Broken Strings

"So what is it?" Sunset asked Princess Twilight who was examining the chunk of emerald.

"It's not good. At all," Twilight said, panicking.

"I think I need a better explanation than that," Sunset chuckled dryly. Twilight exhaled a deep breath before explaining, calmly.

"This isn't just any ordinary stone as you already know. It's magic. But, the powers of this stone are used to suck in other magic from other creatures. This was hidden over here in Equestria so Trixie must have managed to somehow find it over here and steal all of your powers," Twilight explained.

"But how did Trixie find it. And how did she even get here in the first place?"

"She must have spied on you using the portal," Twilight said. Sunset bit her lip, nervously feeling a pang of guilt in her chest.

"I'm really sorry Twilight. I didn't realize. I didn't know Trixie was there, I swear! I mean...I really...ugh!" Sunset slapped her hoof on her forehead and sighed. "This is all my fault." Twilight wrapped a hoof around her shoulder and smiled, caringly.

"It's not your fault, Sunset. It was an honest mistake. Anypony could have done it," Twilight said.

"I guess you're right." Sunset sighed, downheartedly, "So um now that we have this piece of emerald, can't we just get our powers back?"

"I'm afraid not. You see, the stone is bigger than this and this piece is only a small chunk of it. It's too weak on it's own and it is pretty useless," Twilight said as she looked at the flickering and sparking stone which was failing in producing magic.

"So it's just an ordinary rock now," Sunset said, angrily.

"Yeah, pretty much. But the full stone is still with Trixie. If you get your hands on that, it'll reverse all the magic and give you back your powers."

"Okay, so I need to steal back the stone from Trixie who'll probably put up a big fight just like all the other power-hungry villains do and then reverse all the magic that the stone has done and then bring it back to Equestria for safe-keeping. Simple (!)" Sunset sarcastically said.

"I have full faith in you, Sunset Shimmer! You can do this!" Twilight smiled.

"Thanks Twilight. I sure hope this works," Sunset gulped.

"I had no idea Trixie would stoop to the level to actually do something as horrific as that!" Rarity exclaimed, burning with rage.

"Me neither, but we need to get that stone of off her," Sunset said, "And who knows, maybe it was Trixie who made Rainbow Dash leave us in the first place?"

"I doubt it, I mean I interrogated her but she seemed genuinely not guilty," Pinkie said, with a hint of doubt lingering in her voice.

"Yeah, well like we'd believe her. She stole our powers for goodness sake! Of course, she made Rainbow quit!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Ok well, we need a plan," Twilight said.

"What do you think we should do, Twi?" Fluttershy asked.

"I have a few ideas..." Twilight smirked.

Lilac sat down on the bench with her headphones on as she read her book.

"Lilac," Sunset said as she tapped her on the shoulder. Lilac looked up and took of her headphones.

"Yeah?" She looked at Sunset and her friends.

"We're gonna need your help on getting the emerald from Trixie. You know how you found that little piece yesterday? It turns out that that was only a chunk of the real stone. We need the real stone for the magic to work and Trixie has the whole thing," Sunset explained.

"Wow! Have you made like a plan or something to steal it from her?"

"Yep! And we're gonna need your help!" Pinkie gigglesnorted.

"Sure, count me in!" Lilac said, "I just need to go to the bathroom right now. I'll be back!" She quickly ran into a bathroom cubicle and locked the door, securely. Grinning, she took the stone out of her bag and tried hard to contain her excitement.
"Aren't I lucky? Everything is working out for me. And now that you're here, my pretty, things have just gotten a whole lot better!" Lilac chuckled as she stroked the stone, admiring it's smooth, flawless surface.

Rainbow scuffed the sand as she thought deeply to herself. 'When will this madness end? She sighed as she picked up a pebble and threw it across the beach like it was bowling ball. Sighing once again, she slid her sunglasses down from her forehead and leaned backwards onto her sun chair, enjoying the beams shining on her face. The tides came in and out, crashing against the scorching sand and then slowly backing away. Rainbow adjusted her cap a bit and turned her attention to the people playing on the beach. None of them were alone. They all were with their friends. Laughing in the sun as they tossed beach balls to each other. Rainbow felt the tears burn in her eyes again.

"Wait, no! Get a grip of yourself!" She scolded herself as she slapped her cheek a bit more forcefully then intended, making it red. "Ow!" She rubbed her cheek, soothing the pain.

"Hey Dash!" Flash said as he walked up to her.

"Hey!" Rainbow said, regaining her usual cool attitude, "Wassup?"

"You seem happy."

"Well duh! Why wouldn't I be?" Rainbow asked, cockily, mentally cursing herself for what she just said.

"Well uh you weren't the happiest this month. You sorta were acting a little different," Flash Sentry said as he scratched his head. Rainbow didn't know what to say and just left it with an awkward silence.

"Anyway so um," Flash cleared his throat, "Have fun I guess." He walked away.

"Just ignore him Rainbow Dash. Think of happy things. Or else you'll probably just burst out in tears again," Rainbow said to herself, rolling her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled as she slouched back in her chair, enjoying the heat of the sun.

Trixie zipped her bag and put it in her locker. She put her hand in her pocket, trying to look for her key but it wasn't there. "Huh?" She checked in her other pocket but nothing was there. "I coulda sworn I had my locker key in here. Where could it be? Oh shoot, I must have left it in the cafeteria!" Trixie ran off and Twilight and Pinkie (who were hiding behind the dustbin) walked towards her locker with the key in their hands.

"We make a pretty good team, am I right?" Pinkie nudged Twilight.

"Yep, I can't believe we managed to swipe the key right out of her pocket without her knowing."

"Perks of being a professional," Pinkie boasted as Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Let's just open this locker before Trixie comes back." Twilight inserted the key and turned it. She looked through the locker and then she unzipped Trixie's bag, searching for the emerald. "Ugh, nothing's here except for all this useless junk," Twilight groaned as held up one of Trixie's show props.

"Ooh a rubber wand!' Pinkie said.

"Focus Pinkie. We have to put everything back before-"

"Before I come back? Too late, I already have." A voice behind them boomed. Twilight and Pinkie gulped.