Equestria Girls: Magical Meltdown

by PonyUpYourBits

A Fresh Start

Five months later

"It's such a shame," Judge Curt Law said, flipping through the case files. "You were a star student until two years ago."

Sunset Shimmer and her accomplices were seated before a judge. They were at a hearing concerning the possibility for early release, having spent the past five months in juvenile detainment.

"Then it was just a backslide into skipping school, vandalism, and now shoplifting?" he said, disappointment clear in his voice. "It all seemed to start when you moved to this city."

"Yeah...well..." she muttered. She averted her eyes from the judge, not wanting to discuss her misdeeds in great detail.

The judge removed his glasses and looked down at the girls. "I'll be frank: I don't think any of you want to be criminals. Quite honestly I simply think all three of you deserve a chance for a fresh start," he assessed. "However, I don't take these things lightly. I will grant you an early release pending the condition that the three of you attend your senior year at Canterlot High School. Do we have an understanding?"

"Canterlot High?" Pearlesecent said, confused. "That's six miles from our old high school."

"I'm sorry but I think you've got too many negative connections at your old school," the judge replied. "Nothing against Saddleback High but if you're going to get back on the right foot, you need to be put into a different environment."

The three girls exchanged glances. "Fine," Jade Jewel said. "Beats being in detention." The other two girls slowly nodded.

"I'm glad you are seeing reason. I sincerely hope you don't make me regret this," the judge said. "If I get even one report that you were absent for an unjustified reason, I will have everything I said here revoked. There will be no exceptions." He banged his gavel and finalized his decision.

---

The school day was starting at Canterlot High and the students were all making their way to the entrance of the campus. It was an average late summer morning and the weather was cooling down as fall was rolling in. Sunset Shimmer was waiting by the school's statue in the front courtyard, reading a textbook, when Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop in front of Sunset on her skateboard.

"You know that thing's gotten you into trouble before, right?" Sunset reminded her friend, looking out the corner of her eye.

Rainbow Dash nonchalantly blew one of her bangs out of the way and flashed a smug grin. "Psh, life isn't worth living unless you're willing to take the risk!" She stomped the tail of her board, which popped it up off the ground. She caught the board in the air and tucked it under her arm. "So, you're coming to the Rainbooms practice today, right?" she asked.

"Sorry, I've got a lot to do as head planner for the homecoming festival," Sunset informed her. "I'll be booked through the afternoon."

"Eh, duty calls, I guess," Dash said with a shrug. She tucked her board under her arm and made her way into the building. A short while later, Sunset saw Twilight Sparkle coming her way. She put her book back into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder as she stood up to greet Twilight.

"Hey, Twilight," Sunset said. "What's up?"

"Nothing special," Twilight said. "Just a regular day, I suppose."

"Did you make any progress with trying to stabilizing the energy field?" Sunset asked. Twilight shook her head.

"It's difficult to grasp since I don't have Princess Twilight's magical energy signature readily available to test with," she said. "All my calculations have to be made based on a single energy signature, which is the magical energy around me. I'm making headway, it's just a lot slower than I was expecting." She paused and her eyes lit up. "However, I was able to start an offshoot project that has made more progress. I've built a device that will let me close a dimensional rift when one is forcefully opened. It's not quite what we were looking for but I think it might come in handy anyway."

"Really, how?" Sunset asked.

"Well it's really quite ingenious," Twilight said, giddily twirling her braids as she often did when she was in the moment. "When two magical creatures of the same affinity come close and the rift opens, I can just sever the dimensional li-"

"Ah..." Sunset interrupted, looking at her phone. "On second thought I think I need to get inside."

Twilight pulled out her own phone and did the same. "Yeah, me too. Meet for lunch?" Sunset nodded in reply and they set off for the school. As the two girls walked through the school entrance, a city bus pulled to a stop into the school's main drive. Two girls stepped off: Pearlescent and Jade Jewel.

"So..." Pearlesecent said. "Canterlot High School, home of the Canterlot Wondercolts."

"Didn't our old school wipe those guys at basketball?" Jade said. Pearlescent nodded proudly and the two girls laughed about it. A third girl stepped off the bus behind them and then the bus left the premises. Pearlescent and Jade turned their heads towards the third girl.

"Sunset I don't know why you were so serious about this 'fresh start' thing," Jade said to her friend. Sunset Shimmer was wearing a dark green sweater and modest, well-kept jeans. On her feet were a pair of black and white sneakers and she had a pair of sunburst earrings instead of her usual single hoop earring. She had also trimmed her orange hair significantly compared to five months before. "No one at this school even recognizes you." Pearlesecent and Jade Jewel, comparatively, had changed little about themselves in the intervening months, continuing to stick with their usual, skater-inspired ensembles. Jade had on a black tank top and long black cargo pants while Pearlescent was wearing a white t-shirt with the logo of a local band and dark green flood pants.

"Yeah, well, this is a personal thing," Sunset replied. "I need to convince myself just as much as everyone else here that I'm not who I used to be." She set her bag on the ground and pulled out a wig of dark brown hair and a pair of glasses. Pearlesecent and Jade Jewel started to crack up as she put on the accessories.

"Laugh if you want, I feel more comfortable this way," Sunset said, unaffected by their opinion of her. She threw her bag back over her shoulders and proceeded towards the campus. Jade and Pearlesecent took her offer and burst out laughing. Sunset rolled her eyes at her friends' lack of understanding.

"What's the big deal?" Jade asked, once she had stopped laughing. "Pearl and I aren't getting all worked up about having to go to school here, it's just another school. We just finish out this school year and we can do whatever we want, we'll never have to see these clowns again."

Sunset didn't answer immediately. "Why don't you care about what other people think about you?" she said once she had thought about what she wanted to say. Pearlesecent and Jade exchanged glances but didn't respond. "You heard the judge, didn't you? Before I came here I was a great student. I had friends who were close to me and we all wanted to succeed together. Then I moved to this city and I lost that. I couldn't fit in at that old school, I never found a close circle who were like the friends from my old town."

"Is that why you started hanging around us?" Pearlesecent asked.

"Surprised it took you so long to figure that out," Sunset said. She tried not to be insulting but it was hard to find words that expressed her feeling on the matter. "It's nothing against you, you've been good friends through it all. I just...came from a different crowd one time in my life."

"Well, hey," Jade said, wrapping her arm around Sunset's shoulders. "If your little 'reinvent myself' gimmick doesn't go anywhere, you know where to find us, 'kay?"

"You changing your name too?" Pearlescent said, jokingly.

"Yeah," Sunset responded. Pearlesecent was taken back slightly. "Call me 'Amber Sunrise.'"

That set the two girls into another bout of laughter but they said no more and swung their bags over their shoulder to head to the campus. Sunset followed them with a slightly sheepish stride.

---

At her locker, the Sunset Shimmer of Equestria was writing an entry in her journal. The book was a magical artifact from Equestria that was linked to another such book in the possession of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Whenever a message was written on the pages of the book, the same text would appear in the opposite book, which allowed Sunset to communicate with Twilight across dimensions.

"Hiya, Sunset!" a cheery, accented voice said from behind. Sunset looked over her shoulder and saw Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity standing behind her.

"Hey, girls," Sunset said. She closed her book and put it back into her locker.

"Sendin' Princess Twilight our regards?" Applejack asked, observing what Sunset had been doing before they arrived.

Sunset nodded. "It's been a little while since I sent a message to Twilight, figured I'd catch her up on things," she said. A low sigh escaped her breath. Rarity picked up on it.

"Sunset, dear, is something the matter?" she asked. Sunset averted her eyes and leaned against the wall of lockers. Her facial expression morphed into a mild frown. The other three girls exchanged confused glances.

"Are you upset, Sunset?" Pinkie asked, now concerned.

"I...I didn't want to burden any of you with this," Sunset responded, in a dejected tone. "But...I think I'm starting to miss Equestria."

"That ain't a burden, sugar!" Applejack said, relieved the issue wasn't more serious. "Gettin' homesick ain't nothin' unusual. We're friends, you don't gotta hold stuff like that back from us."

"I guess, Applejack," Sunset responded. "But, even so..." she sighed again, "in a way I feel like that's exactly why it might have been better to keep this to myself. For all the trouble I've caused since coming here, I've still managed to find friends. I even led Twilight to discover that joy for herself. But now I'm thinking of leaving it all behind and going back to the world where I burnt all my bridges. It feels...selfish."

"What makes you want to go back?" Rarity asked.

"Do you miss the taste of hay?! I'm sure Applejack has plenty!" Pinkie excitedly added. Applejack and Rarity gave her strange looks. "What? It's what they eat over there, isn't it?" she deferred to Sunset. Sunset chuckled a little then nodded.

"Hayburgers, actually," Sunset said, now smiling again. "But, no, the food in this world is great. In fact I'd probably miss it if I went back! What I'm talking about is...I've been reading Twilight's responses to my messages and she talks about all the things she and her friends are doing back there. It makes me want to return and reconnect with my homeland, where I was born. In this world magic is unpredictable and erratic, in Equestria it can be controlled and used for practical ends. As a unicorn pony, I feel like magic is something that is a birthright for us and I'm not claiming it if I remain in this world. Plus...I've learned so much about friendship here, I wish I could share it with my old mentor, Princess Celestia."

"Your Celestia is a princess?!" Rarity said, awed by Sunset's description. "That sounds amazing!"

"She was more than a princess, she was a caring and compassionate teacher," Sunset said, in somber remembrance of her errant ways. "And...I squandered all of that to come here."

"Sunset," Applejack said, coming over to her side to put her arm over her shoulder. "We're the best friends you're gonna find. If you think that you need to go back to Equestria, don't let none of us hold you back. You didn't come from our world, your roots are back there and we understand that. It's always important to follow your heart, yeah?" The other girls nodded in agreement.

Sunset wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you, all of you." She collected all her friends in a group hug. "I'll think about it. But don't worry, I'll at least wait until after graduation before I go anywhere."

As they hugged, the mid-morning bell rang. "Gotta go," Sunset said. "Meet for lunch?" Everyone nodded and Sunset set off for class.

Comments

[RowanSkie]

Here comes the disaster which might rip the two worlds into one!

...

...

...

I blame the mirror.

[BenRG]

7072674
Actually, it is the opportunity that Sci-Twi needs to finish her work to stabilise the magical energies! I'm sure that Juvie-Sunny will be suitably shocked to meet her superhero counterpart!

Besides, the native Sunset needs a second chance and there is one thing that the Seven are better at than anything else!

[John Tannius]

It strikes me as odd that Celestia or Luna wouldn't have seen the incoming transcripts and recognized Sunset. Just a minor potential plot hole... don't mind me. Otherwise, I'm intrigued.

[PonyUpYourBits]

8303504
Don't start questioning Equestria Girls logic too much, you'll get pretty deep. If you're going to get into that you'd also have to address how the original Sunset even managed to become a student at CHS in the first place.

These sort of questions rolled through my head too when I was writing this, it's best not to dwell on them, lol. I believe TVTropes refers to it as the "MST3K Mantra".