Friendship is Some Unexplainable Science and Certainly Not Any Form of Magic, Part One
Twilight chewed the eraser of her pencil, lost in thought. That’s not right. She scratched out the formula again and rewrote it completely different. Yeah… better. Returning to chewing on her pencil, she tapped her toe in her sneaker as she attempted to calculate the rest of the problem in her head.
While that happened, the part of her brain on standby did a quick survey of her surroundings.
Period one, advanced functions. Teacher: Mr Johnson. He’s talking. I’m not listening. 9:03, 87 minutes to go. Mood? Eh.
Today was an ‘eh’ kind of day for Twilight.
She looked up the whiteboard to see if Mr Johnson had assigned the lesson yet, but was instead greeted with the sight of an unfamiliar girl standing next to him. Twilight rolled her eyes and looked back down at her paper. Ugh, still talking. Cute girl, though. Whatever.
As she started on the third extra-credit problem, a chorus of laughter suddenly swept through the room and caused Twilight return to reality in time to catch the tail end of the girl’s sentence.
“-yes, I know, that’s my real name.” She shrugged, and continued, “It’s pretty… unique, I’ll give you that.”
You’re pretty alright, Twilight thought, then mentally slapped herself. Bad Twilight. Down, girl.
“Sunset Shimmer?” The boy to Twilight’s right snickered and made a face. “What, are your parents hippies or something?”
“Hey, at least now Twilight Sparkle has a friend!” another girl jeered.
And at that, all eyes were on her. Her, Twilight. Pink and purple haired, geeky, don’t-talk-to-me Twilight.
Twilight adjusted her glasses, rolled her eyes, and mentally flipped everyone off. “...Good one,” she said. Sunset gave her a look, but said nothing.
The class started to dissolve into talk again, only for Mr Johnson to slam his ruler against the board. “Hey, hey! Brett, Felicia, enough. Sunset, since everyone is so keen about you and Twilight, you can take Brett’s seat and sit next to her.” The boy made a noise of protest, but, at the glare he received, grabbed his bag and sulked over to another vacant seat.
The class resumed as Sunset slid next to Twilight. “Hey,” she whispered. “Nice to meet you.”
Twilight blinked and did a quick once-over of Sunset. Black hair, curly. Brown eyes. Olive skin. Seems to fit the bad-girl archetype, what with the leather jacket and ripped jeans. Unsure about intellect, but she’s definitely got looks. Conclusion? Eh. Again.
Grunting, Twilight gave her a halfhearted wave and continued working on her problem.
“I’m new,” Sunset continued, as if Twilight wasn’t already done with the conversation. “My transfer request just went through yesterday.” She dug around in her bag and pulled out a few notebooks and a pencil case. “Sweet, right?”
When Twilight didn’t respond, Sunset frowned. “So, uh… you sure do like math.”
“Mm-hm.”
“Same. Though, I’m more of a science girl myself, you know?”
At that the frantic scratching of Twilight’s pencil slowed, and she finally looked up. “Science?” she whispered back.
“Yeah, I like ‘em all. Bio, chem, physics… though, physics is really mathematics based, you know.”
“Duh.” Twilight rolled her eyes and jabbed her pencil in Sunset’s direction. “Everyone knows chemistry’s the best out of the three, anyways.”
“Agreed. Nothing against biology, but those dissection labs? Urgh. Last year the smell of antiseptic almost made me hurl.”
The two shared a giggle. Twilight opened her mouth to whisper something else but was cut off by Mr Johnson and his ruler again.
“Alright, alright! Settle down. Today we’re going to introduce how to graph trigonometric functions…”
Sunset shot Twilight a look. “Yikes. He needs to learn to tone it down with the whacking.”
“Definitely.”
They giggled quietly before deciding it was better to not risk being on the receiving end of the ruler, and looked at their own papers. Twilight managed to use the class time to complete all of the required work and another extra-credit question before a small slip of paper bounced onto her desk and disrupted her concentration.
Frowning, she unfolded it. Then she shot Sunset a look. “We sit next to each other,” she hissed. “This is ridiculous.”
Instead of replying, Sunset looked her in the eyes and tossed her another slip with a smirk.
Twilight sighed and compared the two. The first read, “Sit with me at lunch? -SS”, while the second had a crude drawing of a frowny face with Sunset’s tangled hair.
The clock read 10:28 when Twilight finally tossed back an answer: yes
---
“So what’s with the hair?” Sunset asked, stirring her soup to cool it. “No offense or anything, but it’s pretty out there. How long does it take to dye?”
They were sitting in cafeteria, having met up after second period. Sunset was wise enough to recognize Twilight’s lack of a social presence and chose a table near the main entrance, in the corner. When she asked, Twilight had just taken a large bite out of her sandwich and cursed her terrible timing.
“Itch doschent-” Twilight chewed, swallowed, and let her famous scowl return to grace her features. “It doesn’t take long at all, considering this is my natural hair.”
Sunset blinked. Then: “Whoa, really?”
“Why would I lie?”
“I dunno. It’s just…” Sunset’s spoon clinked against the side of her bowl as she let go of it to twirl her own hair around her fingers. “You don’t see that every day. Sure is something magical, alright.”
Twilight paused, and slowly put her sandwich down. “Magic?”
“Yeah. You know, like wizards and monsters and unicorns and elves.” Sunset brandished her spoon like a sword and said in a heroic tone, “To protect the world by harnessing the hidden energy of the aether!” She paused. “Or something like that.”
“No.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“Magic can’t exist is what I mean!” Twilight nearly shouted. The table beside them shot her a look and she quickly lowered her voice. “It goes against almost everything we’ve learned in science, not to mention that it violates the laws of energy and consumption. It’s a fictional device used in children’s stories. How can you possibly believe in it?!”
Sunset flinched and lowered her ‘sword’. “Hey, hey. I know science as well as you do. But don’t you think it’s a little fun to pretend that magic is real?”
“No!”
Smirking, Sunset waved her spoon. “Aw, is little Twilight too grown up to believe in fairy tales?” She closed her eyes in mock thought and said, “Maybe I should show her the true extent of my power! Bibbidi bobbidi b-”
“GIVE ME THAT,” Twilight hissed, and leaned across the table to grab the spoon away from Sunset.
As soon as their hands touched there was a flash of light, and the two were blown back away from the table. Twilight hit the ground with a small cry and instinctively rubbed her sore bottom to alleviate the pain. “Ow ow ow…”
“Jesus, Twilight!” Sunset groaned from the other side of the table. She used it to prop herself up with one hand, the other rubbing the spots from her eyes. “For someone who doesn’t believe in magic, you’re sure convincing me it exists.”
“I didn’t do anything!” Twilight protested as she got to her feet. People were definitely staring now, a whole lot of them, and she probably should have been nervous. Correction, she thought, feeling perspiration break out on the back of her neck. I am nervous.
“Well then what the hell was…” Sunset trailed off as she pushed her mane of hair out of her eyes and froze. “...that.”
Stunned, Twilight looked at Sunset, then at her hand holding the spoon, then back to Sunset. More accurately, she was taking in Sunset’s new hair color - red and gold tangled together instead of her normal dark mess. “Uh. That’s… new.”
The students around them were definitely whispering now. Twilight could feel her heart racing, could feel her mind shutting down. Everyone was watching; looking at the freak with weird hair and weird eyes and who just made something happen, and-
-and then Sunset was right next to her, grabbing her wrist.
“C’mon, Twilight!” she hissed. “We’re outa here.”
Before Twilight could protest she was dragged through the crowd and out the door, the chatter of the lunchroom fading as she tried to get a grip on her panicking thoughts. The hand being held in Sunset’s was sweaty and far too warm, and she barely processed where they were going.
Sunset’s hair changed colour. I changed Sunset’s hair! How is that possible?! There has to be some explanation-
“-ilight! Hey!”
Twilight blinked, and realized that Sunset was staring at her with worried blue eyes. They were in the girl’s washroom, with Twilight backed against the wall and still holding Sunset’s hand. Wait. Blue eyes?
“Your eyes are blue!” Twilight blurted out. “I-I mean, not that that’s a bad thing, brown was still really pretty! But, it changed, like your hair, like my hair, oh my god how did that-”
“Hey, hey. Shh.” Sunset cut her off with a shake of her head. “That’s not important. Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?! I’m fine! Perfectly fine; why wouldn’t I-”
“Twilight, I’m pretty sure you’re having a panic attack.”
Twilight nodded, then processed what Sunset said. Oh, she thought. Aloud she sputtered, “Y-yeah, that happens!”
I’m hyperventilating. Explains why thinking is so incredibly difficult right now! Okay, what did Celeste say? “When defensive emotions malfunction, it may result in an over-exaggeration of the threat, leading to increased anxiety and, in extreme cases, panic.” But how does that help me?!
Sunset gently eased Twilight down the wall until they were both sitting, Sunset criss-cross while Twilight had drawn her knees towards herself and was shaking like a leaf. “Twilight. Twi. Breathe. If you don’t control your breathing you’ll lower the amount of carbon dioxide that gets to your brain, causing-”
“-me to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and creates tingling in my extremities. I noticed!” Twilight squeezed Sunset’s hand harder and took a few short breaths. “The next step is loss of consciousness, which should probably be avoided, huh?”
“Okay, you know your stuff.” Sunset carefully extracted herself from Twilight’s death grip and instead scooted next to the shaking girl. “Tell me then, what are some ways to treat hyperventilation?”
“Pursed-lip breathing, breathing into a bag, stomach breathing, and holding your breath,” Twilight answered automatically. She blinked, and immediately pursed her lips. “Right, right. Should probably apply that to myself.” Attempting to calm down, she leaned against Sunset’s side and focused on her breathing, not her rampant thoughts.
Eventually Twilight calmed her breathing down, though her head was still a mess. She was almost set off again when Sunset shifted on the floor and caused her red and gold hair to fall into Twilight’s vision, but managed to keep it under control.
“...So,” she asked weakly. Lunch was nearly over according to the clock above the sinks. Thankfully no one else had tried to come in yet. “What class do you have next?”
“Physical education,” Sunset replied. “Fun, right?”
“...Eurgh. I forgot.” Twilight buried her head in her knees and mumbled, “I can’t believe it’s a governmental requirement.”
Sunset chuckled and nudged Twilight until she looked up. “Hey, hey. I’ll be there. And you could always just tell the teacher you aren’t feeling well. I mean…” She gave Twilight an obvious stare and said bluntly, “You look like you just spent the last half-hour hyperventilating in the washroom.”
“Funny. How’d you guess that was exactly what I’d been doing?”
“Dunno. Just lucky, I suppose.”
The two smiled for a moment, though Twilight’s faded as the whole hair-eyes situation came to the forefront of her mind. “What are we going to do?”
Sunset tilted her head. “About what?”
“Your hair, your eyes! Plus all the kids who saw us in the cafeteria. They probably think you’re just as much of a freak as me now. Great!” She looked away and muttered, “First friend I make and I’m already rubbing off on her.”
“Oh, yes. Like the name ‘Sunset Shimmer’ didn’t give them any forewarning.” Smirking, Sunset grabbed Twilight’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “C’mon, Twilight. I already stood out. Hell, I think the new colour suits me.” She tossed her head and shot Twilight a wink. “What do you think?”
At that Twilight cursed her incredibly gay mind as a spectrum of emotions suddenly struck her, from oh my god that’s so hot typical Twilight-ness to the more raunchy please do that again except this time under me and- agh! Bad Twilight!
Sunset chuckled as Twilight’s dark skin flushed darker and led her out of the washroom. “I take that as a yes?”
“Uh huh,” Twilight managed to get out, sounding like an absolute dunce. As they made their way through the halls, stopping at their respective lockers, she wrangled her tongue back into place to try, “At least today can’t get any weirder, right?”
The bell rang as Sunset nodded and pushed open the door to the changerooms. “Yup. I mean, what could beat science-loving Twilight Sparkle performing some honest-to-goodness magic?”
“It’s not magic! It’s… okay, I don’t know what yet, but there’s definitely a logical reason for this!”
---
“Welcome back to physical education, champs!” Coach Williams clapped his hands and motioned to the five girls standing beside him. “Headmistress Celeste sure has thrown a curveball at me today - five new students! Crazy, huh?”
Twilight squinted. “Oh no.”
“Let’s see, we have… Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity Belle, Applejack Macintosh, and Flutter Shy.” He squinted at his list as a chorus of giggles rang out across the field. “Okay, which one of you squirts messed with the attendance?”
The girl in the middle let out a longsuffering sigh and crossed her arms, indicating she was used to the reaction, while the girl to her left giggled and bounced up and down on the spot.
“Um…” The tall, lanky blonde girl at the end of the row raised her hand hesitantly. “It’s… it’s Fluttershy. One word.”
“Oh, alright.” Coach Williams folded the paper back up and nodded. “That explains- wait, no it doesn’t.” He jabbed a finger at her and hissed, “Don’t joke with me. What’s your real name?”
Fluttershy let out a whimper, but before she could do anything a short Latina girl with choppy rainbow hair smacked the coach’s finger away.
“Hey!” she yelled, though the effect was somewhat diminished by a poorly-timed voice crack. “Leave her alone. What; you’ve never met somebody with a unique name before?”
Someone at the back of the group giggled and whispered, “Looks like Twilight and the new girl managed to reproduce.”
Cheeks burning, Twilight ignored the connotations of the comment and took the in the rest of the line. Assuming the coach was introducing them in order, she did her best to create a mental file on each girl.
Rainbow. Short, even more than me. An athlete. Rainbow hair, though it’s presumably brown based on her features. Tan skin, brown eyes. Brash, takes-no-shit archetype.
Pinkie. Chubby, average height. Frizzy black hair - though, it almost looks like someone dumped cotton candy on her head. The darkest skin of the five, black eyes. Excitable and unstable.
Rarity. Similar height to Sunset. Straight black hair, but it’s been styled. Pale skin. Asian features. She’s very pretty. Custom gym uniform indicates a seamstress of some sort.
Applejack. Tall, and the most muscular. Does she work out? Dirty-blonde hair. Tan skin and freckles. Green eyes. Wearing a stetson for some reason. Annoyed at the situation.
Fluttershy. The tallest. White blonde hair, and it’s the longest too. Pale skin and surprisingly angular features. Has a shy personality and seems to be just as terrible socially as me.
Having finished cataloguing the girls, Twilight adjusted her glasses and whispered to Sunset, “I’ve come to a conclusion.”
“...Which is?”
“These girls are trouble. One hundred percent.”
“Oh, gee. How could you tell?”
Coach Williams glared at Rainbow, and straightened up. “Alright then. Those are your names. But take my word, I’m bringing this up with the headmistress at the end of the day. If I find out you’re lying…”
Rainbow scoffed and flipped him the bird. “Yeah, and then what?”
The coach let out a strangled cry as Applejack quickly knocked Rainbow’s hand down. “Hey now, knock it off. Don’t cause a ruckus on yer first day, y’hear?”
Twilight mentally added ‘has an accent’ to Applejack’s folder.
“DETENTION!” Coach Williams screamed. He pointed to Rainbow, then Applejack. “You for disrespecting authority, and you for colluding!”
Applejack paused and exchanged a look with Rainbow. Then she let go of the shorter girl’s arm and stepped back. “Let him have it, Dash.”
A shit-eating grin plastered on her face, Rainbow let her offending finger make its presence known again and hollered, “Gotta catch us first!” Before anyone could do anything she was off down the field like a bullet, Applejack hot on her heels.
Coach Williams sputtered, then whipped around to the rest of the stunned class. “Alright, whoever catches those troublemakers gets extra credit!” When no one moved he screeched, “LET’S GO, SLACKERS!”
The swarm of students jumped to life, and they charged in a pack after the two, the girl named Pinkie leading the pack with an excited, “GET ‘EM! YEAH!” Rarity made no attempt to follow and rolled her eyes in disgust, while Fluttershy meekly tried to hide herself behind the bleachers.
All in all, it was a total disaster.
“Well.” Sunset nudged a shell-shocked Twilight in the ribs as the scene continued to unfold. “And you said things couldn’t get any worse.”
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Why are Pinkie and Twilight nigga and Sunset and Rainbow latino?
8339688 my little human
my little human
minorities are maaaagic~
8339688
well pinkie has super poofy hair and i always imagine it like an afro! and twilight is based off of me (im asian)
8339779
haha i guess you could say that!
8339688
Twilight looks more Indian to me and I think there's a lot of the fandom who likes to portray her as such. I've also seen a lot of Dash being Brazilian because soccer. First time I've seen a black Pinkie but it could work.
This sounds really good. I can't wait to read more.
8341202
i appreciate it!!
thank you so much! lol you're the first comment that's not about anything to do with race
This story is awesome! I got here as soon as I saw the photo on derpibooru. And is now in my favourite's
8341276
I noticed that. I got nothing against race or color. I came for the SunLight and I left satisfied so far. And as you can tell by my icon I'm a huge SunLight fan.
8341889
whoa thanks so much!!! im glad my drawing helped attract a reader or two
8341970
I saw this here, and the picture just looks amazing with how simple yet amazing it looks. I hope this story isn't dead, because it has grabbed my attention well.
Really like the cover art