Equestrian Girl

by HorseStories

X:Djinn

Shim shut her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose, before removing her glasses and setting them down next to her laptop. She scrolled wearily through the progress she'd made in the last two hours, heart sinking as she realized how little of substance she'd actually written.

Standing up, she stretched, before shuffling lazily over to the sink and filling the kettle. Setting it to boil, her gaze flew around the room before resting on Sunset, who was still passed out on her couch. Whatever she'd been doing last night, it had taken a serious toll on her.

The kettle began to whistle. Shim pulled open her cupboards and pulled out a near-depleted bag of ground coffee. Now that she thought about it, Sunset hadn't mentioned anything about magic for the past few months. Was she really planning to live here for the next two years as a high schooler? Shim frowned at the thought. She might have been too hasty in offering her a place to stay.

Returning to her desk with a steaming mug of coffee, she set it down before glancing at her watch. It was just past one. She was supposed to call her supervisor today and detail her progress. Of course, she hadn't officially arranged to change the title of her thesis. Or notified her supervisor she'd done so. After all, "the discovery of magic" was going to be a hard sell. She'd need to have some serious evidence when she tried to cross that bridge.

Beatrix hadn't been any help, either. After months of coaxing, Shim had finally convinced her to visit the portal, on the condition they did it at the dead of night in the middle of the school holiday.

---

"This is it?"

Beatrix dropped her rucksack, squinting disbelievingly at the statue. "I was expecting..."

"Expecting what?" Shim shone her torch over the statue base, eyes darting back and forth, constantly scanning the darkness around them for any sign of motion. Next to her, Beatrix shrugged.

"Something, I guess. A kind of signal, or presence. This might not be the best time to mention it, but I've never actually come across an interdimensional portal before."

Shim glanced around once more before turning the torch off. Beatrix stepped forwards and laid her hand against the statue, quietly muttering something under her breath. Retracting her hand, she frowned. "Well, it's locked for sure. But it's... it's strange. I've never come across anything like it."

"Well, are you going to try and close it?" Shim couldn't keep the urgency out of her voice.

"I - I don't know where to start!" Beatrix sounded distressed. Reaching into her pocket, she removed the kaduceus she'd brought with her - a simple steel necklace - laced it around her neck, and began to mutter under her breath at surprising speed, her voice gradually growing louder and more erratic. Shim glanced around, wondering how she could possibly explain this situation to any passers-by.

The words coming from Beatrix's mouth didn't sound like they belonged to any human language, nor did they sound like any sound a human being could have naturally made, filled with animalistic snarls and inhuman shifts in pitch. If a cat was thrown into a spinning blender, it would likely have made the same noise.

Beatrix practically shouted the last few words before coming to an abrupt halt. Breathing heavily, she kicked the statue's base in frustration. "Shim, are you sure this is the place?"

"Am I sure this is the same statue I saw people come out of? Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"But there's nothing here! It's just a statue!"

Casting her mind back to what Sunset had told her, Shim felt a strange mixture of relief and disappointment. "Couldn't it be hidden, or disguised?"

Beatrix shook her head. "No. I mean, it could. But it would still respond to a probing like that. If you're sure this is the place..." She tugged absent-mindedly at a strand of hair, deep in thought. "Maybe someone on the other side closed it. What about those reader thingies you set up here?"

"The EMF meters? I checked this morning. The signal's still coming through. No sign it's been shut down. Look, maybe we should just get out of here..." Beatrix held up a hand, causing her to trail off.

"I had a contingency plan." Beatrix squatted down and unzipped the rucksack she'd brought with her. Shim wasn't sure what she'd been expecting Beatrix to bring, but the claw hammer and chisel she produced had been pretty much the last thing she would have guessed. Beatrix glanced back at her. "I'm going to need your help."

"You're joking."

"The portal is probably just an enchanted rock. Without their physical body, enchantments can't sustain themselves." Beatrix pulled out a crowbar and handheld pickaxe. "If I'd known it was going to be this big, I'd have brought a sledgehammer."

"Are you listening to yourself? You want to spend the next few hours smashing up a public statue?" Shim's gaze flickered around the darkness once more. "What if someone sees us?"

"First of all, it's not going to take hours. I still have my magic; with that I can be over and done with this in ten minutes. I want you to keep watch while I do. If anyone comes along, just give me a shout. I'll handle it."

Shim had no doubt Beatrix was capable of destroying the portal, but that didn't reassure her one bit. Without the portal, her research was sunk. "Wait!"

Beatrix paused, hammer in hand. "What now?"

Mind racing, Shim simply blurted out the first excuse that came to her mind. "How do you know this won't make things worse?"

Beatrix squinted at her. "You're kidding, right? People are coming through from the Discordant. That's pretty much as bad as it gets."

"But they don't know... that you know that, do they?" Shim blustered. "If you destroy that portal, they'll know they've been found out. They can make another portal easily." Her voice slowly grew in strength, and she saw Beatrix hesitate. "All you'd be doing is handing them information and losing track of where their main portal is."

"Maybe." Beatrix lowered the hammer. "Or maybe not. Making these portals might be too resource-intensive for them to do it again."

"Are you willing to take that risk? We don't know anything about their world, just that it's home to a bloodthirsty megalomaniac and some kind of chaos god. They might be able to crank a hundred of these out a day. Why chance it?"

To Shim's amazement, Beatrix slowly nodded. "I didn't think of that. I guess you're right. Damn, when were you going to speak up?"

Shim breathed a sigh of relief. "it just hit me now. Guess we should think more before we act." She glanced back at the statue. "What are you going to do about that, then?"

"Keep an eye on it. Although since it only opens every thirty moons, it shouldn't be too much work. Normally my family buys magical objects we can't destroy, but it would probably give the game away if the next patrol stepped out onto my front lawn."

The sound of snapping twigs made the pair of them jump. Beatrix and Shim glanced at each other.

"Let's get out of here."

---

Of course, it had been a waste of their time, just as Sunset had said it would be. Still, now that she was free from her family's clutches, Beatrix been almost bearable to deal with.

The wedding had been just as miserable as Sunset had feared it would be. Beatrix and Valentina had both had perpetual scowls on their faces the whole time, and she was pretty sure she'd heard Sunburst crying hysterically in the bathroom at one point. At least his mother hadn't insisted on walking him down the aisle.

Idly, Shim returned to her work, making minimal progress as she counted the minutes down. Half an hour passed before Sunset woke up, scrambling to her feet with a yell as she glanced at the clock. Absent-mindedly, Shim glanced over her shoulder. "You all right?"

"Any reason why you decided not to wake me up sooner?" Sunset snapped back, collapsing back onto the sofa in defeat. Shim merely shrugged, not taking her eyes of the screen in front of her.

"You looked like you could use the rest. Besides, since when have you needed me to wake you up?"

Sunset grumbled but didn't respond, the events of last night too fresh in her mind for her to focus on anything else. "Never mind. I'm going out. I - I need some fresh air." Stuffing her phone, wallet and keys into her pockets, Sunset strode across the room, wrenched open the front door and was gone in a matter of seconds. The sound of the door slamming echoed across the silent room, much to Shim's annoyance.

There was no point in delaying it any longer. Picking up her phone, Shim sighed and began to punch in her supervisor's number.

---

Sunset couldn't focus. The world around her seemed to shake as her eyes shot frantically from side to side, scanning every possible corner for assailants. The kitchen knife was still tucked into her waistband, but all the confidence it had given her last night evaporated as she realized just how vulnerable she was to an ambush.

Stepping up her pace, she ducked into a narrow alley, glancing behind her after a few steps to make sure she wasn't being followed. When she saw nothing, she breathed out slowly and leant against a nearby dustbin to steady herself.

This was insane. She couldn't even see straight, let alone defend herself. Of course, this was presumably exactly what her trail wanted. To wear her down before striking when she least expected it. Glancing around at the empty alley, she realized it would be the perfect place to strike. Did that mean nobody was watching? Or was it just another elaborate mind game?

bzzt. bzzt.

Sunset fished her phone out of her pocket. Rainbow Dash. Stabbing her thumb down on Accept, she took a second to compose herself before answering.

"Rainbow?"

"The one and only. Didn't catch you at school today. How the tables have turned."

Sunset couldn't help but give a weak laugh. "Well, one of us had to stay up and drag the other back home."

"Yeahhh... Look, I'm sorry about that. I know I say that every time. But I really mean it this time."

"Sure." Sunset muttered, only half-listening. Emerging from the alley, she kept walking. Somehow, it was much easier to focus when Rainbow was listening to her every word. But being in a group would be even better.

"You doing anything right now?"

"Actually, yeah. I'm busy being grounded for a week. My mom is pissed." Unbelievably, Dash actually sounded slightly remorseful. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine." Sunset muttered, grinding her teeth. "Look, I gotta go. I'll speak to you some other time."

"Oh." Dash couldn't quite hide her disappointment. "I-"

Ignoring her, Sunset disconnected the line and began scrolling through her contacts.

---

Flash Sentry rested awkwardly on the end of his bed. He'd known Sunset long enough to know what was normal for her, and this... this was the exact opposite of normal.

"So..." As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately wished he'd kept it shut. Sunset stopped peering out of the window for a second to glance over her shoulder at him. "Are you going to tell me what's going on here?"

"What? Nothing." Sunset resumed staring intently out the window, eyes darting back and forth. Suddenly, she nodded, seemingly satisfied. Drawing the curtains, she collapsed on the bed next to him. "Can I stay here tonight?"

Flash's face paled. "What?"

"Can I stay here? I... I had an argument with my sister. I just thought I might give her some space. You know?"

"I... we don't actually have a spare room..."

Sunset gestured at the room around them. "I can sleep here, right?"

A visceral image of his mother's reaction to this proposition passed through Flash's mind. "I can't see my parents going for that."

Though there was little light in the room, Flash could feel the glare Sunset shot him burning a hole in the side of his head. "Don't get any ideas."

Flash shrugged. "I thought you got on really well with your sister. Now you're telling me you can't spend another night with her?"

Sunset sighed, lying back down. "Yeah, usually. I just..." She considered her next words. "I'm wondering if it's even worth salvaging."

Flash glanced at her, surprised. "That bad?"

Sunset nodded. "It's like we've grown apart. When we were younger, we had more in common. I guess you could say we both wanted the same thing out of life." She sighed. "But that was then. It's more complicated now."

Flash laid down next to her. Sunset was half expecting him to make a move on her, but to her relief he just laid there silently. She paused for a moment, trying to decide how to continue.

"She's got new friends, a new job, and now I can't help but feel we just drag each other down. I mean, I have to think about my future. Sometimes, that means choosing your future over other people."

Flash slowly nodded. "I guess? I mean, that's a. lot to deal with. I'm not gonna pretend I know what to say, but I still reckon you should think hard about it before you go and cut off the only family you have left."

Sunset grimaced. "She wasn't much of a sister. I mean, neither was I. Guess I didn't know how much she'd changed before I came here. My real family's back where I came from."

Flash nodded. "Why did you come here, anyway?"

Sunset swallowed the lump rising in her throat, determined to retain her clarity in front of Flash. "Didn't have much choice. Disappointed everyone back home. Even if I went back, they won't want anything to do with me."

"That bad back home too?" Flash chuckled. "You got a history of burning everything you touch down?"

Sunset nodded. "I guess. But if I make something of myself here... it won't matter, will it? That's how it works, right? When you're rich and powerful, nobody cares who you were."

"You really think that?"

"I know it."

Flash shook his head. "I don't know. I'd like to think you weren't right, but you probably are." He let out a low sigh. "You can stay over tonight. It was kind of dickish of me to say no. Just keep it down in here, unless you want to get thrown out at two in the morning."

Pushing himself upright, he turned around and extended Sunset his hand. "Anyway, this is getting too deep for me. You wanna watch the new Daring Do movie? Torrented it last night."

Sunset let out a groan, a smile spreading across her face despite it. "Daring Do and the Empire of the Sapphire Crown? You know it sucks, right?"

"Yeah. But at least it's not going to give me existential dread when I'm watching it."

---

A sharp knocking sound caused Shim to look up from her work. Sunset had her own key, and she hadn't been expecting any visitors. Door-to-door salesmen? Certainly not this late. Religious kooks? Hopefully not.

Approaching the door with caution, she peered through the spyhole. For a fleeting moment, she could see nothing but a black coat and small duffel bag. Then, an unmistakable lock of snow-white hair fell into sight. Beatrix.

Her eyes lit up as the door opened. "Shim! Oh, thank God you're in. I was worried for a moment." Her eyes slid past her into the messy apartment, nose wrinkling with distaste. "I need to talk to you about something. Can I come in?"

Shim blinked, surprised at this new development. "What? Have you figured something out?"

"You could say that. Could I come in? It's going to take a while to explain."

Shim stepped back, gesturing for her to enter. "Sure."

Beatrix entered, eyes widening slightly as she realized how much of a tip the apartment was, though she didn't say anything. Shim closed the door behind her. "This really couldn't have waited till morning?"

Beatrix unzipped the duffel bag and pulled out the same crystal orb she'd used the first time the two of them had met. Weighing it in her hand, she ran her eyes up and down Shim before dropping the bag to the floor.

"Absolutely not. Trust me, I've been dying to share this one with you."

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

But it's... it's strange. I've never come across anything like it.

The incomptaibility issue cuts both ways. Just as Sunset can't make use of the dark arts, Beatrix can't wrap her head around conventional horse magic.

If I'd known it was going to be this big, I'd have brought a sledgehammer.

Is it still foreshadowing if it's written after the future event it alludes to? Maybe anteshadowing. Or threeshadowing...

Oh, Sunset. Because of course actually telling Shim about the problem wouldn't occur to her. She could be working with whoever left the note! Never mind that Sunset has literally no other place to go or support structure. It wouldn't the first time she's burned bridges. Hopefully she'll realize that there are quite a few steps between her and becoming the Rich and Powerful Trixie Sunset Shimmer soon.

As for Shim and Beatrix... this could go in a number of directions. Looking forward to seeing which one.