“I… I’m sorry.” Sunset Shimmer apologized on her hands and knees at the bottom of a crater, tears flowing down her face as she looked around, making sure everybody present knew she was addressing all of them. “I didn’t know there was another way.”
“The magic of friendship doesn’t just exist in Equestria.” Princess Twilight, looking down at the defeated she-demon from the edge of the same crater, explained. She turned around to smile at her five new friends who looked exactly like her best friends back in her homeworld. “It’s everywhere. You can seek it out.” Her smile turned into a sad frown. “Or you can forever be alone. The choice is yours.”
It took a lot of effort, but the amber-skinned high schooler managed to crawl to the edge of the hole she was in. “But… But all I’ve ever done since coming here is drive everyone apart. I don’t know the first thing about friendship.” To her surprise, the Equestrian Princess grabbed her hand and helped her get out of the crater and stand up.
“I bet they can teach you.” She said, waving in the general direction of the five girls.
Rainbow Dash’s wings immediately froze up and she fell to the ground, landing on her butt. Pinkie Pie, who was leaning against Applejack, lost her balance and also fell. Fluttershy’s shyness came back in full force as she cowered behind the apple farmer. Rarity simply played with her hair, looking down at the ground with an awkward smile on her face to avoid their gaze. Applejack placed her closed fists on her waist, cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.
“Say what?” She asked.
“Um, girls?” Twilight called, suddenly feeling concerned.
“Whoa whoa whoa, time out!” Rainbow Dash quickly stood up after recovering from the shock. “After everything she said and all the things she’s done, we’re supposed to just forgive her out of the blue like that?”
“I-I know it seems a little… rushed.” Twilight stuttered, their reaction completely taking her by surprise. “But trust me, all she needs it a helping hand and a little guidance. If she has people by her side to show support and lead her down the right path, she’ll be like a completely different person. Can you do that? For me? Please?”
“Well, I…” Applejack put her hand behind her head, scratching her nape. “If it’s for ya, I s’pose we can at least try. Y’all agree?”
Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy agreed with varying degrees of apprehension. Rainbow Dash crossed her arms.
“Do we have to?”
“Dash!” Applejack chastised her. “After all Twilight did for us, the least we can do is try, right?”
Sighing in defeat, the speedster uncrossed her arms. “Fine.”
After Principal Celestia returned to Twilight the crown that was rightfully hers, all the students went back to the gymnasium and continue the dance that had been previously interrupted. Sunset Shimmer stayed behind, hoping for a chance to talk to the five girls Princess Twilight had asked to mentor her in the ways of friendship without the entire school watching them, but they were among the first to go back inside.
Sunset thought about joining them, but she felt it would be highly inappropriate given the circumstances; instead she built a makeshift stool out of the bricks that went flying after she destroyed the school’s façade, sat down and watched the starry night sky by herself.
Meanwhile, miles away from Canterlot High, a trio of ancient beings from Equestria who had been banished to that same world ages ago had felt the unbridled use of Equestrian magic. Hungry for power, they immediately abandoned everything they were doing to chase after its source.
Adagio Dazzle was behind the wheel, driving their minibus/mobile home. Aria Blaze sat beside her on the passenger’s seat, looking outside with her cheek pressed against the window, nowhere as excited about their discovery as her ally.
“I’m telling you, you’re imagining things.” The girl with purple twintails said while rubbing the red gemstone hanging from her neck between her thumb and index finger. “Sonata and I didn’t feel anything.”
“It was very faint, you weren’t paying attention when it happened.” The leader of the trio replied while keeping her eyes on the road.
“You said the same thing in Macedonia, Giza, Shropshire, Wiltshire, Inverness, Tromsø, Zhongdian, Hawai’i Island and Hamilton, and the only magic we found in those places was the magic of wasted time – except for Pripyat, where we found the magic of radiation poisoning, so if I’m being skeptical it’s because I have a reason.”
“It will be different this time, trust me.”
“You said the same thing in—”
“Shut up and keep your eyes on your gemstone!”
“What for?”
“I can’t drive and track the source of the magic at the same time. When yours pick up the trail, I need you to give me directions.”
Aria’s annoyance morphed into rage.
“You know what, no! I am sick and tired of your schemes that lead us straight into dead ends! Stop this bus, I am getting off right here. If you want to chase after something that doesn’t exist until the universe implodes then that’s your choice, but count me—”
Aria’s gem started to glow – it was very faint, but definitely real. Adagio didn’t say anything, she simply smirked as her companion started at the magical artifact at a loss for words.
“Holy crap!” Sonata Dusk shouted as she opened the window connecting the driver cabin with the back of the bus. “Did you girls feel that?”
“I… I did.” Aria replied. “Guess you weren’t imagining things after all, huh?”
“Still want to get off the bus?” Adagio asked, despite already knowing the answer.
“Are you kidding? Step on it, I am starving!” Aria took off her necklace and placed it on the palm of her hand to better read the signals.
Weeks passed after the Fall Formal. Sunset Shimmer was busy most of the time assisting the construction crew with the restoration of the wall she destroyed as punishment. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna didn’t give her any more assignments after that, deciding that she had been punished enough already, but Sunset wanted to prove to herself and others that she had turned over a new leaf, so she volunteered to help with small tasks around the school.
Later that day she was tasked with showing new students around the school, but with a few minutes to spare she decided to first swing by the gymnasium to help around with preparations for the upcoming musical showcase.
Several students were sitting in groups working on handmade posters, mingling with members of cliques they previously wouldn’t associate with – in the past Sunset Shimmer worked hard to destroy that sense of community and togetherness, but that was something her old self did. Her new self was happy to see people coming together and making friends.
The students themselves, however, weren’t very pleased with her presence, either trying to ignore her or giving her angry stares. She felt uncomfortable, but couldn’t fault them for feeling that way – she felt like she deserved the cold treatment after everything she did. The only ones who weren’t frowning when she emerged from the doorway were a trio of freshmen, who were having so much fun working on their poster that they didn’t even notice her arrival. Sunset decided to start with them.
“Want some help?” She offered, placing her hands on her knees and bending down a little so she would be on the same eye level as them.
“Uh…” Apple Bloom looked at her two best friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo – they didn’t say a word, but she could see in their eyes that they were most certainly against the idea. “No thanks. We’re good.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded before focusing on their work once again.
“Oh. Okay.” The unicorn girl walked away, leaving them to draw in peace. The three younger girls sighed in relief in unison after she left.
She kept trying to help groups, but the ones that didn’t dismiss her without a second thought just gave her dirty looks in complete silence. Ignoring the fact that most of the students had stopped working just so they could all glare at her, she finally spotted the five girls Princess Twilight asked to keep an eye on her – because she was busy helping to rebuild the façade they didn’t have many opportunities to interact with each other in the previous weeks, so that felt like the perfect chance to start.
“Hi girls.” She greeted, they didn’t have much of a reaction other than Fluttershy gasping in surprise.
“Hey.” Rainbow Dash replied without taking her eyes off the poster they were working on.
“I-I-I, uh…” Fluttershy stuttered before quickly jumping to her feet. “B-Bathroom!”
“I’ll go with you, darling.” Rarity said, also standing up. She dusted her skirt and wrapped an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders in an attempt to help her shivering friend calm down.
“Howdy.” Applejack replied, the only one in the group at least trying to act friendly towards the former bully like Twilight asked them to. “Need somethin’?”
“I, uh… Well, was just wondering if you need help with something.” That’s not what she wanted to say, but she could sense that she wasn’t welcome there either. “But, um… I can see you’re done, so I’ll just… See you all later.”
“Sure.” Dash replied again, still looking at the mostly finished poster. Sunset Shimmer lingered for a moment, but eventually left.
Applejack looked around at her friends: Pinkie Pie was dripping vanilla extract from a bottle on the poster while Rainbow Dash just looked down at her feet, squeezing the toe caps of her sneakers with her hands.
“Y’all remember the promise we made to Princess Twilight, right?” The farmer asked. “Y’know, to try an’ befriend Sunset Shimmer?”
“I tried.” The athlete answered. “Just because it didn’t work out doesn’t meant I didn’t.”
“You sure? All I’ve seen ya do is give one-word replies to everythin’ she says.”
“Well, I’m sorry if I find it too hard to socialize with the person who torn us all apart so she could bully all my friends separately!”
“I agree with Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie Pie said, placing down the bottle of vanilla extract on the floor. “I want to be friends with everybody, but whenever she’s nearby I just… remember all those awful things she did way before she turned into a fire demon and tried to kill us all. My head wants to get along with her, but the rest of my body just wants to run away…”
“Why are you even asking us about that in the first place?” Rainbow Dash pointed an accusatory finger at Applejack. “You act all polite when she comes to us, but I don’t see you going out of your way to try and be her best friend.”
Applejack wanted to reply, but she knew her rainbow-haired friend had a point; despite trying to be friendly whenever Sunset Shimmer showed up, she too felt a little apprehensive about approaching the ex-queen bee of Canterlot High without her friends to back her up – friends who didn’t seem that interested in doing the only thing Princess Twilight asked of them in the first place.
Sunset Shimmer, who had been standing near the doorway not far from where the trio was sitting, walked away – she wasn’t going to cry, she was stronger than that, but that didn’t make those things any less painful to hear.
It was almost time to meet with the newcomers, so she decided to stop by the bathroom to wash her face.
“It’s ok, darling, I feel the same way.” Hearing Rarity’s voice coming from within, Sunset Shimmer simply stood there with her hand still on the handle, opening the door a single inch so she could better hear what they were saying.
“I… I don’t know if I can do it.” Fluttershy said. “I know we promised Twilight, but whenever she’s nearby I feel so scared. I can’t just forget years of torment and act like everything is ok! And now I’m having nightmares too; every time I close my eyes I see her like that again – the teeth, the claws, those creepy black eyes… I can’t sleep without my night light on anymore, and now Zephyr Breeze is teasing me about it.”
She closed the door and walked away, not wanting to hear any more of that – listening in on private conversations was something the old her did, and if she truly wanted to be a better person then she would have to stop doing that. She decided to wash her face in a different bathroom.
Sunset Shimmer stared at herself in the mirror as water dripped down her face; how could she blame any of them for not wanting to be friends with her? Yes, she drove them all apart. Yes, she made them all miserable. Yes, she turn everybody in the school against each other, transformed into a horrible monster, mind-controlled them all and tried to kill Twilight and her friends with magic stolen from the crown. All of that was true. If anything, she should be grateful that some of them were even willing to talk to her in the first place, even if the conversations were mostly one-sided.
Looking down at the time on phone, she gasped; she was going to be late for the tour she volunteered to give the new students. Grabbing a bunch of paper towels at once, she rubbed them all on her face to wipe away the dripping water before rushing out of the bathroom. She arrived at the recently rebuild entrance a little later than planned, where three girls were waiting for her.
“Hi.” She greeted them. “Are you the girls I’m supposed to show around?”
“We are.” The one in the middle with a giant mane of curly orange hair said, taking a step forward. The two others followed suit.
“Sorry I’m late; it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Sunset Shimmer.”
“I’m Adagio Dazzle. These are Sonata Dusk” the blue-haired girl with a ponytail waved at her “and Aria Blaze” the purple-haired one with twintails and crossed arms just rolled her eyes.
“Canterlot High is a great school, you’re really gonna love it.” She said as she began to walk away, the three newcomers following not far behind.
“Oh yes, we really sensed there’s something… magical about this place.”
As they walked down the hallway, they noticed students glaring in their general direction – students that Sunset Shimmer tried her best to ignore.
“They don’t seem as pleased as you to meet us.” Aria commented, shooting back an icy glare at a passerby student that made him look away in fear. “What, never seen a new student before, chump? Keep walking!”
“Jeez, who peed in their oatmeal this morning?” Sonata asked, looking in their general direction from the corner of her eye but not turning her head to face them.
Their tour guide sighed. “I’m sorry about that; it’s not you they’re glaring at.”
Adagio raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem like the type that goes around making enemies.”
“It’s… complicated. A-Anyway, that’s the science lab and the computer lab is in there.”
“What’s this?” Sonata asked, pointing at a poster on the wall featuring a guitar and the words Musical Showcase.
“Oh, we’re having a big musical showcase this weekend. The whole school is pretty much rallying around it.”
“A musical showcase?” Adagio asked, a wicked smile beginning to form on her face.
“People interested in participating were supposed to sign up until last Friday, but since you’re new I’m sure Principal Celestia will make an exception if you’re interested.”
“We have been known to sing from time to time.” Aria explained with a smug look on her face.
“We’ll definitely look into it, won’t we, girls?” Adagio asked her companions, who nodded in agreement.
“Are you going to participate?” Sonata asked. “What kind of instruments do you play? Do you sing?”
“Well, I guess I know a thing or two about playing guitar, but I don’t think I will participate.”
“Why not?”
“I wouldn’t be very comfortable up on a stage all by myself.”
“Don’t you have, like, friends that can play with you or whatever?” Aria asked, causing a frown of sadness to appear on Sunset’s face.
“I… don’t know.”
“Oh you poor thing.” Adagio said, approaching Sunset from behind and placing her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “You know, the three of us have been singing a capella for a long time, but I think adding an instrument would most certainly enhance our performance. Tell me, if the Principal allows us to participate in the showcase, would you be interested in performing with us?”
“Y-You really mean it?”
“Of course! Music is such a beautiful way of expressing yourself, no one with a talent for it should be kept from performing.”
“Adagio, what—”Aria began to speak, but Adagio lifted a finger to signal Aria to be quiet, which she begrudgingly did.
“That does sound like fun, but… are you sure this is a good idea? You can tell by the way people were looking at me that I’m not exactly… liked around here. I’ll only drag you down.”
“Nonsense! I can tell there’s something special about you, Sunset Shimmer, and I want to help you show everybody in this school how special you truly are.”
“Well… ok, why not? If you’re sure about it, then we can go talk to her after I’m done showing you around!”
“I can’t wait.”
Aria was a little suspicious, so she grabbed the smiling Sonata by the wrist and pulled her close.
“Ow! What?” She complained.
“Distract the girl, I want to talk to Adagio for a second.”
“You didn’t have to pull me like that.” Quickening her pace until she was walking side by side with Sunset Shimmer, Sonata began asking her questions about Canterlot High, the staff and the students. With their guide successfully distracted, Aria moved to Adagio’s side.
“What do you think you’re doing, inviting her to join us? Are you trying to reveal our identities before we even have the chance to make a move?”
“Can’t you feel it?”
“Feel what?”
Adagio pinched the bridge of her nose as she groaned. “You and Sonata really need to work on your magical perception.” She pointed a finger at Sunset Shimmer. “That girl reeks of Equestrian magic; whatever it was that we felt that day, she definitely has a connection to it. I want her close to me so I can keep an eye on her.”
“But why ask her to join us? Can’t we just follow her around and watch her from a distance?”
“Information is always more reliable when given willingly. Besides, look at her; whatever happened that made the other students dislike her so much left her in a very delicate condition. She is in desperate need of a friend and will do whatever it takes to hang onto that friendship. And if that friend just happens to ask her to hand over whatever Equestrian magic she’s in possession of…”
“Hm. I didn’t think of that. It makes sense, I guess.”
“I know what I’m doing, that is why I am the leader and you’re not.” Adagio placed her hand on Aria’s back and pushed her forward, towards Sonata and Sunset. “Now go make a new friend!”
When Sunset Shimmer and the three newcomers entered Principal Celestia’s office, she was accompanied by Vice-Principal Luna.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were busy.” She quickly apologized.
“That’s ok, Sunset Shimmer, we’re just having a chat. Is there something you need?”
“Well, I—”
“Good morning, Principal Celestia, Vice-Principal Luna!” Adagio, walking past their guide, greeted them.
“Good morning, Miss Dazzle.” Celestia greeted back. “How’s the tour going?”
“Oh, it’s just fantastic! Your school is simply wonderful and Sunset Shimmer has been very good to us the entire time, she’s so smart and polite.” She said, the flattery causing Sunset Shimmer to smile awkwardly and blush.
“That’s good to hear.” Celestia smiled at Sunset, proud of how much she changed in such a short amount of time.
“She mentioned that you have an event planned for the weekend, correct?”
“The CHS Musical Showcase, yes.” Luna spoke up in her usual unintentionally harsh tone. “It’s an event to raise funds in hopes to cover the expenses of certain… unplanned renovations we had to undergo recently.”
Sunset’s looked away, the blush of embarrassment turning into one of shame.
“Well, since we transferred here after the sign-up period was over, I was wondering if there was a way for us to participate. Music is something we are all very passionate about, and we believe it would be a great opportunity for us to meet new people and make more friends.”
“Well, it is a very last-minute addition.” Luna commented.
“Oh, but don’t take our word for it.” Adagio interrupted. “We can show you that our performance will be a valuable addition to the showcase. Girls?”
Sonata and Aria nodded before flanking their leader. Placing their hands on top of their chests, right below their necklaces, they began to sing.
“Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~!”
Sunset Shimmer was stunned; she expected them to be good singers given their genuine interest in a musical event, but what she was hearing blew all of her expectations out of the water. Listening to that beautiful melody made her feel completely at peace, like all the worries in the world were just a distant memory. She felt so light and relaxed that she couldn’t keep her eyes closed.
“Sunset? Hey, Sunset!” Sonata grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, snapping her out of it.
“Huh? Wha… What happened?”
“You feel asleep while we were singing.” Aria explained with a smirk on her lips. “I didn’t know falling asleep while standing was a thing, but there you were.”
“I-I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, but your voices are so beautiful, I just… felt so comfortable. Oh, what about the showcase?”
“We have decided to allow them to participate.” Principal Celestia, still on her seat, explained to her. “You girls are talented beyond your years, it would be a shame to not give you the opportunity to share that talent with the rest of the school.”
“Thank you so much, Principal Celestia.” Adagio said. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, it’s almost lunch time and we are starving.”
“Certainly, girls. Have a good day.” The four students turned to leave. “Sunset Shimmer, can I speak with you for a minute longer?”
She looked at her newfound friends as they walked down the hallway.
“Don’t worry about us, we’ll find our way to the cafeteria.” Adagio said as she walked before waving at her.
Waving back, Sunset went back inside the principal’s office and closed the door.
“I just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done these last few weeks. Most students would just take their punishment then go back to misbehaving, but you took the lesson you were taught to heart and went above and beyond to show the others how much you’ve changed.”
“While you were… resting, your friends told us how welcome you made them feel and how they couldn’t wait to practice with you for the showcase, so we have decided to allow you to play alongside them.” Vice-Principal Luna said.
“Oh, thank you so much!”
“One more thing before you go.” Principal Celestia added. “We had a short discussion, and they came up with a marvelous idea: instead of a musical showcase, we’ll be having a battle of the bands!”
“Really? Isn’t that a little… last minute?”
“Not much will be changed, we’ll just add a competitive element to the event.” Luna explained. “A little competition will be a good motivation for the students to play to the best of their abilities.”
“Besides, people love contests.” Celestia commented. “The news of a Battle of the Bands will definitely attract a bigger audience to our event. It will be structured as a single-elimination tournament with each round taking place in a different day for the rest of the week, starting tomorrow. The finalists will play in the town auditorium for the public.”
“Well, do you want me to inform the rest of the school or…?”
“Don’t worry about that, we already asked the Dazzlings to inform the students at the cafeteria; we’ll make a proper announcement at the party later today, once we have ironed out all the kinks. You just have to worry about practicing for the big event. Good luck!”
Exiting the office with a smile on her face, Sunset Shimmer rushed to the music room to make sure it was in good condition for her first practice with her bandmates, the Dazzlings, after school.