Chapter 6: An Act of Contrition
It was two weeks before Sunset realized she had put Flash on hold and never gotten back to him. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him in that time either, he had just not brought it up and she had completely failed to remember. She felt guilty about it, but to be fair, she had a lot on her plate these days.
“I know,” said Flash with a smile as they walked down the paths behind the school and between the athletic fields.
“That doesn’t excuse it,” said Sunset. “You asked for my opinion on something and then I forgot. If I’m going to do this friendship thing right, I have to remember stuff like this.” She waved a finger at Flash. “And you can’t just let me ignore you!”
“You weren’t ignoring me,” said Flash, sticking his hands in his pockets. “We saw each other every day. You were just mostly with Fluttershy or Rarity or Pinkie Pie. Mostly Fluttershy. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Sunset sighed. “You know, all this being nice can turn into quite a bit of complacency.”
“What’s going on with Fluttershy, anyway? I haven’t really talked to her since the animal shelter thing.”
Sunset bit her lip as she thought about that question.
“Something wrong?” asked Flash.
Sunset shrugged. “I might be misreading the situation. There is the possibility it’s all in my head.”
Flash studied Sunset with intensity. He also began twisting his lips in an awkward display of thought. “She looks at you a lot,” he finally burst. “When you’re not looking back.”
Sunset nodded, which was as neutral a way as she could conceive of taking this information.
“I’m just saying,” continued Flash. “If the thing you’re thinking is the same thing I’m thinking, then it’s not just you thinking those things.”
Sunset rose an eyebrow. “I need a map to navigate that sentence.”
“She likes you,” said Flash.
“I know,” said Sunset.
“She likes you, likes you,” said Flash.
“Thanks for that clarification,” said Sunset.
Flash hesitated before saying more. “Do you like her?”
Sunset glared at him and sped her walk up a bit. Flash eventually caught up at the end of the rows of tennis courts and then matched her pace.
“I’m sorry,” said Flash.
“I hope this wasn’t the thing you wanted to talk to me about,” said Sunset. “Because, really, this isn’t your business.”
“Not even as an ex-likes-you-likes-you person?” asked Flash.
Sunset slowed down and turned to look at him. No matter what he said, it was Sunset’s decision this matter, and it was what Sunset’s values were that led the day here. His opinion was his own and she owed nothing to him on that front. They were no longer dating.
On the other hand, she was a foreigner in this land, even three years on. As much as she had gotten used to the strange names and different history of this world, she still thought like a pony, and still had to translate the terms she used into things appropriate for humans. Flash could, possibly, have an opinion worth hearing.
But she had other people to worry about now, and she didn’t know if Fluttershy would want this discussion to include Flash. It would be better not to push it without permission. She sighed at the complicated nature of her life now.
“Does this even happen in Equestria?” asked Flash, interrupted her internal deliberation.
“Does what happen?” asked Sunset.
“Well, uh—“ he stammered a bit as if suddenly unsure of what he was talking about. “Girls liking girls? Did you even have girls and boys—“
“Yes, there is both gender and sex,” interrupted Sunset before this became exceptionally inane. “And yes, romantic relationships are not limited to the biologically required pairings, we have magic after all.”
“Ah, so you...” said Flash, who now seemed to be blushing. “Okay then.”
“This world is so strange,” said Sunset as she kept walking. “You have television and movies, and seem to delight in watching other people do all sorts of things but act all awkward when it’s happening in front of you. Doesn’t anyone watch plays?”
“Not nearly as much as telev—wait, you don’t have TV?” asked Flash.
Sunset shook her head. “Magic can recall certain events from the past into the present, and make them visible to be seen, but it’s not well suited to entertainment. Manipulating a recollection of a past event to add things like narrative or music is difficult and time consuming. Plays are the primary means of entertainment.”
“You don’t have recordings?” asked Flash.
“Photography,” said Sunset. “But film is not nearly as developed as it is here, probably comparable to how it was fifty years ago. Technology in general is far superior here than in Equestria. Probably because of magic.”
“Film isn’t as developed?” asked Flash with a smirk.
“Oh, stop,” said Sunset, dismissing his puns.
“So, wait, magic interferes with technology?” asked Flash.
“Magic renders it unnecessary,” said Sunset. “I was surprised when I came here that humans had progressed so far without magic, but it makes sense. There was no other option. Humans spent millennia pursuing flight while we had it readily accessible. Illnesses rose up and decimated early humanity until you learned simple things like cleanliness.” She shrugged. “Even your gods... well, I’ve learned enough not to talk too much about that situation.”
Flash smiled at her.
“What?” asked Sunset.
“It’s easy to forget you’re from another world,” said Flash. “Until you go talking about how inconvenient dying from sickness is.”
Sunset scowled. “Well, it’s not like I blame you for it, it was just a surprise to learn all this about human history. It’s different, not bad!”
Flash held up his hands. “Alright, alright, I understand.”
Sunset stopped and turned on Flash. “Again, you’re delaying. Tell me what it is you wanted from me back on the day we helped Fluttershy at the shelter.”
Flash's smile faded and he went quiet for a second. He grimaced briefly and then took a breath. “How good do you think Flash Drive is?”
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Flash, I already told you I thought--"
"No, no," interrupted Flash. He held up a hand. "Thank you, again, for that. But forget about being friends, and anything you may think about me and what happened between us. I really want to know what you'd think if you didn't know me. Would you listen to Flash Drive's music?"
Sunset struggled to speak for almost half a minute. "I'm sort of a classical music fan," she admitted.
Flash winced like she'd taken a swing at him.
"Uh- now, that's--" started Sunset.
"It's alright," he said. "I put too much pressure on you." He looked at his hands and shook his head.
With a mild shake in her hand, Sunset reached out and touched Flash's shoulder. "What's-- uh, what's happening?"
Flash looked up at the clouds. "Brawly Beats, he... you know who B-Beats is, right?"
Sunset suppressed a chuckle. "Yeah, I know who your drummer is."
"Right," nodded Flash. He hesitated again. "He doesn't want to go to college."
Sunset nodded and Flash looked at her expectantly for a few seconds before she realized she was supposed to have reacted. "So... the rest of Flash Drive is going to college?"
With a shrug, Flash said, "Well, yeah, of course."
Sunset frowned as Flash got up and began pacing about. "You know, B-Beats has never really been the best student. And he's just kind of hoping to skip it. Spend more time helping the band."
"That's good, right?" ventured Sunset. She was starting to feel uneasy.
"It's good," said Flash in a way that it was clear there was more.
"But?" prompted Sunset. She took a shot in the dark, bringing voice to concerns she'd begun to feel herself. "But the band's going to be far away and Brawly will be stuck here?"
"Not just far, but two different places," said Flash.
Sunset's mouth dropped. "You're disbanding?"
"We're going to college!" said Flash, exasperated. He blinked. "I'm sorry, Sunset, I know you don't know all of this. It's just -- it was fun, we're pretty great at it, but college was always the plan. For most of us college is the plan. Including Ringo, he wants to become a talent manager."
"You're leaving him behind," said Sunset softly.
"No," said Flash quickly. "We're not! We just didn't change our plans because of Flash Drive. But B-Beats didn't get that and now I don't know what to do. I don't know how to tell him we're not on the same page. It's going to hurt him and... he's my friend"
Sunset nodded and now she stood. She looked off back at the school. "He's your friend, but you're not all going to abandon your futures just for him."
"Ehhhh," groaned Flash. "When you say it that way--"
Sunset turned back. "Tell him," she said simply. "Now. While he has time to come up with something else."
Flash came back down and sat on the bench. "I was afraid you'd say that."
"I'd want to know," said Sunset. "Before... before anything happened that was irrecoverable."
Flash sighed loudly. "You're right. I'll tell him."
Sunset nodded, but her thoughts were already racing ahead of her.
*** ( MLP ) ***
At the end of the day, Sunset opened her locker as a formality at this point. There wasn’t anything in there she cared about anymore, but she was morbidly curious as to what had been done during the course of the day. Often it was fairly unoriginal and frankly repetitive. Honey was a recurring theme, then sawdust, and at one point ketchup packets.
Today it was vinegar. The smell was a little overwhelming and she shut the door immediately.
“Don’t they realize you don’t keep anything in there?” asked Fluttershy, who was watching over Sunset’s shoulder.
“It’s still kind of annoying,” said Sunset. “That might be their plan at this point since actually getting me in trouble has failed on several angles. Luna just isn’t buying the tall tales and threatened to put anyone who told a lie to her in detention as well. Anything more complicated than that seems to be beyond Trixie’s ability.”
“Hopefully it will end soon,” said Fluttershy. “I’d like it if you had a locker again.”
“Me too,” said Sunset. She hefted her heavy bag onto her back again.
“Do you need help?” asked Fluttershy.
“No thanks,” said Sunset, and made a small smile. They walked towards the front offices. When they got there, Fluttershy would keep going and Sunset would go to her detention. It was a two minute walk and Sunset had told Fluttershy not to bother several times, but still the girl came along.
“Are-are you doing anything this weekend?” asked Fluttershy as they walked.
“Detention as usual,” said Sunset.
“‘That’s just Saturday morning, what about the rest of the day?” asked Fluttershy.
“Not sure,” said Sunset. “Why, is the gang going somewhere?”
“No, I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with me,” said Fluttershy. She was looking at her feet and not at Sunset at all.
Sunset frowned. “I’m not doing anything else, we can go to the mall.” She saw Fluttershy start to look up and she quickly smiled. “I’ll warn you I’m not a great companion for shopping, I don’t have much money to buy with.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” said Fluttershy with a bright smile. “We can just look, if you want.”
Sunset nodded. She wished she could confidently say anything else, but she couldn’t think of something, and she definitely didn’t want to do it here in the middle of the school.
Instead she said nothing until they got to the front office.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Sunset. She waved casually.
Fluttershy gave her a hug instead.
“Okay, okay,” said Sunset for the second time today. She gently pushed the girl back and waved again.
This time Fluttershy waved back and turned to leave. With a sigh, Sunset headed into Luna’s office.
“Good afternoon, Sunset Shimmer,” said Luna from behind her desk. The principal was dressed conservatively as normal, dark pants, midnight blue blouse and a buttoned jacket. She looked deep in concentration as she typed on her laptop. She hadn’t even looked up when Sunset entered.
“Hi, VP,” said Sunset.
Luna looked up this time.
“Vice Principal Luna,” said Sunset with a grin.
Luna closed her laptop and folded her hands on top of it. “We’re halfway through your detention, which while rocky at the start has become fairly routine at this point. I hope you understand the necessity for discipline at this point.”
Sunset shrugged. “It’s not like my crime had anything to do with your school, per se, just happened to occur here.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “That’s a rather pragmatic approach to take, considering it was Celestia and my generosity that resulted in this line of detentions rather than a stay at the local jail.”
Sunset paled. “Right, I know. I’ve said I’m thankful before, I still am. I’d much rather be here than there. Sorry.”
Luna nodded. “I’m not sure how things work in the world you come from,” she said and paused a long time before continuing. “But Celestia and I have offered you more than just a commuted sentence. You have opportunities now that you wouldn’t have with a criminal record. A possible future here in our world, if you intend to stay.”
Sunset stepped away from the office door and sat down in the chair opposite Luna.
“I don’t have much choice at this point,” said Sunset. “But if you’re asking what I’ll do if a choice presents itself...” she shrugged. “I don’t have an answer for you, other than to say that after possibly six years, I will know less about my original world than I will about this one.”
“Then perhaps it’s worth your time to consider a future here,” said Luna. “Do you have anything you have thought about doing with your life?”
“Have I thought of it?” asked Sunset. “Unfortunately, I can’t seem to escape people asking me about it so, yes, I’ve thought of it. Do I have any idea of what I might want to do? Not at all.”
“You are lucky to have so many people looking out for your future,” said Luna. “But if you’re still having trouble, perhaps I can help you as well.”
“It’s not like I don’t know my options,” said Sunset. “I just don’t think any of them are great. Not a lot of need for a genius in Equestrian magic, so whatever I do I have to accept that it won’t be what I want or what I’m good at.”
Luna sat back in her chair. “I don’t think that’s fair, you’re good at quite a lot. You excel in your classes, and that was through no manipulation or subterfuge that I ever became aware of.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Okay, yeah, I’m good at math and science, but that’s only because they were crucial to understanding the underlying concepts of intra-crystalline dependencies as set forth in Star Swirl’s Magical Fundamentals – which, I’m sure you don’t care, but turned out to be horribly simplifying the equations such that I had to deduce the proper constants myself.” She folded her arms. “I did it to learn more powerful magic, I’m not really interested in doing it for the sake of math and science itself.”
“There are not many that pursue science and math for their own sakes,” said Luna with a smile. “Perhaps there is an application of those ideas you haven’t considered.”
Sunset frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, engineering for one,” said Luna, motioning to her laptop. “Computers are machines that rely on science to work, and mathematics to construct and program. There are many engineering disciplines, of course, not just computers. I know that cars are pretty enticing for many. As is architecture.”
Sunset unfolded her arms and considered the idea. For as much as the Star Swirl in her head bugged her about the future, he rarely had any really great ideas that fit into this world. Science was, after all, the magic of this world.
“I’d like to fly,” said Sunset, almost without thinking. “I guess I could think about it.”
“That’s all I ask,” said Luna. She pushed aside some folders on her desk and picked up a blue one. “Today we’ll be doing something different.”
“Run out of extra class work for me already?” said Sunset.
Luna looked at her evenly.
“Go ahead, I’ll refrain from commenting,” said Sunset.
“As I mentioned before, you are quite good at you classes, despite your attitude,” said Luna. “It seems to me to be a waste having you do things I could just as easily have our janitorial staff accomplish. So starting today, you will provide tutoring.”
Sunset blinked. “Tutoring? Me?”
Luna nodded. “Your grasp of most of these concepts is at least at the college level, it should be no challenge to teach them to others. Betters still, if you could inspire others to look beyond the lessons into applications, I would be indebted to you.”
Sunset started to smirk again but Luna held up a finger. She stopped herself.
“Your students will be others in detention at first, but we will see where we go from there.” Luna opened the blue folder and pulled out a page of names and topics. “Does this interest you or would you like to go back to cleaning the gym?”
Sunset grimaced. “No, this sounds much less disgusting, I’ll do it.”
Luna smiled.
*** ( MLP ) ***
Sunset threw her bag onto the recovered papasan chair in her room at the office park and then collapsed into the recliner beside her desk. She was still holding the paper with names and curriculum on it. It was an equally depressing and ominous list.
In the years attending CHS, Sunset had come to understand the established expectations when it came to education in this world. There was a spectrum of education each grade was to receive and a bell curve with a majority of students in the center of that range of topics. Some of the topics on the list were far below that curve. And that was only the depressing part.
The ominous part was that she recognized some of the names on the list. She wished she hadn’t. At least the names she knew were not too far down in the spectrum.
Still, for all her distress, she was thinking. It was a challenge. Not exactly the sort of challenge she would have picked for herself, but it was something she could work through. Something she could use her mind to figure out.
“And what, exactly, were you using it for until now?” asked Star Swirl as he stepped into her peripheral vision. He tipped his large and unwieldy hat to the side. “Your mind, that is?”
“Don’t start,” said Sunset. She turned away from the phantom.
Star Swirl walked in from the other side of her vision. “No, no, don’t be upset, I think this is a good thing. Something to disrupt the careful balance you’ve attained.”
Sunset tried to ignore it, but it was, in a way, her own mind challenging her, and she couldn’t escape it. “Balance?” she said angrily.
“For better or worse, the last two weeks have been about routine,” said Star Swirl. “You’ve seemed to have won the friendship of Rarity, and something else from Fluttershy, and their friends have generally accepted your presence in their group. But is that all you seek to accomplish?”
“I ‘seek’ a way to evict you from my mind,” said Sunset. “I’m doing the friendship thing and your complaint is...what? I’m not doing it fast enough?”
“Speed was your original folly,” said Star Swirl.
“Then what?” asked Sunset. “Because I’m thinking if you say ‘folly’ again I’m not responsible for what I do next.”
“Friends are not a checkbox, Sunset,” said Star Swirl. “Not a goal to achieve for the sake of itself. Friends empower us, in ways you’ve seen and others.”
“Yeah, Twilight’s friends utterly trounced me,” said Sunset. She shook her head. “And I get it, but it’s just not something that’s second nature to me.” She put the paper of names on her desk and leaned her elbows on her knees. “Without someone actually coming after me, I thought I might relax a little bit. I’ve got plenty of time.”
“You never know when a new challenge might arise,” said Star Swirl. He walked over to the desk and pointed a hoof at the paper.
“This?” said Sunset. “The tutoring? You think this is an opportunity to make new friends?”
“Every day could be a day to meet a new friend, but this is also a chance to explore your future, and find out what you might want to become,” said Star Swirl.
“A teacher?” asked Sunset. She tapped her finger rhythmically on the desk. “I’m not bound to be too good at this.”
“And why not?” asked Star Swirl. “For all your ambition, you have spent your life learning and growing your mind. You know how it is done and could teach it to others.”
“I know how I did it,” clarified Sunset. “But unless you want me to inspire these students to become myopically focused on gaining power until it nearly destroys them, I don’t know if I’ll get the same interest.”
Star Swirl sighed and walked around to the window, looking out into the dark. “You blame too much of your behavior on your mistake. You are still a learner at heart, it is what enticed you to magic in the first place.”
“Well, that and growing up in a school for magical geniuses and being tutored by a god,” said Sunset.
Star Swirl turned. “Must you have a retort for every comment?”
Sunset thought for a second, then nodded.
Star Swirl rose an eyebrow. “You don’t act this way around Fluttershy.”
“So what?” asked Sunset. “I don’t want to get rid of her. You? I could go either way.” Sunset folded her arms. “And I used to, you know, do that... until I realized how much it hurt her.”
“Then listen up,” said Star Swirl. “I am here for a limited time, and nothing you do will make me go faster or slower. So while I am here, take advantage of my knowledge and experience, because once I’m gone, only the rightful possessors of the Elements of Harmony will ever hear from me again.”
Sunset studied the specter in front of her. “How old are you anyway?”
“A few weeks,” said Star Swirl with a bob of his head. When he received a stare of death, he smirked. “Oh, you mean the real Star Swirl.”
“Yes,” Sunset said patiently.
“Quite old,” said Star Swirl after a moment of hesitation. He turned back towards the bookshelves. “You know your history.”
“I know what’s written,” said Sunset as she watched Star Swirl slowly pace about the room. “But I know better than think that’s the whole story.”
Star Swirl paused by a stack of old textbooks. He put a hoof on top of the stack as if testing its stability. The books didn’t move at all and Sunset didn’t expect them to. “Stories are never whole,” he began quietly. “They’re only ever bits and fragments of what really happened. The pieces the storyteller liked the most, regardless of whether they really mattered.”
Sunset leaned forward onto her desk, placing her elbows on the old wood. “So tell me what was left out. How did you become so powerful?”
Star Swirl was still for a second, then he turned his head towards her with a half-smile. “At school, actually. Though there weren’t any back then, so I had to create one. Or tried to, anyway, It took a while to convince anyone it was worth it even after I had the ear of the King.”
Sunset considered that. “Because of the friendship thing?”
“Oh, no, this was before I understood the power of friendship. No, this was something much more fundamental,” said Star Swirl. He turned to fully face Sunset and then pointed at his horn. “Prejudice.”
Sunset frowned and folded her arms. “Prejudice?”
“It was a different time,” said Star Swirl. “With different rules.”
*** ( MLP ) ***
Over a thousand years ago…
A young sky blue unicorn wearing a purple cloak walked slowly down a forested path beside an older, tall and regal looking male white unicorn with a red cape trimmed in silver and wearing a gold crown prominently showing a sun and a moon at its crest. The younger unicorn was animated, waving his hooves around as he pointed at the trees and the sky. The older unicorn only smiled.
“Your enthusiasm is admirable, but I don’t see the necessity,” said King Bullion.
“But, your highness,” said Star Swirl as he quickly galloped ahead and turned to face the more regal pony. “It’s all connected! Everything, in fact. Understanding the balance is crucial to maximizing crop yields.”
The older unicorn shook his head and slowly walked past Star Swirl. “That’s an Earth Tribe matter, it doesn’t affect us. The Unicorn Tribe only needs to focus on the sun and the moon.”
The Star Swirl walked backwards to stay in the king’s sight. “But it does affect us, just like the weather does. And all of it is held in balance by the fundamental force: magic.”
“We have magic, the Earth and Pegasus Tribes do not,” said Bullion. “That is what makes our tribe the most important.”
The young magician took a deep breath. “I think the other tribes do have magic, and possibly all living things have magic, they just express it in different ways,” he said. “Ours is external but I think the other races have an intrinsic magical energy they use to be strong or fly. I can’t prove it yet, but I think there’s a way to make all the measurements I’ve taken align. A sort of unifying equation that can prove magic is not only everywhere, but is possibly interchangeable. The Academy can prove this.”
The king stopped and turned. He did not look happy. “Star Swirl, your assistance to our tribe in stabilizing the spells to raise the sun has been significant, so I have allowed you to indulge in your fancies, but this is too much.” He rose his head up and looked down at the younger pony. “The Unicorn Tribe is magic. It is our birthright and our honor to lead the lesser tribes through this harsh world. What you propose is blasphemy! The very idea can lead to only one thing: unrest.”
“King Bullion,” started Star Swirl but he was cut off with a simple gesture from the King’s hoof.
“I am unmoved by your appeals,” said Bullion. “Your plan to tamper with our tradition in this ‘Magical Academy’ is an affront to our values and it cannot be allowed.”
“But my work created the Sunset!” said Star Swirl. “Without that ‘tampering’ our people would be dying with every day, burned out by the exhaustion of lowering the blazing sun. If you can see the value in that—“
“I do,” said King Bullion loudly and with finality. “And for that, I let you speak in this manner to me. But you are not King of our tribe. I must protect our people and, in turn, our agreements with the Earth Tribe and the Unicorn Tribe. For those agreements to stand it must be clear, the Earth Tribe are the only ones who can grow, the Pegasi are the only ones who keep the weather in check, and we are the only ones who can raise and lower the sun and moon. Do you understand?”
Star Swirl looked down at the path and shook his head. “I implore you,” he said as he looked up. “Knowledge can cause unrest but nothing can hold it back. If I am right and we don’t research this, someone else will and that knowledge will spread without any regard for you or your people. You can’t contain ideas; they spring forth unbidden from the most unexpected places. Believe me, our only hope to avoid the unrest, rather than simply delay it, is to find out everything we can and carefully educate.”
“I do not agree,” said the King. “Just looking for truth in these ideas will cause the trouble you seek to avoid, and then not even proof that they are false will contain them any longer.” He sighed and nodded towards Star Swirl. “I can see the power in your mind, Star Swirl, but it is a power for you alone, not to be broadcast, and not to be shared through this Academy idea. Your brilliance is only outshined by your temperance, but there are far more ambitious and crass unicorns out there that will take your talents and turn them towards ruin.”
The King continued walking as they exited the forest and approached the castle grounds with the looming towers in the distance. He turned as they reached the bridge that crossed the river that separated the forest from the town. “Now I ask you to listen well, my friend,” he said. “Hold this curiosity within you and rededicate yourself to the task this tribe needs most prominently: solving the eclipse.”
Star Swirl nodded before his liege, his eyes turned downward.
“Our people need relief from holding back the moonless night,” said the King. “Do not come to me again until you have a solution on this matter.”
“Yes, your highness,” said Star Swirl.
With a nod, the King turned and swiftly walked over the bridge and down the path towards the castle. Star Swirl lingered behind, walking up to the top crest of the bridge and then sitting down and leaning against the railings. He sighed and played idly with the edge of his cloak under the bright sun while listening to the flowing river beneath.
Strangely, he quickly began to feel better, and he turned his thoughts again onto the puzzle of interconnected magics. He was sure there was some angle he hadn’t considered, a means by which the different expressions – direct, indirect, and cosmic magics – might be viewed to present a unified theory.
He grumbled briefly about the King’s inability to see the potential in his idea but his anger fled as quickly as it formed, he just couldn’t stay frustrated for some reason and again he turned towards his unified magic theory.
He looked towards the sun, the powerhouse of magic it was, and wondered again if it were the divine source he sought. Light was an interesting force that could be harnessed in many ways, and distorted, if viewed through the wrong lens.
Lens! thought Star Swirl. That idea now stuck in his head like a flash of inspiration. A lens bent light and focused it, like a unicorn could bend magic and focus it. But there were lots of types of magic if Star Swirl’s theory was correct, so it would be less like a single lens and more like a… prism!
Star Swirl leapt back to his feet. His heart raced as his mind latched onto the idea. Not necessarily a literal prism of glass, but a prism of crystalline magic. He had only just started understanding the basics of crystal magic but his studies were quickly producing scores of theories.
Star Swirl smiled broadly and breathed deep, feeling he had made a very positive leap.
It was then he noticed the gentle tones that had been hearing for a while now. They were quiet, easily overlooked, but melodic. He turned and looked around for the source of the pleasant notes. Eventually he looked down off the bridge and saw her. A young mare with the tail of a fish swimming in gentle circles in the water, her head raised just above the surface and singing the melodious notes. Her eyes were closed as she sang the simple melody and she looked to be smiling between notes.
When she stopped to take another breath, Star Swirl spoke up.
“Hello there,” he said simply.
The hippocampus was startled and took a mouthful of water before coughing then treading water. With a strong swish of her tail she propped herself up halfway above the water and gently tapped on her throat with her hoof as she coughed. On her tail was a picture of a heart with a single blue note shaped like a lightning bolt on top of it.
“It was beautiful singing,” said Star Swirl. “I didn’t mean to disrupt you.”
The girl was frozen, caught with indecision for just a moment.
Then she squeaked, dove beneath the water, and swam swiftly away.
“Wait!” Star Swirl called out to no avail.
*** ( MLP ) ***
Sunset frowned at Star Swirl’s sudden pausing. She unfolded her arms and studied the phantom before her. “What is it?”
“I hear something,” said Star Swirl. He looked towards the windows and the darkened skies beyond. “Do you?
Sunset sighed. “I hear what you hear and I don’t....” She paused and frowned.
Sunset leapt up from her chair and ran to the windows, peering out. A blue and red flashing light glared against the windows from below. Multiple lights.
Police!
“Crap!” said Sunset. She grabbed her bag, stuffed as many papers as she could inside, and ran. The visage of Star Swirl melted away as she headed for the exit.
*** ( MLP ) ***
Sunset felt awful as she banged on the door, but she was exhausted and sweaty and couldn’t run any further than this. She should have gone home, she knew that intuitively, but in her haste to get away, she reverted to old habits and was halfway here before she realized her mistake. She hoped this didn’t turn out as awful as she felt.
The door opened, shining bright light onto Sunset’s face. She squinted against it and saw the taller form of Honey Blossom, an auburn and pink haired woman with light yellow skin. She was holding a newspaper in one hand and had on large glasses which she raised to look down at Sunset.
“Oh, Sunset Shimmer,” said Honey Blossom. “Goodness, you look a fright! Come in.” She motioned with her hand holding the newspaper. Sunset stepped in out of the cool night air and shivered slightly.
“Thank you,” said Sunset. She put her bag down by the line of shoes in the corner and rubbed her sides slightly. “Is Fluttershy around?”
“She wasn’t expecting you, I gather,” said Honey Blossom with a small smile.
Sunset shook her head. “I just got chased out of… well, anyway, I got stranded and came here because it was closest.” That wasn’t entirely true, but close enough to at least sound honest.
“She’s upstairs,” said Honey Blossom. She pointed towards the stairs. Then she called out. “Fluttershy!”
Sunset nodded and walked towards the stairs. She had her foot on the first step when she heard an ‘eep’ and looked up. She saw Fluttershy at the top of the stairs looking down. She was wearing oversized fuzzy pink pajamas, bright blue slippers, and had her hair tied up in a ponytail. She was suddenly blushing heavily.
Then she turned and bolted. A door slam was heard distantly.
Sunset turned to look back at Honey Blossom, who was looking a little surprised, though not as much as Sunset felt.
“Is she upset with me for some reason I don’t know?” asked Sunset.
Honey Blossom shook her head.
“Right,” Sunset said slowly. Then she started walking cautiously up the stairs. When she reached the top she looked around at the three doors, one of which was a bathroom, one which was open and dark, and the last which was closed and had light emanating from the crack at the bottom. She walked up to the closed door and knocked gently.
“Fluttershy?” said Sunset. “Are you alright?”
“Mmm hmm,” came Fluttershy’s voice.
“Can I… come in?” asked Sunset.
“Just a minute!” Fluttershy said quickly. The door rattled slightly as someone walked quickly past.
Sunset shivered again. She realized she sweated quite a bit during her run here and her shirt was damp and cold. She needed to change. And probably get a shower.
“Fluttershy--” started Sunset.
“Almost ready,” said Fluttershy through the door.
“Ready for what?” asked Sunset. “I just want to sit down.”
There were several more seconds of rustling on the other side, and then the door swung open quickly. Fluttershy was standing there, and she had completely changed. Her hair was down like she normally had it at school (a little tangled but generally the same), her pyjamas had changed into a slightly better fitting t-shirt and cotton pants, and the slippers were nowhere to be seen instead showing her bare feet and painted nails.
“What… was that about?” asked Sunset.
“Nothing,” said Fluttershy. Her cheeks were still flushed. “Come in. Sit down.”
Sunset nodded and held off her questions. Fluttershy’s room was large, with a queen bed beneath a pair of windows, a desk, dresser, and room enough in the middle for a rug and a loveseat (which was currently covered in books). Sunset walked towards the desk and sat down with a sigh.
“What happened?” asked Fluttershy as she came over and sat on the edge of the bed closest to the desk.
Sunset shook her head. “You know I live off in some abandoned office space, right?”
Fluttershy frowned but nodded. “I thought you were living with your foster parents more these days.”
Sunset nodded. “Yeah, more than not, but I still like my space. And a lot of my stuff is still at the office. For lack of a better name, it’s my thinking space and I’m comfortable there.”
“Okay,” said Fluttershy. She shifted slightly on the bed, inching more towards the edge. “What happened?”
“Well, it’s kind of illegal,” said Sunset. “You know, I don’t actually own that space so, I didn’t have any right to be there. And the cops showed up tonight.”
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy. “Did you get--?”
Sunset shook her head. “No, I left before anyone saw me. But I doubt I’ll be able to go back anytime soon.” She sighed. “Maybe at all. And my stuff is probably lost.”
“I’m sorry,” said Fluttershy.
“I was pushing my luck as it was,” said Sunset. She turned around and straddled the back of the chair and rested her arms on the back. “I lived there for years, it was going to happen sooner or later. I suppose I’m lucky I’d already started moving my books.”
“Would have been luckier if you’d moved them all,” said Fluttershy.
“Yeah, I suppose,” said Sunset. “I would have kept more in my locker if I hadn’t been--” She sat up and froze. Was it luck that they came today? Or was it something else?
“What is it?” asked Fluttershy.
“I told you this morning I wasn’t using my locker for anything,” said Sunset. “That I didn’t need to and it wasn’t a big deal anymore.”
“Yes,” said Fluttershy. She looked expectantly.
“This, however, is a big deal,” said Sunset. “Exactly the kind of big deal to get me upset again.”
Fluttershy frowned. “You think the bullies--”
“Oh, let's be clear, it’s Trixie,” said Sunset, scoffing. She grimaced and wrung her hands. “And yes. I haven’t been careful lately because I thought they were losing interest. But everyone knows I go to detention and they could easily see when I left. Someone could have followed me.”
“And called the police?” asked Fluttershy.
Sunset nodded. “Trivial for them, a pain in the butt for me. And it follows the pattern of their earlier attempts to goad me on: telling on me to authority.” She shook her head. “The only thing I wonder is how they even found out I lived someplace other than home.”
“Who else knew?” asked Fluttershy.
“You guys knew, but I trust you at this point,” said Sunset. “Flash knew, but he wouldn’t tell. Other than that, just Princess Celestia. I have no idea who she could have told.”
“Vice Principal Luna? Or someone else in the school?” asked Fluttershy.
“Possibly, but that doesn’t help us much,” said Sunset. She sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. “I guess the most straightforward thing to do is just confront her tomorrow.”
“I-is that a good idea?” asked Fluttershy.
“She won’t hide it if it’s her,” said Sunset. “She might take credit if it isn’t, though, so I just need to make sure I make her tell me instead of asking directly. Won’t be hard.” She slumped down on the back of the chair again. “I really loved that place.”
Fluttershy got up and came over to Sunset and gave her a gentle hug. “You’ll find someplace new.”
Sunset nodded, though she rankled slightly at the close contact. “Maybe.” She shrugged a bit in Fluttershy’s embrace. “Stop, I’m all sweaty and yuck.”
Fluttershy slowly stepped away and sat on the bed again. “You can use the shower if you want,” she said. “I have some clothes that might fit you.” She started blushing again. Her eyes dropped to the side. “I’m sure you can spend the night if you want, and we can wash your clothes for morning.”
“If you don’t mind,” said Sunset. “I would rather not explain all this to my foster parents.”
Fluttershy squeaked suddenly then quickly composed herself. “I mean, I don’t mind, I’ll ask my mother.” She got up and headed for the door. “It’s in the hall, there are towels in the closet. I’ll find some clothes while you’re cleaning up.”
Sunset nodded. “Thank you,” she said.
Fluttershy lingered for a moment just staring at Sunset then she pulled herself away and into the hall. Sunset sighed. She wasn’t doing herself or Fluttershy any favors tonight, but she was too tired to worry about it now. She just wanted to be clean and warm and not think about any of this until she had dealt with Trixie.
Sunset stripped her leather coat off and hung it on the back of the chair and then pulled her boots off and put them against the wall by the window. Her socks joined them soon after. She looked at the mirror behind Fluttershy’s desk and realized it was a vanity. Makeup was lined up neatly beneath the reflective surface and a series of hair ties and pins were lined up in a small shoebox that had been lined with velvet.
The pins were all variants of Fluttershy’s butterfly cutie mark and it again amazed Sunset that humans in this world just felt compelled to wear their symbol. It was one thing to have the image appear on your hair or skin, but another to deliberately put it onto your clothes and jewelry. How did they rationalize it? Was it cultural or biological?
Sunset sighed and pushed the thoughts aside. A mystery for another day, today’s mission was sleep, tomorrow was Trixie, and then after that, at some distant point, deal with Fluttershy’s feelings. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like a mess. She hadn’t realized how frizzy her hair had become and the sweat marks on her top. She was surprised Fluttershy’s mother even recognized her in this state.
Then her eyes settled on her cutie mark on her shirt. Ah, right. She was just as guilty of unconsciously using it as Fluttershy was.
She turned away from the mirror and headed towards the bathroom. She heard voices downstairs as she crossed the hall but decided not to pry. She was already taking advantage of Fluttershy’s hospitality. She closed the door to the bathroom and started the shower. When the water was warm, she stripped off the rest of her clothes and stepped in.
It was heavenly. Sure, she showered at her foster parents’ place occasionally, but most of her shower were using the cold water at the office where the heaters were turned off. Tonight, most of all, she needed to be comforted and this was almost luxurious. She spent a couple minutes just letting the water wash over her. Then she began cleaning the day off of her.
At some point Fluttershy knocked on the door and took her clothes away but Sunset barely paid it any attention. She found some shampoo that smelled of citrus, a scent she had associated with Fluttershy that she hadn’t known the source of. She cleaned her hair thoroughly and finally, at the end, just sat in the tub with the warm water raining down on her for several minutes.
Eventually there was another knock at the door, and Sunset poked her head out of the curtains to say she was getting out now. She reluctantly turned off the faucet and grabbed a couple of towels. After she was dry she looked around and remembered her clothes had been taken. There hadn’t been any replacements, though. She poked around for a robe or something but finally gave up and tied up her hair in one towel and then wrapped another one around her body.
She walked out of the bathroom and into Fluttershy’s room. The girl had returned and was laying on her belly on the bed. She was writing into a small notebook with a smile on her face and one leg turned up behind her. She looked to be the epitome of the cute, innocent, high schooler. Beside her bed on the floor had been laid out a series of blankets and a pillow, clearly a makeshift sleeping bag. On top of the covers was a flannel shirt and pants. They were even close to Sunset’s colors.
“That’s for me?” asked Sunset.
Fluttershy yelped again and quickly shut the notebook she was writing in. She looked up at Sunset and quickly shoved her hair behind her ear with one hand and pushed the book behind her with the other.
“Relax,” said Sunset with a smile. “I’m not going to steal your diary.”
“It’s not-- I’m not--” started Fluttershy, but then she just sort of trailed off as she stared at Sunset. Her cheeks were flushed so thoroughly her face was almost entirely red. With the amount of blushing Fluttershy was doing tonight, Sunset wondered exactly how inaccurate her innocent perception of the girl was.
“Those clothes are for me?” asked Sunset again.
“Oh! Yes,” said Fluttershy. She hopped down and picked up the clothes. She handed them over to Sunset with two hands. “I’ll go downstairs for a few minutes to give you some privacy.”
Sunset nodded. “Thank you,” she said. Fluttershy nodded back and then walked out and closed the door behind her.
A mocking voice in Sunset’s head wondered if she should sweep for cameras, but the thought was quickly dismissed.
Without much hesitation she dropped her towel and quickly put on the clothes she’d been handed. The shirt was about right, maybe even a little bigger than she needed, but the pants were short, leaving her lower calf exposed. They were clearly sleeping clothes though, so Sunset imagined it hardly mattered.
She pulled the towel out of her hair and sat back down at the vanity. She picked up one of Fluttershy’s brushes and began pulling out the tangles in her hair.
A few minutes into her brushing, Fluttershy returned with a gentle knock. Sunset bit her to come in and she came over to watch. After a minute of silence, Fluttershy spoke up.
“Do--do you want me to do that for you?” asked Fluttershy.
Sunset looked up at Fluttershy in the mirror, about to make a comment about the girl’s own tangled hair but stopped herself. Then she noticed that the tangles were gone. At some point, Fluttershy had brushed her hair and fixed her appearance.
Sunset softly laughed a little and then just gave it and held up the brush. “If you’d like,” she said simply. The brush was quickly taken out of her fingers and she felt it careful pulling along her hair moments later. She watched Fluttershy intently focus on her hair, deliberately placing the brush with care and gently pulling it along, stopping microseconds before some perceived knot and then carefully slipping her fingers between the strands and pulling them apart without so much a tug felt by Sunset.
The care was so soft and gentle, Sunset closed her eyes and just relaxed.
“It’s always been just you and your mom, right?” asked Sunset after a moment.
“Uh-huh,” said Fluttershy. “Far back as I can remember. My dad died when I was a baby so I don’t really know him apart from pictures.”
“I’m sorry,” Sunset said softly. “I was raised in a... boarding school, of sorts. Never knew my real parents, but Shining Brow was kind of like a mother. She didn’t really take that much care of me though, just told me stories.”
Fluttershy’s brushing slowed. “Shining Brow… the english teacher?”
“Oh, right, everyone knows her,” said Sunset with a smile. “Yeah, her. She’s not a teacher where I came from, she’s a guard. A palace pony. One of Princess Celestia’s favorites.”
“Wow,” said Fluttershy, then continued brushing. After a moment, she spoke again. “Why did you ask?”
Sunset bit her lip as she thought about how to say what she was thinking. “There were other kids like me at the school, living there, spending all their time studying, but they had families back home. Sisters and brothers, you know. I always wondered, well, what it would be like to have a sister.”
Sunset breathed slowly. “Someone to take care of me like this. Someone to listen when I’ve done something stupid.” She thought about her life. “Someone I don’t have to… compete with, or prove anything to. Someone who I can accept like they are and they can do the same with me.”
She started to feel her heart clench a little at the fantasy. She knew now she had made her life harder than it needed to be, and the idea that maybe if there was just someone there to compare notes to, she might not have made so many mistakes.
Sunset realized that Fluttershy had stopped brushing her hair and she slowly opened her eyes again.
Fluttershy was right in front of her and looking deep into her eyes with an anxious expression. Sunset didn’t budge a muscle.
“Does it have to be a sister?” asked Fluttershy breathlessly.
Sunset swallowed and she felt a lump move slowly down her throat. Her eyes were caught by Fluttershy’s and she was almost paralyzed by their intensity. There was a sense of terror building in her gut that was threatening to take over her mind if it wasn’t for an echo of an earlier conversation that was now repeating incredibly loudly in her head:
You're leaving him behind.
“Right now,” Sunset said as quietly as she could and still be heard. “It does.”
The intensity in Fluttershy’s eyes died a quick death and she started to move away. Sunset reached out urgently and grabbed her hand, holding her in place.
She took a breath and measured out her words. “Right now, I need to figure out who I am, because everything I thought I was came crashing down on me three weeks ago. I’m still building on that and I don’t have the ability to be more than… than a sister to anyone right now. It wouldn’t be fair.”
Fluttershy looked down and slowly nodded. She tried to leave again and Sunset put her other hand on top of the first and held her tightly.
“I need you,” Sunset said before she could stop herself. Fluttershy looked back up at her with a scared and confused expression. “More than the others, I need someone who cares about me to help me make the right choices. I don’t want you to feel like I’m pushing…” she trailed off, unsure what she wanted to say.
She wasn’t sure what else to say at all she realized and then she hung her head. She had no idea how to comfort people, especially people who wanted something she just didn’t know if she could give. She slowly loosened her grip on Fluttershy’s hand and let her arms fall into her lap.
“I’m sorry,” Sunset said to the floor.
Then she felt Fluttershy’s arms wrap around her and pull her into a tight hug. Her face was buried into Sunset’s damp hair.
“I would love to be your sister,” said Fluttershy. Her voice was coarse. She was holding herself back, Sunset could tell. But she held her tightly. “I will always be there for you.”
Sunset felt herself choke up as some vast and impervious wall began to crumble. Her eyes were wet as she recalled some long forgotten desire, pushed away from years and years of disappointment that made it so bitter to look at she simply chose to believe it didn’t exist anymore. As soon as she acknowledged the desire was there it swelled to become her whole being. And it was the stupidest, smallest, most innocent desire she’d ever had.
She just wanted to be accepted by someone she admired.
She didn’t even know she admired Fluttershy until that moment. But the small, quiet, easy to injure girl simply persevered. More than that, she thrived, in an environment that tried to turn her every joy into a guilty crime. She looked away at the pity, strode past the mocking, and reached out towards the weak and needy and gave them the kindness they needed to heal from injuries of a bitter world.
The kindness Sunset needed to heal.
That was when she cried. She sobbed into Fluttershy hug and held her tighter, as if the girl would evaporate just like everything else she’d wanted in life. But she was still there, still holding her, letting her cry, and perhaps doing a pretty poor job of keeping from crying herself. That was okay, too. She didn’t have to be superhuman, nobody was. She just had to hold her.
“J-just for now,” Sunset said between sobs, trying to get control of herself again. “Maybe later--”
But Fluttershy hushed her softly. “Shh. We’ll talk about later when it’s later.”
Sunset nodded and continued crying.
*** ( MLP ) ***
Honey Blossom crept quietly to the door of her daughter’s room. It was late now, long past when they said they had gone to bed, but she knew how young girls liked to gossip into the night, and knew a little more about the situation going on in her daughter’s room than even her daughter had suspected. The joint crying was hard to miss, even half a house away. No matter what she saw, Honey Blossom told herself it would be fine and she would just be there for them in the morning.
She slowly opened the door, careful not to make any noise she didn’t have to. When the opening was wide enough, she poked her head in and peered into the dimly lit room.
Inside she saw the two girls, one sleeping on the bed with a frock of fiery hair and one on the pile of blankets on the floor that looked like her daughter. It all looked fairly innocent and boring. But it still brought a smile to the woman’s lips.
Because Sunset Shimmer’s arm was hanging off the edge of the bed and she was holding Fluttershy’s hand as they slept.
Honey Blossom closed the door just as quietly as she opened it and then headed into her own bedroom. She had worried at first, but now she a little more convinced that these kids would be all right.
*** ( MLP) ***
The news about Sunset’s ‘other’ home was quickly spread among the circle of friends while they were standing outside the school in the morning. Fluttershy said little having heard the story already, Rarity was a little miffed, Pinkie seemed interested in repeating every third word as a question, Applejack got angry, and Rainbow Dash…
“I’ll sick the soccer team on Trixie,” said Rainbow Dash. “That’ll teach her.”
Sunset laughed but shook her head. “I don’t think that will help. And I’m not yet sure it’s her. I have to deal with this myself or it’ll never end.”
“Well, it’s about time to deal with it,” said Applejack. “Whatever help you need, let us know and we’ll be there. You’ve put up with it for too long.”
“I’ll keep that mind, but she’s not going after any of you,” said Sunset. “Just me. So it would be a little unfair to involve you.”
“She’s not hesitating to involve her friends,” said Rarity.
“No, that’s true,” said Sunset. She sighed. Then she paused. “Well, maybe it’s not.”
“What?” asked Rarity.
“Well, I don’t really think they’re her friends,” said Sunset. “At least, I don’t remember leaving such a large group around when I was -- well, you know.” She sighed. “Trixie is the rallying point, but the rest are a crowd, rabble-rousers, not friends.”
“Ah don’t see how that make much of a difference,” said Applejack. “They’re still bullying you.”
“Oh, oh! I know! I know!” said Pinkie. “It’s like a party!”
Rarity stared at her. “How is it anything like a party?”
“Well, the host of the party just sets up fun things to do and drinks and little hotdogs wrapped in biscuit,” said Pinkie. “Everyone else comes to join in the fun but there are always lots of people at the party the host doesn’t know, they just hear about the event and attend.”
“But how does that make a difference here?” asked Fluttershy.
“Trixie’s the host,” said Sunset. “She’s set up the games -- in this case, giving me a hard time. We don’t need the guests to do anything.”
“You just need the host to stop setting up the party!” said Pinkie.
“Yeah,” said Sunset.
“Okay,” said Applejack slowly. “But that still leaves you dealing with Trixie. Do you have any ideas as to how?”
Sunset touched her chin. “Maybe,” she said. She, in fact, could think of several ways of ‘dealing’ with Trixie, most of which would probably scare her straight in a heartbeat, but she was hesitant to use them. She was walking a fine line now, trying not to involve Luna or Celestia with a bully but also not repeating past mistakes. She could crush Trixie, she knew, but she just wanted her to knock it off.
“The question is, what does she want?” said Sunset. “What is bullying me getting her?”
“Revenge?” asked Rarity.
Sunset shook her head. “I don’t think so. To be honest, Trixie was never important enough for me to directly harass. She talks a lot but she wasn’t worth manipulating.”
“Then maybe that’s it,” said Applejack. “Leading the charge against you makes her important.”
“Enough that we’re talking about her right now,” said Rainbow Dash.
“If that was the case, shouldn’t she have gotten bored by now?” asked Sunset. “I ignored her as best as I could and she’s still trying.”
“But people are still following her lead,” said Rarity. “Even if it’s not very effective, she still get attention this way.”
“Then I need to give her attention another way,” said Sunset. “Redirect her towards something more interesting than coming after me.”
“Well, what else does she like?” asked Fluttershy.
“Magic,” said Sunset. The other looked at her. “The slight-of-hand kind, not the stuff from my world.”
“Though that would probably interest her too,” said Pinkie Pie. “I know she also likes to sing and listen to music.”
Sunset paused. “Sing?” she said. She hadn’t known that about Trixie, which was yet another testament to how much she had ignored the girl previously. She knew about the magic, and the attention seeking, and her competitive nature. She probably could have guessed at the singing if she’d even paid attention to her voice but that, too, was beneath her noticed.
Sunset groaned. She had been so quick to dismiss people before and now she was learning how foolish that had been. She had treated Trixie as if she was insignificant, and here she was leading the charge that was making her life increasing uncomfortable.
This posed a problem, because Sunset’s instinct was to shove down Trixie so hard that she never even tried to be important again. But that was a failed strategy, it was exactly what she was responding to. If Sunset wanted to handle this directly, she needed an approach she would not originally have taken. Not to bring her down further, but to raise her up. To end the conflict by making her feel like she was important.
“It's about time to plan the Spring Fundraiser isn't it?” said Sunset suddenly. She received a series of blank stares.
"The bake sale or car wash thing?" asked Applejack. "What's that got 'ta do with anything?"
“Maybe I should try to get more involved in her with what she's doing,” Sunset said cryptically.
“More?” said Rainbow Dash, incredulous.
The bell rang and all of the girls looked anxiously towards the building entrance.
“Let me try something,” said Sunset. “I’ll let you know how it goes.” She turned and headed into the building. She heard Rainbow or Applejack say something to her but it was drowned up by the other talking students.
*** ( MLP ) ***
Sunset found Trixie between third and fourth period. Eventually the student had to go to her locker – an ironic statement considering Sunset’s on predicament -- so waiting there between periods was the easiest way to be sure to run into her. When Trixie finally laid eyes on her, Sunset was leaning against her locker with her arms folded and looking generally unimpressed.
“Well, well,” said Trixie. “Did I finally get the full attention of the demon?”
“Nice job there,” said Sunset. “How did you even find out?”
Trixie smiled proudly and gently pushed Sunset aside to get at her locker. “You have Trixie’s full attention now, and you weren’t even trying to hide it.” She opened her locker and threw in a few books then pulled out one more. “You should be more careful with your secrets.”
“Yeah, well, it’s no secret anymore,” said Sunset.
“How awful for you,” said Trixie with dripping sarcasm.
“Listen, Trix, we need to stop this,” said Sunset.
Trixie lifted her hands to her sides innocently. “Fine, just drop out. Leave the stage clear for a new queen.”
“There’s no throne to take,” said Sunset. “Usurping me gets you nothing anymore.”
“Eh, maybe not,” said Trixie as she shut her locker door. “But I do get a warm and fuzzy feeling thinking about it.” She started walking towards her next class, but Sunset stepped in front.
“We can do better,” said Sunset evenly. “You want something to be proud of? I can help you with that. But we have to stop fighting.”
“Help me?” Trixie laughed. “The great and powerful Trixie doesn’t need your help.” She tried to step past but Sunset moved as well.
“I’m serious,” said Sunset. “This can’t possibly be as fun as it was. After three weeks, don’t you want something more?”
“That’s what the police was about,” said Trixie, angrily. She was getting progressively more frustrated as Sunset refused to let her get away. “Back off.”
“That’s only going to work once,” said Sunset. “I’m not going to be foolish enough to go back.”
“Then Trixie will find something else,” said Trixie as she simply gave up and pushed Sunset aside. “You’ve got lots of friends to hassle now.”
Sunset felt that long hushed voice in her mind surge forward and her hand was moving before she had time to stop herself. She grabbed Trixie’s arm tightly and yanked it back, pulling the girl towards her so she could growl into her ear. “Don’t you dare even touch them.”
“Ow!” yelped Trixie. She winced and then turned a partially closed eye towards Sunset. “So, that’s how to hurt you now.”
Sunset got control of herself and quickly released Trixie. She felt guilty. She hadn’t wanted to do that but she lost control for a moment. She didn’t realize she had such a tentative grip on her personal ‘demon.’ She again wondered how futile this whole endeavor was. If she truly lost it again...
Trixie rubbed her upper arm where Sunset had grabbed it and looked smug again. “If you want them left alone, then do what Trixie says. Leave.” She walked confidently towards her next class.
Sunset watched her move away and realized how little ability anyone had to pressure a bully who didn’t care what you thought. All those people she had dismissed, had marginalized, they had become helpless before her, no argument was powerful enough to reach her ears. Even without the influence she wielded, she had reduced her classmates to nothing. In a way, that was what Trixie was fighting against, the idea that she was ever as little as nothing.
“Please!” shouted Sunset so Trixie would hear. The students in the hall noticed and turned her way, a dozen and a half pairs of eyes on her, the conversation between her and Trixie was no longer anywhere near to private.
Trixie stopped her walk and slowly turned back with a deadly smile.
Sunset pressed on. “If I leave it’ll hurt them too. It's going to hurt me when they- but you can do anything else to me you want. Just tell me what you need and I’ll do it, as long as you leave them alone.” She lowered her eyes. “I’m the one who did everything, I’m the only one who should suffer. I was wrong, and if I haven’t said it enough I’ll continue to say it for the rest of my life.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t right, and I regret it, and I will do everything I can to make amends. But nobody else should be put through pain just because they took pity on me. Punish me all you want, but get it over with and be done.”
Sunset waited a moment in the silent hallway. Then she looked slowly up. Trixie seemed delighted. She walked back towards Sunset with a hand on her hips and a smile from ear to ear.
“Trixie will punish you,” said Trixie. “But you don’t get to set conditions. You’ll be done when I say you’re done. And if you won’t leave Trixie make sure you know that it would have been vastly better for you if you had.” She reached Sunset and looked down her nose at her. “We may only have one year left but I will make the best of that time and nobody is going to tell the great and powerful Trixie to stop.”
Sunset breathed out. “Please,” she said softly. “Isn’t there something you want more?”
Sunset watched Trixie take a breath and begin to reply. Then suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder. Both of them looked up to see a girl standing there with pink hair, wisteria skin, and a rainbow symbol on the pleats of her skirt. She was looking evenly at Sunset.
“Stop,” she said simply.
Trixie looked at her with disbelief. “She’s—“
“Had enough,” she said.
Trixie laughed. “I am the great and powerful Trixie, I’m not going to listen to one girl’s—“
“Stop.”
Sunset turned to see three more students, two girls and a boy, step forward from the crowd around them. They walked over to stand next to Trixie and all three were frowning at her. One of the two girls was taller and had dark green hair and light peach colored skin and a mark of a tree with a large orange hanging from the leaves at the corner of her blouse. She cleared her throat.
“We’re not happy with her,” the student said, motioning with her head towards Sunset. “But this isn’t better. This is cruel.”
“After what she did to us?” shouted Trixie.
“She never did anything like this to me,” said the girl.
Trixie glared.
Sunset watched as more students stepped forward and stood in front of Trixie. She had to step back to make room for those coming to her defense.
“You all care about this demon?” asked Trixie, angrily.
A shorter boy with large glasses, blue hair, a flannel shirt, and a symbol of a crashing wave with a fish flying above it straightened from his slouched stance and shook his head. “Celestia wouldn’t approve. She would say there is a better way.”
“Like what?” Trixie nearly spat.
Sunset pushed forward through the crowd. “We can be friends, Trixie,” she said quickly. “I know what I did was wrong, let me try to make it up.”
Trixie’s face nearly turned red. “Trixie doesn’t want anything from you!” Her eyes searched the crowd with a manic expression. Eventually she huffed out loudly and growled as she turned away and stormed off. She disappeared around a corner as the second bell rang.
The students around Sunset began to slowly disperse and head for their next classes. She felt a mixture of disappointment at Trixie’s attitude and sheer awe at the random strangers who came to her defense. She felt like she should have done something for them but she couldn’t think of what.
“Thank you,” she said loudly, for lack of a better idea. “Please, tell me what I can do for you. Anything at all, I’ll do anything to make up for what I did.”
The students around her seemed to consider it and then eventually they continued on to their next classes without saying a word. One boy, the one who had spoken up earlier, came over to her. He looked up at Sunset, who towered over the boy by over half a foot, and nodded.
“Find the better way,” he said simply. Then he turned and walked off.
Sunset just stared. Softly she said, “okay.”
When she students were mostly gone, Sunset recognized someone standing at what was originally the back of the crowd, her hands on her hips, a smile on her face, and her eyebrows raised. Sunset walked up to her.
“Rainbow Dash,” said Sunset. “What are you—“
“Was that your plan this morning?” asked Rainbow.
Sunset’s mind went blank for a second as she tried to remember. “Uh, no,” she said eventually. “I thought, well, I thought something that turned out to be foolish. I wouldn’t have listened to me back then, I should have realized Trixie wouldn’t either.”
“Ah,” said Rainbow with a nod. “Good thing a few people had the courage to intervene, then.” She smirked.
Sunset stared then her mind slowly began putting possible pieces of the puzzle together in a way that implied a larger picture. “You did that?” she said.
Rainbow continued to smile.
“But—“ started Sunset.
“You know, it was a pretty lousy thing you did, making Applejack and I think we hated each other,” said Rainbow Dash. “Made me think all sorts of bad things about friends in general, not just AJ.”
“I know,” said Sunset. “I’m—“
“But, it made me realize how important it is to stand by people even when they don’t seem to want you around,” said Rainbow Dash. “In a way, you couldn’t have done anything to us if we hadn’t already been ready to think bad things about each other.” She nodded to herself. “There’s a lot to be said about having loyalty to your friends.”
Sunset realized what Rainbow was saying in that moment. There was no apologizing to be done to her, and no cost to be repaid. Loyalty was repaid with loyalty, and attaching a value to that was wrong. Sunset had been trying to offer something that had no meaning.
“Thank you,” Sunset said. “I will probably never be able to say that enough, but I will try.”
Rainbow playfully punched Sunset in the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.” She put her arm around Sunset’s shoulders. “Come on, we’re late for class.”
They walked down the hall together. Sunset smiling at her luck. Anyone in the world could have taken pity on her or offered her a chance at repentance, but she doubted anyone else would have been as patient and nice to her as those who did.
Her friends.
“So, what was your idea?” asked Rainbow as they turned the corner.
“It wasn’t anything like this. Just a thought to turn the spring fundraiser into a musical showcase,” said Sunset.
“Musical showcase?” asked Rainbow, excitedly. “You mean, like, bands?”
“Yeah,” said Sunset. “Why? You like the idea?”
“Have I never told you about the Rainbooms?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Er, no,” said Sunset. “Am I going to regret you telling me?”
“Hah! It’s only the most awesomest thing in the whole world!” Rainbow nearly shouted. “How could you ever regret hearing about that?”
Sunset laughed. "So tell me."
*** ( MLP ) ***
A young-looking blonde girl dropped a bundle of letters into the mailbox and then looked around casually to make sure nobody was watching. It was a habit she'd developed centuries ago that was infinitely more useful then than it was today, but she found it hard to break. Caution was not in her nature, but she had worked hard to protect herself and her sisters since coming to this world and now that they were closing in on a possible escape to their imprisonment, she was going to take every precaution. Plans had to be set in motion with backups and positive fail-states so that nothing could bring them down short of complete and total collapse of their abilities.
Confident that there was nobody around, the girl stuck her hands in her pockets and hummed to herself as she walked away.
That bundle of letters would get the ball rolling on a new set of identities for them. It was cumbersome work these days to create a new persona, with computers and detailed record keeping and various checks and controls. It had to be done slowly and methodically. Probably could take months until it was reliable enough to be used.
Fortunately, all she needed was an identity strong enough to enroll them in a public high school, which was on the easier side of things. Creating their first company ten years ago was infinitely harder even though that company only existed on paper. That required references and bank records and confirmed mailing addresses of a half-dozen employees. This could be done with a P.O. box and some stolen social security numbers.
The girl wished she could just talk with people, but so much of this had to be done through the mail. Back a hundred years ago, she could just lull an official into a pliable mood and have them create all the records she needed. Computers had certainly made it hard for someone to hide the fact that they were an ageless magical creature from another world.
Fortunately, if all her plans came together, Adagio wouldn't have to worry about that ever again.
*** End Chapter 6