Fire
Magic seemed to be seeping into the world. Sunset wasn’t sure exactly how. She’d been here for six years. If her presence had something to do with it, it would’ve started years ago.
But she couldn’t deny that it was happening, seeing the five girls ‘Pony Up’, as they had called it. It happened whenever they played their songs, whenever they sang. Some people knew, and of course talk began to spread, but Rainbow thought she could keep a lid on it to win the Musical Showcase.
Applejack called it cheating. Sunset pointed out that unless the Magic was hypnotic, which it didn’t seem to be, it was no different than any special effects they could set up. Besides, it wasn’t a competition, so there wasn’t even anything to win.
Sunset thought about asking to join their band, but she knew it would be a bad idea. Even if they let her in, she’d probably bring the whole thing down. While things had gotten better, she didn't want to bring the mood down by preforming.
Start small, right? Sunset had been getting better at being, well, better. Perhaps interacting with someone outside her group might be productive. There was a group of three, her own group’s little sisters. Not only were they Freshmen, who didn’t know her as well and wouldn’t have much of a grudge, but their older sisters could vouch for her.
“Want some help?” Sunset offered, picking up a paintbrush.
“Uh, no thanks,” the one girl, Applebloom she believed, said. “We’re good.”
“Oh,” she said, trying not to sigh. “Okay.”
Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. While her five knew she was getting better, everyone else was still scared of her. And trying to interact, only to be rejected for that, it hurt. She understood, but it still hurt.
“I think it’s going to be one of the most exciting events we’ve had at CHS since the Fall Formal!”
Luna sighed and rolled her eyes, nudging the Principal with her elbow. Realizing what she’d said, Celestia glanced to Sunset and gave an apologetic smile. It had been accidental, of course. One of her usual sayings. Still, it didn’t help the looks she was already getting, so instead Sunset groaned and put her head down.
“Someone is quite the smitten kitten,” Rarity giggled, before dropping the smile and turning to her. “Oh, sorry. I always forget that you and Flash used to be an item.”
Sunset wanted to smile at that. Rarity had agreed to keep that part secret, but she could read between the lines. ‘Are you okay?’. While it hurt that he didn’t even look at her when he walked in, she understood all too well.
“It’s okay,” Sunset said. “Flash is a great guy, but I never liked-him liked him. I was just using him to become more popular. Old me really was awful, wasn’t she?”
While there were agreements and reassurances that she was better now, she still stuck on it. She wanted to be able to talk to him again, to go back to that summer on the beach. But even then, she hadn’t really earned any friendship he gave her. It was all started from a lie.
The three new girls were… interesting. Sunset’s first thought had been ‘pretty’, as they were all very beautiful. As she walked, she learned a little about them.
The blue one almost reminded her of Pinkie, energetic but not quite paying attention all the time. If she introduced them she wasn’t sure the world wouldn’t implode. The purple one was a little too grumpy for her, she didn’t seem to smile much. It was the yellow one she found really interesting, though perhaps it was because most of the moves she made seemed flirtatious.
But after the first look, there was something about them. She couldn’t place it, exactly. It was a feeling, like a tingle in her fingers, oh so familiar. She’d felt it twice in this world, once when she met Princess Twilight. The other was just a girl she’d walked past her first day in this place, one that she was sure had to have been Lyra, but she didn’t have a twin like that girl had.
She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, until she heard them sing. It was Magic, good old Equestrian Magic. Well, perhaps not good. The feeling that had once been a warm tingle in her fingertips now sent cold shivers down her spine. And the effect they had on the students?
She knew Dark Magic better than anyone, but this time, she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her friends.
“Dark Magic?”the Principal smiled, almost serenely. “I find that very hard to believe. Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful.”
“Perhaps Sunset Shimmer is just eager to make someone else out to be a bad element,” the Vice Principal nodded, “so that her actions at the Fall Formal will become old news.”
“I could see why you might think that but-“ Sunset began.
Thankfully, Rainbow cut her off. Because she couldn’t see why Luna would think that. They knew about Magic, even Dark Magic. They’d been helping her get through everything.
Those girls had already gotten to them. She didn’t know how to feel about that, because she didn’t know what spells those girls could do. Were the Principal and Vice Principal just hypnotized, or were they speaking their own thoughts? She couldn’t tell yet.
She was scared to find out.
Sunset had no idea if her journal would still work. She thought it might, as Principal Celestia had used a similar one to talk to the Princess. But Sunset never tried it herself, and of course the Princess wouldn’t have wanted to talk to her.
It was almost even more terrifying if it did work. Because what would the Princess say? What would she do? Her mind thought of so many things, and yet the worst answer was nothing at all. While she had given up on making Celestia like her, she thought it would at least be something if Celestia was angry or sad. If she would ust yell and scream and call her a monster.
If she had to face that calm neutrality once more…..
Princess Twilight had come to the rescue. It was probably the best case scenario. Yet Sunset had noticed her hesitation. It was so much like when she first started hanging with the girls, and she understood that. Princess Twilight hadn’t seen her since the Fall Formal, so of course she would be at step one with her.
Still, it hurt a little. It hurt more hearing her new title, ‘Princess of Friendship’. Just another item on a long list of how she’d done everything better, even if Sunset was barely starting to understand how. It hurt more seeing the other five flock to her, talk to her so easily even though they barely knew her. Once again, she understood, but it still hurt.
Instead, she focused on Twilight’s news of what the girls might be. Sirens. She questioned Twilight’s information, though she couldn't blame her for her sources. Most ponies not in beach towns didn't know of Sirens, and even Sunset only knew of them from a chance encounter on a vacation when she was eight. She couldn't blame the fact that her only source was a book.
Sirens weren’t monsters, like her book said.They were just another group of Sapient Beings in Equestria. Magic users too, though they channeled their spellcasting through Song. Actually, in terms of Magic, they were most like Dragons, as their Magic contains a Berserk Mode, activated by Desire instead of Greed.
Then there was the ‘banishment’, and why that didn't fit for this group. While there was word of Starswirl having banished a trio of Sirens, it couldn’t have possibly been these three. How he got rid of those Sirens varied between stories, since it had happened two thousand years ago. Many other stories had him calming their Desire, some darker versions said he was forced to kill them.
Very few said Banishment, and even if it did, it would have been two thousand years ago. If Starswirl had banished a trio of Sirens to this world, they would have died two thousand years ago. As powerful as they could be, they weren’t Immortal. When Sunset had left she knew of only one Immortal in Equestria. Now she had heard of three, possibly four Immortals, but none were Sirens.
As she thought it over, Sunset was scared for them. Because the Sirens were her age. Even if they had come through the portal the last time it was open before the Formal, the oldest of them would have been sixteen. Just kids like her, but while her faults were her own, they had the actual excuse ‘our minds are not our own’.
As much as she wanted to bring all this up, every time she opened her mouth, she saw the way they looked at Princess Twilight, the way they were all sure she’d figure it out. She decided that, even though it hurt, she wouldn’t say anything. It would be fine. Even if Princess Twilight didn’t know what was really happening, as long as she got the job done it didn’t matter. She wouldn't hurt them.
Yet it did matter, because there was the Aftermath. Not everyone would understand it wasn’t their fault, and she knew what that felt like. Hell, it’d probably be her fault if people were even worse to them.
Sunset promised herself, once this was over, she’d give them a way out. A second chance, just like her friends had once given her.
They were arguing again. It wasn’t just their usual bickering. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. Maybe it was just her imagination, since Princess Twilight didn’t seem to notice. If the Princess of Friendship didn’t see anything wrong, maybe it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Instead, she just assured them.
When she had talked to her last night, for a moment, she thought they connected. She saw that, while the reasons were different, neither wanted to let anyone down. While they were still a bit cautious of one another, they were getting closer.
And for a moment, she could see her grin and laugh as if the pressure wasn't weighing down on her. She wanted to say she was cute when she smiled, but that felt like it might be a little early to say. Even though the stress came back the next morning, it was nice to see for a little while.
She’d been trying for another friend, and while it might take more work, she was glad they could help one another to smile.
She wanted to talk to them. The idea that she could get through to the real them was ridiculous at best, but she had to try. She waited in the hall, the one where the lights never worked properly. After being here long enough, one learns that everyone wanders into this hall at some point.
“You’re never going to get away with this,” Sunset began as they walked down the hall.
“Why?” the ‘leader’, Adagio if she remembered correctly, asked. “Because you didn’t?”
Sunset stiffened at the comment. They weren’t supposed to have heard about her past, they weren’t supposed to know what she was. But as the blue and purple girls, Sonata and Aria, began circling her, like sharks, she felt herself frozen in place.
“Oh, we know all about you, Sunset Shimmer,” Adagio smiled. “You’ve got quite the reputation at Canterlot High.”
“I’ve changed!” Sunset defended on instinct. “I’m in a much better place now!”
“Waiting in the wings while your friends have all the fun?” Aria smirked.
“Oh yes,” Adagio laughed. “You girls are so tight. And yet…. They didn’t ask you to be in the band.”
Sunset tried not to respond to that.
“Probably afraid no one would want to see them play if she was in the group,” Aria added.
“Too bad!” Sonata shrugged with a smile. “So sad!”
“If it’s any consolation,” Adagio said, leading the others off, “no one is going to remember you at all by the time we’re done.”
Sunset waited until they had turned the corner to collapse. It burned, the fact that they had a point. While she hadn’t asked about joining for those same reasons, none of them had asked. She understood, but it still hurt.
Taking a breath, she promised herself to talk about it later. To ask later, because with everything going on, they didn’t have time to fix smaller problems. But once they were back to normal, it’d be fine.
They were her friends, and she could talk to them, could tell them anything, even her fears.
This pain felt cold. It was worse than the fact that her friends were upset at her. That she could fix, she could just apologize and say it was a mistake, that she hadn’t had time to think of closing curtains or unplugging an amp. She could point out that either of those options could be seen as a ‘fit of jealous rage’ just as much as the flying tackle had.
But she couldn’t even bring herself to. Because one voice had stood out among all those jeering at her. With the Siren’s spell, they were free to say whatever they felt. Whatever they Desired to say.
“Now that’s the bad girl we all love to hate!”
She’d hoped he’d come around, that they could talk again. But Siren Spell or not, it came from somewhere. Maybe she’d just never realized how much she hurt him.
She felt it, like the bite of electricity. How Princess Twilight could handle being trapped in the room with all of it, she didn’t know. But their Magic had shifted, it was turning Dark, and opening them up to Desire.
She had to say something. They were letting small things tear them apart. Little bickering had turned to anger. Sunset looked around, felt their Magic and realized something.
While she didn’t feel like it was her job, she had to do something to help them.
“Stop!” Sunset shouted. “You have to stop! This is what they’ve been after all along! They’re feeding off the Magic inside you!”
“How can they be using our Magic?” Applejack demanded. “It’s the Magic of Friendship.”
“Ever since you started this band,” she said, forcing herself to speak, “you’ve been letting little things get to you. I never said anything, because it didn’t feel like my place. Not when I’m so new to this whole ‘Friendship’ thing. I still have a lot to learn. But I do know that if you don’t work out the smallest problems right at the start, the Magic of Friendship can be turned into something else!”
“I can’t believe all this tension was happening right under my nose and I didn’t realize it,” Twilight sighed. “I’m supposed to be the one with all the answers. And all I’ve done since I got here is let you down.”
That’s when it hit her. Twilight wasn’t like the Princess. There was no “Princess” and “Twilight”, like she’d been thinking of her as. There was just Twilight Sparkle, a mare who happened to be Princess, a mare who could make mistakes, but wasn’t supposed to.
Twilight might be Princess of Friendship, but she was still learning, just like Sunset was. Because it’s not just something you can learn once and do over and over again.
And now, here, she could see exactly the differences between them. It’s not about similar interests or being ‘likable’, it was being there, whatever ‘being there’ meant for them. Friendship was different, with everyone. It was even different with the same Person, or Pony, as time changed them.
And they had changed a bit, in just the time it took. Sunset had been terrified of screwing up, so she did what she stopped trying to do what she didn't know she could do right. Twilight was just as scared, but she pushed forward. But Sunset had learned to let her friends to catch her, to teach her. She saw the girl who thought she was supposed to know everything, who had forgotten that she's allowed to ask for help.
“I don’t think anyone is supposed to have all the answers,” Sunset said, taking Twilight’s hands. “But you can count on your friends to help you find them.”
“I think you already have,” Twilight smiled. “Come on, we need to get out of here!”
The microphone landed at her feet. Picking it up, she stared for a moment before looking at everyone else.
“Sunset Shimmer!” Twilight called. “We need you!”
She looked to the Sirens, their Magic growing wild. The crowd of students, of people who hated her, but people she had come to care about despite that. And her friends, near collapsed from the last attack, and it tore her heart to see them in danger. Tearing off her jacket, because even in this situation her flare for the Dramatic popped up, she stepped between them.
It was then that she felt everything. It started as something warm, like a gentle push to say ‘you can do this’. Words and notes came to her, as if she’d always known them. It was a gift of sorts, but not of a spot in their ‘band’, just in the fact that they cared. Lyrics floated up to her mouth, begging to sing of what she felt. And what she did feel was safe, surrounded by Friends, and a burning desire of her own. One to protect them.
“You’re never gonna bring me down,” Sunset sang, “You’re never gonna break this part of me! My Friends are here to bring be ‘round, not singing just for popularity!”
She took Twilight’s hand, helping her up and sharing the microphone. Everything felt warm, too warm, but wonderful at the same time. Like long ago campfires.
“We’re here to let you know, that we won’t let it go,” they sang together, voices mixing and becoming lost in one another. “Our music is a bomb and it’s about to blow. And you try to fight, but we have got the light…”
The tingle in her fingertips began to thrum. It was like a drum beat, no, like her own heart. And as she waved her hand, she felt Magic rush through her. A rainbow of light unlike anything she’d done burst forth, just the sight of it making her grin uncontrollably.
“Of Friendship on our side!” the seven of them belted out, and she felt it all. “We’re here to blow this thing apart! And together, we will never be afraid of the dark!”
By the time Sunset realized she was floating above the ground, she was smiling so hard it didn’t matter. Because she felt it, just like they did. She could feel the six of them, their Souls with her own. She could feel a few others click with her, but she also felt the echoes of their Souls resonating with that of everyone they cared about. And through that, she could feel not just her friends, but all she could possibly have.
Sunset had felt the Spark before. The first times were simple, and created their own small Flame. The second Spark, she’d tried to light but it never did. As she fanned the Glowing Embers, the first Flame died down. On the third Spark, she’d smothered it herself, never letting it grow no matter how much it begged.
This Spark had started weeks ago. A stray Spark falling from their own crackling Flame. Since then it wasn’t just her that kept it going, but the other five, and now six, Friends as well.
However, it was not a Spark she felt. It was a blazing Fire, she was a blazing Fire, and it was unlike anything she could imagine. It was more than her, more than Magic. It was Everything.
The white void was expected, though this time she was on the other side. She saw three girls, trapped by Desire. With little hesitation, she threw everything she had at the emotion keeping them. Others did too, she felt them do it.
Soon enough, the Desire broke, taking the void with it.
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