The Other Journal

by Ganondorf8

Chapter 36: Manipulation

Day: Friday
Weather: Chilly
Time: 1:00pm

If I were a turtle, I'd hide away in my shell right now and never come back out. What I did was completely out-of-line even though I thought there was no other choice. I have ruined my friends' chances of reaching the finals in the Battle of the Bands when I tackled Rainbow Dash during the middle of their performance. I had to stop her from ponying up! Had she transformed, the Dazzlings would have figured out our plans. It didn't matter now, though; I'd ruined everything. Everyone had now accused me of reverting to my old ways. I'm not like that anymore! Would they care? No. They have judged me, and I must accept it. A strange turn of events would change my mistake into a questionable outcome, where the Rainbooms would actually face off against the Dazzlings in the final. The losing band, Trixie and the Illusions, were outraged by what happened, and were determined to right a terrible wrong done to them.

The Other Journal
By Ganondorf8
January 1, 2016
Chapter 36: Manipulation.

Twilight and I decided to take another break from reading the journal. My eyes were getting exhausted from reading my own text, so I closed the journal and put it down next to me, blinking a few times to give my eyes some much-needed moisture. We then began to drink more fizzy apple cider, and Twilight snuggled closer to me, not that I was complaining. She felt sorry over how my past had caused so much pain for many people--myself included--and was determined to make me feel appreciated. I'll draw the line at kissing, but hugs are fine. I could do with a few of them. I looked at Twilight, who was too distracted by the taste of fizzy apple cider to notice me looking at her, and I felt bad about how misguided she had been.

She believes that what happened during the Battle of the Bands was the lowest I've ever felt in my life. While it was a pretty bad experience--feeling like the most useless being in this entire world isn't all that fun--there was far worse to come. I didn't want her to become overwhelmed, though. Otherwise, she might take things the wrong way and lash out in frustration. Looking up at the ceiling, I began to think about everything that has been revealed this night. Twilight knew next to nothing about my past, but now she was seeing a side of me that no one else had ever known. Not even Princess Twilight, my mentor, knew about my personal issues, aside from a few things that were just small pieces of a much larger puzzle. I had always been hesitant about revealing my story to anyone, but Twilight here was an exception. She and I had more in common than we initially thought. It was those common trends which kept us going through this experience. Did I fear she would run away in disgust over my actions? Of course! I won't ever deny that I used to be a monster, and one of my greatest worries was that she'd see me as the monster I was.

" Sunset?" Twilight asked, having noticed me looking up at the ceiling.

" What is it?" I asked.

" I'm glad that you decided to confide your secrets in me." Twilight answered. The truth was, if I had never gotten to know her, I would have spoken to Fluttershy first, although that would have been difficult because of how timid she was. She might have reacted poorly to some of my more questionable moments. Princess Twilight would have been my next choice. Even though she and I are fellow Equestrians, I couldn't access her as often as the others, as she had her princess duties to perform in Equestria. While I could just write to her about my problems, there were a lot of them, so it would have been better to speak with her in person. " I know that I've been a little pushy sometimes, especially when I get close, but I feel as though you need someone to cry on your shoulder when you're unable to cry yourself." Twilight said.

" It also had to be you because I've never written anything down in my journal about you." I added.

" Very true. That doesn't bother me in the least." Twilight said.

" I hope my remaining baggage doesn't push you over the edge. Believe me, there's still a lot more things which will test your resolve. I should know; it tested mine in ways that still make me feel uncomfortable about being in my own skin." I said.

" We'll get through it together." Twilight said, smiling. She then looked at me with the most beautiful smile I've ever seen from her. It felt nice knowing that she wanted to keep on going despite my warning. She was a lot tougher than she looked. Twilight reached over my lap and grabbed the journal before pulling herself back and opening it up to where we had last left off. During that brief moment, I had this urge to fall on top of her as a sign of affection, but I chose not to. That would have been weird. " Everyone in the gym accused you of having gone back to the way you used to be?" Twilight asked.

" They thought that I had merely been pretending to have changed." I answered.

" It was the Sirens' power that made them think that way." Twilight said.

" No, I'd say it was their own opinions strengthened with the dark magic of the Sirens. When you look at that photo where I tackled Rainbow Dash, the evidence was heavily stacked against me, no matter what anyone who tried defending me would say." I said. To think that what made it really bad was that Flash Sentry called me out first by stating that the "real" Sunset Shimmer had come back. That hurt; he had never once said anything of the sort to me. When we were dating, he treated me fairly well, although I never did the same in return. Despite how badly we broke up, Flash didn't let it bother him like it did me. Everyone else followed suit after Flash, and I knew right there my hopes had been shattered. It hadn't gotten to the point of no return, but it was awfully close.

" What of Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna?" Twilight asked.

" Again, they did nothing other than write down their scores on the clipboards they used." I answered.

" I know our friends probably had some choice words for you, so there's no point in me asking." Twilight said. Oh, they had some choice words, alright. Not only would I be chewed out for what I did, I'd be condemned for not asking one of them to handle the situation. How could they have? They were in their own little world arguing over petty things. They didn't even notice Rainbow Dash was mere seconds away from ponying up and exposing their magic. If anything, I had good intentions, even though I executed them horribly.

" They would end up forgiving me for what happened, but I knew that it wasn't genuine." I said.

" Can't say I blame them." Twilight said.

" One thing we all agreed on was how things turned out for the best. Or rather, how controversial it had been." I said.

" Trixie and her band mates assumed that they were moving onto the finals simply because they had the better performance. Yet, when the winner of the match was announced, it was the Rainbooms, not the Illusions, who had claimed victory." Twilight said.

" You can thank the Sirens for that. They knew that our friends possessed Equestrian magic and needed it to regain their full power. Had the Illusions won, the Sirens would never have gotten their hands on the magic. To get what they wanted, they coerced Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna to change their minds through singing." I said.

---

Standing alone on the stage for that brief period while students hurled accusations at me made me feel like hiding for the rest of my life. They claimed that the real me had returned and that my attempts to reform had been nothing but a sham. My heart felt like it could give way at any moment, but I had to remain steadfast in my resolve to prove to them that I had truly changed. I had hoped Princess Twilight and the others would come to my defence, but they were leaving the stage with their instruments in tow. Rather than sticking up for me, they chose to abandon me in my time of need. How could I blame them? I had ruined their chances of reaching the finals, where the Dazzlings were waiting. I had disappointed Her Highness, who cried when she turned her face away from me. The counter-spell was now useless, as Trixie's band wouldn't be able to use it. I wasn't about to continue being ignored by my friends. I was about to lose their friendships unless some kind of miracle occurred.

I then followed them backstage while avoiding the gaze of the audience, who continued their claims that I had returned to my old ways. I knew the Dazzlings' dark magic caused them to think like that, but it was also their own opinions of me that truly fueled their hurtful words. Once we were backstage, I looked at the two sisters, who were busy pondering over which band would go to the finals. I honestly had no idea why they were even bothering to draw this out. Everyone knew that the Illusions had won because of what I did to Rainbow Dash. Speaking of Rainbow, she herself paced back and forth for a few seconds, before finally turning to face me. The angry look in her eyes told me that she was going to kill me.

" What was that!?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" You were about to pony up." I answered.

" And?"

" If you had gone and done that, you would have exposed your magic for everyone to see, especially the Dazzlings."

" Really? I didn't even notice; I was in the zone." Rainbow Dash said. Her response made everyone else cringe, although none of them had the right to do so. They didn't notice that she had tried to pony up until after what happened, so they are just as much to blame as I was. However, I had a feeling they were going to blame everything squarely on me, as they were busy playing their instruments to have seen the pony ears forming.

" I panicked. I didn't know what else to do." I said.

" You... panicked?" Rarity asked.

" What would you have done?" I asked.

" Close the curtains? Unplug her amp? Give us a chance to deal with the situation? There were plenty of options, Sunset Shimmer! How were you not able to see them but readily go with the worst possible idea?" Rarity asked. While she did have a valid point, I wished that she didn't make me feel even worse than I already did. I know I made a huge mistake and probably had to live with it for the rest of my life. There was no need for her to talk down to me like I was a child.

" I'm sorry! I was only trying to help." I answered.

" Yeah, well, you didn't." Rainbow Dash.

" I'm sorry!" I said.

" While you did a really stupid thing, Sunset, you're not entirely to blame for what happened out there." Applejack said. Her words confused me, as I had assumed she was still annoyed with me for when I mentioned that Princess Twilight needed to take a break.

" No. I'll take full responsibility for my actions. There's no point in trying to protect me. Everyone else has already decided that I'm still the same person that I used to be before you guys welcomed me into your lives." I said.

" Sorry, but that's a load of bunkus. Rainbow Dash is also to blame!" Applejack announced.

" What!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

" You heard me!"

" What did I do?"

" Seriously!? You mean to tell me that y'all have no idea what you did? Let me tell it to you straight without any fancy words. None of this would've happened if you weren't tryin' to show off--as usual. I knew playin' that song o' yours would be a disaster. While y'all may think it's the best thing out there, the rest of us don't appreciate how it's all about you. We were supposed to remain low-key until Twilight got the counter-spell ready, yet you went right ahead and began to pony up, all because you wanted to prove you were better than Trixie." Applejack answered. Her words caused Rainbow Dash to reel backwards slightly. She was about to say something in response, only to be interrupted by Trixie herself, who happened to have overheard my friends bickering. She seemed pleased that we were fighting amongst ourselves, judging from her expression, yet I suspected she had come by to gloat about having one-upped Rainbow Dash.

" Trixie couldn't help but overhear your arguing." Trixie said.

" What do you want?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" That was a really good performance you had, Rainbooms. Well, save for the part at the end. I always thought that Sunset Shimmer still had remnants of her mean streak before the Fall Formal. It was a delight to see that I was correct. If you ask Trixie, the best part was when Sunset Shimmer, in a fit of jealous rage, knocked out Rainbow Dash mid-guitar solo." Trixie answered.

" What!?" I exclaimed.

" Come on! It's pretty obvious to Trixie that you have been jealous for some time, Sunset Shimmer. While you pretended to be okay with not joining the Rainbooms because you couldn't play an instrument, it was a ruse to hide the fact that you're envious of your friends' basking in the limelight. Not only that, Rainbow Dash had been getting a little too ambitious with her ego, and you couldn't take it anymore. So you had to humiliate her in front of the entire student body, all out of jealousy." Trixie said.

" It wasn't a fit of jealous rage!" I yelled, grabbing Trixie by her shirt and slightly shaking her, my cheeks turning red out of frustration. I had just about reached my limit with her and was about to do something that I would have regretted had I gone through with it. For a brief moment, I thought about punching her over and over until she was out cold. When I focused my mind and turned towards my friends, they were looking at me skeptically. Even Princess Twilight looked at me like that before lowering her head, indicating she was ashamed of me. Knowing that I was mere moments away from committing an evil act, I let Trixie go before dropping to my knees and burying my head into my hands, starting to cry.

I could have done something truly reprehensible! Trixie had pushed my buttons one too many times, and I completely lost it! My temper had become a weakness! Worst of all, my friends no longer saw me the same way as before. Now, they saw me as someone who could snap in the blink of an eye. All of my hard work to prove that I had changed for the better had been snuffed out by a single moment.

" You just proved Trixie's point with that little stunt." Trixie said.

" Leave her alone!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

" I'm satisfied with seeing all of you bickering amongst yourselves, so I won't hurt Sunset Shimmer aymore. She's already doing a wonderful job of that to herself. Anyway, the real reason that Trixie is here is because they are about to announce who is going on to the final round. It shouldn't have taken this long for them to come up with a decision, but who am I to argue with how the process works?" Trixie said.

" You gonna rub it in our faces?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" Just yours."

" Why just me?"

" Because you've been on your high horse for far too long! Trixie wants to knock you down a peg!" Trixie answered. Both she and Rainbow Dash glared at one another while baring their teeth, and all I could do in response was watch. I would have said something to get them to stop with their pointless rivalry, but after what I almost did to Trixie, I just stood there in complete silence. What was this competition doing to everyone? Why were we all acting like savages? The Magic of Friendship was supposed to have made things better, yet it hasn't. Instead, the "Magic of Hatred" had twisted everyone's perceptions. Even my friends and I had been affected! Was our protection from the Dazzlings' magic not as strong as we originally suspected?

That's when I noticed Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna coming backstage, the former holding a piece of paper, which most likely contained the results. Knowing Trixie, she was going to have a field day when her name gets announced, and will never let Rainbow Dash hear the end of it. I knew I wouldn't hear the end of it, either, as my friends would continue blaming me for causing their downfall. Principal Celestia was just about to speak, when she paused due to the Dazzlings suddenly appearing behind her. Why were they here? They already qualified for the finals, so they had no reason to come backstage, unless they wanted to add insult to injury by mocking the losing band. The criticism towards me was about to get even worse. While the others were talking amongst themselves, I watched the Dazzlings surround the two sisters and begin to sing.

" Why are they singing?" I asked myself. Their vocals sounded very soothing. Mesmerizing. My mind felt cloudy, but I quickly shook my head to break free of their influence. This must have been how they were able to manipulate Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna into turning the Musical Showcase into the Battle of the Bands. It all started to make sense, but there were still some questions that needed answering, and one of those questions needed an answer right now. The two sisters looked as though they were high on something, as their expressions were listless. " Their singing... They must be manipulating their minds... but why?" I asked myself as I continued watching. Could it be that the Dazzlings were trying to change the inevitable outcome? If that were the case, then it meant they were aware that the Rainbooms possessed magic.

When did they come to that conclusion? I doubt Rainbow Dash's attempt to pony up just now would have clued them in, so it must have been some time ago when they figured it out. It only took a few seconds for me to realize when the Dazzlings knew the truth. " When the Magic of Friendship failed to work in the gym during the party last night, everyone around us started arguing and giving off negative energy. We were the only ones who didn't give off such energy. When the Dazzlings saw that, they must have realized that my friends had Equestrian magic. We were trying to deceive them, but they've known all along." I said to myself. I'm surprised Princess Twilight wasn't able to reach that conclusion, while I was. Then again, she had been so preoccupied with the counter-spell that she just didn't have the time to think about it. That meant I alone knew what was really happening! I needed to tell the others, but would they even listen to me? After all, I had villified myself, which, in turn, made them look bad, as they accepted me.

" Here come the results." Applejack said.

" What can we do? There isn't going to be another opportunity for us to play." Rarity said.

" Well, I guess that counter-spell's not gonna be much use, now." Applejack said.

" I know Sunset meant well when she tackled Rainbow Dash, but that wasn't the right way to go about it. Had she gone with one of the suggestions I had made, the impact wouldn't have been as severe, and she wouldn't have been ridiculed on stage. It's a travesty, I tell you! I had the most gorgeous outfit for the finals! Now it's going to waste. I could wear it for a future occasion, I suppose, but it just wouldn't be the same." Rarity said.

" Yup, 'cause that's the real tragedy here, Rarity: That you won't get to play dress-up!" Applejack said.

" You know perfectly well that is not what I meant!"

" I reckon that is what you meant."

" Just because you don't think we should be presentable doesn't make it a bad thing! We do have to maintain some kind of dignity after all, and wearing something other than our usual ensemble shows we're serious about our performances." Rarity said. In response, Applejack grabbed the rim of her Stetson hat and pulled it down until it covered her face. She proceeded to mumble something to herself that sounded like a combination of grunting, cursing, and babbling incoherently. She was clearly aggravated by Rarity's argument, and I happened to agree with her. While wearing something fancy can help you stand out from the crowd, it shouldn't be the most important thing. I would consider one's attire to be a bonus, while your true intentions should be what truly defines you.

" You guys wanna keep it down? They're about to announce who's moving on." Rainbow Dash said.

" I thought they already did?" Fluttershy asked.

" Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were about to say who won, but they stopped suddenly. Now, they're acting like total zombies! Not only that, but the Dazzlings here too! They must want to gloat to who didn't make it!" Rainbow Dash answered.

" You know we're not the ones who are moving on to the finals." Fluttershy said.

" A little bit of hope couldn't hurt." Rainbow Dash said. I had a feeling that hope wasn't going to be the deciding factor. Rather, it would be musical intervention that would change the original outcome. If my suspicions were correct, Trixie was the one who needed to be feeling hopeful. The Dazzlings were about to throw everyone a curveball, and only I knew what was about to happen.

" Attention, students!" Vice Principal Luna announced as she walked onto the stage.

" We have reached a decision regarding this semi-final match." Princess Celestia said as she walked onto the stage. The band that will be joining the Dazzlings tomorrow night to see who will win it all is... The Rainbooms!"

I knew it! I knew she was going to say that. The Dazzlings' singing had manipulated the two sisters into going with the Rainbooms because they had magic. No doubt Trixie wasn't going to take this announcement very well, and I suspected she might try to do something to get back at my friends. I looked at the audience, who were already booing at the results, and I couldn't blame them.

" What!?" Trixie exclaimed.

" What did she just say?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" She said The Rainbooms were joining the Dazzlings tomorrow night." Pinkie Pie answered.

" That's what I thought she said." Rainbow Dash said.

" I don't believe this!" Trixie shouted.

" Neither do we." Pinkie Pie added.

" My band was clearly superior, so how did you manage to prevail? Trixie is just so mad over this travesty!" Trixie said. She then stormed off in a huff, mumbling something to herself. Everyone else assumed that the Illusions were moving on to the finals, as they clearly were better, no thanks to my blunder during my friends' performance. With this announcement, they were going to think they cheated. I thought I had it bad when the student body bullied me for the last few weeks. Now they were going to do the same thing to my friends. The Dazzlings, in the meantime, appeared to be just as surprised, but I knew deep down that this is what they wanted.

" Congratulations, girls. You deserve it." Principal Celestia said.

" Please welcome the two bands who will be competing in tomorrow's final!" Vice Principal Luna announced. The Dazzlings then proceeded to walk onto the stage, where they still pretended to be surprised, even though I knew better. My friends then followed suit, although I remained behind because I wasn't a member of the Rainbooms. I also stayed back because I didn't want the audience to yell at me even further over what I did earlier. The sound of boos and jeering echoed throughout the gym, as everyone was clearly upset over what happened, yet Vice Principal Luna waved her hands to silence them. " Tomorrow night, these two bands will face off in a final showdown that shall determine who will win the Battle of the Bands and be crowned the best band here at CHS. The stage out back will be used, but it needs to be modified slightly to accommodate the use of instruments. It will be ready to use by tomorrow."

" If, for some reason, one or both bands are unable to make it to the final, they shall be disqualified, and the bands who placed third and fourth will be given a chance to compete in the final." Principal Celestia said. Knowing the Dazzlings, they weren't going to miss such an opportunity to get their hands on Equestrian magic. As for the Rainbooms, if something were to prevent them from competing, Trixie's band would end up taking their place instead. Something told me that keeping an eye on Trixie wouldn't be a bad idea.

" The final shall start at 7:00pm tomorrow night, so both bands should get in as much practice as you can." Vice Principal Luna said.

" Now this is weird even for me." Pinkie Pie said.

" What makes you say that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" We didn't even get to finish our--" Pinkie Pie began before Rainbow Dash raised her hand to stop Pinkie from talking as Adagio suddenly stepped forward. The grin on her face told me that she was proud of what she and her companions had done. From my friends' perspective, they probably thought she was happy about the outcome either way.

" That was quite the unexpected result." Adagio said.

" I know, right? I didn't think we were going to win with how bad we were." Pinkie Pie said.

" In any case, it looks like you'll be the ones we get to defeat." Adagio said.

" Don't think we'll go down easy!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

" Oh, I know that it will be an epic clash, sure to leave everyone speechless, especially when you consider what both bands are truly capable of doing. We'll be seeing you at tomorrow night's show, and I do hope that you bring your very best. We're looking forward to giving our best performance yet, and it would be so disappointing if your band doesn't deliver in the same manner." Adagio said.

She and her companions then walked off the stage, their hips swaying back and forth, strutting their stuff to remind everyone that they had the goods to reach the top. I knew the Dazzlings were lying about being surprised, so I avoided their gaze when they walked past me. Everything was going exactly as they planned. If my friends weren't careful, they could potentially allow those girls to become unstoppable.

Turning back to the audience, they were still voicing their complaints, with many members of the fallen bands contributing to the din. While I couldn't hear exactly what was being said, I could see Flash Sentry, Applebloom, Brawly Beats, Captain Planet, and even Photo Finish speaking out about what had just transpired. If the Dazzlings hadn't left the stage, they probably would have been absorbing all of that negative energy. I suspected they only wanted the magical energy my friends possessed, as they had absorbed plenty of energy over the course of the last two days. That's when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Trixie appeared to be conversing with the Dazzlings, but they were too far for me to overhear. Was she venting out her frustrations on them? Were they giving her a shoulder to cry on? Or were they planning on using her?

---

" No one apart from you figured out what the Sirens did?" Twilight asked.

" Princess Twilight would have come to the same conclusion had she not been preoccupied with trying to finish the counter-spell. While she didn't write anything down, she was thinking about it, and didn't see the magic being used to manipulate the two sisters into giving the win to the Rainbooms. As for our friends, they were too busy worried about the results to have even paid attention." I answered.

" I thought Trixie was going to explode with rage."

" She was pretty vocal about her band not going on to the final."

" Did the Sirens manipulate her, too?"

" Yes, but not by singing. The Sirens were going to take advantage of her frustrations and use her to do their dirty work. They knew Trixie was too proud to have simply accepted defeat and moved on, so by saying just the right words, she was convinced to sabotage the Rainbooms. Remember what Principal Celestia said about what would happen if one or both bands didn't show up for the final? Trixie was going to use that loophole by eliminating the Rainbooms from the picture and having her band take their place. Under normal circumstances, she would have been exposed almost instantly. But, because everyone was against our friends, it would simply be deemed a mysterious disappearance that lasted for several hours." I answered. Twilight's reaction made me think that she assumed I was portraying Trixie's band as having injured our friends to prevent them from competing that night. Knowing she would most likely take things out of proportion, I told her that wasn't the case at all. While she may have been a braggart, Trixie would never resort to such extreme actions.

" Okay, so what did she do?" Twilight asked.

" Use a trap door." I answered.

" What?"

" Trixie and her band used a trap door." I said. I then heard the sound of faint giggling. I quickly looked at Twilight, who had covered her mouth with her hands. She seemed to be trying really hard to hold something in. Soon, she suddenly burst out laughing, and I realized she thought the idea of the Illusions using a trap door was hilarious. I decided to humour her for a while by allowing her to continue with her outburst. This went on for a good five minutes before she finally got it all out of her system. When she turned to look at me, my expression was stoic, and she blushed out of embarrassment, before I gently nudged her in the ribs. She would do the same in return. " Sorry for giving you such a grim stare, but the look on your face was priceless!"

" That's what I get for laughing."

" In all seriousness, though, her band would use a trap door on all of us."

" Where would they get a trap door from?"

" They didn't. The stage where the final was to take place had a built-in trap door which connected to a hidden room beneath the stage, where costumes and other props were stored for safe-keeping. Many plays were performed on that stage, so the idea of having a trap door proved useful." I answered. It just wasn't so useful during our predicament, where we found ourselves at Trixie's mercy. I also thought it was rather inconvenient that an oversized lever on the side of the stage was needed to activate the trap door. Sometimes I wonder if Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna put any actual thought into how the stage was constructed.

" So now the Rainbooms had all night and most of the following day to prepare, right?" Twilight asked.

" They chose not to practice because they knew how good they were."

" And Princess Twilight?"

" She still needed time to figure out the counter-spell, but there was something else on her mind, as well, which added to the difficulty. I didn't know it at the time, but she was concerned with my most recent actions. It was Her Highness who gave me a second chance to prove that I could change, when she could have just left me to rot. She assumed I had betrayed her kindness, and she wanted to confront me about it. That night, instead of having another slumber party, everyone decided to sleep in their own beds. This was due to the ever-increasing tensions between them. Since Princess Twilight had nowhere else to sleep, I decided that she would spend the night in the library with me." I answered.

" Didn't you freak out about that before?" Twilight asked.

" That's because I thought she was going to spy on me to make sure I was behaving. This time, she wanted to have another talk with me, just like before, but I wasn't in the right state of mind." I answered.

---

Throughout the rest of the day, Princess Twilight, my friends, and I avoided the student body as much as possible. It wasn't easy to do, what with attending classes, walking through hallways, stopping by our lockers, and leaving the building once school was finished for the weekend. Everyone voiced their anger at us and hurled accusations of cheating, which really ticked Applejack and Rainbow Dash off. While they didn't say the same things towards me, they accused me of pretending to have changed when, in fact, I was still the bully they all knew and hated. I was used to the bullying, but the others weren't comfortable with being ridiculed every few seconds.

Once school had finished for the weekend, Pinkie suggested another slumber party in order to calm our nerves and prepare accordingly to deal with the Dazzlings. Her idea got shot down relatively quickly, as everyone else wanted to sleep in their own beds that night. I could tell that the tensions between them had gotten worse, especially after my little incident during their performance.

" I thought another slumber party would be a good idea." Pinkie Pie said.

" Well it isn't. We're not in the mood." Rainbow Dash said.

" We somehow made it to the finals against the Dazzlings, but it won't do us any good if we continue having these squabbles. It also doesn't help that Twilight has still not finished the counter-spell. We only have one more night before the big face-off, so we need the spell ready by then." Rarity said. Princess Twilight had been pretty quiet this entire time, and we all had taken notice of it. She must have been so stressed out with everything that had happened during the last couple of hours, she was afraid of speaking her mind out of fear she would be criticized. I wish I could be her right now. I wanted to remain quiet considering I've been a direct source of her stress. " I don't mean to give you anymore stress, darling, so I'll recant my somewhat harsh rhetoric. We all still believe you can finish the counter-spell, but we won't interfere anymore. You can go at your own pace until you feel it's ready." Rarity said.

" I think we all need some time apart from each other until tomorrow." Applejack suggested.

" Should we practice?" Fluttershy asked.

" Why bother? We're all really good, already, but I'd like to do some last-minute sound checks tomorrow afternoon before the finals begin. We need to make sure that our instruments will sound awesome, otherwise we're not going to have quite as much impact." Rainbow Dash answered. She did have a valid point about performing a sound check. In order to break the Dazzlings' hold on everyone, we needed to make sure that the music was able to reach the appropriate distance. Not a single student could be ignored, otherwise the plan won't work.

" So... Who is going to have Twilight bunk with them?" I asked, having finally said something after my angry fit at Trixie. I was expecting the group to ignore me because of what I did to Rainbow Dash earlier, yet she was the one who decided to answer my question. It certainly took me by surprise.

" I guess she should be the one to decide that." Rainbow Dash answered.

" Glad to see you guys are talking to me again." I said.

" We haven't completely forgiven you for that stunt you pulled, but you only did what you thought was right under the pressure. Heck, I'd have done the exact, same thing had I been in your shoes." Rainbow Dash said. I scratched my head in response. It sounded like a compliment, but my friends' expressions suggested otherwise. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

" I'll stay with Sunset." Princess Twilight announced.

" Are you sure?" I asked.

" I am."

" Well, if that's what you want, then I guess I'll need to prepare some accommodations for you." I said. It's not that I was nervous about having Her Highness spend the night with me in the library, as she would essentially be at home with the familiar surroundings of bookshelves. There was a reason why she wanted to bunk with me, and I was afraid of knowing what her intentions were.

For the rest of the afternoon, Princess Twilight and I hung out in the library, reading books to keep our minds distracted from what was happening. She would occasionally look at me with concern in her eyes, and I struggled to avoid her gaze as best I could. What was she trying to do? Had my actions really affected her opinion of me? Did it mean that our bonding from the previous night now held no meaning? Once the school closed for the night, Her Highness and I decided to get an early night because tomorrow was going to be a big day for her. She needed to have the counter-spell ready to use against the Dazzlings. Me? All I was doing was standing on the sidelines, as usual. I sometimes wished that I had revealed my singing skills, as I could have joined the band. Princess Twilight was once again unwillingly living out my dream. At least I could play an instrument, albeit badly. Her fingers weren't accustomed to using anything, so instruments were out of the question for her. Perhaps Rainbow Dash would give me that crash course tomorrow during the sound check.

Luckily for me, Her Highness had brought along her own sleeping bag--actually, it was one of Rarity's--so there was no need of using books to make a makeshift bed. I don't know how anyone could sleep on a bed made of books, but somehow, she managed to pull it off. While I wanted to get some sleep in the hopes of forgetting about today, the same couldn't be said about Princess Twilight. She climbed out of her sleeping bag, made her way over to me, and shook my shoulder.

" Huh? Twilight? Why aren't you asleep?" I asked.

" I need to talk to you."

" I'm guessing this is the reason why you wanted to spend the night with me?"

" Sunset Shimmer... I need to know. What happened to you when you decided to tackle Rainbow Dash?"

" I'd rather not talk about it. Besides, I need to get some sleep. I've had a lot on my mind all afternoon." I answered. I then turned to my side in order to get back to sleep, but more shaking of my shoulder from Her Highness made me turn to face her. I wasn't grouchy but rather annoyed that she wanted to talk now. She could have done so either earlier tonight or tomorrow morning, when we were both well-rested. " Twilight, can we talk about this in the morning?" I asked.

" No. I must know now." Princess Twilight answered. I never knew her to be so pushy. I refused once again by turning to my side and closing my eyes, hoping she got the message. I heard the sounds of someone crying behind me. I was someone who didn't like to see anyone in tears. It gave me painful reminders of who I used to be. Turning back towards her, she had gone back to her sleeping bag, where she had been crying for the last few minutes. Climbing out of my sleeping bag, I walked over to Princess Twilight. She looked at me when she heard me approach. " Why? Why did you suddenly change, and after everything you did to prove that you were different?"

" I haven't changed Twilight. I'm not the person I used to be. I know it's hard to believe me, especially when there is so much evidence that's been stacked against me, but I'm better off now than I was before. It's all thanks to you giving me a second chance. I've... figured out the truth about what the Dazzlings want." I answered.

" You have?"

" They want your Equestrian magic."

" I'm not sure if I can believe that." Princess Twilight said. I couldn't blame her for thinking that as my actions earlier had caused a rift to form between us. If she can't place her trust in my words, then it means I'm on my own. Nothing I say will have any effect. I would simply be wasting my breath.

" Twilight, the Dazzlings figured out that you and the others possess magic. They've been manipulating everything in order to ensure the Rainbooms reach the finals, because they need your magic in order to fully regain theirs. I'm not sure how they plan on actually taking your magic, as their singing has had no effect on you, but I'm sure I'll come up with an answer." I said. In truth, I had a pretty good idea what they were going to do in order to get it. However, I couldn't even trust myself with such an answer; it was merely a hunch. I couldn't tell Her Highness, as I didn't want to give her any false hope. I've done that too much over the last few days, constantly failing to live up to my friends' expectations.

" I'm sorry." Princess Twilight said.

" It's not your fault. I almost ruined everything with what I did. I've said my piece on the subject and have given you an answer, whether or not you can believe it. I just... don't want you to cry anymore, Twilight. Everything should work out in the end, and if not, then I'll allow the pieces to fall where they may and accept my fate." I said. Princess Twilight didn't say anything to me at first, but the instant I walked back to my sleeping bag, she said something to herself before finally going to sleep. Me? I decided to stay up just a little while longer and think about what was going to happen tomorrow.

The Rainbooms will face the Dazzlings, the fate of both the school and the world hanging in the balance. The Magic of Friendship should prevail provided my friends can keep those tensions at bay. I felt bad that Princess Twilight didn't want to believe what I said. My actions today have made me very untrustworthy. I guess everyone was going to watch me closely to make sure I don't cause any further grief. Maybe I will end up being forgotten, like the Dazzlings said. It would be so much better than having to endure so much anguish from my peers.

---

" Princess Twilight wanted to believe me, but her head was telling her not to, while her heart insisted. In the end, she chose to go with her head, which is why she was just as surprised when Trixie and her bandmates used that trap door the next day." I said.

" Did she ever finish the counter-spell?" Twilight asked.

" Despite her best intentions, she was unable to complete it. No matter how much work she poured into it, she just couldn't come up with the right kind of song. I suppose she should havetaken a pre-existing song, or one that someone else had written which had yet to be performed, and alter it slightly so that it could be used to counter the dark magic of the Sirens." I answered.

" That would have made things a lot easier."

" Well, Her Highness would actually do that."

" Really? I'm going to guess that the idea didn't come to her until the very last minute?" Twilight asked. I nodded, and she clapped her hands together, squealing with glee. From where I was sitting, the fact that Princess Twilight decided to go with that decision of using someone else's song for the counter-spell shows that she gave herself unwanted stress. The Sirens could have been defeated much sooner, eliminating the need for the Battle of the Bands. " Wow... No offence, but she really dropped the ball. Had she come up with that idea sooner, a lot of grief could have been avoided." Twilight said.

" That wasn't the worst thing though."

" Then what was?"

" As I mentioned earlier, the trap door connects with a room below the stage, where they store costumes and props. It's also locked whenever the stage wasn't being used for plays, so we were trapped down there for several hours." I answered. Under normal circumstances, people being trapped like that would have set a bad image for the school. That room had no ventilation aside from a small draft that came from under the door. I'm not sure how Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna could have explained why seven students were locked up in there should the police have paid another visit, which they probably would have, because my friends' parents would have called them in. Soon enough, Princess Twilight's friends and mentors in Equestria would have gotten involved. That would have been a real disaster.

" Several hours!? That's terrible!" Twilight said.

" We somehow managed to survive down there without killing each other for several hours."

" What did you all do to pass the time?"

" Are you sure you want to know? I'm going to warn you right now that the answer isn't pleasant."

" I've made it this far, so I might as well keep going."

" Okay, but you asked for it."

Comments

[icecreammac]

Glad to see Princess Twilight and Sunset got another moment to talk after everything that happened. A good chapter.

[Nova Blaze]

This... actually answers the unasked question of where Twilight stayed that night.

[Ganondorf8]

6799047

The first night she stayed at Pinkie's place thanks to the slumber party, and the second was inside the library with Sunset. Princess Twilight should be glad that she had places to sleep. I couldn't imagine her sleeping in a more questionable location. There will be more scenes of Sunset in the library at night in future chapters courtesy of the Holiday Special 2014 comic.