Fluttershy, just started playing when I give you the signal." Fluttershy nodded.

Sunset picked up a clipboard and pencil from the side counter and walked over to the machine she had hooked Fluttershy to. She glanced at Doctor, who looked back at her with a slightly confused expression. She looked back over to Fluttershy and gave her a quick smile and a thumbs up.

Fluttershy started playing. She seemed nervous at first, but she got more into it as she went on. Sunset looked at the monitor on the machine and noted the unusually high level of energy it was detecting from Fluttershy. After playing for about a minute Fluttershy began to glow visibly. When Sunset looked back to the monitor she was confused when she saw it's readings.

The readings on the monitor had taken the shape of a butterfly. She quickly looked back at Fluttershy just in time to see the electrodes all pop off of her as a pair of yellow wings flashed into existence on her back. Her hair grew into an ponytail far longer than it's natural state and ears disappeared, replaced by a pair of pony ears on top of her head. Sunset grabbed a stopwatch off of the counter and started it.

She then flashed incredibly bright. A dozen or so transparent pink butterflies shot out away from her. All of the lights in the room had inexplicably gone out, but the butterflies were luminescent, one even landed on Sunset's nose.

Oh boy. Sunset thought. That's what I was worried about.

After a few seconds the lights came back on and the butterflies faded away. Fluttershy's wings, ears, and ponytail remained though.

Sunset looked over at Doctor who's mouth was hanging open. He closed his mouth, stood up, and walked up to Sunset.

"Sunset, what... was... that?"

"That, Doctor, was magic." Sunset looked to Fluttershy and tossed the stopwatch to her. "Here, stop it when the transformation wears off, okay." Fluttershy nodded and put the strap around her neck.

"I'm sorry, but did you say 'magic'?" He asked with a look of disbelief.

"I did. I can explain, but you'll have to wait until we finish. It's a long story." Sunset picked up another stopwatch from a cabinet under the counter.

"Huh? Magic? So Derpy really was being serious..."

"Wait, what did Derpy say?" But Doctor had already zoned out. He returned to his chair in the observation room, mumbling to himself as he watched.

"Oh... kay? Well then. I guess you're up next Applejack." Applejack swung her bass around to her front and walked to the same spot Fluttershy had been standing on moments ago.

"You can start whenever you're ready." Applejack smiled and started playing a song that was more energetic than Fluttershy's. Applejack had started glowing after only a few seconds. Sunset had had her eye on the clock while she was watching Fluttershy, so she did the same for Applejack.

Only a few seconds into her song and Applejack had already begun to glow the same way Fluttershy had after almost an entire minute. It had taken Fluttershy a minute and a half to fully transform, but Applejack had taken only 50 seconds. She jotted this down, already going over a few theories as to why it had taken Applejack only a little over half the time it had taken Fluttershy.

Maybe it's because she was playing a different instrument? Sunset thought as she started the stopwatch Or it could be because Applejack was just more into it than Fluttershy was. Maybe it's because she ponied up for the first time last night, and Fluttershy ponied up days ago?

It only took Applejack two more minutes to finish her song. Sunset tossed her the timer, but before she could say anything to her, Sunset was suddenly buried under a pile of translucent, sparkly apples. "Huh? What the?" Sunset climbed out of the pile, dazed from having them all dropped on top of her before turning around a picking up one of the apples.

It felt like a totally normal apple to her, but she could see through it. She started thinking more as she studied the apple. Weird. In Equestria it's impossible to conjure food out of thin air. I guess it's possible that some of the general rules of magic might be different over here. Then Applejack tried to take a bite from one of the apples.

The apple popped. There was a small puff, a little flash of light, and any evidence that the apple had ever been there in the first place was gone. "Huh? What happened?" Sunset tried to take a bite from her own apple, only to have it do the same. Never mind.

She picked up another and tried to stab it with her pen, only to achieve the same result. "Holographic apples. That's a new one."

She finished up her notes on Applejack's test and called Rainbow over. She plugged Rainbow's guitar into a monitor in the observation room where Doctor was watching from. She pulled another stopwatch form the box and gave Rainbow the signal to start playing.

Just as Rainbow raised her hand to begin there was a flash from across the room. They both paused and looked over just in time to see Fluttershy click the button on the timer she had around her neck. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the that. Just set the timer over there on the counter, I'll get to it in a minute." Sunset said, pointing to one of the side counters.

"So should I start now?" Rainbow asked.

"Go for it." Sunset said, turning on the monitor in front of her. Rainbow grinned and began her song. It was one that Sunset had heard before. She would swear Rainbow played that song at every opportunity she got. She calls it "Awesome as I wanna be".

Rainbow started to glow only 25 seconds after starting. Five seconds later she had wings and a ponytail. She was the fastest to pony up out of the three by far. She also seemed to be enjoying it the most. As soon as her wings had formed she was hoovering two feet off the ground.

Sunset started writing down the information from her monitor, but when she looked back up at Rainbow, she did a double take when she noticed that the cable connecting her monitor to Rainbow's guitar was turning rainbow colors. It looked like a tube was being filled with a colorful liquid coming form Rainbow's guitar.

Then it exploded.

The monitor in front of her displayed an image of a cloud with a multicolored lightning bolt shooting out of the bottom. It was only there for a second, but when it disappeared there was an explosion of vibrant slime from the monitor.

The entire upper half of Sunset's body was covered with an odd rainbow fluid, but boy was she really grad she had on a lab coat. She was shocked for a moment, but then quickly came to her senses and grabbed a test tube from the table in the observation room and scraped it up her coat until it was full of the strange substance.

She capped the tube and put it in her pocket to look at later. She pulled off the lab coat and gloves and wiped her face with the inside and put it one the desk.

"Well, I definitely didn't see that coming" murmured Sunset as she glanced at Doctor to see if he'd been hit by the blast too. Fortunately for him he hadn't moved, and had simply kept watching from his chair in the corner. He'd only gotten a few drops of the goo on his shoulder, but he looked like he'd been hit square on nonetheless.

Rainbow saw what had happened and rushed over to the door to check if Sunset was okay. She stuck her head in the door as Sunset said something under her breath.

"Hey, are you alright?" Rainbow asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine, just a little sticky. That stuff doesn't actually tastes kind of like a fruit smoothie, I just hope that whatever's in it won't hurt me." She answered.

"You ate it? Why"

"I didn't eat it, some of it landed in my mouth when that thing went off."

"Is... is he okay?" Rainbow pointed at Doctor, who had gone slightly slack-jawed after the goo had shot out from the monitor.

"Uh, Doctor? Are you alright?" He nodded his head a little and stood up.

He walked out of the observation room and over to the front door and pulled his phone from his pants pocket. "I'm... fine. I've got to make a phone call. I'll be back in a minute." With that he stepped into the hall.

Sunset picked back up her clipboard and the several pages of notes she'd taken down and walked back over to where the others where waiting.

During the incident with Rainbow Applejack had lost her ears and tail as well. She grabbed the timers that Applejack and Fluttershy had set on the counter. Fluttershy's read 4:47, and Applejack's said 5:23. She jotted these down and sat down on one of the counters and wrote down a few of her theories. Doctor walked back into the room a minute or two later.

Finally, Rainbow's wings and ears faded. Rainbow stopped the timers and tossed it to Sunset. Rainbow's reading was at 5:32. Once she had written this down she turned to her friends and began questioning them on their experience.

They spent another hour at the lab before Sunset was satisfied with her notes. Once they had put everything back how it had been when before they had arrived they called it a day and everyone decided to leave. Doctor had to get home to help Rose cook dinner. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity decided to go to sugar cube corner for doughnuts and milkshakes. Applejack had chores to do on the farm. Sunset gave Rainbow a ride home, she had to cram for a test on Monday that she hadn't studied for at all. Once she was by herself Sunset headed back home.

She dismounted her bike and dropped her helmet by the door. She pulled her notes from her pocket and put them on her desk to look over later. She was about to head to her bathroom to take a shower when she felt something still in her pocket, so she pulled it out, but she stopped to look at it before setting it by her notes.

In her hand was the vial of a colorful liquid she had scrapped from her coat. She stared at it for a solid minute, pondering it's existence.

She's spent five years in this world, and in her time she had never seen even the slightest hint of magic. Sure there were people who claimed to have magic, but they had almost all been proven fakes. Yet here she was, proof that the magic that this world should have none of was now an undeniable fact of life resting in the palm of her hand.

It served as a reminder to her that if she ever tried to get back on the path she was on when she first came to this world it would surely end poorly for her, and that she had to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. Sunset scaled the stairs to her loft and walked over to her nightstand.

"I don't know what you are." Sunset said to herself, placing the vial next to her alarm clock. "I don't know how you work, I don't even know how you can exist in this world, but I promise you this. I won't stop until I do."

With that, she returned to the floor and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her without any further hesitation.

Author's Note

I am so very sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out, and I can't really blame anyone but myself for that. I'll try to get part three out sooner, but I can't make any promises. On the bright side, this is the longest chapter I've written thus far. As always, feel free to leave any questions, concerns, criticism or tell me about any errors in the comments section. I'll see you next time my lovely readers.

-Red