Sunset Shimmer and her friends try to get their lives back to normal following the events of "Repercussions."
Following the events of Repercussions, Sunset Shimmer and her friends try to get their lives back to normal. But they're finding "normal" a little hard to come by. And little do they realize that recent events have attracted some unwanted attention.
It is STRONGLY recommended that you read "Repercussions" before reading this story.
Sunset Shimmer sighed as she entered the school office. She had only been back for a day since getting out of the hospital after the magical attack that had put her into a three-day coma. It had also been three days since she and her friends had fought the one responsible for putting her into the coma in the first place.
Sunset grabbed her arms and looked at the floor as the memory of their enemy being torn apart by an out of control cyclone of magic played through her mind again. She hadn't wanted that.
She hadn't wanted what happened to her friends either. Pinkie's arm was in a cast and Rarity...
She tried not to let her guilt over what happened to Rarity overwhelm her. Rarity had told her repeatedly that what happened to her wasn't Sunset's fault, but it was hard to not feel responsible. It had been her actions back before the Fall Formal that had put everything in motion, and while she felt she had made some progress in forgiving herself, or at least getting to a point where she could live with her guilt, she still had moments where she thought the girls would have been better off if they hadn't become friends with her.
Sunset sighed again and shook her head. Okay, enough self-loathing. It happened. It sucks, but it's not all your fault. You know that. And you and the rest of the girls are alive after all that. That's what's important.
Her shoulders slumped. I just wish I could believe I actually deserve to be alive.
She looked up and walked to the office desk. Pepperdance, the office student aide, looked up as she approached.
“Hey, Sunset!” she said brightly. Sunset forced down her doubts and smiled back.
“Hi, Pepperdance. How are you feeling?”
Pepperdance had been one of the bystanders caught in the crossfire during her friends' attempts to figure out who had attacked Sunset. She had returned to the school the day before.
“Eh. Slight headache, but the doctor says it should go away in a couple of days.”
“Well, that's good. I got paged. Principal Celestia wants to see me?”
Pepperdance nodded. “She's waiting for you. Go on in.”
“Thanks.”
Sunset crossed the room and knocked on the principal's door.
“Come in.”
Sunset look a deep breath and went inside. Principal Celestia looked up as the door opened.
“You wanted to see me, Principal Celestia?” Sunset asked.
“Yes, Sunset. Please, come in.”
Sunset closed the door behind her and took a seat. She swallowed as she saw Vice Principal Luna leaning up against the wall. Celestia finished writing on the paperwork in front of her and looked up.
“How are you feeling?”
Sunset blinked. “Um... just fine. The doctor said there's no risk of brain damage, since I was only out for a few days.”
“And your friends? I saw Rarity in a wheelchair this morning?”
Sunset swallowed and began rubbing her arm. “There was an accident. She's sort of paralyzed.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “'Sort of?'”
“There's no actual damage to her spinal cord,” Sunset said quickly. “Just some serious muscle swelling and some trauma to her brain. With physical therapy, they think she'll regain the use of her legs in a few months to a year.”
“How did this happen?” Celestia's face was a mixture of concern and sternness.
Sunset sighed and closed her eyes. “We found who attacked me. They were corrupted by magic. We had to confront her on the football field. She was stronger than us. Rarity and Pinkie Pie got hurt.”
“And who was it?”
Sunset told her. The principal's eyebrows shot up. “You're absolutely certain about this, Sunset?”
Sunset nodded. Celestia picked up the phone. “I'll need to check the attendance records, see if she's been in class the last few days.”
“She hasn't,” Sunset said. Celestia put the phone down and she and Luna looked at her student. Sunset refused to meet their eyes. An unwelcome conclusion came to Celestia's mind and her eyes widened.
“Sunset,” she began softly. “Where is she?”
Sunset turned her head back and Celestia could see tears forming in the corners of the girl's eyes. “She... she didn't – We didn't want to. I tried to help her, but it was too strong. There's nothing left of her.”
Luna walked over, reached into a desk drawer, pulled out a tissue and handed it to Sunset. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Celestia turned in her seat and looked out her office window for a moment, considering. Sunset swallowed and shifted in her chair, unsure of what to say, or even if there was anything to say.
“Do her parents know?” the principal asked, turning back. Sunset shook her head.
“Not yet. But we're supposed to see them this Saturday. Her girlfriend arranged it.”
“Girlfriend?” Celestia looked surprised.
“Yeah, we're going to tell them what actually happened, and then figure out what to tell the police. She says she has an idea that will keep us all out of the public eye.”
“I think it may be too late for that,” Luna sighed.
“What do you mean?” Sunset asked, her stomach sinking.
“While you were in the hospital, there was a news report about some sort of incident at the mall. And from the looks of things, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were involved somehow.”
Sunset paled. “They what?”
“Oh, dear, they didn't tell you yet, did they?” Celestia looked uncomfortable and reached into another drawer, pulling out a newspaper. “I saved this. You may want to look at it.”
Sunset took the paper and began reading, her eyes widening at the report of a massive rampage a the mall that caused thousands of dollars in damage. It got worse when she saw the accompanying photo. It seemed to be a screenshot from the mall security cameras. A tall woman in black overcoat and floppy brimmed hat was standing in the hall, firing what looked like a gigantic beam of energy into the ceiling of the mall. The beam's luminescence washed out a lot of the background, but Sunset spotted a winged female form in the corner of the shot.
She put the paper back on the desk and met Celestia's gaze. “Oh boy.”
“Yes.” Celestia put the paper aside. “Now, I know you've been doing your best, but it looks to me like the magic is running out of control.”
“I know.” Sunset looked at her feet. “I don't know what's happening, but we've been dealing with it as it happens as best we can.”
“Yes, but if things continue to escalate like this, it's going to attract attention. Official attention.”
Sunset nodded. She had nothing to argue the point with. Celestia looked at her, as if she was sizing her up. Then she slapped her hands on the desk, causing Sunset to jump in her seat.
“Right,” Celestia said. “So for now, the administration of Canterlot High School has no knowledge of the cause of these unusual events, and cannot comment on why they seem to be happening around the building. We are cooperating with all authorities interested in the matter.”
“That's the school's official policy regarding everything that's been happening,” she said. “Unofficially, whatever help you need, Luna and I will give it to you. And if that means playing dumb, well...”
Sunset blinked again as Celestia crossed her eyes and made a goofy face. “We don't know nothin' 'bout nothin'.”
Sunset bust out laughing, the principal and her sister following soon afterward. After a minutes, they got themselves under control. Sunset wiped her eyes and looked up.
“Thank you. Both of you.”
Celestia smiled. “You've turned yourself around and you and your friends have managed to keep magic from running rampant. And while we're not entirely happy with your plan to deal with the fallout from this recent one – “
“I promise I'll fill you in once we have everything solidified.”
Celestia held up a hand. “I believe you. But, as I was saying, while we have concerns, the last thing any of us, especially you, need is the authorities discovering magic exists in this world now. So if there's anything we can do to protect you and your friends, I want to assure you that we will.”
Sunset frowned. “You're risking a lot for us.”
“We know,” said Luna. “But we think making sure you all can operate freely when something happens is worth that risk.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Then keep us informed, please,” Celestia said. “We need to be able to take whatever precautions we need when this happens to keep the rest of the students safe.”
“I will,” Sunset said. The principal nodded.
“All right, I think you should get back to class, Sunset,” said Luna. “And we'll talk again Monday morning.”
“I'll come in before classes start. I should have more information by then.”
“All right, Monday before classes. We'll see you then.” Celestia nodded.
Sunset stood up. “Thank you both again. Hopefully, there won't be any other magical problems for a while.”
“We certainly hope so,” said Luna.
“And should anyone of an official persuasion contact us, we'll be sure to give you a heads up.” Celestia stood up and extended a hand. Sunset gave a small smile and extended her own. The two shook hands. Sunset shook hands with Luna and left the office.
Celestia sat back down as her sister came around the desk and sat in the chair Sunset had occupied. “Are you certain we're doing the right thing?”
“Part of our job is to protect our students,” Celestia answered. “And that includes seven girls with magical powers who would be very interesting to some of the less scrupulous elements of society.”
“You can just say 'the government,' sis,” Luna smirked.
“Not just them. There's plenty of private sector assholes who would love to get their hands on Sunset and her friends. That is not happening on my watch.”
Luna sighed. “I know. I just hope this last incident hasn't already put undue attention on us.”
“If it has, we'll deal with who or whatever shows up.”
Celestia looked down at her desk. Amid the various papers, forms, and other paraphernalia, a post-it note sat on one side of the blotter. It had been waiting for her after she had come back from grabbing coffee from the teacher's lounge. It had also caused her to call Sunset to her office.
The alarm clock went off at its usual time of “far too damn early in the morning for Rarity.” And, as had happened ever since she came home, she swung her arm to turn it off, only to forget that the nightstand was on the other side of the bed now and smashing her hand into the wall.
“Owwww!” Rarity pushed herself up into a sitting position, holding her injured hand. “Not again!”
“Rarity?” came her mother's voice from the hallway. “I heard something. Are you all right?”
“I'm fine, Mother, just hit my hand on the wall... again.” She rolled her eyes, huffed, and drew back the covers. She looked down at her feet and frowned.
All right. Today we make progress.
Rarity concentrated, trying to force her toes to move. True, she had barely started physical therapy, but she was determined to get herself moving under her own power again, especially after the doctors told her such a thing was possible. So, every morning, she made the attempt.
And, as had happened every morning since she began, her toes refused to move. Rarity sighed and re-positioned her legs so she could get out of bed and into her chair, which sat next to the bed. She shifted herself into the chair and wheeled her way out of the downstairs guest room, which had become her room since the incident at the football field.
In the bathroom, she ran a bath for herself, adding bath salts that added nutrients to her skin. Paralyzed or not, she would never let it be said she couldn't take care of herself. When the tub was sufficiently full, she turned off the water and began removing her nightgown. Getting out of the diaper (which, admittedly, she wore more for insurance than anything) was still a bit of a challenge but she managed it. With the aid of the handrail her father had installed over the weekend, she began transferring herself from the chair to the edge of the tub. From there, she slowly began working her way into the tub itsel –
SPLASH! “Damn!”
Rarity sputtered as she slipped off the edge and into the tub, sending water everywhere. She had landed hard, with one leg folded up under her, and the other wedged into the wall with her knee up. Pain shot up from the part of her spine she could feel and she let out a cry as she tried to get herself situated.
The sound of frantic footsteps came from the hall and the bathroom door burst open, admitting Cookie Crumbles, Rarity's mother. She took one look at the situation and rushed over.
“Hang on, sweetie, I'll help you!”
With her mother's help, Rarity got herself situated correctly in the tub, sitting up with her legs out in front of her. She looked up at her mother, blushing slightly. It was embarrassing for Rarity to have her mother see her naked at this age.
“Thank you, Mother dear,” she began, grabbing the loofah from off the wall where it hung. “I'm situated now.”
“Are you sure?” Cookie's voice and expression mirrored her concern. Rarity resisted the urge to roll her eyes and groan. She loved her mother deeply, but whenever Rarity was ill or something happened, Cookie became inordinately overprotective.
“I'm fine,” Rarity answered. “Truly, I am.”
“All right,” Cookie said, getting to her feet. “But as soon as you're done, I want you to call me. No trying to get back out by yourself.”
“I'm not an infant, Mother. I can handle it.” Rarity hated the petulant tone in her voice, but she had to convince her that she could function perfectly well.
“I know you can, sweetie,” said Cookie. “But I'd feel better if I were here just in case something happened while you try.”
Rarity sighed. “Yes, Mother, I'll call when I'm done.”
Cookie leaned over and kissed Rarity on the cheek, adding to the awkwardness of the moment. “All right. I'll leave you to it then.”
Cookie left the bathroom. Rarity sighed in exasperation.
Fluttershy had been kind enough to pick her up for school that morning. While there was some concern whether Rarity's wheelchair would fit in the back of the quiet girl's smart car, it had turned out to fit just fine in the small cargo area when collapsed.
Fluttershy pulled her car up against the curb of the school's drop off area. She got out and retrieved Rarity's chair, setting it up on the curb. Rarity unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. She studied the level of the car versus the level of the seat of her chair.
“Do you need some help, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.
Rarity smiled. “Thank you, but no, darling. I'm fine. Just give me a moment.”
Rarity shifted her legs out of the car, then reached out for the armrests of the chair. She grabbed them and began levering herself out of the car. She got herself partway out of the car, and frowned as she realized she should have reversed the position of her hands to turn so she could sit in the chair.
All right, Rarity, you can do this. Just... take a small jump and swap hands. Easy.
Fluttershy saw Rarity's expression and leaned in. “Are you sure you don't want my help? I don't mind.”
“I'm fine, Fluttershy, thank you. Just give me a moment.”
Rarity took a deep breath and pushed off the armrests. She swapped her hands in mid-air but her left hand failed to grab the right armrest and she fell, slamming her shoulder into it. She let out a cry. Fluttershy rushed over and helped her into the chair. Rarity caught her breath and looked up at her friend. Fluttershy wore an expression of deep concern.
“Are you all right? Did you hurt anything?” she asked. Rarity flipped her hair back into place and gave her a small smile.
“Only my pride, darling. I'm fine.”
Rarity rolled her chair down the lunch line, the tray rail just below the level of her shoulders. She moved the tray along with one hand, her other hand moving and steering the chair. She stopped in front of Granny Smith.
“How's it goin', dearie?” the lunch lady asked.
“I'm fine, thank you,” Rarity answered. “Could I get the green salad, please?”
The lunchlady smiled, reaching over the counter with the salad bowl. Rarity reached up and took it, placing it on the tray. Granny Smith passed over a small container of blue cheese dressing. Rarity reached up to take it when there was a commotion behind her and someone slammed into the back of her chair. She lost her grip and rolled forward, her fingers smacking the bottom of the container, causing it to fly out of Granny Smith's hand.
The dressing spun in the air and landed on Rarity's lap with a loud splat, spilling all over her skirt. A couple of inconsiderate students who saw what happened let out a laugh. Rarity looked at the mess in her lap, then back up at Granny Smith.
“Oh, I'm so sorry, dearie. One sec, I'll come help you clean up.”
“Thank you, but no,” Rarity said, her voice free of any sort of annoyance or anger. “Accidents happen. I'm fine. Could I have some napkins please?”
Napkins were passed over and Rarity cleaned herself up. She got another side of dressing and wheeled her way to her friends' usual table.
The final bell rang and Rarity skillfully navigated her wheelchair through the throng of students to her locker. She dialed the combination and rolled back so she could open the door, then rolled forward. She reached in, took out a few books and placed them in her backpack. She zipped it shut, rolled back again and closed the door.
She wheeled her way through the halls and stopped in the main atrium of the school. She looked at the main exit where most of the student body were exiting. She sighed, and rolled down the corridor to her right, heading for the exit with the wheelchair access ramp.
“Rarity!” There was a multicolored blur and Rainbow Dash appeared next to her. “Glad I found you. Me, AJ, and Pinkie are going over to Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie's buying for once! Wanna come?”
Rarity considered then smiled up at her friend. “Thank you for the offer, Rainbow, but I'm afraid I have a physical therapy session this afternoon.”
“I thought you only did that every other day?”
“I know, but that sadistic mountebank that dares to call himself my therapist thinks an extra session a week will be helpful. Personally, I think he just wants to push me until I cry like I did at our first session.”
Rainbow smirked. “Well, with a name like Tough Love, you could be right.”
The two giggled. “Thank you anyway, darling, but I really need to go. Tell the girls I'll join you next time.”
“You sure? I could go with you if you want some company while Tough Love puts you through your paces.”
Rarity smiled. “I'm fine, Rainbow. Go. Have fun. I'll see you all tomorrow.”
“All right, Rares, as long as you're sure.”
“Shoo, darling!” Rarity fluttered her hands. “And make sure Pinkie pays you back for all the times you covered her.”
Rainbow grinned and ran off back toward the main entrance. Rarity heard her friend's footsteps as she disappeared down the nearly empty hallway. Rarity sighed and wheeled her way toward the west exit.
She had no physical therapy appointment today.
Rarity wheeled her way into her room. She tossed her backpack next to her dresser and made her way over to the desk where her sewing machine sat. A small glass orb-shaped paperweight that she used to keep her fabric form falling off the desk while she worked sat next to it.
She pulled out the chair under the desk and wheeled up next to it. She pushed off with her hands and gingerly started transferring herself to the chair. She slid one hip onto the edge of the desk chair and began pushing.
Suddenly, she felt the wheelchair slip out from underneath her. She threw out her arms, grabbing hold of the sewing machine as she began to fall. It slid along the smooth wood of the desk and Rarity pushed herself away form it as she, the machine and the wheelchair all toppled to the ground.
Rarity smashed her fists against the carpet. She reached out and grabbed the first thing she could: the paperweight. With a scream of anguish and frustration, she hurled the paperweight across the room, where it shattered against the wall. She heard running footsteps, most likely her mother or Sweetie Belle, running down the hall.
She pushed herself up and braced her arms, her hair draping around her as she looked at the floor. Words tumbled out of her mouth like a mantra as tears fell from her eyelashes.
Twilight Sparkle adjusted her glasses for the sixth time in two minutes and stared once again at her phone. She had her text messages open and stared at the one she had composed to Sunset Shimmer.
We have to talk.
She had been waffling on sending the message for the last half hour. She knew she needed to talk to Sunset, to make her feelings known about what the redheaded girl had done to Gardenia Glow. Twilight had been shocked and appalled when she learned what Sunset had done to her former competitor and inadvertently started the chain of events that resulted in what had happened the previous week, and had a crisis of faith where Sunset was concerned.
Twilight could admit it to herself if no one else: Sunset Shimmer was her savior. She had managed to help pull Twilight back from the magically induced madness that had nearly caused her to destroy all of reality. After that, Sunset had been instrumental in teaching Twilight that having magic wasn't necessarily a curse, that it could be used to do incredible, beautiful things, even if her first experience with it had been borne out of her buried anger at her former school, classmates, and principal.
And while Sunset had made no secret of the kind of person she was before Princess Twilight had first come through the portal from Equestria, the fact that she had done... that had made Twilight uneasy.
“Maybe... maybe we should reconsider whether we actually should bring Sunset back.”
She wasn't proud of those words. She wasn't proud of the fact that she had doubted Sunset's friendship, but what had happened between her and Gardenia had offended her on such a primal level that the words slipped out before she knew what had happened. Her other friends had, of course, been just as offended at Twilight's suggestion and the six of them had a long talk shortly afterwards. It had been during that talk that Fluttershy had suggested that Twilight talk to Sunset about her feelings.
Hence, the waffling on sending the text.
Twilight knew she had to talk about it. She needed to talk about it. But her brain, in that delightful way it had, kept throwing out reasons not to bring the subject up: Sunset had just gotten out of the hospital. Sunset had only been back at school for a couple of days. There was that trigonometry test. The girls were all getting together for a movie. Excuse after excuse to keep putting off having a conversation she didn't really want to have.
But I need to have it. I need to find out her side of things, let her know how much what she did bothers me.
Twilight put her phone down and ran her hands through her hair, letting out a growl of frustration. But am I just going to be ripping open old wounds for her? I know she feels terrible about it, and with what happened last Saturday, she's got to be feeling even worse.
A frown crossed her face as she picked the phone back up. What's the right thing to do? What would a good friend do? Try to spare one of her best friends the pain of dredging up old mistakes or confront her about something that bothers me, but happened a long time ago and has nothing to do with me?
Twilight stared at the text, the “send” button active and just waiting for her to tap. Twilight tried to think of all the things her friends had told her when she first said something. She thought back to the night at the Twisty-Freeze when they had confronted her.
Fluttershy had been the first. “You do what we did. You talk to her about it.”
Rainbow Dash, loyal as ever, had even given her an out. “And if you still think you can't be friends with her after talking to her, that doesn't mean we'll stop being your friends. That's not how we roll.”
Twilight smiled as she remembered how the other girls had rallied to Rainbow's promise. Rarity had summed everything up in her usual succinct manner.
“No one expects you to be okay with Sunset's past, Twilight. We only want you to give Sunset a chance to show you that Sunset is gone and she truly isn't that person anymore. Do you think you can do that when we get her back?”
Twilight nodded to herself. She had told the girls that she could give Sunset a chance once she had recovered. Sunset was back and Twilight knew that no matter the outcome, their mutual friends would be there for her if she needed them.
“If it be done, 'twere best done quickly,'” she thought. I can't wait any longer. If I do, it's only going to get worse until Sunset suspects something and forces the issue. And who knows how much damage that could cause. I don't want to lose her.
Twilight looked at her phone again. She frowned and nodded with a determined expression. She tapped the “Send” button and watched as the icon spun for a few seconds before turning into a check mark, indicating the message had been transmitted.
“Principal Celestia,” came the voice of Raven Quill, the school secretary through the intercom. “Phone call for you on line two.”
Celestia sighed and put down the forms she was looking at. “Take a message and tell them I'll call them back this afternoon, please.”
“Um... it's Mayor Mare, Principal. She sounds kind of... frantic, to be honest.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. When doesn't she?
“All right, I'll take it. Thank you, Raven.” She picked up the receiver and punched line two. “Hello, Mayor.”
“Have you been getting any unusual calls from the government?” The mayor did, indeed, sound frantic.
“No, aside from the usual stuff from the CEA, the state's been pretty quiet.”
“Not the state. Federal government.”
Celestia's eyes widened. “What's happened?”
“Nothing yet,” the mayor admitted. “But my office has been fielding calls from some government agency I've never heard of. They were asking about the incident at the mall last week, as well as the one back in July.”
“I see.”
“That's not all though. They were also asking about the incident at the Canterlot Bowl.”
Celestia felt her teeth clench. The incident in question was the Battle of the Bands and the fight against the Dazzlings. While the official story had been that the giant sea monsters and laser unicorn was stage pyrotechnics and holograms, it had also been the one incident Celestia had been certain would attract the wrong kind of attention.
“What agency are we talking about?” she asked.
“One second. Um... the Specialized Taskforce Overseeing Remarkable Matters.”
“Never heard of them. Did they say what department they're with?”
“I've been avoiding the calls, to be honest. My assistant has been asking what it's all about.”
Celestia sighed. “Mayor...”
“I know, I know, but I don't know what to tell them!” The mayor let out a sigh of her own. “You assured me no one would believe what's been happening, Celestia.”
“I know, but we need to keep up the front for as long as we can. We can't let those girls wind up as lab rats or, god forbid, part of some idiotic attempt to militarize the power they have.”
“So what do I tell them? I can't keep dodging them forever.”
“Stick to the story we established,” Celestia said. “As long as we're consistent, we should at the very least be able to buy some time to figure something else out.”
“What are you going to be doing?”
“Try to find out more about who these people are and who they report to. Do you have a contact name?”
“Yes, it's... hang on... Tempest Shadow.”
Celestia frowned and looked at the post-it note on her desk with the same name and, she assumed, the same phone number. “Right. I'll make some calls and get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Do it fast, please. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to talk to them and I'll try to keep up the act, but from what my assistant said, this Tempest Shadow person seems really sharp.”
“Right. I'll get back to you in a day or two. If you hear from them again, let me know.”
“All right. I hope you know what you're doing, Celestia.”
“So do I.” They made their goodbyes and the principal hung up the phone. She punched a button on her intercom. “Luna, could you come in here for a minute?”
“On my way,” came her sister's voice. After a minute, Luna walked into the office and sat down. “What's going on?”
“Trouble,” Celestia answered. She filled Luna in on the conversation she had with the mayor.
“That's not good,” Luna concluded. “What do you need me to do?”
“Do you still have those... friends of yours online?”
Luna frowned. “Are you sure you want to go that route? That's skirting dangerously close to the line.”
Celestia sighed. “I know, but I'm not going into this blind, and I'm damn sure not forcing Sunset and her friends to do the same. I want to know exactly who these people are and who they answer to. We don't have the time to file an FOIA request, so that just leaves your old gang.”
Luna nodded. “I'll need to secure the connection when we get home, but I'll see what I can do. What am I looking for?”
“Anything on something called the Specialized Taskforce Overseeing Remarkable Matters, and someone who works for them named Tempest Shadow. They're the one who keeps calling here and the mayor's office.”
Luna jotted the names down on a post-it and looked at them. “Oh lord. We may be dealing with some seriously unhinged people here.”
“What do you mean?”
“The acronym,” Luna replied. “It's one of those that screams whoever started it wanted to sound intimidating and figured out what the letters stood for afterward. 'STORM.' Honestly.”
“Silly name or not, we need to know who they are and what their track record is. Can they be reasoned with, or are they prone to sending in SWAT teams and asking questions later?”
Luna nodded again. “I need to make some calls before I make any overtures online. My friends can be jumpy.”
“We'll see how you feel when they start asking what's in it for them.” Luna got up and pocketed the note. “I'll let you know how it went later tonight at home.”
With that, the vice principal left the office. Celestia slumped back in her chair and turned to face the window. This is not what I signed up for when I decided to become an educator.
She turned her head to look at the picture of herself and Luna on the desk. It had been taken her senior year at Canterlot High, when Luna was starting as a freshman. A strange event had happened back then too, when the Friendship Games had been first proposed and held. Nowhere near as strange as what was happening now, of course, but the more she thought about it, the more Celestia had to admit the school seemed to be a magnet for all sorts of oddities and strange events. Only now, the strange events were becoming more dangerous and if not handled correctly, would not end well for anyone involved.
Celestia swiveled back to her desk and reached into the bottom drawer. She withdrew a shot glass and a small bottle of bourbon. She poured out a shot and downed it, wincing as the liquor burned her throat on its way down. She returned the glass and bottle to the drawer and went back to her paperwork, trying to keep her concerns at bay until Luna returned with some answers.
Sunset was walking home when she heard the horn. She looked up to see Applejack pulling up next to her. She was driving Big Mac's truck. She waved at her friend and walked up to the truck as Applejack leaned over to roll down the passenger window.
“Howdy, Sunset!” Applejack leaned back upright.
“Hey, Applejack,” Sunset leaned up against the truck door. “What are you doing around this part of town?”
“I was at Sugarcube Corner with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Big Mac texted me, asked me run to the hardware store. Gotta restring the fence around the chicken coop this weekend. Figured I'd get the stuff we need now so we can get it done first thing Saturday.”
Applejack jerked a thumb behind her. Sunset leaned over and saw a roll of wire fencing and posts in the bed of the truck. “Good plan.”
“Ya wanna lift home? I go right by your building.”
“Sure.” Sunset opened the truck door and climbed in. Applejack put the truck in gear and pulled back into traffic.
As they drove, Applejack looked over at Sunset, who was looking out the passenger window, resting her chin on her hand.
“You all right, sugarcube?”
“Huh?” Sunset blinked and sat up. “Oh, sorry. I'm just thinking.”
“'Bout what?”
Sunset sighed. “Principal Celestia called me into her office today. She's worried about the fallout from everything that happened last week.”
“I see,” Applejack said. “Anything in particular?”
“Was there some sort of magical fight at the mall while I was out?”
“Yeah,” Applejack sighed. “Rainbow, Twilight, and Rarity were checking out a lead with that new magic detecting doohickey Twi kludged together. They ran into her and a fight broke out. It made the news.”
“Great. Like that's not going to attract any attention.”
“It's not like they went lookin' for a fight. It just happened.”
“I know.” Sunset slumped in her seat. “Principal Celestia's worried about somebody official looking deeper into the magic. She's worried about us.”
“We can handle ourselves.”
“I know. Believe me, I know.”
The truck stopped at a red light. Applejack looked over at Sunset. The redheaded girl had her arms folded in a way that Applejack knew meant Sunset was worried about something.
“You frettin' over the magic again?” she asked.
“Kind of,” Sunset admitted.
“You don't really think the government or somebody would send people after us, do you?”
Sunset shrugged. “I wish I knew. I want to think that if somebody official did take an interest in us, and we couldn't convince them otherwise, we'd be able to work things out. Show them that we're not dangerous and can handle anything magical that is. But I don't know.”
The light turned green and Applejack stepped on the gas pedal. “Somethin' else is botherin' you. I can tell.”
Sunset gave her friend a rueful smile. “You always see right through me, AJ. It's not just the idea that this last thing might have sent up some big red flags to someone in the government. It's what happened last Saturday.”
“Sunset, you know we couldn't have saved her. The magic was too strong, you said so yourself.”
“I know. But I keep thinking about it, about how we could have tried something else. Maybe Twilight could have yanked her out of the cyclone with her telekinesis or something. I don't know. I just feel like we failed. No, like I failed.”
Applejack pulled up to the curb outside Sunset's apartment building. She turned off the engine and looked at Sunset. “You didn't fail, Sunset. We tried everything we could, but she refused to stop. She was long gone before everything went haywire.”
“There had to be a better way.” Sunset turned her head to look at her building. When she spoke again, her voice was almost inaudible. “Princess Twilight would have found a better way.”
“Stop.” Applejack's voice was hard. Sunset looked back at her in surprise. Applejack fixed her with a stern look.
“You can't keep comparin' yourself to Princess Twilight. You ain't her.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't. I ain't sayin' she's better than you, which is what I know you're thinkin' right now. You are Sunset Shimmer, an' the Sunset Shimmer I know is just as capable of figurin' out the right way to handle a problem as Equestria's Princess of Friendship.
“You don't need a crown or a title to know what the right thing to do is, sugarcube. And last week, the right thing to do was make sure as many people could be saved as possible. You, me, and the other girls. As for her, even if the magic hadn't backfired on her, I think she'd already made up her mind. You can't save someone who don't wanna be saved, Sunset.”
“It doesn't mean we shouldn't have tried.”
“And when were we gonna do that? It was over in seconds! Pinkie Pie and Rarity were hurt, we were all pushed to the limit, and just in case you forgot, you had just come out of a coma! Magic or not, you looked like death warmed over, and you needed a doctor just as much as Pinkie and Rarity. How the hell do you figure that, even if we had the time, we even had the ability to save her?”
“I don't know!” Sunset yelled. “All I know is that someone's dead because of something I did, and another girl's family was destroyed!”
“She forgave you for that!” Applejack yelled back. “Stop crucifyin' yourself!”
“It's my fault, Applejack! Everything that's happening now is my fault! I didn't save her, I spread that stupid rumor that started everything, and if you go back far enough, I turned the magic on full blast when I tried to use it at the Fall Formal starting all of this!”
“You ain't the center of the god damn multiverse, Sunset! People make their own choices. She chose to get revenge! She chose to misuse the magic! She chose to keep fightin' even after you warned her disaster was comin'! It's her own damn fault she's dead, and frankly, if it comes down to her or us, then I'm glad it was her!”
Sunset stared wide-eyed at her friend, her face flushed from her recent outburst. She opened her mouth, then closed it. She opened the door of the truck and got out, slamming the door behind her.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said, her voice cold and distant.
“Sunset, wait!” Applejack called, but Sunset had already reached the door of the apartment building and vanished inside. Applejack stared at the door for a long while before taking off her hat and punching it.
“Dammit.”
Inside the building, Sunset threw her front door open, slammed it shut and braced her back to it. She slowly slid down to the floor. Tears began flowing down her cheeks and something broke inside of her. Her teeth clenched and she sobbed silently as everything that had happened over the last week crashed in and overwhelmed her. She felt her eyes and nose start to run as she cried. She ignored it, having neither the strength nor will to move.
She rested her head against the wall as she cried her anger and guilt out. She hugged herself, trying to get her emotions under control. After a few minutes, she calmed down. She got up and went to the bathroom. She wiped away the tears and snot, then ran the sink and splashed water on her face.
As she grabbed a towel, she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She blotted the water off her face and put the towel back on the rack before grabbing it. She had received a message from Twilight.
We have to talk.
Sunset sighed. She knew this was coming. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had told her about the late night meeting at the Twisty-Freeze while she had been in a coma. She knew Twilight had concerns about her and what she had done in her past. Guilt rose up inside her chest again. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and sniffled.
After a moment, she opened them and sent her reply.
Rarity hissed through her teeth and furrowed her brow. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she flexed her arms, sliding the saddle up the inclined track, until she reached the top. She relaxed and let the saddle slide back down, the elastic cables strapped to her wrists becoming taut and stretching as she dropped.
“Good!” came the voice of Tough Love, her physical therapist. “Just seven more!”
“Seven more?!” Rarity cried. “You said seven more two ago!”
“Those two didn't count and you know it,” Tough Love replied from his place behind her, holding her legs. Rarity was stretched out, face down on the saddle, her legs belted together at the knees. “Seven more. Let's go!”
Rarity growled and started flexing her arms again, dragging herself back up the rails. “You are a callous, insensitive sadist, Tough Love.”
“You used that one on Monday,” the therapist answered. “You running our of material?”
“I'll show you who's running out of material, you over-muscled, bloodthirsty baboon!” Rarity let out another cry of exertion as she finished another rep. She slid back down and began her next one almost immediately.
Tough Love grinned. “That's more like it!”
“I need to get through this,” Rarity growled as she made her way back up. “So forgive me for borrowing one of my friend's favorite retorts. Bite me, darling.”
Tough Love laughed, causing Rarity to growl again. She reached the top and slid back down, starting immediately as she hit the bottom. Tough Love frowned.
“Okay, Rarity, slow down a little.”
“Never!” Rarity hit the top and slid back down, starting again. “I will not be held up as an object of ridicule!”
Tough Love blinked. “Um... is something bothering you?”
Rarity didn't answer, reaching the top, and pushing herself down. The saddle slid back and she began hauling herself up again as soon as she hit the bottom. Tough Love frowned.
“Rarity, slow down.”
Rarity pulled herself back up again, ignoring the pain in her shoulders and arms. She hit the top and let out a small scream before letting herself down. She began pulling back up but Tough Love grabbed her hips and stopped her.
“That's enough, Rarity.”
“You said seven. I shall give you seven!” Rarity snarled. She began pulling again, but Tough Love held her in place.
“Enough!” Tough Love undid the belt around Rarity's legs and moved to undo the straps on her wrists. As soon as his hands were off her, Rarity pulled as hard as she could, dragging herself up the incline. The saddle hit hard, the shock causing her legs to fall off the saddle. Tough Love quickly grabbed a pin lying next to the machine and jammed it into the track, stopping the saddle from moving.
Ignoring Rarity's protests, he brought her chair around and managed to get her into it, despite Rarity pounding her fists into his arms and chest. He strapped her feet into the footrests and wheeled her out of the main gym into a side room. He walked around and knelt in front of her.
Angry tears were flowing down Rarity's face. Although she had forgone makeup for her physical therapy session, the tracks of her tears were still clear on her cheeks. Small damp spots dotted the tank top she was wearing.
“Put me back on that damn thing!” she demanded. “I have work to do!”
“Not until you tell me what's going on.” Tough Love put his hands on the armrests of the chair.
“What's going on is you are deliberately impeding my progress, for some reason I cannot even begin to fathom! You told me that if I wanted to walk again, I would have to put in the work. Well, I'm putting in the work!”
“And you're being reckless about it,” Tough Love replied, his voice calm and even. “You aren't going to get better overnight. It's going to take time.”
“How long? Weeks? Months? Years?! I know there are plenty of people who have it worse than I do, but damn it, I want to walk! I want to be able to look at people eye to eye, not eye to chin! I want to feel the carpet of my living room on my bare toes! I want my bedroom back! I want my life back!”
“And you'll get it,” Tough Love said. “But not by ignoring me or doing the exercises in a way that could wind up hurting you even more. You were lucky that your spinal cord wasn't damaged and what we have to do is work through the trauma your brain suffered. But that's not going to happen right away, and it may not happen at all if you do something to cause an actual spinal cord injury.”
Rarity looked away, but the therapist gently touched her chin and convinced her to look back at him. The anger was gone, replaced by melancholy.
“I'm sorry,” Rarity whispered.
“It's okay. It happens. A lot more often than you might think.”
“I just – my friends need me. And they need me to be at my best. I need to be at my best, in case something happens again.”
“What do you mean?”
Rarity looked around then back at him. “Close the door, please.”
Tough Love looked perplexed but got up and closed the door. Rarity turned her chair around and looked up at him. “What I'm about to show you goes no further, understand?”
Tough Love frowned but nodded. Rarity held up a hand, and the therapist goggled as four small crystals appeared and hovered above her palm. His expression got even more astonished when she sent the crystals flying around the room, weaving and dodging each other before returning to Rarity's hand. She closed her fist around them, and when she opened it again, the crystals had vanished.
“What was that?” Tough Love asked.
“Magic. Real magic,” Rarity answered. “My friends and I all have it. And we do what we can to keep it from running rampant across the city. Did you hear about the fiasco at the mall last week?”
“Yes.”
“I was there. We were up against someone who had come into possession of magic and was using it to hurt people. We managed to stop her, but it came at a price.”
She pointed her hand downward and a large crystal appeared under her chair. Rarity locked the wheels and raised her hand, the crystal lifting her off the ground. After a few seconds, she put the chair back down and the crystal vanished. She looked at Tough Love, a sad expression on her face.
“That's how this happened.” She gestured to herself. “And I have a friend, a very close friend, who blames herself for what happened to me. I can't let her keep on thinking that. I need to get better. I need to be at my peak, because if this happens again, and I'm not at my best, she could die. Any of us could die.”
Tough Love nodded. “I understand. But you have to understand that, for now, this is your life. We can work as much as you want, but if I think you're doing something unsafe, I'm gonna stop you. That's my job. You want to look out for your friends. I'm here to look out for you. And you need to stop trying to rush it. You are looking at weeks, if not months, of work before you'll even be able to think about walking again. And even if you do, you'll probably never walk the same way as you did before the accident. You might need a cane. You might need crutches or leg braces. It's too early to tell.”
He knelt down again and put his hands on Rarity's shoulders. “But I can also tell you this, you are one of the toughest, most stubborn patients I've ever had. And that's exactly what you need to be. Tough and stubborn, but smart too. And that means listening to your therapist when he says you're done, understand?”
Rarity nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good. Now, I think that's enough of that for today. How about some leg work?”
Rarity quirked an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”
Tough Love grinned. “We got a new toy. Robot legs.”
“Robot legs? What on earth are those?”
“Let me show you.”
Tough Love opened the door and wheeled Rarity down the hall into another room. A treadmill was set up in the room, but attached to the wall was what looked like, as far as Rarity could tell, a pair of robotic pants attached to a stand.
“How does it work?” Rarity asked.
“We get you situated in these,” Tough Love began, opening the clasps in the front of the pants. “They support your weight. Then we start the treadmill and this little gadget moves your legs along. As it does, it gradually begins lowering your full body weight onto your legs. That way, not only are your leg muscles getting a workout, but it's retraining your body what it feels like to support your own weight. Wanna give it a shot?”
Rarity looked the device over, then at her therapist. “Far be it from me to deprive my torturer of his latest diabolical instrument of suffering.”
She held up her arms. “Do your worst, you insidious but semi-personable bounder. I can take whatever you dish out!”
Tough Love grinned and began preparing the machine. Behind him, Rarity took a deep breath and set her jaw. There was work to do.
Luna opened the box and pulled out the brand new notebook computer she had purchased on her way home after school had let out for the day. She quickly booted it up and connected the wifi. She opened the installed web browser long enough to download a special web browser from a site which had an address that was only a ludicrously long string of numbers.
When the browser was installed, she reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a portable hard drive. She connected it to the notebook and downloaded several innocuous sounding programs. In truth, each of these programs ranged in legality from available for purchase from any electronics store, to one in which the mere possession of the program was a Class C felony in most states. All of these were downloaded to the tiny computer.
Once everything was in place, Luna booted all of them up in a specific sequence, then looked at the readout from a monitoring program that coordinated everything. Once she was satisfied, she opened the new browser and entered another ludicrously long string of numbers. What came up was a chat room. Luna signed in with a name she had not used in years, and was taking a great risk using again if certain individuals in certain sections of certain government agencies were monitoring the room again.
All right, hopefully this will get his attention.
Luna clicked the “login” button and typed out her entrance.
NightmareMoon: BOW, PEASANTS, YOUR QUEEN HATH RETURNED!
PlaceHolder: What?!
00Pryde00: NMM!!!
Zyxxyz: MY QUEEN!
PuzzLED: Who dat?
CaptKlondyke: Holy shit, you're back?!
PlaceHolder: Learn your history, PuzzLED.
CaptKlondyke: Been a long time, NMM, where've you been?
Luna smirked. She could always count on the old gang to be excited when she showed up. PuzzLED was new, which meant they'd have to be watched in case they were a plant. She'd also have to hope who she came to talk to would make themselves known soon, otherwise she'd have to wait at least a week and buy another computer to try this again.
NightmareMoon: Had to go under after ForeverNight. But I got feeling nostalgic and decided to check up on you all.
CaptKlondyke: Risky move, NMM.
00Pryde00: I don't buy it. Either you're planning something or you're not NMM.
PuzzLED: Who the fuck is this? What's going on?
PlaceHolder: *sigh* Of course this comes up. NMM? Call sign, please.
Luna nodded to herself. This was a safeguard they had come up with to ensure the people who came into the room were who they claimed to be. Hopefully PlaceHolder and CaptKlondyke remembered her old call sign.
00Pryde00: Okay, you're NMM, but I doubt you'd break cover just for nostalgia.
NightmareMoon: … I could never pull one over on you 00Pryde00. I need help.
PlaceHolder: Not another ForeverNight?
NightmareMoon: God, no! I have some spooks sniffing around my neighborhood. I need help figuring out their deal.
PuzzLED: Okay, so she did some big thing in Manehattan forever ago. Who cares now?
CaptKlondyke: Spooks? Did they finally track you down?
NightmareMoon: No, but someone I know is attracting attention. Nothing related to anyone here.
PlaceHolder: That's not good.
PuzzLED: Spooks? What the hell kind of heat is this bitch bringing here?
PuzzLED has been kicked.
CaptKlondyke: Thank you!
NightmareMoon: What's with him?
Zyxxyz: He's new. I think he's some 14 year old from across the sea.
The chat entertained themselves for a while speculating on who the recently ejected PuzzLED was, but Luna soon found herself drawn away from the conversation by a private message that popped up.
CacoPhonee: You shouldn't have come back.
Luna smiled. Bingo.
She muted herself in the main chat and turned her attention to the private room CacoPhonee had created.
NightmareMoon: I know. But this is serious. I need help.
CacoPhonee: This had better not be another ForeverNight.
Luna frowned. CacoPhonee was going for the throat early. She must have made him really worry.
NightmareMoon: You know I didn't intend for ForeverNight to do that.
CacoPhonee: Doesn't matter what you intended. Manehattan had a three day blackout because of it.
NightmareMoon: I KNOW. But this has nothing to do with that. I need some information on some government agency I've never heard of.
CacoPhonee: And I should care, why?
NightmareMoon: They're tracking some of my students. There's been a series of incidents out here. I really can't say more about what kind, but they're on government radar.
CacoPhonee: I know about what's been going on out there. Who's sniffing?
NightmareMoon: STORM.
There was a pause in the chat. Luna waited, unsure if she was going to get a warning, a joke, or if CacoPhonee would just leave altogether.
She got none of these.
CacoPhonee: What's it stand for?
Luna told him. CacoPhonee asked a few more questions about what she wanted to know. Luna was upfront and honest, asnwering every question as truthfully as she could. CacoPhonee didn't press her about which of her students had attracted attention, only asking what she knew about STORM.
CacoPhonee: Okay, so you need to know who they are, what they do, who they work for, and anything about this Tempest Shadow person. Sound about right?
NightmareMoon: Yes. Can you help?
CacoPhonee: I may be able to dig something up. But we can't hand off here. PuzzLED's a plant, and there's more and more of them showing up. You need to make yourself scarce after tonight. Using your old handle was a bad idea.
NightmareMoon: I needed to find you fast. This seemed like the best way to do it.
CacoPhonee: I know. You still have that dropbox in the real world?
NightmareMoon: I'll need to set it back up again. Three days?
CacoPhonee: I can only spare you two. Got a lot of irons in the fire.
NightmareMoon: Two days. I'll check after sundown.
CacoPhonee: All right. Make your goodbyes and get out. Don't come back here again.
NightmareMoon: Thank you.
CacoPhonee: We'll talk about payment later. Now go. The Queen is dead.
NightmareMoon: Long live anarchy.
The private chat closed and Luna was returned to the main chat room.
PlaceHolder: You okay, NMM? You went quiet.
NightmareMoon: Sorry, private chat. I got what I needed.
CaptKlondyke: Oh good.
00Pryde00: So you gonna stick around? We're all curious what you've been up to.
NightmareMoon: I can't. I'm sure I've already attracted too much attention by coming back under this handle. I need to go. But it was good to see all of you again.
CaptKlondyke: You too.
00Pryde00: Good to see you.
Zyxxyz: Farewell, my Queen.
PlaceHolder: We'll miss you.
NightmareMoon: I'll miss all of you too, but my time is done. But remember, that while I may be gone...
PlaceHolder: THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!
Zyxxyz: THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!
CaptKlondyke: THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!
00Pryde00: THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!
NightmareMoon: FAREWELL, LOYAL PEASANTS, YOUR QUEEN BIDS YOU GOODBYE!
Luna closed out the browser, disconnected from the internet, then formatted the hard drive of the computer. Once that was done, she shut it down, and took it out to the backyard of the house she shared with her sister. She placed the computer on a handy tree stump and vanished into the shed next to the large greenhouse. She emerged with a pair of safety glasses and a large sledgehammer, which she used to pulverize the brand new machine.
As she was cleaning up the remnants of the computer, Celestia appeared in the backyard. She was carrying a couple of beer bottles. She handed one to her sister.
“Productive afternoon?”
“We'll know in a couple of days. I have someone looking into it. I'll be getting something then.”
“And the wanton cruelty to the common household word processor?”
“I had to use my old handle and there was someone there who most likely a government plant. I couldn't stay long and I'm not taking any chances.” Luna took a swig of beer.
Celestia nodded. “Can we trust your contact?”
Luna pulled the bottle from her lips. “No. But he's reliable, and we're not transferring anything online. With luck, we'll have all the answers we need by Saturday night.”
Celestia nodded again. “Here's to good luck then.”
“To good luck,” Luna agreed. The two clinked their bottles together.
“Huh?” Applejack's head shot up. She had been sitting in the booth, resting her hand on her chin, idly playing with the straw in her soda. The school day was over. Rarity had a physical therapy session. Rainbow Dash was at soccer practice. So, Applejack had joined Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy at the diner at the mall for milkshakes.
Not that she had been drinking much of hers. She was preoccupied with the awkward silence happening between her and Sunset. At lunch earlier in the day, Sunset had come over to their usual table and had made sure to take a seat on the same side as Applejack, but as far away from her as possible. They hadn't spoken directly to each other through the entire lunch period. And as soon as she was finished, Sunset had left the table, telling Twilight she would see her after school.
She hadn't said a single word to Applejack.
“APPLEJACK!”
Applejack yelped and sat bolt upright in her seat. Pinkie Pie's face filled her vision. Pinkie grinned brightly and sat back in her seat.
“Good!” she chirped. “You're back.”
Applejack sighed. “Sorry, gals, just kinda preoccupied.”
“Yeah, we kinda noticed.” Pinkie grabbed her milkshake and began sucking it down. “What's going on?”
“I dunno if I wanna talk about it.”
“Did something happen between you and Sunset?” Fluttershy asked.
Applejack blinked and groaned. “Am I really that obvious?”
“No... well, yes,” Fluttershy answered. “At least when something's bothering you.”
“So, tell us what's going on!” Pinkie piped up. “Then we can work it out and start all hanging out together again.”
Applejack blinked and thought. Pinkie's right. All seven of us haven't been together except at lunch since... last Saturday.
Filing the thought away in the back of her mind for now, Applejack took a drink from her shake and looked at her friends. “I kinda screwed up yesterday when I gave her a ride home.”
“What happened?” Fluttershy asked.
Applejack sighed and told them about the disastrous conversation she had with Sunset the day before. “And now, I dunno if she even wants to talk to me anymore.”
“We've all been through a lot over the last few days,” said Fluttershy. “I think she may be overwhelmed.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie added. “I know I had to take a day or two to recharge after all that. Maybe Sunset just needs more time.”
“Maybe after we talk to... her parents on Saturday, Sunset will be able to move on. You know how prone to guilt she is.”
“Yeah, but I coulda handled the whole thing better. I shouldn't have yelled.”
“Maybe not, but give her some time,” said Fluttershy. “She still has to work through things with Twilight and maybe she hasn't really come to terms with what happened.”
“I just wish she'd stop takin' the weight of the world on her shoulders.” Applejack leaned back in her seat again. “I worry about her. She lives by herself. No family around when she needs it. I mean, sure she can talk to Princess Twilight through the journal, but she still spends a lot of time alone.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I worry about her too. Especially after what happened. She's only been out of the hospital for a couple of days now.”
“Maybe I should plan a sleepover for all of us?” Pinkie was subdued. “I mean, after Saturday when we do... the thing? Something to try to get a little bit of normal again?”
“You're askin' permission?” Applejack quirked an eyebrow. “You never ask, you just do.”
“I know, but I know after everything that's happened, I just thought that until we all started feeling like our old selves again, maybe I should not just spring a party on everyone.”
“I think it's a good idea, Pinkie,” said Fluttershy. “It could be exactly what we need.”
“Really?” Pinkie's mouth curled up in a smile. “Okay! I'll put everything together and we'll all get together at my place Saturday night!”
“I can bring some games over!” Fluttershy's voice was excited. “We just got Pawns vs. Everybody!”
“Oooh! I love that game!”
As Pinkie and Fluttershy began planning the events of the upcoming sleepover, Applejack found herself staring at her soda again.
I gotta do somethin'. Sunset's gonna keep blamin' herself for what happened. An' I'm pretty sure she's gonna be even lower after talkin' to Twilight.
Sunset was the center of their group now, even Applejack knew that. She didn't start out that way, but the group had become stronger after the Battle of the Bands, and everything felt complete once Twilight had transferred to Canterlot High. Seven friends, closer than sisters, with the magic Sunset had brought through the portal binding them together. But ever since last Saturday, it felt like their center was slipping. Things were fragmenting and it was forcing Applejack to confront something she hoped she would never have to confront again.
She was on the verge of losing her family.
“To hell with that!”
Pinkie and Fluttershy looked up with quizzical noises at her outburst. Applejack's face was stern and determined.
“Are you okay, Applejack?” Fluttershy looked at the farm girl, concern evident.
“I gotta go. Sorry, gals.” Applejack tossed a couple of bills on the table and left the diner. She stalked out to the parking lot. She had borrowed Granny Smith's truck today, which was a small mercy, since she didn't have the time or inclination to fight with the starter on Big Mac's truck. As she climbed into the cab, she got out her phone. She stabbed at Sunset's name on her contact list and put the phone up to her ear.
“What do you want, Applejack?” Sunset's voice was low and cold. Applejack frowned. She didn't like the way her friend sounded.
“Are you all right, sugarcube?”
“Yeah, I guess. Twilight just left. We talked.”
“Everything all right between you two?”
“Maybe. I don't know. She didn't really say much when she left.”
The tone of Sunset's voice was familiar and frightening. A quote from a poem Applejack had studied in English class came unbidden to the farm girl's mind.
Things fall apart. The center cannot hold.
She frowned, her natural stubbornness rising up in her chest. Not today. Not ever.
“I'm comin' over.”
“It's fine, Applejack,” Sunset protested. “She just needs time to process everything.”
“This ain't about Twilight.”
“Look, if this is about yesterday, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been such a bitch to you.”
“It ain't about that neither.”
Sunset's sigh was audible over the phone. “Applejack, it's been a long day and I'm really not in the mood for company right now.”
“Sunset, I'm sayin' this 'cause I love you; tough shit. I'm on my way. I got somethin' to say to you and I'm not leavin' you alone until I say it to your face. Understand?”
There was silence then: “Fine.”
“Good. I'll be there in ten minutes.” Now that she knew Sunset would see her, Applejack allowed her voice to soften. “Just... promise me you'll be there when I get there, okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Promise me. Please.”
“Okay,” Sunset's confused voice said. “I promise I'll be here when you get here.”
“Good. Be there soon.”
The call ended and Applejack started the truck. Sunset may have been confused about her request, but Applejack heard the note in her voice. The note she remembered hearing when she was much younger. The note that ended in tragedy.
The note that Applejack refused to let herself or anyone she cared about ever hear again.
When Sunset answered her door, Twilight was taken aback. Sunset's expression was blank and apathetic. She had noticed earlier in the day that Sunset was distracted and preoccupied. She had also noticed that she and Applejack didn't appear to be speaking.
And now, her friend was in front of her. Sunset looked exhausted. Her hair, normally vibrant and bouncy, hung limply from her head. With the exception of being conscious, Sunset looked no different than she had while she was in the coma.
“Come on in,” Sunset said, standing aside. Twilight came in. Sunset closed the door and gestured to the couch.
“Go ahead and have a seat. I'll be right back, I need to feed Ray.”
Sunset climbed the stairs leading to her loft, while Twilight took a seat on the couch. On an end table next to it were a few empty soda cans and a half-empty Chinese takeout container with a pair of chopsticks sticking out of it. Twilight leaned over to look inside the container and immediately recoiled when she caught a whiff of the odor emanating from it.
“Oh, sorry,” came Sunset's voice. She came around and grabbed the takeout container. “I forgot about this. I guess I went nose blind.”
Sunset tossed the container in the garbage and returned to the couch. She sat down and fixed Twilight with that same unnerving blank stare. “Well? Say what you have to say.”
Twilight blinked. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine,” Sunset answered. “I just really don't want to have this conversation, if you want me to be honest.”
“I don't either.” Twilight looked at her feet, swallowed, and looked back up at Sunset. “Why did you do it, Sunset?”
Sunset sighed and drew her legs up on the couch. She wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. “The same reason I did anything back then: just to get more power and influence. I would have done the same to anyone who decided to run against me.”
“But you outed her.”
Sunset looked at her toes. “I know. But that wasn't part of the plan. The idea was to insinuate she wasn't a nice girl. I had no idea she was gay.”
Sunset looked up. “And if I had, I promise you, I wouldn't have done it.”
“Really? Why?” Twilight's face was perplexed. “From what the girls have told me, you would do anything to win back then.”
Sunset's expression softened and regret appeared. “Not that. Never that.”
“I don't understand. Why not?”
Sunset sighed. “Because it would make me a hypocrite, Twilight. I may have been a mean, selfish, ambitious bitch, but I always made sure everybody knew exactly where I stood on anything.”
Twilight considered Sunset's words and blushed. “Wait... you'd be a hypocrite? Sunset, are you – ?”
Sunset rolled her eyes and interrupted. “Yes, Twilight, I like girls. I like guys too. Big deal. But even at my worst, I wouldn't ever use someone's orientation against them. The idea is repulsive and offends me on a fundamental level.”
Sunset looked at Twilght and saw her friend looking at her warily. She sighed and tried to smile. “Sorry, that was harsh. I'm not mad at you.”
“I just...” Twilight trailed off and she looked away from Sunset. “I know. And I know you've changed, but it's hard. I just don't know how to feel about that. I mean, I'm not gay or bi, but it's just so repellent to me that you would do that, intentional or not. I'm sorry.”
Sunset put her feet down and leaned forward. She lightly touched Twilight's shoulder. “I don't blame you. It was probably the worst thing I've ever done in my life, and now, I'm paying for it. No, other people are paying for it. Have paid for it.”
Sunset's eyes began to sting and she wiped them with the palm of her hand. “I don't know what I can do to help you get past this, Twilight. All I can say is that the person you met at the Friendship Games is who I am now. I still have a temper, and I don't think that will ever go away, but I'm a better person.”
She reached out and took Twilight's hand. Twilight looked up, trepidation on her face. Sunset's own expression was pleading.
“Please, Twilight,” she said. “Please give me the chance to prove it to you.”
Twilight swallowed, her own eyes tearing up. She took her glasses off and wiped them. She didn't put them back right away, instead looking at Sunset with sad eyes.
“I... need some time to think, Sunset,” she said. She put her glasses back on and stood up. “I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you like this, but I can't give you an answer right now.”
Sunset nodded. “That's okay. I understand. Take as much time as you need.”
The two girls walked to the door. Twilight opened it, then turned and hugged Sunset. “I promise I won't take long.”
“Okay.” Sunset returned the hug. The two broke apart. Twilight gave a timid wave goodbye and left the apartment. Sunset closed the door and slumped up against it. She let out a long sigh.
Her phone began to ring. She reached into her pocket and looked at the screen. She sighed again as she saw the call was from Applejack.
Might as well go for broke.
“What do you want, Applejack?”
Ten minutes later, there was another knock at the door. Sunset had used the time to do some basic cleaning around the apartment. The whole time, her mind had been preoccupied with thoughts about Twilight and Applejack. She was worried she was on the verge of losing Twilight's friendship, and she was concerned about the promise Applejack had extracted from her on the phone.
Everything seemed to be falling apart. Sunset had felt disconnected from everything over the last few days. Like she was outside her body just watching things happen. And what she was witnessing frightened her.
Her friends were pulling apart. Twilight was unsure about her motivations. Rarity always seemed to find an excuse to not hang out with them. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were as close to the group as ever, but it had been a while since all seven of them had been together for fun.
And Applejack? Sunset didn't know what happened there. When Applejack had outright said she was glad their enemy had died and not them, something in Sunset had snapped and her temper had once again gotten the better of her. Now, as far as she knew, Applejack was coming to finally have it out with her.
And with the knock on the door, it looked like that time had come.
Sunset sighed and opened the door. Before she knew it, Applejack had thrown her arms around her in a frantic, almost desperate embrace. Sunset blinked, confused.
“I'm so glad you're here,” Applejack said.
“I'm... glad I am too?” Sunset was still confused. Applejack let her go and stepped back.
“I'm sorry about yesterday,” she said. “I was just tryin' to... I dunno, get you to see that you were blamin' yourself for somethin' that really ain't your fault.”
Sunset sighed. “Applejack, I – “
“Can you just let me say this, please?” Applejack asked. She walked fully into the apartment, closing the door behind her. She strode past Sunset, then turned around to face her friend.
“It ain't your fault she's dead. And I'm sorry she's dead too. I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't care. But, you've been a zombie the last couple of days. It wasn't bad at first but today...”
Applejack trailed off and dropped her head. Sunset walked over to her.
“AJ?” she asked, concerned. Applejack raised her head and Sunset blinked in surprise at the tears she could see forming in the farm girl's eyes.
“I've seen the look you had today before. And I needed to come over here so I could let you know that I ain't mad at you. Not a bit. I'm still here for you, sugarcube.”
Sunset smiled. “And I appreciate that. But, I don't get why you thought I wouldn't be here when you came over.”
Applejack gave her a sad look. “Because of your voice.”
“My voice?”
“You may not have noticed, but there was a note in your voice. I've heard that note before. And I don't ever want to hear it again from someone I love. It don't end well.”
“Applejack, I don't know what you – “ Sunset cut herself off as her brain finally put everything together. Her eyes shot fully open. “You thought I was going to kill myself?”
Applejack nodded. Sunset put a hand over her mouth, then put it down. “My god, AJ, why? I'm not suicidal.”
“Not yet, maybe.” Applejack walked over to the large picture window in Sunset's wall. She looked out over the hills and mountains that made up the valley the city lay in. “But you're slippin', Sunset. If somethin' didn't happen to stop you, sooner or later, you'd consider it... and then you'd go through with it.”
“You can't possibly know that,” said Sunset. Her voice was soft, careful to keep any accusation or anger out of it.
“Yeah, I can.” Applejack turned her head and Sunset saw something she had never seen in the farm girl's face before: pain. “Because I've seen it.”
Applejack rubbed her face and walked over to the couch. Sunset followed and sat down.
“You ever hear what happened to my parents?” Applejack asked.
“It was a car accident, wasn't it?” Sunset asked. That had been the story around the halls of Canterlot High even back during her queen bitch days. It was another fact that she had dismissed as off limits for her purposes.
“Kind of,” Applejack answered. “My dad died in a car accident. He was drivin' back from deliverin' some cider out to Dodge Junction. He got caught in a storm in the canyon. The road was slick, his brakes gave out and – “
Applejack stopped and wiped her eyes. Sunset put a hand on her shoulder. Applejack put her own hand over it and looked back at her.
“The funeral was a few days later. Apple Bloom was too young to understand what happened. But Mom did. Mom understood all too well. After the funeral, she started pullin' away. She kept thinkin' what happened to Dad was her fault. She was supposed to get the brakes on the truck checked, y'see? But she didn't get a chance to do it. Dad knew about it, and said he was sure everything would be fine.”
Applejack took her hat off and looked at it. Her voice was small and distant, far from the usual boisterous tone she normally used. “We all tried to get on with things. Mom tried to put on a brave face, kept smiling, kept making out like everything would be fine. But I could hear it in her voice.”
“The note?” Sunset asked.
“The note. It was always there. When she was laughing. When she was angry. When she kissed me good night or woke me up in the morning. But we didn't notice then. I think I might've be the only one who did, afterward.”
Applejack put her hat in her lap and looked at Sunset. Her eyes were brimming with tears that refused to fall. “And then, one morning, she didn't wake me up. Because she didn't wake up. And she never would again.”
“Oh, Applejack.” Sunset leaned forward and the two girls embraced. Sunset felt Applejack's strong arms hold her tightly, almost desperately. After a while, they separated. Applejack sniffled and wiped her eyes.
“She kept blamin' herself for Dad. And she kept it from us. She couldn't move on, y'see? She left a note. Told us all she loved us, and she was sorry, but she just couldn't go on with the pain and the guilt.
“And after her funeral, I vowed that would never happen to anyone I loved again.”
Applejack reached out and took Sunset's hand. It wasn't apologetic like Twilight's grip had been. It was firm, strong, and reassuring. “So when I heard the note from you, I knew you were fallin'. And I want you to know that I'll always be there to catch you, to help you up, anything you need.
“I ain't losin' anyone to the note again. Ever.”
Sunset looked at Applejack, her own eyes watering. Then she shot forward and the two embraced again, collapsing in tears and bawling. They stayed that way for a long while, crying out their shared pain. One crying for old love and loss. The other for guilt both deserved and undeserved.
Ultimately, it wouldn't resolve either one's anguish, but for that brief time, the two managed to find respite in each others arms, coming together in love and friendship.
“Is it contained?” asked the tall, regal looking purple woman in the slim black suit. A bright red crest of hair sprouting from the center of her skull flopped over one eye, looking incongruous with the rest of her head, which was closely shaved on both sides.
Across the way, several men and women dressed in black combat fatigues stood guard around a large truck. One of them slid a restraining bar across the door in the back of the truck. He turned and nodded. One of the women nodded in return and faced the woman in the suit.
“Secured and ready for transport, Agent Shadow.”
Tempest Shadow, senior field agent for the Specialized Taskforce Overseeing Remarkable Matters, nodded. “Good. Transport it to the Vanhoover station. We can relocate it to the Arctic from there.”
The woman saluted and barked orders for the team to move out. Tempest straightened her jacket and walked back to her car. As she thumbed the key fob to unlock the doors, a slow cello rhythm began emanating from her pocket. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and sighed when she saw the name on the caller ID. She swiped the screen to answer.
“Tempest Shadow,” she said.
“Tempest!” The voice was angry, male, and had a faint tinge of whining. Tempest rolled her eyes. While she appreciated the relative freedom she had to operate thanks to him, actually talking to Director Stormking put her teeth on edge,every time.
“Yes, Director. I'm here.”
“Are you in Canterlot City? Because I got your latest report, and you know what I'm not seeing? You anywhere near Canterlot City! What the hell are you doing?”
“Finishing up my current case in Caneighda, sir,” Tempest answered. “I've already started making calls to Canterlot and I'll be heading down there in the next couple of days.”
“When I gave you this assignment, I expected it to be your top priority, agent!”
“Yes, sir, but then we had this come up and you wanted me to help with the clean up here.”
There was a moment of silence, then: “Right. Yeah. I did say that, didn't I?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Fine fine fine,” the director said dismissively. “Finish up, but then get your ass down there. According to our intel, things have been quiet for almost a week. If we don't get on this now, the trail's going to go cold.”
“Like I said, sir, I've made some calls. No bites yet, but I'll keep on it until I can get there.”
“Good. One thing. We got more on one of the tall chicks with the laser hands.”
Tempest's teeth clenched and she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Do not correct him. That is not your job. That is HR's job. Just let him talk, and then you can go find something to punch.
“What's that, sir?”
She heard the sound of pages being turned. The Director hated computers and insisted on getting hard copies of everything. Yet another thing that made life difficult for everyone who served under him.
“Ah, here we go. Last Saturday, reports of laser woman blasting the hell out of a dress shop. And guess who witnesses also said were there?”
“The girls with the horse ears.”
“Bingo! Witnesses also reported weird lights behind the high school later that night. Odds are pretty good they're related. Get me answers, Tempest.”
There was a pause and Tempest swore she could hear the grin spreading across her superior's face
“And I'll get you the answers you want,” he finished. Tempest unconsciously raised a hand to the eye hidden by her hair. Her fingers traced the scar that cut across it, feeling the dry and coarse skin.
“I'll be there in two days, sir. Just need to finish up the paperwork here.”
“Good. I want a preliminary report by Monday. Don't disappoint me, Tempest. I don't like being disappointed.”
The call ended. Tempest frowned at the screen, then dialed another number. Another male voice answered. This one much more casual, and with a pronounced lisp.
“THTORM Intel. ID and Thecurity Clearanthe, pleath.”
“Senior field agent Tempest Shadow. Security clearance: violet.”
“Oh, hey, Tempetht! How'th it goin' up there?”
Tempest suppressed a sigh. How Grubber was still part of the intel department was beyond her. He never seemed to do much but sit at his desk, downing sweets all day.
“Fine, Grubber. Things are wrapped up here, but then I'm moving onto Canterlot City. Any pings in that area?”
“One thecond.” She heard keys typing, Grubber humming some formless tune, and then some kind of squelching noise. “Aw, darn it. Hang on, I dropped my donut. Jelly all over the keyth... ew.”
Tempest's lip curled up in disgust. She was so glad he wasn't the anchor around her neck in the field anymore. She considered it a minor miracle his transfer to a desk job came before she strangled him.
“Any time, Grubber.”
“Well, nothin' here that the Director hathn't already told you. But, thomething interethting happened here.”
“Yeah?” Tempest quirked an eyebrow.
“We came up on a dark web chat room. Thomebody wath athking questhtionth about uth. Thomebody everybody from the NSA to the FBI thought wath long gone.”
“Who?”
“We haven't confirmed, but the handle wath 'NightmareMoon.'”
Tempest frowned. “Remind me why I know that name?”
“The ForeverNight viruth. The one that cauthed the Manehattan blackout about fifteen or tho yearth ago.”
“Right. And they run the risk of getting caught to ask about us?”
“Lookth like it. Dunno why, though. One of the NSA guyth was in the room undercover, but they kicked him. By the time he wath able to get back, NightmareMoon wath gone.”
Tempest frowned. A mall rampage, then the new sightings at the dress shop. Unusual lights behind the high school. And now, just after she had begun making phone calls, a legendary hacker suddenly reappears, asking about STORM.
Tempest had seen plenty of strange and unusual things in her career, and as such, she liked to believe she had an open mind and was willing to entertain just about any possibility. One of the few things she did not believe in was coincidence.
Her phone calls had sent up a warning flag to someone. Maybe NightmareMoon themselves. If someone was trying to get information on STORM, then that meant they had something to hide. Something involving a group of girls with horse ears and wings, perhaps?
Tempest smiled. A slow, sinister smile that had made many of STORM's enemies and more than one of her fellow agents cringe in fear. Someone was opposing her, and Tempest was never happier than when she faced opposition.
Rarity arrived early on Friday. She had decided to wheel her way to school that morning, building on her arm work from the previous day. She had miscalculated how much time she was going to need and she ended up arriving a full half hour before the opening bell.
Much to her surprise, however, as she rolled up toward the plinth where the Wondercolt statue had once stood, she saw Applejack sitting on top of it, facing away from the school. While Applejack being an early riser wasn't strange, Rarity knew she usually had chores to do in the morning before school, so her being here already caused her to raise her eyebrows.
“Applejack?” she asked. The farm girl blinked and looked down from the plinth.
“Oh, hey, Rarity.” Applejack climbed down and dusted off her denim skirt. “You're here early.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“Couldn't sleep. Got up earlier than usual to get my work done. You wheeled yourself all the way here?”
“Yes, I did,” Rarity replied.
“Well, shoot, I coulda given you a lift, sugarcube.”
Rarity gave her a look. “And have you lift me into the cab of your truck? Seriously, darling.”
The two girls laughed. Rarity allowed herself to stretch. Despite her constant desire to look elegant and refined at all times, when she was alone with Applejack, she felt she could relax a little. Applejack didn't judge and she didn't gossip. And while the two butted heads over things like design versus practicality in clothes, when they weren't in conflict, Rarity appreciated the break from having to keep her image up all the time.
“In all honesty, though, the ride wouldn't have been necessary. I wanted to work on my arms. Need to keep this thing rolling along, after all.” Rarity tapped her armrest.
Applejack nodded. “How you doin' with that?”
“I'm fine,” Rarity answered. “It's a challenge some days, but nothing I can't surmount.”
Applejack frowned. Something in Rarity's voice bothered her, but she decided to let it go. “I'm sure you can.”
She sighed and pushed her hat back on her head. “Seems like we're all dealin' with challenges these days.”
“Oh? Are you all right, darling?”
“Me and Sunset talked yesterday. Had to sort some stuff out.”
Rarity looked up at her friend. “Is everything all right between you two?”
“Yeah, now. I kinda said some stuff badly about what happened last Saturday and she thought I didn't care.”
“Oh, my, and Twilight was planning to talk to her about what happened with Gardenia back then yesterday too.”
Applejack sighed. “That explains what I heard then.”
Rarity's eyes widened. She knew exactly what Applejack was talking about. “The note?”
Applejack nodded..“The note. I heard it in her voice when I called her. She's havin' a hard time coping with what happened on Saturday, and with me and Twilight, I dunno. I just wanted her to know we still need her.”
“So you told her?”
“Yep.”
Rarity reached out and touched Applejack's arm. “Are you all right, darling? I know how much it hurts when you talk about her.”
Applejack smiled down at her, and put her own hand over hers. “Yeah. We both had a little bit of a breakdown, but we felt better afterward. Sunset seemed a lot better when I left.”
“Well, that's good.”
“Yeah,” Applejack sighed. “I just wish it could last.”
The two of them looked at the mountains in the distance. The sun was rising behind them, casting the slopes in warm purples and oranges. After a moment, Applejack sighed.
“It's all comin' apart, ain't it?”
“Pardon?” Rarity looked up, confused.
“Us. We're comin' apart.”
“Pfft-tsk-tch! Nonsense, darling. We were triumphant! And yes, it nearly didn't end well for us, but we're stronger for it.”
“Are we?” Applejack asked. “You blew off goin' with me, Rainbow, and Pinkie to Sugarcube Corner the other day. You said you had a physical therapy session.”
“I did.”
“No, you didn't.” Applejack's voice was neutral. “I have eyes, Rarity. I saw the kind of day you were havin'. You're avoidin' us.”
Rarity frowned. When she spoke, her voice was tight “I am not avoiding all of you. I have been trying to cope with my situation.”
“I know,” Applejack said softly. “But you don't have to do it alone. You know that, right?”
Rarity's smile returned. “Of course I do. But right now, I still need to figure things out for myself. I'm hoping after we... resolve things tomorrow afternoon, I'll be ready for you all to help me. Until then, just know I don't plan on doing anything foolish or dangerous.”
The fashionista sighed. “Tough Love gave me quite the stern talking to about that.”
Applejack smirked. “What's goin' on with you and him? I ain't never seen you so invested in arguin' with somebody.”
Rarity sputtered again and blushed. “Well... I... He's... now see here, Applejack! I will have you know that my relationship with Tough Love is strictly professional! It doesn't matter how intense his eyes are... or how his muscles bulge under those scrubs... or that delightfully adorable beard of his.”
She trailed off, making an incoherent sigh of pleasure. Applejack chuckled.
“Strictly professional, gotcha.”
Rarity gave Applejack a wry look and smacked her in the arm with the back of her hand. “Oh, shut up, AJ.”
Applejack blinked at Rarity's use of her nickname and began laughing. Rarity started up just afterward. Applejack sat down at the base of the plinth and leaned up against Rarity's chair. After the laughter died down, the two sat in companionable silence, watching the sun cover the mountains.
Sunset skipped lunch that day. Despite the cathartic conversation with Applejack the day before, she had awoken feeling as low as she had before. When lunch came around, she found her appetite was gone. Plus, Twilight hadn't given her an answer on where their friendship stood, and Sunset didn't want to deal with the awkwardness of seeing her in the cafeteria.
She pushed through one of the side doors of the school, emerging onto the football field. She walked out to the far end zone. As she got closer, she swallowed at the sight of the large trench gouged in the grass. The goalpost was bent at an odd angle, casting a crooked shadow over her.
She came to the stop at the large circle of burned, dead grass near the end zone. She looked down at it, swallowing again as the memory of the previous Saturday night came to her.
“Help me! It hurts!” Her voice was high and piercing. Sunset reached out her own hand and thrust it into the column. She flew back almost immediately as the magic zapped her hard enough to knock her off her feet.
She got back up and stepped forward again, but found herself being held back, as Twilight and Rainbow grabbed her arms and began dragging her away. Sunset struggled against her friend.
“Let go! We have to save her!”
“We can't!” Twilight cried. “Look at it! It's all gone crazy!”
“She's toast, Sunset!” Rainbow said. Sunset looked at her and to her surprise, she saw regret in Rainbow's eyes. Rainbow sniffed and shook her head.
“It sucks, but she's too far gone. Come on!”
Sunset looked back at their enemy, who was still screaming in agony. The magic column had become a cyclone of pure white light. Her form was a shadow inside of it. Sunset felt her throat clench and she closed her eyes and nodded.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered again. “I wish we could have saved you.”
“So do I,” came another voice. Sunset looked up to see Rainbow Dash standing next to her. The athlete was more subdued than Sunset could remember ever seeing her. Rainbow looked up from the charred circle to Sunset. “I really do.”
“What are you doing out here?” Sunset asked. “You're missing lunch.”
Rainbow shrugged. “I missed you more. And I was wondering when you'd come back out here.”
“Why?”
“Because you're a guilt junkie,” Rainbow smirked. “You just can't move on when you think you've screwed up.”
Sunset frowned. “I am not a guilt junkie.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Call it what you want. I know it when I see it.”
Sunset folded her arms and let out an exasperated sigh. “And since when has Rainbow Dash known anything about guilt?”
Rainbow didn't answer. Sunset blinked and looked over at her. Rainbow had folded her own arms and was looking down at the charred circle. Her expression was mournful. Sunset put a hand on her shoulder.
“Rainbow? Are you all right?”
“Did any of the girls tell you what happened to Pepperdance?” Rainbow's voice was quiet and serious.
“Only that she attacked her and put her into the hospital,” Sunset answered.
“Pinkie and I were there. Pepps was meeting her. She had realized who she was, even with the changes the magic had made. I tried to save her, but... I failed.”
Rainbow leaned down and ran her fingers through the charred grass. “Pepps was bleeding and I felt so damn terrible that I couldn't stop it from happening. I didn't go to school the next day. I felt so damn helpless.”
Rainbow straightened up and looked at Sunset. She gave a small smile. “But, Rarity pulled me out of it. She told me I didn't have to keep acting like I was awesome incarnate around all of you. That it was okay to feel that way.”
Rainbow put a hand on Sunset's shoulder. “I didn't have to do it alone... and neither do you. We're safe around each other. We can feel whatever we need to feel.”
Sunset came forward and embraced Rainbow. She felt the athlete's strong arms tighten around her. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Hey, you would have done the same for any of us.” Rainbow pulled back. “You okay?”
Sunset was quiet for a moment. “Not yet. I'm not sure when, but I do think I'll get there. I think I really just need to hear from Twilight.”
Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. We kinda asked her to talk to you after she...”
“I know. And I don't blame her,” Sunset replied. “Have you heard from her in the last day or so?”
“Saw her around earlier. I think she's still deciding. She was pretty quiet in English, and that almost never happens.”
Sunset sighed. “Well, at least she hasn't made up her mind yet. That's progress, I guess.”
“She'll make the right decision. You're too cool to not hang out with.” Rainbow grinned and punched Sunset gently in the shoulder. “Not as cool as me, naturally, but you know, for second best, you're not bad.
Sunset smirked. “I bow to your superior logic, as always.”
“Damn right.”
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Rainbow dusted off her hands.
“Well, time for math.” She made a gagging sound. “Where are you going next?”
“Art,” Sunset answered. “I think it might help. I need to do something with all of this crap in my head right now.”
The two began walking back toward the school building. Rainbow slapped Sunset on the back.
“Well, listen, if you're up to it, let's head to the arcade at the mall after school. I hear they got an actual Uberguard prototype cabinet in.”
“That's just a rumor. I seriously doubt they'd bother making an offline arcade version of their best online shooter. Where's the market?”
“Who cares?” Rainbow replied. “They can do whatever they want with it. It's that awesome.”
“You just like it because Paradox is the cover girl,” Sunset smirked.
“Paradox is awesome. Not my fault you can't handle her.”
“Oh, please. Give me Webspinner any day.”
“Snipers are for people who can't handle getting close to the action.”
“Okay, that's it. You and me, the arcade, and if they don't have that machine, we're settling this online tonight.”
Gardenia Glow had only been home for about twenty minutes when her doorbell rang. She sighed, considered putting her bra back on, then decided against it. If whoever it was wanted to bother her, they could just cope with it. She put her long pink hair in a pony tail and got up to answer the door, adjusting her oversized t-shirt as she did.
She opened the door and blinked at the sight of Twilight Sparkle standing there. Gardenia frowned.
“I thought I wasn't meeting you and your friends until tomorrow.”
“You are, and I'm sorry,” Twilight said, looking at her hands. “I... need to talk to you.”
Gardenia sighed. “Look, I already told you it's okay you and your friends broke in here. If you hadn't, who knows how long it would have been before anyone came looking for me. If you're still stressing out about it, go home, raid your parents liquor cabinet, smoke a joint, masturbate until your hand goes numb, or whatever you do to relax. It's fine. You and me are good. Okay?”
Twilight, her face bright red from Gardenia's masturbation comment, stammered. “It – I – No, it's not about that.”
“Then what?” Gardenia snapped, folding her arms. Twilight swallowed and looked down at her feet. Gardenia saw how uncomfortable she was and sighed.
“Sorry. Bad day at work for me,” she explained. “What's going on?”
“I have to ask you something,” Twilight answered. “It's about Sunset.”
Gardenia quirked an eyebrow. “Really.”
“I know you probably don't want to talk about her, but it's important.”
“Does she know you're here?”
Twilight shook her head. “I haven't talked to her since yesterday afternoon.”
Gardenia frowned and stepped aside. “All right. Come on in.”
Twilight walked into the apartment and sat down on the love seat in the living room. Gardenia followed her.
“You want a drink or anything?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I'm okay. Thanks.”
Gardenia flopped down on the couch, grabbed a remote, and turned the TV off. “So, what do you want?”
Twilight was silent for a moment then took a deep breath. “Why did you forgive Sunset for what she did to you?”
Gardenia blinked. “What?”
“The other night, the girls told me what happened that started all this. And it just... offended me. On a deep, primal level. I was appalled and angry and I said some things that I regret, but I still kind of meant.”
“What did you say?” Gardenia's expression was neutral.
“I said that if that was what Sunset was like, maybe we should have reconsidered if we should actually bring her back.”
“Wow.” Gardenia got up from the couch and began walking to the kitchen. Twilight looked up, concerned, as the dark green girl disappeared into the kitchen. Gardenia reappeared with a bottle of rum and a couple of glasses. She put them on the table and poured a generous measure into each. She handed a glass to Twilight.
“Um, I don't drink,” Twilight said, confused.
“Trust me, you're gonna need it before I answer your question.” Gardenia clinked her glass against Twilight's and took a long drink. Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat, then took a reluctant sip. She gagged and started coughing as she felt the liquor burn the back of her throat.
Gardenia smiled. “Yeah, it can take you by surprise like that if you aren't used to it.”
Twilight put the glass back on the table as she finally stopped coughing. “I think... that's... enough for me,” she wheezed.
“Sure,” Gardenia said. She took another swig of her drink then looked at Twilight. “I forgave Sunset because I needed to.”
Twilight frowned. “I don't understand.”
“Sometimes, you don't forgive people because you want to make amends with them. Sometimes you forgive people who've hurt you so you can get on with your own life. I was so angry with everyone after Sunset outed me. Her, my parents, just about everybody. And it colored every aspect of my life. I don't think there was a single time where, underneath whatever I was feeling or showing on the surface, I wasn't still angry.
“But when I moved to Baltimare to start college, I made some new friends and a couple of them were the best kind of friends: ones who will call you out when you're being an asshole. They showed me that I was being confrontational with everybody, even my friends and professors. People who had no idea what had happened to me. I got some counseling and I realized I was going to have to do something to move on before my anger caused me to ruin my life in a permanent way.”
“So you forgave her? Just like that?” Twilight asked.
“No,” Gardenia answered. “Not 'just like that.' I came back here to see what had happened while I'd been gone. And while things didn't really get any better with my family, I did ask about Sunset. That's when I found out about the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands. I asked a few people I knew who still went to CHS, and with a couple of obvious exceptions, they all said the same thing: Sunset had changed.”
Gardenia let out a rueful laugh. “This'll sound really bad, but I even followed her one afternoon after school. I wanted to see how she interacted with other people. And yeah, she was kind and friendly to everyone. She had changed. And that actually made it easier. I was still angry with her, but I could see that she was making an effort to make up for who she was.
“Knowing that, it made me realize she probably wasn't ever going to do what she did to me to anyone else. So I forgave her. I didn't originally think she deserved knowing that I forgave her, but after a couple of weeks, I sent her the anonymous email you guys found.”
Gardenia finished her drink and poured another. “But I didn't forgive her because I suddenly wanted to be friends with her. I forgave her so I could move on. Like I told her the day she came here, I will never be friends with her. Ever. But I did forgive her for what she did to me. For my sake. Not hers.”
She sighed and leaned back against the cushions of the couch. She fixed Twilight with a look. “Does that answer your question?”
Twilight shifted in her seat. “It does, but...”
“It doesn't help you,” Gardenia finished. She sighed again. “All right. I'm going to ask you three questions and I want you to answer immediately. No thinking, no hesitation. Understand?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes.”
Gardenia held up one finger. “Do you still want to be friends with Sunset?”
“Yes.”
Another finger. “Do you believe she's the same heartless bitch she was back before you knew her?”
“No.”
A third finger. “Do you believe she deserves to be forgiven for what she's done in the past?”
“Yes!” Twilight blinked at how forcefully the word came out of her mouth. She stared at Gardenia in surprise.
“There's your answer.” Gardenia smirked and held out her glass in a toast. “Cheers.”
It was almost midnight when Luna finally arrived at the unmarked turn off the main road that led to her drop box. CacoPhonee had sent her a coded text about an hour beforehand indicating that he had dropped the information she wanted. Luna had left immediately.
She turned off the main road onto a bumpy dirt trail that disappeared into the woods lining the main road. After a few hundred yards, the trail ended at a clearing that had a fence running across the rest of the trail. A sign indicated the land beyond the fence was private property. Luna used the extra space to turn the car around and killed the engine.
She climbed out of her car, grabbing a large flashlight from the passenger seat. She locked the car and climbed through the gaps in the fence. She clicked the flashlight on and began making her way down the rest of the trail.
After about ten minutes, she made a hard right deeper into the forest. She counted six trees, then turned left. She walked for another five minutes before entering another clearing, the main feature of which was a large oddly-shaped boulder.
Luna went to the far side of the boulder, where a small alcove was located in the base. Luna knelt down and shone the flashlight into it. A small metal box was inside, with a combination lock securing it.
The vice principal pulled the box out and undid the lock. She opened the lid and smiled at the thick manila envelope inside. She opened the envelope and pulled out a sheaf of papers. She shone the flashlight on the first page and rifled through them. Several of the papers had the logos of government agencies at the top of them. As she quickly skimmed them, Luna's eyes widened and her eyebrows raised.
“What have you girls gotten yourselves into?” she whispered.
She returned the papers to the envelope, then locked the box and put it back in the alcove of the boulder. She placed the envelope under one arm and began making her way back to the car. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and called her sister.
“What do you mean they don't answer to anyone?” Celestia asked. She was currently standing in the kitchen, wrapped in a bathrobe. Luna had gotten home about a half hour before and had spent that time going through the contents of the envelope she had received. It was now almost two in the morning.
“I mean that, from what I can see, STORM gets its funding from no less than six different government agencies, plus part of Homeland Security's discretionary fund, as well what look like stipends directly from Congress and the White House.”
“Next you'll be claiming they run Area 51,” Celestia said dryly.
“You wouldn't be too far off,” Luna answered. She pointed to several of the papers scattered across the kitchen island. “STORM's funding comes from some of the places you'd expect: the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA. But here's where it gets weird. Other funding comes from the DIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and they're primarily concerned with military intelligence. And even more bizarre, there's funds coming from both NASA and the National Science Foundation.”
Celestia frowned and sat down next to Luna, looking over the papers. “That makes no sense. Why would two science agencies co-fund a taskforce with three intelligence agencies and the primary form of federal law enforcement?”
“I'm not sure.” Luna picked up another paper. “But if you want to believe the official documentation, STORM's mandate is, quote, 'to investigate all unusual events, phenomena, or occurrences in both domestic and foreign theaters, determine whether said events are hostile or pose a threat to United States interests both home and abroad, and if so, neutralize and/or contain them.' As far as I can tell these are the people the government sends in when there's weird stuff nobody can explain.”
“Such as magical girls with wings.” Celestia sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “And we have no idea what agency in the government is overseeing them?”
“If what we're seeing is correct, I honestly don't think they have any oversight. With both the FBI and the CIA footing the bill, that probably gives them authority on both the national and international level. I'm also concerned that the NSA and the DIA are involved.” Luna put the papers she was holding down. “If these people have that much autonomy, who knows what they can justify doing.”
“What's their track record?” Celestia asked. “How do they operate? There has to be records of that here, right?”
Luna moved several of the papers aside. “I saw something a few minutes ago. Where did I.. a-ha! Field reports to Congress.”
Luna skimmed the report and frowned. She looked at her sister, her eyes wide. “This is bad.”
“How bad?”
“Well, for most of the last decade, not a lot seems to happen, but in the last six years, there's been a lot of payouts to various civilian businesses or individuals. Damage claims, complaints from local law enforcement, all sorts of instances where STORM has rubbed somebody the wrong way.”
Celestia looked at the paper she had picked up. It was a brief synopsis of the history of STORM, complete with a listing of all the people who had held the position of Director of the agency. She looked at the name of the current Director and his date of appointment. “And the complaints started about six years ago, you said?”
“About that, yeah.”
Celestia passed the paper over. “That seems to coincide with the time the current Director was appointed. Cosmos Stormking.”
“So, the current Director of STORM looks to be the type who shoots first and asks questions later.” Luna leaned forward and put her head in her hands. “Fantastic.”
“Well, with luck, we won't need to deal with him directly. What did your friend dig up on Tempest Shadow?”
Luna sat back up and brought over another stack of papers. “According to what CacoPhonee found, Tempest Shadow is the most successful field agent in the history of STORM. She has a 97% closure rate on her cases. She's also listed as the agent in charge in most of those damage reports and complaints. Former military –“
“Army?”
“Air Force, actually. Decorated twice while in service. Later assigned to military intelligence, then when her tour was up, STORM grabbed her.”
“What's she like?”
Luna shook her head. “Doesn't look like CacoPhonee was able to get her personnel file. Most of what's here is stuff in the public record. But still, given her track record, it looks like she doesn't let anything stop her, and she seems to be willing to do just as much to close her cases. Not a fun person to be around.”
Celestia let a breath out through her nose. “In short, the results driven leader of STORM has sent his top agent, who has a reputation for ruthlessness, to look into the reports of strange sightings in this city over the past year, which may or may not involve girls with horse ears and wings.”
“That's about the size of it.” She looked down at the papers then back up at her sister. “Tia? Are we going to be able to protect those girls? This whole thing seems way out of our league.”
Celestia put a hand on Luna's shoulder. “It is way out of our league, but we have to do what we can. They may have magic on their side, but they're still children, Luna. It's our responsibility to make sure no harm comes to them, or at the very least, try to keep harm coming to them.”
“I could try to get more on her,” Luna offered. “I'd have to head to the next town over at least, but I think I – “
“No. I don't want you risking anyone else looking for NightmareMoon. We'll worry about Agent Shadow if and when she comes calling. In the meantime, we at least have a better idea what we're up against. Monday, we'll meet with Sunset and her friends and let them know who we may be dealing with in the future.”
Luna sighed. “I really hope you know what you're doing, Tia?”
“Me too, Lu.”
When dawn broke the next day, a nondescript black sedan entered Canterlot City limits. It pulled into the lot of a local diner and parked. Tempest Shadow got out of the car and entered the building. She took a seat at the lunch counter and ordered her usual field breakfast: two eggs over easy, three strips of bacon and whole wheat toast, coupled with the lifeblood of all government field agents, hot black coffee.
As she waited for her food, she sipped her coffee and let her ears work. She never went full bore into an investigation. It was much more productive to get a lay of the land first, and small diners like this were hotbeds of neighborhood gossip. She had gotten more than one lead by keeping her mouth shut and her ears open in places like this.
“Do we have enough?” A high pitched female voice squeaked. Tempest's head turned slightly. That voice sounded familiar.
“For the last time, yes, Sonata, we have enough.” The second voice, also female, was slightly lower and more nasal than the first. “Just like the last six times you asked.”
“Well, sorry, Aria,” the first voice whined. “Excuse me for not wanting to wash dishes again when we turn up short of money to pay for the food.”
“Maybe if you stopped spending everything you get from that job of yours as soon as you get paid, we wouldn't have to run out on the bill!”
“Maybe you could actually get a job and help out with the bills! You don't do anything but laze around the apartment all day!”
One of Tempest's eyebrows raised. This particular bickering seemed very familiar indeed. If her suspicions were correct, then a third voice should –
“Would you two knock it off?” A third female voice, this one low and sultry, entered the conversation.
Ah. There it was.
“We have enough to pay the damn bill,” said Voice Number Three. “So can we, for once, just enjoy a meal in peace?”
“If you want to call this stuff a meal,” Aria complained. “Right now, even the pathetic magic native to this world would be better than this crap.”
“Well, you know we're never getting that again,” the third voice replied. “Those girls made sure of that!”
Tempest's eyes shot fully open and she resisted the urge to spin around. There would be time to confirm her theory later. Right now, she didn't want to give the three any indication she was here.
“And whose fault was that, Adagio?” Aria retorted.
“I seem to recall you being just as interested in getting their magic as I was.”
“Same here!” piped up Sonata.
Aria let out a noise of disgust. “Not helping, Sonata.”
“Helping what?”
Adagio groaned. “Look, I... oh, forget it. I'm going to go pay the bill. You two do whatever the hell you want.”
Tempest didn't move for the next few minutes except to sip her coffee. She slowly moved her eyes so she could see the exit of the diner out of the corner of her eye. Her patience was rewarded as she saw two teenage girls, one pink with purple hair done up in twin pigtails, and one blue with a darker blue ponytail shot through with streaks of purple go through the doors, still bickering with each other.
“That'll be $17.50, hon,” said the waitress at the cash register. Tempest risked turning her head slightly. The yellow teenage girl with the voluminous golden hair handed over some money to the waitress. She received her change and turned to go to the exit, bringing her face fully into Tempest's field of vision.
Tempest didn't allow herself to smile until the yellow girl had left the diner. There was no doubt about it now that she had seen them. The STORM agent drank down the rest of her coffee and signaled for the check.
Sunset was brushing her teeth when the knocking came. She walked out of the bathroom, still wrapped in the towel she had put on after her shower and went to her front door. She opened it a crack and her eyes widened when she saw Twilight Sparkle on the other side.
Twilight raised a hand in greeting. “Hello, Sunset.”
Sunset stepped back and opened the door. “Twilifghtm!” she sputtered around the toothbrush still in her mouth. She looked down at it, going cross-eyed, then rolled her eyes in annoyance. She gestured for Twilight to come in, closed the door when her friend came in, and dashed back to the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste foam in her mouth. She returned a minute later, brushing out her hair.
“Sorry about that,” she apologized. “I wasn't expecting you until later.”
“I know.” Twilight sat down on the couch. She looked at Sunset and blushed. “Um, your towel's slipping.”
Sunset blinked and looked down. Sure enough, the towel was beginning to loosen around her chest. She let out another sigh of annoyance. “Just a sec. Let me get dressed.”
She dashed up the stairs to the loft and returned a few minutes later in her usual blue top and jeans. She was carrying her boots in her hand. She put them down at the bottom of the stairs and walked over to the couch and sat down.
“So what's going on? Did Gardenia change the plan?”
“No,” Twilight answered. “I needed to talk to you.”
Sunset said nothing, but looked at Twilight with anxiety on her face. Here it comes.
Twilight sighed. “What you did to Gardenia, even if you didn't intend for it to happen, is something that I find morally repugnant, Sunset.”
“I know,” Sunset said quietly.
“It made me wonder if it outweighed everything you've done to change since the Fall Formal. In fact, for a while, I wondered if we should have even tried to revive you while you were in the coma.”
Sunset put a hand to her face in shock. She felt her stomach lurch. Twilight had become one of her closest friends since the Friendship Games, and the revelation that she had these kind of thoughts while Sunset had been out of commission made her heart ache.
“Twilight, I... I don't know what to say. I don't know if there's anything I can say.”
Twilight gave her a sad smile. “You don't have to say anything. The rest of the girls showed me I was being ridiculous.”
She reached forward and took Sunset's hands. “Of course you've changed. Of course you've tried to make up for everything you did before. And you've come so far.”
Twilight sniffled and she wiped her eyes under her glasses. She looked at Sunset, who was looking away from her, ashamed.
“I asked someone their advice yesterday and they helped me realize something.” Twilight reached out and gently touched Sunset's face, causing the other girl to turn her head back to face her. Twilight smiled. “I forgive you too, Sunset, and I'm sorry I lost faith in you. You're my best friend, and I don't want to lose you. Can you please forgive me for doubting you?”
Sunset stared at Twilight for a moment. Her eyes began to water. She shot forward and embraced her friend.
“Of course I forgive you!” she sobbed. “I'm so sorry! I didn't think to tell you because I thought it wouldn't – “
“I know,” Twilight whispered, her own tears flowing. “None of us expected what happened. I'm still your friend, and I always will be.”
“And I'll always be your friend too,” Sunset replied. The two hugged each other tightly, then broke apart. Sunset got up and went to her desk, retrieving a box of tissues. She and Twilight wiped their eyes and blew their noses. Sunset smiled again.
“Thank you,” she said. “For not giving up on me. I don't know what I would have done if you had.”
“Me either. I'm just glad that we won't have to find out.” Twilight wiped her nose again and sat up on the couch. “So, now what?”
Sunset grabbed the used tissues and took them to the wastebasket at her desk. She glanced over at the clock on her microwave. “Pinkie said she'd be here to pick us up around noon. We've still got a couple of hours. Wanna get some breakfast?”
“Yes, please!” Twilight stood up. “I wasn't sure how this was going to go, so I skipped it this morning. I could devour a horse!”
Sunset folded her arms and gave Twilight a look. “Seriously?”
Twilight blushed and giggled nervously. “Um... heheh... no offense?”
Sunset let out a laugh in spite of herself. “None taken. Let's go feed you before you resort to cannibalism.”
The living room was crowded. Sunset sat next to Twilight, Pinkie, and Gardenia Glow on the couch. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were standing in the archway leading to the foyer. Fluttershy had taken a seat on an ottoman. Rarity, of course, was still in her wheelchair.
Across from them, Shiny Stars, Firecracker Burst’s mother, was seated in an armchair. Firecracker’s father, Blazing Spark stood behind her. Shiny’s face was a mixture of shock and disbelief. Blazing, on the other hand, was clearly angry. Very angry.
“Magic,” he spat.
Sunset nodded. “I know it’s hard to believe, but magic is what’s been causing the strange things that have happened in town over the past year. The seven of us try to deal with it whenever it happens.”
“And Firecracker came in contact with it?” Shiny asked. Her hands idly played with the hem of her shirt.
“Yes,” Sunset said. “The magic is generated by friendship. But the problem comes when someone tries to use that magic on their own. It isn’t meant to be used that way but shared between a group of friends. If one person tries to use it by themselves, the magic overpowers them, starts playing tricks on their mind. The power becomes too much for them.”
“And this happened to Firecracker.” Blazing’s voice was still skeptical. While he and his wife had goggled at the sight of Rarity floating her chair into their house on one of her crystals, they seemed to be denying what they had seen was real.
“Her pendant became infused with magic,” Gardenia began. “She decided to use that power to get revenge on my behalf for what happened to me at the Spring Fling a couple of years ago. She started becoming unstable. She attacked Sunset and put her into a coma, then when I tried to get her to give up the magic, she did the same to me.”
Applejack cleared her throat and held her hat in her hands. “Mr. Spark, Mrs. Stars, I don’t want to put anymore grief on you than you already have, but Firecracker was plannin’ to kill Sunset outright. And we weren’t sure if she would stop there.”
“Firecracker would never do that!” Shiny shouted. “Never!”
Gardenia swallowed and leaned forward, taking Shiny’s hand. “Shiny, she already did. She killed my parents about a day after she knocked me out.”
Shiny’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, dear god… Gardenia, I’m so sorry.”
“So you put our daughter down like a rabid dog, is that it? Is that how you deal with magic?” Blazing snorted, his grip tightening on the back of the armchair.
“No!” Sunset snapped. She cut herself off and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout. No, that’s not how we deal with the magic. All the other times this has happened, the magic has either neutralized whoever was abusing it, or in one case, we were able to talk them into giving it up voluntarily.”
“But that didn’t happen in this case,” said Rarity. “For some reason we’re not sure of, Firecracker’s power increased with her anger. And the magic just seemed to feed that anger. Did you hear about the incident at the mall last week?”
The parents nodded. Rarity continued.
“Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and myself were all there. Firecracker had assaulted another CHS student. We still don’t know why.”
“She was getting revenge on everyone she thought hurt me,” Gardenia answered. “Beachberry circulated a couple of posts on MyStable about me after the truth came out.”
“I see,” Rarity said. She looked back at Firecracker’s parents. “We had to step in to stop her before she hurt Beachberry any more than she already had. That’s what led to the chaos and destruction. We were trying to keep her from hurting anyone else.”
“We took a few hits ourselves to make sure nobody else did,” said Rainbow.
“But without Sunset conscious, our own magic wasn’t enough to stop her,” Twilight continued. “And by the time Sunset came out of her coma, Firecracker had become powerful enough to fight us to a standstill.”
“Bullshit.” Blazing Spark took a step forward, causing Fluttershy to shrink back on the ottoman. The irate father didn’t notice. “You come into my home, announce that my daughter’s dead and expect us to believe she became some kind of magically charged raving psychopath hellbent on revenge for her girlfriend? Firecracker wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
Rarity’s eyes flashed. She wheeled forward. “Mr. Spark, I say this with all due respect to you as a grieving father, but does this, “ She gestured to her chair and the cast on Pinkie’s arm. “Look like ‘bullshit’ to you?”
“A week ago, I was able to walk. Now, I have to struggle to adapt to this. I am very fortunate that there was no damage to my spinal cord, so I have the potential to walk again, but the fact remains than in her magically driven mania, Firecracker caused this to happen to me.”
“So it’s a shakedown, then. Sue us for your injuries, claim ‘magic’ is responsible, and make sure Firecracker can’t defend herself?”
“No!” Sunset stood up. “This isn’t a shakedown! This isn’t a scam! We don’t blame Firecracker for what happened to Rarity, or any of us! We know she wasn’t in her right mind, and I wish we could have saved her. But the magic became too strong and there was too much in the air! It… exploded is the only word I can think of, and Firecracker got caught in the backlash! I watched her get obliterated by an out of control magic surge! I still see it when I sleep!”
Sunset’s friends exchanged a worried glance. They hadn’t known about this part.
Sunset felt tears running down her face, but she couldn’t stop talking. “I wish I could take it all back! I wish I hadn’t ever done what I did to Gardenia and stop this whole thing from ever happening! I wish I could have found a way to save her, but she just wouldn’t stop! If she had stopped, I know we could have done something else. I’m sorry! I am so sorry! I wish it had never happened! You can hate me, you can even try to send me to jail if you want, but we had to come here. We had to let you know.”
Sunset slumped back on the couch, she rested her elbows on her knees and looked at the floor. “You deserve to know what happened to your daughter. I don’t expect forgiveness. I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But I had to be sure that you didn’t spend the rest of your life wondering what happened to her.”
Sunset put her face in her hands and tried to get herself under control. Pinkie and Twilight leaned over. Pinkie rubbed Sunset’s back while Twilight put and arm around her shoulders, whispering words of encouragement.
Gardenia spoke again. Her voice was soft but firm. “Look, I know you don’t want to believe it, but the girls showed you some of what they can do when we got here. Magic is real, whether you believe in it or not. Which means the rampage at the mall is going to attract attention.
“I know you’re both good people, and no matter how angry you are at these girls for what happened to Firecracker, I know you don’t want to see them hauled off to some government lab for what they can do.No one deserves that.
“So this is my suggestion. You report Firecracker as a runaway. We can claim that she had a massive fight with me and it caused her to do something rash. You report the last time you saw her was the morning before the mall rampage. I know she didn’t go home that night, because she was at my place knocking me out. She wouldn’t have left me alone that night, I know that much. That should be enough to clear Firecracker of any suspicion of being the one rampaging at the mall. The magic changed her appearance so she shouldn’t be identifiable on any cameras that may have been in the areas where she went ballistic.”
“And what happens to them?” Blazing Spark demanded, pointing at the girls. “They just walk away scott free?”
“It was self-defense,” Gardenia replied. “I know you can see that, Blazing. They had no idea this would happen. Firecracker had injured two of them already. Three if you include Sunset’s coma. That’s not even mentioning Beachberry and Pepperdance.”
“What?” Shiny Stars asked, horror in her voice.
“Yeah, my friend Pepperdance caught a glimpse of her attacking Sunset,” said Rainbow Dash. “A couple of days later, she realized that, even with the changes the magic had made to her, it was Firecracker. She set up a meeting with her to be sure. Firecracker put her in the hospital as well.”
“Oh, my god.” Shiny looked away. Blazing looked down at his wife.
“Honey? Are you all right?”
Shiny nodded and took a deep breath. Blazing Spark looked back at the group of girls.
“Get out.”
Sunset swallowed hard. Her friends had similar looks of shock and dismay on their faces. Gardenia Glow sighed and got to her feet, indicating that the others should as well. Blazing Spark had walked away from the chair after issuing his order and was now standing at the living room fireplace, looking at the pictures of the family on the mantle and pointedly ignoring the eight teenage girls.
Shiny Stars looked over at him. “Blazing, this isn't easy for them either. These girls --”
“Killed our daughter, Shiny. Excuse me if I don't want them under my roof anymore.”
Shiny sighed and stood up. “Thank you for telling us what happened, girls. We'll go along with your suggestion.”
“We will consider it. Would you please leave now?” Blazing stormed out of the room. “I expect them to be gone when I get back!”
“Yes, dear.” Shiny turned back to the group. “We'll go along with it. For now. We're going to need a longer term solution at some point.”
“We'll work on it,” Sunset said. “This isn't what any of us wanted, Mrs. Stars. If there was any way we could have saved her --”
“I know. Thank you.” Shiny's voice was pinched. Sunset shut her mouth, aware that while Firecracker's mother was sympathetic, that didn't mean she wasn't angry. “I think you had better go now.”
Sunset nodded. “Thank you for your time.”
Shiny escorted them to the door. As they left, she reached out and touched Gardenia's shoulder. “Could you stay for a minute, Gardenia? It won't take long.”
“Sure.” Gardenia looked at the girls on the front porch. “Get situated in the cars, I'll be out in a minute.”
“Okay,” Sunset said. She looked at Shiny Stars. “Thank you again, Mrs. Stars.”
Shiny nodded. She disappeared into the house, allowing Gardenia to close the door. Sunset's shoulders drooped and she turned to face her friends.
“Let's go.”
She began walking down the path to the sidewalk, not really paying attention if her friends were following her or not. She walked down to where Fluttershy had parked her parents minivan and leaned one shoulder against it, folding her arms.
“Sunset?” Twilight came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.
Applejack appeared next to her. “You all right, sugarcube?”
Sunset sighed. “I'm okay... I guess.”
“Yeah, that was pretty brutal,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Not surprising though,” Rarity added quietly. “Honestly, it went better than I expected given the circumstances.”
Sunset groaned and rested her head against the van. She blinked as Fluttershy came up, took her face in her hands, and tilted Sunset's head to look at her.
“Sunset, look at me,” she said. “They are not angry at you. They're angry because they lost their daughter. We showed them the magic. Gardenia told them everything and they have no reason not to believe her. This is not your fault.”
“I know it isn't,” Sunset said. “I just wish this hadn't had to happen.”
The front door of the house opened and Gardenia appeared on the front step. She waved goodbye and walked to the minivan. Sunset looked up expectantly. Gardenia sighed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
“Okay, it took some talking, but they're filing the missing persons report on Firecracker now. And yes, I made sure to stick around until they were talking to the cops.”
“Her mom's right though,” Twilight said. “We're going to have to figure out something else for the long term.”
“Probably. But until that happens, I have things to do.” Gardenia hitched her bag up onto her shoulder. “Pinkie? You still have my number?”
“Yeparoonie!” Pinkie chirped. Gardenia nodded.
“Call me if there's an emergency. Until then, all of you try to lie low for a while, okay?”
The girls all made noises of assent. Gardenia smiled.
“All right, see you all later.”
She turned and began walking away. The girls began heading to their own cars, when Sunset suddenly broke away and chased after her.
“Gardenia, wait!”
Gardenia stopped and turned around, her expression stern. “What do you want, Sunset?”
Sunset caught her breath. “You didn't have to do this. You could have just left us to deal with it.”
“And?”
Sunset swallowed. “I know you don't like me, and I know you want nothing more than to never see me again, but thank you.”
“I don't want thanks for saving your ass, Sunset,” Gardenia sighed.
“No, that's not what I mean. I know you couldn't care less what happens to me, but thank you for doing this... for them.” Sunset tilted her head back, indicating her friends.
Gardenia looked at the other six girls as they helped get Rarity into the minivan and her expression softened. “They didn't have anything to do with this. They're good kids.”
Sunset gave a small smile. “Yeah, they're the best. I don't know where I'd be without them.”
“Dead, probably.” Gardenia's voice was flat. “I hope you appreciate what you have, Sunset. Because you never know when it'll be gone.”
“I do. Believe me.”
Gardenia quirked an eyebrow as she looked at her former enemy. Her lips curled up on one side. “Funny enough, I do.”
She sighed and looked around the well kept neighborhood. “This kind of thing should never happen here.”
“I agree,” said Sunset. “Sometimes I think the best thing that could have happened was if I never came through the portal in the first place.”
“Maybe. But this is where we are now. Like it or not.” Gardenia sighed again. She turned to Sunset and extended a hand. “And I may not like you, but that doesn't mean I want anything bad to happen to you either.”
Sunset looked at the older girl, then down. She extended her own hand and the two shook.
“Good luck, Gardenia.”
“You too. Have Pinkie call me if you need me to back up the story.”
Gardenia turned and began walking away. Sunset watched her go for a few moments before a car horn sounded.
“Sunset!” Pinkie called from the driver's seat of her sister's car. “Come on! We're hitting the Twisty-Freeze before the sleepover!”
“Coming!” Sunset looked back down the street at Firecracker's house. She took a deep breath and headed for the car. Whatever happened had happened, and whatever was going to happen was something she would deal with when it came.
Tempest Shadow surveyed the damage at the Canterlot Mall. An entire corridor had been marked off with plastic sheeting and she could see piles of dust seeping out from underneath it. She looked around the corridor and up at the ceiling. She could see broken ceiling tiles, the damage in a straight line leading back to where the plastic had been hung.
Tempest turned and began walking back toward the mall food court. Mall management wouldn't be available until Monday, so she didn't have access to the security footage yet. It still paid to survey the scene of an incident. Seeing the damage up close could provide insight as to what had happened.
She rounded the corner and paused as she saw the Nobody Loves Me store. She pulled out her phone and opened the copy of the case file she had Grubber upload to her before she left Vanhoover. She found one of the pictures from the rampage the week before. Sure enough, the woman in the overcoat had been stalking out of that store.
Tempest considered for a moment, then headed for her car. She left her sport jacket inside and grabbed a small bag from the trunk. She opened the bag and pulled out a hair brush and some styling gel. She unzipped her suitcase and grabbed a pair of jeans and a small travel jewelry case. She closed both bags and walked back into the mall.
A quick trip to the ladies room, and Senior STORM Field Agent Tempest Shadow was gone, replaced by a tall, imposing punk with an impressive bright red mohawk, a nose stud, and several ear piercings. She had ripped the sleeves and neck off her turtleneck and changed into the jeans. She dumped the things she didn't need back into her car and went back to Nobody Loves Me.
Loud music, borderline fetish clothing, and cheap pop culture trinkets were in evidence at the store. Tempest idly browsed, taking in the other shoppers and the staff. She spotted one salesgirl in particular. A teenager with three toned hair in three vertical stripes; orange, pink, and purple. She had a beach ball shaped pendant around her neck, and most interestingly, a bright red cast on one arm.
Tempest grabbed a t-shirt for a band she would never admit to liking at the office and walked up to the counter where the girl was manning the register.
“Find everything okay?” the girl asked. She took the shirt and scanned the price tag.
“Yeah,” Tempest answered, fishing in her back pocket for her wallet. She looked at the store. “Looks like you guys put this place back together pretty quick after last week.”
The girl looked up and blinked. “Yeah. Hell of day. That'll be $23.50.”
Tempest handed over a credit card. “Is that how that happened?” She gestured with her chin at the cast.
“Kind of,” The girl said reluctantly. She swiped the card and handed it back. “Receipt?”
“Yes, please.”
The girl bagged the shirt and handed it to Tempest. “There you go. Thank you.” Her voice held a note of finality to it.
Tempest took the bag and smiled at the girl. “See you around.”
The girl definitely knew something. She may have even encountered the woman in the overcoat and the girls with wings. Tempest made a mental note to visit again in a more official capacity in a couple of days. Tempest entered the food court and began making her way to the exit. She passed by a monitor right as an announcement came on.
“Hey, musicians and dancers! It's that time again!” came the enthusiastic announcer's voice. Tempest found herself stopping to watch the video in spite of herself.
“The Canterlot Mall Chance to Prance Contest is back! All you need is a music video of an original song and dance and you could be prancing your way to fame and a huge cash prize! Just like the winners of our last contest!”
The image on the screen changed to a music video with a peppy beat and eleven teenage girls in a variety of colorful outfits performing a variety of dance styles. Tempest watched and a grin spread across her face as she noticed seven of the girls had something she was looking for.
“Horse ears and a couple of you have wings,” she murmured.
“Yeah, it's a great video,” came a voice. Tempest turned her head to see a teenage girl next to her. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Her dark blue hair was topped with a pair of goggles. She folded her arms. “Too bad I was busy that week and couldn't help out. Would have been a blast.”
“You know those girls?” Tempest asked.
“I go to school with some of them. Crystal Prep,” Goggles girl answered. “The others go to Canterlot High.”
“Huh,” Tempest replied. “Interesting costumes. The ears and wings are a nice touch.”
“Oh, those aren't –“ The girl blinked and grinned. “ – cheap! Cost them a fortune, which is why all of them aren't wearing them. The could only afford seven sets of ears and three sets of wings.”
“Good thing they won the contest then. Probably helped pay for them all.”
“Yep, also got us the money to hold our spring dance last year on a yacht! Principal Cinch wouldn't have ever gone for that! Never thought I'd be so glad she's gone.”
Tempest quirked an eyebrow. “She is?”
“Yeah, when the Friendship Games competition we had with Canterlot High ended in a tie and the parents found out that she'd been making things super competitive at CPA to make herself look good, they forced her out.”
“Did they? That's interesting.”
“Yeah, that was a weird day.” The girl looked at her watch. “Oh, jeez, I've been talking your ear off and I'm gonna be late to the movie. Sorry to bug you!”
“No, that's fine. It was... interesting.” Tempest smiled. She held out a hand. “Fizzlepop Berrytwist.”
The girl shook it. “Indigo Zap. Nice to meetcha! Bye!”
“Bye!” Tempest smirked as Indigo rushed off. True, she hadn't asked her to specify which girls in the video went to which school, but a quick trip to either school would solve that. And it sounded like something had happened at these “Friendship Games” that didn't seem quite on the up and up.
Tempest pulled out her phone and made a note.
Have Grubber locate former Principal Cinch of Crystal Prep. Re: Friendship Games.
The STORM agent walked out of the mall to her car. She had a preliminary report to send back to the Director.
The mood in the minivan was somber as they drove away from the subdivision. When Firecracker's parents' house was out of sight, Fluttershy broke the silence.
“I'm worried about Sunset.”
“What do you mean, sugarcube?” Applejack asked from the passenger seat next to her.
“Did she tell any of you she has dreams of Firecracker dying?”
The other three girls answered in the negative.
“What I don't understand is why she never told us,” said Rarity. “She's always been open about that sort of thing. Ever since that week of sleepovers after the Formal.”
“I've been thinkin' about that,” Applejack said. “I think she has survivor's guilt.”
“Why would she have that?” Rainbow asked. “Firecracker was trying to kill her!”
“Nah, you don't get it.” Applejack waved a hand. “It ain't about what Firecracker was tryin' to do. It's the fact that she's dead and Sunset ain't.”
Rainbow frowned. “You're right, I don't get it.”
“I think I do,” said Rarity. “Stop me if I'm wrong, Applejack. It doesn't matter what Firecracker was trying to do, Sunset feels guilty because we weren't able to save her.”
“Exactly,” said Applejack. “I think, deep down, because of how all this got started, she considers herself responsible for everything that's happened. If she hadn't posted that rumor about Gardenia, then Gardenia wouldn't have been kicked out by her parents, Firecracker wouldn't have hated her so much to send those crappy emails to her.”
Rainbow held up a hand. “But wait. If her parents hated the fact that Gardenia's gay that much, it would probably have happened anyway when she decided to come out on her own, right?”
“Which probably just adds to the guilt,” Rarity replied. “Although it was accidental, Sunset took that choice away from Gardenia by baiting her into outing herself before she was ready.”
“Okay, I think I get it,” Rainbow said. “But Sunset couldn't have known that Firecracker was going to get magic of her own. That part's not her fault. Firecracker was the one who decided to use it for revenge.”
“Yes, but remember what she said to Principal Celestia back at the Friendship Games? Sunset already feels responsible for bringing magic to our world from Equestria.” Fluttershy hit her turn signal and pulled up to a red light. “I think that's adding to what she's feeling. She thinks if she hadn't tried to get Gardenia to drop out of the Spring Fling election, and if she hadn't stolen Princess Twilight's crown and brought it here, none of this would have happened and Firecracker would be alive now.”
The light turned green and Fluttershy made a left turn.
“So, because of all this, Sunset feels that everything that happened last week is ultimately her fault?” Rainbow frowned and shook her head. “That doesn't make any sense!”
“Guilt often don't,” Applejack sighed.
Rarity looked at Rainbow. “Remember how you felt after what happened to Pepperdance, darling?”
“Well, yeah. But you convinced me it wasn't my fault.”
“Exactly, but until then, you were absolutely convinced that you were to blame for Pepperdance being injured, not Firecracker Burst. There are always unintended consequences to every action we take, good or ill, and those consequences...” Rarity's eyes widened and she trailed off.
Applejack looked at Rarity in the rear view mirror. “Rarity? You okay?”
“Yes,” Rarity murmured. She blinked and shook her head. Her eyes sparkled and a broad smile crossed her face. “I think I know how to help Sunset.”
In Maud's car, Pinkie and Twilight kept alternately looking at Sunset, who was in the back seat, in the rear view mirror. Sunset herself was absently staring out the window, her chin resting on one hand.
“Well, I guess that went as well as it could have.” Twilight forced a smile. Sunset glanced at her in the mirror and returned to staring out the window.
“Do you think the runaway story will work?” Pinkie asked. “Firecracker's dad seemed reaaaaally unhappy with that plan.”
“Whether it works or not, it's kind of out of our hands,” Twilight answered. “If Mr. Spark decides to tell the police the truth, then we're probably all going to be answering some tough questions soon.”
A loud sigh came from the backseat. Twilight turned to look at her best friend. Sunset was still staring out the window. “Sunset? Are you okay?”
“I'm fine,” Sunset mumbled. Twilight stared as Sunset for a while. When it became obvious Sunset wasn't going to say anymore, Twilight reluctantly faced forward again.
“If they do go along with the runaway story, we can't let it go on forever, she said. “Sooner or later, we'll have to figure out some way for them to bury her. It's not fair to them to have to pretend to hope their daughter is still alive.”
Another sigh from the backseat. Twilight blushed and she looked back at Sunset in the mirror again.
“We... we don't have to talk about this right now if it's upsetting you, Sunset.”
“It's fine.” Sunset's voice was flat and distracted.
Twilight and Pinkie exchanged glances. Twilight gestured with her head toward Sunset. Pinkie nodded in return.
“So, I was thinking it'd be a more low-key sleepover tonight,she began. “A couple of movies, we'll order pizza or Chinese, and some card or board games. Fluttershy said she'd bring Pawns vs. Everybody.”
Twilight blinked. “Wait, Fluttershy's bringing that game? She has played it, right?”
“Probably!” Pinkie chirped.
Twilight blushed. “But it's so... adult.”
Both girls blinked when Sunset piped up. “Believe me, the Shys have no problem with adult. For a family of soft spoken introverts, they can be really filthy minded.”
“Seriously?!” Twilight yelped. She looked at Sunset in the mirror. Sunset looked back at her, a smug grin on her face.
“Oh yeah,” she said. “I've played board games with that family. I'm not going to go into detail, because if we do play that game tonight, you need to experience it for yourselves. Let's just say that some of Zephyr Breeze's personality quirks... well, he comes by them honestly.”
Twilight stared, blank faced, out the windshield. Her mind trying to cope with this hidden aspect of her nicest friend. Pinkie giggled at her reaction.
“I think you broke her, Sunset!”
Sunset didn't respond. Pinkie glanced up into the rear view mirror and her face fell. Sunset was back to staring out the window. Pinkie exhaled slowly. This was going to be harder than she thought.
Twilight was jolted out of her stupor when her phone buzzed. She yelped and pulled it out of her pocket. She had a text from Rarity.
Is Sunset all right?
Twilight looked back at Sunset and noted Sunset's worrying state. She quickly typed out a reply.
She was for a second. I think she's feeling guilty again.
I figured as much. And I think I know how to help her.
How?
All in good time, darling. I'm still fleshing things out with the girls here. Once we get to Pinkie's, I'll pull the two of you aside to fill you in.
Twilight looked at Sunset again. She had leaned back in her seat and was resting her head. Her eyes were closed. Her mouth drawn downward. She looked tired and miserable. Twilight turned back to her phone.
All right, we're in. Are you sure this will work?
There was a long pause before Rarity's reply came.
I certainly hope so. I expect it will be somewhat traumatic for her. And there will most likely be a lot of tears shed, but ultimately, I think it will help.
Twilight frowned. She didn't like the idea of more trauma being heaped on Sunset.
Five sets of wide eyes stared at Fluttershy, who brushed her long pink hair out of her eyes before looking back at them.
“Something wrong?” she asked, innocence permeating her voice. The stunned silence continued. Rainbow Dash was the first to recover.
“I can't believe you played that!” she yelped.
“I was expecting it, and I can't believe she played that,” said Sunset.
Twilight, her face a bright crimson, shook her head. “Never again,” she muttered. “I am never playing this game again.”
Applejack quirked an eyebrow at Fluttershy. “Sugarcube, I love ya, but I'm pretty sure you're goin' straight to Hell for playin' that.”
“I think we're going to Hell for seeing her play that!” Pinkie exclaimed.
The sound of the toilet flushing came from the bathroom in the hall. After a moment, they heard the door open and Rarity wheeled her way back into Pinkie's living room, where the girls had set themselves up. She looked slightly more pale than she usually did.
“I hope no one minds, but I think I'll sit the rest of the game out,” she said. “Suddenly, it seems to have lost its appeal for me.”
“I think we can safely declare Fluttershy the winner after that,” Sunset said, reaching for the game box.
“Oh, I hope I didn't go too far for all of you,” said Fluttershy, reaching down to gather up the cards from the board. “Usually, I'm terrible at this game.”
Rainbow blinked and opened her mouth. She closed it a second later and shuddered. Fluttershy smiled to herself as she helped Sunset clean up the game.
Once the game was back in the box and put aside, the girls made themselves comfortable on the couch and armchairs. Sunset squeezed in on the couch between Fluttershy and Twilight.
“So, what's next? Movies or video games?” she asked. The other girls all exchanged glances. Sunset frowned.
“Girls? What's going on?”
Rarity wheeled herself slightly forward. “Sunset, darling, before we get on with the rest of the evening, we all need to talk to you.”
“About what?” Sunset's expression became suspicious.
“You haven't been yourself over the last few days, Sunset.” Fluttershy reached down and took Sunset's hand. “We hoped that it was just nervousness about talking to Firecracker's parents, but afterward you seemed even worse.”
“It wasn't exactly a pleasant time there, or hadn't you noticed?” Sunset's voice was bitter.
“There's also what happened earlier this week,” Applejack replied.
“We talked about that. I am not suicidal!”
“But you are a guilt junkie.” Rainbow leaned forward in her chair. “I thought I was just joking, but I thought about it. You're taking on more than your fair share of guilt for everything that happened last week, Sunset.”
“I am not.” Sunset folded her arms and frowned.
“Yes, you are, Sunset,” Twilight insisted. “And I caused some of that, and I'm sorry. I should have given you an answer a lot sooner than I did. I kept you waiting because I was too ashamed.”
Sunset blinked. “Ashamed? Of what?”
“Of doubting you. Of doubting your friendship or your reformation. You've been nothing but supportive and helpful ever since we met and I lost faith in you. And I made you feel even more guilty because of it.”
Sunset's expression softened. She put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. “Twilight, you have no reason to be ashamed. What I did was so, so wrong. It's understandable you'd feel that way.”
“But that was the old you, darling,” Rarity said. “As you've said so many times, your past is not today. You're carrying around a great deal of unearned guilt and grief.”
“It's because of me that all this happened in the first place! How is that 'unearned?'”
“Because Gardenia Glow forgave you,” said Twilight. “She didn't have to help us after she woke up. She didn't have to go with us to see Firecracker's parents. And she told me outright that she forgave you. Yes, she says she only did it so she could move on, but she still gave you her forgiveness.”
“It doesn't change the fact that Firecracker's dead!” Sunset's voice began to rise in volume.
“And if you're guilty of being responsible for that, then the blame falls equally on our shoulders.” Rarity fixed Sunset with a stern gaze. “We were all there. You said yourself that the magic could only be used by all of us together. If you're going to claim responsibility for Firecracker's actions, then you need to admit that we're just as much to blame as you are.”
“No, you aren't!” Sunset yelled. She stood up and faced Rarity down. “You all did nothing wrong! Firecracker targeted me! This whole thing happened because she wanted revenge against me! If not for me, none of you would have been in danger! Twilight wouldn't have had her doubts. Rainbow wouldn't have beaten herself up over Pepperdance. You wouldn't be a – “
Sunset abruptly snapped her mouth shut. The other five girls stared at Rarity, eyes wide. Rarity calmly folded her arms and looked at Sunset.
“I wouldn't be a what?” she asked quietly. Sunset swallowed.
“Y-you wouldn't --”
“I wouldn't be a cripple? Is that what you were going to say?” Rarity's gaze was cold and piercing. Sunset looked at the floor, shame tinting her cheeks. Rarity frowned.
“Sunset Shimmer, look at me,” she commanded. Sunset reluctantly raised her head to meet her friend's disapproving eyes. She swallowed, seeing nothing but hurt and anger behind them. She braced herself for the tongue lashing she knew was coming and that she deserved.
“I forgive you.”
Sunset blinked. “W-what?”
Rarity's expression was still stern. “I forgive you for the thoughtless remark you were about to make in a moment of ill advised, and again, completely undeserved self-hatred. You hurt me, and I am still angry with you for the moment, because all of you know I've been working through my own issues this week. Applejack pointed it out yesterday morning. Yes, I have been avoiding all of you. Because I had my own shame to deal with.”
“What?” Sunset whispered.
Rarity nodded. “Yes, shame. Shame that I couldn't have done more to stop Firecracker's rampage. Shame that I was no longer able to do basic things for myself without help. Shame that no matter how much I've tried, I simply cannot get my lower half to do anything as simple as flex my toes. Shame that at age 16, I have been required to go back to wearing diapers because I can't trust my own brain to receive signals from my excretory system alerting me when I need to use the toilet.
“I know shame, Sunset. I know anger. And I know guilt. And therefore, darling, I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that you are overwhelming yourself quite needlessly.”
Sunset stared down at Rarity. Her eyes began to water. “But... But I started all of this. Firecracker. The magic. Everything.”
“Perhaps,” Rarity replied. “But have you considered the other things you're responsible for?”
Sunset looked perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“Well, first off, darling, what would have happened if you hadn't come through the portal in the first place?”
“There wouldn't be magic everywhere. I never would have ruined CHS. You'd all be friends through all of high school.”
“Not all of us!” Pinkie piped up. Sunset turned her head to look at her, confusion on her face.
“Sure the five of us would have still been friends,” said Pinkie. “But what about Twilight?”
Sunset blinked again and turned so she could look at both girls. “She never would have turned into Midnight Sparkle.”
“And I would never have met any of you beyond the Friendship Games,” Twilight said, getting to her feet. “And, as much as I hate to say it, Crystal Prep would have probably won again. Afterwards, I wouldn't have transferred to CHS, but gone on to the Everton Independent Study program.”
She reached out and touched Sunset's cheek. “And I wouldn't ever have made the wonderful friends I have in this room. I would have continued my studies, alone and isolated, not ever realizing what it meant to have people other than family love and care about you.”
“And then there's Camp Everfree,” said Fluttershy. “If you hadn't brought the magic here, we probably would have been the last campers there. If Gloriosa hadn't started using the magic, we wouldn't have gotten our geodes, and you wouldn't have been able to put everything together. She would have kept all her money troubles to herself and the camp would have closed down for good.”
Pinkie popped up next to Sunset. “Which means we'd never have needed to enter the Chance to Prance contest to get the money to save it! And we wouldn't have made friends with the Crystal Prep girls! And they wouldn't have won the contest since they couldn't figure out an original song, and then they'd have disappointed their entire school when they couldn't hold their dance on a yacht!
“And if that had happened,” Rainbow began. “Then we wouldn't have been on the Daring Do set while Juniper was sabotaging everything and the movie would probably never have been made!”
Applejack gave Sunset a grin. “Not only that, you wouldn't have made friends with Starlight Glimmer and given her a chance to see this world!”
“And even before all that, darling,” Rarity said, her expression softening into a smile. “While the Dazzlings may not have ever come here in search of Equestrian magic or regained their full power, they would still be out there today causing low grade misery and strife wherever they went.”
Sunset looked at each of her friends and sniffled. A tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. She felt her knees buckle and she landed on the floor in front of Rarity's chair. Rarity reached down and tilted Sunset's head up, wiping the tear away with her thumb.
“You see, Sunset, darling?” The fashionista smiled. “Just as much good has come out of you coming to this world and bringing the magic here. I would argue that more good than bad has come out of it. Because of you, we're all friends with Princess Twilight, the Dazzlings are no longer a threat, Twilight has gotten herself to a much better place, Camp Everfree is still open, the Crystal Prep girls have opened up to us, the Daring Do movie is a hit and we're a part of it. You brought Starlight Glimmer here and, in turn, she was able to use her own experiences to help Juniper come back to herself. And there's one more very important thing you've done for all of us.”
Sunset sniffled again. “What?”
Rarity leaned forward and embraced her. “We became friends with you, darling.”
Sunset burst into tears and she collapsed in Rarity's arms, bawling uncontrollably. The other girls rushed forward, taking her into a giant group hug. Soon, tears of their own started flowing.
As she cried, Sunset felt something in her chest. Her mind envisioned a large, black pulsing growth of self-hatred and guilt lodged in her sternum between her breasts. Inky tendrils spread out from it, seizing her heart. As the tears fell, Sunset felt an invisible hand grab the growth and begin pulling. The growth gave a little, but the tendrils held fast, trying to pull it back into her chest.
Sunset's mind changed the form of the invisible hand into an invisible crowbar. One end wedged itself between the growth and the hole it had burrowed in her chest. The crowbar levered against the edge of the hole and began to pry the growth out. A snarl rose from it as it began to lose its grip on her. Sunset's mind forced the crowbar to continue, causing more pain in her chest. Sunset grit her teeth and focused on the love and warmth of her friends surrounding her. The crowbar pried again. The tendrils began to snap. The growth snarled louder. The crowbar slid further into Sunset's chest, found purchase under the growth and pried. In the real world, Sunset let out a wail of pain and anguish that caused her friends to hold her tighter.
The final tendrils snapped and the growth rolled out of the hole in Sunset's chest. Her mind's eye caught a brief glimpse of an inhuman face on the other side before it tumbled into the darkness. A horrible, snarling face of sharp teeth, and solid black eyes with cold cyan pupils.
The demon's eyes.
The hole still remained, stinging and sore, but Sunset felt – she knew – that it would heal. Her sobbing slowed down and she slowly calmed down, shivering quietly. After a moment she looked up into the concerned, loving faces of her friends.
Sunday was blissfully free of both psychological and emotional turmoil. After a delightful and admittedly rather silly breakfast, the girls went their separate ways, most of them having plans for the day.
Fluttershy drove everyone home. Goodbyes were made as Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Rarity were all dropped off. Sunset was the last one to be taken home. Fluttershy pulled the minivan up outside Sunset's apartment building.
“Thanks, Fluttershy, I'll see you tomorrow!” Sunset opened the door and climbed out of the van, grabbing her backpack from the floor.
“Are you going to be okay, Sunset? I mean, after last night and all?”
Sunset smiled. “I know I said this last week after I got out of the hospital, but this time I'm pretty sure I mean it. I think I'm going to be fine, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy returned the smile. “I wish I could spend the day with you, Sunset, but I have a shift at the shelter this afternoon.”
“Don't worry about it. After everything that happened this week, I'm not planning on doing a damn thing today. I'm gonna go up to my apartment, deprive myself of pants, and veg out.”
Fluttershy giggled. “Sounds like fun!”
“I hope so. Catch you later!”
“Bye!”
Sunset waved as Fluttershy drove off, then let herself into her building. As she passed the door of the bottom apartment, it opened and the severe form of Miss Bookbinder, Sunset's landlady, stepped out, carrying a garbage bag. She blinked when she saw her tenant.
“Oh, hello Sunset,” she said.
“Hi, Miss Bookbinder.”
“Late night?”
“No,” Sunset answered. “Sleep over with the girls.”
“Well, that's good. Excuse me, won't you? I need to get this outside before it ripens any further.”
“Oh, right, sorry.” Sunset went back to the front door of the building and held it open. Miss Bookbinder nodded her thanks and began to leave. As she did so, Sunset gently grabbed her arm.
“Miss Bookbinder, with everything that's been going on the last couple of weeks, I forgot to tell you this: thank you.”
Miss Bookbinder's mouth curled up in a half smile. “For what?”
“For being my emergency contact. The girls told me you helped them find out what was going on with me at the hospital. And they told me you stayed with me for a couple of days when they couldn't be there. You didn't have to do that.”
“And I didn't have to rent you my old converted storage room to you with no documentation either.” Miss Bookbinder's smile turned into a grin. “While I'm glad you have such good friends closer to your own age, Sunset, I hope you realize you have other friends who also care about you as much as they do.”
“But not you, of course,” Sunset smirked. “After all, that might not be ethical under the usual tenant/landlord relationship.”
“Of course, but since there isn't anyone else to look after you, I figured I could do you a favor... this time. And now, if you'll excuse me?”
Sunset stepped as her landlady exited the building. She grinned to herself and shook her head. No matter how hectic her life got, Sunset could always count on Miss Bookbinder being an isle of normalcy... and sarcasm.
Sunset climbed the stairs to the second floor and let herself into her apartment. She dropped her overnight bag next to the door and kicked off her boots. She draped her jacket over the back of her desk chair and flopped face first onto the couch. After a minute, she sat up and made good on her statement outside, shucking off her pants and letting out a sigh of relief.
She stretched and looked around the apartment, trying to decide what to do next. Her gaze fell on the table where she did her homework and her art projects. The magical journal she used to communicate with Princess Twilight in Equestria was laying on it. Sunset smiled and got up. She grabbed a pen and the journal and returned to the couch.
Hey, Twilight? How are things?
There was a brief delay, then the opposite page glowed with a magical magenta light.
Sunset! Great timing. Spike just made me take a break from all the planning I've been doing.
Planning? Something wrong over there?
Oh, no. Just the opposite, in fact. Next week I'm hosting the first ever Festival of Friendship! Ponies from all over Equestria are coming. I've even extended invitations to all the other races too. The yaks, the changelings, the griffons, even the buffalo and the dragons! There's going to be games, contests, exhibits. And...
Sunset waited for the princess to satisfy her sense of drama. After a few seconds the rest of the sentence appeared.
Songbird Serenade agreed to perform in concert!
Sunset raised her eyebrows in surprise. While she didn't really know who Songbird Serenade was, the Festival seemed like a big event. Maybe too big even for the organized Princess Twilight Sparkle to handle.
Sounds like fun. Are you sure you can handle something like that? Can Ponyville?
Oh, we're holding it in Canterlot! I've got all the girls helping, and Cadance is coming down from the Crystal Empire! Even Celestia and Luna are planning on helping! Celestia said it was a brilliant –
Sunset couldn't help but giggle as the line was quickly crossed out. Twilight started again further down the page.
Sorry about that. But yes, everything is under control, and I can't wait for next Friday! Oh, hey! What am I thinking? You should come through for the Festival! I can get you put up in the castle with me!
Sunset's expression became concerned. Despite the personal revelations she had about herself while she had been in the coma, she was still reluctant to see her old mentor. She thought for a moment and began writing again.
While the Festival sounds like a lot of fun, I don't think staying in the castle would be a good idea right now.
There was another pause as, Sunset presumed, Twilight realized why she wouldn't want to stay in the castle during her visit. Then there was a mess of hurried scribbling.
Oh, geez, I did it again, didn't I? I am so sorry, Sunset! Of course you don't have the stay in the castle! Maybe you can stay with Starlight! She's going but she said she's going to stay with Trixie in her wagon. They might be able to squeeze you in, and I know she'd love to see you again!
“Trixie?” Sunset quirked an eyebrow. “How did that happen?”
That could work, I guess. I wouldn't be able to show up until that night though. School and all.
Oh, of course. Speaking of, how was your first week back?
Sunset sighed. Traumatic. It's been a hard week. We talked to Firecracker Burst's parents yesterday.
Oh boy.
That isn't everything. This is gonna take a lot of explaining.
Sunset wrote down everything that had happened during the week, including her fights with Applejack and human Twilight, the confrontation with Firecracker's parents, and the events of the previous night. When she was done, Sunset sighed and leaned back against the back of the couch. After a long moment, Twilight began writing her reply.
That IS a hard week. Sunset... are you sure you're okay?
Sunset smiled at the reply. She picked up her pen.
I'm not sure if “okay” is the right word, but I'm healing. I lost a lot of emotional baggage last night. It's still kind of raw, but I think I'm going to be fine.
As long as you're sure. I mean, I was kind of worried about you and the girls last week when you were all up against Firecracker.
You wrote a six page rant/interrogation of me when I got home from the hospital and demanded to know exactly what happened after Rarity's last message to you. Yeah, you were “kind of” worried about us.
Okay, more than just “kind of.” Gee, it's like I almost CARE about you or something.
Sunset laughed and shook her head. Never change, Twilight. But seriously, I think things are going to get better for me now. My head feels like it's on a lot straighter than it's been for a while. We still need to update Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna about our plan to explain Firecracker's disappearance, and hopefully, we'll be able to come up with a long term solution so her parents can hold a memorial service. I think once that's done, we'll all be finally ready to move on.
I hope so. Oh, shoot! Break's over. Spike just brought me a letter from the princess about the Festival. Apparently there's issues with the weather schedule. I need to go find Rainbow Dash and ask her to talk to the Canterlot weather team. I'm sorry, Sunset. I wish it could wait.
It's fine. Go. I'll let you know if I can make it to the Festival.
Okay! Talk to you later!
Later, Twilight.
Sunset closed the journal and set it aside. She giggled as she pictured the size of the checklist Twilight had to have for the Festival of Friendship.
“Never change, Twi,” she murmured. She grabbed the remote for her TV from the end table and clicked it on. She grabbed her game controller from the floor and hit the button to turn the console on. After a minute, she grinned and grabbed her phone from her discarded pants on the floor.
Hey, Dash. Webspinner's gunning for you.
“And three... two... one.”
Sunset's phone vibrated as a reply to her text came in.
In. Your. Dreams. I'm getting online right now!
Sunset grinned as she loaded up Uberguard. No matter how strange or dangerous things got, it was good to know some things would never change.
“Thank you for coming in early this morning, girls,” said Principal Celestia. She was seated at the head of the school office's conference table. Luna sat next to her. Sunset and her friends had taken seats on each side.
“Sunset, how did it go with Firecracker's parents?”
“As well as it could, I guess,” Sunset sighed. “Firecracker's parents agreed to the plan. She's been reported as a runaway. We're going to put up flyers after school today.”
The principal and vice-principal exchanged a glance. “And what about the long term?” Luna asked.
“We honestly don't know,” Twilight answered. “We're hoping we can come up with something in the next couple of weeks.”
“We'll see what we can do from our end.” Celestia slid a folder in front of her and opened it. “However, it appears that everything that happened last week has gained the attention of the government.”
Pinkie gasped. “Are they sending a covert and borderline illegal special ops team bristling with guns to come arrest us all and we'll be hauled off to a secret research facility and subjected to horrible experiments and eventual forced military servitude until Princess Twilight finds out what's going on and that causes a huge cross-dimensional incident resulting in an all out war between ponies and humanity turning Canterlot City into a huge magical battlefield and Sunset Shimmer has to have a soul searching internal debate on where her allegiances lie and eventually sacrifices herself to stop both sides from destroying each other and we all get really, really sad and build a statue to her in place of the Wondercolt statue Twilight destroyed as an eternal monument to her bravery and commitment to friendship?!”
The others in the room stared at her. Pinkie blinked.
“Wait? That isn't what's going to happen?” she said, perplexed. “That's weird.”
“You expected me to become a martyr to stop a war?” Sunset asked, frowning.
“Well, you know, angst gets attention.”
“Anyway,” Celestia said, eager to change the subject. She handed out copies of the papers in the file to the girls. “The Specialized Taskforce Overseeing Remarkable Matters has sent their best operative to investigate. She's tried to contact both myself and City Hall several times. So far, we've managed to dodge her, but eventually we're going to have to talk to her.”
“Uh, Principal Celestia?” Applejack raised a hand. “How did y'all manage to get all this information? Seems like this ain't the kinda info you can get from the library or online.”
“We have... sources outside the normal channels,” Luna explained. “It's best for you if we don't go into any more detail than that.”
Applejack quirked an eyebrow at the statement, but let the matter lie. Across the table, Rarity picked up a paper. On it was a grainy black and white picture of a stern looking woman with a shaved head, save for fringe of hair that sprouted along the center of her skull and flopped over an eye marked with a nasty looking scar.
“She certainly looks formidable,” she said. “Who is she?”
“Agent Tempest Shadow,” Luna replied. “She's currently STORM's most successful field agent.”
“For a given value of 'successful,'” Celestia added. “From what we've been able to find out, usually where she goes, a lot of collateral damage follows. She's effective, but dangerous.”
“And she gunning for us,” Rainbow said. She slumped back in her chair. “Great.”
“The good news is we're fairly certain she doesn't know who you are.” Celestia said, not knowing how wrong she was. “The only footage of you girls that anyone's seen from last week is the security footage from the mall.”
“But she's sure to look at that during her investigation,” Rarity protested. “At the very least she'll know what me, Rainbow, and Twilight look like.”
“That's true,” Celestia conceded.
Sunset, who had been thinking quietly during the conversation, looked up. “There's only one option then. Until Tempest Shadow leaves town, we're going to have to stop using our magic.”
“Are you crazy?” Rainbow snapped. “If she comes after us, we'll need all the help we can get!”
“Then you might as well just hand yourself right over to her at the first encounter!” Rarity leaned forward. “Sunset's right. Any use of magic is just going to give her more evidence to use against us. It's probably a good idea to keep our geodes hidden as well.”
“Is that going to work though?” Fluttershy asked. “Our magic originally started working at Camp Everfree before we found the geodes. Wouldn't not using them mean our powers could randomly flare up like they did back then?”
“Possibly not,” said Twilight. “Ever since we've had the geodes, our powers seem to have become channeled through them. If you recall, Sunset couldn't use her magic when we were trying to find out who stole the props from the Daring Do set because she hadn't brought her geode with her. It may be that now that the magic has a vessel, it can't be used any other way.”
Twilight took her geode necklace off and set it aside. She raised her hands and attempted to lift the papers in front of her with her telekinesis. Nothing happened. She frowned and concentrated harder. The papers on the desk still refused to move. Twilight put the necklace back on and repeated the process. The papers became bathed in a magenta glow and stacked themselves neatly in front of her.
“Looks like Twilight's right,” said Applejack. “No geodes, no magic. Seems like the best thing to do until all this blows over.”
There was agreement from around the table, with the exception of Rainbow Dash.
“I still say it's a bad idea. What if somebody else comes in contact with the rogue magic that's been floating around? We're gonna need our powers to stop it.”
Sunset sighed. “If that happens, then we'll deal with it then. But otherwise, no magic. We just can't risk it right now.”
Rainbow groaned. “Oh, all right. But I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' if this all goes sideways.”
“We'll do our best to keep Agent Shadow away from you,” said Celestia.
“And if we absolutely must let her talk with you, I recommend you coming up with some sort of cover story for everything that's happened so far,” Luna added.
Fluttershy looked back at the papers in front of her. “I hope this works. She doesn't look like someone you want to be on the wrong side of.”
Tempest Shadow frowned as she watched the security footage from the previous week. The woman in the black overcoat and hat fired energy beams at the girls with horse ears and wings. The footage only lasted a few seconds before the light from the beams washed out the picture, but it was long enough for her to confirm that the three girls fighting the woman in black were also in the music video she had seen on Saturday.
She turned to Big Bargains, the mall manager, who had met with her that morning. “Do you happen to have the release forms for the winners of the Chance to Prance contest you held a few months ago.
Big Bargains frowned in thought. “I believe so. They'd be back in my office.”
Tempest nodded. “If you don't mind, I'd like to look at them when we're done here.”
“Certainly, Agent Shadow.”
Tempest turned to Gold Shield, the security guard monitoring the cameras. “I understand there was a similar incident here this past summer?”
Gold Shield nodded. “Yeah, that was another weird one. You want to see that footage too?”
“Please.”
Gold Shield brought up the relevant footage and Tempest watched as a eight foot tall woman rampaged through the mall. A small smile crossed her face as she saw the woman emerge from the movie theater. Another girl in ripped jeans and a purple beanie cap confronted the giantess, which caused Tempest's smile to turn to a frown. That girl hadn't been in the music video.
The giantess and the girl talked, and the giantess snatched what looked like a small hand mirror from the girl. There was a flash of light and the seven girls from the music video appeared in a pile on the floor. The giantess was gone, but the STORM agent noticed a girl with blue pigtails and glasses holding the mirror.
“Freeze it, please.”
Gold Shield paused the video. Tempest leaned forward and pointed at the girl with the pigtails.
“Do you know who she is?”
“Her?” the security guard replied. He peered at the screen. “Oh, that's Juniper Montage. She worked at the theater over the summer. She quit when school started back up.”
“I see. Thank you.” Tempest turned back to Big Bargains. “I'd like to see those release forms now, please.”
“Of course,” said the manager. “Follow me, please.”
When the two got back to the manager's office, there was a tall man in an expensive suit waiting for them in the foyer. He wore a lapel pin featuring three cartoon money bags. The manager grinned.
“Filthy Rich! So nice to see you!”
“Bargains, good to see you too.” Filthy Rich looked at Tempest. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Oh, where are my manners? Agent Shadow, this is Filthy Rich. He's on our board of directors.”
“Pleasure, ma'am,” Filthy Rich said, extending a hand. “'Agent' Shadow?”
“I'm investigating the incidents that happened last week,” Tempest replied. “We naturally have some concerns. Public safety and all that.”
“Well, that's actually a good idea. A lot of strange things have happened around here over the last year or so. Ruined a few good opportunities for me.”
Tempest quirked an eyebrow. “Opportunities?”
Filthy Rich gave a nervous grin under Tempest's intimidating stare. “Oh nothing major. I was working on a land development deal out at Camp Everfree. The owners were behind on their mortgage payments and I was primed to get the land for a song. Luxury lakeside spa resort.”
“So what happened?”
“Not really sure,” Filthy Rich sighed. “But something happened out there, and the next thing I know, these girls from Canterlot High School have managed to get nearly everyone who went to that camp to pitch in and get them back up to date on their payments. Irritated me to no end, I can tell you.
“I thought I'd get another chance when I went to look into their fundraiser. The camp was overrun with these weird plants. I was sure that they'd never get it cleaned up in time for the summer, and as a result wouldn't be able to open that year, but somehow they did.”
“Weird plants?” Tempest reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “Weird how?”
“Well, I'd been to the camp a couple of days earlier and none of those plants were there,” Rich explained. “I don't know where they came from, but they were everywhere, and a couple of the buildings needed serious repairs. It's like they came out of nowhere.”
Tempest gave the millionaire a genial smile. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Rich.”
“My pleasure, ma'am.” Rich turned to Big Bargains. “You seem like your busy here, Bargains, I'll stop by later. We need to talk about the repair budget. The board has some concerns.”
“Oh, of course, Rich,” the mall manager replied. Filthy Rich nodded and left the office.
“Mr. Bargains, if I could see those release forms now, please?” Tempest asked.
Big Bargains nodded and led Tempest into the office proper. Tempest took a seat in front of the desk, as the manager began looking through the files on his computer. As he searched, Tempest opened a notepad app on her phone.
Leads
Adagio, Aria & Sonata
Principal Cinch (Crystal Prep)
Chance to Prance Contest Winners
Tempest's lip curled up on one side as she added two more entries to her list.
Leads
Adagio, Aria & Sonata
Principal Cinch (Crystal Prep)
Chance to Prance Contest Winners (Canterlot High students?)
Juniper Montage
Camp Everfree
How has none of this come to our attention before now? Tempest thought. Something is definitely going on here, and those girls are at the center of it.
“Here we are! Looks like there were eleven of them, but the release form only needed to be signed by the one who filled out the entry form.”
“And their name is?”
“Rarity. Her address is here on the form. Would you like it?”
“If you'd be so kind.” Tempest's grin returned. It was so gratifying when people decided to do things the easy way.
Rarity let out a cry of exertion and finally allowed herself to slide back down the track. Tough Love grinned.
“Nice work! Another set of ten and you'll be done for the day.”
“Another set?” Rarity turned her head and glared at her therapist with one eye. “I bare my soul to you, share one of my deepest secrets, and you force me into another set?! You, sir, are a cad and a charlatan and... and... oh, damn!”
“I knew you'd run dry eventually,” Tough Love teased. “Ten more, let's go!”
“Just you wait until our next session. I'll show you who's run dry.” Rarity returned to looking up the incline of the exercise machine and flexed her arms once more. As she continued running through her exercises, she suddenly felt something she hadn't in a while. A distinct pressure and a familiar tingling sensation was building in her abdomen. Rarity's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She slid back down to the bottom of the ramp.
“Don't give up!” said Tough Love. “Three more to go!”
“Um, I need to stop.” Rarity said.
“Oh come on! I know you can do it!”
“It's not that! I... need to use the facilities!”
Tough Love blinked, noticing the urgency in Rarity's voice. “Wait, seriously?”
“Yes!” Rarity practically shrieked. Tough Love took the hint and quickly got Rarity off the machine and into her chair. He wheeled her to the rest room and held the door open as Rarity wheeled herself in.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes, I can get myself situated, thank you.”
Tough Love closed the door, allowing Rarity her privacy. “I want to test something. When you're done, don't get off. I'll be right back.”
“All right.”
Tough Love went to one of the examination rooms and opened a drawer. He withdrew a small instrument consisting of a handle and a wheel surrounded by small spikes. He rummaged through another drawer and found a plastic protector the instrument would fit in.
He went back to the restroom and knocked on the door. “Everything okay in there?”
“Yes, I've finished, thank you,” Rarity answered.
“Okay, I'm going to open the door slightly and slide something to you. Don't freak out when you see it.”
Tough Love opened the door and slid the instrument, secure in the protector, across the floor. He let the door close and stood up. “Can you reach it?”
“Yes, it's right here by my foot.” There was a grunt of exertion, then: “I have it. I... WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS?!”
Tough Love sighed. “I told you not to freak out. It's called a Wartenburg wheel. It's used to determine nerve activity. What I want you to do is run it over your legs and... other areas. Do it lightly, don't press while you do. Those spikes are sharp. Since you felt your bladder reacting, we want to figure out if you can feel anything else below your waist. Okay?”
“All right. Just a minute.”
Tough Love waited and smiled when he heard an “Ow. Ow. Owowowowowowowowow!” coming from behind the door. The “ows” died down and he called again.
“You all right in there?”
“Yes, I'm fine.”
“Okay, get yourself situated and come out. We'll talk then.”
After a few minutes, as Rarity got herself back in her chair and washed her hands, she rolled back out, handing the Wartenburg wheel to Tough Love.
“All right, I was able to feel it on my abdomen, my thighs and my... intimate areas,” she reported. “I could feel it a bit on my knees, but not very well. Nothing below there.”
She looked up at the therapist, hope in her eyes. “Does this mean...?”
“I'm not sure, and I don't want to get your hopes up if this is only temporary,” Tough Love said, coming down to Rarity's level. “Because the injury you suffered was more to your brain than your spine, it's kind of unpredictable. This might be permanent, or it might go away after a couple of days. So, be smart about this, okay? No taking unnecessary risks. We'll keep an eye on it over the next few days and if you can still feel down to your knees after that, we might be able to start working with braces.”
Rarity smiled, tears of joy forming in the corners of her eyes. She leaned forward and hugged Tough Love. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Tough Love smiled. “Okay, since that's a pretty good reason, we'll skip the rest of the set and go straight to the massage. I want to see what's happening on your back side.”
Rarity said nothing. She just nodded and made a happy squeak of hope.
Tempest Shadow watched as the SUV pulled into the driveway of the nice suburban home belonging to the Rarity girl who had entered the Chance to Prance contest. She had been watching the house ever since the local schools had let out for the day. She had expected to see her quarry soon afterward, but she had been waiting for a couple of hours. Then, a woman Tempest assumed was Rarity's mother had come out of the house and drove off in the SUV.
Now the vehicle had returned. The woman opened the back of the SUV and much to Tempest's surprise, pulled out and set up a wheelchair. She rolled it over to the passenger side and opened the door. Tempest pulled out her phone, turned on the camera and zoomed in on the driveway. She hit the “record” icon and watched as the woman helped a white teenage girl with flowing purple hair into the chair.
Tempest frowned. The girl, Rarity, was definitely one of the horse-eared girls from both the music video and the security footage, but there were no horse ears in evidence now. The fact she was in a wheelchair indicated something had happened to her between now and the incident at the mall.
“Note to self,” the agent said aloud so it would be recorded. “Check hospital records for paralysis cases admitted in the past week.”
Mother and daughter entered the house through the garage and disappeared from sight. Tempest stopped recording and considered. Rarity had clearly suffered a major injury, which probably meant physical therapy at the least. Which would explain her delayed return home.
Once again, Tempest didn't notice her hand rising up to rub the scar around her eye as she thought. As much as she wanted to interview the girl now, something told her it would be a bad idea at this point. A parent who had a recently injured child was a parent who wouldn't have any qualms about throwing her out if said child became upset.
Better to talk to the girl when she was away from home.
Tempest waited another half hour before deciding that the family was home for the night. She started the engine and drove off. She made her way back toward her hotel. As she made her way through the streets, she thought of something and began scanning the buildings. She found what she was looking for and pulled up to the curb.
She got out of the car and walked back down the block to the coffee shop she had spotted. She glanced at the name etched on the door.
Sugarcube Corner. Cute.
She opened the door and was nearly bowled over by a pink blur that shot out of the open door. Tempest regained her balance and was nearly knocked over again by two other blurs of blue and orange. As she tried
“I told you givin' her espresso was a bad idea! But noooo, you just had to make a contest out of it!” A voice with a pronounced drawl yelled. Another voice, harsher and more high pitched, responded.
“Like you weren't right there chugging it down with us!”
The argument dopplered away. Tempest blinked, then shook her head and straightened her jacket. She stepped into the shop and walked up to the counter. She was placing her order when she felt movement behind her and heard the bell on the door ring. She turned to see who had left and caught a glimpse of red hair. She frowned in thought.
“Here you are, dear!” said the proprietor of the coffee shop. Tempest turned to find her coffee waiting for her. She paid for the drink and left the store. She looked around outside and saw several redheads walking away from the store. Her frown returned and she returned to her car, lost in thought.
Sunset Shimmer entered her apartment and threw herself on the couch. She yawned. She'd never been a morning person and going in early for the meeting with Celestia and Luna had wiped her out. She had thought about getting a coffee at Sugarcube Corner, but Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack's espresso drinking contest had cured that.
She yawned again. She debated on taking a nap now versus how much it would affect her sleep later. She rolled onto her back and glanced up at the journal half-laying on the end table. She reached up, grabbed it, and opened it. She pulled a pen out of her pocket and pondered the blank page. She frowned as she considered whether or not to let Princess Twilight know what was going on.
After a moment, she sat up and closed the journal. Twilight had her hands – er, hooves– full with the upcoming Festival of Friendship, and Sunset didn't want to worry her unnecessarily. She put the book back on the end table and laid down on her back.
She stared at the bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling and yawned again. She let her mind begin to drift. It had been a hard week for all of them, but they had come together. There were challenges and problems, but they would overcome them. There were more troubles coming, but much like the meeting with Firecracker Burst's parents, Sunset was confident that with the love and support from her friends, they'd be able to protect themselves from Tempest Shadow and her STORM overlords.
Sunset's eyes closed and soon she was fast asleep, a small smile forming on her face. Whatever happened, they would face it together.
A spark of magic, dark blue in color, floated across the rooftops of the suburbs. It had been floating for a while without landing anywhere in particular. It passed over houses and streets before floating up and over the domed roof of Canterlot High. It weaved around the clock tower and dropped behind the building near the faculty lot.
It zipped through the lot and the chain link fence surrounding it before disappearing into the woods behind the school. After a moment, there was another flash of blue from deep within the trees.
Followed by an ominous growling, and the sound of something large and muscular moving through the forest.
