Chapter 1
“Spike...Spike!” Twilight Sparkle called out as she pushed open the door to her library, well one of her libraries, not noticing she had sent her number one assistant flying into a wastepaper basket. “Oh, there you are, Spike,” the lavender alicorn called as she rushed over to the dragon, the ridiculously long list trailing behind her. “Have you seen the notecards for my speech? I’ve looked all over and I can’t seem to find them anywhere.”
“Calm down, Twilight,” Spike placated. “The notecards are stored in the carrier with the projector. Remember, you thought that it would be best to have all items necessary for delivering your speech in a single location to ensure maximum efficiency when we dropped off our luggage at the palace and headed over to Celestia’s School to practice for your presentation?”
“Oh, right,” Twilight said, visibly calming down. “I forgot about that. But what about…”
“The slides are in with the projector, too. It’s all done, Twilight,” Spike said, plucking the still hovering list from out of her magical aura and rolling the scroll back up.
With a deep breath and a loud exhale, Twilight was once again calm. “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said, giving the little dragon a nuzzle. “What would I ever do without you?”
Returning the affection with a hug, Spike was reminded of a similar situation from just a few minutes ago. “Hey, Twilight,” he began, backing out of the embrace. “There is one thing I’m worried about for this trip.”
“What’s that?” Twilight questioned with a bit of her previous panic returning to her voice. “Do you think I need more slides? More details? Do you think they’ll want to have access to my annotated notes and a complete cited list of all of my primary and secondary sources? I’m not sure if our friends would want…”
“Twilight,” Spike cut her off before she could begin on another rant, “It’s not those friends I’m worried about right now.”
Following his gaze, the Princess of Friendship was quick to pick up on his current concern. “Yeah, I’m worried about her, too.”
“Why make her come back here to work on the mirror then?” questioned the dragon. “You know how things were when she first got here. I know the girls here aren’t the same as the ones from the human world, and Sunset does, too, up here,” Spike said indicating his scaly head, “She just can’t deal with it here.” The little dragon finished by moving his claw down to indicate his heart.
“I know all that, Spike,” Twilight said placing a gentle hoof on his shoulder.
“Then why bring her back?” he asked. “She’s hurting so much here working on this project. Why not just let her go back to Canterlot and move on with her life?”
Letting out a sad sigh, the alicorn answered, “Because she wasn’t.” This drew a questioning look from the drake. “She wasn’t moving on in Canterlot, despite what she thinks. She was burying herself in her studies. She was there for months and barely did anything outside of reading and research. No collaborations with other students, no grabbing coffee at Donut Joe’s, and outside of an initial apology, she kept her distance even from Princess Celestia.
“I know what that kind of life is like and I don’t want that for Sunset. I know what happened to her on the other side of the mirror hurt her. Believe me, I can understand.” A sad look flashed across Twilight’s eyes as she recalled the events of the Royal Wedding; the feeling of being doubted by your friends and ultimately rejected by them. It was a small pair of scaly arms wrapping around her that brought her out of her darker thoughts. “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight smiled, “It can still hurt, but I’m much better now, and I want Sunset to be too.”
“But it’s only better now because the girls found out the truth and apologized,” Spike cut in.
“Exactly! But Sunset’s friends can’t apologize and try to earn her forgiveness if she’s here and they’re there.”
“But Sunset’s friends aren’t going to apologize. They were so upset with her they destroyed her journal.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Twilight interjected. “I have some theories as to what else may have cut off the magical connection between the worlds.” Her mind started to run through the possibilities before she snapped herself out of her musings on magical theory. “We both know Sunset wasn’t behind this whole Anon-A-Miss mess, and I’m sure her friends will figure it out eventually and want to make this right, but we won’t know anything for sure unless we can get that mirror working again.”
“But Sunset’s hurting now,” Spike answered sadly, remembering the pain in the eyes of the amber unicorn.
“I know, and I’m sorry for that,” replied Twilight, “but the existence of the other world and the mirror is still a state secret so pulling in different researchers would be complicated. Besides, she is probably the leading expert on the portal outside of Starswirl himself, given her research into its workings prior to using it the first time. Not to mention she’s a brilliant magical prodigy. How else could she have been selected as Princess Celestia’s personal pupil.”
“Patting yourself on the back a little with that one, huh, Twilight,” the dragon joked impishly.
Blushing as she realized what she had said, the alicorn deflected, “The point is, Sunset is the most qualified and really the only pony for the job, and in the end, this will be good for her.”
Casting a glance back to where he knew the unicorn to be working, Spike could only sigh and mutter, “I hope you’re right, Twilight. I hope you’re right.”
***
“Spike...Spike!” Twilight Sparkle called out as she pushed open the door to her lab, not noticing she had sent her number one assistant flying into a wastepaper basket. Undeterred the little puppy hopped out, barking merrily and ran over to jump into her lap.
“Oh, there you are, Spike. It’s done. It’s finally done! Three months of reviewing the data we collected during that last major energy spike and refining my designs and now, it’s ready,” Twilight shouted gleefully, plopping down in her desk chair and rifling through a pile of past readings. “With this device, I can track and contain the bizarre energy coming from Canterlot High!” This elicited a low growl from the puppy at the mention of the rival school, prompting the girl to rub his head affectionately. “I know you don’t like the idea of me going over there, but I just can’t wait.”
Twilight gave herself a quick push sending the desk chair rolling backward across the floor to her computer desk. Due to her high grades and the number of awards and recognition she had brought to Crystal Prep, Twilight had been allowed to repurpose the unused storage room as her own personal workspace, allowing her a place to work on research and projects, not to mention hide away from the rest of her classmates.
“If I can collect enough data on these EM frequencies, I should be able to extrapolate the waveforms to determine their origin. That would practically guarantee my entrance into the Everton Independent Study Program.”
The purple pup gave her a sad look.
The scientist lifted her furry friend up, plopped him into her lap, and began stroking him idly. “Trust me. Everton is perfect for me. Sure Crystal Prep has a strong academic record, but I’m already at the top of my class. I don’t think there’s anything left here for me to learn. At Everton, I can focus my studies and have time to really delve into some projects I haven’t had time for due to my other academic responsibilities.”
The puppy dog eyes continued, this time accompanied by a little whimper.
“Now you’re starting to sound like Cadance,” Twilight said in a semi annoyed tone. After a moment of trying to stare down the too-large eyes of her canine companion, the scientist finally relented. “Okay, fine,” the girl deflated, breaking eye contact with Spike, “yes, the best think about the independent study program at Everton isn’t that being independent allows me to drive the research, it’s that I get to be left alone. Imagine it, Spike. Not having to be around people anymore. Not getting dirty looks for being too smart and ruining the curve on a test. Not getting shoved into lockers or forced to do other students’ homework. I know Cadance has been pushing me to try and make friends, but…” the girl just sighed, “I don’t think Crystal Prep is the place to do it.”
The girl paused sadly and then added, “Besides, who’d want to be friends with the nerdy shut-in who’d rather spend her time in a lab than at the mall? They think just because I have my nose in a book that I can’t hear the comments and that’s if they’re even trying to be covert about it.”
The little dog gives a happy, encouraging bark and licked her cheeks repeatedly.
“Okay, okay, I get it.” The teen returns the pup’s affection with dual ear scratches, “Of course you’re my friend, Spike. What would I do without my number one assistant after all? Still, it might be nice to actually have a conversation with someone who can actually talk back.”
The little dog yapped playfully at that.
“Not to mention it might help stave off insanity. I mean what does it say about me that I get my pep talks from my dog?” Spike could only return to covering her in puppy kisses. “Alright, fine, no more moping. There is research to be done. If I can’t register any more signs of that mysterious energy with my equipment from here, I think it’s time I take my equipment to where the energy is.”
***
Hearing a groan from the other side of the door, Spike knew he wouldn't be interrupting, or rather, knew it was a good time to interrupt before frustrations over a failed experiment escalated. Years of practice living with Twilight had honed Spike's skills, making him a truly great assistant. Though he'd come to discover Sunset's frustrations produced more pyrotechnics than Twilight’s, in a way he kind of preferred it to talking Twilight out of one of her freak-outs. Plus explosions were cool and using the fire extinguisher was kind of fun.
Carefully pushing the door open while still balancing the tray of food he was carrying, Spike walked into the lab. He quickly spotted Sunset leaning back in the desk chair, staring absently at the ceiling, clearly trying to calm herself and prevent one of her more ‘volatile’ outbursts.
“Hey, Sunset,” the dragon said, gaining her attention. “I, uh, take it the latest test didn’t go so well?”
With a sigh, the amber unicorn refocused on the world. “No. No, Spike, it did not,” she replied sullenly. “It was another failure. Just like the last experiment, and the one before it, and the one before that, and every other experiment Twilight has had me do since she dragged me back here!” Sunset’s voice had risen with each exclamation until she had pushed herself out of her chair and was shouting at the little dragon. Seeing the concerned look in his eyes snapped her from her angry tirade. Realizing what she had done, she looked away and took another deep breath as she lowered herself back into her chair. “I’m sorry, Spike,” she said in a dull tone, still unable to meet his worried gaze. “You didn’t deserve that. I’m frustrated and you were just trying to help.”
“Frustrated with the experiment?” He questioned, setting down the tray on the desk.
“Yes, and no,” the unicorn replied. “I mean, I’m used to failure in research and obviously some failures are to be expected when delving into experimental magics. I mean trying to find a way to hack an ancient magical artifact created by, arguably, the most powerful unicorn of all time, it’s like every school filly’s dream.” Spike seriously doubted it was every filly’s dream, but definitely one for the two mares he lived with, so he knew better to argue lest they decide to spend the evening convincing him.
“Normally, this kind of work would be something any researcher would be dying to be a part of, but not for me, and Twilight knows that.” Turning across the room to where the large, ornate mirror was standing, once again adorned with an assortment of wires in an elaborate setup, Sunset could only glare at the device. Feeling the anger once again building within herself, she hadn’t realized she had begun emitting an unpony-like growl until she felt the gentle press of a claw on her shoulder. “Sorry,” she muttered dejectedly, “but even being around that mirror brings back nothing but bad memories, and having to be here in Ponyville where I have to see them every day doesn’t help matters.”
Spike wasn’t sure what to say to that. He knew Sunset realized the Element bearers here in Ponyvile were not the same as the ones who had abandoned her, but he’d been to the human world and knew just how similar they were to their counterparts. Opting instead to change the subject, Spike directed Sunset back to the desk and the tray he’d brought in.
“You know what you need? Snacks!” Spike announced happily, lifting the cover of the tray to reveal a sandwich and hay fries. “Nothing gets done on an empty stomach, and daffodil and daisy sandwiches provide the extra energy needed to stimulate the brain and mana pathways in a growing pony.”
Sunset couldn’t help but smile a bit at the speech. “I’m guessing that you’ve had to do this for Twilight before, too.” When the dragon could only offer her a lopsided smile and accompanying nervous neck rub in response, Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “And what exactly is the nutritional benefit of the hay fries oh, number one assistant?” she mock questioned.
“I dunno,” Spike said, shrugging, “But they’re delicious. I mean not as good as a nice fire ruby, but still pretty good.” To emphasize the point, he swiped one of the fries and tossed it into the air, catching it expertly in his mouth.
“Thank you, Spike,” Sunset said, pulling the dragon into a side hug.
“No problem. It’s not like you’re the first pony I’ve met to get so wrapped up in her work she forgets to eat. That’s what makes my job so important.”
“No, not for the food,” Sunset started, “Well, that too, but I wanted to say thank you for forgiving me. The stunt I pulled at the Fall Formal; kidnapping and threatening you. I was just awful to you, but even after everything I did, you’re here looking out for me. It really means a lot to me.”
“You’re welcome, Sunset,” The little dragon said, returning the hug. Stepping back, he gave the amber unicorn an appraising look. “Are you going to be okay here all by yourself?”
The question was met with an eye-roll from the mare as she responded with an appropriate level of snark. “Yes, mom, I will be fine for the whole one day you will be away in Canterlot.” The dragon opened his mouth to comment but was cut off. “And before you say it, no you can’t stay here with me. I’m sure Twilight is going to need to practice her speech on cutie marks like a hundred times before she presents it at CSGU. With such a high profile venue, the knowledge that Princess Celestia personally asked her to present on a topic, and it’s one that is so close to her heart, we both know you’re going to have to be there to talk her down from the inevitable meltdown, or five, that she’s going to have.” This comment elicited a small snort from Spike. “Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I kept depriving her of her number one assistant? Just remind her that she’s a princess and the Element of Magic so there is absolutely no chance that she will be sent back to magic kindergarten.”
“Well, if you think you’ll be okay” the little dragon replied, still hesitant to leave her on her own.
“I’ll be fine, Spike,” Sunset insisted. “I have no intention of leaving this lab so what kind of trouble can I get into while you’re gone?”
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I'll follow this for now.
Looking forward to seeing where this goes
You know something? This would be actually be good if you dropped the connection to the absolute pile of shit comic that I refuse to name.
Seriously, there are plenty of ways it could work without dragging the comic into it. Unless you're one of those... People, who actually think it's actually a good story.
Then I've got nothing.
For your first story, this is pretty darned good, and I'm looking forward to more.
Have a Favorite, a Track and a Like.
On another note, though:
Oh, Sunset, Sunset, Sunset.
Filly, you should know that saying stuff like is just a gilt-edged invitation for Mr. Murphy to intervene, and for you to end up in a mess.
On a secondary note, I'm surprised I'm the first one to comment on that bit at the end.
Intriguing premise, fairly solid writing. I'm in, let's see where this goes.
10312984
Seriously, her and Twilight both have quite the fascination with tempting fate in that manner, and are both supposedly smart enough that they should know better.
10313003
Supposedly being the operative word.
10313120
I think I got the major offenders. Thanks. Just PM mistakes and I can fix them.
10313003 Yeah, they do, and indeed.
That always seems to come back to bite them right in the plot sooner or later, too.
And in Sunset's case, Karma/Murphy will be in the form of a certain bespectled Crystal Prep student.
And no, I don't mean Sugarcoat.
10313047 Good point.
10313268
People can never seem to be original with this genre. I don't think Gilda was even in the comic itself.
10313268
10313317
No, as far as I'm aware there is no EG Gilda in cannon. After watching FIM Gilda's first appearance though, it's clear that she's not a fan of being laughed at. So translating that to a human world, where the object of your anger isn't surrounded by her friends, but alone in a school, I think her temper might have a bit more chance to get away from her. I never said she was bad, just hot-headed and Sunset did stumble into her at probably the worst time. FIM Gilda gets a chance to make amends. No one at CHS has that chance at the moment.
You know, its almost a shame Sunset is going to be isekaied back to Terra by SciTwi. I would simply LOVE to see what would happen to Starlight, if, when she gets to the castle before Twilight and Spike, Sunset was home.
Oh potential Starlight invlovement
10312960
Personally I think it’s because it’s a bad story that people use it as consistently as they do. A remarkably bad story in an avid fandom invites change. As well there are so many ways to improve it. Have people not be idiots, play up the absurdity of the situation for comedy, embrace the more likely tragic result and explore the complex reactions of guilt, have Sunset not be as fragile, and many more besides. I read Anon A Miss stories because it’s a fascinating playground for people to let loose in. I have no illusions to the original being good, but I have seen many truely great works come out of people giving their take on it.
Look.
This.
Here.
Having to be here.
Delete the second ‘One.‘
Following this story so far. And yeah I’ll PM the mistakes I catch from now on.
10317742
All fixed.
Oh if that isn't the biggest Jinx of them all
First? Can't see that. Maybe you have talent for this sort of thing?
i'm loving the story so far. keep up the amazing work
Probably get so worked up about your schedules and OCD and stuff that you either have a heart attack, or end up mentally snapping.
Look out for light-purple intruders, Twilight...there might be somepony spying on you in order to further their revenge...
There shouldn't be a quotation mark here; no-one's saying anything yet.
10468149
Fixed. Thanks
I mean, you'd think she'd try to mend her relationship with her teacher over everything else now that she went home but i guess not.
Murphy : hello my friend