Vanishing Act

by redandready45


Guitars, Sorbet, and a Cloudy Sunset (Edited)

Princess Twilight's head darted from left to right, as if searching for some potential threat. Her face was like that of a paranoid snake, waiting for some foe to strike her down. Her fists were clenched, showing she was ready to take on the threat if necessary, magic or not.

She wandered around, trying to find something...unusual. She couldn't sense anything untoward, the school looked normal. She glanced around at her human friends. "They don't look brainwashed", she thought. But as she observed, they looked very, very, downcast. They looked somebody died. Twilight pulled out her special notebook and stared at it intensely. "Sunset," Twilight said to herself, "I hope your OK." She saw the human version of Lyra walk past the statue, her face also in mourning like everypony...everybody else. "Hey Lyra," Twilight asked urgently, hoping the mint-haired girl had an answer for what was wrong.

"Hey, Twilight," Lyra said in an unhappy tone, pausing to look at her with an utterly broken expression, before turning away to continue her walk. Twilight's eyes widened in concern, she ran up to the downcast girl.

"What happened," Twilight asked in a sympathetic voice, "did something dangerous attack the school?"

"No," Lyra said, her voice coming out like a sob, "it's just -," Lyra stopped walking and did a double-take. She stared at Twilight like she was seeing a ghost, to the Princess' confusion. Lyra then walked over to Twilight and started poking her, leaving the pony princess speechless.

"Are. you. real?" Lyra asked in a curious whisper, still poking the pony-turned-human.

"Uh-," Twilight in growing confusion.

"Are. you. real?"

"Well-," Twilight asked, her calm voice becoming some impatient with Lyra's astonishment and the poking.

"Are. you-,"

"WILL YOU STOP THAT!" Twilight yelled, slapping away Lyra's poking finger. "Can you stop beating around the bush and-," Twilight paused when she saw Lyra was beginning to cry tears. Not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy.

"You're not a ghost," Lyra said in a hopeful voice. She ran over to Twilight and gave her a hug, "you're alive!" She continued to weep bitterly.

"Yes, I'm alive," Twilight said, uncomfortable with Lyra's hug.

"You're alive," Lyra said happily.

"Yes, I'm alive," Twilight parrotted stoically.

"You're alive," Lyra repeated in a happier tone.

"Yes, I'm alive," Twilight said, pushing Lyra away, "The sky is also blue. Can you tell me-?"

"How do you survive that purple orb thingy,"- Lyra asked.

"What purple orb thingy," Twilight asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Why were you at Crystal Prep?"

"What's Crystal Prep?"

"Do they have laser eye surgery in Equestria?" Lyra asked.

"What's laser eye-," Twilight paused at this girl's seemingly random questions.

Back home, Bon Bon joked Lyra seemingly lived in another world, and that her existence could create more questions than answers. Apparently, this was the universal law for the Lyra of any world.

"OK, Lyra," she said forcefully, "it was nice seeing you. Have a good day." Realizing she was not going to get answers from this ditz, Twilight turned around and walked away.

"But wait," Lyra asked excitedly, "I wanted to know your secret for resurrection."

Twilight walked away even more quickly from the silly girl, her mind reeling from her bizarre questions. She looked around to ask the other students, but suddenly she had a feeling that to get the answers she was looking for, she had to find Sunset or one of the human version of her friends.

As she walked by, she saw the other students gathering around the western wall of the CHS building. Curious, she wandered over, and saw, in front of the building, Flash and his band were performing some kind of concert, as a massive crowd had gathered around him. For a while, Twilight's frustration gave way to excitement. She was excited to hear Flash perform on his guitar, and could spare a few minutes to hear him play. She hoped to maybe go on a date with him, once she found out about the problem.

But to her confusion, the crowd wasn't in a rock n' roll mood. They too also looked as somber as Lyra had been. To her growing concern, Flash himself didn't look particularly happy or excited.

"Hey," Flash said into the microphone, his voice sounding like someone who was grieving. "Thanks for coming. We all are here to celebrate a really special girl. A girl who brought joy and magic wherever she went, a girl who," Flash paused as if trying to hold back tears, "a girl who sadly was taken from us too soon." The solemn quiet hung over the audience.

Twilight, who stood at the edge of the crowd, felt tears pour from her eyes.

'Someone did die,' she thought to herself. She looked at her two-way notebook. 'Was it Sunset?'

"So to honor that girl we loved and admired, let's give her one last song." He looked to his band members. "Three, two, one."

On the roof, Twilight saw Snip and Snails on the roof, pushing a roll of the canvas off of it. It fell, revealing a sight that stopped Twilight's mourning. Once the fabric unraveled, it revealed a massive poster of her Fall Formal picture over the white canvas. To her growing confusion, a black-colored caption read "RIP." Once the poster settled on the wall, Flash began playing his guitar.

"Twilight, you burned bright, like a star in the sky
, Flash sang his energetic voice now filled with a soulful sadness, "but then you burned out, without saying goodbye."

Twilight stood there rooted in shock, as she saw her human colt friend, mourning her.


"Oh, this is not good," Applejack groaned as she walked out into the courtyard, and witnessed Twilight- Pony Twilight's, -memorial concert. Rainbow Dash looked horrified.

"Great," Dash barked as they walked around the crowd, "now everybody is going to believe our Twilight kicked the bucket no matter what we do. If only we could get in touch with her." They walked by the person furthest from the crowd, noticing she had purple and lavender hair.

Wait.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash paused and looked at the girl. They saw the same familiar lavender purple skin, the familiar blue blouse, and pink necktie, the familiar purple skirt with the pink six-pointed star on it.

It was Pony Twilight, not Human Twilight. But even knowing that it was the other Twilight that had perished, they still looked at her like they had seen a ghost. It hadn't helped that Pony Twilight looked as still as a statue.

Eventually, Rainbow hesitantly reached a hand over to Twilight's shoulder.

"Twilight," Rainbow said quietly, tapping her index pony-turned-human on her shoulder. She turned around in fright, her trance broken, and saw the Terran version of her friends. The pony princess let out a frustrated scream and angrily seized Rainbow Dash by her shirt,

"Why does everybody think I'm dead!" Twilight yelled, gritting her teeth and shaking Rainbow.

"I-," Rainbow began in confusion.

"Why is Flash up there on stage mourning me?!"

"I-,"

"Where's Sunset?!"

"But-,"

"Why was the portal shut down for nine-?!" Twilight stopped her angry questioning as she felt strong arms pull her away from Rainbow Dash. She looked behind her and saw Applejack doing the pulling.

"Slow down Sally," Applejack barked.

Twilight took a deep breath and sighed, realizing she had gone too far in attacking the prism-haired athlete. "Sorry Rainbow, but I'm desperate for answers as to what is going on," she said regretfully.

"It's OK Twilight," Rainbow said, an uneasy frown appearing on her face,"See, the thing is-," Rainbow's words died in her throat as she realized the music just stopped, as did Applejack and Twilight. They slowly turned to the crowd, all of whom were now silently staring at Twilight. Up on stage, Flash's jaw dropped in utter shock. His hand became so limp, his microphone fell out of it toward the ground. For several moments, the crowd continued to gape at Twilight, who stood there in utter confusion, seeing the same astonished look on Lyra on everybody's face. But the silence was quickly broken by an excited squeal.

"The Princess is alive," cried a sad and joyful female voice. With that, the crowd of students began surrounding Twilight, crying, cheering, and trying to hug her.

"Twilight, your OK," cried one male voice.

"Yes, well-," Twilight uttered in

"How did you survive," asked a female voice.

"What's your secret to coming back from the dead," asked a male voice.

"I-," Twilight tried to speak, but her voice couldn't carry over the sound of her cheering human classmates. Suddenly, she felt she was being pulled into a tight hug.

"Twilight," she heard Flash's voice and felt two strong arms hug her. She turned around and saw Flash, worried tears falling down his cheeks, "I thought you were dead. How did you-," whatever questions Flash had were lost as she felt Twilight being pulled away from his strong embrace by an annoyed Rainbow Dash.

"Move it, get lost, out of the way," Rainbow barked as she, acting as Twilight's impromptu bodyguard, pulled Twilight out of the mob of eager students that surrounded her.

"Rainbow, what-,"

"Listen, we'll explain everything, but right now, I've got to take you to see Sunset."

"Where is she," Twilight asked, concerned.

"She's at her apartment," Rainbow said with a sad sigh.

"Why don't we, um...call her on the, um," Twilight muttered.

"Phone?"

"Yes, those phone things you humans have," Twilight asked in a naive tone. Rainbow smiled a little, amused at her magically advanced friend's ignorance of human technology.

"She's not picking up," Rainbow said ruefully, "and I think what we have to tell you needs to be said face to face."

The crowd looked confused and annoyed at Twilight leaving so soon, and began pursuing her, eager for answers. They stopped when they saw Applejack blocking their way.

"Everybody please stop," Applejack yelled, crossing her arms and giving the crowd a stern look. "I know y'all have questions for the Princess. But she needs to see Sunset right now," that immediately got the crowd to hush up. Discussions between the Princess and Sunset were seen as a major priority since they obviously involved some magical mishap. "I promise y'all that once they talk, she'll explain, what happened." With that, the crowd dispersed. "And can someone take that poster down?" Applejack demanded. On the roof, Snip and Snails worked to pull the poster up, straining under the weight of the canvas.

At the parking lot, Applejack had caught up with Rainbow and Twilight, who was approaching Rainbow's sky blue sedan.

"OK," Twilight said to Rainbow, "let's get it-," the conversation the two were having was cut off by the sound of panting. They saw Flash running over to them. He stopped, and doubled over, breathing heavily. Twilight walked over to him, and hugged him, as he looked like he was about to collapse.

"Twilight," Flash said between breaths,"I don't know what happened to you, but since your here, why can't we hang out?"

"Sorry, Flash," Applejack said, "Twilight has to talk to Sunset."

"But she just got -,"

"Flash, wait until she gets back."

"Wait," Twilight said,"who says he can't come with us. Your car has four seats right?" She then took Flash's hand in hers and gave him a warm smile, which helped Flash relax. "Besides, despite all the craziness I've seen, I kind of want to hang out with him too."

"Well", Rainbow paused, but then realized there was no real reason why Flash couldn't come. "Alright," Rainbow said, pointing to a car door, "get in, you lovebirds." Dash entered the driver's seat, while Applejack rode shotgun.

Flash opened the right car door for Twilight.

"Oh, a gentleman," Twilight crooned, looking at Flash with playful eyes.

"You're a princess," Flash said in a posh voice, "it is unbecoming of you to have to put your beautiful maiden hand upon a door." Twilight chuckled.

"You are such a dork," she gushed as she entered Rainbow's car. Their romantic gaze was broken by the sound of wrappers and crunched soda cans as they sat down. They looked in the car and saw the seats and floor covered with candy wrappers, potato chip bags, and cans of cola. Twilight and Flash looked around, their faces full of disgust at the unsanitary conditions inside Rainbow's vehicle.

"Uh Rainbow," Twilight asked annoyed, "have you ever heard of the concept of cleaning-what the-", Twilight felt something sticky on her backside. She felt around behind her, and pulled a half-eaten cinnamon bun, to her and Flash's disgust. "Rainbow, you are a pig!" Twilight barked at the prism-haired girl. "I shouldn't be surprised," Twilight said with a sigh, "my Rainbow is also a complete slob."

Rainbow turned around and saw Twilight bearing the partially-eaten and abandoned pastry. "Oh, I've been looking for that," Rainbow said happily, before taking the abandoned dessert from Twilight and shoving it into her mouth.

"Oh that's sick," Flash uttered in annoyance.

"It's delicious," Rainbow said.

"When are you going to clean this car," Twilight asked, her perfectionist nature being compromised by the debris surrounding her.

"When will the planets align," quipped Rainbow Dash as started to turn the key. In the corner, Applejack gave only mild hints of annoyance at the filthiness inside.


Sour Sweet sat in Scoop's Ice Cream Palace. She went there usually to celebrate something or to mourn and eat her troubles away. Today she was in a mourning mood. Surrounding her were six empty bowls with spoons. Right now, she was devouring the seventh bowl of her favorite raspberry sorbet, eating like a convict that was enjoying his or her last meal.

Right now, she was in a very introspective mood. Thinking about the competition, about her classmate, about the harsh truth of a fire-haired girl.

"You don't even give it to your own teammate! You put her in danger, and made her unleash something none of you could control just because you wanted to win! How selfish and stupid are you people!"

The thought made her stuff her face with more sorbet. As she felt the sorbet melt in her mouth, she again thought of her teammate.

What are you an idiot, get to the end of the line.

That pathetic nerd could barely run a lap, let alone do an obstacle course.

She spooned more Sorbet into her face.

The girl was a complete idiot when it came to archery. She couldn't hit water if she fell out of a boat, let alone a target

Another spoonful of sorbet entered her gullet.

Man, don't you know not to trust the enemy. And you're letting them give you advice! Fool!

But that Apple girl turned out to not be trying to cheat. She helped Twilight, even if it meant her team could move to the next round.

"That girl was nicer to Twilight than I ever was", Sour thought to herself bitterly, " and she wasn't even on the same team." With that thought, Sour put her spoon down, and put her hands over her eyes, trying to stop anyone from seeing her cry. Once she had stopped the waterworks, she left the table for another bowl.

"Scoop," she said to the server of ice cream at the counter. "Another," she said, holding a fresh new bowl out.

"Sour," the server said carefully, "I think you've had enough."

"Thank you for your concern," Sour said sweetly. She then grimaced. "I'll tell you when I've had enough!"

Scoop sighed, took the bowl, and reluctantly gave Sour another helping of raspberry sorbet.

After that last bowl, Sour walked out of the ice cream store, ready to go back to school. Despite her stomach being full of sorbet, she still felt empty.

To get back to her car, she had to cross the road to get to the parking lot. She waited, somewhat angrily, for the cars to stop, and for the passenger light to go from red to white.

Suddenly the traffic light flashed red, forcing the cars to stop. To her annoyance, the pedestrian light continued to be red, despite the fact that the cars had stopped.

Sour Sweet, remembering her doctor's advice, just took a deep breath to deal with her impatience. Unable to use her phone, because of the lack of wifi outside the Palace, she distracted herself by glancing at the cars. The car in front of the traffic light was all blue, and the driver had rainbow-haired-

Wait.

Speak of the devil, it was that rainbow-haired girl from the Games. Next to her was the goody-two-shoes Apple girl. Seeing her made Sour feel guilty. Behind her was some handsome guy with blue hair. Next to him was-

Sour rubbed her eyes and looked again. It appeared that the Rainbow-haired girl noticed her, and was looking at her like a kid trying to hide the fact she broke his mom's vase. The Apple girl and the blue-haired guy also waved at her and gave her a sheepish smile. The blue-haired guy looked like he was trying to pin...someone down. But she couldn't see.

Sour heard a ring, and saw she was allowed to cross, but just as she was about to, the rainbow girl speed away, ignoring the light that was still red, and swerved to avoid a car coming from the right, an angry honk coming from the car that nearly was hit.

Sour looked at the direction that Rainbow's head went into, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.


"Let me up!" screamed Twilight as she finally pushed Flash off of her. "Why did you order Flash to tackle me?!" she yelled at Applejack.

"Well," Applejack said sheepishly, "that girl with the yellow face...she can't see you right now."

"Why?!"

"Sunset will explain everything," Applejack thought about something. "Right now, you need to lay low." She put her finger to her chin. "In fact," she dug threw the garbage around her feet, pulled out a mask, and shoved it on Twilight's head.

"What did you shove on my head," Twilight asked.

"A mask," Applejack said.

"Why?" Twilight asked. She heard Flash snickering. She turned toward him in a rage, and he quickly seized his chuckling.

"You tackle me like that again Flash," Twilight warned in an even voice," and I'll banish you to the moon for 1000 years."

Flash chuckled at that threat, but then remembered Twilight was a magical princess, and that meant she could do the impossible. He clammed up and sat in silence.


Sunset was walking down along a grassy field on a sunny day, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin. Though not nearly as comforting as Celestia's sun had once been, she still relished the warm weather.

"Help me," cried a scared voice.

Sunset was broken from her enjoyment of the weather by the cry for help. The fire-haired girl ran in the direction of the scream. She saw Twilight, Human Twilight being stalked by some flying, shadow monster.

"Twilight!" Sunset screamed, compassion and desperation in her voice, "run toward me, I can help you!"

Twilight looked at her, but instead of running toward Sunset, Twilight screamed even louder and ran away from her direction.

"Twilight," Sunset screamed,"why are you running from me-," the shadow monster threw a fireball in Twilight's direction. Twilight let out a bloodcurdling scream as it hurt her and exploded. When Sunset's vision cleared, all she saw that remained of Twilight was a charred skeleton and broken glasses, which somehow hadn't melted.

"Twilight," Sunset muttered, her voice broken. Her grief turned to rage as she faced a flying shadow. She felt her hair lengthen and pony ears grow from the top of her head as she felt the magic flow through her, giving her the power to avenge the wrong.

"You killed her," Sunset screamed at the specter, "I'm gonna-," her angry proclamation was broken by the sound of malicious laughter. What shook Sunset was the fact that the laughter sounds so...familiar.

"What happened," mocked the shadow monster as it lowered itself to Sunset's level, "Cat got your tongue?" The being continued to laugh for a moment. "You said I killed her? If you want the culprit, you have to look in a mirror." Sunset stepped back a little.

"What is that supposed to mean," Sunset asked, her voice becoming less confident. "I didn't-,"

"The magic that killed that little loser," Sunset gritted her teeth at that thing's insult,"was brought to this world. By one person. YOU!" Sunset's confidence shattered, and she looked down. "I should know. Because I only exist because of you wanting power." The shadow monster transformed into a sight that Sunset long believed she hadn't forgotten. "You let magic run wild here," Demon Shimmer said, a playful look in her eyes. "and instead of taking responsibility, you relied on your little princess to save you, as she always had to do."

"Twilight's my friend" Sunset barked in a sad voice, her head bowed in shame. She felt herself being lifted by her hair and was forced to face Demon Shimmer.

"And then when that little clone of hers wandered into magic, you yelled at her for something that was your job," the Demon said, a wide grin on her face. "You broke her spirit and made her cry, something I can't take credit for in my tragically short time on this world. That's why she ran away from you. "

"I didn't mean to," Sunset said to Demon Shimmer, her tearful eyes looking into the merciless eyes of her evil half.

"Isn't that ironic," Demon Shimmer said, "even when you pretend to be good, you still cause misery I could never even dream off." She suddenly got angry and threw Sunset toward the ground. Sunset groaned in agony as she lied face down.

"Stop lying to yourself, Sunset," the demon yelled. "You brought magic into this world! You should've figured it out! You killed that girl! You know it! Everybody knows it!" Sunset looked up and saw Demon Shimmer had vanished. Instead, she saw all her friends approaching her, with looks of disgust.

"Liar, no good varmint," Applejack said.

"No," Sunset cried.

"Meany, party-ruiner," Pinkie Pie said.

"Brutish bully," Rarity uttered.

"I'm not that thing anymore. Stop it," Sunset said.

"Backstabbing jerk," Rainbow Dash.

"Monster," Fluttershy.

"Traitor, thief, villain," Princess Twilight said.

As they got closer, surrounding her in a circle, they started chanting the word "murderer". It echoed throughout the landscape. The sun was turning from a peaceful yellow to a dark red. The sky had gone from blue to red. Her friends' faces became more twisted and angry.

"MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER!"

"Stop it," Sunset yelled, lying in a fetal position, unable to bear the merciless accusations of her friends. "Stop it. I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to, I didn't-,"

Sunset woke up with a scream, and throw her blanket off of herself so she could sit at the edge of the bed. She felt warm tears flowing onto her cheeks. She sat there catatonic until she heard a knock at the door. After several knocks, Sunset slowly rose from her bed and waddled over to the door.

When she opened it, she found Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The smiles on their faces fell as they saw Sunset. The last time she looked this horrible was in the immediate week of the Fall Formal. Her long gold and red hair were unkempt and unruly, with some it falling over Sunset's forehead. Her eyes were bloodshot and devoid of the warmth and energy she had always shown in recent months. Underneath her eyes were huge ugly bags. She was dressed in a filthy yellow tank top and pink shorts. Her smell indicated she hadn't taken a bath or a shower. Her face looked pale and several years older, indicating that she had not put on any makeup.

"Hey," Sunset said quietly, sounded like a wounded animal.

"Sunset," Fluttershy said, "can we come I?." Sunset didn't reply verbally, merely opening her door wide open and standing out of their way, to signal they could. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy slowly walked in. Sunset followed them, not even bothering to close the door.

Pinkie and Fluttershy wandered in. They looked on the ground and saw her outfit had been thrown to the ground near the entrance. Sunset quietly led them to her couch, while she eschewed a nearby chair, and just down on the cold floor.

"So," Sunset muttered, "can I get you some tea."

"That would be nice," Fluttershy said.

"I ran out," Sunset suddenly said in a voice that reeked of self-loathing."I'm such a screw-up, I forgot to get some."

"Shimmy," Pinkie said, "your not a screw-up-," she stopped when she saw Sunset was about to cry. Pinkie and Fluttershy both jumped from their couch to give Sunset a hug. Sunset broke, crying and wailing.

"It's my fault," Sunset yelled through her tears.

"Sunset," Fluttershy said, her soothing voice cutting through her friend's sobs, "you didn't make Twilight unleash the magic."

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie said,"those Crystal meanies made her do it."

"I yelled her,"Sunset said. "She made a mistake, she wasn't evil, and I yelled at her, for something that I should've been doing."

"You were protecting us," Fluttershy replied, her voice the definition of kindness. "You weren't yelling because you were your mean old self, you yelled because we were in danger. We don't blame you for that."

"Had I not gotten mad, I could've gotten Human Twilight to give me the pendant. Instead, I drove her away," Sunset wailed..

"It isn't just because I yelled at her. I brought the magic here. I'm responsible for what it does. Instead of trying to figure things out, I tried to get Princess Twilight to fix my mistakes because I'm so useless." Sunset sobbed even more. "Human Twilight died because I was so worthless. I couldn't even tell that poor woman why her top student died."

"You didn't make her play around with magic," Pinkie Pie said, her normally manic voice now soothing.," the other Twilight did that on her own."

"But it was my job to figure out the magic, and I didn't do that," Sunset admitted. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy hugged her even tighter.

"She didn't deserve to be vaporized," Sunset yelled. "She wasn't evil like I was. If anybody deserved to die, it was me."

"Sunny," Pinkie Pie said in a disappointed tone, "don't say something like that, you didn't deserve-,"

"Yes I did, Pinkie Pie," Sunset screamed, shocking both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. "I was a monster, even before I stole that crown. That crown just accelerated what I was already becoming. If it wasn't for Princess Twilight sticking up for me, everyone would have beat me up. You guys would have done it if she hadn't told you to give me a chance."

"Well," Fluttershy said, "maybe, but she only did that because she saw good in you. She said 'the Elements will spare anyone who has an ounce of goodness in them'"

"Why didn't the magic spare her. This Twilight wasn't evil," Sunset said," she was just lonely and scared. Why did the magic spare me and kill her?" Sunset sobbed uncontrollably, to which Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy hugged her even more tightly than they had before. Sunset's sobs stopped as they heard someone enter the apartment. The three stood from the floor and saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Flash entering the room.

"Guys," Sunset said, her sadness replaced by confusion, "what are you doing-," she paused as she saw someone approach, wearing the most hideous clown mask she had ever seen. "AAAAAHHHH," Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset screamed.

"Guys," Twilight said, pulling off her mask, "it's me, Princess Twilight. This mask couldn't have been that hideous could it-," she looked at it in horror: the clown looked like it had been possessed by a demon. It had the eyes of some hungry dragon, sharp teeth surrounded by red lips, and a massive scar under its eye. Twilight yelled and threw it down in disgust.

"Applejack," Twilight growled, glaring at her country friend.

"Sorry Twi," Applejack said sheepishly, "it was just short -,"

"Okay Sunset, I need answers!" Princess Twilight bellowed her impatience finally at an end. "I come back from a time loop, hoping for some peace and quiet," Twilight muttered, "and the ponies of Ponyville tell me some weird holes appeared in the Everfree Forest. Instead of relaxing from my most recent misadventure, and having a nice lunch with Spike, I have to investigate. I go to my lab and discover that the portal to this world was shut down for nine hours. I get your message about magic trouble, so I tried to message you, and you didn't pick up!" Sunset's eyes widened in guilt. "I assumed that some magical being had somehow defeated you guys, taken control of the school, so I jumped into the portal, ready to try and save you. Instead, I discover the CHS body and Flash mourning my death!" Twilight groaned. "And then, I'm shoved into-," whatever Twilight was about to say stopped as she saw Sunset's surprised expression replaced with whimpering. Twilight's frustration gave way to concern. "Sunset," Twilight asked in a soothing voice, marching over to her friend, "are you-," Sunset let out a wail and collapsed to the ground in grief.

"SUNSET!" Her friends cried out, as they tried to help the fallen girl get up. Twilight looked at her friend, sobbing like crazy as her friends try to get her to stand. With a grimace, the Princess of Friendship realized that something horrific had happened in her absence.