Stirring Up Trouble
The morning spent with Flash Sentry had been fun. He had tried to teach Twilight how to play the guitar, showing her how to position her fingers. It was awkward, but she was starting to get the hang of it.
“I bet it took a while to learn to play,” Twilight had said.
“Not really,” Flash said. “A while to get really good, yes, but do you know how many songs are three simple chords? It’s easy. Even Sunset picked it up quick, and she had some bad coordination when we started. It was like she had never had fingers before.”
Twilight could only smile, hoping she didn’t look too nervous.
She was grateful for every class that she had had with Flash, it gave her some quiet during the day.
Free period finally rolled around, and Twilight decided to head down to Celestia’s office to visit Spike before she met with Pinkie.
It was on the way there that she ran into Fluttershy again.
“Fluttershy, hi!”
Fluttershy, who had been getting something out of her locker, jumped a bit at actually being addressed. She smiled when she saw Twilight. “Um, hello.”
“I’m glad you’re here. I’m putting together a campaign team. Why don’t you be on it too?”
Fluttershy blushed a little. “Um, who else is on it?”
“Well, there’s Applejack...”
“W-what? I can’t...”
“And Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.”
That caused the yellow girl to stop and look at her in surprise. “Th... they’re working together? Really?”
Twilight smiled. She heard the hope in Fluttershy’s voice. “Come with me,” she said, leading Twilight away.
They went to the music room and found it empty. Grateful for this time out of the eye on anyone else, she unzipped her backpack. “I want to show you something,” she said, pulling out the article and showing it to her. “Do you remember this?”
Fluttershy took it, and almost immediately Twilight could see the longing in her eyes. “Yes,” she said, her voice cracking a bit.
“Look who wrote the article.”
Fluttershy looked, her eyes widening. “Sunset... oh my. You mean...”
“I think she caused your little breakup,” Twilight said. “The others seem to agree with me.”
Fluttershy smiled. “Does this mean that they want to be friends again?”
“Well... no.”
Fluttershy’s face fell so quickly, it took Twilight a moment to register it. “Oh...”
Twilight felt guilt for raising Fluttershy’s hopes only to dash them. Her next words spilled out all at once in an attempt to cheer her up. “But I think that’s just what they’re telling themselves. I can tell they really want everything to go back to normal.”
“R-really?”
Twilight winced. Fluttershy was getting tears in her eyes. “Yeah. If they work together long enough, things will go back to normal for them.”
Much to Twilight’s surprise, Fluttershy responded by hugging her. As Twilight hugged her back, she felt Fluttershy’s tears leak out.
“I... I want it to. I miss them. We were such good friends. I... I want everything to go back to normal! And I miss Rainbow Dash! She was like a sister to me!”
“Shh, shh, I know, I know,” Twilight said. After a few moments, she pulled Fluttershy off of her and looked her in the eyes. “That’s why we need to take Sunset down. If she keeps going, she’s just going to hurt more people. We need to stay strong right now, okay?”
Fluttershy hiccuped a bit, but nodded.
“You can start by meeting the rest of us out in the parking lot tomorrow morning and helping us with the campaign, okay?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“Okay. Now, I need to ask you something important. Will you answer me?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“What caused that fight between Applejack and Rainbow Dash?”
Fluttershy suddenly looked nervous, looking away.
“Come on, Fluttershy. I know it’s hard to talk about, but if things are ever going to get better between them, they need to confront it. Please tell me.”
There was silence for a few moments before the other girl spoke. “It was... it was a little strange. I can’t believe they let it get to them.”
“Yes?”
“Well, it started when Rainbow Dash’s soccer ball went missing from the locker room. The next day Applejack brought it to school, saying someone had kicked it through her window. She believed Rainbow when she said it went missing, but we couldn’t figure out who would want to hurt Applejack.
“But then, more and more stuff seemed to happen. Rainbow Dash would find a bunch of moldy old apples in her locker, or Applejack would trip and fall on some of her equipment left lying in the hall. Everytime, Rainbow said she had nothing to do with it. Things just got worse and worse between them. The only time they were calm was when they were listening to the Dazzlings.”
“The Dazzlings?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy nodded. “Those three girls that hang out with Sunset. Everyone loves their music.”
The gears in Twilight’s head started turning. Fluttershy went on.
“It was actually right after a performance that they finally blew up at each other. Rarity took Applejack’s side, and everything blew up.” Fluttershy was crying again.
Twilight gave her another hug. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay. Just show up tomorrow morning, alright? I’ll bring Spike.”
At that, Fluttershy brightened up. “That would be fun.”
“Okay. Now, I’ve got to meet Pinkie about something. Just stay strong, okay.”
Fluttershy nodded. The two parted ways a bit awkwardly, but at least it was an improvement.
As she walked down the hallway to Princess Celestia’s office, her mind was racing. She had originally dismissed the girls as just regular high school girls. The fact that Sunset used the human Snips and Snails was enough for her to assume so. But with Fluttershy’s story... could they be magic users themselves? It was a crazy thought, but Sunset had help in Equestria.
When she arrived at Principal Celestia’s office, she knew her next course of action.
Spike almost immediately rant to his mother, happy to be scooped up in her arms. Celestia greeted her warmly, offering her lunch bag. “Any progress?”
“Some.” She relayed what had happened to her. Spike had filled Celestia in on the progress she had made at her locker when Twilight had dropped her off for the early periods, so Twilight only had to tell her what happened with Fluttershy.
Spike grinned. “So that leaves just Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight nodded. “Maybe if I get them all together long enough... well, I’ll try to find Rainbow before we leave today. Any idea where she would be after school?”
“She has soccer practice,” Celestia said, tapping a manilla folder on the side of her desk. “I took the liberty of pulling up all the school’s information on them, and of Sunset and her group, just in case.”
Twilight nodded, then the thought entered her head. “What can you tell me about the Dazzlings?”
Celestia blinked. “Who?”
Twilight realized it must be a nickname that existed among the students. “Aria, Adagio, and Sonata.”
“Ah, those three. Well, there’s not a lot to tell. They came to Canterlot High not long after Sunset did. They started spending time around her almost immediately. They practically hand off of her whenever they’re not singing. I find it odd they haven’t joined choir, they sing very well, and a lot of the students like them.”
“Do you enjoy their music too?”
Celestia nodded. “Oh yes, they sing well, but I’m hardly around to hear it. But what I catch is quite good.”
“Have you met their parents?”
“I haven’t, but I know they must have come in for a parent-teacher night, I have attendance records for it. Why?”
“Sunset had help in Equestria, I’m sure of it. Snips and Snails I’m sure are normal humans, I’m sure, but these three? I don’t know. There’s just something about them. It might be a long shot, but I think it’s worth looking into.”
Celestia nodded as she pulled some folders out of the stack. She opened one. “Adagio Dazzle... it looks like everything’s in order. I’ll look over these tonight when I have some free time.”
“Way ahead of you.”
The two turned to see Luna walk into the room. “I had Yearling do some extra digging on Sunset and her friends. Everything checks out.” She passed a folder to Celestia, who took it and began to look it over. “Report cards dating back to first grade, tax records for the family, it all adds up.”
“I think we’ve proven that records can be forged, and these girls have had a lot longer than Twilight to set everything up.”
Twilight thought for a moment. “I guess we’re just going to have to push forward with the plan. I’m supposed to meet Pinkie in the lunchroom right about now.”
“Can’t I come?” Spike asked.
Twilight smiled and scratched Spike behind the ears. “I’m sorry, Spike, but you’re not even supposed to be here. We’re risking a lot just bringing you around here. Just stay put, I promise you’ll get to meet all the others tomorrow. Okay?”
Spike muttered. “Okay...” Then he brightened up. “Well, maybe I can finish Angry Birds today!” He happily ran to Luna’s tablet, causing Twilight to chuckle.
“I swear, if he keeps that up, he’s going to rival Button in all the games he plays.”
Celestia smiled. “You go meet Pinkie. We’ll keep an eye on Spike.”
Twilight waved them goodbye before leaving.
As she walked down the hallway, she couldn’t help but notice the students seemed extra-happy. They were smiling at her, waving, and even sticking their thumbs in the air, whatever that meant.
“Hey, Twilight, way to go!” Lyra called, with Bon Bon... no, Sweetie Drops, she remembered, nodding.
“Um, thank you?” she asked, still walking.
“Yo, Twilight!” Another girl said. Twilight looked, and was surprised to see it was apparently Applejack’s cousin Babs Seed. Only this version looked the same age as Applejack. “Great goin’. I don’t think most girls would have the guts to do what you did. Ya got my vote!”
Twilight was confused. Was running against Sunset really this big of a deal? “Well... thank you,” she said, waving and continuing her trip to the cafeteria.
“Yeah!” Bulk Biceps yelled at her. “Way to show it to Sunset! Ya got my vote!”
It was like that for the entire trip. Twilight was confused. What exactly had caused all this?
She was relieved when she got to the cafeteria and made it to the table where Pinkie was sitting. She was un-relieved when Pinkie welcomed her with a “Way to go, Twilight! You just really stuck it to Sunset!”
“Alright, what is everyone talking about? I haven’t done anything to Sunset!”
“Oh, don’t try to hide it! Everyone’s seen...”
At that point, they were cut off when Rarity and Applejack ran up to the table. Unlike every other student, they looked like they had seen a ghost.
“Twilight, Twilight, have you seen them?”
Twilight was so stunned by Rarity’s question that it took her a moment to answer. “Did I see what?”
In response, Applejack held up a poster that had her eyes nearly pop out of her head. It was a photo of Flash and herself, their fingers intertwined, with the caption on the bottom: Vote Twilight Sparkle. She’s already planted her flag in Sunset’s best conquest.
“How... what? How... We only just held hands this morning!”
“Ooh! So it’s true! You really did get Sunset’s ex!” Pinkie squeed. “This is so...”
“Pinkie, this is not good!” Rarity said. “Can you imagine how angry Sunset will be when she sees this?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So,” Applejack answered, “you know how really mean Sunset gets when she’s mad. She’s already ornerier than a pitbull with a toothache, when she sees this, she’s going to flip.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “Well, Sunset is the type to only have only dated him because he was a ticket to popularity. Maybe she won’t actually care.”
“You don’t know Sunset, Twi,” Applejack said. “She’ll take this as a personal attack. You need to be careful.”
“I needed to be careful anyway,” Twilight waved it off.
“Still, going after Flash?” Pinkie laughed. “That take some serious bravery!”
“What do you mean?”
“Sunset has harassed any girl that has tried to get close to Flash. Every girl wants him, but no one’s been brave enough to get near him.”
“I wasn’t trying to get back at Sunset, Flash was just being nice. I...” Suddenly Twilight’s eyes went wide. “What if he thinks I’ve only been spending time with him to get back at Sunset! Oh, this is a mess!”
“Well, he gets out of class in fifteen minutes,” Applejack said, checking her watch. “I know ‘cause I usually hear him practicing in the music room during his lunch period. After you look over everythin’ with Pinkie, go talk to him.”
Twilight stopped, then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“Great. I’ll go around the school and tear down every poster I see like this,” Applejack promised.
“I’ll take down any I see, but I’m going to try and find who took that photo,” Rarity said. “I have a good feeling who took it too.”
Twilight nodded. “Thank you girls, I really appreciate it.” As they turned to leave, something occurred to Twilight. “One thing: Fluttershy will be joining us tomorrow morning.”
That got everyone’s attention. “What? Really?” Pinkie said.
“Why is she comin’?” Applejack added.
“Well, I ran into her my first day here, and she seems real nice. I read you were friends once...”
“No, I mean why did she agree? That girl has no spine!”
“Look, she wants to help. I’m sure I can count on everypon- everybody to get along, right?”
“Well... I guess,” Applejack said, and Rarity nodded.
Twilight turned and saw that Pinkie was giving her a look, and that made her nervous. So she decided to change the subject as quickly as she could. “Pinkie, why don’t you show me what you came up with?”
At that, Pinkie brightened up. “Sure! Just look!” She unzipped her backpack and poured the contents out on the table.
Sunset’s smartphone snapped in half in her grip, the mass e-mailed photo disappearing as the screen broke. Her five associates had wisely decided to back themselves into a wall.
Sunset breathed heavily, and they were all sure that she was going to explode in rage.
Much to their surprise, she took a long, deep breath and cooled herself. “Snips, Snails?”
The words carried barely restrained fury. Feeling nervous, the two boys stepped forward, Snips being the one to speak. “Y-yes?”
“I want you to start tailing Twilight Sparkle. See if you can get any embarrassing photos of her. Every minute you aren’t in class, you’re following her.”
“S-sure.”
“...Well what are you waiting for? Get going!”
The two dashed off. This was not the day they wanted to be on her bad side.
“And as for you three,” she said. “I’m going to need you to sing your little song a bit very soon.”
Sonata spoke up. “I... I thought you said Twilight wasn’t worth worrying about...”
“She isn’t. But if she really wants to make this personal, then we’ll make this personal.”
“You want us to spread a rumor?” Adagio asked.
“No... we need something much more immediate. Those two idiots might dig up something good, but a good prank will put her in her place so much better. Trust me, by tomorrow she be a bigger laughingstock than Rarity.”
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And Sunset's prank is going to backfire so hard I'm certain.
Hold on, he didn't say that she only dated him to get popular; he only said that she assumed he'd want to stay with her in spite of everything she'd done simply because she was popular by that point.
And even more of the breakup can be attributed to mind magic... good news of a sort.
Curious if those attendance records were forged or there are even more people in on this thing posing as the Dazzlings' parents... maybe it's just Caballeron as their dad or something. There's going to be a lot of loose ends to tie up after the dance....
I don't know. Unless I'm missing something, Twilight making the jump that the Dazzlings are magic just from what Fluttershy said is kinda big. I know she's smart, but it still feels like a stretch.
7387142 Gods I hope so. I love it when the bad guys get their comeuppance.
7387218
With the pieces she has it is not something she can rule out though. Twilight knows Sunset has help from Equestria and to ignore the three girls who have been clinging on to Sunset from the very beginning would be foolish.
7387142 Even if it does, Twilight is gonna have to figure out the Dazzlings real quick to beat Sunset when it's time to vote. Sunset can easily use the Dazzlings to swing votes her way (remember that they used their music to persuade Celestia and Luna twice during the Rainbow Rocks movie).
7387154
Yeah, side effect of working in two universes at once. Fixed the line.
Hopefully Flash is smart enough to know that Twilight isn't using him to get back at Sunset and he's just happy she's more popular now. Twilight better be careful because I have a feeling what Sunset has planned is way worse than a smear campaign video. With Twilight's friends coming together hopefully they can work something out, before the Dazzlings tear them apart with magic again.
Another good chapter but I notice just one error while reading.
Rant should be ran.
Hello there. Thanks again for getting the next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. Once again, excellent job on the exchanges, emotional content and future chapter set-up in all the right places. And, I have to say, Twi made a leap of logic worthy of Batman (in a good way). And I see two ways Sunset's planned prank will backfire:
1. It will make Twilight even more determined to take Sunset down (which means the other students will just end up liking her even more).
or 2. Some incredible stroke of luck worthy of Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry will result in Sunset becoming a victim of her own prank with Twilight miraculously untouched.
For some reason, option one seems like the more likely of the two possibilities. Of course, I also admit I could be wrong either way, but at any rate, I will definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.
7387142 that wouldn't be a very Darth Link 22 thing to do
So Sunset's going to have The Dazzlings make their move a little early, while also using Snips and Snails to try and humilate Twilight in revenge? You're losing it, Sunset. Somehow, someway, your plans are going to backfire.
Dam this story is fanastic. Now i love Sunset, and it always makes me sad she used to be like this.
But this version is very good, shows just how bad she is and how ruthless she is, you got me to hate her now.
The story is very well written and can't wait to read more.
With what she done to the others, i really hope what ever she gets coming to her equals to what she done...even it......breaks her.
I expect that Snips and Snails will somehow interfere with what the Dazzlings are going to do after all they don't know that the Dazzlings are going to do anything and aren't very bright.
I'm amazed by the number of people expecting for Sunset to fail here. With this author she'll succeed perfectly and that'll just be the start of the problems Twilight has to deal with
I wonder who made the poster? Right now my only guess is the Dazzlings did it to manipulate Sunset.
7389840
I'm betting it was the same one who took the photo in the first place.
Just some errors I noticed.
When I read that, I kind of confused the two universes; I thought she was referencing what Snips and Snails did to her in the other one, and I thought "Oh... this is gonna be bad". Then I remembered what happened to Rarity in this one and thought "...Meh. Can't be too bad."
I'm really excited for the rest of this story now. I hope Sunset's prank fails, although that's probably way too optimistic of me. I can't wait to see how Twilight manages to bring the band back together!