//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Paths Cross, part 2 // Story: Oddball // by BittyBug //------------------------------// Chapter 9 - Paths Cross, part 2 Sunset Shimmer could tell that she was going to have a long day. Any residual good feelings she had from the weekend and lunch on Monday instantly evaporated once she made it school. Something felt fishy. The usual hostility she received from the students suddenly had an added layer of smugness to it. Sunset decided she hated it. She scowled at every student that past by as she stomped to her homeroom class. As she rounded a corner, someone called out to her. “Hey, she-demon!” Sunset spun around with fire in her eyes- a fire that, for once, did not affect Micro Chips, who only smirked back. “You should watch yourself. I don’t think Twilight will give you another chance if you try to pull anything else.” ‘Twilight?’ He walked away with the same annoying confidence that the rest of CHS had adopted in regards to Sunset, leaving the girl angry but confused. ‘What the hell is he talking about,’ she wondered angrily. ‘Princess Sparkle Butt is gone for the next three moons.’ Sunset brushed off the encounter as an empty threat as she continued to her homeroom, but an uneasiness had already started to creep up the back of her neck. The bell rang just as Sunset sat down in her homeroom. Ms. Harshwhinny gave her a glare- she technically wasn’t late, but she was cutting it close- as she got up to address the class. “Settle down, now, class.” Ms. Harshwhinny’s dour voice cut through the chatter, silencing the excited teens quickly. “I know you must all be quite excited about Ms. Sparkle’s arrival, but-” “WHAT?” Sunset leapt to her feet. Her heart was racing. All eyes turned to her with varying degrees of smug and satisfied expressions, but she hardly noticed. Ms. Harshwhinny glowered at the redhead. “If you would please refrain from interrupting, Ms. Shimmer…” ‘It’s not possible.’ Several snickers ran through the class, but, again, Sunset did not notice. She could feel the blood pumping in her ears as she clenched her jaw. It was as though her world had come to a screeching halt. “Ms. Shimmer, sit down.” More laughs. More delighted faces and gleeful smirks as Sunset stiffly returned to her seat. The disgruntled teacher continued talking, but all Sunset could hear was her own racing thoughts. ‘No, she can’t… It’s impossible, the portal is closed!’ The rest of homeroom passed in a whirl of anger and confusion for her as she tried to figure out exactly what in Tartarus was going on. Before she knew it, the bell had rung once again and Sunset was robotically pulling herself up and moving to her first period. The first half of the day flew past Sunset in a blur. Luckily for her, she didn’t see Twilight in any of her classes. Her third period study hall was far more stressful than it normally was. She usually spent her time in the library productively; either reading, doing homework, or helping Ms. Cheerilee put books away. The rumours of Twilight’s arrival left her distracted and angry- well, angrier than usual. It was bad enough that she had a few shared classes with those insufferable Elements of Harmony, but now that their little sextuplet was once again complete… ‘I don’t stand a chance against them.’ Sunset’s hands clenched into fists. Her history homework sat untouched in front of her. ‘I just don’t understand,’ she thought bitterly. ‘How? And why?’ Not really paying any attention, Sunset tore the nearly blank sheet of lined paper out of her binder; she was supposed to be writing an essay on the Byzantine Empire, but hadn’t gotten any farther than putting her name on the paper. ‘I mean, who does she think she is?’ The paper ripped between her fingers, straight down the middle, with a satisfying sound. ‘She barges in here, she destroys everything I’ve worked towards… Then she finally leaves, and has the audacity to break the laws of reality and come back?!’ A small pile of shredded paper had started to form beneath Sunset’s hands. Several pairs of eyes turned to Sunset as she slammed a fist into the table, jostling the tiny strips of angry confetti she had created. ‘Hasn’t she ruined my life enough already?’ Tears of frustration stung at the corners of Sunset’s eyes, which only angered her further. She was close to screaming in fury when the shrill sound of the bell interrupted her rumination. It was time for lunch. Lunch, where the whole of the senior class would be. Where Twilight would be. Sunset stood, her eyes blazing with a flame that was all too similar to what she wielded on the night of the Fall Formal. She shoved her history binder into her bag and swept the bits of paper into her hand, depositing them into the recycling on her way out of the library. She moved like she was on a mission. ‘I’m going to get some answers,’ she thought. ‘One way or another.’ *** The bell rang, dismissing Twilight from the Home Economics class she shared with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie was chatting happily as the four exited the classroom. “I’m so glad you got to join our group! I mean it makes sense because we were the only group missing a fourth member, but still!” Twilight smiled. “Thank you,” she signed. Rainbow and Fluttershy had shown the group some of the more basic signs during homeroom, so they could at least pick up on some of the things Twilight signed without translation. “Ah’m glad too,” Applejack added. “We’re all mighty happy to have you as a friend, Twi.” Twilight blushed. She was surprised to find that she was happy, too; if not a little bit exhausted from all the interaction. The day was only half-way over, but Twilight already felt as though her internal batteries were close to empty. She simply wasn’t used to this much attention being on her. The four fell into step together; the Apple/Pie cousins lead the way side-by-side, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy paired behind them. They navigated through the crowded halls together, swiftly making their way to the lunchroom. As expected, the cafeteria was jam-packed. Twilight winced as a wall of sound hit her upon their entrance. Thankfully, Fluttershy picked up on her discomfort and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, steering them through the lunch line. After they got their lunches, two voices shouted over the noise. “Hello, girls-” “Hey, nerds!” Twilight heard Fluttershy giggle from beside her as Rarity swatted at Rainbow, who had launched herself over the table- and, subsequently, knocked Rarity’s salad over- to beckon them closer. Applejack snickered as she and Pinkie sat down, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy to sit across from them. “Nice goin’, Dash,” the farmer joked. “Oh, uh, sorry ‘Rares,” Rainbow said as she noticed the small disorder she had caused. Rarity huffed, brushing lettuce from her skirt and mumbling something about how undignified Rainbow was, and the group shared a laugh- a laugh that Twilight actually joined in on. Smoothing out her shirt and making sure there were no more stray bits of food on her clothing, Rarity turned to Twilight. “So,” she said. “How has your first day as a Wondercolt been so far, Twilight?” Twilight smiled. “It’s been… overwhelming. But not as bad as I thought.” Her hands, finally, were not shaking when she signed her response. “Although, I’m still confused as to why everybody knows my name already.” She glanced around, making eye contact with each of her new friends. There was a moment of silence after Fluttershy translated what Twilight had said. Twilight wasn’t great at reading social cues, but even she could tell that everyone seemed to not know how to respond. Finally, Applejack cleared her throat. “Erm, well… Ya see, sugarcube-” “You!” A shout rang out across the cafeteria, interrupting Applejack and silencing the entire room. Twilight’s new friends froze. She turned her head to the source of the noise, only to find that the owner of the voice- and most of the cafeteria- was staring directly at her. Twilight gulped as the girl strode towards their table. She had flaming red and gold hair that cascaded over her shoulders in waves. In contrast to her yellow-orange skin tone, her eyes were a shockingly cold teal; but they blazed fiercely when they met Twilight’s own gaze. Her heart skipped a beat in a way that was all too familiar; this time, not from anxiety, but from something Twilight feared much more. ‘Crap,’ she lamented as the visibly fuming girl approached. ‘Just what I need; yet another really pretty girl who hates me.’ “Ah, dammit,” Rainbow Dash muttered, breaking Twilight from her thoughts. She and Applejack stood from their seats and moved to put some space between the fiery stranger and Twilight herself. The girl came to a halt in front of the table. Her eyes never left Twilight- something that both delighted and terrified the quiet girl. “Um, howdy there Sun-” She didn’t let Applejack finish. “What on Gaia’s green earth is she doing here?!” She jabbed a finger in Twilight’s direction. Rainbow pushed the girl back by the shoulders. “Back off, Sunset Shimmer. She doesn’t need you all up in her business.” The girl- ‘Sunset Shimmer’- clenched her jaw as Rainbow shoved her. She brought a closed fist back and Twilight’s eyes widened, but Rarity jumped in before she could strike. “Now, now,” the fashionista said in a placating tone. She put a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder and pulled her back towards the table, sending her a look that said ‘drop it’. “Why don’t we all just calm down and talk about this like civilised adults?” Sunset dropped her still-clenched fist and laughed hollowly. “Calm? You expect me to be calm? How am I supposed to be calm when the freaking Princess of Friendship is somehow back when it should be impossible!?” “...Princess…?” Twilight’s voice was soft, but it still somehow brought the conversation to a screeching halt. She almost wilted as everyone looked to her, but her curiosity spurred her forward. “Wh-what do yo-ou mean?” She forced herself to lock eyes with Sunset. ‘This girl… She’s involved with all this- whatever the heck this is.’ There was silence as the two stared at each other. Twilight blushed as those cyan eyes seemed to really look at her for the first time since she entered the cafeteria. They roamed from the quiet girl’s glasses, to her striped shirt, to the messy bun her hair was in- almost curious, but never losing the intensity they held. Finally, Sunset turned her attention away from Twilight, and the bookworm let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Sunset looked to Applejack. “Cowgirl. Explain,” she demanded. “Now.” Applejack sighed. “We’ll tell ya everything we know,” she pacified. “Let’s just go somewhere with less of an- ahem- audience.” With all of the calamity happening around her, Twilight had failed to notice that the entire cafeteria was watching. She sank lower into her seat, graciously accepting a comforting hand from Fluttershy and a sympathetic look from Pinkie. Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Fine. I know just the place.” Without another word, Sunset spun around and strode toward the cafeteria’s fire exit doors. The group shared a cautious look, but ultimately got up as a whole and moved to follow Sunset, leaving the cafeteria to slowly return to normalcy. To say that Twilight was confused was an understatement. There was so much happening, and the only person who didn’t seem to have all the pieces was Twilight herself. ‘Well,’ she thought. ‘At least I’m finally about to get some answers.’ *** Sunset stomped out of the school and towards the edge of the woods, not bothering to check if the Princess and her pests were following. ‘Except that isn’t the Princess, is it?’ No, this girl was much different. She didn’t hold herself with the same obnoxious confidence as Princess Twilight Sparkle. And not to mention that stutter! When Sunset actually took a good look at her, it was clear that this was a different person, despite their similarities. ‘There had better be a different explanation for this than what I’m thinking of,’ Sunset thought bitterly. ‘If I have to deal with two fucking Twilights I think I’m going to scream.’ Soon enough, Sunset pushed through the rapidly lessening foliage and marched through Wallflower’s garden. “Oh, hey Suns-” “Hi, Wallflower. We’ve got company today.” Ignoring the confused look Wallflower gave her, Sunset stalked over to their usual bench and plopped herself down with a huff. Moments after, the Elements and their new friend entered into the clearing. Wallflower raised an eyebrow. “Huh,” she said in a tone that was almost teasing. “I didn’t know you guys were friends. “We’re not friends!” “We aren’t friends!” The gardener snickered as Rainbow and Sunset spoke in unison. “Sure, whatever,” she said with faux-innocence. Rainbow stopped glowering at Sunset for a second and turned to Wallflower, seemingly noticing her for the first time. “Wait, who the hell are you?” “Anyways,” Wallflower said, blatantly ignoring Rainbow. “Why are you guys all- holy shit, Princess Twilight?!” Sunset groaned as Wallflower noticed the newcomer. “Yeah, something like that.” She gave a pointed look to the Elements, who were all standing awkwardly around the clearing. “Start explaining before I go absolutely berserk.” She tried to ignore the snort of laughter Wallflower let out as, to her surprise, Fluttershy stepped forward. “Sunset,” she began in a gentle, but firm voice. “There’s no need to be so rude.” Sunset blinked. Being completely honest, she didn’t think Fluttershy had the guts to talk to her like that. Or to talk to anyone at all, for that matter. ‘Must have gained some courage from hanging around Rain-bitch for so long,’ she thought. Still, she gave credit where credit was due and chose to overlook Fluttershy’s unexpected boldness. Instead, she stayed silent and let the girl continue. “This is Twilight Sparkle,” Fluttershy said, putting a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “She’s a new student that just transferred in from Crystal Prep Academy. She isn’t the Princess, so please don’t hold anything against her; she doesn’t even know you.” There was a tense beat of silence as Sunset absorbed the information. So she was right; there were now two Twilight Sparkles. And of course, she was less than thrilled. “Gods above-” she stood abruptly. Rainbow and Applejack moved to shield Twilight should the redhead attack, but Sunset instead turned and flung her fist into a nearby tree. “rrRRRAGH!” “Godammit Sunset, we talked about this!” Ignoring Wallflower’s words and the fresh pain in her hand, Sunset stomped back to the bench and sat down. “Of course, of course there’s two of them now,” she grumbled, tossing her uninjured hand into the air. “Just kick me while I’m down, why don’t you?” She saw Wallflower roll her eyes in her periphery. “Cool it, Saddle Rager,” the green girl quipped. “You might actually break your hand if you keep this up.” Sunset was about to tell Wallflower exactly how she could go fuck herself when that unsteady voice spoke up again. “Um, w-will someone please tell me wh-what’s go-ing on?” Twilight looked scared, much to Sunset’s delight, but she pushed past Applejack and Rainbow, looking to the red-head for answers. “Don’t look at me Princess,” Sunset spat bitterly. “Ask your new friends.” “I-I’ve tried!” The Elements at least had the decency to look a little guilty. Applejack sighed deeply. “We’re mighty sorry for not talking about this sooner, Twi. There hasn’t really been a good time.” “Until now,” Sunset jabbed. The cowgirl winced. “Until now,” she repeated. “Well, might as well get comfy.” Applejack brushed away some fallen leaves and sat down on the dirt. She gestured for her friends to do the same. “Yer’ in for a long ride.” *** It took most of the lunch period to explain everything. Sunset’s rule over the school and theft of the crown, Twilight’s arrival and quick befriending of the Elements; her subsequent win of the crown, Sunset dog-napping Spike and her threat to smash the portal. The transformation. The blast. The end. Applejack gave most of the summary, with the others- sans Wallflower and Sunset- chiming in with details here and there. In fact, Sunset had stayed surprisingly silent through the explanation, merely alternating from glaring daggers at Twilight to huffily inspecting the ground. By the time the story came to an end, Twilight’s head was spinning. ‘Princesses? Ponies? Magic?!’ She shook her head in disbelief. The scientific part of her brain was at war with her instinctive need to fill in the blanks around her. ‘There’s… There’s no way. These people are crazy, they have to be!’ ‘But this would explain that big energy spike,” she countered herself. “A surge of magic like the rainbow blast they described would certainly have been picked up by my machine!’ A scoff brought Twilight out of her thoughts. She looked up. Sunset was looking at her with an unreadable expression. “She doesn’t believe you yet. Show her the video.” The Elements immediately cringed, but Rarity pulled out her phone nonetheless. The video was short and appeared to just be a poor smear campaign, but to Twilight it was earth shattering; no amount of photoshop or video editing could create a minute-long video of Twilight Sparkle herself when there were pretty much zero videos of her online at all. And how would anyone at Canterlot High know who she was in the first place? Crystal Prep was in the city, she had never met a Wondercolt before today! And not to mention the fact that she didn’t own clothes that looked anything like that, nor had she worn her hair down since third grade. Any way she looked at it, the video only served to reinforce what they had told her. ‘They really weren’t lying,’ Twilight marveled. ‘Which means…’ “Magic is real!?” The inner scientist in Twilight was both dismayed and absolutely ecstatic. On one hand, magic defied any and all laws of science and nature; but on the other hand, there was so much research to do! So many things to test, so many experiments to run… But it didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. All of this new information went against everything Twilight had learned, undid years upon years of devotion to science and reasoning and uprooted every belief that Twilight held dear. Rainbow Dash’s nervous chuckle somewhat brought her mind back from the clouds. “Guys, I think we broke her.” Twilight almost didn’t hear her. She merely nodded, hoping that was enough of an answer for the time being. “Oh, poor dear,” Rarity said from her spot next to Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Not wanting to get her dress dirty, she was happily sat on Applejack’s worn flannel shirt. “We know this is a lot to absorb,” she said kindly. “But we’re here for you.” “Yeah,” Pinkie spoke up. “We can’t promise everything’ll make sense, but nothing fun ever does!” Twilight smiled weakly. The faces of her new friends- her new, magic friends- smiled back warmly. Just then, the bell rang, causing Twilight to jump slightly. Sunset Shimmer got up from the bench and stretched lazily. “Well, I’d say this has been fun,” she said with a faux-blaisé tone. “But it really hasn’t. Let’s never do this again.” “Now there’s something we can agree on,” came Rainbow’s caustic response. The rest of the group started getting up from their respective spots, shouldering their bags and fixing their clothes as needed. Twilight took an offered hand from Fluttershy. ‘Oh boy,’ she thought as she and the Elements started walking back to the school. ‘I really need time to process all of this.’ *** The rest of the day was a living hell for Sunset. As it turned out, she had not one, not two, but three whole classes with Twilight Sparkle. “I guess the second half of my day is totally ruined forever, now,” Sunset thought bitterly, glaring daggers at Twilight as she exited their shared seventh period. “Classes with Sparkle, then detention. Can’t get much worse than that.” With a snarl and a glare at anyone who crossed her path, Sunset navigated the halls swiftly. Usually, she wasn’t in any rush to see Celestia, but today she had a bone to pick. Sunset didn’t bother knocking when she reached Celestia’s office. “Principal Celestia!” Celestia blinked as Sunset burst into the room and loomed over her desk, anger coming off her in waves. “Um, come on in, Sunset. What can I help you with?” It took a lot of self control for Sunset to not flip over the desk between her and her not-really-former-teacher. “You know exactly what you can ‘help me’ with, Celestia.” Sunset almost growled the older woman’s name. “Why in the name of the gods is Twilight in so many of my classes?! There’s no way in hell this is going to end well and you know it!” The Principal narrowed her eyes with a frown. “I’m going to choose to overlook the way you just addressed me,” she said in a warning tone. “And instead focus on your glaring disrespect for your classmates. I tried to keep Twilight away from you for as much of the day as possible, but unfortunately there is only so much I can do.” Sunset felt her anger in her stomach coming to a rolling boil. There was no way in hell she was spending this much quality time with the Princess’ doppelganger. “You have to move her,” she insisted. “The classes Twilight is taking make her schedule inflexible,” Celestia said, keeping her voice even. “Certain teachers only have certain classes in certain periods, especially with advanced courses; that is something that cannot be changed. You should remember having the same problem when you signed up for your classes this year.” “Then make her take a different class!” “Twilight has as much of a right to be there as you do.” “But-!” “Sunset Shimmer!” Celestia abruptly pushed herself into a standing position, slamming her palms on the desk and cutting Sunset off. “If you are going to continue acting like a child, I’m going to have to treat you like one. I’ve had enough of this attitude. Do I make myself clear?” That shut Sunset up rather quickly. Celestia had never talked to her like this; at least, not this version of Celestia. The principal sighed heavily. She sat back down, lacing her fingers together atop her desk. “Twilight Sparkle will not be moved, and you absolutely will not harass her, nor myself, over it. End of discussion.” Rather tongue-tied, Sunset just stood there, quietly staring at Celestia with wide eyes. She was still mad, but all the fire had been let out of her like a rapidly deflating balloon. She felt like a filly again, being scolded by the Equestrian Celestia for one reason or another, leaving her uncharacteristically sober and reflexively silent. After the silence had stretched for a bit too long, Celestia spoke up once again. Her tone was much more gentle, but lacked the condescending nature that Sunset expected. “I’m sure today has been very stressful for you,” she said softly. “Why don’t you go on home, Sunset? Detention can wait.” It sounded to Sunset like there was some true compassion behind Celestia’s voice, much more than there had ever been with her former mentor. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and left without another word.