//------------------------------// // Setting awareness (Part 3) // Story: Equestria Girls - State Of Emergency // by EliteLenny223 //------------------------------// 1656 hours… Sunset – I had a feeling after Twilight walked out on me that things would be quite different between me and her. She actually feels envious of what I am? A leader? Someone who knows friendship deeper than the rest of us? I suppose that’s I could describe myself since I acknowledge it. But to cause it to have someone envy at what I am? Twilight and I have been quite tight ever since I helped her overcome Midnight Sparkle at Camp Everfree. I even made sure our memories were protected from Wallflower Blush from her plans in removing our memories of each other… Then again, I already had an idea why. Twilight was talking to her princess counterpart. And one motivation for my Twilight to envy what I am, maybe would be related to being… NOT a princess. Or did that feeling start back when she joined the gang? I wasn’t sure. That time, Sunset was seated beside her friends, just without Twilight Sparkle around this time. The gymnasium was empty, but only herself and the other five friends are there, together with Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and Agent Charlie Darwin. Charlie was in front of the girls. But before he could speak up, he could see AppleJack stare at him. That got his attention. “I wouldn’t want to make a rough guess, but I think you’re told about being spied on.” AppleJack was told earlier by Sunset Shimmer about AppleJack being part of those observed by the Agency. And this pissed her off. “Ever had a very big eye look at ya, and you still can’t notice you’re being watched? And all of the sudden, the eye actually appears in front of ya. You know what I feel when I find out it’s the same exact eye that stalked me? I’d feel like ripping it apart in half. Maybe you already know that I could rip bones like they’re paper.” She glared at him after saying it. Charlie only looked at AppleJack, not daring to answer her. Then he looked at the other girls, surprised of what she said. He sighed, before speaking up. “Noted. So… Anyone else wanna express their hard comment on-” “My piece of my mind,” Rarity started speaking while glaring at him, then said further “…CAN BE COMPRESSED TO TWO WORDS!!! TWO…! WORDS!!!” Fluttershy knew what would happen and even stopped Rarity from standing up and covered her friend’s mouth. Rarity was only mumbling while the mouth was covered, but Fluttershy spoke up for her in a calm and kind way. “Agent Darwin? S-She’s… She found it very inappropriate for you having spied on her. I actually feel the same. But I don’t feel upset. I just feel somehow embarrassed.” Rarity stopped mumbling and her mouth was no longer covered by Fluttershy’s hands. Then she took this opportunity to shout “SCREW YOU!!!! SCREW…! YOU!!” Afterwards, her cheek was slapped. And that hand surprisingly came from Fluttershy, who saw Rarity calm down and hold her own cheek to feel the sting of the slap. “I’m sorry, Rarity. But you need to get yourself together.” Rarity took it to her heart and quietly sobbed, putting her head on Fluttershy’s shoulder and continued there… Rainbow Dash on the other hand was quite patient. After having been told that she was watched by the Agency, she’d been pretty decent with her comment. “I wanna say it’s fine as long as it’s protection. Kinda feels like I’m stalked, but hey. At least I get to be awesome!” Charlie chuckled at that. “Careful. Maybe you could have been assisted by anyone who wants to make you an athlete.” “Oh come on! I’d know who’s a faker for a friend at any day! But to make it look like you’re making me awesome? You got my thanks!” And Dash grinned at it. Pinkie Pie raised a finger to get Charlie’s attention, but quickly put it down before speaking up with a high-pitched natural voice. “You know the story about the clown watching from the dark? What if he suddenly shows up while he was beside me? I’ll check if he’s smiling and I should smile back too!” And Charlie scratched his head. He didn’t completely get her terminology but there’s some logic to what she said. “It sounds like you wanna forgive anyone looking at ya.” “I’m just silly old me. Really! I’m all about the fun, and making friends should be fun! And that clown was sorry back then! I know you were apologizing too!” After Pinkie Pie said it, she added, “You’re welcome!” This just made him groan quietly in reply. Charlie raised an eyebrow before he approached sunset and handed over the folder he once showed Princess Celestia. Once Sunset has it on hand, she opens it, and the photos are seen. She herself wasn’t happy there were photos of herself in them and Twilight as well. And when it was passed to the others, they exchanged quiet gasps. They even saw pictures of magic rays and that notable tree bark dome back at Camp Everfree. Applejack was the first to react to the photos. “What in tarnations-? Did you all take these photos?” “Nope,” Charlie replied. “Thing is, the Agency wasn’t gathering photos, but all of them are sharply high-quality. Our purpose was to gather information about who took those photos and how we protect your identities. The one who took those pictures have access to good equipment, and have good angling techniques. What’s more is, some of the shots are directly overhead, so he must have used a drone on some of them too.” Rarity was patient to let Charlie finish before she spoke up. “Who took these photos in the first place?” Sunset was the one to answer that question. “I promised to keep this a secret… until now. You all won’t like it. The photos came straight from a Private Investigator who was operating in Canterlot City, and was recently even reporting outside the city just to follow us. Agent Darwin’s fact-finding got him to believe at first that the P.I. was certified to be working under Mayor Warren’s flag.” The other girls gasped in surprise, not wanted to believe it immediately, but slowly processed it. “Uh-oh.” AppleJack muttered to her. “The mayor?” “W-What-? Mayor Lisa Warren?” Rarity spoke, not believing the answer. “B-b-but she even liked Canterlot High School’s official sports showcase!” Then of course, that’s how we all imagined Rarity who was a fashion organizer for three days with Mayor Warren once a technicality judge. Rarity was given a least-than-fair amount of spotlight. It at least made her smile. That’s what’s important. She’s happy in what she does. Then Rarity continued. “I don’t want to her to turn into a criminal!!!” Charlie shrugged before replying. “Well, we never found anything on her that implicates a crime, so she’s clean. Very clean. It’s even proven she was a delegate on religious studies that she even represented her whole hometown years ago. At least that’s how smart she was.” Rainbow Dash was pissed when she herself spoke up. “That is so not cool… NOT cool! She’s managing a city and she suddenly comes up and takes pictures of Sunset and Twilight? Major stalker with every laser show that happens around here! I bet that’s how she liked to see more!” Rarity nods. “I agree.” “Ooh, ooh!!” Pinkie Pie raised her hand and stood up. “Maybe she’s just doing that to protect Canterlot City against us.” Then she noticed others glared at her. She realized that it only makes her comment a pessimistic one for them. She chuckled uneasily. “Oh.” Sunset repies on Pinkie’s statement. “You know that could spell for disaster if she knows more if we’re not careful. That means… that could cost us our powers. And we still don’t know if there’s anything else we missed on Equestrian magic.” Charlie groans. “Time’s not always a friend. This is the problem these days. Politics just gets things moving and the world just agrees because every policy in a specific location follows. Citizens have to be obliged to take on the responsibilities embedded on those policies. But if those policies go against your moral ethics, it could spell out small problems that could build to a bigger one. That’s how society works.” Applejack seemed interested and smiled at Charlie’s info. “I’m impressed. You know much more how the world works. You should be a teacher on these things. Social Studies maybe?” “Me? Teacher? Nah. Just about that information… Take it from someone who travelled to different places seeing those things. But not all types of politics are good. They usually slow down processes too. I don’t care if it’s all about legitimacy and- Hmph. That’s why I try to stay away from every bureaucrat I find and only communicate when it comes to safety and instruction.” After Charlie said it, Applejack nodded seeing she understood. Sunset sighs and stands up to get in front of her friends and get their attention. “Fact of the matter is, we’re dealing with a politician here who’s already onto us. And it’ll only be a matter of time until she makes her move… either publicly or using something else to discredit us, or the school. Remember that the thing from the Friendship games could also endanger us since Principal Cinch knows and she could tell about all the events that happened in secret.” “So what?!” Rainbow Dash responded harshly. “Seriously, we’ve been all about doing the good stuff together! And we even saved the school four times already!” “Five if you count that thing when it came to Wallflower Blush. That last one ended quite well.” Sunset said it additionally from Rainbow Dash before she spoke more. “But now we got someone who could fear magic. Remember… Not everyone knows what Equestrian Magic is, or what it does, or how it’ll serve just as anyone, because it normally doesn’t get used here. With that, I’m gonna urge everyone to be careful at this point. We don’t know what any of them would think of us if they knew Equestrian Magic exists. Only our school and its students have a good idea. I hope that’s an understanding we all have after this.” 1720 hours… Meeting’s finally adjourned after that, and I split from my friends to talk a little more to Charlie, Principal Celestia, and Vice Principal Luna on the steps we need to take. It took a few minutes, but we were able to get some things straight. I was left with Charlie while walking him out of the school… “So…” Sunset started. “What happens tomorrow?” Charlie wasn’t looking directly at Sunset since he’s professionally inclined not to when he replied. “Whatever happens the next day is up to you, but you should follow your own advice and stay cautious. Celestia reached out to me and we’re giving each other what we need. Like I said before… We shouldn’t cause panic. And good work with how you got your friends convinced about part of the Agency’s aim.” “You had a solid idea about what your division was after. I think with that, there’s nothing more to trust you with.” Sunset said it with a smirk. And Charlie snorted. “Hmph. Now that’s a bummer. Sure you don’t wanna be friends?” He looked at her with a glare, but he chuckled and smiled. “Look… I was joking. That’s a good one though.” Sunset chuckled back appreciating the counter-joke. “Pretty good yourself, I guess. Anyway… I should pretty much talk to Twilight. Noticed we aren’t all there?” “Yeah… You should get her together.” Charlie advised it and Sunset said her goodbye before going a separate way. Charlie sighs and continues on before leaving the school peacefully. Finding his way back to the SUV, Chadwick got on at the front passenger seat with a fastfood box and put it at the back. “Mission accomplished?” “Maybe. But we should keep being aware for the next day or so.” Charlie started the SUV’s engines before driving out. “We had that idea with the mayor’s missing P.I. already leaving Canterlot, but it doesn’t make sense. He suddenly went off the grid, leaving all his things. Got an update so far?” “Afraid not, Charlie. Looks like it’ll be for another day.” Sighing, Chadwick falls asleep on the passenger chair, feeling the little vibrations of the SUV driving out of the area… Meanwhile, Sunset was knocking at Twilight’s door in the dorm areas of the school. She didn’t hear Twilight respond, so Sunset said she would come in, before she did. And in her dismay, what she predicted about Twilight was right, seeing her friend lying on the bed with her knees tucked to her chest on the bed. And Twilight sensed Sunset was nearby, so she sat on her bed and slightly lowered her shirt collar to show something to Sunset, besides the skin. There was a small bulge shaped like a tiny crystal, that was slowly and surely shrinking. Sunset, of course was concerned of this. “W-what is happening to you?” Twilight looked at Sunset with neutral emotion before looking at her hand. “I feel very little stings everywhere, and when I use magic? It starts to hurt at first, but the pain will slowly die down. My theory is that the geode inside me is beginning to turn into shards. And with what I’m feeling all over my body, my guess is that they’re spreading across. “What about you, Sunset?” Twilight looked at Sunset with her eyes narrowed at her. “Don’t you wanna find out what’ll happen to your powers?” Sunset then looked at her own crystal geode and thought about it, before looking back at Twilight. “I’m not sure it matters, Twilight. Look… I’m sorry if I had to come here at a bad time-” “It’s not a bad time, because I need to talk to you about something. Now… SIT… DOWN.” Twilight used her magic as she said those two words firmly, forcing Sunset to sit on the bed with her magic before it subsided. Then she sat beside Sunset and neared their faces. “Look… I’m sorry for what I said back there, but it’s what I feel. I actually envied you because you took yourself up as a leader.” “I know.” Sunset sighs afterwards. “Having you talk directly to Princess Twilight was a mistake.” Twilight glares at Sunset. “Says who? The leader who’s concerned she might get replaced?” “W-What the-? Twilight!!! I’m not even feeling I wanted to stay just to be replaced! I’m the same as the rest of you!! Princess Twilight feels that I was able to connect all of you to do better than the days you had before. We proved it with our friendship! And I saw it too! You’re just thinking of this because you aren’t a princess. But you don’t need to prove yourself to be one!” Sunset explains her point clearly, and it gets across. But Twilight had another thinking even if she listened. “I think there’s more to me than just being a friend to all six of you. I never took charge of my life and I only steered myself to what I wanted because it was what I was good at!” “So don’t stay that way…! You know you steered yourself in the right direction because you need people close to you who you can trust! You need to trust me now… just as I have in you.” Sunset mentioned this to remind Twilight of what happened between them and Wallflower Blush. This, Twilight understood and she frowned, looking away from Sunset. “I don’t feel like I’m brand new. I’ve changed… but… It isn’t for the better, is it?” “Honestly Twilight? I’m not sure. But you don’t need to walk that road alone. You have me and the gang to help you out.” “I want to believe that. You six are closer to each other than I am, but now it’s too late.” Twilight didn’t say a word and stood up, before she started to pack a bag for herself. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from her. Does she actually think that she’s going to stand out that we won’t accept her anymore? I watched her pack her large bag, but I kept convincing her to not go. It was until she left the front courtyard that I followed her by myself that the other five caught the news Twilight was leaving. I for one wasn’t ready to give up then… Sunset holds Twilight’s hand at the front courtyard of the school to stop her friend from walking away. The other five were experiencing this, witnessing the moment they wished they wouldn’t remember… “Please… Twilight, don’t leave us!” “Leave me alone, Sunset.” Twilight glared at Sunset, feeling her hand was gripped tight. “I’m only going to hurt you, and the rest of you. I’m doing you a favor already.” “NO YOU’RE NOT! You’re hurting yourself because of Midnight Sparkle!” “MIDNIGHT SPARKLE AWAKENED ME TO SOMETHING I NEVER KNEW BEFORE!!!” Twilight said this, swatting Sunset’s hand away but also, unintentionally, slapping Sunset’s cheek in the process. Twilight seemed surprised she did it and looked at her hand, but glared anyway. “I’m sorry, Sunset. Princess Twilight helped me in realizing I play a good part. But is that part enough? No. That’s why back then when she told me that, it didn’t make sense.” Sunset felt her cheek while she started to cry. “Just… Go.” She said these words simply because she felt she didn’t need Twilight anymore. But as Twilight tried to apologize, Sunset felt rage. “GET OUT OF HERE!!! NOW!!!! Aaaggh…!” She felt her chest warm up, and her own crystal geode glowing. She got on her knees as she felt the pain, and groaned. Applejack arrived first to check what’s happening to Sunset before the rest of her friends came to comfort one of their own. As what happened to Twilight before, Sunset’s geode was forcing itself to infuse inside her body. Twilight turned her back on Sunset. “I don’t expect you to understand, but at least the pain… will be a part of you. Goodbye, Sunset.” She then walked without turning back, taking another direction of the sidewalk with a path that goes away from the school and the city… I was only feeling pain… pain that Twilight left, and the pain that my own crystal geode, the source of my power, was being infused in me. I thought it would be simple, but I don’t know what to think of next. For me, it’s just another day… I just hope she’d come back to us… I failed her that day… I failed Twilight Sparkle.