//------------------------------// // ~ 05 ~ Stolen Conversion // Story: If I Could Love Again... // by Petalled //------------------------------// ''Hey, Twilight Sparkle. Wanna play catch with me and the trio?'' Twilight finally looked up from her book and looked at her with a blank stare. ''Who are you?'' Sunset's ears fell. ''I'm... Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.'' ''Nope. I'm good.'' Already, Twilight was looking down at her book in front of her. Sunset's teeth gritted and stomped off, splashing the puddle of water over Twilight's book but she hadn't realized it was now soaked up. ''I knew you would come and find me,'' Sunset said rather snarkily. ''That little pest kept annoying me.'' Knowing he was being referred to, Spike immediately perked up and barked at her. Sunset kneeled downwards. ''Aw...'' she cooed mockingly, then when she was going to get her finger bitten she immediately stood back up with an impassive expression. ''Anyway, give me the crown and I'll let you go back to Equestria tonight to meet your little friends and Cadence.'' Twilight glanced up to see her crown above her head, then turned to Sunset with a cross expression. ''No.'' ''I knew you'd say tha—'' Her grin faded, surprise washing over her, and turned to look at Twilight, ''—Not even for your friends?! Cadence?'' ''Why are you doing this?'' Twilight instead asked, stepping forward. Sunset tried to hold it in but then burst out: ''Why? Why?! Have you still not figured it out yet? I want everything that was supposed to belong to me had I not been replaced!'' Twilight's eyebrows furrowed. ''You weren't replaced. Princess Celestia—'' ''Oh, blah, blah, blah,'' Sunset ignorantly babbled, rolling her eyes. ''Give me a break. Princess Celestia lies just to cover up her own fault. She may be seen as the pretty pony perfect princess but she's just a...'' ''Don't say it,'' Spike warned her. ''...fake,'' she completed. Twilight sighed. ''I get it you think that,'' she said. ''But trust me when I say that when I first discovered you Luna told me how Celestia couldn't stop talking about you after you left her. Celestia even said she—'' ''First discovered me?'' Sunset repeated, scoffing. ''So you really didn't know me before?'' ''You...'' Her ears fell, stepping back, ''...keep saying that.'' ''Right. I'll just go straight to the point if you can't remember through your thick skull. And you're supposed to be smart. Well, listen here, Twilight Sparkle, I. Was. In. Magic. Kindergarten. With. You.'' Twilight blinked. ''You were?'' Sunset choked a laugh. ''I knew it. After so long of me trying to get you to notice the second princess' protege, only now when I steal my crown from you do you notice me.'' Ears clamped against the skull, she stammered, ''I'm sorry, Sunset. You must know that I was focusing on my—'' ''Studies, I know,'' she interrupted. ''But that didn't stop you from making friends.'' ''I know. It's just that I never cared about making friends, Sunset, until Celestia sent me off to Ponyville.'' Sunset snorted, turned away. ''And Celestia was being harsh on me instead of you for not having any friends when I tried so hard and you didn't even care.'' Then did Twilight's memory suddenly clicked. ''Wait a minute. Didn't you have Minuette, Twinkle Shine, and Lemon Hearts?'' ''So now you remember,'' said Sunset. ''After all these years. Anyways, yes, and they also tried so hard to get you to notice them.'' Twilight fell to her knees. ''So you're doing all this shit all because of me?'' ''You still don't get it,'' she sneered, rolling her eyes. ''I want everything back that you've stolen from me.'' ''Well, I'm sorry but Princess—'' ''Must it always be about Princess Celestia?'' Sunset interrupted, irritated. ''By the way, she did tell me a few things or two about you.'' ''Really?'' A grin from Spike as he perked up. ''Like what?'' Sunset grinned back. ''I think you already know. Twilight Sparkle, the reason why I threaten Cadence against you is that Celestia told me of your childhood crush on her until you got heartbroken when she was going out with your brother instead. I mean what did you expect for your naive, friendless young self, huh?'' ''Sunset, I—'' Twilight frowned. ''Please, Sunset. We can work through this another way.'' ''It's too late,'' Sunset told her. Twilight's words were cut short when she fell on top of Spike when someone had pushed her from behind, her crown bouncing from wall to desk to Sunset. ''I'll take that,'' she said, taking hold of it. ''Nice work, boys.'' Tweedle dumb and tweedle dumbass saluted as they began watching what would come next. Sunset laughed insanely as she looked at the crown. ''No,'' Twilight whispered with Spike in her arms, panic-stricken. ''Finally. More power than I can ever dream,'' Sunset said before placing the crown above her head. ''NO! '' Twilight and Spike shouted at the same time, but it was too late. A sense of blackness started coloring the star on the crown, seeping out of it and coloring Sunset's eyes. When she opened them, she was being hovered above the ground and rotating in place before transforming into a fiery she-demon. She looked at her minions and transformed them as well but less significantly. Sunset grinned and turned around, smashing the wall and relocating to the front of the school as her minions followed behind. Twilight and Spike followed them in a panic with the rest of their friends. Teenagers started running around in fright, trying to exit the school when they saw the she-demon but Sunset pushed them all back in, turning them into zombies. ''I have tried so long just to get my hands on this crown,'' Sunset said in a distorted voice. ''It was mine, to begin with, had destiny not shift paths. And now, Twilight Sparkle will pay. She had ruined my plans one too many times already.'' All of Twilight's friends' counterparts began to surround her. ''We're bringing the band back together!'' exclaimed Rainbow Dash, standing defiant. Twilight smiled genuinely and appreciatively at her friends before turning back to Sunset, looking at her with some sort of pity building upon her face. ''Sunset, please...'' she said, frowning. ''We can talk about this.'' The fiery she-demon gritted her teeth and powered up flames in both of her hands, directing them at the group of friends before she heard screams from the school building and threatened them with fire next. When they became quiet again, she turned to look at the group of friends and got ready with her power source. A somewhat wide grin plastered on her face showed her bare fangs, hissing. When Twilight was protected by her group, this only made Sunset angrier and so blasted her ball of energy onto the group of friends, waiting to see what'll happen next. She laughed evilly until when her eyes opened back up she realized that a pink barrier was covering them whole, each of them holding their hands. Twilight's eyes opened and realized this as well. She grinned and pointed at the crown. ''The magic contained in my element was able to reunite with those that help create it.'' Sunset looked at her annoyed until a spark ignited from the pink star on the crown on her head, sending it to descend to the group of friends below and transforming them all with wings, tails, and ears. A giant rainbow emerged and went through Sunset as she screamed ear raping everyone in sight. The group of friends was seen lying on the floor until Spike approached Twilight licking her face to wake her up, when she did she quickly brought him in a quick, affectionate hug. Twilight and her friends spotted a big hole beside them standing up to see Sunset Shimmer in a state they wouldn't have expected her to see. Everyone from the school came out when Twilight started saying a few words down to her. Sunset looked up at her, tears welling up in her eyes. ''I'm so sorry. I didn't know there was another way.'' Twilight looked down at her sympathetically. ''The magic of friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria. It's everywhere. You can seek it out, or you can forever be alone. The choice is yours.'' Sunset climbed up from the hole to look at her, hanging from the edge as tears dropped. ''But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart. I don't know the first thing about friendship.'' Twilight took hold of her hand to pull her up, then pointed at her friends. ''I bet they can teach you.'' After Principal Celestia had given the crown to Twilight, they all went back inside to party until it was time for Twilight to get going back to Equestria with her crown and Spike after sharing one last hug with her friends. ''You'll look out for her, won't you?'' Twilight asked when she saw Sunset standing in the distance. ''Of course, we will,'' said Rarity a bit hesitantly, then turned away with her arms crossed. ''Although I do accept some sort of apology for last spring's debacle.'' ''I have a feeling she'll be handing out a lot of apologies,'' Twilight replied absentmindedly before Flash Sentry came running up to her with his suit still on and his car parked in front, ready to go. ''Flash?'' Twilight's friends giggled at her and went away for a bit to give the two some privacy. ''Twilight!'' Flash exclaimed. ''Look, I'm not ready for you to go yet. What we had was... amazing. So you don't mind spending a moment with me alone?'' Twilight looked at the moon in the sky before turning to look back at him. ''I'm sorry, Flash, but my presence there awaits. Besides, I might come back next time.'' Flash's face softened from hope. ''C-Can I at least give you a goodbye kiss?'' Twilight blinked, her cheeks flushing a bright red. ''Wow! I- I never expected you to be so... so bold!'' She cleared her throat. ''But, uh, I think I would need to decline that.'' ''What?!'' Rainbow exclaimed before Pinkie ducked her back into the bush. ''What?'' Flash asked. Twilight placed a hand over his shoulder. ''You're a great guy, Flash, but I'm thinking of saving my first kiss and, well, it's complicated.'' ''O-Oh, I see,'' Flash said, nodding slowly. ''Sorry,'' Twilight whispered, turning around to face the portal. All her friends came out of hiding to say their final goodbyes to her, and soon, she and Spike went through the portal where they met themselves go through another dizzying tube. They eventually came out of the mirror where all their friends were surrounded, waiting for them. ''Twilight! Spike! You came back!'' Their friends all went over each other until they had made it clear that they wanted some rest after a long day. They walked along the crystalline corridor where Twilight bumped into that same guard. ''We gotta stop bumping into each other like this,'' he said, bringing her back up and walking away, all her friends staring at him as he went past them. When Twilight started walking again, Rarity examined the blush crawling up her friend's cheeks. ''Somepony has a crush,'' she teased as she giggled. ''I do not!'' Twilight protested, feeling her wings tied behind her back. Cadence giggled. ''Aw. Just to think it's been a year since I foalsat you. Now you're all grown up with a crush!'' Twilight's stomach began to hurt, her ears falling back in place, only Spike had noticed this as he is the only one who knows of her secret. ''Hm.'' Her sister-in-law tapped her chin. ''Maybe I could introduce him to you and the two of you could~'' ''DAMN IT, CADENCE!'' She was cut off when something brushed against her lips, everyone on the side gasping, Spike was the most shocked out of them all but then eventually a smug expression overcame him. ''That's my girl, woohoo!'' Twilight disconnected away from her, biting her lip as she attempted to look away after that. Cadence was quiet for a moment, no idea what to say. Fortunately, the silence was interrupted when Shining Armour had spoken up which was unfortunate for Twilight however as she had just kissed the pony her brother is married to and that brother was in front of her staring down at her. ''S-Shining, I—'' she stammered out before her brother put up a hoof. ''Shh, it's okay, Twily,'' he said in an assuring voice. ''I would have minded if it was any stallion chick hooking up with my beloved but my sister? I don't mind.'' ''You, what?'' Twilight asked, puzzled. Shining rolled his eyes. ''Honestly, I sort of already knew. You're not really a pony who is hard to tell, Twily. I knew you'd have feelings for my wife A.K.A your sister-in-law or Princess Celestia.'' Spike stepped back, eyes wide. ''Woah.'' Shining sighed and pushed frozen Cadence forward. ''C'mon, Cady. Let's get some shut-eye.'' When the two of them left, Twilight's friends all turned to her in a mix of surprise and shock. ''What was all that all about?'' Applejack questioned, wanting an answer. Twilight's head hung low. ''I'm so embarrassed. What will she think of me now?'' ''Aw, there, there,'' Pinkie assured her, patting her on the back. ''Just speak to her about it tomorrow when you have your rest. You've had a long day today!'' ''Yeah... I guess you're right, Pinkie,'' Twilight agreed, smiling at her before resuming her walk to her dorm. Meanwhile, Spike was speaking with Shining Armour when Cadence went inside to sleep for the night. ''So you knew of her crush on her?'' he asked him. ''Not really,'' he said. ''I was just as surprised as the rest were. But I don't mind if she kissed my wife. I don't know why. It's weird.'' He turned to the drake. ''So you knew?'' Spike twiddled with his fingers. ''It was obvious to Celestia and me. We found out and tried everything we could to get her mind off of Cadence after she started going out with you and married you.'' ''Wow.'' Shining stared blankly in space. ''And I thought I knew her well enough. Guess I was wrong. But Spike my boy, what do you say we catch up tomorrow? You know, bonding like the old days?'' Spike grinned. ''Oh, yeah.''