Part VI: Full Circle || Chapter 48: Wondercolts Forever
Later that day the girls were surprised to learn that there would be an unscheduled assembly. All except Rainbow.
“I say, darling,” Rarity pressed her as they walked to the gym. “You do know something about this assembly, don’t you?”
“Ain’t sayin’ nothin’!” Rainbow teased puckishly as she briefly walked backwards.
Rarity gave her a sour look. “Well. I suppose you are entitled to an occasional air of mystery.”
Rainbow winked at her and turned back around. They entered the gym to find that they were some of the first students there. Rainbow waved to them. “See you all after the assembly!” She turned and went to the stage, appearing to confer with the band, which was inexplicably present.
The other girls shrugged their shoulders and climbed the bleachers to their customary location.
“Ah bet it’s a pep rally,” Applejack stated, earning knowing nods from Sunset and Fluttershy.
“It had better not be!” Pinkie grumped. “How could they have a pep rally without the Chief of Pep?”
“So you know nothing about this, darling?” Rarity drawled.
“Well…I suspect it’s an impromptu pep rally set up largely on the recommendation of Rainbow Dash as late as this morning when she presented the idea to Principal Celestia probably during first period since we had gym at that time and she disappeared and didn’t tell us where she went which is why we actually lost the dodgeball game for the first time in forever…” she paused to take a huge gasp of air, “…but that’s just a hunch.”
There was a brief pause, interrupted by Sunset and Applejack as they burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Rarity just stared at Pinkie, while Fluttershy smiled, well, shyly.
Rarity finally just shook her head and sat down. Applejack and Sunset’s guffaws were ended by the sound of someone tapping on a microphone over the PA system. Sure enough, there were Sunset’s mom and aunt standing up on the stage in front of the student body.
“Ahem,” Celestia began with a bright smile that was not entirely shared by her sister, “as I am sure you all know, tomorrow, Canterlot High School will be hosting our fellow students from Crystal Prep Academy as we join together in the spirit of excellence, sportsmanship, and fidelity to compete in the Friendship Games.”
There was sporadic applause and a few dispirited cheers.
Undaunted, Celestia continued. “Since the games only happen every four years, I'm sure you're all curious what goes on.”
“You mean other than us losing?!” Flash unexpectedly yelled from another bleacher.
“And that is exactly why I've asked Rainbow Dash to come up and give you all a little, um... context!” Celestia continued gamely.
“Oh, so it was Principal Celestia’s idea,” Pinkie whispered, narrowing her eyes.
Rainbow was approaching the microphone. Celestia stepped aside for her. “Thank you, Principal Celestia.” She cleared her throat a bit awkwardly. “I know a lot of you might think there's no way we can beat a fancy school like Crystal Prep at anything,” she began.
“Unless it's a ‘losing to Crystal Prep’ competition! 'Cause we're really good at that!” Pinkie yelled, clearly still grumpy.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie!” Applejack hissed at her, looking scandalized. The other girls frowned at her, but she didn’t back down.
Rainbow groaned at her, but pressed on. “And I know that CHS has never won the Friendship Games even once.”
Rarity was now frowning at Rainbow. “Oh dear. I hope this speech wasn’t meant to be motivational…” she murmured in an aside to Sunset.
Rainbow was inexplicably smiling now. “Crystal Prep students are super athletic, super smart, and super motivated. But there's one thing they aren't. They aren't Wondercolts!” And just like that she started singing as the band began to play.
Her five friends stared in bemused amazement along with the rest of the student body, but the song really was upbeat and catchy. Almost against their will, the five found themselves feeling encouraged and determined. Rainbow reminded the student body of what they had already overcome as some students held up huge pictures of the Sirens and Sunset in her demon form. The other four girls looked suddenly at Sunset with concern, but to their relief and surprise she seemed oblivious, continuing to smile and clap along with the music.
The music kept building, and soon everyone was singing along. Finally with a huge crescendo and some small fireworks, Rainbow leapt into the air, catching the band leader’s thrown baton. The five girls were suddenly startled as Rainbow ponied up, continuing to fly about the stage. The pep rally ended in excitement and encouragement as all the students cheered for Rainbow, the band, and their team. Celestia dismissed the assembly, pleased that things appeared to have gone well.
The five girls went down to the gym floor to meet Rainbow. To everyone’s surprise, it was Fluttershy who spoke first. “Rainbow Dash, that was amazing!” she gushed. “Even I feel like we can win!”
Rarity was nodding in agreement. “I feel like my school pride is at an all-time high!”
Applejack, on the other hand, seemed pensive .“This is great and all, but is anybody else wonderin’ how Dash ponied up without playin’ her guitar?” A nod from Sunset gave her her answer.
“I know, right? It’s probably because I’m so awesome!” Rainbow said haughtily.
Sunset smiled at her with true affection. “Maybe. I mean, you are awesome, but there's gotta be more to it than that. It just seems so random.”
Sunset’s aunt, who had overheard their conversation, appeared to agree. “Well, it would be nice if you girls could try to get a handle on it,” she said as she walked up to them. “We'd like to keep magic as far away from the Friendship Games as possible. We wouldn’t want to be accused of cheating, would we?”
Rarity snorted. “We don't need magic to defeat those hoity-toity Crystal Preppers.” The others laughed. Rarity giggled sheepishly, realizing what she had just said.
“Pot, meet kettle,” Applejack teased her with a good-natured wink.
“Still,” said Luna, as her own smile faded, “the Friendship Games are serious business. We don't want any surprises. Especially the kind that could cause us to forfeit. Sunset,” she said, turning to her niece, “since you came here from a world of magic, would you try to get to the bottom of our magical development?”
Sunset smiled gamely. “I’ll do my best, Aunt Luna.”
“That is all that we can ask,” Luna replied. She gave Sunset’s shoulder a quick squeeze, then headed off to join her sister.
Rainbow was already moving on to the competition. “Okay. Anybody have any guesses what the events are gonna be?”
“Pie eating? Cake eating? Oooo! Pie-cake eating?!” Pinkie gasped, appearing to have thrown off her earlier grumpiness.
“They won't even let us see what they're doin' to the field. You'd think they'd at least tell competitors what they're competing in,” Applejack answered Rainbow, ignoring Pinkie.
“It could be anything,” Fluttershy pointed out.
This made Rarity truly concerned. “Anything?! How will I ever pick the right outfit?!”
This was Sunset’s cue to head to the library. “Hey guys, I really want to help, but I think I’d better go focus on figuring out why Rainbow ponied up. I’ll see you all later, ok?” The other girls waved goodbye to her as she turned to go, but she found herself stopped by a hand that grabbed her wrist. Looking up, she realized it was Rainbow.
“Hey. Can I borrow you for a minute?” Rainbow asked.
“Sure. What is it?”
“Guys. I’ll catch up in a minute, ok?” Rainbow called to the other four. She suddenly looked a bit embarrassed, then said, “Come with me for a sec.” Sunset, having no idea what this was about, shrugged her shoulders and followed Rainbow over to the foot of the stage, where she found the band gathered. They were all looking at her somewhat nervously.
“Uh, guys, what’s this about?” Sunset asked in confusion.
Rainbow looked uncomfortable. “Well, we thought…you might have been a little upset about the rally we just did.”
“Upset? Why would I be upset? I thought it was really great…oh. I think I see what you’re getting at,” Sunset answered, her face falling a little.
Rainbow scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
“Well,” Sunset mused, “at least you guys caught it before I did. So I guess that’s progress.”
Still Rainbow and the bandmembers looked embarrassed.
“So…you guys want to say it first?” Sunset said, a little bitterly.
“Actually, not exactly,” said Rainbow, picking up a little courage. “It’s true we didn’t intend to offend you. But it’s more than that. Sunset, the truth is, we thought a lot about this and did it carefully and deliberately, and we planned to talk with you about it. I guess we should have talked with you before it happened, but there wasn’t time. We threw this together in the last 4 hours.”
“Wow. That’s fast,” Sunset said, truly impressed.
“So we have something we want to say to you, that we hope will help you feel better about it.”
“Uh, ok. Can’t hurt to hear you out, I guess.”
Rainbow and the band leader stepped forward. “It comes to this. We – all of us – think you can take as much credit for overcoming that demon as we can. Maybe more.”
Sunset looked puzzled. “I don’t get it. I was the demon…”
Rainbow latched on to that. “You’re right, emphasize the word ‘was’. We all know you’re not that demon anymore. All of us. And all of us are grateful to you for overcoming the Sirens. The whole school knows you saved the day, Sunset. We’d be tools of Adagio right now if it weren’t for you.”
Sunset allowed herself to smile slightly. “Thanks. It always helps to hear that. But I still don’t understand.”
Rainbow’s face became very serious. “Sunset, we overcame that demon in a matter of minutes, and then we were done with her. But…once the Fall Formal was over, your battle with her was just beginning, wasn’t it?”
Sunset froze. She was starting to understand what Rainbow and the band were getting at.
Rainbow decided to continue. “And as far we can tell – and I have to admit I’ve told them a few things about how hard the first month was for you – your battle with her was much more personal. In fact, your fight with her was probably the hardest of all.”
Sunset’s mouth had fallen open. She was staring at Rainbow as she felt the beginning of tears in her eyes.
“The most important thing is that you won that battle. You’ve shown everyone how much you’ve changed. So we want you to hold your head high – you share in the victory, Sunset. That’s really how we see it.”
Sunset was stunned. “I…guess I never really thought about it that way. But Rainbow, it was you and the girls…I couldn’t have done it without the five of you,” she finally said with hitches in her breath.
“Maybe, but after the first month, you could’ve given up if you’d wanted to. You know that,” Rainbow pointed out. “Instead you fought even harder. We can all see it now. You’re so different now, Sunset. Please, we hope you can see it too.”
And all the band members gathered around her. Those who were close to her put their hands on her shoulders, and all of them smiled encouragingly at her.
Sunset was overcome. Although her vision was completely blurred by tears, she smiled back. Rainbow gave her a big hug. When they pulled apart, Sunset looked reassured.
“Thanks, guys. I’ll…try to keep all that in mind. And so, ‘none taken’. For real. I promise. Actually, I feel kind of…warm and fuzzy!” she finished, sniffing and blushing.
The bandmembers let out a collective sigh of relief and started to disperse – not a few without a last squeeze of encouragement. After a few minutes, only Sunset and Rainbow were left. Sunset was still smiling.
“Ok?” asked Rainbow a bit tentatively, putting her hands on both of Sunset’s shoulders.
“Ok,” Sunset said warmly. “Thanks, Rainbow. I really will try to look at things differently. It’ll take some adjusting, but I think there’s a lot of truth in what you just said. Wow.”
“Good. Well, I guess I’ll see you later. Going to do some research, huh?”
“Might as well. Thanks, again.”
Having stopped at her locker to pick up some materials, Sunset made her way to the library, still amazed at what Rainbow had just told her. She realized she’d have to shake it off for the time being, though, as there was a more pressing matter to attend to.
Taking a deep breath, she sat down and pulled out the various magical texts (brought to the human world for her by Twilight) and a few scientific ones, and once again bent her highly gifted mind to trying to comprehend how magic worked in the human world.
School being out for the day, she had nearly as long as she pleased to wrestle with the intersection between physics and magic, with a dash of psychology thrown in. In spite of her newfound motivation, however, she rapidly found herself as frustrated as usual. As the clock passed 5 pm, her annoyance peaked. “Ugh!” she cried, thrusting her current tome away with a shove. Over at the Circulation Desk, Cheerilee gave her a compassionate look.
“Sunset, I have to close up soon. I’m sorry you’re not having any success.”
Sunset sighed. “Thanks. I guess I’ll have to call it a day.” As she started to gather her books, her eyes fell on the one book that so far she had not looked at that afternoon: the journal for communicating with Twilight. She considered asking Twilight for advice. This was not an easy thing for her. As much as she considered Twilight a dear friend, and as happy as she was to get advice from her about friendship, she wasn’t as excited about asking her for input on magical matters. Sunset’s pride as Princess Celestia’s former student was returning to some degree, and she had a hard time admitting to herself that there might be a magical issue that Twilight could understand better than she could. Plus, there was the fact that Twilight hadn’t written her back yet from yesterday afternoon. Still, she was able to recognize her attitude as being somewhat childish. After a few moments of slightly grumpy struggle, she, a bit grudgingly at first, opened the journal to a fresh page and started to write. With each word she felt better about asking Twilight for help, but she also felt more concerned about the situation.
Hey, Twi. Haven’t heard back from you yet. I know you must be pretty busy, but I could really use your advice right now. You see, Aunt Luna has asked me to try to keep magic under control here at CHS, even though I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around it. In fact, it’s getting even more out of hand. Rainbow ponied up today without playing her guitar, without any of us other Rainbooms. She was singing at the time – maybe that was enough, but still, it makes me think her magic might be…changing somehow. Maybe even developing further. Everyone is looking to me to figure things out and I really don’t want to let them down, but I’m not sure I have enough experience with Friendship Magic yet to solve this on my own. Please, Twi, when you get this, write back. Or better yet, if you can spare an hour or so, come on over.
She looked at the letter glumly, closed the book to make the message send, gathered her books, and stalked out of the library.
She arrived home half an hour later to find her aunt already home, sitting at the table in the eat-in area and going over some paperwork. “Hey sweetie. Tia will be home soon, and then we will get some dinner. How was your day?”
Sunset’s frustration and worry were impossible for her to hide. She huffed out a breath, tossed her bookbag on one of the chairs, and sat down heavily, shaking her head.
“Sunset, what is it?”
“It’s the magic! It’s driving me crazy!”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I spent years studying magic under the most powerful alicorn who has ever lived, as her personal, hand-picked protégée, and in spite of everything I know, and all my intelligence, I can’t figure this out!” She growled grumpily.
Luna was instantly worried. “Sunset, I’m not putting too much pressure on you, am I?”
“NO! This is my responsibility! I would have taken it on even if you hadn’t asked me to! Magic is in this world because of me, and I have to figure out how to control and contain it!”
“Sunset, listen to me. You must understand this – I didn’t ask you to do this because I blame you for the magic being here,” Luna said vehemently.
Sunset froze for a second, considering her aunt’s words.
“I really only meant just what I said,” Luna continued at a more normal volume. “You are the only person in this world who has magical knowledge, other than the seaponies, I guess. That really is the only reason why I asked you. This isn’t some…discipline or guilt thing, sweetheart. Ok? Do you understand? Do you believe me?”
Sunset’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “I…do. I believe you. Of course I believe you. Thanks for saying that.”
“Besides, while the…pace? I guess? Of the magic may have accelerated, you didn’t bring all of it here – the seaponies brought some too. And that wasn’t even all their fault, as they were exiled.”
“You may be right, but there is no doubt in my mind that the acceleration has to do with my use…my misuse…of Twilight’s crown.”
“Sweetie…”
“I’ve got to figure this out. It’s not just about not wanting to look like we’re cheating – the more we pony up randomly, the more chance there is that someone from outside the school is going to notice and want to investigate. I’ve already seen somebody snooping around the portal this week. I mean, what next?!”
Luna thought for a moment. “You have a point…” she began.
“See! I knew it. I’ve got to…”
“Sunset, listen!”
She sighed. “Ok…”
“It will do you no good to beat yourself up about having trouble figuring it all out. And you didn’t let me finish. I am not as certain as you that the acceleration is completely your fault. But even if it is, and even if you do have a point, which, as I was about to say, is that we do need to try to keep curiosity about the magic to a minimum, you must try not to be too hard on yourself! Is this situation something you were trained for? Did your curriculum under my sister’s counterpart include figuring out how magic functions in what may be a completely different universe?”
Sunset was stunned. “Uh, no. No, it didn’t.”
“That’s my point. This is new ground, love. You’ve got to be patient with yourself. You’re doing original research, breaking new ground. And on top of that I want you to have some fun tomorrow. The Friendship Games are supposed to be fun. Please. Try to relax a bit and just do your best.”
“I’ll try,” she said, though Luna could tell that her heart wasn’t completely in it.
Later that night, after Sunset had gone to sleep (having been compelled to take a melatonin tablet so that she could actually sleep and be well-rested for the next day), Luna conferred with her sister.
“I’m worried about her, Tia,” Luna said over the eat-in table without preamble. She and Celestia were going over the schedule for the Games. “She’s being too hard on herself.”
Celestia looked up, met her sister’s eyes for a moment, then continued to make notes to herself in the margin of the schedule. “I know. I am worried about her too. Did you get a chance to talk with her?”
“Yes, and I think I made my points, but…”
“You can lead a pony to water, but you can’t make her drink.”
Luna just stared at her sister for several seconds. “Did you just say what I think you just said?” she asked at last, incredulous.
The corner of Celestia’s lips had curled up slightly, but she continued making notes. “Regardless of any humor in my previous statement, Lulu, I believe I am correct. You have given Sunset good advice, and it will be up to her to take it or not. If she is too hard on herself, she will learn. As we both know, she has a good head on her shoulders. She has certainly shown she can learn from her mistakes.”
“I know,” Luna agreed, trying to shake off the near-physical pain caused by her sister’s terrible equine joke. “It’s just hard to watch. And I’m worried that I’ve added to her stress.”
Celestia put her pen down and met her sister’s eyes. “Try not to worry about that. You’ve reassured her that wasn’t your intention, correct?”
“Yes.”
“I am certain she believes you. She is putting this stress on herself. And, while I agree that it isn’t much fun to watch, we have to let her learn this on her own. We’ve given her all the tools she needs to develop some perspective.”
“I suppose.”
“We both know that she has a fiery spirit. She can be quite driven, and that can be a strength and a weakness. But I don’t count her out just yet, and I know you don’t either. She may yet discover something useful even tomorrow. Even if it is just perspective.”
“You’re right. But will you say something to her tomorrow? I think she needs to hear it from you, too.”
Celestia turned back to her notes. “Wild horses couldn’t hold me back, Lulu.”
“Be right back.” Luna stood up and went into the living room. Suddenly a pillow flew out of the darkened room, beaning Celestia squarely on the head.
The next morning Sunset came downstairs for breakfast. She felt a bit groggy, but had to admit that she had gotten a decent amount of sleep. As she passed through the living room, she noticed that all the pillows seemed askew. Furthermore, there was a small one lying right next to the entry to the hallway into the kitchen. She picked it up, confused, and continued into the kitchen.
“Good morning, darling!” Celestia said brightly from the table.
“Hey. Good morning. Hey, I found a pillow on the floor near the powder room,” Sunset began, gesturing back over her shoulder with her thumb.
“Must have missed one,” Celestia commented inexplicably. “Did you sleep well?”
Taken aback by the rapid change in subjects, Sunset paused. Her brain was still getting into gear. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did, actually. Thanks.”
“Good. That melatonin works wonders. Have a seat and have some breakfast. I made an omelette. Luna already left.”
Sunset looked at the table and noticed a place had been set for her, and that a serving dish was waiting in the middle of the table. She had to admit she was quite hungry, and Celestia made a mean omelette. She sat down, put the pillow on the next chair over, and started to help herself. She opened her mouth to ask about the pillow again, but her mother was too quick.
“Lulu said you and she had a talk last night before I got home.”
Sunset, again slightly stunned, struggled to rapidly change subjects once more. “Uh, yes. Yes we did.”
“And. Did it help?”
“A little. I’m still worried about today, though.” She didn’t tell her mother that she was also frustrated (and starting to get a little concerned) about Twilight, who still hadn’t responded to her recent letters.
“That’s understandable,” Celestia said. “You’re on the team; you’ll be competing.”
“It’s not just that, it’s also the stuff Aunt Luna and I talked about last night. The magic, and how to keep it under control.”
“I know. And it’s unrealistic for me to expect you to be completely worry-free about that. Still, you do know that I’m not putting any pressure on you either, don’t you?”
Sunset was quiet for a second, then her shoulders relaxed a bit, as they had the night before. “I do. And thanks, Mom.”
“Baby, try to have some fun today. And remember, all I want is for you to do your best. I promise that will be enough for me. And I believe you will figure the magic out eventually. I believe in you, Sunset.” Sunset smiled slightly, looking a bit embarrassed, which intensified as Celestia reached out to run a hand through her hair. “Luna and I love you so much. No matter what. Whatever comes, we will face it together.”
Sunset blushed and started eating her omelette. She did feel a bit better, though.
The morning passed quickly. Classes after second period were cancelled, and the Rainbooms used the down time before the Friendship Games kick-off assembly to retire to the Music Room to practice.
Sunset was glad of the diversion. Playing music with her friends took her mind off the challenges she was facing and reminded her that her friends were behind her. She allowed herself to enjoy the wonderful, warm feeling of being magically alive as she and the other Rainbooms ponied up to their favorite songs.
“I sure hope the Friendship Games have a music competition,” Rainbow said as they finished a song, “because we would totally rock it!”
“RD, we can’t play any music around the Crystal Prep students! We’re supposed to keep magic out of the games, remember?” Sunset pointed out.
Rainbow scoffed. She knew Sunset was right, but she didn’t need to admit it. Yet.
“Easier said than done, darling.” Rarity replied on Rainbow’s behalf. “I’m sure in Equestria, magic does whatever you want, but…”
“…this isn’t Equestria,” Sunset finished for her, glumly.
Applejack tried to smile reassuringly. “Well, when it comes to magic, Ah’m sure you’ll figure it out, Sunset.”
“And while she works on keeping magic out of the Games, I’ve been working on what to put in!” Rarity suddenly cried. She swept over to a large closet door, and, with a near-maniacal grin that even Pinkie respected, she pulled out a huge clothing rack brimming with clothes.
“Rarity, what’d you go an’ do?” Applejack asked almost tiredly.
“Well, I had a little time on my hands, and since we don’t know what the events are going to be, I made a few options for uniforms!” She started taking various outfits off the rack and showing them to each of her friends. They were absolutely blown away. Rarity had accomplished feats of clothes making and design in short order before, but this was on a completely different level. Pinkie and Rainbow struggled to close their mouths.
“You really didn’t have to do that,” Rainbow finally blurted, her eyes wide.
“I know!” Rarity gushed.
“No, you really didn’t have to,” Applejack agreed, a bit worried.
“I know!” Rarity cried with a giggle, completely undeterred. There followed several minutes as Rarity prevailed on each of her friends to try on various outfits. They started to enjoy themselves in spite of their concern about Rarity’s level of effort. Still, Applejack felt the need to make sure Rarity saved some energy for the competition.
“Rarity, these outfits are great and all, but why would you put so much time and effort into clothes we might not even wear? You're gonna exhaust yourself before the games even begin!”
It was Rarity’s turn to scoff. “Don’t be silly, darling! Putting effort into clothes is what I live for, and spending time on my friends fills me with energy!”
Sunset felt it before she saw it. A familiar sensation, of magic building nearby. She turned to look at Rarity just in time to watch her pony up and float in the air, overjoyed. “And magic too, I guess,” she said almost despondently to the others as they all watched Rarity in amazement. She shook her head and felt her emotions war within herself. On the one hand, she was truly happy for Rarity and her heart was warmed by all the work she had done. On the other hand, the magic was continuing to evolve and she felt no closer to comprehending it.
Rarity, meanwhile, continued to direct the other Rainbooms in trying on more outfits. Sunset tried to participate. As she helped Fluttershy into a dress, she felt Rarity’s magic change again. Her power signature was falling, and not quickly, as though she was just ponying down. It was more gradual, like Rarity was tiring or her magic was being drained. She looked over at Rarity in concern, watching as she slipped back to the ground and swayed. Her pony ears disappeared abruptly, and she was panting. “Actually, Applejack,” she slurred, “now that you mention it, I suppose I could use a tiny break…” and with that she fainted. Applejack, Sunset, and Rainbow had already been moving and managed to catch her before she hit her head. Sunset was almost beside herself – Rarity appeared to have run out of magic. This had never happened before – all their previous pony downs had been controlled. Maybe she really had exhausted herself, as Applejack had just warned her.
“Ah told you,” Applejack was in fact chiding Rarity at that moment, when something completely unexpected happened, decisively derailing Sunset’s train of thought.
The doors to the Music Room suddenly flew open to reveal Twilight Sparkle.
There was complete silence for several seconds, then:
“TWILIGHT?” all of them cried at once.
“Um, yes?” Twilight said timidly.
Sunset suddenly realized she was grinning foolishly. The cavalry had come. No joke intended. All around her her friends were smiling too.
Applejack recovered first. “Well Ah’ll be. You shoulda told us you were comin’!”
Twilight shook her head in confusion, but before she could say anything Rarity, who had recovered a bit, was already commenting on her appearance. “Darling, those glasses! And what are you wearing? It’s so severe!”
“My…uniform?” Twilight answered tentatively. Indeed Twilight was dressed quite a bit differently from her previous visits.
“Your uniform for what?” Fluttershy asked.
“For…Crystal Prep. But why does everyone at this school know who I am?” Sunset felt a cold stone settle in her stomach. Uh oh, she thought.
“Did you just say ‘Crystal Prep’?” Rainbow asked.
Suddenly Spike the dog emerged from her backpack, but instead of greeting everyone, he barked happily.
“Spike!” Rarity and Fluttershy exclaimed at the same time. It was at this point that Sunset started trying to get a word in edgewise. It was clear to her what was happening and damage control needed to be started immediately. It might already be too late.
Twilight, for her part, just gasped. “You know my dog’s name, too?”
Suddenly Celestia’s voice could be heard coming around the corner. “…and our music program has especially taken off.” She appeared in the door way behind Twilight, accompanied by an older woman who was dressed, if it were possible, even more severely than Twilight. She looked severe, too. Celestia noticed Twilight and gasped. “Twilight?” she cried.
“This is getting ridiculous!” Twilight exclaimed.
The older woman stepped forward. She had an air of casual authority about her – clearly not someone to be trifled with. “I must apologize for the curiosity of my student, Celestia,” she said in a clipped, aristocratic accent.
“Your student?” Celestia asked, totally confused.
“Yes,” the older woman continued. “The smart ones are always curious. I’ll return her to check in with the rest of her classmates. Come along, Twilight.”
Without another word Twilight turned around and left with the severe-looking woman.
There was stunned silence for a few seconds. “I didn’t know Twilight had a twin sister,” Celestia ventured finally.
Sunset started to speak, but Pinkie beat her to it. “She doesn't! That Twilight is obviously the Twilight from this world since it couldn't possibly be the Twilight from the pony world since the Twilight from the pony world doesn't go to Crystal Prep or wear glasses!”
Sunset’s mouth, still open, remained open as she stared at Pinkie. It took a few seconds for what she had just said to be processed by the others. Celestia turned to Sunset for confirmation.
“It’s true,” Sunset said finally. “That must be this world’s Twilight. Apparently she has a counterpart too.”
“Oh dear,” said Celestia, her eyes widening.
“I know! I know!” Sunset cried. “I’ll figure something out!”
Having explained the situation to Celestia and to her friends, Sunset and the other Rainbooms headed out from the Music Room.
“I can’t believe our world’s Twilight goes to Crystal Prep!” Rarity cried with dismay as she walked.
Rainbow agreed. “So she’s going to play against us? She’d never do that!”
“Our Twilight wouldn’t,” Fluttershy moped.
Sunset had been fighting to keep herself under control, but the stress of the situation finally exhausted her reserves. The appearance of a Twilight who wasn’t the Twilight she needed, and who might actually be opposed to them, was the last straw.
“OUR Twilight is a princess in Equestria and an expert in Friendship Magic!” Sunset stormed in frustration. “And if she were here, we'd have already figured out why magic is randomly popping up during pep rallies and costume changes!”
It had been a long time since the girls had seen Sunset angry. They were startled – every one of them froze and stared at her.
Sunset immediately realized she had frightened them. Guilt overwhelmed frustration – she knew it was wrong to take out her anxiety on her friends. “I’m sorry. I'm just frustrated that I haven't heard back from her.”
“Sugarcube,” said Applejack reassuringly. “It’s like you said. She’s a princess in Equestria. She’s probably got problems of her own to deal with.”
“I suppose we can’t expect her to drop everything and pop through the portal whenever we call for her,” Rarity added. “Especially if it’s to deal with a few random pony-ups.”
“But that’s the thing, Rarity!” Sunset objected. “They aren’t minor! Magic came into this world when I…stole Twilight’s crown.” The other girls saw her head fall. “It's taken a lot for me to earn back everyone's trust. If we have to forfeit the games because I can't think of a way to keep the magic under control...”
“Oh, Sunset! I’m sure you’ll be able to figure things out!” Fluttershy cried anxiously, trying to encourage her.
“After all, you’re the one who figured out what was goin’ on with the Sirens. Remember?” added Applejack hopefully.
Sunset wasn’t fully convinced. She slumped against a locker in dejection. “I guess. But it was Twilight who really figured out what we needed to defeat them.”
The hearts of all of the girls went out to Sunset immediately, but Rarity was closest, and she knew what to do. She came up beside her friend with a smile. It was both a knowing and an affectionate smile. Very gently, she brushed a stray lock of Sunset’s hair back behind her ear, then put her hands on Sunset’s arm. “But darling,” she said softly, “don’t you remember? What we needed to defeat them…was you.”
The affection and the encouragement broke through Sunset’s funk. It took a few seconds, but gradually, and a bit shyly, she returned Rarity’s smile. “All right,” she breathed with a relieved sigh.
The other girls cheered happily. It was no fun to see Sunset upset, especially when they believed in her.
“Come on, guys!” Rainbow cried. “Let’s see if we can find any info about the events and come up with a strategy. You coming, Sunset?”
“I’ll…catch up with you guys,” she reassured them, then, with a last smile and a whispered thanks to Rarity, who bumped her forehead against Sunset’s, she turned and headed for the front of the school.
Sunset stood in front of the portal. She wasn’t entirely sure why she had arrived there. Perhaps she hoped that if Princess Twilight came through, she could be the first to greet her and bring her up to speed. Perhaps she just sensed that this was the closest she could get to her at the moment. Halfheartedly, she pulled out her journal and looked for a reply from the pony who was becoming her very best friend. But the journal remained inert and silent. She sighed. Still no reply, she thought. She put her hand on the portal, as though she could reach Princess Twilight by the touch of her hand. Maybe there’s another way I could reach her, she mused.Suddenly, her hand felt a pull. Surprised, she tried to pull her hand away, but the force holding her hand to the portal only strengthened. Then something happened which truly frightened her. She felt the magic of the portal being pulled away, and her own magic, too. She felt a terrible weakness steal over her, almost like when she had been under the effect of the Rainbow Wave, but it ended abruptly as she screamed in horror.
She staggered away from the portal, almost falling to one side. As she slewed to the left, she saw the human world’s Twilight on the other side of the portal, frantically trying to finish shutting some device she had on a cord around her neck.
“What did you do?!” Sunset demanded.
Before Twilight could respond, a taller woman with hair like toffee appeared and took her by the shoulder. The woman reminded Sunset of someone…but her brain was still too addled by the weakness to process it. “Twilight, you have to check in with the others,” the toffee-haired woman said, in a familiar voice.
Twilight looked at Sunset uncertainly, but then allowed herself to be led away by the tall toffee-haired woman. Sunset rocked back on her heels, trying to understand what had just happened. To steady herself, she put her hands on the portal…and felt nothing. No magic. No sensation that something laid beneath, waiting to be activated. Just cold, hard granite.
“The portal!” she cried out loud to no one. “Where’s the portal? Where’s the portal?!”
“What do you mean, ‘the portal’s gone’?” Applejack asked Sunset a few minutes later, with true concern, as the girls walked to the Friendship games kickoff assembly. Rarity continued putting final touches on their special outfits as they walked. She had outdone herself again, but Sunset was nearly beside herself nevertheless.
“I mean it’s gone! It’s not just closed, it’s not even there anymore!” Sunset seethed.
“How could that happen?” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know,” Sunset admitted as they walked into the gym. “…but it has something to do with that Twilight!” She pointed at the bespectacled human version of Twilight, who appeared to be awkwardly cowering against the far bleachers. Without another word Sunset set out toward her, her friends in tow.
“What in tarnation is she up to?” Applejack asked her friends worriedly.
“Leave this to me,” Sunset said darkly over her shoulder. They were now right in front of human Twilight. “Twilight, what have you been up to?” Sunset demanded imperiously.
Human Twilight appeared to be painfully shy, almost giving Fluttershy a run for her money. “Me? Oh, I was just, uh…”
“Who wants to know?” a Shadowbolt asked challengingly, stepping between Sunset and Twilight.
“Um, we do,” Rainbow answered in a neutral tone.
The Shadowbolt, a girl about her size with hair that was multiple shades of blue, stared back at her belligerently. Rainbow started to puff up.
“All right, everyone!” said Applejack, stepping between the two of them and trying to defuse the situation. “Let’s not get too competitive before the games even start.”
“The games aren’t competitive. We’ve never lost,” another Shadowbolt deadpanned. She had glasses and twin white pigtails.
Fluttershy frowned. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
A third Shadowbolt came up. This one had an air of authority about her. A golden starburst barette held back her short purple and pink hair. “Sorry, dearie, but these games aren’t about being nice,” she said in a cultured accent.
“Well, you might use a little tact,” Rarity retorted.
The argument between the Shadowbolts and Wondercolts intensified. Twilight found herself momentarily away from the center of the fray. Pinkie noticed and sidled up to her. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” she stated brightly.
“Oh, uh, hi. I’m Twilight,” Twilight said shyly.
“I know. You look just like a friend of mine. Her name is Twilight, too!”
Twilight’s face screwed up slightly. “That’s…uh…weird…”
“What’s that?” Pinkie asked suddenly, pointing to Twilight’s pendant.
“Oh, it’s sort of a spectrometer. I built it to track EM frequencies, but it can also contain anomalies.”
Pinkie stared at her blankly.
“It measures things,” Twilight simplified.
“Like the party?” Pinkie asked, gesturing expansively at the gym.
“Well, yeah, though it doesn’t look like much of party to me.”
Pinkie winked at her. “I know. Something is definitely missing. Come on!” Pinkie grabbed Twilight’s arm and propelled her out the gym doors. Sunset saw them go and sighed, then tried to finish the point she was trying to make with the third Shadowbolt, who appeared to be named Sunny Flare. But, before she could continue her argument, the PA system sounded.
“Hello, everyone,” her mother’s voice boomed out across the gym. “I’d like to take this opportunity to greet all of our visitors from Crystal Prep Academy and welcome them to CHS!”
This was greeted with halfhearted cheering.
“I’d also like to recognize the twelve students that CHS has elected to compete. I don’t think we could have chosen a better group to recognize the excellence, sportsmanship, and friendship the games stand for!” Celestia finished.
The cheering was a bit more excited this time, as Sunset and her friends (minus Pinkie) stepped forward with six of their other classmates. Some rather uninspiring music started and Celestia declared the Friendship Games kickoff party officially started. The Shadowbolts and Wondercolts eyed each other warily.
Suddenly the unmistakable sound of Pinkie’s party cannot was heard, and just as suddenly the music became more upbeat and trendy, the lights dimmed, a mirrorball began casting shards of light about the room, and the entire ambience of the gym changed from strained politeness to genuine merrymaking.
Pinkie really is something, Sunset thought to herself, watching Pinkie converse with Twilight across the room. She looked around – the ice was melting.CHS and Crystal Prep students were talking, even smiling and laughing together. Her eyes came back to Pinkie and Twilight just in time for her to watch Pinkie pony up and float a few feet into the air. Twilight was astonished, but Sunset couldn’t see much more as a group of students walked in front of her.
That was when Sunset felt the same thing happen to Pinkie’s power signature as had happened to Rarity earlier. She strained to see over the group of students – she had to see if Twilight was involved. But, as Pinkie’s magic faded, the room got lighter, the air got tenser, and suddenly the music came to a stop with a scratch.
The severe looking woman from earlier had taken the microphone from Celestia and was speaking into it, instantly killing any positive feelings in the room. “Greetings. I am Abacus Cinch, principal of Crystal Preparatory Academy. I'd like to thank Principal Celestia for her…unconventional welcome. It has been four years since the last Friendship Games, but it feels as though nothing has changed. Canterlot High continues to pick its competitors in a popularity contest and Crystal Prep continues to field its top twelve students. It is a comfort to know that even after so many years of losses, your school remains committed to its ideals, however misguided they may be. I wish you all the best of luck, regardless of the inevitable outcome.” Without another word, she handed the mic back to Celestia and swept from the gym, her twelve competing students in tow, including Twilight, who looked…shaken.
The gym was rapidly clearing out. Sunset dodged through the crowd to reach Pinkie, who was slouched across some bleachers, looking exhausted.
“Ah’m sorry, Pinkie – I thought your party additions were really swell!” Applejack was saying.
“They definitely broke the ice,” Fluttershy added.
“Yes, if only that Principal Cinch hadn’t frozen it again,” said Rarity.
“Yeah, she’s awful,” Pinkie agreed listlessly.
“Pinkie, what happened to you?” Sunset asked in concern, kneeling down next to her.
“I don’t know. Everyone started having fun after Twilight and I fired the party cannons and I ponied up.”
Sunset sighed. “Of course you did.”
“But then the magic just drained right out of me.”
Sunset pulled back a bit. “What do you mean, ‘drained out of you’?”
“Hey, where is that other Twilight, anyway?” Applejack asked, looking around.
Pinkie tried to answer. “Oh, she’s right…well, she was right here.”
“She left with her principal and the other CPA competitors. And we’d better get going too. Pinkie, do you think you can walk?”
“Yeah, it’s passing.”
After the party, Celestia and Luna gathered the twelve Wondercolts who had been selected to compete and led them to a conference room. Once everyone had a seat, Celestia, who was still standing, began.
“There is one last thing that needs to be done before we begin the competition.”
The twelve students looked at each other in confusion.
“You twelve are going to be a team. What does every team need?” Celestia asked.
Rainbow piped right up. “A captain! We need a captain.”
“Quite right, Rainbow Dash,” said Luna. “And while Principal Celestia and I considered appointing one ourselves, we decided it would be best if you chose from amongst yourselves. We know the twelve of you well enough to know that it won’t be a ‘popularity contest’, in spite of Principal Cinch’s words,” Luna finished with undisguised contempt.
Celestia continued, starting to hand out scraps of paper, “It will be a secret ballot. Take a few minutes to think about it, and then write the name of the student you are voting for down and hand it to Vice Principal Luna. Remember the different events of the Games. I’d suggest selecting a captain who you feel is qualified to evaluate the entire competition, because the captain will be making many of the assignments as to who competes in which events. In the end, however, the choice is yours and I know you will all support each other no matter what.”
There was silence, except for the sound of pens on paper and pieces of paper being folded, for several minutes. One by one the twelve students handed in their votes. Once there were twelve pieces of paper in Luna’s hands, she sat down with Celestia and they totaled up the votes. The twelve Wondercolts watched with interest and suspense. Eventually, Celestia and Luna looked at each other with a quirky sort of smile. Apparently, the results were amusing or interesting somehow.
Both administrators stood up. Celestia would make the announcement. “Well, there is quite a bit of agreement as to who the captain should be. Almost unanimity. We have…one vote for Rainbow Dash…”
Rainbow rose, smiled, and executed a small bow.
“…and eleven votes for…Sunset Shimmer!”
Sunset was totally amazed. “What…me?” she blurted. She jumped to her feet. “Eleven votes! That means…you all voted for me! Trixie?”
Trixie folded her arms and gave Sunset a grumpy look. “Even the great and powerful Trrrrrrixie…must admit that you know more about academics and actual magic than she does.”
Sunset gave her a watery and grateful smile, and then turned to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow? You too?”
Rainbow was smirking at her. “Yep. That’s right. Thanks for the vote, by the way,” she finished with a wink.
Sunset’s mouth fell open. She was inarticulate for a couple seconds, then began to try to convince her fellow Wondercolts that this was not the right decision. “Guys…thanks, but…seriously? First of all, it’s me! Remember?Former raging she-demon? I don’t deserve this. Second, did we not just yesterday have an epic rally where Rainbow convinced us we had a chance? She’s totally the logical choice to lead us!”
“No, I’m not, Sunset,” said Rainbow unexpectedly, getting to her feet. “And I think it’s safe to say, after the whole Battle of the Bands deal, that the school has forgiven you for the demon thing. Did we not just discuss that at the end of the exact rally you’re talking about?”
Sunset was speechless. She looked to her mother and aunt for support, but they were just smiling at her, looking amused.
“Sunset, Trixie’s right. This isn’t just an athletic competition,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Well…”
“It’s at least half academic. I ain’t gonna be leading that part. You’re the smartest student in the whole school, and everybody knows it. You are the logical choice, especially since I know you’re gonna take my advice about the athletic events. Plus there’s the whole thing where Vice Principal Luna asked you to try to make sure we keep the magic to a minimum. You need to be in charge.”
Sunset just stared. But suddenly something occurred to her. She spun back to the principals. “What about co-captains? Can we have two? Please?”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other. Luna just shrugged. Celestia thought for a moment, then turned to look at her adopted daughter. “Well, I suppose that would be ok. There are no rules against it. But you must make the choice of the co-captain, Sunset.”
Sunset didn’t hesitate for a second. She whirled back around and pointed at Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash. You’re it.”
Rainbow shook her head in amazement, but then she smiled broadly and reached out for Sunset’s hand. The two shook hands. “You are really something, you know that?” Rainbow teased. “But this is gonna be fun. Thanks, Sunset.”
Sunset returned Rainbow’s smile warmly. “No, thank you. Thank you all. I don’t think I’ve earned this, but I’m…really touched that you all thought of me.”
The other Wondercolts stood up and cheered for them both. Even Trixie.
Later that day, Sunset sat on the couch in her family’s townhouse and looked out the window. She was by herself, as all her friends had gone home to catch up on homework and sleep, and her mother and aunt had not yet come home.
A lot had happened, and she was trying to process it all. The human world’s Twilight had shown up, and appeared to have something to do with the missing portal, not to mention the draining of Sunset’s own magic, as well as Pinkie’s and probably Rarity’s too. On top of that, her teammates had selected her as their captain – something completely unexpected. She was still uncomfortable about it, but she had made her assignments for the Academic Decathlon that would start first thing tomorrow morning. Rainbow had agreed with all her decisions, supporting her and not objecting to a single one. Finally, there was still no word from Princess Twilight.
That was starting to truly worry her. It wasn’t like Twilight at all to be this unresponsive. Usually, even if she was busy, she would pen a quick note, saying something like I’m sorry I haven’t written back yet! Something’s come up and I’ve been so busy! I’ll write back as soon as possible! But this time there was nothing. Sunset felt a sense of foreboding about it. She went up to her room and pulled out the journal for her pony mother. She had last written Princess Celestia about five days ago, and her other mother had written back – a typically sweet and encouraging letter that had warmed her heart. She smiled and decided to drop her pony mother a quick note asking if she’d given Twilight too much to do, or something:
Dear Mom,
Thanks so much for your letter last week. It really helped me think through a couple things that were nagging at my mind. It’s still so wonderful to be able to write to you again – I’ll never take it for granted.
Have you been giving Twilight too much to do? ;) I wrote her about something fairly important several days ago and I still haven’t heard back – not even a “sorry, busy, will write more soon”. It’s not like her to be so silent. Is everything ok?
Please let me know.
Love,
Sunset
Sunset put the journal down, fully expecting to hear from Princess Celestia soon. She laid down in her bed and took a quick nap until dinnertime.
The next morning she rose bright and early. As she rolled out of bed, she checked her journals for Princess Twilight and her mother. Still nothing. Now she was truly worried. She grabbed the journals for her aunt and her cousin and wrote them quick notes as well:
Dear Aunt Luna,
Is everything ok? I wrote Twilight four days ago now, and Mom last night, and I still haven’t heard from either of them. Please let me know that everything is alright.
Love from your worried niece,
Sunset
Dear Cady,
I’m really worried – I wrote to Twilight like four days ago and I haven’t heard back from her. And I wrote Mom last night and she hasn’t written back either. Is everything ok? Please let me know. You know I’ll come and help in a heartbeat if you all need me!
Love,
Sunny
She put the journals aside and frowned. It was time to get ready for the day, and there was absolutely nothing she could do beyond what she had already done.
The two teams assembled that morning in the science lab, where the Academic Decathlon would begin. Sunset, with Rainbow in tow, had gone over the assignments one more time before the start of the competition. Two by two, her teammates reassured her that they understood what events they were taking part in, and that they were ready.
Sunset stepped back to the front of the classroom. She had to admit that she was nervous, and not just because of the lack of communication from Equestria and her concerns about what human Twilight was up to. She didn’t want to mess the Friendship Games up – she knew how important they were to her friends and her school.
Pinkie appeared next to her. “Nervouscited?” she asked knowingly.
Sunset chucked slightly. “Yeah. I’d be lying if I said otherwise.”
“Don’t worry, Sunny. With you in charge, we’re gonna do great!”
From anyone else it would have been a platitude, but from Pinkie it was different. Sunset actually felt a bit encouraged. “Thanks, Pinkie.”
Pinkie winked and stepped back into the ranks of her teammates.
The administrators entered the classroom and relative silence fell. Luna stepped to a microphone that had been set up on the teacher’s bench at the front of the class. She turned it on. “Good morning, students,” she said over the school PA system. “I’m sure you’re all thrilled to start the first day of the Friendship Games. Our competitors will face off in every aspect of the CHS curriculum, culminating in the elimination equation finale.”
Luna handed the microphone to the junior administrator from Crystal Prep – the one with the hair like toffee that reminded Sunset of somepony back in Equestria. She saw Luna mouth something to her as she passed her the mic. Reading Luna’s lips, it hit Sunset like a ton of bricks. Cadence! This was her adopted cousin’s counterpart. Amazing. She shook her head in wonder.
“Welcome to the first event, the Academic Decathlon!” Dean Cadence announced. “You’ll be scored on chemistry, home-ec, and everything in between. But remember, only the six students from each team with the most points will move on to the second event. Good luck!”
She put the mic down.
Celestia came forward. “Captains!” she called.
Sunset went up to the teacher’s bench, followed by Rainbow. From the Crystal Prep side came a single student – the one from yesterday with the golden starburst barette and short purple and pink hair. She snorted. “Two captains? You CHS students are so predictable. You just can’t handle competition.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sunset said mildly, unintimidated.
“Besides,” Rainbow spoke up, “I’m just the co-captain, Rainbow Dash. Sunset Shimmer here is the senior captain.”
“Sunny Flare,” the Shadowbolt responded with her own name. She held out her hand, grudgingly, and Sunset and Rainbow shook it.
“Girls,” Celestia said, taking control of the situation. “It goes without saying that we expect both teams to abide by the rules. Do all your team members understand them all?”
“Yes,” the three girls answered all at once.
“Good. Remember, safety first, especially in the home-ec and chemistry competitions. No game is worth risking hurting someone by starting a fire or causing an explosion, all right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the three girls all answered again.
“Very well. Here is the schedule. Chemistry is first. Let the Games begin!”
The morning passed quickly as the events piled up. Sunset was glad to see that CHS was holding its own. To hear her friends tell it, they’d never stayed competitive so late into the first event. Usually Crystal Prep got out to an early lead and never relinquished it.
Sunset was also pleased with her own performance and with her selections for the various events. Pinkie had predictably cleaned up in home-ec, while Applejack and Rainbow had scored serious points in wood shop. All six of the girls had done well in chemistry, though Sunset had had the highest score there as the compound she had synthesized had been the purest. Rarity had done well in the spelling bee, with Sunset contributing plenty of points there too. They’d both scored highly in English comprehension as well, with Fluttershy contributing some points too.
The Shadowbolts were no slouches though. They matched CHS point for point all morning. As the Decathlon drew to a close, the individual scores were tallied and the final two competitors were selected to face each other in the final event: the elimination equation finale. The two teams were given the choice of sending their highest overall scorer, or their student who had scored the most points in the math competition earlier. However, the choice was moot, as either method would have led to the selection of the same student on each team.
The Rainbooms looked at the scoreboard and smirked. They were pleased that the six of them had the highest scores of the CHS students, but Sunset’s score, predictably, was on another level:
#6: Rainbow Dash, 11 points
#4: Pinkie Pie, 12 points
#4: Applejack, 12 points
#3: Fluttershy, 14 points
#2: Rarity, 18 points
#1: Sunset Shimmer, 27 points
“You really are an egghead, you know that?” Rainbow teased her.
“Shut up,” Sunset replied, smiling.
On the Shadowbolt team an equally predictable thing had happened: Twilight Sparkle had far and away the highest score, both overall and in math. Sunset felt vaguely uncomfortable as she realized she’d be competing directly and personally against Twilight. She isn’t Princess Twilight, she reminded herself. You don’t have to feel guilty about trying to beat her.
The Crystal Prep principal would be presiding over this event. She called Sunset and Twilight to the stage. They were both given large blackboards (facing away from each other so they couldn’t see each others’ work) and chalk. Sunset swallowed – the scores were tied between the two teams. Whoever won this competition would win the first event.
Principal Cinch read the problem to them. Sunset felt her heart fall. It was a really complex trigonometry problem. She hadn’t had to study trig in Equestria, and while she was picking it up quickly here, she wasn’t absolutely sure how to solve this equation. Still, she dove in and tried. She could hear Twilight’s chalk scraping on the other blackboard in between the sounds of her own attempts to solve the equation. She could feel time passing and the pressure building. At last, she thought she had the solution. She stepped back from the blackboard with a sigh and looked up at Principal Cinch. Amazingly, Twilight had finished at exactly the same time. Cinch looked briefly at Twilight’s board and nodded once. She turned and looked at Sunset’s board. “Incorrect!” she said tersely, and Sunset felt her stomach turn to ice.
“That means the winner of the first event of the 2014 Friendship Games is Crystal Prep!” Luna was able to grudgingly announce with some energy. Sighs and scattered applause could be heard from the Shadowbolts.
The reaction of the Wondercolts was completely different. Suddenly, Sunset found herself mobbed by her friends, who were cheering for her and hugging her.
“That was awesome!” Rainbow gushed.
“Truly amazing, darling,” Rarity said with a warm smile.
“But we didn’t win!” Sunset protested, totally confused.
“Sugarcube, that’s as close to winning a Friendship Games event as CHS has ever come. You just led a team to a school record,” Applejack explained with a broad grin.
Sunset seemed relieved. “Really? Well. I guess that’s all right then,” she allowed, but as her friends hugged her tighter she broke out into a true smile and laughter. None of them noticed human Twilight looking at them in confusion and barely hidden wistfulness.
“All we have to do is win the next event and we’ve got a shot at winning the whole thing,” Rainbow pointed out. “I wonder what the second event will be?”
The six girls turned, along with the rest of the student body and the Shadowbolts, as Dean Cadence made another announcement.
“After a careful tally of the points, we'd like to present the students moving on to the Friendship Games' second event.”
The 24 students who were competing listened closely. To the Rainbooms’ relief, they were the six who would be continuing on from CHS. They were also relieved to hear that there would be a break between the Academic Decathlon and the second event – enough time to eat lunch and rest a bit.
“Whew!” said Rarity. “I know I’m not usually the one who dwells on food, but even I could use quite a significant sandwich right now.”
The other girls smirked at her good-naturedly.
“Well, let’s head to the cafeteria then,” Applejack suggested.
“I’ll catch up with you, girls,” said Fluttershy quietly. “I’m going into animal withdrawal. Besides, I need to feed a few of them.”
“All right, Flutters,” said Rainbow. “See you in a few.”
The five remaining Rainbooms sat down to a well-deserved lunch. Sunset’s head was still spinning. She still felt kind of bad about not winning, but she knew that AJ had a point – setting a school record was a pretty good showing. But now that they were out from under the stress of competition for a short time, her worries about Princesses Twilight and Celestia began to resurface. She checked her journal. Still nothing.
Rarity noticed her discomfiture, of course. “Darling, what’s wrong? You’re so quiet, and so pensive.”
“Sorry, Rares, I’m just worried about Equestria. I still haven’t heard anything from Twilight or Celestia or even Cadence or Luna. What could cause all four of them to fall silent?”
The other four girls looked concerned, which was not reassuring. Sunset looked down at her meal, which was hardly touched. She poked at it with her fork.
“Y’know what?” Applejack said suddenly. “Once we’re done with these here Friendship Games, if we haven’t heard from any of the Princesses yet, why don’t we go on over there and look for them?”
Sunset looked up sharply, thinking hard. “AJ, I appreciate what you’re offering, but I’m not sure it would be a good idea.”
“Listen here, sugarcube. Princess Twilight’s our friend, too. If she’s in trouble, we want to help her.”
“I’m not debating that, AJ,” Sunset responded. “But if something is really wrong over there, it would be irresponsible of me to lead you all over without doing some scouting first.”
“Sunset --” Applejack started.
“No, AJ, listen! Equestria’s a whole ‘nother world! You’ve never been there before! In all likelihood, you’d all get transformed into ponies. You’d have to learn how to walk on all fours, and you’d have to learn about the magic corresponding to each of your counterpart’s tribes. It’ll be a huge adjustment, and we need to think carefully about it and plan for it if we’re going to do it!”
Applejack sighed, relenting.
“I’m not saying no. I’m just saying we need to think it through and do some training and planning ahead of time. That’s all. Assuming we even can. I'm not even thinking about what I'll do if we can't get the portal open again..." Sunset said, shaking her head.
Applejack started. "Dang. Ah forgot about that." She took a deep breath. "Sunset, Twilight got it open once before from her end -- Ah'm sure she can do it again."
"I hope you're right," Sunset said quietly, rubbing her temples. Rarity, who was sitting next to her, squeezed her shoulder. "If she's ok herself..." Sunset finished darkly.
Applejack took off her hat. "Dang. Ah ain't helpin', am I, sugarcube?"
Sunset gave her a warm smile. "You're trying, AJ. That means an awful lot."
Applejack returned Sunset's smile and put her hat back on.
The girls were very quiet for the rest of the meal, caught between concern about Princess Twilight and Sunset’s family in Equestria and their own nervousness about the next stage of the competition.
The relative (though tense) calm was broken up by Fluttershy, who wandered up to their table looking tired.
“Good gracious, Fluttershy. What happened to you?” Applejack asked, as the others looked up at Fluttershy in concern.
“I was out in the east field feeding my animals and letting them play. Then Twilight – I mean…”
“You mean human Twilight,” Sunset supplied gently.
“Yes. Human Twilight. She was there too. And she looked so sad. So dejected, even though her team had just won the first event. I couldn’t leave her like that , so I tried to be kind to her. All I did was hand her a bunny, and then I ponied up.”
Sunset shook her head. “I just don't get it. Rarity's magic came out when she made us outfits. Pinkie's when she fixed the party and now Fluttershy. What is going on?”
“And then Twilight's pendant thingy just pulled the magic right out of me. I couldn't even stand up,” Fluttershy finished.
Sunset shot to her feet, followed not long after by Rainbow and Applejack.
“Like me at the party!” Pinkie added.
“Or me right before Twilight came into the music room!” Rarity said.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “And me at the portal. So she’s…stealing magic?”
Applejack slowly sank back into her chair. “Ah don’t know. She doesn’t seem the magic stealin’ type.”
Sunset whirled to face her. “Yeah, but she sure had something to do with closing the portal and draining my magic through it. If her pendant can drain magic, maybe it stole the portal’s magic, too.”
“How?” Fluttershy asked, perplexed.
“I don’t know,” Sunset admitted. “And the pony or person or princess who could help me figure this out seems to be completely unreachable right now!”
“Which is too bad, because Princess Twilight knows everything about magic and portals and magical portals and portable magics!” Pinkie pointed out unhelpfully. The others sighed heavily. There were a few moments of silence as each girl tried to figure out what else she could do.
“Oh, and Twilight’s dog can talk now,” Fluttershy added as an afterthought.
Sunset groaned and planted her face on the table.
Following lunch, the girls headed to the door to the playing fields. It was time to see what the second Friendship Games event had in store.
“For now,” Rainbow was saying, continuing their discussion from lunch, “let's just focus on beating the Shadowbolts. And as long as this event puts me on a playing field, I don't think we've got anything to worry about.”
Applejack pushed open the door and the six girls stepped out onto the field. They all stopped and froze in complete astonishment at the spectacle before them.
Applejack recovered first. “Oh,” she said deadpan to Rainbow, “it puts you on a playing field, all right.”
Pinkie gasped. Even Rainbow was speechless. Before them was a complete motorcross course, probably nearly half a mile in circumference, surrounded by bleachers. Inside of that was a shorter oval track of undetermined purpose. And, in the middle of everything, was an obstacle course that appeared to culminate in an archery range.
“Am I the only one here who thinks this is overkill?” Sunset asked rhetorically. The silence that greeted her question supplied the answer.
“Ah don’t suppose you made motorcross outfits,” Applejack ventured to Rarity.
“Oh don’t be ridiculous, darling. Of course I did!”
Slowly getting over their amazement, the six girls made their way down to the field to where they could see Principal Celestia waiting.
“Hello girls!” she cried, waving them over. “Isn’t it something?” She gestured expansively to the improbable playing field(s) that now surrounded them.
“It sure is somethin’, all right,” Applejack answered carefully.
“Mom, seriously? What is all this? And how on earth did the school district afford it?” Sunset asked, accepting a quick side hug from her mother.
“There is a special budget for the Friendship Games, and since they only happen every four years, there is generally enough time to save a considerable sum.”
Applejack and Rainbow both whistled. Sunset and Rarity both shook their heads.
“Well,” said Sunset, resigning herself to the reality in front of her, “what are the events?”
“Two students will compete in each phase, and there are three phases. The first phase is the obstacle course, which ends in an archery contest. The second phase is a roller race – just a plain race, not a relay. And the third phase is the motorcross.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Sunset turned to Rainbow. “Well, what do you think?”
“You better do the motorcross, Sunset, since you actually own a motorcycle.” Sunset nodded in agreement as Rainbow turned to the other four. “Can anybody roller skate? I know Flutters can’t.”
Pinkie and Rarity both raised their hands.
“Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that Pinkie can roller skate. But you, Rares?” Sunset asked dubiously.
Rarity’s nose went into the air a bit. “I used to rollerblade all the time in middle school. How did you think I got these legs, darling?”
Sunset chuckled and smirked. “Fair enough.”
“Ah’d like to take the obstacle course, then, Rainbow and Sunset, if it’s all the same to y’all,” Applejack interjected.
“That just leaves you and Flutters, Rainbow,” Sunset said.
“I don’t know how to ride a motorbike…” Fluttershy said shyly. She looked like she didn’t even want to go near one of them.
“You get the obstacle course, then, Flutters,” said Rainbow decisively.
Fluttershy failed to look excited. Spectacularly.
“Why don’t the four of you go get dressed? I need to chat with Sunset about something,” Rainbow said.
“C’mon girls. Let’s see what Rarity’s cooked up this time,” said Applejack, leading the others toward the locker room.
Rainbow put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder, turning her away from the others. “Don’t worry too much about Flutters, Shims. She’s more athletic than she lets on. She’s just not very competitive. Besides, the way I see it, she’ll have even odds.”
“How do you figure?”
“The Shadowbolts will probably have to put Twilight on the obstacle course, too, since I doubt she knows how to ride a motorbike or how to skate. And, just by looking at her, I’d say this world’s Twilight hasn’t been putting in a lot of time in the gym or on the track. Flutters will be a good match for her.”
“Sound reasoning. Ok, I approve. Let’s go join the others and suit up. This’ll be fun, RD.”
“Just so you know, I won’t only be trying to beat the Shadowbolts on the motorcross course. I’ll be trying to beat you too,” teased Rainbow with a good-natured wink.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s just too bad you’ll be disappointed,” Sunset retorted with a mock-sad shake of her head.
“Oh, it is on!” Rainbow crowed as the two of them passed into the locker room.
Half an hour later the six friends were dressed in suitable garments for their events that displayed Rarity’s usual excellence, perfect sense of style, attention to detail, and utility. At a sign from Celestia, each pair took their place, accompanied by their competitors.
Cadence’s voice rang out over the PA system as the students in the bleachers watched in anticipation. “Welcome, everyone, to the Friendship Games Tricross Relay!” Her welcome was met with cheers. For the first time ever, the Friendship Games were competitive, and the students from both schools were starting to get into them.
“In this event,” she continued, “our qualifying competitors will face off in archery, speed skating, and finally, motocross.”
The sounds of the motorbikes’ engines revving could be heard over the cheers of the crowd.
“So, if the competitors are ready...” Cadence lifted an airhorn and paused, letting the tension build for a moment. Finally, she blew the horn with a blast.
Applejack and Sour Sweet were off like a shot. They were neck and neck for most of the obstacle course, then reached the archery range at nearly the same time. Both girls lifted a bow and lined up a shot. Applejack felt a little surge of adrenaline as the targets began to move in circles – she hadn’t expected that.
“Each competitor must hit a bullseye before their teammates can start the next leg of the relay!” Cadence explained over the PA system.
To her chagrin, Applejack discovered that Sour Sweet was pretty good with a bow. She landed a bullseye first. Applejack concentrated, knowing that Twilight was starting the obstacle course behind her. Her next shot went true. She spun around, frantically waving Fluttershy forward.
There followed a slightly awkward few minutes as Twilight and Flutterhsy negotiated the obstacle course in a fashion that Applejack found endearingly embarrassing. Her competitor, Sour Sweet, however, was having the opposite reaction. By the time Fluttershy and Twilight reached the archery range she was fuming.
Applejack swung to face Fluttershy, encouraging her. She tried to avoid sighing as both girls began to miss the targets widely with each shot. Stunningly, Fluttershy eventually landed a bullseye by being too scared to look at the target. Trying to avoid bursting into laughter, Applejack congratulated her friend as Rarity and Pinkie left the starting line of the roller track.
“Nice one, Flutters.”
“Oh. Uh. Well, I think I could have done a little bit better.”
“Nonsense. We’re off to an early lead, and it doesn’t look like the Shadowbolts will be catching up any time soon.” They turned to watch as Twilight missed the entire target.Again.
“WELL THAT’S JUST FANTASTIC.” Sour Sweet raged sarcastically.
“I’m sure glad I don’t go to Crystal Prep,” Fluttershy observed to Applejack with a frown.
“You said it, Flutters.”
“WHEE!” shouted Pinkie as she and Rarity passed by on the track. CHS was now two laps ahead.
“If CPA can't hit another bullseye soon, they'll be out of this race!” Dean Cadence pointed out over the loudspeaker.
“You’re really bad at this,” Sugarcoat helpfully pointed out to Twilight from the hill at the start of the motorcross track.
As Twilight missed again, Applejack reached her tipping point. “Ugh, Ah can’t take anymore!” This may not have been “their” Twilight, but she was a Twilight just the same, and she deserved to be treated with encouragement and respect. And I’ll set an example for these Crystal Prep girls. They don’t seem to know the first thing about how to treat a friend, she thought to herself.
She stepped up next to Twilight. “Sugarcube, ya have to stop aimin’ at the target,” she offered gently. Twilight seemed confused by this advice. Applejack fleetingly wondered how a girl who was probably a genius at physics could fail to grasp what she was getting at.
“Oh, that makes perfect sense!” Sour Sweet snarked. “Don’t aim at the target. THANKS SO MUCH!”
Applejack completely ignored her. “Ya have to stop aimin’ at where the target is, and aim at where the target’s gonna be,” she said softly to Twilight.
“Yeah!” Sour Sweet interrupted again. “Definitely take advice from the person YOU’RE COMPETING AGAINST!”
Twilight was startled by Sour Sweet’s outburst. She seemed uncertain.
“Do you wanna hit the bullseye or not?” Applejack asked firmly.
Twilight nodded to her.
“Then trust me. Take a deep breath…”
Twilight obeyed.
“Hold it, draw your bow, and line up where the target is headed. And release….now!”
The arrow sailed into the center of the target. Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest wasted no time, flying to try to catch up to Rarity and Pinkie.
Twilight was overcome with emotion and gratitude. She grabbed Applejack and hugged her.
“See!” said Applejack, laughing. “Ah was tellin’ you the truth!” And just like that she ponied up. Twilight broke the embrace and stepped back in amazement, which turned to horror as the pendant around her neck floated toward Applejack and opened. Orange magical light poured out of Applejack into the pendant, and she started to wilt.
“What…are…you…doing?” she asked in confusion as she went down on one knee. Fluttershy was at her side instantly, keeping her from falling over completely. Applejack’s pony ears disappeared.
“I don’t know!” Twilight cried, appearing to be truly distraught. With a struggle, she managed to close the pendant, but she lost her footing and fell off the archery platform. The pendant’s necklace came over her head and it bounced out onto the motorcross racetrack and popped open. A wave of purple magical force spread out from around it, and suddenly rifts in spacetime opened across the playing field.
At the same time, on the roller skating rack, the Shadowbolts had nearly caught up to Rarity and Pinkie. It is possible the two Wondercolts had not gone as fast as they could have because, up until a couple minutes before, they had not had any competition. Now it was becoming clear that the two CPA girls were nearly professionals. They were catching up. Rarity and Pinkie increased their speed, but as they passed the halfway point of the last lap, it became clear that Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest would catch and even pass them. In desperation, Rarity grabbed Pinkie and hurled her ahead, transferring some of her momentum. Her plan worked – Pinkie crossed the line first. Sunset and Rainbow were off like a shot, but Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap were only a couple seconds behind.
Meanwhile, Twilight was trying to recover her pendant, as Lemon Zest’s skate had knocked it nearly into the stands. As she approached it, she was forced to stop in terror as a huge vine snaked out of a nearby rift. She waited for it to move away, and, when it did (by some miracle) she reached for the pendant again – only to be dragged away from it by a different vine, from a different rift, that had wrapped itself around her ankle from behind.
On the motorcross track, Rainbow had shot out to a predictable lead, with Sugarcoat and Sunset fighting it out for second behind her. Suddenly, she noticed a rift and a vine had appeared directly ahead of her. She slewed to the right desparately, only just avoiding the offending plant, but behind her Sugarcoat was not so lucky. The vine, which was topped by a gaping maw not unlike that of a venus flytrap, lunged at her and grabbed her bike. Sugarcoat clung to her bike even as the vine lifted it and her off the ground. Sunset laid her bike down, hoping to shoot under the vine, but there wasn’t enough room and she was dismounted. As she rubbed her ringing head and tried to rise, Indigo Zap, not by choice, rode up the vine and shot over it, barely maintaining control as she landed on the other side of it.
Rainbow had continued to race at first, but she sensed something was wrong. She stopped and whipped her bike around, finding to her horror that Sunset was lying in the middle of the track with two angry vines towering over her. She didn’t hesitate for a second, spurring her bike back down the track to her friend.
The vine eating Sugarcoat’s bike chomped hard on it, breaking it in half and swallowing it. Sugarcoat bounced down the vine’s back, landing on her feet on the track. But she was directly below the vine’s mouth, so it didn’t see her. It saw Sunset though, and began a lightning strike to gobble her up. Perhaps 50 milliseconds before it ate her, Rainbow flashed by on her bike, grabbing Sunset’s arm and pulling her up on to bike and out of danger.
“RD, you saved me!” Sunset cried in relief.
“I wasn’t about to let you get eaten, Shims!” Rainbow replied with an equally relieved smile. That did it. Rainbow was surrounded in a blue aura. She pulled over and tore of her helmet as her pony ears sprouted from her head. The wings came next in a blue explosion of light. “We can still win this!” she shouted to Sunset, who immediately took off down the track on Rainbow’s bike. In the judge’s stand, Cinch gave Celestia a calculating look, to which Celestia could only respond with a somewhat sheepish shrug.
The race continued as Indigo Zap and her bike fell into a huge hole created by one of the vines. Rainbow appeared over her, distracting the vine long enough for her to ride her bike out of the hole as Sunset shot by. But Rainbow’s work was not yet done – even as Sunset and Indigo continued down the track, another vine began to lunge for them. This time Rainbow built up some speed and rammed the vine with her shoulder, knocking it decisively to the ground. She stood on it proudly in victory.
Safe from the last vine, Sunset and Indigo raced neck and neck toward the finish line. But the advantage was Sunset’s. She had been hiding her bike’s final gear, and, with a smirk that was just a bit evil, she suddenly left Indigo in the dust, earning the checkered flag. “Canterlot wins!” Cadence cried. The stadium erupted in cheers – the Wondercolts had won a Friendship Games event for the first time in school history. The Shadowbolts were stunned.
“Attention students!” Dean Cadence’s voice rang out. “Please proceed to the gym for the next event!” Meanwhile, Twilight finally managed to close her pendant, causing all the vines to disappear as the rifts closed.
Sunset and her friends gathered at the end of the motorcross course. “Is everybody alright?” Applejack asked, glancing around in concern.
“Better than alright! We won!” Rainbow exulted, her eyes alight and a blue aura of magic still surrounding her.
But Sunset was not amused. “Yeah, we may have won, but somebody could’ve been seriously hurt! The magic is going haywire and I have no idea how to fix it!”
Twilight decided to try to explain herself. “Um, excuse me – I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” The other girls turned to look at her with a mixture of confusion, surprise, and in Sunset’s case, irritation. “I just wanted to learn about the strange energy coming from your school,” Twilight continued. “I didn’t know that it was magic or…how it works.”
Rainbow sauntered over to her a bit haughtily. “That’s ok. Neither do we.”
Suddenly, Twilight’s pendant began to open again. Rainbow groaned and sank to her knees as blue energy poured out of her and into the pendant. Twilight tried to fight it, crying, “Oh, no! Oh no no no! Not again!”
Sunset raced to Rainbow’s side, trying to help her back to her feet.
Twilight looked stricken. “I’m sorry! It just started absorbing energy on its own! But I’m not sure how!”
And that was when Sunset Shimmer lost her temper.
“What do you mean you don’t know how?!” she practically thundered, stomping up to Twilight. Her friends were astonished – they hadn’t seen Sunset this angry since the Fall Formal – not even when she had chewed Trixie out during the Battle of the Bands. Meanwhile, the pendant swung open again and a cone of light shot out, opening what was, apparently, another interdimensional rift directly above them.
“It also causes these corresponding rifts to appear! I don’t know how that works either!” Twilight said, trying frantically to close the pendant.
“Is there anything you do know?” demanded Sunset angrily. “Like how to get our magic back?! Or how to fix the portal to Equestria?!” She grabbed the pendant and tried to shut it as well.
“Equestria?” Twilight asked in complete confusion.
“You’re supposed to be so smart, but did you ever think that you shouldn’t be messing around with things you don’t understand?!” Sunset finally managed to shut the pendant. The rift above them closed instantly.
“But I want to understand!” Twilight almost whined.
“But you don’t! And worst of all, you put the lives of my friends in danger!” yelled Sunset directly in Twilight’s face.
Twilight’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to!” She turned and fled toward the front of the school.
Spike took off after her, calling out for her to wait. The girls looked at each other anxiously – Sunset was still standing there seething. At last Rainbow went up to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder. Sunset’s head snapped around, but as soon as she saw the worried look on Rainbow’s face she realized she had, in all likelihood, gone way too far. She smacked herself in the forehead as her shoulders slumped. Rainbow, seeing her dejected look, put her other hand on Sunset’s arm to try to comfort her.
Suddenly all six of them turned as they heard the sounds of a different argument. Only a few yards away, Cinch and Sunset’s mom were getting into it. They all headed over to try to support Celestia.
“Perhaps we should end the Games now and declare a tie,” she suggested to Cinch.
Cinch nearly exploded. “A tie? Was this your strategy all along: to force us into accepting you as equals?! I think not. The Games will continue and Crystal Prep will prevail, despite your antics and whatever performance-enhancing regimen your students are on!” She turned and stormed off, Cadence reluctantly following her with an apologetic look over her shoulder.
Luna came and stood beside Celestia, even as a distraught Sunset rushed forward. “Mom, I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop all this from happening!”
“It’s not your fault, Sunset,” Celestia said, trying to comfort her.
“Isn’t it?” Sunset replied. “I should know how to control the magic I brought here, but I don’t! I’ve let everyone down. And now, Principal Cinch thinks we’re cheating!”
Celestia put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what Principal Cinch thinks,” she began.
Sunset pulled back, refusing to be comforted. “But it does! The other students don’t just want to win – they want beat Crystal Prep! It isn’t going to count if the other team doesn’t really think they’ve lost! Crystal Prep is never going to believe we won fair and square if there’s magic involved. And magic is only involved…because of me.” With that, she moped off toward the gym to get changed. Her friends followed with concerned faces.
For once, Celestia didn’t know what to say.
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This was really top-notch work. I really liked your handling of the movie and how you fleshed out and expanded it too.
8772708
Thank you so much!
I thought the portal was gone, so how do they plan to get over there?
8776014
Good point. I'll have to change the dialogue a bit. AJ probably has forgotten that the portal is closed, so Sunset will remind her.
I just thought of something else -- once the portal's magic is drained, that could be another explanation of why none of the journals work. I'll have to have Sunset realize that at some point.
One question, is the trig question the same one as in the movie, because, I'm an ME major with a minor and math, and have talked to one of my math teachers about it, and, guess what? There is not enough information. It is unsolvable, both values work. Yes, I am still salty about it, and it's been years.
8776213
Well, since Friendship Games took place place during the whole Starlight/Twilight time travel escapade, the journals wouldn’t work because there would be no journals due to the different realities that Twilight traveled through. For all we know, she might not have ever been conceived in those realities or even died in them or may have even become a slave (Sombra) or love/magic battery (Chrysalis/Tierek).
But was it also an Academy record?
Perfection is what it is.
Personally once the rifts started happening twilight should have stopped the necklace before someone got hurt. When it started acting out she should have stopped. She is supposed to be smart but instead of taking a step back from this experiment and trying later she just dug in deeper.
That woman has serious anger problems.