The Medallion Shards

by Aliucon

Stage Set

"The door's open!"

The voice comes from inside, muffled by distance but still comprehensible. You turn the doorknob and step in. An empty living room extends forward, and the kitchen, more like a hallway with appliances than a proper room, is visible on the right. Sunset Shimmer appears from that direction, wiping her brow with the back of a hand and greeting you with a wave of the same hand. Once she shows up, a smell reaches you: sweet, but also burning.

"Hey. I was trying to whip something up before you arrived, but this recipe's no good." She glances at a piece of paper by the sink, barely within your view, and shrugs. "I'll offer you something else. Feel free to have a seat."

At your own pace, you move towards the fluffy black couch and sit down on it. The position makes it hard to peer into the kitchen, but you hear cabinets opening and liquid being poured into a mug. While waiting, you take out your smartphone and scroll down a feed of news. It wasn't uncommon to see Canterlot High on the news, and sure enough, there it was again. The latest story ranted about a charitable music show meant to buy out an old camp and preserve its rich history. Or at least that's what you gathered from a skim before Sunset was next to you, offering a white mug.

"Here you go. You still like this kind of tea, right?"

You take the mug and sip from it. Exceedingly hot, but it is indeed your favorite. You nod, and Sunset takes the chance to sit next to you, a mug of her own on hand. Unlike yours, hers has a black liquid within, probably coffee.

"Good. Now, you were probably trying to figure out what was wrong for me to have called you..." She says, and as she does, you turn your phone's screen off and slide it back into your pocket. "Of course. I was always using everybody back then. I'm sorry for that."

You look at her, and be it accurate or not, Sunset seems to read something on your expression. "It's just... We didn't meet at a good time. Not for me, anyway. But there's more important things happening now." She takes a swig off her own drink, and the smell confirms your early suspicion. You straighten yourself, and then assume the position you think is best in order to listen. Sunset eventually explains her situation.

"Some months ago, way after I enrolled on Canterlot High, we were supposed to have a talent show in the school. It was going to be a showcase of music bands formed by the students. There's nothing strange about it, but three troublemakers showed up on campus at the time."

Sunset pauses, one hand on her chin, seemingly weighing her words or searching for the best way to continue. While the description does not ring many bells, you remember a striking notice in the news about an excessive light show in the shape of a horse during a music concert in the city. You relay your thought to Sunset, which nods vigorously.

"It was no mere light show, as you might have guessed. I think all news must have picked up on the strange things happening around Canterlot High... But I can clarify those eventually. Coming back to those three girls... Me and my friends managed to drive those troublemakers away before things could get out of control. And they left something behind." She sounded more solemn by the minute. "Pieces of medallions. Three medallions, even."

"Me and my friends think- No, we know that those medallions were at the source of all they could do. The song of those three... It affected people. It controlled them, it made them fight. It also drew all the positive energy from them." Once more, she paused. Taking another look at you, a brief one this time, she scratches the back of her neck with her free hand. "I suppose this sounds really silly. But it doesn't change what we saw, and what me and my friends believe."

She takes another swig, emptying her mug and setting it on her lap. You shift a bit on your position, but before you can interject, Sunset continues.

"We took those shards after the fact. I was keeping them safe and stored away in my room. I don't think anyone but my friends know of this. And yet, the day before yesterday, when I opened the case I left them in, it was empty. All shards were gone. And I have no idea how."

Her tone wasn't convincing by the last part. You urged her to go on with a hand motion. She grimaced.

"OK, that's a lie. I have some idea how. But... I don't want to believe it. So I needed a second opinion." She sighed, and took a deeper breath afterwards, steeling herself. "But logically, if no one but my friends knew of it..."

You present some basic questions for her, which distracts her from the current trail of thought.

"Oh, no, I never saw any sign of forced entry anywhere. And, well, my key is the only key for this door, so far as I know. There was also no rummaging through my other stuff, so far as I could tell. I don't think I'd have misplaced it so severely either."

As you take all the information in and sip on your beverage of choice, Sunset seems to get increasingly wary of eye contact, shifting her gaze more towards the kitchen than to you. Her lips keep contracting or being bitten. Her body shifts uncomfortably.

"I... I don't want it all to go to waste. What I learned about friendship, that is." She spoke in a lower volume. "I shouldn't be doubting any of my friends... And I certainly don't want to act upon it. But wherever those shards are, they can be dangerous. That's why... That's why I need some help."

Finally, she makes eye contact again, though her demeanor is far from easy-going. She indicates you with a gesture of her hand.

"You've been a friend of mine ever since I came to this- ... To this town. Maybe the word 'friend' is too strong, but that's what I'd like to consider you as. Naturally, I'd want to introduce you to my new friends in school. And in doing that, I'd be giving you a free pass to ask questions about all those intriguing things that happen in Canterlot High, which you would definitely be very curious about. ... You understand what I'm saying, right?"

The sentences were put forth with the cold air of mastery over herself that felt more befitting of the old Sunset you knew than of this new, increasingly more polite version which still might elude you. Nonetheless, getting the meaning of the message was simple. So as to not breach on interrogating her friends, she'd have you do it in her stead, under the guise of just being an old friend that was getting to know her other friends. Subtle, but effective.

The situation warranted a lot of questions, but more than anything, it definitely affected Sunset to her core in some way. Whatever evil she feared those shards to unleash, true or not, it definitely felt true to her.

So, after thinking it over, and due to your own set of reasons, you eventually give her a definitive answer. Her response is moreso a sigh of relief than a remark.

"Thank you. Honestly, I hope you can just confirm that it's not any of them and this is some other kind of unfortunate accident. But I need to be certain of it either way."

As you breach the end of your beverage, Sunset stands up to put away her own mug on the sink. The motion makes you aware of one thing, and you make a request to her at the next opportunity.

"Hm? My room?" Sunset repeats, head tilted. "Of course, you can go in there. Just follow this way to the end."

Sunset motions across the kitchen, and you follow the movement up to a plain beige door. Opening it, you find a small bedroom. A single bed rested against the right wall, occupying a little less than half of the room's width. The other half had a working desk, wardrobe, drawers and a bookshelf, all lined neatly against the wall.

Amongst all the little things over the desk and around a laptop, something like a case for glasses stood out, as it was open wide and lined on the inside with something much like aluminum or tin foil. The outer case was jet black, and seemed to snap shut with plastic fittings on the center. A very thin layer of dust remained clear against the black of the case.

Sunset, after a few moments of silence, follows behind you and, sliding past you, brings the case even closer to you.

"This is where I kept them. They tend to stay on the corner of the desk here. It's not elegant or anything, but this case is the best way I found to hold them. I saw on the internet that tin foil can block waves of mind control and such, so I was using it to hold them."

After briefly pondering whether that was a joke or not, you inspect the case a bit closer. You confirm your previous observations, as well as make another important one by closing the case and trying to open it again. It opens with a loud noise. You give the object back to Sunset, and survey the room one more time.

On the opposite wall, there is a window, which you approach and endeavor to open. It is a double slide window with no screen or any protection, which results in the cold wind from outside rushing in once it slid open. The motion is smooth, however, and hardly makes any sound. The window seems to have no lock, but it was sitting on the 5th floor of the building, where Sunset's cheap apartment is.

After the inspection, you close it, and turn to the only other apparent entrance into the room: the door. It is smooth, but sploshes of different shades of beige indicate it is an older door rather than new. There are no markings or scratches on the lock, nor on the hinges, nor even on the outer line of the door that could be seen with it open.

Looking out from Sunset's room to the corridor that eventually became the kitchen, you notice two sets of the same mat very close to each other. One was just out of the bedroom, while the other stood in front of another room adjacent to the bedroom. When you open it, it reveals a very simple bathroom.

"... Are you looking for something?" Sunset asks, with a head scratch. You shake your head and decide that, for now, what you've seen has been enough. Once she picks up on your intent to leave, she takes the empty mug out of your hands and bows briefly.

"Alright. Speaking about it has been enough to make me feel a bit better. Thanks for that- And for agreeing to help me. I'll let you know about my friends and how you can meet them! I would introduce you personally, but my presence might affect how they talk to you about this particular subject, I think. I'll send you some messages. Definitely call me if you want to ask anything, OK? So, um... bye! Thanks for your time!"

You bid your farewell and move out. Whipping out your phone briefly, you see that it's high time you go back to your daily routine. It might be for the best that you don't think about meeting Sunset's friends until Sunset herself gives you an opening. That way, there will be nothing like nervousness or anticipation piling up. So you just have to wait, doing what you do best: and onwards with life.

Author's Note:

This is my first time writing a story with this perspective. I apologize in advance for how it might end up.