Chapter 7: Back to the Portal
For Fluttershy her morning would start with the light thumping in her side gently waking her up, she hadn't needed an alarm clock in a long time, not since her lovely Angel came into her life. Stretching out gently in case any other friends had decided to join her she gave a small yawn as she opened her eyes, smiling at the little white rabbit by her side. "Good morning Angel, did you sleep well?"
The rabbit of course did not answer, simply hopping off the bed, thumping his foot impatiently at her as she climbed out of bed. "Alright, Angel I'm awake, good morning everyone." Around her, her two parrots squawked, Mr. Paws stretched, and the mice squeaked in their cage. "Come on, Angel, let's fill that hungry belly of yours."
Angel hopped into her arms as she carried him to the kitchen, the cat trailing behind them, her parents were likely already at work and it seemed Zephyr was sleeping in since his door was closed. That was good, she thought, she did not want to deal with her little brother today. "It's a big today Angel so we need our strength," She said as the bunny hopped out of her hands while she grabbed his food. "Twilight and Spike might be going home today. It's sad that they have to leave so soon, oh but of course I want them to be able to get home. I just wish that once they had a way home they could stay maybe a little longer. Twilight really saved me, Angel."
Fluttershy set the bowl of fruits and celery down. "Now you make sure to clean your bowl this time while I go feed the other little ones."
She could have sworn then that she saw the little rabbit roll his eyes at her, but that was impossible, no matter how expressive he was she had never heard of a rabbit rolling eyes. While Angel ate his breakfast, Fluttershy gave Mr. Paws his two sardines, holding her nose the whole time, the parrots their seed, and the mice a nice small wheel of cheese. "Now everyone eat up. I have to step out again today so please try and get along till I get back."
Once all her animals had been fed, Fluttershy attended to her own needs, a nice simple vegetarian breakfast while checking the time to make sure she had enough before leaving. They had decided yesterday to meet up at the statue before noon and it was still pretty early. But she didn't have a car to take to Canterlot High so she'd have to walk, which meant she'd need to leave soon if she did not want to be late. After she finished her breakfast she changed out of her pajamas into her usual outfit, grabbed her bag with a little homemade goodbye present for Twilight if the plans worked.
"I'm leaving, behave yourselves," She said shrugging on her bag. As she made to leave she felt a slight tug on her leg, looking down she saw Angel holding onto her shoe. "Angel? What is it, need more food, you don't want to overeat."
The rabbit did not let go. "Do you want to go out? I can't right now, I need to get to school." He did not move. "Oh, did you want to come with me?"
At that Angel let go of her shoe, standing up on his hind legs. "Aw Angel," She said unzipping her bag. "Hop in."
It was a clear sunny morning that Fluttershy stepped out into, perfect weather, birds singing, and a few squirrels running across the early autumn grass. "Enjoy the sun Angel, it'll be winter before we know it."
Fluttershy was not a big fan of winter, she loved Christmas and getting together with friends and family, but winter was also when so many cute animals had to hibernate for winter. At least she'd still have Angel to keep her company during the coming winter. But that was the future, now she could just enjoy the morning on her walk, giving a few shy waves to her neighbors as she passed them. Fluttershy could not understand how Pinkie was able to chat with everyone she met when they walked together, it took every bit of courage in her not to flinch away anytime a stranger looked at her as they passed.
It was still early when she saw the tall equine statue and long building that was her school, as it was a weekend there were few cars in the parking lot. She did notice Principal Celestia's car in faculty parking which meant at least one of the sisters was at school. In student parking, there were two cars parked at opposite ends of the lot, she saw Rarity's light purple car in its usual spot close to the school, and a rather beaten up reddish-orange car close to a security camera. Both Rarity and Twilight were standing by the statue, Spike sitting by Twilight's leg, and Twilight's crown in her hands.
"Fluttershy!" Rarity called as she saw her. "Good morning dear, sleep well?"
"Good morning Rarity," Fluttershy answered quietly. "Yes I did, thank you, Good morning Twilight, hi Spike."
"Hi Fluttershy," Spike responded, Twilight said nothing, staring at the base of the statue. "I smell something, you bring food with you?"
"Just Angel," Fluttershy said turning slightly so Angel could poke his head out of her bag. "He wouldn't let me leave without him."
Fluttershy thought she heard Spike mutter, "Sounds about right," But she didn't question the strange phrase as a loud bike came around the corner. Bright pink, multi-colored balloons hanging from the back and sides, and three different bells on the handlebars Pinkie announced her arrival with a small song on the three bells. Pinkie pulled her bike to a stop in front of them, picking up a small box in her basket.
Their pink-haired friend hummed as she skipped to their sides. "Morning everyone, I brought a pie with me for the occasion." She held up the small box.
Rainbow Dash is not going to like that, Fluttershy thought, but she just smiled and nodded, she wasn't going to be the one to tell her the truth. "And a good morning to you Pinkie Pie," Rarity said, leaning in close to her, Fluttershy could still hear them though. "Are you sure it's wise to bring a celebratory treat here? There is a chance this won't work."
"Then it'll be an I'm sorry it didn't open pie."
"Of course."
It was nearly eleven when they heard the familiar rumbling of Applejack's pickup truck as it pulled into student parking, and a rather tired and sweaty Applejack stepped out with a stretch. "Applejack? Why do look like you have not slept at all since yesterday?" Rarity asked.
"Sorry," Applejack yawned. "Little incident at the farm last night, some of the animals got loose and we all had to catch them, then this mornin' the tractor needed some fixin'. Ah dropped Applebloom off with her friends, was lucky to get here when Ah did. There's gonna be lots to do soon."
"Oh, dear,"
"Maybe you need some more help," Fluttershy commented.
"We're thinking 'bout it."
Applejack leaned back against the state, resting her eyes while the rest of them waited for Rainbow Dash to arrive. As the clock grew closer and closer to noon Twilight started pacing back and forth, chewing a thumbnail with the occasional glance at the road. When it was a quarter to noon Fluttershy started to get worried as well for Dashie, her friend wasn't the best at telling time or remembering events normally, but she was always there when needed. She couldn't help but fear something might have happened, and that Sunset Shimmer might have something to do with it.
"Where is she," Twilight finally said when it was five minutes till noon.
"Ah just called her phone, but she not answerin'," Applejack said holding up her phone.
"She'll be here," Fluttershy assured them, not really confident about her words. She was about to call Rainbow Dash when the sound of shouting reached them and a rather bizarre sight came into view.
Rainbow Dash was peddling down the road towards them and, in a basket attached to the front, a shouting Sunset Shimmer holding her crutches close. "Bush! Tree! Tree! Ledge!" Sunset Shimmer shouted as Rainbow peddled, twisting to avoid the obstacles. "Statue! PEOPLE!"
Rainbow's bike skidded to a stop more feet from Fluttershy as the shy girl came face to face with Sunset. The red-head was looking a bit paler than usual and was clinging to her crutches while she curled up in the basket, taking shallow breaths as her eyes flickered around. Fluttershy quickly averted her gaze, turning it to her friend wiping sweat from her forehead.
"See, told ya the bike was fine," Rainbow said confidently as she stepped off the bike.
"We were almost hit by three cars! And nearly plowed into a convenience store!" Sunset protested as Rainbow helped her out of the basket.
"Almost and nearly Sunset, we're fine and have plenty of time."
"Two minutes, and thirteen seconds to be exact," Twilight said, Fluttershy heard the irritated tone in her voice as Rainbow waved the anger off with her usual confident smirk.
"Yeah, yeah. So what's the plan again?" Rainbow asked, patting Fluttershy on the shoulder as she passed her.
"Do you ever listen?" Rarity asked.
"Sorry, what'd you say?"
Fluttershy stifled a giggle as Twilight explained what she was going to do again. "Now even if this works I have no idea how stable it will be," Twilight advised. "So you might want to take a step back."
When none of them did Twilight sighed and held up her crown. "Here we go," She said setting the crown on her head. There was a flash, Fluttershy felt a tingle down her back, and when the light faded she felt a flutter as a pair of light yellow wings spread out, her ears flicked as they had turned equine. The others had gone through similar transformations, with Rarity growing a horn, while Applejack and Pinkie Pie just had the ears. Twilight's wings flapped as she rose unsteadily off the ground, hanging a couple feet in the air, glowing purple energy gathering in her hands.
"I missed this," Twilight said as the energy grew, then flew from her hands, crashing into the statue with a large bang. Fluttershy covered her ears at the noise, averting her eyes as the light increased until it she could feel it even through her closed eyes. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of violet light, it started to fade, when Fluttershy was able to face the statue again Twilight was kneeling by an unmarked statue.
"No... Good..." Twilight panted, one hand holding the crown to her head. "Urgh, I... don't have... the usual energy for... this."
"You okay Twi?" Applejack asked reaching out, Twilight nodded, rising shakily to her feet. She didn't look alright, Fluttershy thought as Twilight wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.
"Everything's fine, this just means that plan A is not enough to force the portal," Twilight told them. "I think plan B will work though, the amount of power it has should be more than enough to force a portal open."
"And you're sure this is safe?" Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie Pie jumped in to add. "Yeah! What if we make a big hole in the ground that leads to your world instead?"
"Uhh don't worry, I don't the power used in harmony would cause that kind of destruction. All we're going to do is force a portal that is already existing into opening."
Applejack tipped her hat. "Well if she says is alright then count me in."
"Seems like we are in agreement there."
"Fine by me, let's punch this portal!"
"Okie-Dokie-Loki!"
"Okay," Fluttershy mumbled stepping into the circle the others had formed, taking Rainow's hand, she felt the energy building up inside her as they all rose into the air.
Twilight's voice resonated around her. "Everyone, focus your thoughts on our goal, opening the portal, and nothing else."
It was a strange feeling really, Fluttershy thought, last time she'd not really had the mind to think about the feeling of using the power when they used it against Sunset Shimmer. It felt like she was connected to the others like they were a part of her, and at the same time, it felt like she was being drawn into Twilight as their friend gathered the energy. Remembering what she had to do she focused on the portal, getting her friend home, they needed to get her home!
A scream faintly reached Fluttershy and a blast of light even stronger than Twilight's spell went off and then Fluttershy was sitting on the ground, her wings gone. Around her, the others sat or stood up while Spike bounded over a hunched over Twilight, Fluttershy felt a tug on her skirt that happened to be Angel. She held the bunny close as Applejack and Rarity moved to Twilight.
"Twilight dear, are you okay?" Rarity asked the still hunched over Twilight, Fluttershy heard Spike whimper as he pawed at her.
"Twi?"
"It failed," Twilight said sullenly, hands clenched around the crown.
"I'm sure if we tried again..." Rarity tried.
"It won't work!" Twilight shouted.
"Well maybe we just need to try something else," Rainbow added.
"What! I barely know anything about this portal! This world has no books or legends on it! And I can't get in contact with anyone from my world!"
The others went silent as Twilight finished shouting, Rarity and Applejack backed away, none sure what to do as tears started to form in her eyes. Fluttershy though understood, understood why Twilight had been hesitant to talk about if the plan failed, she really didn't have a plan. For all her smarts she knew nothing about the portal and, as she said, no way to contact her home. Going on instinct alone she set Angel down and wrapped her arms around Twilight without a word, holding her friend as the tears flowed and the sobs followed. This was all she could do right now.
***
Get away! Get away from the light! Those thoughts tore through Sunset as she burst through the school doors, desperate to be out of sight from the light even as the rational part of her brain screamed that she was being foolish. She had no reason to fear the blast, it wasn't pointed anywhere near her. Reason was all well in good but it did little to slow her legs, which had momentarily forgotten its injury, turning corner after corner in her flight until as was bound to happen, she tripped and fell in a shock of pain.
Her arms wrapped around her legs as she sucked in air through clenched teeth, eyes screwed shut as she waited for the panic to fade. As her breathing calmed the pain in her legs increased, she chastened herself mentally for letting her emotions get away and put her body through unnecessary pain.
"Idiot, Mr. Dash told you to be careful, I know you're not used to listening to authority figures but this was simple," She muttered as she tried to push herself up. "Come on, get up, if they succeed you need to get back. You have to say goodbye and thank you to Twilight. Move it stupid body!"
"Sunset? What are you doing here?" The voice of someone she really didn't need right now asked.
"Oh, just inspecting the ground for... cracks. Don't want any broken tiles." Stars above that sounded bad.
"I... see," Principal Celestia said slowly. "And do you need any help getting up?"
"Nono, I get it," Sunset said grabbing a crutch with one hand and pushing with the other. "See, got it."
A pair of gentle but firm hands grabbed underneath her arms and pulled her to her feet, holding her steady as Celestia handed her the other crutch. "Welp, I should really be going, see you tomorrow Principal Celestia."
"Actually Sunset, I wanted to talk to you before tomorrow. I tried to call your home phone but got no answer."
Sunset's eyes flickered back, swallowing. "Well, you see, it's just. Phones you see."
"But seeing as you are here we can talk before you leave."
"I ah... can't think of a reason not to."
Vice-Principal Luna was folding papers when the two entered the office. "Sister? What is Miss Shimmer doing here?"
"She hasn't told me yet, though I think it has something to do with Princess Twilight and several of our students out front, Sunset here agreed to speak with us."
"I see," Vice-Principal Luna followed them into Principal Celestia's office, standing behind her older sister as she and Sunset sat down.
"Now Sunset, we need to discuss the uh incident that happened at the Fall Formal," Principal Celestia said.
"You mean the mind control or where I threatened the entire school body," Sunset responded bluntly, she knew this would be coming, no use beating around the bush.
"Yes, that." Celestia tugged on the collar of her jacket. "Honestly we are not sure how to proceed, nothing even remotely like this has ever happened at our school."
"The closest we can think of is the bully exposure that happened two years ago," Luna added, Sunset made sure to keep her eyes away from the Vice-Principal and on the Principal.
"Yes but the school rules do not really cover mind control."
"Then, just get rid of me. I can probably list more than enough evidence to do so," Sunset said.
"Well, we hope to avoid that," Celestia said to Sunset's mild surprise. This was a change compared to the Celestia she remembered back in Equestria. "Princess Twilight expressed to us that what happened at the Formal was not your intention and you expressed a desire to change. We have only expelled a few students and only when they showed no intention of trying to change."
"So? What will happen?" Sunset asked.
The sisters looked at each other before Luna answered. "We asked around the teachers for ideas on discipline, some suggested detention, a few said in-class suspension, in the end, we settled for a different discipline that Celestia and I think will help. In addition to restrictions from using the school computer and submitting your phone to each teacher at the start of class, you will participate in both on and off-campus community work."
Wait... what? Was that really it? Basic restrictions and community work? That felt way too light after everything she had done, she opened her mouth but froze as she saw the smile on the sisters. She knew that look, they had something planned. "If that's what's decided, then I accept the restrictions and will do my best to prove that you are not mistaken in giving me a second chance."
"Try not to let this happen again Miss Shimmer. We would hate to take more drastic measures, I'm not sure our school GPA could survive without you," Luna said in what could be seen as her way of making a joke.
Rainbow Dash and the others were huddled around Twilight when Sunset left the building, seeing as how the pony princess was still there and the statue was undamaged told Sunset all she needed. Part of her wanted to go over, to give her own support to the person who had helped her, but this was their moment to help Twilight. If Sunset went over there it would only cause problems. Instead, she took the opportunity to retrieve her car from where it had been parked since the morning of the Formal.
"Good thing I kept my key on me," She muttered as she patted her car. She hadn't planned on ever using it again after the Formal but had kept the key in her jacket pocket, as it turned out that was one of her few cases of forethought.
Opening the car she pushed some soda cans and dirty clothes into the back, she hadn't really kept it clean since she thought she was leaving. "Alright, time to go," She said pulling out before they realized she was gone. "See you girls tomorrow I guess."
***
Twilight hadn't spoken since her breakdown at the school and while this concerned Rarity she understood their new friend was in pain, not bothering her as they drove to her home. The downcast princess' eyes had lost much of their light, silently petting Spike and barely registered when Rarity pulled into the driveway. "Should I get you something to eat dear? Perhaps some soup?"
"No," Twilight answered in an emotionless voice. "Just need some rest."
"I see. Well, if you need anything and I mean anything just ask."
"Twilight!" Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom exclaimed as they came through the door, the three girls jumping up from their board game.
"We thought you were leaving today."
"Did you decide to stay longer?
"Ah don't know girls she seems a bit down."
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity chided. "Could you and your please give Twilight some space, she's not feeling good."
"It's fine Rarity," Twilight assured her sounding no better. "I'm going to be staying a little longer, no need to worry about me. I just need some rest."
"Alrigh' we'll just be getting out of the way," Applebloom said following after Sweetie Belle as she half dragged a frowning Scootaloo out of the room.
Twilight and Spike locked themselves in Rarity's room while the teen prepared some food for herself and set a bowl of soup aside in case Twilight was hungry. As the sun got lower in the sky and neither Twilight nor Spike had emerged Rarity decided to bring the food to them. Food in hand she was about to knock on the door when she heard voices on the other side.
"Come on Twilight," She heard Spike say.
"Thirty moons Spike, over two years," Twilight's quiet voice answered.
"You'll figure something else out, I know it."
"And if I don't? It'll be two years before we see Princess Celestia, our friends, my... our family. And it's all my fault we are here."
"Don't say that."
"It's true, I made the choice to stay for dancing when I knew we were on a time limit. So stupid, normally I would have never made that big of a risk. Stupid..."
Rarity was about to knock, to tell Twilight she was not to blame for being here, but she stopped before she did. She heard Spike hop onto the bed and Twilight slump onto it through the door. Rarity pulled back, she'd let them sleep for now and talk to her tomorrow, perhaps by then she'd be feeling a little better. Setting the soup bowl in front of the door she quietly stepped away. Hopefully, they would be feeling better tomorrow.
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heh, wanna bet the restrictions actually help Sunset prove her innocence if the those three decide to pull the dumb anon a miss thing before the Dazzlings shows up?
Not yet anyway, and Sunset has a way for you to do so. Question is,
does Celestia have her journal with her in case Sunset reaches out to her, and will Sunset try and talk to Celestia before giving her journal to Twilight or just give it, realizing it's more important (and she might be afraid of talking to Celestia, even in writing)Edit: I checked the previous chapters and yes, in the interlude, Celestia does indeed have her journal, I just forgot since it's been a while.
Let's hope nothing serious happens but sometimes tells me there will. 😰
I find it hard to believe angel can do that. 😒
Same, I dint like winter either over the cold weather.
Yeah, since apart of myself thinks it won't.
Oh damn.
Of course she forgot. Figures.
Not surprised at all it didn't work. 😑
Guess Sunset was the one who screamed.
Had a feeling that's what she wanted to speak with her about.
That's not a bad punishment if you ask me.
Best to give her the space she needs with what had happened today.
nice work
Sunset needs to get the journal out pretty quickly here.
Confused about Sunset having a car at this point, didn't Driving Miss Shimmer show her getting her driver's license, meaning at this point in the timeline, it's before Sunset got her driver's license?