8. Complete Mayhem [FINAL]
“Alright, Sunshim, you’ve been hangin’ out with us for two weeks now.” Applejack said. “That means it’s time for yer initiation!”
Sunset Shimmer looked up from the guitar she was trying to play with a raised eyebrow. “You didn’t say anything about initiation.”
“Well, I’m makin’ it up right now ‘cause I’m seein’ yer bare arm and I couldn’t help but notice yer skin is lookin’ a tad… Well, bare!”
Sunset Shimmer then looked down at her bare arms; she changed her wardrobe in the last few days, and now wore black ankle boots, a violet miniskirt, an open leather vest and an orange t-shirt with her cutie mark on the chest.
“What about my skin?”
“One of the rules in CA is that students are forbidden from gettin’ tattoos, so once Diane and I got out we decided to go get ourselves some. Y’know, to show that we were done with those rattlesnakes for good.”
Applejack lifted her shirt, showing off a trio of red apples tattooed on the right side of her midriff. Diane took off her hoodie and turned around before removing her shirt to show the blue and yellow balloons tattooed on her left shoulder blade.
“So, whaddaya say? I’ll pay for it and everythin’!”
Sunset Shimmer’s eyes darted from the apples to the balloons. After pondering for couple of seconds she put down the guitar and got up.
“Fuck it, I’m in!”
Diane and Applejack sat on an old couch in front of a trailer in the park; the place had a wooden plank with “tattoo” written on it nailed to its side and a red and blue neon sign that spelled “open” in one of the windows. The muffled sounds of hard rock became more audible once the door swung open and Sunset Shimmer stepped outside with plastic wrapped around her upper left arm.
“So, how’d it go?” Applejack asked, sounding very excited.
“I’ll admit, I thought this place looked sketchy.” Sunset Shimmer said as she looked down at her wrapped arm. “But it’s surprisingly clean on the inside, and that guy did a really good job.”
“What did you get?” Diane asked as the two girls approached the bicolor-haired girl.
Sunset Shimmer presented her arm and lifted her sleeve so the girls could see the red and yellow sun the tattoo artist had drawn on her.
Applejack chuckled. “On yer clothes, yer skateboard and now on yer flesh; yer really attached to that sun, ain’tcha?”
“It’s… Very special to me, yeah.”
“What’s the story behind it?” Diane asked.
“Maybe I’ll share it with you one day.”
So far, Sunset Shimmer had nothing to complain about her new life; she worked at a retail store in town, but also as a tutor on her free time after realizing she had a talent for it when she helped Apple Bloom ace a math test, a class the young girl had always struggled with. She had a roof over her head and the living conditions were much better than her old dorm in Canterlot Academy, even though the neighborhood wasn’t the best. She had met people who cared for her, and she – to her own surprise – cared for as well.
Even though her friends from CA hadn’t contacted her since the day she was expelled, she was ok with her current situation. Heck, this was the closest to happy she had been since she crossed the portal! She spent days not thinking about the plan she had in mind when she first left Equestria, and when she eventually thought about it she wouldn’t dwell on it for more than a few moments. Things had changed, she wasn’t that person anymore. After experiencing true friendship for the first time in her life, the void she felt inside her since long before becoming Princess Celestia’s prized pupil didn’t bother her as much; sometimes it was like it wasn’t even there anymore.
And then someone knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it!” Applejack said from the kitchen, leaving Sunset to practice with the Apple girl’s guitar in peace; she was making steady progress with it and could already play a couple of songs flawlessly.
She stopped playing and went downstairs as soon as she heard shouting.
“You people ain’t welcome in here, now turn around and leave us alone before I make you!” Applejack’s protests could probably be heard all over the neighborhood.
“Please, I just need to talk to her and I’ll leave, promise.” The voice of the person Applejack was arguing with sounded very familiar.
“Yer promises ain’t worth nothin’, now get out!”
“Who is it?” Sunset asked as she walked downstairs.
“Nobody, she’s just leavin’.”
“Sunset, please, I need your help!” The girl outside begged. Applejack stepped out of the way when Sunset Shimmer approached, revealing a blonde girl with ash skin and golden eyes – eye, singular; her lazy eye was closed, black and swollen.
“Derpy! It’s ok, Applejack, she’s a friend.”
“No, she ain’t! She’s still CA, ya can’t show mercy to any of ‘em or all the others will feel entitled to the same treatment. If yer gonna talk, then yer not doin’ it here!”
Sunset nodded and stepped out of the house. Applejack slammed it closed immediately afterwards. She then guided Derpy to a nearby bench, helping her once she realized the Canterlot Academy girl was limping.
“What happened to you? And why are you here?”
“Both have the same answer, actually. All hell broke loose in school, everyone has gone crazy, their leaders included. They turned Canterlot Academy into a team deathmatch!”
“What? Why? How did this happen?”
“No idea! I woke up and everything had already gone straight to hell on a muffin basket. I tried headbutting a couple of them to make them stop, but it’s kinda hard to when you have two people holding you back while a third is wailing on you. Whatever caused the outbreak, it happened before I woke up.”
“And when was that?”
“Um… Eleven-thirty? It’s Saturday, I wanted to sleep in!”
“Whatever it was, it didn’t affect you because you were sleeping. Anyone else?”
“Not that I know of. Far as I can tell, I’m the only student who hasn’t lost her mind.”
Sunset Shimmer rubbed her chin for a few seconds, deep in thought.
“I’m going back there!” She said, standing up. “Everything was fine when Celestia kicked me out; all the clique leaders were getting along and everyone else was being more or less nice to each other. I united this place, but someone ruined every--” She scowled and let out a quiet growl. “Adagio Dazzle! I bet she’s behind this.”
“So what, it’s just the two of us versus the school?”
“Make that three.” The sudden monotone voice coming from behind caused Sunset Shimmer to jump.
“Fucking hell, what’s up with you Pies and sneaking up on people?!” The pony girl shouted before realizing who it was. “Maud! You’re not a violent crazed lunatic either.”
She shook her head. “I left early to collect rocks for my geography project.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a medium-sized rock. “I found this magnesium-rich basalt. I named him Boulder.” She stuffed Boulder back in her pocket. “When I got back everyone was fighting. I tried getting their attention to make everyone calm down, but they ignored my words and tried to attack me. I ran and came looking for you; we worked together well last time we fought off a crowd together, so I was hoping we could do it again.”
“Three is better than two!” Derpy chimed in with a smile.
“But what about more than three?” Sunset Shimmer asked.
“No! No way in Sam Hill!” Applejack, who stood in front of the open door, denied with her arms crossed while shaking her head.
“Applejack, please!” Sunset pleaded. “Innocents are getting hurt.”
“First, there are no innocents in that prison. Second, I’m so darn happy they are beatin’ the devil outta each other, I almost feel like drivin’ up there myself just to watch. And third, I’m done with that place, whatever happens in CA is none of my doggone business.”
“Is Pinkie there?” Maud asked, changing the subject.
“There ain’t no Pinkie here no more, she goes by Diane now. And why am I tellin’ you this? Family or not, yer still CA!”
“Hey, Maud.” Diane said, pushing Applejack aside so she could get out of the house.
They looked at each other for a moment, in complete silent and looking uninterested, but Maud still pulled her into a hug – even if they didn’t look like they were happy to see each other, they still felt that way.
“Mom, dad and our sisters are worried about you.” She said. “When are you coming back home?”
“I can’t come back. Not after what happened. I can’t face them, let alone look them in the eyes, they’re probably ashamed of having me as their daughter.”
“They are not, Pinkie. They miss you and want you to come back home. All they want is an explanation.”
“They won’t believe me. Nobody does.”
“I will. Tell me what happened and I’ll make them believe.” Diane sighed as Maud let go of her. “I just want our family to be united again.”
“I… I’d like that, too. I miss you and think about them every day.” Diane took a deep breath. “Ok, but first let’s end that riot in school, then we’ll talk.” She turned around to look at Applejack. “You’re coming with?”
Applejack turned around and went back inside. “Do what y’all want, but leave me outta this!” She slammed the door closed.
“Well, four is still better than two.” Derpy said.
“Silver lining.” Sunset complemented.
Together, the four girls marched towards Canterlot Academy.
“Dammit, this one is locked too!” Sunset Shimmer said once she failed to open the gate that led to the parking lot; they had tried the front gate first, but it was locked as well.
“Maybe I can break the lock with a good headbutt.” Derpy offered, already lowering her head and getting ready to charge.
“It’s solid metal, Derpy, the best you’re going to accomplish is a concussion!”
“Oh…”
The quartet was startled be the sound of a horn honking; they turned around and saw a red pickup truck parked behind them. The window was lowered and Applejack leaned out.
“Y’all need help with that?”
“Applejack? I thought you didn’t want to come.” Diane said.
“Yeah, and I still don’t wanna be here, but y’all do; we rejects are ‘sposed to have each other’s back. If I turned a blind eye when y’all need me, how does that make me any better than the people in there? Now move, I’m takin’ care of that gate!”
The four girls glanced at each other as Applejack maneuvered the truck so that it was facing the gate. They scrambled to move out of the way as the southern girl stomped on the accelerator.
“YEE-HAW!” Applejack shouted as her pickup smashed through the gate. The other four rushed inside, catching up with Applejack as she parked her truck right in the middle of the parking lot. She opened the door and jumped out, cracking her knuckles. “Where to?”
“First, we look for the leaders.” Sunset Shimmer instructed as she watched a vagrant chasing a prep around with a wooden ruler and a nerd fending off a jock with a slingshot. “Their lackeys will listen to them, so if we get them to listen to us we can put an end to this madness.”
“I saw Twilight go into the gym earlier.” Derpy said. “We can start there!”
The Equestrian nodded and the five girls ran straight to the gymnasium, avoiding fights when necessary but not afraid to get their hands dirty if someone got too close to their strike team.
The group saw a cloud of smoke coming out of the windows of the gym, but this time it wasn’t the building that was on fire; Twilight Sparkle and Moondancer had gathered a bunch of sports equipment, jerseys and even the costume of the school mascot, a yellow anthropomorphic horse with blue mane and tail, into a pile and set it on fire. They were holding hands and dancing around the bonfire and chanting in a language no one recognized.
“What the hell is going on here?!” Sunset asked with her hands on her hips.
“We are summoning Ug-Qualtoth!” Moondancer said, her voice filled with glee.
“If he accepts the most prized possessions of our enemies as tribute, he will bring forth justice and set them ablaze!” Twilight explained, equally gleeful. “No more bullying, no more thugs, no more violence, Canterlot Academy will be paradise!”
“Have you two gone mad? We had already solved this problem; everyone was on good terms until whatever caused this riot happened. Now put out that fire before it spreads!”
“No, you're the one who’s mad!” Twilight shot back. “As long as we’re all different people from different cliques with different likes and different goals we’ll all butt heads, disagree and fight. If we can’t compromise, then we will conquer! Come forth, Ug-Qualtoth!”
Sunset Shimmer huffed and stomped towards the fire extinguisher by the stairs, but Twilight blocked her path, holding a burning mop.
“Not another step! We want to spare you, given that you played a vital role in the downfall of our opposition and aided my ascension to power, but if you defy us and attempt to thwart our plans, we will not give you another chance.”
Now that she was closer, Sunset Shimmer could see that her normally purple eyes were now an ominous shade of bright green, glowing eerily.
“Wha’s up with your eyes?”
“Don’t deflect the subject! Will you join us or be purified by the flames of our savior?”
“You two are crazy. Out of my way!”
“Then so be it.” Twilight Sparkle swung her makeshift torch at her, but Sunset Shimmer managed to dodge.
“What the fuck!”
“I warned you.”
Twilight kept on attacking while Sunset Shimmer kept on dodging. Eventually the girl in leather grabbed the handle of the burning mop and, after a struggle, she managed to disarm her and throw the weapon back in the bonfire.
The president of the student council let out what could be described as a war cry before body-slamming Sunset to the ground. She straddled the former student and attempted to punch her, but her opponent managed to grab both her wrists and push her off. After getting up, Sunset Shimmer twisted Twilight’s arms behind her back.
"You’re not a fighter, Twilight, now quit it before you get hurt.”
“Never! This is the will of Ug-Qualtoth!”
Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes before striking the leader of the nerds in the back of the neck; Twilight Sparkle fell to the ground, disoriented and only semi-conscious.
“Twilight, no!” Moondancer shouted, unable to help her beloved because of Applejack, who was holding her in a full nelson.
Sunset crouched and tapped the defeated girl on the cheek. “So, will you drop this ‘Oogie-whatever’ talk now or do I have to knock you out for good?”
“Uuuuuugh…” Twilight moaned in pain, trying to get back up. “Why did you do that?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
Twilight turned around, lying on her back and staring at the ceiling; the glowing green eyes were purple once again. “Why are we on the gym?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I think I hit her a little too hard.”
“I smell smoke. Is something burning?”
Applejack let go of Moondancer so she could run to the stairs and retrieve the fire extinguisher. The now free girl ran to Twilight’s side, kneeling next to her and holding her hand.
“Moondancer, why are we here?”
“You asked for my help to summon Ug-Qualtoth.”
Twilight giggled and patted Moondancer’s cheek. “Don’t be silly! He’s an Ogres & Oubliettes character, Ug-Qualtoth isn’t real.”
Sunset Shimmer got up, leaving the two nerdy girls alone. She joined Applejack, who had just finished putting out the bonfire.
“Somethin’ ain’t right.” Applejack said, wiping her sweaty brow. “Did ya see her eyes? It’s like she was possessed or somethin’! I know I said this school is the spawn of Satan, I just didn’t expect the people here to be actually dealin’ with Satan!”
“That wasn’t Satan.” Sunset Shimmer said. “I think… I think that was magic!”
“So, Trixie is behind this?”
“No, I’m not talking about party tricks or smoke and mirrors; I mean actual magic!”
Applejack crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Say what?”
“You know what, forget it! Nobody would understand anyway, let’s just focus on the mission.” She pointed her finger at Moondancer. “You! You weren’t mindfucked like Twilight was, where are the others?”
“Um… Rarity is holed up in her dorm, that’s all I know.”
“I’ll help them round up the others!” Derpy offered.
Sunset nodded. “Meet us in the main building when things become manageable.”
The four remaining girls then left the other three in the gymnasium and went straight to their next destination. Once again, they avoided fighting on their way there, but didn’t shy away from delivering a mean punch if someone got too close.
Once inside the preppies’ dorm, they found Rarity sitting by the fireplace with Sugarcoat and Suri Polomare, wearing a red velvet smoking jacket and drinking what Sunset thought was grape juice like last time, but the wine bottle Suri was holding gave away its true nature – she couldn’t judge the underage drinking after all the bottles of hard cider she had shared with Applejack. Or maybe she could, her current body was of a teen girl, but back in Equestria she was in her mid-twenties.
“And what gives you the right to come into my house uninvited?” Rarity asked before taking a sip of her wine – Sunset Shimmer noticed her eyes had the same eerie green glow Twilight’s eyes had.
“This again, huh? Well, the trust fund army is on the loose and you’re sitting here, getting drunk and not doing anything like a goddamn aristocrat.”
“That’s because this is none of my business, darling. If they want to act like savages and congregate with those paupers, that’s their choice. Mine is to wait here for them to be done turning the school into an anarchy, and once they’re too tired to oppose me, I shall seize the opportunity and bring back order. The principal will have no choice but to make me head girl, a position that should be mine by right!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Rares, now get your head out of your porcelain ass and tell your people to back down. People are getting hurt!”
“Like I said, that is none of my business. People get wounded every day and they eventually heal. But a golden opportunity like that presents itself once in a lifetime!” The leader of the preps downed the rest of her wine in a single gulp and threw the glass on the floor, the soft carpet preventing it from shattering. “Now leave! You dropouts are not welcome here.”
Sunset Shimmer crossed her arms. “We’re not leaving unless you help us fix this mess.”
“Hm. Shame!” Rarity grabbed one of the swords mounted on the wall and swung it around, nearly missing Applejack.
“Whoa Nelly!” The startled cowgirl said, taking a step back.
“This again, Rares? We’ve been over this.”
“You won because I yielded. This time you’re going down for real. So you either leave now in one piece or I’ll mail you back to the boonies in several tiny--”
Before Rarity could finish her threat, Applejack kicked the sword out of Rarity’s hands, sending it flying. She then turned the girl around and twisted her arms, causing the girl to hunch forward. She then planted her foot on Rarity’s back.
“OW OW OW STOP IT STOP IT STOP IIIIIIIIT!”
“Don’t ever point a weapon my way ever again, understand?!” Applejack shouted.
“YES YES PLEASE LET GO YOU’RE HURTING ME!”
Applejack let go of her wrists and pushed Rarity with her foot, leaving the designer on her knees with her face on the carpet. When she looked up, the green glow in her eyes had vanished.
“Again, huh?” Sunset Shimmer noted. “This gets weirder by the minute.”
“What does, darling?” Rarity asked, getting up and adjusting her smoking jacket. “Ouch! What happened to my shoulders? They hurt.”
“Explaining would take more time than we can afford. Just tell the other preps to stand down before somebody gets sent to the hospital, alright?”
“You three can go on ahead, I’ll explain the situation to her.” Maud said. “But on our way out. We’ll walk and talk.”
She gave her sister a reassuring pat on the back as the three girls leave.
“There’s smoke comin’ outta the library chimney.” Applejack mentioned while pointing at the cloud of smoke. “Either winter came by earlier than usual or that ain’t a good sign.”
Sunset’s eyes went wide. “If those bitches are doing what I think they’re doing…”
She ran ahead towards the library, Applejack and Diane Pie quickly following. She kicked the door open, only to be greeted by the sight of a pile of books burning in the fireplace. Spitfire tossed another book in the bonfire, this one with a big “451” on the cover.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MORONS DOING?!” Sunset Shimmer yelled in disbelief.
Rainbow Dash, who was lying on the counter with a Daring Do book in hands, turned her head just enough to acknowledge her presence before focusing back on her book – she, too, had green glowing eyes.
“Any book that isn’t Daring Do is trash for eggheads.” She said as she flipped the page. “I’m doing this school a favor.”
“I don’t know, Dash, these Darling Dew books still sound pretty dorky to me.” Fleetfoot said.
“You shout your mouth!” The captain scolded her as she tossed a discarded book in her direction, striking the athlete in the face with its spine and getting an “Ouch!” out of her. “And it’s ‘Daring Do’, not ‘Darling Dew’, at least get it right.”
“Eh, I’m just here because I thought it was gonna be fun.” Spitfire tossed a book up in the air, this one with the number “1984” on the cover, and kicked it into the fireplace once it came back down. “Score!”
“I knew you were a real bitch when Applejack told me about what you did, but I was willing to let you explain yourself, apologize and make up for it. But you assaulted my sanctuary. The only place in this hell that gave me some semblance of peace and serenity. You made this personal and I’m gonna--”
Applejack stepped forward, placed her hand on Sunset Shimmer’s stomach and pushed her backwards; she lost her balance for a second, but managed to recompose herself before falling down.
“Nah, y’all go on ahead.” Applejack stretched her arms then cracked her knuckles and neck before punching the palm of her hand. “I got a loooooot of pent-up anger and frustration because of this one. Beatin’ her up is gonna be therapeutic!”
“You don’t want this fight, hick!” Fleetfoot warned as she walked closer to the trio, only stopping when she was standing face-to-face with Applejack. “We aren’t exactly the type of crowd you want to mess with, just ask your bacon-haired pal over there. Hey, firecrotch, remember when we beat you up so bad you--”
Before Fleetfoot could continue with her mocking, Applejack delivered a punch to her mouth so hard that she actually flew a couple of feet backwards before crashing down, unconscious. Spitfire actually took a step backwards, nearly tripping on some stray books and falling in the fire.
“You were sayin’?”
“Yeah, fuck that!” Spitfire quickly strafed around the trio and ran out the front door.
“Weak!” Rainbow Dash sat up and tossed the book over her shoulder. She then stood up and assumed a fighting stance.
Sunset Shimmer turned around and opened the front door, until she realized Diane wasn’t with her.
“You coming?” She asked.
Diane shook her head and crossed her arms. “I want to watch.”
She shrugged and closed the door. She winced when sounds of things breaking started to pour out of the library as soon as she let go of the doorknob. She closed her eyes and patted the door, grieving the loss of her special place. She then took a deep breath and rushed towards her former dorm.
The place was empty and quiet for the first time since she crossed the portal. She moved to the exit after looking around and not finding anybody, but as she walked past the closed door of her old dorm room, she heard muttering coming from inside. Sunset cautiously opened the door and found the room perfectly organized; the only thing out of place was the pink-haired girl sitting in the middle of the room, hugging her knees. Sunset couldn’t understand much of what she was mumbling, just disconnected sentences that made little to no sense.
“…why pretend we’re all the same when some of us shine brighter…”
“…it doesn’t matter who you hurt if you’re just proving you’re the best…”
“…me and you, you and me, why don’t we see who is better…”
“That was it.” A voice coming from behind made Sunset jump and she would have struck its source in the face if she hadn’t stopped herself in the last second.
“Jesus fucking Christ, don’t do that!” The pony girl reprimanded. “I almost sucker punched you!”
“What can I say? I have light footsteps.” Spitfire explained with a shrug. “It’s good for getting behind players of the other team without being noticed.”
“What are you even doing here? And what’s this ‘it’ you mentioned?”
“I followed you, duh! I was gonna sneak up on you and give you a poundcake, but my mind became clearer the further away from the main building I was, and so I realized I had no idea why I wanted to knock you out in the first place.”
Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow. “Sure.”
“I’m serious! As for the ‘it’…” Spitfire pointed at Fluttershy. “Those things she’s saying. They are lyrics. The lyrics of a song that started playing on the wall speakers before everyone went nuts.”
“If she knows the lyrics, then she heard the song. Why isn’t she going nuts as well? She just looks… I don’t know, brainwashed?”
Spitfire shrugged. “Beats me!”
The Equestrian entered the room and approached the mumbling girl. Once she circled the girl she saw that her unfocused eyes that were staring off in the distance had the same eerie green glow as the clique leaders. She bent down and waved her hand in front of Fluttershy’s face, but got no response other than more mumbling.
“…we don’t have to be one and the same thing…”
“So, word on the streets is that you’re taking out the capos one by one. That true?”
Sunset Shimmer nodded as she left the girl alone in the room and closed the door, deciding to deal with whatever happened to her once the dangers had passed. “Those mindless drones beating the crap out of each other out there will only listen to their bosses, so if I can get them to calm down and talk some sense into their empty skulls, this chaos will be over.”
“How many are left?”
“Just Trixie.”
“Uh huh. Want some help?”
“What is this, trying to get on my good side? Don’t think I’ve forgiven you for what you did to those books.”
“Hey, don’t hate the player! Whatever made everybody go full-on psycho made me want to burn books, okay? Admittedly, it was kind of fun to set things on fire and I will not apologize for that, but I had no control over my actions.”
She glared at the soccer star for a few moments before sighing in defeat. “Fine, you can tag along. The only places I haven’t been to are the other dorm and the shop. The dorm is closer, let’s start there.” Spitfire nodded and they both left. Fluttershy didn’t acknowledge them at any moment.
Since the fighting was mostly contained to the surroundings of the main building, there weren’t any students to interfere with them on their way to the building across from the one they had just left.
The bigger dormitory had been turned upside down; couches had been flipped over, all sorts of things had been knocked down, all kinds of clothes were lying on the ground and some of the vagrants were spray painting the walls.
Right in the middle of the living room was a mattress – probably dragged from one of the bedrooms upstairs – and lying on top of it were two mostly undressed girls: a skirtless Trixie was straddling and passionately kissing a shirtless Starlight; the bottom girl was rubbing the naked thighs of her girlfriend while the top girl’s hands were slowly sliding behind her back, ready to get rid of the last piece of clothing between her and her prize – both of them.
“Oh, wow!” Spitifire said, not even trying to hide her naughty smirk. “Room for one more, ladies?”
Sunset Shimmer elbowed her in the stomach. “Focus!”
“Jeez, I was joking.”
Trixie eventually noticed they had an audience and disengaged her lips from her girlfriend’s, causing the latter to moan in displeasure.
“You like to watch?” The illusionist asked with a smirk; as expected, the green glowing eyes were there.
“Nah, I was just wondering what’s with the extreme PDA while your followers are literally wrecking the place.”
“We’re done playing by other people’s rules. Who cares if my parents kick me out of the house?” She nuzzled the girl below her while her hand snaked its way towards the waist of her skirt. “As long as I have my sweetheart by my side, nothing else matters. So we decided to do what feels right, even if we happen to put on a show for onlookers while we’re at it.”
“Oh, Trixie!” Starlight Glimmer moaned as she wrapped her arms around her and proceeded to kiss her neck.
“I’m happy for you and all, but the school is still in a state of anarchy, and if you don’t tell the other vagrants to back off then the other cliques will not back off, and things will stay a mess. So, can you stop humping each other’s leg for a few minutes before I pull you off her?”
Trixie growled and stood up, staring at Sunset Shimmer. “So that’s what this is all about, huh? You’re jealous because I have someone special and you don’t, so you’re trying to keep us apart, is that it?”
Sunset crossed her arms, thoroughly annoyed. “That is not what I said and I have no idea how you came to that conclusion!”
Trixie snapped her fingers and the two girls who were distracted by their own abstract art on the walls suddenly dropped everything they were doing and flanked the athlete.
Spitfire huffed. “I’ll handle Tweedledick and Tweededumbass, she’s all yours.”
Trixie swung first, but Sunset grabbed her forearm before she could land the blow.
“I just want to live in peace with the love of my life, why do you have to get in my way?”
“You’re not listening to reason, Trixie! I just want you to tell your gang to chill out, then you two can fuck to your heart’s content.”
“Liar! Just admit it, you’re jealous.” She tried to strike with the other arm, but Sunset Shimmer blocked that one as well. While she was distracted by her arms, Trixie kneed her in the crotch, causing her to let go of her arms.
“At least buy me dinner first…” She said between pained groans.
“You’re a girl, get over it!” Spitfire scolded as she grabbed one of the vagrants by the arm and tossed her towards the other one.
“It still hurts, you dolt!”
The girls traded blows for a while, no one losing ground but no one gaining an upper hand either. Starlight Glimmer, who was sitting on the mattress with the blanket wrapped around herself, finally had enough; she tossed the blanket aside, stood up and hugged Trixie from behind as she was getting ready to throw a punch.
“Starlight?”
“Please, Trixie, that’s enough!” She said with her face buried in the magician’s hair. “I don’t know what came over you, but you were so much more passionate than usual that I simply chose to ignore it, but I don’t want to see you getting hurt anymore. Sunset said she’s not trying to get between us and I believe her, so please, stop fighting.”
Trixie looked at her lover, then at her opponent and finally at her two associates and Spitfire, who was having fun and laughing while wiping the floor with them. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I… I suppose you’re right. I don’t know what came over me, I--”
Trixie suddenly started wobbling and would have fallen down if Starlight wasn’t there to support her.
“Tr-Trixie, are you ok?”
Trixie rubbed her temples as she opened her eyes, now back to the usual pink. “I think so? Why are we here, anyway? And what happened to my skirt?”
Starlight turned to Sunset with a look of concern; the pony girl just shrugged.
“That’s been happening a lot today.” She explained. “I have no answers.”
Suddenly a voice came out of the speakers. A voice that resurfaced the feelings of anger in Sunset, for it was a voice she knew very well and hated very much.
“Attention, Sunny!” Adagio called through the speakers. “It has come to my attention that you are a raging bitch who are trying to ruin my fun. Please, come to the principal’s office so that I can fist you really hard. I’ll make it hurt, just the way you like!”
“For real? Huh, I didn’t think Sunny Flare was the type.” Starlight commented.
“It’s not Sunny Flare.” Sunset Shimmer explained. “That’s just the ridiculous nickname Adagio uses to annoy me. And now that I know where she is, I can finally punch her until I’m not annoyed anymore. Might take a while!” She pointed at Trixie. “Meanwhile, you go out there and make your goons fall in line. We’ve had enough fighting for today and it will be a miracle if people aren’t being taken to the hospital by the truckloads.”
“Uh, sure.” She replied.
She then pointed at Spitfire, who was kneeling next to the girls she had forced to sit on the floor with their backs turned to each other; she was tying together locks of hair from both of them into a single braid. “And you, you’re with me.”
“Aw, but I finally got them to stop struggling.” Spitfire jokingly whined.
“You offered to help, so until further notice that’s what you’re going to do!”
She clicked her tongue and got up. “Fine, just kill all the fun, why don’t you?”
The two of them left the (no longer) fancy dormitory and headed straight to the main building; some of the students were still fighting, but most of the chaos had died down. The inside was empty and the lights were off, so she didn’t notice Fleur de Lis sneaking up on her until she had already been shocked by the prefect’s stun gun. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, barely conscious.
“I wanted to do that since the day you manhandled me.” She heard Fleur say, but her voiced sounded distant. “That was SO satisfying!”
The last thing she heard before losing consciousness was Spitfire shouting something at Fleur and two sets of footsteps running away from where they were.
When Sunset Shimmer woke up, she definitely felt like she had been knocked unconscious by a shock weapon. Her vision was a little blurry at first, but after taking a second to clear her head she could see that she was in the principal’s office. She tried to move her hands up to rub her eyes, but her arms wouldn’t obey; it took a couple of tries for her to realize her hands were tied behind the chair she was sitting on. Her grunts got the attention of another person in the room:
“Well well well, glad to see you’re back with the living, Sunny!”
The former unicorn looked to her left and saw Adagio Dazzle sitting on the other side of the room, still wearing the teal variation of the uniform she wore before disappearing from school. But her attention was soon caught by what the bully was sitting on, or rather, who.
Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were both on all-fours on the carpet and, just like Fluttershy, had unfocused green eyes that didn’t appear to be looking at anything in particular. They were side by side with Adagio sitting on their backs, using the adult women as her personal couch.
“Well, if anything, now I know what your kinks are.”
“Very droll, a comedian until the end.” Adagio raised an eyebrow. “Aria, can you turn her around? I don’t like people giving me side-glances.” The purple-haired girl who Sunset couldn’t see standing behind her kicked the chair, causing the girl to fall on the carpet facing Adagio. The ginger smiled. “Better!”
“I have many questions.” Sunset said. “The biggest one being ‘why isn’t my boot shoved so high up your ass that if you bump someone with your distended belly it will legally be considered a kick’, but I guess it will have to wait.”
Adagio showed one of her trademarked evil smirks. “You’re full of jokes, aren’t you, Sunny? Tell me, why should I humor you when I have every advantage possible?”
“Uh, because you are a villain and that’s what villains do?”
“A fair point! I would argue about the part where I’m a villain, but I see where you’re coming from. Unfortunately I’m on a time crunch here, so I’ll allow you to ask as many questions as you want until Sonata comes back with my tea. Sounds good to you?”
“Nothing that comes out of your filthy mouth sounds good to me, but I’ll do my best.”
Adagio stood up and snapped her fingers. Vice Principal Luna crawled a few feet ahead and turned to the side while Principal Celestia simply turned around on the spot. The orange-haired girl sat back down on Celestia’s back while resting her feet on Luna’s. “Ask away.”
“How do I know you’re going to answer truthfully?”
“Sweetheart, I already won! I have nothing to hide.”
Sunset huffed. “How are you doing this? People’s eyes don’t glow for no reason. That’s magic, isn’t it?”
“What’s the point of asking questions if you’re going to answer them for me? You’re right, that’s magic. We’re not strong enough yet to mind control the entire school, but half a dozen teenagers and two especially gullible adults? E to the Z!”
“Then why is everyone fighting? Even the preps who prefer intimidation and blackmail and the nerds who are usually on the receiving end of violence are a part of it.”
“That’s not mind control, we just cast a spell that made them… Volatile.”
“Yeah, and that’s what I still don’t understand! How are you casting spells? There is no real magic in this world, I tried.”
Adagio laughed. “Oh, you poor dear, all the booksmarts but still so stupid. I thought you would at least suspect it by now, but it appears that I overestimated your mental capabilities.” She reached into her shirt and pulled out a necklace with a crimson red gem hanging from it. “We have our ways!”
“A magical artifact? How did you get one? Where did you get one?”
Aria facepalmed. “How can one person be so thick in the head?!”
Her poofy-haired companion sighed. “Sadly, I have to agree. There were clues all over the place, and you can’t even risk a guess?” She then smirked again before she started speaking in a language that wasn’t English. “[You came from a land that wasn’t this one, did you ever considered the possibility that you weren’t the first?]”
Her eyes widened. “That’s… That’s Old Ponish! Y-You’re from Equestria?!”
“Got any other explanation for that?” She pointed at the black and white photo on the wall, or more specifically at the three girls Sunset Shimmer had noticed before. “Or did you honestly think humans just had an incredibly long life span?”
“And how are you still alive? Only alicorns and incredibly healthy or lucky ponies live over a hundred years.”
Aria kicked the chair. “Who are you calling a pony?!”
“Well, aren’t you?”
Adagio shook her head. “Here’s a free hint: quite some time ago we were banished here by that old coot” she gagged “Starswirl the Bearded and his buddies.”
“113 years.” Aria corrected. “But who’s counting?”
“Banished by Starswirl, magic gemstones, mind control, disharmony spells…” She muttered the keywords to herself before coming to a realization. “You’re the Sirens of old!”
Adagio began clapping. “Bravo, Sunny! Bravo! I didn’t think you had it in you, but you actually got something right for a change. Well, except for the ‘of old’ part; we’re still in our prime.” She took a deep breath, causing her gem to glow. “Now more than ever!”
“Then why are you still here? You’ve been around this school for at least a century, don’t tell me you haven’t found the portal by now.”
“Of course we have, we’re not stupid! But why come back? I know Starswirl must be long dead by now, but the princesses are definitely still around. You think they would let us roam free and not do anything about it? But here, there is no one to stop us. Sure, there is no magic for us to feed on either, but humans are so easy to manipulate for our own benefits.
“So we decided to manipulate people into building Canterlot Academy, a school for teenage girls, the humans with the highest emotional fluctuations available; all we have to do is pop up every couple of years or so and give them a little push to get the ball rolling and they produce all the negative energy we could possibly want. Of course, negative energy is just a snack in comparison to the feast that is Equestrian magic, such is the reason why we built this school around the portal: it was only a matter of time until an Equestrian creature came along.
“When you crossed over I used my ‘influence’ over the principal to make her believe the blank paper she was looking at was a letter from the superintendent. You were just as easy to manipulate as a typical human, but you were stubborn. Even when I threw the entire soccer team against you, you bounced right back up. All that delicious magical energy flowing through your body and you refused to share. Refused to break!”
“My plan B was for Derpy to beat you senseless, causing you to become so bitter that you would crack and fall in line, but you somehow beat her and the odds and came out on top. Not only that, but you started going around fixing the relationships that kept this place the all-you-can-consume negative energy buffet that we worked so hard to create. I had to use plan C on you, and I have to commend you for that; we’ve been running this school from the shadows since the day it was founded, but you’re only the second person we had to use plan C on.”
“The first was that insufferable girl Pinkie Pie. No matter how hard we tried to keep people apart, she would interfere. Throwing parties, giving gifts, being nice to others, it was just disgusting. So after making her best friend follow through with the prank that got her in trouble and turn her back on her, we got her expelled. That did the trick!”
“So you’re the one who made the coach take pictures of her?”
Adagio chuckled. “Lockdown? Nah, he’s just naturally like that. All we did was spread the photos and manipulate Rainbow Dash into abandoning Pinkie. He may be a creep, but that served a purpose in the end.”
“So you manipulated Fluttershy into snitching, too?”
“Oh, we did more than that! We rewired Fluttershy’s brain and turned her into the perfect friend. While I gave you the grand tour, Aria and Sonata went to her room and hypnotized Fluttershy into becoming our sleeper agent.”
“It took quite a toll on the little magic we had.” Aria explained. “But with yours as a reward for our efforts, it was worth it!”
“Every now and again we would give her an order and she would blindly follow it without even knowing. Planting a bug in your jacket so we could spy on you, spreading the rumor that the jocks were planning on ruining Twilight Sparkle’s speech, telling the principal all the crap you did… Remember when I called her our pet? Well, I wasn’t talking about you and me.
“We told her to shadow you, do whatever you told her to do, get on your good side, do anything to keep you from casting her aside, and it worked like a charm! So when you proved yourself to be a tougher nut to crack than we expected, she became a vital instrument when it came to using plan C on you. And it worked, because you were just leaking negative and magical energy like a broken faucet!
“Sadly, those ‘friends’ of yours decided to step in and reignited your fighting spirit when they stood up for you when the prefects came to kick you out. But thankfully we absorbed enough of your magic to cast a few minor brainwash spells in them and turn the school into what you see right now. And double thankfully, some of them managed to resist and ran straight to you, saving us the effort of hunting you down. Now that you are here, all we have to do is break you one more time and we can drain all that magic you have left, until the final drop!”
“This time the old-fashioned way. My kind of way. And you most likely won’t survive the process of having your energy being ripped out of your body.” Aria said as she picked up a baseball bat that was leaning against the wall. “But once we’re done breaking you you’ll wish you were dead anyway, so everybody wins.” Aria raised the bat, preparing to strike, while Sunset closed her eyes, bracing herself. “Especially us!”
Just as Aria adjusted her grip to bring down the weapon on the tied up girl, there was a knock on the door.
“Time out!” Adagio commanded as she stood up. “Sonata brought my tea.”
“Seriously?” Aria complained.
With her life extended for a few more minutes, Sunset Shimmer started thinking, planning, imagining, trying to come up with a way to get out of the situation she found herself in, but with her hands quite literally tied behind her back, there was nothing she could do.
They were sure that Sonata was the person behind that door, hence why they were confused for a second when Rarity was the one in front of Adagio holding an empty tray.
“What the--”
Because of her momentary shock, Adagio didn’t react in time when Rarity swung the tray at her, hitting her in the face.
“We’re not servin’ tea today.” Applejack said as she entered the room, carrying a gagged and tied up Sonata on her shoulder before dropping her on the floor. “Only knuckle sandwiches.”
“What is the meaning of this? You were supposed to be under our spell!”
“Then I guess that spell wasn’t good for much if a mean punch to the face can snap someone out of it.” Rainbow Dash followed her in, sporting a black eye.
More girls started walking into the principal’s office, and soon the entrance was blocked by a line formed by Applejack, Diane Pie, Rarity, Trixie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Adagio glared at Sunset Shimmer.
“You’re behind this, aren’t you?”
She smirked. “I’m not the one who thought it was a good idea to announce to the whole school where you were holed up!”
She took a deep breath. “Not a problem. I can fix this.”
Adagio closed her eyes and began to sing. It was a simple melody without lyrics, but it was enough to affect the girls, who lost their will to fight and focused on the song. Realizing that the song was the hypnotic melody Sirens use to mind control people, Sunset Shimmer quickly swung her free legs around and kicked the ancient-creature-turned-human-girl on the back of the knee, causing her to lose balance and fall down, thus bringing her singing to a halt and breaking her rescue team free from the spell manipulating their minds.
Trixie and Rainbow Dash immediately rushed Aria together, ready to make her pay for deceiving and betraying them. The other girls circled Adagio while Twilight went after Sunset, untying her hands and setting her free. Angered by the fact that her plan was so quickly falling apart, Adagio screamed. Not a regular human scream, but an eldritch Siren scream that shattered windows and the glass of the trophy cabinet, forcing all non-Sirens to drop everything and cover their ears with their hands.
“ENOUGH!” She yelled. “After a century stuck in this cursed reality with no means for us to sate our hunger, we finally get one miserable pony to feed on and I’m not going to let a bunch of hormonal teenagers get in our way!”
Adagio took a deep breath, ready to scream so loud that their ears would bleed, but Sunset Shimmer immediately tackled her to the ground, reaching for what she believed to be the source of her Equestrian magic, the gemstone, but the Siren put up a fight. Aria tried to intervene, but the other girls wouldn’t let her.
Sunset Shimmer eventually managed to wrap her fingers around the magical artifact and pulled with all her might, managing to separate it from the necklace. Adagio tried to retrieve it, but Diane and Twilight immobilized her. The pony girl picked up Aria’s baseball bat, which she had let go of during the struggle, and placed the gemstone on the principal’s desk.
“The pendants!” She shouted. “Give me the pendants!”
Derpy grabbed the red stone hanging from the neck of the hogtied Sonata and tossed it to Sunset, who placed it right next to Adagio’s. Trixie did the same to Aria, whose arms were being held by Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Once she was in possession of the three pendants, Sunset Shimmer raised the baseball bat over her head.
“NO! DON’T DO IT! STOP!” Adagio pleaded, but it was too late.
Sunset Shimmer smashed all three red stones with a single swing. Their destruction caused all the energy stored in the artifacts to be unleashed all at once, the magical discharge sending her flying straight into the bookshelf; when she fell back on the ground, all of its content followed suit and she was soon half-buried under a pile of books.
The golden, cyan and violet energy that escaped the gemstones formed a massive energy dome around the entire school grounds, purging all the traces of magical energy the three Sirens had spread around Canterlot Academy before vanishing; suddenly the few students who were still fighting stopped, and the three people who were still under the influence of mind control magic regained their consciousness.
The girls helped the principal, the vice principal and the somehow still conscious Sunset Shimmer stand up. Once Celestia adjusted her clothes and took a good look around the room, she spoke:
“Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, you are all expelled.”
While the clique leaders escorted the three ancient Equestrians out of the premises, the three former students stayed behind at the request of Principal Celestia herself. While she and the vice principal weren’t in control of their actions, they were conscious and aware of what was happening, and they demanded an explanation. While Diane and Applejack weren’t able to provide much information, Sunset Shimmer did her best to explain about Equestria and its denizens, but left out the part about the principal having a counterpart that ruled over the land and could move the sun and the moon.
“I know all of this sounds ridiculous and I won’t blame you if you send me to an asylum, but that’s the truth. And fair warning, if you do call them to take me away I’ll be long gone before they even arrive!”
“A teenage girl whose scream could shatter windows used my sister and I as her personal chair for an hour without any of us objecting to it.” The taller woman said. “Having an open mind is the least I can do.”
“And that is why I ask you to not punish anybody involved in the acts of violence and vandalism that took place today. Nobody was in total control of their actions.”
The principal nodded. “The authorities haven’t been contacted, so as long as no one was seriously injured, I believe we can… Sweep this incident under the rug.” She looked at the vice principal. “Correct?”
“I guess.” Luna replied.
“Speakin’ of sweepin’ things under the rug.” Applejack spoke up. “Now that I’ve got yer attention and there ain’t no hocus pocus messin’ with yer heads, I’d like to talk about a certain coach who happened to own several lewd pictures of at least one underage girl.”
Both principal and vice principal cringed. “Yes, I… I’ve been aware of the situation for quite some time, but I believe this magic spell those three cast on us prevented us from acting.”
“I will call the cops on that filthy beast as soon as we’re done here!” Vice Principal Luna promised. “I highly doubt Miss Pie was his first victim, so I do hope your testimony combined with whatever proof the authorities can dig up on him will get more girls to step forward and talk.”
“Besides, I know someone who holds a pretty respectable rank in law enforcement.” Principal Celestia added. “I will personally make sure she will not have a minute’s rest until we have every incriminating testimony and evidence we can find to make sure he’s locked away for good.”
Since the moment they met, Sunset Shimmer had never seen Diane smile, but that changed on that day. Her neutral expression morphed into an expression of pure glee. The pinkette shook her head, causing her hair to defy the laws of physics; the cascade of pink hair turned into something akin to cotton candy and her bangs curled around themselves, turning into some kind of hook made of pink hair.
“I guess Mr. Lockdown…” She shoved her hand into the mass of curly hair and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. She wore them and crossed her arms. “…is getting locked up!”
All the students of Canterlot Academy turned around to look at the main building when they heard someone inside the school scream:
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Oops! Sorry.” Diane apologized as she tucked the sunglasses back in her cotton candy hair.
“Hey, the creep who ruined yer life is finally goin’ to rot in hell.” Applejack said as she wrapped her arm around her. “Of course you’d be happy, Diane!”
“Actually, AJ…” She smiled at her friend. “…If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to be called Pinkie Pie again!”
Applejack smiled and hugged her. “Sure thing, Pinkie!”
“Now, I’d like to discuss one more thing, the reason why I asked the three of you specifically to stay back.” Principal Celestia interrupted the sweet moment. “All three of you were expelled for unfair reasons.” She looked at the southern girl. “Yes, even you, Applejack.”
“I ain’t gonna apologize ‘cause he deserved it!”
“Of course not. The one who owes you three an apology is me. Even if my actions were not my own, it is still my responsibility as the principal of Canterlot Academy to treat all students fairly, and I failed. I offer my deepest apologies and the chance to begin anew. If you girls would like to attend school again, I will gladly offer a full scholarship to all of you, as thanks for what you did for us today.”
“Yer pullin’ my leg!” A dumbfounded Applejack said, but the principal shook her head.
“Not at all! I will pay for your education myself. That is, if you want to come back. After the way we treated all of you, I will understand if you refuse.”
Applejack looked at Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie, who were looking back at her, waiting for her response.
“Aw, shucks! Now that those snakes are outta the picture, I reckon things won’t be so bad this time around. Alright, I’m in!”
“Out of the three of us, AJ is the one who hated this place the most!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “If she’s in, then so am I!”
All four pairs of eyes then focused on the Equestrian.
“After all the trouble three magical creatures from another dimension caused this place, are you sure it’s wise to let a fourth troublemaker stay?” Sunset asked.
“Troublemaker?” Principal Celestia chuckled. “I’ll admit, you were a little rough around the edges when you first arrived, but you matured so much since then. Mere minutes ago you saved the school just to help out your friends. Sunset Shimmer, you are many things: a genius, a hard worker, a hero, but ‘troublemaker’ is not on that list.”
Sunset Shimmer smiled. “Well, I suppose it’s a good idea to keep an Equestrian around in case more decide to cross over.”
Celestia clapped. “Then it’s decided! Starting next semester, Applejack and Pinkie Pie will be official freshmen of Canterlot Academy. Again! And I’m sorry to say it, Sunset Shimmer, but you'll have to go through sophomore year one more time. I know it was out of your hands, but were unable to meet the attendance quota after you were unfairly expelled, so unfortunately you'll be held back a year. I wish I could help in some way, but this is out of my reach, even as a principal.”
“It’s ok, really.” She waved her hand dismissively. “No matter how many books I read, there’s still much about your world that I have yet to fully understand. It’s better to learn here with my friends than out there by myself, right? I don’t mind spending an extra year with them.”
“Excuse me, Principal Celestia?”
The five people in the room looked at the doorway where a multicolor-haired girl stood, looking at the ground and scratching the back of her head.
“Yes, Rainbow Dash, how can I help you?”
The captain of the soccer team walked in, standing a couple of feet away from the group. “I, uh… I’d like to make a request.”
“What kind of request?”
Rainbow took a deep breath, and then slammed her hands on the principal’s desk. “I want you to send me back to freshman year with them!”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “And why would you want that?”
She turned her head to face Applejack and Pinkie Pie. “I… I was the worst friend one could possibly be. I always boast about being loyal to all of those I care about, but when they needed me the most I turned my back on them. I want to start over and do it right this time!”
“Don’t beat yourself over it, Rainbow Dash.” Sunset Shimmer said as she placed her hand on the athlete’s shoulder. “It was the Sirens’ fault, they were manipulating you.”
“I know, but that doesn’t make me feel better about it! Even if I wasn’t all me, it was still technically me. I don’t want to just tell them that I can be a better friend and expect them to take my word for it, I want to show them.”
“Well, if you truly want to be a freshman again that badly, then I guess I could look into it, but…”
“But?”
“I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but freshmen aren’t allowed to hold the rank of captain. If you refuse to go to junior year then you’ll have to start over, and I know how much that position means to you. Besides, what about your parents? Would they even be ok with this?”
Rainbow Dash bit her lip, then looked at her two friends. She took a deep breath and smiled.
“Principal Celestia, when I had to choose between my friends and sports, I made the wrong decision and they had to pay for it. This time I’ll do it right!” She wrapped her arms around Pinkie Pie and Applejack. “Besides, I’m awesome! As soon as I’m a sophomore again, that rank of captain is as good as mine one more time. And don’t worry about my parents, I can guarantee they will understand as soon as I talk to them!”
“You know what this calls for?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Oh, please! Say it! I’ve been dyin’ to hear ya say that again!” Applejack said.
“Do it, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash said.
Pinkie Pie inhaled deeply before shouting:
“A PARTY!”
It took over an hour for the four girls to sweep up all the confetti that materialized in the office out of thin air.
Once Sunset Shimmer carried the last of the confetti bags into the dumpster outside the school, she returned to the cafeteria for lunch. Her friends were all standing by the door. When she was close enough to the group they all moved out of the way, revealing a girl who was in her default position of trying her best to hide behind her pink bangs.
Sunset Shimmer thought about what Adagio Dazzle told her, especially the part about rewiring Fluttershy’s brain; was she even the same person she was hanging out with throughout the year? Did she even remember the time they spent together? Did she even remember Sunset’s name? Or even her own?
“Flutter--”
Before she could finish calling her name, the shy girl ran towards her and hugged Sunset Shimmer, buried her face in her chest and began to sob.
“I’m so, so, so, so, so, so sorry, Sunset!”
Sunset Shimmer hugged her friend back; that answered all her questions.
Winter. A thick blanket of snow covered everything. Canterlot Academy was calm, peaceful; since the defeat of the Sirens one and a half year prior, all the girls in school were getting along swimmingly. It didn’t matter if they were freshmen or seniors, prefects, jocks, preps or nerds, everyone treated each other with respect.
Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were now sophomores while Twilight, Trixie and the others were halfway done with senior year. Ever since the supernatural beings from another dimension were dealt with and the deviant coach had been arrested, nothing eventful ever happened in CA again. That is, until that one fateful afternoon.
The portal to Equestria stayed open for three days every thirty moons, or once every (roughly) two and a half years, and that winter morning marked the first of the three. As soon as classes were over for the day and the front gates were unlocked, three hooded figures pushed aside Derpy, the prefect who opened the gate, and ran inside. She blew on her whistle, alerting the other prefects, and gave chase.
Derpy, Starlight Glimmer, Moondancer and a transfer student named Coco Pommel, the four prefects of Canterlot Academy, gave chase. The three invaders narrowly missed Apple Bloom and two other freshmen – one of them being Rarity’s little sister and the other being a new member of the soccer team who absolutely idolized Rainbow Dash – and Pommel stayed behind to make sure they were fine.
Sunset Shimmer and the others, who were hanging out by the fountain were shoved aside as the three people in hoodies jumped in; the first two slid on the ice and went straight into the portal, disappearing inside the pedestal underneath the horse statue. The third figure decided to stay a second longer, so she turned around and removed her hoodie, freeing her purple twintails with green highlights.
“Aria!” Sunset called, immediately recognizing the person who had just assaulted her.
Aria Blaze simply smirked at her and flipped the group off with both hands before sliding into the portal after her companions.
“What in the hay just happened?” Applejack asked, wearing an unusual orange variation of the uniform – apparently one of the only two girls in school choosing to do so.
“The Sirens just went back to Equestria.” Sunset Shimmer explained. “That can’t be good. Like, at all!”
“But they don’t have powers anymore!” Pinkie pointed out, wearing the same orange outfit as Applejack. “They’re harmless, right?”
“Maybe here.” Sunset continued. “But their true forms are still Sirens. Who knows what kind of damage they can cause once back to normal, with or without powers? Besides, in Equestria they have the means to get their gems back. If they do just that and decide to come back for revenge, then…”
She climbed into the fountain and almost lost her balance when she stepped on the ice, but managed to not fall on her butt.
“Don’t tell me you’re going after them!” Trixie, once again wearing her old leather jacket, protested. “You said it yourself, the other side of the portal is in the castle of the ruler of the land. A pony like that must have guards, right? Can’t they handle them?”
“They wouldn’t expect an attack from the inside. That is, assuming those three are even spotted. They could just sneak out of the castle and regain their powers in secret. Besides…” Sunset Shimmer sighed and looked at the portal.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. The Princess and I weren’t exactly on the best of terms when we parted ways, and I at least owe her an apology.” She smiled at her friends. “I was having second thoughts about it but hey, now I have the perfect excuse!”
“But… You’re coming back, right?” Rainbow Dash asked anxiously.
Sunset Shimmer’s smile faltered for a second, but never vanished. “I had a lot of fun in the last two and a half years. Well, maybe not as much on the first, but I learned a lot during that time.”
“So you’re not coming back, then…” Twilight Sparkle half asked, half affirmed.
“The portal stays open for exactly three days. I have 56 hours and 20 minutes. Depending on how things go, maybe we’ll see each other again soon.”
“Just… Take care of yourself, ok?” Fluttershy said. “Those three are sneaky, you never know what they are capable of.”
“I’ll be careful, I promise!” And with a two-finger salute, the amber-skinned girl with teal eyes and red and yellow hair wearing a blue skirt and a sleeveless leather jacket over her blue sweater vest with the Canterlot Academy emblem on the chest dove into the portal after the three hooligans and disappeared.
“Now what?” Derpy asked.
“Now we wait.” Rarity answered.
And wait they did, but their friend from another world never came back. They couldn’t blame her, after all she was finally back home after two and a half years away. She once mentioned how she never stopped feeling like she didn’t belong and, no matter how useful they were, fingers could never replace the practicality of a magical horn that could levitate anything.
On the night of the third day, less than an hour before midnight when the portal would finally close for the next (roughly) two and half years, while the prefect Derpy patrolled the area around the fountain for students who were violating curfew, a shimmer coming from the fountain got her attention.
Resting on the ice was a brown book with the red and yellow sun symbol that Sunset Shimmer was obsessed with on the cover. The first few pages contained an apology and an explanation: turns out time worked differently between dimensions while the portal was closed, so nearly twenty years had passed in Equestria in the period she spent in the human world – it wasn’t consistent because while the Sirens claimed they were thrown in the human world a little over 100 years ago, 1000 had passed in Equestria since their banishment.
She explained that the tome was enchanted, and that it was connected to a similar book she owned; whatever was written in one also appeared in the other, that way they could stay in touch. She confessed that the book was also a little magical experiment, to see if by keeping two items with a magical connection in each word, she could anchor her world’s timeline so that time would pass at the same pace in both dimensions.
Sunset told her human friends that she had joined forces with a new princess and her friends who also happened to be their own counterparts – although she didn’t reveal whose counterpart the princess was – in order to hunt down the Sirens and bring them to justice before they could cause any more damage than they already did a millennium prior.
She ended the letter by saying that she and the Princess had a long talk and she was forgiven for the things she said and did before running away to their world, and that even though she was still spending a lot of time with their counterparts, they would never be able to replace… Well, themselves!
One thing she was going to write but eventually decided against it was that, when she first crossed the portal, she planned on doing similar things to what the Sirens had done; she was going to tear friendships apart in order to manipulate them separately, then once she had gained their loyalty she would use them to invade Equestria, topple the Princess and take her place as the supreme ruler of the land, which she believed to be her birthright – an ironic twist of fate that she would help bring down the people who were doing exactly what she wanted to do.
But once she started making friends and helping people who helped her in return, she eventually figured out that what she wanted wasn’t power or the crown, but just unconditional love, love the Princess herself had already given her but she was too short-sighted to realize.
The pettiness, the ego, the vanity, the greed, all of it gone thanks to a bunch of weird-looking bipedal creatures that finally helped her understand how magic real friendship truly is.
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HOW IS THIS NOT MORE POPULAR?!?!! ITS FUCKING PERFECT!!! GODDAMN I WISH THERE WAS MORE TO THIS!!!
Awesome story!
Good story