Consequences

by shallow15

Sunset, Tempest, and Secrets

Sunset paused outside the conference room door and took a deep breath. You've got this. You've been telling the same story for years. You've got it down cold.

She straightened her shoulders and opened the door. Luna and Tempest looked up as she entered. Sunset smiled and sat down.

“Hello, Agent Shadow,” she said pleasantly. “It's nice to see you again.”

Tempest nodded. “And you, Miss Shimmer. It's been an... interesting day.”

Sunset didn't reply. She waited for the agent to continue.

“I've been talking with your classmates and with your friends,” Tempest continued. “As I'm sure your friends have told you, I've been curious about some of the things that have happened around this school over the past year or so.”

“I'm happy to help in any way I can,” Sunset replied.

Tempest's eyes narrowed. “Really? Then let me come right to the point.”

She folded her hands in front of her and fixed Sunset with an unblinking stare. “Who exactly are you, Sunset Shimmer?”

Sunset blinked and tried to keep her breathing regular. “I'm... not sure that I follow you, Agent Shadow.”

“In my various interviews around town and with some additional background investigation I've been conducting, I've been getting some completely contradictory descriptions of you. For the most part, everyone says you're friendly, helpful, and generally a fun person to be around.”

“That's nice of them to say,” Sunset said. A smile she wasn't sure she liked spread across Tempest's face.

“However, I've also gotten reports that you used to be a terror and a bully around here. You basically ruled this school while somehow managing to avoid getting any sort of punishment for your actions. So which is it? Who's the real Sunset Shimmer?”

Sunset looked at the agent, then at Luna, who had a concerned look on her face. Sunset closed her eyes and let out another deep breath before opening them again.

“Both are,” she began. “When I first came here, I had some severe anger issues. I still do, although my temper isn't as bad as it used to be. But yes, I divided the student body with a network of lies, blackmail, and force. I wanted everyone to know I was top dog around here and not to get in my way.”

“And it sounds like you succeeded,” said Tempest. “What changed?”

“The Fall Formal,” Sunset replied. “I'm sure you've noticed there's a picture of Twilight Sparkle in the hall out there with the other princesses of the dances the school throws?”

“I did.”

“Then you've probably also noticed that 'our' Twilight, for want of a better word, isn't the same girl as the one in the picture.”

Tempest leaned forward, interested. “I have.”

Sunset nodded. “I wish I had an answer for you where that coincidence is concerned, but I don't. The Twilight in the picture showed up about three days before the Formal. We all thought she was an exchange student or something. When she came here, she did something no one had tried to do in a long time. She stood up to me. And she mobilized the rest of the girls around her against me.”

“When you say 'the girls,' you mean your friends in the Rainbooms?”

“Yes.” Sunset's glance went down to the table. “They all banded together to ensure that I wouldn't get elected Princess of the Fall Formal. They managed to fix everything I had done. When the announcement came that she won, I lost it completely. I had a couple of guys I could order around kidnap her dog. She confronted me outside the school.”

Sunset looked back up. “Then the world blew up, and, while I know it's a cliché, I actually did see my life flash before my eyes and I saw how mean and evil I was. I saw what I had had done to all these kids for no other reason than to prove I was strong. That I was powerful. I saw how much they all truly hated me, so much that all it took was someone willing to stand up to me and not back down, no matter what I did, to undo in three days what had taken me years to build. I saw how hollow my so-called victories really were.”

Sunset sniffled and Luna handed her a tissue. Sunset blew her nose and looked up. “I had thought the only way to get what you wanted in the world was to overpower and conquer it. To force people to do what you wanted. I was wrong. And I thought that was it. It was all over for me.

“But it wasn't. The other Twilight asked the girls to help me. To show me what real friendship was. They agreed. It was hard at first. I had to unlearn a lot of bad habits, and deal with a dump truck full of self-hate and guilt. We had fights, we had problems, but we became closer. And after the Battle of the Bands, I finally felt like I deserved to be their friend.”

“And the other Twilight Sparkle?” Tempest asked. “What happened to her?”

Sunset shrugged. “She disappeared right after the dance.”

“And you never saw her again?” Tempest's gaze was piercing, immediately setting off warning bells inside Sunset.

I'll have to gamble, Sunset thought.

“She... did come back during the Battle of the Bands,” Sunset admitted. “She helped us get our act together, both figuratively and literally.”

“And she vanished again once it was over?” Tempest asked.

Sunset nodded. Tempest sat back in her seat.

“Who did you face off against in the finals?”

Sunset blinked. “I'm sorry?”

“Who did you face off with in the finals of the Battle of the Bands?”

“Trixie and the Illusions,” Sunset said slowly.

“I see,” Tempest replied. “That's interesting.”

“What is?”

“According to one of my other interviews, you faced off against a group called the Dazzlings.”

“Who said that?”

“Never mind who said it,” Tempest said, hoping to cover up the fact she had no idea which student had put her on this particular thread. “But, let's leave that aside for now. I have some other questions for you.”

For the next few minutes, Sunset answered questions about the Friendship Games and the trip to Camp Everfree. She responded with the cover stories she, the girls, Celestia, and Luna had come up with, which had been shared with the student body that morning. For the most part, Tempest let her talk, not interrupting except to press her on specifics. When Sunset finished, the agent leaned forward again.

“There's just one last thing I'd like to talk about Miss Shimmer. Your recent hospital stay. According to the records, you were in a coma for three days after being assaulted after your shift at the mall. What happened to you?”

Sunset sighed. “I don't really have a lot of memories of that night, Agent Shadow. But apparently I was attacked by a girl named Firecracker Burst.”

Tempest's eyes widened. “The girl who ran away?”

Sunset nodded. “During my reign of terror, one of the things I did was out her girlfriend as a lesbian before she was ready. The girlfriend's parents threw her out of the house. Firecracker apparently harbored a grudge for all that time, and I guess, after I changed, she didn't really believe it. And for some reason, that grudge exploded and she attacked me.”

“If that's the case, Miss Shimmer, why did your friends say they didn't know her?”

“Because they didn't,” Sunset explained. “And I asked them not to say anything about her being involved with my assault unless I got a chance to explain my relationship to her to you.”

Tempest frowned. “You have very loyal friends.”

Sunset nodded and gave Tempest a serious look. “They are my best friends in the whole world and there's nothing we wouldn't do for each other. I don't know if Firecracker ran away out of guilt for what she did to me, or if it was something else, but when I found out she was responsible and why she did it, I didn't really blame her and I wanted to help bring her home.”

Sunset felt a lump in her throat and she swallowed heavily. “I just wanted her to be able to come home and be safe.”

Tempest looked at the teenager for a long time, then finally opened her mouth. “I don't believe you.”

Sunset blinked and stared. “What?”

“I don't believe you, Miss Shimmer. You or your friends. Oh, I'm fairly certain most of what I've been told today is the truth, but it's not the whole truth. The stories fit together too well. Too few contradictions. Too few hazy memories. I don't know what it is that's being hidden, but I know you and your friends are involved in it.

“So, you have two choices, Miss Shimmer. You can tell me what's actually been happening in this city for the last two years, or you can continue this futile effort to conceal it from me. Because one way or the other, I will find out what's been going on. And if I have to do all that work, I'm going to be very upset. I'm not a very nice person to be around when I'm upset.”

“Agent Shadow,” Luna began. “We've discussed this.”

“It's all right, Vice Principal Luna,” said Sunset. She returned Tempest's cold stare. “It's not my problem if you don't believe me, Agent Shadow. What I've told you is the truth. It's strange and unlikely, but it's what happened. But, I have the feeling that you wouldn't believe me no matter what I said here.”

“Do you?” Tempest sneered.

“You're just like me,” Sunset said. “Angry and bitter. Something happened to you. Something which made you this way. Made you the kind of person who uses intimidation and threats to get what they want. The kind of person who thinks kindness and mercy are weaknesses. The kind of person who doesn't think she needs anyone or anything.”

Sunset's expression softened. “But you do. Even if you won't admit it, even to yourself. You do need that compassion, that so-called softness. It's what makes you a better person. It's what makes you... you.”

Tempest's eyes flashed. “Yes, well, thank you for that armchair diagnosis, Miss Shimmer, but it has nothing to do with this investigation. I strongly urge you to--”

She was cut off as the bell rang. From outside the conference room came a quiet roar as the students were released into the halls. Tempest glanced up at the clock on the wall.

“I'm afraid that was the final bell for the day,” Luna said quietly.

Tempest looked back at Sunset and gave her a cold grin. “Saved by the bell, Miss Shimmer.”

She stood up from her chair. Luna and Sunset did likewise. The agent and the teenager never broke eye contact.

“You have my card,” Tempest said. “Think about what I've said, Miss Shimmer. But don't take too long. Time is not on either of our sides. Thank you for you time.”

Tempest extended a hand, and Sunset took it. Then, before she knew what had happened, the geode around her neck flashed and Sunset saw.

Comments

[NebulaNyx]

Oh shit.

[DullDragon2070]

9815493

My sentiments exactly!

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

evil grin but for good.

[Shadow_Wolf]

Oh this should be... Revealing 😈

[Spamotron]

Damn it, Stump of Harmony!

I mean long term Sunset knowing Tempest’s deal is probably essential to resolving the threat of STORM. But short term she’s going to have to deal with a violent woman who is probably going to be too enraged by the mental intrusion to care about the law.

[CapNTilfy]

Nice. XD I should've seen that last bit coming.

[RoboRed]

HERE WE GO

[BoltSlayer]

oh
this is going to be interesting

[Snowdrifter]

This is interesting. I see it going two ways. We know Sunset isn’t going to be standing there for several minutes in real time, so either Sunset doesn’t react to the memories she sees or she does. That will determine what happens going forward. However, Sunset tends to act on the new information immediately, so...

[dark_samus3]

I'm gonna be honest here, and I've felt this a few times while reading this, while I do appreciate the frequent updates, I think this set of interviews and the scenes with the Dazzling's backstory shouldn't have been separate, but instead one, or at max, two chapters. The long drag out for each short chapter wasn't really worth the wait, and I'd have waited a lot longer for a chapter with a little more meat to it. Overall, probably irrelevant to the story once it's completed, since one should just be able to click off to the next chapter, but it kinda made each chapter somewhat disappointing reading each of them individually. It's something external to the writing that took away from it, which seems like something relatively trivial to fix. That's just my preference though, so you do you of course. Just offering my 2 cents.

[reader238]

Of all the powers that tempest had to witness, it had to be the one that likely won't show up on camera

[SilverDiamond]

9815579
Do people KNOW their memories were seen? From what I seen it was always SUNSET who said: "I saw your mind/memories". I don't think anyone knew before she said that. They were weakened, probably, but beyond that? Nope.