A Tale of Two Suns, Book 1: The Two Suns

by Lupin


The Storm

Chapter 4: The Storm

It was Wednesday afternoon and Sunset Shimmer was in her last class of the day. As she scribbled away at her notes, she let out a contented sigh. Pinkie's insomnia cure had been good to its word, and the former unicorn had slept soundly through the night.

She'd used it for the rest of the weekend before attempting to sleep on her own. Much to her delight, she'd found her original hopes had come true. After a long enough break, the nightmares had stopped coming.

Or perhaps, she mused, it had been telling her friends, even half-way. Sunset knew she'd have to tell them the rest eventually. That conversation would probably be difficult. But that wasn't in the very near future, so she'd worry about it later.

No matter the reason for her lack of nightmares, Sunset was just happy to be free of it all. She'd felt more rested than she'd had in a while, her hastily bought coffee can now collecting dust.

The day too, it seemed, shared in her happiness. The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky, but the air was still comfortably chilly with a light breeze. It was the sort of day people relished in. And it was the sort of day that made Sunset just want to keep smiling. With her nightmares finally gone, things were definitely looking up.

Unless some new magical threat reared its ugly head, everything was back to normal at CHS. And if something did appear, Sunset was confident she and the others could handle it. As Rainbow Dash had put it in a new song she'd been working on, they were the Rainbooms, and nothing could break them.

"Will Sunset Shimmer please report to Principal Celestia's office right away?" came the voice over the PA system.

Sunset Shimmer blinked, taking a few seconds to process the message. Mr. Doodle had stopped in his lecture, turning his head back towards the class so that both he and the other students were staring at her.

A few rows over, Trixie was smirking. "Ooh, in trouble again, Shimmer?"

Shooting the amateur magician a dirty look, Sunset nonetheless felt discomforted by the sudden attention. Quietly, she gathered up her things and headed out of the classroom.

The halls were still covered in red and pink heart decorations. Valentine's Day had passed only yesterday. As expected, Rarity's locker had been overflowing with cards and gifts, while Sunset's had been empty.

Not that she minded. She didn't really want to be the center of that sort of attention. She was still understanding what it meant to have friends. Love, real, romantic love, was something else entirely.

Besides, Rarity had shared her ample supply of gifted chocolates with the rest of them, so it wasn't all bad.

As she walked down the hall, she wondered what this was about. Most times a call to Principal Celestia's office was a sign of trouble. But Sunset had pretty much stayed out of trouble since the Fall Formal. Some kind of academic award maybe? She was still at the top of her classes, so that wasn't exactly a stretch.

She passed by the secretary on the way to the door. Her expression was strangely tense. Sunset knew the woman was pretty busy, but most times the stress she was under never made it to her face.

When she finally opened the door to the office, she saw Principal Celestia sitting behind her desk, and, surprisingly, Vice Principal Luna standing behind her.

Both women wore uneasy expressions, and the hairs on the back of Sunset's neck stood on end. "Hello, Principal Celestia," she began uncertainly. "Why did you call me?"

Celestia cleared her throat. "It's because—"

"That would be because of me, Miss Shimmer."

Sunset jumped before whirling around. The door to the office shut, and there, practically hiding behind the door, was someone new.

She was tall, about as tall as Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna, and a moderate build. She appeared to be in be in her early forties, with sapphire blue skin.

Her eyes, hard and piercing, were a deep purple, set inside a face of rather angular features with a large, prominent nose. This was complemented by a head of indigo-colored hair arranged in a pixie cut, similar to Mrs. Harshwhinny, but even shorter.

Her clothing denoted professionalism, a black suit jacket and business skirt, a white blouse, and a set of heels. Her jewelry was minimal, consisting of only a pair of white star-shaped earrings and a gold necklace ending in the symbol for Scorpio, most likely her birth sign.

"Who are you?" asked Sunset.

"I am Mrs. Circinus," she replied, in an accent that sounded distinctly upper class. The woman sat down in one of the chairs in front of Celestia's desk, turning it to face Sunset. "Please sit, Miss Shimmer."

Sunset slowly took the opposite seat. She looked to the two administrators in the room. Both of them still radiated discomfort, which was in and of itself discomforting. Sunset couldn't recall the last time anyone or anything had gotten to them like this. Just what in Tartarus was going on?

The woman's eyes followed Sunset as she took the seat, and there was something in them that made Sunset feel like an animal being watched by a hungry predator.

"I represent Child Protective Services, Miss Shimmer. We've received reports that you are a minor currently living alone without parental supervision."

Sunset's heart slammed into her ribcage. If she hadn't been sitting, she might have lost her balance. As it was, she didn't feel all that stable right now anyway.

Child Protective Services. She'd been dodging them since she'd gotten here to avoid being stuck with a human family. But more importantly, there was the threat of investigation. The threat of them digging too deep and discovering her non-existence and extra-dimensional nature.

She did not want to end up on a dissection table, thank you very much.

Sunset placed a nervous hand behind her head. "W-What makes you think that?"

"Please, Miss Shimmer, there's no point in denying it," replied the woman flatly. "I was talking to your principal earlier," she spared a glance at Celestia, "and she told me how your parents have never attended any scheduled interviews with teachers or any conferences. In fact, they have never been seen or heard, period. This only substantiates the reports I've received regarding you."

Principal Celestia gave Sunset a guilty expression. Not that she could blame her. Sunset knew the principal probably had little choice. "Who exactly told you all this?"

"I am afraid I am not at liberty to say, Miss Shimmer," replied the woman. "That information was given to CPS by a concerned party and then passed along to me."

Sunset suppressed a groan of annoyance. Great, so I don't even get to know who's responsible for this.

"The fact remains that you are a sixteen-year-old girl living alone. This arrangement is not one that can be tolerated," continued Circinus. "Thankfully for you, I know of a family more than happy to take you in immediately."

Sunset blinked. "Really?"

The woman's face broke into a friendly smile, the first truly pleasant expression during this whole meeting. "Really. They are acquaintances of mine, and recently told me they were interested in adopting a girl." She gave a small chuckle. "I understand that you might have been expecting a great deal of hassle with this process. It's a perfectly reasonable assumption. But I assure you, I can make this go quite easily."

Principal Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that against standard procedure?”

Mrs. Circinus waved a hand. “I suppose so, yes. But I think Miss Shimmer would be an excellent fit for this family, and vice versa, so it seems a waste to not take advantage of it. There would of course be some additional legal proceedings to follow up on in coming months as part of the adoption process, but that will be of little concern to Miss Shimmer, and I’m confident we can smooth out all the potential wrinkles.”

Her deep purple eyes focused back on the teen. “I’m sure I can speak for both of us when I say it would be best to resolve this situation with as much expediency as possible. In addition, if you take this option, your life wouldn’t face the constant disruption of moving from place to place through the foster care system, as can be the case for many children such as yourself. So what do you say?”

Sunset allowed her body to relax. Being stuck with a random family was weird, and there was the chance that she'd have to tell them about her magic. A good, solid chance. But she'd prefer doing that with regular people over letting a CPS agent dig too deep into her background.

Still, she couldn't help but find the entire thing... anticlimactic. Sunset supposed that she was just used to things going straight to Tartarus. Then again, she'd had reason to think that, what with the Dazzlings, the Friendship Games, and in a way, the Fall Formal.

"I'll take your silence as a form of agreement," said Mrs. Circinus. She gave a nod, more to herself than anyone else. "Excellent. Now your foster family doesn't normally live in Canterlot, but that's for the best, and you should be able to meet them soon."

"Hold it," interjected Sunset, raising her hands. "Back up. What do you mean they don't normally live in Canterlot?!"

The indigo-haired woman raised an eyebrow at the teenager. "I don't think there's much room for confusion with that statement, Miss Shimmer. Your foster family normally lives in another part of the state."

"But what about me going to Canterlot High?"

From the expression on Mrs. Circinus's face, Sunset might as well have asked why a square peg wouldn't go in a round hole. "Well Miss Shimmer, switching schools is a common occurrence when one moves."

"I'm not leaving CHS," responded Sunset firmly. "No way."

"I assure you, Miss Shimmer, it is in your best interest to leave," insisted the woman.

Though silent through the exchange thus far, Vice Principal Luna now cleared her throat. "Pardon me, Mrs. Circinus, but why exactly do you think it's in Miss Shimmer's best interest to leave our school?"

Circinus turned to address Luna. "A multitude of reasons." She reached down and picked up a leather satchel, pulling out a tablet. Booting it up, her eyes and fingers skimmed across the screen. "The reports to CPS were quite extensive. I was made to understand that Miss Shimmer's behavior since enrolling in your institution has been something akin to delinquency."

Sunset cringed. Her bully career was coming back to bite her in the plot. Again. Not for the first time did Sunset wish she had a time machine, if only to go back and beat some sense into her old self.

"And I'm going to say that, based on Miss Shimmer's response just now, those allegations have merit."

Horseapples. Not only did this woman have information on her, but she was sharp, too. Her eyes had only seemed to take the barest glimpse up from her tablet, and she'd still picked up Sunset's body language.

"I find it curious," she said, giving the vice principal her full attention, "that the conduct records I saw before she arrived here said nothing of the sort. Were you blind to these issues, Vice Principal Luna? Or did you perhaps turn a blind eye?"

Luna's face darkened, and she looked ready to snap at the woman. Celestia took her sister's hand, rubbing a thumb against her palm. "My sister is quite capable of doing her job, Mrs. Circinus," said the principal. "We are not omniscient, and if there were issues with Sunset's behavior, I'm sure they were exaggerated."

"Yes," added Luna, managing to reign in her temper. "And I can tell you right now that Sunset Shimmer has been an exemplary student. We are proud to have her at Canterlot High." Beside her, Celestia nodded in agreement.

Sunset gave the two administrators a grateful smile. Even if they were stretching the truth and defending themselves as well, Sunset could hear the sincerity in their tone. A comfortable warmth made itself known on her face. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie's thank you party seemed all the more necessary.

"I have friends at CHS," Sunset stated firmly, taking the chance to speak. "My only friends. I'm not leaving them."

"That's true," added Principal Celestia. "Mrs. Circinus, while I understand that it would be much simpler to place Sunset with a family that is ready to adopt, I highly doubt you would wish to separate her from her only friends. I can tell you that they have been a wonderful influence on her. It would be better to nurture that influence."

The principal's genuine smile reminded Sunset of Princess Celestia whenever Sunset would pass one of her tests. That thought made her feel even warmer, but also caused a prickling of shame at remembering her current standing with her mentor.

She shook off that feeling. She needed to be focused on the more immediate problem right now.

Circinus returned Celestia's smile with a condescending one. "A wonderful influence, you say?" She looked back down at her tablet. "Are you sure you don't have a second Sunset Shimmer among your students, Principal Celestia, because I'm afraid that is not what I was told."

Her fingers danced across the screen even more. Sunset wished she could see what the CPS agent was looking at. What other information was she holding?

Judging from the looks on the two administrators' faces, they wanted to know just as badly. But Mrs. Circinus kept the tablet close, angled away from prying eyes like a poker player protecting his hand.

"The concerned party that contacted us mentioned something about an," the woman paused, double checking something on her screen, "Anon-a-Miss incident that occurred here this past December."

Sunset let out another mental curse, practically biting her tongue to keep it from being a verbal one. At this rate it would be a miracle if she doesn't find out about Equestria.

"As I understand," said Circinus, "there was a vicious instance of cyber-bullying at this school under an anonymous MyStable account, and the culprit was believed to be Miss Shimmer."

"She was found to be innocent of that," replied Celestia, her expression pained.

Circinus nodded. "Yes, I'm aware. But according to my information, the group of girls Miss Shimmer calls her friends supposedly joined those who believed her guilt. I was told that Miss Shimmer broke down into tears in the hallway. And it seems the concerned party didn't think we'd believe it, so they included this."

She tapped a few buttons on her tablet before presenting it to the administrators. Sunset leaned closer to see. Her heart dropped at the image on the screen.

It was her, crying on her knees in the hallway, her friends walking away.

"Where did you get that?!" she cried.

Circinus glanced back at Sunset. "It seems a student took that picture in the halls and posted it online. There was also another picture," she paused, pressing another button. The screen once again showed Sunset in the halls, down on the floor clutching her knees, surrounded by angry students.

Someone must have been taking pictures then, too. She certainly didn't remember anyone doing that, but Sunset had been so overwhelmed in that awful moment that the click of the cameras might not have registered.

"Principal Celestia," said Circinus as she pulled back her tablet. "Pardon me for saying this, but these girls that Miss Shimmer calls her friends don't sound like the sort that are a good influence if they do such things to her. I was also informed that the perpetrators of the account were three eighth grade girls, two of which were siblings of this group of friends. Is this true?"

Celestia hesitated, unsure how to phrase an answer that somehow wouldn't make things worse.

"Principal Celestia," repeated the woman. "Answer me." Her eyes narrowed. "Or would you prefer I confirm it on my own?"

"... Yes, it's true," admitted the principal at last.

"I see," said Mrs. Circinus, her face changing to an expressionless mask. "I'm surprised the two of you let the situation get as out of control as it did, if I understand the events correctly."

"You think we weren't trying?!" hissed Luna. "We were! We had no idea it existed until it was targeting the whole school. Fighting an anonymous gossip account was like trying to slay the Lernaean Hydra. Every time I tried to track down the source of a post, two more would come up demanding my attention!"

"Please sister, calm down," soothed Celestia.

Sunset had no idea Vice Principal Luna had been having so much trouble. Given the vein now bulging on her forehead, perhaps the six months of detention that Apple Bloom and the others got had actually been reduced by Principal Celestia.

Mrs. Circinus seemed completely undaunted by Luna's outburst. Her eyes went back to her tablet. "There was one other thing I wanted to discuss, a music festival that was held here. I was told that Miss Shimmer's friends formed a band, the... Rainbooms," she said, stumbling a little over the word. She turned to look at Sunset. "Is that correct, Miss Shimmer?"

"Yes."

"And at the time of the festival, you were not a member of this musical group?"

"No." Sunset wasn't sure where the woman was going with this, but it made her uneasy, like she was walking into a pair of giant claws. What was she forgetting?

"And yet, you possess musical talent and are now a member."

"I play the guitar," she answered hesitantly. "What's your point?"

Circinus looked back at her notes. "According to a witness, during the semi-finals, you tackled the lead singer, one Rainbow Dash, completely disrupting their performance in a fit of jealous rage."

"But it wasn't..." Sunset began to protest, only to realize that she didn't know how to defend her actions that day. She'd only tackled Rainbow because her magic was beginning to appear, but that answer would just exchange the CPS agent for someone from a mental ward.

Mrs. Circinus leaned back in the chair. "Why did you tackle her, Miss Shimmer? Was it because your friends wouldn't let you join their group despite your musical aptitude? Were you angry enough to try and sabotage them in the semi-finals?"

The indigo-haired woman's face took on a more sympathetic expression. "While I cannot approve of what you did, it was still a very human reaction under the circumstances."

"But that wasn't what happened," insisted Sunset. "I... I thought the spotlight over Rainbow was going to fall, and it was the only thing I could think of." An improvised lie, but the best she could come up with on short notice.

Circinus raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And did the spotlight fall?"

She'd wasted no time going for the obvious weak point in the explanation. "Well, no," admitted Sunset. "I was wrong about that. But I really thought it was going to fall at the time."

Vice Principal Luna cleared her throat. "We checked after the semi-finals, and one of the spotlights was actually a bit loose."

Sunset gave a mental cheer at Luna's support. It wasn't worth much in the face of everything else, but at least they were making some headway against the woman's arguments.

"Was it? You were lucky then that no students were hurt. And in a sense, Miss Shimmer's actions were quite heroic," replied Circinus, her last sentence filled with approval.

She went back to her tablet. "Yet, despite the heroic measures Miss Shimmer took, the audience repaid her by going into an uproar. I believe a student, one Flash Sentry, said something along the lines of 'Now that's the bad girl we love to hate.' Are those words accurate Miss Shimmer, or should I have Mister Sentry called to verify?"

Sunset bit back yet another curse. Even when they'd tried to take out some of her sting, she'd managed to turn it right back around against them. "I, uh, he might... I mean..."

"I'll take that as confirmation." Mrs. Circinus shut off her tablet, slipping it back into her satchel. She stood up, looking back to the two administrators. Luna's expression was once again one of anger, and if Celestia felt the same, she hid it well, her face merely a pained frown.

"Principal, Vice Principal, instances such as these have not painted a very flattering picture of your institution, especially where Sunset Shimmer is concerned. As an employee of Child Protective Services, it is my job to ensure the wellbeing of any child brought to my attention."

"I understand that," said Celestia, "But—"

Circinus cut her off. "And what I see is not an environment suited to her emotional development and wellbeing. The fact that she didn't resort to self-harm during that Anon-a-Miss fiasco is a miracle."

She looked back at Sunset now. "Miss Shimmer, as for these friends of yours, I know you may think they're your friends, but as an unbiased party, I don't think they are. I question their loyalty and sincerity when they make you suffer in such a manner, or when they clearly excluded you from performing with them."

But they hadn't excluded her. Sunset had never let them know she could play, and she'd never shown an interest in playing. She'd still been fearful of messing things up, admittedly more so after the Anon-a-Miss disaster. She hesitated in arguing that, however, for fear of it somehow backfiring and making this even worse than it was.

The woman straightened out her skirt before slinging her satchel strap over her shoulder. "I will be taking Miss Shimmer to her foster family now, if there are no further objections."

The entire situation was spiraling out of control. Her mind raced for something to say, or she'd be separated from her friends and the portal by Celestia only knew how many miles and who knew how long and with people she didn't even know.

"I'll find another family to stay with," she said finally, words rushing out of her mouth.

The three adults in the room turned to her in surprise. Mrs. Circinus spoke first. "Pardon me?"

"Just what I said," repeated Sunset, her voice stronger. "I'll find a family to stay with. I am not leaving CHS, or Canterlot City."

Circinus gave Sunset a hard stare. "And do you have any idea who exactly you would stay with?"

"Not yet," she admitted, right before glaring back at the woman. "But I know I'll find someone."

"That is a fine sentiment, Miss Shimmer, but it doesn't fix your living situation in the eyes of CPS."

Principal Celestia got up from her desk. "Please, Mrs. Circinus, I'd like you to give Sunset some time to find someone. You can clearly see she doesn't want to leave this school."

The woman looked uncertain, ready to flat-out reject their plea. Sunset needed to convince her somehow. But how? There had to be something she could do to get her to go along.

An idea came to mind. It was a high-stakes gamble, but right now she had little choice. "If I can't find anyone else to take me in, I'll go to the foster family you have in mind without argument."

Circinus raised an eyebrow. "Without argument?"

Sunset nodded her head, even though she really didn't want to. "Just give me some time."

The older woman stood there pondering for a moment before she answered. "I'll give you a week to find another legal guardian, Miss Shimmer." She pointed a stern finger at the teenager. "Bear in mind that if you do find someone, they will have to be vetted by me. If I don't find them fit to care for you, I will take you to the other family. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear," muttered Sunset.

Mrs. Circinus nodded. "Good. I will be on my way then. Good day Principal, Vice Principal, Miss Shimmer."

Once she'd walked out the door, Sunset's shoulders slumped. That had been far more draining than she expected.

"Sunset, are you alright?" asked Principal Celestia, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Sunset sighed before shaking her head. "Can't really say I am. This is a real mess, isn't it?"

"Well, it certainly could have gone better," answered Celestia with a self-deprecating chuckle.

"That is an understatement, sister," grumbled Vice Principal Luna. She massaged her temples in an attempt to stop a headache. "I think I should go back to my office and rest. I feel like I just wrestled a bear... and lost."

Watching her sister leave, Celestia’s face turned sour. “I don’t like that woman,” she half-whispered, more to herself than Sunset. “There’s something about her and her attitude that’s just not right.”

“I’m just glad she’s not looking too closely at me,” said the teen. As much as she didn’t like the woman’s attitude either, or the gamble she’d been forced into taking, at least it would get her out from under government scrutiny.

Celestia looked up at the clock on her wall. "Considering how close it is to the final bell, why don't you just go wait at the front of the school for your friends?"

"Yeah, that's probably best," she muttered. Feet feeling like lead, Sunset gathered her backpack and headed out the office door. She had work to do now. Lots of it.


Sunset breathed in the cool air as she exited the front doors of CHS, walking silently along the grass before sitting down on one of the few benches in front of the school, near the edge of the campus.

This was bad, and that was putting it lightly. Child Protective Services had been put on her trail, and now she had a week to find someone to stay with. She'd need to ask her friends as soon as the school bell rang. Her cyan eyes looked back at the front doors, wishing students would pour out now instead of later.

Nervous energy still surging through her, Sunset withdrew her journal. Princess Twilight's support would help. Opening up the book to a blank page, she took a pen and began to write, hand trailing over the paper.

She'd been in the middle of yet another sentence when the book was suddenly ripped from her hands.

"Ooh, what's this, your diary?"

Sunset's eyes shot up to the girl holding her journal. "Give that back!" she demanded, jumping to her feet.

Unfortunately for her, the girl had the advantage of both height and long arms, holding the journal well out of Sunset's reach. The irony was not lost on the former bully that she was now a victim of a game of keep away.

"Like, don't have a cow. I'm not going to read it. Reading a girl's diary is, like, wrong," she said, clearly offended. "You're Sunset Shimmer, right?"

"Yes I am," growled Sunset, making a leap for her book, only for the girl to move it out of the way. "Now give that back to me!"

The girl peered at the cover, still holding it well out of reach, even going so far as to waltz around Sunset's attempts to get it back. "This thing looks so drab! And it's old-looking, too. This is, like, a boy's journal, not a girl's diary. You need a new one. Something pink, or at least brightly colored."

With that, the girl dumped the book into a nearby trashcan. Sunset raced for the can, only to come to a grinding halt when she felt a sharp tug at her arm. She found herself pulled backwards, coming face to face with the girl.

Sunset took a moment to really look at this new pest. She looked old enough to be in college, so definitely not a student. She had pale white skin like Rarity, and wore a pearl pink wool jacket and a pair of light blue jeans. The gold heels on her feet looked expensive, probably designer.

Gold bracelets dangled from her wrist, and a diamond sat in each ear. Her hair was the color of gold, hanging to her mid-back in beach waves, topped by a pearl pink beret. Joining the beret was a hair clip in the shape of a pearl surrounded by light rays, also pearl pink.

The girl's dark blue eyes looked at Sunset critically before she gave a deep frown. "Eww, were you going for the biker chick look? No, no, no, we can't have this."

She grabbed the sleeves of Sunset's jacket, yanking it off with a surprising amount of strength for her seemingly slim build. Sunset yelped as she was turned around, her jacket pulled free. "This needs to go too," said the girl, right before she deposited it in the same trashcan.

"What are you—" Sunset began, only to be cut off when the girl pulled her close again.

The two locked eyes as the girl's fingers reached out for Sunset's face, moving across her cheeks and chin. The former unicorn suddenly felt like a piece of fruit under inspection from a buyer.

"You've got a pretty face. That's good. We can totally work with that." Her hands grabbed a few of Sunset's red and gold tresses, twisting them in her fingers. "Ooh, and you've got really nice hair, too."

Her mouth suddenly opened, her tongue pushing out slightly. "Ugh, it looks like bacon. I hate bacon. It's so greasy!" She paused in thought before her eyes lit up. "We so need to get these awful yellow streaks dyed. Ooh! What about green? Then your hair will be all Christmasy! And who doesn't love Christmas, am I right?"

At this point, Sunset had had just about enough. The crack at her hair had been the last straw. Her hair was, in truth, a point of vanity for Sunset. As many had told her since she was a filly, it was her most striking feature, and Sunset was extremely hesitant to let others mess with it.

She pulled herself free from the girl's grip, backing up several steps to re-establish some sense of personal space. "Just who are you?!"

"Like, no need to scream, Shimmy," replied the girl. "I'm Gleaming Pearl Luxury. But everyone just calls me Pearl." Despite her heels, she somehow managed to bounce on the balls of her feet, right before wrapping Sunset in a tight hug. "I'm your new sister!"

What?!

"I heard that you're not so popular around here. But don't worry, baby sis. I'm going to make you popular. I love that song, by the way. It totally speaks to me."

"Yo, Sunset!"

Sunset turned her head toward the school entrance, never more thankful to see Rainbow and the others walking towards her. She squirmed once again out of Pearl's grip, backing away from her like she was a king cobra.

"We heard you got called out of class," said Rainbow as she ran up ahead of the others. "What happened—Hey, who's she?"

"I'm Pearl Luxury," repeated the girl. "Like, who are you, and how do you know my new little sister?"

"Little sister?" Rainbow repeated, mouth agape as she looked back at Sunset. The teenager offered her a grimace and a look that said it's a long story.

"Wow! I didn't know you had a big sister!" exclaimed Pinkie, bouncing up to them. "You should have told me. We could have totally invited her to one of our sleepovers."

"She's not my sister," spat Sunset.

"Don't be modest, Shimmy. You're, like, part of the family now!" exclaimed Pearl. "But, like, who are they?"

"I'm Rainbow Dash," said Rainbow, "all around awesome captain of every sports team."

"I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"I'm Fluttershy."

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Applejack at your service."

"And I am Rarity," said the fashionista, coming up last in the group. "I—Sunset, darling, what happened to your jacket?"

"Oh, that thing? I like, threw it in the garbage, duh," said Pearl.

"Why would you do that to such a beautiful article of clothing?!" Rarity screamed.

Pearl just scowled. "Like, it was ugly. Way too biker. I'm going to give her a whole new wardrobe, one that's not so," she looked back at Sunset, "drab. Like, no offense Shimmy but it's so true."

Sunset groaned. Please stop calling me Shimmy.

Rarity's blue eyes narrowed. "Drab? I helped pick out that outfit, thank you very much!"

Pearl wrinkled her nose. "Well it shows. You totally don't seem to know a thing about clothes if you picked that out."

Rarity let out a huff of annoyance. "I'll have you know I design my own outfits."

Pearl grimaced. "You make them yourself? Yuck, that's so tacky. Real clothes come from factories or top designers, duh. What are you, like, some tacky designer wannabe?"

"TACKY DESIGNER WANNABE?!" Rarity screamed, at a pitch that threatened to break every piece of glass within a fifty foot radius. Her face had turned completely crimson. "I'll show you a designer wannabe, you little hussy!"

Pinkie Pie slipped her arms under Rarity's armpits, holding her back. "Whoa there, Rarity. Whoa!" Her feet started sliding. "Girls, I could use a little help here."

"Hold it Rare," said Applejack, getting between Pearl and the fashionista. "There's no need to blow your top."

Pearl struggled to suppress her laughter. "Are you, like, for real?"

Applejack flicked her green eyes back to Pearl. "Beggin' your pardon?"

"That outfit and stupid accent. Is it, like, 'Dress Like a Cowboy Day' around here?" Pearl frowned. "Aww, why didn't someone tell me? I have a really cute pink hat and matching boots I could have worn. Like, yee-haw, ride em' cowgirl and all that stuff."

Applejack just stared at her, slack-jawed.

Pearl blinked. "Wait, you're, like, totally serious?" She let out a gasp, hands covering her mouth. "Oh wow! A real live country bumpkin!"

Before Applejack could say anything in response, Pearl wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close before holding out her camera phone. "Photo-op!" cried the girl, snapping the photo before letting go of the farmer and typing away on the device.

"OMG, I, like, can't believe it! I thought you, like, didn't exist anymore. It's like meeting a dinosaur! I am so putting this on MyStable. And Chirper too. Diamond Facet is going to flip when I show her this. She said you people, like, died out in the last century."

"On second thought, Pinkie," said Applejack, her green eyes as flat as her tone, "let Rarity go."

At that moment, Angel Bunny popped his head out of Fluttershy's backpack, curious as to all the commotion. He hopped his way right into Fluttershy's arms.

When Pearl looked up from her screen, she let out a squee of delight before racing over to the shy girl. She bent down, smile threatening to break off her face as she took the little rabbit from Fluttershy. "What a cute little bunny!" she gushed.

"Is he, like, your pet? You know I, like, had this tank of twelve pet goldfish once. But they were, like, defective, because for goldfish they weren't very gold. I, like, wanted them to match my hair. So I just gave them to Momma's cat for dinner."

Fluttershy stared at Pearl in white-faced horror. "You murdered twelve innocent goldfish?" She quickly snatched Angel back from Pearl, dropping him back into her bag as if Pearl were about to skin him alive. "How could you do that?! You-You monster!"

Pearl just stared in confusion as Fluttershy broke into tears. "Like, they were just goldfish. They were so replaceable, and kind of boring."

As Rarity and Pinkie turned their attention to soothing Fluttershy. Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "Luxury? Are you related to the import/export tycoons?"

Pearl nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yeah. That was Daddy's company. But he's not around anymore. He died when I was really little when some jellyfish stung him." She paused, putting a manicured finger to her chin. "Why do they call them jellyfish if they aren't made of jelly?"

Shaking her head, she typed away at her phone. "It's Momma's company now. See, Shimmy, this is her, Excessive Opulence Luxury. She's the best mom ever and now she'll be your best mom ever!"

She shoved her phone in Sunset's face, and the former unicorn saw a picture of an older woman with the same dark blue eyes, gold colored skin, and platinum hair wearing an evening dress decorated with the image of a pile of precious stones. It looked like a red carpet event.

"And she's interested in adopting?" asked Sunset. "Weren't you enough?"

"Well it was actually, like, my idea," replied Pearl, twirling a lock of her hair around a finger. "Like, I had my twenty-first birthday last month, which was totally awesome by the way. Anyway, Momma gave me all these great presents, but then I, like, realized there was one thing I'd never had that I'd really like."

"A brain?" grumbled Sunset under her breath.

Pearl didn't seem to catch the jab. "A baby sister! Baby sisters are so cute and I never had one! So I asked Momma to get me one. And now I have you, Shimmy! We are going to have such a totally awesome time in Paris."

Sunset, in mid-swallow, broke in a string of violent coughs as she almost choked on her saliva. "P-Paris?"

Pearl beamed. "Yeah! We're, like, going to Paris in a week. That's why I have this." She pointed at the beret perched on her head. "We have this, like, totally amazing château there." She giggled. "Isn't château a funny word? Like, French has a lot of those."

A week. The same amount of time Mrs. Circinus had given her to find another foster family. Sunset realized now that the woman hadn't been generous in making that deal. She'd just given her an already existing time limit.

If Sunset couldn't find someone else to take her in, she'd be immediately shipped off not just to another city, but across the ocean.

"Actually, we'd, like, better get going now. Come on, little sis!" Pearl grabbed Sunset's arm, hauling her away from campus and towards a white limousine parked in the distance.

Sunset dug in her heels. "I'm not going anywhere," she growled.

Pearl jerked to a halt, the beret almost falling from her head. "Hey, like, what gives, Shimmy?"

"Don't call me Shimmy," snapped Sunset. She yanked her hand free. "I said I'm not going with you."

"But you, like, have to," argued Pearl. "You're my baby sister. That means you have to do absolutely everything I tell you to do because I'm older and always know better. Momma said that's how it works."

Sunset resisted the urge to smack her forehead. She was an only child, but she was pretty sure that wasn't exactly how it worked. "I didn't say yes to the adoption."

Pearl tilted her head. "Like, why?"

"I don't want to leave CHS, or my friends." She gestured back to the girls behind her. "I have a week to find someone else to take me in. So until then, I'm not your sister, and I'm not going anywhere with you. You got that?"

Pearl looked back at the six girls again. "Oh, are these, like, those really rotten friends you're supposed to have?"

"Rotten?" hissed Rainbow.

"They're not rotten," shot back Sunset, giving the heiress a glare. "They're my best friends. I'm not leaving them or this school. So you might as well just go away."

Pearl scrunched up her face in apparent thought. "I, like, don't get why you'd want to stay in high school. I had tutors all the time. You could use them too. They were, like, the best. Everything was so easy. I mean who needs algebra or geometry or Piegore's thorm or whatever it is anyway?"

"Pythagorean theorem?" guessed Twilight, utterly aghast. "One of the most fundamental parts of geometry?"

"Whatever," dismissed Pearl with a wave of her hand.

Somehow, I think my brain would atrophy with your tutors. School here wasn't especially hard, not for a prodigy like herself who was older than she appeared. History was the most challenging, naturally her academic Achilles' heel given her origins.

But Sunset would have far preferred triple the work at CHS compared to whatever, most likely edited, lesson plans Pearl's tutors would provide. She'd probably go crazy with intellectual boredom within a week, minimum.

"Yeah... no thanks, Pearl, I like it here better," she told the blonde.

"Yeah," said Rainbow, walking up next to Sunset to stand in a defensive position. "We're not going to let her go anywhere with you. So why don't you just take a hike?"

"Or you'll do what?" said Pearl with a huff. "Try anything and Momma's lawyers will sue you for everything you have. And by the way, what's with the hair? Could you, like, not decide what color to dye it or something and just used all of them? Rainbows are pretty but rainbow hair is just ugly and stupid, duh."

Rainbow's eyes were dangerously narrow. "Why you little..."

Sunset stepped between them, giving Pearl another glare. "Look Pearl, just accept the fact that I'm not your sister, and leave me and my friends alone, okay?"

Pearl frowned, her body seeming to sag. "Fine, take your stupid week," she said with a pout. Suddenly, she perked up. "Actually, yeah, go ahead, take the week, it's so much better that way!"

"And why is that?" Sunset asked cautiously. There was no telling what, if anything, went on in that head.

"Because little sis, when the week's over and you still haven't found anyone, that means we can go straight to Paris and totally have our sister bonding time there!" She bounced on her feet while clapping her hands excitedly.

"That means I can take you shopping in Paris for your new wardrobe. No, like, a full makeover! Head to toe! Ooh, idea! Forget what I said about green. We should dye those streaks another shade of red. Then they'd totally look like highlights!"

She paused for a moment, lost in apparent thought. "You know, like, Sunset Luxury sounds totally weird. Hmm..."

Her face lit up like a spotlight. "That's it! How about we change your name too? New wardrobe, new look, new life, new name. If we dye your hair totally red... hey, what about Dazzling Ruby?! Dazzling Ruby Luxury. Ooh, that's totally going to be your name now. I'll call you Ruby, no, Little Ruby because you're my little sister!

"Of course, like, Momma said that you'd need to act like a Luxury if you want to be one of us. But, like, don't worry, Little Ruby, I'm going to teach you everything I know. You'll walk like one of us, talk like one of us, think like one of us. Ooh! You'll be, like, a second me! Isn't that great? I mean I am, like, such a popular person, who wouldn't want to be like me?"

She grinned maniacally at Sunset. "I know it seems like a lot, and I know you're being all grumpy now, but trust me, Ruby, I'll help make you into the best little sister Luxury ever. You'll totally learn to love it for sure. We'll have so much fun making you over."

While Pearl spoke, Sunset just stood there in stunned silence. It wasn't just the words. There was something in the heiress's gaze that unsettled her. Pearl was looking at Sunset not in the way one would look at a person.

Rather, it was more like the way Rarity would look at a new dress, or the way Pinkie Pie looked at a tray of fresh cupcakes. Like she was an object or a doll.

An image floated up in her mind of herself altered by Pearl, dressing, walking, and talking like her. A crawling sensation made itself known across her skin in response.

I think I'd rather fall into a river again, and drown.

If Pearl got her hands on her, Sunset had to wonder if there would even be anything left of herself to recognize in the mirror.

It was then that she realized, much to her increasing horror and disgust, that since she was only sixteen here, she'd be stuck with her foster family until she was an adult. That meant she would be saddled with Pearl for two years. Her skin crawled again, more violently than before.

Pearl gave a loud gasp. "We should totally take a camera along to film it all. You're my first little sister so we should save it all for, like, posterity. We can, like, even edit into a makeover montage and watch it in the home theater. I love those! Maybe I could use the footage to get myself a reality TV show! Wouldn't that be totally great?

"Yeah, yeah it would totally work. After all, it'll be such a totally big change." She held her hand out in front of her, as if framing a sign. "Sunset Shimmer, unpopular orphan girl transformed into Dazzling Ruby Luxury on the streets of beautiful Paris."

Pearl let out a high-pitched squeal that would have caused any dog in the area to whimper. "You'll be infamous, and I'll be on TV! You're going to be the best little sister ever, Ruby."

"Don't count on it," growled Sunset, not even bothering to correct her on her use of infamous. Sunset didn't really want to know whether she'd meant to say famous or not, because there was no way in Tartarus this was happening. "I'm going to find someone else," she repeated.

Pearl laughed. "As if. There's, like, no way you could find somebody better to stay with than Momma and me. But hey, I'll, like, let you try."

She paused, seemingly in thought. "You know, like, when I asked for a baby sister, I totally didn't expect one as old as you. But now, I've, like, realized something."

Sunset crossed her arms over her chest. "And what's that?"

Pearl took a few steps forward, looming over Sunset as she bent down so the two were eye level, a pleasant smile plastered onto her face. "Like, I don't just want a little sister to play with anymore." One of her manicured fingernails reached out to touch Sunset's nose playfully. "I want you."

She gave a little giggle as her smile became something more akin to a hungry great white shark. "And here's the thing you, like, really need to learn, Little Ruby. Momma always gets me what I want. Always. So like, you can try. But I know you're going to be Little Ruby no matter what."

She straightened up, glancing back at Sunset's friends, all of them now wearing identical, angry expressions. "Hey, like, I'll pay all of you like three hundred bucks each if you keep Little Ruby in, like, one piece for me. Like, I don't want her getting hurt because people are all jealous of her new big sister. I'll even throw in another, like, two hundred if you convince her to come home early."

"Keep your money, you airhead!" screamed Rainbow.

"You think you can just pay us to make our friend do something she clearly doesn't want to do?" asked Twilight in complete disbelief.

"Like, duh, Four-Eyes," replied Pearl. "I'll even throw in a pair of contacts for you to replace those seriously lame glasses."

Twilight pushed her glasses back up her nose. "Forget it!"

"Whatever," shot back Pearl. She looked back at Sunset, giving her a giant smile. "I guess I'll see you in a week." Turning, she walked off, only to turn around and offer one final wave. "See you at the château, Little Ruby!"

After Pearl left, Applejack stepped up beside Sunset. "Sugarcube, now I know we got some of what that was about, but would you mind tellin' us—"

"What was that?!" screamed Rainbow.

"Yes, darling, I do believe we deserve an explanation," said Rarity, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.

Sunset sighed, walking over to the trashcan to retrieve her jacket and journal. Thankfully neither seemed stained or damaged, the jacket out of luck, and the journal because of light protection spells Celestia had placed on it when she'd first given it to Sunset.

Slipping the jacket back on, she sat down on the same bench as before, her friends following behind. "That," Sunset said, letting out a groan, "was part of why I was called to Principal Celestia's office. When I got there..."


"...And that's when you showed up."

"So," began Applejack. "What you're sayin' is if you don't find someone else in a week..."

"That meanie mean pants Mrs. Circinus will stick you with that ultra meanie mean pants Pearl?" finished Pinkie.

Sunset nodded. Now that she knew about Pearl, her agreement with Mrs. Circinus seemed increasingly like a deal with Discord.

I know you're going to be Little Ruby no matter what.

Sunset shuddered. Being stuck with Pearl was like several of her nightmares put together. But this one was real, very real and very much looming over her immediate future.

"I still don't get why this Mrs. Circinus was convinced you had terrible friends," said Twilight.

"She brought up when I tackled Rainbow at the music festival, for one. Thought I did that because I was angry at not being a member," muttered Sunset. "But mostly she brought up Anon-a-Miss. She even found pictures."

All of the others save for Twilight cringed. Rainbow's face darkened as she looked down at her shoes, and a silence descended over all of them. Even the normally talkative Pinkie was mute, her hair seeming deflated.

Finally, Twilight spoke up. "What's Anon-a-Miss?"

"It was when we screwed up," muttered Rainbow, the others nodding along with her.

"Twilight, I know it's hard to believe whenever I say this," said Sunset, looking over at her friend, "but I was a really horrible person. Then Princess Twilight left me with them to learn about friendship. But in December, this anonymous MyStable account came up, spilling all sorts of secrets. It got to the whole school, and everyone thought I was responsible."

"And," Rarity admitted with complete shame, "We all believed Sunset was responsible as well."

"You did?" asked Twilight in shock.

"I hurt them really badly, Twi," said Sunset flatly. "I hurt them all for years. Some of those hurts hadn't really been resolved, I guess."

"Still doesn't make it right," snapped Rainbow, more angry at herself than Sunset. "We were supposed to be your friends."

Twilight watched the six other girls, the misery, regret, and hurt radiating off of them so strong it was practically tangible. "So who was responsible?"

"My sister and her friends," said Applejack, irritation creeping into her voice. "They were jealous of us spendin' time with Sunset. Eventually they all broke down and confessed. That's why they've been servin' six months of detention."

"Once they told us," added Fluttershy, "we all went to find Sunset to apologize."

They'd found Sunset in the library, huddled on a bed of books. The fire-haired girl had gone there for the night. She'd known Princess Twilight had spent the night there, and in her misery, Sunset had just wanted to feel closer to the princess that offered her a helping hand, and not return to her lonely apartment.

Apologies were said all around, forgiveness begged for, an ironic twist from the way Sunset herself had asked to be forgiven. Sunset had broken down into tears again during their talk, somehow finding tears to shed after crying she didn't even know how many times that day, or the days prior.

She'd spent Christmas with them, shared Hearth's Warming songs and stories while they in turn shared Christmas traditions with her.

But there had been scars. The entire incident only pushed her further into the shyness she'd had before the music festival. And though she'd been innocent, the entire mess hadn't helped her reputation at school either, some still thinking she'd really been behind it all.

And, clearly, it had left scars on her friends too.

"We're not letting you down again," said Rainbow, hands tightened into fists. "No way are we letting that Circinus lady stick you with Pearl. No way."

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got stuck with that... that goldfish murderer," said Fluttershy, a rare fire in her eyes.

"If you need a family to stay with, you don't need to look further than us, sugarcube," said Applejack, a smile on her face.

"We can each ask our parents if they'd be able to take you in," voiced Rarity in agreement. "I certainly can't let that awful woman ruin your sense of style."

"Yeah!" cried Pinkie, bouncing on her feet. "I already have three sisters, and I'd love to have another. I'll ask Mom and Dad right away!"

Sunset gave her friends a warm smile. "Thanks, girls. I knew I could count on you."

Twilight too, seemed swept up in their enthusiasm. "That Mrs. Circinus made it clear she has to approve of whoever takes you in." She pushed her glasses back again, doing some mental calculations.

"She really seemed to think you have terrible friends, and she was dead set on the Luxuries, so we should expect some resistance from her. Given how things went before, I suggest that once we all check with our families we hold a strategy meeting to try and anticipate her complaints before she comes back."

"Yeah!" said Rainbow enthusiastically, already worked up like she was about to compete. "She only got to you today because she took you by surprise. This time we'll come up with a game plan, and between all of us, and you and Twi's brainpower, we'll beat her next week for sure." She emphasized her point by thrusting a fist into her palm.

Applejack rubbed her chin in thought. "What I can't figure out is who gave that Mrs. Circinus all that stuff about you anyway."

"It could have been a lot of people," answered Sunset. Based on the data she'd had, there were several possibilities. It could have been a student at CHS. There were still those that hated her, and not just Trixie, and those pictures had definitely come from students.

There were also some teachers, ones she thankfully didn't have anymore, that also still disliked her, though none had ever tried anything for fear of Celestia and Luna. And of course, there were even parents that hated her for the things she'd done.

Any person or persons from those groups, or even a mix of the groups themselves, could have gathered that information.

She shook her head. "It doesn't really matter right now who sent that information to CPS. What matters is getting them off my back."

There was a loud growl, and the group turned to look at Pinkie. The energetic girl chuckled, clutching her stomach. "Heh, heh, I guess all this pep talk is making me hungry."

Sunset laughed. "Why don't you girls start heading for Sugarcube Corner? I don't know about you, but I think we should relax first before we do anything."

Rarity nodded her head. "Good idea, darling, this whole thing has been a bit, shall we say, taxing. A bite to eat sounds perfect right now."

"Aren't you coming too?" asked Fluttershy.

"I want to finish writing to Princess Twilight first. I got interrupted by Pearl. Don't worry, I'll be right behind."

As the others left, Sunset opened her journal and found the page she'd been on. There was still a jagged line at the end of her entry from Pearl's interruption. She wrote out the rest of her message, offering an extra apology.

Hopefully Princess Twilight hadn't been reading it already and gone berserk at the sudden stop. Then again, if she had, she'd probably be here by now.

"Hey, Sunset."

As the former unicorn closed her journal, she looked up to see Flash Sentry standing there. "Hi, Flash."

The musician looked off toward the edge of the campus. "Was that Gleaming Pearl Luxury I saw earlier?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You know her personally or something? I thought your type would have more brainpower."

The musician's cheeks flushed. "I don't actually know her. But my brother's girlfriend reads the tabloids. Out loud. And Pearl is on the cover a lot." He sat down on the bench next to her. "So how did you get involved with the Airhead Heiress?"

Sunset snorted with laughter. "Airhead Heiress? That's a good one." Her laughter died down as she once again remembered why Pearl had been there. "A CPS agent found out I live alone, and if I can't find a legal guardian in a week, she's going to send me to the Luxuries where I'll be Pearl's plaything in Paris."

"Man, that's nasty," said Flash, putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "You know, if it were up to me, I'd let you stay with us. But... well, you know my mom still hates your guts."

Sunset nodded. Mrs. Sentry had never liked Sunset from the day she'd started dating Flash. She'd been justified in her dislike, of course, what with all the stupid, petty things Sunset put Flash through just for fun.

Even after the Fall Formal, his mother had still detested her, despite Flash insisting the former unicorn had changed. The last time Sunset had been over to Flash's house had been after the music festival. She'd offered to help him with some homework he'd been struggling with.

When Mrs. Sentry had spotted her, Sunset had been pelted with cold, leftover lasagna, and had been forced to make a hasty, and messy, retreat. Flash had apologized for it afterwards. Personally, she was just glad it hadn't been something meat-based. If it had, she might have vomited.

She suddenly came to the horrible realization that she had no idea of Pearl's opinion on vegetarianism. "H-Hey Flash, those tabloids ever say what Pearl's favorite food is?"

Flash blinked. "Um, steak, I think."

Oh great. That means she'll probably make me eat it too. She shuddered again. "Thanks for offering anyway, Flash. You're a good guy."

Flash smiled. "No problem, Sunset. I hope you figure this out."

"Me too." She got up off the bench. "I'd better join the girls now before they send a search party. See you later."

"Later."

As Sunset walked away from CHS, her legs felt tired. No, her whole body felt tired. It wasn't fair. She'd felt rested and full of energy not long before. Now she was so exhausted. It was like her nightmares hadn't stopped, all the stress coming right back and bearing down on her worse than before.

Even the bright and cheerful day had somehow been lost, a thick covering of grayish clouds blowing in, blocking out the warm solar rays and dropping the air temperature.

It was as if Mrs. Circinus or Pearl had somehow willed the weather to increase the sense of gloom rising up inside her, and make the trudge, because that's what it felt like now, to Sugarcube Corner seem harder.

Sunset shook her head. She couldn't allow herself to get depressed. Her friends were all going to help her. She'd escape from Circinus and from Pearl. They'd faced bigger and more powerful threats than those two. Hay, she'd faced bigger things while she was still in Equestria. There was no way they'd be beaten like this.

Momma always gets me what I want. Always.

The reminder of Pearl's threat stuck in her memory, hanging over her head like a metaphorical axe, big, heavy, and already glistening with blood. Her mind conjured an image of Pearl holding the horrible weapon aloft, grinning the whole time as she swung it down.

And then another thought occurred to her. What if Pearl found out about her magic, or Equestria? Finding out her foster sister was from a land of magical ponies would probably make Pearl's grip even tighter, not to mention all the other ramifications.

Sunset shivered as a strong, cold breeze passed through, punctuating the terrible thought. She pulled the two sides of her jacket closer in an attempt to fight the chill.

Letting out a sigh, she realized that she really did need to get her mind off of all this. Perhaps she'd feel better with more sugar in her blood stream. She'd need the energy anyway, and she was not going to open up that coffee can again.

As she continued her walk to the shop, the feeling of heaviness stayed, hanging down on her with every single step.