After school ended that day, Principal Celestia prepared herself for the Prom Planning Committee meeting that she held every week. When Celestia started teaching she decided that the best way for the students to have the best after-school dances was to let them plan it; so, she left it up to the kids each year. It would probably be more accurately described as a club—and they worked on more events than just Prom—but Celestia made sure that most of the time she was there as a supervisor rather than an actual planner, and that she was as hands-off as much as possible.
Out of the twelve students in the committee, Sunset Shimmer took the most control. She was practically setting up the meetings herself near the end of last year, and considering that their party attendance had almost doubled, she was doing a spectacular job. Sunset not showing up to the meeting tonight would hinder their progress significantly, especially when it was so close to the Fall Formal.
Sunset will not show up. But she will.
Celestia prayed that what she thought was going to happen would not, but as she approached the small meeting room the group took over after school, a sinking feeling in her stomach spoke otherwise. After lunch that day Celestia had seen Sunset walking in the halls, chatting with her friends like their conversation at lunch had never occurred. However, Sunset was wearing the leather jacket that Celestia currently had stashed under her desk. Part of her wanted to turn around and go home, feigning illness, but she knew that it would only delay the inevitable confrontation with whatever the thing pretending to be Sunset was.
She walked through the empty halls of the school until she reached a general meeting room that the group used each Friday. As she neared the door, it swung open for her, a girl waiting on the other side with a small grin on her face.
It was Sunset. A spike of fear shot through Celestia, but she managed to cover up any shivers. Keep your cool, Celestia. “Hello, Miss Celestia,” Sunset said, stepping to the side to let the principal in. “We’ve gotten started a little bit early.”
Celestia scanned the room and saw the other eleven students were very stoic; each turned and looked at her, smiled, and turned back in near perfect synchronization. " . . . Okay, well, let’s get on the same page, then,” Celestia walked to the front of the small room in front of a whiteboard. “So, the Fall Formal is exactly one week from today. Those of you who were part of the committee last year know that tomorrow we will be going to gather all the decoration supplies we need at the mall. Today we’re solidifying the list of the materials we need and the specifications they require: sizes, colors, amounts, you name it. We still have some leftover items from last year, but we do not have to use them if no one wants to.” Celestia clapped her hands together. “All right, shall we get started?”
Sunset stood up. “I would like to speak for the whole committee. We’ve all been working on some changes to the Formal that we should get out of the way.”
Celestia walked over to a chair and sat down. “Very well, Sunset.”
Sunset offered a slightly edged smile and took center stage. “First off, we’ve decided to change the color scheme to green and black.”
Celestia sat up in her chair, aghast. “Wait, hold on. You convinced everyone two weeks ago that red and gold was the perfect color for the Formal. I mean, changing the scheme is not that big of a deal, but could I at least get a reason why?”
“It’s the symbolism involved,” Sunset explained. “The green represents the summer, but the black is creating a somber accent that undercuts it. Summer is coming to an end; it’s meeting its death, even. We think it’s a lot more poetic than a basic red and yellow scheme, which is really overdone and will not excite the students at all.”
Celestia rubbed her eyes, recognizing that she was in for quite the ordeal tonight. “We already settled on the color scheme. If we are going to change it, I’ll have to call a vote.”
“Okay, Principal.”
Celestia faced the rest of the members. “All in favor of switching the color scheme, raise your hands.”
Every hand raised except Celestia’s.
“Well,” Celestia mumbled, sitting back down, “I guess that’s settled then.”
She looked closer at the other members and it became apparent that none of them were acting like themselves. Sunset’s doing the talking because she’s probably the only one able too. Sunset was still standing in front of the group, waiting for Celestia to acknowledge her again.
“Is there something else we need to get out of the way?”
“Yes,” Sunset said. “We were hoping to change the venue.”
“What?” Celestia exclaimed. “We’ve used the gym for the past fifteen years, and I see no reason to stop now. Where would we even go?”
“Camp Everfree,” Sunset said.
“Camp Everfree.” Celestia restated, nonplussed. “No. Not even a chance.”
Sunset frowned. “Come on, Principal. The camp is hurting for money, and renting out the venue for a night would help them out a lot.”
“No,” Celestia said. “If you had approached me with this idea when the school year started, then maybe, and I mean maybe, we could have done it. But one week away? That’s impossible. There’s too much to account for if we change the venue this late.”
“But Principal Luna said we could do it—”
“Luna is not in charge of our finances, is she?”
Sunset sighed. “All right, let’s at least hold a vote. All in favor raise their hands—”
“No,” Celestia interrupted. “Not another vote. It matters very little if you all want to move there or not. The budget is set, and the location is already expected; you can try again next year. The time to make this decision was weeks ago, not today. I’m overruling all of you.” A small part of her questioned whether or not she would have responded similarly if the real Sunset had proposed the idea. Something bigger is at play here, though.
Sunset humphed and sat back down. “Let’s get started, then.”
Celestia offered her best smile. “Alright. Well, obviously we will need to change the colors of the balloons and streamers . . .”
The meeting continued on for an hour and a half as each supply was listed out and the stock was decided. In previous years, Celestia sat it out and let the kids decide how much they needed, but this year they were always in unanimous agreement. Similar clashes occurred throughout the night between Celestia and Sunset, each conceding or denying about an equal amount of times. Celestia began trying to add compromise into her vetoes, but the kids never responded with any of their own.
As the night winded down, they finished the final few objects on their list.
“Well students, I suppose this concludes everything we need to cover for today. As usual, anyone who would like to come to the mall at ten-thirty tomorrow is welcome, but you do not need to if you cannot make it. See you all then.”
The students left the room in single file, Sunset at the end of the line. Before she completely exited, Celestia called out to her.
“Sunset? Could we talk for a minute?”
Sunset stopped and turned around, an amused expression on her face. “I suppose,” she said.
Celestia walked over to Sunset. “I want you to know that I am not trying to suppress any ideas you have to make the Formal better, but rather that I have to stick to our budget and the limitations the school puts on us. Perhaps we can try something more unique for prom this year,” She put her arm on Sunset’s shoulder. “It just can’t work out right now.”
Sunset bored a chilling stare into Celestia’s eyes. The clock seemed to slow down as the two faced off. “Okay, Principal,” Sunset said coldly. Celestia’s hand began to feel warmer, as if touching Sunset was like touching a scalding iron. “If only you had a little bit more power over the school board, right?”
“Yes, if only.” Celestia nonchalantly yanked her hand off and backed away from Sunset. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sunset. You know that we’ll meet right outside the entrance.”
Sunset stepped through the doorway and began leaving Celestia’s presence. “See you then.” As Sunset turned the corner out of Celestia’s vision, Celestia heard a voice speak barely above a whisper, in a cruel chuckle.
“How cruel the imbalances of the universe are.”
Celestia paused, the fear that had gripped her heart earlier returning in full force. She sat down on a desk and collected herself for a few minutes, trying to steady her breathing.
Something about the Changeling Queen’s statement deeply shook Celestia to her core. It was like she knew something about Celestia that Celestia did not know herself, some ultimate secret that was the key to her psyche and the explanation to why her life felt so empty whenever the Queen spoke. There’s nothing I can do about it now. She walked to her office, collected her things, and went out to her car.
None of the students were in the parking lot.
None were walking home.
None were waiting for the late bus that arrived in thirty minutes.
Celestia tried to stop her hands shaking all the way home.
Sunset Shimmer slammed her apartment door behind her and sluggishly made her way to the kitchen for some food. Had she been able to best describe her current state, she might have said sensory overload: she felt like her emotions were being tossed between happy, sad, calm, and outraged at any second, and considering her two meetings from earlier, she was not that far off from the truth.
She rummaged through her small fridge until someone cleared their throat behind her. Sunset turned around and saw Twilight Sparkle standing warily in her bedroom doorway. “You’re still here?” Sunset asked. “I told you to leave.” Twilight was the last person Sunset wanted to see right now, and she focused back on the fridge with the hope that Twilight would take her hint.
“You said you would be back before noon. It’s past six. I was scared that something happened.”
Sunset sighed and closed the fridge, lightly limping over to take a seat on her bed. “You didn’t need to be. I can handle myself.”
“But something did happen?” Twilight’s face was etched with worry for some reason Sunset didn’t understand.
Sunset did not meet her gaze. “I . . . ran into some hiccups.”
She recalled the sensation she had felt earlier in the day. At first her mind was fogged up by the bliss of the changelings’ mind control, but soon it became red-hot with anger from the three girls that she encountered. I suppose I’ve equalled out by now. I’m feeling perfectly apathetic.
“What hiccups would those be?” Twilight asked.
“It’s unimportant. Look, I wasn’t joking about staying one night. Get out,” Sunset started, however, a new thought appeared in her mind. “Actually, I don’t care. You can stay.”
“Really?” Twilight asked hopefully.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t joking earlier when I said I was leaving town. This has gone to shit far too fast for both of us. See you,” Sunset grabbed the bag she packed yesterday from her closet and headed for the door.
Twilight reached out and pleaded to Sunset. “Wait, you can’t go!”
“Yes I can. And I will. Goodbye,” Sunset grasped the door handle.
“Wait!” She yelled in desperation. “Don’t you want to take your—your utility electronic pad?”
Sunset turned around, a confused expression on her face. “My what now?”
Twilight shrunk down a bit in embarrassment. “You know, the things with the keys and the screen! It folds . . .” She trailed off meekly.
“My laptop?”
“Yeah, your laptop—that actually makes more sense, now that I think about it.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I know what you’ve done on it.”
“And what would that be?” Sunset let go of the doorknob and began advancing closer to Twilight. Twilight did not flinch this time around, however.
“I read your guest list. Of your attendees.”
Sunset stopped, realizing that she had been found out. “Ah. It doesn’t matter now. All that went down the drain this morning,” Sunset lamented. All of her work over the past year and a half was in that file, but having it all become near meaningless did not feel as devastating as she imagined it would be. If anything, she felt slightly liberated, but that might have been the result of the strange concoction of emotions coursing through her.
Twilight became visibly upset. “That doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong! You’re stalking the school, Sunset! How long did it even take you to gain all of that information?”
“Do you think I’ve been sitting on my ass for the past year and a half? Know your enemy, Twilight.”
“They’re not your enemy, they’re high school students!”
“And high school students can be real bastards if they want to be. Like a pack of wolves sometimes, I swear.”
Twilight placed her hand on her forehead. “That isn’t a good excuse for why you have planned out exactly how to defeat every single kid. I don’t even know what to say anymore. Do you even care about being a good pony?” She growled.
Sunset stopped, running Twilight’s words through her head. “Was that your issue this whole time?” She laughed, much to Twilight’s confusion. “You thought that I was the final savior of Equestria? Some goddamn knight in shining armor who’s going to swoop in and save everything? News flash, Twilight. The Princess didn’t send you to me because I was the best option; I’m the last option, in her mind, at least.”
“W-what? N-no, I didn’t think you were a savior,” Twilight took a step back.
“Well, good,” Sunset said coldly. “Because I’m not, and I never will be. Not for you, not for Celestia, and not for anypony else besides myself. It’s just how it is. Bye.”
Twilight’s lip quivered. “Why are you like this, Sunset?”
She laughed again. “You haven’t faced real adversity in your life, have you? I mean ever.”
Twilight tried to put on a brave front. “I have. I faced off against Nightmare Moon, the Lord of Chaos-”
“Nonono. That’s not the adversity I’m talking about. I mean the adversity that haunts you for the rest of your life. The kind of adversity that never lets your nerves fully untense, that keeps popping up in everyday life and conversation to tighten its grip around you, that sits at the back of your mind like an anchor, holding you down no matter how hard you want to try and kick yourself back up. You haven’t dealt with the adversity that is always trying to sink you. You’re a goddamn aristocrat who got lucky enough to not have too much of a pompous attitude. I’m not the good person here, but if you think you are, than you’ve fooled yourself far beyond what I thought was capable of a pony.”
Twilight sat down. “B-but . . . if there’s no one good left . . .”
Sunset laughed. “Now you’re figuring it out. Sometimes in life, there doesn’t get to be a good guy. That knight in shining armor is getting their nutrience harvested in a pod, every princess has been taken down to the same level as her subjects, and every common pony is not even realizing that their life has been reduced to nothingness. If you can’t find a hero, Twilight, then either step up yourself, or pony up and get bucked like the rest of your friends. Don’t be a fool.”
Sunset could feel anger coursing through her veins, but she found that it was not really directed at Twilight. If anything, Twilight was the unlucky girl who was caught facing the wrath of Sunset’s anger at something far out of her control, that she could not even put a label on.
Twilight sat down and sighed, tears dotting her eyes. “I . . . I don’t believe you, Sunset. I can’t deny that you’re right . . . and there’s nopony but us, now. There are no good ponies left for the job. I’m . . . useless, without my friends.”
Sunset walked over to Twilight and put a hand on her shoulder. “Then go out and explore this world before it gets taken over. Admit defeat. Equestria, Twilight . . . I know how you feel about it. I felt that once, too. It feels like heaven, in a strange way. There were no problems for anypony to face—none that really matter, at least. It’s why I don’t blame you for never facing hardship; no one you know has either.”
Twilight looked up at her. “If it’s heaven, why won’t you save it?”
“It isn’t exactly Tartarus here, Twilight. It’s more like limbo. It’s Equestria, but watered down with sin and mortality. Life is hard, but it’s so much more rewarding than Equestria to truly thrive here. I’ve only been here a year, but every accomplishment I’ve made, every sin I’ve committed, has been my own. I have actual control here, for better and for worse.”
Twilight turned away again, a small frown appearing on her face. “Sunset, you’re not a good person.”
“Wow, thanks.”
“No one ever said a bad person couldn’t be a hero, though,” she murmured.
Sunset took her arm off of Twilight’s shoulder. “What are you trying to say now?”
Twilight stood up and walked over to Sunset. Suddenly, she jumped forward and gripped Sunset in a crushing hug.
Sunset felt that something pang inside her heart once again, like she was suddenly toppled over by a crushing wave. All she could focus on was the sensation. Her tired body, the aching scars on her back, the scuffs on her legs, all disappeared when met with Twilight’s embrace. A torrent of emotions flowed through her body. When was the last time someone hugged me? Sunset awkwardly raised her arms and placed them on Twilight’s back, unsure of what her intentions were.
“Help me,” Twilight whispered, “And I’ll play your game. You said it’s like purgatory here, right? Then I’ll stop with my morals. I’ll become the most disgraceful student in Equestria if it means that you’ll help me save the day. I need at least one person to work with, otherwise I’ll fail. I know I will. Be my friend, please.”
“You could just go to CHS,” Sunset tried to keep herself from choking up, “You know that there are duplicates there. I’m sure you know some of them.”
“They’ll never believe me. I may be offering to stoop to your lows, but by the end of this, I will show you the magic of friendship.” Twilight leaned farther into Sunset’s shoulder. “You are a bad pony, but you can still be a good person.”
Sunset hesitated. The act of intimacy had completely thrown her off guard, and that was on top of the strange emotions she had forced into her throughout the day. I’m not going to do this, am I? “Will you not hold me back? Let me do my own thing?”
“As long as you teach me why it has to be that way.”
“And will you get the Princess off my case if I help her out?”
“I promise.”
Sunset silently cursed herself. “Then I guess I can help prepare you to take her on.”
Sunset could not see it, but Twilight smiled. “Thank you, Sunset.”
“I’m still on the sidelines, though. I’m not looking to fight her any more than I already have.”
“Fine by me.”
Sunset awkwardly broke out of the hug. “Excuse me . . .” She stepped around Twilight over to her laptop and turned it on. “Well, if you want your best shot against Chrysalis, you’ll have to figure out how she works. I mentioned earlier that you need to know your enemy; the Changelings get a headstart on that because they can literally be their enemy.”
Twilight wiped her eyes, choosing to focus on the new situation. “How do we equal the playing field?”
Sunset clicked on her files tab. “I think there’s a new guest attending the Fall Formal, correct?”
Twilight caught on with a grin. “There is . . . and where might we find this guest, to make sure she is fully prepared?”
“There’s a small field trip to the mall tomorrow. Perhaps we should join them.”
Out of the darkness of the night appeared three girls approaching the gates of Canterlot High School.
“Is this the place? I like the gargoyles,” Sonata said. “Or, they’re horses I guess. Horse-goyles? Gargoyses?”
Adagio peered at the building, ignoring Sonata’s questions. “The lights are still on. Looks like my hunch was right. The only people the Changelings could get at,” Adagio raised her hand to her face to try and look at the lit windows better, “were a bunch of simple-minded teenagers.”
“Look at the front yard, morons,” Aria pointed her finger at the hideous hive attached to the tree. “That’s something you’d see in the pits of Tartarus, not a public school.”
Sonata tilted her head. “I thought you said the public school system was Tartarus, Aria.”
“Shut up,” Aria said.
Adagio sauntered up to the tree, a confident sway in her step. “I think you’re on to something Aria. This might even be a Changeling hive. It wouldn’t be too far off to suggest that the Changelings are a bunch of bugs, right? I mean, we’ve squashed them before.”
“Don’t be a dumbass, Adagio. They might be listening already.”
Adagio stepped up to the hive and knocked on it three times. “Hello? Anybody in there? We need to talk to you,” she called.
Sonata stayed a few steps away from Adagio, admiring the hive. “It looks like a big, upside-down castle! Imagine living there!”
“I said shut up Sonata, and get the hell away from there. Wasp stings hurt like hell,” Aria grabbed Sonata and pulled her back. “Let Adagio find out how it feels to get stung until her face is more puffed up than her ass.”
“That would be a lot of puffing,” Sonata remarked.
“Then perhaps I can cast the first sting,” A voice said from behind them. The three girls turned to see the spitting image of the girl that they had run into earlier in the day. “You know, most visitors have the courtesy to knock on the trunk.”
Adagio walked up to the girl. “Well hello there,” she cooed. “I see you’ve taken up residence here.”
“I wouldn’t say residence, but rather, dominance.”
Adagio tapped her chin, mocking deep thought. “Hmm, I don’t know. You see, this is our world,” She advanced on Chrysalis. “Our territory. Consider our arrival as your impromptu eviction notice,” Adagio offered a malicious smile. “Unless you would rather we show you what dominance actually is.”
Chrysalis smiled. “How about we talk about this inside? It’s getting quite cold out, being autumn and all.”
Aria spoke up. “We’re staying right here, you ratty punk. We haven’t forgotten how Changelings work.”
Chrysalis pretended to be offended. “I’ll have you know that I specifically revamped our system. We’re quite different from thousands of years ago, sirens.”
Adagio raced forward and got up in Chrysalis’s face. “Nice try, but we’ve dealt with these tricks longer than you’ve been alive. Either you get out of this world, or—”
Chrysalis’s eyes flashed green. “I think you’ve said enough.” She began channeling her magic into Adagio.
Adagio swatted the magic right out of the air. “Did you really think that would work on us?” She laughed. “We’re older than your grandparents, Changeling. The only way your magic could even get close to our minds is if we were practically comatose. You haven’t even thought that someone stronger than you exists here yet, did you? Weak, arrogant, and too foolish to realize you’re out of your league—that’s all the Changelings have ever been, and you don’t seem to be proving any different.”
Chrysalis raised her hands in the air, but her eyes flamed with anger. “Tell me what you want, and make it quick.”
Aria and Sonata walked up behind Adagio and the trio looked upon her haughtily. “I think we’ve made ourselves clear. Either get out, or we’ll show you what real magic is in this world.”
Chrysalis sighed. “I guess there’s no other way around this, is there?”
“Around what?”
“This.”
Chrysalis slapped Adagio in the face, knocking her to the ground.
Aria jumped forward. “Why, you bitch—” She suddenly tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground as well. Sonata stumbled forward before joining the other two.
Chrysalis chuckled as she stood over the three girls. “Well, that’s settled,” she said nonchalantly.
“What the hell did you do, Changeling?” Adagio asked, squirming away from Chrysalis’s towering figure.
Chrysalis examined her hands. “You know, you shouldn’t get too confident on your ability to swat off my magic. Sure, I didn’t control your mind completely, but I might have made it stop paying attention to a few appendages.”
The Dazzlings struggled to move their arms, only to realize that they had been tied behind their back with thick rope. They lay on the ground in bewilderment as they realized their feet had suffered the same fate. However they somehow say their arms in the corner of their vision. The arms they could see suddenly flashed green and flew away.
“I had my workers take on the shape of your arms in your vision while they tied your real ones behind your back. One of the oldest tricks in the book for anyone who can only somewhat resist Changeling magic. I’m disappointed it was so easy, actually.”
Adagio sat up and glared at Chrysalis. “You don’t understand what you’ve just done, Changeling. This will be your fatal mistake.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow and mimicked Sunset’s humored expression. Her eyes still glowed green with fury. “Is that so? No point in taking any more chances then, right?”
The six bugs that had each been impersonating the Dazzlings’ arms flashed green once again into six students from the school. They paired up and grabbed the girls off of the ground, hauling them toward the school building. The Dazzlings shouted and struggled in protest, but they could not do anything with both their arms and legs bound together.
Chrysalis followed behind and began brainstorming out loud. “Where could I put you . . . well, I need to deal with the janitor anyways,” The Dazzlings began humming a song, trying to work their magic upon Chrysalis. She laughed. “All that does is make me hungry,” she mock-pouted.
The Changelings brought them to the Janitor’s Closet and tossed them inside. Each girl slammed against the ground and let out a small cry of pain. “You’re so dead, you bitch,” Aria said.
Chrysalis only smiled wider. “Enjoy your weekend, girls,” she said. She turned to her drones. “Gag them, and make sure there’s no possible way they can get out.”
Chrysalis closed the door shut behind her, and was delighted to realize that it was thick enough to almost completely dampen their screams.