Chapter 3: The Calm Before...
It was Thursday afternoon, and Sugarcube Corner was already filling with CHS students seeking refreshment and conversation after completing another long, hard day at school, including Sunset and her friends.
As per usual, they took the table next to the sofa close to the register. Sunset got there first, sitting herself precariously on the sofa arm while Twilight sat on the cushion proper between Pinkie and Rarity, while Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were around the table.
"We totally aced band practice," declared Rainbow Dash, stretching her arms and legs.
"We know, Rainbow, you only said that five time already," replied AJ flatly.
"Darling, please try not to kick me," said Rarity, moving her legs to avoid Rainbow sneakers. The rainbow-haired girl gave her an apologetic smile in return.
"Hello, girls," said Mrs. Cake cheerily as she walked up to them. "You're a little later than usual."
"We went a little long with band practice, Mrs. Cake," explained Sunset.
The older woman nodded. "Oh yes, time can just slip by you sometimes, can't it? It's a good thing you're here now, though." Going back to the counter, she returned holding a tray laden with an assortment of different drinks. "Sodas for Rainbow Dash and Applejack," she said, placing each item before its recipient. "One milkshake for Pinkie Pie, smoothies for Twilight and Sunset, and tea for Fluttershy and Rarity."
Sunset reached into her pocket for her wallet, and the others did likewise, but Mrs. Cake just held up a hand.
"That won't be necessary today, girls. These are all on the house. It's the least I can do for you, what with how you helped us when Carrot Cake caught the flu. Between him being so sick and the twins being so young, I don't know what I would have done without you."
Sunset's hand, still in her jeans pocket, let go of her wallet. Last week, Mr. Cake had come down with a nasty strain of flu. They'd come in that Monday afternoon to find poor Mrs. Cake practically tearing her hair out from overwork. So as a group, they'd volunteered themselves to help her.
"It was no sweat, Mrs. Cake," said Rainbow Dash, leaning back in her chair. "This is like one of our favorite hangouts. No way was I going to leave you hanging."
"How is Mr. Cake doing?" asked Fluttershy.
"He's doing wonderfully, dearie," replied Mrs. Cake. "Take a look for yourself." She gestured back to the counter, where the redheaded man could be seen handling customers. "The herbal remedies you and Twilight put together really did the trick."
"It was mostly Fluttershy," said Twilight, her cheeks turning the slightest bit pink. "The data I found just managed to supplement what she already knew."
Now it was Fluttershy's turn to blush, hiding behind her long locks. "Miss Zecora really deserves the credit. S-She's the one that taught me everything."
Mrs. Cake gave Fluttershy a smile as sweet as the confections she sold. "Well, you can tell Zecora she's welcome here anytime. And if you girls need anything else today, just let me know."
More students were starting to pour in now. Pinkie Pie looked around at the building crowds. "Hey Mrs. Cake, do you want me to help you at the counter?"
"No thank you, dearie," she replied kindly. "I want you to just relax with your friends." She turned her head back to the counter at the sound of her husband's voice. The line had begun to get long. "Coming, honey!"
After she walked away, Sunset raised an eyebrow at Fluttershy. "Who's Zecora?"
"She's a very nice lady who lives down the block from me," answered Fluttershy quietly. "She grows all kinds of plants in the woods by her house, and makes all kinds of herbal remedies."
"Isn't she the one who speaks in rhyme?" asked Dash.
"She says it's part of her native culture and language."
Sunset took a sip of the smoothie, letting the gears in her head turn. Rhyme? Working with herbs and plants? If this were Equestria, she'd have thought this Zecora person was a zebra. Or maybe she was a zebra on the other side. She'd met zebras before, mostly ambassadors, when she'd lived with Celestia. While most of the castle staff found their rhyming language strange, Sunset had loved it as a filly.
Even when she'd grown arrogant, she'd always held a respect for zebras. The things the ambassadors had taught her about potion making had been invaluable when she'd started learning alchemy.
Sunset was pulled from her thoughts when Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Man, I'm so glad to be out of science class. That documentary teach had us watch was so boring!"
"I thought it was fascinating," whispered Fluttershy. Across from her, Twilight nodded in agreement.
"I have to agree with Rainbow Dash for once," said Rarity, taking a dainty sip from her cup. "I found the subject most disgusting."
"What? You mean the spiders?" asked Pinkie, wiggling her fingers in front of Rarity. The purple-haired girl blanched.
"Please Pinkie, don't remind me."
"I don't see the problem," said AJ. "They're just little things."
Right beside Rarity, Sunset shuddered, and she wrapped her arms around her chest in a gesture of human instinct. She'd been trying to get her mind off that documentary so far. Band practice had managed to get rid of it, but now the film was coming back in full force.
"Are you alright, darling?" asked Rarity in concern, not missing Sunset's change in body language.
"I'm fine," said Sunset, forcing her arms back to her sides.
"Ooh! I know!" declared Pinkie, bouncing on the sofa cushion. "Sunset Shimmer is afraid of spiders!"
Applejack let out a humming sound, rubbing her chin in thought. "You did look a might pale in class while we were watchin' the movie, now that I think about it."
"I'm not afraid of spiders," Sunset insisted.
"There's no need to be embarrassed, you know," said Twilight. "Arachnophobia is quite common."
"I'm not afraid of spiders," Sunset repeated, her voice firm. "Not all of them. Just black widows. Black widows really freak me out."
Rainbow looked at her incredulously. "You're afraid of a little black widow?" She smirked. "Too bad we didn't think of that before. Your bully career would have been over before it even started."
"Yeah, too bad," muttered Sunset. "Let's just say I had a really bad experience with one once and leave it at that." And that's probably another nightmare I have to look forward to. Wonderful.
She noticed Twilight was still staring at her, curiosity burning in her purple eyes. And sitting on her lap was a particular hardback journal equipped with a lock. The title read Private Research.
Sunset recognized the book right away. Not long after Twilight transferred to CHS, she'd asked questions about Equestria. The others had asked similar questions after the Fall Formal, once they were comfortable enough to broach the subject. Since Princess Twilight hadn't had the luxury of time during her first and most recent visits, answering those questions had fallen on Sunset's shoulders.
Right from the start, Twilight wanted to take notes, something Sunset had highly disapproved of. The existence of Equestria was something that couldn't get out. The fact that all the things that had happened so far were still urban myths was a miracle.
But Twilight had looked at her with such sad, pleading eyes. Had she learned to do that by watching Spike?
No matter where she learned it, it had certainly worked. Sunset relented, on the condition that Twilight keep it to herself. After that, Twilight had gotten that book and added the lock herself.
"What's up, Twi?"
"I, uh..." she stammered. Opening up her book, she flipped through the pages. "Well, I was going over some of the things you mentioned before, and I was wondering, what, uh," her eyes scanned the page, "tribe, is Princess Twilight?"
Sunset looked around. Sugarcube Corner was noisy enough to mask their conversation. "Alicorn."
"Alicorn," Twilight repeated. She picked up a number two pencil and began to write, only for her hand to freeze. Her eyes shot back up to look at Sunset in confusion. "Alicorn? She's... the horn of a unicorn? You're saying she's an inanimate object brought to life?"
"I thought Princess Twilight said she was a pony," said Applejack, looking just as confused.
"Um, actually," spoke Fluttershy, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's also a name for a winged unicorn. The other names are pegacorn, unisus, unipeg, hornisus, and hornipeg." When everyone else at the table gave the girl blank looks, she hid behind her hair. "When I was little, I liked to read about fantastical animals. I always thought alicorn was the prettiest of the names."
"I think I'm inclined to agree," said Rarity after another brief pause. "The others sound rather mangled."
"Anyway," said Sunset, moving the conversation back on topic. "To say Princess Twilight is a winged unicorn isn't entirely accurate. By our definition, an alicorn is a combination of all three tribes, possessing a unicorn's horn and spell casting power, the wings of a pegasus, and the strength and stamina of an earth pony.
"Actually," she continued, rubbing her chin in thought. "If I remember right, way back in the very early days we used to call a unicorn's horn alicorn too, but that definition got phased out after it became really confusing."
Sunset took another sip of her smoothie, savoring the taste of mixed fruits. "Princess Twilight started off as a unicorn from what I understand, but managed to ascend to alicorn status for... something. I'm not sure. And because she's an alicorn, she was crowned a princess alongside Princess Celestia."
"Principal Celestia is a princess?!" asked Twilight with wide eyes. The page on her notes now had a jagged line she was hurrying to erase.
"Trust us, darling, it was just as much a surprise to us when we heard it."
"You mentioned Celestia on Monday. Is she the same as Principal Celestia?" asked Twilight.
"Yeah, is she? Is she?" said Pinkie, now fully invested in what she'd consider story time. "You know, you've never really talked about her much and whenever you do you get sort of frowny."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, and Sunset gave Pinkie a glare before she continued. "She's similar, really patient and calm." Images of Princess Celestia's angry gaze flashed through her mind, and Sunset forced them back down. Twilight looked at her expectantly, clearly not satisfied by so little information.
Sunset put her hand behind her head nervously. "I was Princess Celestia's personal student for years, so it was a little awkward being around Principal Celestia." And it still was, especially with her streak of nightmares. The fire-haired girl prayed that was enough to dissuade Twilight from further questions.
Twilight tapped her eraser against the notebook. "I see." Her face scrunched up in thought. "What about Vice Principal Luna?"
"Well I'll be doggone," said Applejack slowly. "I hadn't even thought about that."
"Ooh! Is there a Princess Luna too?" asked Pinkie.
"There is, but I've never met her," Sunset replied.
"You haven't met her?" asked Twilight. "If you were Princess Celestia's student for years, how could you not have met her sister?"
Rarity took another dainty sip of her tea. "Yes darling, that is a little hard to believe."
Sunset shrugged. "It's true, though. In fact I didn't even know Princess Celestia had a sister. Seeing Luna here was a complete surprise."
When Sunset first arrived in this world, she'd quickly created a list of priorities. At the top had been securing food and shelter. After that had been learning about human culture and their very advanced technology.
But after a few weeks, she'd added another item to the list: investigate the vice principal of CHS. Her entire presence had been a wild card that drove Sunset nuts.
And even once she secured herself as the social ruler of the school, the vice principal was still someone to be wary of. She was sharp, and always seemed more suspicious of Sunset than Principal Celestia was. It had taken years of careful work to gain some level of confidence with her.
"I don't get it," said Rainbow. "How does that even work? Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna have been working together at CHS since... forever."
"Agreed," said Rarity. "Mother and father told me that Vice Principal Luna came in only a few years after Principal Celestia. How could you know one on your side but not even know the other existed?"
"Yeah," added Applejack. "Do they not get along or somethin' over there?"
"Actually, I came up with a theory on that," admitted Sunset. "Managed to confirm it when I went to get Princess Twilight's crown. You know that old myth of the Man in the Moon?"
"You mean how the dark maria of the Moon's surface form shapes that resemble a man? Yes," said Twilight with a nod. "In fact, cultures around the world all see shapes in the moon. They report different things, though certain images are predominant. Most of Europe sees a man, with a few scattered tales of a woman. Native Americans predominantly see a frog, while those in East Asia most often see a rabbit."
That last part made Fluttershy's ears perk up. "A rabbit?" she asked giddily. "Like Angel?"
Twilight nodded. "Yes. Most of their stories anyway. Man, woman, rabbit, frog, it's all pareidolia."
"Para-what?" asked Rainbow.
"Pareidolia," Twilight repeated. "Seeing patterns in things where there are none."
Pinkie's eyes lit up. "Ooh! You mean like when I look at a cloud and see an alligator playing a tuba?"
"Yes, exactly!" replied Twilight excitedly. She blinked a few times as her brain processed the rest of that sentence. "Wait, what?" Shaking her head, she chose not to go down that particular road. Though her time with Pinkie Pie was relatively brief, she was quickly learning not to bother. That way lay madness.
She looked back at Sunset. "What does this have to do with Princess Luna?"
"Well..." Sunset took out her pen and a piece of paper from her backpack. She did a quick sketch. "This is what Equestria's moon looked like."
She set the paper down, allowing the group to see the dark shape inside the circle. "We called her the Mare in the Moon. According to the old pony tales, a thousand years ago Princess Celestia fought against a black-coated alicorn called Nightmare Moon. She threatened to kill Celestia and plunge Equestria into eternal night."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "But everything would freeze!" she cried. "The plants and animals would die without the sun."
"Whoa," muttered Rainbow Dash. "That's nasty. Even the Dazzlings didn't go that far."
Sunset nodded. "Celestia ended up banishing Nightmare Moon into the moon forever, so her image remained burned onto the surface." She pointed at the face. "And Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna."
She'd connected the dots slowly over the months. Nightmare Moon had been little more than a filly's story, but a vivid one that Sunset remembered. And even she knew myths had some basis in fact.
It was while she was observing the vice principal that she noticed the crescent moon pin on her jacket, similar to the principal's sun which matched Celestia's cutie mark. That pin and Luna's coloring had reminded Sunset of something she'd never given much thought to before: The Equestrian flag.
The design was of two alicorns, one white and one blue, circling each other with the sun and moon respectively. The standard interpretation was that they were living representations of the two heavenly bodies under Princess Celestia's care.
But the fact remained that Sunset was in an alternate universe with human counterparts. She'd confirmed that not just with Principal Celestia, but by recognizing names and faces in old yearbooks, like Equestria's founders and various ponies from Canterlot's history.
As far as she'd known, Princess Celestia didn't have a sister. And yet Luna's existence in this world, along with everything else, told Sunset that perhaps the blue alicorn on the flag wasn't just symbolic.
The Nightmare Moon connection was one of her theories for explaining a lost lunar alicorn. Ultimately her Luna theories had pushed Sunset's desire for power even further, knowing that she might have another alicorn to beat.
"She banished her own sister?" asked Fluttershy, mouth hanging open.
Sunset nodded. "The last time I went through the portal, I found out that Princess Luna had been freed and returned to normal, after a thousand years."
What she didn't tell them was how she'd learned that. She didn't dare tell them how she'd used a powerful mind control spell on a guard to get him to tell her everything that was going on, and then used another spell to erase his memory of the encounter. Like she'd done every other time she'd snuck back to Equestria over the years, right before she raided the place for whatever small number of bits or gems she could find.
Both spells were dark magic, dangerous and forbidden, that she'd picked up when she'd broken into the dark magic section the night she'd left.
She'd only gotten brief looks at them. But like the prodigy she was, she had a handle on them almost immediately, even when she was still adjusting to being a unicorn again.
Just remembering her use of those spells filled Sunset with shame, and once again, Celestia's angry, disappointed face played before her eyes.
"I can't believe she did that to her own sister," whispered Twilight. "A thousand years?"
"Nightmare Moon threatened to destroy Equestria. It's what Princess Celestia does to threats," muttered Sunset solemnly. It's what she'll do to you if you ever go back, whispered a little voice in the back of her mind tauntingly, one that sounded suspiciously like the raging she-demon.
Rarity frowned. "I can't imagine doing something like that. No matter how much trouble Sweetie Belle can cause, I couldn't bear the idea of being separated from her."
Applejack adjusted her hat, tilting it over her eyes. "Same with Apple Bloom. That must have been rough."
"I... I remember hearing once that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had some sort of falling out," said Fluttershy quietly. "I didn't want to pry. But I wonder if it ended as badly as that."
Pinkie Pie smacked her hands on the table, leaning in. "Hey, you know what?" she said excitedly. "We should totally do something nice for both of them."
"It might be a little weird doing something for them just because we feel sorry for their counterparts," said Sunset. Pinkie's excitement seemed to dim. "But," offered Sunset, a smile forming on her face, "They have been pretty accepting with all the chaos that's happened, and I guess we never really thanked them for it."
"Yeah!" exclaimed Pinkie, jumping up to her feet. "We can throw them a thank-you party!"
Pinkie's enthusiasm was infectious, and as she babbled excitedly about her different ideas, all of them found themselves swept up in it. The gloom from earlier had been completely dispelled. Perhaps that had been the point, Sunset mused.
"If Principal Celestia is anything like Princess Celestia," said Sunset as the others were offering ideas of their own, "then she'll love cake."
Pinkie stopped babbling, her face frozen in thought before her smile somehow tripled in size. "Ooh, I know! Maybe we can have them try the MMMM."
"What's the MMMM?" asked Rainbow.
"It's this super delicious cake the Cakes have been working on for this big dessert competition next month. It's the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, but that's as much of a mouthful as the cake, so I call it the MMMM. We can have Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna be taste testers."
As Pinkie went on describing the work-in-progress dessert, Sunset's mouth watered. It sounded absolutely irresistible. Principal Celestia would probably love it. Sunset knew Princess Celestia would have. She could just imagine the alicorn's serene mask slipping at the sight of the dessert.
She'd seen it before, so many years ago, when she'd been with the princess on a trip to Prance and the chef there had created the most delectable pastries Sunset had ever seen. Celestia's eyes had been wide as the dinner plates and a single drop of drool had escaped her muzzle.
It was utterly priceless. Celestia had bribed her with a double serving of ice cream for three days to keep her from telling anypony about it.
"—unset. Yo, Sunset!"
Sunset snapped out of her memories when a blue hand waved in front of her face. "You still there?" asked Rainbow.
"Yeah, sorry. Got distracted."
"Pinkie was saying how we should have a sleepover at her place," said Rainbow.
"Yeah," added Pinkie. "That way we can plan the thank-you party!"
"Sleepover?" Dread welled up in her chest. This would be the first sleepover since her nightmares had started.
With every moonrise, she'd feared another nightmare, another mental torture to remind her of her crimes, of why she could never see Equestria ever again.
Monday night's dream had her cutie mark erased, leaving her magicless and unable to do anything. Tuesday night had been a brief, dreamless respite, only for last night to have her banished to the empty wastes of the frozen north to starve.
That was, she realized, the worst part about it all: The randomness. She never knew what nights would be peaceful, and which ones would be yet another dive into the darkness of her imagination. And perhaps that uncertainty and anxiety only fueled the cycle.
What if it happened again? She didn't want her friends worrying about her, and she didn't want them trying to press the issue like she knew Princess Twilight would. What if they tried to contact Princess Twilight for her?
All she needed were a few days straight without nightmares and she'd be fine. A few days to build confidence that they wouldn't return. She still clung to the hope that the dreams would run their natural course, clung to it like a floatation ring in the middle of a raging sea.
"I think it sounds lovely, Pinkie Pie," said Rarity. "Shall we all meet at the usual time?"
There was a round of agreements. Sunset reached for any kind of excuse not to be there, to avoid the risk of her troubles being discovered. But her mind couldn't find anything of substance.
When it came her turn to voice her opinion, she had little choice but to agree. Refusing without a good reason would only draw more attention.
With plans made, Sunset slipped off the sofa arm. "I'm going to head off now. I've got homework to do. I'll meet you guys tonight," she said with a wave of her hand. She smiled at them as she collected her backpack, and kept smiling as they gave their goodbyes.
The smile only faltered when she was out of sight, and Sunset Shimmer gave a silent prayer for this to be another one of those nights where her nightmares took a break.
While the seven girls conversed inside the shop, another sat alone at the table outside the front door. She'd been there since the time the group had entered.
The girl let out a sigh, thankful for the umbrella attached to the little table. The snow from days ago had gone away, and now the sky was a clear blue, allowing the sun's rays to fully batter down on the world below. She looked at her forearm, still its natural pink. Were it not for the shadow of the umbrella, her easily burned skin would be an angry red.
She glanced back at the group through her tinted glasses, before taking a sip of the chocolate ice cream soda in front of her, already half finished. Sitting on the table were two identical glasses, both empty.
Brown eyes glared at them over the top of her glasses, and she grumbled inwardly about her figure before taking a large, angry sip of the sweet beverage. She needed to seem normal.
She almost choked on the ice cream when she spotted Sunset Shimmer heading for the door. Swallowing quickly, she dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. Her sudden movements caused a long, deep purple lock of hair to slip free of her stylish hat, and the girl hastily tucked it back in.
Sunset seemed distracted, her gaze unfocused. That was good. It meant she hadn't been paying attention to her, wouldn't pay attention to her.
As Sunset passed her on the sidewalk, the girl looked at her watch, or seemed to, before getting up and walking away. Whenever Sunset stopped, so too, did she, and whenever she walked again, so too did the girl, always at a discrete distance.
Her quarry, meanwhile, never looked back.
The sleepover was underway. Rarity sat on Pinkie's bed, putting Fluttershy's hair into a half ponytail. Pinkie Pie was typing away on her laptop, surfing the internet. Rainbow and Applejack meanwhile, were engaged in a fighting game on Pinkie's console, while Sunset was content to watch them virtually duke it out.
"One of these days I'm going to beat you at this, AJ," growled Rainbow.
"Only in your dreams," replied the farm girl smugly.
"I would if I had more time to practice," she shot back, hitting the buttons at a rapid pace. "Ugh, why can't my parents spring for one of these?"
There was a knock at the door, and in walked Twilight, already dressed in her pajamas. "Sorry I'm late, girls. I had to take Spike to the vet."
Fluttershy's torso shot forward. "What? Is he okay?!" she asked frantically. Behind her, Rarity frowned at the sudden movements, and the damage they'd done to her work, before giving Twilight her full attention.
"He's fine," said Twilight. "Just tired. He got some sort of stomach bug. Apparently Shiny accidentally gave him some hot dogs Spike wasn't supposed to have."
"Oh dear," replied Fluttershy. "I'll come by and bring him something soothing tomorrow."
"Yes, I'm glad to hear it's nothing too serious," said Rarity, taking hold of Fluttershy's hair again and coaxing the girl back into position. "Although stomach flus are still a horrible experience."
Sunset nodded. "Yeah, caught one more than once. Even for ponies, it's never fun."
"HA!" cried Rainbow, drawing their attention. The athlete had somehow managed to gain the upper hand in the fighting game, pressing buttons like wild and pummeling Applejack's character. "Revenge!"
The blonde's eyes narrowed with determination as her own button pressing increased in an effort to put things back in her favor.
"You ever play that game?" asked Sunset.
Twilight shook her head. "I was never all that interested in console games. But my brother used to let me play computer games like the Quest for Fame series and the Ultimate series."
Sunset just raised an eyebrow, prompting Twilight to continue. "They're really old, the beginning of personal computer technology. Ultimate is a lot like my brother's O&O games, which was intentional. The Quest for Fame series also had RPG elements to it, but it was more of a traditional adventure game in a fantasy setting, and it was more humor oriented, very self-referential in a time where staples of the genre were still new.
"I remember them being really fun. You know I heard somewhere that there are companies that manage to make old, unplayable games like those able to run on modern hardware through digital download. I've been so busy with class that I never checked into it."
Sunset chuckled. "Maybe we can check it out together. I never really got a look at computer games here." Though that had mostly been because she'd been too busy planning her revenge for the longest time. And since her laptop was rather out of date, it wasn't like there were many games she could play.
"I WIN!" declared Rainbow, pumping her fist in the air. "I beat you! I finally beat you!"
Applejack laughed. "Alright, alright, so you beat me." She gave Rainbow a smirk. "But that's one against how many, now?"
It was that this point that the pizza arrived. Or rather, pizzas, plural. It took a lot to feed seven girls, especially ones with big appetites like Applejack, Rainbow, and especially Pinkie Pie.
As such, there were three cheese pizzas just for Pinkie, one pepperoni pizza each for Applejack and Rainbow, another cheese pizza for Rarity and Twilight, and a vegetarian one for Sunset and Fluttershy. Pinkie had sprung for bread sticks this time.
Any arguments had stopped as soon as the group began to eat. Instead, they began talking about their thank you party for Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. Pinkie said the Cakes were planning to work on the MMMM in a couple weeks, so that ended up being the best time.
Pinkie had decorations taken care of, and she was sure the Cakes wouldn't mind the use of Sugarcube Corner for the event, especially if it meant they'd have a whole group of taste-testers for their competitive pastry. Applejack volunteered to provide the drinks.
They all discussed making sure the two administrators weren't occupied with some school meeting on whatever day they picked, and various methods for getting them to the shop. Every now and then, Pinkie would say something else about the MMMM. Talking about it seemed to make all of them hungrier, and soon, there weren't any scraps for leftovers.
"Well," said Applejack as she stretched her arms. "I think that about does it as far as plannin'. I don't know about y'all, but I," she let own a yawn, "I'm hitting the hay. I still have chores to help Big Mac with tomorrow."
"Yes, I do believe it's time for me to get my beauty rest," said Rarity, putting on her sleeping mask.
"I should probably get back early to check on Spike," said Twilight, taking off her glasses.
As the others voiced their agreement, Sunset felt a churning sensation in her stomach. It was the moment she'd been dreading. She didn't want to sleep, not yet. But in the face of overwhelming agreement, Sunset found herself forced to go along with the others. Attempting to stay up would only draw attention.
So instead she just lay back in her sleeping bag, hands behind her head, trying to fall asleep.
Trying being the operative word. Her brain refused to shut down. Synapses still fired wildly, thoughts still swirling around. You're going to have another nightmare, Sunset, whispered the voice of the she-demon tauntingly. You're going to scream in a room full of people.
Sunset turned on her side, trying to shut the thoughts out. But once they'd taken hold, it was hard to push them back. She tried to think of something, anything to keep her mind from going back to her worries. Her stomach churned again. Perhaps she shouldn't have had all of that pizza.
When your friends find out, continued the taunting thoughts, they'll be so worried. Then they'll go over your head and tell the princess. You'll be back in Equestria where you'll be imprisoned for eternity like the criminal you are.
Sunset let out a grunt, giving another mental push. Her friends wouldn't do that, would they? As much as she hated to admit it, she could imagine them doing that if they got worried enough. And that one little admission only made her anxiety grow.
She lay there for a good thirty minutes, but nothing helped. Every attempt to try and rationalize it all ended up making her feel worse, and all her subsequent attempts at distraction didn't help either, unable to gain traction on the slippery slope of fearful thoughts she'd found herself on.
The fire-haired girl kicked her legs in frustration, forgetting for a moment that she was sleeping in close quarters. Next to her, Rarity let out a cry of pain, and Sunset held back a particularly foul Equestrian curse.
"Huh?" muttered Rainbow, sitting up from her place on one side of Pinkie's bed. "What happened?"
"What's wrong, Rare?" asked AJ, rubbing her eyes.
Twilight, who had also been woken up, flicked on the lights. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily.
Rarity took off her mask to glare at the former unicorn. "Sunset, darling, why did you kick me?" She rubbed her leg, frowning. "Oh, please don't tell me that left a bruise."
"Sorry, Rarity," Sunset apologized. Her heart was starting to race. She hadn't had a nightmare and she'd still woken them all up. Was this part of some karmic payback for everything she'd done? "I didn't mean to."
"I'm surprised you're still wide awake," remarked Applejack. "Did somethin' wake you?"
"Was it Gummy?" asked Pinkie, going from sleepy to fully awake in the span of three seconds.
"Uh, Pinkie," said Rainbow, "Gummy is a stuffed toy."
"Oh, right." She giggled, grabbing the plush gator and hugging it close to her chest. "You know, Dashie, I bet the me on the other side of the mirror has a real live Gummy."
"Why would she have a live alliga... you know what? I don't want to know."
"What's wrong, darling?"
"N-Nothing," replied Sunset. The teenager was desperately trying to get her heart under control in the face of her friends' stares. "I'm just having a little trouble sleeping. Brain just won't shut down."
"Um," said Fluttershy, her face half hidden by her hair, "is that why your breath smelled like black coffee the last week?"
Scarlet and gold hair whipped through the air as Sunset's head turned. "You noticed?"
The timid girl squeaked, ducking further behind her pink curtain. "One of the volunteers at the animal shelter has a night shift job and he drinks black coffee a lot to stay awake. I, um... didn't want to bother you about it."
"Wait, wait, wait," said Rainbow, "You've had insomnia for a week?"
Sunset desperately tried to form an excuse, reaching into her mind for anything that would work to quell her friends' worried expressions. Finally, she just slumped. "Y-Yeah. On and off."
"Have you seen a doctor?" asked Twilight.
Sunset shook her head. "I thought it would pass." The words seemed so weak now, saying them out loud.
Rarity put a hand on her shoulder. "Darling, if you were having problems, you should have told us."
"I didn't want to worry you," she replied, a sense of shame creeping over her.
"You sure your problem ain't nightmares?" said Applejack, crossing her arms over her chest. "Cause right now you're soundin' like Apple Bloom when she was scared to start CHS."
Sunset flinched. "I-I..." Her eyes fell to the floor, all but confirming the blonde's suspicions.
Fluttershy was next to her now, placing a delicate hand on her unoccupied shoulder. "If there's something bothering you, we're here to listen."
"I..." Sunset began. She tried to form the words, but her tongue just didn't seem to want to work. Fluttershy's warm eyes still lingered on her, and with one more mental push, she managed to speak. "It's nothing. I'm sure they'll pass soon."
Applejack's face fell, and she gave a sigh. "Alright, sugarcube."
Sunset looked at the blonde in surprise. "You're not going to press me?"
"Oh, I want to, no doubt about that," replied the farmer. "But you look like you don't want to talk about it. Am I right?" She got a slow nod from Sunset. "I don't reckon there's a point in pushin' you right now. And maybe you're right, and it'll go away on its own. But remember, sugarcube, we're here when you need us."
"Yeah," voiced Rainbow in agreement. "We're not going to leave you hanging."
Relief flooded her body. "Thank you."
Suddenly, Pinkie's face lit up, and she hopped out of bed. "I know just what will help you sleep, Sunny!" She dashed out of the room, leaving her six friends staring at the doorway in confusion.
When she returned, she held a drinking glass in one hand, and a small, unmarked plastic bottle in another. Slowly, she poured some of the bottle into the glass and offered it to Sunset. "Here."
Sunset eyed the gold-colored liquid warily. "Um, Pinkie, what is this?"
"This," Pinkie said proudly, "is the Pie family's home remedy for insomnia. My great aunt Petra made it. We always keep the ingredients around because Marble has really bad insomnia every once in a while."
"Really, a homemade sleep aid?" asked Twilight, peering closer at the liquid. "What's in it?"
Pinkie shook her head, her pink curls dancing wildly. "Can't tell you that. Great Aunt Petra wanted to keep the recipe a super top secret so she made mom and dad promise not to share, and they made me promise too. I never break one of my special promises."
Twilight frowned in disappointment. "Would I be able to ask your great aunt in person then?"
"I don't think so," said Pinkie. "Aunty Petra is like, super old, but she goes around traveling the world. She's on one of her trips now." Pinkie's face scrunched in concentration. "I think she said something about going somewhere with someone named Jordan." She looked back at Twilight. "But I'll let her know you asked when she comes back."
Sunset took the glass from Pinkie, letting the liquid swirl around in it. She gave it a sniff. "It smells like peppermint."
Pinkie laughed. "Yup-a-roonie. Aunty Petra loves peppermint. Favorite thing in the whole world. You wouldn't believe how many candy canes she goes through every Christmas."
"And it really works?"
Pinkie nodded vigorously. She pulled out a small photo of a rose-colored woman with graying sandy hair styled in such a way that made her look like a much older Maud, and held it in front of her face. "This stuff will knock you into a sleep so deep, even the nightmares will give up trying to bother you." The entire line was spoken in an imitation of an old woman's voice.
"Oh my," said Fluttershy, "That sounds awfully deep."
"Uh-huh. I took a sip of it once and I slept till ten."
"You?" asked Rainbow incredulously. "Miss 'I get up every day at six with a ton of energy' slept until ten in the morning?" Now Rainbow looked worried. "Sunset, you sure you want to drink that?"
Sunset Shimmer looked back at the glass. The rational part of her brain cautioned against trying a homemade sleep aid with that much purported power. With that kind of description, the formula seemed just as likely to put her into a medically induced coma as put her to sleep.
And yet, Sunset also knew that she wanted to sleep without another nightmare, and she didn't really want to leave things up to the chance this would be one of those lucky nights.
And so, gathering her courage, Sunset risked potential hospitalization and let the liquid pass over her tongue and down her throat. It tasted like peppermint as well, a very strong taste too. Pinkie hadn't been kidding about her aunt.
She handed the glass to Pinkie, offering her a thank you, and lay down in her sleeping bag. "Goodnight, girls." Precisely fifteen seconds later, she was fast asleep.
Pinkie set the glass down on her nightstand. "Huh. Lasted a teeny bit longer than Marble's average." She smiled again. "Works every time."
The following Monday morning found Principal Cinch in her office. She stared coldly at the girl across from her desk. "Is this everything you could gather?"
"Yes, ma'am," the pink-skinned girl said meekly.
Cinch flipped through the dossier in her hands, eyes darting back and forth behind her glasses. She paused as she reached the bottom of the page. Her gaze moved back up. "And I assume you vetted all this information?"
"Of course I did," came the girl's sharp reply. Cinch raised an eyebrow at her tone, and the girl quickly backpedaled. "S-Sorry, Principal Cinch. I checked everything in there, m'kay? And I pointed out everything I wasn't sure about, just like you asked."
"Good," said Cinch with a nod. "Consider your grade for that chemistry test taken care of."
The girl breathed a sigh of relief at avoiding Cinch's anger. She stood there a moment, watching as her principal continued reading. Cinch looked up again. "Yes, Miss Polomare?"
Suri Polomare's shoes shuffled against the floor. "Um, Principal Cinch, what about my..."
"Hmm?" It took a second before realization hit her. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot. You can consider your application to the Manhattan School of Design accepted."
The girl's face split into a smile, and she seemed ready to burst from pure glee. "Thank you, ma'am, I—"
"However," added Cinch, cutting her off. "If this information turns out to be inaccurate and that you have failed the task I gave you, I will ensure your application is denied by every design school in the state. The same will happen if you breathe a word about this. Do I make myself clear, Miss Polomare?"
Suri's enthusiasm was snuffed out instantly, and her face turned dead white. She nodded her head furiously. "Yes, ma'am. I won't tell anyone, m'kay? No one!"
"I should hope not, Miss Polomare. Now leave my office. You have classes to attend and I have work to do."
The girl rushed out of the office, leaving Cinch alone. The woman regarded the dossier again. It was a small stack of papers, and paper-clipped to the front was a picture of a smirking Sunset Shimmer.
The documents were a mix of vital statistics, and transcribed testimonies from students. At the end of the file was a small flash drive, carefully attached. Cinch preferred having both print and digital copies. Every piece of data was neatly labeled, in accordance with her instructions.
Suri wasn't her top choice for this. But she'd been easy to recruit, and had only been in the first round of the Friendship Games before slipping into the background, so she was less likely to be remembered.
As far as being a student at the academy, she was rather poor outside of home economics. But despite her weaknesses in academics, when it came to scandal and gossip, Suri Polomare had an incredible memory. While the human mind caused rumors to exaggerate with each telling, Suri could repeat every story and detail she heard almost perfectly.
If such skills lent themselves to legitimate work, Cinch would have directed the girl to that instead of letting her go on her chosen path of dressmaking.
Abacus had discovered her talents in her freshman year, and had used her more than once to help deal with trouble. It had taken some work to train her to organize her findings, to sort out what information was more certain and less certain, and to label it as such. But train her she had.
She flipped through the contents front to back again. The vital statistics came first. They were limited, but she certainly couldn't risk her informant breaking into the principal's office to get at the school records. After that came various headings. Spring Fling. Bullying. Fall Formal. CHS Music Festival. Anon-a-Miss Incident. Friendship Games.
There was little by way of real background, and everything that was here only pertained to the last few years. But sometimes a lack of information was information in and of itself.
An idea formed in her head. Picking up her cellphone, she dialed a familiar number. "Hello? It's me." She paused, listening to a grumbled reply. "Yes, I know it's early. I need to meet with you this afternoon. Yes, it's important."
The principal leaned back in her chair, her eyes falling to the file still sitting in her lap. "I have a problem and I believe the solution is right up your alley. Four o'clock is fine. The usual place."
Ending the call, Cinch got up and walked over to a portable CD player. Pressing a few buttons, she let the soft notes of classical music fill the room before returning to her desk.
Setting the file aside to move onto other work, she hummed along to the music before sparing the smirking photo one last look. The principal gave it a smirk of her own, one that quickly grew into a grin.
The girl ought to enjoy herself now, because when she was through with that brat, she would wish she'd never gone to Canterlot High.