Twinkling, Shimmering, & Glimmering

by JustNewHere

Book 1: Shadow. Chapter 2: Painful Reminders and Floats.

Two weeks had passed and Twilight managed to get over the bitter taste of heart break…that is, if one could consider crying continuously in her lab with several tubs of ice cream lay empty as a sign of recovering.

Nevertheless, she was proud of that achievement and that at least, in turn, meant she hadn’t needed to suffer in silence alone.

Days after New Year’s Eve, Rarity came to her home bearing gifts that naturally soothes a broken heart; such as tubs of ice cream, rented movies ranging from Science Fiction to Trashy Romance, and several wads of tissues.

Scientifically, it did nothing to change her mood sans the sweets (thank you serotonin) but even she could appreciate the sentiment of the idea…and the heavy implication of brainwashed commercialism but that, she decided, was another matter her frantic addled brain can process for another time.

Applejack followed the week after, then Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash two weeks later. The last two decided that getting out there and away from her ‘Fortress of Angstitude’ that was her lab might do her some good and it did. Sort of. Maybe.

Twilight groaned.

So maybe it did not work but who cares? Not her. What’s important was that she’s out of her lab, walking, eating food that doesn’t consist much of sweets and fatty chemicals, and heading to school with a smile oozing ‘I did not get my heart broken on New Year’s Eve’ kind of smile.

Sure it was hard to see her crush and her other friend not hiding their relationship and getting various supportive cheers and coos directed at CHS’s ‘Third Cutest Couple’ (Unsurprisingly, Wiz Kid and Curly Winds remained number one), and possibly being tooth achingly adorable with their innocent flirting and-grr- hand holding but Twilight was okay. She could handle being treated like a metaphorically baited Tiger with a juicy meat slab waved in front of her. She had control. She was no animal (saved when they pony up but that was an entirely different matter altogether as well).

Now walking down the street as was her routine, Twilight took in the fresh air. While a bit windy still, Twilight adored the cool breeze when it passed by her as it forced her to hug her coat tighter. The cold soothed her nerves, who knew? Seemingly looking to a great start, she believed she was about to survive another day of seeing her crush with another.

With her boots lightly crushing under the few patches of snow, Twilight trudged towards the back entrance of the school. She might as well take the path that the newest couple won’t likely pass through just so it could give her time to steel her resolve. Not like she didn’t trust herself to not have a breakdown at any time of the day but it paid to be well prepared.

'Just in case can save your face' were the words she now lived by.

Yet Marephy seemed to be on her period today because as luck decided, the person to greet her first thing in the morning-while not the redhead and pinkette- was none other than Gilda. The white haired girl with multiple piercings (that Twilight was sure was a strict violation in the student handbook were they in CPA instead) and brown leather jacket was her secret tormentor even since getting back from Camp Everfree.

The purple girl didn’t even know what she did to warrant the bullying yet, after some reflecting while being wedgied, most of the times these things happened to her was because, and to quote Sugarcoat, she was being a total doormat.

So apparently having levitation powers and the power of friendship on her side wasn’t enough to ward the ever lingering scent in her that practically screamed ‘pick on me, I’m a doormat!’ which caused her being easy pickings to the undetected and ‘wannabe Sunsets’ (Rainbow’s words, not hers) still present in CHS.

She actually doubted the claim of bullying being extinct that the students in her current school seemed to promote. Of course there will always be bullying, it was like a universal fact. As long as there will be the ‘easy target’ and the ‘morally disabled opportunist’ there will no doubt that someone will be getting bullied.

That said, her tormentor had been on her case ever since and though the idea of telling the others about her situation would seem like a good plan from the beginning, teenage pride and the barely erased guilt of causing grief on her friends paired with being the socially inept girl who had still a lot to learn about friendship reaffirmed her mind’s line of thinking that she can handle this on her own.

Besides, Gilda at least had the foresight to not leave anything permanent on Twilight that could lead to suspicion.

Finishing her jumbled train of thoughts, Twilight now regretted taking the scenic route. She should have remembered that the back of the school was the bully’s favorite hangout spot, either to corner some other doormat for lunch money or simply to smoke.

Still, as Twilight backed away a little bit, maybe she could-

“There you are Sparklebutt!”

-or maybe not then.

Twilight mustered up a weak smile as her attempt of an escape plan smashed into knotted pieces, joining the still scattered remains of her heart. The young genius sharply inhaled just as Gilda sauntered over to her and already the bully’s height towered over the purple girl, casting a large shadow.

“Sup, just wondering why Mrs. Harshwhinny contacted me about my overdue report,” the taller girl began as she smiled falsely at the nerd, “and how I got an A+ on my math homework when I seemed to have specifically ordered you to keep it a B-“

Twilight forced herself not to gulp as Gilda nonchalantly inspected her nails, nails that were sharp and long enough to cut and were now slowly tracing themselves under the purple girl’s chin.

“Really Sparklebutt, I know I can be smart but not that smart to have an A+” the nail trailed itself lower, along Twilight’s collarbone. “Don’t want Ole’ Cranky Doodle signing me up for your nerdy competitions.”

The girl that Gilda was cornering managed to find her voice as she adjusted her glasses and wheezed, “Right, sorry about that but a lot has been happening and I forgot about it when dealing with the easy math question but- MEEP!”

Twilight’s sentence ended into a squeak when she was forcibly pushed down, drawing a light stinging on her rump as it made contact with the ground.

Gilda bent down, eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you calling me dumb?”

“Wah-No!” Twilight tried to recover. “I-I meant it’s just, the questions weren’t that difficult and I usually space out with easy math questions-ow!”

This time, the young genius winced as she was grabbed by the front of her wooly blouse and was forced to make eye contact with narrowed yellow eyes.

“Sounds like you calling me dumb to me,” Gilda said as a feral grin fell into place, “should I remind you of your place in our little ‘business dealings’ again, Sparklebutt?”

Before Twilight could get a word in to futilely offer a compromise, she let out a startled squeak as Gilda hoisted her up and was now patting her down and wiping away grass and dirt.

Twilight opened her mouth, brows furrowed in confusion before the arrival of the previous (still current) object of her affections solved that inquiry. She resisted the urge to cry out in joy, a part of her doormat side thanking Sunset’s timely arrival.

Seeing Gilda sweat and mustering up a half-cooked smile also reminded Twilight to thank whatever being was looking down on her for having Gilda still afraid of Sunset Shimmer.

“Hey Twilight, Gilda,” Sunset greeted with a nod and her signature side smirk that usually made the purple girl weak in the knees and fall into a delirious and useless pile of teenage mush.

“Sup,” Was Gilda’s forced reply before she offered a stiff wave goodbye. “Gotta head to class now so I’ll be seeing you, and Twilight?”

At her name, the aforementioned girl forced herself to look at the bully and finding in her eyes a promise of pain and retribution if she explained their ‘dealings’ to anyone, especially Sunset.

“Thanks again for the help but maybe try not to forget what we talked before?”

A warning was heavily hinted in the statement, making Twilight feel helpless. As the last view of Gilda’s jacket disappeared behind the door Sunset’s voice cut in, replacing Twilight’s feeling of defeat to a feeling of longing and heart ache.

“Huh, guess she’s still scared of me,” Sunset said, rubbing her neck awkwardly as she stared into the direction of Twilight’s secret tormentor. “Really thought she got over that whole ‘broken nose’ thing between us.”

Twilight weakly nodded in response.

A week in her stay in CHS didn’t help reduce the wariness around the new girl. Anyone who saw firsthand the damage Twilight caused would rightfully feel a bit unease-might even say angry considering the new girl was also a former Crystal prepper- and that apparently left the bespectacled girl an easy target to a girl named Lightning Dust.

It was a surreal experience if one were to ask Twilight however because after an unexpected cornering of a barely lit section of the hallway and a severe taste of the classic ‘wedgie’, Sunset came to her rescue like a brave knight from the stories Cadence used to read to her. The former bully swooped down, took the girl by the shirt and unleashed the crushing might of her glare that Twilight swore froze the very blood in her blonde tormentor.

That moment may have solidified Twilight’s growing crush on the girl but it didn’t occur to a wide eyed bespectacled girl whose purple underwear stretched so far than was manufactured to be at the moment, too enraptured to focus on anything else but her shivering oppressor and her valiant knight.

After being mobbed by her still new group of friends in a feat of worry and concern, the incident left her with an interesting conclusion that was also solidified by the data she managed to discretely gather. One, a small if not sizable percentage of the population in CHS still feared Sunset (for some reason that Twilight could not grasp nor remember to hearing about).

Second, there was a perk of being Sunset’s friend and that was having wannabe bullies from going after any of her friends (or at least the ones most likely not to tell their situation to the group).

Of course no one would think to bully the same girls who have helped the school but there were those like Gilda, who in spite having still feared Sunset (Pre and Post reformation), thought they could still try to cause a raucous among the lowest of the universal high school food chain just because they can.

“What were you two talking about by the way?” came the voice that instantly cut off Twilight’s thinking, making the girl shake her head as she turned to the friendly face of Sunset.

“Uh, just…homework, I was helping with her assignments and I think I forgot one of our study sessions.” Twilight internally winced at the lie.

Why does she subject herself to this? Her friend was right there, and she could put a stop to all of it if Twilight would just say something but every time she decided to, a stubborn voice in her head kept telling her that she could still handle it.

She decided to change the subject as her eyes wandered around until it landed on her friend’s biker gloves. Odd.

“Uh Sunset? I think you forgot to take off your gloves.”

At that, the red haired girl’s expression morphed into a wince, like the reminder seemed to have physically pained her.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight instantly asked once she caught the pained look. Her heart started beating erratically. Did she say something offensive? Was there a new social faux pas about not mentioning one’s accessory blunder?

Sunset waved her gloved hand in a dismissive manner as she ran the other through her hair. She started towards the entrance and only looked back to reply, “It’s…something that I need all the girls to see. See you later at the music room on free period?”

Twilight automatically waved her hand in goodbye yet her brows furrowed in confusion at the last statement. She only got a shake of a head in response, barely catching the rest of Sunset’s mutter of ‘Can’t have the whole student body freaking out again.”

“Okay then, see you la-

The door closed with a dull thud.

-ter…” Twilight lamely ended, before she looked down and sighed.

---

Free period rolled by rather quick even for Twilight and it wasn’t because how she simply spent the whole time doodling tiny images of herself and a certain red haired girl after completing the tasks given to her by Ms. Harshwhinny.

When the bell rang signaling the end of her class, Twilight had finished decorating the wedding dresses on the caricatures and placed the finishing touches on the decors of the cathedral on the moon before promptly tearing the page she used out of her notebook and ripping it into tiny pieces that matched the remains of the organ that once resided her middle mediastinum.

Good news, it was 15% therapeutic just like the weirdly specific book that she borrowed from the library entitled ‘Got Your Heart Broken during, before, or after a Holiday Event?’ said. The bad news, she made a mess and was forced to be late to the meeting due to her inner neat freak that suddenly popped up and had her pick up every little scrap.

Still it helped that she ran as soon as she finished, almost bumping into a random student and nearly causing the janitor to spill his milkshake in the busy hallways but so what if she panted like a fish needing air when she arrived, looking red as the raised hand of Sunset Shimmer and on the brink of col-

“Huh?” Amethyst eyes zeroed in on the appendage, looking lost with her mouth agape.

“Yeah, hi to you too Twilight,” came Sunset’s wry reply, her other hand clasped tightly on Fluttershy’s who didn’t seize her gentle hand massage as she worriedly eyed the clawed hand.

“Darling, I-I don’t believe it…your hand…” Rarity spoke up, fanning herself as she gaped.

“Yes, you’re not hallucinating Rarity. It’s real, I can feel it too.” Sunset flexed her hand for emphasis before she grimaced. Fluttershy hugged the distraught girl.

Rainbow, from her perch on top of the grand piano, let out a nervous giggle turned wince. “Heh…you’re not going to go all ‘she-demon’ on us again, aren’t ya? Coz I didn’t like how we were almost incinerated the last time you went red and angry.”

At Rarity’s chiding to the athlete, Sunset can’t help let out a nervous quip in return. “G-glad to know seeing my claws could get you to use big words now.” The attempt to lighten the mood still fell short over the palpable tension in the room, one that not even Pinkie was sure nor know how to break.

Applejack tugged at her Stetson, a beat of sweat trailing down her forehead. “At least… you don’t seem frantic as much would expect from ya.”

A bitter chuckle was the farmer’s reply, “I kinda spent the whole moment from when I woke up to getting dressed screaming and quick-writing this to the princess.” A beat before Sunset added, “I don’t think she could understand my handwriting this time.”

“What did Celestia and Luna say then?” Rarity asked as she sat beside the fiery haired girl, missing the fleeting glare from possessive turquoise colored eyes, and ran a delicate finger over the claw before pulling back at the sudden heat. Fluttershy let out a squeak too and she let go of the hand she was massaging, as if burned.

“Oh My Gosh, are you two alright?!” Sunset shouted, eyebrows scrunched in surprise as she made to walk towards the two before stopping herself and deciding to simply cross her arms.

Seeing the normally confident girl hug herself in insecurity broke Twilight’s momentarily lapse in processing. Shaking her head, she adjusted her glasses with a light blush before switching on to serious mode.

“Is this Equestrian magic?” Then after going over to the dialogue that passed between her friends, the young scientist turned to the athlete, “and what did you mean by being ‘incinerated?’”

“Ah Sugarcube,” Applejack spoke up in RD’s bewildered place and scratched her head while Sunset murmured apologies to her two friends, “didn’t we already tell ya bout that?” At the girl’s head shake, the farmer continued, “You know, Fall Formal? Sunset the bully? Emotionally and sometimes physically attacked the students of CHS?”

Twilight finally remembered but she never heard anything about someone being incinerated or how a red clawed hand was involved. She wasn’t told about that part.

Seeing the confusion evident in the bespectacled girl’s face, Sunset stopped her profusely apologizing to her two friends and raised a brow. “I could have sworn I told you about my demon form already or sorta…implied it?” she said, dropping her arms as she fully turned her attention to the prominently blushing nerd.

At that, Twilight did remember something of the sort and maybe the reason that she couldn’t recall it as of this moment was perhaps due to the fact that, at the time when she was being explained to, she was too busy staring into brilliant cyan eyes and admiring the way the light seemed to be in the perfect angle enough to make Sunset’s hair shine- and she did it again. Oh poo.

“Right sorry, slipped my mind…it’s just…”Twilight wracked her brain for a proper response, “the bully part I can get but it’s hard to think of you like some sort of demon considering what you’ve done so much for the school ever since.”

Twilight was lucky that the rest of her friends, sans the couple, seemed to have an idea about the real reason and just decided to keep quiet about that.

Pinkie, popping up with a set of safety gear, appeared beside the shocked bespectacled girl as she leaned against the other’s shoulder in deep thought.

“Huh, guess it seemed a bit unbelievable when you point it out like that,” the party planner said before she smiled and squished Twilight’s cheeks. “Don’t worry though because I have faith that Sunny bunny ain’t gonna be that meanie demon-y bully no more!” The pink haired girl then turned to said former bully, narrowing her eyes along with a tongue out as she poked the clawed hand, “You aren’t, right? Coz I don’t think we have a spare rainbow friendship laser in case you turned mean again.”

Pinkie Pie merely grinned at the small frown aimed her way (courtesy of the resident animal caretaker) before she backed away with an innocent smile. “What? You never know!”

Applejack shook her head with a sigh, “So much for ‘faith’ Pinkie.”

It was silent in the music room for a moment before the farmer spoke up again, pushing down her Stetson as she gazed at her downtrodden friend. “Chin up Sugarcube, why don’t you have Fluttershy write to the princess in your stead while I’ll get ya some cider.”

“Oh, me too!” Rainbow called out, adding the unnecessary loud volume in an attempt to lighten the tense atmosphere. The athlete got a discrete nod in thanks from the apple girl.

Applejack clapped her hands together. “Alright, anyone else?” she asked her friends.

“Just a milkshake for me!” Pinkie squeaked before plopping down on top of the piano, specifically on top of her friend’s legs, and merely adopted an innocent grin amidst the glare from the athlete.

Rarity glanced around her, biting her lip before making up her mind, and walked over to the farmer. “I believe I shall accompany you dear Applejack. While ciders and a milkshake do sound nice, I think I would prefer something else.” At the shrug in response to her statement, Rarity turned to the silent purple girl. “Twilight, dear, would you like to join us?”

Do you need time to process this? Will you be okay while we’re gone? The silent message conveyed.

“I’m good, thank you,” and Twilight meant it. While she appreciated her friends’ concerns and wholeheartedly touched by their care, she still would like to at least try to stomach being in the presence of the couple for long.

After all, broken heart or not, she still valued their friendships.

When the two oldest members of their group left, Twilight focused her attention back to the conversation with her mouth thinned to a firm line. Why did Sunset’s hand shifted into that? Twilight went over the fleeting bits of information she gathered in her head but she came up with nothing.

Just as the young genius was about to offer a science experiment session, Rainbow Dash piped up and waved a hesitant hand towards the downtrodden Sunset.

“Seriously though, do we need to freak out about this?”

The minute the statement was uttered, Fluttershy snapped the magical journal shut and glared at the athlete. This action drew startled looks from both the party planner and the prismatic haired girl, and even Twilight for that matter, before Fluttershy spoke up in a chiding tone, “That’s enough out of you two. Can’t you already see this is upsetting her?”

Rainbow Dash, ever the one to quickly recover from a scolding, raised her hands in defense. “Yeah alright Shy but you can’t blame us for being too paranoid right?” She sat up to fully look at the annoyed animal caretaker. “I mean, all past battles aside, the last time we handled Demon Shimmer we had a fireball hurled directly at us,” then Rainbow added with a whispered, “without even a hint of us knowing if we can fight back at that time… or survive.”

Pinkie nodded her head, surprising Twilight as she observed the usually cheery demeanor being replaced with a somber look the moment the party planner’s smile drop. Pinkie continued Rainbow’s thought. “We never actually had a villain who really terrified us, except Sunset.” Losing a bit of her hair’s puffiness, Pinkie stared at Fluttershy with furrowed brows. “If it weren’t for Princess Twilight’s magic…”

The statement trailed off, yet it didn’t need to be finished in order for them to understand.

Twilight bit her lip, suddenly thrown into a new perspective. She never heard this part before. All the bespectacled girl was told was how Sunset became a bully and that she was responsible for ruining friendships in CHS but this…Twilight shook her head as she banished unflattering thoughts.

Adjusting her glances, she spoke up while promptly ignoring her nervousness as all pairs of eyes were now on her. “Excuse me, sorry. While I’m finding all of this generally new information, I don’t think that talking about what happened is going to solve the mystery on why it’s happening again.” She gulped as her four friends remained silent, so she stammered, “I-I’m not s-saying that what you’re talking about is irrelevant or invalid but I think this on-going conversation is doing more harm than good.”

Building up her courage to the maximum limit, Twilight addressed the former bully directly. “Sunset, do you feel anything else out of place? Like a sudden need to hurt people or ruin friendships?” Brain catching up to what she just said, the purple girl bit her lip as an erratic thought came in to mind; was she too blunt?! Did she cross a line?! Was that too crass?!

Before another mental panic started to stir in the purple girl, Sunset finally looked up with a small smile and that action sent another wave of butterflies in Twilight’s stomach.

“Oh my stars! Why did Sunset have to be more radiant when she smiles?”

Luckily no one noticed the resident nerd discretely performing breathing exercises as Pinkie, RD, and Fluttershy’s attention were on the fiery haired girl, with the latter immediately going over to Sunset’s side in a gesture of comfort.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry that was greatly insensitive of me,” the yellow skinned girl began as she hugged her girlfriend, “I forgot how affected you’re about all of this too.” Rainbow and Pinkie offered their apologies as well, expressions of shame evident in their features but Sunset told them she was fine and it was okay.

“You both are right to be suspicious a-and scared, no worries you guys,” Sunset said with an easy hand wave and promptly ignored another string of apologies before she stood up and gave her two friends a hug, “but to answer Twi’s question, no.”

Flexing her crimson clawed hand, Sunset bit her lip before she shook her head. “Yeah I can tell. I bet this is just a physical transformation, so while I’ll probably look like my demon form I won’t act like my old personality again.”

“At least I hope so.”

Sunset sighed as another idea occurred to her, “It’s not the geode either but I’m not confident enough to wear it while I’m like this.” Another deep breath before she rubbed a hand to her face, “Partially I’m also to blame for bringing up a bad memory for you guys. I’m sorry.”

Breathing now under control, Twilight watched with a small smile as her friends hugged once more until the tension was lifted. She was glad that was settled but her curious nature seemed to fuel her courage today, making Twilight speak up with a serious, “We’re still not sure how that started in the first place.”

Getting her friends’ attention, Twilight began tapping her chin as she went over to the whiteboard resting on the side and started making a chart.

“I’m not fully counting the geodes out but until we can learn more about them I guess we can cross them out for the mean time.” Twilight drew a half-hearted attempt of Sunset’s jewelry then drew a large ‘x’ over it.

“You said you woke up with your transformation already, was there anything you did prior to that? Maybe you ate something or made contact with something that has Equestrian magic from last night?” Her guess may be a shot in the dark but ever since making contact with magic itself, she knew that it was starting to be the central cause of everything they’ve encountered.

Sunset scratched her head in thought, looking up as she tried to recall anything of the sort but ultimately coming up empty. She shook her head at her scientist friend, “Sorry, I didn’t do anything outside my regular routine.”

Twilight then raised her brow at Pinkie and Rainbow’s sudden snickering when they caught sight of the couple’s sudden blushing. “Well, aside from a…personal activity last night but I-I’m certain i-it had nothing to do with my current problem,” Sunset stammered as Fluttershy hid her giggling face on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

Having finally decode Sunset’s meaning thanks to the resident pranksters of their group’s outburst of laughter, Twilight turned back to the board while she promptly ignored the simultaneous rush of embarrassment, jealousy, and sadness in her and proceeded to put down an ‘x’ on the chart albeit more force than needed.

“Well, what about the days or weeks before?” The young genius asked with a faint blush on her cheeks as she walked to the side and began jotting down another series of symbols and figures. “I’ve been monitoring the patterns on when we run into Equestrian magic as a side project and while my guess is on a smidge on the random scale, I conclude that our encounters occur on an interval of a week to a month.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses as she summoned the courage to face her friends again, “Statistically speaking of course. I’m still working on it since I just started doing them some days after New Year’s Eve.”

“’A side project’, you didn’t tell me about that,” Sunset said with a raised brow. Rainbow and Pinkie turned to the nerd as well, questions in their eyes.

Having spent the past few days making sure Twilight slowly but surely reached the acceptance stage of heartbreak, Pinkie and Rainbow personally knew that their friend couldn’t possibly find the time to do that in the day because those were the times she had spent with them. To be able to do this side project, that would imply that Twilight spent the past nights working on it in the last few weeks.

With that in mind, cerulean and cerise colored eyes respectively gazed at nervous amethyst ones in concern as they conveyed a silent message of ‘We need to talk about that.’ The party being aimed with the worry silently responded a sheepish ‘Later.’

“I didn’t have the time,” Twilight evenly replied to the fiery haired girl’s query and was it just her or did Fluttershy glare at her?

Shaking her head, Twilight continued as she pointed to a symbol of a dual-colored sun at the center of multiple pointed arrows. “Anyway, so with no definite reasons I think it would be fair that we investigate what Sunset did for the past few weeks and maybe these coming days as well, just to be on the safe side.”

A blue hand was raised to which Twilight amusingly nodded to the athlete. Rainbow snickered, “So basically, we’re just gonna stalk Sunset?”

Pinkie appeared from behind the whiteboard, donned head to toe with camouflage gear before she squinted left to right. “Keeping an eye on Sunny Bunny? Count me in!”

This action drew small smiles among the teens… except one.

“Um, I would like to decline.”

As all pairs of eyes were on her, Fluttershy didn’t even flinch as she continued with her gaze like steel on the scientist, “It just feels excessive for me.”

Sunset tilted her head, unintentionally causing two hearts in the room to flutter from the cuteness of the action. “Why not, babe? I think this could be a great idea for us to solve this thing.” A clawed finger then tapped on the leather book, “Beats having to wait for a reply from the Princess too. Last I heard, she still had her hooves full due to some messed up student.” Her grin fell when Fluttershy adamantly shook her head.

“No, Sunset. Just, no.”

Twilight awkwardly stood to the side. W-was this a lover’s spat? Were they really arguing here of all places? The scientist shifted one foot to the other before she decided to walk over to stand next to the athlete, observing the couple’s quarrel on going in front of them with a hint of unease burning in her chest. Twilight couldn’t honestly tell if she was just jealous or… something else.

Pinkie Pie appeared next to her, munching on some popcorn before offering the bowl to the startled bespectacled girl.

“No thanks,” was the muttered reply as amethyst eyes zoned in on the pouting Sunset and cross-armed Fluttershy. Something about the fighting couple stirred a sudden pang in Twilight’s heart, along with a fleeting image of a certain green haired ex that pop into her mind before she forced it out of her head.

Twilight decided it was just simply jealousy.

Minutes passed with nothing but the sound of a soft voice spewing retorts along with another stronger voice offering counter comebacks. All three on-looking members of the Rainbooms were just thankful that Rarity and Applejack came back bearing drinks and some snacks, effectively silencing the previously arguing twosome.

Once the two settled Twilight restated what they had surmised to the new arrivals, with no short amount of interjection from Fluttershy’s side, and waited for their response.

Hand under her chin, Rarity asked one thing on her mind.

“Will I get to design our camouflage outfits!?”

Aside from the starry eyed look on the fashion designer’s face, Applejack added her two cents with a frown.

“Ain’t that a bit too much though?”

Sunset, opting to ignore the pleased look on her girlfriend for the time being, gladly defended the idea. Twilight may have internally swooned even if Sunset wasn’t exactly fighting for her but a girl can fantasize can’t she?

“Note to self, invest in a Sunset Jar right now. Every time I react to or do anything, uh, hindering me from moving on I’ll place a fiver in the jar.” Twilight thought with determination, pleased with her idea. That way, she could have a budget for her new lab equipment while simultaneously on the process of recovering from heartache.

“I get that it might seem that way but for now it’s our best lead,” then the fiery haired girl added with a hopeful look (Twilight belatedly noted the Sunset Jar will very much put a sizable dent in her savings),“It could even lessen the chances of things going south from here.”

Hand scratching on freckled cheeks, Applejack stared at desperate cyan eyes before she shook her head. “Sugarcube, I understand where you’re coming from and I can sympathize with the fear and all but it’s like you have little ole’ faith in yourself.” A firm hand clasped on Sunset’s shoulder, “I highly doubt you’ll go all ‘she-demon’ on us again and terrorize the whole school.”

“But-

“But nothing Sunset,” Applejack cut the other girl off, “You’ve come a long way and none of us are dunce enough to think you’re just gonna throw it all away for the heck of it.”

“Except in a holiday special comic!” Pinkie chimed in but the other Rainbooms chose to ignore that when it didn’t make sense to them.

Applejack shook her head before ruffling the contemplating girl’s head with a sisterly chuckle. “You’re a smart girl Sunset, might want to use that brain now if I were you.”

“Wait, so does that mean no more camouflage outfits?” Rarity interjected, stopping mid sketch on her designs before she blushed under the scrutiny of her friends. “What? I got inspired the moment I heard the idea.” The purple haired girl then stood up, smoothening out the wrinkles in her skirt, and went over to hug her friend. “Oh but AJ’s right darling, you simply need to have faith in yourself.”

Fluttershy followed after, squirming until she was the one directly hugging her girlfriend as she said, “You’re not the person you were before.”

Pinkie squeed and took the athlete and startled scientist by their hands before she glomped on her friends with a yell of ‘Group hug!’ followed by enveloping them into said embrace.

Feeling warmth in her chest and even being squeezed a bit uncomfortably, Twilight sighed in contentment. First hand experiencing the fruits of friendship, Twilight knew she would gladly have her heart broken as many times as it could so long as the smiles of the important people in her life remained.

---

Reconvening in the cafeteria at lunch, the Rainbooms sans Sunset (who decided to visit her mother to tell her about the ‘situation’) settled to not discuss their situation for the time being as they opted not to put a damper on the happy atmosphere in the lunch room.

With the voices of her friends turning to background noise, Twilight checked her phone for a few seconds then towards the double doors of the cafeteria. After a minute with no sight of a single strand of red hair passing through, Twilight glanced down on her device again. She probably did that a few more times but who was going to notice?

“You okay there Twi?” Applejack’s whisper cut in, interrupting her actions.

Apparently, an observant farmer would.

The bespectacled girl sheepishly smiled at the amused face of her friend. Twirling a lock of her purple hair Twilight settled for a nod, pocketed her device, and went back to focusing on the conversation around their table while dutifully ignoring the tickled look aimed her way. She was simply concerned for her friend, nothing more.

Twilight knew it was a lie that she kept telling herself since she started waiting for Sunset to arrive and she knew that her friend knew too but she had good reason to. Lunch period was nearly over and the fiery haired girl was still nowhere to be seen. It shouldn’t have taken Sunset the entire period to tell her mom about her situation.

Rarity, ever the keen observer when it came to juicy details, merely exchanged a silent conversation with the young genius before she flipped her hair in response to their athletic friend’s latest rant about the topic of conversation.

“Really Rainbow Dash,” Rarity began as Twilight saw the beginning signs of an admonishment, “must you really take those comments to heart?”

Twilight, now at a loss to the discussion, raised a brow. “Come again?”

She was at least glad no one brought up how she wasn’t focusing on the chatter before. The perks of a Rainbow Dash being all too pleased to repeat herself, the young genius guessed.

“The comments about our group, you know the band you’re in Sci-Twi?” The athlete ignored the glare she got from the use of the nickname as she continued, “Those people practically came up with the stupidest thing I heard since Pinkie’s ‘bunk couch’ idea.”

Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed. Just how long was she staring at her phone and the cafeteria doors?

Applejack luckily beat Twilight’s query first with a defeated, “Remember PP Rule # 1? ‘Just don’t ask.’” Twilight slowly nodded as Rarity scoffed at the prankster duo’s snickering.

Pinkie snorted. “‘PP’,” she giggled and then bumped fists with a chuckling Rainbow.

Not getting it and not even wanting to get it, judging from Rarity’s scolding of the two, the bespectacled girl turned back to the conversation at hand. “Okay so what did they say?”

“And more importantly,” Rarity interjected as she shot the soccer player a look that reminded Twilight of her mother scolding her when she accidentally poured chemicals on the carpet, “shouldn’t you be ignoring the comment section like I told you?”

A shrug answered the fashionista.

“So I got curious,” the prismatic haired girl defended, “I keep getting notifications on MyStable. Who just ignores the comment sections anyway?” RD’s genuine question incited a small face palm followed by a muffled ‘never mind.’

The athlete shrugged once again before turning to Twilight. “Anyway, I was just ranting about how these people think you’re the leader of our group,” Rainbow then added with a wry chuckle, “or Sunset.”

Pinkie Pie took out a cookie from her hair and munched on it in thought. “Well, technically they kinda are?”

“Argh, not you too!” RD groaned as she stared at the party planner in disbelief.

Applejack finished her apple cider before she regarded her friend with an exasperated look along with a deadpanned, “Does it really matter?”

Fluttershy, having finished sending her girlfriend a photo of a cute chipmunk and a text asking the other’s whereabouts, finally turned her full attention to her friends just as Rainbow Dash uttered a retort of “Heck yeah it matters!”

The prismatic haired girl then gestured towards the others. “Like why not think you’re the leader, or Fluttershy, or Pinkie, or Rarity?”

Applejack seemed genuinely impressed at what she heard. “Shucks RD, that’s probably the least egocent-

“Or, heck, even me? I’m, like, the most suitable candidate to be leader among us five too!”

-never mind.” The farmer sighed as she covered her face with her Stetson. “I’m gonna stay quiet now.”

The animal lover glanced around, confused to what just happened, while Rainbow continued with a cry of “Look at this!” and a blue finger pointed at the series of words from different people.

Fluttershy, being unfortunately seated next to the athlete, nearly got her vision assaulted with tiny characters due to the proximity of the device. Tilting her head a bit back, turquoise eyes squinted as she read each comment.

She knitted her brows afterwards.

While she did not feel strongly like her sporty friend, she can understand what Rainbow was trying to communicate. From what she read, it does feel like some of their talents were being devalued in favor of being instructed by the Rainbooms’ ‘leader.’

“Do we even have a leader?” Pinkie Pie piped in, licking her frosting covered hand as she asked around the table. No one commented on their friend’s sudden icing coated hand.

Rarity, after offering some tissues for Pinkie to use, tapped her chin in thought. “Now that you mentioned it Darling, I’m afraid we have not nor even came to thinking about officially appointing one of our own as our frontrunner.” Then her expression lit up at the idea. “Being the leader does sound appealing,” she murmured as her mind began conjuring multiple headlines of the Rainbooms led by the ‘Elegant Rarity’ and being awarded recognition for guiding the band to numerous victories and to being possible fashion icons.

“Looks like we lost her folks,” Pinkie quipped as she waved a hand up and down in front of Rarity’s glazed expression. Rainbow Dash snickered before sipping on her juice box as she addressed Twilight, who was quiet throughout the exchange.

“What do you think egghead?” the athlete asked but furrowed her brows in annoyance as the nerd looked up from her phone with a detached ‘huh?’

Shaking her head at Twilight, Rainbow was about to repeat everything she just said when the cafeteria doors opened.

Every student seemed to fall silent once the figure strolled in with a disciplined swagger. Like a general surveying her troops, the person with the spiky red hair entered the area with her turquoise eyes sweeping over to each confused teenager.

Various students began murmuring amongst themselves.

“Who’s that?”

“Whoa check out her suit.”

“Yeesh I feel like I’m back in the boarding academy.”

One by one they whispered before a strong clap seemed to echo inside the cafeteria.

“Greetings everyone,” the adult began as she walked forward, hands now firmly clasped behind her along with a rigid posture. With her chin held high, she passed each table as the mumbles were silenced once her gaze fleeted across the room.

She continued over the hush, “I am your new guidance counselor, Ms. Fizz. Should any personal issues and concerns befall you, you have no reason to hesitate to seek me out.” A dark purple hand was raised in front of her heart, as if swearing an oath. “I am here to personally help and guide you in behalf of the organization I was trained from and I will gladly do my best to assist you in your troubles.” Her hand then rose to list each topic she said, “Be they romantic, mental, physical, or even sexual; I am willing to listen and offer advice.”

Stopping just short at the center of the room, she circled around as she added, “However, being a listener is not the limit to my job. I am also in charge with discipline and assisting in various events in this school.” Then she brought both hands into view along with the clipboard she’d kept hidden from view.

Twilight uneasily eyed the insignia etched on the back of the object.

“That said, I am pleased to announce this year’s task; the Canterlot Float Parade.” Ms. Fizz allowed the excited chatter to resume for a moment until she raised a hand to quiet them. “Yes. The educational board has finally accepted CHS’s entry to joining this annual event and your Principal has tasked me to supervise.”

The Rainbooms, being seated just a few tables near the adult, saw the hint of a smile before it vanished as the guidance counselor with the stoic demeanor continued, “With that, I have personally surveyed each student’s strengths and weaknesses which will be relevant to your groupings.”

The muffled voices seemed to rise in volume but before it could increase into an uproar, the guidance counselor raised another hand. “Please, allow me to finish. This policy does not aim to break you up nor cause any disharmony.”

“That’s not an ominous sentence,” Applejack muttered once she eyed the newcomer. Rarity nodded her head yet there was hesitation in her action as she added, “Though she has an exquisite sense of style. I think I could design a whole new line of power suits based from her look.”

“This new rule will ensure that everyone has a fair and equal chance of winning.”

Rainbow Dash quietly snorted. “I bet twenty bucks she’s the villain with an equality shtick.”

Pinkie mischievously grinned, a curl of pink hair lightly shuddering. “You’re on.”

Turquoise eyes seemed to pierce through the table where the Rainbooms were seated, briefly silencing the conversation of the teens as the adult stated with a swept of her hand along with a cool smile, “Friendly games and competitions are good and all but still they are events where the participants compete and could win.”

The newcomer cleared her throat before continuing, “I have personally arranged these teams so that each member can give what the other lacks and vice versa. Your team mates are your team mates because together, your group has the potential of creating something beyond what you can do on your own. You were grouped because each of you has strengths that can accommodate the other’s weakness.”

The mask of stoicism slowly faded, briefly shocking the student body before they became at ease once the counselor genuinely smiled and it was fueled more by the following statement of “In theory, I’m confident this can make the Canterlot Float Parade one to be remembered throughout the ages.”

Amidst the cheers and pumped-up competitive spirits, Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. Just why did this person feel…dangerous to her? More evident by the sincerity than the previous cold-attachment that the adult displayed. She eyed her friends and they seemed to think the same thing.

Oblivious to the silent exchanges, Ms. Fizz nodded once she was finished and then began stating the names of the students while directing them towards the tables to be organized into teams of five with a friendly smile.

“Five?” Twilight murmured with a hint of nervousness as she watched Bulk Biceps, Micro Chips, and the CMCs shuffle to a table. She could witness some students’ high-fiving each other and even giving out waves of greeting as they met their team mates.

A firm hand clapped the purple girl on the back, nearly knocking her glasses off her face from the impact before Applejack’s accent-laden voice took to a soothing tone, “No worries Twi. I’m sure you’ll be saddled with one of us even if it’s fixed like an apple on caramel.” The farmer chuckled as she rested back on her chair, “Villain or no, it ain’t that easy to split us up now after everything we’ve been through.”

“I agree,” Rarity nodded with a smile, “and just like Ms. Fizz said, we are grouped according to our skills and shortcomings that will compliment and accommodate one another. The Rainbooms might be the pioneers of friendship but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re always in equilibrium.”

“True that and no offense to you guys but none can seriously match my awesomeness,” Rainbow Dash gloated with a pleased grin, making the two oldest girls in the group to roll their eyes.

“I don’t think so. Trixie can at least give you a run for your money in the ego department,” Pinkie cheekily said, drawing brief chuckles around the table which was spurred on more with Fluttershy sagely nodding beside the fuming athlete.

Twilight smiled at the assurances-

“’Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy’, Table 5.”

-before it promptly dropped dead at the announcement, along with the jaws of her friends.

Author's Note:

Savings in the Sunset Jar: 15