//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Equestria Grads // by Toon4Thought //------------------------------// Lucky for the group, they arrived at a day when Princess Celestia didn’t receive many visitors. Thus, the group traversed their way through the castle, which was made much easier thanks to Sunset’s recollection of the route, and before they knew it, there were the massive doors. Sunset gulped. She had nothing to worry about in terms of seeing Princess Celestia – after all, they reconciled upon the memory stone incident – it was the current situation she was nervous about. What’s going to happen to the human world? How can it be saved? Can it even be saved at all? Well, she had six ponies right behind her, and they were eager for an answer just as much as her, so no turning back now. She gave herself enough courage to magically open the double doors. Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t seem to matter, as there in the throne room was Princess Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight, upon hearing the creaking of the doors, turned her back to face the group of seven standing by. “Oh, Sunset Shimmer!” she said, trotting over to the other side of the hall to meet her interdimensional friend, “It’s always such a pleasant surprise to see you.” Sunset was happy as well, but she was also fairly nervous. “…Well, this isn’t the only surprise you’re going to get today…” Princess Twilight turned to look behind Sunset as six familiar-looking faces came into view. She initially cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, puzzled at what exactly made this a surprise. However, upon giving the group a full scan, she caught on to how unusually clumsy they looked on their hooves, and particularly how one such unicorn looked a lot like herself, minus the wings and glasses. Only a second later did her eyes pop open. “Are they…?” she asked for confirmation. “Yes,” said Sunset, with some hesitation but still with a hint of smugness. “…You brought them?! Here?!?” Princess Twilight said, with a look on her face that somehow mixed both panic and curiosity. Sunset stepped back, giving a nervous smile and struggling to get her words out. “Well… they wanted to come… and… I guessed having the support would help.” With the cat now out of the bag, she had no idea how Princess Twilight would react. After all, she and Princess Celestia have objected to her friends entering the portal before. Her face winced, preparing for a verbal beating. Surprisingly, Twilight’s subsequent reaction was not one of worry or anger, but of fascination. “Oh, girls, this must be so exciting! Your first time in Equestria!” she said enthusiastically. “What was it like to go through the portal? What is it like to become ponies for the first time? Did you…” “Twilight, I’m sure they’d love to tell you, but we have more important matters to discuss,” Sunset replied flatly, partly to genuinely get to the task at hoof and partly to make sure Princess Twilight didn’t go on for an hour. Her friends behind her, however, looked a little annoyed at Sunset speaking on their behalf. “Where is Princess Celestia, anyway?” Sunset asked out of her curiosity, giving the throne room another scan. Princess Twilight chuckled. “Oh, she is off on another one of those conferences. Imagine that I will be up there one of these days…” Her mouth lowered as if to imply slight dread and nervousness. “Anyway,” she said, giving a friendly motion with her hoof to beckon the girls to approach her more closely. They (rather awkwardly and somewhat reluctantly) did. “So anyway,” said Sunset, taking a deep breath before letting everything out, “Magic is leaking out of our portal like crazy and it’s causing chaos to ensue all across our school and city! We have no idea how long this is going on or why, and we need to know…” She couldn’t manage to finish her sentence, so Rarity stepped in to do so for her. “We need to know if there’s a way we can help save our world.” Applejack also put in her two cents. “And hopefully put it back to its normal, non-magical ways.” Princess Twilight’s eyes slowly widened as the explanation was given, but unlike a minute before, it looked completely serious and not in a positive way – which was far from lost on the girls. “Oh dear,” she panicked, “I was worried this was going to happen… Oh no, oh no..." “What?” said her born-human counterpart. Instead of another response, Princess Twilight activated the magic from her horn and created a little projection screen just behind her. She also summoned a baton, which remained in her grasp. The diagram demonstrated a rough mock-up of the city, with a bunch of lines representing the magic, all coming out of the cube shape representing the statue portal. “As you can see,” Princess Twilight lectured, “the magic that has been building up between dimensions has been slowly leaking out over time, and they have been the reason all those magical artifacts have been able to function.” The cube was then given a big hole, resulting in many more lines jumping out of it and into the city. “The buildup has become so strong, that the portal’s defenses have broken, and the magic is spreading at an alarming rate.” “We kind of figured,” said Rainbow impatiently. “We know our city is in big trouble.” Twilight levitated her pointer upright, showcasing some slight sternness. “But that’s just it – up to now, the magic has been confined to just your city because that was the closest area for it to cover. But soon –“ The diagram slowly zoomed out to reveal areas of increasing size. “The city will be so full of magical energy, that the wisps will extend beyond that. And more and more area will get covered over time.” Sunset Shimmer’s eyes widened as her mind processed where this was going. “Wait… so that means…” Princess Twilight solemnly nodded. “If the magic isn't stopped or controlled, it will threaten to spread all over the entire world!” As she said this, the diagram had fully zoomed out to showcase the entire planet, becoming more and more full of magical forces before being completely covered up. “And… who even knows what catastrophe will happen after that.” The girls gasped as the scope became crystal clear. “No…” Sci-Twi went, stepping back as if the visual demonstration was enough to make her uncomfortable. “Well… surely there’s some way to make the forces stop leaking in!” Rainbow protested. Princess Twilight sighed, knowing this question was coming. “But that’s just it – I have consulted both Princess Celestia and Starlight Glimmer to do that, and I’m afraid that as long as the portal remains active and the hole is there, nothing is stopping the magic from breaking out. Thus, I have only come to one conclusion – I’m going to have to shut down the portal for good.” After she finished, there was pure silence for some time, and not as much reaction as the princess had anticipated. Finally, Rarity broke the silence. “…That’s all you’d have to do?” “Well, it wouldn’t be the easiest thing ever.” Princess Twilight replied, pacing. “Beyond detaching my little contraption, I’d also have to deactivate any magical energy from the portal itself, meaning it won’t even turn on in its old cycle. It’s… complicated, but I have no doubt I’ll be able to do it in time. And after I do this, all the links between the two worlds will be gone, and having nowhere to channel its power from, all the magical energy in your world will completely disappear." Applejack nodded in approval. “All right, that sounds perfect!” “Sounds good to me,” Fluttershy added on. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie voiced similar remarks, but by this point, Sunset was only listening to her inner thoughts. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Close the portal for good? But… she doesn’t even know which world she’ll stay in! She couldn’t imagine how much more difficult her choice would be with this in mind. Without thinking, she silenced the room with one loud shout. “NO!!!!” Everyone turned to look at the very clearly stressed Sunset Shimmer, some annoyed, others curious. “You… you can’t shut down the portal!” “…Why not?” Rainbow asked. “Because… because…” Sunset tried to come up with an excuse but failed miserably. She didn’t want to let her friends know about her conflict; she simply didn’t have the heart to say she was thinking of leaving them. But there was no hiding it anymore. So, might as well let it out. “…Because, I-I… I’m homesick.” Her friends gave puzzled looks, not knowing the connection. Sunset quickly explained her position in greater detail. “Lately, I’ve been feeling very unsure about which world I want to stay in after I graduate. One world has you girls, but the other… has a princess who wants me to resume her magical studies. Not to mention it is where I was born…” “So… which world are you planning to stay in?” Fluttershy asked. “I DON’T KNOW!” Sunset cried. “I was thinking, whichever world I don't stay in I could just visit, but with the portal closing forever… I-I may never see you again. I just don’t want to ever say goodbye to any of you…” She sobbed. At first, the ponies gave a solemn expression of sympathy. "Sunset Shimmer," said Princess Twilight, attempting to be reassuring, "you can take your time with your decision if you'd like. I, of all ponies, should know better than to get between a group of friends." Upon hearing this, Applejack stepped up with a much more strict look and demeanor, looking directly at Sunset Shimmer. “So, what yerr saying is, you’d rather have the portal open so you don’t have to say goodbye to us?” Sunset nodded, still keeping her head down as she cried. Applejack kept the same attitude as before, but her eyes perked up to showcase concern. “You do realize what yerr saying, right?" Sunset didn’t respond. She just wept in her own hooves. "I'm sorry, Sunset Shimmer, but..." Applejack really didn't want to come off as harsh, but she knew sugarcoating would get them nowhere. "Turning off the portal is very much in the public's best interest. This is the world we're talking about here!" "No, no, I get it," Sunset whimpered, attempting to defend herself, "It's just... you girls mean the world to me, and I was hoping that friendship could last." "Well, if we don't do what's right, our society won't last," she said. "As your friend, I understand what you're going through. I'm just... hoping you can understand our problem as well." “Applejack… honestly has a point,” said Rarity, reluctant to admit it. “I mean, surely you know some of us have lives we want to worry about instead of fighting magic all the time,” said Fluttershy, sounding a little more firm than usual. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie simply stood back. They only gave each other rather blank, concerned looks, but that was enough to convey how uncomfortable they were getting. Sci-Twi was in a similar position, but she kept her focus on Sunset Shimmer more than anyone else. "Well, I..." Sunset gulped, once again struggling to think of what to say. "...don't know. I definitely get wanting to move on with your lives, but I... I guess I just am not ready for things to change. These last couple years at Canterlot High have been the greatest in my life, and I knew this day was coming and everything, but... now this whole magic stuff just... ruined everything." She sniffed as the remaining words poured out as quickly as the tears. "It's bad enough we can no longer hang out like we used to, but now I have to pick a side, and... I don't think I can." "Sunset, darling, we too will miss being able to be as together as we have been," said Rarity, with a counseling voice as she stood directly in front of Sunset on one side. "And nobody deserves to go through this kind of pressure," Princess Twilight added on, standing on the other side. "After all, you're the only pony who has love spreading across two dimensions." "But that shouldn't stand in the way of public safety," Applejack interrupted sternly, standing between the two. "Sunset..." she sighed, hating that it had to come to this. "I'm afraid you're going to have to think about your priorities and the big picture." She turned away and started stepping toward the huge double-doors, while four of the remaining ponified girls began to follow. “But… but…” Sunset once again wanted to explain her stance, but couldn’t, even to herself. “Ah-bup-bup!” said Pinkie Pie. Despite the attitude, Sunset saw in Pinkie's face a look of genuine stress and worry. “Let’s not make things even more needlessly depressing." Applejack sighed. “Girls, let’s go home. We gotta let Princess Twilight do what she needs to do.” "Applejack..." said Princess Twilight, wanting to reason with the farm girl. But the only response she got from the orange earth pony was, "Princess, please get to work on shutting the portal down when you can. I'm sure at least you can understand the importance of keeping dangerous magic at bay." And the five continued their steps. Only Sci-Twi stayed put. “You coming, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked. Sci-Twi hesitated before responding. “…No. I'll be sure to return in time though, don't worry." The others were a little bothered by her decision, but they didn’t want to cause more drama. They shrugged and walked out of the throne room. As the doors slammed, all that was left were both Twilight Sparkles and Sunset Shimmer, who was bawling harder than ever. All Sci-Twi could do was slowly crawl to her friend, and pat her head at an attempt to provide some reassurance. Princess Twilight only looked in concern. She didn’t know how to respond to any of this. All she knew was that this was going to be a lot more difficult than even she thought.