Today was shaping up to be a weird one. I'd been taking my free day slowly, just lazing about in Twilight's library with a graphic novel lent to me by the bat pony guard. I think she called it a mango or a manega or something like that. What it's called isn't really important. What is important is that I was just relaxing with my comfort plush after having finished all the catch-up work I'd been doing for school.

See, Aunt Twilight was never all that satisfied with the school board policy that resulted in my being suspended alongside Ebony Crescent and Ivory Crescent. Feasibly, I would've been out of suspension on the sixty-sixth of September, but Twilight was still keen on attending the board meeting on the Wednesday immediately following my kidnapping ordeal. Apparently, that was a good choice, because that Rich bitch was apparently pushing for a more permanent removal until—and I quote—"That savage filly is deemed safe by a board-approved psychiatric specialist." I don't know what Twilight did to get Rich to drop it, or why she was so opposed to my return, but suffice to say, I was free to return early.

Sure, everybody was quite happy to have me back. It wasn't just a feeling, though. Whatever happened to me between willingly feeding Chrysalis and fucking her over, my natural empathy for others had been amplified to a preternatural degree, and it hadn't abated in the least as time passed. It was as though anyone particularly close by, I could just tell what they were feeling. It was honestly a bit of a headache being surrounded by so many ponies in close quarters, and if too many ponies were experiencing negative emotions around me, it almost made me physically ill.

Miss Cheerilee also seemed way too happy to have me around to help the others with maths... Unfortunately, being back also give Cheerilee a proper opportunity to outline all the catch-up projects she wanted me to do in order to get up to the class's approximate position in the syllabus. Some of it, I would've been assigned weeks ago, but for a certain event. Although it wasn't anything particularly tedious, as reading was one of my favourite things in the world, it was still a pain. Admittedly, it was a pain of my own self-making, since I challenged myself to complete it by October.

The only benefit to the catch-up work was the music unit. I'd always loved listening to classical music, and AC/DC, Kiss, and Guns N' Roses kept me sane on the road, but it was so much more for these horses. See, ponies put a surprising of emphasis on music in their lives, and they've even been known to burst into song from time to time. Although 'heartsongs' were considered rare, harmony seemed to grant all ponies a degree of musical talent. In some it manifested in their singing voices, others might have an affinity for an instrument.

Cheerilee's catch-up task for music was simple—explore the realm of music, and find my affinity, and prepare a song for class. I'd done karaoke as a human a few times at drinking parties, and one of my weirder dates had even taken me to a full-on club, complete with all sorts of weird song-choices, from games and the like, I'd never heard before. I was an alright singer then, but as a pony, I definitely seemed to have better control and range.

I found, after a visit to Rarity to get my cloak patched up, that I had a surprising knack for piano. I was going to hang out with Sweetie Belle while I waited for Rarity, until I saw a room that held a baby grand piano. Maybe it was the magic of music, or nostalgia, but I was drawn to it. Before Sweetie Belle could even warn me not to touch Rarity's piano, I'd begun to play the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata from memory. Wasn't until Rarity tapped my shoulder, looking a bit surprised and teary-eyed that I realised I had played through Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune. I myself had been a bit teary at the end.

Couldn't read sheet music worth a damn, but I was really good at playing by ear. Sufficiently impressed, Rarity suggested I check in with a musician by the name of Octavia Melody for lessons. Twilight was all for it, so for a few hours every Saturday since the seventy-seventh through the fifth, I spent some time with a grey earth-pony who had no problem teaching me how to read sheet, and improve my techniques. Sure, she played cello, but her talent was music, not just cello. Patient mare, too, but her roommate, Vinyl Scratch, was surprisingly noisy for a mute, often breaking out synth tunes at random.

As much as Octavia had a penchant for teaching theory, I was actually kinda surprised when the mute unicorn got in on the lessons at the earth-pony's behest. Maybe it was because I used my hoof fields in a manner closer to how unicorns used their magic, having a greater degree of flexibility, but she took an interest in teaching me the ins and outs of navigating a keyboard. It made sense, given she worked with such devices when making her music, it made sense that she'd have a more natural feel for the chords and hoof placement.

Then of course you had the town of Ponyville itself. It was, so to speak, in a state of recovery. See, the six days I'd been in the bug's possession, Twilight and company weren't just sitting idle. They'd been all but literally tearing the town, parts of the Everfree, and the White Tail Woods. Apparently, there was significant fire damage from someone losing her cool, and the deer settlement of Thicket—somewhere in the Everfree—was demanding reparations for a valuable copse of trees that were apparently collateral when Aunt Twilight nuked one of Chrysalis' several boltholes in frustration.

I'm kinda not surprised that they had a hard time locating me, though. The cave Chrysalis had chosen to keep me in was apparently right under everyone's noses on the school grounds. Apparently the 'entrance' blocked by a boulder wasn't even anything more than a small animal burrow that provided air. I wonder if Cheerilee's upset about the storage shed?

Wait, I'm off topic. I was talking about today: Monday, the 7th of October. I was reading some graphic novel from Neighpon about a crew of space pirates setting sail for an unfathomable treasure at the centre of the galaxy. You know, just chilling in my favourite place in the castle. All of a sudden, my ~~ass~~ cutie mark starts vibrating, buzzing, and even glowing a bit. Fuckin' weird, right?

Now, it was just me and the bat in the library. Starlight was off doing something in Canterlot, Sergeant Revelry, Stonefeather, and Specks were off doing some training, and Strongwind was guarding Twilight. Suffice to say, neither of us had any clue what the fuck was going on, and I was kinda freaking out. It's not every day that your ass starts making inexplicable noises or moving on its own.

Thankfully, Evening Script was a professional first; any alarm she might've felt she quickly tamped down on. It was something I noticed with all of the guards, but they seemed to have way better control over what emotions they broadcast. It was definitely a comfort—although not as much as my enchanted plush—being around quiet guards. So while I flipped the fuck out, and hugged my possum pal, she took off in search of Aunt Twilight.

It didn't take her very long to return. She didn't even give me the opportunity to ask if she'd found Twilight; one moment, she flew in through the still-open door, and the next she'd picked me up by the nape of my neck, hurtling through the halls of the castle as fast as her webbed wings could carry us. At first I thought we were heading towards Twilight's private study, but we blew right past that, instead ending up in a part of the castle I'd only been once or twice.

Although it was a relatively large crystalline chamber, it was sparsely decorated. At the centre of the room, stood a large table, surrounded by thrones adorned by the cutie marks of Twilight and her friends, with a seventh smaller throne beside Twilight's. Above the table hung a large root-structure that had been converted into some sort of chandelier.

There, sitting on her throne, with her face buried in her forehooves, was Twilight. Spike was apparently trying to calm her down, although I couldn't hear what he was whispering. The pegasus guard, on the other hand, just stood by the door, with an uneasy look about him. Evening Script joined him after setting me down.

Something about this room struck me as odd, though—something was different. When I had been here previously, there was a detailed holographic—Magical?—projection of all of Equestria that floated above the table. The image wasn't as pronounced, this time, like it was flattened down somewhat. What could cause or necessitate that?

As I drew closer to the table, so as to join Twilight and Spike, I saw something strange that had been previously hidden by one of the thrones. Floating above Ponyville was the holographic representation of a building that looked almost human in architecture. It definitely wasn't something I'd ever seen in Ponyville. There was snow on the ground, a sidewalk, asphalt, an honest-to-God parking lot, and a statue of a horse out front. And above all that, was probably the weirdest detail: my cutie mark.

"Aunt Twilight," I began as I came up alongside her throne. Strangely enough, as soon as I drew close to the table, the mark on my flanks stopped vibrating and buzzing. "Why is my mark floating above the table, and why was my ass flipping out?"

"Spike, would you please do the honours of explaining the situation?" Twilight muttered into her hooves. She was broadcasting so many emotions that I was starting to get a headache. Fear, worry, frustration, and anger were chief among what she was feeling, although I got hints of pride and excitement. "I need more time to wrap my head around all of this, and I need to consult Sunset."

I noticed she had that communication book to the other world sitting at her side, but said nothing. So, this has to do with the other world? Without a peep, Twilight conjured up an inkwell and quill and began scrawling out a message. Then she just set the book down on the table and sighed loudly, staring up at the ceiling.

Instead I turned my attention to the young drake as he hauled himself up so that he could sit on the edge of the table. "This—" Spike patted the surface of the table, his clawed hand passing through a mountain range somewhere near the badlands. "—is the Cutie Map," he explained. "I don't know exactly how or why it works, but it seems to know where in the world a friendship problem is, and who would be the best pony for the job."

Placing my front hooves on the edge of the table to afford me a better look, I glanced about the table. "I'm still kinda surprised that it chose Starlight for something happening in Canterlot," he said, pointing to the mountain city, where Starlight's own cutie mark was floating above the castle. "Up until recently, it'd only ever been Twilight and the others. Now you and Starlight are being summoned on the same day."

Then, he pointed to the building over which my own cutie mark was floating. "That is Canterlot High," he continued. "It's a school in the world on the other side of the magic mirror. I think Twilight told you about it?"

Remembering the world-shaking lecture Twilight had given me on that other world, the duplicates of her friends, and Sunset Shimmer, I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah," I agreed. I was starting to get a sinking feeling. "Last I heard, Sunset wasn't having a good time of things. Getting blamed for a rumour <>. I dunno what's been happening there since I gave Sunset that advice," I said, giving Twilight a sidelong glance. "I know that unless the portal is open, time flows slower on her side, although I imagine the book also temporarily syncs everything up."

Spike shrugged, looking at the school building I was apparently being summoned to. "What I'm wondering is what you'd turn into if you go through the portal," he said with a bit of a snort. "Twilight turned into the same sort of creature as Sunset and the others, but I was a dog. Since you're not originally a pony, what do you think it'll do to you?"

I just shook my head and climbed up into Applejack's throne. "With my luck, I'll be a small talking horse on that side too," I replied with a laugh of my own. "I can just imagine how they'd enjoy having a small pony running around, trying to disrupt whatever drama is considered a major friendship problem by a magic table from another dimension."

We just sorta sat in silence after that. Until Twilight decided to say something or we got a response from Sunset Shimmer, there wasn't much I could do. After all, I couldn't drag the portal out of storage, and until we knew what I was walking into or if I was even going. If I did go, would anyone be accompanying me? Or could Twilight trust me to be on my own in a strange, but more familiar world?

That wasn't even considering other factors. Where would I stay? Where would I acquire food? If I needed money for something, how would I get my hands on it? Although Twilight had befriended her friends' human counterparts, I wasn't sure I could rely on them like she did. For one, if this Anon-a-Miss thing blew up and everyone thought it was Sunset, they might not be willing to give me the time of day, never mind a place to stay, if I revealed that I planned on approaching it with the possibility of her being innocent. Besides, these would be the human teenager equivalents of ponies I knew, but still strangers.

Maybe, I pondered, I can rely on the Sun Horse and Luna's counterparts. If I get Twilight to write me a letter of introduction and why I'm there, they might be willing to give me a couch for me to crash on, or permission to sleep in the library rather than just hiding out there like Twilight did. It was definitely a more reasonable option than relying on potentially angry teenagers, although I might want to borrow a sleeping bag before going through. A winter one, just to be on the safe side.

"He—" Just as I was about to ask Twilight a question, the book on the table began to buzz. Immediately, the princess snatched it up and began to read. All too quickly, she gasped and dropped the book. Although it was partially levitating over the table, there wasn't nearly enough surface area beneath the book from tumbling to the floor. Twilight didn't seem to notice. She brought a hoof up to her mouth as tears began to rim her eyes.

I hopped down off of Applejack's throne and pulled the book over to me, opening it to the most recent pages. The first thing I saw was an exchange between Sunset and Twilight that had to have been written in realtime.

... so that's the whole story. Nobody will believe that I'm not Anon-a-Miss... Not even my friends. My former friends, I guess.

I'm so sorry, Sunset. I wish there was some way I could help you, It's never easy to lose good friends. Do you remember the legend of the Windigos? From the story of Hearth's Warming Eve? They were evil spirits that fed on fighting and hatred, causing the cold of winter.

Do you think there are Windigos in this world?

I don't know. I don't think there need to be. I think anypony—anybody—can spread hatred and chaos. It doesn't have to be caused by Windigos, magic spells, or even curses. It can be spread as easily as pushing a button.

If it's that easy to spread, how do you stop it?

I wish I knew. Sometimes, all you can do is stay strong, remember who you are, and find your family.

Well shit, I thought upon reading that exchange. Shit had escalated hard there. She sounds like she's almost lost hope. Still, need to keep reading. Up next was

Sunset,
I may have a solution to the Anon-a-Miss problem. The filly I've been taking care of—somepony dear to me—has been summoned by the Cutie Map. It apparently wants her to solve a friendship problem at Canterlot High. She was the one who sent you the advice about your phone before, and given her previous life in a world not unlike yours, I was hoping you'd be willing to meet with her and she could help you get to the bottom of this.

I bit my lip and then looked down at Sunset's response. My heart clenched at the words written across he page. It even looked like there were tear droplets dried upon the page.

Twilight,
Do whatever you think is best... I don't care anymore. Everything's just gotten worse since I tried to show the others my journal, and our exchanges, to prove my innocence, but they wouldn't listen. I thought I'd gotten through to them, but they wouldn't even consider friends and family might have been involved. They're not willing to suspect anyone else they considered family, but they still turned on me after calling me family.

Rainbow and Applejack got violent and the police were called. I refused to press charges, despite the black eye and the bruises. Since then, things at the school have only been getting worse. I've been sucker-punched a few times in the halls, and someone even tried pushing me down the stairs. My locker's in ruins, and I had to turn off my phone because I've started to get death threats from people that Anon-a-Miss has really hurt.

I just feel so alone here... like nobody would care or even notice I was gone until it's too late. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna haven't lifted a finger, and if they noticed my absence after the whole thing with the stairs, they haven't bothered getting in contact. So why stay? What have I to live for?
Twilight...I'm scared...

I stared down at the page, a chill running down my spine. "Twilight!" I shouted, snapping my head in her direction. "Some of what she's wrote here is giving me a really bad feeling. Can you get that mirror portal set up?" I glanced at Spike, who had fallen off the table at the suddenness of my voice. "Can you get ready to scribe a message for me?"

When Spike nodded, and Twilight snapped out of her stupor, I glanced over to the guards at the door. "I have no authority to order you to do anything," I pleaded, "but please, I need someone to get my saddlebags and my cloak from my room, and a winter sleeping bag from the storage room. I know I saw one in there."

Even as Twilight flashed away, I was still somewhat surprised that Strongwind actually did leave his post by the door. Turning back to Spike, I shook my head. It took him a moment to grab the quill and Inkwell twilight left behind. "What a mess," I murmured. "You good to write this down?"

"Yeah, but what's the rush?" he asked, glancing over Sunset's message. "She sounds sad, but it doesn't seem like she's in any immediate danger."

I wish I still had your youthful innocence, Spike. "Message is as follows," I said. "Sunset, go to the portal at zero-six-hundred hours, or just before dawn—whichever comes first—and send a message through, and we'll open the portal. If there are cameras out front of the school, be sure to be seen. Until this mess is resolved, it is not safe for you or your mental well-being to remain in that world. Before you return to Equestria, I will meet you on the other side. Sign it 'A Friend'. P.S. Spike's writing this for me since quills are a nightmare."

~ 20 ~

It turned out that it was a bit past midnight when Sunset got my message. So, after Twilight got the portal set up, we opened the portal to sync up the worlds. That way, until six in the morning came about, we'd have plenty of time to prepare. For my part in preparations, I just packed the sleeping bag with my saddlebags, threw in a notebook or two, a towel, my toiletries, and a few pencils. Another notepad went into one of the interior pockets of my cloak, along with a pencil-stub.

It took some bargaining, but I even got her to spare me a hundred Equestrian bits and a two-twenty-five gram wafer of gold. The gold wafer wasn't all that valuable in Equestria, due to the sheer availability of the mineral, but since the nation was on a gold standard, the gold and coins could be traded off or offered as bribes. What I didn't tell her was that back home, a wafer like that would be worth at least ten grand. Still, the satchel of bits went into my cloak pocket, while the wafer went into my saddlebag.

If only Twilight didn't want an itemised list of expenditures.

I also had Twilight write me two letters of introduction. One was for Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, which explained exactly who I was, why I was there, and her hopes that they would provide me aid in bringing the Anon-a-Miss fiasco to a close. The other letter was one for her teenage friends. Rather than introduce me as Anonymous, she—at my behest—introduced me as 'Emerald Flicker'. Her letter to them only explained that I was there to investigate and solve a friendship problem, on behalf of the Equestrian crown. Whether I actually directly interacted with them was ultimately up to me.

From there, Twilight had me run through my plan with her. Put simply, I was going to go through, take possession of Sunset's phone and book as evidence of the harassment and death threats, and then hand off the phone to the principal. From there, phase one would be proving that Sunset can't possibly be the one behind Anon-a-Miss. Phase two would be finding out who the real culprit was. Phase three was entirely dependent on Sunset and her friends, but basically consisted of them reconciling.

Plus, we had to get my backstory down. As far as that world—outside the Sun and Moon siblings' counterparts—was concerned, I was just a filly under Twilight's care who had gotten wrapped up in something nasty, and was being sent to the human world until things calmed down and my life was no longer in danger. I didn't even have to lie about being targeted by love-stealing shapeshifters. After all, the best lies are those painted with shades of truth.

After that, we had four hours for me to kill, so I basically spent the rest of that time napping or meditating. After all, I'd be going in at six in the morning, and I'd need to last at least until the end of the day. So I just lazed about in the library, where Twilight had brought out the magic mirror to, snuggled up to Twilight for what might be the last time for several days. We even had an alarm set for when I would be best served to go through the portal.

I had half a mind to fiddle about with a runic magic project I'd started not too long ago, but that would've been counterproductive and draining. See, I'd found a bit of alteration magic that I'd been toying around with converting to a runic structure, but unfortunately it hadn't gone quite right on the first test. See, the spell in question was a simple locking spell that I'd modified with an energy storage structure I borrowed from another spell. Ideally, the spell-inscribed clay would keep any container it was affixed to from opening until it ran out of power or someone hit it with an unlocking spell.

It worked a little too well. I placed the clay on a cereal box, and powered it, and it'd been locked for the better part of two weeks without any hint that the spell was weakening. Hell, even if you cut a new opening, it physically wouldn't open. I even had an entire panel of the cardboard box disconnected from the greater whole, and I couldn't separate it.

You're probably wondering why I didn't just have Twilight or Starlight zap it with master-level unlock spell, or hit it with some clay inscribed with unlock. Fact of the matter is that I was actually somewhat interested in how long it would stay powered. Imagine having a magical lock-box that was impervious to being opened until hit with the right spell. If I could somehow construct a key-based system, I could probably make a mint selling them. Sure, it might take some studies in artifice, but it was a worthy goal.

Hmm, maybe a combination or password based system? That way we would only need the runic arrays and not— My musings were cut off by an alarm clock going off. Everyone present—Twilight, Spike, Evening Script, and Strongwind—looked from the clock, and then to me. I just stood up, threw my saddlebags on, and threw my cloak on over it as Twilight silenced the alarm. A seconds after the alarm went, Sunset's journal began to buzz from on the plinth.

"Anon," Twilight said, pulling me into a hug as we stood before the mirror. "I want to trust that you can handle yourself over there, but I also want you to promise me that you won't do anything foolhardy. That means no crazy stunts like what you did with Chrysalis."

In spite of myself, I found it easy to laugh. "You know, that's fair," I said as she released me. "I promise I won't intentionally do anything that's going to endanger my life." I went through the motions of something ponies here called a Pinkie Promise. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Standing before the mirror, I gave her a serious look. "When I send her through, Twilight, I want you to shut the portal down. I'll send a message through her copy of the journal when I'm done, but until then, don't leave her alone or make her think she's alone... She needs time for her scars—be they physical or emotional—to heal."

Alarm started to radiate from her like a signal fire. "Anon, it could be weeks or even months from our perspective," she exclaimed. "You just finished catching up in class... and what about your friends? What about Starlight?"

I patted her on the shoulder. "I think Starlight'll understand," I said, backing towards the portal. "Besides, how's the saying go? Absence makes the heart grow fonder?" At that, I turned and stepped through the mirror.

Everything stretched and compressed around me until reality was little more than a tunnel of every colour assailing my senses all at once. Gravity didn't work here, however; the moment I felt myself begin to tumble, I attempted to counteract the motion, only to over-correct and spin out of control. It made my stomach churn, but it wasn't like anything was there for me to vomit up; I'd chosen not to eat before interdimensional transit, and my stomach thanked me.

Then, in a flash, I found myself stumbling out into the dark and cold, a pair of hands catching me and holding me up. "Thanks," I said in a voice that sounded somewhat deeper than it usually did. "God, it feels weird being bipedal again."

Straightening up and stretching, I took stock of my body. Arms and legs? It was a bit breezy around my legs, but that was a check. Fingers and toes? I flexed my hands and feet. Check. A weight against my back told me everything I needed to know about my saddlebags. Transfigured into a backpack. Will have to check my sleeping bag, though.

The hood of my cloak was hanging in front of my face a bit too low, so I could only see Sunset from the shoulders down. Despite the nip in the air, she only seemed to be wearing a leather jacket, an orange scarf that matched her skirt, and a purple long-sleeved that matched her leggings. The sleeve of her shirt didn't exactly do a good job of hiding a bandage wound around her wrist, but I didn't comment on it.

Pulling my hood back let my apparently quite-long black locks spill free, but my bangs weren't quite long enough to obscure her face. I took just a moment to make sure my glasses were on, and then I smiled. "Sorry about the secrecy regarding my name," I said, sticking out my right hand. I was a bit surprised that I was only a half-head shorter than her. "My name is—"

"Emerald Flicker...? It can't be..." she stepped backward, a look of shock spreading across her face as she looked down at me. Her red-gold locks were somewhat matted, and it looked like she was using them to hide some of the bruising on her pale orange skin. I almost didn't even feel her emotional reaction at all, but for the fact that I could see it on her face, plain as day. I might've been too caught off guard that she knew the name that I had borrowed from that dream so many weeks ago. "We all went to your memorial in seventh grade!" That shock turned to terror as she glanced at the mirror, as if checking for a reflection. "Did I actually—"

Memorial? Up until Sunset said that name, I'd been willing to dismiss what I'd seen all those days ago as some sort of dream. I shouldn't have any sort of counterpart in this world, and yet... Was it just sheer coincidence that I looked like a girl from this world, who had the same name as the dead filly in my dream? Or...

"Not quite; you're very much alive," I interjected, holding up my hands. "I mean, Emerald is the alias I'm going with while I'm here, but Twilight can explain why using my name here would only complicate things even further than they already are." No sense not at least giving her a hint. "Let's just say that it's for the best that I maintain anonymity."

She gave me a strange look and held up her hand as if she wanted to say something. The cold shock of her realisation washed over me. "Harmony has a twisted sense of humour if it sent someone with that name to solve this," she muttered as she started rooting through a bag I'd not yet noticed. First she produced a large tome emblazoned with the same two-toned sun mark as the one back in Equestria. I immediately shrugged off one of the straps of my backpack and slung it around to open it for her to drop the book in. "When you want to go over the threats with Principal Celestia, send me a message and I'll send you the password. I'd rather you wait until after this is resolved though."

I nodded, holding out my hand to accept the smartphone she'd produced from her bag. I actually ended up doing a double-take, Oh, it was a smartphone to be sure, but it was somewhat blocky, and had some actual physical buttons along the bottom of the screen. "Whoa, retro!" I couldn't help but let slip, earning an even more incredulous look from her. "Yeah, you're definitely gonna wanna get my backstory from Aunt Twilight."

Her jaw dropped. Poor girl's probably going through mood whiplash. First she'd been subjected to the face of someone who died. Then that person inferred their name was similar to a certain rumour mill that was ruining her life. Oh, and I called what was probably a state of the art smart-phone retro... All before calling Twilight my auntie. Yeah, she was going to have so many questions.

I jabbed a thumb at the portal. "Go on, Sunset," I whispered, placing the phone in my bag and then patting her on the shoulder. "You need time to heal, and I need time to bust a certain rumour mill." Again, she opened her mouth to speak, but I just cut her off. "Uh-uh; no spoilers. I'm sure you have your suspects, but half the fun in the mystery is the journey."

It was a bit hard to put my backpack back on without shedding my cloak, but I managed to close it and get it back on. "I'll take good care of your stuff, and I promise not to burn the place to the ground." I got behind her and started pushing her toward the portal. "Just do me two favours while you're there. Take care of yourself—" I momentarily lowered my hand to tap her elbow. "—and take care of my big sister. She's gonna be absolutely pissed with me when she finds out how long I'm probably gonna be gone."

"What do you me—" she began to ask. The question was cut off as I shoved her through the portal. I kinda felt bad for doing it, but I needed her gone and out of the way with before anyone saw us together. Besides, the sooner she was over there, the sooner Twilight could hopefully get her some help. It was kinda funny, because I bet she wound up feeling a little horse on the other side.

I stood there, facing the mirror inlaid on the base of the horse statue, just waiting and watching. Maybe I was a bit shocked at my reflection—part of me had hoped I'd be me again. It was hard to tell with the way it'd bunched up in my hood, but it felt like my hair could've easily gone down the small of my back. It was every bit as black and thick as when I'd been a pony, but there weren't any of the spots where it'd begun growing in off-colour from the burns. In fact, the only imperfection—if it could even be called such—I could really see on my face was a dusting of freckles across the bridge of my nose and cheeks.

Were they always there, and just didn't show because I had fur?

After a few minutes passed as I just stared at myself, flakes of snow occasionally falling and landing on my face or hair. Once I was sure that they'd have had enough time to get Sunset settled and shut down the portal, I pressed my palm against that of my reflection. Solid.

I glanced at the the school building behind me. There didn't appear to be any lights on at this side of the building, and it was still dark out, and if anyone spotted me lurking around the outside of the school for too long, someone'll end up calling the cops. I didn't even know what time it was. Hmm... So maybe I was a bit early. Fuck.

Turning my attention down the road, I spotted the signage for what I hoped to be this Canterlot's equivalent to a Dunkin' Donuts. Maybe I'll get something to eat and drink, I decided, beginning to walk off down the street. I think Twilight mentioned a place in Canterlot called Donut Joe's.

Reaching for the pocket I'd left the bit satchel in, I was somewhat surprised to find a small french wallet in its place. It shouldn't have caught me off guard, but part of me was honestly expecting to have to find a pawn shop and trade the coins for cash at a loss. Opening it up revealed—at a glance—a few hundred dollars in the currency of one United Republic of Amareica. What a name.

I glanced back at the school as I pulled my hood back over my head and walked down the sidewalk. The school's tower was more visible as I got further away, and there I saw a large analogue clock proclaiming it to be quarter past six. I silently wished to myself that whatever clothes the portal had given me had been better suited to winter. All I had really seen of my clothing thus far had been the peek of black blouse sleeve, and the black loafers peeking out from beneath my cloak. I was particularly thankful to have chosen to bring it, because I definitely would have been freezing otherwise. As it was, all I could do as I walked was cinch it tighter around me, and tuck my hands into my armpits.

My centre of balance was off kilter, too. Although I wasn't stumbling about, if I happened to actively think about how I was walking, it became much more difficult. It was most certainly due to the differences in body from when I was human in the old world, and whatever you call these big-eyed, skinny-limbed, polychromatic demi-humans. For one, I had narrower hips when I was male, and I certainly didn't have these weights on my chest. Not to mention the change in plumbing downstairs.

But hey, fretting about the differences in my body was a 'fun' way to distract myself from the early-morning chill, the fact that I definitely wasn't wearing pants, and the fact that I wasn't used to loafers with raised heels. Hell, I barely even noticed that I'd practically jogged a few blocks without working up a sweat. Too cold to need to sweat. Before I knew it, I was pulling open a shop door and stepping into the warmth.

The sudden change in temperature fogged up the lenses on my glasses, and I found myself having to use the soft interior cloth of my cloak to clear them. It was a quaint little place, but decidedly not a major chain. It smelled of baking sweets, coffee, and—if my nose wasn't lying—sausage? They probably have a breakfast menu.

The man at the counter gave me this weird look, and it occurred to me that cloaks like mine are considerably unusual for the modern era. They certainly were back on my Earth. Plus, I probably look suspicious with the hood up. I mean, really... short girl in a white cat-eared cloak shows up in your shop early in the morning? You're either a dealing with a cosplay weirdo, a really shitty robber, or some Weird Fantasy Shit, right?

Pulling off the hood, I walked up to the counter and looked around for some sort of menu. Maybe there was a signboard I was missing, but I was having a hard time spotting it, so I figured, may as well just ask. "As you can probably guess, I'm not from around here, and thus not familiar with what you have on offer," I said in a casual tone. "You sell breakfast sandwiches here?" He nodded, an eyebrow raised. "I'll take one of those—sausage and bacon, if you can—a plain sugar doughnut, and a large red eye with cream and one sugar."

With a nod, the man confirmed that my order was for dine-in, and punched some buttons on his till. A small display facing me displayed my order, and how much it was. Wordlessly, I took out the closest denomination of bill from my wallet, and passed it to him. He looked it over, probably because of how crisp and new it seemed, but nodded, opened the till, and fished out the change and a receipt. Once I'd placed the change into my wallet, he started putting together my coffee.

Handing me my doughnut and coffee, he said, "Just take a seat anywhere. I'll call out your order when the sandwich is done."

"Thank you, sir." I accepted my plated pastry and coffee, and looked around. Ideally, I'd wanna stay within earshot of the counter, but close enough to the door that I could make a break for it if necessary. The place was almost empty, so there was no shortage of choices as to where to sit. Almost was the operational word there, though.

No way, I thought as I spotted the pair of women gathered at one table in the corner. One was an amazonian goddess of a woman in a gold blazer and violet suitpants, whose skin was so pale a pink that she was almost white. The pastel blues, greens, and pinks of her hair were a dead giveaway to who I was looking at. Her companion, although not as tall, was no less recognisable. After all, who else was made up of blues, and has such piercing opal eyes?

They'd both spotted me, and I could feel their surprise clear across the cafe. Granted, they were composed enough not to drop their coffees or faint. Still, those eyes told me so much. They knew who I looked like, just as Sunset had. What made it all the worse was that I could tell that they knew I was looking directly at them.

Sucking in a breath through my nose, I did my best to still my facial expression as I carried my breakfast towards them. After all, a dead girl walking up to you grinning like the cat that ate the canary would probably be some horror story material right there.

"Excuse me," I said in a soft voice, setting my meal down on the table nearest theirs. "You two wouldn't happen to be Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna of Canterlot High School, would you?" I could see their throats move as they swallowed. "One of our little ponies, and a magic table, told me you guys were having a bit of a problem with a rumour mill."

Carefully, I undid the clasp of my cloak, and placed it on the chair beside me. From there, I removed my backpack and sat it atop my cloak. Rooting through my bag, I found the scroll intended for these two—Twilight had wrapped that one in a white ribbon—and fished it out. I doubt they missed Sunset's journal on top of the pile. "Aunt Twilight gave me this to hand off to you two," I continued, passing the rolled parchment to the taller of the pair.

While she read the letter, I turned my attention to the shop window, where my reflection stood in full. God damn it, Evening Script would shit kittens if she saw this, I thought, covering my face with a palm. My blouse, a charcoal grey with white stitching, had a gold-striped middy-collar, and there was a similar gold neckerchief looped through it.The skirt was a hound's tooth pattern in black and white. The strangest part was probably the pantyhose. None of those dates ever had me wear that before.

"Is this some sort of sick joke?" I heard Celestia mutter as she passed the scroll to Luna. "Is your name actually—"

"For the time being," I murmured, taking up my coffee cup and saucer and taking a sip, "I am 'Emerald Flicker'. I've been made aware of this world's Emerald, and the unfortunate nature of my appearance." I shrugged, leaning against my table, glancing from her to Luna. "Things don't need to be more complicated than me being sent on behalf of the Equestrian crown—and a magic frickin' table—to determine the involvement of one of our citizens in this situation, or should it be necessary, proving her innocence and bringing the guilty party to justice."

A smile that maybe showed too many teeth spread across my face as the dude at the counter called out my order. The pair actually winced that time. "Maybe looking like a dead girl will play to my advantage after all," I purred. "We just have to follow the 'backstory' Aunt Twilight gave me, and nobody will look past the fact that Emerald's Equestrian counterpart is here to dismantle this whole web of hatred."

Author's Note

Fun fact: less than five hours after the last chapter was posted and I stated I would be taking a short hiatus, my dumb ass proved that statement to be false. A few days later, it was already up to 4k words.

A red-eye is a coffee with an added shot of espresso.

So we start the 'Anon-a-Miss' arc. Many of you who have read the comic already know the culprits, and you may have already picked up on where the plot differs. In this case, however, we are operating under the idea that none of the culprits witness the bullying and harassment Sunset ended up facing because of them. If they never witnessed it, they would likely not feel the guilt they ended up feeling and outing themselves. It's also my belief that Rainbow and AJ might've gotten physical due to who Sunset had inferred Anon-a-Miss to be, if not for the timely confession.

Entry 21 will be posted tomorrow or Wednesday, along with Anon's outfits.