//------------------------------// // Chapter 69: Insulaphobia // Story: Equestria Girls - The Tale of Two Sunsets // by HumanSunset63 //------------------------------// Back on Captain Spruce's ship, Sunset, Rainbow, and Captain Zest were beginning to tire out from holding off the pirates, who were more skilled with swords than they had anticipated. By this point, the brawl had nearly come to an end, with Captain Spruce and his team having the upper hand. They had already relentlessly slashed at the three mares enough times, to where they ended up dropping their swords out of exhaustion. Flash was the last one who still had a weapon in his hooves, defending everypony else from the relentless pirate gang. Although remarkably skilled with his trusty katana, it was only a matter of time before he would become overpowered as well. Internally, Sunset was hoping that Twilight understood what she meant earlier, as far as finding something to help their entire crew escape from the pirate ship. Knowing that they were all getting dangerously cornered, Sunset's eyes darted around the battlefield, scanning the deck for anything that could possibly aid her and her friends in their escape. She spotted something shiny and metallic a few yards away, and realized it was an ink pen that one of the pirates had dropped during the fight. Sunset quickly picked it up and sprinted over to Flash, who was still valiantly clashing away. She shook the pen up, before pointing it at the pirates, and squirting a large amount of ink at them, with even some getting in their eyes. "MY EYES!!!" Rogue screeched, as he stumbled back. "Captain!" Withers tried to get the ink out of his eyes. "I told you we should've worn eyepatches!" "Well, looks like the pen is mightier than the swords, after all." Flash commended Sunset's quick thinking. "Ye certainly be regrettin' that quite soon, missy!" Timber simply coped with the ink in his eye, as he stared Sunset down. "Any last words before we be finishin' ye landlubbers off!?" Sunset began to worry, but she breathed an internal sigh of relief, shortly after. Behind the pirates, Twilight finally exited the deck's trapdoor, and managed to acquire a large inflatable raft, which she slowly began to inflate using her magic. As the pirates were too focused on the ponies in front of them to take notice of this, Sunset then realized she suddenly had a snappy one-liner with a more hidden meaning. "Yes, actually." Sunset began to say her 'last words' to the ruthless pirate captain. "Timber Spruce, Twilight Sparkle... has a crush on you." "...What???" Timber simply froze in his tracks and blinked in confusion, before turning around to see the now fully inflated rubber raft, suspended up in the air. Twilight then dropped the heavy raft directly onto the pirates, knocking them unconscious, and making them drop their swords. The brief distraction was all the time that Sunset, Flash, Rainbow, and Captain Zest needed, as they quickly ran aboard the inflatable raft, before Twilight did the same. The princess then used her magic to levitate the raft off of the boat and onto the water, as they began floating away. "Well, I'm glad that you were able to pick up on what I tried to tell you earlier on the boat, Twilight." Sunset said. "Pretty clever strategy, to have me find an escape route while you all kept those pirates busy." Twilight replied. "Well, now I guess it's smooth sailing to Everfree Island. I'm curious though, Sunset? Was there more meaning behind you mentioning that I... had a crush on that pirate captain?" "I mean, Twilight DID have a crush on me once, so... I'm guessing there's a story here that we're just not getting." Flash added. "Well, it's kinda hard to explain." Sunset giggled. "But you see-" Before Sunset could even explain what she meant, Rainbow warned her of an upcoming danger. "SUNSET!" Rainbow's eyes widened, before pushing her down onto the raft. "DUCK!" This prompted everypony aboard to duck for cover, as a cannonball went slightly over their heads. They all turned around to see that Captain Spruce and his crew were now in hot pursuit, firing at them relentlessly. "Are you serious?" Lemon Zest snapped. "You salty old dogs are actually going to use cannonballs to sink an inflatable raft!?" "Ye lot think ye can just abandon us like that?!" Timber sneered. "Ye just don't understand the power of the sea, me hearty. Now, ye scallywags be plummetin' down to the bottom of the ocean, where ye belong!" Twilight then used her artificial magic to speed the raft along, as she knew this was going to be a persistent chase. All the while, Flash took his katana and began swinging away at the cannonballs that were close to puncturing the raft, which miraculously worked. Each hit connected, as he managed to slice the cannonballs in half, and making them fall into the water. "I'm surprised as much as you all." Flash commented. "Suddenly, it feels like I'm playing baseball with piñatas." "Yeah, uhh... what are those cannonballs even made of?" Sunset questioned. Distracted in this line of thought, one of the cannonballs eventually made contact with the rubber raft itself, creating a large hole. The raft began to sink, causing Sunset and her crew a great deal of anxiety. "We're hit!" Twilight shrieked. "It's only a matter of time before we run out of raft!" "Twilight, look!" Sunset pointed behind the princess, as she turned around. "I can see an island over on the horizon! That must be Everfree Island!" "Even if it's not, it's still an island, and our only chance of making it safely to land!" Lemon Zest added. "Looks like we're going to have to add some extra speed here!" Rainbow said, as she dove into the water and began pushing on the raft with all her might. "Twilight, let's speed it up! We still have a chance!" Twilight nodded, as she and Rainbow used all their strength to push the sinking raft along the waters like a motorboat, much to the frustration of the pirates. As long as they were fast enough, reaching the nearby island seemed completely doable, albeit extremely stressful. "They're getting away!" Biff screeched above the ship's deck. "After them!" As the raft began to rapidly approach the island, Sunset noticed that they were about to crash upon a nearby segment of land. With the pirates still hot on their tails, it became vital to abandon the raft as soon as possible, especially before Captain Spruce and his crew would catch up to them. Once they were close enough, Sunset motioned her hooves to prompt everypony in the raft to jump to land, just before the raft was about to collide with the hard rocks. Everypony did so, and made it safely without any issue, though there was still the concern of the pirates beginning to reach the island as well. "Well, I'm glad we're all okay, but we gotta do something about those salty pirates!" Rainbow announced. "I think I still have some magic left in me." Twilight said, before she used her artificial magic to zap the water in front of the pirate ship. Within seconds, the water slowly transformed into a large iceberg wall, forcing the pirates to stop their ship and turn around, to avoid a shipwreck. Twilight created this iceberg barrier all around the island, ensuring that the pirates would not be able to reach them, at least for quite some time. "Very clever, but ye haven't seen the last of us!" Timber yelled from a distance. "Soon that iceberg be meltin', and we'll be back!" Twilight panted in exhaustion from using her artificial magic, but ended up breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing those pirates storm off. The iceberg barrier around the island had bought them some time, perhaps just enough time for the entire crew to locate the Dragonstone. Although Captain Zest was more focused on finding her first mate and ferry passengers, she was still more than willing to contribute, as far as helping her crewmates acquire the artifact. The five ponies looked at each other proudly at being able to make it this far, but now, it was only a matter of being successful in their little treasure hunt. "Hey, just to get an idea, this IS Everfree Island, right?" Sunset questioned. "Definitely looks like it, especially since I see all sorts of plants growing around here that are normally native to the Everfree Forest." Twilight observed. "Yeah, you see those strange-looking blue flowers in that patch over there? Poison Joke. Let's just say... it's definitely in your best interest to not touch those." "Plus, those pirates were originally bringing us all to Everfree Island anyways." Rainbow added. "I can't imagine this is some other locale, at least going off of that map we saw earlier." "Everfree Island was unmarked, though." Flash reminded. "Either way, the best we can do now is just search around, since we got some time before that iceberg melts. Princess, do you still have any magic left in you?" Twilight tried to do a simple levitation spell on a nearby rock, but her horn began to short out. "It seems like I've run out." Twilight sighed. "Must've been all that effort I put into creating that iceberg. But even then, it was just enough for us to escape those pirates, and that's what matters. We shouldn't use what's left of our Enchantment Tonics, though. They should only be used in real emergencies." "Come to think of it, why do you suppose those pirates had magic tonics in their stash anyways?" Lemon Zest pondered. "They must've pillaged them off of a cargo ship that carries potions." Sunset deduced. "Either way, now that we're on Everfree Island, we have that chance to locate not only the Dragonstone, but your passengers, Captain." "Perhaps we should split up for that?" Lemon Zest suggested. "I wouldn't do that." Flash warned. "Something tells me that the vegetation around here isn't welcoming to guests like us. I'll have my katana ready in case we encounter anything hostile. If anything like those vines that attacked our ship earlier are around, we'd best stick together." "Second that." Rainbow added. "Just like the Wonderbolts, teamwork will help us prevail in the end." "Sounds like a plan." Sunset nodded in agreement, as the five ponies began trotting off into uncharted territory as a group. Whilst trotting around the beaches with her crew, Sunset particularly found a sense of déjà vu. Much like her Spring Break cruise, she now appeared to be combing a desert island with Twilight and Rainbow Dash again, albeit the ones native to Equestria. It definitely felt like she was reliving one of her previous adventures in the human world, even if Flash Sentry and Lemon Zest were accompanying them this time around. It was also somewhat amusing to think that Equestria's Twilight and Timber Spruce had a total opposite relationship with one another, compared to their human counterparts, though it made sense. A princess certainly wouldn't act kindly toward a ruthless and savage pirate captain bent on harming her friends, even if they were both interested in a supposed treasure. As the group finally made it past the beach, they took notice of a jungle with a clear path in between. Rockhoof had already mentioned that he hid the Dragonstone in the center of the island, prompting Sunset and her group to venture deeper into the island through the jungle's opening. To Sunset, the experience felt no different from that other island she ended up on during Spring Break, though she internally hoped that there wouldn't be any situations involving quicksand. After trotting through for a bit, Sunset suddenly noticed what looked like a trail of hoofprints on the dirt itself. "Hey, is that... what I think it is?" Sunset pointed at the hoofprints in front of her. "Somepony else must be here, then!" Captain Zest said with hope. "We should follow them, they look pretty fresh!" "Let's just hope that whoever made them, they're friendly." Flash added, before the group began to follow the hoofprint trail. After some thorough tracking of the trail, Sunset and the others eventually came across some kind of small camp, with several tents set up, and an active campfire. The fire had a rotisserie of grilled cabbages, which prompted Rainbow and Twilight's stomachs to growl. "We've been out here for a while it seems." Rainbow held her stomach. "Can't find the Dragonstone on an empty stomach." "I think casting that iceberg spell made me work up a real appetite." Twilight said. "Well, whoever's out here, maybe they won't mind us having a quick snack." Twilight and Rainbow grabbed one of the cabbages off of the stick and began munching away, gaining back some energy from this draining adventure. Sunset, Flash, and Captain Zest were all still doing fine as far as hunger, though Sunset was concerned that whoever set the camp up would in fact, absolutely mind Rainbow and Twilight taking their food. Her instinctive thoughts would soon prove to be correct, as two ponies came around the corner to inspect the noises they had heard from their camp. The first pony who came around the corner looked familiar to Sunset, and not in a good way. In fact, it was the same pony who had inadvertently caused her to miss out most of Twilight's coronation, during day one of her extended return. "HEY!" Sunny Flare snapped upon seeing Twilight and Rainbow eating their camp food. "What do you think you're doing!? I was going to eat those!" "Oh, umm..." Twilight's eyes widened. "We're so sorry, we thought this camp was abandoned." "And we were really hungry." Rainbow held up the mostly-eaten cabbage. "Here, there's still some left." "Well, too late now!" Sunny Flare frowned. "Besides, we've been out here for days, and have been really conservative of our supplies! You're probably just here to steal our food!" "That's not true at all!" Twilight insisted. "In fact, we're here to-" But before Twilight could finish, the other pony came around the corner to see the commotion. "Princess Twilight!?" Night Glider addressed. "Oh, this is wonderful! You have no idea how relieved we are to see you!" "Night Glider!" Twilight said with relief, after hearing about the pegasus' mysterious disappearance in that future timeline. "We're glad to see you're okay! Sorry about eating your food, we got really hungry." "Oh, don't worry about it." Night Glider assured. "Please, enjoy the rest of the cabbage, and don't mind my crabby little friend here." "I'm not your friend!" Sunny Flare hissed. "Especially if you're just going to let us starve!" "Now, now." Night Glider tried to calm her down. "I know we have enough food to share. Besides, Princess Twilight has a reason to be out here, I'm sure." "Several reasons, actually." Twilight replied. "But to get an idea, it looks like you ponies are stranded on the island?" "Well, that's one way to put it." Night Glider replied. "The original plan was to just have an overseas cruise, but along the way, something went wrong. Some strange fog and a bunch of kelp vines damaged and sank our ship, which forced us to swim all the way here to shore." "That's exactly what we encountered, ourselves." Sunset replied. "We still have no idea what could've caused it, though it's entirely possible that a gang of pirates we've encountered was responsible for it." "Pirates?" Sunny Flare raised an eyebrow. "Get outta here with these dumb fairy tales!" "She's not fabricating anything, we very much had to escape some pirates to get here." Rainbow vouched for Sunset's statement. "Maybe you should watch what you say, instead. Because to tell you the truth, I don't think I like your attitude." "Nor do I like you slobbering all over my cabbage!" Sunny Flare growled. "Listen, if you're so hungry, I have some granola bars in my tent." Night Glider tried to reason with Sunny Flare. "Besides, Ragamuffin and that other stallion are currently foraging for anything edible they can gather from the island itself." "Ragamuffin!?" Lemon Zest exclaimed with hope upon hearing this. "Thank Celestia he's okay. I was almost worried that my first mate didn't make it to land safely." "So you're the captain behind that ferry?" Sunny Flare pointed at Captain Zest. "Well it seems like you need a better first mate. He steered us out here in the first place, so this is all his fault!" "Oh, shut up, you grouch!" Captain Zest snapped at the mare. "I've had enough of you and your attitude! If it weren't for his survival and navigation skills, you'd be at the bottom of the sea right now! As for you, Miss Night Glider? I'm sorry for the trouble we've caused you and your crew. I'll make sure both Ragamuffin and I do what we can to help you all get off the island." "Thank you, Captain." Night Glider smiled. "Your help is much appreciated, but coming up with a way off the island will certainly be difficult, especially since we have no ferry anymore." "We don't have a boat ourselves either, but I'm sure we'll figure something out." Sunset assured. "After all, this isn't the first time I've been stuck on an island, let's just say." "But before we even think about getting off the island, we're here to find something." Twilight explained. "What is it?" Night Glider questioned. "Maybe Sunny Flare and I can help you search for it." "As if!" Sunny Flare huffed. "You're not getting my help, I've got my own problems to worry about!" "Well go on ahead, who needs you, anyways?" Rainbow snapped. "In fact, you can forget about getting the rest of this cabbage!" "Good, because you're going to go out and forage me some new food as compensation!" Sunny Flare demanded. "Are you serious right now?" Lemon Zest pointed at the mare. "Do you always act like this?" "I'm not going to tell you again!" Sunny Flare screeched. "Go out and get me some new food, you unfashionable, discount cereal mascot!" "Go to Tartarus, you uncouth unicorn!" Lemon Zest frowned. "Hey, hey, let's break it up, now." Night Glider decided to step in. "Listen, we're all in the same boat, as far as needing to work together to get off the island. Though to get by, we might need to find some more food for us all to share. Do you think you five could go further into the jungle to find anything else edible?" "For sure!" Rainbow nodded. "We'll help you, at least." "See, Sunny Flare?" Night Glider felt that she set a good example. "You should try being nice, sometimes." "Or, I could try being more attractive to rainbow maned clowns." Sunny Flare sneered. "Enough of this, we have to focus." Flash insisted. "Alright, so is it settled? We'll all work together to gather some more food and resources, then we'll continue our little treasure hunt." "That sounds good to me." Night Glider nodded. "May I ask though, what is it you're looking for?" "Well, we're looking for an artifact known as the Dragonstone." Twilight explained. "Going off of a picture we saw, it's a bright magenta, curved, teardrop-shaped stone with spiral markings on it." "Hmm, interesting." Night Glider responded. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for something like that myself, though I really wish I had my flight back. I don't know how it happened, but it's like... we suddenly lost our magic out of nowhere." "Yeah, we definitely noticed that ourselves." Sunset said. "But I'm sure that if we all work together as a team, we'll have all the magic we need." "Agreed." Night Glider nodded. "However, if we're going to split up to cover more ground, we might need another pony to join our group. Ragamuffin and the other stallion haven't returned yet." "Alright, I'll join you temporarily." Twilight volunteered herself, before turning to the rest of her crew. "Flash, you go on ahead with Sunset, Rainbow, and Captain Zest. Make sure you all stay together." "Affirmative, Princess." Flash replied, before motioning the three other mares to follow him. "Are you sure you'll be okay, Twilight?" Sunset asked with concern. "I will." Twilight assured. "My friends and I have been on adventures more dangerous than this, I know I'll be fine. By the way, in case something happens, you should take this." Twilight handed Sunset the unopened Enchantment Tonic, before Sunset nodded and went off with the rest of her group. As Twilight, Sunny Flare, and Night Glider left camp together, Sunset and her group were heading the opposite direction, mostly to gather food and resources. It was definitely going to be difficult to figure out a way off the island, especially if the culprit behind that mysterious fog was still out there, ready to cause another shipwreck. Sunset still had a feeling it could've been connected to those pirates, but then again, it was entirely possible that the fog came from somewhere else. After all, Rockhoof also mentioned that a strange, spiritual being had cursed him, much like the fog had cursed everypony on the island, taking away their magic. She questioned who this being possibly was, and if there was a way to reason with them, in exchange for safely getting off the island, much like Rockhoof once did. By this point, Human Sunset had already made it all the way back to her native world, now with the Tundra Tiara on hand, hidden away in her skirt's pocket. She was still halfway torn between keeping the crown for herself as a sentimental friendship gift from Rara, or to simply hand it over to Gilda and continue down her dark path of revenge. She slowly walked all the way back over to Crystal Prep Academy, where Gilda was still waiting, impatiently. As Human Sunset went over to the same window she had crawled out of earlier, she was surprised to see Gilda kept true to her word in staying behind, keeping watch for anybody who'd open Indigo's locker, especially Indigo herself. "I'm here." Human Sunset made her presence known, before climbing in. "Welcome back, boss." Gilda addressed, before eagerly giving her a reminder. "So, where's that tiara that you owe me?" "I... wasn't able to find it." Human Sunset fabricated, feeling that she needed to test Gilda on her loyalty. "Too bad." Gilda simply crossed her arms without a care in the world. "I guess you gotta find another way to get revenge then, huh?" "It's not that, it's just... why are we even doing this in the first place?" Human Sunset began explaining her newfound philosophy, after befriending Rara and Party Favor. "Doesn't revenge only consume you, and makes you no better than the ones you seek to destroy? It's a never-ending cycle. Maybe it's healthier to find a more constructive way to deal with my anger and frustration." "Eh, whatever you say." Gilda scoffed. "But you're still lying, you could've found the tiara if you really tried. You just didn't want to. So, why lie to me about it?" "W-What do you mean, I'm not lying." Human Sunset insisted. "Yeah?" Gilda raised an eyebrow. "Then what's that metallic-looking tiara thing sticking out of your pocket?" "Okay, okay, fine." Human Sunset sighed. "To tell you the truth, I just wanted to test your loyalty, especially since during my trip there, I've made new friends. In fact, I vented to somebody named Party Favor about wanting revenge, and that's the philosophy he tried to instill in me." "Pffft!" Gilda broke out in laughter. "Then this Party Favor person must get beaten up a lot. That's the most sad and sappy thing I've ever heard. Of course revenge is the right thing to do!" "Well, we can agree to disagree..." Human Sunset sighed. "But I hope you understand why I did what I did. It wasn't because I didn't want to find it for you, it was just because... I feel like I've changed, and I hope you can accept that." "Yeah, sure, whatever you say." Gilda began attempting to emotionally manipulate Human Sunset. "But don't you think it's kinda weird that you're changing now, after all this time? I mean, you've already constructed such a huge master revenge plan, and now you're just gonna give up on it?" "It's not that I'm giving up on it, Gilda." Human Sunset replied. "It's just that I'm finding a different way to deal with things. I'm not saying that I'll never seek vengeance again, but I don't want to let it control me anymore. I want to be better than that." "Is this because your so-called new friends in Equestria persuaded you to think like this?" Gilda folded her arms. "They did play a part in it, yes." Human Sunset nodded. "But it was also because of my own experiences and reflections. I've seen how vengeance can destroy not only the person you're seeking revenge against, but also yourself. I want to find a way to move forward, to heal, and to be happy again. Especially when my new friends have made me feel happy for the first time ever." "But don't you think that's just because they're being nice to you, simply because they pity you?" Gilda continued her cunning manipulation. "Why do you believe they're your true friends? Have you even had 'real' friends before?" "Well, to tell you the truth... not really." Human Sunset replied. "Exactly!" Gilda smirked, realizing that her manipulation was working. "They're just taking advantage of your gullibility and loneliness. You need to see the truth, that they're just using you for their own gain. They don't really care about you, Sunny, they only care about themselves. I've had so-called friends like Rainbow Dash, only for her to end up double crossing me, and getting me expelled." "B-But... I don't think that's true, Gilda." Human Sunset tried her best to follow her new beliefs. "They were there for me when no one else was. They've helped me grow as a person, and genuinely made me happy. I can't just throw that away." "Oh, please." Gilda scoffed. "You're just being naive. You think they'd actually care if you just disappeared? They'd just find someone else to replace you. They're all the same, and simply using you. Just like how you're using me and my gang to do your dirty work. Making friends is quite literally the biggest joke, just behind spending thousands of dollars on a dumb and useless college." "I-I don't know... maybe you're right..." Human Sunset trailed off, her voice growing more uncertain. "I just... I don't want to be sad and alone anymore..." "Who says you're alone, kid?" Gilda replied. "You got me, Lightning, and Thunder, all following your footsteps in this huge ploy of revenge to sabotage these school graduations. Plus, I'm actually loyal to you. I stood here by the lockers the whole time, making sure nobody else would open this locker but you." "I understand and appreciate that, but..." Human Sunset continued to feel internally conflicted. "Is getting revenge really the right thing to do?" "Who cares about what's right or wrong?" Gilda sneered. "You want to tell right from wrong, you might as well go back to kindergarten. This is the real world now, Sunny. It's a cruel and dark world where nobody is ever truly your friend, no matter how nice they are to you. My girls and I are the only friends you'll truly ever have, and we're offering to help you get the ultimate revenge on everybody, when no one else would." "I-I just want to be happy..." Human Sunset repeated, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Frustrated at this, Gilda began to remind Human Sunset of why she wanted all this revenge in the first place, as a last resort to fully shift her mind. "Sunny, let me ask you." Gilda began. "How did it feel when that Sugarcoat girl constantly bested you academically, all those times here in this school, as you mentioned earlier in the truck?" "It... hurt." Human Sunset admitted, feeling a twinge of anger. "She always made me feel like I was never good enough..." "How about that Indigo girl?" Gilda recalled everything she was told earlier. "You know? The one who bullied you nonstop, made you stay up til 6 AM to do all her homework, and then tried to persuade you into stealing test answers for the SAT?" "She was horrible." Human Sunset murmured, her fists clenching at the memory. "She treated me like a slave, and always made me feel so vulnerable." "Well, the vintage $20,000 school uniforms owned by both of those girls are sitting in this locker, as we speak." Gilda pressed her hand on Indigo's locker. "Besides, they're not the only ones you want your vengeance toward. How about that Principal Cinch, who made things extremely one-sided that day for you, which forced you to drop out of school altogether?" "That... absolute MONSTER!!!" Human Sunset spat, feeling a surge of rage. "Always favored those rich snobs, and treated me like I was nothing more than a source of profit to the school itself! I wish I could make her pay for everything, especially for turning a blind eye to everything I went through!" "She's not the only one who's treated you horribly, Sunny." Gilda reflected. "Remember what you told me about your father, and how he abandoned your family, simply over you dropping out? He never once truly cared about you and your problems, instead, just pushing you to do all this in school, simply to use you. If that really happened, what makes you think your new 'friends' in Equestria are any different?" "You're... right about everything." Human Sunset felt her hands trembling, as Gilda knew that her manipulation had finally paid off. "He never loved me at all, and neither does anyone else! I'm better off without them all!" Human Sunset could feel tears of legitimate heartbreak build up in her eyes, especially since the only person whom she feel always truly loved her, was gone. Solstice had already passed on ages ago, and she was never coming back. Meanwhile, all of these people who had wronged her and ruined her life and mental health... would just go on to enjoy and live out their normal lives? No... this wasn't going to stand. "So tell me now, Sunny." Gilda leaned against the lockers. "Are you really, truly happy, without getting that sweet taste of revenge you've wanted for quite some time, now?" "No..." Human Sunset whispered, wiping away the tears that had finally begun to fall. "I can't just forget about it..." "Then let's do this." Gilda smiled wickedly, as she slammed her fist against the lockers multiple times, making them all shake violently. "Let's go and get what's ours. Just give me the Tundra Tiara, and I'll open the locker for you." Human Sunset slowly nodded, as she took the crown out of her pocket and handed it over, symbolically and metaphorically throwing away her friendship with Rara in favor of continuing her dark and dastardly path with Gilda and her no-good gang. To Human Sunset, it didn't matter anymore, since she knew she was already this far in, and there was no backing out now. Once Gilda grabbed the Tundra Tiara, she opened Indigo's locker as she had promised, and allowed Human Sunset to snatch every single one of the Shadowbolts' vintage uniforms. "Good to see you're making the right decision, Sunny." Gilda smirked, before both girls' eyes widened at hearing a doorknob turn from down the hall. "Did I just hear somebody... shake all the lockers?" Principal Cadance said out loud. "The building's supposed to be locked right now." "We'd better make a run for it, it's now or never!" Gilda panicked. Human Sunset and Gilda jumped out of the open window and ran off Crystal Prep's campus grounds, as both girls felt that their business was finished. Principal Cadance slowly walked toward the direction she had heard the noise caused by Gilda slamming her fist, before noticing one of the lockers was mysteriously opened and emptied. "Hmm... was that locker like that when I came into the office today?" Cadance asked herself. "It's a good thing I set up security cameras in the halls after I became principal. I should go review the footage..." Back in Equestria, the task to scavenge supplies for everypony's survival was becoming more challenging by the minute. Whilst combing Everfree Island's jungle for resources and food, Pony Sunset and her group weren't having much luck, especially with the consideration that most resources they had already found were too weak to build a reliable raft. But whilst searching for food, the crew soon came across several bushes with berries growing on them. These berries didn't look like the kinds they would find at a grocery store, making everypony question if they were even edible. "You think we can bring those back?" Rainbow pointed at the berries. "I'm not sure, but I don't think we should take the risk." Sunset advised. "They could be poisonous." "Sunset's correct, those are hemlock berries." Flash confirmed. "We definitely don't want to eat those, I guarantee that." "Maybe we can feed them to that pompous mare back at the camp." Lemon Zest suggested. "She demanded we give her some new food, so that's exactly what we're going to do." "We're not doing that." Flash replied, sternly. "I know she was pretty rude earlier, but we can't stoop to her level. Remember, we absolutely must all work together as a team, if we're going to make it." "Agreed." Sunset nodded. "Even if she's behaving this way, we're above poisoning somepony. We're not monsters, after all." "I wasn't being serious." Lemon Zest rolled her eyes. "But just so you know, I'm still keeping my eye on her." "Same here, really not a fan of her attitude." Rainbow added. "For now, I'm just not sure what we need to build a boat or raft. Any ideas where to start?" "If we're going to craft a boat, we could try gathering a bunch of fallen logs and branches." Sunset suggested. "But I'm still worried about the fog that sank our ship. I have a feeling that some spiritual entity haunting the island was maybe the cause. Like Rockhoof said himself, perhaps we can work something out with the spiritual being, in exchange for returning back safely, assuming they were responsible for it." "I still speculate that it was those salty pirates, but I get what you mean." Lemon Zest said. "This is the first I've ever heard of ghosts or spirits, but then again, anything's unexpected on the open seas." "Come to think of it, you wonder if that spiritual entity is guarding the Dragonstone?" Rainbow pondered. "I just hope it's not being guarded by Ahuizotl. Otherwise, he'll be writing all about us in his next book." "The Dragonstone will be vital for saving Equestria." Flash replied. "So even if he does, we'll just tell our side of the story and make him look like the bad guy. Whoever he is." "You've never read Daring Do, Flash?" Rainbow questioned. "Never got around to it." Flash admitted. "Though I vaguely heard a rumor that the stories are actually nonfiction?" "Well, that's... not entirely wrong." Rainbow responded. "There's some exaggeration, but most of it really did happen. So, Ahuizotl might actually be a tough opponent to face off against. It's either him, or whatever spirit is actually guarding the Dragonstone." "Whoever it is, let's just hope they can be reasoned with." Sunset said. "For now though, let's just focus on finding some food to bring back to camp. Preferably anything that isn't a berry." "How about some bananas?" Lemon Zest pointed at a nearby tree. "Those look pretty ripe, too." "Good eye, captain!" Rainbow replied, before going over to shake the tree with her hooves. The bunch eventually fell off the branches, with Captain Zest successfully catching them before they hit the ground. Feeling like this was more than enough food to hold everypony over for quite some time, Sunset and her group decided to head back to the camp. But along the way, they began to hear screaming from a distance. It sounded like the pony was in real danger, though it took a moment for Captain Zest to eventually recognize who it truly was. "Ragamuffin!" Lemon Zest called out. "I've worked with him for the past three years, I know his scream anywhere! Quickly, this way!" The entire group rushed over to the direction the screams were coming from. Following Captain Zest, they began to notice strange vegetation surrounding the environment, as if something large and intimidating was just lurking around the corner. Shuffling through the bushes and vines, they eventually caught wind of a giant plant monster. To Sunset, although it initially looked like nothing more than a giant Venus Flytrap, she soon realized it was the same type of carnivorous plant creature that the Human Twilight had accidentally released during the Friendship Games. Specifically, the one that attacked all the girls during the Motocross race event, where the Human Rainbow stayed true to her loyalty by going back to rescue everyone before they got chomped up. It was truly a memorable experience for Sunset, to where she even reminded the Human Rainbow about this event, in an attempt to bring back the good memories of her, which were erased from the memory stone. After remembering the new powers that the Human Twilight gained after becoming possessed, it all began to make sense. She managed to open unlimited portals into Equestria with her new magic as Midnight Sparkle, the same capabilities of that device Principal Cinch had pressured her to open up. All this time, Sunset had admittedly wondered where those carnivorous plants had originated from, and she finally got her answer. Despite having a sense of closure over learning that they had originated here on Everfree Island, Sunset knew that Captain Zest's first mate was in danger, and it was time for a rescue. "Somepony, anypony... HELP!!!" Ragamuffin shrieked, as the plant creature began to trap the pony in its maw. "This is what we soldiers trained for back at the academy." Flash began to instruct the rest of the group. "Sunset, Rainbow, Captain Zest! I want you to focus on trying to distract that plant monster. You three should attack it with everything you've got! We need to give Ragamuffin a chance to escape!" "Will do!" The trio nodded, before Sunset spoke up. "What about you, Flash?" "I'll cover you from behind!" Flash held his katana up. "Just keep it occupied!" The three mares began kicking and hitting the plant with their hooves, which the creature barely paid much attention to, due to it's thick layers. Sunset then improvised by picking up some sharp and heavy rocks, as she pelted the body with them. After the carnivorous plant became agitated enough, it finally brought its attention to the ponies, feeling provoked at their pathetic little interference. In response, the plant simply used its lower vines to whack the ponies away, as they were being nothing more than a minor inconvenience that was easily circumvented. "It's not working, we have to provoke it far enough!" Flash announced. "Try another tactic!" Everypony frantically looked around, knowing that they had very limited time. "I've got an idea!" Sunset said, as she noticed something in the distance that might be of use against the plant. She spotted a large fallen tree nearby, its branches still intact. Sunset quickly ran over and began to pull on the thickest branch she could manage. With a mighty heave, she broke it off of the trunk and brought it back over to the plant. Then, using all her strength, she swung it at the creature's exposed root system. There was a loud CRACK, as the branch connected with the roots, and the plant shrieked in pain. Although Sunset's tactic seemed to finally get the plant's full attention, it still wasn't doing what Flash was hoping for. Enraged by the attack on its roots, the carnivorous plant lashed out with its vines, whipping them through the air at Sunset. One vine wrapped around her front leg, pinning her to the ground, while another coiled around her neck, and began choking her. Flash used his katana to slash apart the vines holding Sunset in place, enraging the plant even further. Suddenly, Rainbow and Captain Zest picked up their own sharp sticks from the same fallen tree trunk, and went over to the beast. They hurled the sticks at the plant's main stem like harpoons, making it screech out in more pain. The carnivorous plant glanced down and saw for a brief moment, who its last attackers were. It focused heavily on the area Rainbow and Captain Zest were standing, before licking its lips with its tongue. Angered by all these puny attacks, the plant finally realized it was in the mood for its next meal. Before the two ponies could even react, the plant erupted its vines from the ground and tripped them up. The captain landed on her face with a thud, while Rainbow flipped through the air and landed in a crumpled heap nearby. The vines then wrapped around their bodies, restraining them, and brought them close together. Looking from below, Sunset and Flash saw that the head prepared to lunge toward Rainbow and Captain Zest, but this was exactly what Flash had anticipated the entire time. "Rainbow, Captain Zest, this may sound crazy, but you have to trust me!" Flash instructed. "The creature's aiming for you two, so be sure to stand in place and don't move!" "W-What!?" Rainbow felt her heart beating intensely. "Whose side are you on, now!?" "You want us to become plant food!?" Lemon Zest shrieked. "What's wrong with you!? I don't think I like this plan!" "It's the only chance we've got, just trust me!" Flash yelled, as he saw the plant creature was ready to lunge. The plant monster began to do so at an alarming speed, as Rainbow and Captain Zest shut their eyes, thinking they were goners. Knowing that the head was reaching close enough to the ground, Flash simply drew out his trusty katana, before taking a deep breath and stepping back. In one swift motion, he swung the weapon toward the base of the savage beast's neck at a near-exact timing. With a sickening crunch, the monster's head was severed from its body, causing it to fall limply to the ground. Suddenly, the vines restraining the two mares had died down as well, releasing them from their trap, as they slowly got up together in shock. "I've done this before when protecting Princess Cadance from an awful Tatzlwurm." Flash explained, before wiping the sweat off of his face. "It worked then, so I knew it would work here too. After all, attacking the body is always futile if you can't reach the head." "You did great, Flash." Sunset commended Flash for his leadership and military skills. "You really showed us how to take charge and use our combined strengths to defeat that thing. I'm proud of everypony for working together so well, that's what being part of a team is all about. We stick together, and we don't let any old plant monster get the better of us." "I've had plenty of experience protecting Canterlot with my team over the years." Flash nodded, as he and Sunset then looked over at Rainbow and Captain Zest, who were still shaky from the ordeal. "Are you two all right?" "We are now, but maybe next time, don't try to scare us like that." Rainbow replied, still feeling uneasy. "I'll make a mental note." Flash responded. "Wait a minute, where's Ragamuffin!?" Lemon Zest was still concerned over the well being of her first mate. Suddenly, everypony looked over to the sudden movement from the decapitated plant's head. They immediately took a quick fighting stance, in the chance that the plant wasn't quite dead yet. However, they soon realized that it was a pony attempting to escape from the maw, who had held on to dear life at the back of the plant's throat. It was Ragamuffin, who was completely drenched in saliva, but had managed to avoid becoming digested from the plant's stomach acid. Captain Zest soon recognized her first mate standing before her, and quickly ran over to hug him, overjoyed at this reunion. "Ragamuffin!" The captain held him close for a moment, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, I thought you were gone for good. I'm so glad you're alive! You have no idea how relieved I am to see you." "Captain, it's good to see you too." Ragamuffin replied, as he wiped some of the plant's saliva from his face. "That plant was one tough customer, probably the worst customer we've ever had in this whole business. I can't imagine would've happened if you didn't show up." As Sunset, Rainbow, and Flash all smiled proudly upon this heartwarming reunion, they soon took notice of the other pony, still slowly climbing out of the plant's maw. He was initially unrecognizable to them, until some of the saliva slowly dripped off, revealing his puffy brown mane. It was Cheese Sandwich, Pinkie Pie's soon-to-be husband. "Cheese Sandwich?" Rainbow addressed from a distance. "Hey, long time no see! I guess rescuing you would be my way of thanking you for throwing that epic birth-iversary party for me back then!" "Rainbow Dash!" Cheese exclaimed, as he regained his consciousness. "I guess it was no coincidence, after all! My Cheesy Sense was a-tingling, telling me somepony would come rescue us." "Well, I guess you could say, it's what my friends and I were put on this planet to do." Rainbow replied with confidence. "But now that both you and Ragamuffin are rescued, we should all get out of here before any more of those awful plant monsters show up." "Sounds like a plan to me." Ragamuffin nodded. "We must simply thank you all for such a heroic deed!" "Well, Flash here was the one who came up with the plan to save us all, he's definitely the real hero here." Sunset commended. "I gotta say, Flash, that was a really brilliant plan, even I couldn't have come up with something like that, when those same plants attacked me back in my world." "Your... world?" Ragamuffin raised an eyebrow at Sunset's odd word choice. "Errr, town I mean." Sunset brushed off. "By the way, we found a large stack of bananas, so if you two are hungry, we got just the thing for you." "Drat, just how exactly did we miss such a big bunch of those ripe fruits?" Ragamuffin scratched his head with his hoof. "Cheese, sir? I should've listened to you rather than my compass." "I told you, my Cheesy Sense is never wrong." Cheese replied. "Right then, well... to make up for getting us into that mess, why don't I carry these back to the camp?" Ragamuffin offered, as he began carrying the banana stack on his back. "I got a bad feeling that Sunny Flare is really going to let me have it for taking so long to gather food." "We've got food, but we still need materials for a boat to get off the island." Sunset said to everypony. "That fallen tree trunk seems to have what we need. You all go on ahead, Cheese Sandwich and I can gather some wood and branches." "Sounds good, and we're all going to need a new campfire soon, that's for sure." Cheese agreed. Everypony nodded and began making their way back to camp, as Sunset and Cheese stayed behind to forage some large pieces of wood. Whilst Cheese was doing so, he eventually took a good look at Sunset, as he soon realized that he actually recognized her. "Say, haven't we already met?" Cheese addressed the mare next to him. "Uhh, no?" Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Sunset Shimmer, right?" Cheese recalled. "You sure you haven't met me before?" "I mean, technically, yes?" Sunset said, rather confused. "I'm sure Pinkie's probably told you all about me, but... I think this is the first time I'm meeting the you-you. I'm sorry, that probably doesn't make any sense at all." "I sure hope you enjoyed that complimentary box of cookies I gave you a few days ago." Cheese replied. "Wha-!?" Sunset's eyes widened, as she began to piece together what Cheese was seemingly implying. "You mean... you're actually the... the one who...?" "Also heard that you were about to graduate from CHS, and asked the other Pinkie to watch your apartment." Cheese winked. "But... Pinkie told me the other day that you two were getting happily married." Sunset recalled. "Why would you suddenly be spending quality time with the human Pinkie?" "The Pinkie you and I both know, she specifically asked me to spend some time with her." Cheese replied. "Said how she was often feeling lonely in the human world, and needed some company to keep her spirits high. I guess it makes sense, since the human her doesn't have Pinkie Sense." "She doesn't?" Sunset questioned. "I guess that would explain why she wouldn't be able to tell whether or not you're the Cheese Sandwich native to her world." "Precisely, Sunset." Cheese nodded. "Besides, wasn't it just clever how she often switched places with her human counterpart, just to trick everyone from either respective world?" "Uhh, I have no idea what you're talking about." Sunset brushed off, trying to keep her promise to Pony Pinkie, in never speaking of her elaborate hoax with anypony else. "C'mon, no need to pretend, now." Cheese winked. "I already know she's told you. Besides, great minds who think alike are terrible at keeping secrets from one another." "I guess that would make sense." Sunset shrugged. "Yeah, she's... definitely fooled me for quite some time, let's just say. Well, thanks for having this... revelation with me. But we should definitely hurry back to camp with these branches, before any more of those plant beasts show up." "Couldn't have said it better, myself!" Cheese agreed, as he began trotting back to the camp with long segments of wood resting on his back. Sunset followed behind Cheese, still rather shocked that the Cheese Sandwich she met back in the human world wasn't even the one native to that world. Though it definitely seemed sweet how Pony Pinkie was perfectly fine and open with her own Cheese flirting and spending quality time with Human Pinkie, just because she didn't want her to feel left out. At the same time, it admittedly stood out, hearing Cheese confirm that the Human Pinkie would have no way of recognizing whether somebody was native to the human world or not, as she lacked Pinkie Sense. Would that mean that if she somehow ran into the Human Cheese, she'd believe he would be the same person, leaving the actual Cheese from that world rather confused? It seems like this would've most likely been the case, as Pony Cheese seemed to really know everything from behind the scenes. Sunset simply shrugged at this, completely unaware that Human Pinkie already ran into such a situation with the Sunset Shimmer native to her world. In fact, up until this point, Sunset never even gave a second thought at the possibility of her human counterpart being a bitter and resentful girl, now bent on sabotaging her graduation at CHS. It just seemed completely silly and irrelevant, especially when even Princess Celestia herself had hinted that upsetting the balance between the two worlds was never really an issue at all. Unfortunately, with Human Sunset already going back down her original dark path, thanks to Gilda's manipulation, Pony Sunset would most likely be in for quite the wild surprise upon her inevitable return to the human world...