Sunset Shimmer and the Shadowbolts

by KittyrinnAiko

Chapter 12: Dinner at the Sparkle residence.

Dusty, Cadance, Sunset, and Twilight arrived at the Sparkle residence about an hour later to find that Lofty, Holiday, and Scootaloo were already there. The place was a fairly nice two-story home in a moderately upscale neighborhood. Twilight Velvet, Twilight’s mom, was the first out the door to greet them. The second one out the door was Spike the wonder mutt who proceeded to jump on people, run around in circles barking and mark the tires of all the cars.

Cadance and Twilight got out of the truck and Twilight and Velvet embraced a moment later. Next came Cadance.

“It’s so good that no one got hurt,” Velvet said going in for another hug with Twilight as Sunset and Dusty were getting out of the Bronco. “Oh my, he is a big one.”

Dusty laughed as Spike continued to run amuck and Dusty would need to think quick on his feet several times as Spike mistook his long legs for polls that needed marking.

“Ya, that’s my dad,” Sunset replied with a big smile.

“OK, now I’m confused?” Velvet announced as Scootaloo came out to see what was going on.

“Dusty is my father, and he’s married to Lofty Stitches… my adoptive mother, I guess that’s one way to explain it. This is Scootaloo, she’s my half-sister, and her Aunt Holiday stays with mom. Dad has been away a lot and that way mom doesn't have to be alone. Anyway, Dusty, Lofty, and Ms Holiday all have guardianship of myself and Scootaloo. At least for the time being. It just sort of worked out that way.”

“Silly me, here I was thinking maybe Mr Shimmer had two wives,” Velvet mused with a smirk.

“I imagine that if I had two wives, I’d as likely find excuses to be away a lot,” Dusty offered with a big smile.

“So is anyone going to tell me what happened,” Scootaloo pressed while ignoring the look of befuddlement on Mrs Sparkle’s face.

“Gilda and Garble showed up at Crystal Prep. One of them Smashed Dean Cadance’s front windshield with a rock she'd thrown at the car. Some of the other students who’d been on the street said it was Gilda,” Sunset explained. “Last we heard, the Crystal Prep students had cornered them and had started working them over.”

“Oh, Cadance dear, shining called and said he’s going to be a little late,” Velvet offered. “He’s got a report to file before he can sign out, and Nightlight will be over around the same time if nothing else comes up. Now, it’s cold out here, what say we get inside?”

“Lead the way, Mam,” Dusty offered, and a moment later they were making their way inside. Once inside Cadance and Twilight were introduced to Lofty and Holiday.

“I must confess, it seems I did get a bit carried away,” Velvet offered as she brought out tea and biscuits a short time later. “When I found out Twilight had made a friend, Cadance and I went a little overboard.”

“Kind of reminds me of a marriage meeting,” Sunset teased followed by Twilight choking on a biscuit.

“I’m OK,” Twilight announced a moment later. “And yes, mom, it is kind of overkill for someone I just met.” Twilight wasn’t entirely sure when she’d met Sunset other than she was that person who actually talked to her at the beginning of classes. But then again there was that person who’d showed up at lunch. Twilight wanted to ask so many questions but dared not. She hadn’t seen her, but she’d heard. She gave the resting dog on her lap a pet more to calm her own nerves than to pamper the pooch.

“Well, it’s just that when I’d heard about how Sunset had helped today I just wanted to meet her and her family.”

“Mom, she opened a door for me.” Twilight protested. Surely the simple act of courtesy wasn’t that big a deal short of everyone had somehow mistaken another for her, and it was looking a good deal like they had. What’s more, prior to that rock hitting the windshield there were few who would even so much as give her the time of day. That was until that rock hit the windshield. Something had happened. Some catalyst. “There did seem to be a lot of people who were genuinely worried about me after school today.” Granted that they were worried about Cadance and Sunset, well, to be honest, mostly Cadance.

“Crystal Prep might seem like a bit of a shark tank on the surface,” Sunset began. “But underneath that, the people are all good people. Not to mention school pride. Twilight, you are the top student. Someone others look up to. Someone others can take pride in. They might give you a hard time, but if anyone else does they are going to take it personally.”

“I see, I see. Perhaps then I really should present myself better,” Twilight offered, reached up, and undid her hair bun to let her hair hang down. After all, that was part of the rumor, that she’d gone into the dining facility with her hair down. Not just with her hair down, but dressed stylishly with no glasses. Twilight shook her hair out, smiled, and took a sip of her tea. She gave Sunset a smile, a wink, and was delighted to see just a slight hint of a blush on Sunset’s cheeks.

“Let me just go check on dinner,” Velvet offered, got up, and started to make her way to the back. “Cadance, can you give me a hand?”

“Yes, of course, be right there.”

“Twilight?” Sunset inquired. Sunset couldn't help but wonder what was going on in Twilight’s head.

“Presentation,” Twilight said as though making a profound statement, and perhaps in a way, she had. “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Twilight offered. “Thomas Edison said that. Woody Allen said that eighty percent of success is just showing up. But there’s more to it, isn’t there? One must also present themselves as successful. And now that I think of it, survey findings suggest that success is seventy percent presentation. I’d say it’s time I started paying attention to how I present myself. Except maybe when I’m in chemistry. I’ll still need to tie up my hair in chemistry, won’t I?”

“I’d imagine that’s true enough. Wouldn't want to get your hair in an experiment,” Sunset admitted.

“Turned my hair orange once,” Twilight admitted.

“So tell me about Gilda?” Scootaloo prompted once the conversation had stalled.

“Not sure what’s to tell,” Sunset offered. “She threw a rock and smashed the front window on Dean Cadance’s car. I saw them, saw the rock, but it all happened so fast. There were plenty of witnesses who saw her throw the rock.”

“Cadance screamed, slammed on the breaks, and I let out a scream because I’d no idea what was going on. One moment we are driving down a nice quiet street we’ve gone down hundreds of times, and suddenly the windscreen shatters and the car is lurching to a stop.”

“It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Holiday commented.

“You don’t know Gilda, like I do,” Sunset replied. “The fact that she’d gone into hiding just indicates that she as likely knew the police were looking for her. She’s also a bit like a dog with a bone.” Spike tilted his head. “She’s not going to let go of it without something else that’s better. Right off hand, I’d say she stalked me; tracked me down somehow. Maybe she was hoping Dad would be the one driving the car and just couldn't let an opportunity go.”

“What makes you think she was hoping for me?” Dusty asked.

“My best guess would be to goad you into going after her.”

“Ah, yes, garnish sympathy credits. Big man going after a little defenses girl.”

Scootaloo couldn't help but laugh at the idea. “Sorry,” Scootaloo offered a moment later. “Looking back at some of the things I thought were cool I wouldn't put it past her to stick a knife in you.”

“Others have, and it got them nowhere,” Dusty admitted.

“Wait, you’ve been stabbed?” Sunset asked.

“More often than not it’s a drunk in a bar who gets it into their head to prove themselves by taking on the ‘big man’. To be honest I’ve been hurt worse getting tossed around by a big bull.”

“And they always patch you up and send you right back out,” Lofty stated.

“So what’s everyone talking about?” Cadance asked as she reentered the room.

“All the bar fights my old man has been in,” Sunset supplied. Cadance had a look of horror cross her face and Twilight busted up laughing.

“Kind of hard to call it a bar fight when a staggering drunk sticks a pen knife in me,” Dusty offered with a smile. “Couple stitches and I’m good to go.”

“Wow, can you be my dad too?” Scootaloo asked with a big grin as Cadance returned to her chair.

“What, your dad isn’t cool enough?”

“What, he’s just an egg head.”

“Scootaloo, he’s down in the Yakatan peninsula looking for a lost civilization with an archaeology team,” Holiday offered. “He’s got to guard against venomous snakes, spiders, scorpions, crocodile, jaguar, and some of those sites he visits can be downright dangerous. Not just with long-forgotten traps but there are poachers, drug cartels, and revolutionaries to contend with.”

“Now, now, it’s not that bad,” Dusty admonished with a grin. “Scootaloo what your Aunt is trying to tell you is that your father is not quite the egg head you think he is. He just has to do the egg head stuff so he can get to do the fun exciting stuff.”

“You think he’ll ever take me on one of his trips?” Scootaloo asked.

“Right offhand I’d say first, knuckle down and get your grades up. Demonstrate to him that you are mature enough to go on one of those trips. Even if he’s not mature enough to remember to make sure someone is looking after you. And then if he still leaves you behind, you can just go into the same or similar vocation, and then it’ll be you leaving him behind. You are your mother’s daughter after all. I doubt anything will hold you down once you’ve put your mind to it.”

“Looking after her?” Cadance asked sounding concerned.

“Took off on an adventure and didn’t bother to tell anyone he was going to be gone,” Holiday explained. “That’s why we have custody of her. He’s my brother, and his timing couldn't have been worse. Due to what was going on over at Canterlot high we came really close to losing her to the foster care system.”

“I’m going to Everfree High now,” Scootaloo offered. If no one was going to say she was one of the people behind Anon-A-Miss she wasn’t going to say it either.

“So how do you like Everfree?” Cadance asked.

“It’s not bad. I miss my friends, but overall, the place has a nice atmosphere to it. The end-of-quarter tests are killing me though. Even with my sister’s help.”

“Trust me, I’m in the same fix,” Sunset offered. “A person would think we had it easy over at Canterlot High.”

“Makes me think of something Principle Cinch likes to say,” Cadance offered. “Our students can not afford our going easy on them. It’s their future we are gambling with if we do.”

“Speaking of which, I was thinking of transferring to Everton,” Twilight offered.

“That particle you discovered, you were going to submit your research, weren’t you?” Cadance asked.

“Yes, but I guess I’m going to have to table it.”

“What particle?” Lofty asked.

“Twilight is clever enough to create something capable of detecting the energy being used during the incidents over at Canterlot High,” Sunset explained.

“Oh dear,” Lofty said softly.

“You know about it?” Twilight asked.

“We all do, dear, and we were advised not to talk about it,” Holiday explained.

“Ya, I was told that the very idea that the general public might find out about certain things tends to make people nervous,” Scootaloo added.

“So, Twilight figured out how to… Cadance began.

“To detect magic?” Dusty finished for her. “It indeed looks that way. If Ms Twilight wants to publish a paper on it, one she’s going to need to wait, preferably until after she’s nurtured a good strong reputation, and be very careful how she presents her findings. In short, it could ruin her if she’s not really clever.”

“To think that in this day and age there would be knowledge that would be suppressed,” Cadance groused. “Still though...”

“The truth is, we are not alone in the cosmos,” Dusty informed her. “Do you really think the general public is ready to accept that kind of information? We’ve got radicals out there trying to revive the Third Reich. People who think anyone who doesn’t have the prescribed acceptable skin tone is somehow inferior. And then there are the ultra-religious people who deny anything that might shatter their worldview. People who insist the world is flat and dinosaurs are a lie intended to undermine their beliefs. And there are people in academia with lofty reputations who can be equally narrow-minded in regards to new discoveries.” He gave that a moment to sink in. “From time to time people find things. Not just terrestrial arcane artifacts, but otherworldly artifacts. Technological artifacts so advanced their very existence is dangerous. It’s not just space dust entering the atmosphere. Which is what seems to have happened over at Canterlot High. Officially, that is, if you’ve got a high enough security clearance. First Sunset got a hold of an artifact of unknown origin and it resulted in a large crater in front of the school and a hole in the wall. The second incident was when a trio of terrorists showed up at the school presumably looking for the said artifact, only it had been removed by this time. The most recent problem over there kind of looks like administrators simply failed to take the problem of online bullying seriously until it had blown up out of control.”

Scootaloo and Sunset both decided that if he wasn’t going to mention the memory stone, the gems the Sirens had, or Equestria, they weren’t going to mention it either.

“I’ve seen mentions of ‘artifacts’ online,” Twilight offered. “Not many people take it seriously. I get it. If it became known within the general public that these, space junk items as some call them, were indeed real it could cause a lot of unintended consequences. So, as Mr Shimmer says, I’m just going to have to be really careful in regards to any research on the subject. That and he’s not telling me it’s not real or not to research it. He’s telling me it’ll ruffle feathers. It’s not like I need to worry about being burned at the stake for heresy, I just have to worry about being discredited so bad I end up as a cat lady.” Spike picked his head up, looked about, and barked. “No, Spike, not cat.” Bark! “Cat.” Bark! Twilight couldn't help but smile.

“What’s Spike barking about?” Velvet asked as she ventured forth from the kitchen.

“Twilight said, cat,” Sunset offered, to be answered by another bark from Spike.

And then spike went nuts. “Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!”

“Spike? There’s no cat.” Twilight protested. “Spike?!”

“Someone just drove up,” Scootaloo offered.

“It’s Mr Sombra,” lofty announced.

“Let me,” Cadance announced with a cold tone, got and went to the front door. She’d opened it before the man had a chance to knock.

Spike: Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!Bark!

“Mr Sombra,” Cadance said. Her tone was lacking in all the warmth it normally had.

“Cadance, dear, have you no love for your own father?” Sombra asked.

“Why are you here?”

“Can’t I be concerned for the well-being of my own daughter?”

“And since when did you ever care?”

“I do care.”

“In a pig's eye.”

“Alright, fine. I’m not going to stand here and argue. Cinch called me, and yes, I actually wanted to see how you were doing. That and get the story directly from you. A lot of people are going to be asking questions… Oh, Miss Shimmer and company. Everyone’s here. Well, that does simplify things.”

“He’s your father?” Sunset asked.

“May I come in?” Sombra inquired.

“Cadance, dear, he’s come all this way, might as well let him in,” Velvet offered.

“Dare I even ask?” Sunset inquired of Twilight as Cadance reluctantly let Sombra in.

“Probably not,” Twilight cautioned.

“Well, I must say I didn’t expect to find everyone I needed to talk to here. Well, not quite everyone. I’ll still need to get the details from the police concerning this matter.”

“Same individuals who assaulted me and presumably trashed my apartment threw a rock at Cadance’s windshield,” Sunset informed him.

“Explain why you need the details on a police matter?” Dusty requested as Sombra ambled on over. Cadance sort of followed him while leaving the door open.

“I need answers before the rumor mill gets a hold of it and ‘concerned’ parents start calling, texting, and e-mailing me. I’m going to need to make a statement to the parents, our students, and the faculty of our schools,” he explained. “Cinch called me and wants me to tell Principle Celestia to keep her students on her side of town. Seems to think Celestia needs to be sacked.”

“And did you tell her that the perps were suspended and that there’s a warrant for their arrest?” Dusty asked.

“I did. It can be mighty difficult to get her calmed down once she gets worked up.” He took a deep breath. “Sunset, I owe you an apology as much as I owe one to pretty much everyone in the Canterlot Unified School District. Let’s just say I’m pretty sure this is just more fallout from Anon-a-Miss. If we had taken it seriously when it started things wouldn't have blown up the way they did.”

“Right offhand, I think Anon-a-Miss was just the catalyst. The excuse a lot of individuals needed,” Sunset offered. “If I were to point to a specific point in time and say that’s what triggered today’s incident I’d have to say it was when Scootaloo came home and couldn't keep her mouth shut about being given a chance to join Gilda’s gang. Afraid I ratted out the whole setup and they all got caught shoplifting. Gilda spent a couple of nights in jail, No, I’ve no idea why her parents didn’t just pick her up. After all, all they had on her was shoplifting. She had to appear in court and got probation which included community service.”

“They charged her with gang participation, and recruitment,” Holiday offered. “Scootaloo came really close to getting charged, but since she wasn’t in the gang yet, she got out of that incident with no more than a warning.”

“Anyway, Anon-a-Miss was just an excuse.”

“No, afraid she’s still convinced it was you,” Shining Armor offered from the doorway. “I swear that girl has a one-track mind. Gilda and Garble are presently in the lock-up at the station.”

“So are you home now?” Cadance asked as she went over to greet him with a kiss, and a hug.

“I got my reports in, and I’m off until my next shift. So why’s the door open?”

“Daddy was just leaving,” Cadance stated. Shining Armor gave her a pained look.

“Cadance, for your own sake, you need to forgive him,” Velvet offered softly. “If you don’t it will just continue to eat away at you.” She waited a moment. “We’ve talked about this.”

“It’s alright, I am leaving,” Sombra offered. He was perhaps hoping to keep the peace. “Shining Armor, before I go, can I ask about today’s incident?”

“All I can tell you is that a known gang member threw a stone at my fiance's car. She and her accomplice were apprehended with the help of the students at Crystal Prep. Aside from that, you’ll have to inquire at the station where the perpetrators are presently being held. I wasn’t the arresting officer.”

“I thought you wanted a piece of them?” Sunset asked innocently enough.

“After the beat-down, your classmates gave them, I thought it best I was not the arresting officer. Emotionally involved and all.”

“Indeed,” Sombra quipped. “And with that, I’d best get going.” He turned to look at Cadance. “I am glad that you are alright.”

“Just a little frazzled, is all,” Cadance replied, Sombra dared a smile, turned, and went out the door shutting it behind him.

“I wasn’t going to say anything while he was here; a number of weapons charges have been added to the list.”

“Afraid I have got this rather cynical theory that they were hoping I’d be with Dusty and that they were hoping to goad him into going after Gilda,” Sunset offered.

Shining Armor took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Gilda has stated that she wants to hurt you, and do it by going after everyone around you. She’s completely unapologetic and the department is requesting she not be given bail. We believe that if she is allowed free she’ll just come after you again. Endangering you and everyone around you. Right now she is being held for psychiatric evaluation for forty-eight hours at which point she will be turned over to juvenile detention. At the very least that’ll give us some time before some large-minded judge can cut her loose.”

“She still thinks I’m Anon-a-Miss?”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Scootaloo said softly.

“I don’t blame you,” Sunset offered, went over to Scootaloo, and gave her a hug. “You couldn't have known this would happen.”

“Shiny, did your father say if he was going to be able to drop in for dinner?” Velvet asked.

“He said he’d drop by later,” Shining offered and decided he’d best remove his outer jacket. “And Miss Scootaloo, It’s not just that Anon-a-Miss blog. Gilda blames Sunset for her father leaving his family behind. Which I doubt has anything to do with anything either of you have done. But that, I’m afraid, is her present state of mind.”

“Hang on, do you know each other?” Cadance asked.

“He was the officer at our meeting with the CPS agent and Mr Sombra was there as well.” Lofty informed her.

“And you never said anything?” Velvet accused Shining.

“Mother, it was a confidential matter. I’m not allowed to even talk about CPS meetings. I just happened to be the one who got that duty that day. Now, if you all will excuse me, I’d like to get out of my uniform, get cleaned up, and put on something more appropriate for guests.” And with that, he gave a nod to everyone and headed for the back of the house.

“He’s got an apartment in the back, and I’m presently in his old room,” Cadance explained. “I’ll move in with him after we get married. What with housing prices what they are we’ll likely not move out right away short of we’ve outgrown the place.”

“Having my own place was fun, but to be honest I was kind of clueless regarding what it was costing me,” Sunset offered.

“We were helping her,” Dusty explained.

“Dinner isn’t going to be ready for a little bit yet, Cadance, let’s sit down for a bit and talk,” Velvet offered.

“My brother, that is, Scootaloo’s father, and his wife took off on an archaeological expedition, left Scootaloo on her own and didn’t bother to tell anyone,” Holiday informed them a moment later when Cadance and Velvet had sat down again. Cadance already knew a good deal of what was going on by this point so it was mostly velvet being brought up to speed. “He’s done it before, and with the Anon-a-Miss mess, things kind of went sideways. We are lucky she wasn’t taken away from us.”

“I had to move schools and might not be allowed to live with my dad when he comes back.”

“Fortunately our CPS caseworker is a very understanding individual despite the hard-as-nails persona they like to project.” Lofty offered.

“Where’s he now? Scootaloo’s father?” Velvet asked.

“Down in the Yakatan,” Lofty informed. “It was decided not to have him extradited out of concerns that the authorities down there might be a little too harsh on him.”

“We want him back in one piece so we can take him down a few pegs ourselves,” Holiday offered with a grin.

“I can imagine,” Cadance offered. She paused to think for a bit. “And I should probably stop blaming my father. What happened to my mom, that wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t even there. He was hardly ever there. Probably why I keep blaming him, he wasn’t there when we needed him. He was off doing his job and then some. He was, and still does spend a good deal of his time trying to help everyone else.”

“Afraid I kind of know what it’s like to be in his shoes. The running around fixing other people’s messes,” Dusty offered quietly.

“I don’t blame you,” Sunset stated. “Mom was long gone, and heck, I didn’t even know you existed. Heck, I was living the life of an illegal alien people had sheltered because I hadn’t known any better. That’s why I didn’t want to go to the hospital.”

“Her mother lost control of her car on an icy day and went into the Avalon river,” Lofty explained. “Sunset was Kindergarten age and it was believed that she’d gone into the river with her mother.”

“Oh my. They found her though and everything turned out alright,” Velvet suggested.

“No, we didn’t,” Dusty stated. “She was lost, presumed dead, and then she shows up over at Canterlot High a little over three years back with no apparent knowledge of her past. I was on assignment, and we decided to just play it by ear.”

“We were a little worried about how she might react,” Lofty added.

“Wish you’d at least told me she was my sister.”

“I’d say it’s a bit of a tossup one way or the other how that might have turned out,” Sunset admitted.

“You mean I might have fixated on you instead of Dash?”

“Ya, and prior to that smack-down I got, my ego was undeniably out of control. Let’s face it, my ego had gotten nearly as big as Dash's ego.”

Scootaloo let out her breath like a balloon being let loose and laughed a good hearty laugh.

“Dash? Athlete, rainbow hair?” Twilight asked.

“You’ve met?” Sunset asked.

“Kind of yes, kind of no,” Twilight admitted. “She was part of Canterlot High’s Friendship Games team, wasn’t she? You were here as well. Star of the team. I will have to say that you at least presented yourself a lot better than a good deal of the team.”

“Canterlot High picks their team based on popularity,” Sunset explained.

“Principle Cinch chooses who is going to be on the team according to ability and what the actual competitions are supposed to be,” Cadance stated. “Her decision concerning you was something of a surprise.”

“Decision?” Scootaloo asked. “Wait, you aren’t going to be on the Shadowbolt team are you?”

“Any chance you can keep it quiet?” Sunset asked.

“She wasn’t exactly given much of a choice,” Dusty offered.

“Scootaloo, the people who took advantage of the whole Anon-a-Miss mess, can you honestly say they don’t deserve a little payback?” She paused a moment. “I can forgive... I mean, could you have imagined the mess it would create?”

“And the Rainbooms?”

“One at a time if they’ll let me. And if they really want to be my friend they are just going to have to understand and accept it. One more day of school and then we are going over to the Apple’s the day after. I have to at least try to forgive the people I called friends, but those people who were sending in private information just so they’d have excuses to openly hate me? The Rainbooms I can at least understand because they’d honestly thought I’d betrayed their trust.”

“OK, ya, I think I get it.” Scootaloo had to take it all in for a bit. She let out a laugh. “If they ever found out who started it… I hear there were people who were still trying to push the blame onto you even after the truth came out. Ya, they took advantage of something stupid and twisted it into something that we are still having to deal with the consequences. Ya, I get it. And some of the creeps sending in stuff deserve every bit of payback.”

“Stuff?” Cadance pressed.

“It’s pretty well common knowledge by now. Boys were sending in dick pics,” Holiday informed them with a tone of disgust.

“At least that’s one thing that’s never shown up in my e-mail,” Twilight announced also sounding disgusted.

“What sort of things do you get?” Velvet asked.

“Advertisements for Erectile Dysfunction cures just to name one category. I may need to get a new e-mail account because of all the girls in my area who want to meet me. I’m getting spammed and the filters can’t keep up.”

“That is… I’m sorry, but words fail me,” Velvet offered.

“One thing for certain is that I’d imagine that Anon-a-Miss has a good idea who needs to see those ED adds.” Scootaloo gave a wink to her sister who looked shocked for a moment and then bust up laughing.

Lofty just facepalmed.

“Moving right along…” Cadance stated. It was time to change the topic. “Sunset, how were your extracurricular studies this afternoon?”

“I found them to be quite enlightening.”

“Extracurricular, what kind of class?” Twilight asked.

“Folk studies,” Sunset offered. “It’s out in the old conservatory.”

“You mean the big Victorian-era greenhouse?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, you’ve been out there?” Cadance asked.

“Oh yes, there’s a bench under a tree right outside. I like to sit out there and read when the weather is warm enough. It’s nice and quiet and no one bothers me. The path is just a short distance past the dorms.”

This time it was Cadance who facepalmed.

“Well then, Twilight, tomorrow, go out there, see one of the instructors and tell them about your discovery,” Sunset offered.

“But I thought I needed to be quiet about it?”

“I think you’ll find that they will be more than happy to help. Provided of course you talk to them while they are out in the conservatory.”

“This sounds like some kind of secret society thing,” Scootaloo observed with a grin. “Let me guess, they have classes on how to use the magic in this world?”

“You might say that, you might,” Sunset offered with a big smile.

“Mom,” Cadance inquired of Velvet, “I thought Twilight had no aptitude for magic?”

“To be honest there has never been an incident that I could definitely say was accidental magic,” Velvet offered. “Sure, she’s blown up her room along with various other rooms on multiple occasions, but it was all related to technology.”

“I’d say the fact that she’s discovered how to detect and measure the actual form of energy magic is dependent on is rather telling,” Dusty observed.

“Magic?” Twilight asked as she tried to take it all in.

“Twilight, there’s an energy field specifically tuned to keep out people who lack the ability for magic. And to be honest, it’s only called magic for lack of a better more scientific term,” Cadance explained.

“It’s a low energy field,” Sunset offered. “It would likely have shown up on your equipment as background radiation.”

“Ah… yes, I did have an issue with background radiation. It was the big spike over at Canterlot that made it possible to filter it.”

“So what’s the latest news,” Shining armor offered as he ventured back out. He’d gray slacks, a white shirt, and a tweedy sweater on.

“Twilight might actually be able to do magic,” Velvet announced.

“Wait? Really?!”

“Does the whole family know about magic?!” Twilight protested.

“Um, ya, actually,” Shining Armor replied with a sheepish grin on his face.

“And you kept this from me?”

“Dear, you never showed any interest in nor any recognizable aptitude,” Velvet pleaded.

“And now you get to learn about a science you didn’t even know existed,” Sunset offered. “Only, well, to be honest, magic tends to be more like cooking or playing an instrument. Yes, there are rules, but…”

“Results may vary,” Twilight finished with a sheepish grin.

“Twilight’s attempts to cook have been less than stellar,” Velvet offered. “And now, I think I’d best go see to our dinner. Cadance?”

“Right behind you,” Cadance offered as the two got up and headed for the back. A short time later they’d all gathered in the dining room while Sunset was doing her best to explain to Twilight the mechanics of how magic actually worked.

The next morning quite a few people got quite a surprise when Twilight walked into the old Conservatory and asked to be taught about magic. Granted that it was also the last school day before the winter break.

“Twilight, it is you, isn’t it?” Zachary asked her at lunch that day. Twilight had joined the others in the dining hall. Twilight had her hair down too.

“Was it my doppelganger you were expecting?” Twilight asked.

“You heard about her, did you?” Indigo asked.

“And half the school thinks it was me you were fondling,” Twilight chastised.

“More like a good four-fifths to seven-eighths of the school,” Sunset offered. “But then no one has done any official surveys. Besides, it’ll be long forgotten by the time winter break is over.”

“Say, maybe Twilight could join us tomorrow?” Zachary suggested.

“Zap, we were hoping to keep it small,” Sunset protested.

“She’ll be there, won’t she?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe, but I did kind of invite her before you and I were officially friends.”

“I’d imagine explaining my doppelganger to my family might be difficult.”

“There’s also the issue that your doppelganger is someone the Apple family knows, and well, it could lead to some awkward moments,” Sunset explained. “It could end up being very stressful for you. The only reason Zap here was invited was to get some of that stress off me.”

“Then all the more reason for me to support my new friend.”

“Um, Twilight, you are practically a shut-in,” Indigo pointed out.

“Not true. Focused yes. Avoiding certain non-scholarship students who seem to think I should do all their schoolwork for them, yes. Shut-in… OK, fine, I can see where you might get that impression of me.”

“And the Princess?” Sugarcoat asked.

“I’d think that she’d be as curious about me as I am about her.”

“Fine then, you can come,” Sunset announced having come to the conclusion that she wasn’t going to win this one.

Comments

[Theresa]

Well let us hope that it won't get too crazy and they catch Gilda because I fear that she won't stop until sunset is dead as long she believes sunset is guilty. The girls are going to have to work to prove that they are worthy of a second chance with her. Sunset worked everyday to make it right but in the end it wasn't enough.

[KittyrinnAiko]

11144633
The department requesting she not be given bail means they have her. For now at least.

[Theresa]

11146056
Last I saw she was pounding cadence car because she thought it belongs to sunset dad and he was picking her up. I didn't see anything about her being caught after that. Just a lot of magic talk and talk about internet jerks.

[KittyrinnAiko]

11146060
She threw a rock. Nowhere in the text does it say she pounded on Cadance's car. The Crystal Prep students chased them, cornered them, and gave them a beat down. Shining Armor confirms that they, Guilda and Garble, were arrested when he says he declined to be the arresting officer because of the beat down they were given by the Chrystal Prep students. Shining also confirmed that Gilda had made statements about wanting to hurt Sunset.

Anyway... I made a few changes to Chapter 12 that I hope will make it a bit more obvious.