A young, light purple skinned woman struggled to open the door to her shared apartment while holding some groceries.
"Tree Hugger, fancy helping me with this door?" she exclaimed to her roommate, still struggling with the accursed plank of wood. Tree Hugger seemed less bothered about her friend and more with the nearby wall. Again.
"You're high at this time? It's barely noon!" she shouted at the tree masquerading as a woman in her mid-twenties, before giving up trying to open the door normally and instead using her boot to force it open, before walking into the cozy apartment and placing the assorted goods on a nearby counter. The thud seemed to finally get through to the dreadlocked woman.
"Ah, Starlight Glimmer. When did you get back here?" the hippie asked in a slow, methodical way that clearly indicated that she was stoned. As if her glazed look, the stink of marijuana and a conveniently placed joint between her slender green fingers wasn't enough of a clue of her current state.
Starlight Glimmer simply rolled her blue eyes, before taking a seat next to her roommate. After dropping out of Canterlot High due to... Peer pressure, Starlight needed a cheap place to live. Once again, she recalled that day...
A young scruff wandered the streets, her thin jacked barely protecting her against the harsh autumn weather. She seriously needed a place to stay before winter closed in. Preferably somewhere cheap, as her funds were limited.
Finding a telephone pole with a piece of paper attached, she took a look at it.
"Looking for roommate!" The sign exclaimed, "Cheap rent, cool roommate and cozy apartment. Must enjoy trees and Mary Joanna. That means no narcs!"
The young woman blinked in surprise. She knew that the rent in Canterlot City, while not as absurdly high as Manechester or Trottingham, was still quite a bit more than she was comfortable shelling out. The "cheap" rent offered may just circumvent this.
Snatching one of the slips attached, she took off sprinting towards the location listed.
Starlight was thrown out of her reminiscing by Tree Hugger's heavy coughing fit due to the general atmosphere of the apartment being 50% smoke.
"Heh, think I hit the blunt a little hard there, Glimglam," Tree Hugger wheezed, her eyes turning a lovely shade of pink while smoke still billowed out of her nostrils.
Starlight simply sighed and grabbed a nearby TV rswitching resting a button and watching it flicker into life, she pondered on what to watch. Perhaps she could catch some of that show about the princess from another dimension.
Instead, the TV was showing a bacon haired teenager and her group of like-minded individuals blasting a stone held by a strange green woman. "Local Heroes Save The Day, Again!" the headline screamed, while the narration was catching up on the situation in Canterlot High.
"Hey, Tree Hugger? You sure that's a joint?" she asked worriedly, taking a glance at Tree Hugger to ensure she wasn't suddenly a kite or something.
Despite being high as a kite, Tree Hugger was still her relatively normal, human self. Tree Hugger affirmed those suspicions with a thumbs up,"Glimglam, please. My dealer is a trustworthy dude, you know this."
"I wouldn't say he's trustworthy, just not the kind of guy who poisons drugs for kicks."
A loud knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Starlight lazily lifted herself off of the sofa in order to answer the door.
What graced her door was a young woman with orange skin and oranger hair poofed around her head. She was wearing a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms which were in the most drab shade of purple possible. Her magenta eyes bore a fury that her listless expression wasn't quite up to scratch with matching.
"You got the rent?" he asked bluntly.
Starlight for her part, knew that rent day was today. Luckily she had the rent situated in a nearby drawer. Reaching in and taking out a stack of notes, she split it in half and handed one of the halves to her landlord. "Here you go, Miss Dazzle."
Adagio stared at Starlight with an incredulous look, before looking down at the pile of cash she had been handed. Sorting through it, she noticed something off. "This is more than you rent, Starlight. As your landlord, I am legally obligated to give you your excess back." she stated flatly.
Starlight crossed her arms. "And we both know that the agreement forbids illegal substances."
Tree Hugger for her part, attempted to rectify the situation by chipping in. "This is just weed, man..."
Adagio sighed. "As much trouble as your roommate is, she has a point. What else are you hiding, Miss Glimmer?" Adagio flashed a wicked grin, her features finally receiving word that her eyes had fire in them.
"Several firearms, a half kilogram of meth, a taco and two bodies." Starlight stated with as much dense sarcasm as she could muster.
Adagio's grin somehow grew wider. "Alrighty then. I'll take this bribe and your confession and head to the authorities. See you next month, girls!~" Adagio teased, before closing the door behind her.
Starlight headed back to the dingy sofa before sitting down, the television still blaring about Canterlot High's "heroes."
Well, I was in a bad spot for a while. My friends hated me for no explained reason! They forgot who I was and it was terrible...
"Yeah, must be terrible to have your entire life ripped from underneath you because some whore said some mean things about you on social media," Starlight twirled her fingers sarcastically.
Tree Hugger was still conscious enough to notice the absolute hatred in her roommate's voice. "Dude, maybe you should just let go. Sunset's like, a different person now. Look at her."Tree flopping an arm towards the screen to point at Sunset's very genuine looking smile.
Starlight rolled her eyes. "Pfft. As if I'm falling for that. You know our landlord was "defeated" by her, right?"
Tree Hugger was starting to sober up from the sheer buzzkill that Starlgiht was being. "Glimmy, my dudette. I know you might feel that she's some sort of evil mastermind, planning to take over the world with good publicity, but-"
"But what?" Starlight yelled in frustration.
"But like... Couldn't she have taken over already with those gem-thingies?"
Starlight's brain stopped working for a few moments as she processed this line of thinking. Thoughts of a magic fuelled killing spree being broadcast live on television complimented with maniacal laughter as a giant Sunset razed Canterlot City to the ground...
"Hmm, you might have a point. I might to talk to the guys on Eris about this."
Treekicker responded with a hearty sigh and a drag of her joint. "I swear, those guys are making you this paranoid."
Opening up her dusty old SUSA laptop and logging in, Starlight started furiously looking for the popular chatting platform, Eris. With was like the previous most popular Airpe, but... more suited for people who just wanted to talk.
Opening up Eris to find no new notifications, she entered the server known as "Canterlot Central". A hub for all things related to the magical conspiracy that has overtaken Canterlot High... Well, not really, but she tried to steer it towards that sometimes.
Manechat - Canterlot Central
Glimmyglam: Hey guys!
TheGr8&Powerful1:: Hey Glimmy!
FlowerOnTheWall: Hey
SparkplugTheWondercolt: Hello there!
Glimmyglam: So, what are you guys up to today?
SparkplugTheWondercolt: Nothing much. Just working on some uh, science homework. Yeah
FlowerOnTheWall: I'm waiting for my new friends. Because you know, I have friends now, apparently
SunshineTheReformer: And we're very proud of what you've achieved so far, Flower. Just remember what we talked about in the Private Messages
Glimmyglam: That's nice, but have you guys heard about the latest heroic act by our Lord and Saviour, Sunset Shimmer?
FlowerOnTheWall: ?
SparkplugTheWondercolt: Not again
SunshineTheReformer: Come on Glimmy, we talked about this. Your negative feelings towards this Sunset Shimmer aren't healthy for you or Canterlot Central
Glimmyglam: I thought I could let it go Sunshine, I really did. But after hearing that she was seen as a bully again due to this magic stone nonsense really pissed me off. Because you know, being seen as who you truly are is a bad thing these days
TheGr8&Powerful1:: Mmm, I would know a thing or two about that.
SunshineTheReformer: Ugh. Glim, can we talk in DMs for a second?
Tree Hugger was leaning over Starlight's shoulder, watching her type furiously.
"I think Sunshine has a point."
"Your point is noted."
Direct Message - Sunshine#2661
Sunshine: Glim... Can I ask you something deeply personal?
Glimglam: Is it my credit card number?
Sunshine: Nothing like that. Do you know who you're talking to right now?
Glimglam: Sunshine, the founder of the Canterlot Central Eris server?
Sunshine: Well, yes. But I meant the person behind the screen
"You should be careful Glims," Treekicker broke in again"She might be trying to get your address."
"Yeah, whatever Tree. Can you pass me a beer?"
"It's 2 in the afternoon, Glim." Treekicker threw open the fridge anyway in order to place some groceries in.
"It's ten past twelve. Plus I might need one for what's coming up."
Direct Message - Sunshine#2661
Glimglam: It's weird to think that there's someone behind the screen, Sunny. If I had to guess though, with your maturity and the sun related name...
Sunshine: Yes?
Glimglam: Principal Celestia?
Sunshine: What? No! I asked her once if she'd like to be a moderator, but she declined. Too busy.
Glimglam: Luna, then? Just took the Sunshine name out of irony?
Sunshine: No...
Glimglam: Is it someone I know?
Sunshine: Judging by your reactions to me, I guess you knew me back when I was... Less than stellar.
Glimglam: ... Sunset Shimmer?
Sunshine: Bingo.
Starlight stared at the screen. This person she had considered a friend, was in fact the very same teenager who had caused her so much distress in the past?
"Honestly, she seems rather fine about it." Tree Hugger noted, having cans of lager in hand. Passing one to Starlight, she opened the other one and took a sip.
"Man, not even weed makes this stuff taste good."