//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Wondercolts Forever // by Epsilon-Delta //------------------------------// It was Thursday now, the fourth day Sunset had been attending classes for real and the fourth day Twilight had been here. Sunset felt dull. Making herself dull was something she knew how to do. Just don’t think, and try not to feel anything for a while. She could keep it up for a long time, but no matter how hard she wished, she couldn’t keep it up forever. A melancholy was breaking through. She wasn’t sure what to do or how to feel right now and it was depressing. But she could still work through it. Anger, sorrow, fear, Sunset could channel any of these emotions into work. That was one of her big advantages, one of the things that kept her ahead of everyone else. After just a few days of hyper-focused practice, Sunset was starting to get the basics of the technique Twilight used. Sunset levitated her staff to her side, spinning it in place and tapping the shaft with her fingers. She mostly had the form down, but her balance was off. She drilled an intradimensional portal. Yet it still wasn’t a nice, stable circle. Hers looked like cheese - a circle with unstable gaps in it. Every time, the whole thing collapsed completely the moment Sunset stopped drilling. “Hey, you’re getting a lot better!” Twilight excitedly held up her hand in offer of one of those 'high fives'. “I have to say, you’re the best mage I’ve met, besides maybe myself. And you know, the fae.” Compliments like that were water off a duck’s back. Twilight might as well be telling her the time of day. Being compared to someone else felt more like an insult to her. Twilight was still trying to be friendly to her, despite Sunset giving her and the entire world the cold shoulder for the past few days. Taking advantage of her would have been so freaking easy. Sunset wished she was a hypocrite and a psychopath, devoid of all morals. But she couldn’t help but feel bad and disgusted that she’d nearly repeated what Princess Celestia did to her. Instead of giving Twilight her high five, Sunset just closed her eyes and turned away. Deflated, Twilight lowered her hand. “Oh! Well, can we meet up in the library after school?” Twilight asked. “I’m busy,” Sunset reminded her. “I have to train if I’m ever going to get out of here.” “Right. Can I train with you?” Twilight took a step forward. “Fine,” Sunset mostly said just to shut her up for now. And it was good enough for now. Twilight nodded and ran off. Not like it’d keep her away for long; they had another class together in 45 minutes. Sunset didn’t like this. Why the heck did Twilight want to be friends? Did she really attach herself to people that quickly? “Sunset.” Celestia smiled, beckoning her to stay a moment longer. “Can I speak with you?” Sunset hated that line. She groaned but turned to her. “You know I brought Twilight here to help you,” said Principal Celestia, “not compete with you.” “Great.” “You seemed much more determined when you first came,” said Celestia. “You’ve been a bit depressed since Twilight got here. Would you like to talk about it?” “As if I’m going to tell you,” said Sunset. “You’d just use anything you learn to manipulate me, won’t you?” Truth be told, Sunset couldn’t entirely answer the question for herself. Princess Celestia asked her questions like that all the time. ‘Why did you steal that’, or ‘why did you hit him?’ and so on. Sunset never really knew the answers outside the notion that she was trying to feel better. “You really do have trouble trusting people, don’t you?” Principal Celestia asked. “You seem to assume the worst in everyone. You are deeply hurt, aren’t you?” “If you want me to trust you, tell me what you mean by bringing Twilight here,” said Sunset. “You’re older and smarter than the Celestia I knew, and she already has a thousand layers behind everything she does. You’re plotting something, aren’t you?” “It’s not deeper than I’ve already said,” said Celestia. “I’ll figure out what you truly want before you leave this place. If it’s something I can give you, you’ll stay here willingly. If I can’t then it’s best to get you out of here as soon as I can. Twilight will help me figure you out and help me kick you out if I can’t keep you.” “So you’re trying to psychoanalyze me, huh?” Sunset sat down on the short wall that lined the edge of the roof. “You thought bringing somebody who can match me at magic would get a funny reaction out of me, is that it?” “I think it might help you one way or the other,” said Celestia. “I can’t make you comfortable or understand what you truly want until I address your wound. It’s an alien art, understanding you, but I’ve had centuries to perfect it and plenty of humans to study. I think perhaps you have an unhealthy relationship with magic.” “Unhealthy?” This was the first time anypony had told Sunset anything of the like. “What the heck does that mean?” “I’m sure my pony counterpart noticed as well,” noted Celestia. “But perhaps her motives were different from mine, based on what you told me. She couldn’t have you letting go of it if she wanted you to cast that spell. She let the wound fester because it drove you on.” Sunset was suddenly paying more legitimate attention to Celestia’s words. Badmouthing Princess Celestia was like a balm to her these days. “My guess, for now, is that you’re far too reliant on your magical skills to give you self-worth,” said Celestia. “Yes, I’m confident of this after seeing you with Twilight, though there are parts of your actions I’m still working out. If you want my advice, I think the way to happiness is to just give magic up for a few weeks. You could take meditation courses with Meadowbrook instead and-” “And be trapped here longer.” Sunset jumped to her feet. “I’m leaving as soon as I can.” Principal Celestia just smiled softly. She was so damned confident in all of this! She could directly tell Sunset the entire plan, leave herself open on so many fronts and not even care in the slightest. It made Sunset feel like she was way out of her league, even more than she’d been with Princess Celestia. The old Celestia needed to resort to lying to Sunset; this one could do without lies. Her unwavering honesty showed just how clever and dangerous she was. “You’re not worried that I might tempt Twilight away from you?” Sunset attacked the only possible weakness she could think of right now. “If she knows there’s a world that isn’t literal garbage if you had something to compete with-“ “No,” said Celestia. “In the end, I find all that matters is if I can give people what they truly want. I can give Twilight certainty and you can’t. She’ll stay with me no matter what you do. So go ahead and do whatever you’d like.” Sunset glared at her before leaving, but walked away, defeated. After school was mage fight club. Sunset hadn’t gotten to go to a lot of these, but it seemed useful enough to her that she kept going. The whole thing was in the deepest part of the school’s basement. The place was suitably dim for a fight club, with stone floors. The platform that floated a few inches off the ground in the center, making the arena. While Sunset had zero confidence she’d ever be able to beat Principal Celestia, coming here to fight might be a good way to take out her aggressions and you never knew when you would have to fight a more mortal opponent. Of course, Twilight soon joined this club too. Twilight was eager to do everything related to magic, and had tried to join every magic-related course, only to realize it was chronologically impossible. Even then, she briefly explored time-altering solutions before finally giving up. Sunset didn’t like that Twilight had joined. It was on the very first day they were both in the club together that her fears were realized. Lyra was quick to suggest a match between Twilight and Sunset. Both of them were newcomers who were exceptional at magic. Soon enough everyone was cheering the two of them to the platform for a fight and Sunset was too proud to say no. Sunset tried to hide it, but she was nervous. Even knowing she was still inexperienced with a staff, losing hurt. She at once hated coming here but needed to get better, needed to be the best. She could already beat students in the same class as her, who were relatively as practiced as Sunset. The students who were currently taking the more advanced courses, though? She avoided them for now. Twilight was the one she was most afraid of. She saw the other girl as a sort of rival, having spent so much time around her and behind her in class. Yet Twilight didn’t look nervous at all despite how panicky her nature was. Sunset was determined to beat her badly now. The rules of a magic duel were simple. They wore an amulet that would greatly reduce any magical blows against you, turn them into kinetic energy that would throw you back instead of harm you. The amulets did not, however, protect from direct physical damage. It’d protect against magical flames or wind but not against a rock you pulled up from the ground. There was a list of spells you weren’t allowed to cast for just that reason. You couldn’t cast anything that would cause non-magical harm. Obviously, you weren’t allowed to resort to martial arts either. Sunset twirled her staff, summoning a swirl of fire around it. Twilight reacted by making an incredibly cold air around hers that made frost form in the nearby area. Twilight was predictable at least, and that was how Sunset could win. Twilight fell for the feint, sending her wave of cold air at Sunset with a swing of her staff. The air left solid ice along the ground. Instead of countering it with the fire, Sunset used the actual attack she had secretly prepared behind it. Sunset released her own burst of wind that redirected Twilight’s. Both flew at the girl in a massive torrent that would have knocked most of the other students out of the ring immediately. Twilight's amulet protected her from the cold and the bluster of the wind, but the force was all converted into kinetic energy that sent the girl flying. Twilight reacted faster than Sunset thought she could! She went into that strange military mode, looking momentarily more serious. She swung her own staff behind her and redirected the wind to blow out of the arena, sidestepping most of the impact. Twilight landed just inside the arena's bounds. She held her left hand out, just before the nexus of her staff, and sent out a wave of telekinetic energy. It seemed as if this was meant to simply throw Sunset off balance for a brief moment, but it morphed into something more. Twilight had a ton of raw strength, maybe even more than Sunset. But thinking that way made Sunset suddenly want to see for sure. She wanted to see which of them was stronger, if she really could just outpower Twilight. So Sunset pushed back with her own raw, telekinetic shove. Twilight looked surprised that Sunset was trying to overpower her; like it was a bad idea or something. A flare of anger gave Sunset the advantage momentarily and she shoved Twilight hard. But it was short-lived. Twilight quickly regained her strength and pushed back much more strongly than before. Realizing this had devolved into a shoving match, Twilight started slowly walking forward, pressing Sunset back as she went. Sunset began to slip backward. She was right on the edge of the ring now! She pushed as hard as she could, but could only get herself to stay still. Meanwhile, Twilight took yet another step forward with confidence. Twilight was slightly stronger than her! The thought made her suddenly afraid. Twilight was right next to her now, ready to shove her off the platform. She couldn’t lose! This was the only thing she had! This was the only reason anyone had ever cared about her! In a furious panic, Sunset swung the staff hard, smashing the crescent part of it into Twilight’s face. Twilight fell to the ground, clutching her nose, clearly bleeding. Sunset’s anger parted for a moment as she looked down at Twilight on the floor, knowing she likely just broke the other girl’s nose. Every noise stopped, everyone just as stunned as Sunset. The other students recovered before she did and ran over to Twilight to help, a crowd soon forming around her. Sunset took two steps back, clutching her staff. She was ignored for just a moment longer before someone, Lyra, ran up to confront her. “Why did you do that?!” Lyra demanded of her. “You know this means you lost, right?” Sunset closed her eyes, forcing herself to go back to her normal, aloof mask. “It doesn’t matter!” Sunset threw her staff to the ground. “None of you will even care about this after Friday, so who cares?” She left the room in a huff before anyone could come after her. This was always how it went, every single time! Any time she’d tried to make a friend at Celestia’s command she’d always screw it up with some stupid mistake. She was under too much pressure all the time, being constantly pushed as hard as she could manage to be able to cast that stupid alicorn spell. Of course she’d snap sometimes! It wasn’t her fault! Either way, everyone always left in the end. Her mom, everyone she’d ever tried talking to, and even Princess Celestia were all gone. She ran out of the basement and up into the hallways of the school above. Sunset eventually stopped running and sat down in an empty hallway, alone. Principal Celestia would chew her out over this no doubt, just like the princess used to. But maybe it really didn’t matter at all. Tomorrow was Friday and everyone would stop caring after that. “Sunset!” Twilight was running down the hall calling out after her. Sunset groaned. It looked like Twilight had fixed her nose, for the most part, with magic. She came alone despite just getting hurt. But even if on some level she accepted she was in the wrong, Sunset was too angry to admit anything of the sort right now. “What do you want?” Sunset glared up at her. “I wanted to apologize to you.” Twilight rubbed her nose. “What?!” Sunset blinked, stunned. She was expecting a lot of things, but not that. “I made you mad.” Twilight bowed her head. “I’m so sorry.” Sunset found herself horrified at this display. Twilight really was just like some innocent, abused puppy who wandered in here. She was still mad, but her anger was slightly different now. “Don’t apologize to me!” Sunset stood up. “Oh! Sorry?” Sunset crossed her arms and looked at Twilight with pity. This girl had so much sympathy for everyone else but none for herself. She was worried about Sunset, but not at all for herself. “Man, you’re hard to be angry at.” Sunset turned away. “Sorry.” “I said stop it.” Sunset shook her head. “Look I - I’m the one who should be apologizing okay? You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my fault I got angry. I’m just a horrible person.” Sunset pressed her back against the lockers and slid back to the ground. “I just- I always do stupid stuff like this,” said Sunset. “I shoplift stuff I don’t even need or want, I humiliate the other kids, I break stuff, I go rushing through portals to other dimensions. The princess always scolded me, but I never learn.” For a long time, Sunset thought Celestia kept her around despite messing up so badly because she cared. But that wasn’t true, was it? It was all just cold, calculating tactics. “I don’t think you’re a bad person.” Twilight sat down next to her. Sunset looked at Twilight, still bleeding a little, hardly able to believe this was really happening. “Twilight, I just broke your nose.” Sunset pointed to her own. “How are you not angry at me? How can you say I’m not a bad person?” “I don’t know. I’m just not angry. I like you,” said Twilight. “You were nice to me that first day.” “I was only pretending to be nice to you! I was trying to manipulate you,” Sunset explained. “I only cared about making you want to see Equestria in case Principal Celestia tried to pull something on me. I wanted you to be on my side because I’m selfish.” “Oh.” Twilight slowly turned her head down, deflated in a way that made Sunset feel like she’d just taken her birthday presents away. Though soon enough, Twilight did look up with a small glimmer of hope. “But you did stop, right?” “Yeah.” Sunset nodded, having to concede that. “I had a lot of crazy ideas, but I decided I don’t want to manipulate people anymore. I hated being used so... I’m not going to do that, at least.” “See?” Twilight stood up and held her hand out to Sunset. “Then you are a good person!” Sunset looked up at Twilight, hand outstretched with the light from the hall shining behind her. She couldn’t help but laugh. Yet she couldn’t take Twilight’s hand. “Is that really where the bar is?” Sunset waved her hand to let Twilight know it was alright. “You’re way too nice, Twilight. Like the others are nice, but you’re too nice. You don’t feel like Principal Celestia is manipulating you?” “No.” Twilight shook her head. “I promise you she has my fully informed consent. I read about this for a long time before making my agreement with her. There’s just no hope for me anywhere else.” It was an unfamiliar feeling, but Sunset felt suddenly protective of Twilight. The thought of her being taken advantage of by anyone made her just as mad as the thought of being used again herself. Twilight just seemed too perfect and innocent and nice, the kindest person Sunset had ever run into. She didn’t deserve to have anything bad happen to her. “Well, I promise you I’ll look out for you from now on,” said Sunset. “If Principal Celestia really is pulling something on you or the other students, I’ll find it and I’ll protect you. I found all the secrets of the last Celestia I ran into, so I have experience.” “Hey, I’m not completely helpless,” Twilight objected. “I already know way more about Celestia and the fae than you do.” “Yeah, well no offense but you look like you’d be easy to take advantage of,” said Sunset. “Trust me, I practically did it.” “I guess that is true.” Twilight looked down at the floor, then nervously back up at Sunset. “Um! But can I ask why you were mad at me?” “It had nothing to do with you.” Sunset hesitated before speaking more. But Twilight did deserve an answer after Sunset hit her and she felt strangely comfortable opening up to Twilight just a little. “Magic is just- it’s the only reason anyone’s ever given me a second look. The other Celestia was like my mom, but the only reason she even pretended to love me was my magic and how useful it was to her. I don’t have anything else. I can’t count on anything else. So I got scared.” Twilight nodded repeatedly while Sunset said all that as if she understood and related completely. “I feel the same way!” Twilight stepped forward with another eager nod. “My magical powers are the only thing anyone ever cared about for me too. I used to get worked so hard I’d just break down, but they kept pushing me because... well... no one cared about anything else. Even Principal Celestia only took interest in me because of it. But you don’t want me to be better at magic than you, right? If anything, you’d rather I be worse.” “Yeah, I can relate to the breakdowns,” Sunset admitted, finally standing back up. Maybe she had a lot more in common with Twilight than she realized. “Be glad you weren’t the other Celestia’s student. Yeesh, could I tell you horror stories.” “Oh, were you having a panic attack?” Twilight nodded, like she completely understood now. “You know, I had a technique that helped me with that.” Twilight took a deep breath and put her hand to her heart, then slowly exhaled, sweeping it forward. Sunset couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?” Twilight opened her eyes. “Nothing. I seriously don’t think I’ve ever said this to anyone before and meant it... but I’m sorry.” Sunset bowed her head to Twilight. Twilight leaned forward and gave Sunset a pat on the head. “What the heck was that?” Sunset couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh- I dunno!” Twilight drew her hand back in. “Principal Celestia always pats people on the head.” “It’s alright.” Sunset gave Twilight a pat on the head in return. “Come on, let’s get outta here.” Sunset started walking off, Twilight following. “Where are we going?” Twilight asked. “No idea.”