Sunset Shimmer took the ride back in relative silence, spending most of her time staring down at her phone. She flicked the screen awake, one finger hovering over the messaging app before she tucked it away again. The strange introduction and unease atmosphere had twisted her stomach into knots in addition to giving her a headache.
You have strange friends, Perfect Tempo. Friends which made Sunset Shimmer doubt whether or not she’d chosen correctly in letting him help her.
What was I supposed to do, stay locked up in prison forever? Sunset Shimmer thought bitterly.
Perfect Tempo had so far kept every promise he’d made. He said they wouldn’t get arrested, and somehow he managed it. He’d given her a place to stay, even returned her pet. Now he wanted to return her magic.
What’s the catch? What’s his angle? Sunset Shimmer thought to herself.
Sunset couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something missing, some little piece of the story that would make everything make sense. Something about his distaste for Celestia, maybe? There was a powerful history there. Sunset Shimmer could practically feel the weight of it in the little band of supporters Perfect Tempo had gathered.
I think that woman was dead. How else could she explain the coldness of her body, the total failure of Sunset’s powers? Either she was dead, or Sunset’s magic had stopped working.
And he wants to recruit me, why?
The car slowed to a stop, and she heard a voice from the front. The driver. “Your apartment, miss.”
“Thanks,” Sunset Shimmer murmured.
She reached briefly towards the little bookshelf, and the secret of magical immortality Tempo had said it contained. Then she rose, leaving the book where it was. Even if the secrets she sought were indeed in there, some part of her didn’t want to see it. What if Tempo was as dead as that other one? She’d never touched him for herself, thus she didn’t know what he was feeling.
I’ll ask. Sunset Shimmer decided. That would settle everything in a moment. I’d know if he really wants to help me, or if there’s something dark here.
She found Twilight in the apartment lobby, clutching a set of oversized envelopes in her arms. Each one was covered in bright colors, stamps, and logos which Sunset Shimmer recognized. Schools.
“Hey!” Twilight shouted, the girl waving excitedly. “They wouldn’t let me up without you, Sunset. But these came to the office, and I thought you should see them.”
Sunset Shimmer gave a sidelong glance at the folders her friend clutched tight to her chest. They were much thicker than any school needed to just say no.
Someone actually took me. Sunset Shimmer realized.
“Anything interesting in there?” Sunset asked, smiling casually, hands in her pockets.
Be cool. Be grateful. Twilight spent a lot of time helping you. Maybe some part of her realized that Timber just wasn’t a good match. He was content to spend his life at that camp, drifting without ambition. Sunset Shimmer told herself.
“I don’t believe in spoilers,” Twilight declared, flashing the other girl a wink. “I’d like to be there when you open them, if you don’t mind. We could use some good news.”
Sunset Shimmer scanned her key on the wall, and together they climbed into the now open elevator.
“So how was the magic?” Twilight asked, as the doors finally shut. “Did you get your horse powers back?”
“Not yet,” Sunset Shimmer replied, leaning against the side.
The elevator had a window on the back, allowing Sunset Shimmer to look out at the shining city just beyond. And yet the most beautiful part of that amazing city was right there with her. I should probably answer her question before she realizes just how long I’ve been staring and thinking about how pretty she is.
“It’s going to take a lot of practice. There’s, uh… some ritual to it. Apparently there’s a room in the building for practicing. I’m allowed to show you too! Maybe you’d like to learn with me?” Sunset Shimmer offered.
It was a distant hope, and probably a silly suggestion. Yet Twilight didn’t seem to think so, for instead of saying no she turned, looking thoughtful.
“A technique for learning magic. As in… the full limits of it you expressed could be achieved on earth? Transfiguration, translocation, transubstantiation?” Twilight pressed.
Sunset’s eyebrows went up. She almost didn’t want to correct her. She was so pretty when she displayed just how smart she truly was.
“Not the last one. I… don’t actually know what that is,” Sunset Shimmer muttered.
“Most people don’t either, it’s fine. It sounds exciting! I assume there’s no documentation of the subject. We would be delving into entirely unknown territory! Think of everything we could discover!” Twilight declared in an excited tone.
Sunset rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder, and for once there was nothing romantic about it.
“Calm down, Twilight. He made me promise not to share it with anyone but the six of you. Something about… unpredictable directions magic might take in humans not exposed to it,” Sunset Shimmer warned. “So no research papers or showing the world.”
“Oh.” Twilight pulled away, crestfallen. “I... might have some experience with that.”
Right, she thinks I’m accusing her because of what happened at the games. Sunset Shimmer realized.
The elevator came to an abrupt stop, and Sunset swiped her key. For a second it seemed like Twilight wouldn’t come with her. Then she glanced down, apparently remembering the envelopes she was carrying.
“Right, these! You have to decide where you’re going! Most of the acceptance deadlines are getting close!” Twilight announced with a hint of reluctance.
The other girl followed Sunset back to the kitchen table, spreading the folders out across the aged oak. It wasn’t as many as Sunset had initially thought, as they turned out to be quite thick. But she recognized at least one of them: Pranceton University. Wasn’t Twilight thinking about that school?
Sunset Shimmer pointed at it. “That one could be interesting. That’s some fancy parchment right there.”
Twilight glared, hands on her hips. “You’re not seriously judging your school based on how good the paper is now are you? This is a very serious commitment. The first days of the rest of your life!”
“I know,” Sunset Shimmer countered, pulling over a chair and slipping up off the table. “But I’ve heard good things about Pranceton University. Aren’t they, like… really prestigious or something? Didn’t we only send into good schools?”
Twilight looked like the remark might make her head explode. “That’s… a bit of an understatement. Yes, Pranceton has made great contributions to the sciences, mathematics, medicine… if they accept you, then you should be honored.”
“They probably won’t,” Sunset replied, as she tore the envelope open. “There’s no reason any of your schools would want me. I’m a horse from another dimension. Most of what I know they don’t believe even exists.”
She pulled out the first sheet, printed on fancy paper, and skimmed over it.
She had already guessed from the size of the envelope, but it still caught her off-guard. She’d been accepted, and from the look of it this wasn’t the only one.
Sunset flipped through the rest of the envelope, which was mostly information on life in the school and the financial options available to her. I didn’t even think about that. How the hell am I supposed to pay for all this? Sunset Shimmer thought to herself. A simple hospital stay is about the price of a car, degrees cost more than mansions, and just about every bank had steep interest. No wonder there is so much misery and suffering here.
But she could worry about that later. She’d got in!
“Congratulations, Sunset!” Twilight exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the other girl’s shoulders. “And you thought nowhere would take you. Now will you admit that you’re quite the catch?”
“That I’m…” Sunset Shimmer murmured, her words trailing off. “I don’t think that expression means what you think it means.”
Twilight shrugged. “I saw you at the Decathlon, Sunset. It would be a crime for you not to develop your talents. You could do anything you wanted! It’s… probably time for you to think about what you want, now. Do you know what your major is going to be? Not every school makes you declare it, but Pranceton does, once you get admitted.”
Sunset winced. “I, uh… haven’t thought it through that far. I… kinda just thought this was wasting everybody’s time.”
Twilight folded her arms, glaring at the other girl. “Well, time to think about it. You’re good at lots of things, so you have plenty of options. And most schools will let you switch if you find that it’s not working for you. The first few years are mostly generals anyway.”
Sunset set down the packet. She didn’t even open the others, not with her mind so occupied. “We’re assuming I get that far. Monsters attacked Canterlot just a few weeks ago. That could happen again. It probably will happen again, if our terrible luck holds.”
Twilight shrugged. “If they do, we’ll face it together. After escaping from that prison, we can do anything. Unless…” Twilight trailed off, looking suddenly crestfallen. “Are you going… back to Equestria? Is that why you haven’t really seemed to care about any of this?”
Sunset opened her mouth to deny it without thinking, then stopped herself. It wouldn’t be right to lie, though she wasn’t sure it was a lie, not really.
“When I came here, I was running from Celestia. She’d… it’s a long story, probably not worth retelling. But I never planned on staying here. Since then I’ve changed my mind. If I was going to go back there, why wouldn’t I have done it already?” Sunset Shimmer replied.
Twilight shrugged. “That’s… not exactly a denial.”
It took Sunset Shimmer nearly a minute to come up with a proper answer as she didn't want to say the wrong thing.
“It’s… no. I’m not positive I’m never going to move back. I just don’t… plan on it. I like the idea of going to college here, especially if I’m going with someone I—” She stopped herself, nearly choking on the word she was thinking. “Know. Someone I know.”
Twilight relaxed visibly, slumping into the seat across from Sunset. “Oh, good. That’s… good. Our world would be poorer if you decided to leave. We all got lucky when you decided to come here. Unless… you don’t like being here, then I guess its terrible.”
Sunset patted the other girl on the arm. “Don’t stress, Twi. We’ve got enough worries between us right now. Like… What's school going to do about how long we were gone? We didn’t just miss a break.”
That was enough to snap Twilight back on topic. “I spoke to the principal about it. They got the legal paperwork for being absent. No one knew where we were or how long we’d be gone, so they were pretty worried about us. So long as we catch up, none of our classes are going to penalize us.”
Great, more useless busy work. Sunset Shimmer thought bitterly to herself.
“I’ll just have to find some time to do all the work we missed in addition to… learning magic from scratch while defending the city from monsters. Piece of cake,” Sunset Shimmer muttered.
Twilight sighed, and let her arms fall to her sides. “I’m more interested in what Tempo actually wants from you. It’s got to be something, even with as nice as he’s been. Does he want your pony magic for himself, maybe?”
Sunset laughed in spite of herself. “He’s a pony himself you know. He was exiled here from my world… gosh, over a thousand years ago now. That’s probably why he cares so little about money. With as much time as he's had there isn't much he can't afford to do. What’s letting me borrow an apartment to a man like that?”
“A thousand years.” Twilight’s eyebrows went up. “I know you said your princesses are immortal, but… Perfect Tempo looked pretty human to me. Nobody lives that long.”
“Oh yeah. He figured out the secret to immortality while he was here. I’m guessing it’s greater transfiguration, but with age instead of species. It’s always been theorized, but permanent transformation is really bloody hard to make stick,” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed.
Twilight’s mouth hung open; eyes wide. For once, Sunset allowed herself to take a small amount of satisfaction in stumping the brilliant girl.
“You’re kidding me. Your weird sponsor is immortal? Doesn’t that seem sketchy? Like…” Twilight lowered her voice, glancing suspiciously around the room.
Did she really think Perfect Tempo would’ve hidden a bug in her apartment? Sunset Shimmer thought.
“What if he’s a vampire?” Twilight whispered.
Well he does have at least one undead working for him. Sunset Shimmer mused.
“Vampires aren’t real,” Sunset declared. “And the undead that do exist don’t drink blood. Twilight, relax. If he wanted a victim, he wouldn’t need to trick me. He has enough money to make your parents look poor, and centuries to plot. If he wanted a corpse, why target us? We’re the only ones with the magic necessary to defend ourselves. He could’ve taken what he wanted while we were trapped in Area seven, and there’s nothing we could’ve done to stop him. Yet he helped us escape.”
Twilight frowned, but eventually nodded. “That… makes sense. I still feel like we’re missing something, though. I have this feeling—it’s the same feeling I get when I’m staring at a math problem that isn’t quite solved. We don’t have enough information to complete the proof.”
Me too. Sunset didn’t want to admit that, not when Twilight was already worried. “Wanna see the magic room?”
“Fine.” Twilight pushed the packet across the table towards her. “But only after you fill this out.”