Eventide, Evenfall

by Former Unicorn

This is Everyday Life

The magic swirled around her as if by a lover. She shuddered in delight; the eldritch forces running through her veins felt so natural, so … right.

And then she looked down at the bloody knife in her hand, still dripping. And her eyes followed the drops slaking off the tempered steel …

… and onto the lifeless blue-green eyes of her own face.

She screamed.

---

Sunset Shimmer sat up in bed, shivering. It was that damn dream again. One she'd had too many times as of late and one she really didn't want to deal with.

Stretching in bed, a knock sounded on her bedroom door before a familiar face poked her head in.

"Heya, sleepy. Getting the fuck up this morning or are you going to pull a–"

Sunset laughed. Jamie Manzanas was her next door neighbor, best friend and cousin. Part of the circle of friends that she'd known her entire life.

"Like that's ever going to happen," Sunset responded with a grin.

"Didn't think it would, but stranger things have happened." Jamie then fished a gaudy box out of her backpack. "Oh, here you go. Mom and Dad wanted me to wait until tonight's party, but I thought you'd appreciate it. Happy birthday."

Sunset didn't even open the box; she knew what was in it already. "Thanks, Jamie."

"You're welcome. Now get up before we run out of breakfast downstairs, okay?"

"Got it." Sunset wasted no time in leaving her bed and heading to the bathroom of the farmhouse she lived in all her life. A quick shower cleaned her up, and as usual, she opted to skip makeup: for some reason, guys always said she looked great without it though her boyfriend told her she looked even more stunning with it. Maybe because it was due to her exotic traits: she didn't look like anyone in her family, and if it wasn't for her birth certificate, she would've sworn she was adopted. Furthermore, while her bright red hair gave her a distinctly Irish appearance (and from what she knew, her family was of German ancestry), it was the strange blonde streaks in said hair that set her apart. One teacher had even assumed she'd dyed her hair that way, but photos proved she'd had it since birth.

As far as she knew, she was just Sunset Alice Shimmer, daughter of Lt. Col. Thomas Shimmer and his wife Rebecca. Her father was a USAF officer overseas in Afghanistan right now, while her mother, a lawyer and state legislator, was off in Helena "fighting the good fight," as she tended to say. As a result, more often than not, her uncle Travis and aunt Jenny tended to keep an eye on her whenever Sunset's parents weren't at home.

Just a typical normal teenager growing up in the town of Blue Sky, Montana.

And yet it never feels real, Sunset thought to herself. Like everything I know isn't true.

She shook her head. Thoughts like that were for her boyfriend Warren, dreamy dreamboat that he was. He was the sensitive type, the kind of guy that listened to 80s bands and wrote poetry as a hobby.

And I'd better get some breakfast if I'm going to see him before school starts, she reminded herself as she went downstairs.

---

As she got downstairs, an older woman with sandy blonde hair and a big grin smiled as she held out a plate. "Just in time – saved you some of your favorite chocolate chip pancakes. And Happy Birthday! You ready for tonight?"

She kissed the woman on the cheek. "Thanks, Aunt Jenny. And yeah, definitely." Sunset then sat down at the table and spoke to the last person in the room. "Happy birthday, sis."

Said person was Sunset's twin sister: Sunrise Alicia Shimmer. Though the two were identical twins, their natures made it very easy to tell the two apart … and given the theming of their names, a study in ironic contrast. Sunset was friendly, helpful and studious, while Sunrise was acerbic, moody and generally got along with few people. Sunset was a popular girl at school; Sunrise tended to get into several fights. Even their current clothing was emblematic of the two, with Sunset wearing a t-shirt and jeans while Sunrise wore a somewhat revealing crop top and jean skirt.

"Hey," Sunrise said between bites of breakfast.

"Ready for tonight's party?"

"Fuck no," Sunrise responded.

"Language," Jenny admonished.

Sunrise ignored it, rolled her eyes and continued. "Todd’s grounded again, so he won't be here tonight." She frowned. "Told him to stop picking fights with Darnell and his group of wannabe gangsters, but he doesn't listen. Part of me wishes he was like your boyfriend, but then again, Warren's a wuss."

"Not doing yourself any favors, Rise."

"Sunny, you're my twin sister and I love you, but your taste in guys sucks. Then again, I'm hardly any better."

Jamie, having been quiet all this time, grinned. "Don't look at me; I don't have a boyfriend."

"Well, you three can commiserate on your dating lives later. Right now, you need to finish up so I can get you to school on time," Jenny reminded them.

The trio groaned as one.

---

No sooner than Sunset, Sunrise and Jamie stepped out of the minivan and onto the grounds of Blue Sky High School than the trio got tackled. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU TWO!" a voice cried out. In the distance, Sunset could hear polite giggles.

"Heya, Maggie, forget your meds again?" Sunrise snarked.

"I think I'm going to need some – she hits like a truck," Jamie muttered.

"Good point," Sunset agreed. "Maggie, please don't isekai anyone before my birthday party tonight, okay?"

"Okay!" The other girl got up. Maggie Goody was, like Sunset and her sister, a redhead, though Maggie’s was a lighter shade and not weirdly two-tone. It, however, was ridiculously curly, as though it had a mind of its own. Maggie was the newest in their group, having arrived back in sixth grade, with her parents having moved from Wyoming, if Sunset remembered correctly.

“So, what’s with trying to kill us before the day’s over, Maggie?” Sunrise grunted.

“Sabrina bet me ten bucks I wouldn’t do it,” Maggie said off-handedly.

“And you were stupid enough to do it?” Jamie asked, as she got up and dusted her pants off.

“Someone has to do the dumb things.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Remind me to not let you guys get creative again.”

Sunrise, for her part, punched a fist in her open hand, making her intent clear. “You can do it or I can do it.”

“Rise! You wouldn't do that to a friend, right?” Maggie asked worriedly.

“Of course I would. But at least it won’t hurt that much.”

---

Lunchtime finally came, and the group gathered around the tree in the center of the grassy square that sat in the center of the school campus. As she munched on a tuna sandwich, Sunset looked at her friends and family. Jamie and Sunrise were, as usual, bickering about something they had watched on YouTube. Maggie, ever bad at keeping up with her schoolwork, was trying to get her next class’ homework done before lunch finished. And then there were the others.

Rayne Swift sat underneath a tree, waving the occasional fly from venturing near her dreadlocks. A tall, athletic girl of African-American ancestry, she was lucky that she was both smart and capable. She also tended, unfortunately, to deal with a lot of racism – this was Montana, after all – but that’s how she found herself amongst Sunset’s circle and between Sunset’s connections and Sunrise’s threats, they tended to leave her alone.

Wren Stablesman ate a salad and looked at some nature pictures on her iPad. Wren was quiet and unassuming, which was weird given that her favorite music was heavy metal and hard rock. She definitely didn’t look the type, and the only way one would know, aside from looking at the strawberry blonde’s music selection, was the constant variation in t-shirts she wore of her favorite band, Iron Butterfly.

Next to her sat Sabrina Weiss, the fashionplate of their group. Sabrina, with raven-black hair and blue eyes, was considered the looker of the school, but she claimed to have no guy she was interested in. Likely because she had them all wrapped around her finger whenever she wanted, though she never took advantage of them. At the moment, she daintily munched on an apple and surfed on her own iPad, looking through Reddit posts.

The last two were the other twins: Yu and Taz. Yugure and Tasogare Kurameku were twin girls born to Japanese parents who had bought the old Vesper’s Glow ranch back in the 90s and subsequently had immigrated to the US. Neither Yu nor Taz were born in Japan, though given that their names basically meant the same thing as Sunset and Sunrise’s, the four had been fast friends from their earliest days in kindergarten. The two, at the moment, were eating their own lunch – onigiri, which their mother regularly made for them, much to their chagrin – and browsing through manga on their phone.

Yu looked up and adjusted her glasses. “So, Sweet Sixteen today, huh?” she asked them.

“Yeah, I’m getting old,” Rise replied back. “Sooner or later, I’m going to start getting gray hair, and then wrinkles, and then my boobs are going to sag, and I’ll start looking like Sabrina.”

“Fuck you too, dear,” Sabrina replied sweetly, without looking up from her tablet.

Sunset was about to say something of her own opinions, when she noticed a large man walking towards them, and given the look on his face, that wasn’t a good sign. Principal Brookstone was a genial, kindly sort of person, the kind that took a lot to piss off.

And unfortunately, Sunrise excelled at pressing his buttons.

Sunset looked at her twin. “What did you do, Rise?” she asked plainly.

“The usual,” Sunrise responded and Sunset tried hard not to invoke the facepalm gods.

“Sunrise Shimmer – my office. Now.” The look on the man’s face appeared as if he was fit to be tied.

Sunrise’s face became crestfallen. “Mr. Brookstone, it wasn’t my fault! She swung first!”

“What did you do, Rise?” Sunset and Jamie asked at the same time.

“Nancy Baker decided she wanted revenge since Todd kicked her boyfriend’s ass, so she tried to jump me in the bathroom. I wasn’t having any of that shit, so I slammed her into a toilet stall and then dunked her head in a shitter!” she said proudly. Seeing the horrified stares around her, she then added, “Look, would you have preferred I just punched her and broke her nose or something? I tried to be nice about it!”

“I would have preferred you to tell a teacher about it,” Brookstone replied harshly.

“That would have been after my trip to the nurse’s office, though,” Sunrise replied. “And sorry, Mr. Brookstone, but I kinda like my arm not broken.”

“Yes, and you can think about that in detention this afternoon,” he told her.

Sunrise looked at her sister and the silent plea was made: Get me out of this one? Sunset sighed; this happened far more often than she liked.

Sunset looked at the principal. “Sir, I understand why you’re angry with Rise; to be honest, I’m disappointed in her as well. But she does have a point. Nancy has an … unkind reputation, and given all that she’s done in the past, she could have seriously hurt Rise. My sister defended herself as best she could given the situation and she did it with the only injury being to Nancy’s dignity.”

Brookstone listened to Sunset – that was one thing in her favor; as the smart one of the twins, she had a good reputation with all the teachers and faculty at the school. “I see your point, Sunset. But you know that we can’t have fights at the school.”

“And Rise knows that – don’t you, Rise?” Sunset prodded. Sunrise reluctantly nodded, and Sunset smiled. “Which is why she probably did it the way she did instead of her usual swing-back response.” Knowing the principal was teetering on the decision, she then added the boom. “Plus, I know that Rise probably did it the way she did because … well, today’s our birthday, and I suspect that she doesn’t want to get in trouble on her birthday, right?”

“Not if I can avoid it,” Sunrise admitted.

Brookstone was contemplative once more. Finally, he said, “Well, then let me wish you two a happy birthday. And as a result, I will let this go … but only because of your logic, Sunset. As always, you’ve shown why you’re one of our school’s finest students. Sunrise, you should learn to take after your sister more. Now, if you will excuse me, I do have to deal with Ms. Baker – regardless of the results, fighting is still not tolerated in this school. And I should not say that I will not extend this courtesy again.” With that, he then headed off.

Maggie looked at Sunset. “I still don’t know how the hell you do that, Sunny.”

A lazy grin came over Rayne’s face. “Mags, that’s what happens when you’re on the good side of the teachers. I told you, if you stop with all your pranks, you wouldn’t have the teachers pissed at you all the time.”

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t be proving my point! Down with the proletariat or some shit!” Maggie crowed.

Taz rolled her eyes. “Not that shit again. Would you just get over that bullshit antagonist phase just because your parents got divorced? We’re getting tired of it.” Maggie, an only child, was dead center of her parents’ divorce and given that she’d been used practically as an object for said divorce, she really didn’t care for it.

“Could we not talk about that?”

“Taz, let it go,” Wren said simply.

“Thanks,” Maggie told her. Wren said nothing but instead gave her a smile before turning back to her iPad.

Sunset soaked in the chaos around her. This was her circle of friends. A group she’d known for years, and a group that she knew had her back and she had theirs. Others had their own cliques, and nothing wrong with that, but it always felt different for their group – like they were always meant to be together, and that’s just how things were.

The bell announcing the end of lunch rang and the girls got up, heading towards their classes. Sunset was going to head off to her own locker, when she felt Sunrise’s hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks as always, sis,” Rise told her.

“You know, I wasn’t joking when I told Mr. Brookstone that I’m not happy with you about that. I know it wasn’t your fault, but I also know that, knowing you, you probably goaded Nancy into attacking.”

“We both have our way with words, Sunny. Yours is being, well, you. Mine is pissing off people.”

“And you could be so much better than that, Rise! Sometimes I wonder if you do it just because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

“Maybe it is. Sunrise, Sunset – opposite sides of the coin. Twins are mirror images of one another. Yu and Taz are just like us, you know.”

“Neither of them try to get into fights all the time.”

The two sisters looked at each other for several seconds, before Sunrise gave her sister a look that said she was genuinely sorry, before heading off to her locker.

I can’t watch out for you forever, Rise, Sunset thought to herself. Someday, you’re going to have to stop dancing on the knife’s edge.

Unbidden, flashes of memory from the nightmare she had so often came to her and she blanched. Her mind was trying to tell her something, but … what? She didn’t hate her sister, and they didn’t have a rivalry, so why would she …?

She suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her head stand up and she wasn’t sure why. Instinct pulled her eyes up to the top of the building.

There, watching her from atop the roof, was a woman in a regal outfit. She looked like something out of some fantasy anime, but from the look on her face, it was clear that she was focused on Sunset. Not so much inspection as … recognition.

Sunset’s eyes naturally blinked and in that microscopic frame of time, the woman was gone, enough to make her wonder if she’d really witnessed that, or if her mind was playing tricks with her.

Author's Note:

So, here we go! My first completely original story.

I'd like to thank my friends at the 7DSJ writing group (you all know who you are!) for helping me with this. You guys are great!

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

What is this a crossover of?

[Shinzakura]

10923311
I don't think it's a crossover. At least, FU didn't say as much when she sent us the first chapter for editing.

[Former Unicorn]

10923311
It's not a crossover. If anything, it's a distillation of some ideas I've had for years, both from reading all of Shin's work and the time I've spent working with them on the 7DSJ universe.

[LiterallyAL]

Good start can't wait to see where this goes.

[freecozyglow]

Now I interrupt this fan fiction to bring you a special message from the Princess of Friendship's voice actress herself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzqmvInMsVU