5. The New Sunset
Sunset Shimmer wondered if the universe enjoyed making things harder for her. Because if it didn’t, its cosmic sense of timing was hideously unfunny. If it did, why her specifically?
…Okay, fine, the universe has a lot of legitimate reasons to punish me, she thought. But I thought we’d be square after the whole time-loop thing. This is starting to classify as cruel and unusual.
Applejack frowned, first to Rarity who thumbed the geode around her neck then to the rest of their friends at large. “Did that last bit seem a mite... anti-magic to y’all?”
“Oh yes, I’m all for mental health advocacy,” Rarity began, her eyes flickering towards Twilight, if only briefly, “and I think it’s absolutely fabulous to have new supports in place, but isn’t it a tad gauche to introduce yourself to a magical high school by condemning all magic?”
“No way, you’ve got it all wrong.” Rainbow Dash grabbed a letterman’s jacket from her locker with her last name stitched into the lapel on one side and a large gold W emblazoned on the other; one of the perks of being the senior-year captain of the soccer and buckball teams. Putting it on in the showiest manner possible, Dash walloped the air as though uppercutting some unseen foe. “We want CHS in fighting spirit! It’s rad to have somebody in our corner who totally gets that. It’s like having a coach for your brain!”
A delighted smile climbed on Fluttershy’s face as she nodded, hugging the Advanced Biology textbook like a fluffy bunny she picked up from her locker. Well, that, and the actual fluffy bunny. “I think Rainbow Dash is right: it sounds like this could really help our friends. Magic can cause some very, um, stressful situations.”
As soon as she said that, all their friends had to make various noises of agreement, now including Timber. The Great and Powerful Trixie breezed by muttering something along the lines of, ‘Oh, tell me about it…’
Encouraged to have so many people agreeing with her, Fluttershy went on, “Besides, there’s no need to be defensive, girls. We shouldn’t assume everything is an attack on us.”
Sunset put a pause on internally cursing the very universe itself. Mostly, it was to start cursing herself (not literally, although she knew some doozies from when Princess Celestia explicitly told her not to touch The Forbidden Tome of Nastiness and Untold Evils Vol. DCLXVI) for being self-centered. A fierce heat erupted in her cheeks. Dammit, Fluttershy. How are you so mature?
Sunset appreciated Fluttershy’s ability to calm her down and make her see some semblance of sense, or at least some reasonable recourse. It was thanks to Fluttershy, after all, that Sunset just barely escaped Anger Management after the junior Fall Formal, as she taught her some breathing exercises to have a “cool down.” It helped chill her out a bit (even if Sunset’s preferred outlet for anger still involved her old sledgehammer and the trash bins in the alleyway behind her apartment)
A distraction came in the form of Pinkie Pie, as per usual, but this time it was because Sunset only just now noticed that Pinkie had been staring at her and Timber since they’d walked up. It was as if they were pieces in a cupcake-themed puzzle. Moments later, she lit up and correctly waved to Sunset. “Hiya Sunset!” and then Timber, “Hiya, Timber! Glad you’re back safe! Did you bring Flash a souvenir?”
Rather than flooding who they thought was Timber with questions about where he’d teleported to, the other girls apart from Twilight didn’t know how to respond to that interaction. Fluttershy blinked. “Uh?”
Timber let out a little impressed hum. “Now that’s a cool party trick. How’d you know?”
Miffed, Pinkie Pie produced an expression dangerously close to a pout. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Isn’t what obvious, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked, frowning to her and the other girls, whose eyes ping-ponged between Pinkie, Timber, and Sunset.
Any hint of concern or confusion dropped from Pinkie Pie’s expression when a bright giggle lit up the morning drudgery of the hall as easily as when Vice Principal Luna put in the coffee maker. “Oh, that’s an easy one, Dashie! It’s so super weird to see Timber so grumpy and especially so super weird for Sunset not to be a grumbly grumpy pants this early in the morning.”
Sunset didn’t know how to take that.
Pinkie jacked a thumb towards them. “Either Sunset stole Timber’s morning coffee, or Timber and Sunset pulled the ol’ Switcheroo by accident because they shared their magic!”
Applejack let out a hoot of a guffaw, slapping her knee in a bumpkin-esque fashion. Sunset respected Applejack enough to know she wasn’t the stereotype Sunset used to think of when she thought of earth pony farmers (which in hindsight: yikes), but she found it endearing that even still, AJ’s laugh was as country as one of her countryisms. She even wiped a tear away. “Ehehe, whoo dang. Sorry, Pinkie, it’s just, how’d we get to the point in our lives where I got no reason not to believe every word you’re saying?”
Fluttershy hummed, smiling in on the joke. “Six or seven demons ago, I’d say.”
“It’s true, though,” Flash finally spoke up, shutting his locker directly adjacent to the block of the girls’ lockers. He buried his hands into the plush depths of his hoodie pockets as he came up next to a nodding Twilight. “Something went weird last night after Timber teleported back from Northway.”
“Northway?!” the girls chorused in an impressive unison. Even more impressively, they’d unintentionally timed it right before the bell for first period.
Rarity held her forehead. “Goodness. It appears we’ve got quite a lot to discuss come lunchtime.”
Among the many new experiences she’d had this week, Sunset was maybe the most baffled that she was now genuinely weirded out by loitering. Normally, she’d laugh in the face of anyone who took that kind of pointless red tape seriously (except her girlfriend; Sunset decided that was mostly just eyerollingly cute), but in Sunset’s defence, she wasn’t entirely herself at present, and that was sort of the issue.
Timber attended Home Ec and Gym in her place (not a tragedy on the latter, she thought), but that left Sunset as Timber, a guy who didn’t go to this school. Dodging the hall monitor was easy enough: she still knew Derpy’s route by heart from back when she skipped class to sneak around and get up to no good properly.
Still, the band room would be in use until lunch, so the best she could do was go to the cafeteria and sketch out some magicmatical formulas. Reaching into her bag, Sunset pulled out the journal to Princess Twilight on instinct. She put it back and took out her own art book instead.
After a while of sitting at their regular table and scribbling away, she twirled a pen between her fingers like a drumstick—a trick she’d learned from Pinkie (only breaking two pens in frustration along the way)—and took a look at the spells she’d written.
Mostly Equestrian, all of them in stunningly perfect form down to the decimal. None of them applied on this side of the mirror that way, but she figured the Master Mage’s level theory tended to have some parallel. Plus, admittedly, it felt good.
It felt good to be such a natural.
Sunset tried not to lean on her old vices too much, generally; obviously, the last thing she ever wanted was to lay even a single tread down the same dark path that led her to the demonic transformation at the junior year Fall Formal. But this was to help her friends, so she thought she was at least a little justified in taking some pride in her natural-born aptitude for Equestrian magic.
If I figure this magic-sharing thing out, we’re all better off for it. She could feel a smirk sliding onto her face and let it stay there, even as she sighed. Too bad all this theory’s not as useful over here. Sweet Celestia, how many times could I have saved us trouble if it just worked the way I’m good at?
She shook her head, biting her lip. But it doesn’t work that way. No use in wishing it did. Besides, Equestrian magic is Princess Twilight’s game now. She won, got the crown, saved the town, earned the throne, and to top it off, she deserves all of it.
Her stomach snagged on that thought, a twisting feeling tugging at her. Okay. Enough with the pity party, Sunset, she thought to herself. It’s done. You’re not even Princess Celestia’s apprentice anymore, so there was never any contest to lose. When you and the girls go to the coronation, you’re going to swallow your stupid ego already, even if you choke on it, and just… be a good friend.
Twilight and the girls seemed to think she could be. And after all she’d done to be their friend, Sunset wanted to agree, but she also didn’t feel quite so pure anymore. Friendship never came natural to her, but she thought she’d mastered it by now. She thought she was good at heart. So why did she still mess up like this?
I’m not a bad friend. Maybe I’ve just been away from Equestria too long, she tried to reason, tapping the page with her ballpoint pen. It wasn’t all a horrible descent into power-lust, was it?
Even as soon as she thought that, it felt like an excuse to her. Sunset would renounce all magic before going back to being the snide little pupil who took the opportunities she was given for granted. But then... she thought. She turned to an older page in her art book, one of the best pieces she’d done for art class: an Equestrian sunrise from her dorm’s balcony on Canterlot Castle, from memory. The silhouetted figure of Princess Celestia stood on the balcony ahead.
She ran her hand over the page, coursing her fingertips over the dried paint. She was a totally different person from who she used to be—right now literally.
Sunset looked over her shoulder to check for anyone who might see then set up the book standing in front of her and laid her chin on her folded arms.
A smile rose. “Nice sunrise today, Princess. You’ve outdone yourself.”
The silhouette didn’t turn back toward her.
Either way, she didn’t let herself indulge much longer. She had friends here and now to help out. Even apart from fixing the body swap, which was her main concern, she needed to have a handle on the magic-sharing before it caused anybody else any more problems. At this rate, with her luck, Pinkie would explode some of Rarity’s diamond-sharp shields in the middle of Princess Twilight’s coronation. Now that would be something to talk about in therapy.
The girls along with the two boys arrived at the lunch table not long after lunch began and that meant they had to pull up two extra chairs. A nine person group took up so much space. Sunset had managed to get something potentially helpful down on paper before they arrived, so when everybody sat down she held up her calculations and tapped the page. “I’ve got some ideas on how to undo whatever happened to me and Timber, so if we can get through your questions fast we might be able to switch us back before the end of lunch.”
Twilight mussed up her mouth from her seat next to her girlfriend. “Sunset? Even I have a lot of questions, and I was there for all of this.”
The others nodded.
Sunset sighed. “Okay, yeah, that’s fair. Everybody gets one question right now, so you’re not in the dark, and we can talk all we want later after we fix things. Deal or no deal?”
“Deal!” Twilight embodied the total sum of all the chuckling chatter in the cafeteria in one incandescent smile but then reached for a notebook and pen to start scribbling as if studying for final exams. “Start on someone else please.”
Sunset smirked. The waggling pen reminded her of the various times spent admiring Twilight in chemistry class. Or algebra. Or biology. She submerged the urge to lean over and kiss her cheek. It helped to remind herself that if she powered through and put things back to normal, she could do a whole lot more than kiss her girlfriend again later on. Ignoring the fact that she was technically also Twilight’s ex at the moment. “Alright, down the line, then. Applejack?”
“You’re Sunset, right?”
“Yes,” Sunset confirmed. “Pinkie, you’re next.”
Applejack balked. “Wait, that wasn’t my question.”
“One question,” Sunset told her. “We’ve only got an hour for lunch. Magic takes time. Go ahead, Pinkie.”
“Consarn it,” Applejack muttered along with a string of countrified curse words increasingly too quiet and slurred together in her accent to make out. Seeing this, Twilight wrote faster, as if even more worried about wasting her question.
Pinkie Pie raised her hand even though she’d already been called upon. “Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! How was Northway? And you still didn’t answer my question about Flash’s souvenir, so technically, that’s still just one question.”
“...I’ll allow it,” Sunset said, to which Applejack threw down her hat on the table like a grumpy prospector.
“Bull pie!”
Timber perked up. “Oh, well, it’s got a beautiful countryside, friendly people, and I tried something called kjøttboller: very delicious, I’d totally recommend. Also I was horrified that I might never see my sister again and something something existential dread—but the kjøttboller!” He planted his hands on the table to make his point, then looked over to Flash. “But, no gift. Sorry, hot stuff. Maybe next time?”
“There... doesn’t need to be a next time,” Flash assured, smiling with a bit of fear in his eyes. It was nice to see him smile, at least, although admittedly weird to see Flash’s hand pat what would normally be her own.
Turning away from that, Sunset pointed at Fluttershy. “Do you have any questions, Flutters?”
“Oh, um, I guess I’d like to know how Timber could teleport that far, or maybe even how to switch you and Timber back, but I can wait if we’re really in a rush.”
Sunset was about to elaborate before Rainbow Dash grinned. “My turn! Does this hurt you or Timber?” She punched Timber in the shoulder like it was her job.
“Ow!” Timber said.
Rainbow folded her hands neatly on the table in front of her as Timber rubbed his shoulder. “No further questions.”
Sunset sighed, almost pleadingly. “Rarity?”
Rarity laid her hand back on the topmost knee of her crossed legs. “Thank you, dear. Should we still refer to you as she and Timber, he/him, or would you say it’s the other way around?”
Sunset stared. “Oh. Uh, same as usual, I guess. I’m still me.” It made her swelteringly uncomfortable to have someone think she might be a gender she didn’t identify as just based on her body alone, but Sunset pushed that aside since it was considerate for Rarity to ask. Twilight seemed to cross one off her list. “Next question.”
Instead of skipping over Timber like she thought would be logical, Timber waved at her across the table. “Hi, Timber in Sunset here. Long time listener, first time asker. My question is, do you not even try in gym class? Because I ran a lap and everyone was shocked.”
Dash leaned over. “Oh, I know that one! She doesn’t.”
“I’m strategic. I don’t run, I hit things.” That’s what she told them, at least. Sunset didn’t like to sweat in front of other people, plus there were usually ways to spend the whole class ‘helping’ Coach Spitfire get supplies for the other students that didn’t involve as much work. Really, Sunset would argue it was a mental workout, which in school was clearly more valuable.
…There may have been a reason to start her punching bag-based workout regime up again when she got her body back, and that reason maybe was to picture the bag as Timber’s face. Or, at the moment, her own face.
Whatever, she thought, then flicked her eyes toward the next in line. “Flash, what do you want to know?”
Flash shoved his free hand back into his pocket. A totally ordinary move coming from him, but she knew it meant he was at least a little uncomfortable. “Are you two going to be alright?”
Sunset softened. “We’re not in danger or anything, so yeah. As soon as the girls and I pony up from showing the truest parts of ourselves, I think that should be enough for the magic to put us back where we belong.”
Everyone turned towards Twilight, who took a moment to notice the eyes on her before realizing it was pencils down. Scanning what she’d written, she flipped through a page. Then another. Then five more.
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Wow, that’s just impressive.”
Twilight continued to scan and flip until she got to the last page and then clapped her notebook shut. “The most pressing question notwithstanding,” she said, nodding to Flash, “I think the next biggest priority is what exactly you and Timber were thinking and feeling when you switched bodies. What’s the common denominator that let you share magic?”
Timber looked to Sunset as if she would have the answer, but she was admittedly hoping he would fess up first. She knew for a fact what she was thinking. How she wished Twilight’s ex hadn’t ruined their date night, but she realized he hadn’t answered her last night exactly; he’d talked about Northway, barely mentioning anything to do with Sunset.
He was too good at disguising his expression—in her body no less.
“...I don’t think it matters what we were thinking,” Sunset lied, but she didn’t break eye contact with Timber, trying to read her own face. She dropped it along with her hands on the table. “It could be a paradox.”
Twilight’s eyebrows raised, eyes growing owlish as she leaned in. “Paradox?”
“Like I keep saying, magic is usually based on emotion,” she said, parsing through the equations she’d written in her artbook, “but that’s how it works in Equestria. Over here, I don’t know, I’m just going to admit I wouldn’t call myself an expert—maybe it just doesn’t make sense. Timber and Flash shouldn’t have powers without geodes, but they do now.”
Flash’s eyebrows collapsed over his ocean eyes like a drawbridge. “Uh… sorry?”
“No, that’s not—” Sunset shook her head. “Don’t apologize. I mean usually Equestrian magic latches onto an object in this world if people besides us are going to be able to use it, but you two are different for some reason—and that’s not a bad thing. But until we understand it, it’s a paradox. It doesn’t make sense based on our current understanding.”
“Yup,” Timber chuckled, rubbing his neck, “sounds like a paradox to me. It’s okay. I’m used to being the weirdo that doesn’t make sense to other people.”
Applejack planted her freckled cheek on her hand like seeds. “You think Flash and Timber gettin’ powers has something to do with the big rip in the sky? I would’ve thought that would’ve healed up by now…”
“That’s been my assumption as well.” Twilight nodded. “We really don’t know for certain what’s on the other side of that tear, but if a crack in the portal could release more magic into the world, a crack in the atmosphere itself that large…”
“...creates paradoxes,” Flash finished quietly. To his credit, he managed a smile for the girls and didn’t let the mood drop down. “If Timber and I need to give up our powers because it’s causing too much trouble, it’s o—”
“No! I didn’t say that,” Sunset told him, feeling a little bad now that she’d definitely thought about it earlier. “And, look, maybe you and Timber can train or something. Even with geodes, our powers aren’t always easy to control. That doesn’t make them bad, it just means… we learn how to use them, I guess.”
It felt a little hollow to say that while thinking about how much better off all of her friends might be without this magic, but Sunset did her best not to entertain thoughts like that anymore. Mostly. Kind of. In a way.
Or at the very least, she didn’t let them make her friends feel bad about themselves, too, and that included Flash. If he wanted powers, Sunset thought she shouldn’t make him feel ashamed for that. She refused to, anyway.
Timber made eye contact with her, and for a moment she could’ve sworn she saw something recognizable—guilt—but she didn’t get a chance to confirm that she’d seen anything at all.
A magic glow formed around Timber, and it was only moments later when Sunset realized the same glow formed around her. She lit up. “Wait, everybody shut up! I think it’s working! I think—”
Then she noticed Flash’s hand resting on Timber’s, and her eyes widened as if someone had thrown a grenade on their cafeteria table.
“No!” Her shoulders tensed up, and she flinched as the magic exploded out across their lunch table from her and Timber like a tsunami’s powerful tide.
The next thing she knew, Sunset was sitting somewhere new. Right next to where she was a moment ago, in fact. She could see her own body still across the table, looking dazed and fighting with a headache. Startled, Sunset checked her hands only to find slender fingers and light, lavender skin.
Reaching up to her face, the thick-rimmed glasses confirmed her sinking feeling: she was Twilight Sparkle. Her mind leapt to the next most pressing concern, shoving past the disorientation and fighting to keep her eyes open to see the others.
All of her friends looked affected. Rubbing eyes, groaning, or in Flash’s case, hyperventilating as he patted down his arms, face, and chest. Or, Flash’s body. Sunset massaged the forehead beneath her bangs as she realized she didn’t know who that was.
Sunset swore. “Tartarus. Girls?”
Timber shrieked beside her, as high-pitched as his voice would go.
The others weren’t far behind. Whoever was currently Applejack gasped, and Pinkie Pie looked around in a total daze. The person in Fluttershy’s body jumped back from the table. “Whoa! Whoa, whoa whoa whoa! What?”
The person in Sunset’s body held their hands over their mouth. “I didn’t mean to! Was that because of me? I’m sorry!”
The rest of the cafeteria noticed them freaking out, and Sunset could tell the other students didn’t understand what was happening but didn’t like it one bit. Where a few years ago, an outburst from their classmates like this might’ve been a funny topic of conversation. Like, what were those weirdos at lunch doing, anyway?
But the hushed conversation and tense air around the cafeteria spoke volumes. We’re freaking them out, she realized. If the magic experts are scared about something, how’s the rest of the student body supposed to react?
Whoever was currently occupying Rainbow Dash stood up. “Everybody calm down, easy! The first thing to do is figure out who’s who, okay? I’m Timber,” he said, making Rainbow Dash sound like a camp counsellor speaking to junior campers on how to tie a proper knot.
Sunset had never seen Fluttershy look like she wanted to start a fistfight, but the way she stomped towards him made Sunset feel threatened. “Dude! You took my body?! Not cool!”
“So, okay, that’s Rainbow Dash,” Timber confirmed, which itself seemed to diffuse some of Dash’s anger. Timber kept his voice calm (a new sound from Dash’s voice). “Where’s Fluttershy?”
“Here…” A voice came from below the table. Rarity had never looked so timid, hiding behind her hair and hugging her knees, but that was par for the course for Fluttershy. It was beyond jarring for Sunset to see the mannerisms switched like that.
“Goodness, darling,” the person in Timber said, outing themselves as Rarity.
“I’m Applejack,” AJ came out and said from Pinkie’s body, eyeing the stetson-wearing blonde beside her suspiciously. “So who does that make you?”
She beamed. “Pinkie Pie!”
Sunset raised her hand, which she thought must’ve been a familiar motion for Twilight’s body. “Sunset Shimmer.” She eyed the two remaining friends unaccounted for: her own body and Flash Sentry’s. She pointed at Flash, who struggled to get the hyperventilating under control. “Twilight?”
She nodded.
And pointed to her own body. “And Flash?”
He nodded, looking like he’d just destroyed a dance, stole a crown, and learned the value of friendship the hard way all in one go. “I-I didn’t mean to amplify anything, I swear!”
Timber winced. “It’s not your fault. Paradox powers, right?” He looked toward Sunset as if asking for help.
Grimacing, she nodded. “It’s okay, Flash. I can fix this—the girls and I can fix this. Don’t beat yourself up, okay?”
“Well, if he’s you now, he’d really only be playing the part, dear,” someone muttered, which Sunset remembered was Rarity as Timber. This was getting genuinely difficult for her to keep track of, especially considering her own discombobulation and disorientation.
Sunset grunted, rubbing the space between her eyes under the glasses she now needed. “Okay, this has officially gotten old. Rainbooms? Time to Pony up.”
Setting up their instruments took a lot less time with Flash helping out. He made Sunset look like quite the expert, so all around this was a fine development. Sometimes she forgot just how much he knew about instruments and music—she knew, obviously; he’d taught her how to play in the first place. But she realized Flash usually asked how everyone else was doing first before talking about the stuff he loved, so it was easy to forget he and his band Flash Drive were just as, if not more, popular than the Rainbooms.
He ran the cord from Rainbow Dash’s guitar across the room to the amp and knew exactly what settings to adjust on the dials before giving her a thumbs up. It was beyond odd to see everyone in different positions than normal, which made Twilight frown. “If we’re not in our bodies, do you think we can use our magic?”
Dash exchanged looks with Applejack and Pinkie Pie (although it took a second for Sunset’s brain to work out exactly who was who). In Fluttershy’s soft, timid tones, Rainbow asked, “Wait, yeah, doesn’t our magic come from the heart? ‘Cause my heart’s over there right now.”
Timber waved, sitting on an amp on the side of the room.
“...Oh. Crap.” Sunset, in the middle of tuning the E string of her guitar, laid a hand over the strings to mute the sound to give her a second to think. “I don’t see why our powers would be tied to our bodies. But we should be wearing the right geodes.” She smirked. “That would probably help.”
In the exchange, Sunset took the purple geode off her neck and held it out to Twilight before grabbing her own orange geode from Flash while the rest of the girls got theirs. Admittedly? Even though Sunset used to brag about her top notch intellect, having everyone wear the correct coloured geode was the first time she could keep them all straight.
Sunset tried not to compare herself to a magic kindergartener discovering colour-coding. Tried. (But then again, Magic Kindergarten had been one of the best times of Sunset’s life; naps, oatmeal cookies, picking on nerds, and being the teacher’s favourite for reading spells at a 4th grade level while the others struggled to understand the concept of basic levitation. Who wouldn’t love that?)
Twilight watched the exchanging of geodes with a furrowed brow. She made Flash look very deep in thought, which was especially dramatic given his thick eyebrows. “Hang on. What exactly did we swap, anyway? Minds? Consciousnesses? The archaic concept of a spirit?”
Sunset shrugged and put the guitar strap over her head. “I dunno. I guess the same sort of thing that happens when I go from Equestria to the human world? Does it matter? We’re going to fix it right now, anyway.”
“Yes it matters! Do you know how startlingly little we know about the human consciousness, Sunset? Basically nothing! Our best experimental design to date is to compare it to a computer and study through metaphor!”
Timber stopped kicking his legs childishly off the amp. “Is that true? Whoa. Nifty. The anatomy of the brain and its processes isn’t really my go-to for bedtime reading, but look at that, you learn something new everyday! Or in this case, you learn that you know nothing!”
Pinkie Pie hit the drums in a rim-shot.
Timber Spruce lit up like he’d been given a very special gift just then. “Oh, you and me have some talking to do.”
Sunset laid a hand on Twilight’s shoulder, willfully ignoring the fact that it was technically her ex-boyfriend's and instead focused on the scared look in the eyes she recognized as her girlfriend. “Hey. I promise, we can debate the existence of a soul and what this all means later, okay? After we put everyone back?” She wished she could promise they’d get to do what they’d both really, really, really wanted to do last night, but it was nigh impossible to communicate that without everyone hearing or figuring out what she was implying. Especially with Rainbow Dash’s dirty mind.
All the same, Twilight nodded. It was cold comfort for Sunset to promise herself they’d get to actually talk later, in private.
Applejack noodled on the bass a bit. “So what do we play? Doesn’t have to be some fancy ‘musical counter spell’, does it?” She smirked toward Sunset, winking.
Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, no. Whatever you girls want. From the metaphorical heart.”
“Well, in that case, I’ve always liked Right There in Front of Me.” Twilight smiled, trying to twirl her hair around her finger before realizing Flash’s hair was too short for that. She blushed, grabbing onto the microphone with two hands. “It, um, it was really special to me that you girls let me sing it with you after the Friendship Games, even though I’m not the best singer without magical accompaniment…”
Her eyes reached for Sunset’s, and Sunset knew exactly why. That was their song. Both quite literally, in that they sung the vocal leads in duet, and because when they’d started dating, it became their song.
When the two of them had their first slow dance at the Fall Formal, Sunset could see how nervous Twilight was that she might mess up. And she did. She stumbled off beat, fumbled a dance move or two, and her nerves bungled the rhythm. So Sunset told her not to worry about the music in the gym, as nice as Flash’s acoustic guitar was. She started to sing the lyrics to Right There in Front of Me below her breath.
And after a verse, Twilight joined in.
Their first kiss as a couple cut the second chorus short.
“Yeah. That sounds perfect,” Sunset breathed, now willfully ignoring the giggles from her friends who she supposed only wanted to support them anyway.
Pinkie Pie counted them in. It was an easy enough song for the girls to get into, the instrumentals on point. Even if it stung to play guitar with Twilight’s fingers that hadn’t been properly calloused yet, Sunset pushed through and it seemed like the other girls would too.
That is, until the singing started.
Sunset herself mis-started. She should’ve expected she had to adjust her singing to Twilight’s vocal range, but it wasn’t a difficult adjustment (all things considered, their voices were more alike than she thought).
It was Twilight who really had a hard time with it. Flash Sentry was, by all bars and measures, a pitch-perfect singer, but his voice was also much lower than Twilight Sparkle’s. Twilight could still hit the right notes, but it gave the song a whole new sound. A new vibe.
By the time they got to the chorus, it was impossible to ignore the fact that Twilight and Flash’s voices were singing what the Rainbooms now considered their only real love song.
Sunset spared a look towards Flash. He looked like he’d seen the spirits Twilight was so interested in talking about, and he held his arms in such a way that he covered up his stomach. Sunset felt an intense pang of worry that he’d throw up.
Sunset doubted anyone would be able to Pony up after that, but then, the universe loved to prove her wrong. She would later wonder if reverse psychology worked on unseen cosmic forces.
A warm, satisfying magic shimmered around them, like the steam from a hot tub. Before she knew it, all of her friends had adorable pony ears and tails again, prompting their two-man audience to cheer them on.
By the time Rainbow Dash played the final chord, the magic was in full effect, and so, they waited.
Everyone looked around. Eager quiet fell over the band room.
Flash gave them a crisp thumbs up. “Well, uh… good try?”
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
996 users online
819 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh no... this is going to be so confusing.
I've already forgotten who's who.
P.S. To Sunset: I truly believe that you don't have to worry this much; that you're worrying in the first place is an undeniable sign that you've changed from your old ways and are a much better person for it. It may be easier said than done, but believe in yourself, and I think the rest will come naturally with the help of your friends.
Careful, Marvel, she's onto you.
Also, you know it's bad when even Sunset at her most ashamed feels the karmic retribution's getting excessive.
I have several questions.
This is only makes me more concerned.
Of course Pinkie could tell the swap had taken place. Though that highlights her lack of commentary about Mr. Shiver. What does it say when the genre-savvy girl says nothing about the ambiguous figure?
I am entirely okay with Best Human being a hall monitor.
Very interesting to see Sunset can perform sleight of hand like the pen twirling in another body. I wasn't sure if that kind of muscle memory would translate.
Sunset could really take a note from Timber here. If you don't take the time to appreciate the little pleasures of life, the big tragedies will tear you apart.
Or, you know, it's an unhealthy coping mechanism putting a cheery facade in front of his true feelings. Or somewhere in the middle.
Twilight, this arguably proves the concept of a soul. I wouldn't go throwing around the term "archaic" right now.
I sense a notable omission. I'm just not sure if it's because Timber wasn't included or if Sunset failed to harmonize with the others. Or both.
In any case, this just keeps getting messier. I can only imagine where it'll go from here. I'm so happy this story updates as often as it does; imagine if you were writing this as you went!
not surprised Pinkie knew exactly what happened, there’s my smart girl. side note, knowing that Timber doesn’t attend CHS, i can only imagine how adorably giddy he was about everything, especially attending Sunset’s classes for her.
this just reminded me Sunset’s voice actor also sings as Twilight and for some reason, it makes this part funnier.
if Twilight is in Flash’s body and Rarity is in Timber’s, does that mean they ponied up too 👀
i’m really curious about how they’re gonna fix this mess, everything just seems to be getting more and more chaotic by the hour. not gonna lie, i really appreciate these consistent updates! i was feeling a little down this morning so i’m glad i had something to look forward to, haha! again, loved Bevin’s art 💜
Name tags, Sunset. It's time to bite the bullet and get name tags.
GREAT SCOTT! It's The Mother of All Freaky Fridays!!!
Sunny, your status as the protagonist means that you're going to be caught in the middle of all of the madness. It's just the price of being the hero. Sorry.
Gotta say, its funny how much everyone forgets how perceptive Pinkie is. The girl's a hyperactive bundle of energy that can be innocently insensitive at times, but she knows her friends like the back of her hand. Also, good to see Timber taking charge when the extra complication happened. After all, he is a camp councilor, so seeing him use those skills is kinda nice.
And, to nobody's surprise, it wasn't that easy. Though I'm with FoME: did Sunset not pony up?
Oh Gaia, that was a doozy. Maybe flash aught to start wearing gloves until he can figure out how to control his amping powers. Looking forward to seeing how they figure this one out. Maybe they should go to that councilor…
I think this can and should help.
Mind | Body
Sunset -> Twilight
Timber -> Rainbow
Rainbow -> Fluttershy
Fluttershy -> Rarity
Rarity -> Timber
Applejack -> Pinkie
Pinkie -> Applejack
Twilight -> Flash
Flash -> Sunset
Oh my Celestia. These pictures are so! Freaking! CUTE!
I love the story, too. Can’t wait to see where it’s going.
10279657
Sunset's with you on that one
But for real though, don't worry about memorizing who's who, the characters will always be referred to as who they really are (not the body they're in) so you'll always know who you're dealing with
10279773
Freakiest Friday
Also?
10279910
You're the Hungry Hero this town needs and deserves. I would've done the same if you hadn't thoughtfully beat me to it, I salute you 👍 Anybody and everybody should refer to this list if they ever want a refresher!
10279675
None of which I will answer! Enjoy the paradox
I wonder...
She's very proud of her lil' sash! Derpy might be a little young here to be the world's bestest mail carrier, but she can deliver justice.
That Timber is a hard one to pin down, isn't he? (Naturally, vague non-answers are the only way I can say I fucking love the speculation on things I can't at all comment on.)
You shake her by the shoulders, I'll slap some sense into her. Go team!
Oh god, I couldn't handle leaving you in suspense after every single chapter! I genuinely couldn't, it's been years since I updated immediately after I wrote each chapter and even just personally, I'm much happier to release a pre-written story. It takes the pressure off.
That said, I will leave you in suspense when the first half is done after chapter 7, but that's designed to be a fun cliffhanger rather than a wah-wah trumpet noise like chapter 5's end. It serves the story (and the completion of the story, of course) rather than a shrug and a welp, now they're all body swapped, deal with that for an unforeseeable amount of time.
But yeah, I absolutely love giving folks a regular schedule they can count on. Builds momentum real-time and it's just fun. Even when we come back for the final half, we'll be doing the same thing for maximum fun. 😈
10279736
Pinkie's a smart cookie, alright, and she really cares about her friends. She's perceptive, that one!
And hahaha, you're so right, he must've been! Timber's been homeschooled all his life, going to school like all the other kids is a thrill for him!
Aww, I'm so glad it helped you through a rough morning. We've all been there. I'm happy to hear you're hanging in there. Having something fun to look forward to is a fantastic way to get through when you're down (I know I've done the same) so it's just really lovely that this story could be that for you right now. It genuinely means a lot to me to hear that.
I want to give you the heads-up in case you haven't seen that we'll be leaving you on a planned cliffhanger after chapter 7 for a while, but I promise when we come back for the final half of the story it'll be the same every other day schedule you can count on!
10279782
That's what fuels all that boundless energy: Powered by a love for her friends! Ultra Perceptive Pinkie is one of my fav characterizations of her we've gotten in canon, so I like to demonstrate it whenever I can.
And oh hell yeah, Timber's the guy you want on your side in a crisis! He's used to calming campers down if there's an injury or emergency. He knows how to keep people calm, maybe crack a few jokes so they think it's not so serious. His goofball personality starts to make sense the more you think about how it must've been like for him growing up.
I think she did, it just might've been glossed over since she's used to it. If we were reading Flash or Timber's POV, they'd definitely have something to say about seeing themselves with adorable pony ears...
Doozy is a good word for it. The characters are feeling the same right now, it's a lot to handle. Gang, looks like we've got a mystery on our hands...
Well...this was unexpected. A single body swap was one thing but the whole group? That's not something I've read before
Can't wait to see how they get out of this mess.
As a trans girl myself, thank you for this. I did not expect this from a magic sciset fic but hay. Very nice trope subversion instead of "waow Timber's a girl now gotta find an M-rated fic now".
How many transformations are in the series anyway.