Chapter 25
“Hurry up, y’all,” Applejack called to the trio of middle schoolers following behind her laden with bags of party supplies, “we still have a couple more stops on the list, then we have ta get all this back so we can start set-up for the party. Luckily, Pinkie was very detailed in her notes for what ta get and from where, so we should have no trouble gettin’ what we need...Glowing, flying, self-folding napkins?” the farmer sighed and shook her head, “So much for that. Oh well, nothing to it but ta do it. Let’s go, girls.”
Applejack set off for their next destination, focused on trying to make sense of her list. The Crusaders, meanwhile, fell back a bit, partially to have the chance to talk partially due to the weight of their bags. Not that they could even complain, Applejack was carrying twice as much as any of them in one arm while deciphering the list in the other. When the older girl was a bit ahead of them, Scootaloo took the chance to finally ask the question that had been driving her crazy the whole trip.
“Not that I’m not glad to be doing literally anything to get me out of cafeteria cleanup for detention, but why are we buying all of these supplies now? I thought the school had all of the Friendship Games stuff ready last week.”
The other two Crusaders looked from Scootaloo to each other and back again, surprised looks on their faces.
“Ya mean ya haven’t heard what’s been goin’ on with mah sister and her friends?” asked Applebloom. Scootaloo shook her head.
“I thought for sure Rainbow would have told you,” replied Sweetie Belle before a worried frown fell across her face. “I thought you two were doing okay and hanging out again.”
“We are,” assured the little athlete, “It’s not the way it was, but it’s getting better. We haven’t hung out much the last few days though. Actually, she was really weird about it after her game on Monday. She canceled our meetup Tuesday because she said there was some kind of emergency. Not sure what it was but when I asked her this morning, she said she couldn’t talk since she had to see the principal, but she’d tell me after school today. Never got to find out though since Applejack picked us up for this.”
“She doesn’t know,” Sweetie said to Apple Bloom, staring back at her friend wide-eyed.
“Doesn’t know, what?” asked Scootaloo.
“Scoots,” said Apple Bloom, “It’s Princess Twilight, mah sister says they think she’s back.”
“Back! Really that’s great..isn’t it?” The little athlete’s optimism faded at the look on her friends' faces.
Sweetie sighed. “Rarity said, they think she’s taking back their magic.”
“And she might be lookin’ ta give it to kids at Crystal Prep,” Apple Bloom finished for her. “Rainbow Dash saw her at the game Monday in a Crystal Prep uniform.”
“What?!” shouted Scootaloo, “Can she do that? Does she know that it isn’t the Rainbooms’ fault? That we were the ones behind the whole Anon-A-Miss thing?”
“Ah don’t know if it matters,” said Apple Bloom sadly. “We may have started it, but they didn’t help it none.”
“They’re going to try to apologize though,” piped in Sweetie attempting to bring the mood back around. “That’s the point of all the new party decorations. They hope that at the very least they can show Princess Twilight how sorry they are and get the chance to make it up to her and maybe Sunset, too.”
“So then we’ll see her at the party on Friday then right?” asked Scootaloo.
Apple Bloom just shook her head. “She might be there, but we’re still banned from all school functions, remember?”
Scootaloo deflated at that. “Come on, they should make an exception for this. We should at least be the ones to tell her the truth about who was behind the account.”
Sweetie just shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe Principal Celestia will change her mind, but so far the closest we’ll be to that party or the Friendship Games is cleaning up after it.”
“That’s just not right,” huffed Scootaloo.
“Ah know, but what are we supposed to do? All things considered, we got off easy for what we did, and Ah don’t want ta go breakin’ any more rules and have them reconsider expelling us.”
“You’re right, you’re right,” the athlete conceded. “I just wish-”
“Oh my gosh!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, cutting across the two girls’ paths and nearly causing them both to run her over.
“Hey, watch, where you’re goin’, Sweetie,” called the youngest Apple as she struggled to right the boxes stacked in her arms.
“Yeah, what the heck were you thinking?” cried Scootaloo.
“I’m thinking,” Sweetie said happily, “that you might just get your wish. Look!”
They followed her parcel-laden point across the open area of the mall and spotted a familiar-looking figure coming out of the electronics store. Though the outfit and the glasses were different from the last time they had seen her, there was no mistaking the girl with the violet and pink striped hair
Following the familiar girl as quickly as their heavy loads would allow, they saw her round a corner into a less busy hall leading to a shoe repair shop and the bathrooms. Heading down the hall after her, they spotted the girl conversing with an equally familiar purple puppy. It was a sight they’d all but given up on in the past months and seeing them here now the three were unable to contain their excitement.
“Princess Twilight!”
***
Twilight Sparkle stepped out of the electronics store and looked for a quiet place to sit away from the increasing crowd. Rounding a less-trafficked corner, the teen set down her backpack on a vacant bench and unzipped the top, giving the puppy within a chance to look around. Sitting down next to him, she produced a few tools from another of the backpack's pockets and began fitting in some of the components she had just purchased.
“There we go, Spike, see what careful planning and precise measurements can do? The right pieces were acquired and everything went in without any problems. Now, between these parts and Sunset’s magical modifications, we shouldn’t have any more incidents with random portals opening and trying to pull any of us in.” They both shuddered a bit at the memories. “Of course we’ll have to run some more tests once we get back, but these initial readings seem-”
She was cut off as a trio of heavily laden middle schoolers thundered up to her excitedly shouting what she thought was her name, though, given the decibel level of the squealing, it was hard to be sure.
“Oh my gosh, it’s you! It’s really you!”
“I can’t believe you're actually here!”
“We were just talkin’ ‘bout ya, and now you’re here. It’s almost like it was magic..but I guess, considerin’ it’s you…”
Twilight Sparkle was not used to social interactions in general outside of her family, let alone being accosted by a trio of gushing tweens in the middle of a public place. She quickly snatched up the backpack containing Spike and hugged it to her chest as she rose to beat a quick retreat. Unfortunately, with their packages and bags, the girls were blocking off her escape route.
“I think you must have me mistaken for someone else,” Twilight said as she tried to squeeze past the red-haired one’s boxes. “If you’ll just excuse me.”
“Of course we know who you are,” snorted the one with the short purple hair.
“But maybe, she doesn’t know who we are,” cut in the third with the dual-colored hair in the headband who seemed to be carrying far less than her companions.
“That’s true,” said the redhead. “It’s not like we ever hung out with ya’ll or nothin’.”
“Oh, right,” conceded the short-haired girl, “I’m Scootaloo, that’s Applebloom,” she said, indicating the redhead blocking Twilight’s path, “and the one with her hands free is Sweetie Belle.”
“My hands are not free,” argued the girl in question as she lifted the few bags in her hands easily to prove her point, “See?”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at her friends and then turned back to the older girl, “Ya might not remember us, but you’re friends with our sisters.”
“Friends?” the bespectacled teen questioned, doing a quick appraisal of the girls and trying to determine if they resembled any of the girls she knew at Crystal Prep. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn’t look familiar, but she thought Sweetie Belle did remind her a bit of Fleur de Lis, though calling her a friend left the genius girl with a puzzled look which made the three wince.
“Okay, maybe not friends,” amended Scootaloo, “but you do know them; Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.
Twilight froze at the realization. She had had enough conversations with Sunset by now to know about the girls they were collecting magic from. While they hadn’t figured out how to siphon magic from Applejack, she did remember Rarity and she wasn’t likely to forget their encounter with Rainbow Dash a couple of days ago when they had almost been caught by the soccer player had it not been for the portal opening again, which was what prompted the need for upgrades and today’s trip.
“Rainbow Dash? Sister?” the older teen breathed at the surprise and fear of being tracked down by these girls. Scootaloo, however, was unaware of Twilight’s thoughts and continued.
“Well, we’re not really sisters by blood like they are with Rarity and Applejack. More like she looks out for me since we’re both only children, and I look up to her.”
“More like worship her ya mean,” snickered Apple Bloom causing the other girl to blush a bit though she didn’t deny the fact.
“Not the point right now, girls,” Sweetie interrupted sternly. Then she turned to Twilight and her demeanor shifted, her eyes fell and her tone became somber. “We know what you’ve been doing.”
“You know?” Twilight asked worriedly, once again looking for a way out as she feared a confrontation if these three knew she’d stolen the magic from two of the three’s sisters.
“Yeah, Rainbow told ‘em what happened at the soccer game, and then they told the principals, and that’s kinda why we’re here,” explained Apple Bloom, indicating her packages as if that clarified something to the confused older girl.
“Everyone at CHS knows what I’m…” Twilight gasped, her tone going up an octave and making Spike whimper nervously as she hugged the bag she was clutching tighter to her chest.
“Yeah,” admitted Scootaloo hanging her head, “and it’s not like we don’t understand why you’re doing it.”
That statement caught Twilight’s attention enough to draw her back from the edge of her panic attack to replace her anxiety with bafflement. She was a literal genius, and despite numerous discussions and introductory lessons on magic, part of her was still confused by what she was doing, but here were three middle school students, who claimed to understand it? Before she could begin to puzzle out that statement, Sweetie hit her with another shock.
“We know you’re upset about what happened in winter to Sunset Shimmer, but you shouldn’t be mad at CHS or our sisters, because we were the ones behind the account. We’re Anon-A-Miss.”
“We were upset about being ignored and left out by our sisters, and they were spending so much time with Sunset. It just didn’t seem right. I mean she used to be a bully. She wrecked their friendships and now they were spending all their time with her. It just didn’t seem right,” said Scootaloo.
“Ah remembered how much time AJ and Ah spent together back then since she didn’t have her other friends around, and Ah just wanted it to be like that again, like when Sunset ruled the school. So Ah started Anon-A-Miss.”
“And I stole Sunset’s phone and posted the pictures she’d taken of our sisters and their friends,” confessed Sweetie with shame. “I think that was what really convinced them all that Sunset was the one behind the account.”
“We didn’t mean for it to be so bad,’ said Scootaloo shifting nervously under the weight, though Twilight was unsure if it was from the packages she carried or the guilt. “It was supposed to just be the Rainbooms involved, but it became popular so fast, and it was kind of nice having people liking something we had done for a change. Then people started sending secrets for us to post and we figured we’d give them what they wanted. We didn’t realize how much it was actually hurting everyone until Apple Bloom saw Sunset crying that day in the hall. That’s not what was supposed to happen.”
“We told Principal Celestia the truth, but by then it was too late and Sunset was gone,” said Apple Bloom sadly.
“Please,” sniffed Sweetie tears forming in her big eyes, “if anyone deserves to be punished for what happened to Sunset Shimmer it’s us. Don’t take our sister's magic away. They’re all really sorry and torn up about it. They just want to have a chance to prove it to you and Sunset.”
The genius girl’s brain sputtered at that. Aside from the confession as to who had driven Sunset back to Equestria, she was left to wonder why these girls would apologize to her. Sunset was a given, but why would Sweetie single Twilight herself out specifically?
She wasn’t granted the chance to inquire about this new mystery though as another person rounded the corner to what she had believed to be a relatively unused hallway. The new arrival wore a stetson atop braided blonde hair and was carrying even more packages than all of the trio combined.
“There ya are, girls,” she said exasperatedly, “Ah told ya not ta wander off. We've still got a lot of stops ta make for…” Words died in her throat as Applejack spotted the other teen with the group, and emerald eyes grew in surprise.
“Twilight?!”
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Well I know Twi can't outrun AJ so this should be fun.
poor Human Twilight
Well this is so awkwardly chaotic you can cut the tension with a chainsaw and release Discord. This is good.
10799170
Very true statement
10799151
You mean like that one episode from Saved By The Bell where Jessie did drugs?
Sweet merry hell, if this isn't an awkward situation, and poor Twi can barely get a thought in let alone a word.
What a time for Sunset to stay in for once.
Well well well... now one of the Rainbooms has a full unobstructed view of SciTwi up close. This'll end well...
Next, AJ will be questioning where Sunset is.
Well now, mistaken identities and confessions by the culprits. I do wonder how SciTwi's going to react when AJ spills the beans that she's also got a pony counterpart, and that Sunset knows her, because I don't remember if Sunset's mentioned that yet.
And, this has brought AJ within reach of the accumulator. I have a feeling getting that close is going to end up with her getting drained too.
I love it! Everything about this! LOve it!
10799297
I don't think it would be any better with Sunset there, considering she doesn't want to be seen, especially by what she considers her former friends.
I'm guessing it's time to be Honest and get drained. But I wonder if Twilight won't get angry at them for causing Sunset so much pain.
The Crusaders did right to say how sorry are they for Anon-a-Miss, but the moment and the time were wrong.
This is the begining of a series of misunderstandings I can't wait to see.
Cliffhanger! This is the. Worst. Thing. EVER!
Good job scootaloo putting the blame on the rainbows, despite it was you along with apple bloom and sweetie belle who started it.
Well this ain't good.
10799818
Doesn't change that a LOT of things could be resolved if she was, whether she likes it or not.
Remember, both sides still think the other destroyed the portal.
10800872
True, but then we wouldn't have much of a story, now would we? (or maybe we would)
Seems like a "how it should have ended" "they should've used the eagles to get to Mordor" quick plot resolution thing.
Though, I can't wait until pony Sunset is revealed to everyone other than SciTwi and Spike.
DUN DUN DUNNNNN
oooh im DYING for the next chapter!
10800907
Yea, neither can I.
I'm sensing FlutterCuddles in bound.
10802397
Indeed, I'm sensing something similar to Oops! I'm Equine Again by MythrilMoth (shame the author passed, so the fic is as good as dead as its author)
I am not princess Twilight, just say it.
10804435
If I remember correctly she doesn't know about princess twilight yet Sunset has been keeping that info from her.
UH OH....
I like how you have them be dumb kids in this, as opposed to WORST EDGE LADIES EVER!!! EVER!!! EVER!!!
But joking aside, this is a nice change of pace.