//------------------------------// // Book 1: Shadow. Chapter 1: Happy New Year! Part II // Story: Twinkling, Shimmering, & Glimmering // by JustNewHere //------------------------------// “Okay, so when I volunteered to help Shy out at the Animal Shelter after my…err…’downfall’, I started out with an apology but she wouldn’t even look at me,” Sunset began (after being extensively pried by Pinkie ever since she bolted inside the room) as she sat on the carpeted floor with all of her friends’ attention, sans Fluttershy who was leaning against the red head and hiding her blushing face. “It was awkward. I didn’t know what to do so I busied myself with cleaning out the cat cages, talking to the animals, and simply lost in thought about the past few days after the fall formal.” Rainbow and Pinkie sat across the speaking girl, enraptured with every word as their plate of dessert went ignored. Applejack listened from her perch on Sunset’s bed while discretely glancing at the resident fashion queen’s laser focused stare on the newly announced couple. The farmer mused that Rarity might wear a hole on the two’s heads if she kept that up. AJ let out a small smile at the thought before letting it fall as her eyes landed at an unoccupied part on the carpeted floor. Twilight’s plate remained untouched since Rarity entered and while the fashionista answered Sunset’s question of Twilight’s whereabouts with a short response of the classic ‘not feeling well’, only two out of the six members accepted the explanation. “Then I guess I didn’t realize yet but I started singing the ‘Helping Twilight Win the Crown’ song of all things!” Sunset exclaimed as she recalled that day, remembering the moment clearly with a slight groan. Rainbow snickered at that, having a hard time imagining the once proud bully of Canterlot High School singing about the Magic of Friendship in a cutesy area filled with animals. Pinkie Pie rolled on the floor, seeming to have shared the same thoughts as the element of Loyalty. “You, miss badass leather-wearing Alpha bitch of CHS, singing your heart out to a bunch of animals? HAHAHAHAHA,” Rainbow managed to let out before laughter took hold of her again as she pounded a fist against the carpet. A blur of pink rolled around the floor as well, giggling harder than ever at the use of a bad word. Applejack chuckled before noticing Rarity’s shocked expression. Feeling puckish herself, Applejack opened her mouth and said in a familiar and eerily spot-on voice of a certain social media star they recently encountered, “Now now, I told you to not use the B-word.” Silence permitted the room. Until Rarity let out a loud snort, causing the others to begin laughing once more and filling the room with joy and their own happiness. Sunset held a hand against her head as she leaned back against the side of her bed, her own sides slowly starting to hurt. Fluttershy giggled beside her, leaning her face against the former pony’s shoulder. Pinkie and Rainbow both began to groan and utter weak, “My sides!” before more laughter escaped them, followed by another series of, “OW! HAHAHAHA STOP! HAHAHAHA, I CAN’T- OW!” Out of breath, red in the face, yet happier than ever, Fluttershy wiped a tear away as she glanced at her friends and their smiling faces. The animal lover snuggled against the older girl at the warm feelings she’s experiencing, not having laughed this much ever since she could remember. An orange arm draped around her, bringing more warmth to the shy girl and she vowed, here and now, to never give this up for anything. Another quote from the motivational videos suddenly came to mind, “If you really don’t want to lose her, Eliminate any saboteur.” “Did you say something, Shy?” Pinkie’s voice brought the element of Kindness back to the present, seeing all eyes on her. Nervously, she squeezed at the arm draped around her as she replied with a soft, “Just…enjoying the company of my friends.” Rainbow grinned at that, “Yeah, it’s been so long since we can finally relax!” She followed this statement off with laying back down, arms folded behind her head. Applejack nodded, “I’ve reckon. Too much magic been going about here and there if ya ask me.” She began ticking a list with her fingers, “First the Fall Formal,” she paired this off with a grin at the one present who turned into a she-demon, continuing as she ignored the eye roll directed at her, “Then the battle of the bands…” “Friendship games…” Rarity added as she gave a worried glance at the empty seat on the floor. “…Camp Everfree…” said Sunset, following Rarity’s sight with a light crease on her brow. “…then the Daring Do movie premiere…” Fluttershy added as she took Sunset’s attention away with a loving peck on the nose. “…don’t forget that mess with the Memory Stone…”Rainbow supplied from her position on the floor. “Then the one with Vignette Valencia!” Pinkie Pie finished with a smile as she jumped up and cartwheeled around the room as she began speaking rapidly,“ThenwewillhavetosolveanewproblemwherewehavetogoonacruiseandfindawaytostopastormandthenRainbow,Sunset,andTwilightfoundthemselvesenteringaportalthatturnedthemintoponiesandTwilightpanickedanditfeelslikeRainbow’sthirdwheelingonSunsetandTwilightbutthenwhoknowswhatwillhappen- Pinkie took a huge lungful of air before grinning happily at the gaping expressions of the Rainbooms. “Uh, come again?” Applejack asked with confusion clear in her tone. The party planner shrugged, “Wait till next year.” All unanimously voting that Pinkie’s just being Pinkie, Rarity stood up as she idly picked up her plate to set it on Sunset’s study table. While rubbing a finger under the leopard gecko’s chin inside the tank he was in she looked back towards the new couple, “Darlings, you didn’t actually get to finish your tale. How and when did you two start becoming an item?” The question simple enough to anyone, four teenagers knew the agenda laced within the inquiry. Sunset scratched at her cheek as she glanced up, “Huh, yeah. Seems like we’ve lost track of the conversation,” she laughed before turning to the purple haired girl, “Long story short, Fluttershy heard me singing and I guess that made her start seeing ‘Sunset Shimmer’ and not just ‘the mean girl who made the shy girl cry all the time.’” Fluttershy continued with a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, “I knew at that moment that Sunset really changed. The old meanie that I used to know wouldn’t let her guard down in her new environment, let alone sing where someone can easily hear her beautiful voice.” With Sunset rubbing the back of her head at the compliment, Rarity pursed her lips as she processed their tale. The fiery haired girl added, “After that and more visits at the animal shelter, I think we started being attracted to each other by the end of the Friendship Games,” here she blushed further at a certain memory. Rainbow snickered once she caught the other’s expression. “We started going out, I guess, after the day we waited in line for that videogame I wanted.” Fluttershy nodded beside her as her cheeks lit up with a memory of that fateful day. It still brought a tingling sensation in her as she recalled how Sunset looked, blushing adorably as the pony-turned-human sputtered how she wanted to invite Fluttershy over to her apartment while fumbling about it not being a date until she blurted out how she wanted it to be one. “So over videogames, you two decided to start dating?” AJ asked the blushing girl, scratching her head. “It…um…sounded more romantic when we experienced it.” Pinkie Pie exchanged glances with Rainbow Dash, seeming to communicate the exact same thoughts. Sunset was half tempted to use her geode on them because the looks they were making slowly unnerved her but a glance across her room changed her mind. The red head fiddled with her pedant, suddenly more anxious on another matter than the idea of two of her friends up to something. She honestly liked to beat herself up now, realizing too late how amidst all the laughter and the reminiscing she forgot about the one person that she shared the same bond over being ‘Demon buddies,’ as Pinkie put it. The connection she and Twilight shared over that experience brought her restless nights due to the thoughts and the continuous ‘weird feelings’ she had been feeling lately but after a quick advice from Princess Twilight, the true expert of all things friendship, interpreting her state of unrest concluded that Sunset may have felt a kinship with the young scientist. It was common for that to happen as the pony princess told her about Starlight Glimmer’s connection with the pony Trixie (Sunset chose to ignore the underlying contempt laced within her friend’s tone at the mention of the stage magician) and became closer friends. To simply put, it was safe to say that Sunset managed to find peace at having an answer to this weird bout of feelings. She honestly didn’t mind having a best friend. The closest thing to one she could recall was an affectionate little phoenix she hatched but even at that time, she could not decide if what she felt was true camaraderie or just something she can boast to her fellow unicorns about. Either way, she knew she could not let this new discovery go. With that in mind, Sunset made a move to stand up and simply check on Twilight’s state and offer anything to ease the girl’s uneasiness but the sudden opening of the door halted her. “Yay! Twilight made it!” Pinkie exclaimed as she went over to scoop the new arrival with a bone-crushing hug. The girl being squeezed wheezed out a hello before patting Pinkie as a sign to let go. Once released and given time to gather her bearings, she adjusted her glasses while looking like she’s fighting back a grimace, “Hey girls, I was sent by Luna to tell you that the fireworks will be starting soon.” She added with a hesitant, “I think.” The vice principal in question popped her head by the doorway after the young girl’s statement, looking a bit red in the face and oddly slaying the headgear that Sunset noted as the lamp shade from the living room. The adult let out a toothy grin and an erratic wave as she bellowed, “Come children of the night! Let us partake in the joys of staring at explosions of beauty painting the dead sky!” As the odd choice of words has been said, she disappeared to answer the raucous calls of “Nightmare moon finally returned!” from downstairs. The teenagers all blinked simultaneously. “I…think that’s the cue that we should head downstairs now,” Sunset started again while she slowly recovered from seeing her aunt in such a state. All agreeing, they got up and headed down to where more raucous cheering and incoherent babbling could be heard. With the fiery haired unceremoniously voted as the ring leader, she was the first to step down stairs as she braced herself for what she would find the state of the ‘adults’ in. She tried not to wince as she spotted the disarray that was formerly known as their living room. As Sunset came into view, a tall spindly woman with exotic features paused in her untoward flirting with the younger girl’s mother and a spine-chilling grin settled in place as she sashayed towards the former pony and ensnared her into a hug. “Ah, my darling niece whom I love love so much and would do anything for,” The woman’s lightly echoing and saccharine voice proceeded to add to her already intimidating features as she caressed the struggling Sunset’s hair while the elder stared with half lidded eyes at the school principal. “How are you?” She directed the question to the uncomfortable teen. “I’m, ugh, good. Could you let me go, Aunt Chrysalis?” Not seeming to hear her pleas, the woman now identified to all the Rainbooms as Chrysalis continued to run her fingers through the younger girl’s tresses as she did not break her gaze on the school administrator. Sunset was vaguely aware that she was like the cat being stroked as the show’s villain revealed themselves to the hero. She seized her useless flailing as she waited for the odd and suffocating tension between her mother and peculiar aunt (that she swore was a bug on the other side of the portal) to stop…or at least let her escape. The group of teens snickered at Sunset’s expense, making her shoot a glare at their general direction. “Now now you two, keep it in the bedroom will you? For Pete’s sake there are children present,” the condescending voice that joined in did not help alleviate Sunset’s mood. She moved her head to stare at the tall and well-dressed man that entered the fray. Chrysalis scoffed at the newcomer, “Must you always ruin our moments, Discord?” The man in question was not fazed, “You act as if you did not expect this from me.” He let out a laugh as he slung a white gloved hand around the woman, subtly loosening her grip on the young teen he took to calling his favorite niece. Even if she was his only niece, he did not retract the title he had given Sunset. She was the only one who enjoyed his jokes after all. With having been freed, Sunset sought solace back to her group and amusedly taking in Rarity’s unfocused gaze at her ‘crazy uncle’ (His words alone and not hers) and Twilight’s apparent frown directed at the man. The redhead let out a small smile tug at her lips, fondly recalling the memory of the nerdy girl’s encounter with Discord. The man, in his entire finely dressed and well-kept manner, was a mad man. From his flamboyant entrance of unhinging the door (because he does not believe in simply turning a knob to get to different places) to the man’s grand yet random speech of claiming that the world they were living in was a Pyramid, and not a sphere or other ‘ludicrous’ claims. Maybe it was the sadist that still lingered in her or that she hadn’t fully changed her ways but seeing the struggle of Twilight vehemently yet failing to explain why the world they’re in is round to the stubborn adult (while he was eating a sandwich even) brought a sense of amusement in her. “So I heard my dear niece has a girlfriend now,” Discord stated with a smile directed at the musing pony-turned-human. The sudden exclamation made the attention focus on him. Luna, from her perch upside down on the couch, yelled out, “She caught a good one!” He did not miss two girl’s bristling at the statement. A dark finely trimmed brow was raised as he waited for further explanation. Celestia who remained silent the whole time from her relaxed position in her chair (Sunset was not amused to see it was actually the living room’s grandfather clock her mother was laying on) and a bit flushed herself supplied an adequate answer. “My daughter’s banging her schoolmate.” Chrysalis let out a hearty echo of a laugh as Sunset looked aghast with an exasperated, “Mom, why!?” Rainbow and Pinkie waited for the words to sink in before they collapsed into another painful fit of laughter. Applejack groaned into her hat as Fluttershy promptly fainted on the spot. “Oh my,” Rarity let out while fanning her red face. Twilight drowned out the growls of “WE HAVEN’T EVEN DONE THAT YET!” from her crush and hurried towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, not hearing the calm voice of the house’s matriarch asking, “What do you mean by ’yet’ young lady?” The techie let out a sigh as she rummaged around for a glass, not hearing the slight pitter patter of feet as they settled on a chair. She slowly turned and luckily did not drop the glass as she observed Sunset’s uncle staring at her with intense light yellow eyes. All while standing on a chair as he gazed down on her. She brought a hand up to her face, not having the emotional and mental capacity to handle the mad man at this moment. She already dealt with first failing to work up the courage to knock on her crush’s door, then getting flustered by said crush after being caught in her wreck/disorganized state all while leading to her heart breaking into multiple nanosized particles as she was faced with the harsh color brown truth of reality of the now unavailability of her crush, with the icing of the never-ending brown mush that is her life as the person of her crush’s affection was the sweetest and kindest person alive in all dimensions. Twilight took a long sip as she processed all that. The bright light yellow eyes blinked before the owner did a back-flip and landed perfectly on the checked floor. Not even slipping on the puddle that came from the young girl’s sudden sputtering. “You have a bit of spit take residue still left over there,” Discord idly stated as he produced a handkerchief and dabbed it on Twilight’s dripping chin. “Bah…” was all she managed to let out before shaking her head and leaning away from Discord. “Uh, if you do not mind Mister Discord but I would like to be alone… like right now,” she punctuated this statement by turning and crossing her arms as she faced the kitchen sink. “But what if I do mind, Ms. Twiset Sunsparkle?” Twilight whirled around immediately, “Argh, my name’s Twilight. Twi-light Spar-kle! Why do you keep using that annoying name?!” The man was unfazed, “Saying it by syllables won’t make the name any less forgettable.” The frustrated teen threw her hands up at that, “Fine! Be that way, it’s not like I was your student at Crystal Prep before or that you were my Philosophy teacher that I had to sign up for because Everton had those units as a standard requirement for the entrance exam.” She let out a bitter laugh as she mocked gasped, “Oh wait, I was!” A purple hand pointed at him, “You’re the reason why I didn’t get in immediately! You failed me because you wouldn’t accept my paper detailing about the inexistence of a ‘Tatzlwurm.’ I tried to ask you that maybe you meant a ‘Tatzelwurm’ but did you listen? No! And what is even a ‘Twittermite’? They don’t exist!” Nothing but the silent huffs of the infuriated girl’s breathing and the background noise of chatter permitted the kitchen. The young genius brought a hand and rubbed it lightly against her eye as she glared at the man who was unbothered by the outburst. “Are you done?” The sardonic question did not diminish Twilight’s ire but she was in fact done. She was done fighting. The younger shook her head with a defeated sigh and took a seat before burying her head in her arms. Fireworks started making their presence known as the Rainboom’s singer faintly heard the shuffling of feet heading out the backyard. Twilight lifted her head. She was still not alone. “Can’t you leave already?” “I can.” A beat passed. “Will you leave then?” “Eventually, I don’t exactly live here you know?” Another beat passed, then a sigh. “Twilight,” Discord began as he sat on the edge of a kitchen table and crossed his legs. He waited for the girl to look at him. He let out a toothy grin. “Twittermites and Tatzlwurms exist.” Celestia glanced back at the door leading inside her house with a concerned furrow of her brows just as another firework exploded with a loud boom. Her sister, a bit bleary eyed, squinted at the older sibling. “Something the matter, Tia?” “No,” the Principal uttered as she turned back to watch the spectacle taking place above, briefly making sure of the appropriate space separating a certain redhead and her girlfriend to answer the younger, “I just think I heard something, like the sound of an object smacking into another.” “It must have been the fireworks sister.” “…Must be.” Discord had done a lot of things that his friends keep saying he should have regretted…or at least thought of more. Like that time with the peanut burrito dipped with apple juice he invented back in his college days before it ultimately sent him throwing up for weeks. In his defense however, he just wanted a new version of PB and J. Then there was that time with the ‘Hair brush Incident’ that he promised himself that he wouldn’t even bring up. He shuddered as he also failed in that regard. Then…there was that mess with Celestia… He furrowed his eyebrows at that. So maybe his friends do sometimes and occasionally have a point but those certain events always worked out for what he intended to happen. He told himself that before and he kept telling himself that right now. Even if he got hit by a plastic glass and maybe obtained a bruise in a few days. Point still stands as long as he, Discord de Lancie Q. Equus, keeps standing. The bruised man slowly took a seat as he waited for the huffing and angry teenager to simmer down. A midnight blue boot stomped down on the tiled floor as Twilight growled out, “You. Are. Infuriating.” “I am Discord,” he quipped in return but the sudden movement of the younger girl’s hand reaching for another glass (and this time made of real glass) made him backtrack, “Stop. Please, I apologize for my insensitivity.” He inwardly sighed in relief when the teenager paused. Good, who knows what Celestia would do to him if she loses any of her wares? The man brought a hand up in a placating manner, “I think I went overboard with the- as you kids say- ‘trolling.’ I should’ve remembered my limits.” Twilight growled. “Sorry, I should’ve remembered people have limits,” he restated then picked up the plastic mug. “It was wrong so I apologize.” The purple girl grasped her arms together as she looked away, “Okay fine. Could you go away now?” Discord let out a deadpanned expression in return, “I’m trying to have a sincere form of moment here. Must you ruin it?” At the motion of hands reaching once more for the glass, he held his own hands up in surrender as he stood up. “Bah, fine. Throw away my perfectly scripted message about how I understand your situation and all that. Brood for a couple of chapters for all I care.” Twilight bristled at that, “Like you can even understand my situation, let alone know how I feel right now.” Discord blinked as he gripped his chin in thought, “Well true. I wasn’t a lesbian when I was your age but I do recall having a man crush on a fellow colleague before. Didn’t last though, he just simply sucks the life out of the party whenever he opens his big mouth.” Twilight stared. “I…did not expect that.” “That’s the idea,” he stated with a smile. Another boom shook the house as they simultaneously turned towards the window at Rainbow Dash’s shriek of ‘Awesome, they’re finally done warming up!’ over the sound of a series of mini explosions. Multiple streaks of lights painted the sky. The young genius adjusted her glasses as she glanced out the window. A sense of longing to be with her friends overcame her as she realized the time she wasted ever since she got here. She haven’t even recalled laughing or having a good time ever since coming to Sunset’s house and she decided, as she heard another shriek and laughter coming from outside, that it was time to change that. “I…think I’m good to go out now.” She didn’t even wait for the other to respond as she made her way towards the door but the screaming tiny voice in her head that suspiciously sounded like her mother made her stop and turn to at least thank the annoying person who stayed with her. A sigh was let out before Twilight turned, “Mr. Discord, thank- She blinked as the crazy man was no longer in her field of vision. She huffed until she screamed out loud as she found Discord now in front of her. He clasped a gloved hand around her shoulders, “No need for that obvious bit. I’m glad to be of help.” He continued even if the teenager petulantly shrugged him off, “That’s me, the amazing listener that I am and an eager ear to lend to juvenile woes and drama.” “…I’m going out now.” She left him guffawing and chortling in the kitchen as she made her way to the door leading to the backyard. Once again faced with an oak white door, she took a deep breath. Amethyst eyes hardened their gaze on the wooden barrier separating her from the paradox that is her desire and aversion to see her friends. “How about we run away instead? We don’t have to face them. We can just hide in our little lab and wait it all out.” The purple hand reaching out the knob hesitated. Her heart started beating and her stomach began doing flips of several somersaults that she once saw Pinkie doing during a sugar high. The option to run and hide was tempting. She took a step back. The sound of joys and happiness from outside brought her shame. She shouldn’t be bringing the mood down with her problems. She took another step backwards. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Sunset had done so much for her and what would she repay them? By being a mood killer. All of her friends are really great people, having done so much to earn and get where they are. Even after being reassured multiple times, Twilight still doesn’t feel like she deserved any of the good things that happened to her prior to her moving to CHS. She was the cheap knock off of the pony princess who saved the school and united the students. She, the awkward science nerd, was the one who turned into a demon and planned to destroy both worlds for the quest for knowledge. She got stopped thanks to Sunset and once again got saved by her friends at the event in Camp Everfree. Unlike her, those girls are the ones who were truly amazing, especially Sunset… She stopped. “Yes, last time I turned into something amazing, but I've let magic turn me into a monster, too. So if anyone understands what you're going through, it's me. I can help you, Twilight. And the rest of our friends can be there for you, too.” Twilight marched onward. “But not if you run away.” “Twilight!” was what six girls simultaneously said upon seeing the girl. She let out a hearty wave as Rainbow Dash used her super speed to sling an arm around the egghead, “Finally! I was afraid you won’t get to see what my dad cooked up for tonight!” At the light crease of Twilight’s brow to signal her confusion, Applejack explained from her seat on a patio chair, “RD’s dad works at a firework factory. He and his team are the one’s responsible for them what you see up the sky.” Rarity giggled beside the farmer as she added, “She said her father named it the ‘Sonic Rainboom.’ You can guess who he named it after.” At the light pinking of her prismatic haired friend’s cheeks, she had a pretty good guess. She smiled at that even amidst being unceremoniously tossed on the checkered picnic blanket by a pink blur. She hoped she didn’t outwardly tense up as the sound of her nickname (given by none other than her crush) was uttered by the strong voice of Sunset. "Hey, glad you can make it, Sparky." “Hi…oh and congratulations to the both of you. Sorry I didn’t say that earlier, must have been something I ate at home.” She poured all the sincerity she can muster into the statement. Fluttershy waved a hand from her position leaning against the redhead. “Don’t be sorry. I hope that you’re feeling alright now.” “Yeah…I’m mostly okay.” Sunset grinned at that, “Good. Nice timing too, it’s almost midnight and the ‘Sonic Rainboom’ is about to go off next.” True enough, Pinkie Pie pulled out a giant clock from her curls and set it in the middle of the backyard where everyone present can see. Twilight pursed her lips. Having been told numerous times by Rarity and reading the materials related to the matter made Twilight aware on what will happen once both hands of the clock struck twelve. She fidgeted in her seat as Rainbow and the rest joined them on the large and spacious picnic blanket laid on the trimmed grass. She barely heard Chrysalis amusingly asking “What happened to your forehead, Discord?” as she glanced around the area. Her eyes found the giant clock and she decided to focus on that, with minimal effort. 5… Luna let out a light snore from her position on the plastic bench, a serene smile painting her sleeping features. 4… Twilight caught Rarity’s eye as the older tried to convey the message she wanted the other to receive. 3… “Be strong,” she mouthed as she glanced upward towards the starlit sky. Applejack shot a thumbs up in Twilight’s direction. It comforted her, even if for a bit, to see her friends’ efforts. 2… Rainbow and Pinkie Pie smiled next to the young genius, each holding her hand as they all saw Sunset face Fluttershy and slowly bringing a hand to the animal lover’s face. Twilight squeezed their hands in return, silently assuring them (and maybe herself) that she won’t get hurt as much (maybe) from seeing the up and close display in front of her. 1… Twilight shivered, hoping it was from the cold night air and not from dread of what would come. She was better than that. The giant clock's hands struck twelve with an ominous clang. An explosion of colors shot through the sky, bringing multiple hues and lights in contrast to the dull midnight. Multiple people around Canterlot cheered upon seeing the spectacle. Numerous of them held out their drinks as they celebrated the end of the year. Loud horns and honks were blared after the light show slowly faded. Through it all, a vice principal slept peacefully. Twilight bit her lip as she mustered up a smile. The newly announced couple separated with blushing cheeks and happy smiles as they gazed at one another. Twilight didn’t notice four bodies hugging her nor the continuous noises of the small ending fireworks lighting up for the finale and the sounds being made from the other houses. Loud as all of it was right now, she heard nothing more clearly than the sound of her own heart shattering.