“You know we really could've gone with them to the mall.”
Twilight looked up from her book at Sunset’s nonsequitur. Twilight sat on the bed in Sunset’s room surrounded by physics studies and notebooks, while the occupant had settled in on the floor next to her with all her own research. Twilight responded, “I know that. I really am rusty on my wormhole physics. We still need to figure out why the magic is still here after being separated from Equestria for so long. And where the magic you used to combat my dark side came from. And-”
“And all of those are just excuses. We'll figure them out in time. Why did you really choose to spend your day locked in here, with only books to pass the time?”
Twilight had to stop and consider her answer. After several seconds she looked back up at Sunset, “It's not just books though. You're here too.”
Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise, before a contented smile settled on her features, “I would've been at the mall too. Nice try though.”
Twilight sighed, “They don't really want me there. I'm not going to intrude on their night out where I'm not welcome. Friends don't do that.”
Sunset shook her head, “So sure of this, are you? Of what friends should and shouldn't do? Friends spend time with one another. Friends don't hesitate to come where they're invited. You understand that to some degree because you came here, so you obviously consider me a friend. But why don't you think of the others as friends yet?”
Twilight paused, and opened her mouth before aborting the words before they came. A tear rolled down her cheek. And then she admitted, “I don't know.”
The two sat in silence for some time.
Sunset brought up a more comfortable topic, “I think I've hit a roadblock in my research. Magic behaves differently here. I don't know how, but I don't think I was wielding the Element of Magic last semester. The Element has a very distinctive signature, even when corrupted and used for dark purpose. At the Friendship Games, and before that against the Sirens, the magic felt lighter, almost effortless. And the princess was there at the battle of the bands too. I mean, We couldn't both have been using the same Element? Could we?”
Twilight shook her head, “Sorry, I'm still new to this. I don't know if I can help you with that yet.”
The older girl smiled, “It's okay. I can work it out. I just hope we don't have to use our magic again any time soon.”
Sunset Shimmer’s computer lit up at her desk across the room. She stood and dusted off her dress on her way to read the email. Twilight asked absent-mindedly, “What is it?”
Sunset sat and pulled up her browser. She spoke with a surprised tone, “It's from CHS. We're getting a new student tomorrow. Dawn Summers. She's a transfer so she's starting as a senior.”
Twilight contemplated, “I wonder if she's the daughter of that man who spoke with Celestia.”
The girl at the computer started pulling up a new window to search for anything she could find on either, “Xander Harris? The last names don't match. But I suppose she could be taking her mother's name. They're both on indexes of Sunnydale survivors. Xander is on the LA lists too, but Dawn isn't. Maybe they're not related.”
Twilight hopped off the bed and cracked her knuckles on the way over, “Here, let me.” Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
Sunset lost track as the screen flickered from one site to another, although she thought she saw ‘IRS Database’ come up at one point. They ended up on what looked like a wiki page for each of them in different windows.
“Dawn isn't his daughter. She's his best friend's little sister. Buffy Summers shared almost every class through her last three years of high school with Alexander Harris... That's odd. Dawn should be nineteen this year. In fact she already graduated with top honors from one of the more prestigious schools of Italy. What's she doing here?”
Sunset scrolled down to her more recent records and saw Canterlot records that had been updated just an hour ago, “With this class listing it looks like she might like school almost as much as we do. In fact she's taking a lot of the same classes I am, which is strange because the classes I signed up for this year were the ones I thought would be the most enjoyable. They're not actually all that good classes for learning. I guess she's not at school for learning anymore either.”
Twilight switched over to Xander, “How does he have all this income? There's almost two million here annual. He never went to college and he's listed as unemployed. Hold on... Here it is. He gets regular transfers from someplace called The Magic Box in London. But why are they sending him so much money if he's not even listed as an employee?”
Sunset scrolled back up, “Look at this. He had a wedding. Expenses, travel fees, everything. But he never got a divorce and he's unmarried now. Even stranger the bride doesn't seem to be on record anywhere. But there's expenses for her family so she obviously existed.”
“There's something that's not quite right about these two. Too many things just don't add up. Look, Sunset, Buffy Summers has a big hole in her record. She didn't go to school or work or make any purchases besides rent for several months in 2001 and 2002. Not long after that a social worker was sent to investigate Dawn’s living conditions, and requested that she be put into foster care before suffering a lapse of psychosis and a ten month stay at a mental institution.”
The two became somewhat sickened at the implications of that detail, and silently agreed to take a break from investigation. They minimized the browser for later review.
The next day, the seven friends met up before school by the mirror. It was a quiet day, with everyone still waking up from the morning. Birds chirped cheerfully and a slight breeze rolled over the blanket Pinkie Pie had set down over the grass.
Twilight pierced through it all with a gleeful shriek while looking at her phone.
Spike awoke with a start, “Huh? What! Is Twilight turning into a demon again?”
Applejack shook her head, “No, although I don't think any of us would mind if she had done that instead.”
Pinkie Pie raised her hand, “I would!”
Rainbow asked, “What's the yelling about, Twilight? What's so important it couldn't wait until after my nap?”
Twilight flinched with embarrassment, “Sorry. It's nothing apocalyptic. I just got a text from Shining Armor telling me that he's visiting for all of this week! I can't believe it. It's been years since he moved out and he usually only visits for a few days around thanksgiving. But why is he coming now of all times?”
The six others exchanged various confused glances before Fluttershy finally voiced, “Who's Shining Armor?”
Sunset Shimmer answered, drawing everyone’s attention to her, “He's her brother, a graduate of Crystal Prep who lives downtown.”
It was Twilight’s turn to look confused, “How do you know Shining Armor?”
Sunset shrunk back, “Well… um, back when I was, well, what I was, I kind of tracked you down and researched your family. In part it was to keep an eye on the counterpart of my arch-nemesis, and I guess I also wanted to know if there was anyone the princess loved more than her friends who I could exploit. And since familial connections at least seem to carry over between worlds, it seemed like a good way to gather information before the portal opened.”
A pause extended long enough for everyone to blink.
Twilight registered how creeped out she was looking and utterly failed to put an end to it, “But you're not like that anymore… right?”
Applejack put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “Nope. She's a totally different person.”
Rainbow chimed in, “A totally awesome person!”
Rarity finished off, “Who's helped us fight off evil twice now! with a great fashion sense if i might add.”
Sunset smiled genuinely at the praise, and Twilight seemed to ease up.
The situation was interrupted by the approach of a new girl, “Hey there. Is this Canterlot High?”
Everyone looked at the new girl intently, examining her for any signs of dark magic or threat. She was of average height, a somewhat athletic build, with brown hair and blue eyes. She seemed to bounce on her heels even as she stood in place, waiting for an answer.
The new girl spoke again, “I'm Dawn, Dawn Summers. I'm a transfer student. You guys looked like a welcoming committee or something, so I thought you'd be the ones to ask about stuff?”
Sunset Shimmer was the first to shake herself out of it and realize they were supposed to be talking as well. That was after all how conversations happened, “Yes, you could say that. I've welcomed newcomers in the past. I'm Sunset Shimmer, and yes, you are at the right school. Do you want one of us to show you to your classes today?”
Dawn perked up at getting a response, “Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks. It's nice to meet someone new.” She held out her hand.
Sunset stood and accepted the handshake, “Likewise. I think you'll find Canterlot to be as exciting a place as you've ever lived.”
Dawn smirked, “I don't know. There's some pretty stiff competition there.”
Sunset internally reviewed the list of residences on the file she had read the previous night. Sunnydale? Rome? She considered the fact that the girl might have lived in a parallel world like herself at one point.
Dawn looked past Sunset to the other six, “So which of you is gonna be my new BFF?” She switched to sign language for the rest, “Or is this the school deaf club? No talking allowed.”
Twilight signed back, “No. We can hear.” And switched back to vocalizing, “I'm Twilight Sparkle. And this here is Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and right over there is Fluttershy. And this is my dog Spike!”
Spike very politely said, “Hello.”
Rainbow Dash facepalmed.
Meanwhile, surprisingly little happened to Dawn’s demeanor. There was only momentary surprise, followed by confusion, acceptance, confusion again, then what in passing looked almost like annoyance or frustration, before all of it was pushed aside with expert skill all in less than half a second.
Twilight managed to keep her cheery tone up, “Also, he can talk!”
Dawn blinked. Then responded, “I can see that. Or... hear, actually.”
The bell rang and Pinkie Pie was standing directly in front of Dawn only a moment later, “What class are you taking first period?”
Dawn took a large step back, “Ancient American History, I think.”
Pinkie began skipping away, “Follow me!”
Dawn looked back to other six with a smile before running to catch up.
All humans still present turned an angry eye towards Spike.
A wisp of black smoke exited the lungs of Trixie as the girl walked away.