//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Things We Hide // Story: Should I Stay (or Should I Go?) // by moonlit scribe //------------------------------// "You girls go ahead to the cafeteria. I need to grab my lunch money," Applejack called out as she walked out of the library. The others nodded, saying their goodbyes. Waving back, she grabbed her bag and headed in the opposite direction. She walked down the familiar hallways, saying hi to the people she knew and nodding at those she didn't know. A pair of athletes snickered at her, and she swore one of them had whispered "Piggly-Wiggly" as she walked by. Applejack scowled to herself. "Hmmm... that's Lightning Dust and Gilda, ain't it?" The two girls had been suspended for two weeks after the Anon-a-Mess because they had threatened to beat up Sunset during the incident. Lightning Dust had, eventually, apologized to Sunset, but Gilda was still just as convinced that Sunset was still somehow to blame. Applejack was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that she had bumped into someone until she found herself on the ground. "Applejack?" asked Flash Sentry, "Are you alright?" Applejack's brow furrowed, "Didn't Sunset say she was tutoring him today? I guess they got done earlier than I thought." Shaking the thoughts off, she asked, "Heya, Flash! How's the tutoring going?" Flash cocked his head questioningly, "What do you mean, AJ?" "Ain't Sunset tutoring you in Algebra? She left the library early 'cause of that." "I was busy practicing with The Shields before lunch. I haven't seen Sunset at all today," Flash answered, an equally confused look on his face. Applejack's mind was going a mile a minute, going over Sunset's behavior at the library. She frowned, "Now, what's that girl up to? Why would she lie to us? Is she- No. AJ, you're jumping to conclusions again. Don't forget what happened during the winter. Just talk it over with her in private." Resolutely, Applejack nodded to herself. She looked back at Flash, a small smile on her face, "Ok, thanks, Flash. I'm sure she's fine, and that she'll be back by fifth period." "If you say so, AJ. I'll keep an eye out for her, though," he answered. "You do that. I gotta go before the girls send a search party out for me," she nodded her goodbye, heading back to her locker. "Sunset?" a familiar voice called. Sunset smiled. "Hey, Twilight," she said, walking to a booth at the end of the cozy cafe. Twilight had already ordered a tea for herself and a mug of black coffee for Sunset. She sat down, glancing at the steaming drink. "Thanks, by the way," she nodded to the coffee, "How'd you guess I liked my coffee black?" "You implied it during one of our conversations. I believe it was something along the lines of 'I'm never letting Pinkie drink my coffee again, especially with how dark I take it'?" Twilight let out a little laugh. "Ooh, right," Sunset shivered, "The Night of the Endless Rubber Duckies." "I'm sorry, what?" Twilight exclaimed. Sunset chuckled, "I'll tell you that story someday, Twi. I promise. But I don't want to be late getting back to school, so I think it's probably best if we... you know... talk. Before I have to leave." "Of course," Twilight answered, tilting her head to the side and gesturing for Sunset to take the lead. Sunset couldn't bear the openness in Twilight's face. It just made her feel even more guilty for not being willing to get over the incident before winter break. Sunset shook herself. This was not the time to be worrying about this. She had limited time and she needed to make the most of it. "I...," Sunset stopped herself, staring at the coffee cup in her hands. "Is this a good idea?" asked a little voice in the back of her mind, "Do you really want to let Twilight down?" Sunset opened her mouth again, only to close it. She sighed to herself, shaking her head. A pair of lavender hands gently rested on Sunset's. Sunset looked up to see the Princess looking right at her. "What's wrong, Sunset?" Twilight asked, hands still covering Sunset's. Sunset ducked her head again, struggling against all the thoughts that raced through her head at the contact. "I... Do you remember the... the Anon-a-Miss incident from this winter?" Sunset finally answered. "Yeah," Twilight said softly. "I love the girls. I... I really do. And I know that they trust me now. I know that they won't turn away from me when things get rough," Sunset sighed, turning her head away from the coffee mug and out the window, "but still. What if... this is all a ruse? What if they..." "What if they what?" Twilight prompted softly. "What if they leave me again?" Sunset's eyes filled with tears, "Back home, everything is so clear. Once you have somepony on your side, that's the beginning and the end of it. There're no take backs, no 'I can't trust you anymore's." "I wish that was true," Twilight said, finally pulling her hands away. "What does that mean?" Sunset wondered. Instead of asking, however, she kept quiet, waiting for Twilight to continue. "My brother got married a while ago. And... it wasn't a very fun wedding. I mean... no, it was. It was. But before the wedding? It was kind of terrible. You see, I'd known the bride from when I was a little filly, and she was acting very different. She was... she was cruel, dishonest, picky..." Twilight sighed sadly. Sunset reached across the table to slide her hands under Twilight's. "The Cadance I knew was absolutely nothing like that. Then, I saw her casting some sort of spell on Shining. I just... I figured she was evil. So I tried to tell everyone... though I'll admit, bursting into the rehearsal dinner was more than a little stupid," Twilight fiddled with Sunset's hands as they lay beneath hers on the table. Sunset couldn't help but laugh, "Wait. You actually ran into a rehearsal dinner to accuse the bride of being evil?" Twilight blushed, "Yeah... that wasn't my best moment. But at the end... I was half-right. The pony that Shining Armor was going to marry really was evil. But she wasn't Cadance. She'd been replaced by a changeling." "Whoa, really?" Sunset asked, squeezing Twilight's hands and pulling away. At Twilight's nod, she added, "You get all the cool adventures!" Twilight smiled lightly and shook her head, "That's not the point, genius. The point is... well... you know the first thing we did after things cooled down? We all got together and talked. We acknowledged what we did wrong and promised we'd be better in the future." Sunset shook her head, "We never really got a chance to do that... I guess. I mean, the girls apologized and everything, but we never actually... talked, I guess. Not about Anon-a-Miss." "Maybe that's something you should consider doing. It might help. Still, if you feel that coming back to Equestria is best, then the portal is always open," Twilight smiled encouragingly. Sunset took a sip of her lukewarm coffee, "That's something else I wanted to talk to you about. The portal... it seems to have attracted some attention." Twilight turned serious again, "Yeah, I know. But... what could we do? On one hoof, I... I don't think I'd feel comfortable closing the portal for good... not when you're still here, at least. On the other... we have no idea who's looking for this. It could be someone looking to harm Equestria, and as Princess, I have to put them first." "What if you moved the mirror? Kept it somewhere more secure? Or what if you kept it closed most of the time, except when one of us needs to come over to the other world?" Sunset suggested, taking another sip of her lifeblood. "Hmm...," Twilight hummed, "that might not be a bad idea. It'd mean I could protect Equestria without completely cutting you off from Eqqus." "Toldja," Sunset smirked teasingly. "Oh, ha, ha, genius," Twilight snarked back, a playful grin on her face. They continued their banter for a little bit before they fell into a comfortable silence. Sunset stirred the remains of her coffee while Twilight took in the sights and sounds of the world around them. Sunset became lost in the swirling liquid, her reflection bending and breaking with the movement. She looked back up, capturing the Princess's gaze. "This is nice," she stated, smiling softly. "Yeah. It really is," Twilight answered, smiling back at Sunset. After lunch, Applejack only had one class with Sunset. Unfortunately, it was woodshop and Mr. Oak had assigned them different partners after they had chosen to work together on every project before that. Applejack was distracted throughout the class, glancing at Sunset to see if she was acting any different than usual. Sadly, Sunset was still as focused as ever on the birdhouse project that the class was working on. "Applejack?" asked Mr. Oak, when she accidentally hammered a nail in hard enough to split the wood, "You okay? You look less focused than a hungry pig right 'fore feedin' time." "I promise I'm fine, Mr. Oak," Applejack blushed, "I was just... thinkin'." Mr. Oak raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. Applejack tried to ignore the guilt that raced through her at lying to her father's old friend. "Well then, you'd better get your head back on straight. Get back to it, AJ," he finally said, walking away. "You sure you're okay?" asked her partner, Roseluck. Applejack rolled her eyes, "I'm fine, Rose. Really." "Ok, then," Rose turned back to the project, grabbing a different piece of wood to cut into shape. Applejack spared one more glance at Sunset, who was looking right back at her, worried. "You okay?" Sunset mouthed. Applejack nodded and sent a thumbs up her way, before turning back to her work. The bell rang, and students flooded out into hallways from their sixth period classes. Sunset wove her way through the crowd to her locker, pulling out her calculus book for seventh. She shut her locker, leaving her French work behind. Slipping down the hallway, Sunset waved to a few friends and avoided the gazes of more hostile students. "Sunset, darling, there you are!" came Rarity's familiar voice. Sunset turned around, smiling at Rarity. "Hey, Rares. What's up?" she asked. "Oh, nothing much. As much as I love theatre and design, they were both terribly boring today. Due to some... less than appropriate behavior from Snips and Snails, Mr. Magnet insisted on giving us a lecture on backstage etiquette. And in design? Ms. Saddles taught us about flannel and how to work it into our designs! Can you imagine? Of all things, flannel being in style?" Rarity lamented as she walked toward class with Sunset. "I don't know, flannel is pretty comfortable...," Sunset said, shrugging as they reached Mr. Doodle's class. Sunset pulled the door open for Rarity. "Oooh, such a gentlewoman," Rarity teased. "Yeah, yeah," Sunset rolled her eyes, walking in behind her. They went to their seats, which were conveniently right next to each other. Mr. Doodle walked in right as the bell rang again, signaling the start of the final period of the day. He sighed, "Today, we have an assembly, so sadly, we won't be able to study integrals today. Principal Celestia will make an announcement when we need to go to the gym." Sunset turned to Rarity, grinning, "Got any new designs?" "Oh, yes!" Rarity answered, pulling her sketchbook out of her bag and flipping to the latest page, "It's a bit of a bad-girl look, I suppose, but I couldn't help it! The muse struck, and this came out!" "Whoa, Rarity! This is amazing!" Sunset exclaimed. Sunset gazed at the beautiful design in awe. It was a long dress cinched at the waist by a thick spiked belt. The left arm and shoulder of the model were bare, while the right arm and shoulder were completely covered, with short spikes studded along the top. The bottom of the dress flowed elegantly down, cutting off slightly below the ankles. "Oh, thank you! By the way, I was hoping for your input on color schemes. I was hoping for black leather for the sleeve and shoulder, but I simply cannot think of a good color for the dress itself...," Rarity sighed. Sunset pulled out a set of color pencils and a notebook from her bag, intent on testing out color schemes. But before she even managed to open up the notebook, the PA system shrieked. "Will all classes please dismiss their students to the gym for an assembly?" Vice-Principal Luna asked. "Come on, now," Mr. Doodle grumbled, "Single file, everyone." Sunset frowned, putting her stuff back in her messenger bag before slinging it over her shoulder. Beside her, Rarity did the same with her sketchbook. "No worries, Sunset," Rarity said positively, "We can certainly finish our discussion tomorrow. You will be at lunch, won't you?" "Of course I will, Rares," said Sunset, walking out of the classroom and to the gym beside her. Thankfully, their class was fairly close to the gym and they were able to snag a few seats for themselves and their friends in the bleachers. Soon, the rest of the school filed in, and everyone in their little group, except Rainbow Dash, was sitting beside them. "Where's Dash?" asked Sunset. The other girls looked at each other and shrugged. None of them had seen the athlete since lunch. "That's weird," said Sunset. "Yes, indeedily," said Pinkie, wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat all of a sudden, "I smelllll a mystery!" "Maybe she's just in the crowd and lookin' for us," Applejack suggested, looking around the gym. Nodding at this, Pinkie leaped onto the bleacher, pulling a megaphone out of her hair. "RAINBOW DASH! ARE YOU IN HERE?" she yelled. The entire gym stopped and turned to stare at Pinkie as the echoes faded. It was so quiet, they could've heard a pin drop. Principal Celestia coughed to get the school's attention. From behind her, Luna glowered at the crowd. Everyone turned back to the front, dismissing the megaphone incident as Pinkie being Pinkie. "Now," said Principal Celestia into the microphone, " as many of you are aware, we will be meeting our competitors from Crystal Prep tomorrow." Grumbles passed through the crowd. "I'm sure you all are wondering what happens during this quadrennial event!" announced Principal Celestia, oblivious to the discontent. "You mean other than us losing?" yelled Flash from the far end of the gym. "Shut up, Brad!" someone from one of the sports teams yelled back. Celestia cleared her throat, glaring at the two interrupters. "Yes, I am also sure that everyone is aware of CHS's losing streak. Due to this, I've invited Rainbow Dash up here in order to give everyone some... perspective," she finished, as Rainbow walked onto the stage. Nodding to Dash, Celestia and Luna moved off the stage. Dash grabbed the mic off its stand, shoving it to the edge of the stage. "Okay, so I know a lot of you think that we could never beat a fancy school like Crystal Prep at anything," she said, marching back across the stage to the middle. "Unless it's a Losing-to-Crystal-Prep Competition, 'cuz we're reeeeally good at that!" Pinkie yelled from next to Sunset. Rainbow sighed, irritated, before turning back to the mic, "And I know that we've never won to Crystal Prep, ever." "I hope this speech isn't meant to be motivational," Rarity whispered to Sunset. Sunset giggled. All of a sudden, a brass and percussion section blared out at the students. "Crystal Prep's student are super motivated, smart, and athletic," Rainbow continued over the music, "But you know what they aren't? They aren't Wondercolts!" The curtain behind Rainbow opened, revealing the CHS marching band. "We've fought magic more than once, And come out on top," sang Rainbow as the band boomed out a beat. "There's other schools, but none can make those claims," Rainbow continued, leaning toward the crowd. "Together we are Canterlot! Come and cheer our name. This will be our year to win these games!" Rainbow sang, pumping her fist in the air. Jumping down from the stage, Rainbow and the band leaped into the chorus. "We'll always be Wondercolts forever! And now our time has finally arrived, 'Cause we believe in the magic of friendship. And you know, at the end of the day, it is we who survive!" The song redoubled as Vinyl plugged her portable sound system into the speakers. The band placed their instruments on some of the bleachers, grabbing large boards and shifting into two square-ish formations around Dash. The boards, when put together, showed the CHS symbol. "We're not the school we were before" Rainbow belted out, tipping the band hat on her head as the band chorused behind her. "Yeah, we're different now," Dash sang, with the band following up with a "Hey, hey!" "We overcame the obstacles we faced!" she sang, as the band flipped the cards around to reveal pictures of Sundrown Shimmer and the Sirens. "We're Canterlot united! We'll never bow, So get ready to see us in first place!" she sang, throwing her hat into the air, just as the drum major, Steady Beat, tossed her baton. "We'll always be Wondercolts forever And now our time has finally arrived," most of the school sang, as the band tossed out Wondercolt ears and tails. "'Cause we believe in the magic of friendship And you know, at the end of the day, It is we who survive At the end of the day, It is we who survive," most of the school were up on their feet, dancing along to the beat. "Na, na, na-na-na-na, Wondercolts united together! Na, na, na-na-na-na, Wondercolts united forever!" the school began clapping along with the song. "We'll always be Wondercolts forever! And now our time has finally arrived! 'Cause we believe in the magic of friendship," Dash sang with the band, covered by a familiar light blue aura. "And you know, At the end of the day, It is we who survive. At the end of the day, It is we who survive!" Dash finished, fully ponied up and hovering mid-air. The school let out a cheer, and Dash flew back to the ground, her wings, ears, and tail disappearing. Sunset hoisted herself up the stage, before turning around and reaching down with Applejack to help Fluttershy and Rarity up. "Thanks, darlings," said Rarity, and then turned around to find Rainbow. Sunset's thoughts were racing as the glanced around the stage. As amazing as the rally had been, she couldn't help but question some of its events. "Why was Rainbow able to pony up like that? She wasn't playing her guitar, and so far only our instruments have been able to channel the magic in the thaumic field around us. Is our magic changing? Or is magic seeping into this world from Equestria? I'll have to ask Twilight about this...," she thought to herself. Dash was waving to Steady as she walked away from backstage. She turned around, grinning even wider at the sight of her friends. "Hey, guys! Did you see that? I was amazing!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, you were! It was so great!" Pinkie squeed. "Indeed! My school pride is higher than its ever been!" Rarity added. "Even I feel like we can win!" Fluttershy said softly. AJ, however, frowned. "It was a nice display 'n all, but is anyone else wondering how Dash ponied up without her guitar?" she asked imitating playing a guitar. Sunset nodded. Rainbow smirked cockily, "It's probably because I'm so awesome!" "I don't know about that, Rainbow," Sunset said unthinkingly. "Gee, thanks, Sunny," Rainbow answered. "What? No!" Sunset hastened to correct, "I mean, you are awesome, but even so, you shouldn't have been able to channel a thaumic field without an instrument to channel it through! It... it doesn't make sense!" "Oh," said Rainbow, confusedly glancing the others. Sunset looked back up at them, "Oh, sorry." "No problem, darling, it's just... we don't exactly understand what you're on about," Rarity said. "It's complicated, but according to the rules of magic, Rainbow shouldn't have been able to use the magic. She should have needed something to focus the magic through. In Equestria, unicorns are able to channel magic through their horns, pegasi through their wings, and earth ponies through their hooves. But Dash wasn't channeling the magic through anything! She shouldn't have ponied up!" Sunset ranted, voice rising with every word. "I don't know, Sunny," said Pinkie, "Maybe you're just reading too much into it. Or maybe magic works differently here than it does there?" "Yeah," Sunset murmured, only half-listening, "I think I'm gonna have to tell Twilight about this, though." She walked away, lost in her thoughts, leaving her friends staring worriedly after her. Dear Twilight, There's something weird going on here. I knew that magic didn't work in the same way in both worlds, but what happened today really took the cake: Rainbow somehow ponied up without playing her guitar. So far, even though the magic seemed weird here, it at least followed one of the main principles: Magic cannot work without an instrument to channel it through. Now? Even that theory is being challenged. The girls seemed pretty excited about it, but I couldn't help wondering if this was an effect of the Equestrian magic from the portal clashing with the natural laws of this universe. If that happened, it could have disatrous consequences for this universe. It's also yet another reason for me to leave. If I'm not here, then, there's no reason to not allow the portal to retain its natural 30-moon cycle. If the portal's closed, then Equestrian magic won't be able to seep in even further. But I'm still not sure. I don't know if this is true or if I actually do want to leave. I could really use your help, Twilight. Yours, Sunset Sunset sighed, clicking her pen. There was little to do now, except wait for Twilight's reply. Sunset glanced over the page again, leaning against the lockers in the darkened hallway. "You could do a little research about the mystery person while you wait...," she thought. Nodding to herself, Sunset stuffed her book and pen into her messenger bag and stood up, heading toward the library. She had quite a bit of work ahead of her. Sunset leaned on the table, surrounded by more books than Miss Cheerilee on a busy day. "Hey, can we talk?" asked Applejack's familiar voice from behind her. Sunset turned away from her phone to look up at Applejack. "Sure AJ, what's up?" asked Sunset. Applejack had been unusually distracted during woodshop, but since they didn't share any classes after, Sunset wasn't able to find out why. "Whatcha lookin' at?" Applejack asked, her gaze captured by Sunset's phone. "Oh, I was... well, I was looking at all the stops that bus twenty-seven makes. I know that they could have taken another bus after they got off, but... one of the stops is at Crystal Prep. And... and that could just be a coincidence. But what if it isn't? What if some genius from there discovered that magic exists in this world and wants to... I don't know... run experiments on me?" Sunset groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Oh, sugarcube...," Applejack sighed, "I promise, that ain't gonna happen." "Yeah?" Sunset scoffed, "How do you know that?" "'Cause if someone does, every one of us here at CHS will stop 'em from getting to you," Applejack smiled reassuringly. She pulled out the chair next to Sunset's, grabbing and squeezing her hand. "Just like you did this winter, huh?" Sunset thought bitterly. Pushing away the thought, Sunset said, "Sure... but if I... nevermind." Sunset cut herself off before she suggested leaving to Equestria. She leaned back in her chair, curling in on herself. "Applejack doesn't deserve that burden." "If you what, Sunset?" Applejack asked, pulling her hand back to adjust her hat. "It's nothing, AJ. Really," Sunset insisted, avoiding Applejack's prying eyes. "Sunset, friends don't lie to each other," Applejack frowned lightly. "I... I know. I just... it's kinda hard to explain," Sunset sighed. Applejack tilted her head, waiting for Sunset to continue. "I've been thinking a little. As long as I'm here, as long as the portal's here, there's a chance that people will find out about magic," Sunset explained. Applejack's brows furrowed as she started putting two and two together. "But," Sunset continued, "if I'm not here, and if the portal's not here, then both worlds will be safe! Equestria won't be invaded by humans and this world won't have to deal with any more magical problems!" "Sunset... you... ya want to... leave?" AJ whispered shocked. Sunset shook her head sadly, "Think about it, AJ. Equestria has... magic that I understand, that I can control. Me being there won't put anyone in danger like me being here does." "And, besides," Sunset quieted down a little, "how can I even know that anyone here will stand up for me?" "What?" Applejack asked, startled. "Don't you remember this winter?" Sunset retorted. Applejack opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, nodding. "I... I do love it here, Applejack, and I don't even know if I really want to leave. But there are so many reasons to go and only five for me to stay." "Oh," Applejack finally said, looking down at the table, hands fidgeting with one of the sheets of paper that surrounded Sunset. The silence put Sunset on edge, and she started fiddling with her jacket's lapel, hit once more by longing for her old leather one. "Say something, you idiot! Or don't, considering that you saying something is what got you here in the first place," screamed the voice in her head. "Can you do me a favor?" asked Sunset, glancing at Applejack. "Depends," Applejack frowned, looking back up at Sunset. "Don't tell the others?" she requested. Applejack's frown deepened. "Even if I do go, I probably won't leave till after the Friendship Games. I just don't want to ruin everyone's enjoyment of the Games for something that may not even happen," Sunset added. Applejack sighed, "Okay. I won't tell anyone else. But the moment the Games are over, you're telling them, understood?" "Understood. Thank you." Applejack simply grunted. "I just want to know one thing," Applejack added, "Where were you during lunch?" "Oh, that!" Sunset brushed off, smiling nervously, "Flash and I went off campus for our tutoring session. We ended up taking longer than I expected." Applejack sighed, "I know you weren't with Flash during lunch, Sunset." "Oh, shit," Sunset thought, "Should I lie? No. Friends don't lie. Just tell her. It's probably for the best." "I... I was with Twilight," Sunset finally admitted, deflating a little. "You were in Equestria?" Applejack burst out, halfway to standing up. "No! No. She came over here," Sunset shook her head, "I've been feeling a little... out of place here for a while now, and it's starting to affect my mood and actions, so I was writing to her about it a little this morning. She offered to come over because she suspected I had a little more on my mind. And because of the figure at the portal." "Okay," Applejack said, slightly calmer, "but why didn't ya tell us?" "I didn't want you guys to ask why I was meeting her or ask to join us. I didn't want to lie to you or her," Sunset sighed. "But ya ended up lying to us anyway," Applejack said, scratching the side of her head. Sunset tipped her head back against the back of her chair, staring up at the library's ceiling. "I know."