Shadows Over CHS

Sunset Shimmer

There wasn't much that got by the eye of the school's premier tyrant. At the top of the social ladder, and the monarch responsible for keeping everyone separated to their own cliques, she made it her business to know everything going on at Canterlot High School. If there was to be a party, she knew when and where, in addition to those who attended. Sometimes, she even deigned to attend such an event.

It was for that reason that Sunset Shimmer found it very interesting that one managed to slip under her radar—dare she say, she was impressed. The only reason she even knew that one had happened the weekend before the new school year began was mention of it in a MyStable post. As she was taking her morning coffee, she saw that Score, the captain of the CHS rugby team, made a comment about really enjoying the party that Dumb-Bell hosted at a cabin this past Saturday night. This, of course gained a response from Hoops telling him to keep his mouth shut.

What have you boys been up to?

She switched her phone over to the instant messenger application. For a moment, her thumb hovered over the button to Flash Sentry, her ex. Instead, she opened the group chat with her two underlings, Snips and Snails. Normally, she didn't need to know what went on outside of the semester, but a niggling worm of doubt insisted it might have an effect on her entire experiment. Sipping her dark roast with an amused expression, she tapped out a message.

Sunset: Boys, I need you to do some digging. Dumb-Bell threw a party on the weekend. I want to know who attended besides Score and Hoops, and what happened there.

Why? I thought you didn't care what happened over the Summer? :Snips

Is this because you didn't get an invite? :Snails

Sunset: I'm simply curious; that's all. They had to go through a lot of effort to keep it hushed up until Score spilled the beans after the fact.

Her stooges didn't answer, but she didn't expect one. She knew from experience that they'd fill her in at lunch. That left her free to finish her coffee and take a shower. After all, she had far more important things to worry about. The portal to Equestria would be opening soon, and she would need to begin making preparations.

First and foremost, she would need to begin probing. She knew not how long had passed on the other side, nor if the mirror had at all been moved. She would make an excursion or two and search for a powerful enough magical artefact—one powerful enough to secure her reign here. Then, with her at the head of the herd, she'd be able to lead these humans into a new era of magic and peace. But she had a little over a month to prepare for that. In the meantime, she needed to keep everyone in line and under her thumb.

Rinsing her mug and placing it in the drying rack, she made her way into her basement apartment's bathroom. While the shower warmed, the former unicorn began brushing her teeth. Upon catching sight of her pronounced canines, she wondered whether it was even worth it trying to unite humanity under her rule and elevate them. She wanted to make something of herself to show Princess Celestia that she was worthy of being her daughter. Leading a technologically advanced race into the future with magic and tech at her back seemed like a good start. Yet when she saw those teeth, she had doubts.

She'd done enough research into the species' origin to know that although they were omnivorous nomads, they were predators. Their earliest ancestors were persistence hunters, and what they lacked in magic or any sort of natural weapons or defences, they made up for with tools, ingenuity, and spite. That said, competition for resources always brought them nothing but strife, and she could see no other future for them beyond driving themselves to early extinction. Although she managed to climb to the top of Canterlot High's social ladder, would these evolved apes even allow her to help them?

I can't quite shake the mental image of my Canterlot consumed in nuclear fire, Sunset thought as she doffed her pyjamas and stepped into the warm droplets of the shower. If I screw this up and they discover the portal... That could be home. As she rubbed mane and tail horse shampoo into her long, fiery locks, she knew that she was walking the razor's edge with this entire scheme. Too gentle an approach would open the opportunity for things to get out of control, while going too hard would risk indiscriminate retaliation. Plus, she needed to also keep her wits about her, lest the power go to her head. She was so close to the breakthrough she needed!

At least her social experiment with the student body was beginning to yield some results. Since forcibly breaking the student body into their cliques and working to ensure those social barriers remained intact, she'd observed something akin to a pony's special talent beginning to manifest. None of it was magical like a pony's cutie mark, but her peers actually seemed to be starting to excel at what they did. The Wondercolts football team, for example, was looking at going to the nationals, while several of the fashion crowd were already getting into the industry.

Can humans as a whole evolve if pushed into cliques? Or was it all coincidental? It's possible the proximity to the portal might have been related.

"If only the outlook for the Friendship Games was as good," Sunset mused aloud as she rinsed her hair and began scrubbing herself down. "The big problem with the method I used for breaking them all into their societal places is that it discouraged unity, and that's the core focus for the games. I need to find a way to encourage the improved talents without creating further disharmony. Things as they are, I doubt Mom would approve."

When she stepped out of the shower, a wave of vertigo washed over her. It wasn't quite like the head rushes she'd gotten during times of low blood pressure or rising too quickly. It was closer to what she felt the first time she met Princess Celestia—an overwhelming sense of magic washing over her. It even came with the familiar tingle at the centre of her forehead. Just as quickly as it came, it left. The suddenness of it all barely left her with enough time to catch herself on the towel bar.

Yet that wasn't the oddest part. For just an instant, Sunset thought she glimpsed something. A fallen angel in purple, flames, and Crystal Prep and CHS students looking on in fear... Then... the void. Just the void. It was odd.

Of all the things she'd learned about under the Princess of the Sun, though, none of it involved things like divination. Visions and soothsaying was an imprecise art and barely even real magic. Were it not for the fact that she'd just felt a surge of magic far above normal ambient levels for this world, she might've even considered what those glimpses meant.

As she towelled off and made her way back into her bedroom, she resolved to inspect the portal. It was the only thing that made sense as to why she might've felt such a magical surge reverberate through her home. It shouldn't be open for another four weeks, though...

"New blood joins this earth, and quickly he's subdued," was the first thing Sunset heard when she started her car and the radio came on. "Through constant pained disgrace, the young boy learns their rules."

Back in Equestria, if somepony was listening to melancholic music outside of classical, it was almost certain that pony was sad. There was no hidden meaning or secret purpose to doing so; it was just an expression of how they felt. Then again, when any member of the populace could break out into a heartsong at any moment, it made a weird sort of sense.

Humans, however, seemed far more complex in comparison. With how awful this world seemed at times, she'd have thought that all anyone would want to listen to was happy, uplifting music. There was catharsis in music here... A safe way to experience emotions in a detached way.

She found herself strumming her thumb on the steering wheel as she went, as she imagined the tabs for the song. Her ex, Flash, introduced her to this world's 'rock music', and easily disabused her of that notion. Some of the most upbeat songs had the most depressing lyrics, while sad sounding songs had a hopeful tone to them. There were even bands whose drug-fuelled ramblings birthed an entire genre of absurdist bliss. It was all strangely beautiful, and one of the things she remained grateful to him for, even if they both ended up wanting different things from the relationship.

That being said, the pony part of her mind couldn't help but suggest that the first song she heard on the radio would dictate the mood of the day. It was a silly thought, and one that had no basis in fact. If anything, when Green Day's Basket Case replaced the Unforgiven, she couldn't help but feel a bit more pumped for the first day of class.

"Knowledge has power," she whispered to herself, remembering something she'd once read. Both a human and pony had managed to share a similar thought between two separate universes, so it stuck out to her when she came across it here. Well, appealing to her ambition also helped. That was why she didn't have the same disdain for learning that her peers did. "It controls access to opportunity and advancement."

The radio had cycled through several more energetic songs by the time she pulled her coupe into the student parking lot. Several other students had already arrived, picking out some of the best parking spots, and several more had chained their bicycles to the bike rack. Of course, since freshman year, the best spot always seemed to be occupied by the beat-to-hell pick-up belonging to that country girl.

Putting her car in park, Sunset paused in thought. Had she had any sort of interaction with the farmer beyond shared classes since she destroyed her peer group in freshman year? She shook her head and stepped out of her car. The girl's name wouldn't come to her. She knew it was Apple something, but damned if she could remember. As long as you couldn't hear her atrocious accent, she actually sorta just blended into the background.

Rather than enter the school through the entrance facing the parking lot, she made her way around the front of the building. A wry smile spread across her face as she statue that the portal was built into the base of came into sight. Truly the situational irony was lost on the students and staff of the school. That a great rearing equine was poised atop a portal to a world where everyone was a pony was just too perfect.

Nothing particularly stood out to her when she reached out and touched the inset mirror. Her hand grazed the cool surface, but did not sink through. There was no change in the flow of ambient magic leaking through. Oh to be sure, the build-up that preceded the portal opening was there, but it was not quite at its peak. Definitely another three weeks at least.

That left a big question on her mind as she turned and made her way in through the front entrance of the school. If it wasn't the portal I felt, what was it? Sunset was too experienced a mage to mistake the feeling of a surge of magic, and if she felt it, it was possible that the humans might've detected it too.

"Gonna have to check the news at—"

Her train of thought came to a halt as she passed the principal's office. Though she caught sight of the door swinging open in her peripheral vision and stepped back, it wasn't enough to stop the young woman from crashing into her. Only the fact that she kept herself in shape was enough to keep her from joining the girl on the floor.

Sunset tried to recall if she'd ever seen the girl before. Aside from her eyes and hair, there wasn't much that stood out about the girl. If she dressed in faded blues and greys like that every day, she might very well have been one of the many wallflower students that knew how to keep their heads down.

It was only when the pale girl dazedly met Sunset's gaze that she realised that she'd been crying. The lenses of the fallen student's glasses helped obscure it with the light glinting off of it, but there was no mistaking the puffiness to her pink eyes. The school year hasn't even started yet, and she's already been crying in Principal Celestia's office?

A male student in the hallway noticed the predicament, and let out a whoop. "Oh shit, guys! Bad Luck just ran into Sunset!" Just like that, several students rushed over, and a small crowd formed around them. Some even had their phones out in anticipation of a tongue lashing. "Tough luck for the freak to piss her off on the first day."

Recognition finally set in on the floored student's face, and her grey skin managed to take on an entirely new level of pallor. Soon after, she began to tremble, and quickly averted her eyes. "I'm s-so sorry, Ms. Shimmer!" she all but whispered. There was an odd lifelessness to the girl's voice, Sunset noted. "I wasn't looking where I was going, b-but please don't hit me."

Looking from the girl to the students gathered around with their phones out, Sunset frowned. Honestly, she had better things to do than to push someone who looked like they were already teetering on the edge of a breakdown—if she was calling her by her surname with the honorific, she must've been petrified. Similarly, an offence like this wasn't exactly deserving of getting her social life destroyed. What was she to do?

A devious thought crossed her mind that would benefit both her and the girl. Everyone watching was clearly expecting something, and she did have a bit of a reputation. Why not let the girl save face while letting everybody else think she's got something coming? Leaning down close, she said, "Don't let it happen again." Holding out a hand, she evenly added, "Never let it be said that I can't be generous when the mood strikes me so."

Little Miss Bad Luck hesitated at first. It was clear from the emotions playing out on her face that she was on the verge of having a panic attack. After taking a calming breath, she took Sunset's hand, although not before looking at it as though it might turn into a snake and bite her. All of the students around them gasped as the red-head hauled the white-haired girl to her feet. She barely managed to stammer out a "Thank you," and an "It won't happen again," before gathering her fallen bag and running off.

As Sunset started walking through the halls towards where her locker waited her, she started listening in on some of the whispers.

"... never seen her do that before..."

"... thought she was going to rip her head off..."

"... Charm's a dead girl walking..."

"... bet she'll get her revenge by day's end..."

All of it brought a frown to her face as she opened the locker. Sure, she'd set up her reputation in such a way that she'd remain aloof from the rest of the students, but she hadn't realised just how vindictive they all thought she was. The girl just bumped into me, for Celestia's sake, and they all acted like I was going to have her murdered. She glanced at the mirror she'd taped there at the beginning of last semester. She couldn't see the evil that the others seemed to see in her.

Slipping everything but the stuff she needed for first class—the schedule had come in the mail last week last week—she let out a sigh. Maybe I did too good a job putting myself on another level. Being called the Bitch Queen of Canterlot High was one thing, but she wasn't a psychopath; she never did anything without reason, and never anything that wouldn't benefit her or the experiment in some way. Maybe I should pull the plug and just join congress instead.

Jinx Charm

"Can things get any worse?" Jinx Charm asked herself as she coiled a snow-white lock around her finger. "Who am I kidding? Of course it can." She'd managed to get to her locker and her AP Maths class without anybody that knew knew her crossing her path, but there was no changing the fact that she'd barrelled into the school's little despot, Sunset Shimmer. This was made worse by the fact that Sunset let her go, word had spread fast, and she shared a several classes with her. She never just let someone go.

While waiting for Harshwhinny, all of the students around her were whispering. They were probably all wondering the same thing—what was she going to do to Jinx. Even now, Sunset was in one of the corner seats in the back row. Between the aggravated look on her face as she flicked through a little black book and then glanced at Jinx, nothing good was coming. Was she having an even worse morning, somehow?

Her mind drifted to the deck of tarot cards in her purse, and wondered if it was worth looking for insight. It wasn't like most of the junior and senior years didn't already know that she was the 'fortune teller' or the 'paranormal girl'. Hell, some students—Lyra Heartstrings, for example—regularly came to her for readings, and even paid to do so. Even without knowing someone, those who used her services swore her readings were scarily accurate.

Before a decision could be reached, however, the classroom door opened, and in stepped a tanned woman with a business-like demeanour. "Good morning, students." If her voice and resting bitch face was to be believed, nothing about this morning was good, but those who'd had her last year knew from experience that the woman always sounded like that. She was actually fairly pleasant when you were on her good side, and even had a love reading done by Jinx last year. "I am Mrs. Harshwhinny, and this is AP Maths 201..."

The rest of Harshwhinny's spiel was tuned out as she thought about what she'd just said. It was subtle, and wouldn't matter much to those who had her for the first time, but she was a missus now! Back in May, she wasn't even sure she wanted to marry her partner. I wonder if she took my advice and popped the question? As bad as the last few days had been, that thought lifted her mood a bit.

"Jinx Charm?" Harshwhinny called out as she took attendance.

She raised a hand and called out, "Here." As soon as the teacher made eye contact, Jinx could just make out the slightest trace of a smile on the woman's stony face. She totally did!

Any joy that thought might've brought quickly ended as she caught sight of Sunset in the corner of her eye. She was rapidly turning through her little black book now, searching for something. She quickly jotted something down with her pencil, and then slipped a bookmark in it before putting it away. I guess she's decided my fate...

With a sigh, Jinx took out a pen, pencil and fresh notebook. Not too long after the teacher got through the attendance, she went into an explanation of the things she expected everyone to know going into the semester, as well as the course materials. As Jinx's eyes wandered from the notes she was jotting down, she found more than a few students looking panicked. Idly, she wondered just how many of them didn't realise what they were getting into when they picked this course up.

Her mind slowly drifted back to the teen tyrant. For all the scare she had given her, she was kinda thankful to have run into her. After all, she'd been in the midst of an anxiety attack when she rushed out of Principal Celestia's office. If nothing else, the encounter had been enough of a shock to her system to bring her down from the precipice. Unfortunately, just the thought of why she'd been there in the first place was enough to threaten a relapse.

The young woman fidgeted with the largest curved bead on her necklace as she sat waiting outside Principal Celestia's office. If not for Ms. Raven Inkwell, she wouldn't even need to speak to the principal to plead her case. It should have just been a simple matter—go in, request the contact information and address of a peer, and get out.

Unfortunately, the secretary had other plans. Oh sure, she was pretty sympathetic to the girl's cause. Who wouldn't be given the situation? Unfortunately, stupid things like procedure and privacy laws got in the way. The only one who could make that decision was Celestia. So Jinx had been told to take a seat while the secretary spoke to her.

Things in life would never be that easy. After all, most high school students didn't need to grow up fast at the drop of a hat. Now, though, she was in another shitty situation, and unlike the one that put her out of school for a year, she didn't have any faith that the principal would be able to help.

"Ms. Celestia will see you now, Jinx," Raven said in a soft voice as she exited the office and returned to her desk. As she passed the young woman, she added in a quiet voice, "Good luck."

With the permission given, she rose to her feet and plodded her way into the principal's office. As always, Principal Celestia was seated behind her desk. Her face was a well-practised mask of serenity, but there was the slightest hint of strain on her face. For one, the woman's smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Good morning, Ms. Charm," she greeted, beckoning towards the seat opposite her own. "Raven tells me that you have an information request that she can't approve by herself. Please, tell me what the problem seems to be, and why you need a student's home address."

Jinx chewed her lip, and clutched her bag against her chest. "I was invited to a party on Friday night at a cabin," she explained in a shaky voice. "I had to drive Hoops there, and I know Dumb-bell was hosting, but..." Her voice caught in her throat. "I don't remember anything after being given a beer. There's just a huge gap in my memory until I woke up in my bed at home, freshly showered on a Sunday afternoon." She gave Celestia a pleading look. "I need to know what happened there, and none of the ones I know attended will pick up the phone, and they've blocked me on social media!"

The principal's calm facade cracked for just a moment, and there was some genuine pity in here eyes. "I hate to ask this, but have you made a police report?" When Jinx shook her head, the woman sighed. "I want to help you, but legally, my hands are tied. If you believe you may have been drugged and sexually assaulted, you need to go to the police—and the hospital if you haven't already."

Tears began to track down the grey student's cheeks as she let out a bitter bark of laughter. "Oh yeah, the same police force Score's father is on?" she asked. "Everyone knows their fathers are just as close as they are. Don't you remember last year how things just so happened to get swept under the rug when Lily Valley accused Score of taking an upskirt shot and spreading it online?" In a quieter voice, she murmured, "I go to the cops, and suddenly I'm gonna be facing trumped up DUI charges and they'll skate by."

"I'm sorry, Jinx, but there's nothing I can do," Celestia apologised, looking away. "If something happened at the school, things would be different, but I can't mete out justice for things that happen outside school when the semester hasn't even started. What I can do, however, is schedule a meeting with the school counsellor."

The rest of her morning classes passed by fairly mundanely. By sheer luck, none of her classes had those boys or any of the members of their social group. If she'd been so unlucky, she thought she might've cried. After all, she was missing an entire day after going to a party with a bunch of boys. It was hard not to think about what might've happened.

That said, things didn't get any better. By the second period, everybody was staring at her. At first, she thought they were staring at her because of the whole Sunset thing. Some of them did have pitying looks in their eyes, but just as many were starting to look at her in disgust.

Around the time the staring took a turn for the worse, so too did the whispers. She could only catch stray bits like "I can't believe..." or "...the whole rugby team!" It didn't take an idiot to figure out what was going on. Someone had set their own rumour loose before she even found out what happened at the party or how she wound up at home. Was this Sunset's work?

It seemed like an eternity before lunchtime finally came. In fact, she couldn't get out of Mr. Time Turner's physics class fast enough. The bell had barely rung and she'd crammed everything into her bag and rushed out of the room. She needed to get somewhere quiet and safe and just try to calm down...

Passing in front of the lunch room, one of the school's tech clique geeks approached her. She'd seen Micro Chips around before, but hadn't had much interaction with him. She wasn't a member of the tech clique, so she didn't have much reason to. That was why it was so surprising that he'd approach her.

"Hey, uh... you're Jinx, right?" he asked, fidgeting with his suspender straps. He seemed particularly nervous, not quite able to meet her eyes. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as his face flushed. "How much are, uh, your services?"

She blinked, unsure as to why he seemed so skittish about a tarot reading. "I mean, it depends on the complexity of the reading you want," she explained, "but usually it'll run you anywhere from ten to forty bucks."

The boy's violet cheeks turned a dark purple, as he shook his head. "No, not those services..." In an even quieter voice, he added. "A classmate told me that you... that you break in virgins."

A wave of nausea washed over her as what he said began to sink in. Oh God. She recoiled away from the bespectacled boy, putting her hands up in front of her as if to ward him off. "I dunno who told you that, but they're lying!" she shouted. "I dont... I've never..."

She blinked and found herself running to the halls away from him. Only a stumble saved her from once more crashing into Sunset Shimmer, who was now accompanied by her two lackeys. She couldn't shake the startled look that the girl gave her as she froze in place and began to shake. She might've even tried saying something, but Jinx didn't listen... Instead, she made her way into the nearest girl's bathroom and hid herself away in a stall, just in time to hide her panic attack from the rest of the school.