In their two-story home; Twilight Velvet was in the kitchen getting the morning coffee ready for the family. Wondering why her daughter had not made her appearance known; she decided to head upstairs and check on her.
“Twilight,” Velvet called, knocking on the bedroom door “Are you up? It's 6:30 am and I don't want you to be late for school.”
Hearing that; the covered body of Twilight Sparkle finally threw off the blanket in a hurry. Looking over at the alarm clock revealed the time to be 6:30 that morning.
“Oh no,” she muttered “I overslept and missed my alarm. My morning schedule is going to be off!”
Twilight quickly grabbed a set of clothes from her closet consisting of a purple skirt with multiple six-pointed stars and a striped shirt; before making sure to grab clean underwear as well. After getting dressed and making her bed; she headed to the dining room. On the way down; she bumped into her father Night Light, before he could get to the kitchen.
“What's the hurry,” he asked "Where's the fire?"
“Morning dad,” she replied “I overslept. Sorry for bumping into you.”
“I can see that; Twily,” Night Light mused, pouring a cup of coffee “It's not that bad if you sleep in occasionally.”
“Not that bad,” she retorted “Every moment I waste is time against my education. I don't want my grades to slip because of that.”
“Twily,” Shining started, putting a hand on her shoulder “I can promise you, your grades won't suffer.”
“Just because you decided to slack off your senior year because of so-called ‘senioritis’, doesn't mean I have to follow in your footsteps,” Twilight argued
“You better eat something soon. Class starts in an hour,” Velvet warned “Here, why don't you take a bagel?”
“Thanks. I just didn't realize I missed my alarm,” Twilight pointed out
“Actually, I don't believe you even turned it on,” Night Light offered “Your music never started playing.”
After quickly eating her breakfast; she grabbed her backpack and headed out the door. With the thirty minute discrepancy in time to get ready; Twilight unfortunately arrived ten minutes after the bell rang to officially start school.
“No,” she moaned “I'm late to school. What else could go wrong now?”
Finally reaching the school; Twilight immediately headed to her locker to retrieve her books. Had she been paying attention; Twilight might have realized one more book had been added to the six she already needed.
“Ah; miss Sparkle,” Cranky Doodle started “Nice of you to finally join us. I trust you have your homework ready to turn in?”
“No Mr. Doodle,” Twilight replied, looking in her backpack “In my haste of waking up late; I must have forgotten it.”
“You knew that I would not accept late entries,” he replied sternly “I'm afraid you will have to serve detention after lunch.”
“Yes sir,” she said with a sigh
All she could do was remove the designated notebook for class and copy down everything that was currently written on the board. Anything that might have been missed prior to her entry could easily be copied from another student later.
“Sparkle forgot her work” someone whispered “That must mean the world is coming to an end.”
“Maybe not the whole world,” another replied “But I fear Planet Sparkle may be on the verge of destruction.”
Twilight sat in silence as she felt their comments weren't too far off. A perfect record of attendance for years had now been broken and couldn’t be changed. Never was detention a thought that crossed her mind. Even the rest of the classes didn’t seem to anything to cheer her up. Luckily; lunch was just about to start and she'd be joined by her friends.
“What’s the matter Twi,” Applejack asked, as Twilight picked at the last bite of her food
“You haven’t heard,” Rainbow Dash answered “Our resident nerd got detention from Cranky Doodle.”
“I guess I was so tired after working on my report that I failed to set my alarm,” Twilight answered “My mom woke me up half-hour later at 6:30. To make matters worse; my perfect attendance was broken.”
“Maybe for that one class,” Fluttershy commented
“Don’t you get it,” Twilight demanded “I have never been late. Missing ten minutes of class first period is not possible to fix. There is no reset button or going back in time to fix it.”
“Darling, it will be alright,” Rarity offered “This isn't the end.”
“Detention isn't too bad,” Pinkie chimed in “All you have to do is sit and do the required assignment.”
“Most often it's a report on why you ended up in detention in the first place,” Dash said “I lost count of how many times I've been there.”
“Eighteen times in four years,” Pinkie answered confidently “Eight were for speaking out of turn, six were for fighting and four were for…I don’t know what they were for.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Dash replied dismissively waving a hand
“You girls might not worry about it; but it's going on my permanent record,” Twilight pointed out “Every college I apply to will see my mistake!”
“I hate to do this to a friend, as this is unladylike; but you need it,” Rarity commented, slapping Twilight in the face “Stop worrying about the little things right now.”
“That hurt,” Twilight complained, rubbing her cheek
“It had to be done,” Dash offered “None of us are going to look at you any differently because of a single detention on your record.”
“I'll walk to Cranky’s room with you,” Fluttershy offered
“Thanks. Having someone with me does make this feel a little better.”
“In that case; we'll all go,” Applejack offered
Once the bell rang to officially release everyone; Twilight made her way back to Cranky Doodle’s classroom with her friends in tow. After she headed inside, the others departed; leaving Twilight alone to face her punishment.
“Good afternoon Mr. Doodle,” Twilight announced
“Good afternoon. Since this is your first time in detention; I'll give you a simple assignment. I'd like you to write a promise,” Cranky replied
“Anything in particular you'd like me to write about,” she questioned
“Just a promise to yourself. You do not need to turn in the assignment and you can leave when you finish.”
“Promise…promise,” she muttered “Of course.”
I; Twilight Athena Sparkle; do hereby promise to double-check everything I do in order to make sure nothing was forgotten or missed. I cannot allow another mistake to happen when I have something important that must be done.
“I am finished sir,” she announced
“That will be all,” Cranky offered “Even though it won't be graded; I will accept your homework tomorrow. In regards to your promise; I'd suggest putting it in an area readily visible to you.”
“Yes, sir. I promise to put it in my backpack right away. I'll pin this to the back of my door and put another near my alarm clock.”
“Whatever works for you,” he mused
Having finished her work; Twilight dropped her books off at her locker before begrudgingly heading home. She knew there was no one else to blame but herself; but it didn't help her mood.
“How'd it go,” Velvet asked, after Twilight came home
“Lousy,” Twilight stated
“It couldn't have been that bad,” Velvet offered
“Let's see; I was ten minutes late to my first period class and I forgot the homework I spent hours working on yesterday,” Twilight replied “Due to that; I had to have detention for the first time in ever. That's bad enough to me.”
“You’ll be fine,” Velvet said reassuringly “College won't think too badly about you.”
With that; Twilight headed directly to the bedroom and dumped out the contents of her backpack onto the bed. First thing was to grab the missing work and store that in the notebook for Cranky’s class. Secondly; the promise was stuck next to her alarm clock.
“Alright, I have that done,” she muttered to herself “Um, where did this journal come from? This isn't mine.”
Regarding her notebooks; each were labeled with their subject and the teacher and currently sitting in her school locker. The mysterious journal was completely red and engraved with a sun design on the front. Not wanting to invade anyone's privacy; Twilight decided to stick it back in the bag and see if anyone knew the owner the next day at school. Afterwards she decided to take a nap for an hour to relax.
“Detention,” Shining called “Detention! Dinner’s ready.”
“Say that again,” Twilight demanded
“I said ‘attention’,” Shining replied hastily
“Uh huh,” she said under her breath “Right.”
“How’d your day go,” Night Light asked as they ate
“If you have to ask,” Shining offered “You don't want the answer.”
“Just think, tomorrow's another day,” Velvet said
“Still won't undo today,” Twilight muttered
“Make sure you set your alarm,” Shining commented “The last thing you need is a repeat tomorrow.”
“I already took care of it when I got up from my nap. Homework is finished and in my backpack. The good news is I have nothing left to do tonight,” she declared
“I wanted to remind you that your father and I are going out of town for business starting tomorrow,” Velvet said “You'll have the house to yourself for the weekend.”
“And I'm going over to Cadence’s house tomorrow,” Shining added “She and I are going to…”
“I really don’t need to know what your plans are with her,” Twilight countered “Now if you'll excuse me; I'm going back to my room.”
Keeping to her word; Twilight returned to the bedroom and grabbed a book to read. Having started an adventure book only a few night ago; it was decided to continue reading as she lost herself in the text.
“Hello,” a disembodied voice said casually
“AHHHHHH!”
“What happened? Are you alright,” her parents asked, opening the door
“Sorry. It must have been from overworking myself,” Twilight said dismissively “I thought I heard something.”
“If you're sure you're alright,” Night Light added hesitantly “Let us know if you need something without the yelling, alright?”
“Yes, dad. Sorry to worry you.”
“Can you not do that again,” the voice asked, rubbing its ears “That actually hurt.”
Emerging from the shadows in the corner of the room was a yellow unicorn with a red and yellow mane and tail. On her flank was the same design as the mysterious notebook.
“Better yet; I'll talk and you listen,” the pony stated as Twilight nodded “My name is Sunset Shimmer; a Shinigami, and the owner of that Death Note you have.”
“What's that,” Twilight asked in a whisper
“Let's see. ‘Death’; as in the physical act of not being alive and ‘note’; short for the word ‘notebook’,” Sunset answered sarcastically “Sounds self-explanatory to me.”
“Why me?”
“I have my reasons,” Sunset said dismissively
“Why couldn't they,” Twilight started “My parents, I mean..”
“Why couldn't your parents see me,” Sunset finished “Only those that have touched the book can see me.”
“It's getting late. I need to get to sleep if I want to get up early in the morning.”
“You get to sleep and I'll see you in the morning,” Sunset countered “Just don't expect a goodnight kiss.”
The next morning arrived with little incident. Along with the alarm going off at 6:00am; Sunset decided to grab the blanket and tug it off of Twilight, much to her annoyance.
“Alright, already,” Twilight muttered “I'm up!”
“I had to make sure you'd keep your promise,” Sunset said innocently
After getting dressed and enjoying breakfast, she took her time getting to school. Looking at the clock; there was still thirty minutes left before school officially started. To pass the time, Twilight sat on the front steps and waited for her friends and the other students to arrive.
“That's a shame.”
“Saw that coming.”
“Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.”
“What are you doing,” Twilight hissed
“Seeing when everyone is going to die,” Sunset answered casually
“What do you mean, ‘what am I doing’,” Pinkie asked “I'm talking to you, silly. Unless you have an invisible friend I don't know about.”
“Sorry Pinkie,” Twilight replied “I wasn't thinking.”
“Is something wrong, sugar cube,” Applejack asked, putting a hand on Twilight’s shoulder
“No. Nothing's wrong,” Twilight said hastily
“That's unfortunate,” Sunset muttered “And so young too.”
“Stop,” Twilight complained, holding her head “Just stop.”
“What's the matter with her,” Dash asked, heading over
“Talking to yourself, Darling,” Rarity asked “I like asking my own opinion as much as anyone, but I usually do so in private. This looks like you may be on the verge for a mental breakdown. Besides; talking and answering yourself may be fine; but don't try arguing with yourself. You're going to lose every time.”
“Why don't we get together at Sugarcube Corner after school,” Pinkie offered “My treat.”
“My house is better,” Twilight countered “My family is out of town for a few days.”
“That might be better,” Dash mused “We can help break your psycho streak. Hopefully without yelling 'Demon be gone' while slapping you in the face."
“That's uncalled for and you know it,” AJ reprimanded
“Class is about to start,” Fluttershy pointed out just before the bell rang “I spoke too soon.”
“Class will be fun today,” Sunset muttered as they entered Cranky’s class
“Good morning Mr. Doodle,” Twilight said cheerfully “Here's my homework from yesterday.”
“Thank you,” Cranky replied before shaking his arm “Damn.”
“Are you okay, sir,” she asked
“Just a little numbness, that's all. It happens in my old age,” he explained, flexing his hand into a fist and opening it
Twilight sat in front as the rest filed into the room. Sunset decided to jump on Cranky’s desk in the meantime. If it wasn't for the fact the pony sitting there was a Shinigami; the scene would be cutely humorous.
“We'll continue our lesson from yesterday. Open your books to page three-hundred and ninety-four,” Cranky directed before starting to feel his legs shake “Someone give me a hand. My leg doesn't want to bend.”
Twilight jumped out of her seat and gently held him up while one of the other students wheeled his chair towards them before helping Twilight ease him into the seat.
“Can't breathe,” Cranky wheezed
“Someone get the nurse,” Twilight directed
The class saw as Cranky started to grab at his chest. Unfortunately; the next thing they witnessed was their teacher fall to the ground. One of the students checked his pulse to no avail. Cranky Doodle had died of a heart attack in his classroom right in front of his students.
“Get the nurse and Principal Celestia,” the student ordered “In the meantime; all of need to vacate the classroom.”
The orders were followed as the coroner arrived to pick up the body. Celestia had no choice to cancel class and send everyone home for the day.
“Told you class would be fun,” Sunset replied in a singsong voice
“Shut it,” Twilight mouthed “This was your fault.”
“Well; I guess we get to hang out earlier than expected,” Pinkie said solemnly “It's not what anyone saw coming, though.”
“Can't believe the old fart kicked the bucket in class; no less” Dash added sarcastically “Today's lesson class: ‘How to Die 101’.”
“I was there when it happened,” Twilight pointed out “Have a little respect for the dead.”
“Oops. Sorry,” Dash muttered
“Darn right you should be sorry,” AJ muttered “It's not something to joke about.”
After Twilight and the others made it to her house; she quickly left her parents a message letting them know her friends were over and class was canceled due to the death of a teacher. In the meantime; the others found a seat in the living room, taking up the couch; leaving her dad’s recliner for Twilight.
“I just let my parents know about this,” Twilight announced “I'll be right back. There's something I need to get.”
“Take your time,” Dash called
Moments later; she returned with a folder that contained the Death Note and a series of papers that consisted of a copy of the same report turned in to Cranky Doodle.
“Before I forget, girls; could you do me a favor and touch this for moment?”
“Are you sure we should be touching that,” Applejack asked
“I agree, Darling. I don't think we should be invading someone's privacy,” Rarity added
“She said ‘touch’; not ‘read’,” Dash pointed out “No harm, no foul with that.”
“Nothing bad will happen from this; right,” Fluttershy asked hesitantly
“Of course not,” Pinkie replied “I'm game.”
“I guess,” Fluttershy said with a sigh “I just hope I don't regret this.”
With that; each in turn gently took the notebook and turned it over in their hands. Once all five had repeated the process, the book was returned to Twilight.
“What was so important about that,” Dash demanded
“Hi. Nice to meet you,” Sunset said casually
“Oh my goodness. It's so cute,” Fluttershy exclaimed, squeezing her
“I'm not an ‘it’,” Sunset replied indignantly, stamping a hoof “My name is Sunset Shimmer and I'm a Shinigami.”
“You shit on what,” a confused Applejack asked
“Shinigami,” Sunset repeated “In other words; a death god.”
“Please don't kill us,” Fluttershy begged urgently “I'm too young to die.”
“It's not your time yet,” Sunset replied
“Why didn't we see you before,” Rarity asked
“Only those that have touched a Death Note can see a Shinigami,” Sunset simplified
“When exactly is our time,” Dash asked
“I can't tell you that. It's against the rules to reveal a human's time of death.”
“Why our resident nerd,” Dash asked “And how does the book work?”
“Anyone whose name is written in the book will die. As to why; I have my reason.”
“Is it possible for you to take a different form,” Rarity asked “It's not natural to talk to a pony.”
“I can try,” Sunset replied “I've never actually tried or needed to do so before.”
Sunset took a moment to study the girls sitting near her before she closed her eyes. Picturing the form of a human; everyone watched as she started to be bathed in a bright light. Once the light dissipated; a nude human female stood there with the same hair design as her pony form, with a trio of star designs covering her nipples and groin.
“Put some clothes on,” Dash said, covering her eyes “We don't need to see that. There's children present.”
“You're all female,” Subset retorted “You have the same anatomy. And there aren't any children here.”
“Did you kill Cranky,” Twilight demanded
“No. He just happened to die today. Check the book if you don't believe me,” Sunset offered "You'd have found his name there if I wanted him dead."
“It's not much, but at least put this on,” Rarity offered, handing over her jacket
“If it make you happy I'll cover up,” Sunset said with a huff “It's not like anyone can see me. They’ll see just a jacket floating for no reason.”
“I think I know why you chose Twilight,” Pinkie started, before inhaling “Youwantedtogivethebooktoaninnocentteenageertoseewhetherornottheywouldturnintoamassmurderer.”
“Wow,” Sunset mused “I'm surprised I actually understood that. That's partially accurate.”
“Someone care to translate,” AJ asked
“I said the plan was to see whether or not an innocent teenager would turn into a mass murderer using the book,” Pinkie repeated
“You said that writing someone's name in there will kill them,” Fluttershy started “How do we know you're not lying to us?”
“Anyone volunteer to write one of your friends names,” Sunset asked, handing over a pen and the Death Note “I should warn you; there is a high cost in doing so.”
“I couldn't do that,” Twilight argued
“Twi’s right,” Dash retorted “I doubt I'd have the guts to do it.”
“Didn't you want to; and I quote ‘kill that bitch Lightning Dust’,” Rarity countered
“That was just venting after she took my rightful spot on the softball team,” Dash replied
“I know I can't,” Fluttershy said quietly
Each of the girls nervously looked at one another. This was a major decision to actually kill someone; although the last second comment didn't help. Knowing there was a cost to using it didn't sit well with any of them as each shook their head and passed the items to the person on their left until Sunset was holding them again.
“I'll write the name,” Sunset decided “Any volunteers as to whom should die?”
“I,” Twilight started, swallowing hard “I'll volunteer.”
“Very well. It's a good thing I brought this,” Sunset mused, holding a skull shaped eraser
“What is that,” Fluttershy asked
“A Death Eraser,” Sunset announced “The only way to remove a name from the book after they have been killed. You will be instantly resurrected.”
“Any harm in doing so,” Pinkie added
“Technically; I shouldn't have this or be using this,” Sunset admitted “Humans aren't supposed to be resurrected after death. Doing this will probably result in punishment. Are you ready Twilight?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered, with an obvious hint of nervousness in her voice “One request. Could you write ‘peaceful death’?”
“Of course.”
Sunset opened the book and wrote the four simple words that would seal Twilight’s fate. Twilight decided to lay on the floor in the meantime.
T̵̰̭̮̻̲̪͙̰̹̟̍͛w̸̖͇̫͍̝̯͔̪̟̜͎̒̇͋̀̎̓̄͐͌̚͜i̸̮͕̋̕l̵̩̏̎̇́̉̐̆̕͝i̵̢̡̤̞̣̼̖̬͎͍͓̍̔̒ͅg̴̞̳̗͉̠̈́̅̄ĥ̴̬̺̯̥͑̊̈̈ț̶͔͕̝͔̟̰̮̣̍̇͠ ̷̡͔̫͉̳͇̲͕̞̬͋͛̋̈́͝S̸̡̘͎̝͍̞̳̝͙͓̾̄̃̃͝p̶̢̡̡̘̥͕̺͚͒̃̇͊̌͊ä̷̛͈̯͕̣̦̬̱̪̗̭́͆̃̌͒̎̈̉͆r̷̢̛̟̯̩̭͉̖͇̲̙͖͉̊͑̽̅̌̊̈́̀̈́̋̚͠k̵̢̰͎͇̥̬͍͇͎̹̳͈̪̓̀̍̿͐͐̒͐̈͌͠͠ͅl̴̛̦̼͇̜̥̻͓̤̮͆̈́͐̒̀̌́̚ͅȩ̵̭̤̲̱̙̭̔̒̿̊͑͐̚
̴̨̧͎̠̻̳͚̦̙͈̫͕͑̑̽̀̒Ṗ̷̳̺̭̊͑̏̆͜͜͜͠͠͠͠è̸͖̞̞̝̳͉̖̼̩͈͇̹̜̤̠̒͂̄͌̒̀̀̌̿͑̐͒͑̕à̷̧̰̱̞͙̞̊̒͆̒̉̒̍̐́̾̌͆͝ç̶̻̮͙̩̻͉̬͛͑e̷̬̲̺͉̝̍͛̀͜f̵̲̥̥͎̣͇̫̣̄͆̊͛̈́̾̈̓̎̈́͠ṷ̵̢̗̖̦̭͎̘̤̪̥̑̔l̷̨̬̻͎̪̬̯̻̾͌́̀͗̅̈́͘ͅ ̸̢̧̰̖̦̹̩̟̥̋̾̕͜͠ͅḊ̸̛̛͍̥̗̭̰͉̖̦͎̀̆̒͗̽̋͗́͗̌̎e̷̮͔̫̳̣̤̖̾͂̍̆̑̉̂̇̑̆̀̀͝͝a̶̖͋͋͛͌͊̀̈t̵̰̭͋́̉́͗͐̚h̶̨̤͙̪͎̼̻͔͉̭͓͌͜͜
“How long do we have to wait,” Fluttershy asked
“A short time.”
“The anticipation is nerve-racking,” Pinkie chimed in
Sunset started to mentally count the necessary forty seconds until Twilight’s time was up.
“Check her pulse,” AJ directed
Rarity knelt down and gently took her friend’s wrist. She just simply shook her head at the unspoken question of Twilight’s status.
“You believe me about her being dead,” Sunset asked
“Yes. Please just bring her back,” Rarity bagged
Without hesitation Sunset erased the name from the book. Wanting to make certain her friend was alive; Rarity rechecked Twilight’s pulse.
“Welcome back,” Rarity offered
“What was it like,” Pinkie asked
“I don't know,” Twilight answered
“So; Twi, what do you think,” Dash asked “Would you actually use the book?”
“That's exactly what I wrote my paper on to Cranky,” Twilight joked “If one decided to kill; what stops them?”
“I agree,” AJ offered “If you kill anyone who was a murderer; who becomes the next target?”
“Sunset; I'm going to have to give up the Death Note,” Twilight decided “I can't become a killer; it just isn't in my nature.”
“It's probably for the best,” Sunset replied “Anyone that uses a Death Note cannot go to Heaven or Hell. Instead; they go to a place called MU or Nothingness.”
“Just one last request before you go,” Twilight started “Since you're a Shinigami; could you write ‘peaceful death’ for each of us when our time comes?”
“Of course. Farewell to you all,” Sunset said before disappearing
