Phoenix Magic

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 6

Prologue

One Halloween Night, two one-year old twins, a girl, Harriet Potter, and a boy, Charles Potter, sat in their cribs, listening to their mother, Lily Potter, read a story, while their father, James Potter, was at a secret meeting. As Lily finished her story, a blast was heard downstairs and then footsteps on the stairs. Lily stood in front of the cribs, as the cause of the noise, a man by the name of Lord Voldemort, came blasting into the room. He was here because of a prophecy that told of the one who would defeat him.

Lily pleaded with the Voldemort to spare her children and to take her life instead, but the man would not listen. He pointed his wand the woman, and in a flash of green light, killed her. He then pointed his wand at the twins. He did not know which of the twins the prophecy was talking about, nor did he care. He pointed his wand at the girl, and as the green light of death left his wand, a shield made of red magic appeared, bouncing the spell back at him and destroyed his body in a massive blast.

The blast destroyed part of the roof, and a piece of it fell on top of Charles, creating a ‘v’ shaped scar on his forehead. As the man’s body was destroyed, his soul was ripped from it and he fled as a wraith. But not before a piece of his soul latched onto the weakened core of Harriet and went dormant.

When James got back home, he was devastated to find his wife dead, but happy to see his children alive. A friend of the family, Albus Dumbledore, came to comfort him and to check the twins for injury. As he looked at the twins, he noticed Charles had a scar and full magical core, whereas Harriet had no injuries and little to no magic in her core. It was with this information, that he told the James that Charles was the prophesized child, while the Harriet was nothing more than a squib. James was horrified to learn that his daughter was squib, it would reflect bad on him and his soon to be famous son. So, he decided he would give his daughter to his wife’s muggle family and disown the child.

Within one night, a wife and mother was lost, a brother and son made famous, a daughter and sister forgotten, and a family torn apart.

Within the next week, the announcement of the defeat of the Dark Lord was spread across the wizarding world. It told of Charles Potter being named ‘The Boy-Who-Lived’ and his twin sister being named a squib and disowned. Even though it was well written that magical twins will always have magic; while there is a chance of one twin having a weaker core, it was never to the point of that twin being a squib, it just wasn’t possible. But most of the European wizards believed the announcement, after all if The Albus Dumbledore said it was true, then it was true. But the rest of the world, after many countries did their own investigations, were able to see the truth. They could tell that the supposedly ‘squib’ twin was not a squib at all but most likely had an exhausted core, meaning that Harriet Potter was the true child-who-lived. But they kept this information between themselves, because no one in Europe would believe them.

You see, many years ago, during the war against Voldemort, Dumbledore tried to recruit people from other countries during meetings with the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW). It was during these meetings that most of the other countries noticed that Dumbledore was slowly becoming more manipulative and was always talking about the ‘greater good’, but never explaining what that meant. It was like he thought that only he had the right vision for the wizarding world and no one else.

After this revelation, many countries of the ICW decided to have meetings without Dumbledore. In these meetings, it was decided that they should start revealing themselves to the non-magical. This was because of the rise of new and improved cameras everywhere; it was only a matter of time before they were revealed anyway. At least this way they can apologise and explain their reasons for hiding in the first place.

So, the magical leaders of countries like America, Australia, Africa, China, Japan, and many others, went to the non-magical leaders for their respective country that knew about them and discussed how to come out into the open. Across the world, announcements about the existence of magic were made, and slowly the wizarding communities came out and started to merge with the non-magical communities. It became known as The Great Merge.

After the merge, laws and policies were made to control rogue and criminal magicals, and to help prevent discrimination on both sides. Magic, science and technology came together, and started creating technology that to be used in magic rich environments. Mixed towns and cities became a thing, where non-magicals and magicals could live in harmony. With mixed cities, came mixed schools, especially after it was discovered that some magical subjects could mixed with non-magical counterparts, such as potions and chemistry. This allowed non-magicals and squibs to join these classes too, even if it was just theory.

Another effect of the merging of magic and science was the discovery of portals. Some of these portals just went to the other side of the world, but others went to completely different dimensions and universes. This discovery led to the founding of the Portal Agency, a group who studies the portals and greeted any beings that came through them, which was very rare. These ‘multiverse’ portals, as they were dubbed, were found to be strongest when on and around places where ley lines crossed.

One such location was Canterlot City, California, USA. Canterlot City had a couple of ley lines crossing through it, which cause there to be two portals. One portal led to the spirit world of another universe, this was location in the basement of an abandoned warehouse, which since its discovery had been transformed into a facility for Canterlot City’s own branch of the Portal Agency, led by Tirek Lord. Another portal was recently found in the base of the Wondercolt statue in front of the mixed school of Canterlot High School (CHS). Not much was known about this portal, other than that it admitted an energy that was like magic, but not many studies were done on it after it was discovered that it only seemed to open for three nights, every three years.

A week after the announcement of the ‘Boy-Who-Lived’, and on the last night the portal was open, one of cameras located in front of CHS picked up a figure throwing a bundle through the portal and walking off into the night.

It wasn’t until the next morning, after the portal had closed, that the Portal Agency checked the footage, and after checking the magical signature scanner attached to it, they realized that the bundle was a magical child. A single strand of red hair was found near the statue, DNA tests later revealed that it was Harriet Potter, the true child-who-lived, that was thrown into the portal. Due to not knowing much about the portal and how dangerous it might be, it was doubtful that they would ever see Harriet Potter again.

That is until 9 years later…

Chapter 1

9 years later…

Celestia King sighed as she finished saving the last of the school reports onto the computer. She looked up as her sister, Luna Chaos, walked into the office

“Come on Tia, it’s time for us to close the school for the day,” Luna said, as she filed away a pile of documents

“You just want to get home so you can finish that level you are currently on,” Celestia said, raising an eyebrow at her sister, as she stood up from behind the desk, grabbing her bag

Luna just smiled sheepishly. “That’s one reason, the other is that Discord is making his special pasta dish tonight,” she said, licking her lips, as she waited for her sister to finish getting ready to go

As they walked to the front doors of CHS, talking about nothing, they suddenly heard a loud crash. It sounded like flesh hitting metal. They ran outside to see a car with a dent in its front, and a small body nearby, not moving.

Celestia ran towards the body, hearing her sister call 911 on her phone behind her. As she kneeled next to the body, she noticed it looked to be a young girl, no older than ten years old. She had red hair with blonde streaks, a leather jacket that looked a little too big for her, an orange shirt, a purple shirt with what looked like a yellow and red shimmering sun on the front and black boots. There was a book bag nearby, with a heavy looking tome peaking out. She checked the kid’s pulse, it was slightly weak, but it was there.

Then the ambulance arrived, and it was like a blur as the kid was loaded into the back and driven to Canterlot General Hospital as Celestia watched on, hoping the girl would be ok, wondering what just happened.

One week later

Celestia, along with her husband Sombra King, sat in the hospital office, wondering why they had been called in and if it had to do with the girl from last week. Just then the door opened to reveal her sister’s old college roommate, Chrysalis Lord, carrying a thick folder.

“Hello Celestia and Sombra, I suppose you are wondering why I called you here?” Chrysalis asked, putting the folder on the desk

“Does it have something to do with the little red headed girl, that was hit by a car in front of the school?” Sombra asked, having been told the story by Celestia

“It does. According to witnesses they saw her running into the middle of the road on all fours. We wondered why she was running in such a way, until we checked the footage from the front camera, and we found that she had come through the portal,” Chrysalis started to explain. “While she was unconscious, we took a sample of her DNA, and the results were surprising to say the least.”

“Why was it surprising?” Celestia asked

“You two remember the story 9 years ago, about what happened to Harriet Potter, right?” Chrys asked

“Of course, it was all over the news,” Sombra replied. “It said that her non-magical uncle through her through the porta… wait, are you saying that the girl was Harriet Potter?”

“Yep, DNA does not lie,” she answered. “Now, while we were examining her, we noticed that she seems to have developed a second magical core, with a signature similar to the portal, meaning what ever happened on the other side, she was still magical in some way.”

“Has she woken up?” Celestia asked

“Yes, and this is where you come in,” Chrysalis said, opening the folder. “You see, is seems the crash has cause amnesia, the only thing she can remember is the name she was given on the other side of the portal. We’ve explained everything to her, from her origins, the wizarding world, and the fact she was in another dimension most of her childhood. She had requested that she be called by the name she remembers.”

“That’s terrible. What name is it, and how do we fit in to all this?” Sombra asked

“The name she wishes to go by is Sunset Shimmer, and we were wondering if you two would like to become her guardians. This mainly because we have found something disturbing on her main core, and to get rid of it, we need a guardian’s permission. The other reason is we can’t have a ten-year-old living on her own,” she explained, hoping her friends would agree

“Of course, we would love to. We have been thinking about becoming foster parents. But I must ask, what is this disturbing thing on her core, that needs a guardian’s permission to move?” Celestia asked

“We have found a soul leech on her core,” she answered. “We believe it might be from that night, which means that fool of a dark lord made Horcruxes more than once. Now, don’t worry there appears to be no effects now, but it is probably best if we get rid of it sooner rather than later.”

“A soul leech? Those abominations? Yes, once we have filled in the paperwork, we will give permission,” Sombra said, having study the effects of soul leeches, especially on a young core. “For now, can we please meet her, so we can get to know her a little?”

“Of course, follow me,” Chrysalis said, standing up and motioned to them to follow

Sunset Shimmer was currently looking down at her hands, left one in a cast, jus like her right leg, after the doctor had left, going over the information they had told her.

So, I currently have amnesia, she thought, my real name is Harriet Potter, I’m a witch, I am apparently the girl-who-lived, I was tossed through a magical portal where I spend the last 9 years of my life and now I’m back but I can only remember the name given to me by someone on the other side of the portal and currently have a soul leech on my magical core that only be moved with a guardian’s consent. Right, that about sums it up. What am I going to do and where can I go?

She looked up as the door opened up to reveal a dark skinned woman with green hair and green eyes, followed by a tall light skinned woman with wavy pastel rainbow hair and pink eyes, and a tan skinned man with slicked back black hair and dark red eyes.

“Good afternoon, Miss Shimmer,” the dark-skinned lady started. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Chrysalis Change Lord, part time councillor at Canterlot High School and part time Portal Agent. You can just call me Chrys.” Chrysalis turned to the other two in the room, indicating for them to introduce themselves

The man spoke first, “G’day, Miss Shimmer, I’m Sombra Crystal King, Sombra for short, owner of Crystal Winery, Restaurant and Farm, and Canterlot City’s local wine connoisseur. And this lovely lady next to me is-”

“Celestia Summer King, full-time Principal of Canterlot High School and his wife,” Celestia interrupted, a slight but bright smile on her face. “But you can call me Celestia, sweetheart.”

“Hi,” Sunset said shyly. “My name is Sunset Shimmer, and I’m apparently the girl-who-lived, and I have amnesia. You can just call me Sunset.”

“Well, Sunset, I’m sure the doctor explained all about the soul leech and how we can only remove it with a guardian’s consent,” Chrys got straight down to business. Sunset nodded. “If you would like, Mr and Mrs King here have agreed to become your guardians and foster parents, so we can get that consent and you can have a place to live. But you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. We can easily find some else.”

Sunset looked at Sombra and Celestia, and smiled while saying, “I would like that very much and thank you. I don’t know why, but I feel like I didn’t have any family on the other side of the portal.”

Celestia and Sombra simply walked over to her and hugged her close to them, being mindful of her injuries, feeling her tense at first, but then ease into the hug

“Right, I’ll go get onto the paperwork, and talk to one of the local curse breakers about the leech,” Chrys said, smiling at the image in front of her. But then she became serious and continued, “Just letting you know, Miss Shimmer, that the portal agents are wanting to know about what is on the other side of the portal. But thankfully, they understand that overcoming amnesia is a long and sometimes painful process. So, if you would consent, every six months you can give them a report about any memories that come up, a small report is fine, even if it is to say no new memories. Does this sound ok to you?”

Sunset looked down, thinking for a moment, and looked up again. “That sounds good to me.”

“Ok, so, without further ado, I’ll go do that paperwork, and leave you three to talk and get to know each other,” Chrysalis said, turning and leaving the King family to welcome their soon-to-be new family member.

Chapter 2

“We’re almost there,” Sombra said, as he drove up the road leading to the farm

Sunset looked out her backseat window, watching as a two-story house was revealed. During the drive, she had been quietly reflecting on the past two weeks since meeting the Kings. The first week was spent healing, which was sped up thanks to the potions. The day after her bones had heal, she met Celestia’s sister and her husband

(Flashback)

“Hello, Sunset.”

Sunset looked up from the Daring Do book she was reading to see Celestia smiling down at her, she hadn’t heard her come in.

“Hi.” Sunset greeted, placing the book on the bedside table.

“How are you feeling?” Celestia inquired

“Good. I can use my hand now that it’s healed up.” Sunset replied, showing her hand, that was now cast free.

“That’s wonderful news. Now, I was wondering if you are up for some visitors?” Celestia asked

“I guess,” Sunset shrugged

Celestia nodded and walked over to the door, poking her head out and motioning to someone to come in. The first to walk in was a lady with green eyes and two-toned blue hair, who was quickly followed by a man with red eyes, black hair with a stripe of white on each side, and a white goatee.

“Sunset, I want to introduce my sister, Luna and her husband Discord. Luna, Discord, this is Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia introduced the couple

“Hi,” Sunset said, waving shyly.

“Why, hello, Miss Shimmer, Discord Chaos, at your service,” Discord chuckled, giving an over dramatic bow, prompting a small giggle from Sunset

“Hello, Sunset. You can call me Luna,” Luna simply said, giving a small smile

“Now, we know you only have one more week to go here in hospital,” Discord started, pulling something out of his pocket. “But reading books can only fend off boredom for so long, so Luna and I pitched in to get you this, your first phone.” Showing Sunset, a flat rectangle object. She had seen Celestia using something similar, only this one had a red cover

“Here,” Luna said, taking the phone from Discord and handing it to Sunset, before sitting in a chair near the bed. “Let us show you how to use it. We’ve already downloaded some games for you to play.”

Sunset listened as Luna and Discord explained how to use the phone, along with the games. They stayed for another 2 hours, before leaving, but she enjoyed her time with them.

(End Flashback)

Sunset had spent the next two days playing on her new phone. Her main favourite games were two merge games and a colour by numbers app.

The second week involved the soul leech removal ritual and observations. The ritual had some interesting results…

(Flashback)

Sombra and Celestia watch through the window as Sunset slept in her hospital bed, hours after the leech removal. They turned when they heard a throat clearing and footsteps heading towards them. It was Doctor Greymare, Canterlot’s best doctor and cursebreaker, carrying a file. He motioned to them to follow him to his office.

Once everyone was seated, Greymare started, “I would like to first say that the ritual was a success, all of the leech has been removed and destroyed completely.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Celestia breathed, Sombra pulling her in for a one-armed hug

“Now, as you have probably heard, we used a specialised camera and monitor to see the magic core, or in this case cores, to insure no damage to them when removing leeches,” He explained, as he turned his computer around, where they could see an image of two cores, one red, and one gold, both flashing like a heartbeat. On the red core was a black mass, almost cloud-like, looking like it was eating at the core.

“As you could probably guess, the black mass is the leech. We have deduced the red core to be her original core, and the other to be, what we’ve being calling it, her ‘portal’ core,” he pointed at the cores. “After the removal, something incredible, for lack of a better word, happened. And, well, just watch…”

The image fast forward to just after the leech was removed. They watched in amazement as a thread seemed to leak out of each core and connect with each other in the middle. The cores were than pulled closer and closer together, until there was a flash of bright light, so bright the Kings turned away for a second. When they looked back, there was now only one core, but it was bigger than the first two, and it was flashing gently. It was a mix of reds, oranges and golds, it was like looking at a mini sun.

“I… I have no words,” Sombra stuttered, trying to gather his thoughts after seeing that

“Yes, remarkable isn’t it,” Greymare agreed. “And the merging has changed Miss Shimmer’s magical signature completely, it seems to be a mix of her original and portal signatures. The magic itself is nothing we’ve ever seen before, it’s a brand-new type of magic. After talking with some of my colleagues, and reviewing the footage, we’ve decided that since this new fire-like magic and core was born from old ones, it shall be called ‘Phoenix’ magic.”

“Phoenix magic, eh? Yes, it does seem appropriate,” Celestia thought out loud. “Will you be explaining this to Sunset? She deserves to know that she has a new core and magic.”

“Don’t worry we will.”

(End Flashback)

Sunset was jolted out of her thoughts as the car came to a stop. As she got out of the car, she noticed another house next door, with a family of six standing near the fence separating the houses.

Sombra also noticed the family, “Oh, looks like you’ve got a bit of a welcoming committee,” he commented, before motioning to Sunset to follow him. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Sunset followed him over to the fence, becoming slightly nervous as the family came closer

“G’day, Mac,” Sombra greeted the red headed man with green eyes

“Howdy, Sombra, heard you had a new family member, and thought we’d introduce ourselves,” the now identified Mac nodded, before turning to Sunset. “Howdy, little lady, and what might your name be?”

“Um, Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said timidly, looking down at the ground

“It’s nice to meet you, Sunset. I’m Bright Macintosh Apple, but you can just call me Mac,” Mac tipped his hat, before motioning to the rest of the family, starting with the elderly woman and curly haired woman on either side of him. “This is my mother, Maria Smith Apple, and my wife Pear Butter.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs Apple and, well, Mrs Apple,” Sunset nodded to the two women

“Now none of that ‘Mrs’ stuff, just Granny is fine,” Granny said with a big smile

“And I go by my nickname Buttercup,” Buttercup agreed, before presenting a pie. “Here’s a welcoming apple pie, made from our best apples.”

“Oh, OK, well then, it’s nice to meet you Granny and Buttercup, and thanks,” Sunset repeated her greeting. Before turning to the blonde freckled girl who look to be around the same age as her

“Howdy, Sunset, I’m Applejack, this here is Big Mac and Apple Bloom”, Applejack said, pointing to her older and younger siblings, both giving a wave of greeting. “Welcome to Canterlot City. I can’t wait to introduce to my friends, if you want that is.”

Sunset smiled a little bigger this time, before nodding, “Thank you and, yeah, I’d be happy to meet them.”

“Well, as much as it was nice to see you all, I think it’s time to be heading inside for dinner, and a tour of the house,” Sombra said, gently pushing Sunset towards the house

“Of course, and don’t forget, if you need anything, you just let us know,” Buttercup said, ushering her own family towards their house. “It was nice meeting you Sunset.”

“Likewise,” Sunset smiled, before walking with Sombra to the front door

“Well, Sunset, let me officially welcome you to Crystal Farm and Winery,” Sombra bowed as he opened the door, letting a delicious smell waft towards them, “Mmm, looks like Celestia’s got dinner ready, I suggest we have dinner before I give you the grand tour.”

“Sounds, and smells, good,” Sunset agreed, as her stomach growled, following Sombra to the dining room

After a delicious roast dinner, the Apple family pie, and a tour of the house, it was time for bed. However, Sunset wasn’t too sure she wanted to sleep, because of the dreams she had been having for the last couple of weeks. The dreams were always the same, she would be in a dark void with the occasional flash of light. After the flashes of light, she would be bombarded with different emotions both positive and negative. It was all confusing and frightening, especially when it was mainly the negative emotions that were the strongest.

“Can’t sleep?”

Sunset jumped and looked up to see Sombra standing in the door with a book tucked under his arm. After processing the question, she simply nodded and looked down

“Still having those dreams?”

Again, she simply nodded. Sombra walked over to the bed and sat next to her, placing the book next to him. Sunset glanced at it see the title, “The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses” by A B (Banjo) Paterson. She looked up at Sombra questioningly

“I thought a good story from my homeland would help,” Sombra explained, rubbing his neck. “Hopefully it should help chase those dreams away for a bit. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No,” Sunset shook her head. “A story sounds nice.”

“Well, it’s more a story in the form of a poem,” he explained, as he opened the book, after getting a bit more comfortable. “But most children in Australia grew up with the Man from Snowy River story. Let’s get started…”

As Sombra read the story of a horse chase across bushland, and a man’s courage against the odds, Sunset slowly became sleepier. She was almost asleep as Sombra came to the end of the story…

“And down by Kosciusko, where the pine-clad ridges raise

Their torn and rugged battlements on high,

Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze

At midnight in the cold and frosty sky,

And where around the Overflow the reedbeds sweep and sway

To the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,

The man from Snowy River is a household word today,

And the stockmen tell the story of his ride”

After closing and placing the book on the table, he smiled down at Sunset sleeping, before lowering her down and tucking her in. He brushed her hair out of her face as he uttered “Good night, Sunset”

As he was closing the door, he heard her mumble, “G’night, Dad.”

Sombra stood on the landing for a couple of minutes, processing what he heard. Even though he knew it was her sleepiness talking, he still did a small, quiet dance, “She called me dad!” He went down stair with a huge smile on his face to tell his wife what he heard.

Chapter 3

Lonely, Happy, Excited

Joyful, Pride, Hurt

Sadness, Anger, Hate

Rage, Confused, Pain

Sunset once again awoke from what she had been calling the ‘emotions void dream’. She wished she knew what all those emotions meant. Particularly the negative ones. Were they signs that she was a bad person before coming here?

It had been a month and a half since she moved in with the Kings, and it had been amazing. They had decided to wait until after the new year before sending Sunset to Canterlot Elementary School, giving her more time to settle in. While Celestia was at CHS, Sombra stayed to give Sunset some lessons to get her caught up, after working around the farm and winery.

She was really starting to feel a part of the family. Especially after Thanksgiving and Christmas. On Thanksgiving night after dinner, she got to meet Sombra’s family in Australia via Skype. There was his parents, Jasper and Pearl King, along with his younger sister Ruby. Afterwards they held a vigil for Luna and Celestia’s parents Phoebus and Aurora Cosmos, who sadly were in a train crash over twenty years ago.

Then on Christmas, Sunset awoke to a big pile of presents under the tree. Along with clothes and her very own Daring Do book set from Sombra and Celestia, she had also got a pile of art supplies, to which Sombra explained he had noticed that during their lessons she had a tendency to draw on the edge of her work. From Discord and Luna, she got a Nintendo Switch and games to go with it. The rest of the King family sent a journal and, dingo and koala plushies. The Apples had also sent a photo album, so she can many new memories.

After getting dressed, Sunset headed downstairs for breakfast. She walked into the dining room to see Celestia already at the table, on her laptop working on the new year schedules for CHS. When she investigated the kitchen, she saw Sombra was flipping pancakes.

“Good morning, Sunny,” Sombra said cheerfully, as he placed a tray full of pancakes on the table.

“Morning Sombra, Celestia,” Sunset replied, blushing as her stomach growled at the delicious smell

“Are you excited for the New Year’s Eve party over at Sweet Apple Acres tonight?” Celestia asked, as she dug into breakfast

“Yep,” Sunset answered. “But I’m also a little nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because Applejack said she will be introducing me to her friends. What if they don’t like me?” She worried

“I’m sure everything will work out fine,” Celestia assured her.

A few hours later, saw Sunset and the Kings head over to Sweet Apple Acres for the party. The quaint barn like house was decked out with balloons and streamers. Granny Smith was on a rocking chair on the front porch. Sunset could see Bright Mac and Big Mac setting up the fireworks in the distance. She turned away as Buttercup came up to greet them.

“Hello, everybody,” she said, smiling as they greeted back. “Sombra, could you go and help Bright and Mac please?”

“Can do.” Sombra saluted

“Thanks. Celestia, would you like to help me finish bringin’ the food out?”

“Of course.”

“Sunset, if you’re look for Applejack, she’s just around the back.” Buttercup pointed towards the back of the house

When Sunset walked around the back, she spotted Applejack with 4 other girls near the back door, sitting on a picnic blanket. She stopped just in front of them, and was about to speak, when one of them, a girl with pink curly hair, skipped up to her with a massive grin.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! You must be Sunset Shimmer. Applejack has been telling us all about you. Or at least, what she knows about so far.” Pinkie spoke quickly, bouncing up and down

“Oh, um…” Sunset tried to process what Pinkie had just said

“Pinkie Pie! Give the girl some space and let her speak,” The purple haired girl scolded

“Oh, sorry!” Pinkie apologized

“Um, yes, I’m Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said, after reorganising her thoughts

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, darling. I’m Rarity.”

“Yo, the names Rainbow Dash,” saluted the girl with rainbow hair

“Um, Hi, I’m Fluttershy…” the last girl said meekly

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Sunset greeted

“So, I hear you will be starting at Canterlot Elementary,” Rainbow said

“Yep,” Sunset smiled as she sat down with them. “Sombra’s been teaching so I can be all caught up with everyone else. I just hope I make a good first impression with everyone.”

“Oh, if you like I can design and create a nice new outfit for you,” Rarity suggested. “I can already think of so many ideas.”

“You make clothes?” Sunset asked surprised

“Well, currently just the designing bit. I only just got my very first sewing machine for Christmas. But I’m sure once my mother sees my design, she will let me help create it for you,” Rarity explained sheepishly

“Ok then, I guess a new outfit would be nice,” Sunset said

“Good. Sometime tonight I’ll have to get your measurements,” Rarity agreed

“Hey, I know, school doesn’t go back for another week, so how about you spend a day with each of us, so we can get to know you and you us before school,” Rainbow suggested.

“Oooh, and at the end of the week, I could throw you a ‘Welcome to Canterlot City’ party!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What’s your favourite flavoured cake?”

“Um, chocolate and can it be a small party?” Sunset asked.

“Okie dokie lokie.” Pinkie nodded

And they all agreed to the plan. The girls then spent the rest of New Year’s Eve sorting out the next week, partying and having fun. Sunset spent the whole night with a big smile on her face

Dear Journal,

The last week has been crazy, but fun. I got to spend a day with each of my new friends. First day I spent with Applejack, where she showed around her farm. I got to help her with some apple picking and then we made a pie with the apples we picked.

Next was Fluttershy. We spent the whole day at the Canterlot Animal Shelter taking care of all the animals. I especially loved when we got to play with all the kittens and puppies, to help socialize them of course, but mostly for the cuteness.

Rainbow Dash took me to the local sports centre to see which sports took my fancy. So far fencing seems to be good for me, but I did like the look of that Kung Fu class. I think I heard them call it Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. I might ask Celestia and Sombra about signing me up for both. She also introduced me to her half-sister, Scootaloo

Rarity’s mom took us to the Canterlot spa, where we got well pampered. I’ve never felt so nice and relax. Afterwards we went back her house, where I got to meet her sister, Sweetie Belle and try on my new outfit and some other clothes they made for me. I can’t wait to wear them when I start school next week!

And then we ended the week with a party at Sombra’s Crystal Restaurant organised by Pinkie Pie. It was great! I got to help with baking the cupcakes and cakes, putting the streamers and balloons up, and I got to help pick out the music. We had such a great time!

Then I spent the weekend with Sombra and Celestia. Sombra showed me the restaurant near the entrance of the farm. He says all the food is completely organic and local. Then Celestia took me to her favourite tea shop, called the Jasmine Dragon. I’m really starting to see both as my parents.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I’m a little nervous, but I think with all my new friends, I will be fine. I should get to sleep, got to wake up early in the morning.

Sunset Shimmer

Chapter 4

Sunset looked at herself in the bathroom mirror as she brushed her hair. She was wearing the nice outfit Rarity had made her. It consisted of a light blue knee length dress, navy blue leggings, black slip-on shoes, and a black three-quarter sleeved cardigan.

“Breakfast’s ready!” She heard Sombra shout. She gave her hair one more quick brush and headed downstairs.

“Good morning, Sunset,” Celestia greeted from the table, where a plate of eggs and bacon waited for Sunset.

“Morning,” Sunset replied, sitting down and starting to eat breakfast.

“Are you ready for school today?” Sombra asked.

“Yep. But I’m still a little nervous,” Sunset looked down at her plate.

“Well, don’t worry. Remember your friends are going to be there, so you’re not alone. Ok?” He assured her.

“Ok,” Sunset smiled.

“Ok. Sunset, go and get your things, it’s time to head for school,” Celestia said, after placing her plate in the dishwasher. “I’ll drop you off on the way to CHS.”

Sunset nodded and went to do just that. As she finished packing her bag, she looked over at her bookshelf, at the heavy tome that was found with her when she came through the portal. She knew there was something about the book, something important, but she just couldn’t remember what. She just hoped that someday she would remember. Shaking her head, she picked up her bag and headed downstairs.

“See you both, when you get home,” Sombra said, hugging both before they left. “How does corn beef sound for dinner tonight?”

“Sounds wonderful dear,” Celestia answered, kissing him on the cheek.

Half an hour later, Celestia pulled up at Canterlot Elementary and let Sunset out. Sunset looked over to see her new friends gathered near the entrance.

“Have a good day, Sunset!” Celestia called from the car.

“Thanks!” Sunset called back, waving as Celestia drove away. She then walked over to the girls. “Hey, girls.”

“Hi, Sunset! Are you ready for school?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Sunset answered.

“Don’t you worry, sugarcube, if you need help with anything you just let us know,” Applejack assured her.

“Ok,” Sunset smiled, then turned to Rarity. “By the way, thanks again for the dress Rarity, it feels and looks great.”

“You are most welcome, darling,” Rarity said. “I told you it would look good.”

“Yeah. It makes you looks 20% cooler,” Rainbow commented.

“Thanks,” Sunset blushed.

“Um, we better get going before we’re late,” Fluttershy suggested. “We need to get to home room for our schedules.”

They all nodded in agreement before heading inside. Thankfully, they all had the same home room. Sunset was told to wait outside so she could be introduced to the class.

“All right, settled everyone,” Mrs Rose Luck called, as all the students calm downed. “Now, before we get started, we have a new student to introduce,” she started, motioning Sunset in. “I want to introduce Sunset Shimmer, please, make her feel welcome.”

“Hi, everyone,” Sunset greeted shyly, waving a little.

“Sunset, you can sit between Rainbow and Flash,” Mrs Luck told her, pointing at the desk between her rainbow haired friend and a boy with blue hair. Sunset walked over and sat down at the desk.

“Hi, my name is Flash Sentry,” the boy greeted, hold out a hand.

“Hi,” Sunset shook his hand.

“Welcome to Canterlot Elementary,” he said.

“Thanks,” she smiled before turning back to look up the front.

“Now, students,” Mrs Luck started. “I know most of your brains are still in holiday mode, but it’s time to switch back into learning mode.”

She did role call before giving them their schedules and letting them go to their first class. Sunset looked down at her schedule to see she had history next.

“Hey, do you want to sit next to me in history,” Flash asked next to her.

“Sure,” Sunset smiled shyly.

And so, began Sunset’s first day of school. She found that the classes that focused on magic seem to come easy for her. One interesting thing to happen during charms class, was Pinkie placing the space expanding spell on her hair. Now Pinkie’s hair could hold all sorts of things.

“Bags can be lost or stolen, but unless you get a haircut, your hair is always there,” Pinkie had explained when asked why she did it. Sunset and the other girls simply shrugged and put it down as Pinkie being Pinkie.

By the end of the day Sunset was exhausted but happy. She was smiling brightly all the way home, and all through the afternoon to dinner.

“How was your first day of school?” Celestia asked after they sat down for dinner.

“It was great!” Sunset exclaimed. “I got to learn a lot and I made some new friends.”

“That’s good to hear,” Sombra grinned.

“Speaking of hearing,” Celestia started. “I heard about Pinkie Pie putting an expending charm on her hair instead of a bag. Is that true?”

“Yeah,” Sunset answered. “And the nurse said it’s permanent, so we just have to get used to Pinkie using her hair as storage. The girls explain to me that it’s just Pinkie being herself. They also told me about her Pinkie Sense and her always true hunches.”

“I see.”

“Yea, I suggested that maybe Pinkie should be tested to see if she has a form of seer ability,” Sunset said.

“That would explain some things if it was true,” Celestia agreed with the suggestion.

They finished dinner, then watched a movie, and went to bed.

Dear journal,

The last week has been both hectic and amazing. I’ve made so many new friends. First there’s Flash, he’s cool, in a dorky kinda way. Then there’s Vinyl and Octavia, who love music like me, only they have different tastes in music. Vinyl likes rock ‘n’ roll and pop etc. Whereas Octavia likes the more classical music.

Next, there’s Bon-Bon and Lyra, I found they like games, especially Pokémon, and Bon-Bon’s mom owns a sweet shop which I can’t wait to check out.

Last but certainly not least, there’s Trixie. She wants to be a great magician like her dad. She was feeling a bit down the other day, because she thinks that she not a good magician since she is a squib. Thankfully, I set her straight.

Well, that’s all for now. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.

Sunset Shimmer

Chapter 5

Sunset woke up after another night of good dreams. She looked over at her calendar and saw that it read 31st of July. Her eleventh birthday. She jumped out of bed with excitement and rushed to the bathroom to quickly get ready for the day. She then ran down the stairs to the dining room to see Celestia and Sombra already sitting at the table which was laden with waffles and pancakes.

“Happy Birthday, Sunset,” Sombra and Celestia said together.

“Thank you,” Sunset smiled before looking again at the table. “Wow, that all looks so good.”

“Of course. Had to make the best for the birthday girl,” Sombra said. “We have choc chip waffles and blueberry pancakes, along with a strawberry and banana smoothie, your favourites.”

“Yum,” Sunset drooled. She sat down and started eating.

“Now, to start off, here is your first present,” Celestia said, pushing a small wrapped box towards Sunset. “You’ll get the other ones later when everyone is here.”

“Wow, it’s beautiful,” Sunset said after she had unwrapped the box and opened it to reveal two charm bracelets, one had a sun charm on it and the other had a phoenix. And there was plenty of room for more charms.

“We got two, one from each of us, so there was room for charms from not just us but your friends as well,” Celestia explained.

“Thank you. I love them,” Sunset said, before walking around to hug both adults. As they hugged, none of them notice the quick glow of magic on both charms.

“Your welcome, sweetie,” Sombra said, sharing a look with Celestia, both thinking about the extra special present they were going to give Sunset at the party.

“Cannonball!” Rainbow shouted as she jumped into the pool.

Sunset’s birthday party was in full swing. It was decided to hold it in and around the King’s backyard pool. All of Sunset’s friends were there, from Pinkie Pie to Lyra Heartstrings. Sunset was currently sitting in the shade with Rarity and Fluttershy.

“I must say, your charm bracelets are absolutely gorgeous,” Rarity commented, as she looked at the bracelets.

“Thanks,” Sunset said, sipping her soda. “I can’t wait to see what everyone got me.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be too long,” Fluttershy said. “I think it’s almost time for dinner and afterwards we’re going to give our gifts to you.”

“Sweet,” Sunset said before talking about the plans for the rest of the summer.

And just like Fluttershy said, dinner came and when. Celestia and Pinkie had baked a large double chocolate cake, Sunset’s favourite. Then came the gifts, from Pinkie Pie a book of jokes. Rainbow gave her a year long pass for the sports centre. Rarity gave her a voucher book for the spa. Fluttershy’s gift was a surprise. It was a snowy owl.

“Mom and I found her after she protected a litter of kittens from some feral dogs. We tried release her, but she did not want to go. We notice the last time you helped at the shelter that she did not take her eyes off you; we think she might be your familiar,” she explained.

Sunset looked at the owl, “Were you waiting for me?” she asked her. The owl simply nodded, as to say ‘yes’. “Well, you help protect a litter of kitten orphans, so I’m going to name you after the patron saint of orphans, Hedwig.” The newly named Hedwig started to hop from foot to foot, happy for the new name.

From Applejack, Sunset got two more charms for her bracelets, an apple and a tree.

“I heard about the bracelets and decided to get you some more charms for them,” Applejack said.

“Thank AJ,” Sunset thanked her, place the apple next to the sun and tree next to the phoenix. Once again, unknown to everyone a slight glow of magic surrounded the new charms for a split second.

“And now for our final gift,” Sombra announced, as Celestia joined him in front of Sunset. “After talking with each other and getting the correct items, we wanted to give you this.”

Sunset was given a small potion and a sheet of paper. It took a few moments for Sunset to comprehend that the paper was an adoption form. She looked up at Celestia and Sombra, who were smiling.

“Is this…?” she couldn’t find the words.

“Yes, Sunset. We would like to adopt you, if you will have us,” Celestia explained. “The potion is there for if you decided to also be Blood adopted.”

“Don’t worry, it’s one of the blood adoption potions that doesn’t change the recipient’s appearance,” Sombra added. “But only if you want to, it’s your choice. Take as much time to think about it.”

Sunset didn’t need to think about it. “Yes, a million times yes,” Sunset with a blinding smile. “I love to be adopted by you, both on paper and by blood. Mom. Dad.”

Both adults started to tear up at being called that. Their dreams of having a family now realised. The new parents and soon-to-be daughter came in for a giant family hug. They did have to pull apart when they heard sobbing. They looked over to see Bright Mac in tears.

“It’s just so beautiful,” He cried, as his wife patted him on the back.

“So,” Sunset started. “Can we do the potion now or is there a ritual that has to be done.”

“Actually, Chrys said we just have to put a drop of our and your blood into the potion, say a few words and you drink it.” Sombra explained. “It will take a night for the potion to kick in, but it is painless.”

“And of course, we do have to sign the paper,” Celestia said. “If you want to do it now, that’s fine.”

And so, they all signed the paper, and then stood in a circle as all their family and friends looked on. Chrys came over to read out what they had to say, if they did as they place a drop of blood in the potion. Just as Sunset was about to drink the potion a bright light shone in front of the crowd, and a transparent figure appeared. She had red hair and green eyes.

“Who are you?” Celestia asked, placing herself between Sunset and the spectre. However, Chrys having seen the photos in files, recognised her.

“Wait! You’re…” She started.

“Yes,” The spectre replied. “I’m Lily Potter.”

“You’re…You’re my mom,” Sunset stammered.

“Yes, sweetheart, I was your mom,” Lily answered.

“May I ask why you are here?” Sombra asked.

“I’m here to strengthen this adoption by giving my blessing,” she said.

“Your blessing? You don’t mind?” Sunset questioned.

“Yes,” Lily replied. “I will always be the mother who birthed you, but I have since passed my time, so it’s only right that you have another mother who can care for you when I cannot.”

“Thank you…mom,” Sunset said, tearing running down her face.

“Do not cry, my little flower,” Lily smiled. “You’re about to be adopted by a good couple. This is a happy day.” She turned to Sombra and Celestia. “Please take good care of my daughter.”

“We will,” They agreed in unison.

Lily gave Sunset a hug as she started to fade away. “Have a good life, Harriet and Happy Birthday,” she said before she disappeared.

After a moment of silence for Lily Potter, they finished the adoption with Sunset drinking the potion. They then spent the next few hours celebrating both Sunset’s birthday and adoption. Sunset was still smiling as her new mom and dad tucked her into bed.

“Goodnight, Mom,” She said. “Goodnight, Dad.”

“Goodnight, little phoenix,” Sombra said as he hugged her, then Celestia kissed her on the forehead before they left the room.

As Sunset fell asleep, she looked over to her bedside table where her bracelets were. I have a new mom and dad, she thought. I know there will be obstacles in the future, but we’ll get through them as a family. She smiled as she drifted to dreamland.

As everyone went to sleep, something was happening beyond the CHS portal, in a cave where a tree made of crystal sat. Unbeknown to everyone, under the tree, among its roots, a gem in the shape of a two-toned sun had grown. If you looked closely, you could see the shadow image of a phoenix in the middle of the gem.

Suddenly, the sun glowed, and a root started to grow from it. On the end of the root grew an apple shaped gem, and just like the sun, a shadowed image of a tree appeared in the middle of it. Unbeknown to everyone, over the coming years, more gems would grow from the sun, awaiting the time when their owners would need them most.

Author's Note

Did you think I forgot Hedwig? It's not a Harry Potter crossover without her. Besides, Twilight has Owlowiscious, so shouldn't Sunset get Hedwig
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the new chapters

Chapter 7

The talent show was only a week away and Sunset was both excited and nervous, or 'nervicited' as Pinkie Pie called it. She had been practicing ever since she saw the song in one of the movies she watched for inspiration. She just hopes she does well at the show.

“Hey Rarity,” Sunset said to her friend as they walked to history class. “I was wondering if you could help me do up a costume for the talent show.”

“Oh, darling, I already have some ideas for you,” Rarity smiled at her. “I was just waiting for you to asked. Here, let me know if any of these tickles your fancy.” She passed her sketchbook to Sunset as they sat down for class.

By the end of class, not only did they learn about the Great Merge, but Sunset had decided on a simple red long-sleeved dress with a black belt around stomach area. Rarity promised to have the dress ready for the show.

“By the way, Rarity,” Sunset smiled at the fashionista. “Have you given any thought on how you are going to get votes for the fall formal?”

“Not yet darling,” Rarity sighed tiredly. The other girls joined them as they headed to the cafeteria. They started chatting about the upcoming talent show.

“So, other than me singing,” Sunset said as they sat down at their table. “Anyone else doing anything for the talent show?”

“Well, I talked with the animal shelter,” Fluttershy replied. “And they said I could borrow some of their dogs to do tricks on stage.”

“That sounds awesome Flutters,” Rainbow smiled at the shy girl.

“It is, not only do I get to do tricks with the dogs, but if I mention in my performance that they are adoptable, hopeful they can find a new home afterwards,” Fluttershy explained.

“Aww, that’s a wonderful idea,” Rarity said.

“Thanks.”

“What about you Rares?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, I was thinking of doing a beautiful performance on the piano,” Rarity said, flipping her hair. “And you, Dash?”

“I was going to do an awesome guitar solo,” Rainbow replied.

“Are you doing anything?” Sunset asked turning to the last two girls. “Applejack? Pinkie?”

“Nah, I’ll sit this one out. I’ll just cheer you all on,” Applejack smiled.

“That’s sweet of you, AJ,” Fluttershy grinned shyly.

“Well, I’m going to do some cupcake juggling,” Pinkie said jumping up and down.

“That sounds a bit messy,” Rainbow said.

“Yep, messy but delicious,” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I was thinking,” Sunset started. “Why don’t we have a sleepover at one of our houses the night before the show and formal?”

“Oh my god!” Pinkie exclaimed with a big grin on her face. “A sleepover! Sign me up!”

“That’s an absolutely fabulous idea, darling,” Rarity agreed.

There was a round of agreements, and they decided the night before the talent show the sleepover would be held at Fluttershy’s. And the sleepover before the formal would be held at Applejack’s. After sorting out their plans they headed to class

It was nearing the end of the Talent Show. So far all of Sunset’s friends who were doing something in it had done their act, now it was time for Sunset’s performance. She clapped as Rarity walked off the stage after a great performance on the piano.

“Wow, Rarity,” Sunset complimented. “That was great.”

“Thank you, darling,” Rarity bowed dramatically. “Are you ready for your turn?”

“Yep, though I am a little nervous,” Sunset paced a little. “What if I make a fool of myself.”

“You won’t Sunny,” Pinkie encouraged. “You’ve been practicing since you figured out what song you’re going to do, you’ll be fine.”

“Ok, thanks for the pep talk, Pinks,” Sunset smiled.

“No prob,” Pinkie waved her off.

“And last but not least,” Luna announced, looked at the list of performances. “I want you all to give a round of applause for Sunset King!” Sunset walked onto stage as the audience clapped.

“So, Sunset what will you be doing tonight?” Luna asked her, for the benefit of the crowd.

“I’m going to be singing,” Sunset answered, smiling nervously.

Luna nodded before looked back at the crowd. “Again, Sunset King!” She exclaimed into the microphone before handing it to Sunset, whispering. “Good Luck, Kiddo.”

Sunset nodded in thanks, before facing the audience, clearing her throat and then started to sing.

“Mhm, mhm, yeah

Everybody’s got a thing

But some don’t know how to handle it

Always reachin’ out in vain

Just takin’ the things not worth having

But don’t you worry ‘bout a thing

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, mama

‘Cause I’ll be standin’ on the side

When you check it out, oh

They say your style of life’s a drag

And that you must go other places

Just don’t you feel too bad

When you get fooled by smiling faces.”

Sunset was dancing as she sung. Some people in the audience were starting to get up and dance to the music with her.

“Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, baby

‘Cause I’ll be standin’ on the side

When you check it out

When you get off your trip

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing

(Come on)

Everybody needs a change

A chance to check out the new, yeah

You’re the only one to sees

The changes you take yourself through

Oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing

Pa-pa, pa-pa-pa-pa

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa

Pa-pa, pa-pa-pa-pa

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, mama

‘Cause I’ll be standin’ on the side

When you check it out

When you get off your trip.”

By this time all the audience were on their feet either dancing or singing along as Sunset came to the end of the song

“Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, mama

‘Cause I’ll be standin’ on the side

When you check it out

Don’t you worry

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, mama

‘Cause I’ll be standin’ (I’ll be standin; for you)

Oh-oh-ooh-oh-ooh

Oh-oh-oh

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing!”

The audience busted into applause. Luna came back onto the stage to take the microphone and calm the crowd down. “Give it up for Sunset everyone!” Sunset waved to everyone as she walked off the stage to where her friends were.

“That was totally awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed

“Wow, Sunset, you have such a beautiful voice,” Fluttershy complimented.

“Thanks, Flutters,” Sunset thanked her.

“Sssshhh, they’re about to announce the winners,” Pinkie said, and they turn to the stage.

“In third place, with her adorable dog tricks, we have…” Luna read the paper. “Fluttershy!”

“Way ago Fluttershy!”

“Oh, thank you,” Fluttershy said as she went to get her ribbon and mini trophy.

“In second place, with her amazing singing…” Luna announced. “Sunset!”

“WOO!! Go Sunset!”

“Yeah, Sunset!”

“Thank you!” Sunset said as she too went to get her ribbon and trophy.

“And because of her incredible dance routine, the winner of this year’s talent show is…” Luna paused for effect. “Derpy!”

“Go, Derpy!”

“Congrats, Derpy,” Sunset said as the blonde stood next her.

“Thank you, Sunset,” Derpy smiled at her. “No hard feeling, I really thought you were going to win.”

“Nah, the best girl won tonight, and that girl is you. I’ll just have to try harder next year,” Sunset said. “Though, I got to ask if you could teach me some of those moves of yours.” Derpy laughed and agreed as the three girls turned back to the crowd as they bowed to the applause.

Soon it was time for the Fall Formal. Rarity really came through with the dresses, Sunset smiled as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing the white with gold dress Rarity had made for her. Celestia took a photo of the group as they arrived at the school after spending an afternoon at the spa and stopping at Rarity’s to pick up the dresses.

“Oh, don’t you all look stunning,” Celestia complimented. “You out did yourself, Rarity.”

“Thanks, mom,” Sunset smiled at her.

“Yes, thank you, Principal Celestia,” Rarity blushed, as they walked into the gym.

“Well, I need to go check the music booth, you girls have fun,” Celestia walked over to where her sister was talking with Vinyl.

“Come on, girls,” Applejack said. “I think saw some non-alcoholic cider at the drinks table.”

“Sound goods, AJ,” Sunset and the others followed the country girl to the table covered in drinks. As they walked Sunset heard multiple people wishing both Rarity and her luck

“Good luck Sunset,” Flash said as they arrived at the drinks table. “You too, Rarity”

“Thank you, Flash,” Rarity said.

“Um, yeah, thanks,” Sunset smiled at the boy, and then help the others collect their drinks. They chatted at they found a place to relax before joining the dancing. “How are you feeling Rarity? Nervous?”

“A little darling,” Rarity nodded. “But no matter who wins tonight, we’ll still be friends, right?”

“Of course, Rares. Now, let’s go and enjoy the party,” Sunset suggested, with the girls agreeing with her. After finishing off their drinks, they spent the next hour dancing and having fun. Soon it was time for the crowning the formal princess.

“OK, settle down everyone,” Celestia said, as she walked on to the stage, followed by Luna who was carrying the box that the crown sat in.

“Now we come to time of night where we announce the Fall Formal Princess,” Luna said, as she opened the box to reveal a gold crown with a golden flower on top of it. “You have all placed your votes, and number is in.”

“This year’s Fall Formal Princess is…” Celestia paused as she opened the envelope and read it. “Sunset King!”

“What!” Sunset was shocked as she stood frozen as the other students clapped for her.

“You won the crown, Sunset!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Well, go on, darling,” Rarity said as she gave Sunset a nudge towards the stage, snapping her out of her stupor. “Go and get your crown.”

“Congratulations, Sunset,” Celestia smiled as Luna place the crown on her daughter’s head. “You earned this.”

“Thanks Mom,” Sunset said, blushing and waving to the other students who were going crazy.

“Well, your highness,” Celestia teased. “Why don’t you go and have fun?”

“Ok, Mom,” Sunset giggled, before heading back over to her friends and continued to enjoy the rest of the night.

Dear Journal,

Its been two weeks since I was crowned fall formal princess. I still can’t believe I won, I really thought Rarity would win. Some people have even been calling me princess, along with my other nickname Phoenix, in a good way though.

Halloween was fun, I decided to go with the phoenix theme and dressed up as Jean Grey from X-Men. Rarity had fun making that costume.

Recently I’ve been getting a weird feeling every time I walk past the portal agency. I feel like something important is going to happen with the portal there. I just hope it’s not anything bad.

Well, that’s all, so let’s see how the rest of year goes.

Sunset out

Chapter 8

It was a week after winter break and the girls were gathered around what was slowly becoming their table at Sugarcube Corner. They listened as Rainbow Dash explain the idea she got during the holidays.

“Hey, guys,” Rainbow started. “I was thinking, ever since the talent show, that maybe we could start a band.”

“A band?” Rarity raised an eyebrow

“Yea!” Rainbow smiled. “We can all sing, AJ, Sunset and I can play guitar. You can play piano, and Fluttershy plays tambourine. And Pinkie can play just about any instrument”

“That is true,” Pinkie agreed

“So, what do you think?” Rainbow asked

“I think it’s worth a shot,” Sunset said

“I could come up with gorgeous outfits for us to wear,” Rarity suggested

“Oh, what the hay, let’s do it,” Applejack said

“Yeah! This is going to be so much fun!” Pinkie exclaimed

“Oh, um, I guess I can do it,” Fluttershy agreed timidly

“Are you sure, Flutters?” Sunset asked. “You don’t sound so sure”

“Oh, it’s just, I’m not really confident on stage,” She explained

“What!” Rainbow exclaimed. “But you did so well on stage at the talent show”

“That’s because I had my animal friends with me on the stage,” Fluttershy explained. “With them there, I wasn’t scared”

“Well then you shouldn’t have a problem in a band,” Pinkie said. “Because all your friends will be there, right next to you.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy eyes widened at the thought. “You know, you’re right. With my friends next to me, I won’t be scared”

“That’s the spirit!” Rainbow pumped her fist

“When should we do our first gig, if we do it?” Applejack asked. “So, we can start practicin’”

“How about at the spring carnival?” Pinkie suggested. “It’s still two months away. That way we’ll have plenty of time to get ready.” There was a round of agreement from the others

“Well, I’ve already had an idea for a song that we could play. It’s pretty awesome, I wrote it myself,” Rainbow boasted.

“I have a few songs in progress too, mainly for when I have nothing to do,” Fluttershy quietly said.

“Um, Dash, Flutters,” Sunset got their attention. “While, I too have a few songs I need to finish writing. How about we lay off writing original songs for now? Let’s just get used to being a band first. How about we pick a couple of songs that we all know? And maybe if we get them down pat, then we can look at an original song”

“That’s an excellent idea, Sunset,” Rarity agreed. “And by knowing what song we are doing; I can get a better idea of what outfits we are going to wear”

“I’ll talk to mum about us doing our first gig at the carnival,” Sunset suggested. “And also ask her about us using the music room whenever it’s available”

“Sound good. And I’m sure my Ma will let us use the barn on the weekends when we have time,” Applejack said

“Wait!” Pinkie exclaimed, causing all of them to turn to her. “What are we going to call ourselves. We need a band name”

“I already have a name in mind,” Rainbow said. “I was thinking Rainbow Boomers, because we are going to start off with a boom”

“Maybe not,” Applejack grimaced. “That sounds more like a racehorse name.”

“Not to mention that ‘Boomers’ is the name of the baby boom generation,” Rarity reminded her

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” Rainbow said looking down

“I know. How about we mix the two words. Kinda like when Pinkie mixed nervous and excited to make ‘nervicited’. What do you say Pinks,” Sunset turned to their excitable friend

“Hmm,” Pinkie rubbed her chin, thinking. It took a couple of minutes, in which the others continued to eat and drink. Finally, Pinkie finished thinking, she was excited about her idea. “Oohh, let’s take the ‘rain’ from rainbow, then the boom and ‘s’ from boomers. Put them together and we get ‘Rainbooms’”

“The Rainbooms?” Rainbow thought for a second, before saying, “I like it. What do you think?” She asked the other girls. They all agreed to the name. They then spent the rest of the afternoon going over songs they could play at the Spring Carnival

Later, Sunset was picked up by Celestia to head home. On the way, she turned to her mum

“Hey, mum,” Sunset started

“Yes, Sunset,” Celestia kept her eyes on the road

“What do you have in terms of music for the Spring Carnival?” Sunset asked

“Other than Vinyl putting on her DJ Pon3 hat on, not much. Why?” Celestia countered

“Well, you see. My friends and I have decided to start a band and we’re wondering if we could do our first gig at the Carnival,” Sunset explained

“Oh really?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “What’s the band’s name?”

“The Rainbooms,” Sunset smiled

“I see,” Celestia said. “Well, I will look at the schedule and figure out where we can put you and how many songs you can do”

“Oh, and obviously we are going need a place to practice,” Sunset suddenly remembered. “So, can we please use the music room whenever we can?”

“Yes, of course you can,” Celestia answered, as she pulled into their driveway. When they walked into the front room, they saw two men sitting down with Sombra, who looked up when they came in

“Dad,” Sunset slowly said, feeling unsure. “What’s going on?”

“Celestia, Sunset, these are Croaker and Bode,” Sombra introduced them, as the girls sat down. “They’re Unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries in the British Ministry of Magic.”

“British?” Sunset asked nervously. “Does that mean…?”

“Don’t worry, Miss King,” Croaker assured her. “We’re the only two who know who you are and what really happened that night”

“We are also two of a few people in Wizarding Britain that know about the Great Merge,” Bode said

“So, why are you here?” Celestia raised an eyebrow at them

“Well we found a Prophecy about you,” Croaker answered, pulling a sphere out of his pocket. “Dumbledore thinks it’s about your brother, and only Charles can remove it from the Hall of Prophecy. However, we only told him that to keep his nose out of our business”

“There’s a prophecy about me?” Sunset wondered, looking at the sphere

“Yes,” Bode replied. “Do you wish to hear it?”

Sunset looked at her parents, who nodded in encouragement. “I guess so”

“Already, here it is,” Croaker said, he then tapped the sphere with his wand. They listened as a foggy voiced started speaking…

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equal, but they will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…”

After listening to the prophecy, the King family sat there processing what they just heard. Sunset started to feel upset when she went over a certain part of the prophecy. “So, what that basically saying is that I have to kill Voldemort for it to be completed?”

“No! I will not allow it! Not my little phoenix!” Sombra said, hugging Sunset and Celestia close to him

“Don’t worry,” Croaker held up a hand to stop any hasty actions. “We’ve already had a close look at the prophecy, and we noticed that where it says, ‘the hand of the other’, it does specify if it means physical hand.”

“What does that mean?” Celestia worried her lip

“It means that, hypothetically, if she were to have someone else act as her ‘hand’, that should be enough to complete the prophecy without her having blood on her hands,” Bode explained. “And since we’re pretty much, well, trained to do this sort of thing, it’s only right that we offer our services to do it”

“That does sound better,” Sunset said thoughtfully. “But does that mean I will have to come out to Britain about being the Girl-Who-Lived?”

“No,” Croaker shook his head, pulling out a piece of parchment. “Like we said before, we are the only ones who know that information. We have already signed a special contract, that basically once we get back to Britain, the magic of the contract will erase our memories. The only thing we will remember is that the Girl-Who-Lived said yes to us being her ‘hand’ and that’s all.”

“Oh, Ok,” Sunset said, she then pointed at the parchment in his hand. “What’s that?”

“This is a contract, basically saying you have given permission for us to be your hand,” Croaker answered, showing the contract to the family. “We advise that you sign in your original name, because one, it was the name you had when the prophecy was made. And two, when it is revealed that you are the Girl-Who-Lived, when they go looking for you, they’ll be looking for a Harriet Potter not a Sunset King”

“Fair enough,” Sombra agreed with that plan

“OK,” Sunset said, leaning over to the coffee table and signed the parchment. Once that was done, she handed the contract back to the Unspeakables. The moment the contract was in their hands, the prophecy sphere glowed and then went dim. “What was that?”

“I do believe that was the prophecy accepting this arrangement,” Bode answered

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, we’ll now get out of your hair,” Croaker said as both men stood up to go. “It was nice meeting you Miss King, but let’s hope you never have to deal with this sort of thing again”

“Thank you,” Sunset smiled at the men, then she ran into the kitchen, coming out holding a pie. “I know you won’t remember who gave you this after you leave, but here’s an apple pie, straight from our neighbours the Apples, the best apple pie makers in Canterlot City”

“Thank you, Miss King,” Croaker took the pie from her. The two men walked out and the took a portkey back to England

“Well,” Sombra started. “This has been an interesting evening. Shall we just order in”

“I could go for some pizza,” Celestia agreed. “How about you Sunset?”

“Yea, sounds good,” Sunset nodded. “I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about that prophecy. The only thing I have to worry about now is what our new band is going to sing at the Spring Carnival”

“Band?” Sombra raised an eyebrow. As Sunset explain the Rainbooms to Sombra, Celestia order pizza. They spent the rest of the night eating pizza and watching movies, the prophecy now mostly forgotten.

The Monday after the unexpected visit, Sunset told the girls all about the prophecy, who all accepted Sunset’s decision, although Rainbow still thought it would have been awesome to fight about a bad guy.

It was soon time for the Spring Carnival. The newly named Rainbooms had spent the last couple of months practicing different songs. They picked cheerful songs to help cheer up the students who just got back from Crystal Prep after another defeat at the Friendship Games.

They even decided on an original song that Fluttershy had wrote. Rainbow really wanted to do one of her songs, but as Sunset pointed out that while they are good songs, they’re all about Rainbow, which is not what the school needed right now.

After a day of riding the Ferris wheel and roller-coaster, playing the side games, and taking funny photos in the photobooth, the girls walked out on stage for their debut as the Rainbooms. They played songs such as ‘Celebration’, ‘Shake It Off’ and ‘Firework’. After a great rendition of ‘Try Everything’, it was time for their original song

“Hey everyone,” Sunset spoke into the mic. “I hope you’ve enjoyed our music so far.” The audience cheered. Once they settled down, Sunset continued, “Just one more song tonight, and it’s an original song, written by our Fluttershy,” She smiled over at her friend, who was trying her best to hide behind her tambourine, before turning back to the crowd. “We hope you enjoy it.”

The girls started play and sing…

“Rainbooms:

Oh, aw aw oh, oh oh, aw oh uh

Oh, aw aw oh, oh oh

Looking forward to some fun

Knowing all our friends will come

‘Cause we’re here to spend the day

Everybody come and play

Let’s all pick a meeting place

And we’re gonna have to race

Everybody follow me

This is where we’re gonna be!

With my best friends, though we’re different

We feel like we still belong

And every day it makes our friendship strong

Let’s go find some games to win

Everybody’s joining in

‘Cause we’re having such a blast

Applejack:

Hey, did I just come in last?

Rainbooms:

Doesn’t matter win or lose

When we always are amused

My friends stand out in a crowd

Having fun and laughing loud!

With my best friends, we can depend

They will always follow through

It’s a perfect day for fun when I spend it with you

Oh, aw aw oh, oh, oh, aw oh uh

Oh, aw aw oh, oh, oh

Taking photos with my friends

Never want this day to end

But the time is going fast

So come on and make it last

Get the band up on the stage

Doesn’t matter what your age

Hear the music, now’s your chance

Everybody start to dance!

With my best friends, though we’re different

We feel like we still belong

And every day it makes our friendship strong

With my best friends, we can depend

They will always follow through

There’s a guarantee for fun when I spend it with you”

The crowd went wild when they finished. The girls smiled at each other and moved to the front of the stage, where they gave a big bow. Soon it was time go home.

“That was a great performance, Sunset,” Sombra commented as they drove home.

“Thanks,” Sunset blushed as the praise

“I hope you know that after that, people will be expecting you to perform at events like this,” Celestia pointed out

“Maybe not all time, but we will see,” Sunset shrugged, still smiling. She didn’t stop smiling for the whole night, not even when she went to sleep.

Dear journal,

It’s almost time for summer and I am so excited. It helps that we now have a new member of the family. Aunt Luna finally had her baby, and it was a girl, meaning they had to go with Uncle Discord’s name choice, Screwball. With both Aunt and Uncle’s joker personalities, something tells me she’s going to be a handful.

As for summer, Dad’s decided we are going to Disney World over in Florida! I can’t wait! I’ve already decided to keep an eye out for either a Merida or Black Widow costume for Halloween. Dad also said if I’m good and if we have time, on the way back, we might stop at Disneyland here in California. In other words, it’s going to be a Disney theme summer for me. The girls have already asked me to take lots of photos.

Who knows, maybe I’ll get some inspirations for the band while I’m there. Anyway, that’s it for now.

Sunset King

Chapter 9

The portal under the Canterlot City’s Portal Agency was truly a marvel. Instead of being connected to the main world of the universe beyond it, it was connected to that universe’s spirit world. Most interesting was that for some reason, that the scientists of the Agency were still trying to figure out, the dead human spirits of that world always seem to regain their physical bodies when they pass through the portal to this world.

Due to these spirits turned living beings, the Agency learnt plenty about the world beyond the spirit one. From what they had been told, the universe was one where people could ‘bend’ one of the elements of air, water, fire or earth. The only person who could bend all four was someone called the Avatar, a peacekeeper of sorts. It was known that the Avatar always reincarnated once their life came to an end. The world was split by element. There was the two Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads.

The spirits as they came through explained the current war going on in their now old world. The war was because of the Fire Nation becoming greedy and wanting to expand their territory.

A fair few of the people who have come through the portal were past Avatar. One of these Avatars was the previous one, Roku. Like most of the Avatars, Roku was able to go back into the spirit world when needed, mostly to keep an eye on the new Avatar, who was currently frozen in an iceberg. He also was keeping an eye on his current descendants, who were the children of the current Fire Lord. When not in the spirit world he did mediation workshops over at CHS

It was just after the summer solstice, that Roku came back from the spirit and he was not alone. Tirek was there to greet Roku, having gotten his message ahead of time, and watch as the older man came through the portal with a stretcher floating behind him. On the stretcher was a young teenager, about 13 years of age. The most noticeable thing on the teen was the bandage covering the side of his face.

“We got your message, Roku,” Tirek said, motioning to the nearby medic. “What exactly happened?”

Roku went on to explained what happened as the medic bought the teen to the infirmary. He explained how the teen was his great grandson and was the crown prince of the Fire Nation, Prince Zuko.

At age 11, Zuko’s mom went missing and was thought dead. Just recently, after his 13th birthday on the summer solstice, Zuko had managed to convince his uncle to allow him into a war meeting, thinking it was a good way to practice for when he became Fire Lord someday, as long as he was quiet.

During the war meeting, a general had suggested to use a division of new recruits as a distraction while an older, more experienced division came around the back. Basically, using the new recruits as cannon fodder. Zuko strongly disagreed with this plan and spoke out against it, however it was not his turn to speak out and there were consequences.

Zuko was challenged to an Agni Kai, a fire duel, for disrespecting. Thinking it was against the older general, Zuko accepted. It wasn’t until he turned around in the arena, that he realized the truth. Because he had spoken out in the Fire Lord’s war room, it was the Fire Lord he had respected, so it was his father that he had to fight. But like any young boy, he refused to fight his own father. But Ozai saw this as a weakness, and so as punishment he burned the side of Zuko’s face and banished him.

Unbeknown to everyone, the banishment was a front. While Zuko’s uncle, Iroh, was sorting out a ship and a trustworthy crew that they could use for Zuko’s banishment, Ozai had some people who were completely loyal to him take Zuko while he was still unconscious and dump him somewhere in the Earth Kingdom where Ozai hoped Zuko would succumb to his injuries.

“With the help from some of the other Avatars, I was able to bring through the spirit world and into this one,” Roku explained. “In hopes that he can at least have a decent life here, where he is safe.”

“I see,” Tirek said. “Well, if you can give us a few more details, I’ll get on to making him all the paperwork he’ll need to be an actual person here.”

“Of course,” Roku nodded at him. “I’ve transferred some information about this world into his mind, so he is at least has the same knowledge that boys his age know. I’ve also transfer some of my memories, so he can learn his relationship to me.”

“With that information dump, I’m going assume that means he’ll be in a coma for a bit, correct?” Tirek sent the info to the medic

“Yes,” Roku answered. “Now, I’m wondering if it will be alright if Zuko stays with you and Chrysalis.”

“Not that we won’t mind,” Tirek raised an eyebrow. “But why not he stays with you?”

“Well, I’m old and getting on in the years,” Roku explained. “Also, there’s my obligations in the spirit world. It’s not really legal for me to leave a 13-year-old at home by himself.”

“Fair enough,” Tirek nodded. “Well, I’ll talk to Chrys, but I’m sure she’ll say yes. We’ve got a bit more room now especially since Pharynx went off to college and with Thorax in his last year of high school, it’s going to get a bit lonely at home, so having a kid again would good for the both of us.”

“Of course,” Roku smiled. “Well, I’m going to sit by Zuko, while you go call your wife.”

“You do that,” Tirek said and watched the old Avatar walked towards the infirmary, before pulling his phone out. “Chrys, sweetie, we need to talk.”

A week later, Zuko finally woke up. It took him a few minutes to figure out where he was. He noticed he could only see out of his right eye, he reached up his hand to his left side and felt a bandage over his left eye. He heard a throat clear to his right. He looked over to see an older man with white hair and beard. He recognized him from the memories he was given

“Avatar Roku?” He asked the man

“Just Roku,” Roku smiled at him, and then became slightly firm when he saw Zuko trying to sit up. “Take it easy, you’ve been out of it for just over a week”

“Oh,” Zuko said as he settles down in a seated position, he then looked back at Roku. “So, you’re my Great Grandfather?”

“I am,” Roku nodded

“And you brought me to another world?” Zuko was going over the information and memories in his head

“I did,” Roku said patiently

“Why?” Was all Zuko could ask

“So, you could have a decent life, away from the war, away from the expectations and away from Ozai,” Roku explained. “Here, you just having to worry about being a normal teenager boy”

“But where am I going to stay?” Zuko asked worryingly. “From some of the memories you gave me, you still have obligations back in the spirit world and you can’t leave me by myself”

“No, I can’t,” Roku agreed. “But I talk to my friend Tirek Lord, and he said he and his wife Chrysalis would be happy for you to stay with them.”

“Oh, ok,” Zuko was a little unsure

“They’re just outside with the nurse, if you would like to meet them,” Roku suggested

“Yea, that would be a good idea,” Zuko agreed

Over the next week Zuko got to know Tirek and Chrysalis along with their sons. Zuko found it to be an interesting experience to now be the youngest. Thorax said that if he had any questions, he could ask him, while Pharynx simply said that if anyone messed with him, he could go to him and he would sort them out. He also got to know Roku some more, to the point he had started calling him Grandpa

As for his injury, the doctors managed to save his eyesight and hearing. However, even though they were able to lessen some of the damage to the skin, he would still have a scar across the left side of his face. Though they did say, that later, they could see about maybe reshaping him a new ear. After getting the all-clear, Zuko could finally move into Tirek and Chrysalis’ house

Soon it was time for Zuko to start going to CHS. He was a little nervous as Chrysalis pulled into the parking lot of the school. It didn’t help that Roku said he had told the school about the scar.

“It’s just so they are not caught off guard when they first see you,” Roku had explained.

“Now,” Chrysalis started as they walked towards the school. “Our first stop is Principal Celestia’s office, where you’ll get your locker number and combo”

“Ok,” Zuko said as he looked around at the school, but he ducked his head when he noticed some of the other students looking his way. He looked back up as they walked into the office. The older woman behind the desk was obviously the principal, but his eyes were drawn to the girl with fiery hair standing next to the desk talking to the older woman. The girl looked up after finishing whatever it was, they were discussing when they noticed Chrysalis and he walk in. For a split second, gold meet jade as their eyes met, both suddenly having a slight warmth in their chests. They shook their heads and got to introducing themselves

“Um,” Zuko started, waving his hand a little. “Hello, Zuko here”

Sunset couldn’t help but giggle at that, before saying, “Hi, I’m Sunset”

“Here you go Zuko,” Celestia said, passing him a slip of paper. “That’s your locker number and combo for the lock”

“Thank you,” Zuko nodded, looking at the numbers

“What number is your locker,” Sunset asked. Zuko showed her the paper. “Oh, that’s just a few doors down from my locker, I could show you where it is, and then we can head to homeroom”

“Thanks, I would appreciate that,” Zuko smiled at her

“Well,” Chrysalis said turning to Zuko. “Have a great day and I’ll pick you up after school, unless you want to hang out with any new friends. If that’s the case, just text me what time and where to pick you up. Ok?”

“Ok,” Zuko nodded, before Chrysalis walked out of the office

“Sunset, I suggest that you show Zuko his locker now, because it’s getting very close to homeroom time” Celestia pointed out the clock showing about 10 minutes to homeroom

“Oh, right, yeah,” Sunset blushed before motioning for Zuko to follow her. “We better get going. See you later, mum”

“You too, sweetie,” Celestia smiled before turning to her computer

“She’s your mother?” Zuko asked as they walked to the lockers

“Well, adopted mother,” Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “But that’s more of a technicality.”

“I see,” Zuko said, he looked around as they got close to their lockers, he noticed that everyone were looking at him and then turning away.

When Sunset noticed where he was looking, she placed a hand on his shoulder and explained. “Don’t worry, Roku told us about your scar. Mind you, not about how you got it, that’s your story to tell when you’re ready. No, he just told us that you had a scar on your face. So, anyone is just getting a look at the scar now, that way the novelty of the scar will fade, and you’ll just be like any other student, just with a scar.”

“Oh, ok,” Zuko was relieved. “I thought they were pitying me or something”

“No,” Sunset shook her head. “While we do get the occasional bully, most of the time we’re a friendly school. Anyway, this is your locker”

“Thanks,” Zuko said as he spun the combo and opened his locker

“I’m just going to get my books and then we can walk to homeroom together, since you probably don’t know where it is,” Sunset suggested

“Sounds good,” Zuko nodded, and watch as she walked 3 doors down to her locker

They walked to homeroom, where Zuko was introduced. The morning was the typical morning of classes and soon it was time for lunch. After getting his lunch from the lunch lady, he looked around the cafeteria trying to figure out where he was going to sit

“Zuko! Over Here!” He looked over to see Sunset waving him over. He walked over to the table and sat down next to Sunset and looked down the table to the 5 other girls

“Zuko, these are my friends,” Sunset pointed to each girl. “Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Girls, this is Zuko, the guy I was telling you about”

“Hi,” Zuko shyly waved at them

“Oh my gosh!” Pinkie exclaimed with a big smile, as she pulled a notebook out of her hair. “New friend! I must throw you a ‘Welcome to CHS party’!”

“Whoa, take it easy Pinkie,” Rainbow said placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder, trying to calm her down. “At least let the guy get used to being here”

“Oh, ok,” Pinkie settled down, before turning sheepishly to Zuko. “Sorry”

“Um, that’s ok,” Zuko accepted the apology, still trying to figure what just happened

“Don’t worry,” Applejack said. “That was just Pinkie being herself. You’ll get used to it.”

“So, Zuko,” Rarity said. “How do you like Canterlot City so far?”

“Great,” Zuko smiled. “I’ve really enjoyed last month or so. But…” His smiled fell. “I’ll admit I still sometimes miss the fire nation”

“Fire Nation?” Fluttershy asked. “Is that a country in your world?”

“Yes,” Zuko replied. “It’s where I was born. I don’t know if you know this or not, but before I got my scar, I was the crowned prince of the fire nation”

“Wow,” Rarity looked at him with sparkles in her eyes. “A real live prince”

“Um,” Zuko was uncomfortable suddenly. “If it’s alright with you, I rather be treated as a normal guy, please”

“Fair enough,” Applejack nodded with the others agreeing

“Hey, are you busy after school?” Rainbow asked

“Not that I know of,” Zuko said after thinking

“Cool,” Rainbow smiled. “Do you want to hang out with us. We were just going to go to The Sweet Café for some snacks and then head to the park for a bit”

“Oh, ok,” Zuko said as he pulled his phone out. “I just got to let Chrysalis know, so she knows where to pick me up”

Soon it was the end of the school day. Zuko was led to the Sweet Café, where they picked up some takeaway milkshakes and cupcakes, before heading to the Canterlot park. While they sat and ate, the girls asked Zuko questions about the fire nation and its culture, which Zuko was happy to answer. When he got to the firebending, the girls were curious

“Can you show us some moves?” Pinkie asked, sipping on her milkshake

“Um, ok, but I can’t firebend here,” Zuko pointed out

“That’s ok,” Sunset smiled. “You can just do the moves and I’m sure we can just imagine the fire”

“Well, if you insist,” Zuko said standing up. He got into position before going through the basic forms. The girls watched in fasciation, and then clapped after he was finished

“Hm,” Rainbow rubbed her chin. “Hey, Sunset. Is it just me, or did some of those moves look like the forms you’ve been learning in that kung fu class you’ve been going to?”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “Now that you mention it, it did look similar to my kung fu class”

“Kung fu? That’s a type of hand-to-hand combat, isn’t it?” Zuko asked as he sat down

“Yep,” Sunset answered. “It’s called Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. If you want, I could show you some forms and show you how similar it is to your firebending forms”

“I would like that,” Zuko smiled. He watched as Sunset went through some forms and he had to agree, it did look similar. They spend a few more minutes talking about firebending and kung fu forms.

“Hey,” Rainbow got everyone’s attention. “Did any of you watch the news last night?”

“You mean about what happened over in the UK,” Applejack replied. “At that magical school, Hogwarts I think they said”

“That’s the one,” Rainbow nodded

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “I saw that too. Apparently, there was a basilisk on the loose and despite some students being petrified, they didn’t do anything until two ‘pureblood’ wizards were killed.”

“And to hear it was all because one of the other students were possessed by dark magic was terrible,” Fluttershy hugged her rabbit angel closer to her

“All I can say is thank goodness none of us go to that school,” Rarity wiped her hands of frosting. “To not do anything until someone ‘important’ is killed is absolutely ridiculous”

“You know,” Sunset smiled. “Its times like these that I’m actually grateful that my biological father gave me up. It led to me coming here and meeting all you. And it keeps me away from all that blood purity nonsense over there”

“And we’re happy to have you here, Sunset,” Rarity smiled back at her and they all gathered for a big group hug

“Anyway,” Rainbow said pulling out of the hug and checking her watch. “I think I should probably be heading home”

All around there was agreement and they all called their families to come pick them up. After a final goodbye, they all headed home

Dear Journal,

Fall formal is coming up and I’ve decided to not participate this year. I’m going to let someone else be princess. The portal is opening that week too. I’ve asked what I’m going to do, and I’ve said nothing. I’d rather wait until I have all my memories back before I worry about the other world

Zuko decided to join me in the kung fu classes with me. That should be interesting. I don’t know why but whenever I’m around Zuko my heart flutters for some weird reason. There’s just something about his gold eyes that I can’t put my finger on it. I’m sure we’ll find out someday.

Well that’s all for now.

Sunset King

Chapter 10

Over the next couple of months, Zuko managed to settle into his new life, to the point that he was able to tell all his new friends how he got his scar. They were all very understanding, and some may have had murderous thoughts about a current Fire Lord. He was so settled that he started calling Tirek and Chrysalis ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’. They had already discussed adoption, and had agreed to just a paper adoption, they would leave possible blood adoption for a later date. Zuko had been given the adoption papers as a present for Christmas, and he spend the day with the biggest grin on his face.

Today though, as he finished getting ready for school, all he could think about was how to ask Sunset out. He had already asked the school’s resident garden expert Wallflower for the perfect flower to give Sunset. He looked over at the beautiful Fire Lily with a blue wrap around it’s stem. He had been happy when Roku said he could get it for Zuko, they had been his favourite flowers, he just hoped that Sunset liked them too.

Soon it was time for school, all through the drive, Chrysalis couldn’t help throwing him amused and knowing looks as he fidgeted nervously in his seat.

“Don’t worry Zuko,” Chrys assured him as she parked outside the school. “Just be yourself and ask her, ok?”

“Ok,” Zuko replied, taking a deep breath, before getting out of the car and walking towards the school entrance. As he walked by, Flash and his bandmates along with a few other students who had seen the lily, all gave him the thumbs up and a few ‘good lucks’.

Soon he was in front of his locker getting his books out before turning towards where Sunset’s locker was. And sure enough, there she was, beautiful as ever. She was currently admiring her new charms from Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Rainbow had given her a lightning bolt and a soccer boot, while Rarity had gotten her a diamond and dress.

Sunset looked up as he approached, and just like all the other times their eyes met, they both felt a slight fluttering in their chests. She ducked her head to hide the slight blush on her cheeks. Zuko stopped in front of her, a hand behind his back, while his other rubbed the back of his head nervously. Neither teen noticed as the Rainbooms and FlashDrive all poked their heads around the corners to watch. They had all been waiting for this, mainly because most of them had a bit of money in the current ‘Sunko ship’ pool that Pinkie had started.

“Hi, Zuko,” Sunset shyly greeted him.

“H-hi, S-sunset,” Zuko stuttered nervously. He pulled his hand out from behind, revealing the fire lily. “This is for you.”

“Oh, wow,” Sunset gasped as she took the beautiful fire coloured flower from him. “It’s gorgeous!”

“It’s a Fire Lily,” Zuko explained. “I saw it and thought of you.”

“Thank you,” Sunset was blushing even more now.

“Look,” Zuko took another deep breath, and then went ahead before he lost his courage. “I was wondering if you were busy this Saturday?”

“This Saturday?” Sunset looked up from admiring the lily. “Not that I know of. Why?” Though she had an idea as to why.

“Well, how would you like to hang out?” Zuko suggested. “See a movie, have dinner and maybe a walk in the park.”

“You mean…” Sunset slowly said. “Like a date? As girlfriend and boyfriend?”

“Um, yeah, if you want to,” was all Zuko could a say.

She looked down at the fire lily for a moment, before looking back up at him with a beautiful smile that made her eyes twinkle. “I would love to go on a date and be your girlfriend.”

“Great,” Zuko said, with slight bit of relief. “I’ll meet you outside the cinema at 5?”

“Sounds good,” Sunset agreed.

They both blushed a little when they realized how close they were now, thinking about what they should do now. They started to lean in for a small kiss, before they heard someone sighing. They both looked up and blushed deeper when they saw multiple eyes watching them with big smiles.

Rarity, who had been the one to sigh, looked like she had hearts in her eyes. She sighed again. “How romantic.”

“Yeaah,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Hate to be that guy, but it’s almost time for homeroom.”

“Hey, Rarity, do you have a clip I can borrow,” Zuko turned to the fashionista. She took one out of her bag and handed it to him. He took the lily out of Sunset’s hand and used the clip to place it in her hair. She smiled at him after looking at her hair in the locker mirror and they followed their friends to homeroom, hand in hand.

Zuko stood in the King’s living room waiting for Sunset, wearing a red shirt over a pair of black jeans, and a pair of black boots. He had thankfully survived the interrogation from Sunset’s dad.

He looked over to where Thorax was sitting. It was agreed by the parents that since they were still 13 years old, they weren’t quite old enough to go on a date by themselves, so they asked Thorax to act as chaperone. Thorax had told Zuko afterwards that he would give them a bit of space to enjoy their date.

He looked up as Sunset descended the stairs and he couldn’t keep his jaw from dropping. She was wearing an aqua coloured dress that just bought out her eyes. She wore small black boots and, of course, her now signature leather jacket.

She’s beautiful, was all Zuko could think of. He shook his head when she reached him. “Wow,” he breathed. “You look beautiful.”

Sunset blushed as she said, “Thanks.”

“Alright you two,” Celestia said as she walked over with a camera. “Let’s get a photo of you two about to go on your first date.”

The two teens blushed but stood together as Celestia took a couple of photos. After promising to be back by 9pm, they left to head to the cinema. Although out the ride they couldn’t help but steal glances at each other, still not quite believing that they were going on their first date, while Thorax smirked knowingly as he watched through the rear-view mirror as he parked in front of the cinema.

‘Zuko: I never had this feeling before

She gives me shakes and shivers I can’t ignore

And I see that there’s more now

Than just running free

Sunset: I never felt my heart beat so fast

I’m thinking of him first and of myself last

And how happy I want him to be’

After the movie, they walked hand in hand as they slowly walked through the park towards the new burger place on the other side of the park. They stopped every few minutes to admire the scenery, and almost kissing before blushing and pulling away. Thorax, walking just a small distance behind them, shook his head wondering when these two would finally kiss.

‘Zuko: It’s amazing someone in my life

Just might be loving me

I didn’t know that I could feel this way

Sunset: It’s so crazy

Something in my life

Is better than a dream

I didn’t know that I could feel this way’

They arrived at the burger place, Bob’s Grill, and found a small booth with a good view of the park. Thorax sat in a booth in the corner, close enough to chaperone but far enough to not interrupt the date.

The teens order they burgers and a large shared chocolate milkshake, not noticing the knowing look the waitress gave them. They sat and talked about all sorts of things as they waited for their meal, laughing at jokes and simply enjoying each other’s company.

‘Zuko: She makes me warm and happy inside

Sunset: He smiles, and I get dizzy and starry eyed

Both: All these feelings I have

Have me asking

Sunset: Can this be love?

Zuko: Can this be love?’

When their meal arrived, they blushed slightly when they saw that the waitress and cook had added heart decorations to their burgers and drink. They eventually just shrugged before enjoying their burgers.

‘Sunset: It’s crazy

Both: I can hardly speak

Whenever he/she says hi

Sunset: I didn’t know that I could feel

Zuko: I never dreamed that I could feel

Both: I didn’t know that I could feel

This way’

As they were sharing their milkshake, the tips of their noses touched for a moment and both felt a small spark shoot through them, leaving them blushing and wondering what that was about. After sharing a bowl of banana split, Thorax drove them home. Thorax left them just outside the door, giving the teens a moment.

“I had a really great time tonight,” Sunset said after a moment of silence

“Yeah,” Zuko agreed, rubbing the back of his head. “Me too”

And finally, they leaned in, and after a small hesitation, their lips met. It was like fireworks were being set off, and it just felt right. When they pulled apart, they were surprised to find that they were both faintly glowing. They turned when the front door opened to reveal Roku, his eyes twinkling with knowledge.

“I had a hunch that this might happened,” He said. He gestured inside. “Come and I will explain it.”

Dear Journal

Last night was great. We watched a movie, walked in the park and ate dinner. But it was after the date, that things took an interesting turn.

Zuko and I are soulmates!

After our first date, Roku explained it to us. It kinda explains the feelings I was having whenever I passed the Agency building, where the portal to Zuko’s world was. I told the girls about it and they were all fine with it. Of course, Rarity spend a good whole minute fangirling, saying how romantic it all was. Something tells me this bond is going to make our life even more interesting.

Well, that’s all I can say,

Sunset King

Chapter 11

Dear Journal,

Last night’s Halloween party was awesome. I dressed up as Black Widow and Zuko dressed up as Iron Man. Zuko also decided to dye his hair with a streak of red, and I have to say, it looks good on him.

Later this semester, we’ve been told that we’ll be starting on elemental magic. I know Zuko’s excited to see if his firebending has transferred over into his main affinity. Our friends are hoping so, because it would mean that maybe their main affinities would become their bending if we ever went to Zuko’s world.

Speaking of Zuko’s firebending, apparently Roku has managed to find a spot in the spirit world that allows bending, so he’s been giving Zuko lessons. I hope this means that if my affinity transfers into bending, I could train with him. That would be great.

Well, here’s hoping.

Dear Journal,

We’ve just returned from the spirit world, and it’s official, I’m a firebender. The girls are all benders too. Rainbow and Pinkie are Airbenders, Rarity and Fluttershy are Waterbenders and Applejack is an Earthbender.

Roku has talked with our parents and is going to talk to some of the previous Avatars to give us all training in our elements. Including Avatar Wan, the very first Avatar. It’s going to be awesome!

On others news Aunt Ruby just gave birth to twins. Little Toby and Jack. Something tells me, they’re going to be little terrors. Everyone has already started calling them the troublesome two. I can’t wait to meet them in person this summer.

Dear Journal,

What a week I just had. Over the weekend, Roku took me and Zuko to Sun Warrior Island in the other world to meet the firebending masters. Imagine our surprise when we found out that the masters were two dragons, Ran and Shaw, despite Zuko saying they were extinct in his world. Zuko was ecstatic to find out that his uncle hadn’t killed the last of the dragons but instead said it to protect the masters. I certainly had fun when we performed the Dragon Dance together with the dragons.

On our way back, we stopped at the training area in the spirit world. While there, we were going to do a bit of training, but had to stop when Zuko’s flames came out multi-coloured, just like the dragons. It seems the dragons deem him worthy of their fire.

And of course, the CHS gossip vine caught wind of it. Now, people have started calling Zuko Canterlot High’s Dragon Prince, just like they’ve been calling me Canterlot High’s Phoenix Princess after I won the fall formal two weeks ago. At least I’m not alone in that.

This weekend, the girls and I have a gig over at the hospital, where we are singing Christmas songs in the kid’s ward. That’ll be fun.

Speaking of Christmas, Dad’s invited Zuko’s family to join ours in Australia. It’s going to be a chaotic Christmas. I just hope Zuko and I can get some alone time, though knowing my luck, we’ll probably be put on babysitting duty.

Dear Journal,

After seeing the murals on old silos in Australia, Zuko and I decided to become street artists. Well, more me as the artist, Zuko is more an actor than anything, but he can sculpt, he’s going to make small sculptures to go with my murals. Of course, we did get permission from our parents, the police and the mayor.

Everyone decided that because we are underage, we would do it under different alias. After reading one of Zuko’s favourite plays Love Amongst the Dragons, we decided on the names Red Empress and Blue Spirit. I even got a red version of Zuko’s Dark Water Spirit mask made, to add a bit of mystery to our little operation. We did show the police our masks, just so they know who we are.

Our first mural will be this weekend and after talking to Mr and Mrs Cake, and getting their permission, we choose the wall next to the Sweet Café. Our friends already know about it, they are very excited. I think most people who know us will know we did the mural and sculpture, it’s just the tourists that won’t. It might even draw more tourists to the area.

I can’t wait for this weekend; it’s going to be fun.

Dear Journal,

Today was my 16th birthday and what a day it was. Big pool party with all my friends! A massive chocolate birthday cake made by Pinkie of course. The presents were great, my favourites were from Zuko and Dad. Zuko gave me two, the first was a necklace that was part of a set, a yin and yang one, only instead of little dots like normal, the white one had a dragon on it and the black had a phoenix. I was given the phoenix one.

The second present Zuko gave me, was a pet. That’s right, a pet. An adorable one too. He gave me a baby leopard gecko, which I’ve called Ray, because he’s like a ray of sunshine. Thankfully, Zuko got my parents’ permission before getting Ray and Hedwig doesn’t seem to mind him.

Dad’s present was the best. He’s going to give me motorbike lessons, since his present was a flame-themed motorbike. I’m amazed Mum let him get me one, but somehow Dad managed to talk to her. I can’t wait to start those lessons. Overall, it was an awesome party, then again it was planned by Pinkie Pie, so of course it was awesome.

New school year starts in a few weeks and I can’t wait. This year the Friendship Games will be hosted at CHS and I’m old enough to sign up for them. Hopefully we can win it this year. I’ve decided not to sign up for Fall Formal Princess, two crowns are enough for now.

Here’s hoping for another great school year.

Sunset King

Sunset placed her journal back on her bookshelf. She gave both Hedwig and Ray a pet before getting into bed. She looked around at all her friends spread out in her room, sleeping. She smiled as she laid down and drifted off to sleep thinking, friendship and love really are amazing

That night, at midnight, just on the outskirts of Canterlot City, a rift opened. Out of that rift came what looked like three teenage girls, not knowing where or what they were, they slowly made their way into the nearby woods. By the time the portal agents arrived, after picking up on the anomaly, the girls had disappeared, but the rift’s signature lingered. Finding the signature to have a magical signature like the CHS portal, the agents took a sample of lingering magic and took it back to HQ to be tested. By the time they got the answers to the rift, they would have a lot more knowledge of the world beyond the CHS portal than before

Author's Note

And here's the last chapter. In the future, I will do side stories that expand on some of the journal entries past, present and future. Let me know if there are any entries you would like to see and I'll see what I can do. To be continued in Phoenix Magic: Equestria Girls
PS. For those curious, here's my inspiration for Sunset's new necklace:

Chapter 6

“Why don’t you take a break from studying, Sunset? Go out and make some friends, OK?”

“Ok, Princess.”

“There’s something wrong with that pony.”

“I heard that she eats meat.”

“Well, I heard that she sometimes walks on her hind legs.”

“Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer. Do you want to be friends?”

“Ew, no. I don’t want to be friends with a meat-eating freak like you.”

“I’ve tried to make friends, just like you asked.”

“Did you really try?”

“Sunset, how can you make friends, when you keep doing these things?”

“But why do I have to change how I am? What’s the point of friends, if they can’t accept me for being me?”

“Weirdo!”

“Freak!”

Sunset jolted awake. She sat in bed trying to regain her breath. While over the years, she had been getting murmurs, this was the first time she got words in her dreams. Pony? She thought. Is that what I was on the other side of the portal? A… Pony? She got out of bed and walked over to her desk to write in her dream journal and made a note to add this revelation to her report to Chrysalis.

Sunset got ready for school. She looked down at her new clothes, made by her friend Rarity of course. She wore an orange skirt with a purple and yellow stripe and a purple shirt with a two-toned sun. To complete the look Rarity had given her a pair of boots with a purple flames design and a leather jacket with studs in the collar.

She also put on her bracelets, which now had four new charms. From Fluttershy she was given a butterfly and a lion, and from Pinkie, a balloon and a cannon. When asked, Pinkie explained it was a charm of her party cannon. After making sure she was ready, she walked downstairs for breakfast.

“Morning Mum,” She said. “Morning Dad.”

“Morning, sweetie,” Celestia replied. “I like the new look.”

“Thanks,” Sunset smiled. “Rarity decided to give all of us a new look for high school.”

“Are you excited, little phoenix?” Sombra asked, as he placed breakfast in front of everyone.

“Yep,” she replied. “I still can’t believe I get to go to the junior high section of CHS.”

“Yes, it is exciting isn’t it?” Celestia smiled. “It will certainly be easier to drop off and pick you up now.” Sunset simply giggled before digging into her food.

“Hoot!” They turned to watch Hedwig fly in through the nearby open window, claws full of letters and the newspaper. Ever since Sunset was given her, Hedwig had really become part of the family. She even had her own pet passport for when the family went to Australia to visit Sombra’s family. Thanks to Hedwig, there wasn’t many rats and mice around both Crystal Winery and Sweet Apple Acres.

Hedwig had also become an assistant in a way for Sunset. Whenever Sunset spent too much time on homework or reading, Hedwig always found ways to get her to stop, whether it was taking the pencil from her hand or taking the book away and hiding it. She was always sitting on the mailbox very morning, ready to collect the mail from the mailman. This morning was no different.

“Good Morning, Hedwig,” Sunset passed a piece of bacon to the owl. “You didn’t give the mailman too much trouble, did you?”

“Hoot!” Hedwig simply looked away, as if she was saying ‘maybe’. Hedwig had recently gotten into the habit of sometimes pranking the mailman. It certainly kept them on their toes.

As she ate her food, Sunset remembered her dream. “Oh, I had another dream last night. Still no visuals, but it did hint at something.”

“Really, what sort of hint?” Sombra asked, looking up from the newspaper. Sunset explained what she had heard in her dream

“Hmm,” Celestia said, rubbing her chin. “Pony? It would explain the video footage of when you came through the portal. It did show you trying to walk on all fours.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Sunset agreed. “I’ve already written a note for my report for Chrysalis”

“Good,” Celestia nodded. “Though, I have to say, teasing someone for what they eat or how they walk is horrible. And telling someone to change just to make friends is just ridiculous.”

“I agree,” Sombra said. “Thankfully, that’s all behind you now, and you are here, where you are accepted for being you.”

“You’re right,” Sunset smiled. “Thanks, dad.”

Soon it was time to leave for work and school. As they arrived at CHS, Sunset could see her friends standing in front of the Wondercolt statue, all in their new outfits.

“G’day, everyone,” She greeted. The girls greeted her back.

“Hi, Sunset,” Pinkie said. “How was Australia?”

“It was totally ace!” Sunset grinned. “Aunt Ruby’s wedding was beaut. Thank goodness, you gave me that dress Rarity, so thanks for that,” she showed them her photos of the wedding.

“You’re welcome Darling,” Rarity said. “And I must say your aunt’s dress looks absolutely gorgeous. Though, I must ask, why are you talking like that?”

“Sorry,” Sunset apologised, rubbing the back of her head. “But you should know by now, that whenever I visit family in Australia, I tend to pick up the slang. Not to mention, dad’s been teaching me.”

“That slang sounds so weird,” Rainbow commented.

“Speaking of weird,” Sunset started. “I want to tell you about my dream last night…” She told them about her dream and what her parents thought about it. The girls agreed with her parents about the idea of changing one’s personality just to make friends.

“Though,” Fluttershy said. “When you think about it, if you are right about you possibly being a bit of a bully before you came here. Maybe the fact you were bullied for being you, you became a bully to protect yourself. It’s not that unusual.”

“You know, I think you might be right, Flutters,” Sunset agreed. “Anyway, we better get going. We don’t want to be late for the first day of high school.”

As they walked to homeroom, Rarity couldn’t help but want a little more gossip, “By the way, darling, I couldn’t help but notice that Vice Principle Luna is looking a little wider than normal.”

“I figured you would notice that before everyone else,” Sunset teased. “But, yes, as you have probably guessed, Aunt Luna is pregnant.”

“Oh my gosh!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I should organise a super duper awesome ‘Congratulations, You’re Pregnant’ Party!”

“Sorry, Pinkie, but we already had a small party,” Sunset apologised. “But I’m sure Aunt Luna would appreciate some help with the baby shower.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie,” Pinkie saluted.

“Any name ideas?” Applejack asked

“It’s already been decided that if is a boy Aunt Luna would choose the name,” Sunset said, as they sat down at their desks. “And if it’s a girl, Uncle Discord chooses the name. Although I think Aunt Luna is regretting agreeing to that.”

“How come?” Fluttershy asked.

“Because his idea of a good girl’s name is Screwball,” Sunset said grimacing at the suggestion.

“Screwball?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Screwball.” Sunset confirmed.

“Wow.”

As the girls decided to finish that topic, the homeroom teacher walked in.

“Ok, settle down everyone,” she greeted the class. “Now, my name is Snowdrop Honey, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the year. I have your schedules right here, but before I give them to you, I’ll through roll call.” She did rollcall and then gave them their schedules. As they walked out of the room, they all looked at their timetable.

“So, what do we have first?” Rainbow asked.

“We have potions first,” Applejack answered. And with that they headed for potions. As they were walking, they passed the noticed board, where Pinkie spotted a bright flier with balloons, fireworks and a crown on it.

“Oohh,” Pinkie pointed it out for the other girls. “Look, it’s a flier for some kind of party.”

“That would be for the Fall Formal,” Sunset explained. “Mum said that they have every year and it’s open to all years.”

“Oh my,” Rarity said, eyes sparkling. “I can already think of so many ideas for dresses.”

“What’s with the crown?” Applejack asked

“Oh, that’s for the Fall Formal Princess,” Sunset answered.

“Fall Formal Princess?” Rarity looked intrigued.

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “You sign up and then leading up to the formal, all your classmates vote who they want as Princess.”

“Oh, I must sign up!” Rarity exclaimed

“You would, wouldn’t you Rarity?” Rainbow smirked at her

“But of course, darling,” Rarity waved away

“What about you Sunset?” Applejack looked at the redhead. “Are you goin’ to sign up?”

“Maybe,” Sunset said, thinking. “I might sleep on it. It’s just, I must be careful. I don’t want people accusing mum of favouritism.”

“Fair enough,” Applejack nodded in understanding.

“If anything, I’m more interested in that flier for a talent show,” Sunset pointed out the flier.

“Oh, what you were thinking of doing for it?” Pinkie asked.

“I was thinking of either painting or singing,” Sunset shrugged.

“Well, you do have a wonderful singing voice,” Rarity complimented.

“Yeah, you should totally do it,” Rainbow agreed. “And we’ll be cheering you on.”

“Thanks,” Sunset smiled.

“Ok, so Rares will sign up for the Fall Formal,” Pinkie took a notebook out of her hair and started writing. “And Sunny will sign up for the Talent Show and maybe the Fall Formal as well.” All the girls nodding in agreement of that plan.

“Um, we better hurry or we’ll be late for class,” Fluttershy reminded. They all headed to class and managed to make before the bell.

Dear journal,

First week of high school was both exciting and exhausting. So far, my favourite classes are potions and, of course, art. Mum and dad have finally let me sign up for those Northern Shaolin Kung Fu classes, I can’t wait to start. I also signed up for the fencing club, after kinda begging mum to let me.

I made a new friend in English. Her name is Wallflower Blush and she was very shy. She mainly talked to me, to tell me about a stone she found that somehow erases memories. Thankful we took it to mum, who gave it to the authorities, especially when I noticed that its magical signature is like the portal’s. As for Wallflower, after talking with her, I think I managed to help her out of her shell, she’s a lot more talkative now.

Then there is Gilda. At first, she was like any other tough bully, until I remembered what Fluttershy said about me possible being a bully on the other side of the portal because I was protecting myself. I talked with Gilda’s sister Gabby and brother Gallus. I found out that since their parents died, they had been living with their grandpa, but only Gilda was working after school.

Apparently, she was fired from her after school job and they were close to being evicted from their house. So, after talking dad about Tom, the old farm hand who recently left due to family things. It took a little convincing, but we managed to get Gilda a job. As a bonus, the old farm hand had a small house at the back of the winery, plenty of room for Gilda’s family. I heard Granny Smith had been getting along with Grandpa Gruff.

I finally decided to join Rarity in signing up for the Fall Formal Princess. That’s going to be interesting, I’ll certainly vote for her. I also signed up for the Talent Show. I think I might sing, I just got to think of what song to sing. Thankfully, I’ve got a whole month to decide.

Well, that’s it for me, let’s hope I do well this year

Sunset King