Chapter 1: Magic, Friendship, and Big Machines
The coffee shop was as busy as it normally was on a Sunday afternoon, with the good people of the world enjoying one last gasp of freedom before the drudgery of another week. The grown adults of the world quickly grabbed their drinks and departed to finish their errands or play, while the teenagers of Canterlot enjoyed the company of friends by sitting around and playing with their phones. Not even the presence of seven very special members of that group was enough to really elicit a reaction, save for the occasional bit of gossip about the strange events of the last Friendship Games and Battle of the Bands.
The strangest of them all was Sunset Shimmer, the girl with a love of leather jackets and who had, only a few months before, held the entire school in the palm of her hand. Now she was sitting on the arm of one of the booth seats, sipping on a latte and looking over some diagrams laid out by a classmate of hers, Twilight Sparkle. She had once been a student at Canterlot High's arch rival, and was still technically transitioning between schools, but she had already found herself some wonderful friends. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were also in attendance, stretching themselves in their seats as they relaxed away a long day of learning.
Sunset turned an expectant eye to Twilight. The transfer student was still looking over the diagrams in front of her, doing her best to not make eye contact with her friends. Sighing, Sunset gave her a small nudge on the shoulder, causing Twilight's glasses to shift slightly on her face. The sudden blurriness jarred the girl back to reality with a gasp. “Go on,” said Sunset.
Twilight readjusted her glasses and looked up at the rest of her friends. All five were staring at her with welcoming smiles and, in the case of Pinkie and Fluttershy, little bits of whipped cream froth on their lips. She shuddered slightly at the attention, but thankfully didn't try to slip out the door or redirect them to Sunset. “H-Hello,” she said in a mechanically polite way. “Thank you for seeing me today on such short notice.”
Rainbow Dash snorted and laughed. “Come on, Twilight! You don't have to be so nervous around us.”
“We're your friends, darling,” added Rarity. “Although a little formality is always appreciated.” She turned her eyes to Rainbow Dash, who grunted in frustration, and Pinkie Pie, who was currently trying to lick a bit of crème from the tip of her nose with only her tongue.
Twilight paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and continued. “The reason I called all of you here was because...well, Sunset and I have been working on some things, and...”
Pinkie slammed down her cup in a hurry as a big grin spread across her mouth. “Ooh, you mean that 'super-secret' project you and Sunset have been working on so that you could keep studying magic now that Twilight's going to the same school as us?”
Twilight's jaw dropped in horror. Sunset, who was more used to Pinkie Pie than the new kid in town, simply raised an eyebrow. “How did you know about that?”
“We can here y'all talking about every lunch period,” said Applejack.
“And we've seen you working on things in the library,” said Fluttershy.
“And Twilight accidentally texted me about it yesterday.” Rainbow Dash reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her phone. “Yep, it says, 'The machine's finished. Don't tell anyone about our magic research until tomorrow.' And then you made a winking smiley face.”
“B-But...I....” The next few words were drowned out by gurgling noises and tiny, high-pitched whines. It took another few seconds for Twilight to compose herself enough to close her jaw and settle for resting her head in her palms. Sunset sighed and slid down to the seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her new friend and pulling her into a light, non-committal hug as she did so. At the very least, the gesture was enough to quiet Twilight's embarrassed groans.
“What Twilight meant to say is that we're ready to take our research of magic in this world to the next level.” Sunset reached underneath Twilight's arms and slid out a graph paper with a diagram of some box-shaped...thing on it. “Thanks to all the craziness of the Friendship Games, we were able to figure out how magic in this world comes about. So far, though, the only thing we've been able to do is change our ears, extend our hair, and grow tails.”
“And wings,” added Dash.
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yes, Rainbow, and wings. The point is, this is all a wonderful start, but there's still so much we need to learn and master about magic in this world. Now that we know where it comes from, it's time we started working on application.”
If there were doubts before this, they were minor compared to the disquiet that spread across the non-magic-studying five. They had taken part in Sunset's experiments and tests when she was trying to discover why they would, for lack of a better term, “Pony Up” during certain situations, but there was something about this that seemed foreboding. It fell on Applejack to speak first. “What exactly do y'all mean by 'application?'”
Sunset leaned back in her seat and adjusted her jacket. This was the moment she had been preparing for. “What I mean is, we've seen that magic works here. Applejack, you summoned a pile of apples...right on my head. And Pinkie Pie, you blasted me across a room...and into a wall.” She found herself shuddering at the memories, but then again, one must be ready to suffer for the advancement of all. “But every time that's happened, it's been seemingly involuntary. Suppose we found a way to actually make things like this happen on command. What if we could actually make magic work here the way ponies can in Equestria?”
Now the two had the other five's interest. They leaned in just a bit closer, their ears hungry to hear more of this proposal. Sunset flashed Twilight a smile, causing the girl to giggle nervously as she pointed to one of the diagrams – specifically, one that looked like a big rectangle with a small hole cut out of it, along with a couple sketches of computer parts and circuitry. “With the notes Sunset Shimmer took during her investigation into how magic works, I believe we have finally discerned a reasonable means by which to observe and manipulate magical energy in a confined space, without any danger to ourselves or the environment.”
“Um...try that a bit more plain-like,” said Applejack.
Twilight's smile slid into a frown, stayed that way for a few seconds, and then moved back up to a smile. “W-Well...I guess what I'm proposing is...we'd like to take a little of your magic.”
“YOU WHAT?!” Pinkie's voice echoed throughout the small shop, drawing plenty of unwelcome eyes upon the merry band. Her reaction wasn't exactly unshared, either. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both noticeably tensed up at the announcement, Fluttershy yelped and shrank in her chair, and a few of Rarity's hairs frazzled themselves. The whole showing crushed what remained of Twilight's optimism, and the girl pulled her diagram close to her and buried her face in her arms. The only thing keeping her from running off entirely was Sunset leaning over and wrapping her back in a one-armed hug. “I'm sorry,” said mumbled. “I guess it's still a bit too soon after...well, that. Let's forget the whole thing.”
“Whoa, whoa! We never said we weren't gonna do it!”
Twilight's head shifted slightly upwards, revealing the top half of her quivering eyes. She regarded Rainbow Dash like a bunny checking to see if a hawk was hungry. “Huh?”
Dash crossed her arms and shrugged, a smirk forming on her lips as she did so. “What I mean is, okay, I don't get half of what you eggheads are talking about. What I do know is that having wings is awesome, and if you can make us even awesomer, I'm all in.”
“I-Is it safe?” squeaked Fluttershy.
Sunset nodded. “Of course. The device we built drains magic at a much slower and lesser level than what Twilight was using before. It won't take away our magic completely, just...siphon off a bit of it so that we can take a closer look.”
“And it won't turn us into hideous, reality-destroying monsters, right?!” added Pinkie.
Once again, Twilight's self-confidence crumbled into dust, and her head slid right back behind the safety of her arms. All five of the others glared at Pinkie, who simply shrugged and returned to sipping her smoothie. “I don't think Pinkie meant anything by it,” Sunset whispered to Twilight. The girl only moaned in response.
“Well, you can count me in,” said Applejack. “I'm not too keen on this fancy science and all that, but I'm always ready to help a friend. Just...promise you won't be sucking my soul out or anything, will ya?” Twilight growled something in response, but it sounded mostly affirmative.
“A-And if you're sure it's safe, then I'd love to help,” said Fluttershy.
“And I as well,” said Rarity.
“And you can count me in!” finished Pinkie.
Slowly, Twilight's body rose back up, eventually resuming a slightly bowed, but still fairly straight, posture. Sunset retracted her arm and joined her in smiling at the others. “Th-Thank you. It...really means a lot that you trust me with this.”
“We're your friends, darling,” said Rarity. “Granted, this is a bit...out there, but I suppose having a pony as one of your best friends is, as well.” She paused a moment before turned to Sunset Shimmer. “No offense.”
Sunset, still smiling, rolled her eyes. “None taken. Now, we've already cleared things with Principal Celestia. We meet tomorrow at the science room on the first floor. You know, the one where we ran those experiments last time.”
“You mean the one that used to be a music room until the science lab on the second floor blew up?” asked Fluttershy.
Sunset nodded. “Yeah, that one. And make sure everyone brings their instruments. I feel like changing the old-fashioned way.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Applejack said. She pushed her chair back and stood. “Well, if y'all excuse me, I really need to get going. I got a couple more things to finish before dinner.”
The others offered similar excuses, save for Pinkie, who just stared at Sunset for a minute, scratched the side of her head, and then shrugged. “Sorry, forgot what I was gonna ask. See you gals tomorrow!”
Sunset and Twilight watched as their friends shuffled out of the coffee shop. When they were far out of earshot, Twilight let out a loud groan and cupped her hands above her waist. “Well...that could have gone better.”
“I'd say you handled yourself pretty well.” Sunset smiled as she took another sip of her coffee. “Like I said, these girls are wonderful friends. You're really going to love it here.”
“I know, but...” Twilight paused for a moment, save for stirring a stick in her own coffee. “It's just...a part of me is still nervous. Like...maybe I was better off as it was before...”
Twilight jumped slightly as she felt something press against her hands. She looked down to see Sunset's fingers wrapped around her own in a tight grip, and then up at the girl's face. In the moment those words had left Twilight's lips, Sunset Shimmer had gone from sunshine and lollipops to rain clouds and maces. “I know how you feel, Twilight. After being alone for so long, it's scary to try and be friends with someone. Just...trust me when I say that whatever the challenges are, the benefits are far greater.”
Sunset released her grip, and Twilight scooted her hand away like a nervous crab. “You've been so nice to me, and we've only known each other a week.” She cocked her head. “Why are you doing this?”
“I have my reasons.” Sunset returned the cocking motion and smiled again. “Besides, look at how much we've accomplished by working together.”
Twilight smiled and turned her eyes towards the papers on the table. “Yeah, you're right. And I really am grateful for all you girls. Nobody's made me feel this welcome in a long time.”
That was when a buzzing noise completely shattered the moment. Twilight yelped, reached into her skirt pocket, and pulled out her phone. When she saw what was on the screen, her response was a scream somewhere between stubbing your toe and dropping a sledgehammer on your foot. “It's my parents! They told me to be home an hour ago!”
Sunset leaned against the table, her eyes cross with a bit of worry. “Just tell them you were held up a bit.”
“No, you don't understand!” Twilight shouted as she jumped from the booth and began shoving papers into her backpack. “Shining's out late tonight, so I was supposed to take the bus home! But the bus will take another forty minutes, at least. So I'll be almost two hours late, and...”
“Whoa, calm down.” Sunset raised both of her hands, palms facing towards Twilight, just as the junior scientist finished packing her bag. “Like I said, just explain what happened. Maybe they'll be a little mad, but-”
Unfortunately, no words were piercing Twilight's brain by this point. She simply said a hasty farewell to Sunset and bolted out the door, almost running over an entering Lyra in the process. The thought of chasing after her had crossed Sunset Shimmer's mind, but considering the speed Twilight was moving, coupled with the fear of Celestia her parents had apparently implanted in her, there was no way she would be able to catch up and convince her this wouldn't be the end of the world. She instead just laughed a little at her new friend's behavior and leaned back in her seat. I wonder if you're like that, Princess Twilight.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was not so long ago that she was the feared tyrant of Canterlot High School, ruling her subjects through intimidation and manipulation. She had tried to spit in the face of everything her former teacher stood for, but in the end, friendship won. She had wonderful friends, and was lonely no longer. She had the respect of the school, and for the first time had earned it. And now she was close to finally discovering a way to make introducing magic into this world a benefit for everyone, thanks in no small part to the independent research of Twilight Sparkle.
She sighed. For the first time in my life, things are going just fine.
The next day was like any Monday. Teachers that thought they were oh-so-clever sprang their surprise pop quizzes, just like they had done last week and the week before. Rainbow Dash bemoaned the day she was born as she got another D in English, while Fluttershy was satisfied with her B-plus. Applejack struck out in math class again, while Rarity continued to perform marvelously and Sunset barely broke a sweat. The main course at lunch was an unidentifiable mass of some kind, and someone had once again put onions in the green beans and ruined them, but the girls were still able to find something that was roughly edible. All in all, it was a very typical day for the students of Canterlot High.
Finally, the last bell rang, and the students began their mass exodus. There were no teams practicing today due to scheduling conflicts, no parent-teacher conferences to deal with, and no PTA meetings just looking for an excuse to get violent. By about twenty minutes after the bell had rung, the only people remaining in the building were the six students that had been given special permission to stay late, the school custodians, and Twilight Sparkle, who had arrived right as class was ending to begin setting up. The janitors, having received special instruction from Principal Celestia, quickly finished the basic cleaning of the first floor science room before departing, giving the girls a final wave as they passed by to resume their duties.
When the six entered, musical instruments in hand, the five that weren't former ponies gasped. Sitting in the center of the science room was a tall, rectangular...thing with a polished black shine and a multitude of wires running from its top. A large computer monitor was embedded in one side, and a keyboard with a stained white shell was sitting precariously on a protruding shelf underneath. A mass of wires ran from underneath the device to the protected booth at the far end of the room, where Twilight was already seated and adjusting instruments, and a white sheet of some kind sat on top.
Everyone's eyes, however, were drawn to Sunset as she walked past. Six chairs had already been set up in a semi-circle in front of the machine, and in each was a...colander. And each of the colanders was, in turn, connected to the top of the machine via a long plastic tube, which was further being fed wires on both ends. The former mare reached to the top of the machine and pulled off the sheet, revealing it to be her trusty lab coat.
“So...this is the contraption y'all were talking about?” asked Applejack.
“Yes, it is,” said Twilight. Unfortunately, nobody heard her response over the eruption of microphone feedback that spewed out of the room's speakers. Everyone cupped their hands over their ears and squirmed against the audio agony. Twilight quickly mouthed an apology and adjusted the audio dials, bringing the interference down to an acceptable level. “Sorry, sorry! Still kind of new to this equipment.”
“Care to try that again, dear?” shouted Rarity.
“Again, really sorry.” Twilight's voice came through much clearer this time. “I know this all seems a little crude, but we had to make due with what we could afford. The machine's casing was salvaged from an old model computer my dad's work was retiring, and many of the electrical and computer components are from machines I've used or been tinkering with in the past.”
“And we know the colanders work from the last time we did this,” said Sunset. “There's a cable inside the tubing running from the...helmets to the storage area inside the machine. That way we avoid a repeat of the rainbow liquid incident.” She started particularly long at Dash when she mentioned that last part.
“Alright, so the first thing we need to do is get you guys all...you know, magicked up and everything.”
“You mean, 'Pony Up?'” asked Sunset.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I still think we need a better name for it,” she grumbled.
“Yeah, that.” Twilight responded, completely ignoring Dash’s comment.
Everyone nodded and began setting up their instruments...
After doing it so many times, Ponying Up was no longer challenging for anyone present. A few chords and jam session later, all six were now standing around in their changed forms. Each of the six had had their ears shifted upwards, stretched, and then folded into a more pointy shape. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy each sported a pair of wings, the former flaunting them for all they were worth and the latter satisfied to leave them half-folded. Completing the transformation was a tail matching their hair color, at just the right length that it was obvious without becoming a tripping hazard.
A smile crept across Twilight’s face as she watched the spectacle. She had seen the girls do this before, first briefly when she was draining their magic, and again during the week that followed when she needed convincing that she hadn’t permanently cost them said magic with her bit of recklessness, and every time it still managed to fill her with an almost child-like wonder. She almost didn’t notice when Sunset waved at her for instruction.
Twilight looked down at her laptop screen, smiled, and flashed Sunset a thumb’s up. She nodded in response and turned to the rest of the group. “Everyone strap in. It’s time to get started.”
The girls sat themselves at their respective seats and slid their colander into place, securing them with a strap around their chin. Once Sunset was satisfied that everyone was appropriately prepared, she flashed the thumb’s up back to Twilight. A few clicks of the mouse later, a small buzzing noise,not unlike the sound of a lawnmower far in the distance, began to hum from the machine..
A small snap of electricity ran through all six, eliciting a series of yelps and uncomfortable grunts. “You never said anything about this being uncomfortable,” said Rarity.
“It’s just a quick shock,” Sunset said quickly. “Everything should go much smoother after this.”
“And you're positive that this thing isn't going to suck our souls out, or anything like that?” asked Applejack.
The muffled sound of Twilight's exasperated groan shook from the booth's speakers and reverberated through the small room. Sunset shook her head as best she could, given her current headgear. “Of course not. It's only collecting a small amount of magic from each of us.”
“Then...how long is it going to take?” asked Fluttershy, already looking slightly more relaxed.
A buzz emerged from the booth. “Based on the earlier...Friendship Games Incident, and Sunset's own experiments, I estimate that we should have a good enough sample after...oh, ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?!” gasped Pinkie. “I can't sit still for ten minutes! I can barely make two!”
“We don't want to completely drain you like...well, I did before.” There was a pause and an audible sigh, which sounded far worse when broadcast over the cheap speaker system. “By slowing down the process, we can get enough of the energy to continue testing without hurting anyone. Just...try to focus on staying ponies for a while longer, okay?”
From within her safe little perch, Twilight reached underneath the console and pulled out a metal kitchen timer. She rotated the dial to “10” and sat it down. Everyone let out a resigned sigh, and began the long wait...
Thirty seconds after starting the experiment, everyone felt a hair's breadth from insanity.
Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash had settled for counting the dimples in the ceiling. Rarity's eyes were scanning each of her friends and mentally matching them with whatever outfits she had at the Boutique – or rather, attempting to match them, as the boredom had caused her poor brain to start putting Rainbow Dash in plaid and Pinkie in yellow cargo pants. Applejack stared straight ahead, thinking about nothing but the occasional recipe for the next bake sale. Fluttershy squirmed uncomfortably in her chair, but to her credit, she had not yet attempted to escape. From behind the protective glass, Twilight continued to stare at her meters, taking time occasionally to scratch down something on a clipboard.
All of them, however, were handling the nothingness better than Pinkie Pie. Her sugar diet had once again betrayed her, and she was now containing about fifty gallons worth of energy with no opportunity to spend it. The pink-clad girl squirmed nervously in her chair, clutching her fingers to her cheeks and grimacing in a desperate struggle to keep from screaming. It was only thanks to her love for her friends and hatred of breaking promises that she didn't jump from the chair, toss the colander off her head, and run out of the room babbling incoherently. She needed something, anything, to take her mind off of the endless grinding of eternity.
Then she took a look at Sunset Shimmer, and she remembered that important thing she forgot to do the day before.
“Soooooo...while we're stuck sitting around, there's something super important that I need to ask you,” said Pinkie Pie. She reached under her seat and pulled a notebook and pen, neither of which seemed to be there when the girls had first sat down. By this point, everybody had just agreed to roll with Pinkie's craziness, so they let the matter slide. “What kind of party do you want?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Party? For what?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Duh, your surprise birthday party, of course!”
For just a moment, the entire room fell silent, save for the humming and buzzing of the machine. At least three of the girls wanted to point out that you couldn't have a surprise party if you told the recipient that they were going to have said party, but arguing with Pinkie Pie's logic was a fight nobody alive was equipped to win.
Sunset's eyes ever-so-slightly narrowed. “How'd you know my birthday was coming up?”
Pinkie giggled and rolled her eyes. “Wellllll, I was updating my party files on everybody now that our world's Twilight is going to be going to Canterlot High with us, and then I realized that I had everybody's birthday but yours. I tried to ask you three weeks ago, but you told me that it didn't matter so you weren't going to tell me. So I went to Principal Celestia and asked if I could see your records and get your birthday, and she said that it was illegal and I needed to get out of her office and stop searching her file cabinets before she had to call the police. Then I went to the hospitals in Canterlot, but I realized that was pointless because you wouldn't have been born here because you're a pony. Then I was about to go through the portal and ask Princess Twilight, but I remembered that there was one other person who really knew Sunset Shimmer in this world and I could probably ask him.”
In reality, Pinkie's words had come out as a tsunami of vowels and syllables, almost indecipherable to the untrained ear. It took her friends a moment of scratching their heads and shrugging to fully comprehend her ramblings. It took only slightly longer for Sunset to start smiling smugly. “So you asked Flash? Well played, Pinkie, but when he asked me, I lied to him. So you don't know what my birthday is!”
Everyone just shrugged and scratched their heads at the exchange, but Pinkie's smile never faded. “Um, yes I do!”
Sunset's smile slowly downshifted into a frown. “Y-You do?”
“I kind of figured that you were really wanting to hide what your birthday was for some reason, and since everybody knows you were only using Flash to make yourself more popular, there is no way you would tell him something that you wouldn't tell one of your best friends. But I also know that Flash would have really wanted the relationship to work out and wouldn't recognize it for the sham that it was until it was too late, so he would insist on knowing your birthday so that he could plan around it. And since you ace every Biology test, you would obviously know that it takes approximately two fewer months for humans to go from conception to birth than horses. So when he had you cornered and you needed to quickly think of a date you could give him that sounded convincing based on your age and appearance, you would knock two months off of your original birthday and give him that one. So I just added the two months back, and voila! I know your birthday is exactly one week from today!”
And lo, did Sunset Shimmer feel the bitter sting of defeat once again. All of the deception she had perpetuated had been undone by a hyperactive pink-haired girl with a sugar obsession and disturbing affinity for confetti pyrotechnics. She sighed and closed her eyes, accepting her tragic fate. “Alright, you figured it out.”
“If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you just tell us your birthday was coming?” asked Fluttershy.
“Because...the day really doesn't mean anything,” said Sunset. “It's not like being born is anything special. I just never really felt like celebrating making it through another year.”
Twilight's voice chimed in via the speakers. “Actually, the gestation and creation of human life is a pretty miraculous thing when you consider the probabilities and biology involved...and also kind of icky, yeah.” A sigh, muffled by static and speaker feedback, followed. “Still...”
“It's really not about the 'birth,' sugarcube,” said Applejack. “It's about your friends and family showing how much they care about you.”
“Which...is kind of why I don't celebrate it,” said Sunset. “I mean, Flash tried that one time, but it didn't end well. My parents tried once, which is why I'm not a fan of clowns. And then there was...” She closed her eyes and shuddered, her pony ears drooping in accordance with her unconscious will. “Well, there was the one time Princess Celestia tried throwing me one. I...really screwed that one up.”
The room fell silent once more, save for the gentle humming of the machine. The wires continued to glow faintly as more and more energy was slowly sucked into the machine. Now several minutes into the process, the six could feel the first pangs of exhaustion, but whether it was due to their determination or the changes in Twilight's design, their pony forms still remained active. Twilight continued to scribble down notes, but her eyes kept glancing back to the crestfallen Sunset.
“Well, darling, so long as we're strapped in here, perhaps you could tell us how you 'screwed that one up,'” said Rarity.
Sunset sighed. “Well...it was my eighth birthday. I had just become Princess Celestia's student, and everypo...everybody was so proud. She wanted to throw me a party, and...I messed things up.” Another sigh. “Sorry, girls, but I really don't want to talk about it.”
Most of the girls nodded in understanding, or at least in acceptance that Sunset would probably not be telling them her life story anytime soon. Pinkie, on the other hand, preferred to spit out her tongue and go right back to her notebook. “Oh, puh-lease! If I let one bad birthday experience ruin them for me, I'd be missing out on so much I'd go crazy thinking about it! Besides, you were what, seven?”
“I just said I was eight,” Sunset growled. Her hands clasped her knees in a tight grip.
“Eh, close enough. But that just means we have to show you all the fun you can have with friends on that day!”
Sunset's muscles loosened, if only slightly. “I...suppose we could just hang out like always. Maybe we could go out for cake or something...”
*B-R-R-R-R-R-R-I-N-G!*
Everyone almost jumped out of their seats as the screech of Twilight's kitchen timer, further distorted by the microphone it had been mistakenly placed next to, echoed through the room. This was followed by the sound of metal crunching as Twilight, startled by the noise, hurled the accursed thing against the wall, breaking it. None of them even noticed their pony forms finally dissipating as a brief moment of silence brought welcome relief for their agonized eardrums. “Um...sorry about that,” she muttered through the microphone. “Looks like everything's working on this end. Sunset, could you check the display?”
Sunset unstrapped her helmet and walked over to the monitor and keyboard attached to the machine. She pressed a button on the keyboard, and the monitor's display flickered to life, showing a screen full of bar graphs and pie charts. “I think it's working,” she shouted. “Come on out and take a look.”
The other girls slowly pulled themselves out of their chairs, save for when Pinkie essentially bounced out of hers, and removed their own straining headgear. Twilight shut down and closed her laptop before joining the others in staring at the screen. “Well...what does it say?” asked Applejack.
“We really won't know until we've had a chance to run a full diagnostic of the energy we've accumulated,” said Twilight. “The machine should be safe in the school for the night. I've already made arrangements with Vice-Principal Luna to have a crew pick it up before class begins tomorrow morning.” She turned to the rest of the group, who were all looking a bit sleepy but otherwise fine. “Thank you so much for helping us with this.”
Everyone responded with a chorus of, “Think nothing of it,” and similar sentiments. Only Sunset Shimmer remained fixated on the computer screen. Eventually, this turned into everyone slowly shuffling out, muttering about what they were going to do tomorrow or chewing over the latest gossip. Finally, only Twilight and Sunset remained in the room, and the latter was still fixated on the display.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Are you okay? You know we won't really have anything useable for a while, right?”
Sunset nodded. “I know. I just...wanted to take a look before closing up.”
“Um...okay,” Twilight said, her voice a little hesitant. “Well, I'll be going now. I got to hurry if I'm going to catch the next bus. See you tomorrow!” And with that, she raced out of the room.
Twilight was just down the hall when she saw Rarity standing by the lockers, waving at her. She stopped on her heels, just barely managing to keep herself from just tumbling over with the sudden deceleration. “Oh...hello, Rarity. I thought you had gone home already.”
“Hello, Twilight,” Rarity said as she continued to comb through her locker. “The others have already left, and I need to get some things out of my locker. I'm going to be just a minute more. If you wouldn't mind waiting, I could give you a ride to your house.”
Twilight cocked her head. “Really? Why?”
“I know the bus lines, darling, and you're looking at close to an hour commute.” Rarity lifted a large textbook and shoved it onto the top shelf of her locker. “It's a little out of the way, certainly, but you are our friend here, and I would not be showing you the proper Wondercolt spirit if I just left you to fend for yourself on those disgusting, diseased-ridden things!”
Rarity wretched at the last line, prompting a small, nervous laugh from Twilight. In the short time she had known her, she had figured out that it was often difficult to tell when Rarity's sensibilities ended and dramatics began. “If you're offering, sure.”
Sunset tapped away at the machine's keyboard. The monitor displayed one chart after another, graphing out the magical energy stored within its metal casing. “Everything matches up with your notes,” Sunset's voice was drenched with defeat. “Everybody's magic was siphoned off in about equal measure, the frequencies match Twilight's findings...”
She tapped her fingers against her chin as she ran through the figures a second time. There has to be something I'm missing here. I know our magic appears when we're showing our true selves, so that implies there's something...mental or emotional connected to it. But that still doesn't explain how Applejack could summon apples, or Fluttershy make butterflies appear...
Sunset sighed and propped her elbow against the keyboard. She could feel a fresh wave of exhaustion wash over her, although whether this was due to another research dead-end or the lingering effects of the magic drain was impossible to tell. Either way, one thing was plainly obvious: she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
She let out a few curses and slammed her hand against the side of the machine. At least this pose helped keep her steady in case she fainted. You probably messed that up, too. Just like that party. “Freaking Pinkie,” Sunset growled.
A few more taps with her free hand, and still nothing on the monitors. The machine was still warm, though, so it was obviously working at...whatever it was going to be doing. Everything we found matches what we already knew. We have no new data, no idea how to actually use what we stored...I guess I just thought I could start and the answers would fall into place later.
Finally, she could hold off the agony of defeat no more. Sunset closed her eyes and heaved a despairing moan. I just wish I could find a way to make magic useful for everyone. If I could find a way to cast spells and control our power like we do in Equestria, maybe I could actually make something good of my mistake. Maybe then I can forget about flaming demons, angry mentors, and being the worst bully in Canterlot High history. And thanks to Pinkie, right now I'd just settle for forgetting about that freaking birthday party!
That was when she heard the rumbling.
The unwelcome noise snapped Sunset back to reality, just in time to see the monitor flashing a warning message. She yelped and withdrew her hand as the machine suddenly grew incredibly hot. She couldn't quite make out what the message was saying between the machine's shaking and the screen blinking in and out of existence, but she could tell it probably had something to do with the whole thing starting to glow bright red. Sunset's hands were at the keys again in an instant, first to try and initiate the failsafe Twilight had put in, and when that failed she settled for furiously typing in a blind attempt to shut the thing down. Even that desperate attempt was thwarted as the display filled with static before finally blacking out entirely.
With no other option, Sunset spun on her heels started towards the door, only to feel something tug on her leg. A glance downwards revealed exactly what: the tubes and wires from her impromptu science helmets were being sucked towards the machine, and several of them had managed to coil themselves around her foot while she was distracted. She struggled and pulled at her leg, but all she managed to do was throw herself off balance and land face-first into the science room floor. She couldn't even move her foot enough to lift it out of her boot, and no matter how hard she tried to squirm away, the collapsing machine only tugged her in harder.
Just as the heel of her boot was about to touch the vile thing itself, the molten casing finally cracked and warped, letting out a bright rainbow light. Sunset whimpered and closed her eyes...
Rarity shut her locker door and reset the combination lock. Once her belongings were secured, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and turned back to the waiting Twilight. “My apologies for taking so long, darling, but I had to make certain all of my designs were here. We have a big photo shoot in a couple of days, and I really can't risk getting stuck because I was missing a page.”
“Not a problem,” Twilight said, followed by a short giggle. “I know the feeling. This one time at Crystal Prep, I had just finished my midterm research paper, only to find that Spike had drooled over page five and-”
That was when they heard the explosion.
The explosion from the science room.
The science room they had all just left...except for one person...
Both girls screamed, “SUNSET!” in unison and charged to the door. Despite starting a few steps farther away than Twilight, Rarity was able to reach the door first. She threw the door open, releasing a cloud of smoke and miscellaneous vapors into the hallway just as Twilight finally caught up.
The most obvious change was the machine. In the span of about five minutes, it had gone from a testament to humanity's scientific potential to so much scattered scrap and bits. Thankfully, not too much seemed to have been damaged in whatever had caused the explosion, save for the windows, the chairs, the “helmets,” and the giant scorch march in the floor. The more pressing concern, however, was what was lying directly in front of the ruined machine. They couldn't see the whole body, but it was unmistakeably Sunset Shimmer's prone form that was half-buried beneath a sheet of metal and several pieces of motherboard.
“Sunset!” Twilight shouted as she dashed to her new friend's side, Rarity right beside her. “Sunset, can you hear me? Can you...?”
That was when the two noticed that something was decidedly off. This was most certainly Sunset Shimmer. She had her face, her skin color, and her distinctive hair. Nevertheless, the rest of her was different somehow...
Rarity and Twilight looked at each other in horror as realization dawned on them.
Ugh...
Sunset slowly forced her eyes open, which was almost as much of a struggle as her ordeal trying to free her foot from the wires. Thankfully, she could no longer feel the tension on her leg, so apparently she had since gotten loose. There was a numbness running through her body, which was perhaps the one thing stopping her from screaming. Her brain ached as the unwelcome light burned through her corneas, and she could feel the contents of her stomach churning as she pulled herself to her knees.
What happened? I remember the explosion and...
Her eyes widened, and then contracted as the heightened focus led to a disproportionate increase in agony. She rubbed her fingers against her forehead in desperation, and after a few passes, the skull massage finally managed to pierce the haziness and snap her back to reality, or at least a close enough proximity for her to manage. The explosion! I...I was being sucked in, and everything was breaking down, and...
“I think she's coming to!”
“Oh, thank heavens!”
Twilight? Rarity? What....?
As Sunset's vision returned, she found herself still in the science room, staring at the smoldering wreckage of Twilight's machine. Rarity and Twilight had started far in the distance, the former carrying a broom and the latter a large black trash bag, but they dropped both and ran towards her at the first sign of life. “Are you alright?” asked Twilight.
“I...I think so.” Sunset took a deep breath. Despite her current dazed state, she was alive, and that fact alone was enough to fill her with confidence. “Ha, and for a moment, I thought I was a goner...”
That was when she took note of her voice. It wasn't completely different, but there was definitely a higher pitch to it. Higher like her friends, who now seemed to be much taller than normal. In fact, the entire room seemed quite a big bigger than when she had first entered it. Which would also explain why her clothes were now several sized too big for her, and she was practically swimming in her blouse and lab coat.
Sunset could feel the fogginess returning. A cold shiver ran down her spine, and she could feel tears beginning to force their way out. For the first time since that miserable Fall Formal, she found herself looking up at a Twilight Sparkle, in a very literal sense. “What happened to me?!”
“I-I don't know!” Twilight stammered. “We heard an explosion, and...we ran over to help you...but when we...I...” The girl took a step back, spun on her heels, and braced herself against the wall. Each breath she took sound increasingly labored as she struggled to hold back a complete freakout.
This left Rarity on the spot. Slowly, she knelt down and slung her backpack to the ground in front of her. “Wh-What Twilight means is...well, we don't know quite what happened, but right now you...kind of look like...this...”
Rarity slowly lifted out a small compact from the front flap of her pack. With trembling hands, she opened the mirror, and Sunset finally realized what had happened. She felt desperately at her face, pulling her skin, hoping against hope that what she saw was just some nightmarish illusion. At this point, she would have accepted having died in the explosion and that this was her own personal hell. Alas, there was no escaping the truth. Her proportions were now more than a little skewed. There was a tooth missing in the upper-right corner of her mouth, and several others felt rather loose. All signs of maturity – not to mention adolescence – were gone, leaving her looking almost boyish.
There was only one possibility. “I-I'm a child!” she shrieked.
“It...it appears that way,” Twilight struggled out in between coughs.
Within Sunset's head, her brain seemed to spark and fizzle as it tried to come to terms with the present situation. “I-I'm a child,” she said, this time going much slower.
“You were unconscious when we found you,” Rarity said as she closed and put away the compact. “We moved you over here while we started cleaning this mess up.”
“I-I'm a...” And then Sunset exhaled, went limp, and fainted. Her mind had taken quite enough for one sitting.
Rarity shook Sunset's unconscious form, but outside of a few whimpers, there was no response. Thankfully, there was no obvious sign of injury, either. Twilight, having finally managed to calm herself enough to safely dislodge herself from the wall, knelt down next to her. “So...what do we do now?”
“...The only thing we can do,” said Rarity. “We finish cleaning up as much as we can. Then we get her to my car, and we get out of the school as quickly as possible.”
“And then what?”
Rarity turned to Twilight. The fashionista-in-training's eyes were glistening with fear. “I have no idea.”
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And the Great God Murphy smiles and bestows His blessing upon her.
Not a bad start, be interesting to see where this will go.
Can't help but feel the "character is reduced to child, must cope" is a bit played out now.
Principal Celestia, you mean? Or does Sunset occasionally slip up? Becuase that'd be kinda' cute.
Hmm...I'm wondering if Kuchen and Pinkie and stuff is going to come up in this fic, or if you're faking us out and he's not but we are meant to think he is...
And this one is probably supposed to be Twilight, not Sunset.
A la learning to maintain Super Saiyan indefinitely durring the Cell games.
She coulda' just made up a random date, but I guess that's not Sunset's style.
Ah, the hallmark of mad science: building a machine that you don't really know what it does, but whatever it is, it'll probably be cool. Actually on that note I like to think of the Equestria Girls universe as basically running on the same rules as a superhero comic universe, save that for some reason no real superheroes (nor supervillains) have shown up yet, though perhaps some mad science has. This is the reason why no one really seems all that interested in magic beyond its ability to help or hinder inter-school sports events: the world has seen some strange stuff before.
That or it's a kid's TV show world that just doesn't want to deal with it. That's cool.
6501673
Probably, but I wanted to do it anyway, so...yay. Sorry.
6501673 The man has a thing, let him engage in it. If it's played out it's only because he's done several excellent stories of that nature.
6502252 No need to act so defensive. Wasn't attacking him, just stating that this particular idea has gotten a little old. Still not as bad as "Celestia is evil because reasons" as the show itself is looking like it's going to jump on that retarded bandwagon if spoilers are to be believed.
6501673 This is only a part of what IAH does best. First Celestia, then Blueblood, then Luna, now Sunny. I say let him do his magic :)
What a start! I'm quite intrigued as to where this is going to go. It looks like Sunset will get a chance to fix her birthday after all.
Well now, this story looks promising from its first chapter. Looking forward to more.
This story looks highly promising. You have my attention and I wish to see more of it :D
Eh, I don't really see the problem. She's still her regular age, just shorter. It'll be funny to see people's reactions though. :D
6503530 Her regular age? You mean she finally turned thirty?
6504345 A lady grows as old as she wants and never further.
Fantastic start, a few words need to be fixed, but not to many to take the reader away from their concentration.
Let it begin.
Well done Sherlock