//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten // Story: The Book of Sunlight // by elPossenreisser //------------------------------// The knocking on the door persisted. Sunset really didn’t want to deal with anyone right now. Or maybe ever. But she knew her friends wouldn’t leave her alone until she opened the door. If she continued ignoring them, they might just bust the door open. Reluctantly she let go of her pillow and got up. She was only wearing her pajama, and she hadn’t showered in a few days, but she really didn’t care. Showering required energy, and getting up, and Sunset didn’t feel like dealing with any of that. She shuffled to the front door, calling, “I’m coming, stop knockin’.” When she opened, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were greeting her with feeble smiles. “Knock it off, girls,” Sunset grumbled, “I’ve been a good girl and texted every day, haven’t I.” “You have, eventually. And you haven’t been to school for two weeks,” Rarity said. “Don’t you think it’s time you returned?” “Well, not tomorrow in any case,” Sunset replied sarcastically. Not even Rarity could want that. “Of course not on a Sunday,” Rarity replied, somewhat miffed by Sunset’s reaction. “But on Monday…” “Look, I told you, I’m thinking about it. I’m practically thinking of nothing else.” “Sunset…” Rainbow tried to intervene, but Rarity held her back. She smiled weakly. “We all care for you, and we’re there for you,” she said sadly. Her friends were simply worried about her, she tried to tell herself. But only some of her resentment about their mingling—and their utter uselessness at solving her problems—went away. *** It was Twilight Sparkle’s first day at Canterlot High, and she was on guard. Of course she had been aware that the girls who were involved with the mysterious visitor—not to mention the accident—went there as well. And that they would recognize her. And that they would perhaps not be too excited about her destroying the statue with the supposed portal. But Canterlot High was the only feasible alternative school after her expulsion from Crystal Prep, and it would only be for half a year anyway. Twilight just didn’t want to have to confront those girls right on the first day. She was lucky with her classes—no familiar faces there. Only once, on her way to Advanced French Lit, had she seen the very recognizable multi-hued hairdo of Rainbow Dash, but she had been somewhere in the crowd and Twilight could just hide away in a nearby restroom. What took her off-guard was how many students greeted her, and how familiar they acted. People she had never met treated her like they knew her, or even considered her a friend. While it was actually a nice change of pace after the constant sneering and bumping at Crystal Prep, it confused her at first. It was only during Spanish III, while she was waiting for her classmates to complete an exercise, that she was able to piece it all together. The visitor, of course! The visitor had not only looked like her, but had also used her name. And apparently she had also made friends with a bunch of CHS students. And unlike her nerdy self, the visitor had actually been pretty popular, judging by the reactions of the other students. Why me though? The thought that the visitor had impersonated her of all people was not at all encouraging. Whatever this was all about, now it was personal. And at least six of the visitor’s good friends were also students of this school. What if they… … come after me? Twilight had made plans to interview those girls to maybe get some missing pieces of the puzzle surrounding the portal, the visitor, and the energy outbursts. If anyone knew, it was probably them. But after the stress of adjusting to a new school, and the weird way people treated her, and her realization about the visitor, all her self-confidence had evaporated, and instead she had decided to avoid any interviews or similar confrontations, at least for the time being. And now they had found her, while she was taking her lunch tray from the elderly lady behind the counter. Or at least two of them had; Rarity and Rainbow Dash. “Hello, Twilight,” Rarity said calmly. “Um, hi?” she replied furtively. “You wanna have lunch with us,” Rainbow Dash said. It didn’t seem like a question. “Um, I do?” “Over there.” The other girl nodded towards a table where the other three members of that group were seated. “But—“ “No buts,” Rainbow Dash cut her off. “You owe us some answers.” “We just want to talk to you,” Rarity weighed in. Rainbow Dash just raised an eyebrow as if considering a more direct approach. What could she do? She was outnumbered and on unfamiliar terrain. Hopefully Rarity was being honest. Hanging her head, Twilight turned and walked over to the table. “Hiiiii Twilight!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she put down her tray. Applejack, sitting next to her, shot her a glare and shook her head. Fluttershy was hiding her face behind her long pink hair so that her expression was impossible to read. “… hi.” Rarity and Rainbow Dash sat down on either side of Twilight. “Look, I meant it when I said we want to talk,” Rarity said. “We don’t mean you any harm.” Twilight nodded, wondering if Rainbow Dash or Applejack agreed. She vividly remembered those two charging at her, more than once actually. And they reminded her of certain students back at Crystal Prep that she used to be wary of. “We wanna know what you did,” Applejack said. “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash chimed in. “Why were you spying on us?” “I wasn’t spying on you!” Twilight said a bit more pointedly than she had intended. “I was researching some very unusual energy emissions!” Rainbow Dash suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards her, bringing their faces very close together. “Listen, a good friend of us is missing since the accident you caused, and we don’t even know if she is still alive, so you better quit stallin’ and give us some answers, stat!” “Dashie, could you…” Fluttershy’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “Please stay out of this, Flutters,” Rainbow said in a strained voice. “It’s all her fault after all!” “Just tell us what happened,” Rarity said sternly, but not hostile. “It is as I said,” Twilight said, her voice shaky. Rainbow Dash’s open hostility made her uneasy. “In September I picked some unusual energy emissions from Canterlot High. It didn’t make any sense, so I kept investigating. I found out that there some kind of alien visitor, and I…” “And you decided to stalk us with drones and then just run the portal over with a car, right?” Rainbow Dash’s grip on her arm tightened. What if they didn’t let her go? What if they decided to hurt her after all? Twilight felt the panic rising in her chest, and as she looked across the table to the other girls there was no help to be found. Applejack looked at her sternly, and Fluttershy’s face was still obscured by her hair. Pinkie Pie was doodling something on a napkin. What if they didn’t let her go? She tried to free her arm, but Rainbow Dash was too strong. “I didn’t mean to!” she cried, the panic taking over. “I didn’t mean to crash into the portal, it was an accident, I’m not a good driver, I didn’t mean to hurt the alien, but it looked just like me and I got scared and I’m sorry please don’t hurt me!” She took a deep gasping breath that almost sounded like a sob. “That so-called alien is our friend!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You coulda killed her!” “I know,” Twilight sobbed, hanging her head. “I didn’t mean to!” “That’s enough!” Fluttershy cried out. “Rainbow Dash, you’re scaring her! Let go of her!” Someone—probably Fluttershy—softly put a hand on Twilight’s arm. “It’s alright,” she said. “Don’t cry, please?” “Aw, come on, you’re falling for the old tear-jerking?” “Rainbow Dash, I said it’s enough!” “Yes, I too think this went a bit… too far,” Rarity added, sounding uncomfortable. “I apologize on behalf of all of us,” she said to Twilight who was still sobbing softly. At least Rainbow Dash let go of her arm. “We are worried about our friend, and, well—“ “It is my fault after all, isn’t it,” Twilight whispered. “How about you tell us from the start?” Twilight swallowed and wiped some tears from her cheeks. She nodded. “It all started in September when my weather experiment picked up some very unusual, high-energetic radiation originating from the planet’s surface,” she began, and then she told them everything. About the first energy excursions she picked up. About the hand-held spectrometer. About her investigation of the statue. How she missed several smaller excursions seemingly by seconds. How she couldn’t make sense of her readings. About the drones, and how she finally saw the visitor come out of the portal. She left the part out where she hacked into the CHS student database, and when she came to the day of the accident she made up a plausible combination of drone surveillance and dumb luck, but left out the part where she basically peeped on Sunset Shimmer through her apartment window. Twilight was pretty certain that these girls would not take too kindly to that part of the story. “I didn’t mean to hurt your friend,” she concluded. “I’m really really sorry. But when I saw… myself stepping out of that portal, I panicked, and… you know the rest.” She hung her head, too afraid to look at the others. Then, before she could keep the question inside, she blurted out, “Why me, though?” “Because it’s your fault!” Rainbow Dash shot. “You just said so yourself!” “No, I mean… why did your visitor pick me?” She took a deep breath and explained before someone interrupted her again. “I understand that the visitor came through the portal, and that she impersonated me and did…something… at this school. Which is apparently why everybody thinks they know me. But why me? I mean, what did I ever do—“ She looked up, noticed the furtive glances the other girls were sharing, and interrupted herself. “Should we tell her?” Applejack asked. “No way,” Rainbow Dash immediately replied. “I think we should tell her,” Fluttershy said timidly. “I agree,” Rarity said. “She knows most of it anyways.” “I think I’ma side with Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Pinkie Pie?” “Hmm?” Pinkie Pie looked up from her doodle of Sunset Shimmer and Twilight, both as ponies. “Oh yes! We should tell her! It’s a super-great story!” Applejack nodded. “Well, majority rules. Here goes.” Rarity spoke. “It’s not like that. Our visitor—and good friend—is in fact Twilight Sparkle, but she comes from another world. As you have learned, she came to visit this world through the portal. She told us that almost everybody she had met here has a doppelganger in her world. That is to say, somebody who looks like them, has the same name, and shares other characteristics. “So you weren’t targeted in any way. It is only happenstance that of all the people coming through the portal it was your doppelganger.” Rarity sighed. “I’m well aware of how plausible this sounds.” No less plausible than having a doppelganger step out of a massive stone plinth in the first place, Twilight thought. A portal leading to…somewhere… had been hard enough to reconcile with modern science, but one that entailed doppelgangers? Identically looking people bearing the same name? “Hmm, maybe the multiverse theory…” she mumbled to herself But if she looked at this explanation scientifically, then accepting it as a hypothesis which then needed to be either proven or refuted was the only feasible way. As much as she instinctively recoiled from the idea of having a doppelganger on some different plane of existence, she needed to look at this as a scientist. Still. How was that even possible? Rarity continued her tale, sometimes with the support of the other girls. What the two big excursions had been—a fight against a girl-turned-demon queen, and a magical battle of the bands. How the other Twilight was a princess, and how she had come over more often to see Sunset Shimmer, who was Princess Twilight’s girlfriend—she suddenly had a very clear flashback of that one early morning, crouching on a fire escape and staring at a certain naked shoulder, and had to fight back a blush. That Sunset Shimmer had also come through the portal, but had taken up residence here for the time being—confirming Twilight’s theories about Sunset Shimmer’s incomplete data. How devastated Sunset Shimmer was because Princess Twilight couldn’t come visit her anymore. So there wasn’t even a plan, or a secret operation, she thought when the others had stopped. It was just a doppelganger and her relationship. She felt almost disappointed that the entire ordeal had such a simple explanation. Just some person from another world casually crossing over through a portal to socialize—a magical portal, the girls claimed; Twilight thought that if she could detect the energy in question, then the phenomenon had to be strictly natural, but considered it unwise to say so. Another world, she thought. Magic. Princesses. She couldn’t even begin to count everything that was wrong with this story. Although it was probably unwise tell these girls. But apparently something in her expression gave her away, because Rainbow Dash said, “I think she doesn’t believe us.” She smirked at Twilight. “Not the science result you were looking for, eh?” “Dashie, please,” Fluttershy said. Turning to Twilight she added, “All of it is true.” “Darn tootin’ it is,” Applejack said. “You better not be calling me a liar.” Twilight swallowed and tried to come up with a diplomatic reply. “Well…” she stammered, “you have to admit that this isn’t the most… probable story, right?” Applejack shook her head. “Guess not.” “It’s totally true though!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “When we play music we even turn into floating magic human pony things! It’s super amazing!” Twilight just looked at her, dumbfounded. Although Pinkie Pie wasn’t as hostile as Applejack and especially Rainbow Dash, Twilight still had no idea what to make of her. “Yep, that too,” Applejack said. “Like at that battle of the bands you mentioned?” Twilight asked. Her mind’s gears started spinning. If they were speaking of those energy emissions, then their so-called magic had to be something that could be explained by science. At least somehow. If she could record it with her very mundane technical equipment, then it had to be something tangible. And definitely not magic. For a moment they all sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Then Applejack asked, “Twilight, you didn’t happen to see what happened to… well, Princess Twilight? You know, before the crash?” Twilight looked up to face her. She didn’t look hostile. Just like someone who was really worried for a friend. “I I’m sorry. I… don’t really remember much. I remember seeing her step out of the portal, and then the next thing is you helping me out of the car.” She looked down again. “I hope your friend is alright.” Turning to Applejack she added, “I still owe you a thank you for helping me after the accident. So, um, thanks!” She extended her hand, and Applejack shook it. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she also extended it to Rainbow Dash, who just looked at it for a few seconds before she shook it too. “No biggie,” she said, looking away. “Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.” “Just a mild concussion,” Twilight replied. “I was out of school for a week… and…” She trailed off. She didn’t really want to elaborate on her expulsion. “And then you transferred here,” Applejack said. “Any particular reason?” “She’s probably just trying to finish up her quote unquote research,” Rainbow Dash sneered. “I… I got in trouble,” Twilight said. “After the accident… I had a lab, at Crystal Prep. It went up in flames after the accident, and I… I was expelled.” “Serves you right,” Rainbow Dash said. “Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy chastised her. Rarity chimed in, in a very obvious attempt to change the topic. “Which year are you in? We’re all juniors. I don’t think any of us have any classes with you so far.” “Actually, it’s my senior year,” Twilight replied. “You look younger,” Rainbow Dash remarked. “I… skipped two years.” Rainbow Dash snorted. “She’s just as big an egghead as Princess Twilight.” “Dashie…” Twilight appreciated Fluttershy’s support, but part of her felt like she deserved the teasing. Probably quite a bit more than that. Before Twilight could say anything else, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch break. The other girls stood up. Rarity, balancing her tray in one hand, pulled out her phone. “Twilight, if you find out anything about the portal or the accident, or our friend, could you please let us know right away?” Twilight pulled out her phone and punched in the number on Rarity’s display. “Sure.” “See you around, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she bounced away. The others followed her without a good-bye. *** When Sunset turned around the corner and saw CHS in the distance for the first time since that fateful Saturday morning, she almost succumbed to her second thoughts. She thought of all the other students she’d have to deal with. Having to sit through class. All that, instead of lying in bed all day doing nothing. But—even though she would never admit this to Rarity and the other girls—she was sick of the nothingness, the lying, the brooding. It was obviously getting her nowhere, since all the brooding in the world wasn’t going to fix the portal. And it was driving her insane. It hurt to be constantly thinking of how Twilight was gone. And maybe school would at least distract her for a bit. After two and a half weeks of this, she was ready to try anything to get away from her own thoughts, even if that meant dealing with school. From the distance she could already see Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, both easy to spot thanks to their distinctive hair-dos. Sunset smiled thinking about how her friends had cared for her, even though she had reacted less than stellar. She made a mental note to thank them—and apologize for being an ass about basically everything. They were really worried I’d do something to myself. Maybe instead of a mere thank you she’d buy them all dinner. Sunset made her way through the students chatting outside Canterlot High and tried to ignore all the whispers and strange look people were giving her. Two weeks of skipping school, and people were already gossiping. Sometimes she wondered just how little was going on in the typical high schooler’s life. Just as she made her way to her friends who were standing in a loose circle near the police band around the spot where the statue had been she saw a flash of purple to her right. A very familiar purple at that. Her?!? What is she doing here? I thought she was in Crystal Prep! Before she could come to a decision on what to do, she found herself surrounded by her friends who must have spotted her. “Sunset!” Rarity was the first to reach her and hug her. “It is so great that you’re back, darling!” Before Sunset could reply, the other four joined the hug as well. She had a lump in her throat, being reminded just how much her friends cared for her. “Thanks, guys,” she murmured. The others released her, and suddenly she found herself looking at Twilight, the wrong Twilight who had approached them. Looking into Twilight’s eyes. Twilight’s eyes in a face that had Twilight’s features but wasn’t Twilight’s face. Sunset’s vision blurred, and for a moment she saw her Twilight superimposed on that bespectacled girl with her hair up in a bun. It felt like a punch to the stomach. Those eyes… and Twilight was gone… and that girl with her ridiculous hair… She’d hoped for distraction, and instead she was faced with the spitting image of her loss. It hurt. She felt Twilight’s absence almost like she was missing a part of her body. The girl spoke. “Um, Sunset Shimmer? I wanted to apologize…” BAM! The next thing Sunset knew was that she was standing over the bespectacled girl who was lying on the ground. The other girl was staring at her with wide, teary eyes, and was covering her mouth with both hands. Somewhere somebody was blowing a whistle. “Sunset.” Applejack’s voice resounded in her ear, and somebody gently grabbed her right arm which Sunset had raised above her head. Sunset allowed Applejack to lower her arm, and continued to stare at the girl on the floor. A single droplet of blood was visible under the corner of her mouth. She looked terrified. —good, be scared, I’ll mess you up, it’s all your fault you stupid— —the hell is she doing here anyway— “Sunset,” Applejack said again, tugging on her arm to get her to move back. Sunset resisted, her eyes still locked with the girl’s. Her face, her whiny expression, her stupid bun—just looking at her made Sunset’s anger flare up again. “Sunset.” That was Rarity, who gently put a hand on her shoulder. “Sunset.” Fluttershy tugged on her jacket. “Shimmer!” Coach Iron Will suddenly stood next to the group of girls. “Back to your old form, I see. Vice Principal Luna’s office, now.” The other girls backed off as Coach Iron Will took Sunset’s arm. She resisted his pull just long enough to shoot the girl on the floor another withering glare. —just stay away from me if you know what’s good for you— *** Suspension Hall was empty except for Miss Harshwhinny when Sunset got there. Vice Principal Luna hadn’t even bothered to ask what had happened, and had just sentenced Sunset to in-school suspension for the remainder of the week. She didn’t care. It was just another case of Sunset Shimmer being Sunset Shimmer. After a surprising spell of better behavior she had returned to her old form. Sunset was certain that Miss Harshwhinny thought the same of her. Not that it mattered at all. She sat down at her habitual desk, last row, on the left. She was no stranger to in-school suspension, of course. Every now and then a teacher had witnessed her intimidating one of her fellow students, and very rarely some insolent kid had had the audacity to tell. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Making sure that Miss Harshwhinny wasn’t looking—the old hag was actually reading a cheesy romance novel, judging by the looks of the cover—she carefully fumbled the phone from her pocket to read the message. Dear Sunset, I hope you are alright. If you would like to talk about what happened, please call me after school Your friend Rarity Sunset felt a quick pang of guilt and resolutely suppressed it. There was nothing to feel guilty about. The girl who wasn’t Twilight had had it coming. If there was one thing she regretted, it was that she had only been able to punch her once. Stupid coach. Rarity was obviously worried about her. Still. Or again, or whatever was accurate. It was beginning to become bothersome. There wasn’t even anything to talk about. She had punched the one responsible for her misery. The girl who had destroyed the portal and had effectively separated her from Twilight. Oh, she really would have liked to mess her up some more. But the way things were all she could do was enjoy the memory. She didn’t really remember the punch—she had blacked out for a second or two. But she did remember the way that girl had looked at her, lying in the dirt, covering her mouth. The fear in her eyes. The tears. The droplet of blood. —just like in the good old days— The thought made her grin. Back in the days, back when she was still the undisputed queen of Canterlot High, she had received such looks occasionally. She didn’t have to resort to violence all that often; in fact she preferred intimidation and socially destroying her victims, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. —but it was always fun— Like that incident not long after this year had begun, with those two silly freshman girls. Clearly they had just started at Canterlot High and had no idea how things were working here. Sunset, a firm believer in strict education, wasn’t going to let them get away with ignorance as an excuse, not after finding those two chatting in front of her locker two days in a row. So she sent them a message to meet her in the hallway dead end with the unused lockers where no student had any business being. She had Snips and Snails accompany her—they would make sure she could deal with her business uninterrupted. When she arrived, the girls were already there. One of the girls was fast on the uptake. She promised to pay special attention to never again stand in front of Sunset Shimmer’s locker and apologized for the trouble she had caused. Her eyes were wide with fear; at least this one seemed to understand what was expected. Her friend argued back. Said that it was a free country and she could stand and chat wherever she wanted, and that she would not be intimidated by a bully. Brave words; and still she was shivering and stared at Sunset from wide eyes that betrayed her fear. Sunset was amused by that reaction. It wasn’t too often that someone tried to put up a brave face, and this little girl wouldn’t maintain her resistance for long. She too would learn to be reasonable. Sunset was almost happy about a bit of a challenge, and she enjoyed the adrenaline rush when she grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders and pushed her against the lockers, bringing her face very near to the girl’s. She heard the girl’s friend gasp, but she didn’t dare interfere. She appealed to the girl’s reasonable side. Explained her how much she’d hate to be forced to make her life living hell, and the girl’s expression told her that she was getting through, that she was now properly scared. At the same time she had to keep the girl’s friend from dragging the girl away. This was a single lesson now. And then the girl pushed her back. Sunset almost laughed out loud, surprised that this shivering kid had it in her. But of course it was futile. She shoved the girl against the locker again, harder, so that her head banged against the thin metal. The she raised her arm to slap her, to bring her to her senses again, and that silly girl turned her head, and what was intended to be a harmless slap on the cheek hit her square on the mouth. The girl yelped. Tears welled up in her eyes and, whatever leftover courage she might have possessed was gone. She started crying, a soft wailing that was really annoying, and stared at Sunset. Her mouth was bleeding; she had probably bitten her lip or something, which was entirely her fault because she had turned her head. The girl’s friend put her arm around her shoulder in an attempt to console her, but the girl kept staring at Sunset. Her expression had been the same as the other Twilight’s. Pain, fear. Defeat. At least that time Sunset had had enough time to make the lesson stick, and she once more repeated to the girl what was expected from her. Her eyes wide with fear, tears running down her cheeks, the girl just nodded. Only then did Sunset allow the girl’s friend to drag her away. She would love to see that expression on the other Twilight’s face again. She could— —make her rue the day she set foot in CHS never let her forget what she had done make her life as miserable as Sunset’s make her cry herself to sleep every night make every second at CHS torture— She closed her eyes again, reveling in the memory of the other Twilight looking up at her. But suddenly she saw another image before her mind’s eye, superimposed over the other Twilight—her Twilight’s face, looking at her with a sympathetic smile. Looking down on Sunset while she was trying to climb out of the crater outside Canterlot High, in the night of the Fall Formal. Twilight… How she missed that smile. How she missed being held by Twilight. And all she could do was to make the other Twilight miserable. What for? It wasn’t as if that would make her feel any better. Or anypony else, for that matter. Just so she could see the other girl in fear. Crying. Make her suffer for what she had done. Although it wouldn’t serve any other purpose than to make her miserable. To make her look at her like those two kids. With their eyes wide open and teary, quivering lips, shying away from her as if she was a monster. Because she actually was a monster… What am I doing? She pressed her hand against her eyes. What the hay am I doing? Once upon a time she had loved to instill fear in the hearts of other students. Once upon a time she had been a winged monstrosity, a horrifyingly awful winged monster. A demon. But that had ended, right when Princess Twilight Sparkle had defeated her. Or rather, a short while later—when Twilight had offered her friendship and forgiveness, instead of making her suffer to pay for her sins. Those two little girls had never even looked her way again. If they saw her in the hallway they would turn around, just to make sure they got away from her. Because they were that scared she would hurt them again. Because she was a monster. That’s not what I want to be anymore. Not even to make the other Twilight pay for what she had done. Not even for the joy to see her suffering. To see the face that was almost identical to Twilight’s grimacing in pain and fear and— Twilight… A memory flashed before her mind’s eye: Twilight holding her head on her lap, on the floor of her kitchen. After Sunset had broken down, thinking she was going to lose Twilight to Flash Sentry. But it hadn’t only been a breakdown—she had also relapsed, and she had been terrified. And Twilight had been there for her and had comforted her. Had picked up the pieces. Had held her and caressed her all night long, until Sunset was better. Until she didn’t feel like she was going to succumb to the anger inside her. Once more Twilight had defeated the monster that was lurking inside Sunset Shimmer. The monster that had reared its ugly face when she had punched the other Twilight in the mouth, and when she had fantasized of doing so again. No wonder those young girls never so much as looked at me again. I was a monster! And Twilight freed me. But Twilight wasn’t there anymore, and Celestia knew when she was going to see her love again. She couldn’t count on Twilight’s help to fight back her inner demon. And that, she realized, was not an excuse to just stop fighting and become her old self again. Sunset would have to make do on her own. She’d have to do what she could to not turn into that monster again. Not the one with the wings—and not the one that beat up other students in the hallways and took pleasure in their fear. It would be hard without Twilight around to help her out when she inevitably slipped up, but she would have to pull through. For Twilight—when they met again Sunset couldn’t be a monster. Twilight deserved better than a monster. She took a deep breath. She’d have to do better. For Twilight. Even when she wasn’t around. She would try to be a better person. And as a start, she would refrain from punching the other Twilight again, regardless how much she deserved it. She’d be better than that. She had to be. *** Sunset took her time after school. She didn’t really feel like confronting her friends, at least not yet. Deserved or not, Sunset wasn’t too proud of what had happened in the morning, and judging by Rarity’s text her friends were… unimpressed by her show of strength. They had seen the monster that she was. Sunset was not looking forward to having to apologize to them. On her way out she found herself looking for those two younger girls, but she didn’t see them. Probably for the better. She just would have scared them anyway. As she headed for the main doors she wrote a quick reply to Rarity. Hey Rarity, I’m fine, just a few days of ISS, no big deal. I guess I’ll see you guys next week. She wasn’t proud of that, not at all. She was avoiding them, and she knew she couldn’t keep doing that forever. But for today, after a day of brooding under the warm and caring gaze of Miss Harshwhinny, she really didn’t feel like dealing with… well, herself. Or anyone else. It was only going to be two more days of this.