Principles of Reaction

“Keep this up, and you just might not be a total waste of time.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence… I think.”

Sunset smiled sweetly at the filly.

“You should know that’s high praise from me.”

“Uh-huh. And how do you think normal ponies would react to ‘praise’ like that?”

She shrugged. “Don’t really care. Normal ponies bore me.”

Moon Dancer shook her head and adjusted her new glasses. Though they had the classic nerd look with giant black frames, Sunset admitted they didn’t look half bad on her. Not that she’d tell Moon Dancer, since it was none of her business.

The filly stuck out her tongue as she carefully levitated a small vial of barilla over the tiny bubbling cauldron. Sunset watched silently, a faint smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. This was the moment of truth, after all. If Moon Dancer hadn’t been paying attention during their time together, this would explode in a lovely bit of chaos magic.

Which would be hilarious. She’ll learn the lesson one way, or the other.

A single drop of the shimmering liquid fell from the vial into the concoction. Within seconds, the bubbling solution began to froth and seethe. Moon Dancer backpedaled a bit as it threatened to boil over the lip of the cauldron. She froze when a brief burst of white smoke erupted up from the surface.

Sunset chuckled. “Not bad, kid.”

The muddy brown sludge burbling in the cauldron had been replaced by a clear liquid that glowed in the dim light of the alchemy lab. The faint aroma of roses wafted up from the still surface of the potion.

Moon Dancer peered into the cauldron for a long moment. “It actually worked?”

Sunset’s horn burned as she enveloped the cauldron in her teal magic and concentrated. In a few moments, the identification spell finished its work, and a small symbol appeared in teal above the table: a hoof standing on a wave.

“Looks like you made a passable waterwalking potion.”

Moon Dancer slumped into a chair with a faint sigh of relief, her eyes never leaving the glowing symbol.

“I can’t believe it worked,” Moon Dancer muttered. “The ratio of rock salt to sea salt was off.”

Sunset shrugged. “Yeah. It was. But, that part of the potion has a little room for error. Now, if you’d messed up the elemental components… well…” Sunset chuckled, “I’d be laughing my tail off since you couldn’t keep your hooves under you for a good three hours.”

“Complete reversal of friction. You’d love that.” Moon Dancer glowered.

“Oh yeah, totally!” Sunset cackled. “Especially since self-levitation isn’t taught until the fourth year. You wouldn’t be able to even sit in a chair without sliding off!”

The pale filly’s eyes narrowed. “So sorry to disappoint you by not making an idiot out of myself.”

“Well, I can’t always get everything I want,” Sunset replied. “I’ve come to accept it.”

“Since when?”

“Work in progress.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sunset fell into the chair and looked over the table at the results of the last hour. If she was any judge—and since she was Sunset Shimmer, she was an excellent judge—the potion was actually on par with a fifth-year’s work.

Not with my work, of course, but it’s decent. Good, even. One day, you might just get as good as me, kid.

She blew the hair out of her face as Moon Dancer scribbled the results of the session in her study journal. Sunset stifled a yawn as the stuffy lab began to weigh down on her. She had dragged herself out of bed before dawn yet again after being up past midnight… yet again.

Stupid alchemy exam.

She shook her head, rubbed her eyes and refocused on Moon Dancer.

Despite her best efforts, the kid was actually starting to grow on her. Moon Dancer had a snarky streak a mile long buried deep under her somewhat shy, yet prickly demeanor. Every time she managed to tap into that, Sunset saw a little piece of herself. She had so much more potential than the rest of these brats.

The other students were hopeless. As usual, Sunset had made the right call and picked the only student in the school that had a shot at actually keeping up with her. Granted, she stumbled a lot, but she couldn’t be expected to be as amazing as Princess Celestia’s prized student.

Really, who could?

“So, what’s next?” Moon Dancer asked, carefully pouring the new potion into a series of flasks.

“Next?” Sunset laughed. “You canter off and play with your dolls, or whatever it is little fillies do. I have to get some real work done.”

Moon Dancer glared at her. “You’re only two years older than me, Sunset. Drop the act and tell me: what else should I know for the final?”

Sunset leaned forward, her wicked grin on her face. “Oh, are you finally asking for a little insider’s information? Have I really succeeded in corrupting the sweet and innocent little filly into something as dark and evil as cheating?”

She let out a little cackle of delight.

Moon Dancer slammed her journal closed. “No.”

“No? I won’t tell anypony.”

“No.”

“Aw, you’re no fun,” Sunset leaned back with a pout. “I even have the exam in my saddlebags over there, and you don’t want to take a peek?

“I want to be prepared, Sunset!” Moon Dancer barked, her quill snapping in her magic. “Not cheat! I know you! You’ve got something crazy hard for us. I bet you’ve been waiting for this chance to show everypony how much better you are than the rest of us!”

“Hardly. There’s no point. Why would I waste my time? Everypony already knows.”

“I don’t know. Maybe because you love reminding us who you are. You used to do it all the time, before. In fact, that’s the last thing you said to me before you offered to tutor me.”

“All I remember is giving you a little pep talk. What’s wrong with that?”

“You practically spit in the face of my friends and I. You told us we were studying for nothing, and then marched off with your muzzle in the air. It was the same day we tried to compliment you on your mid-ter—”

“I told you never to talk about that day!” Sunset roared, slamming her hoof on the table. The waterwalking potions bounced, clattering together. They jostled each time Sunset drove her hoof down as she punctuated each word. “Don’t. Ever. Talk. About. That. Day. Dammit!” She rammed the table with a telekinetic thrust. The potions leapt back and forth, shadows dancing crazily in the teal light of her magic. “You’re a second-year at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns! Here I thought you were good at remembering important things.”

With another savage shake of the table, the bottles shifted the wrong way and smashed to the ground one at a time. Moon Dancer’s eyes widened and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. She looked even paler than normal, and her ears were plastered to her head.

Good job, Sunset. Screaming at the only filly around this place who actually tolerates you, the little whisper in the back her mind said.

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to take a breath. She was better than this. She had dealt with angry nobles and furious griffon ambassadors. This was just some second-year with a glimmer of talent. She could handle this.

I’m Sunset Shimmer. I can handle anything.

“Look…” Sunset sighed. “There’s no point talking about the past. You want to know about the future? Well, the future I see is that you get a passing grade on the alchemy test. I have more important things to do than hold your hoof.”

Professor Polish is triple-checking everything I do, so even if I wanted to have a little fun, I wouldn’t get away with it.

Sunset ground her teeth together. There had been so much potential when Polish forced this assignment on her! So many little pieces she could push, so many wheels she could put into motion… all wasted.

By Celestia, I hate this job.

“Fine!” Moon Dancer shouted. With a surge of her magic, she shoved her books into her saddlebags. “Be as self-obsessed as everypony says! I don’t want passing! I want to be better than that! I’m not asking to cheat, I’m asking for a bit of extra help! If you won’t help the filly you’re supposed to be tutoring, I’ll find somepony who will! Somepony who’s not so full of themselves that she might collapse into a singularity!”

“Newsflash, Moon Dancer. The world doesn’t revolve around you.” Sunset couldn’t hold back the laugh. “As for trying to find somepony even close to my level? Good luck with that.”

Moon Dancer’s eyes blazed. “And here I was, foalish me, thinking maybe, just maybe, you’d changed.”

“Perfection doesn’t change, Moon Dancer. It just is.”

Moon Dancer snarled something Sunset couldn’t make out before stalking out of the alchemy lab and slamming the door behind her.

Sunset glared after her.

What in Tartarus is her problem? How dare she talk to me like that?

Her mind twisted around that thought for a few minutes before some impulse finally got her tail in gear, and she moved to clean up the mess she’d—

This wouldn’t have happened if she’d kept her mouth shut!

—Moon Dancer had caused. She had just finished washing out the cauldron and setting it to soak, when the rest of her anger snapped like a frayed violin string.

“Dammit,” Sunset groaned, banging her head against the counter. “Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. I’m Sunset Shimmer. I’m not allowed to have buttons ponies can press so easily!”

If that day wasn’t so damn important to everything… if it didn’t hold secrets that would determine my entire life! But no! Celestia has to be tight-lipped, and my little plan to spur things along by tutoring that twit hasn’t earned me anything but a stupid smile.

Still, it had been a good smile.

Sunset stared into the water inside the cauldron. An amber pony looked back at her. Gorgeous red and gold hair, brilliant teal eyes. The face of a leader. Somepony brilliant, strong and powerful.

Somepony who was too damn tired.

Sunset dashed her hoof through the water, scattering droplets everywhere. She watched the reflection twist and distort from the ripples. There was just a blur of red and gold as her image reformed. For just a second, the eyes seemed different.

You know, you could always try apologizing.

The tiny whisper from somewhere deep in her mind was back. The same voice that had been pestering her for months. It was quiet, polite, and all alone, but it was like the buzz of a fly in an otherwise silent room… she just couldn’t ignore it.

It was also annoying as all Tartarus.

“I don’t need to apologize to anypony. If anything, she needs to apologize to me. She knows the rule. She broke it.”

A rule you set up because you can’t face what you did. And didn’t Moon Dancer seem a little out of it tod—

Sunset let out a low growl and spun away from the cauldron. She didn’t need lessons on pony feelings today, least of all from some insignificant whisper.

She had work to do. She grabbed the mop with her magic and tidied up the rest of the room. The tinkle of broken glass and swish of wasted potion buzzed in her ears. It wasn’t until she scooped up the glass in a separate telekinetic field that she noticed it.

A single flask of Moon Dancer’s waterwalking potion remained undamaged.

She huffed. I’ll give it back when she apologizes. A little souvenir to remind her who she is… and who I am.

A few minutes later, Sunset stormed out of the alchemy class and into the bustling hallway of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Most students—and a few of the teachers—were smart enough to get out of her way as she moved through the crowds.

Damn that Moon Dancer, anyway! How dare she resent me and my work! Sunset shook her head. For pony’s sake, what is her problem anyway? I finally get a chance to actually do something vaguely important in that blasted class and—

“Hey! Sunny!”

Sunset’s ears tracked the shout as coming from her right and she wondered what idiot would dare call her that in public. She hated that nickname. Of course, somepony yelled it as she entered an intersection, which distracted her just long enough to plow headlong into another pony. They both fell over each other, landing in a heap.

A filly groaned on the floor, books scattered everywhere as Sunset glared at her.

Purple hair. Brown coat. Moon Dancer’s age. One of Polish’s students.

She cast around in her head for a name and found one.

“What’s wrong with you, Cinnamon Tart?” Sunset growled. “Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

The filly’s eyes went wide and her skin paled under her coat as she scrambled backward.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean anything by it!” she squeaked.

Sunset got to her hooves and swore as she realized her own saddlebags had come undone. A week’s worth of homework, her own studies on arcane energy transference, her copy of The Alchemy of Chemistry, and the exam she’d spent the last two weeks working on lay scattered all over the floor.

And a flask of glowing blue liquid had slid to a stop at Cinnamon’s hooves.

“Look what you made me do,” Sunset growled as she snatched the flask in her magic. “I swear, a year ago, you would have paid for this.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “Be happy I’m trying to be a little nicer.”

She took a deep breath and forced herself to pause. No sense harping on the obvious. She grabbed all of her papers, the book and the flask. With a grunt, she jammed them all into her saddlebags.

She left Cinnamon Tart in the middle of her scattered textbooks. Those were her problem.

“I’m sorry!” Tart squeaked again. “Please… whatever you did to Moon Dancer… I’m not worth it!”

Sunset froze, and slowly turned to face the filly.

“What did you say?”

“W-well, Moon Dancer came out of that room crying and—”

“Impossible. There’s absolutely no reason for Moon Dancer to be crying!” Sunset roared. “Where do you get off making up stories like—”

Dead silence.

About thirty ponies, most of them students, were just staring at her with mixed expressions of shock and terror. There were a couple professors mixed in and every single one looked either horrified or furious. One of them, a visiting teal pegasus instructor for weather magic, was just gaping at her.

She swallowed her anger, buttoned her saddlebags, and marched off.

It took every bit of willpower not to run from the accusing stares.

What is wrong with me today? Sunset groaned as she darted around a corner. I’m supposed to have the thickest skin in this entire school, and I’m acting like a foal throwing a tantrum!

She’d almost made it to the safety of the lower teacher’s lounge when a sharp voice pierced her thoughts.

“Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset swore under her breath as she turned to face the cold-eyed stallion bearing down on her.

Dean Silver Slate adjusted his granite-colored half-moon spectacles as he approached. He was a tall pony with a mane as silver as his name implied. As always, he looked every inch the ‘distinguished professor,’ a guise he used with ruthless precision to protect his favored students and to pressure ‘difficult elements’ into toeing the line.

‘Elements’ like Sunset. She hated how he always loomed over her, like a crumbling cliff overhead ready to crash down at any moment.

“Inside. Now.”

Good to see you too, you old jerk.

She was smart enough not to say it out loud.

There were two ponies already in the lower’s teacher lounge: a magenta earth pony and a thin wisp of a pegasus. Sunset didn’t recognize either of them, but with a single glance from Dean Slate, both of them were gone in ten seconds flat.

Slate slowly closed the door, and turned to Sunset. His cold blue eyes bored into her while the afternoon sunlight made his coat an even duller gray than normal.

“Can I help you, Dean Slate?”

“Oh, absolutely. You could depart my school and never return.” Slate pulled off his glasses, conjured a small cloth and cleaned them. “Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening at present, so why don’t you tell me why you were screaming at that little filly?”

“Last I checked, the school’s name started with the words Princess Celestia.”

He put his glasses back on and didn’t even bother to respond to Sunset’s jab.

Dammit. He really is peeved.

“Fine,” she sighed, “I lost my temper. I’ve been up late every night and waking up before dawn for almost two weeks preparing the second-year Advanced Alchemy final exam for Professor Polish.”

“And sleep deprivation gives you leave to berate a junior student in the middle of school and reduce them to tears? Scant minutes after reducing the filly you’ve been tutoring to tears? Dare I suggest you are going for a new record?”

“Moon Dancer and I just got into an argument! She wasn’t crying!”

“Most students know not to cry around you, Miss Shimmer. You tend to pounce on whomever you perceive as weak. It’s become an unspoken law during your reign here.”

“I’ve gotten better! Both of us know that!”

...More or less.

“Miss Shimmer, a chimera cannot change its stripes!” Slate stomped a hoof, his eyes narrowing. “Especially when it comes to crushing weaker students and leaving them shells of what they once were! Has it ever occurred to you that such activity is simply not acceptable behavior?”

“I lost my temper!” Sunset shouted. “Ponies are allowed to screw up occasionally, Slate!”

Slate’s eyes went as cold as a windigo’s breath, and Sunset cursed herself for crossing that damn line again.

“You have been instructed in the proper way to address your superiors, Miss Shimmer. You seem to think you and I are equals. Allow me to remind you that, while Princess Celestia might see some speck of potential in you, this does not give you leave to run roughshod over my school. If this behavior persists, I will bring it up to the Board of Regents.”

“Don’t bore me, Slate. You already played that card last year. It didn’t get rid of me then. It’s not going to get rid of me now.”

The dean dropped the act as his lips curled into a snarl. Sunset was grateful. She hated the false civility game.

“You constantly challenge my authority, Sunset Shimmer. You disrupt my school. You terrorize my students. You make a mockery out of everything this institution stands for. Frankly, I don’t care if you are Celestia’s successor. I will be rid of you. You tormented my eldest granddaughter for three years. She cannot wait until she leaves you behind.

He snapped his glasses off again and stood over her, a dark look crossing his harsh features. “And now you dare to harangue my youngest granddaughter? In front of the entire school, no less?”

Oh horseapples, Tart is Slate’s granddaughter?

“You are a plague on this campus, certain in your faith that, no matter how many reports I send to Celestia, she will not remove you.”

He stood straighter, blocking the afternoon sun and plunging Sunset into shadow. “One day, Shimmer, you’re going to slip up so badly even the almighty Princess won’t be able to save you. I pray I am here to see it. You’ve defied me for four years, and I will not take it anymore. I vow to you, the day you buck up is the day your time in Canterlot ends. I will make sure you are expelled from these hallowed halls of learning. And then?”

His chuckle was low and dangerous, like the first pebbles of a rockslide. “Then, my dear, I’m going to make sure Celestia wished she’d never laid eyes on you.”

Slate’s glare could have melted iron. Thankfully, Sunset was made of stronger stuff. She returned the glare with a cool indifference, adding a cocky little smirk to drive home how little his rant bothered her.

Snarling, he leaned over and stabbed her in the chest with a hoof. “You’re a monster, Sunset Shimmer, and things like you never change. Don’t think this little act you’ve been playing at all year has deceived anypony. Even if you somehow gained enough arcane knowledge to rival Celestia herself, you’d still be the monster under these foals’ bed. It’s your nature.”

Slate shoved past her. Sunset opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

He’s really spit his bit now. Maybe I—

No! It’s not my fault! How was I supposed to know she was his granddaughter?

Slate didn’t bother turning around as he shoved open the door and stalked out. “I’m going to make sure the Princess realizes just what a monster you are,” he spat.

He slammed the door in Sunset’s face. The ringing in her ears sang about how far over the line she had really gone.

I may have overplayed my hoof this time.

And somewhere in the back of her head, she heard a sad little sigh.

How’s that ‘handling anything’ going for you?

Practical Exercises

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Sunset Shimmer hated her desk in Professor Polish’s classroom.

First of all, the damn thing was small. She was constantly struggling to find space to grade the copious amount of paperwork the professor dumped on her. Especially lately, since finals week was finally upon them. Alchemical formulae and practical application essays filled up every bit of space.

Second of all, it was in a dark corner of the classroom with barely enough light to read by. For some reason, Polish always insisted on keeping the curtains beside Sunset closed. She had said it had something to do with her eyes once, but Sunset couldn’t remember if she was light-sensitive, or some other such nonsense.

There are spells to help with that, you old coot! Sunset thought fiercely at the professor. Sadly, the professor didn’t notice. She was too busy demonstrating Honest Beacon’s Second Alchemical Principle to a classroom of mostly-bored students.

But worst of all was its position. It was where everypony in the class could see her. Sunset had long ago mastered the bubble of silence—a trick she’d had to use more times than she could count in this blasted class—but a bubble of silence couldn’t protect her from the stares.

They’d gotten worse in the last few days. Everypony had heard about the incident with Cinnamon Tart. Eyes that had once shown a glimmer of respect now reflected either hate or fear. And Moon Dancer still wasn’t speaking to her.

Despite everything… despite how much she didn’t care what that dumb filly did…

She still felt a little sick every time she looked at the pale unicorn in the front row who was studiously not looking at her.

So when are you going to apologize?

The little whisper had been getting more persistent. She didn’t know if she was actually worried the dean might find some way to follow through on his threat or… Celestia forbid…

Was she actually feeling guilty?

I don’t have anything to feel guilty about! I’m Sunset Shimmer. I’m the best student who’s ever walked these halls. I’m brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and one day, I’m going to be Princess. This is just another hurdle. Another trial. And I’ll ace it like I do everything else.

Still, Sunset couldn’t shake the feeling that this might be the first test she was failing.

That’s crazy… I don’t… I don’t fail...

She shot bolt upright, catching herself before she actually dozed off.

Come on, just a few more days. I can stay awake a few more days.

Her exhaustion, coupled with the darkness, had her reaching for the only possible solution. With the hours she’d been keeping, there wasn’t enough Earl Grey in the world to wake her up. No, the only way she’d remain functional enough to keep up with her tasks was to break out her secret weapon:

Coffee.

Six letters that spelled ‘endless potential.’

She levitated her mug, which held a passable blend of coffee. As usual, it was as dark as night. She wasn’t about to push things with a sugar crash.

She rubbed her eyes as the dark concoction worked its equally dark magic, and looked back at the stack of homework. This one was from a turquoise filly named Ice Storm. On automatic, she graded it and put the score at the top. 78%.

I should have never taken that deal. I should have demanded Celestia tell me the truth. I should have found some way out of this mess! Since the tutoring plan didn’t work…

But that just brought up another question.

Why do I bother with Moon Dancer? She already aced her second-year Advanced Telekinetics exam.

Sadly, the answer was provided all too quickly by that damn little whisper.

Because you liked helping her. You had fun.

She was part of the project! Sunset shot back. Nothing more!

Then why did you take her to that book reading two weeks ago?

Sunset growled silently at the persistent little voice.

Another page of homework. Minuette. Blue, two-toned mane. Annoying smile. 87%.

Why in Tartarus did Polish make me memorize her students? Waste of time. It’s not like they would ever do anything important. At least, not at her level.

This had started with Celestia’s thrice-cursed deal. An exchange for a promise. She still hated it months later, but the only other option carried too many risks. Sunset Shimmer wasn’t one to shy away from risks, but she had known even then that there had been a growing rift between herself and the Princess. If she defied her and went after the secrets of the mirror herself…

It’s not worth it, not yet.

She took another sip of her coffee.

Now, she had Dean Slate determined to drive her not only from GU, but from Celestia herself.

Cinnamon Tart. 81%. Ugh.

Sunset’s eyes wandered back to the class. Two fillies next to Cinnamon Tart were glaring at her with pure loathing. Tart looked like she’d been crying again. This was the first class she’d attended since her run-in with Sunset. Sunset had a pretty good idea why.

Why does she rate being in this class again?

Briefly, she glanced towards her saddlebags, then to the waterwalking flask, quietly glowing on her desk. After a moment, she shook her mane, and knocked back another gulp of her coffee.

No! I’m not letting them get to me. I’m better than this. I’m better than these brats!

Another paper graded with barely a thought, until she saw the name.

Moon Dancer. 100%

Nice job, kid. You earned it.

She looked up again, but Moon Dancer still refused to even look in her direction.

She took another drink of coffee. The taste was even more bitter than usual going down.

The stack of homework moved aside to her out tray, and she finished her summary report. Some students were improving. As usual, most of them were just average.

And two—also as usual—had aced it.

Sunset tried not to look at her again, but found herself facing the little pale unicorn.

Moon Dancer was as shy as an Everfree Squirrel around other students, but nothing could stop her when she got her hooves on a magical challenge. She was as determined as a ticked-off Ursa Minor, though with a bit more subtlety.

If nothing else, she was at least fun to tease. It was so easy to press her buttons!

Finally, her eyes slid over one chair, but that just darkened her mood.

Sitting next to Moon Dancer was that wretched Twilight Sparkle.

As Professor Polish continued to drone on about the fundamentals of alchemical composition for tomorrow’s exam, Sunset’s once again sized up the one other filly who could potentially challenge her.

Not for control of GU, no. Sparkle couldn’t run an ant farm.

I mean, look at her…

She was scribbling furiously in that little notebook of hers, just like she had been every day since the beginning of the year.

She looked harmless enough on the surface. An odd little pony who looked a lot like Moon Dancer, though without that stupid-looking topknot Moon Dancer insisted on wearing these days.

Not only that, but she was still a blank flank. Sure, she was one of the accelerated first-years, and about a year and a half younger than most of the class, but she still didn’t have her mark. Even at her age, most ponies had discovered their special talent.

Professor Polish said something and a few of the students laughed. Sunset just scowled and took another swallow of coffee.

She’d seen others tease her about it, but Twilight was completely oblivious to the intent. She always came away more confused than insulted, protected by a bubble of social ignorance.

There was a brilliant flash as Professor Polish’s magic whisked away the alchemy stations, replacing them with the typical comfortable student chairs. Everypony got resituated. Sunset had to stifle a yawn, and force her eyelids open again.

Come on, Sunset. Stay focused. Where was I… oh yeah. Her.

What really bothered her about Twilight was her magical ability. She was frankly too good. Moon Dancer had to work at it, while things just came naturally to Twilight. Her magic was at least twice as advanced as anypony else in the class. There were a few spells the filly could cast that almost rivaled Sunset’s own, both in skill and in power.

That pony could become a threat someday.

A year ago, that mere thought would have made Sunset pounce. And with somepony like Twilight, it would be an easy kill.

Damn you, Celestia. Damn you and your stupid, stupid test! Damn you and damn that mirror!

She forced herself to stare at the table and take a few deep breaths. There was no purpose in totally losing it in class. Not when she was almost rid of this place for the summer. Lost in her own thoughts, she missed Polish’s low drone turn questioning.

“Miss Shimmer? Equestria to Miss Shimmer?”

Sunset blinked in surprise, and almost dropped her half-empty mug of coffee as she peered up to realize the entire class was staring at her… including Professor Polish.

“Uh…” She hated the way her cheeks burned. “Sorry, Professor. What was that?”

“Woolgathering again?” Professor Polish clicked her tongue. “And here I thought the Princess’s prized student would have better focus.”

Sunset’s ears flicked back, but she forced herself not to snap at the teacher. It took more willpower than she wanted to admit.

“What did you need, Professor?”

“I’d like an assistant for a little demonstration.”

“Of course, Professor.”

See, Princess? I can be diplomatic too! Even when I’m royally peeved.

She put down her coffee and stood. She did take the time to stretch before trotting over to stand at the professor’s side.

“Miss Sparkle here,” Polish said, “had a wonderful question about the different applications and limitations of transfiguration magic versus illusion magic, and how they could be applied to alchemical compositions.”

Of course she did. She would ask that one question three minutes before the end of a lesson that would get Polish to drone on for another hour.

Sunset managed not to roll her eyes. Instead, she just waited for Polish to get on with it.

“Though she was asking in an alchemical context, I decided a bit more of a direct demonstration was in order. To be precise, a practical demonstration.”

Oh wonderful. It’s going to be one of those days.

“Now,” Professor Polish began, turning to the classroom. “I first must stress that transfiguration magic is an extremely difficult field of study. It requires a tremendous amount of raw energy, a precise attention to detail and an intrinsic knowledge of the original form and the altered form simultaneously. Nopony here should ever attempt to perform a transfiguration spell until they have reached the fourth year and only then with strict supervision. Ponies who break this rule are dealt with very harshly.”

Polish continued on with her warnings and Sunset watched the classroom. It only took a few moments to realize that even Twilight Sparkle—who was usually too clueless to react to any social situation—wasn’t meeting her eyes. They were all looking at Professor Polish, though Sunset could tell most of them were doing it just to avoid looking at her.

Fine by me. Twits.

She glanced briefly at Moon Dancer, then back to her desk.

She felt slightly woozy for a moment before she caught herself.

Okay, might be doing a bit much on the caffeine...

Finally, the old professor finished her ‘Don’t Do This At Home’ rant, took a deep breath and nodded. “I can see you all get the gist of my warning. What I’m demonstrating today is a master-class variant of a transfiguration spell. I should also mention that it is likely none of you will ever be able to cast this particular version of the spell.”

Polish’s magic ignited as she lifted up a small crystal shard, about the size of a pony’s hoof. It glittered a gentle green in the light of the classroom.

“Can anypony tell me what this is?”

Of course, Twilight Sparkle’s little hoof shot straight up. Moon Dancer was a second slower.

Apparently, the professor decided to have a little mercy on her—intentional or not—and called on Moon Dancer instead of Twilight Sparkle.

“It’s a Imprint Core,” Moon Dancer answered. “Usually they’re used for medicinal purposes for the treatment of other races. They contain ‘copies’ of a creature’s ‘essence,’ imprinted on the core. They can store all sorts of anatomical data.”

“Very good.” Polish nodded approvingly. “I see somepony’s been reading ahead once more.”

Moon Dancer blushed.

Good girl. You were paying attention during the Mystical Artifacts section last month.

“Imprint cores are rare and difficult to maintain. This particular one was given to the school by the Griffon Ambassador and contains an imprint of the Ambassador, her Chief of Staff and several other griffon volunteers. I’ll be using it later today for a lecture on the differences between griffon and pegasi anatomy, but I believe it will suit our needs quite well.”

Polish turned and cocked an eyebrow at Sunset.

“Are you ready, Miss Shimmer?”

No. Sunset thought. But it’s not like you’re giving me much choice. I can’t back out now.

“Of course, Professor.”

“Excellent. Then please hold still. This shouldn’t take long.”

Polish’s magic began to glow, lifting the core into the air. Despite her best effort, Sunset closed her eyes as felt the magic pulse around her as the second part of the spell took hold. There were gasps from the students and then Sunset… twisted.

It was the only word she could come up for such a bizarre sensation. Alien feelings pulsed through her body. Her hooves felt wrong. Her muzzle was wrong. Her back itched. Even her tail twitched under the effects of the magic.

Then the sensation was gone. It had lasted less than a minute, but Sunset still couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes.

“And there you have transfiguration magic at it’s most powerful!” Polish proclaimed. The entire classroom burst into applause—with the addition of a few snorts and giggles—and Sunset finally opened her eyes.

Great. I’m a bloody bird.

And she was. After a fashion.

Sunset Shimmer was now a griffon. The front of her coat had been replaced by a mass of soft, downy amber feathers. The same coloration ran through the transition from feathers to fur on her flanks. She could actually feel the talons at the end of each leg. And her eyes were far sharper than they had been. Where before, she had struggled to see any fine details beyond her desk, she could now read the notes of everypony in the class. Upside-down.

Plus, there was the whole wings thing.

The worst part was feeling mostly cut off from her magic. She could still feel it there, but she let the professor teach her little lesson. After all, being subjected to the spell, she could see the faint violet thread of magic connecting her to Polish, though it would be invisible to anypony else. She could shatter the spell and restore herself in an instant if she focused.

“Now, Miss Shimmer,” Polish said. “I’d like you to fly twice around the room and return.”

Sunset stared at the professor. Still, she wasn’t about to refuse. Sunset Shimmer didn’t refuse a challenge. So she concentrated, bringing up everything she knew about griffon anatomy and leapt into the air, snapping her wings out.

The left one didn’t respond at all. The right one extended to about half of its normal wingspan.

She landed with a thump and groan a couple feet away. There were a few malicious cackles from the back of the room and a few lighter giggles from closer. When Sunset looked up, Twilight Sparkle was staring at with an expression bordering on terrified, but she had the audacity to look vaguely concerned underneath the terror.

Moon Dancer was looking out the window.

“Now, why can’t Sunset fly?” Polish asked the class. “Anypony?”

The usual suspects’ hooves went up, but Professor Polish pointed to another pony one row back as Sunset got back to her… talons and paws.

This is just weird.

“Miss Minuette, please,” Polish called. “Why do you think she can’t fly?”

The blue unicorn filly named Minuette glanced at Sunset without any real fear. She actually smiled at her. Which was even weirder.

“Because she’s not actually a griffon.”

“Oh? At the moment, she is physically a griffon,” Polish proclaimed. “Allow me to prove it.”

Sunset yelped as Polish plucked a feather from one of her wings with her magic. “Ow! That hurt!”

The professor ignored her outburst and lifted then feather up for everypony to see. “As you can see, the feather is indeed quite real.”

“That’s…” Minuette blushed a little. “That’s not what I meant, Professor. I meant her brain isn’t a griffon’s brain. She’s never been a griffon before—probably—so her brain doesn’t know how to work her wings.”

Professor Polish’s normally dour expression lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree.

“I could not have said it better myself, my dear. Utter perfection. Indeed, while Sunset now has the physical traits of a griffon, she does not have the experience of one. In addition, she would have difficulty manipulating her talons or using any inherent griffon magic, which is quite similar to pegasus magic, as we discussed three weeks ago.”

I’m pretty sure I can use my talons enough to thwack you upside the head, Polish.

Sunset glared at the old nag, and growled under her breath. Sadly, the professor didn’t seem to notice.

“Can anypony else tell me another drawback to this particular form of magic?”

This time, Twilight’s hoof shot into the air so quickly she almost fell out of her seat. Beside her, Moon Dancer rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Miss Sparkle?”

“It requires a constant magical link between the caster and the subject.”

“Excellent,” Professor Polish said with a nod. “Indeed, if I intended to keep Sunset a griffon for the rest of the day, I’m afraid I would be unable to move by the final bell. Casting this on actual ponies is tremendously difficult, as one must ‘overwhelm’ the innate magic of the subject. In comparison, illusion magic this detailed would require a similar link, though it would not require nearly as much energy. What’s another drawback?”

There was silence. The third major drawback was a well-known fact Polish had covered about a month ago. She knew the students knew it.

Nopony wanted to say it. Nopony wanted to remember who the professor’s guinea pig really was.

“Moon Dancer? Do you remember the third rule?”

Moon Dancer met Sunset’s eyes for a split second.

“‘Any unicorn with basic training can easily break a ‘forced’ transfiguration spell with a minimum of mental effort.’”

“A direct quote from the textbook.” Polish nodded. “Quite so. In fact, because Sunset Shimmer here is one of the strongest students at Gifted Unicorns, I am having to use double the amount of energy I would normally use for the same spell. Miss Shimmer could shatter this transfiguration with but a thought.”

I guess that counts as a compliment? Sunset huffed quietly. Not that it makes up for this at all. Not with everypony in the room gawking at me like I’m an exhibit at the zoo or just trying to hate me to death.

“Finally, what are the benefits to a spell such as this? Let’s see, somepony who hasn’t answered yet… ah, Miss Tart? Could you enlighten us?”

The brown filly with a purple mane sitting in the second-to-last row jumped in surprise as the professor interrupted whatever she was doing.

Sunset just stared at the professor. There was no way Polish could not have heard about the incident a few days ago. Yet, she didn’t seem to care.

“Uh… well… I don’t know.”

“Come, my dear, you have to have some idea. You’re quite bright, and your sister was a master at transfiguration magic and its applications. I’m sure she taught you a few things.”

“Uh, well, there’s the part where she is actually a griffon?”

This got a giggle out of the class, and a patient smile from the professor.

“Simplistic, yet accurate. For example, this feather would actually suffice for potions that require stirring with a griffon feather.”

Polish held the feather aloft and smiled.

“However, transfiguration spells can have odd side effects. Unless a transfigured item is prepared properly—a process that usually takes at least two days—it can have unexpected results if used as a reagent. Can somepony tell me why that is?”

This time, she got only blank stares. Sunset knew the answer, of course, but it was something that wasn’t handled at the second-level.

“I’ll give you a hint. What school of magic is transfiguration under? Speak up. Anypony.”

“Alteration magic,” Twilight Sparkle shouted, earning a round of giggles at the little know-it-all.

“Good. And all alteration magic requires at least some small piece of…”

Moon Dancer raised her hoof and Polish pointed at her.

“Chaos magic.”

“Precisely!” Polish cried. “In fact, combining anything under the alteration magic umbrella with any other school will often cause severe side effects, unless one uses specific Harmony-based countermeasures.

“However, Sunset is indeed effectively a griffon at the present. If she had a mind to, she could learn to fly like one. Indeed, I suspect she could attend the Feathered Formal this Friday as a griffon’s date and nopony—or griffon—would be the wiser. Some might appreciate it. From their standards, I believe you make a rather comely griffon, Miss Shimmer.”

She had to bite on her tongue to keep from snapping back to that particular comment. Which hurt a lot more since she had a beak now.

“For extra credit, I want somepony to come up with a method in which Miss Shimmer could use her gryphon abilities by the end of class. However, let’s put that aside for the moment.”

There was a sudden rush of light and sound around Sunset and in a moment, she was once more back in her familiar pony form. Then another flash erupted around her. She blinked in surprise and looked down to see her as a griffon again… only this time she didn’t feel different.

“Now, who can tell me the difference from illusion magic?”

Twilight Sparkle was so eager she actually started speaking without raising her hoof. “Unlike transfiguration magic, illusion is most effective using magical catalysts.”

“You and that fancy green dust again,” Moon Dancer snorted.

“I think it’s fascinating!” Twilight replied.

“Before we go too off-topic,” Polish said with a smile. “Miss Sparkle is correct. However, it is a bit more complicated than that…”

The lesson dragged on for another hour before Professor Polish started to wrap up using Sunset as her personal test subject. Sunset did her best to grin and bear it, but she really wanted to smash something toward the end. Twilight Sparkle’s perfect answers didn’t help, but Moon Dancer occasionally rolling her eyes did.

Through the haze of her annoyance, Sunset heard Moon Dancer raise her voice.

“It doesn’t work that way! She couldn’t possibly be a griffon, no matter how much she—”

“Well… Yes, I think she could,” Twilight Sparkle said in her obnoxious little voice. “With the right spell.”

“Dream State’s Collective Unconsciousness hypothesis is just that: an unproven hypothesis. It’s highly unlikely that it could…” Moon Dancer paused and shook her head. “Oh... Seriously? You’re talking about memory spells?”

Polish didn’t seem eager to interrupt the conversation. If anything, she looked intrigued by their little argument.

“Yes! If she augmented her own memories with the experience of a griffon with something like Starswirl’s experience cores, then she’d have everything she’d need to fly, hunt, or cloudshape! She’d have been doing it all her life!”

Sunset followed Twilight’s train of thought to its logical end even as she tuned the two out.

Experience cores gave ponies a glimpse of another’s life, essentially just a physical form of a standard memory recording spell. They were relatively rare, but she knew they were studied in-depth during senior year, usually used for testing memory magic and differentiation between implanted and natural memory. One lived them as if they were undergoing the experience firsthoof. Musicians used them to recall the emotions that inspired a piece, authors used them to store particularly good stories, and…

...There were cores just like that in the same chamber as that damn mirror!

Pieces started to float together through the haze of annoyance and exhaustion. They were nebulous and half-baked, hidden behind a nagging sensation that she was missing a key concept. It was buried in something somepony had said just a few days ago. She couldn’t remember the exact words right now, but still, the potential of the cores was undeniable.

With her mind's eye, she traced the concept she’d fashioned out of possibilites. In seconds, the wonders that might be contained within the cores branched out in front of her, like watching a tree sprout from a single seed. Moments later, it had grown to full size, yet the ideas didn’t stop there.

A few minutes before the end of class, Sunset sat back down at her desk and stared into the new forest of concepts in her head. She had plenty of time to ponder them. After all, she’d been scheduled for a final study session with Moon Dancer this afternoon. She doubted the filly wanted anything to do with her right now.

She was less than surprised when Moon Dancer didn’t even look her way when she walked out of the classroom beside Twilight Sparkle and Cinnamon Tart.

Probably all out to make the official anti-Sunset club. Well, it doesn’t matter. Unwittingly, Twilight just gave me something I need to think about. Something that could change everything.

Other students were staying, forming small study groups for the alchemy exam tomorrow. Sunset caught plenty of annoyed looks in her direction, but after all the glares, being ignored by Moon Dancer and all the whispers she’d heard throughout the day… she realized she was just too distracted and tired to get angry.

That made her somehow feel even worse.

“Miss Shimmer, I do hope you didn’t mind the practical exercise this afternoon,” Professor Polish said as she bustled up to her.

“Huh? Oh. No,” Sunset muttered. “Well, except you pulling a feather out of me. That hurt.”

“Well, it was the most efficient way to make a demonstration of the principles.” Professor Polish watched her as Sunset packed her bags. “Though I admit there’s another reason I did it.”

Sunset floated her bags on her back and stared at the gray-haired mare.

A feather hovered in front of her. Sunset blinked. It was brilliant amber, the same color as her coat. Soft and downy, at least twice the size of her hoof.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I placed a stasis spell on it. It will keep the transfiguration magic intact for at least another couple of weeks.”

Sunset took it in her magic and stared at the feather.

“Why?”

“I am aware of what occurred a few days ago, Miss Shimmer. I also know you should be tutoring Moon Dancer right now.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Indeed. I wasn’t planning on a psychology lesson. That’s not my field of expertise. If you wanted that, you would have undoubtedly sought out a counselor.”

“Then what’s the point?” Sunset glared at Polish. “What sort of game are you playing?”

“Games are a matter of perspective and experience, Miss Shimmer. What seems to be a game to you is not—I assure you—a game to me.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Polish sighed. “I’ve heard some rumors in the last few months. I’m hoping that they are simply that: rumors. If not, perhaps this will remind you that anypony can change.”

Sunset wasn’t impressed.

“Change can’t be forced, Professor. Falling Apple’s First Law.”

Professor Polish cocked an eyebrow. “Untrue. With chemistry, as in alchemy, change often requires a catalyst to force the reaction. The results can still be beneficial.”

With that, the professor turned around and headed toward her desk.

Sunset cocked an eyebrow of her own. “That almost sounded like encouragement, Professor.”

“A simple natural law, Miss Shimmer. What you decide to take from it is your decision.”

Sunset stared at the feather for a few more moments, then floated it beside her as she headed up the stairs for the door. As she walked, a few words from Slate’s rant at her a few days ago floated back into her thoughts.

“Even if you somehow gained the arcane knowledge to rival Celestia herself, you’d still be a monster.”

Ignoring the monster bit, Slate’s observation dovetailed nicely into Polish’s comment.

“Games are a matter of perspective and experience.”

Perspective, knowledge and experience… Perspective, knowledge and experience...

Just as she arrived, the door opened and she found herself staring into the suddenly huge eyes of Cinnamon Tart.

Sunset tried to say something, but the filly squealed in terror and bolted past her, knocking her over as she darted back down to her seat. She started to snap something at the idiot girl, only to remember herself just in time.

For once.

She looked up to see Moon Dancer standing in the hall. The filly was staring right at her, looking at Sunset as if she were some sort of science exhibit. Examining her intensely. Sunset tried to come up with something to say.

Just apologize, you dumb mare! The whisper was a lot louder all of a sudden.

I don’t have anything—

Moon Dancer turned away and started talking to Twilight Sparkle as Professor Inkwell approached the girls from the other side.

Sunset just took one last look at the filly she was supposed to be helping, tried to glare at her and then plodded off down the hallway.

I won’t let these brats get to me. I’m Sunset Shimmer. I can handle anything.

That damn voice asked a question about that particular statement. Sunset did her best to ignore it even as another part of her kept repeating those same three words over and over again.

She realized her bag felt a little heavier than it should and listened to the clinking of the last flask of waterwalking potion. Every faint tap echoed one of the words.

Perspective. Knowledge. Experience.

Even as she mulled over the potential, she still wished she could find some part of her that was still angry. It would have made the long walk out of the school easier.

Methodologies

View Online

Sunset bucked the door closed, holding her magic steady so she wouldn’t lose the massive stack of paper levitating beside her. It was so tempting to just ignite the entire thing and chuck the resulting ball of ash out the window, but it just wasn’t worth it.

It would ruin weeks of hard work.

Pointless.

With a sigh, she trotted up the stairs, stepped up to her large personal desk and dumped the stack atop the rest of the paperwork.

“Stupid Moon Dancer,” she muttered. “Stupid Professor Polish…”

With a snarl, she yanked her saddlebags off and hurled them at a convenient bookcase. The resulting crash sent a small cascade of books and scrolls onto her bag, burying it quite effectively.

She felt her stomach drop as she remembered the flask. She leapt over to the wreck, and rifled through her bags. Her teal magic flickered through the two bags until she extracted the potion. The flask appeared intact, having only been scratched when the bags had struck the bookcase. With a sigh of relief, she set it on her desk. Slumping onto the pillow in front of her desk, she stared at the mountain of exams and notes.

“Why did I let her talk me into this? I shouldn’t be writing a final exam. I’m supposed to just help out. But noooo… Polish wanted me to push my boundaries… and of course the Princess was all for it!”

She slammed her head into her desk. The flask jumped a little.

“Ow.” She rubbed her offended horn.

But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was there would be observers tomorrow.

Upon arriving in her afternoon class with Celestia, Sunset had been surprised to see Professor Polish already there. She hadn’t caught anything the professor had said, but the Princess had filled her in.

Because this was the first exam Sunset had ever written and designed, Professor Polish had thought it would be a good idea if some of the faculty were present. The Princess had agreed.

“It would be a perfect way for the staff at the school to see how much you’ve changed, Sunset.”

She pulled a half-crushed hayburger out of one of her half-buried saddlebags and took a savage bite. It didn’t help when a yawn bubbled out of her a few seconds later.

No, the real problem was exactly which members of the faculty for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns would be there. The first wasn’t a real concern. She hadn’t had many encounters with Professor Crystal Clear since her admissions test a few years ago. The associate dean had plenty to do without dealing with Sunset.

She should be so lucky to get to teach somepony like me, Sunset thought, but the words felt hollow inside her own head.

The issue was Dean Slate. He had been determined to attend the class. Sunset knew exactly what Slate was going to do. In fact, Slate had insisted on bringing an observer from the Department of Education, a pegasus called Sunlit Winds or something inane like that.

She almost wished Celestia would come. Just to watch, of course.

I don’t need anypony’s protection! I’m Sunset Shimmer! I can handle anything.

The Princess had seemed very pleased at this turn of events. She seemed to think the faculty were coming around if they had thought this was a good idea.

Yet still… during their study session, there was something Sunset couldn’t put a hoof on. It was in the way Celestia looked at her, her implacable face asking questions she knew the answer to. It was still driving her nuts. She wished she could actually pick up on the Princess’s moods, but it was hopeless. Celestia had been Princess for over a thousand years. The alicorn could—and usually did—mask her emotions and thoughts with a casual ease that almost made Sunset jealous.

I just need to get inside her head. That’s all.

Sunset took another bite and stepped to the window overlooking Canterlot and the Castle beyond. The moon was just starting its climb over the city, the full face of the Mare in the Moon sending shafts of white light down upon the spires and towers. Despite her mood, Sunset could still appreciate the view. However, as she turned up the lights in her apartment, Sunset’s yawning reflection was easier to see.

Ugh. I can’t wait for this damn test to be over. I miss sleep.

From the point where Sunset was standing, she could see a reflection of the rest of her room as well.

Reflections… it’s all about reflections.

Celestia once told her that this special apartment was the traditional home of ‘The Royal Apprentice.’ Sunset had never squealed so loudly as when she had first seen the place. Nothing but books, labspace, books, little reading nooks and books. Well, that and the massive hourglass that dominated the main floor.

Sunset could see another reflection of her in the hourglass in the reflection of the room.

Reflections upon reflections.

From the reflection in front of her, she saw bags under the amber pony’s eyes, which were duller than usual. From the one in the hourglass, she could see her posture: body slumped, tail limp.

She was looking at the reflection of a beaten pony illuminated in the faint glow of Moon Dancer’s first advanced-level potion.

I lost something. And… I think I miss it.

“I’m not missing anything!” Sunset growled at herself. “I’m Sunset Shimmer. I don’t need anypony. The only thing that matters is me being the best. No matter the cost. No matter what it takes.”

The words echoed in the empty apartment.

This is what it feels like to be alone. Is this really what you want?

“It doesn’t matter! Once I show Celestia I can play ball at her level, I’ll get the answers I deserve… and I’ll find out how ascension works. Then… it won’t matter. I’ll have everything I ever wanted.”

But you’ll still be alone.

“So what?”

Somewhere deep inside, she heard a sigh.

There was a knock at the door. Sunset’s ears perked up as she glanced down at the front door, only to realize that wasn’t where the knock had come from. It had come from her balcony door.

She finished the last of her hayburger and marched over, wondering what crazy pegasus would be bugging her after sundown. Sunset needed to tell somepony off and this was a perfect opportunity.

She threw open the door, took a deep breath and—

“Princess?”

“Hello, Sunset,” Celestia said with a smile. “Do you mind if I come in?”

“Uh… sure? I guess.”

Sunset Shimmer stepped aside as the Princess of the Sun entered. As usual, she looked resplendent. As usual, regalia was perfect, from the gold inlays to the bright diamond-shaped amethyst in the center of her chestpiece. Her white coat was unnaturally brilliant even in the dim light of Sunset’s apartment and the Princess’s multicolored mane flowed in the invisible arcane winds—or something like that. Sunset hadn’t figured out why Celestia’s mane did that yet.

“I wished to speak to you in a more informal setting,” the Princess said as she took in the room. A small, satisfied smile crept across her muzzle as she slowly walked around the enormous hourglass. Celestia almost looked wistful as she brushed a hoof alongside its polished wooden frame. “You seemed quite distracted during our lesson.”

“I was listening!” Sunset protested.

“As only you can, my dear student.” Celestia nodded. “You have a rare gift for absorbing data without giving it your full attention. Your mind was clearly elsewhere. Even as tired as you are, your attention doesn’t usually drift as much as it did.”

Sunset scowled, wishing not for the first time that she could hide her thoughts from Celestia.

Dammit. She’s over a thousand years old. She’s defeated tyrants and led Equestria to a golden age of prosperity for a millenium… it’s not too surprising that she can see right through me.

Not surprising, but still annoying.

“You are usually quite focused during our sessions, and while I have no doubt you absorbed every word from today’s lesson about arcane energy transference and applications of mental magics, I would like to know what’s on your mind.”

“Nothing,” Sunset replied. “I’m just tired.”

Pale magenta eyes landed on her, and one elegant eyebrow raised. Celestia could use silence like a scalpel.

“I am tired!” Sunset tried again.

“I’m quite sure you are, with the work you’ve been putting into this exam. However, you were also a half hour early for our lesson today. If memory serves, you were supposed to be tutoring Moon Dancer this afternoon. She is almost as exhaustive in her research as you are, and has a history of using her time with you to the fullest.”

Celestia wrapped the waterwalking potion in her magic, and floated it to Sunset. “Such fine work in so short a time.”

Sunset winced, but she knew when she was caught. She snagged the potion in her magic and placed it back on the desk. “I haven’t spoken to Moon Dancer in a few days.”

Celestia sat down on a large cushion Sunset had set up near a pair of matching couches and gestured for Sunset to take a seat. With a sigh, Sunset plopped down opposite from the Princess.

“What happened, Sunset? Last week you said things were going well. In fact, you even praised her, a rare thing from you.”

“She said some stupid things and I called her on it.”

Celestia’s eyebrow crept up again.

“Gah! How do you do that?” Sunset shouted. “Fine! She hit a nerve and I blew up at her! Happy now?”

“And which ‘nerve’ did she hit?”

“I really don’t want to answer that.”

“My faithful student, you cannot hide forever. We’ve talked numerous times in the last year about your relationships. If something happened between you and Moon Dancer, I expect you to be able to resolve it. Experience in basic conflict resolution is a requirement of any leader.”

Sunset blinked. “Leader?”

“Yes.” Celestia’s kind eyes didn’t waver. “Now, please tell me. What could Moon Dancer have said to you to make you ‘blow up at her?’”

Sunset hung her head and stared at the rug. It was a nice rug. She’d brought it from home. A subtle swirling pattern of red and gold, with hints of lavender as an accent.

“She was yelling at me about… last year’s mid-terms.”

“Ah.”

“Ah.” That’s all she responds with. “Ah.” Is there a special class for Princesses where they go to learn to be cryptically evil?

“She knows the rules. I told her a long time ago she wasn’t allowed to mention that day.”

“And why is—”

Sunset’s head shot up and she stared the Princess of the Sun squarely in the eye.

“Don’t play that game with me!” Sunset shouted. “Don’t pretend you don’t know! You know exactly why, Princess!”

Silence reigned for a time. Sunset found herself glaring at the flask.

Why does that thing bother me so much? It’s not even that good.

“That is true.” Celestia sighed. “I apologize, Sunset.”

This brought Sunset’s rage to a screeching halt.

“What?”

“I said I apologize.”

“…I don’t think you’ve ever apologized to me before.”

“I have,” Celestia admonished gently, “but they were usually over trivial things. I should not have used such tactics for a topic that is so… sensitive.”

“Princess…” Sunset suddenly felt tears in her eyes and fought them back. “Why won’t you tell me? Why are you making me go through all of this? Why did you even bother showing me that mirror in the first place?”

“Sunset, if this is an attempt to change my mind about the length of time required for the test, you will be disappointed. As you were when you attempted to use the idea of tutoring Moon Dancer to the same effect.”

Sunset jerked as if she’d been slapped.

“You knew?”

“Of course, my faithful student.”

“Oh.”

I’m not a clever pony. In fact, I am a very stupid pony.

“Sunset,” Celestia said with a little shake of her head. “Despite your… creativity in attempting to discover the truth, you have done well. I believe completing your assignment for Professor Polish will be an excellent step in the right direction.”

Sunset frowned. “It’s just an alchemy exam.”

“Is it?” Celestia asked. “Polish showed me your final draft. For you to be able to write a fair and unbiased test, spend over two weeks crafting the basic potion stock for the students to use and to write out the instructions professionally? That is impressive.”

“Not really. Professor Polish does it all the time.”

“Professor Polish isn’t my personal student.”

Sunset poked at the rug and Celestia let out a low sigh.

“Sunset, you should know that this waiting period doesn’t have to do with time so much as results.”

“Then why make me jump through these hoops? You know I’m good with magic! Hay, I’m even great! Doesn’t that deserve some answers?”

Sunset couldn’t believe it, but Celestia appeared… hesitant. Almost nervous.

“Sunset, I do not believe you want those answers right now. You have a big day ahead of you and—”

“No!” she cried. “No, you aren’t going to do this to me again! Fine! If you won’t tell me what the mirror does, what the reflection meant or what I saw afterwards, then at least tell me why? Do you enjoy tormenting me? Is that it? Do you get some sort of perverse kick out of it?”

Celestia slowly got to her hooves and looked down at Sunset. Sunset backed into the couch, suddenly reminded just how tall the alicorn really was compared to any normal pony. Even Slate couldn’t hope to reach that height. She managed to be both regal and slightly threatening. Unconsciously, Sunset found herself cringing away from her mentor.

“No. I don’t enjoy it.” Celestia’s voice was a whisper. “I promised I would tell you everything you wish to know regarding the mirror after this test is complete. As for my motives, I have ruled Equestria for centuries upon centuries, Sunset Shimmer. I am not required to give you answers, especially when you demand them.”

Sunset swallowed.

Oh, I am so bucked.

“However, before you demanded them a moment ago, you pleaded for them.” Celestia sighed. “I do not know if any good will come of me telling you this… but taking you to the mirror was another test.”

Sunset gaped, rage and pain fighting for control. “The mirror… just seeing it? It was a test? What kind of test?”

Celestia didn’t meet Sunset’s eyes. She looked… no. That was impossible. Completely impossible.

Celestia looked ashamed. Ashamed… of me?

“One you failed.”

Sunset blinked. Her jaw snapped closed and her eyes fell to the rug once more. Every thought in her brain seemed to crash into tiny shards as those three words blasted through her mind.

Failed? How… how can I have failed?

The whisper returned. It wasn’t vindictive or angry. It sounded sad. You said yourself you thought you were failing this test too.

But I don’t fail. I’m Sunset Shimmer! I can handle—

“I blame myself for this, my dear student.” Celestia murmured, shattering the silence. “I thought you were ready. You were not. So, I decided to give you a different kind of test. A make-up test, if you will.”

“I don’t understand.” Sunset’s voice sounded flat and dead to her ears, just like the suddenly hollow place in her chest.

“Your assignment to Professor Polish, of course.”

Fire rushed into that empty place.

“You mean… you decided to torment me with ignorant little fillies instead of telling me the truth?”

“I put you there to learn something, Sunset. The question is… have you?”

Sunset gritted her teeth as the rage and humiliation of the day’s events came rushing back to her. Twilight’s perfect little answers. Cinnamon Tart’s terrified eyes. Professor Polish’s patronizing ‘gift.’ The glares. The whispers. The hate. And worst of all…

Moon Dancer...

The distant sound of glass shattering on stone echoed in her ears.

“...I’ve learned I’m not any good with other ponies.”

Princess Celestia’s ears twitched, but she kept her poise otherwise. She nodded and looked distant.

“I see,” she replied. “Well, tomorrow is a big day for you. You should rest.”

Sunset couldn’t help herself. She was seeing too much red right now to stop.

“Yeah, maybe if I had all your experience, I’d see the point of all this torment you’ve put me through! Too bad I only get this one life.”

Celestia ears flattened against her head. She headed for the balcony. At the threshold, she stopped and looked back.

“Sunset.”

Sunset didn’t say anything, but she did look her mentor in the eye.

“Please remember… there are always options. Fear makes ponies do foalish things, things they often regret.”

“I don’t fear anything.”

“Yes. You do.” Celestia just looked sad. “I hope you figure out what it is soon, before it is too late.”

Celestia stepped out of the door and leapt into the Canterlot night. In a moment, she was gone. Sunset closed the door.

You are afraid, Sunset. You’re afraid of letting ponies in.

“I don’t need anypony!” Sunset screamed at the top of her lungs.

But the voice was inside the void in her chest. She couldn’t escape it. There was nothing she could do to make it stop. She didn’t know where it had come from, but she wished it would just go away.

It’s not too late.

“I don’t have time for this!” Sunset roared. “I have work to do!”

Sunset’s magic ignited as she pulled a few dozen alchemical textbooks from the walls. The first to arrive was the main textbook for Polish’s course, The Alchemy of Chemistry.

“Stupid names. Why do stupid authors always have to come up with stupid names to their books?” Sunset growled as she threw it onto her desk and starred flipping pages to find the glowcoat potion. She needed to verify the instructions before tomorrow.

Anyway, it would be enough to keep her mind occupied and away from whatever voice had decided to take up residence.

In truth, it lasted maybe five minutes before Sunset slumped over at her desk and stared at the potion. She’d never felt more exhausted in her life. She hated this. She was letting other ponies control her. How she felt. How she acted. How she thought. This was not something Sunset Shimmer should allow to happen! She was better than this! She was better than all of them!

Then why do you feel so empty?

“It’s been a bad day.”

Twice today, ponies have reached out to you. You ignored one and slapped the hoof of the other. They’re trying to help you!

“I don’t need help! There’s nothing wrong with me!”

Sunset looked up into her reflection in the shining blue liquid.

“Except for me yelling at myself,” she mumbled and slumped over to bang her head against the desk a few more times.

Developing Theories

View Online

She stood in Princess Celestia’s private study, alone.

Celestia was nowhere in sight. Neither was that obnoxious feathered firebird. It was just her.

And the mirror.

Sunset wondered when Celestia had moved the mirror to her study. It didn’t make much sense. Why would she take the thing that caused Sunset so much frustration and put it where she spent most of her days? Was Celestia trying to drive her mad?

“Yeah,” the mirror responded. “Yeah, she is. She’s holding us back, Sunset. It’s time to stop being afraid and do what we need to do.”

Sunset stared at her reflection… only… it wasn’t her. Sure, same gorgeous coat and beautiful mane, but the eyes… the eyes were different. They were far harder, as hard as teal diamonds. Her face was wrong, too. It looked like a face that glowered most of the time.

“Yeah, I’m sick to death waiting for us to do what needs to be done.”

The mirror faded, but the reflection remained. Sunset stared at her, shocked to see that her cutie mark was different. Instead of the sunburst of yellow and red… this Sunset’s cutie mark was the color of an angry dawn rising through stormclouds. She leaned against the small furnace Celestia kept in her study, and smiled. It was a cold smile, one that promised little else but humiliation and the need to gloat. Sunset knew that smile. She hadn’t worn it for months, but it was definitely hers.

“Right. Because going behind Celestia’s back is definitely what you need right now,” a far kinder voice said from behind Sunset.

She turned to see yet another Sunset step out from her reflection in the door that led to Celestia’s balcony. Beyond her other self, there were a few clouds in the sky, and the sun spilled over the city. It looked like the middle of a glorious summer day.

Sunset glanced over the newcomer with a sigh. As expected, she had a yellow cutie mark, the color of a gentle sunrise through puffy white clouds. This one’s face wore a smirk as opposed to a smile, but there was actual warmth behind it as she leaned against one of the bookshelves and took a bite out of an apple.

“I can’t believe I’m having one of these dreams,” Sunset muttered to herself. “Seriously, can’t this wait until Dream Analysis next year?”

“Next year will be too late,” the one Sunset decided to name Red growled.

“I have to agree with her on that,” the one she named Yellow replied with a shrug.

“So, let me guess,” Sunset muttered. She pointed a hoof at Red. “You’re the evil one.”

She turned and pointed at Yellow. “And you’re the good one.”

“Not that simple, Sunset.” Yellow smiled and took another bite of her apple. “You know that psychology isn’t based on morality.”

“It’s all about motives,” Red snapped. “We know that.”

Sunset threw up her hooves and sat on the floor. “Worst. Week. Ever.”

“Yeah, it’s been a really crummy week.” Yellow started to glance through the books on Celestia’s shelf. “You wreck your only real friendship, you disappoint Celestia and you’ve got Dean Slate coming in tomorrow just looking for an excuse to expel you.”

“Guess what?” Red said with a sneer. “With the little tantrum we threw at Celestia last night? She’s going to let him get away with it too. We’ve been a bad pony.”

Sunset glanced at Yellow. “Aren’t you supposed to be disagreeing with her?”

Yellow cocked an eyebrow at her. “I’m you. So’s she. So you’re thinking the same thing she is.”

“I need some willow bark,” Sunset muttered as she massaged her temples. “I thought you weren’t supposed to feel pain in a dream.”

Red bounced up and kicked her lightly in the side.

“Ow!” Sunset growled. “What was that for?”

“Just testing a hypothesis,” Red said as she rubbed her own side. “Mark that one debunked.”

“I really hate myself right now.”

“That’s what you aren’t getting, Sunset.” Yellow turned and stared at her, levitating The Alchemy of Chemistry in front of her. “You do hate yourself right now. That’s why we’re here.”

Sunset glowered at her. “And here I thought you were the good one.”

“Well, I’m better than her.” Yellow shrugged. “But I’m still you. Sorry, Sunset, but I don’t think there’s any piece of you that isn’t sarcastic and snarky.”

“Yeah. She’s better than us. That’s a good one.” Red sneered. For some reason, she was suddenly eating a pear.

What, am I still hungry or something?

“Yes,” Yellow and Red both said in perfect unison.

“You really need to eat a bigger dinner,” Yellow chided, “and lay off the junk food. Makes your brain do weird things when you sleep.”

Sunset glowered at her. Yellow giggled a little.

“Okay,” Sunset said with a sigh. “Can we skip the rest of the ‘banter’ part and get to why the hay you two are here? I have to be up in something like two hours.”

“Yeah, other thing?” Red snapped. “Get more sleep.”

“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.” Yellow laughed.

“I know. Doesn’t mean we don’t need it,” Red grumbled.

“Ugh! What in Tartarus do you two want?”

“I’ll go first,” Red declared as she stood over Sunset. “I want us to stop being so damn afraid and go take what is ours.”

“What are you talking about?” Sunset demanded, rubbing her eyes.

“We know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the thing we’ve been avoiding since Princess Celestia’s little deal. We want to know about the mirror. We need to go get some answers.”

“She won’t tell me. I have to pass this test first.”

“Idiot,” Red snapped. “I didn’t say ask her for answers. I said to go take what is ours.”

Sunset’s eyes shot up to meet those of her double. “You can’t be serious. You can’t mean—”

“We know the Restricted Section of the Castle Archives would have every bit of historical data on the castle and most of the artifacts inside the castle vaults. We know that mirror is Equestrian-made and, from the reflection we saw, it had to be developed from some sort of Harmony-based magic. Find a way to distract that idiot Scrollwork, get inside and get the answers we deserve.”

“I can’t,” Sunset said.

“For pony’s sake, why not?”

“Because that will burn her last bridge,” Yellow said quietly. “And she knows it.”

“Celestia is holding us back!” Red snapped. “She’s stopping us from getting the magic we need to know to understand ascension! She doesn’t think we’re ready, but she’s wrong!”

“No,” Yellow replied. “You’re not ready.”

Sunset gaped at Yellow. “How could you say that?”

“Because if you were ready for that kind of power… you wouldn’t be letting fillies make a foal out of you.”

“What is wrong with you?” Sunset got to her hooves and glared daggers at her alter-ego… well, one of them. “Where do you get off saying something like that to me?”

“I don’t,” Yellow said with a shrug. “However, you do.”

“No. I don’t let anypony make a foal out of me.”

Suddenly, there was another pony in the room. Each step of her hooves crunched on broken glass.

“No,” Moon Dancer said. “You saved that for me.”

Sunset just stared, unable to take in what she was seeing.

Moon Dancer’s coat was torn and grubby. Her glasses were cracked in a few places. Her mane was a mess of twists and tangles. Her tail was practically in knots, littered with bits of broken glass. Her eyes were red from crying.

“I thought you were my friend, Sunset.” Moon Dancer whispered.

“We’re Sunset Shimmer!” Red snapped. “We don’t need friends!”

“Then explain this.” Yellow pointed out the window.

Sunset couldn’t help but look.

Where once there had been a sunny day, now there was a black void filled with swirling smoke and strange dark purple tendrils. Canterlot was gone, replaced by a black maw waiting to swallow her whole.

Sunset couldn’t stop herself. She stumbled backward and slammed into the wall behind her, knocking down a half-dozen books in the process.

“What… what is that thing?”

“It’s what you felt earlier,” Yellow replied. “That gaping hole in your chest? The feeling that something was missing? Well, guess what? There is something missing.”

Yellow pointed at Moon Dancer. “Her.”

“That means nothing!” Red shouted.

To Sunset’s shock, the void outside suddenly filled with furious red and orange flames. It looked like the world was on fire. She let out a squeak of panic and turned to face Red.

…only she wasn’t Red anymore. She was the alicorn.

The pony standing before her was the alicorn Sunset had seen in the mirror’s reflection over a year ago.

“Do you really think anything can stop us once we’ve gotten what we need? What we deserve?”

“A hole filled with fire is still a hole.” Yellow shrugged.

“That hole can be filled with power. With magic. With anything!”

“Princess Celestia’s been trying to teach you the hole can only be filled with other ponies. Ones like Moon Dancer.”

Sunset looked to Moon Dancer again. One broken lens of the shattered glasses reflected the firestorm. The other reflected the divine glow coming from her alicorn self.

“Can I have both?” Sunset asked quietly.

“No!” Red shouted. “Other ponies weaken us. The only thing that matters is being the best. Other ponies exist either to move us up or to be moved aside. Our father taught us that.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s definitely the way to go. Go ahead and take after daddy. Since we all know what type of pony he is.” Yellow tossed the apple into the door and it continued flying, only to be incinerated by the roaring blaze. “Between you and me... I think you can have both. But it’s going to take a lot longer. But I think you’ll be a better pony by the end of it.”

“You don’t need to wait. You’re ready now.”

“Waiting is the only way you’ll end up happy.”

“Who needs happiness, when you have power?”

“I don’t know. Ask the mare who’s been alone for less than a week.”

Red, Yellow and Moon Dancer looked at Sunset. Sunset’s eyes just darted between the three of them.

“Sunset,” Yellow said. “You have to realize that you have changed in the last year. You’ve all but stopped the blackmail and gossip. You’ve started to feel remorse about how you’ve acted. For pony’s sake, you haven’t touched that Twilight Sparkle at all! A year ago, you would have run her out of the school by now.”

“No,” Red sneered, “but we saw it in her eyes. She’s terrified of us anyway. Simply by reputation.”

“I just want to be like Princess Celestia,” Sunset whispered. “I just want to be like her. That’s all I ever wanted.”

“We will be so much better than her.” Red’s wings flared. “Everypony—everyone—on this world will come to fear and respect us.”

Yellow stared at Sunset.

“Tell me, Sunset. Does Celestia rule by fear?”

Sunset looked up. The firestorm was gone, replaced by Canterlot Castle. Which didn’t make much sense since she was in the castle right now. Beside it stood Celestia’s School. Every tower, every turret, every building, down to the last detail.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Don’t tell me we actually care about those students! The ones who tried to hate us to death just today?”

“Sunset, do you care about them?”

“Of course not!” Red shouted. “This is just a long-term test. Nothing more! We need to play the part until we get what we need from the Princess—assuming we just don’t go and take it! There’s nothing more to it. Besides, Celestia’s been turning a blind eye to us for years. We’ve actually run students out of the school! Those dumb or scared enough… those who didn’t deserve to be there in the first place.”

“Don’t you remember?” Red sidled close to her and pointed in the center of Celestia’s study. “The feeling of power? The feeling of control?”

A vision appeared. Sunset, towering over a tiny first-year filly with a pink mane and a dusty brown coat.

“I’m sorry!” the terrified first-year squeaked. “I didn’t know! I’ll go! Just please! Don’t tell anypony! I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be here!”

The memory version of Sunset didn’t respond. She just kept her eyes locked and her jaw set. Words weren’t necessary at this point.

The poor filly shook so hard trying to shove her materials back into her saddlebag, one of her inkpots managed to escape her levitation. The other Sunset’s eyes just watched it fall to the ground where it shattered, staining the carpet beneath.

The filly let out a wail of terror.

Sunset looked at Red.

Red was smiling that terrible smile.

A part of her wanted to revel in the filly’s fear. A big part.

“Is it the only part, Sunset?” Yellow asked.

Sunset stared at the frozen scene. The memory of Sunset Shimmer was smiling ever so slightly. It was a tiny thing. But Sunset could see the glint of malice in her past self’s eyes, born of the knowledge that she was in complete control of the situation.

She liked the feeling. She liked it a lot.

Sunset slowly shook her head.

“Feels… tarnished now, doesn’t it?”

Sunset buried her head in her hooves. “What in Equestria is wrong with me?”

“Maybe…” Yellow began. “Maybe you’re just tired of being the bad guy?”

“No!” Sunset snapped. She glared up at Yellow as rage filled her. The sky outside flickered with orange. “I’m not a bad guy! I’m simply using my natural talents to make sure everypony knows I am the one who rules that school. This is simply a practice run for real life! One day, I’ll be sitting on that throne!”

Red’s smile grew as she finished Sunset’s thought for her. “And our skills? They will be vital to the protection of Equestria.”

Moon Dancer stepped forward with a tinkle of broken glass, looked down at Sunset and repeated Yellow’s question. “Does Celestia rule by fear?”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond. Then she closed it.

“You said you wanted to be just like her,” Yellow said quietly. “Do you want to be like her… or do you just want power?”

“It’s the same thing,” Red growled.

“Is it?” Yellow asked.

Sunset knew the answer.

She didn’t like it.

She hated it.

But she knew it.

Finally, Sunset just put her head down again and screamed into her hooves.

“Is it really worth it?”

Sunset wasn’t sure who had spoken: Moon Dancer or Yellow. Or maybe it was just herself. In fact… it was all just her, wasn’t it?

“I don’t know,” Sunset whispered, her voice as much as a whisper as the tiny voice that had been haunting her for days. Weeks. Maybe longer.

Maybe it had been there her entire life. She’d just ignored it. Until now.

The tiny voice she finally recognized.

It was her own.

Concept Application

View Online

About an hour after dawn, Sunset glared at the little water machine in the cafeteria. Nopony had been in the halls when she’d arrived, as classes didn’t start for hours. After her mind’s little foray into dream theater, she hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. With the last couple of weeks she’d had, there was only one possible way she could be functional enough to do her part in today’s exam.

More coffee.

Sure, she’d been living off of it for the last week, but this was the last day.

One more. Just one more day.

Sunset sighed and levitated the coffee beans she brought with her out of her bag. One quick heating spell later and scalding hot water ran through the beans filtering into her cup. That cup—a massive mug she brought with her to GU from home—now held Sunset’s dark caffeinated elixir.

Sunset's eyes drooped and she felt herself slipping toward dozing. She shuddered and shook herself.

I can’t afford that, not today. I have to have more kick. I’m going to need it.

Sunset ran her brew through an impromptu coffee maker again. And again. And again.

She grumbled as she slurped a bit.

The things we do for success, she thought as she tossed six sugar cubes into the massive mug.

Despite the potent drink, Sunset was yawning when she finally arrived at the bottom level of Professor Polish’s classroom. She’d been yawning so hard her jaw kept popping, but she still went through her normal preparations, making sure most of the window curtains were open. She locked a window somepony had forgotten last night and checked on the various supplies. Finally, she headed for the center of the classroom. As expected, the cauldron was already there. Sunset stared at it and sighed.

Might as well get started.

She took another swig from the gigantic mug and tried not to grimace.

I’m so going to pay for this in a couple hours. But that’s okay. I just need to get through today. Then I’ll finally be done.

After that? She hadn’t figured that part out yet.

Sunset levitated the exam over to her desk before she fired up the small arcane heating element below the cauldron. With a sigh, she pulled open the lid, lifting the thick iron top with her magic. Even that felt heavy.

The base mixture inside the cauldron was a glimmering swirl of pale blues and golds. At first, she had thought the glowcoat potion would be a cool final. It required both precise timing and measurements during the mix, and was uncommon enough that it was likely only a few of the foals would even know about it. It wasn’t until she read the recipe more closely that she had realized the stock of the potion had to absorb both the light of three sunrises and three moonrises.

And of course, because the universe hated her, they had to be done on separate days with an extra day between for the light magic to be properly absorbed into the mixture.

She’d have abandoned it entirely, except the stock required several rare ingredients, which she had already put in and brewed. She’d been committed.

The potion was set to simmering, and Sunset watched it carefully. When no bubbles appeared on the surface, she sighed with satisfaction. She may be sleep-deprived to the point of zombiehood, emotionally exhausted and physically drained, but she was still Sunset Shimmer. And she was still the best. She could handle this.

No obnoxious dream could change that fact. She was the best at everything she did. She made sure of it.

Yeah, since you’re doing such a great job of this whole ‘friendship’ thing.

“Okay, next is a class-two flask of breezie pollen.”

Ever notice how much you’re talking to yourself lately?

Sunset shook her head, refusing to acknowledge the two obnoxious voices in her head. She added the contents of the flask and stirred gently with an elm stick. The edges of the cauldron burned a bright gold before fading.

“Next reagent is sixteen rose thorns, each cut lengthwise…”

A few other things went into the mixture, with various comments popping into her head from time to time.

“I should probably see a doctor about this,” Sunset muttered, managing to stifle the yawn this time. “I wonder if this is what a psychotic break feels like?”

No, this is just a crisis of conscience.

“This has nothing to do with conscience!”

She checked the clock on the wall. She needed to wait five more minutes before the next ingredients were added.

Really? Then why the doubt? Why the regret? Why the remorse?

“There is nothing wrong with me!” Sunset shouted to the empty room. “I am just fine!”

“Shouting to oneself within the confines of an empty classroom does not indicate a stable mental state, Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset winced and looked up to see Professor Polish at the top of the stairs.

“I didn’t see you there, Professor.”

“I gathered as much.”

Polish trotted down the steps and glanced into the cauldron. She studied the mixture for a few moments before nodding in approval.

“I don’t believe I ever told you how impressed I was with your concept for the exam,” Polish said with another nod. “Especially considering how much work was required to create the stock.”

“Frankly, I would have done something easier if I had known what I was getting into.”

“And so even the mighty Miss Shimmer learns.” Polish trotted over to her desk and dropped her saddlebags onto it before taking a sip from her own teacup. Polish only ever sipped. No other word could describe the motion. “There may be hope for you yet.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Sunset muttered.

“I beg to differ.” Polish sat down in her chair and turned to face Sunset. “I should tell you Sunset… I wasn’t overly enthused by the idea of taking you on. An aide to a professor at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns is a prestigious position. It carries great weight in the academic world. There were many other applicants who were far more qualified for it, both in training and disposition.”

“Then why did you agree to it?” Sunset went to her own desk and started sorting through the exams. She’d sorted them a dozen ways already, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet the professor’s eyes.

“She asked me to.”

Huh? Oh, of course. The Princess.

“That simple, huh?”

“As her student, you should know how powerful a simple request can be when it is from her.”

“It shouldn’t be. Nopony should have that kind of sway over others.”

“I doubt you mean that. After all, I believe that is exactly what you are after.”

What in Equestria is going on here? Is she reading my mind? Does she know something?

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Miss Shimmer, you leave a lot to be desired, both as a pony and as an aide.” Polish’s voice never changed. Her inflections, her tone and everything else about the words didn’t alter in the slightest. That’s what made it so unnerving. “You’re volatile, arrogant, often belligerent and occasionally defiant. You’ve caused a lot of damage during your time here.”

“Then why did you keep me around?” Sunset growled. She still refused to look at the professor.

“Because I started to see what I believe Princess Celestia sees: a chance for something greater.”

Sunset finally met the professor’s eyes. “I’m already great. And I’m becoming greater every day.”

It sounded hollow, even to herself.

“Greatness is nothing if nopony sees it. If nopony knows your name, do you truly have a legacy? Surely you’ve heard the poem about Ozymanedias?”

Sunset shrugged. Poetry was for sentimental saps and ponies too weak to actually say anything worthwhile. She’d read some, but she usually hated it.

“‘…And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymanedias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’”

“I’ve heard it in passing,” Sunset grudgingly admitted. Celestia had assigned it to her at the beginning of the school year.

“Perhaps you recall the rest?” Polish asked. “‘Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away.’ Perhaps you should experience the original in its entirety. We recently received several experience cores from the Royal Canterlot Archives of notable poems from that era. If you put in a request to the school librarian, I’m sure you’ll be permitted access to one or two.”

Polish seemed to hesitate and grimaced slightly. “At the moment they’re in Alchemical Storage C, I believe. For some reason.”

Sunset blinked.

That doesn’t seem right. Why would they be there?

“No, I apologize,” Polish corrected herself with a sigh. “They’re in Alchemical Storage B due to some mishap with the school’s library vault.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Is there a point in bringing up ancient history, Professor?”

Polish paused for a moment, studying Sunset with a critical eye. Finally, she sighed.

“Greatness can be forgotten, just as nopony remembered Ozymanedias. In the poem, his name is lost to history. You certainly have the potential. The question is… do you realize it? Or do you waste it?”

“I’m not planning on wasting anything. I’m going to get everything I deserve.”

Professor Polish slumped and she swallowed, her eyes looking haunted for just a moment before she regained her composure.

“Sunset, I speak to you now not as a professor, nor as a friend, but a pony who has lived a great deal longer than you. One does not always want what one deserves. In truth, it is a rare event where we fully receive that which we deserve. What we think we deserve and what that truly is… are almost always vastly different.”

“Stop speaking in riddles!” Sunset shouted, her anger flaring. “Enough philosophy and poetry! If you have something to say to me, say it!”

“Very well.” Polish rose to her hooves and stepped over to Sunset. “Today, you have a choice in how events will go. You will live with the consequences of your actions for the rest of your life. And unless you are very cautious, I fear you will get precisely what you deserve.”

Sunset’s heart skipped a beat as she stared at the professor.

“What are you talking about?”

Polish sighed and shook her head. “If you can feign ignorance that easily, I fear there is little I can do to dissuade you. Still, I will allow you to proceed in the vain hope that you may yet redeem yourself.”

Sunset gaped and tried to come up with something to say, but the words didn’t come.

What in Equestria does she think I’m doing?

Polish sighed and headed back up the stairs.

“Of course, I will check your stock before the start of class. Professor Clear and Dean Slate will verify my results. We shall also be inspecting your examinations.”

“You’ve already checked it!” Sunset protested. “You checked it last night. And you checked it right now.”

“Indeed,” Polish said as she reached the door, “but my students must come first.”

With that, the professor departed.

What in the world was that all about?

Sunset almost went after her, but stopped when she looked at the clock.

With a curse, she scrambled over to the cauldron, quickly pulled out the vials of powdered nirnroot and sliced dreamfoil. With a deft flash of her magic, she emptied both of them into the cauldron. Her heart hammering in her chest, Sunset watched the pattern in the potion stock carefully.

Oh please, not now. Don’t let it have settled. No, no, no…

Sunset let out an enormous sigh when the swirls of blue and gold shifted to lavender and red for a moment before fading back.

Now she was just annoyed. Polish had distracted her from making sure the potion stock was ready with stupid quotes from equally stupid poems and even more stupid philosophical concepts.

Was she trying to sabotage me?

The final part of the stock had to be added right before it was used, so now all Sunset had to do was wait.

Great, just my reflection, my shadow, and me.

Parts of the conversation echoed as a few pieces began to connect.

Perspective. Knowledge. Experience.

You said you wanted to be just like her, a little voice pointed out.

Could that be a solution? No matter what, Celestia had lived for over a millennium. A thousand years of experience and knowledge. That was one area in which we could never compete.

This is one solution. And since you’re so afraid of the other one…

It was possible. It was actually possible.

Sunset tried to fight back another yawn, but lost this particular battle.

Maybe if I—

She started as the door opened, and watched Moon Dancer stop at the top of the stairs. The school chimes sounded on the hour.

What? I should still have—

Moon Dancer was always early on test days. She liked to study in the classroom and mentally prepare herself for whatever lay ahead.

But not this early…

Then she understood. The bell had rung not twice, but three times. Had she really been staring into space for that long?

Sunset expected Twilight Sparkle to be right beside Moon Dancer. Instead, Cinnamon Tart followed behind her, talking with Moon Dancer in low tones.

Tart froze at the sight of her, her face a picture of panic. As Moon Dancer’s gaze slid to Sunset, a chill ran through her. Sunset swallowed nervously.

This is it, Sunset. This is your last chance. After today, it’ll be over. The term ends and she’ll be off to do whatever she’ll be doing during summer. By fall, her mind will be made up. And then what?

Tart looked at Moon Dancer. Moon Dancer looked at Sunset. And Sunset stared at the two of them.

Then, very slowly, Moon Dancer began to descend the stairs. Cinnamon Tart watched for a short time before scrambling to her own seat. Sunset hardly noticed.

She swallowed again, wondering what she was going to say. What she was going to do. Both of those damn voices were screaming in her head. One demanding she talk, the other demanding she ignore.

What do you want, Sunset? Red demanded. To get what we want, you need to leave the baggage behind!

Who do you want to be, Sunset? Yellow pleaded. Do you want to be like Celestia? Really like her? Then you know what to do.

Moon Dancer stopped at the front row…

Sunset realized she was holding her breath, and let it out slowly.

Moon Dancer turned, walked a few steps and sat down in her chair. She pulled out The Alchemy of Chemistry and started reading.

It’s your turn, Sunset. It’s time to make a choice.

Is it worth it? she asked the voices in her head. Is it really worth it?

One replied with a resounding no that echoed through her skull.

The other reminded her of the last few days.

Sunset felt the weight of the flask in her bag. She’d forgotten about it after her little breakdown last night, and there it was, gently digging into her side.

Sunset took a deep breath and walked forward.

“So, the great and powerful Sunset Shimmer decides to grace me with her presence,” Moon Dancer muttered. She didn’t bother looking up. “How wonderful for you to come down off your pedestal and talk with us lesser ponies.”

Sunset squashed the bubble of rage threatening to overwhelm her.

“Did I actually make you cry?”

Moon Dancer looked up, her eyes wide and confused for a moment before hardening. Sunset blinked. She hadn’t been expecting that to be the first thing to come out of her mouth.

“What, you’re going to pretend like you care?” Moon Dancer demanded. “I was in the crowd when you tore into Cinnamon. I watched you scream at her. I watched her sob her eyes out. You didn’t seem to care much then, just like the Sunset we all remember.”

Sunset worked her jaw. All the sarcastic responses she wanted to throw at Moon Dancer seemed stupid and foalish now.

“I screwed up.”

“You do that a lot.”

Sunset closed her eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath.

You could make it a little easier on me, Moon Dancer.

She’s not going to. Stop wasting your time with her!

She has every right to be angry with you. You earned this. It’s something you have to endure.

Sunset opened her eyes again and stared into the rock-hard gaze of Moon Dancer.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Through some miracle, Sunset’s voice was level.

“Why do you want to know?”

And there is was. Why did she really want to know? A thousand answers came to mind. All of them were lies. So, she dug deeper until that tiny voice gave her the real one. She stared at the answer and hated herself. She hated herself for being weak. For being so weak she’d let Moon Dancer get to her and for being so weak she actually cared.

“Because I want to know how much I should apologize for.”

“Apologize?” Moon Dancer sputtered with a laugh. “You? Oh, this is must be a new part of the con, Shimmer. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve had me duped for months. I thought you actually cared about me. I was an idiot.”

“I—” Sunset’s mouth moved, but no futher sound came out.

“No!” Moon Dancer growled. “You don’t get to interrupt! You’re always the one with the snarky response. Now you shut up and pay attention! You are mean to me. You insult me. You barely appreciate anything I do. You push me around and push me away.”

Moon Dancer’s eyes hardened even further.

“I haven’t forgotten all the stuff you did last year. And I’ve heard about all the stuff you did in the years before that. The last few days, I’ve heard a lot of stories, Sunset. Stories about you stealing money from colts and fillies. Blackmailing older students to make sure they didn’t come close to your academic scores. Stories about what you’ve been planning and the little thing you’re intending to do today!”

“What are you—”

“Don’t lie to me!” Moon Dancer shouted, jumping to her hooves. “You should at least have the decency to not look me in the eye when you lie to me like that! All this year has been a game to you. A joke to lure everypony into a false sense of security. But guess what? We know you’re up to something. Everypony in school knows it. The teachers know it. I wouldn’t be surprised if your precious Princess knows it!”

Sunset took a few steps back, gaping at Moon Dancer.

“What really makes me mad…” Moon Dancer’s eyes were blazing with fury. “What really makes me want to scream… is that I actually believed you cared. But you just… dismissed me. Don’t you get it, Shimmer? Don’t you understand? Do you have any idea how thrilled I was when you offered to tutor me? Huh? Do you?”

Sunset shook her head.

“I was ecstatic! I thought maybe, just maybe, I had value. That I mattered. That somepony thought I might be special! That the prized student of the Princess herself wanted to help me. Me of all ponies! I thought it meant something.”

Moon Dancer sat back in her seat, her rage spent. She sounded like she was very near tears again. “And it did. It meant I was stupid. I was naive. And now? I’m ashamed for ever trusting you.”

Moon Dancer looked ready to spit on her.

“So, you want to know if I cried the other day? Yes. I sobbed my eyes out for the rest of the day. When you laughed at me, I realized… that was the last straw. I knew what I really was to you: a joke. Well, I’m not going to be your joke anymore, Shimmer. I’m done. Go find somepony else to torment.”

With that, she buried her head in her book.

Sunset just stared at her… until she realized there were a lot more eyes on her than there had been a few minutes ago.

Half the class had arrived during Moon Dancer’s tirade. All of them were watching her. Sunset couldn’t figure out what any of them were thinking. She was usually so good at reading other ponies, save for the Princess. But now… every single face was a mystery to her. In fact, they were blurry.

Sunset blinked a few more times and realized why they were blurry.

She was…

She had something in her eye. She needed to clean it out before the exam started.

“Moon Dance—”

“Sunset Shimmer,” a voice on the PA system interrupted. “Your presence is required in Alchemical Storage B. Immediately.”

Sunset recognized the voice of Professor Polish. But… she… she needed to fix this.

The bridge is burned, Sunset. No point in trying to bring back life to something that’s long dead.

Sunset opened her mouth and tried to figure out something to say.

“Sunset Shimmer, report to Alchemical Storage B immediately,” Professor Polish called once more.

“Moon Dancer,” Sunset whispered. She must have inhaled a few bad reagents because her throat felt raw and dry. “If it matters…”

She levitated the scuffed and battered flask out of her saddlebags, and set it gently on Moon Dancer’s desk. The glass around the lip had chipped a little, but the cork still held.

“I do think you’re special.”

Moon Dancer’s head darted up from the book. Her dark purple eyes glittered like amethysts in the dead of night as she glared at the flask.

“...You’re just lying again,” she muttered.

Sunset shook her head. “No. I didn’t decide to tutor somepony for the right reasons, but the reason I chose you was because you were the only pony who might be able to keep up.”

Moon Dancer rolled her eyes. Sunset didn’t really blame her.

“It’s true. I know it doesn’t matter anymore, but it’s true.”

“Miss Shimmer!” Dean Slate’s voice boomed through the intercom. “Alchemical Storage B immediately!”

Sunset turned away and headed up the stairs. The fillies and colts made a path for her. Sunset didn’t bother looking at any of them.

So much for friendship. It has potential in theory… but useless in practice.

She opened the door and moved out into the crowded hallway, striking out down the south corridor toward Alchemical Storage B. She barely registered the fact that everypony was staring at her. She didn’t care.

I’d rather take Remedial Calculus than handle this anymore.

She rubbed at her eyes, trying to get the bit of dust out. Her vision refused to clear.

I guess Moon Dancer made my decision for me. That simplifies things.

A lot.

Author's Notes:

The original and complete Ozymandias poem by Percy Bysshe Shelly:

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

By the way, that was the easiest name ponification I've ever done.

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

Observation Phase

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“What happened, Miss Shimmer?” Professor Polish demanded.

Sunset just stared, unable to find the right words. Unable to find any words.

Alchemical Storage B was one of five rooms where all alchemy supplies and stations were stored when not in use by the students. Rather than forcing students to come in and out of a lab, the architects of the school had developed a simple and safe teleport spell that simply replaced the contents of a classroom with the contents of this room. Sunset had once studied the teleportation spell… and had to admit whoever had designed it knew their stuff. Even she couldn’t create a system like this.

Not yet, anyway.

Usually, the rooms were locked and secured, since each room also contained storage cabinets and shelves for thousands of reagents, used for alchemy, artificing and enchantment from first-year classes all the way to post-graduate studies. They were maintained only by the professors themselves. Even aides and assistants didn’t have access to the rooms.

Despite all of that, the place was a wreck. Flasks were shattered. Reagents were strewn all over the place. Burners had been bent in half. A few of the tables had been broken into nothing but shards of wood. Cabinet doors were ripped off from their hinges. Every cupboard had been emptied and smashed. The place looked like it had been subjected to a raging tornado. Beneath her hooves were the shattered remnants of gem dust, bits of glass and a few overripe blueberries.

“I… I have no idea, Professor!” Sunset finally gasped as a bottle of half-diced glowspore mushrooms fell over and cracked. “I’ve never been in here!”

Polish looked absolutely furious. Considering her face was usually as impassive as Canterlot Mountain, it sent shivers of ice up and down Sunset’s spine.

“Really, now?” Polish grunted. “Fascinating. Did you know that these rooms are kept under careful supervision, and that we have arcane security wards installed on every door?”

“Uh, I think so?” Sunset had a bad feeling where this was going.

“Another point of interest: we recently upgraded them to capture the identity of anypony who enters the room. Usually we use it just to make sure a professor returns borrowed material. Occasionally though… it’s used for something more.”

Polish turned to the closed door and ignited her magic. A sigil Sunset didn’t recognize materialized before them.

And then a ghostly Sunset Shimmer stepped into the room.

Sunset gaped.

“That’s impossible.”

“According to the information left in the wards, you entered this room shortly after dawn. Tell me, Miss Shimmer, where were you after dawn?”

“I was in the cafeteria making probably the worst cup of coffee I've ever had!”

“And tell me, Miss Shimmer, where is the cafeteria?”

“It's on the...” Sunset stopped and realized what Polish was getting at.

“One floor below us.”

“Professor, I swear to you, I didn’t do this!”

“I checked the ward, Miss Shimmer. These devices cannot be deceived by anything so mundane as base illusion magic. You entered this room.”

“But I didn’t!”

“Are you denying what you see before your eyes, Miss Shimmer?”

Sunset shook her head so fast she felt like it would fly off. “No, Professor! But… I don’t know how this could have happened! I swear it wasn’t me.”

“Yet you come to the school during a time when nopony else is here. Nopony to verify your alibi.”

“Professor, you have to believe me!”

“This is what I was afraid of, Miss Shimmer. Recall our discussion of Ozymanedias? Recall where those experience cores were being stored… and where they are no longer present? You already knew about the experience cores here before I even mentioned them this morning, didn't you?" She sighed. "Don't bother answering that. While this is a bit more direct than your usual methods, it is in keeping with your past motives.”

Sunset stared at her ghostly image.

Has… could I have done this? Could all of the mental stress in the last few days made me finally crack? Maybe I did this during my sleep? Or… could I have actually gotten my hooves on a core, hid them and then... made myself forget? It’s… possible? At least, if I really wanted to be thorough…

“It is my own fault. I should have known better. Though I doubt you are, you should be grateful that today’s exam will proceed as planned. The ingredients needed to complete the glowcoat potion are simple. At least I know you didn’t do something to the stock. The last part of any alchemy final is for the pony to test the potion themselves. You know this. If you had done something to disrupt that, or to cause injury to my students, Princess Celestia herself could not protect you from me.”

Sunset swallowed. She couldn’t think of anything to say.

“You will clean up this mess after the test. Thankfully, Storage D is clean. I will prepare the stations there with the necessary reagents. You are to return immediately to the classroom. Dean Slate has already been informed of this. He has gone to collect Professor Clear and the two of them will be there before you arrive. All of us will investigate your potion stock and the exam itself again. Am I understood?”

Sunset nodded, still unable to find any words.

“Instead of you, I will administer the test. Forgive me if I don’t trust you at the moment. You will simply provide each student with the proper amount of alchemical stock.”

Professor Polish stepped over a broken flask, and got so close Sunset could smell the light jasmine perfume she wore.

“However, mark my words, Miss Shimmer: if something else goes wrong today, you will no longer be welcome in my class. Indeed, I would be rather surprised if you were welcome in this school at all. Please. For your sake, I ask you to change the path you are on.”

“I… But… I didn’t do it?” Sunset whispered.

Professor Polish looked at the damning image of Sunset walking through the door.

“She begs to differ. Now get out of here and report to my classroom. We will deal with the aftermath later.”

With that, the professor teleported out.

Since only a professor could teleport in or out of a closed storage room, Sunset was forced to walk through the arcane apparition of herself. It was a disturbing feeling, making every hair on her body try and crawl away from her, but she endured, mostly because she was trying to figure out what had just happened.

Unless one of the mythical changelings had decided to make a reappearance, sneak into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and impersonate her for the sole purpose of destroying the supplies for an alchemy exam… there was nothing else that came to mind. Yeah, sure, transfiguration was a possibility, but nopony could do self-transfiguration. She couldn’t think of anypony in the school with the level of power to maintain a spell like this. For pony’s sake, she didn’t even know of any professors who could pull off something like this.

So that left her with only one possible option.

I did this. Somehow. I did this. I… I just… I just can’t remember?

For once, the two voices in her head didn’t have anything to say. That disturbed her even more.

She trotted through the hallways, ignoring everypony around her. The worried laughs and nervous giggles of students considering their finals filled the corridors, but it was background noise compared to the war going on inside her head.

I just witnessed the impossible.

Her brain still spinning, Sunset finally stumbled into the classroom. The class was almost entirely full. The nervous chatter died instantly the moment she stepped inside and she could feel every eye on her. Sunset wanted to find the closest hole and hide forever.

What happened to the Sunset Shimmer who could handle anything?

That was before I started losing my mind.

Come on, we didn’t actually do that… right?

Not helping.

She stared at her hooves the entire way down to the bottom floor, only to be met by the imposing figure of Dean Silver Slate. Beside him was another pony Sunset vaguely recognized as the dean’s secretary.

“You are not to approach the cauldron until you are given permission by Professor Polish,” Slate informed her. “I saw what you did in the storage room. You just couldn’t resist, could you, Miss Shimmer? Your greed finally got the better of you.”

Her mouth opened to respond but again, nothing came out. One glance at Professor Clear told Sunset exactly what the other professor thought of her right now. Sunset simply shrugged and trotted over to her tiny little desk. For once, she was glad she was in front of one of the few curtained windows.

Some dark part of herself forced her to look up into the classroom. The chatter had started up once more, but most of the students shot dirty looks her way. To Sunset’s surprise, Cinnamon Tart had moved seats and was now sitting next to Moon Dancer where Twilight Sparkle usually sat. In fact, on second inspection, Sunset didn’t see the lavender filly anywhere. The only new face was an adult white pegasus with a pink mane in the back Sunset didn’t remember seeing before. Her face was impassive, but her eyes were intense.

Dean Slate followed her gaze, and sneered. “Miss Shimmer, meet Miss Skies. Your antics have reached the ears of the Department of Education. She’s observing as well. I’d dearly love to see you attempt something under her muzzle. Please don’t let me down.”

She was too tired to be curious. Instead, she just grabbed her now-lukewarm coffee and tossed back the rest of it with one huge gulp. The cup landed back on the table in an empty place that wasn’t there before. A place where the exams should have been. Her head darted up in a panic, but she spotted them on Professor Polish’s desk beside Professor Clear.

Making sure I couldn’t tamper with the tests either, huh? Thorough.

Yellow was silent while Red kept repeating variations of ‘I told you so.’

Sunset alternated between staring at her hooves, staring at the walls and staring at the ceiling. For a moment, she thought she saw something up in the rafters, but when she moved, she realized it was just a lock of her mane.

I really am out of it.

Come on! We need to come up with a plan! Somepony’s trying to frame us for this! That’s the only possible reason!

“Or I’ve gone crazy,” Sunset whispered to herself. “Or maybe it’s another dream. But… I’m too tired for this. Let’s just get the test over with. I’ll deal with the rest afterwards.”

You’re setting us up to fail.

“I don’t fail. I’m Sunset Shimmer. I can handle anything.”

Yeah, right. We’re handling this spectacularly.

Sunset didn’t bother denying the sarcasm. At the moment, she was too tired to care. She’d finally hit her wall. She just didn’t have the emotional energy to be angry anymore. She didn’t have the mental energy to figure out what was going on. Tartarus, she didn’t even have the physical energy to get to her hooves at the moment.

Instead, where anger once had been was the hole Yellow had shown her last night. Only now, it seemed to stretch through every part of her.

I just want to sleep.

Sleep, however, was not in the cards. Professor Polish chose that moment to step through the door. She looked even grimmer than back in the storage room as she marched down the steps. She shot a glance at Sunset and then pulled Dean Slate and Professor Clear into a huddle. Clear floated one of Sunset’s exams over to them and they flipped through it, speaking in quick, hushed tones.

The dean’s secretary—Sunset couldn’t remember her name—just stood there and watched Sunset with hard eyes.

Oh look. Somepony else who hates me. Wonder what I did to her....

She found she didn’t care. It wasn’t a spiteful disinterest though. Like with everything else at the moment, she just didn’t have the energy. The coffee was starting to wear off, and the sugar high was starting to leave her. She’d be lucky if she was still awake by the end of the class.

Finally, the conference broke up and Professor Polish marched over to Sunset.

“Alchemical Storage D is ready, Miss Shimmer. I’ve decided to adjust your test. You will measure the proper amount of stock for each student and hoof it to them as they come up. Dean Slate will supervise. Professor Clear and I will patrol the room and make sure nothing else goes wrong. But before that happens… do you want to tell me why you destroyed that room?”

“I didn’t do it,” Sunset said with a sigh. “I can’t explain what I saw, but I didn’t do it.”

“A pity. A confession right now would have helped. But I will warn you… if anything else happens during this class, there will be dire consequences.”

Sunset nodded. “I understand.”

What else is there to say?

Polish stared at her for a long moment. “One last thing. You will join us as we inspect the stock of the potion and add the final catalyst. Professor Clear will be adding the catalyst, not you.”

Sunset silently followed Professor Polish to the cauldron as Dean Slate lifted the lid and placed it on the floor. Professor Polish, being the most experienced in alchemy, went first. Her horn glowed and a magical aura surrounded the entire cauldron as the professor closed her eyes. Sunset knew she was examining the potion, looking for anything out of the ordinary. It took at least a minute before Polish opened her eyes and let her magic fade. She nodded to Professor Clear.

“I’ve already confirmed the contents as real starbloom,” Clear said in a tense voice and dumped the powered flower into the cauldron.

A flare of magic from Dean Slate mixed in the final catalyst and the potion stock began to slowly rotate.

Again, Professor Polish focused her magic on the cauldron, seeking out any abnormalities.

“Apple, this is foalish,” Slate whispered. “I’m sure we can come up with another exam. Using Miss Shimmer’s material is simply asking for trouble. As much as I would enjoy seeing her get her just deserts in front of our esteemed colleague from the Department, I don’t wish to endanger these students.”

“I must give her one final chance,” Polish said, not meeting Sunset’s eyes. “She’s my aide, Silver. Part of me desperately wants to believe the past year was not an act.”

“You always were too damn trusting for your own good,” Slate growled.

“That is why you two are here.” Polish’s magic faded. “In case I am wrong. Crystal, if you would inspect the potion?”

Dean Slate shot Sunset a glower as Professor Clear’s own magic washed over the cauldron. Her inspection lasted twice as long as Professor Polish’s initial one, but she came away from it with a nod. “It appears benign.”

“I’ll be the final judge of that,” Slate snapped. His magic wrapped around the cauldron and he slammed his eyes closed. Sunset could see the dean concentrating hard as he tried to figure out just what Sunset had done to sabotage the project. The students had gone silent and all of them were staring at the professors around the cauldron.

All but that pegasus.

There was something familiar about her, but Sunset’s thoughts moved like they were mired in thick jam.

Maybe from—

Sunset started as Slate suddenly let out a grunt of annoyance. She glanced at the clock and blinked.

What? Seven minutes… what’s wrong with the clock?

“Fine. It’s clean. But if anything goes wrong today, Shimmer, it’s over for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had planned for this, having us all here to inspect the potion before you unleashed whatever mayhem you have planned.”

“The only thing I want right now, Slate,” Sunset replied with a yawn. “Is for this to be over so I can go to sleep.”

Slate’s eyes blazed, but he kept his tongue. Instead, he picked up the iron lid and slammed it onto the cauldron. Sunset jumped at the loud noise and even Professor Polish shot Slate a glare.

Slate didn’t notice. “Written Record,” he snapped. “Pass Miss Shimmer the checklist.”

Sunset found a checklist with a quill clamped down by the clip shoved into her face by Slate’s secretary. She grasped it in her magic with a yawn and blinked in surprise when she almost dropped it.

Dammit. I can’t even levitate things properly.

“Thank you for your patience, everypony,” Professor Polish announced. “I apologize for the delay, but I see most of you were wise to use the extra few minutes for some last-second studying. However, the exam will now be administered by myself, Professor Clear and Dean Slate with Miss Shimmer assisting.”

There was a murmur of discontent from the last name. Sunset wasn’t surprised.

“I realize that some of you may be concerned about Miss Shimmer’s participation, but I have personally verified all exam papers and the three of us just verified the stock you’ll be using for today’s alchemy test. Please do not concern yourself. It is completely safe and there should be no surprises.”

Polish coughed and took a deep breath. “The goal of today’s exam is to create a glowcoat potion. When done correctly, this potion will cause anypony who takes but a sip to glow with a soft white light for up to one hour. If done incorrectly, the potion has no effect. If done severely wrong, it will cause smoke to come out of your ears for a few minutes.”

A few of the students giggled and Polish granted them a rare smile.

“You will be graded on the precision of your measurements and the proper combined effects. You are to notate each step of your process and document the results thoroughly. Within the exam, you will find a list of desired effects caused by the combination of different reagents. It will be up to you to determine the most effective way to create the glowcoat potion. This part of the test will take one hour. Afterwards, everypony will be required to take a single sip of their potion.”

This actually got a few cries of protest.

“Do not worry, fillies and colts. We have been very thorough and there is absolutely nothing that can cause you the slightest bit of harm. As I said, the worst that will happen is a bit of smoke will come out of your ears. I guess we shall see who our hotheads are in this classroom, eh?”

Sunset resisted the urge to facehoof. A few of the students didn’t.

“Now, if everypony is ready, please stand and step back from your desks while I bring in the supplies.”

There was a general shuffling of hooves as the students got up and moved things off their desks. Finally, Polish’s horn flared with power. There was a brief explosion of light and the room was filled with alchemy stations.

“All of you are to come down and get your portion of the base mixture from Miss Shimmer. Dean Slate will monitor the amounts and make sure nothing gets mixed up. Once everypony has their potion stock, you may begin.”

Dean Slate pointed for Sunset to take up position to the left of the cauldron, while he took up station on the right. When the first student came down—the cheerful Minuette—the dean lifted the lid off the cauldron. His magic flashed over the potion with a suspicious glance at Sunset before he levitated over a small ladle.

Sunset pulled the quill from the clipboard while pouring the right amount of the base into Minuette’s small beaker. Sunset double-checked the amount with Slate looking over her. Finally, she lifted the quill to check off Minuette’s name from the list.

To her surprise, her magic flickered out and the quill dropped into the cauldron. Slate swore and immediately fished it out. He gave Sunset a long glare before lifting a hoof to stop the students. Once more, magic coated the cauldron and the potion… but Slate merely grunted and passed the quill back to Sunset.

“You’re just asking for it,” he hissed.

Sunset had to focus to keep the ladle steady while she poured the correct amount for the various students. When Cinnamon Tart arrived, Dean Slate stole the ladle and did the measurements himself before shoving it back at Sunset. Tart didn’t even look at her.

Moon Dancer was worse. Her eyes were cold and her expression as hard as the peaks of the Crystal Mountains while she watched Sunset fill her beaker. Without a word, Moon Dancer turned and headed back to her station.

Ten minutes later, everypony was working on their potions. Sunset had retreated to the flimsy protection of her desk while Dean Slate, Professor Polish and Professor Clear prowled around the room.

“Fifteen minutes left,” Professor Polish announced. The abrupt shattering of the silence caused Sunset to almost fall out of her chair. She glanced at the clock yet again, the two voices in her head arguing incoherently as her heart skipped a beat. A half-hour had disappeared.

What just happened?

She shook herself and once again caught the stare of the white pegasus. Sunset frowned at her and turned her attention to Moon Dancer, who looked like she had finished just a few moments ago. The color of the liquid inside her potion bottle was perfect and Sunset had no doubt Moon Dancer had passed.

However, when before Moon Dancer had just ignored her… now she did something worse.

She stared at Sunset with cold eyes for a few minutes before raising her hoof. Professor Polish hurried over and they spoke in low tones for a few moments, after which Moon Dancer pulled out a book. Acts of Defiance: The Loyalists of Equestria. It was probably for her world history exam tomorrow with Professor Dust.

Moon Dancer didn’t look at her again. The flask was nowhere to be seen.

We’re better off alone.

It’s not like I have a choice, Sunset thought. I’ll be alone whether I want to or not.

The thought hurt more than she wanted to admit to anypony, least of all herself.

My parents were right. Other ponies either are there to move you up or be moved aside. And the only thing that matters is being the best. I just need to keep my head down and get through this until I get the answers I deserve from Celestia. After that… all bets are off.

Sunset vowed that, whatever the reason for her slipping time, she wasn’t going to lose another second. She tapped her hoof against the desk in time with the clock, fighting every yawn and every temptation to close her eyes. Whole lifetimes passed before it finally struck the top of the hour.

Well, once we finish this part, they’ll at least know I didn’t screw with the potions… right?

Professor Polish stepped up to the front of the room again. Sunset slowly walked to her side. Dean Slate stood directly behind her with Professor Crystal Clear opposite of Polish. Sunset realized they were surrounding her, making sure she couldn’t run.

I don’t have anything to feel guilty about. I wrote this test to be fair. No matter what anypony believes, this is a fair test.

“I can see many wonderful potions out there. Now comes the practical applications. Again, I remind you that the effects of this potion are completely based in the school of illusion. Only three effects will happen: glowing, nothing or a tiny bit of smoke. Anypony who successfully starts to glows with a faint white light will instantly get full marks.”

Dean Slate leaned over. “Apple, this is a bad idea. We should simply do a basic identification spell on the potions. There is no need for this.”

Polish looked at Sunset. “I will not change the way I run my class due to rumors, Silver… no matter how well those rumors are substantiated.”

Polish returned her attention to the classroom and nodded. “On three, everypony. One. Two. Three.”

All of the students took a sip from their bottles. Some did so confidently. Some did so nervously. Some did it staring at Polish and far too many glanced fearfully at Sunset, but they all actually sipped, comforted by the presence of Professor Clear, Dean Slate and Professor Polish.

Twenty seconds later, the screaming started.

Active Experimentation

View Online

Sunset Shimmer stared as Ice Storm’s coat began to change before her very eyes. The gentle aquamarine became blindingly bright, then shifted into…

Scales?

The filly let out another shriek of panic as she clawed at her changing coat.

That’s impossible! There was nothing in there to cause transfiguration!

Professor Crystal Clear was there first, her horn blazing as she tried a counterspell. But nothing happened. The filly kept screaming as the changes engulfed her legs and moved up her body. Sunset’s heart tried to seize.

But… they all checked it! Nothing could have happened! This is impossible! I’m Sunset Shimmer, I would never make a mistake like—

Another yell came from the opposite side of the room. Sunset’s head snapped to see a colt kicking and shouting as his mane suddenly exploded into something resembling seaweed.

No. This isn’t happening.

She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. She could only stare.

“Move!” Slate shouted and shoved her to the side. Sunset tripped and crashed against the cauldron, sending its leftover contents spilling to the floor in a rushing swirl of color. Slate didn’t notice as he was followed by Written Record. He was too busy getting to the colt who was now growing fins on his flanks.

A filly two seats away from Moon Dancer let out a yelp as her magic ignited and she was suddenly sent flying into the air.

Professor Polish instantly snapped her up in a field of her own magic, but the filly’s own aura refused to fade. Sunset could see the professor straining against the magic pouring from the horn of the sobbing filly.

Another colt let out a howl of terror as his horn doubled in size in a few seconds and he let out a magical flash of energy that shattered one of the windows. A second later, another streak of red and gold light streaked through the window.

Sunset’s eyes darted around the classroom from her prone position on the floor.

A colt screamed as batlike wings three sizes too big for his body erupted from his back.

A filly’s head suddenly sprouted deer antlers and she squealed as her legs doubled in length.

Another…

And another…

Half the class.

Three-quarters.

Sunset looked at Moon Dancer. For some reason… she was the only one glowing. But she also was staring at Sunset with enormous eyes. Two emotions registered on her face.

Horror and betrayal.

She thinks I did this.

In a second, all the little slips of time rushed back to her.

…Did I?

Cinnamon Tart let out a squeal as she floated in the air for a moment before a ball of pink appeared around her. The bubble popped and sent her crashing to the floor. She was now a bright bubblegum pink from the tip of her muzzle to the end of her tail.

A sobbing pony Sunset vaguely remembered as Twinkleshine suddenly found herself bouncing up and down as if her hooves were miniature trampolines.

“Professor Clear! Professor Polish!” Dean Slate shouted as he tried to hold down another filly who had suddenly thrown off the laws of gravity. “Starswirl’s Nullification Matrix! Now! Record, keep her there!”

A silver beam of pure magic erupted from Slate’s horn, coalescing into an enormous ball of strobing light above the center of the room. A few seconds later, it was joined by two more beams of magic, each the color of the other two professor’s auras.

Then, Dean Slate fired off a spell that sent him soaring into the air. At the apex of his leap, he jabbed his horn into the spherical magic construct.

It promptly exploded.

The violet shockwave sent Sunset flying backwards to crash against her own desk. She managed to duck just in time as the cauldron nearly took her head off. Every window in the class shattered outward. Alchemy equipment erupted into glass shards as it fell. Papers were sent flying all over the room. Sunset felt her ears pop as she blinked away the afterimages of the explosion and tried to see what was going on.

Soon, the colts and fillies were slowly getting back to their hooves, each of their transfigurations counteracted by the force of the faculty’s spell. In reality, the chaos had lasted less than sixty seconds. Almost the entire room was still crying or shivering in fear.

Professor Clear, who had been directly beneath the construct, was crumpled on the steps, gasping for breath. However, her eyes were open and she was definitely aware of her surroundings. Specifically Sunset Shimmer.

Professor Polish stood at the top of the room, looking down at Sunset with an expression of infinite disappointment.

Dean Slate, looking only slightly disheveled, galloped down the side stairs, murder in his eyes. His secretary raced beside him, a cruel grin on her face.

In a heartbeat, Slate's magic yanked Sunset into the air. She let out a squawk as she felt the magic tighten around her throat for just a second before it released. Slate’s eyes could have drilled a hole through the entire world, and they were focused entirely upon her.

“What?” Slate demanded. “No sarcastic comment? No snarky remark?”

He dropped her with a snarl.

“Look around you, Sunset Shimmer. I said look around!”

Sunset did as she was instructed. The rest of her mind dimly informed her that the odd pegasus had vanished before informing her it was clocking out early for the day.

All around her were fillies and colts with tear-stained cheeks, red eyes and looks of terror, fury or hatred etched on their faces.

“What did they do to deserve this? What did they do?”

Sunset didn’t answer. There was no answer. This simply couldn’t be happening.

“I’d rather like to know how she did it,” Professor Clear muttered as she finally got to her hooves and headed for the cauldron. “After all, we all checked the potion.”

“I saw her!” A normal-colored Cinnamon Tart said, pointing a hoof at Sunset. “Right at the beginning! She dropped something in the cauldron!”

“That was just a quill,” Dean Slate said with a wave. “I snatched it only a second after it landed.”

“Then why was she by the alchemy rooms earlier this morning?” Tart demanded. “I saw her there too when I came early to study with Ice and Rain! I saw her sneaking around the storage rooms!”

Professor Polish let out a sigh Sunset could hear from her spot on the floor.

“She threatened to transfigure me into a newt if I told anypony but…” Ice Storm looked everywhere but at Sunset. “I saw her experimenting with a bunch of potions a few weeks ago. She forced me to take one. I turned black and red for the rest of the day! I had to go home early!”

What? That… that didn’t happen! Neither did the… thing at the storage room…

… Right?

Other voices piped up. All shouting the things Sunset had done to them. A few of them were true… but so many of them Sunset didn’t remember.

Sunset could feel a pounding in her skull that was growing by the second.

“Silver,” Clear said from behind Sunset. “You need to see this.”

The dean the levitation field and Sunset crashed to the ground. He snarled out a word and in a second, Sunset was surrounded by a cylindrical forcefield of silver energy. He narrowed his eyes at her and then marched toward Clear.

She turned and watched as Dean Slate knelt by the cauldron. His entire body tensed with rage at the sight of something, but Professor Clear put a hoof on his shoulder and whispered something to him. It took a few moments, but Slate finally stood and marched over to Sunset.

“Do you deny that you sabotaged this exam?”

“I… I…” Sunset’s heart felt like it was going to burst from panic. She could barely breathe. “I don’t… I don’t remember doing… doing anything… I didn’t do anything!”

“Then explain this.”

A feather slammed into the forcefield.

It was amber.

“Oh Sunset…” Professor Polish sighed.

“Let’s see here. We have a small weight enchantment designed to make it stay on the bottom of the cauldron. I can see a broken bubble rune etched into it, probably used to shield it from our magic.” The dean studied the feather with a critical eye. “Oh, here’s something fancy. You attached a small spellstone to the end of it. With a disintegration rune. Trying to cover your tracks, I see. Too bad our nullification matrix destroyed the rune before it ignited.”

“I… I didn’t put that there. It wasn’t there before!”

“Shimmer, I am so very sick of your lies. After everything you’ve done, it wasn’t enough. All this year, you’ve been waiting for this single moment. A moment where you could finally pull off your grand heist. Even there, you got sloppy! I'm guessing you were running out of time trying to find the cores and that's why you destroyed the room. Or maybe as a distraction? But worst of all, this… this was the cover. This disaster! Well, you screwed up. You got caught in Alchemical Storage and I know that this feather is the feather you got from Professor Polish just yesterday! The transfigured one!”

Heist? Cover? What… what is he talking about?

Sunset shook her head, but the dean wasn’t listening. It wouldn’t have mattered if he had been. Sunset felt like a ship without an anchor in a raging sea. She couldn’t do anything but be battered into splinters.

“And you knew perfectly well what happens when you introduced a non-stabilized transfigured object to any sort of combination system like alchemy! Chaos magic.”

“No, I swear! I didn’t even know what happened to the feather! I had forgotten all about it!”

“Seriously?” Slate screamed. “That’s the best you can come up with? And here I thought you were one of the best manipulators in the school, Shimmer. Looks like you got sloppy for your big job.”

I should have stopped this. I should have forced Professor Polish to do something else, but she was misguided enough to believe you were a better pony than you are. We received tips you were planning something. We should have acted. We didn’t. Now the students have suffered."

He slammed his hooves down in rage, though Sunset couldn’t tell if it was all directed at her or the smallest bit directed at himself.

"However, it will be the last time they suffer because of you.”

The dean took a deep breath and Sunset caught a glimpse of true malice behind those eyes.

The entire room jumped as the double doors at the top of the classroom crashed opened and the Princess herself strode in with the inevitability of a glacier. A single spark of hope ignited inside Sunset… only to die, cold and alone the moment Celestia’s gaze fell upon her.

It was the same expression as the pegasus observer.

Oh by Harmony… she was here. She was here the whole time…

Silence reigned as the entire room stared up at the Princess of the Sun.

“I apologize for the interruption,” the Princess said quietly. “However, it has come to my attention that a matter here may ...require direct intervention. Namely regarding a pony to whom I entrusted with a great responsibility.”

Celestia took a long, deep breath.

“It seems I made an error.”

The voice was calm, cool and collected, as if she was discussing the weather or a new statue being put up in the garden, and not the complete destruction of Sunset’s entire world.

“Dean Slate, I believe you were in the middle of something. Please continue.”

Not you… please, not you…

The weight of that stare sent Sunset to her knees.

Dean Slate rounded on Sunset. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this, Shimmer. Reckless endangerment. Intentional use of chaos magic on the student body. Breaking and entering. Blackmail. Destruction of school property. Theft of four priceless experience cores! And a lot more that we’ll find out in due time, I’m quite sure.”

Experience cores? They… they were in the destroyed...

“Please, this wasn’t me!” Sunset shrank back, more from the Celestia’s gaze than Slate’s rage.

Slate’s disdainful laughter echoed around the classroom. “Polish has abandoned her foalish ideas of your reformation, and the Princess has finally woken up to the snake in her midst. There is nopony to save you, not anymore.”

“I— I—”

Slate glanced at Celestia. But Celestia wasn't looking at him. Instead, she just looked at Sunset.

Sunset thought of all the times she’d seen twinkles and sparkles in Celestia’s eye. All the warmth. The pride.

And occasionally… the hope. The one emotion that always confused her.

Those times were rare and Sunset suspected that Celestia had been in control of herself at every moment. She had always allowed Sunset to see what Celestia wanted Sunset to see and nothing more.

She was sure now.

Because now, there was no twinkle. No sparkle. No warmth.

Just sadness and pain.

Finally, the Princess tore her eyes from her student and looked to the dean.

Celestia nodded once and lowered her head with an almost silent sigh.

Slate was an exact opposite to Celestia. He drew himself to his full height, and loomed over Sunset.

“Sunset Shimmer, by my authority as Dean of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, you are hereby expelled from this institution. You are banned from ever stepping hoof on this campus again. You will remain here until escorted from the premises by the Royal Guard. The faculty of this school will press criminal charges on you for what you did to these students. Your reign has ended, Sunset Shimmer. May we never see the likes of it again.”

“You have to believe me! This is all a mistake!”

Slate shoved his face into hers, dropping the forcefield. “You’ve made everypony at the school miserable for years. Why should we believe you?”

Two possibilities existed.

Either she had really cracked and had done all of these things without remembering or knowing about them, maybe because of something to do with those experience cores.

Or somepony had set her up so thoroughly and so masterfully she had been completely outmaneuvered.

Neither option led to an escape.

“B-but… But I didn’t…”

“Oh, spare us. Your reach has finally exceeded your grasp, and now your little schemes and machinations are finally at an end. Again, I ask you… why should we believe you?”

Sunset stared into the cold eyes of the dean... but nothing came to her.

“Because she didn’t do it.”

Dead silence.

Sunset and Slate turned to face the pony who had spoken.

She was glowing. She was the only glowing pony in the room. She was missing her glasses. Her hair was a mess. Her sweater was torn and her topknot had come undone.

And she looked peeved.

“She did.”

The silence deepened as Moon Dancer stabbed a hoof at the pony beside her.

“Who do you think you are accusing my granddaughter of something like this, young filly?” Slate shouted.

Cinnamon Tart on the other hoof, just sputtered.

“Who am I? I’m the one who let this happen.” Moon Dancer walked forward, her eyes never leaving Slate. “I recognize that feather. Professor Polish gave it to Sunset after the transfiguration demonstration. Sunset dropped it when Cinnamon Tart knocked her over at the end of class. And I saw her friend Rain Check snatch it up.”

Slate sputtered and growled incoherently.

“That’s… that’s crazy!” Cinnamon Tart cried. “That was just an accident!”

“Why the hay would I want a damn feather?” Rain Check shouted, as the accused fillies’ words tumbled over each other.

Moon Dancer’s eyes fell on Sunset. Sunset just stared back.

“You all wanted to beat Sunset at her own game.” Moon Dancer looked like she was ready to throw up. “But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is I let it happen.”

“What are you talking about, young lady?” Professor Polish asked as she slowly walked down the stairs.

“I’m such an idiot,” Moon Dancer said in a brittle voice. Tears were in her eyes. “They told me all the stories of what Sunset used to do… and how she was really just using me the entire year. That’s why I went off on her when she just dismissed me like I was a waste of her time a few days ago... and that’s why I asked Cinnamon this morning if there was some way I could get back at her.”

“You barely spoke to me! We don’t hang out, everypony in Equestria knows that,” Cinnamon protested. “What the hay is wrong with you, Moon Dancer?”

“Horseapples!” Moon Dancer spat. “You just grinned like mad and told me you and your friends already had everything in place. I even asked why Rain Check needed the feather, but you said that would spoil the surprise.”

Sunset’s eyes slid to Dean Slate. His left eye was twitching as he stared at Moon Dancer. Briefly, his eyes flicked to his granddaughter.

Sunset’s heart skipped a beat and she glanced up to see Celestia’s calculating stare upon the dean.

Slate’s gaze darted from Cinnamon to Celestia, and back to Moon Dancer.

Pieces started coming together in Sunset’s head. The little voice of Yellow was slamming them together with enough force to rattle Sunset’s brain.

“I’m sorry, Miss Dancer,” Dean Slate said in a shaky voice. “But I’m afraid you must be mistaken. The evidence is overwhelmingly against Shimmer here. You are welcome to put in a report if you want, but frankly, you have the entire faculty against you, plus the entire student body and the Princess herself. Sunset Shimmer’s fate is sealed.”

“I’m afraid that’s not your decision to make, Silver.”

Sunset held her breath, unwilling to hope, unwilling to even think.

“Princess?” Slate cried. “What are you doing?”

The Princess of the Sun cocked an eyebrow. “Last time I checked, this was my school, Dean Slate.”

“I mean… that is to say…” Slate backpedaled quickly. “I’m just surprised to see you taking the word of Miss Dancer here seriously. Clearly, Sunset failed your test.”

Test? What test?

“I’m not so sure.” Her words were casual, but her face held the menace of an Everfree storm on the horizon. “Tests can take many forms. Academic tests can often be quite entertaining. However, one particular kind of test interests me above all others. Tests of character.”

Princess Celestia took flight and landed in the center of the room before Sunset. Sunset shrank further into the hard stone beneath her, her dignity lying in tatters around her as she wrapped herself in her own tail. Her voice wasn’t working, but her brain was still whirling, desperately trying to put the puzzle together. There were still a few pieces missing.

Celestia turned to Moon Dancer, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

“A test Moon Dancer passed with flying colors when she sent me a letter a few days ago, asking for help with Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset’s eyes drifted over to Moon Dancer and she managed to find a few words to string together.

“You… sent a letter… about me?”

Moon Dancer swallowed and nodded. She didn’t look away. “They all told me so many stories about what you used to be. Stories from her sister and other students, my own experiences, there were so many… I needed to know. I had to know if you had actually changed. Despite what I said earlier… I wanted to believe you had.”

And just like that, Sunset’s voice left her once more.

“Which is precisely why I decided I should look in on you today,” Celestia said. “When Dean Slate informed me of the theft, I sent Philomena to find the missing cores. I suspect they will tell us the truth.”

On cue, Philomena herself soared in through the window with a musical cry before landing on Princess Celestia’s back. She held a single saddlebag in her beak… one with Sunset’s own sunflare mark on it.

Where did she get…

Celestia lifted the bag away from Philomena and glanced inside. With flash of magic, she lifted a small packet labeled ‘Earl Grey’ from it.

With a second flash, she lifted four orange crystals from the bag.

Slate stabbed a hoof at Sunset. “Those are the missing experience cores! That proves it! She only drinks Earl Grey! Everypony knows that! She forces others out of the lower teacher’s lounge all the time, so she can drink there in peace!”

Celestia turned towards Professor Polish. “Is this true?”

Polish cleared her throat. “Well, yes. It has been an issue in the past. However, this morning I smelled coffee coming from her desk. Come to think of it, I don’t believe she’s had tea for the last few days.”

“Impossible!” Slate shouted. “Everypony knows—”

Celestia cut him off with a glare. “Dean Slate, I would thank you to keep a level head in front of the student body. Professor Polish, please check her mug and pass it to Professor Clear. If you both agree on the results, share them with us, if you don’t mind.”

The two professors nodded, and set to their new task.

“Princess,” Moon Dancer said quietly as Slate tried to regain his composure. “You never answered my question. Is she a different pony now than the one I met two years ago?”

“You tell me, Moon Dancer,” Celestia replied. “You’re the one who just stood up for her before the entire school.”

Moon Dancer looked into Sunset eyes. Sunset couldn’t find any words. As she looked into Moon Dancer’s face, answers finally startled to tumble out of her jumbled brain and a tiny spark of Sunset Shimmer reignited.

I couldn’t have done this. This was too far, much too far. Fear is one thing. Stark mad terror is another. Unwilling transfiguration is practically torture, and even at my worst, I never would have forced random chaos magic on ponies.

Which meant… somepony got to me so badly I started to doubt my own sanity.

But that didn’t explain this… thing about the experience cores.

“No.” Moon Dancer’s jaw tightened. “Sunset might not be a very good pony, but this is too far, even for her.”

“You can’t actually believe that!” Dean Slate shouted. “Miss Dancer, my granddaughter told me you were sobbing your eyes out for the rest of the day after what she said to you!”

“Yes! I was!” Moon Dancer finally whirled on Slate. “But did you ever think why? I cried because I thought she thought I was special. That I had value. That I was worth something! Only a few ponies have ever made me feel that way. Sunset did. And this morning, before this whole mess happened, she told me she did think I was special. I was too angry to believe it then. But I believe it now!”

Moon Dancer’s horn flared to life as she lifted the battered waterwalking potion out of her saddlebags, and brandished it like a talisman. “Look! She taught me how to brew this, and then smashed all but one.”

“Sounds exactly like her,” snorted Dean Slate.

“Shut up!” The pale unicorn shouted. “Look closer! She took care of this one! No matter how much she might deny it, she understands why she was wrong!”

“This is just another one of her acts!” Slate shouted, pushing the flask aside with a burst of magic. It shattered on the cold classroom floor. “You have to see that! This pony has been nothing but a force of destruction in my school!”

“I believe it is my school, Dean Slate.” Princess Celestia stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “That’s the second time I’ve had to remind you of that.”

“You know what, Dean Slate?” Moon Dancer advanced on Slate now and Slate was actually backing away. Sunset would have laughed if she wasn’t so stunned. “You’re right. She was a force of destruction. Sunset Shimmer isn’t a saint. She isn’t perfect. In fact, she’s screwed up a lot!”

Um… Moon Dancer… I think they get it…

“But you know what? She did tutor me. Actually tutor me. She stuck by me to help me get over the hard parts of this school. In fact, we’ve actually spent time together outside of class! She actually took me to do things that had nothing to do with the lessons! Nopony’s ever asked me to do things with them before! And only one other pony was there for me when Sunset wasn’t: her!”

Moon Dancer turned and stalked toward Cinnamon Tart. Her friends, Ice Storm and Rain Check, stood beside her, looking furious.

“And what did Cinnamon Tart do? She used me. She told me everything I needed to hear to turn against Sunset. She didn’t try and comfort me. She just added fuel to the hate. I barely know anything about friendship, but I’m pretty sure real friends tell you to support your other friends. Help them! Not hate them! Now you’d better sit your tails down and stop lying about my friend before I knock you on your tails!”

Cinnamon and the other two just gaped at her.

Professor Polish coughed as she returned to the discussion. “I’m afraid that doesn’t explain why Sunset broke into Alchemical Storage.”

Polish stepped away from Sunset’s coffee mug and passed a small scroll to Celestia, sealed with the sigil of the school. Celestia wrapped the scroll in her magic and glanced over to Professor Clear, who had started her analysis. Then she looked down at Sunset, who was still on her knees before her.

“It might,” Celestia mused.

“Princess, we have clear evidence of Sunset’s break-in!” Slate cried. “The experience cores were gone! Everything was destroyed! Gem dust, herbs… they were all over! We’ve done a thorough inspection of the image captured by the wards. It was definitely her. Sunset Shimmer was in Alchemical Storage B this morning! See for yourself!”

His secretary passed him a clipboard which he floated over to Celestia. Sunset looked at the clipboard and noticed a bit of emerald dust where Written Record had been holding it. Sunset’s eyes flicked over to the secretary’s hoof, but it looked clean.

Another half of the puzzle suddenly slammed into place.

Sunset slowly got to her hooves. Dean Slate stumbled backwards, his hate pouring off of him like a dark sun. But what was more telling was the expression on the secretary’s face. Sunset knew she had only seen this pony in passing. She’d never done anything to this mare. But Slate’s secretary was looking at her with eyes that dripped with loathing.

Sunset closed her eyes and focused. Her head was throbbing. Her thoughts were muddy. But she could do this. She couldn’t handle everything. Tartarus, it felt like she could barely handle anything.

But she was still Celestia’s student in the art of magic.

There you are…

Sunset’s horn suddenly burst to life.

“Stop her!” Slate shouted.

She unleashed the magic in a faint teal wave toward the dean and Written Record. Both of them tried to move, but it was like they were tied by an invisible cord. They ended up jumping in opposite directions and slammed to the ground with a thump.

“Sunset what are you—” Celestia began, only to suddenly go quiet.

Sunset collapsed again to her knees. That simple bit of magic had taken up almost all of her reserves. She had spent too much. Unicorn magic was powered by life. To recharge, a unicorn needed time and real rest. She hadn’t had any in ages. But as she looked up, she knew she had been right.

There was a thin tendril of magic flowing between Dean Slate and Written Record. It glowed bright green, a bit like the one that had been between Sunset and Polish yesterday. Only this one was the color of an illusion thread.

Celestia stepped forward and tapped her horn on Dean Slate’s head and did the same for his secretary.

The dean didn’t change.

Written Record was another story entirely.

In an instant, the illusion vanished, leaving behind a willowy mare a couple years older than Sunset with a two-toned purple mane and a dusky brown coat. But what was more telling… was the faint glitter of green dust on her hooves and chest.

“Raspberry Tart?” Professor Polish asked. “What… what are you doing here?”

Moon Dancer was faster than anypony.

“It was you,” she whispered as she stared at Slate. “It’s been you the entire time. You were the one orchestrating this. No student could have ever pulled off those spells on that feather. Disintegration magic isn’t even taught at post-graduate levels.”

Moon Dancer’s eyes went wide as she put more pieces together as Sunset’s brain tried to keep up.

“Raspberry’s talent was transfiguration magic. She made you look like Sunset and then you… or maybe both of you… wrecked the storage room! I’ll bet she cast the spell on you, but you powered it! But you couldn’t let her be seen there, so you disguised her as your secretary.”

“Raspberry Tart has been filling in for Written Record for the last few weeks since Written Record had to deal with a family emergency,” Slate sneered. “She’s the one who actually found the damage to Alchemical Storage B. She was under an illusion spell so she could do the work without being interrupted by her classmates. I also didn’t want her to be subjected to any further harassment by Shimmer.”

“Silver…” Polish said slowly. “Only faculty can access the wards to that room. Raspberry could never get in alone. Even Written Record couldn’t get in without one of us. In fact, that only raises the question how did Sunset get in in there?”

“Well obviously, Shimmer broke the wards. She’d do anything to—”

Profession Clear stomped a hoof in triumph. “Princess, I believe we’re done here.”

Celestia took her results, popped the seals on both scrolls, and read them side-by-side.

The silence coiled around them like smoke from a bad invisibility potion. Eventually, Celestia set the scrolls aside, and stared at Slate for a long time. Suddenly, she turned to face Cinnamon Tart, Ice Storm and Rain Check. All of them quickly paled and dropped to their knees.

“The truth,” Celestia commanded in a voice that made the very stones around them shake. Philomena let out a squawk and for a second, the sunlight in the room seemed to fade. “Now.”

“Okay!” Rain Check squealed. “I gave the feather to Dean Slate! Cinnamon said it was time for Sunset to get what was coming to her!”

“I yelled out her name in the hallway to distract her so she’d run into Cinnamon!” Ice Storm cried. “And I talked Twilight into asking about transfiguration!”

“Fine!” Cinnamon screamed in panic. “It was Pappy, Raspberry and me! We were so angry! We wanted Sunset gone forever! We wanted her to know what it felt like to be manipulated, humiliated and destroyed in front of everypony! Just like she had done to us! Since Pappy said you’d never actually punish your prized student, we needed to do it for you! Show you just how bad she was! So I made sure everypony remembered the pony she was! The pony she still is! The pony who ruined my sister’s life! The pony who tormented me all last year! She’s a monster!”

Celestia’s face was an impassive mask. She could have been a statue for all the emotion she showed.

“Is she?” Moon Dancer growled. “Because if she is, you just made yourself a monster by using everypony in this room to get back at her. So who’s worse?”

Cinnamon completely broke down and started sobbing incoherently, blubbering and wailing into her hooves.

“Thanks to the analysis from Professors Crystal Clear and Apple Polish, it has been determined that no Earl Grey tea, nor water from the lower teacher’s lounge has been in Miss Shimmer’s mug for the past seventy-two hours,” Celestia said. “Professor Clear, I would appreciate it if you escorted these three and Raspberry Tart out. Please keep them in your office until I come for them.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Professor Clear bowed. She shot the silent Raspberry Tart a glare, who quickly got to her hooves and hurried up the stairs. Clear shoved the three fillies up after her.

Sunset watched with a strange sort of detachment. She knew she should hate them. Want to make them suffer for what they did. But… what was the point?

Where would it end?

A voice inside her head breathed a sigh of relief while the other raged in fury.

“This is wrong!” Dean Slate shouted. “You are letting her get away with everything again! She’s a monster!”

Celestia slowly and deliberately turned to face the dean of her school. There was a scrape of glass on stone as she lifted the pieces of the shattered flask from the ground.

“Did it ever occur to you I have my own methods of teaching, Silver?” Celestia said. “Did you ever stop to notice Sunset indeed was different this year, as Moon Dancer surmised? Or were you so blinded by hatred that you couldn’t see a pony trying to be better, even if she had to fight for it every day?”

“You can’t do this. I’ll bring it up to the Board! She—”

“She did nothing!” Celestia thundered. The room shook and a few of the students yelped. “This is you. It’s always been you. In all your attempts to have Sunset Shimmer removed from this school, you never once asked why I kept her here. I knew about her behavior. I knew about her attitude. I knew, Silver. I am the Princess of Equestria. There is little that goes on in my own school of which I have no knowledge.”

Celestia’s eyes fell to Sunset, who cringed at the gaze. There, in her eyes, was that same shame Sunset had seen what felt like several lifetimes ago.

She’s not… She’s not ashamed of me. She’s ashamed of herself.

“I did it to give her a chance. Many chances. In the hope that somepony would finally show her there was another way. There are many things you cannot teach in a class, Silver Slate. There are many things which one must experience personally. Unfairness is one of them. Friendship is another.”

“I won’t let you get away with this! Not after what she’s done to my family!”

“Your granddaughters were warped by your own hatred. Sunset Shimmer hurt both of them, yes. But as Moon Dancer so well put it, a true friend is one who promotes reconciliation and forgiveness. They do not feed hatred with hatred. That goes for family as well.”

She held the shards of glass before him, still dripping with the remains of Moon Dancer’s potion. “You wanted to show her at her worst, and you have. You’ve become her.”

Sneering, he stomped his hooves on the debris-strewn floor. “This is a mistake. A mistake you’ll live to regret.”

“I’ve made many mistakes in my lifetime, Silver Slate,” Celestia said. Her voice was hard as iron now. “The belief you would be able to put aside your own anger is apparently one of them. So, as of now, you are hereby relieved of your post as dean of my school.”

Sunset gaped at her even as Celestia’s horn began to glow. A brief pulse of magic leapt from her and sped out the window.

“You can’t—”

“Please stop with these foalish protests, Silver Slate.” Celestia shook her head. “I believe you intended to press criminal charges against Sunset Shimmer for her actions today. As the oldest member of this… conspiracy, for lack of a better word… you will be held accountable for those acts. You’ll find that I tend to deal rather harshly with those who knowingly and willing subject my students to dangerous magics.”

Six Royal Guards stepped into the room. Slate’s eyes bulged. Students whispered and chattered as they approached the former dean. Professor Polish just stared at Silver Slate, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Slate looked ready to start screaming obscenities, but a single piercing glare from Celestia silenced him before he ever began. He left with the guards, never meeting Sunset’s stare.

“Whatever you’re going to do to Cinnamon and the others, Princess...” Moon Dancer said, staring at her hooves. “You should do to me.”

“And why is that, my dear little pony?” Celestia asked. She looked genuinely curious.

“Because I should have stopped this.”

“Yes, you should have,” Celestia agreed. “You let it go far enough to scare a lot of ponies. But more importantly,” she paused as she floated the shards over to Sunset’s desk. “You decided to stand up for Sunset Shimmer when she had nopony at all. She was alone and you risked much to help her. That is an action of a friend. A very loyal one indeed. So, I’ll only ask one thing of you today.”

“Anything, Your Majesty.”

Celestia’s eyes shifted over to Sunset and they twinkled. It seemed… it seemed like a happy twinkle.

“Keep being her friend.”

“I’m not sure she wants me to. Not after what I did.”

“Then I think you should ask her.”

Moon Dancer slowly nodded and approached Sunset like a terrified animal.

“Sunset, I’m sorry.” Tears streamed down her face. “I… I screwed up. You’re not the best of ponies. But… you’re better than that. And you’re better than me. So, would you please forgive me?”

Sunset tried to open her mouth, but her brain informed her in no uncertain terms that it was still out of service and had decided to use up all of its sick and vacation leave at once.

“And… would you take me back as a friend?”

“Uh…” Sunset muttered. “Well… uh…”

“Please?”

Sunset had never had anypony ask to be her friend before. This whole thing was surreal. No, it was insane. This couldn’t be happening. Shy little Moon Dancer couldn’t have just stood up to Dean Slate or Cinnamon Tart. And there’s no way she could have just said that to Princess Celestia. It was impossible.

So, maybe I have really gone insane. Sunset blinked a few times. Ayep. Only thing that makes sense.

“Sure?” The last coherent part of Sunset murmured.

Then, Sunset fell over.

She could have blamed lack of sleep, emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue or a dozen other things.

But even as she hit the floor, she knew it was just plain old shock that simply shut down her brain.

Analyses, Results and Conclusions

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In the end, while overly dramatic, it didn’t last long.

Sunset was out for maybe twenty minutes or so before Celestia’s restoration spell woke her up. By then, everypony was chattering excitedly about what had just happened in the class as other members of the faculty arrived. It took a few more minutes before the teachers eventually rounded the students up and ushered them out. A few ponies looked like they wanted to protest and see if anything else was going to happen, but a raised eyebrow from the Princess was enough to get them moving.

But Sunset watched it all from a distance, as if she were seeing it through a telescope. Right now, Princess Celestia, Professor Apple Polish, Moon Dancer and Sunset sat in a bubble of silence of Celestia’s making. Philomena had departed while Sunset had been out, carrying messages to the Department of Education and the Board of Regents regarding the actions of the former dean. Sunset reminded herself to get something for the phoenix. Without Philomena’s intervention… things could have been very different.

Professor Polish glanced around her ruined classroom and poked at a piece of her half-smashed desk with a hoof. “Well, I suppose that’s one way to end a term.”

“Come now, Professor.” Celestia chuckled. “You’ve had much more exciting times here. I shouldn’t have to remind you of Sunset’s mid-term last year.”

“Oh yes,” Professor Polish smiled. “That one took weeks to fix. Even if she did ace the test.”

Sunset’s ears went back as she winced.

“I still don’t like talking about that day,” she muttered. “That wasn’t a good day.”

Celestia turned her gentle gaze to Sunset. “It may not have been a good day, but that day brought you here.”

“Princess, today was a terrible day.”

“With all due respect, Princess,” Moon Dancer commented with a frown. “I have to agree with Sunset.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure.” The Princess of the Sun’s eyes twinkled at both of them. “I have a feeling you’ll look back on this someday and laugh.”

“Maybe somepony else will laugh. Namely at me for being an idiot.”

“Sunset,” Moon Dancer began. “I’m—”

“Stop it!” Sunset cried. “You’ve said you’re sorry about fifteen times! I can’t take any more! You screwed up once! I’ve screwed up like… a bajillion times! I should be begging you for forgiveness!”

“I already forgave you.” Moon Dancer poked a small vial. “I did that when I got out of my chair.”

Sunset blinked. “Wait a minute... That reminds me. How come you were the only pony to glow? Nothing strange happened to you!”

“An excellent question, Miss Shimmer,” Professor Polish said as she floated over a small vial with Moon Dancer’s star and moon cutie mark on it. “I examined her potion myself. I’m surprised to say she made the potion so perfectly, there was no room for the chaos magic to take root. In fact, she was the only one.”

Moon Dancer gasped. “You mean…”

“Yes, Miss Dancer.” Polish nodded. “You receive full marks on your alchemy final. Which gives you a final score of an A+ in my class.”

Moon Dancer squealed and bounced around like a filly who had just gotten her cutie mark. Sunset smiled a little and then squeaked as Moon Dancer leapt at her, tackling her in a giant hug.

“What? Ack!” Sunset cried. “What are you doing?”

“I believe it is called a hug, Miss Shimmer.” Polish raised an eyebrow. “Surely you’re aware of such things?”

Celestia was holding her hoof in front of her muzzle, obviously trying to hide an enormous smile. “Friends are known to do that once in a while, I believe.”

Moon Dancer went brilliant red as she backed up and released Sunset from her death grip.

“Sorry, I got a little overly excited.”

Sunset stretched, feeling several pieces of her spine shift back into place. “That’s fine. I’ll just send you the bill for my medical expenses.”

“Does that mean I get to send you the bill for my therapy expenses?” Moon Dancer asked with an innocent little blink.

Sunset tried to keep a straight face, but when Moon Dancer’s mouth started to curl, she couldn’t keep in the snort that quickly turned into a full-blown giggling fit. Moon Dancer followed her seconds later, while Princess Celestia and Professor Polish just smiled.

“I’m glad to see your fire has returned, Sunset,” Celestia said with an approving nod. “At least, a small spark. I hope Moon Dancer will help fan it.”

Polish, on the other hoof, sighed as she looked up at the ruined alchemy stations.

“Everypony else will likely need to be retested. Probably with something a bit simpler.”

“Do I have to write it?” Sunset asked hesitantly.

“Uh, no.” Polish shook her head. “I am more than happy to provide a standard test for the rest of the class. Despite the chaos, I did mean what I said when I informed you it was a good test. I do wish Dean Slate hadn’t ruined it in his mad scheme.”

“What’s going to happen?” Sunset looked at Celestia with a frown. “You know, to Cinnamon and the others?”

The Princess let out a sigh. “For the most part, that will be up to them. I will allow the younger students to remain in school, but they will need to endure the fact that the entire school now knows what they did. Raspberry Tart… I’m not sure. I’m afraid she has some very strong feelings toward you, Sunset. You were not a kind pony to her and that kind of hurt does not heal overnight.”

“Maybe… should I… well, would it help if I said I was sorry?”

Celestia’s eyes glittered and the sun seemed to shine a bit brighter through the shattered windows.

“It would be a start, but you should know she’ll likely reject you. But maybe if a friend came along, it might help matters.”

Moon Dancer nodded fervently. “It’s the least I can do. I’ll help Sunset any way I can. I’m not great at friendship… but I want to try.”

“And that is the best attitude anypony can have toward a situation such as this. I hope Raspberry Tart will heal in time,” Celestia said. “She is still young enough for the damage Silver Slate did to be undone.”

“And what about him?” Sunset asked quietly. “What will happen to him?”

Celestia’s expression hardened.

“I meant what I said. I expect a great deal of my teachers and much, much more for anypony in a role of leadership in any academic institution. But this one… this one is mine. I allowed Silver Slate to remain here, all the time unaware of just how deep a hatred he harbored toward you, Sunset. I am truly sorry for that. I knew he disliked you, but not to this degree. What happened to his grandaughters... It is natural for a pony to be protective of family, but unchecked, it can become something dark. Despite my words earlier as to knowing all that transpires here... I was mistaken about him. I can only hope that he’ll eventually find some way to let go of that hate.”

“That… that doesn’t answer the question.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Celestia smirked just a bit. “Glad to see you were paying attention.”

Sunset smiled and shrugged. She wasn’t about to demand answers from the Princess of the Sun. Not today.

“Um, I have a question, if you don’t mind?” Moon Dancer said. “For you, Professor Polish.”

“What’s that, Miss Dancer?”

“What happened to Twilight?”

Sunset twitched. Just because she had a friend now didn’t mean she had to like that little perfect prodigy.

“Miss Sparkle?”

“Yeah. Professor Inkwell asked to talk to her in her office and I’ve hadn’t seen her since.”

“Ah yes,” Polish tapped her hoof on her chin. “I remember Inkwell coming to me about this. Since Miss Sparkle was doing so spectacularly but spent a great deal of time sequestered in the library reading just about anything she could put her hooves on, I believe she had a special project for the filly.”

“What sort of special project?”

“I’m afraid I’m not privy to the details, Miss Dancer.” Polish shrugged. “I believe it involved a favor to an old friend.”

“Oh. Do you know when she’ll be back?”

Professor Polish shook her head. “Not specifically. However, I believe it was a special assignment that would go for at least a week or two.”

“Aw,” Moon Dancer pouted. “That means I won’t get to see her before term gets out. And here I was going to tell her about today.”

“And just what would you tell your young friend about today, Miss Dancer?” Celestia asked.

“That I got the great and powerful Sunset Shimmer to faint just by asking to be friends with her.”

“Wait… what?” Sunset sputtered. “You… you can’t go around telling ponies that! That’s totally unfair!”

Celestia coughed while looking perfectly innocent.

“Oh come on!” Moon Dancer protested. “It’ll be perfect! I just want to see if it’ll happen more! Maybe she has this allergic reaction to ponies asking to be her friends. It would be hysterical!”

“You’re evil,” Sunset stabbed a hoof at Moon Dancer. “Totally. Evil.”

Moon Dancer grinned. “I was paying attention when you tutored me.”

Sunset felt a strange sinking sensation in her chest. “You… you really were, huh?”

“My,” Celestia commented. “It sounds like she’s almost as good as you, Sunset.”

“Let’s hope not.”

“Let’s see… what else did I learn… oh yeah!”

The sinking feeling continued down to her stomach, worsening as it went.

You realize this is a really stupid idea, an angry little voice in her head muttered.

Sunset waited for another voice to reply, but was only a little surprised when it didn’t.

“That you hate nicknames!”

“Don’t you dare,” Sunset warned.

Celestia was now snickering in earnest. Even Professor Polish was biting her lip to keep from cracking up.

“This is so not fair,” Sunset pouted.

“Sunset,” Celestia interrupted before Moon Dancer could continue any further. “I wanted to let you know… I’m proud of what you did today.”

“Proud of me?” Sunset’s eyes went wide and pointed a hoof at Moon Dancer. “She was the hero today!”

“Yes, she was,” Celestia admitted with a nod. “She reached out to you. But she also hurt you. While you were—ahem—taking a nap, Moon Dancer mentioned a few of the things she’d said to you earlier. You could have rejected her. You didn’t.”

“I just… I…” Sunset swallowed and stared at her hooves. “I thought I could handle anything. But… I couldn’t handle that. Dean Slate had me in a corner. He had me completely trapped. For Equestria’s sake, he had me doubting my own sanity! Moon Dancer… stopped him.”

“I should have told the truth at the beginning,” Moon Dancer muttered. “I was such an idiot for helping them.”

“I’m pretty sure I was the bigger idiot.”

“I spoke to you this morning about legacies and paths, Miss Shimmer.” Professor Polish smiled as she interrupted them. “I agree with Princess Celestia. You did indeed have a choice before you today, though it was not the choice I believed it to be. While it may have seemed natural at the time, only a pony who truly wanted something different could have made that choice.”

“I knew you could do it.” Celestia murmured as she leaned down to nuzzle Sunset. “However, I have to admit I have not been fully honest with you, my dear student.”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond, but bit back her snarky reply.

That’s happening a lot today.

“I have been greatly concerned about you these last few months. Your…” Celestia glanced at Moon Dancer and turned her attention back to Sunset. “Your recent attempts to take shortcuts on the deadline I gave you over a year ago troubled me greatly. I had also begun to receive anonymous notes you planning something within the school.”

Polish nodded sadly, though she didn’t add anything to Celestia’s story.

“Indeed, I started to also receive letters as to your activities in the last four years. I admit… some of them took me by surprise. Professor Polish and I were deeply worried.”

“I don’t understand, Princess.”

“Those experience cores were not within the school by accident.” Celestia sighed. “I had them placed here and Professor Polish informed you about them in an indirect manner as I had instructed her.”

“Experience cores…” Sunset muttered. “That… that was what this was all about?”

“The rumors circulating said you were attempting to shortcut our arrangement once more. You were experimenting with new magics, trying to learn as much as you could in hopes of impressing me. Your outburst on the night I visited only deepened these concerns. As such, I placed the experience cores here to find out how desperate you were. I did not know Dean Slate decided to take matters into his own hooves and force the issue. In fact, I was the one who informed him about the cores. As dean, he had a right to know.”

Polish growled something under her breath and then visibily forced herself to be calm.

“You… wanted to know if she would steal them?” Moon Dancer asked quietly.

Sunset jumped, having forgotten for a moment that Moon Dancer was even present.

“As with you, Miss Dancer, I wanted to know if she was a different pony or not. I wasn’t sure anymore. I was concerned my own… misgivings may have colored the way I was seeing the situation. It is why, as I'm sure you've already surmised, I came in as the white pegasus you saw earlier. And before you ask, I didn't stop the transfigurations because I knew my teachers could handle the situation and I wished to send Philomena on her errand as quickly as possible.”

Part of Sunset desperately wanted to know what those specific misgivings might have been, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to ask. Sunset also couldn't help but wonder if there was another reason Celestia didn't intervene directly that she just wasn't saying.

But more than anything, the rest of her was reeling at the sheer idea Celestia had been unsure about anything.

“I don’t understand the reason, Princess,” Sunset admitted. “Why all the sneaking around?”

“There may come a day, my faithful student, when you may be forced to choose between the right course of action and the power you desire. You would not be the first student of mine to be tempted in such a manner. Indeed, I worry for all my students should they have to face that day. I admit I allowed my own fears to blind me to the former dean’s goals and you suffered for it.”

“You wanted to know if I’d take a shortcut again,” Sunset muttered. Her sleep-deprived brain happily helped her remember all of her half-formed schemes she’d come up with since that Twilight Sparkle had mentioned experience cores. “I… I’d been considering it.”

“I know,” Celestia said gently, “but the important thing is that you didn’t act. I did this at the end of term to stretch you, Sunset. The chance would be brief. But in the end, you didn’t take the ‘bait.’ You passed.”

“I… really?”

Celestia nodded. “If you desire, we can discuss this further another time, but I think we’ve all been through quite enough for the day.”

Sunset thought for a grand total of two seconds before nodding emphatically. “Yeah… I think that can wait.”

A brief silence descended upon them, but the Ursa in the room couldn’t be ignored. Not after the Princess’s confession. Sunset knew she had to say it. If she didn’t… it might not become real.

“Princess? There is one other thing…” Sunset chewed on her lower lip. “About the mirror…”

Celestia stiffened ever so slightly. A wary look passed over her face. “Yes?”

Sunset swallowed and glanced at Moon Dancer.

“I think I’m okay with waiting for now. You were right about friendship. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to think you’re right about that too.”

Celestia let out a sigh of what had to be relief.

“Thank you, Sunset. Thank you for your trust. I promise you will get the answers you seek. When you’re ready.”

“What’s this about a mirror?” Moon Dancer asked.

Sunset shook her head. “It’s not important. Not now.”

“Oh, fine, keep your secrets. Sunny.”

Sunset twitched. “You did not just call me Sunny.”

“Funny. I’m pretty sure I did.” Moon Dancer smirked. “Why? What’s wrong with Sunny?”

Twitch. “That’s not my name.”

“It is now. Sunny.”

Twitch. “Quit it.”

“Sorry, Sunny. I’m apparently your friend now. I’m pretty sure friends get to annoy each other a little bit. It’s in the rules somewhere.”

“I’m afraid she’s right, Sunset,” Celestia said with a heavy sigh. “I should know. I’ve tried to have that particular passage amended several times to no avail.”

“Ah yes,” Professor Polish replied. “Indeed. Such is the curse of friendship… to suffer small, silly sidelong snideness with a smile. Or so they say.”

“You’re all enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Immensely,” Celestia replied. Her eyes twinkled. Sunset decided to call this particular twinkle ‘The Trollestia Twinkle.’ She had a nagging suspicion she’d see it a lot in the years to come.

“So, Sunny.” Moon Dancer grinned as Sunset twitched yet again. “What is it that friends do anyway?”

“Stop calling them obnoxious nicknames?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not on the list,” Celestia interjected.

Professor Polish just nodded her head in agreement.

“Fine,” Sunset grumbled. “Then how about doughnuts?”

Moon Dancer brightened. “After the day we’ve had? That sounds perfect, Sunny.”

Twitch. “You really need to stop calling me that.”

“Not happening, Sunny.”

Sunset ground her teeth and tried to suppress the twitch.

“You’re a brat.”

Moon Dancer smirked again.

“If I am, it’s because I learned from the best.”

“I believe she has you cornered there, Miss Shimmer,” Polish quipped.

“You’re all evil.”

Celestia raised a hoof and wiggled it. “Maybe a little? You try ruling a country as the classic ‘benevolent monarch’ for a thousand years and see what happens.”

Sunset stuck out her tongue at the Princess. “Maybe I will!”

Celestia’s eyes suddenly burned with a fierce warmth of pride and happiness.

“I sincerely hope so.”

Sunset didn’t have a clue what to say to that. She felt like she should have… but she had nothing.

“Hey, I was promised doughnuts!” Moon Dancer protested.

Celestia waved a hoof and lowered the bubble of silence. “Off with you. Both of you. Go enjoy yourselves.”

Moon Dancer bowed to the Princess. “Thank you, Princess.”

“No need for that.” Celestia laughed. “I have a suspicion we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, Miss Dancer.”

“I’d like that,” Moon Dancer replied with a suddenly shy little smile.

“Okay, okay, but you’re buying,” Sunset said as she got to her hooves.

“Nope. You’re buying.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the one making up for years of terrorizing this school with an iron hoof.”

“Moon Dancer?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“You get to use that excuse today and only today.”

“What? Aw! Yes, Princess,” Moon Dancer grumbled and levitated over Sunset saddlebags with hers in tow.

“And Sunset?” Celestia rose to her hooves as well and walked over to Sunset.

“Yes, Princess?”

Celestia just smiled, leaned down and hugged her. “Please remember, you passed your exam for this year. Maybe not as I expected, but you most certainly passed.”

Sunset stared into the Princess’s warm face. “Really?”

“Really... and one more thing…”

Celestia’s magic ignited and there was some sort of shift in the air. A spell she didn’t recognize swam through the room, darting between the debris before finally hovering over the remains of Sunset’s desk. A few moments later, there was a flash of light.

In front of Sunset floated two glass bottles. One was in the traditional shape of a round potion bottle, while the other was an angular flask.

The flask had Sunset’s own cutie mark on it.

The bottle had Moon Dancer’s mark.

Sunset stared at the Princess. Moon Dancer was frozen like a statue.

“Made from the flask the former dean so carelessly destroyed,” Celestia said quietly. “I don’t know if even you knew what it meant, Sunset… but I do. And so does Moon Dancer.”

Celestia levitated the flask with the sunburst mark over to Sunset and the moon and stars one to Moon Dancer.

Sunset stared at Moon Dancer.

Moon Dancer stared at Sunset.

Without a word, the two switched bottles and tucked the potions into their saddlebags, making sure they were safe and secure.

Celestia looked as if she had something in her eye for some reason, but her voice was still as warm and strong as ever when she spoke next.

“Now go celebrate with your friend.”

Sunset found that a goofy smile had taken up residence on her face and had no indication of leaving anytime soon.

She didn’t really mind.

“Come on, Moony,” Sunset said with a smirk.

“Oh, no. You did not just call me that!” Moon Dancer cried.

“Turnabout’s fair play.”

“Oh, it is so on, Sunny!”

“I can handle anything you can dish out, Moony.”

“We’ll see about that. Sunny.”

Just as they reached the door, Sunset heard two voices of the ponies still in the middle of the ruined classroom.

“Do you think she’ll be okay, Princess?”

“Yes, Apple,” Celestia replied. “I think they’ll both be just fine.”

“Sunny! Come on! I’m starving and I desperately need some coffee!” Moon Dancer complained from the hallway.

“Simmer down, Moony!” Sunset called. “I’m coming. But there’s something you need to know.”

“What?”

“I’m not drinking any coffee tonight.”

“Why not? Coffee and doughnuts is a tradition!”

“First, because I’m never drinking coffee again. Ever.” Sunset laughed. “Second, because if I don’t get sleep tonight, tomorrow I’ll be in a straightjacket. And third... for the first time in a long while… I think I might actually be able to get some real sleep tonight.”

“We’ll see how well you do after the doughnuts, Sunny.”

“Stop calling me that, Moony.”

“Sorry, Sunny. I plan on calling you that for years.”

Sunset rolled her eyes as they headed toward the main entrance.

“Yeah, I have a feeling you’ll end up doing just that.”

Author's Notes:

Closing Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6xr6VKg7sE

Welcome to the end of the first Keystone Book of The Wavelengths Timeline. With this story, the Origins Arc now has its true opening and will continue in Book 2, Bards of the Badlands.

I'll admit that reading this gets me a bit choked up. In truth, I've never really experienced this sort of thing of having someone stand up for me. But I have done it for someone else. It's a powerful moment, for everyone on all sides. Something you don't easily forget.

While many of you knew how the story was going to end, the journey counts just as much as the destination. Sunset's got a long journey ahead of her. You'll get to see much of it in the coming months with Bards of the Badlands as well as Book 4 of the Origins Arc, How Not To Use Your Royal Prerogative. In addition, once the Origins Arc is finished, we get to go on a whole new kind of adventure with Sunset, Twilight, Moon Dancer and everypony else. That adventure is the Infatuations and Other Lies Arc.

I'm looking forward to it. And I hope you do too.

While all of these stories are written to be completely stand-alone (save for specific sequels such as the Applications Arc), they are all part of an ongoing series. If you enjoyed Alchemy and you haven't had a chance to read the rest of the series, I recommend you give them a whirl. You can find all the links at the bottom of the author's note!

If you're interested in the development of this novella (and boy, what a development it had!), please go ahead and check out my Retrospective on Alchemy on my blog. There, you'll find a lot of the secrets, the plots and the schemes. This story was hard to write. After all, I had to write what Sunset thought she was doing, what the students thought Sunset was doing, what Celestia and the teachers thought Sunset was doing, what Slate was actually doing and finally what was really happening! As you can see... its a tad bit convoluted. To make things worse, Sunset's recollection of these events in the Applications Arc is rather off due to just how little sleep she got these last few weeks. Sleep deprivation can really screw with your memory!

A special shoutout to Ebon Quill, Little Tinker, Painted Heart and the newest member of the Wavelengths Editing Team, Beltorn! And let's not forget Alchemy's special guest beta reader, the one and only Tchernobog! Without them, this story would be a shadow of its potential. You owe them more than you know.

Until next time, this has been Novel Idea. I'll see you all in the next story!

Wavelengths Timeline Master Guide: Light Version | Dark Version
Stories set in the Wavelengths Timeline in chronological order:

Origins Arc
The Alchemy of Chemistry
Bards of the Badlands
Grading on a Bell Curve
Habits of the Equestrian Phoenix
How Not To Use Your Royal Prerogative

Applications Arc
The Application of Unified Harmony Magics
Princess Celestia: A Brief History
The Cloudsdale Report

Dreamers Arc
Tactics of Snowbound Unicorns
A Study in Chaos Theory
Teahouses of Saddle Arabia
As the Raven Flies

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!