//------------------------------// // Storm On The Horizon // Story: Oncoming Storm: Smoke and Lockers // by Ponibius //------------------------------// It wasn’t long after we left the Sugarcube Corner that we found ourselves waiting outside the mall. Sunset had sent Pinkie after Fluttershy while the rest of us concentrated on dealing with Trixie. For her part, Rainbow was running around trying to find our quarry and would lead us to her once she had. But for now, we waited. Not particularly feeling like listening to silence and idling about, I asked, “So, what's the plan for when we talk to Trixie?” Sunset grunted as she put her phone away. “We need something.” I nodded. “We haven't exactly got a process down for what to do with people who suddenly have magic.” “You mean you don’t have a book for that?” Applejack asked dryly. “Never thought Ah'd see the day.” Sunset sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I suppose we'll have to ask her some very pointed questions.” “An' what if she don't wanna answer 'em?” Applejack asked. “How're we even gonna get her to stick around an' answer 'em if we don't even know what we're dealin' with?” Sunset’s nostrils flared. “Well what are we supposed to do? Kidnap her?” I grimaced, recognizing her fraying temper. “I'd really prefer to not have to break the law like that.” “Me either,” Applejack said evenly. “Ah'm just throwin' it out there that she might not wanna talk it out like ya'll did when we found out what happened.” Sunset’s jaw clenched and her brow furrowed, but she closed her eyes and took a long breath. “It's ... a fair point.” “But we can't exactly let her go around bully people either,” I said, flipping to the other side of the argument. “She can't keep harassing us or anyone else like this.” “Can't argue with that.” Sunset rubbed her chin. “I guess if her magic's evil and coming from an external source like with Gaia Everfree, we can always take it away.” “But what if Trixie has powers like ours?” I asked. “Can we even take away that type of magic?” “She’s got a point.” Applejack crossed her arms over her chest. “It was a lot easier when all we had to deal with was something like the Sirens or demoness things. No offense.” “We're used to it.” Sunset grinned and punched Applejack’s shoulder. For my part, I couldn't help but rub my arm at the reminder of my own misdeeds. It was probably going to take a while before I could really put all of that business behind me. Applejack must have seen my discomfort, because she patted my shoulder. “Anyway, uh, Ah got a few ideas if we have to throw down, but Ah'm all fer chin-waggin' our way through it.” “I'd rather not have it turn into a fight,” Sunset agreed. “But we'll have to work it out as we go. Everything depends on how Trixie reacts when we catch up with her.” I rubbed my brow as I considered all the problems that might pop up. “Great, improvisation. Guess there's nothing to do about it.” “Only so much planning we can do under the circumstances,” Sunset conceded. A rainbow blur zipped in and came to a halt in front of us, revealing Rainbow’s grinning face. “Hey guys, found her!” “Gah!” Applejack jumped at Rainbow’s sudden arrival. “Do ya even know how to knock?!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Sure, how much time should I waste while Trixie's messing with us?” “How about we concentrate on what's important right now?” I asked, trying to keep us from wasting even more time arguing. Applejack squared her jaw, but nodded. “Fine, fine. Let's go. Where is the varmint, anyways?” “She's hanging out at the park,” Rainbow said. “And I'm pretty sure I saw her doing magic stuff.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “‘Magic stuff?’” “You know...” Rainbow waved her hands in a vaguely magical manner. I frowned, not at all happy with the unhelpful description. “That's not very specific.” Rainbow placed her hands on her hips as she glowered at us. “I'm not an expert like you guys, okay?” I shrugged helplessly. Describing magical phenomena just didn't seem to be Rainbow’s thing. “We'll just have to see it with our own eyes then.” “Definitely actual magic though?” Applejack stroked her chin. “You'd think she'd keep that to herself.” “I think she was practicing, like we do,” Rainbow observed. I pressed my lips together as I considered the implications of that . “That would make sense if she's only recently gotten magic. It took us quite a bit of work just to get the basics down.” “And if she's already messing with us while she's still figuring her powers out...” Rainbow let that idea hang in the air. “Yeah, we'd better nip that in the bud,” Applejack said. “ Who knows what she’ll get up to if she’s allowed to roam wild?” “But why would she go after us?” Sunset asked. “I know we're not friends, but the only time she was outright hostile was while the Sirens were controlling everyone.” “I've barely even talked with her,” I said. “I don’t know why she would hold a grudge against me.” “Could be an ego thing.” Rainbow shrugged. “Maybe we're the best at magic, and she can't stand anyone being better than her.” Applejack shot Rainbow a flat look. Rainbow snorted. “Don't start with me, Applebutt.” Sunset let out a long put-upon sigh. “Can we focus on what's important?” “Fine, whatever,” Applejack grumbled. Sunset glanced between us, a determined look in her eyes. “If we've confirmed that Trixie's using magic, the next step is to confront her.” Rainbow lead us to the town park where—true to Rainbow’s report—Trixie had a table set up covered with magician paraphernalia. A top hat, a small wand, playing cards, and a variety of other objects covered the table, and Trixie seemed absorbed in practicing with them. In silent agreement, we headed right for Trixie. If she noticed us as we approached he she didn't show it, as she shuffled her deck of cards in a calm and efficient manner. A lead weight settled inside my stomach as we got closer, and my heart rate quickened. I felt my confidence trickle away with every second, but I kept moving forward with everyone. They helped give me the confidence boost I needed to keep going, even if it felt like my knees were about to give out at any moment. That, and I knew we needed to stop Trixie if she was abusing her magic—both for her sake and everyone else’s. Misusing magic always seemed to end badly, even for the one using it. The last thing any of us wanted was for Trixie to turn into some sort of she-demon that would start terrorizing everyone. We all stopped in front of the table, and Sunset broke the silence. “Trixie.” A feline grin spread across Trixie’s lips and she looked up at us. “My, my, my. It looks like Trixie has an audience.” Sunset crossed her arms over her chest. “Right, let's get right to point. What's the deal with your magic?” “What about it? Looking for a show?” Trixie purred, waving her short wand over the top hat. A trio of doves came flying out right at us, forcing us to duck. “You're going to have to pay admittance first.” “That’s not the kind of magic we're talking about, and you know it,” Sunset growled. “Someone's been messing around with Equestrian magic.” “What's the matter?” Trixie asked, positively dripping condescension. “Worried you don't have a magical monopoly anymore?” She lifted her hat and overturned it as at least four decks of cards neatly fell into a pile. Either that was a particularly good stage trick or she was using some sort of magic. Even if I wasn't sure exactly what she was doing yet. Applejack’s eyes narrowed as she straightened her hat. “Ah think we're a bit more worried about you being a jerk to everyone.” Sunset nodded. “Yeah. Nothing's wrong with anyone having magic, as long as they don't abuse it.” “Like scaring Fluttershy,” Rainbow growled. “You're one to talk, Sunset.” Trixie ran a hand through her hair in a flippant manner. “Or did you forget the whole she-demon incident? Here, let Trixie remind you.” She flicked her wrist to sent the top hat flying. It landed on the ground and a cloud of blue, sparkling smoke burst out from it. When I waved the smoke from my vision there was someone I had only seen in camera phone pictures on the internet standing before us. The she-demon form of Sunset grinned nastily at us, wearing the top hat and outfit of a magician’s assistant. Sunset flinched back from the demon, and Applejack and Rainbow shifted into fighting stances. That left me to wonder what Trixie had done. Had she actually managed to summon whatever Sunset had transformed into, or was this something else? The she-demon chortled and bared her teeth. “Hey Sunset, remember me? How about we turn our class into a bunch of meat-puppets again and try and take over the world. Wouldn't that be fun?” She laughed like she had told the funniest joke imaginable. Sunset clenched her teeth and turned back to Trixie. “Yeah, I screwed up. That's exactly why I know how important it is to use magic responsibly.” Trixie glowered at us. “So what're you going to do about the Great and Powerful Trixie? Blast Trixie with magical friendship rainbows? That seems to be how you deal with most problems.” She snorted derisively. “Or perhaps you want to give Trixie a friendship lesson?” “If it comes down to a fight, we'll do what we have to,” Sunset snapped back, not giving Trixie an inch. “But I'd rather talk to you about how the use your magic to help people, and try to understand where you got it from. This doesn't need to get ugly.” Trixie sneered down her nose at us. “Trixie is doing just fine on her own. Besides, now that Trixie has magic, she thinks it's time to get back a little payback for all you've done to her.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What did we ever do to you?” That was something I wanted to know myself. I'd barely even talked to Trixie since coming to school, and I had no idea why she might have a grudge against me other than by proxy with my friends. Something ugly flashed behind Trixie’s eyes. “First, you turned Trixie into a brain-washed zombie.” “And loved doing it!” the she-demon laughed. Sunset sighed and her head drooped. “Okay, I am sorry about that.” Trixie wasn't done as she pointed a finger in my direction. “Oh, and don't think Trixie forgot how she ruined the Friendship Games. Trixie nearly fell into some hole in reality to who-knows-where! There was some manticore-thing just sitting here with its mouth open to eat Trixie!” I winced. “Sorry...” “And what about everyone else?” Sunset asked, some of the fire returning to her voice. Trixie clenched her jaw. “Worst of all... You upstaged Trixie at the Battle of the Bands! You weren't even supposed to be performing at the concert! Yet there you were, stealing the spotlight!” Rainbow quirked an eyebrow. “Wait, that's what this is all about? That's stupid.” Sunset gaped incredulously. “You do realize we were saving the world from enslavement by the Sirens doing that. Including you.” “That's besides the point!” Trixie stomped her foot. “You made Trixie look bad! After the concert all the other kids would talk about was your fight with the Sirens. It was like Trixie wasn't even there! How is that fair? Trixie didn't do anything wrong! Trixie's performance was spectacular!” Applejack glowered. “She's a mit bit of a drama queen, ain't she?” “That's putting it lightly,” Rainbow said. “What were we supposed to do, let the Sirens win? That's dumb. It's not like you would've won anyways—the Sirens were playing with the heads of the judges.” I had to agree with my friends. Yes, Trixie had a right to be mad when she had been a victim of magic, but holding a grudge over some concert like this was pretty ridiculous. Some local school concert didn't amount to much in comparison to what would have happen if the Sirens had been allowed to do what they wanted. Trixie’s eye twitched and she stomped her way around the table. “And none of that would've happened if it wasn't for Sunset.” She jabbed Sunset in the chest with a finger. “Everything started getting weird when you came over to our world! After you stole Princess Twilight’s crown it's been one crazy magic disaster after another. It's your fault you turned into a she-demon, the Sirens came because of all the magic that got thrown around to stop you, and since then thing have been becoming worse! Trixie couldn't even just relax at camp without some councilor going nuts and attacking Trixie with her magic. All of this started with you, Sunset, and don't think Trixie forgets that.” Sunset clench her fist. “Okay, done with being nice and understanding.” I blinked as she brought up her fist and took a swing at Trixie. Her fist through the air, but instead of decking Trixie like I expected, Trixie disappeared into a puff of blue smoke. Sunset’s punch only met air, temporarily overbalancing her. “Well aren't you a brute?” Came Trixie’s voice from seemingly nowhere. “Trixie shouldn't be surprised you would resort to violence. It's the only way you ever get anything done, after all.” Sunset, along with the rest of us, swiveled her head to try and find Trixie. “Great, she's hiding somewhere.” I couldn't find her anywhere. Had she turned invisible? Teleported? Entered another plane of existence? Stopped time and had moved while we had been frozen in place? Had she been here at all? It was impossible to tell quite yet without knowing what type of magic Trixie had. That was the crux of the problem: with magic, just about anything was on the table. It was like trying to play a game when you didn't know all the rules. It naturally put you at a disadvantage. Trixie reappeared suddenly behind Sunset. One second she hadn't been there, and then the next she was. She leaned in to whisper to Sunset. “Maybe you should look right behind you?” Before Sunset could react, she shoved Sunset into a mud puddle that I was certain hadn't been there a second ago. Trixie clutched her belly as she laughed while Sunset cleared the mud from her eyes. The she-demon joined in the laugh. “Isn't that a good look for her?” She grinned nastily. “Dirty and on her knees.” “Hey, that wasn't very nice!” I snapped. True, Sunset swinging at Trixie hadn't been nice either, but Trixie hadn't exactly done much to earn sympathy today. Rainbow glared daggers at Trixie. “Oh, that is it!” She charged at Trixie, but just like with Sunset, all she hit was a cloud of smoke. She bicycled her arms as she suddenly lost her balance and fell right on top of Sunset, covering them both with mud. Sunset yelped as she found herself face first in the mud again. “Hey, watch it!” she snapped. “Hey, it’s not my fault! She tripped me!” In the blink of an eye Rainbow was back onto her feet, her eyes burning with anger. “Don't look at me.” Trixie reappeared behind her table, a look of contempt on her face. “It's your fault that you're such a klutz. Really, Trixie doesn't know how you ended up the soccer team's captain.” Sunset climbed back to her feet and she scowled deeply when she looked to me. “Twilight, she’s probably just invisible. Throw some flour or dust or something around so we can find where she'd hiding.” “Oh, okay!” I looked around, trying to find something I could use. It was something for me to do other than standing around looking helpless at least. Trixie raised her hands and they went through a series of precise motions. “Don’t even think about it!” A swirl of blue, sparkling smoke formed next to me. I stepped away from smoke as something moved out it. I blinked and nearly fell over myself as I saw just about the last person I ever wanted to see. Midnight Sparkle laughed as she levitated before me. “Hey there, Twilight. Remember me?” “B-b-but you don’t exist!” I cried. “You were only in my head!” “Oh come now, Twilight, you’ll never be done with me.” Midnight laughed again and slashed her hand through the air, creating a portal. “And look, I even brought presents!” “Snaaaaaaakes!” Dozens of slithering, squirming, scary snakes crawled towards me. I stumbled and almost fell as I backed away. They closed the distance between me, and I was forced to turn and run. Someone who sounded suspiciously like me screamed, and next thing I knew I was climbing my way up the first tree I could find. I winced as the torrent of snakes circled the tree, leaving me no escape if I even had half a mind to jump down. Which I most certainly didn’t—because there were snakes! Not wanting to watch the snakes hiss and rattle at me all day, I turned my eyes back to everyone else. To my further embarrassment, I found I had made my way across half the length of a soccer field before I had finally found a tree to climb into. That wasn’t helped by the fact that everyone had been staring at me when I ran off, and it wasn’t hard to hear Trixie laughing at me. Yeah, I wasn’t going to be able to live this down anytime soon, I just knew it. Rainbow turned back to Trixie with a glare. “Oh, that's just low!” Applejack cracked her knuckles. “And Ah’ve seen enough.” She took a swing at Midnight, but Midnight teleported away and reappeared out of reach. “Oh, you want to play too?” Midnight swept her hand through the air again and created another portal. From the dimensional rift rolled out a dozen giant apples, each as tall as a person, formed a circle around Applejack. They sat still for a long moment when they all opened a gaping maw with far too many sharp teeth inside. “Whoa nelly!” Applejack took a step back, bringing her fists up. “Really? Yer attacking me with apples now?!” “Get her!” Midnight cried, jabbing her finger at Applejack. One of the apples rolled at Applejack, forcing her to hop to the side to dodge it. A quick straight punch blew the apple to pieces, but two more came on her flanks. Applejack rolled foward to avoid them and came back up to her feet, throwing an uppercut at one to sheer off a quarter of it. A fourth apple came up from behind her, and I winced as I saw she wasn’t going to evade it. It rolled and bore its teeth to bite down on Applejack when a rainbow blur disintegrated it. Chunks of apple flew everywhere as Rainbow hit one oversized apple after another in quick succession. “Hey Applebutt, I know it’s hard to do when you’ve got such a big rear, but trying and watch it before it gets bitten off!” Rainbow called out. “Watch yer own rear!” Applejack leapt past Rainbow to land in front of the portal as more apples started rolling out. With a mighty swing, Applejack took out one apple after another. But it soon became apparent that she couldn’t swing fast enough to stop the rush of apple and was soon pushed back. A full melee broke out as Applejack and Rainbow were pressed by what seemed like an endless army of apple-monsters. I wanted to help, and I knew I could, but the fight was taking place beyond the range my magic. At least as long as I was stuck up this tree, which didn’t seem like something that was going to change anytime soon. I looked down and considered the idea trying to use my telekinesis to get rid of the snakes, but that prospect flew from my mind when I saw that a virtual carpet of snakes had formed under the tree. More and more of the vile things were pouring out of the portal to join their fork-tongued fellows, and there was no sign it was going to stop anytime soon. That was bad, really bad. “Dammit.” Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Is that really the best you can do, Trixie? I make better magic in my sleep.” “Oh really?” Trixie appeared in front of her with a puff of smoke, smirking as she flicked her nose. “Then why are you the one wallowing in the dirt?” Sunset lunged for her and grabbed Trixie’s wrists. The two of them struggled against one another, with Trixie trying to pull away while Sunset held onto her. “Hey, let go!” Trixie twisted this way and that to try and break the hold. “Trixie didn't say you could touch her!” “Yeah, you also didn't say I could do this.” Sunset’s eyes glowed, and I finally noticed that she wasn’t wearing her gloves anymore. Trixie finally pulled herself free of Sunset and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. She reappeared in the open air, floating in place thanks to her magic. “That's it! Now you've made Trixie mad!” She raised a hand to the sky and clouds formed, thunder rolling through the sky. Sunset turned to the rest of us, a smile on her face. “Relax everyone, I just read her mind, and she's just an illusionist! There aren't any monsters or anything!” Applejack got hit in the back by one of the apple-monster and fell to the dirt. “They feel pretty real to me!” She kicked out with a leg to obliterate the offending apple and rolled back to her feet. Sunset shook her head. “Don't trust your eyes, she's tricking them! She’s just pushing you while invisible. Close your eyes and pay attention to your other senses.” Rainbow closed her eyes and listened. “Got her!” She zoomed, but instead of hitting Trixie she slammed into the table that Trixie had turned invisible sometime during the fight. Rainbow tumbled with the table and held herself when she was done rolling. “Oh-ho-ho! Ow!” “Sunset, are you really, really sure all of this isn't real?” I called out. A shudder ran up my spine as I glanced at the carpet of snakes below me. “Because I really, really, really hate snakes, and I don't want to be touching the ground if there are snakes down there.” Sunset nodded at me. “Yes, I'm sure! I read her mind and Celestia gave me anti-illusion training. She can't make anything real and she can’t hurt you. Now use your telekinesis to find her!” Midnight laughed at me. “Yes, be a good girl come down where my snakes can give you kisses and hugs.” She made some exaggerated kissing noises to mock me. I took a steadying breath and closed my eyes. Sunset wouldn’t lie to me. Certainly not if it would get me hurt, and everything we had seen would make sense if it Trixie was only making illusions. If I got down from the tree, all I would be dealing with would be illusionary snakes... Yes, that was so much better... But my friends needed me. There might be a way for me to find Trixie and put a stop to this. Shame I needed to get out of this tree. I steeled my resolve and started climbing down, ignoring the hissing snakes and the fight-or-flight instincts that told me I was going the wrong way. Soon I was back to the ground, and I shivered in revulsion as I felt the snakes climb up my legs with their scaly bodies. Within an instant, they were all over me, coiling their bodies around mine. No, they weren’t real. Trixie must just have been play with my sense of touch. That being the case, I opened my eyes to see Midnight facing me. She grinned nastily at me as she leaned closer. “Decided to finally come down, egh? Well how about—” “I don’t have time for you,” I snapped, stepping past the illusion. Midnight tried taunting me a few more times, but I ignored her—her, and the snakes that most certainly didn’t exist despite my senses telling me otherwise. Soon enough I was back into a range to where I could be useful to everyone again. I looked around the battlefield and found something I could use. Reaching out with a hand to a nearby water fountain, I levitated the water out of it and spread it into a fine mist. I closed my eyes as I spread the water out all about me and concentrated. Trixie could play with all of our senses by the looks of it, but there were still ways even an invisible person could be found. “Oooh, using telekinesis to move some water around.” An illusionary copy of Trixie mockingly waggled her fingers. “Trixie is so scared.” “Telekinesis is more useful than you might think.” There! I felt a space where the water droplets in my telekinetic grip were meeting resistance. I reached out with my other hand to the table and yanked the tablecloth from it, then zipped it over the area of resistance and wrapped it up like a birthday present. “Aha! Now I've got you!” Trixie screamed in surprise as I lifted her into the air. Opening my eyes I could see that my telekinesis now held Trixie, and her invisibility dropped to reveal her. “Let Trixie down! You can't do this to her! Trixie has rights!” She kicked wildly, but I put my full focus on holding her in place. “Good work, Twilight.” Sunset stalked towards Trixie, glowering at her. “Yeah, Trixie, you have rights. Like the right to remain silent.” She pulled her fist back for a punch. “Not in the face!” Trixie screamed, closing her eyes as she leaned away from Sunset. “Sunset,” I chided lightly. We're not here for revenge.” I glared Trixie’s way. “Not that she doesn't deserve it... But aren't we supposed to be better than that, right?” Sunet held her fist up as the seconds drifted by, but then she slowly dropped her hand to her side. She let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her hair. “Yeah, you're right.” When the punch didn’t come, Trixie peeked an eye open, then opened both of her eyes to glower at us when it was clear Sunset wasn’t going to sucker-punch her. “So now what? Are you going to blast Trixie with rainbow lasers? Strip her of her magic? Banish her to some dimensional prison?” “Don’t tempt us,” Rainbow grumbled as she and Applejack stepped joined us. Sunset crossed her arms over her chest. “How did you get your magic, anyway?” “Don't you know?” Trixie snorted and turned her gaze away from us. “You read Trixie's mind, and you know more about this magic thing that Trixie does.” “I didn't get all of it,” Sunset explained. “I tried to only get what I needed to keep my friends safe, not probe into all your secrets. I don’t use my magic just to hurt people.” “Trixie doesn't know,” Trixie grumbled. “Everything was normal, at least as much as they can around here these days, and then a few days ago Trixie found out she could make illusions. Real illusions, or as real as illusions can get, anyways.” She shrugged. “So what do we do with her?” Rainbow growled, her hand curling into a fist. “That's what Ah'd like to know.” Applejack dusted herself off. “Can't say Ah liked the runaround she gave us.” “We’re going to make it very clear to Trixie that she’s never going to do this again,” Sunset said. “She knows we can beat her now, and now that we know we’re dealing with illusions it’ll be even easier to beat her in the future if she doesn’t toe the line.” I nodded. “We don’t want to fight you, Trixie, but we’ll do it if we have to.” Rainbow rubbed her wrists as she stepped closer to Trixie. “And Trixie? You know how we kicked your butt? Well if you ever act up again, we'll kick it twice as hard.” She turned to go, but then stopped herself, looking at Trixie across her shoulder. “Oh, and by the way, I don't have any ex-villain issues or anything to prove, so...” She spun around and slugged Trixie in the gut. Trixie let out a pained gasp as the air was knocked out of her. She coughed a few time before she squeaked out, “Trixie was winning most of our fight, you know.” “You know, I think I've gotten over my issues.” Sunset flexed her hand and clenched it to get ready for a punch. Trixie laughed in a forced manner. “Okay, okay! Trixie's learned her lesson! No need to hit Trixie again, she’ll be good!” “Yeah, no reason to hit you ... this time.” Sunset grabbed Trixie by the collar and pulled her close. A malicious grin spread across her face as she stared Trixie in the face. It made me nervous just seeing it from the sidelines, much less what Trixie must have been feeling. “You know what'll happen if you set one toe out of line.” “Trixie thinks she has a good idea,” Trixie squeaked, her smile brittle. “Good.” Sunset let Trixie go and looked to me. “Let her go, Twilight.” “Got it.” I dropped Trixie none-too-gently, happy that this seemed to finally be over. I didn’t particularly like intimidating Trixie like this, but I didn’t see many other options. “Ow...” Trixie groaned and rubbed as her rear as she stood. “Are you done humiliating Trixie now? She just wants to go home and take a nice long hot bath.” “Hmm...” Rainbow rubbed her chin, and a mischievous grin worked its way onto her features. She zipped by Trixie and muffled her hair, eliciting a snicker from Applejack. “There, now we’re done.” Trixie glowered at us, blowing at her hair to get it out of her eyes. “Yes, very funny.” She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “Trixie really isn't cut out to be a villain.” Sunset grinned. “Glad you realized that.” The following weekend after our confrontation with Trixie saw me, Sunset, and Spike hanging out at my house’s backyard pool. After all the craziness of the last week, it felt good to just relax. I like studying and keeping on top of my school work, in addition to all my other projects, but even I liked to just lie around an unwind sometimes. Usually with a good book. Though just hanging out with friends was starting to grow on me. “Thanks for inviting me over,” Sunset said as she applied some sunscreen to her arms. She was sitting on a poolside recliner in her swimming suit, a sunhat sitting on her head. “You're welcome.” I kicked at the water as I held onto the poolside, just enjoying the nice, relaxing soak. “I thought it might be nice to invite someone over for a swim. It always felt a bit awkward to use it by myself.” “Well, feel free to invite me anytime.” Sunset finished applying her sunscreen and sat at the edge of the water, smiling and idly kicking at it. “It’s nice getting to swim now and again. Especially when you have such a nice pool.” Both of my parents had really nice jobs, so they could afford a pretty big home and all the nice things that went with it. Not that I had really gotten a chance to show it off or anything like that. The last time I had invited anyone over and they had actually come was ... fourth grade? I had more or less stopped bothering inviting anyone after no one showed up for my sixth grade birthday. No sense trying when I knew I was going to fail anyways. I pushed aside those depressing thoughts and instead smiled at Sunset. “Great. I'm sure my parents would let me.” My smile became strained at the edges. “I think they're just happy that I invited a friend over, instead of just spending each weekend locked up in the basement working on a project or a book.” Sunset slipped into the pool to float next to me. “It's good to have a bit more balance in your life. There's more to it that just studying.” “That's what everyone kept telling her,” Spike said as he paddled his way past us. “Not that she'd ever listen.” “I'm getting better now,” I said, a hint of guilt creeping into me. “I'm not only studying anymore. Of course, I'm not sure my parents would approve of the ‘Getting into fights with people abusing magic’ thing, either.” My parents would probably freak if they ever found out about my magic. I had begged Shiny not to tell them about magic after the incident after the Friendship Games, and he had relented. Though that had been when I thought I was done with magic, but the events of Camp Everfree changed everything. Now I was in a situation where I couldn’t refuse to use magic, not in a way I felt comfortable with. It wasn’t like I could let Gaia Everfree or Trixie have their way and hurt people with their magic. Someone needed to put their foot down, and my friends needed me. That brought me back around to what I was supposed to tell my parents. I mean, how in the world do you explain to your parents that something that was previously thought to be impossible was in fact possible, and could demonstrate it? That didn’t even get into the fights with other magic users. I’d never gotten into a fight in the past, and now I’d just gotten into a series of slugfests. It didn’t help to know that the fight with Trixie probably wouldn’t be the last one with a magic user. I couldn’t imagine my parents would be happy to find that out. Sunset placed a hand on my shoulder. “You did the right thing, Twilight. I know it wasn’t easy, but you did good by helping us stop Trixie.” I sighed and lay my head on to poolside. “Yeah, I know. I think I'm still getting used to all of this. It wasn't that long ago that I was petrified at the idea of using magic after it drove me crazy. Now I’m actively using it to stop others from abusing magic. That’s a lot of changes coming at me really quickly.” “It's a process, and one you've been working on for a while.” Sunset smiled encouragingly. “And been doing a real good job at. You’ve come a long way already, and I’m sure you’ll go even further before we’re done.” “Yeah, don't sweat it,” Spike agreed. “Thanks. It's ... good to hear that.” It felt good to get some encouragement. It was better than the alternative, in any event. “It's just the truth.” She patted me on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Trust me.” “I guess you would know all about it,” I said. “Considering we're both on the ‘Reformed Evil Magic Users’ part of the team.” “Twilight,” Sunset chided. “Don't focus so much on what we did in the past; learn from it. Don't repeat your mistakes. Make things right. But don't spend your whole life hating yourself for it, okay?” “Especially when you're doing so much better now,” Spike agreed, climbing out of the pool to shake himself off. “Okay, okay, I'll try and do that in the future.” I rubbed my forehead. “I'm probably just overthinking it.” Sunset grinned and gave me a friendly punch to the shoulder. “You do that a lot.” I smiled in embarrassment as I rubbed my shoulder. “It's a bit of a bad habit.” “I've noticed.” Her face turned more serious as she frowned. “So ... you okay with everything that happened with Trixie?” “I think I am.” I laid back and just floated in the water. “She shook me up a bit, but I think I have that whole incident in context now. We needed to stop her when we did. After all, we don't want her to go evil magic girl on us like we did.” I held up a finger when I sensed her protest coming on. “Just stating a fact, not feeling sorry for myself.” “Yeah. If we were back in Equestria, I'd turn her over to the magi.” Sunset shrugged and pushed off to join me in the deeper part of the pool. “Unfortunately, all I can do here is try and scare her straight. We’re just going to have to hope that’s enough.” I frowned as I considered the implications of all of that. “We're ... going to have to do that more than once, aren't we? I mean, if more people start showing up with magic powers and they abuse them?” Sunset took her time before answering me. “Someone has to deal with this, and who's more qualified than us?” “Considering the average person will think we're crazy if we start talking about people misusing magic?” Unfortunately, we didn’t have an authority figure I felt comfortable approaching. “I haven't even told my parents about the whole magic thing. I don't even want to consider trying it with the police. They’re liable to lock us up in a padded room for that.” Spike jumped into the pool and his head reappeared on the surface a few seconds later. “Yeah, I mean people tend to freak out whenever they just hear me talking.” “Yeah, it's us or nobody,” Sunset agreed. “Pretty much, as weird as that idea is. I never quite imagined myself as magic police.” I waved vaguely in the air. “Or whatever this is.” “In Equestria, we called them the magus corps,” Sunset said. “That’s pretty much what we are. We're teaching people responsible magic and dealing with those use it irresponsibly.” I rubbed my chin as I floated about the pool, my organizational instincts were triggered. “We should probably come up with a name for this ... thing we've got going on. ‘Sunset and the magical friends she hangs out with to beat up evil magic users’ isn't exactly something that rolls off the tongue.” “Good point.” Sunset frowned thoughtfully. “Cloud looked like an isolated case, but after Trixie ... yeah, we can't assume more won't be coming.” “It strikes me as a better idea to assume this is going to be happening more often,” I analyzed. “These magical incidents seem to be happening at an increased pace. Best to plan for this getting worse than better. If we do that we'll at least be prepared. If this all blows over then the worst that happens is that we prepared for nothing.” “Agreed. So then ... a name.” Sunset stopped to hug a wall as a pondering frown crossed her features. “All this magic going on ... it's like a huge oncoming storm.” “Sure sounds like it,” Spike agreed. “It doesn’t smell like a drizzle.” “So ... Stormbreakers?” Sunset grinned. “I'm sure Rainbow will like it. It sounds cool, right?” I chuckled and swam over to Sunset. “I think so. And probably best we coin a name before she does. Otherwise she's going to name the team after herself. Something like Rainbow Storm.” Sunset snickered. “Though you have to admit, her band name for the Rainbooms wasn't that bad.” “I do like it,” I admitted. “It works for a band name.” Even if it was perhaps a little narcissistic on Rainbow’s end. Sunset shrugged, and casually paddle to the other side of the pool. “Not like we have to figure it out right away. Just saying, a name isn’t our biggest problem at the moment.” “No, and it probably wouldn't hurt to ask the others and brainstorm with them,” I agreed. “Sounds like a plan.” I stared up at the sky, wondering where all of this was going. If there was a storm on the horizon, we were going to need to be ready for it. Nobody else would know how to deal with a magical assault. “It's a start, at least.” Sunset joined me at watching the clouds lazily pass us by. “Everything has to start somewhere.”