> Severed Ties
>  by Carol Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: Anon-A-Miss (Part I)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Twilight,

My second slumber party with the girls and already I feel so much closer to everyone!  I haven’t felt so loved, so accepted, in…well…ever!  I feel like I finally have a family again.  Without all of you to help and support me, I’d be- Well you know what I would be!  Anyway, I should get some sleep, but I wanted to let you know before I do…that I love you all.

		-Sunset Shimmer

Shutting her journal, Sunset Shimmer hugged it to her chest in a vain attempt to recapture the warmth that entry had once brought her.  Those words seemed to have been written so long ago.  So much had happened since those happy words were penned.  What had started as a week-long slumber party marathon for Sunset Shimmer’s friends to show her the joys of the holidays, had somehow turned into the end of their friendship.  After the first sleepover, Applejack’s little sister, Apple Bloom, had let slip about AJ’s childhood nickname, “Piggly-wiggly.”  All the friends had gathered around to support their friend, and Applejack had insisted that she’d be fine.  Things seemed to be okay even if the mood had been soured a bit.

The next day was another sleepover, this time at Rarity’s house.  It gave the friends a chance to forget about the rumors and have a chance to boost Applejack’s spirits.  The impromptu fashion show of Rarity’s ‘closet of shame’ seemed to do the trick, getting everyone giggling and smiling once again.  Sunset had even taken some photos to remember the occasion.  Sunset had been so happy she just had to write to Princess Twilight to let her know.

Sunset was starting to feel like she had found a real place for herself and that she was loved for being herself.  But just like every other time in her life, that happiness was not to last.  Whatever joy she ever managed to find in life was always inevitably ripped away from her.  Why did she think that this time would be any different?

The pictures from the fashion show had been the next day’s MyStable post, though none of the pictures that included Sunset.  As a result, all of Sunset’s friends especially Rarity were made the laughing stock of Canterlot High, while Sunset became the prime suspect for being Anon-A-Miss. When they confronted her, the girls refused to believe that Sunset wasn't the one behind the posts.  They felt hurt and betrayed saying their whole friendship must have only been a charade to get close to them so she could embarrass them.  Having her first real friends say that they were no longer friends without even a thought that it might not be her, Sunset couldn’t help but share in their feeling of betrayal.  

Sunset tried talking with them; swearing she wasn’t the one behind the account.  She pleaded for them to think about it.  Why would she sacrifice the friendships she had worked so hard to achieve?  But it did no good only falling on deaf ears.  The ones she had just recently called her family left her abandoned in the school hallway in a pool of her own tears.

The week continued and so did the posts from Anon-A-Miss.  More secrets of Sunset’s now-former group of friends were revealed.  Then Anon-A-Miss branched out and targeted other Canterlot High students.  The atmosphere at the school became increasingly hostile.  The posts caused chaos throughout the school; friendships were ended, targets of the posts were ridiculed, and for one flame-haired girl, school had become a nightmare.

Sunset had no idea who would want to frame her like this.  After the Battle of the Bands, she thought that most of the school had forgiven her or at least decided to leave her alone.  The Sirens were a thought, but no one had seen them since that night and there was no way they’d have known this many secrets about the students without someone seeing them.  Sunset’s only other suspect had been Trixie who had never quite gotten over her loss to the Rainbooms in the semi-finals, despite the girls pointing out repeatedly that the results had been rigged by the Dazzlings.  But Sunset’s confrontation of Trixie proved fruitless as had all her other attempts to figure out the identity of Anon-A-Miss.  

Sunset had once again been reduced the school punching bag.  Unlike after the Fall Formal, this time Sunset didn’t have her friends to stand up for her or provide much needed moral support.  She had taken to doing nothing more than attending class and trying to ignore the bumps and jeers as she ran the gauntlet of the hallways between periods.  

Today things had gotten even worse.  Some of the students were actually starting to threaten physical violence.  Sunset had skipped most of her afternoon classes because she’d heard Gilda and her gang were looking for her after one of Gilda’s secrets was published by Anon-A-Miss.  Sunset had hidden on the upper floor of the library where few students or teachers ever came.  Collapsing on the bed of books Princess Twilight had used back during the Fall Formal, Sunset decided to write to the only friend she still had left.  

Twilight was shocked at the behavior of the Canterlot High students in particular at those of their friends.  She had provided a sympathetic ear and though she had to head to Canterlot Castle to put on the annual Hearth’s Warming Eve play, she had promised that if this was not over by the time she came back, she would come through the portal and help Sunset sort this whole mess out.  She also said she would leave the portal open for her.  Though this would mean she wouldn’t be able to talk to her, Sunset would have the ability to return to Equestria if things got really out of hand.  Looking back over Twilight’s letter, Sunset focused on her last entry.  

Sometimes all you can do is stay strong, remember who you are, and find your family.

With a newfound sense of determination, Sunset set off to find her friends and once again try to convince them of her innocence.  Leaving the safety of the library stacks, Sunset was accosted by the students in the halls.  After being knocked painfully to the ground, Sunset considered just walking outside and heading straight through the portal, but her eyes fell on her journal, open to Twilight’s final words to her and she steeled herself, grabbed her journal and ran out into the cold winter air.  Pushing her way through the crowd amongst a sea of angry glares, Sunset failed to notice a pair of gamboge eyes filled instead with regret as they swiftly darted to the phone in her hands.


***

It wasn’t hard to find the girls, Sunset knew they always hung out at Sugarcube Corner after school.  Bursting through the door, her presence was soon noticed, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the first ones out of their seats.

“Hey, get out,” Rainbow growled, her fists clenched preparing for a fight.

“Yer not welcome here, Sunset!” Applejack added also ready to physically remove her from the cafe if Sunset wouldn’t leave on her own.

“No, wait, please!” Sunset pleaded.  She reached into her bag, removing the journal she used to communicate with Princess Twilight.  “I know you don’t trust me, a-and I can’t prove I’m innocent, but please look at this.”  

She offered the book to the group.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash just continued glaring at her, Rarity refused to even look at her, and Pinkie’s hair had deflated as she sank into her seat away from the confrontation.  Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who finally reached out and accepted the journal.  

“I’ve been telling Twilight everything that’s been happening, and- and she reminded me, you’re more than my friends- you’re my family.  You know me better than anyone.  Ask yourself, would the Sunset Shimmer you know- the real Sunset Shimmer, the person I am now- would she do this?”

“We thought we knew you, darling,” Rarity finally spoke, “but clearly this whole Anon-A-Miss debacle has indeed revealed exactly who the ‘real Sunset Shimmer’ is.”

“We ain’t gonna ask ya again.  Now get!” Applejack yelled as both she and Rainbow approached Sunset to show her the door.  Rainbow grabbed ahold of her jacket and spun her around as Applejack assisted Rainbow in shoving her towards the exit.

Angry tears formed in her eyes, as Sunset was pushed towards the door.  Forcefully shaking their hands off her arms, her mind reeled as she was literally being thrown out by her friends.  She reached for the door but couldn’t bring herself to look back at the girls who had taught her the joys of friendship and who Sunset had considered sisters.  

“I guess Anon-A-Miss showed exactly who you all are as well.  So much for friendship being magic.”  Frustrated and hurt,  Sunset shoved open the door and exited onto the frozen street.  The wind was blowing and snow was starting to fall, but to Sunset it seemed warmer than where she had just left.  With a resigned sigh, she turned and headed back in the direction of Canterlot High. 


***


 “What do you mean ‘we need to shut down the account’?” 

The group of friends known as the Crusaders was gathered under the bleachers of the football field.  They had been summoned to an emergency meeting by a rather panicky sounding text from their leader.  Scootaloo continued to stare at said redhead waiting for a reply. 

“Yeah,” squeaked the group’s third member, Sweetie Belle, “I thought the whole reason we made the Anon-A-Miss account in the first place was to get our sisters mad at Sunset, so they’d stop hanging out so much with her and have time for us again.”

“Exactly,” Scootaloo cut back in.  “Don’t you remember what it was like before the Fall Formal?  They were so mad at Sunset and the rest of their friends that they didn’t want to go out so they hung out at home…with us.”

“After what Sunset did to Rarity during the Spring Fling, she stayed in her room for weeks.  I mean she was sad but, once I started bringing her ice cream she opened up and we hung out all the time.  I’d help her with her designs and model some of her clothes, and she’d listen to me sing.  It was great.”

“But that’s not what’s happenin’,” Apple Bloom shouted.  “We wanted to get our sister’s mad at Sunset, not tha whole school.”  

“So some other people are mad at her, who cares?” Scootaloo waved off her friend’s concern.  “She ruled the school for years.  I’m sure she hurt plenty of people who are just holding a grudge.”

Apple Bloom waved her phone in their faces.  “Have you read half the comments people are postin’ on the account?  They ain’t just mad at her, they’re furious.  Some of them are even threatenin' to hurt her.”

That fact seemed to shock Sweetie. “Wh-what are you talking about?”  She took the offered device from the little farm girl and began scrolling through the comments.  The look of concern on her face slowly morphing to sadness as she continued down the increasingly hateful comments.

“You don’t get it, Scoots,” the redhead started to cry herself, “you weren’t there.  You didn’t see what they did.  She was so sad.  No, she was more than sad.  It was like she had nothin’ left, and all the kids in tha hall just ganged up on her, pushin' her and shoutin' at her."  The tears were streaming down the girl’s cheeks and she did nothing to stop them.  "And we did that to her.”

Apple Bloom could see the effect that had on her sporty friend as she leaned back against one of the bleacher’s poles and slid down until her rear connected with the ground.  The daredevil then proceeded to beat her head against the pole issuing an audible clang with each blow.

“I never hated Sunset,” Scootaloo finally said.  “I mean she seemed like a jerk and all, but she never bugged me.  Heck if it wasn’t for Sunset breaking up her friendships their freshman year, Rainbow Dash might not have signed up for the Little Sister program, and I wouldn’t have met the coolest person ever.”  A realization struck her and she paled as she continued.  “I remember it was before I met you girls, and I didn’t have anyone to talk to.  Most of the kids in my elementary school thought I was crazy or dangerous with my stunts and they tended to stay away from me.  It sucked being alone, and then I met Rainbow and I had someone who was actually into all these cool things, and then I met you girls and…”  The excitement of the memory died suddenly with the thought.  “And that’s what I took away from Sunset.”

An alert went off on their phones signaling that their MyStable had received another message.  Sweetie who was already reading through the messages visibly paled after reading the newest one.  

“Um girls,” she said offering the phone to her friends, “I think you’d better take a look at this.”  Taking the phone Apple Bloom read the message with Scootaloo peering over her shoulder.

You bacon headed skank.  When I get my hands on you, I’m going to make sure the next hole you’re put in is one you can’t crawl out of.

“Girls, this is bad,” Apple Bloom said looking up from the screen.  “We have to do something.”

“Like what?” asked the athlete behind her.

“Maybe if we delete the account…” started Sweetie the worry evident in her voice.

“Nah, that ain’t gonna be enough.”  Apple Bloom looked her fellow Crusaders in the eye, “Girls, we have ta tell ‘em.”

“What?!  You can’t be serious,” shouted Scootaloo.  “Look at what they did to Sunset.  If we say it was us, they’re gonna kill us.  Not to mention Rainbow Dash will never wanna speak to me again.”

“It won’t be as bad on us as what they’re doing to Sunset.”

“What do ya mean, Sweetie?

“Like you said, on some level people were probably still mad at Sunset for all the stuff she did before the Fall Formal.  A lot of them were probably just using this as an excuse to get back at her.”  The other girls' shoulders drooped at the revelation.  “Plus, even if the whole school turns on us because of Anon-A-Miss, we’ll still have something that Sunset didn’t.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” asked Scootaloo.

“Each other.”

Sticking her hand out palm down between her two friends, Apple Bloom gave them a sad smile.  “Crusaders forever?”  

The other two soon joined in the motion.  They knew what they had to do to try and fix the mess they had caused and they would face it together.  Now came the hard part; finding their sisters and coming clean.  They just hoped it wasn’t too late.
> Prologue: Anon-A-Miss (Part II)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Making her way slowly toward CHS in the cold, Sunset shoved her hands into her pockets to fend off some of the cold, and it dawned on her that her hands were empty.  She had left her journal behind when she’d left Sugarcube Corner.  Fluttershy had reluctantly accepted it, but none of the girls had so much as opened it when Sunset had asked.  

It felt strange leaving the item behind.  It was one of the few items she’d brought with her when she’d come to this world.  It felt wrong to leave without it now, but the journal was the magical anchor for the mirror portal.  Even if the girls never wanted to speak to her again, if a magical emergency arose again, they would need the journal to contact Princess Twilight.  Just because there was nothing left for her in this world, did not mean Sunset wanted to see it fall to any other power-hungry magical threats that might show up.

Trying to think more positively, the girls might come to their senses later and use the journal to write to her and apologize.  Maybe when Twilight returned, she would be able to fix this. Though Sunset was beginning to wonder if there was anything left to fix.  If they were willing to turn on her so easily, were they ever really friends to begin with?  

Trudging slowly through the building snow, Sunset had grown numb both inside and out.  She had cried enough this week and now all she wanted to do was get away from it all.  Sure Twilight had said she would be out of town, but Sunset was sure the princess wouldn’t mind if Sunset were to crash at her place.  Sunset really didn’t want to be alone again in her apartment, and maybe the feeling of being a pony again would distract her from all of the other feelings she had running through her mind.  

As she neared Canterlot High, Sunset was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t see the fist flying toward her until it connected with the side of her face.  The impact coupled with the fact that it had been completely unexpected knocked Sunset to her knees.  As her vision swam, her mind hastily tried to clear itself and get a grasp on the predicament she now found herself in.  Time was not something she was afforded, however.  A steel-toed boot swiftly connected with her ribs, driving the air from her lungs and causing her to crumple the remaining distance to the ground.

“Well, if it isn't Anon-A-Miss,” a voice growled from above her.  Though she couldn't manage to see who it was though the spots still dancing in her vision, there was no doubt who it was.

“Gilda,” Sunset wheezed, trying to push herself up with one hand while gripping her injured side with the other.  “What the buck is wrong with you?!”

Grabbing Sunset roughly by the collar, Gilda yanked up and forced the flame-haired girl to meet her hawk-like gaze.  “Aww, baby still hasn't learned to use big girl words yet?” Gilda teased before switching to a far icier tone.  “What's the matter?  After all those years of running the school, knowing everyone's business, don't tell me you can't figure it out.”   

“I never did anything to you,” Sunset managed to get out, though her injured jaw protested the movement and she could taste the coppery pool in her mouth.  “Even when I was the old me, I never went after you.”

“You're right.  You didn't, because you used to be smart.  You stayed out of my way and I stayed out of yours.  Now though, I don't know what your angle is.  Maybe that rainbow you took to the face scrambled your brains, but I think this sudden bout of stupidity calls for some reeducation on just why it's a bad idea to cross me.”  

Grabbing hold of the downed girl's fiery locks, Gilda easily connected when she kneed the already injured girl in the face, eliciting a sickening crunch and ensuing fountain of blood as it impacted Sunset's nose.  Letting Sunset drop back to the pavement with the blow, Gilda took the chance to straighten her own leather jacket.

Pulling Sunset back to her feet, Gilda shoved her into the waiting arms of two of her goons, Hoops and Score, who dragged her back into the alley they had blindsided her from.  The final member of their little gang, Dumbbell, took up a spot at the end of the alley to act as a lookout for any would-be do-gooders who would try to break up the fight.

With her arms restrained and head still reeling from multiple blows, Sunset could offer little resistance as Gilda pelted her body with punch after punch to her midsection.  Eventually, Sunset wasn't sure which was hurting more the impacts to her ribs or the resulting cries that caused extreme pain to shoot through her side as she tried to catch her breath.  Finally, Gilda opted to change targets.  Meeting the beaten girl in the eyes, Gilda gave a smirk before a fist connected solidly with Sunset’s left eye.  

The blow drove the flame-haired girl backward.  Sunset had long since given up struggling against her captors as she’d been more focused on retaining consciousness.  The sudden change in momentum afforded her a chance, as it caused the two holding her arms to rock backward into the alley wall and unintentionally let go, allowing the beaten girl to collapse in a heap on the ground.

         Falling to the ground on all fours with her brain now pumping with pure adrenaline, Sunset saw her way out.  The primal response of fight or flight kicked in and instincts that had been repressed for years came to bear.  With all the strength she could muster, Sunset tapped into her long-unused pony nature and bucked Hoops as hard as she could in the knee cap.  He immediately dropped to the ground clutching his injured leg.  Sunset quickly followed that up with a strategic strike between the legs of Score.  In her weakened state, she knew it was the one place she could land a blow that was guaranteed to drop a guy. 

        Seeing his friends all go down in such quick succession left Dumbbell in a state of stunned shock.  Taking full advantage of the delay, Sunset made a break for the portal as fast as her injured body would allow.  As she neared the statue, she could hear the rapid approach of footsteps behind her.  Spurred on by the fear of being caught once again, the injured girl pumped her legs even faster, though the effort only made the pain her injured ribs worse.  Fighting back the yelp of pain, Sunset had almost reached the portal when she felt a sharp tug on across her injured body.  Dumbbell had managed to catch up and grab hold of her collar.  Letting her arms slide out from the sleeves, she left him holding only her jacket as she managed to stumble the last few steps and tumble through the portal in the base of the Canterlot High statue.


***


Sugarcube Corner was usually buzzing after school with students looking to get a sugar or caffeine pick-me-up after a long day at school.  Considering the fast-approaching holiday break, one would expect a sense of warmth and joy to permeate the air.  Now though, there was no sign of warmth, instead one could best describe the mood as set to arctic chill, especially for five girls in particular.  

     	None of the Rainbooms had been in a particularly good mood as of late.  The spreading of their secrets on MyStable being only part of it.  They had lost friendships before over misinformation, and they really didn't want to go through that again.  But even as this thought made them want to believe Sunset, remembering it had been the flame-haired girl behind those lost friendships the first time always stopped them.  

             The secrets that were posted, too, seemed to prove it had been Sunset.  The reveal of Applejack’s nickname right after it had been revealed to the group could have been chalked up to coincidence with the timing, though it was suspicious.   When put together with the pictures from Rarity's sleepover, however, it was harder to shrug off.  The pictures were taken by Sunset on her own phone.  Sunset said her phone hadn’t gone missing.  Even if it had, who else but those at the party would even know that the pictures existed to look for them?  As much as they hadn’t wanted it to be true, it seemed clear that Sunset Shimmer was back to her old ways. 

     	“Girls,” Pinkie said, her voice lacked its normal bubbliness, instead having a surprisingly somber tone, “I'm not feeling so good.”

    	“Might have something ta do with all them cupcakes ya just ate, sugarcube.  Ah told ya hot sauce and cupcakes were not a good combination,” reprimanded Applejack.

     	“What are you talking about?!” Pinkie shouted indignantly.  “That was an old Pie family recipe.  Trust me.  You do not mess with a Granny Pie recipe...EVER.”  The last word seemed to hang in the word as an ominous threat.  The girls were willing to once again chalk the outburst up to Pinkie being Pinkie, happy at least to see the party girl return to normal, or what was considered normal for her.  But just as quickly as the burst of energy came, it was gone again, leaving only a sad girl one might think was Fluttershy in disguise.  “It's not my tummy that hurts,” she whispered.  “Well, my tummy hurts too, but I think it's my heart.  I keep thinking about Sunset.”

     	“Pfft,” Rainbow snorted, “Why bother?  She turned on us, Pinkie!” Angry, frustrated tears formed in the athlete's eyes though she refused to let them fall.  “She was supposed to be our friend, and she stabbed us in the back…AGAIN!  Do you remember freshman year?  The conniving witch and the ‘interview’ for the yearbook.  She lied to get close to us, then she took what she learned and used it to split us up.”

     	“I know,” said Pinkie, her voice remaining quiet despite the confrontation, “but we were supposed to teach her how to be a friend.  If she thought that Anon-A-Miss was funny, maybe it's my fault for not teaching her that there's a difference between the mean, hurtful laughs she used to have when she was evil and plotting and the kind that come from when everyone is having a good time.  I’m supposed to show her how fun it is to spread joy to people,” her voice dropped to a near whisper to conclude, “not leave them crying in the hallway.”

   	Thinking back on that moment in the school and on her own behavior toward Sunset, Rarity flinched.  In the past, Sunset’s schemes were always for a bigger purpose.  There had always been something for her to gain; money, power, popularity.  But ever since the Fall Formal, Sunset hadn’t asked for a thing.  Even when Rarity had offered to make her new clothes or take her on a spa trip, Rarity practically had to force her into accepting.  What did Anon-A-Miss get her?  So far it only seemed to be costing her everything she had worked so hard for.  Actually, Sunset had asked for one thing in all the time they’d been friends since after the Fall Formal, and Rarity had denied her.

“For all my talk of generosity and treating strangers like they’re friends, when a friend was in real need, I was too selfish to even give her a chance to explain herself.”  Tears flowed down the girl’s face leaving a trail of mascara across her fair skin.   However, it was not accompanied by her usual dramatics.  This was true sorrow showing through, and no amount of style or couture could hide the ugliness she felt in herself at this moment.

“She tried to explain herself,” Fluttershy said, indicating the worn journal she was still holding emblazoned with a bright red and gold sun on its cover.  Flipping it open, she skimmed through it until she came to the most recent entries, stopping when she found the entry from the night of Rarity’s sleepover.  Fluttershy placed it open on the table for all the girls to see.

I haven’t felt so loved, so accepted, in …well…ever!  I feel like I finally have a family again.

Tears were streaming down the face of the shy girl as she finished reading, and she retreated behind her curtain of long, pink hair.  What she had seen in that journal, clearly Sunset had been hurting for a long time. Now, when she was finally opening up and learning about friendship, Sunset had that cruelly ripped away from her by the people she had loved and thought loved her.  To tell Sunset that she’s “not our friend,” how could she have been so unkind?

Applejack had remained focused on the words in Sunset’s journal.  Applejack had been the one to call Sunset family.  Had she really meant it though?  Even if Sunset was the one behind Anon-A-Miss, did family turn its back on one another because they screwed up?  Would she have abandoned Big Mac or Apple Bloom so easily?  Applejack didn’t know.  She didn’t think so though, and that only made it worse.  Granny Smith had taught her that being an Apple was more than just being blood.  It was being there for each other through thick and thin.  That no matter what, you’re always welcome with your Apple kin.  That memory struck home for her as she recalled her words from only a few minutes ago when she threw the poor girl out in the cold, “You’re not welcome here, Sunset.”  Had what she told Sunset about being family just been a lie?

“Oh, come on,” Rainbow Dash moaned, “of course it’s Sunset!  This is exactly like what happened last time.”  That thought, however, caused Rainbow to actually stop and think for a moment.  No, not exactly like what happened last time.  When Sunset, had broken her and her friends up the first time, none of them had ever suspected Sunset had been involved.  Sunset was always smart like that.  Now though?  Anon-A-Miss just screamed Sunset Shimmer.  The colors, the profile picture, everything pointed to the former bully.  But if Sunset really was behind it that would be just stupid, and Sunset was anything but stupid.  The number of times Sunset had helped Rainbow through her homework or cram for a test was proof enough of that.  

Rainbow’s heart dropped at the memories.  This was exactly like last time.  Once again, Rainbow was willing to abandon a friendship because of the smallest sleight without even trying to make sure it wasn’t some kind of mistake.  She was always bragging how she’d “never leave a friend hanging,” but just like when she’d cut Applejack out after Sunset tricked them, Rainbow was once again leaving a friend hanging.  No, she hadn’t just left Sunset hanging, she’d pushed Sunset right over the edge and never looked back.  Rainbow Dash groaned and slammed her head down on the table.  “We messed up bad, didn’t we?”

A sad group of faces just nodded, unable or unwilling to speak or even meet the others’ eyes.  Without another word, the group hurriedly gathered their winter gear and raced out the door in the direction the former unicorn had headed.  Unfortunately, the rush out the door resulted in a collision as they ran into a smaller group headed the other way.  

“Whoa, careful there, Scoots,” Rainbow said catching the younger girl as she skidded to a stop on the slick sidewalk.

“Rainbow Dash, I gotta talk to you,” the young daredevil started only to be cut off by her surrogate sister.

“Sorry, Scootaloo, me and the girls are in a hurry, but we can hang out later.  Promise.”

“That’s what you always say,” Scootaloo muttered.  Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom caught it though and silenced any further comments with a stern look.  The young athlete knew there were other priorities right now, but Rainbow Dash’s response and subsequent blow-off irked the short-haired tween, and she couldn’t bite off her retort.  

“Yes, darlings,” Rarity cut in, “we are in a dreadful rush, so if you’ll kindly excuse us there are pressing matters we must attend to.”

“No, you need to listen,” Sweetie cut in, her voice squeaking a bit as her volume increased.  “It’s Sunset Shimmer.  You have to help us find her.”  

“Look, girls, I know I might have been a real jerk this week towards Sunset,” Rainbow started, earning a bit of a glare from her friends as she completely undersold how badly she’d treated the girl, “But Sunset isn’t Anon-A-Miss and ‘shooting her with another rainbow-laser’ as everyone keeps suggesting isn’t going to stop that webpage.”

“Wait how’d y’all figure out Sunset ain’t Anon-A-Miss?” Apple Bloom asked shocked by their sisters’ sudden change of heart.

The way the little farm girl said it, with the surprise not stemming from Sunset’s innocence so much that the Rainbooms had finally realized it, caught Applejack’s attention.  She was supposed to be the Element of Honesty.  Something about that statement was niggling at her personal lie detector.  She’d doubted that feeling too much this week when she’d assumed Sunset to be at fault.  Despite what her gut told her, she’d given in to the belief Sunset was guilty, but she wasn’t going to ignore it anymore.

As realization crept across the elder Apple’s face, Applejack’s eyes suddenly narrowed as she crossed her arms and cast a withering gaze at the young trio.  “Girls, is there somethin’ you three want ta tell us?”

The middle school trio could tell they had been found out.  They had intended to confess anyway, but the prospect of doing so to the older girls they so admired left them a stammering mess.

Surprisingly it was Fluttershy who decided to take command of the situation.  Fixing the younger girls with a look her friends feared, something they had dubbed ‘the stare’, she spoke softly but in a tone that brooked no argument.  “Girls, the truth…now.”

The three friends were struck by the presence of the normally shy girl.  They flinched away from her eyes but soon realized there was no comfort to be had from their sisters or sister figure either at this time.  They could only stare helplessly at the snow-covered sidewalk as they all admitted in a meek chorus, “We’re Anon-A-Miss.”
> Prologue: Anon-A-Miss (Part III)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shock struck the Rainbooms dumb as they processed this new info, staring amazed at the trio confessing in front of them.  They had realized that it hadn’t been Sunset, but hearing the truth still struck them all.  Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash in particular were hurt to learn that the betrayal of secrets and the targeting of their friend had been perpetrated by their own family, or those they considered family.  It was a worse blow than their aired secrets had ever caused.

“Listen we know we screwed up,” Scootaloo managed to get out, though her usually boisterous tone was more subdued, “but that’s not important right now.”  

“Like hell it isn’t!” Rainbow Dash shouted, her rage at both the little daredevil and herself seeping into her words.  “Do you know what kind of trouble you’ve caused?  What you’ve done to Sunset not to mention the rest of the school?”

“Well, it’s going to be worse if we don’t hurry,” Apple Bloom interrupted in a voice bordering on panic.  “I overheard Gilda and her goons were looking for Sunset after school.  They said something about planning to put an end to Anon-A-Miss once and for all.”  The statement resulted in a visible shiver to running up the three younger girls at what their fate might yet be when the truth of Anon-A-Miss got out.

“We need to find Sunset now!” Pinkie cried and seemed to materialize a magnifying glass seemingly from nowhere and began searching the area for clues.

“Where do ya think she woulda gone to?” Applejack asked removing her hat and scratching her head.

“Home?” Sweetie Belle offered, trying to be helpful.

“Nah,” Rainbow said with a shake of her colorful head.  “Isn’t her loft the other direction?”  The comment was affirmed with silent nods by the rest of the Rainbooms.

“A friend’s house?” Scootaloo said, though the moment the words left her mouth she wished desperately that she could get them back.  Her comment earned her a mix of looks from those around her ranging from heartbroken to pure spite.  

“Wait that’s it,” Rarity called out, “I know where Sunset went.”

“Oh, that’s great, Rarity,” Fluttershy piped.  “Um…where is she?”

“Simple, darling.  She is…” Rarity paused for a bit of dramatic tension before her big reveal, “at a friend’s.”  

“Um, Rares,” Applejack said, rubbing guiltily at her neck, “after this whole Anon-A-Miss mess, the whole school’s been out for her hide.  Heck, even before that she didn’t really have anyone outside of…us.”  The truth of the statement hit the girls again killing whatever renewed energy they’d had a moment ago.  

Finding her resolve once again, the elegantly coifed girl began again, “Yes, while this whole affair has left poor Sunset bereft of but a single friend in the world, you are forgetting that that is merely this world.  Sunset still has at least one friend in another.”

“Twilight!” the other Rainbooms chorused.  

“Oh, Oh, Oh,” Pinkie said waving her hand frantically in the air like a kid who’d just heard someone was looking for cupcake taste-testing volunteers.  When she’d gotten enough eyes on her she opted just to start into one of her usual Pinkie tirades, “But if Sunset goes back home to her magical pony world, she might decide she likes it better there where people/ponies aren’t being mean and nasty to her all the time and where people/ponies might not know about her whole raging she-demon episode and can actually make real friends, possibly even the pony us-es who are just like us, but don’t have any grudges against her that would cause them to abandon her not to mention Princess Twilight…”

The rest of the morale crushing rant was cut off by a cyan hand covering her mouth.  “We get it, Pinkie.  We have to hurry, so let’s go!”

A muffled, “Okey Dokey Lokey” could be made out from the still covered mouth as the Rainbooms and the three behind Anon-A-Miss all rushed for the school.

When the army of eight girls neared Canterlot High, it was Pinkie and her magnifying glass that spotted the first sign of trouble.

“Girls, we have a situation here,” the pink girl said as she indicated the trampled snow near the alleyway as well as the red spots flecked across white.  

“Oh my,” Rarity breathed with a shocked hand covering her mouth.

“Oh, dear,” whispered an increasingly worried Fluttershy.  “Somebody must be hurt.”

“Yeah, and I’m hopin’ Ah’m wrong about just who that is.”

Rainbow didn’t hesitate any longer, and raced down the road toward the school following the path of the heaviest footprints and praying they would lead her where she needed to be.  Someone was in trouble and needed help.  She wouldn’t let anyone else down today. 

Canterlot High wasn’t that much further and Rainbow Dash being the star athlete that she was, covered the distance in no time.  What she found when she arrived soured her mood even further.  There, lounging on the front steps of the school, was Gilda and her crew.  Though they were each nursing their own injuries, the smug satisfaction in the looks on their faces won out over the pain.  Then Rainbow spotted it.  Lying on the stairs in the middle of the gang like some kind of trophy was a familiar-looking leather jacket.  More disturbing still was the blood that adorned it.

“Hey, Rainbow Crash, long time no see,” Gilda called when she spotted the rainbow maned girl heading toward her group.  “Where are your little friends at, or did you finally decide to ditch those losers again and come hang out with us?  You’re a bit late to the party, but I suppose you can always join in on our victory celebration.”

“What did you do?!”  

“Got rid of the Demon bitch,” Gilda said with a satisfied grin.  “Not that she needed much help leaving.  Think she was planning on going already.  We just made sure that she doesn’t think about coming back.”

Rainbow’s vision went red, but before she could launch herself at Gilda, a strong arm gripped her shoulder to stop her.

“Whoa there, girl.”  Applejack met Rainbow’s eyes.  Emerald met rose and the look was enough to communicate volumes.  Finding Sunset was the priority.  Then they would make sure Gilda and the rest were taken care of.  Shifting her gaze, the farm girl glared at the bullies.  “Now, where’s Sunset and what exactly did y’all do ta her?”

“What do you care, hick?  The demon is gone and now things can go back to the way they should be.  Gilda moved to put on the prized leather jacket herself, but it inexplicably vanished from her hands in a blur of pink, as Pinkie rematerialized behind her two friends as the others had finally caught up.

“Taking things that don’t belong to you isn’t nice,” the cotton candy girl reprimanded.

“And this jacket most certainly is not yours.”  Rarity took the jacket from her friend and flinched a bit at the sight of the blood on its lapels.

“Only going to ask this once more,” Rainbow Dash started, her eyes narrowing as she balled her fists, “where…is…Sunset?”

Seeing the look in the eyes of the five girls who had wielded magic strong enough to bring down monsters now being turned on her, Gilda reconsidered her position.  “Fine, whatever.  She made a break for it and we lost sight of her.  Dumbbell chased after her and says and I quote, ‘She ran into the statue.' Don't know if that’s magic or just more proof of Dumbbell living up to his name, but she ain’t here and I doubt she’ll be coming back.”

Rainbow Dash was ready to resume what Applejack had stopped when a small voice called out from the Wondercolt statue.

“Um…girls, over here.”  

Taking the chance that the distraction brought, Gilda and the rest of her crew made a break for it.  Rainbow and to an extent Applejack wanted to pursue them until they saw the worried look in the animal lover’s eyes.  The Rainbooms found even more blood in the snow in front of the statue’s base.  

“We have to go after her,” Rainbow said.

“Ta Equestria?” Applejack removed her hat and ran a hand over her hair.  “Listen, sugarcube-”

“No, AJ, we screwed up.  We screwed up big time.  We were supposed to look out for Sunset.  Princess Twilight trusted us to help her and what did we do?  We abandoned her and left her to the wolves over some lousy frame job.”  The Crusaders, who had been quietly seeing the damage they had caused, flinched at the athlete’s words.  “We have to try.”  

The brash girl placed her hand on the stone prepared to go after the girl she’d let down, but as she pushed on the cold surface, it doesn’t give.  

“What’s wrong?  Why won’t it work?”  Rainbow began to pound on the plinth with her fists.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to see us anymore.”  The voice was low and sad, not at all what you’d expect from the normally bubbly Pinkie Pie.  “It’s not like we were very good friends.”

The weight of those words struck each of the girls with the force of an oncoming train.  Princess Twilight had said they represented the Elements of Harmony.  A force for good and magic that they had used to save the world twice.  But when faced with a non-magical conflict, one that could have been easily resolved if they had acted like they were expected to and embodied their elements, they had failed that test, and Sunset had been the one to pay the price.  The girls all raged through a torrent of emotions but each finally settled in the same place; utter despair.

Fluttershy was soon brought out of her introspection by the journal clutched in her hands.  The reminder of the friend that was gone was beginning to vibrate.

“Um…girls.”  

Though soft, silence still hung in the school courtyard and her friends were able to hear the note of alarm in her voice.  

“Do you think it’s a message from Sunset?” Pinkie asked trying to push a bit of hope into the question despite how she felt.

“I’m surprised she’d want to talk to us,” said Rarity as she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, trying to clear away some of the mascara streaks.   

“Maybe it’s Twilight,” Rainbow started.

“Yeah, probably wants ta tell us off for bein’ such lousy friends.”

“Girls,” the shy girl redirected their attention to the still vibrating tome in her grip, “I don’t think it’s a message.”  The vibrating continued to intensify so much so that it jumped out of Fluttershy’s hands.  Before she could bend to pick it back up, the book began to shoot off magenta-colored sparks.  

“What’s happening,” Scootaloo called to Rainbow Dash, stepping in front of her two friends to shield them from the threat.

“I don’t know,” the older athlete called, “It’s never done this before.”

Suddenly the book shot out rays of magenta light that struck each of the Rainbooms encompassing them in a similarly colored aura.  The girls screamed in fear, though the magic, as it surely must be, did not seem to be hurting them.  Just as quickly, the rosy light stopped and reversed course.  As it did so, the auras shifted colors, matching those they had taken on in their ponied up forms and that light too was pulled with the other energy to be reabsorbed into the sun marked book.  

There was a moment then and the lights finally faded.  It seemed the journal had taken in all it could, but the moment passed swiftly, broken by an explosion of rainbow light.  The girls had seen it twice before and wielded its power to save the world.  This time, however, they were only witnesses as the book shot the multi-colored pillar of light into the air.  

When it finally ended, it was Rainbow Dash who carefully approached the book.  It was still giving off a few magenta sparks and a bit of rainbow-tinted smoke.  As she gingerly reached for the book, she was surprised that despite its scorched appearance, the book itself was not hot.  As her friends gathered around her, Rainbow carefully opened the journal only to find it full of blackened pages.

“Ah guess they didn’t want ta talk ta us after all,” Applejack stated in an eerily somber tone.

“No,” Rainbow shouted.  “I’m not letting it end like this.  Rarity, give me a pen.”

Following the demand dumbly, the fashionista produced the requested implement and handed it over to the sporty girl, who promptly snatched it out of her hand and began frantically writing on the ashy pages.

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy started, putting her hand on her childhood friend’s shoulder to try and calm the athlete.

“No, Shy,” Rainbow growled.  “We have to fix this.”  Her tone would have come off angry to anyone who hadn’t known the rainbow-haired girl as long as her shy friend had.  Fluttershy could tell Rainbow was barely holding back her own tears at this point.

“I don’t think we can fix it,” Pinkie stated, her voice was so distant, so unenergetic, that one might mistake her for her sister Maude.  When the others turned to the normally bubbly girl they saw that her hair had straightened, falling like a curtain and hiding much of her face.  Even her normally bright coloration seemed to have faded to a sad grey tone.  

Rarity was shocked out of her grief by the change in her friend’s demeanor.  “What do you mean, darling?”  

“Don’t you remember back during the Battle of the Bands?  When Twilight showed up she said she managed to force the portal open using the magic of the linked journals she and Sunset had."

“Yeah, so what?” shot Rainbow.

“What she means there, sugarcube,” Applejack sighed, “is no journal, no portal.”   

“Well, not exactly.”  The comment was quiet, and as all eyes darted to the butter-skinned girl as if urging her to continue, she promptly retreated behind her hair.  “Oh, um…I was just thinking that the portal still might open as it did before…but…”

“But what, Shy?” Rainbow grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders seeming to want to shake the rest out of her.

“Um, there was a timeframe, remember.  The portal only opened every thirty moons.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

“It means we’re not going to get the chance to try and apologize for at least another two years,” Pinkie finished in her Maude-like monotone.

What members of the Rainbooms who weren’t already in tears broke down at that news.  The three Crusaders soon joined in realizing the pain that they had caused not just Sunset and their sisters, but the whole school, and now there was no way to make up for it.

When the tears had finally subsided, it was Applejack who took charge.  “Come on you three.  Let’s see if the principals are still here.”

“What are we supposed ta tell ‘em?” sniffled Applebloom.

“The truth,” Applejack said.  “It’s high time the whole school realized what happened.”  This prompted a sob from Sweetie Bell who was being comforted by Scootaloo.  “Not just what you’ve done, but what they did as well.  Now, come on.”  She started herding the trio back into the building followed by the rest of the Rainbooms with each casting a final, regretful look at the base of the Wondercolt statue, and remembering the poor girl they had hurt who lay beyond.
> Prologue: Anon-A-Miss (Part IV)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wooee, that was one heck of a trip,” Applejack said as she pushed open the crystal door to Twilight's castle.

“I completely agree, darling.  There is nothing quite like Canterlot during the holidays and to be center stage for the Hearth's Warming Eve show...EEEEeeee,” Rarity squealed while prancing on the tips of her hooves, “it was simply marvelous.”

“I don’t know about all of you,” Rainbow Dash said, tiredly flapping as she flew above the rest of her friends, “but I’m ready to crawl into bed.  After my display of awesomeness needed to make that snore-fest of a show even remotely cool, I’m going to need some serious sleep to recoup.”

“Snore-fest?!  How can you say that?” Twilight cried in frazzled disbelief, then proceeded to enter lecture mode to educate her obviously uninformed friend.  “The Hearth's Warming Eve play depicts a hallmark event in the history of ponydom.  Where once the tribes had been separated by hatred and mistrust, they were finally able to band together and…”

“Exactly what I was saying,” Rainbow cut her off, “‘snore-fest’.  I mean, come on, they could’ve at least shown some of the fighting between the tribes, maybe then I could’ve shown off some of the sweet moves I’ve been working on.”

“I don’t think fighting would have been a very nice thing to show.  It would have been scary,” Fluttershy commented in her usual soft tone as she shrunk into her mane at the thought of even staged violence.

“Oh, please, a few well-timed kicks and some sweet stunts wouldn’t be scary,” Rainbow argued emphasizing her statement with some kicks and jabs to the air in an improvised aerial routine, “it would be awesome, and it’s nowhere near as bad as some of the actual things we’ve faced before.” 

“I know, but usually when we have to fight something big and scary, there's no time to really think about it. Going up on stage in front of all those ponies was bad enough, but knowing I’d have to fight you all too, it would have been too much.”

“Enough of this grumpy talk.  After such a successful show, I’d say it’s time for a PARTY!”

“Pinky, darling, we already had a wrap party in Canterlot after the show.”

“I know, silly, but this is our triumphant return to Ponyville after making our ‘Spectacular Stage Debut in Canterlot’ Party.”

“Come on, Pinks, I just said I was looking forward to catching some Z’s.”

“What’s the matter, sugarcube, all out of awesomeness?  Too bad too, seein’ as I still have one of the barrels of Apple Family Special Reserve that I was goin’ to bust out ta celebrate, but if you’re too tuckered out, I’m sure Pinkie won’t turn down…”

“You’ve got some of the good cider left?  No way am I letting Pinkie cut me out again.”

Shaking her head at her friends’ antics, the purple princess could only smile.  “Before any sort of party gets underway, I’m going to go check on something in the library.”  

Walking down the hall, Twilight Sparkle wrapped the doors of her private library in the magenta aura of her magic and pushed them open.  She was immediately beset by the smell of smoke and raw magic.  Glancing about, it didn’t take long to spot the source of the offending smell.  The device that she had created to open the mirror portal lay in ruins.  The pieces were scattered and broken on the floor though some parts seemed to still be emitting residual sparks of magic.  	

“Sweet Celestia!” Twilight gasped.  “Sunset!” she shouted casting about the floor for the journal that the two shared.

“It’s okay, Twi,” the pony princess heard a low voice say behind her.  Turning she spotted the form of an amber unicorn, her red and gold mane currently blocking her face in a manner befitting Fluttershy.

“Sunset,” Twilight questioned, stepping closer to her friend, “what happened here?  Are you alright?”  This was met with a dark chuckle that caused Twilight to freeze in her approach towards her friend.  The unicorn lifted her head and stared the princess in the eyes, allowing Twilight to get a good view of her friend.  Sunset’s mane and coat were muddy and disheveled.  Her left eye was purple and on the verge of swelling shut.  Her muzzle was bent and bleeding.

“Am I alright?  No.  I am so far from alright right now,” Sunset said, her voice still low but firm, as she fixed her friend with a hard stare.  A feat made all the more intimidating as she managed it with one eye.

“Sunset, what happened?  Who did this to you?”  Putting a hoof to her mouth she breathed out, “Was it the girls?”

The response came in the form of another dark chuckle.  “No, it wasn’t the girls.  They only threw me out.  It was Gilda.  She and her cronies jumped me as I was heading here to take you up on your offer.  I managed to get away and ran through the portal.  I was a little panicked at the time and I smashed the machine so no one could come after me.”  Surveying the destruction she was still sitting amid she added, “Sorry about the mess.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Twilight said reaching out and turning her friend towards her.  “I took that machine from concept to proof in under an hour the first time.  It shouldn’t take me long to do it again.  As soon as we fix you up, I’ll repair the machine and the two of us are heading back to Canterlot High and we’ll get to the bottom of this Anon-A-Miss thing.”

“No, we’re not.” Sunset replied dejectedly.

“Like Tartarus we’re not!” the alicorn shouted.  “Those five are supposed to represent the Elements of Harmony, and after what they’ve done, they’re in for a long lecture on what that is supposed to mean.  Followed by extensive groveling and pleas of forgiveness to you.”

“Twilight, as much as I would love to see you give someone else a Princess of Friendship speech, that’s not going to be happening anytime soon.”  Pointing a hoof at the book in front of her that appeared to be charred slightly and still gave off an acrid smell.  “I knew they didn’t want to see me anymore, but I didn’t think they’d go to such extremes to ensure it.  By my calculations, you won’t be able to give them your friendship speech for another twenty-seven moons.”

Just then voices could be heard in the hallway and the doors to the library burst open admitting a group of five ponies that were familiar, but technically unknown to the amber unicorn. 

“I told you the egghead would have to be pried away from the books for the party,” said a blue pegasus who flew in with an added barrel roll for no apparent reason.

“No worries, Twilight,” the bouncing pink earth pony with a cotton candy-like mane said while still managing to carry a massive multi-tiered cake, “if you didn’t want to leave the library to come to the party, we just brought the party to the library.”

It was then the five realized Twilight was not alone.  Catching sight of the bruised and beaten unicorn, they stopped short.  They recognized Sunset Shimmer from the descriptions Twilight had shared of her experiences in the other world.  They knew that she had turned over a new leaf and even been the one to save the day during the battle with the sirens.  

They had all been concerned and disappointed at the behavior of their counterparts.  From what Twilight had told them of the situation, seeing Sunset here and now did not speak well of their counterparts’ behaviors and given the state the unicorn was in, all of them were interested in giving friendship lectures of their own to their human doppelgangers, but the task right now was caring for an injured pony.

“Darling, your eye.  We must get something on there right away, I would hate to think what leaving it unattended could do to your complexion.”

“Oh my, those look serious.  I’m sure I have some herbal remedies that will help with the pain.  Um, if you want, that is.”

“I can fix us up some vittles.  Nothing makes ya feel better than some hearty home-cookin'.”

“I can track down the doc.  It’s late, but I’ll find him and I won’t take no for an answer in getting his flank here pronto.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll start planning your ‘Welcome to Ponyville/Get Well Soon/Sorry our human counterparts are total meanies but we so totally aren’t so feel better…” the bouncing pink pony paused to take an impressively large breath simply to conclude, “Party”

Next to her, Twilight heard a guttural sound emanating from the injured pony.  The look she saw on Sunset’s face was one the princess had never wanted to see on her friend again.  Twilight had once seen Sunset glare another student into his own locker.  This look was more intense than that one.  It was a look of pure anger and hate, and it was directed at Twilight’s friends.  Wanting to cut off any more potentially difficult situations for Sunset tonight, the alicorn opted to step in.

“Listen, girls,” the princess stepped in diplomatically.  “Sunset’s had a very rough day and I don’t think she’s up for more ponies today.  I’ll take care of this and talk to you all tomorrow.  If you could just let Spike know and have him bring up some tea and the first aid kit, I’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah, no problem.  Come on everypony, you heard her.  Party’s off,” Applejack said, corralling the others back out the door.  Removing her Stetson, the blond mare risked a glance at the bloodied unicorn.  “For what it’s worth, sugarcube, I do hope ya feel better soon, and that’s the honest truth.”  Putting the hat back on she left the room shutting the doors to the library behind her and leaving the princess to care for her injured friend.


***


Despite the time of night, the explosion of magical energy did not go unnoticed.  In a repurposed storage room in the basement of the prestigious Crystal Prep Academy, a lone girl was still hard at work.  It had been months since an experiment she had set up to track variances in the local weather patterns had picked up a major atmospheric disturbance over the city.  Intrigued by readings that made no sense as there had been no related reports of catastrophic weather phenomena, the young scientist knew she would have to investigate further.

With the permission of the dean, she utilized the school’s radio tower to amplify the range of her sensors and even requisitioned some of the school’s research funding.  She was the one who had earned most of for Crystal Prep after all.  She never liked competing in all the academic events or having to publicly present her research findings, but it meant funding for her research so she endured it.  

As the weeks continued, new readings seemed to stream in constantly.  They were inconsistent though, seemingly appearing at random and never in the same location.  They were also never as strong as the reading she had recorded that first night, but they were definitely of a similar energy signature.  

Then it happened.  A few weeks after the smaller energy surges had begun, there was another massive energy spike.  This one was even greater in magnitude than the first, and with the additional equipment she had at her disposal, the scientist was inundated with new readings from her equipment.  The source of this energy remained a mystery.  

All of the information led her to believe it was a previously unidentified energy type.  Her head swam with the possibility of discovering a new energy source.  From what information she had gathered, it was more powerful than anything that was currently being utilized.  The possible applications filled the scientist’s imagination.  She could revolutionize the world with her scientific discovery and that dream only motivated her to dig deeper and dedicate herself more to discovering the energy source.  

It was that motivation that had found her spending yet another night hunched over her computer in the hopes of finding something she had missed that might lead her to her quarry.  Pulling the newest seismologic readings off the machine, the girl added them to her ever-growing collection of reports and data she had collected on the mysterious events surrounding Canterlot High.  

Repositioning the thick dark-framed glasses that had slipped down her nose, Twilight Sparkle remarked to her number one assistant, “No doubt about it, Spike, there’s definitely something strange going on at that school.”  Spike could only bark his agreement as he continued to chew on his toy.
> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Spike...Spike!” Twilight Sparkle called out as she pushed open the door to her library, well one of her libraries, not noticing she had sent her number one assistant flying into a wastepaper basket.  “Oh, there you are, Spike,” the lavender alicorn called as she rushed over to the dragon, the ridiculously long list trailing behind her.  “Have you seen the notecards for my speech?  I’ve looked all over and I can’t seem to find them anywhere.”

“Calm down, Twilight,” Spike placated.  “The notecards are stored in the carrier with the projector.  Remember, you thought that it would be best to have all items necessary for delivering your speech in a single location to ensure maximum efficiency when we dropped off our luggage at the palace and headed over to Celestia’s School to practice for your presentation?”

“Oh, right,” Twilight said, visibly calming down.  “I forgot about that.  But what about…”

“The slides are in with the projector, too.  It’s all done, Twilight,”  Spike said, plucking the still hovering list from out of her magical aura and rolling the scroll back up.  

With a deep breath and a loud exhale, Twilight was once again calm.  “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said, giving the little dragon a nuzzle.  “What would I ever do without you?”

Returning the affection with a hug, Spike was reminded of a similar situation from just a few minutes ago.  “Hey, Twilight,” he began, backing out of the embrace.  “There is one thing I’m worried about for this trip.”

“What’s that?” Twilight questioned with a bit of her previous panic returning to her voice.  “Do you think I need more slides?  More details?  Do you think they’ll want to have access to my annotated notes and a complete cited list of all of my primary and secondary sources?  I’m not sure if our friends would want…”

“Twilight,” Spike cut her off before she could begin on another rant, “It’s not those friends I’m worried about right now.”  

Following his gaze, the Princess of Friendship was quick to pick up on his current concern.  “Yeah, I’m worried about her, too.”

“Why make her come back here to work on the mirror then?” questioned the dragon.  “You know how things were when she first got here.  I know the girls here aren’t the same as the ones from the human world, and Sunset does, too, up here,” Spike said indicating his scaly head, “She just can’t deal with it here.”  The little dragon finished by moving his claw down to indicate his heart.

“I know all that, Spike,” Twilight said placing a gentle hoof on his shoulder.

“Then why bring her back?” he asked.  “She’s hurting so much here working on this project.  Why not just let her go back to Canterlot and move on with her life?”

Letting out a sad sigh, the alicorn answered, “Because she wasn’t.”  This drew a questioning look from the drake.  “She wasn’t moving on in Canterlot, despite what she thinks.  She was burying herself in her studies.  She was there for months and barely did anything outside of reading and research.  No collaborations with other students, no grabbing coffee at Donut Joe’s, and outside of an initial apology, she kept her distance even from Princess Celestia. 

“I know what that kind of life is like and I don’t want that for Sunset.  I know what happened to her on the other side of the mirror hurt her.  Believe me, I can understand.”  A sad look flashed across Twilight’s eyes as she recalled the events of the Royal Wedding; the feeling of being doubted by your friends and ultimately rejected by them.  It was a small pair of scaly arms wrapping around her that brought her out of her darker thoughts.  “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight smiled, “It can still hurt, but I’m much better now, and I want Sunset to be too.”

“But it’s only better now because the girls found out the truth and apologized,” Spike cut in. 

“Exactly!  But Sunset’s friends can’t apologize and try to earn her forgiveness if she’s here and they’re there.”

“But Sunset’s friends aren’t going to apologize.  They were so upset with her they destroyed her journal.” 

“We don’t know that for sure,” Twilight interjected.  “I have some theories as to what else may have cut off the magical connection between the worlds.”  Her mind started to run through the possibilities before she snapped herself out of her musings on magical theory.  “We both know Sunset wasn’t behind this whole Anon-A-Miss mess, and I’m sure her friends will figure it out eventually and want to make this right, but we won’t know anything for sure unless we can get that mirror working again.”

“But Sunset’s hurting now,” Spike answered sadly, remembering the pain in the eyes of the amber unicorn.

“I know, and I’m sorry for that,” replied Twilight, “but the existence of the other world and the mirror is still a state secret so pulling in different researchers would be complicated.  Besides, she is probably the leading expert on the portal outside of Starswirl himself, given her research into its workings prior to using it the first time.  Not to mention she’s a brilliant magical prodigy.  How else could she have been selected as Princess Celestia’s personal pupil.”

“Patting yourself on the back a little with that one, huh, Twilight,” the dragon joked impishly.

Blushing as she realized what she had said, the alicorn deflected, “The point is, Sunset is the most qualified and really the only pony for the job, and in the end, this will be good for her.”

Casting a glance back to where he knew the unicorn to be working, Spike could only sigh and mutter, “I hope you’re right, Twilight.  I hope you’re right.”


***


“Spike...Spike!” Twilight Sparkle called out as she pushed open the door to her lab, not noticing she had sent her number one assistant flying into a wastepaper basket.  Undeterred the little puppy hopped out, barking merrily and ran over to jump into her lap.  

“Oh, there you are, Spike.  It’s done.  It’s finally done!  Three months of reviewing the data we collected during that last major energy spike and refining my designs and now, it’s ready,” Twilight shouted gleefully, plopping down in her desk chair and rifling through a pile of past readings.  “With this device, I can track and contain the bizarre energy coming from Canterlot High!”  This elicited a low growl from the puppy at the mention of the rival school, prompting the girl to rub his head affectionately.  “I know you don’t like the idea of me going over there, but I just can’t wait.”  

Twilight gave herself a quick push sending the desk chair rolling backward across the floor to her computer desk.  Due to her high grades and the number of awards and recognition she had brought to Crystal Prep, Twilight had been allowed to repurpose the unused storage room as her own personal workspace, allowing her a place to work on research and projects, not to mention hide away from the rest of her classmates.  

“If I can collect enough data on these EM frequencies, I should be able to extrapolate the waveforms to determine their origin.  That would practically guarantee my entrance into the Everton Independent Study Program.”

The purple pup gave her a sad look.

The scientist lifted her furry friend up, plopped him into her lap, and began stroking him idly.  “Trust me.  Everton is perfect for me.  Sure Crystal Prep has a strong academic record, but I’m already at the top of my class.  I don’t think there’s anything left here for me to learn.  At Everton, I can focus my studies and have time to really delve into some projects I haven’t had time for due to my other academic responsibilities.”

The puppy dog eyes continued, this time accompanied by a little whimper.

“Now you’re starting to sound like Cadance,” Twilight said in a semi annoyed tone.  After a moment of trying to stare down the too-large eyes of her canine companion, the scientist finally relented.  “Okay, fine,” the girl deflated, breaking eye contact with Spike, “yes, the best think about the independent study program at Everton isn’t that being independent allows me to drive the research, it’s that I get to be left alone.  Imagine it, Spike.  Not having to be around people anymore.  Not getting dirty looks for being too smart and ruining the curve on a test.  Not getting shoved into lockers or forced to do other students’ homework.  I know Cadance has been pushing me to try and make friends, but…” the girl just sighed, “I don’t think Crystal Prep is the place to do it.”  

The girl paused sadly and then added, “Besides, who’d want to be friends with the nerdy shut-in who’d rather spend her time in a lab than at the mall?  They think just because I have my nose in a book that I can’t hear the comments and that’s if they’re even trying to be covert about it.”  

The little dog gives a happy, encouraging bark and licked her cheeks repeatedly.

“Okay, okay, I get it.”  The teen returns the pup’s affection with dual ear scratches, “Of course you’re my friend, Spike.  What would I do without my number one assistant after all?  Still, it might be nice to actually have a conversation with someone who can actually talk back.”

The little dog yapped playfully at that.

“Not to mention it might help stave off insanity.  I mean what does it say about me that I get my pep talks from my dog?”  Spike could only return to covering her in puppy kisses.  “Alright, fine, no more moping.  There is research to be done.  If I can’t register any more signs of that mysterious energy with my equipment from here, I think it’s time I take my equipment to where the energy is.”


***


Hearing a groan from the other side of the door, Spike knew he wouldn't be interrupting, or rather, knew it was a good time to interrupt before frustrations over a failed experiment escalated.  Years of practice living with Twilight had honed Spike's skills, making him a truly great assistant.  Though he'd come to discover Sunset's frustrations produced more pyrotechnics than Twilight’s, in a way he kind of preferred it to talking Twilight out of one of her freak-outs.  Plus explosions were cool and using the fire extinguisher was kind of fun.

Carefully pushing the door open while still balancing the tray of food he was carrying, Spike walked into the lab.  He quickly spotted Sunset leaning back in the desk chair, staring absently at the ceiling, clearly trying to calm herself and prevent one of her more ‘volatile’ outbursts.

“Hey, Sunset,” the dragon said, gaining her attention.  “I, uh, take it the latest test didn’t go so well?”

With a sigh, the amber unicorn refocused on the world.  “No.  No, Spike, it did not,” she replied sullenly.  “It was another failure.  Just like the last experiment, and the one before it, and the one before that, and every other experiment Twilight has had me do since she dragged me back here!”  Sunset’s voice had risen with each exclamation until she had pushed herself out of her chair and was shouting at the little dragon.  Seeing the concerned look in his eyes snapped her from her angry tirade.  Realizing what she had done, she looked away and took another deep breath as she lowered herself back into her chair.  “I’m sorry, Spike,” she said in a dull tone, still unable to meet his worried gaze.  “You didn’t deserve that.  I’m frustrated and you were just trying to help.”

“Frustrated with the experiment?” He questioned, setting down the tray on the desk. 

“Yes, and no,” the unicorn replied.  “I mean, I’m used to failure in research and obviously some failures are to be expected when delving into experimental magics.  I mean trying to find a way to hack an ancient magical artifact created by, arguably, the most powerful unicorn of all time, it’s like every school filly’s dream.”  Spike seriously doubted it was every filly’s dream, but definitely one for the two mares he lived with, so he knew better to argue lest they decide to spend the evening convincing him. 

“Normally, this kind of work would be something any researcher would be dying to be a part of, but not for me, and Twilight knows that.”  Turning across the room to where the large, ornate mirror was standing, once again adorned with an assortment of wires in an elaborate setup, Sunset could only glare at the device.  Feeling the anger once again building within herself, she hadn’t realized she had begun emitting an unpony-like growl until she felt the gentle press of a claw on her shoulder.  “Sorry,” she muttered dejectedly, “but even being around that mirror brings back nothing but bad memories, and having to be here in Ponyville where I have to see them every day doesn’t help matters.”

Spike wasn’t sure what to say to that.  He knew Sunset realized the Element bearers here in Ponyvile were not the same as the ones who had abandoned her, but he’d been to the human world and knew just how similar they were to their counterparts.  Opting instead to change the subject, Spike directed Sunset back to the desk and the tray he’d brought in.  

“You know what you need?  Snacks!”  Spike announced happily, lifting the cover of the tray to reveal a sandwich and hay fries.  “Nothing gets done on an empty stomach, and daffodil and daisy sandwiches provide the extra energy needed to stimulate the brain and mana pathways in a growing pony.”

Sunset couldn’t help but smile a bit at the speech.  “I’m guessing that you’ve had to do this for Twilight before, too.”  When the dragon could only offer her a lopsided smile and accompanying nervous neck rub in response, Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.  “And what exactly is the nutritional benefit of the hay fries oh, number one assistant?” she mock questioned.

“I dunno,” Spike said, shrugging, “But they’re delicious.  I mean not as good as a nice fire ruby, but still pretty good.”  To emphasize the point, he swiped one of the fries and tossed it into the air, catching it expertly in his mouth.

“Thank you, Spike,” Sunset said, pulling the dragon into a side hug.

“No problem.  It’s not like you’re the first pony I’ve met to get so wrapped up in her work she forgets to eat.  That’s what makes my job so important.”

“No, not for the food,” Sunset started, “Well, that too, but I wanted to say thank you for forgiving me.  The stunt I pulled at the Fall Formal; kidnapping and threatening you.  I was just awful to you, but even after everything I did, you’re here looking out for me.  It really means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome, Sunset,” The little dragon said, returning the hug.  Stepping back, he gave the amber unicorn an appraising look.  “Are you going to be okay here all by yourself?”  

The question was met with an eye-roll from the mare as she responded with an appropriate level of snark.  “Yes, mom, I will be fine for the whole one day you will be away in Canterlot.”  The dragon opened his mouth to comment but was cut off.  “And before you say it, no you can’t stay here with me.  I’m sure Twilight is going to need to practice her speech on cutie marks like a hundred times before she presents it at CSGU.  With such a high profile venue, the knowledge that Princess Celestia personally asked her to present on a topic, and it’s one that is so close to her heart, we both know you’re going to have to be there to talk her down from the inevitable meltdown, or five, that she’s going to have.”  This comment elicited a small snort from Spike.  “Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I kept depriving her of her number one assistant?  Just remind her that she’s a princess and the Element of Magic so there is absolutely no chance that she will be sent back to magic kindergarten.”  

“Well, if you think you’ll be okay” the little dragon replied, still hesitant to leave her on her own.

“I’ll be fine, Spike,” Sunset insisted.  “I have no intention of leaving this lab so what kind of trouble can I get into while you’re gone?”
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Experiment 262 resulted in another failure.  After making the modifications discussed in my notes from the previous attempt and in consultation with Princess Twilight Sparkle, we remain unable to activate the dimensional portal or contact the human world via the journal.  It has been over a year since the portal closed.  Given our lack of any discernible progress and the clear intentions of those in the other world, I once again must recommend that this research be abandoned.  The original functionality of the mirror should still remain and should allow it to open as it did before in another twenty-four moons per its previous cycle.  Expeditions and inquiries can be made at that time, should the Crown deem it necessary.

Ending the spell, the red glow faded from her horn and from around the quill that had been enchanted to take the dictation of her lab notes.  Gathering various parchments and scrolls scattered about the workspace and levitating them before her, the amber unicorn made sure her files and data were in order as well as the thaumic readings of the results- or lack thereof- from this latest test.  Pushing herself away from the desk she was using, Sunset let her head fall backward, closing her eyes, she let out an exasperated sigh that she directed upwards to blow a lock of red and gold from her face.  

Another failed experiment, another attempt to persuade Twilight to forget the whole project.  They'd had the same argument repeatedly these last few months.  Sunset knew it would not be one she could win.  Twilight was the princess of friendship after all and would never give up on her friends, even if her ultimate goal was to deliver a severe lecture to five certain friends on what the Elements of Harmony are supposed to represent.

Sunset's recommendation to scrap the project meant another argument with one of the only two creatures she still considered friends.  Part of Sunset respected the princess for her determination.  It was nice to see at least one example of a friend who wouldn't give up on others when the going got tough.  On the other hoof, the fact that Twilight had dragged Sunset back to be a part of the project, and worse yet back to Ponyville, continued to irk her.  

When Sunset had first returned to Equestria, the residents of Ponyville, and Twilight's friends in particular, had been exceptionally kind and welcoming.  They tried to make her feel at home, and unfortunately, she did.  The town was full of far too many eerily familiar ponies that she was then forced to interact with every day. It dragged up too many bad memories for her.  Finally, she had convinced Twilight to let her return to Canterlot to finish her magical schooling.  Though Twilight was reluctant, it was hard for the bookish alicorn to deny a pony who was over a decade late for class.

Things had been going well.  Sunset wasn't Celestia's personal student anymore, but really she wouldn't have wanted to be.  It would have only been a new set of unhappy memories to deal with.  No, independent study was the way to go.  Besides, it had taken a while to get back to her former power, not to mention catch up on years of magical theory.  Seriously, how many fields did Twilight revolutionize, if not outright create, while she was gone?  

But once a magical prodigy, always a magical prodigy, and the amber unicorn soon found herself throwing herself into her work.  Sunset Shimmer was not somepony to back down from a challenge, and princess or not, she would show Twilight why Sunset was her predecessor. 

Things had been going well for Sunset.  She had her magic to rediscover and had gotten away from the constant reminders of her old life.  Then Twilight had to go and ruin it by dragging her flank back to Ponyville to work on this infernal project.  

Pushing the increasing anger at the situation back down, Sunset couldn't stop a groan from escaping.  Sunset wasn't an idiot.  Of the bevy of words that had been used to describe her over the years, both here and in the other world, from impressive accolades to colorful curses, no one ever questioned her intelligence.  Yes, she could say she had done some pretty stupid things in her life, but not because she was dumb.  Quite the contrary actually.  Most of the trouble she had gotten into in her life had been because she was smart.  Smart enough to be named Princess Celestia’s personal student.  Smart enough to master the skills necessary to survive and thrive in court at a young age.  Smart enough to see through Celestia's manipulations of her.  Smart enough to research the mirror and other ancient artifacts in the restricted section that might enable her to achieve the power she felt she needed to never be manipulated again.  

She was a fool.  She had been arrogant and self-aggrandizing.  While it was true there had been those who had been out to use the promising young filly, (she still felt she had been justified in lighting Blueblood on fire and even the Princess of Friendship seemed unable to form an argument when the story had been shared), she had never realized that there had been so many who had truly wanted her happiness.  She had learned in her time with Twilight that the pretty pink pony princess Sunset had despised the moment she stepped hoof in the palace, was a genuinely nice pony.  It turned out that the stories about the adorable little filly that Cadance was foal-sitting had been about Twilight, herself.  

They had both had a good laugh when that revelation was made, though recalling the memory now, Sunset’s mood soured quickly.  She had missed a chance at finding friendship back then, because she hadn’t known which pony to trust, and walled herself off from others as a result deciding that she couldn't depend on others.  Could it have been better if her choice had been different?  She could have been friends with Princess Cadance and even little Twilight Sparkle.  

But then she was friends with Twilight now and had trusted her, and Twilight had trusted the Rainbooms, and in the end that trust was broken and Sunset had been the one left to suffer.  No, if she wanted to find her place in the world that wasn't as some pain in the flank for a powerful pony or a charity case for a bunch of human teenagers, Sunset would do it on her own.  She had learned to survive on her own on both sides of the mirror.  She could do it again.  It was better that way.  Not relying on others meant there was no one to let you down or leave you behind.

Sunset groaned again, “Though I have to say, being alone is murder on my sanity.  I forgot how broody I get when I’m left alone with my thoughts.”  Checking a window and gauging the time (one did not spend years as Princess Celestia’s student and not learn that particular skill), Sunset realized it was well past dinner time.  She opted to go in search of food, partially to take her mind off her musings and partially because she knew Spike would ask when he got back.  The amber unicorn set out for the kitchen.  Maybe she’d have time to set up one more trial for tomorrow.  It would mean having more evidence to present to the data-driven alicorn princess to help her case to shut down the portal project.  Plus it would at least give her something to occupy her mind and keep her from beating herself up about how her life had turned out.  Sighing, Sunset resigned herself to another long night.


***


As she entered her castle, Twilight Sparkle levitated her saddlebags over to a hook on the wall as Spike placed the projector case below it.  Her presentation at CSGU had not gone as planned.  The speech itself had not been the issue, though, rather it was whom she thought she had spotted in the audience.  The thought of seeing Starlight Glimmer, one of her former adversaries, had left her on edge the whole trip home.  Plus there was another former adversary that the princess of friendship had been worrying about since she and Spike left yesterday.  

“Maybe I was just more stressed about that speech than I thought,” Twilight said aloud more to reassure herself than to her companion.

“Yeah, that sounds better than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge,” Spike agreed having dealt with Twilight’s panicky concerns the whole train ride home.

“Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kind of silly,” Twilight laughed.  Pushing the doors to the throne room open with her magic, Twilight had her gaze on the little dragon.  Spike, however, got a good glance into the room as the doors opened causing his frills to droop and his eyes to widen as his pupils shrunk to pinpricks.  There, lounging comfortably in Fluttershy’s seat with her hind hooves propped up on the Cutie Map, was the very mare they had been discussing. 

“Or it’s totally true!” Spike yelled.

“Welcome home, Twilight,” Starlight Glimmer called with a menacing sneer as she levitated a worn piece of parchment up from below the table.  With a blast of her magic, she activated whatever spell it contained.  The parchment redirected the flow of her magic into the map table causing it to activate. 

Rushing forward, Twilight gave the other mare her best glare and demanded, “What are you doing, Starlight?”  This elicited a maniacal laugh from the unicorn.

“I’d tell you, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”  Crumpling the parchment and tossing it aside, Starlight quipped, “Won’t be needing that anymore.”  Feeling the building magic in the Cutie Map, the Princess of Friendship summoned her magic to her horn, ready to engage Starlight when the map began to react to whatever spell had been cast on it.  It began radiating power which prompted Twilight to change targets for her magic.  She focused her power to counteract the waves of power pulsing within the table, only to have her spell be redirected away by the waves of energy.

As the power continued to build in the room, Twilight had to grab hold of Spike with one of her wings so he wouldn't be blown away.  Suddenly, the power converged above the map table forming a dome of power adorned with various runes and designs.  Underneath it all, a portal began sparking with lightning. 

Clearly pleased with the result, Starlight used her magic to levitate herself up to the newly formed portal and was quickly sucked in.   Her disappearance must have completed the spell because as soon as she was gone, the portal and magic sphere vanished as well.

Running to the table, Spike glanced above the table where the unicorn had just been.  “Where'd she go?”

“I don't know, Spike, but I think we better find out,” Twilight said.  “Why don’t you go grab Sunset?  We could probably use a hoof with this.”  As the purple princess began her examination of the Cutie Map to check it for any possible side effects or clues to what the spell was, she missed her dragon companion focus his attention on the discarded piece of parchment.

“Sure thing, Twilight.  I guess we could start with this,” Spike called out as he bent down to retrieve the item.

Turning quickly, Twilight shouted, “Spike, no, don't touch that!”  But it was too late.  The little dragon grabbed the crumpled spell and in doing so, reactivated the glowing vortex above the map table.  This time the spell reacted with such force that the two were quickly pulled into the portal before they could do more than scream.  Their cries mirroring the similar shouts of panic from the nearby private study.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight had opted to change into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of purple sneakers topped off with a teal hoodie.  The nature of her research was still a secret after all and the fewer questions, the better.  Not to mention the bitter rivalry between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep.  Showing up at the other school in her very obvious burgundy uniform was sure to draw attention that the scientist would rather avoid.  

Stashing the duffle bag containing her clothes back in her lab, the teen scientist bid farewell to her canine companion, much to his disappointment, and made her way to the bus stop.  As much as she wished she could bring the little dog with her on the trip, Spike was a cute puppy, too cute even, and was bound to draw attention.  

Boarding the bus, she mentally went over her plan.  She had it all worked out.  She left CPA early as she had the last period as a study hall so she could work on her projects.  That way she could continue them after school and not have to worry about stopping in the middle of an experiment.  It also had the added benefit of completely avoiding the hallways, and the other students, at the end of the day.  

Leaving now also provided optimum timing to get to CHS after the majority of the students had left for the day as their schedule let out earlier than Crystal Prep.  This would hopefully allow ample time to scout the school and try to locate the elusive source of her mystery energy readings without being caught or questioned by anyone at the school.  Just in case though, Twilight had memorized the bus schedule, which ran rather frequently, as well as a map of the area in case a quick escape proved necessary.

Stepping off the bus, Twilight crossed the street in front of Canterlot High.  The look of the school struck her.  Given everything she had heard about the school from the other Crystal Prep students, she had expected a terrifying dilapidated building populated by thugs and lowlifes.  Though she saw no students around to gauge the latter, the school itself appeared to be a well-kept brick building, if the signs of recent repairs around the front entrance were any indication.  The school, with its decorative glass windows and numerous horse details, looked more like a castle out of a fairy tale than a public school.  Though not as impressive as the glass and crystal modern architectural marvel that Crystal Prep claimed to be, it was a far cry from what had been described to her.

Pulling out the energy scanner from underneath her hoodie, she noted the increase in the reactions of the device.  Focusing on the readings, she allowed them to guide her way up the front walk toward the school’s entrance.


***


Sunset was in a bad mood.  Not unusual for her these days.  If there had been anyone else around, they might have said she’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed.  Of course, that would imply she had actually slept in a bed.  No, the amber unicorn had fallen asleep once again at the wooden desk in Princess Twilight’s private library, her limbs contorted as per usual with a moderately sized puddle of drool soaking into her notes below her.

She had forgotten how depressing being alone all the time really was.  When she had been the old her, bent on manipulating people to rule the school, it was easier to get distracted by her plans.  Even being in Canterlot this past year catching up on her studies had provided enough of a distraction to keep herself out of her own head.  Being here, now though, in the same room as the infernal mirror that started it all, Sunset couldn’t help but have her mind wander back to what she’d lost on the other side of the portal.  Not able or willing to go to sleep, as a result, Sunset had completed a few more tests, all failures, in the hopes that she could lose herself in the work.  It had worked to a degree until she finally collapsed on top of her latest results.

Sunset was now resetting her latest test as the drool-covered notes were illegible, not that they had been all that thorough to begin with considering how sleep-deprived her mind was at that point.  Grumbling and stomping around the lab, Sunset reset the experiment with little care or proper lab decorum as she was tired, grumpy, and a bit in pain as her unusual sleeping position had left a crick in her neck.  All in all, it was shaping up to be a bad day.

Unfortunately, due to her frustrated stomping, she was unable to hear the doors to the castle opening.  First to admit an unwelcome pink unicorn as she made her way quietly to the throne room, and then once again as Twilight and Spike returned not long after from their trip.  

Sunset’s first indication that her bad day was about to get worse occurred as she completed the setup to rerun her previous night’s experiment.  She reinserted the blackened journal that bore the cutie mark of Princess Celestia into the apparatus surrounding the mirror and returned to activate the other spells for the experiment when she began to feel a magic resonance begin to build in the castle.  Turning back to the mirror, Sunset saw the portal begin to glow and spark.    

No, no, no.  This should not be happening, the flustered unicorn mentally screamed as her horn lit in a pale ruby glow.  Running every magical scan she had learned and a few that she cobbled together in the moment, Sunset blanched as the results streamed into her mind.  A massive amount of thaumic energy had activated in the castle and it was reacting with the mirror.  No not just reacting.  The power had somehow managed to jump-start the mirror to such a degree that it was not just functional, it was supercharged and actively trying to pull things into itself.    

Casting a few spells on herself including an adhesion spell and a gravity manipulation spell to try and slow the effects the pull was having as it began to pull in everything in the room.  Sunset tried to determine what had caused the portal to react.  She could tell from her scans that the massive magical spike she sensed had come from the throne room.  Then she registered a familiar magical presence in the middle of the magical maelstrom: Twilight.

Sunset tried to make her way toward the door, fighting against the pull of the mirror.  If someone was using that much magic, then that could only mean there was trouble, possibly of the apocalyptic variety, and with Twilight in trouble, somepony else would have to step up and try to save the day.  

Unfortunately, it was not looking like that pony would be her.  As much as she tried to inch away from the portal, any time she decreased the force of her spells to move forward, the pull of the mirror would suck her back twice as much.  Try as she might, she also couldn’t find a way to stop the mirror.  The journal would not come off of its stand, and all of the apparatus seemed to be emanating a magical aura that protected it from her attempts to damage it.  Even the direct damage attacks she hurled at it in frustration seemed only to be pulled through the portal and be seemingly absorbed.  As she was pulled closer and closer to the mirror portal, Sunset could feel the magic of the spells she had cast on herself be pulled away, and she slid nearer to the portal.  

Then just as Sunset feared she would be pulled into the unstable portal, the energy spike that had caused the device to react so wildly suddenly dissipated and all traces of the magic returned to normal levels.  

Breathing a sigh of relief, the amber unicorn righted herself.  The roar of the magical backlash gone, Sunset was able to make out the voices of Spike and Twilight in the throne room where the magic had been centered.  With them apparently safe, Sunset opted to cautiously approach the mirror.  Starting another diagnostic spell, Sunset began to take readings knowing they would want to know what happened and Twilight preferred actual data to just a simple recounting. 

As she received the results of her scan, it appeared that the portal had returned once again to its inert state.  Just as dormant as it had been.  Part of Sunset, she was surprised to find, was actually saddened by that bit of information.  She didn’t know if she’d ever actually want to go back to the human world after everything that had happened, but part of her would have liked that to be her choice and not their's.

Sighing, Sunset started to turn to check in with the princess of friendship, when she felt it again.  Though she knew what it was and what would happen as a result, there was simply no time.  Not that casting a spell this close to the portal would likely have done her any good.  

With a yelp, the amber unicorn was pulled into the portal.  As she tore through the rainbow vortex, Sunset barely had time to note the lack of swirling she recalled from her previous trips between worlds.  It was as if some force were pulling her along causing Sunset to realize just how fast she was traveling and what that would mean when she was hurled out the other side.  Unable to do anything to slow her momentum, the amber unicorn could only scream as the edge of the polychromatic reality approached, and Sunset’s vision inexplicably shifted from a rainbow blur to a wall of purple and teal.  A wall that she struck at an uncomfortable speed followed by striking the ground and everything going black.


***


Twilight gaped at the information her spectrometer was reporting back to her as it directed her to the large, stone statue of a rearing horse in front of Canterlot High School.  While the readings she’d seen for the previous appearances of the mysterious energy’s signature had been far higher, they had all faded soon after.  As a result, Twilight had not managed to discover the source.  Now though, as she stared at the device in her hand, it showed the plinth as the source of a continuous, if minimal, amount of the energy that had baffled Twilight for months. 

While she was thrilled to have a new lead, this new information, only left Twilight with a new host of questions to be answered.  A block of stone, as it appeared to be, should not be emitting any energy whatsoever, let alone an, until now, undiscovered one.  

Cautiously, Twilight raised her hand to run it over the mirrored surface of the statue’s base.  As she did, the surface seemed to shimmer and swirl like a pool of water under her touch.  Twilight quickly jerked her hand away as the pendant she wore began to react more intensely.  Turning her attention back to the device, she took note of the readings as they filtered in.  The statue’s output of the mystery energy had increased exponentially causing the device to emit a high-pitched whine as the readings seemed to spike to levels similar to those Twilight had recorded months earlier.  This sudden surge triggered the device’s secondary function; to attempt to collect a sample of the mystery energy.

Twilight watched as the pendant seemed to be pulled closer to the plinth, almost like magnetism, lifting the device closer as the energy seemed to pool on the surface of the stone.  Where she had placed her hand only moments before now seemed to glow lightly taking on alternating red and gold hues.  The energy, defying any laws of physics, was drawn through the air towards Twilight’s still hovering device.  

Twilight was rendered immobile at the sight of the laws of nature being casually broken in front of her, though her scientific curiosity won out and she was able to take note of the energy readings as the energy began to pulse faster becoming a whirl of red and gold.  Despite siphoning energy off of the statue’s base, the readings did not show the energy levels dropping.  Instead, they were increasing, pulling more and more power from the unknown source.  

And just as it had started, without warning, the energy stopped.  Her pendant falling lifelessly back against her chest.  Rubbing her neck from where the cord had pulled, Twilight panted heavily.  What was that? the teen scientist pondered, What kind of energy can produce that sort of reaction? Lifting the device, Twilight noted that she had collected a sizable amount of energy.

Before she had time to start planning what experiments to run on the newly collected energy, the device rose back into the air with such force she was pulled toward the statue’s base.  As she watched the energy readings climb, her pendant emitted a keening wail, causing Twilight to cover her ears and thank whatever higher power had ensured that she left Spike at home for this trip.  As the power spiked to a level she’d only recorded two other times, Twilight thought she registered a scream over the din, but she couldn’t be sure whether or not it came from her mouth as her mind was quickly flooded with a blur of red and gold before pain and darkness took her.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight opened her eyes, blinking to try and clear her blurry vision.  Noting her lack of success after a few tries, Twilight realized her glasses must have come off when she fell.  Carefully feeling about so she didn't crush them by accident, Twilight pushed herself up from the cold concrete to her knees and began to feel around for the missing frames.  Despite the fuzziness, Twilight could tell the sun was still out despite having arrived at CHS in the late afternoon, so she reasoned that she couldn’t have been lying on the ground for very long.  

Finally, the scientist’s thin fingers brushed against the smooth plastic of her lenses.  As she slid the thick frames into place, she gingerly brushed the side of her face with a tentative touch eliciting a sharp jolt of pain as a result. Thankfully, a quick check of her fingers did not turn up any sign of blood.  She would have a nice bruise she would have to explain to her parents but nothing too serious.

Twilight gave a low sigh.  Years of bullying by her classmates at Crystal Prep had forced her to become quite the expert at concealing the various bumps and bruises she seemed to acquire often from just walking through the hallways.  While she was sure Cadence would have wanted her to utilize all the makeup tips she had passed on over years of babysitting makeovers, Twilight was sure this was not the scenario Cadence would have envisioned.  

Shaking her head to clear the unhappy memories away, Twilight nearly fell back over, not as a result of the head injury, but at the sight that lay before her, though what she beheld made her question if she hadn’t suffered a more severe head trauma than she had initially diagnosed.  On the ground next to her was the body of a small animal.  It was a poor description to be sure, but despite her extensive knowledge in the fields of biology and taxonomy, Twilight had no idea how to classify the creature beyond that.  

“What in the world?” Twilight breathed, her scientific curiosity getting the better of her as she inched a bit closer.  At first glance, the animal’s rough shape led Twilight to initially classify the creature as equine.  It had four hooved legs as well as a mane and tail.  

A better view, however, told Twilight that was where the similarities ended and there were far too many differences for her classification to be entirely correct.  Firstly, the figure was small, roughly the size of a large dog which was well below the accepted standards for even a pony.  The coloration was also odd.  The amber shade of the majority of the creature’s fur might have been within reason had the mane and tale not been a fiery red and gold.  These colors matched a stylized depiction of a two-toned sun the pony, for lack of a better term, had on its flank.  

Twilight was ready to assume the thing before her was nothing more than a discarded plushy when she saw its barrel rise and fall ever so slightly in a slightly labored breath.  Concern overriding caution, Twilight rushed to check the creature for injuries as the quick movement provided her with a sharp reminder of her own.

Rushing around to get a better look and evaluate the not-plushy pony for any injuries.  A cursory glance did spot a bit of blood matting some of the creature’s mane.  Twilight suppressed the scream that fought to escape at the sight.  She really didn’t like the sight of blood unless it was in a clinical setting.  

Fighting down the building panic, Twilight brushed the disheveled mane out of the way to locate the source of the bleeding.  The sight it revealed caused Twilight to let the scream slip, and this time there was no holding it in.  The reaction though was not elicited by the wound, which seemed to be relatively minor.  No, the reaction was wrought when the young scientist discovered the wound was located next to what appeared to be a spiral horn jutting from the center of the creature’s head.  

Realizing that someone might have heard her, and not wanting to be caught somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be with an injured creature that wasn’t supposed to be, Twilight scooped up the living, breathing, reality-shattering being and ran as best she could for a copse of trees across the street.  

Her brother had often teased her about getting out of the lab for some exercise.  Though she had insisted that endurance was not needed for running experiments, she was now rethinking that belief (along with so many others) as she struggled awkwardly to carry the body.  She barely managed to duck behind the trees, slumping immediately to the ground, just missing being spotted by a rainbow-haired girl exiting the front door of the school.


***


Rainbow Dash sat alone in the band room of Canterlot High.  If things had been different, it would have been rehearsal day for the Rainbooms, but that was before Anon-A-Miss.  Since that day back in December when they had abandoned Sunset and the magic journal had exploded, none of them had felt like picking up an instrument.  At first, they chalked it up to prior engagements or needing to study for finals, but it soon became clear that they were avoiding the room where they had spent so many hours together.  

There was also the fact that since that day, none of the Rainbooms had successfully managed to pony up.  Occasionally one of them would manage a flicker of power and there would be a faint trace of magic, but no matter what they tried, it would quickly fade without ever actually achieving the full ponied-up state.

Rainbow had her theories as to why that was.  In the few attempts she had made to shred a wicked guitar solo and see if she could get her wings back, there would always be this feeling as the magic began to take a hold of her.  It was a feeling of friendship, and a connection between her and the other girls, but even as it started, she would soon feel the glaring absence of one of their number.  Remembering that her magic was supposed to represent the Element of Loyalty and it was her betrayal that had caused the absence, the magic would quickly fade.  

The prismatic athlete never discussed it with the other girls.  She wasn’t one to get into all the touchy-feely emotional junk, though she suspected their experiences were probably similar.  Each time someone managed a flicker of magic, it would always fade, leaving that person in a more sullen mood than they’d been before.  So they didn’t talk about it and eventually, they had avoided playing altogether.

So here she was, sitting alone in the music room that had once been the hub of her group of friends, and now held only sad reminders of what they’d lost.  Strumming idly on an acoustic guitar, as her current mood did not warrant rocking out on her electric, Rainbow Dash was suddenly roused from her sad musing by the startled cry of someone in front of the building.  

Moving quickly, the sports star leapt to her feet to check out the window to see what was the matter.  What she saw made her heart stop.  She had only seen it briefly and it was far away and at a poor angle, but something inside her hoped she wasn’t mistaken.  

Bolting for the music room door, a rainbow blur quickly sped down the hallway, her sneakers squeaking loudly as they echoed in the empty halls.  It was fortunate she was causing so much noise too, as she nearly barreled into a familiar trio of middle schoolers as they polished the trophies near the front entrance.  Spotting them in time, Rainbow skidded to a stop just in front of them avoiding crashing through their work like extra shiny bowling pins.

“Whoa there, sugarcube, where’s the fire?” a familiar accented voice asked as a hand reached out to steady the racing athlete.  

Following the reveal of the ones behind Anon-A-Miss, Applejack had taken it upon herself to oversee the younger girls both to ensure the work they were given as punishment got done correctly and in case anyone in the school got ideas about revenge.  In truth, it hadn’t been an issue.  While the outcry for punishment had been high during the assembly when the truth came out, Principal Celestia had soon shut them all down.  She reminded the school that while the trio had only posted the comments, it had been the school at large that had assumed Sunset was guilty and sought to punish her for crimes she did not commit.  Now, while Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were persona non grata, for the most part, they were simply ignored with only the occasional student shooting them a dirty look.

“No time, AJ,” the athlete said as she pulled herself out of her friend’s grip, hurdled the wall of trophies, and burst out the door.  Scanning the area, she saw no sign of anyone in the courtyard.  Rushing over to the Wondercolt statue, Rainbow Dash ran her hand over the mirror-like surface of the plinth.  Just like every other time she had done so in the past three months, the stone remained cold to the touch.

“Dash, ya got ta stop beatin’ yerself up,” Rainbow heard her friend approaching behind her.  “We all miss Sunset, and there’s nothing Ah wouldn’t give ta try and make things right by her, but…”

“I know, I know,” the sporty girl interrupted, “but I swear I just saw Twilight at the portal.”  

The farmer sighed, “Believe me, sugarcube, we all want that to be true, but there ain’t no one here.  Don’t ya think if she was here, she’d have come in at the very least ta give us all the verbal beat down we all deserve?”

“But it had to be her.”  Dash hated how desperate her voice sounded as she said it, and she let her head droop forward.

“Come on, Dash, ya can help us get everything squared away with tha trophies, and then we can hang out for a bit.  Maybe swing by Sugarcube Corner.  Shy’s workin’, but maybe the other girls’ll want ta meet up.”  

With a comforting arm on her shoulder, the farm girl steered her prismatic-haired friend back inside the school.  Meanwhile, the trio formerly known as Anon-A-Miss had witnessed the whole thing, and once again they were filled with shame and sadness over what they had done.


***


“Okay, Twilight,” the girl panted to herself, trying to gather her thoughts.  “Thinking is what you’re good at.”  Glancing down at the... Twilight gulped, unicorn in her arms, she carefully freed a hand and brought it to her chest, inhaling deeply.  Then she slowly exhaled as she brought it away.  Though still panting a bit hard from the physical exertion, the technique was enough to calm her mind a bit.

“First, assess the situation,” Twilight told herself, as she started mentally creating a checklist, something else that normally helped to calm her anxieties.  “You have a mythological animal that fell out of a statue’s base at your rival school. A school, mind you, that you were not supposed to be at because the Friendship Games are coming up and if a Crystal Prep student is seen at Canterlot High, they’ll assume you’re there to pull a prank.”  

At that point, Twilight’s mind started to spin out of control at the possible implications, her breathing once again starting to increase.  “Now you are going to be arrested for trespassing and animal cruelty.  They might even think I’ve been dabbling in illegal animal testing or genetic experimentations.  Those charges will be on my permanent record and I’ll never get into Everton.  Not just Everton, no prestigious university will ever consider letting me in and I’ll have to attend,” Twilight gulped and let the thought escape in a whisper, “state school.”

As Twilight sucked in a breath on the last, horrible thought, she realized her thoughts may have gotten away from her.  Clearing her mind again using the breathing technique Cadence had taught her, Twilight began again, “Assess the situation.”  Looking down at the unconscious form in her arms, Twilight noted the blood now sticky on her fingers from examining the creature’s head wound.  “Whatever this animal is, and wherever it came from can wait,” Twilight said, the panic in her voice being replaced by determination in a set course of action.  “It’s hurt so the first step is to get it some medical attention.”

Slipping her free hand into the pocket of her blue hoodie, Twilight pulled out her phone, grateful it hadn’t fallen out in her mad dash from CHS.  Pulling up an app and opening a map of the area, Twilight was relieved to find that there was an animal shelter only a block away.  After calculating the quickest route to the shelter and committing it to memory, Twilight slid the phone back into her pocket.  With her plan worked out, Twilight repositioned her arms around the injured creature and carefully made her way down the road.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bell above the door of the Canterlot Animal Shelter jingled cheerfully, a stark contrast to the mood of the sweating, panting girl entering below it.  Shoving the handle with her elbow in a strange contortion as she tried to juggle the animal in her arms and work the door, Twilight practically fell into the front desk from the effort.

“Hello?” the bedraggled scientist called out weakly as she still lacked the oxygen necessary to put any more force behind her words.  “Is anyone here?” she tried again managing a bit more behind the words, but still with no answer.

Walking past the empty front desk and elaborate hamster enclosure, Twilight entered the first exam room she came to and carefully unburdened herself of her injured cargo.  Quickly washing her hands in the available sink, the teen helped herself to some gauze pads and medical tape that were conveniently laid out on the counter.  Using what first aid skills she had, Twilight checked to see if the trip had caused any further injury to the pony.  Cleaning the wound atop its head, Twilight was relieved to find the injury much smaller than she’d initially suspected considering the amount of blood.  Securing the makeshift bandage, and once again washing her hands, the girl took a moment to catch her breath and resituate her glasses as they had slipped during the examination.

It was surprising that no one had come to check on them yet considering her not so graceful entrance to the building.  Figuring she should go find some help if it wasn’t going to come to her, Twilight started to head for the door but stopped.  Glancing at the still-unconscious animal on the exam table, she thought better of just leaving it unsupervised.  Though she was unsure just what kind of trouble a magical creature might be capable of, it could wake up startled and potentially hurt itself further.  

The young scientist decided it was better to err on the side of caution.  Having spotted a large animal carrier next to the front desk, Twilight brought it into the exam room and delicately placed her charge into the carrier.  “Well that should keep you safe for now,” she thought.  “Now to find someone who can check you out.”

Relieved of her burden and with the first step of her plan completed, Twilight was finally able to catch her breath.  If only she had been able to make an actual checklist, the chance to cross something off always provided Twilight a small sense of calm that she was in desperate need of right now.  As it was though, just the thought of having accomplished her goal was enough to at least calm her a bit.  With the deafening thudding of her heartbeat faded from her ears, the teen was finally able to take in the sounds around her, or rather the lack of sounds.  Twilight knew the racket a single puppy could cause when excited, and Twilight could only imagine the din a whole shelter’s worth of animals should be causing, but instead, there was only the sound of a single soft voice floating down the hall.  

Curious, Twilight quietly padded her way down the hallway, grateful that she had opted to wear gym shoes for her field research and not the clunky, heavy-soled shoes she had to wear as part of her uniform for Crystal Prep.  Even now the soft squeaks of her sneakers on the linoleum floor seemed an affront to the silence that permeated the building holding the same solemn reverence as a temple, a church, or a library.  But this isn’t a library, Twilight’s mind protested, This is an animal shelter, and it shouldn’t be this quiet!

Cautiously, Twilight approached the door to the backroom, concerned what she might find there that could silence an entire room of animals.  Peeking through a small window in the door, she found the room itself was much as one would expect in an animal shelter.  Though colorful, the large space was utilitarian in its setup with the wall lined with cages of various sizes, a large bathing area in the corner, and a few grooming tables nearby.  

Despite the room’s normalcy, the scientist was taken aback at what she was witnessing going on inside, and had it not been for her discovery of a fantasy creature that fell out of a marble statue, she would have classified it as the strangest sight she’d ever beheld.  Seated on the floor with her back to the door was a girl probably around Twilight’s own age, if she had to speculate, dressed in a simple white shirt and a green skirt.  Gathered around her and gazing in rapt attention was a myriad of animals from cats and dogs, to reptiles and birds, and, strangely, a whole host of impeccably dressed hamsters.  All of them seemed to be engaged in what Twilight would imagine, in any other setting, to be storytime.  


***


Fluttershy sat in the back room of the Canterlot Animal Shelter as she did most nights since winter break.  It wasn’t that she and the other girls had stopped being friends like they did before Princess Twilight came.  No, they still met before school and at lunch, but it always seemed to go the same way. 

Like last week, the girls had been having lunch, talking, and having a good time when Rainbow Dash had rushed into the cafeteria, whipped out her notebook, and slammed it on the table proclaiming she had finally written, “the most killer song ever to be shred”.  It was sure to break them out of their funk and get them ponying up again.  Glancing at it, the song seemed really good.  The lyrics were inspirational and the beat was catchy like most of Rainbow’s other pieces.  It was Applejack though that spotted the problem.  

“Uh, it looks like a good start and all, but maybe we should wait on tryin’ it out until you’ve had a chance to polish it up a mite.”

“Aww come on, AJ, what are you talking about?” Rainbow scoffed in her usual way when trying to play off someone’s concerns, something she had a lot of experience with considering all the stunts she had tried to pull over the years despite Fluttershy's best efforts to talk her friend down.  “This song is great as it is.  I even ran it by Flash in chem to get another set of eyes on it.  He thought it’d totally rock.”

“That it may be, sugarcube, but Ah just don’t think it’s somethin' we should be playin’ anytime soon,” Applejack responded with a tone that everyone could see meant she wanted the brash athlete to drop the subject, well everyone but Rainbow that was.

“Psh,”  Rainbow brushed Applejack’s words away with a wave of her hand.  “Give me one good reason we can’t all head down to the music room right now and get ready to remind CHS just what it means to be a Wonderbolt?”

At this point, all the Rainbooms as well as several other students had been staring at the country girl, wondering how the verbal tennis match would play out.  

Pushing her Stetson back, Applejack fixed the jock girl with an emerald stare that finally got Rainbow’s attention.  “Yer score includes a part for a rhythm guitarist.”

The cocky look Rainbow Dash had worn previously slid from her face.  Grabbing up her notebook, she quickly scanned her work, her shoulders slumping as she realized Applejack was correct.  Collapsing into a chair, the prismatic girl visibly deflated as guilt replaced the bravado she had displayed just moments ago, remembering once again the events that lead to the loss of the Rainbooms’ rhythm guitarist.  The mood and memories seemed to spread to not just the five members of the band, but the rest of the cafeteria as well, and lunch became a somber affair for the rest of the period.

It had been like that since the events of winter break.  Sometimes it would be a random comment like that.  It could be seeing something like the repaired front entrance or the million other things Sunset had done to fix up the school after the Fall Formal.  Other times it was something as simple as noticing the empty seat at their lunch table.  Inevitably someone would break down, more often than not it was Fluttershy herself, but then the others would follow suit, grieving in their own ways for the friend they had driven away.  

That was what caused the animal lover to retreat once again to the safety and unquestioning devotion of the animal shelter.  But did she really deserve their affection after what she had done?  Maybe if they knew how cruel she had been they would turn their backs on her just as she had to Sunset.  

Deciding it was better to be honest and leave the decision up to her animal friends, Fluttershy started to relay the story.

“Once upon a time there was a lonely unicorn who never learned the joys of friendship.  With no friends to turn to or make her smile, she became mean and angry and used to take out her frustrations on everyone around her.  She ran away from home, split up other people’s friendships, and bullied everyone she could.  Not because she was mean, but because she was sad, and seeing others’ happiness made her angry because it reminded her how alone she was.

“Then one day a magical princess came and united five friends granting them magic of their own.  Together they fought and saved the unicorn from herself and helped her see how much better life could be with friends.  The princess had to return to her kingdom but left the unicorn with the five to continue to learn the magic of friendship.  Their kindness helped the unicorn tear down the walls she had built over the years to protect herself from the loneliness, and she let them into her heart, and the first time, she was really and truly happy.”  

So caught up in her story, Fluttershy failed to notice the wisps of yellow magic that struggled to spark around her or the flicker of ears and wings that never seemed to be more than a ghostly image.  Instead, she continued with her tale oblivious to the magic around her or what was happening to it.

“You would hope that was happily ever after, but it wasn’t to be.  The unicorn was betrayed by the ones that had been her first and only friends.  They turned on her the minute they had a chance.  Why?  Maybe they had never really forgiven the unicorn for what she had done.  Maybe they believed that it was only a matter of time before she reverted to her old ways.  Maybe they were just never very good friends to begin with.

“Whatever the reason, it was clear that while the unicorn had let them into her heart, the walls and suspicions the five friends had towards the unicorn were still standing.  They left her to the mercy of those who tormented and abused her.  Heartbroken, at the betrayal, the unicorn was forced to flee back to the land of the princess where at least she still had one friend.  As for those that had dared to harm a unicorn, the magic they had used was taken from them, with only the tracest amount remaining to remind them just how much they had lost when they turned on their friend.”


***


Twilight was only able to pick out bits and pieces of the story from behind the door.  The animals remained quiet and well behaved, listening intently to the tale.  All that is except a lone white rabbit who seemed to be bored with the story, but remained still nevertheless. 

Clearly, the storyteller had a way with animals.  Maybe it would extend to fictional ones as well. Twilight was just about to interrupt and see if this girl would be able to help her when she heard a low beeping noise.  Glancing down to find the source, it was then Twilight realized her spectrometer was still around her neck and was once again starting to glow as new readings began to register.  Twilight’s head shot back up to the window, hoping her device hadn’t drawn the attention of the room’s occupants.  She had to stifle a yell of shock as she saw, not another mythical creature, but instead something even more unbelievable.  

The pink-haired girl was still sitting on the floor before her animal audience, but now she was bathed in a flickering yellow glow.  Suppressing the urge to shout that this was not scientifically possible, Twilight watched as the energy around the girl coalesced around her head and transformed into a pair of butter yellow pony ears.  Then it traveled to a spot on her back and became feathery wings which were then hidden a bit as her chiffon hair lengthened into a ponytail trailing on the floor.  

The energy outpour from the animal lover was enough to trigger the secondary function of Twilight’s spectrometer.  Once again the pendant opened and the yellow glow of the room was siphoned off the girl and absorbed into the glowing ball inside the device, mixing with the energy that had already been collected from the plinth.  As the energy faded completely from the other side of the door, the device closed and Twilight saw the other girl slump forward, her ears and wings blinking out of existence.  

Even as she heard the girl’s assurances to her animal friends that she was alright, Twilight began a quick retreat away from the door.  What was going on?  How had she spent months researching the mysterious readings she had detected, turning up results that were inconclusive conjecture at best?  Now in a single night out in the field, not only had she discovered the potential source of the energy, but witnessed its effects at creating both the mythical and fantastical right before her eyes!

She had to get out of here.  She had been willing to risk questions from a vet about the weird creature she found when she thought its injuries were life-threatening, but now… The unicorn seemed stable and there was no telling what this magical girl might do to the scientist if she found out her experiment had injured a unicorn.  Twilight had played enough O&O with her brother to know that you don’t anger the druid when they’re surrounded by their animal legion.

She had to regroup and collect her thoughts, maybe analyze some of the data she had collected.  Then she could better determine how or if this line of scientific investigation should be pursued.  Then again, maybe she’d wake up and find it was just a dream and that she’d fallen asleep in her lab again.  This thought served only as her subconscious’s reminder to her that she was better off safe and alone in her lab, a thought she fought back down as there were other priorities at the moment.

As she reached the door, Twilight’s eyes fell on the pet carrier she had placed the injured unicorn in.  What was she supposed to do about her?  She could leave her here and hope the magical glowing girl knew how to take care of her.  But then would she even know to check in the animal carrier?  Not to mention a mythological creature being left abandoned in a shelter would lead to some sort of investigation and it wasn’t as if Twilight had been too sneaky lugging the unicorn down the street and into the building.  

She was sure they would find her, and no doubt questions would be asked like where in the world the scientist found a unicorn and what kind of horrible person would harm such an innocent creature? If the shelter worker were to find out about her device and the energy-draining, would she put the pieces together and realize Twilight had just done the same to her.  What might this mysterious girl do to her if she found out?  Could she banish her to wherever the unicorn had come from?  Would she be locked in a secret dungeon under the animal shelter or worse banished and locked in a dungeon in the place she was banished to?

Twilight shook her head, trying to clear it of the building panic.  No, the creature couldn’t stay here both for its safety as well as her own.  Twilight had found the creature and thus it was her responsibility.  She just had to get the creature home and then she was sure she would be able to pull up whatever relevant veterinary textbooks she needed from the internet.  Plus, having the unicorn with her would serve to assure herself that what she had witnessed today had, in fact, actually happened.

Steeling her resolve, Twilight threw up the hood of her sweatshirt and bent to lift the animal carrier when a soft voice sounded behind her.  

“Um…Hello?  I-is there something I can help you with?”

Glancing over her shoulder, Twilight was able to get a good look at the mystical storyteller.  The girl was surprisingly tall, though she hid it with the way she sank in on herself.  This, in turn, caused her butterfly hair clip to work overtime to hold back her hair as she tried to allow it to curtain in front of her face so she would have something to hide behind.  This also allowed the scientist to spot the tear streaks on the girl’s pale yellow cheeks.  

Twilight realized the fear and sadness in the girl as it was something she felt every day and might have tried to take her parents’ advice and talk to the girl had the terror of being caught by a being with mystical powers not been clutching at her throat.

“N-no,” Twilight choked out, her voice coming out a hoarse croak.  “Just need to get her home.  Thanks anyway.”  Fear must have provided her with coordination she knew she otherwise would have lacked as she managed to get the door open while lifting the crate.

“Oh, um…okay.  Bye,” the shy girl responded.  Shaking her head, Fluttershy headed back to her animal friends, though something in her seemed to urge her to go after the person, sure that they needed help right now.  Hurrying back to check out the front door, she found the person had already fled through the door into the growing darkness of the evening.  Sighing sadly, Fluttershy worried that she may have just failed another person in need of some kindness.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The skinny scientist finally had to halt her panicked escape from the Canterlot Animal Shelter.  She had only made it a few blocks away, but the added weight of the carrier was causing her already burning muscles to scream in protest.  Sitting down on a bus stop bench, Twilight took a chance to catch her breath and stretch her aching biceps.  

The bus schedule posted nearby told the girl another bus was scheduled to arrive in an hour, but she doubted they’d let her onboard with a pet carrier even if she was willing to wait that long.  It was one of the reasons she’d left Spike behind from this trip in the first place.  

What am I supposed to do now?  The nerdy girl began to run one of her wayward locks of hair through her alternating hands; a nervous habit she had developed over the years.  Her dad had always joked, “When hiding a body, a good friend will hire you a lawyer.  A best friend will bring shovels and keep secrets.”  But Twilight Sparkle didn’t have a best friend, or a good friend, or any particularly friendly acquaintances of any kind.  She only really had her family and Spike, and though he would be great at burying something, that was not what the situation called for right now.  Her parents were out of town, and her brother was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.  She considered calling her BBBFF, but she was pretty sure he was on duty right now…on duty as a police officer…a police officer who could arrest her for breaking the law.  True the only laws she was sure she had broken were those of physics and possibly those for reality and she was unsure what penalty that could entail, but she thought it best not to involve law enforcement at this time just in case.

But then where did that leave her?  How else was she to get back to school?  It wasn’t as if there was anyone at CPA that even liked her...or was there?  The dark-haired teen pulled out her cell phone and scrolled to one of the few numbers on her contact list.  She knew this would be risky, but even her genius-level intellect couldn’t find another way out of this situation.  Putting the phone up to her ear, she waited for the friendly voice on the other end to answer.

“Hey Ladybug, what's up?”


***


Thirty minutes later, a light blue convertible pulled up to the bus stop, prompting the nerdy girl to hop up and grab for the back door.  

“Cadance!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  You’re a lifesaver.”  Twilight continued her verbal deluge of thanks as she slid the hefty animal carrier into the back seat.  As she plopped herself into the front seat, she was met with worried lilac eyes and a frown adorning the heart-shaped face of the driver.  

“Twilight, what’s going on?”  The woman questioned leveling a stern gaze at the teen.  “What are you even doing way out here, and what in the world is in the crate?”  Seeing the girl shrink at the tone, Cadance broke her stare and took a moment to pull away from the curb and into traffic heading back to the city.  After a few minutes of driving, Cadance tucked a lock of her multi-hued hair behind her ear and decided to start again.  

“Sunshine, sunshine!  Ladybugs awake!” Cadance started their sing-song greeting from when she had babysat Twilight.  “Clap your hands…”

“And do a little shake,” Twilight finished, earning Cadance the smallest of smiles from her former charge.

After letting out a resigned sigh, and without taking her eyes off the road, the administrator tried again for answers though this time without the hint of anger that she had had before, “So, what did you do to the statue?”

If the woman had been watching the younger girl for a reaction she would have seen the teen's eyes shrink to pinpricks behind thick black frames as she gave a few false starts to an answer each time she opened her mouth.  It didn’t matter though.  Despite the opportunity to conceal her growing panic and offer up a believable excuse, Twilight soon forfeited any hope of subterfuge as she stammered out a response.  “Statue?  What statue?  What’s a statue?” the scientist proffered, her voice getting markedly higher and louder with each statement.  “Well, of course, I know what a statue is.  What I mean is the definition can be so broad in how it is applied that one needs to be more specific in their inquiries so as not to provide fallacious information.  This city has so many works of art, in fact per the latest city registry they total…”

“Twilight!” the older woman interrupted.  Her calm nurturing tone was gone, replaced by the more authoritarian tone the girl hadn’t encountered since she was six years old and had taken apart her mother’s laptop while under Cadance’s care.  Granted Twilight had put it back together and with more processing power, but a stern lecture on boundaries and respecting others' belongings followed.  After years of babysitting the teen and then acting as her school counselor, Cadance had plenty of experience at snapping Twilight out of one of her panic attacks when they happened.  

Taking a moment to calm herself in the same way she had taught the young scientist all those years ago, Cadance tried again.  “Twilight, honey,” Cadance began softly, “I know it’s been hard for you to make friends at Crystal Prep.  The atmosphere Principal Cinch has fostered with her single-minded drive for success does not make for a welcoming environment to start with, and you being as smart as you are it only makes you a target or an obstacle to the other students.”

The girl nodded, not knowing where the woman was going with this line of conversation, but she knew better than to interrupt when she wasn’t sure just how much the dean actually knew.  

“Sweetie, I know peer pressure at your age can be hard to resist.  Truthfully, and if my aunts ask I’ll deny it, I’m actually kind of happy you participated in a school activity, even if it is an unsanctioned one.”  Cadance offered the teen a warm smile, but all Twilight had in return was a confused stare.  This did not go unnoticed by the administrator, but it appeared to be the reaction she expected from the nerdy girl.  “Twilight, at this point I’m just so proud of your attempt at social interaction, that I’m not even mad that I’m going to have to deal with whatever mess you and the other students made when decorating the Wondercolt statue.  That being said though, next time you interact with kids your own age, please restrain from any petty crimes or misdemeanors.  Now, please tell me how bad the vandalism to the statue is so I know what sort of mess I’ll be dealing with this weekend.  Honestly, part of CPA’s Friendship Games budget should be earmarked for repairs to that horse.”

Twilight blinked.  She hadn’t expected an explanation for her presence at the rival school to fall so nicely into her lap.  “Err…Um...None?” the girl managed to get out as her brain struggled to process the excuse that had been gifted to her, though this only garnered a searching gaze from her former babysitter as she sensed the evasion.  Not relenting, the teen opted to double down and pray her story would be believed.  “You were right.  I was at CHS, but the statue, it’s fine.”  Physically anyway, I don’t know if spewing forth mythological creatures can be considered ‘fine’ for a statue, but it’s still standing.  "Someone…showed up…unexpectedly, and we ran.”  Not even really a lie, Twilight mused.  “I promise, nothing to clean up.  Don’t even have to call your aunts.”

Cadance kept Twilight in her well-trained gaze, waiting for the younger girl to crack and spill whatever secret she might be trying to keep, but the scientist held her resolve and the dean had to relent.  Casting a worried look to her back seat, Cadance added, “I’m guessing that’s how Spike got hurt.  Is he going to be alright?”  Knowing the puppy was the introverted girl’s only companion, the former baby-sitter was concerned about how Twilight would handle the little guy being hurt, even assuming some of the girl’s nervousness stemmed from her worry for her beloved pet.

“Spike?  Oh, uh yeah.  Spike will be fine,” the spectacled girl breathed, catching where the woman’s concern for her was heading, and once again thanking the misreading of the situation.  “He just needs some rest and he’ll be his normal, lovable self.”

“That’s good to hear,” the dean said smiling and turning her focus back to the road.  “So where am I dropping you off, home or back to Crystal Prep?”

“Would you mind taking us to school?” the scientist asked.  “I have some data I have to compile and … uh, ‘Spike’ can rest up while I finish before we head home.”

The dean’s smile fell a bit at that.  “Twilight, you know the rules against pets.”

“Well, Spike isn’t a pet, Dean Cadance, he’s the focus of my research project; ‘Human/Canine Cohabitation: Effects and Implications.’  The formal research proposal and funding request was submitted and approved by the school board,” Twilight said with a small smirk.

Cadance had known Twilight long enough not to question Twilight’s meticulous nature when it came to her projects, even if the project's only real goal was allowing the bookish girl to have a companion nearby during the school day.  Still, Cadance knew Cinch as well, and Abacus would surely have seen through the proposal.  The fact that the proposal was approved without protest from the headmistress, concerned the dean.  With a worried frown, she simply said, “If you say so, but Principal Cinch is highly allergic so I suggest you keep him away from her.”


***


Once they arrived back at Crystal Prep, the two passengers parted ways.  Twilight insisted she could handle getting the animal carrier back down to her lab by herself.  Though her already sore arms would have appreciated the help, the teen didn’t want to risk Cadance lifting the crate only to find the weight didn’t match that of the puppy she believed to be inside.  Setting the pet carrier down outside the door, Twilight retrieved the key to her lab from her pocket.  

“Spike,” she called backing through the door while struggling to drag the crate in behind her. “Spike!” she called again, unaware the sudden opening of the door had thrown the little dog across the room and into the trash can once again.  The pup didn’t seem to mind though as he gave a happy bark at his mistress’s return and jumped into her lap as she collapsed into a chair kicking the door shut behind her.

“There you are!” the tired girl said only to be answered with a deluge of puppy kisses to her face.  “OK, ok,” she smiled, pushing the dog away and giving him a thankful scratch behind the ears.  “Well, Spike, today’s field test confirmed it, with this device,” the scientist said, pulling the indicated pendent off from around her neck, “I can track and contain the bizarre energy coming from Canterlot High.”  At that, the fluffy puppy voiced a displeased growl indicating his feelings on the matter.  “I know you didn’t like me going over there, but I just couldn’t wait and you’ll never guess what happened while I was there.”  Twilight slid off her chair to join Spike on the floor and pulled the pet carrier closer.  The pup inched closer to the crate, tentatively trying to get a sniff of its occupant.  Once he did, however, he hopped back and turned to his mistress issuing a sad whimper.  

“Don’t worry, boy,” the teen consoled, patting the dog on the head, “I could never replace you.  You’ll always be my number one assistant.”  Unlatching the door of the cage, the indigo haired girl carefully slid the injured pony out and laid her on one of the pillows the scientist had stored for the rare nap she allowed herself when her experiments called for wait time or while her data was uploading so she could continue her work when she got home.  Checking the bandages, she had hastily applied back at the shelter, the girl found the wound atop the unicorn’s head had stopped bleeding.  

Plopping herself back into her computer chair, the scientist pushed herself across the room to her computer.  Waking it, the monitor replaced the image of the adorable puppy with several windows presenting her newly acquired data in various graphs and charts.  Confirming the files were also being sent to her home computer, Twilight glanced back down to the other occupants in her lab.  

“Well, if she acts anything like you after being to the vet,” the girl addressed the dog who was still keeping an eye on the new arrival, “a few treats might bring her mood around."  As if in response, the teen was met by a pleading pair of puppy eyes and an adorable whimper.  “Okay, okay,” the scientist relented, “I’ll see if I can find you a treat too.  Just keep an eye on her while I’m gone.”  With a playful bark in agreement to the deal, the teen left the lab, making sure to shut the door carefully behind her.  As the door clicked, a pair of teal eyes began to open.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pain.  That was Sunset Shimmer’s first and only thought as she slowly climbed toward wakefulness.  Cracking open an eye, she was forced to shut it again as the room she was in was spinning.  Even closed, the spinning remained, but at least now the whirling blur of colors that came with her sight was gone.  Her stomach was already disliking her current predicament, and Sunset didn’t want to anger it further.  Sunset’s head throbbed and there was a mild ringing in her ears.  She was also pretty sure the entire right side of her body was a massive bruise.

“Spike,” the unicorn managed to croak out, “Spike!”  Her attempts to shout came out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper and only served to make her head hurt worse.  As she had gotten no response, she decided it was worth risking another attempt, so she tried opening her eyes again.  Doing so slowly, hoping her eyelids might control the speed of the world’s rotation.  She was able to make out a purple and green blur appearing right in front of her face.  

“Gah! Spike, not so close.”  Trying to remember how she’d come to be in her current state she asked, “What happened?  My head hasn’t hurt this much since you tried to cheer me up with that bottle of Sweet Apple Acres’ Special Reserve Label Cider.”

Instead of an answer, however, the response the unicorn received was a sloppy, wet lick to the face.  At that, Sunset’s eyes flew open the pain forgotten for the moment.  She rolled over and raised herself into a sitting position wincing a bit at the sudden movement.  As the world solidified from amorphous blobs into actual shapes, she found herself staring face to face with a familiar-looking purple dog.  

“Sweet Celestia!  Spike, why are you a dog?”  Taking a beat, a thought occurred to her, a holdover from years of mistrust and scheming.  “Wait, has the mirror been working the whole bucking time and you and Twilight have just been wasting my time lying to me?  Was the whole trip to CSGU just some kind of ruse so you could pull whatever stunt you did with the magic surge so you could get me back through the mirror?”  The little unicorn stomped a hoof to emphasize her anger.  

And then it dawned on her that such an action should not be possible if she was indeed in the human world.  This realization prompted a quick appraisal of her own form including a hoof running along the top of her head to confirm the presence of her horn.  The action elicited a wince as she also discovered the wound that had been bandaged on her head.  Her anger gave way to confusion as she asked, “Um, Spike, if you’re a dog, why am I still a pony?”

With this new realization setting in, Sunset took a moment to take in her surroundings.  What she found was not the bright crystalline walls and well-stocked shelves of the private library in the Castle of Friendship she had become accustomed to of late.  No, what she saw could best be described as a storage room.  Granted, the unicorn had never seen so much gadgetry or high-tech equipment in such a room before, but the room itself was drab and dimly lit as you would expect of an oversized closet.  

She was back in the human world, there was no doubt about that.  The amount of technology including a computer busily running some program was proof enough of that.  Despite the concern that thought caused in the amber unicorn, her focus quickly centered on the giant conspiracy board taking up the majority of the wall opposite the computer.  It depicted various graphs, charts, and scientific readouts as well as various information related to...rainbows?  All of this information was connected by a web of red string, and in the center connecting it all, was a picture of Canterlot High.  

“Horse apples!  This is bad…like really bad…like taken away in a black van with a bag on your head to be experimented on level of bad.”  With another glance around the laboratory setting, the panic Sunset’s voice increased.  “Oh pony feathers, it’s already happened.  I’m going to be a lab rat.”  Grabbing onto the still watching puppy, the unicorn looked him right in the eyes shouting, “Spike, I don’t want to be probed!”

The pup was still unsure what to make of the creature in front of him, but he was used to dealing with freakouts from his owner so he responded the best way he knew how and gave the hyperventilating pony another wet puppy kiss across her muzzle.  He was delighted to see it had the desired effect and barked happily.  Sunset had snapped out of her downward panic spiral enough for her to reevaluate her situation.  Her first thought was that she had obviously spent too much time with the Princess of Panic Attacks as she had rubbed off on Sunset.  

Think, Shimmer, think,  The unicorn mentally shouted as she took in the surroundings more thoroughly.  The lab was little more than a closet, there was no way the scientist’s research was held in high regard, so any findings they might have on magic or the portal were likely not going to be believed.  “Just a crazy theory that only conspiracy nuts will believe.  I mean look at Lyra Heartstrings.  Even with all the magic that had gone on at CHS, the rest of the students still thought her notion of a magical world of unicorns was ridiculous."  Pausing to think about that the pony groaned, "Oh horseapples, please don’t let this be Lyra’s house!  I don’t know what would be worse; being captured by a deranged scientist or by an obsessed fangirl.”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset tried to collect herself.  “No it’s fine, with all the magic at the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands, no one came poking around.  Whatever information they have on magic just gets chalked up to great video editing and special effects, and those who claim otherwise are mocked for their crazy theories."  But then a thought occurred to her, “They’re only crazy theories until you have a walking, talking unicorn to offer up as proof.”  The unicorn groaned, carefully rubbing a hoof to her head as she could feel her already aching head getting worse.

She needed a plan.  She hadn’t managed to gain control of Canterlot High without her ability to analyze a situation and find the best way to manipulate it to her advantage.  “Okay, what to do first?”  Tapping a hoof to her mouth she said, “Make a checklist.”  Flinching that that had been her first thought and trying to shake away the notion, the amber unicorn muttered, “Sweet Celestia, I really am starting to sound like Twilight.”  The mention of his owner’s name drew a happy bark from the purple puppy.  Eyeing the dog due to the unexpected response, her eyebrows slowly rose as realization dawned.  	

“Step one: assess your surroundings, and Spike, thanks to you I think I have a pretty good guess as to exactly who our mystery researcher is.”

The purple pup responded with a happy bark at the sound of what seemed to be praise.  He was a good boy and liked it when he got compliments, even if this time it was coming from a strange creature that smelled like strawberries and hay.

Hearing footsteps approaching the door, a smirk formed on the pony's face, "Step two is one I happen to be an expert at: run away."


***


Twilight made her way towards the cafeteria, the squeak of her sneakers amplified by the echo of the empty hallways.  The cafeteria was typically a place she tried to avoid, preferring to eat in her lab and thus avoid having to interact with her peers.  It was after school hours now though, so the probability of accidental contact with another student was low, or at least that’s what she kept telling herself as she walked.  

Nearing the cafeteria, Twilight let out a breath.  Not that requisitioning necessary supplies for her approved experiments wasn’t approved in her by her research proposal when she’d had them submitted.  She just didn’t want to have to explain why her research into unknown energy readings necessitated the acquisition of a garden salad and maybe a few apples.  

Reaching for the door, Twilight froze at hearing the haughty, clipped voice call from behind her.  “Ah, Miss Sparkle, just the student I needed to see.  Follow me to my office.  There are things we need to discuss.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide.  “P-principal Cinch,” the nervous girl squeaked out, “is s-something wrong?”

The educator stopped and turned her sharp gaze on the teen, arching a brow over the frames of her half-moon glasses.  “Miss Sparkle, there is a time and a place for everything, and as I just stated, that place is in my office.  Now, come along.”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” Twilight said, falling into step behind the educator.  

Walking quickly through the crystalline hallways, internally Twilight was panicking.  Principal Cinch knows.  How did she find out so fast?  Had Cadance figured it out?  No, Cadance would never turn her in, at least not without talking to Twilight first.  In the end, it didn’t matter how, the question was what was she going to do?  Taking the precious little time she had left before they reached the principal’s office, Twilight attempted to prepare an explanation for her trip to Canterlot High and the subsequent appearance of the unicorn now sleeping in the scientist’s lab.

Those thoughts however were derailed when she was ushered into the darkened office, its curtains were drawn, leaving only the two overhead lights to illuminate the room giving it a creepy, foreboding feeling.  Seating herself in the low chair in front of the principal’s desk, Twilight was startled when she heard the door click shut behind her.  Turning, the teen spotted some familiar faces, those of Cadance and her big brother.

“Shining Armor?  What is my brother doing here?” Twilight was surprised she managed to maintain such a calm appearance as she asked, but the panic of seeing her BBBFF at her school in his officer’s uniform seemed to stun her enough to keep the panic from creeping into her voice.

“As an alumnus,” the dean started a bit hesitantly, Cadance seemed almost as surprised at the situation as the teen, “Principal Cinch thought he could provide some…unique perspective.”

“Perspective on what,” questioned Twilight this time in true confusion.  If they knew about her findings at CHS or the injured unicorn hiding elsewhere in the school, she didn’t think Shiny could offer perspective on that, alumni or not.

“Why the Friendship Games of course,” supplied Principal Cinch having seated herself in the high back chair located behind the ornate desk.  “You competed in the Games did you not, Shining Armor?”

The blue-haired officer had been focusing more on the dean than the principal and was flustered by the sudden attention.  With a blush and a disarming cough, he finally replied, “I did.”

“And do you happen to recall who won?” continued Cinch.

Shining Armor chuckled, “Crystal Prep did.  We always win.”

“We always win,” repeated the principal, rising from her desk and walking over to a shelf containing some of CPA’s many trophies.

“Why did you ask to see me?”  Twilight asked.  Though some of her initial apprehension had regarding her experiments had faded, the setting and the feeling of being surrounded and ganged up on by those she most looked up to was not helping her nerves.

Hefting one of the golden trophies, Cinch replied, “Twilight, I’ll be honest, it doesn’t matter whether or not Crystal Prep wins or loses.”  The educator paused a moment to clean a smudged blemishing its pristine finish and then continued, “The important thing is we are expected to win because Crystal Prep has a reputation.  And it is that reputation, my reputation, that is responsible for everything we have here, for everything you have done here, and you’ve done quite a lot, haven’t you?” 

“I don’t know.  I guess,” the teen replied nervously.

“Oh, don’t be modest.  You’re the best student this school has ever seen.  What I can’t understand is why my best student wouldn’t want to compete,” coaxed the woman.

“In the Friendship Games?” Twilight asked nervously, fidgeting with her thick frames.

Seeing his sister was uncomfortable, Shining Armor interceded.  “Look, Twily, I know it’s not your thing, but representing the school is kinda a big deal.  Plus they could really use your help.”

Retaking control of the conversation the principal continued, “It seems Canterlot High is undergoing something of a renaissance.  Test scores are up, grades even athletics are on the rise.  You see they are developing somewhat of a reputation.  This cannot happen,” she finished, stressing each word.  

Twilight began to worry.  As the top academic student at Crystal Prep, she could have easily secured one of the coveted slots on the Friendship Games team, but she had abstained.  While she was forced to compete in academic competitions for the school to help secure money and grants, it was not something she enjoyed.  As the Friendship Games was a contest of both academics and athletics, Twilight thought her abysmal performances in all sporting events would help justify her not trying out for the team.  The fact a certain group of top performers and perpetual runners-up to Twilight academically had informed her in no uncertain terms what would happen to her if she took one of their spots also factored heavily in her decision.

Knowing those were not reasons that the success-driven educator would accept she decided to try a different approach.  “Principal Cinch, I can’t possibly participate in the Games.  My work is very-“

“Ah, yes,” Cinch cut her off, “your work.”  Turning her attention to the other adults in the room she said, “Cadance, could you and Shining Armor find my contact sheet for the Everton Independent Study Program?”

“Of course,” replied the dean heading out the door followed closely by Shining Armor.

“I understand you applied,” Cinch said coldly, producing the aforementioned paperwork from her desk.

Twilight wilted.  Her application to the school was not a secret, per se, after all, any transfer would have to be approved by the principal.  Twilight knew her successes were something that was touted as part of Crystal Prep’s reputation.  When she had applied and hadn’t heard anything from the principal, Twilight had hoped her transfer would just go unnoticed.  Clearly, that was not the case now.

“You see, one of the advantages of having a reputation is a certain amount of influence in such things.  So, let me make you a deal.  In return for contributing your agile mind to these games, I will use my influence to guarantee your application is approved,” Cinch said sliding the application towards Twilight.  The girl eyed the papers but was slow in accepting.  Cinch pulled back the papers, gaining the teen’s attention then continued in a cold tone, “Though I suppose I could also have it…denied.”

Twilight felt her blood run cold.  When she had applied to Everton, she had worried that Principal Cinch might not want to let her leave, but she never would have thought the educator would blackmail her and threaten her entire academic future.  At the same time, she knew what accepting her offer would mean when she was added to the roster at the last minute without having to try out like everyone else.  Many of the other students already disliked her and assumed she was stuck up as she was smart and the ‘principal’s favorite.’  This would just cement that belief.  Not to mention her participation in the games would take her back to Canterlot High, the scene of her crime as it were.  

Fixing the sweating student with a stern gaze, Cinch asked, “What do you think I should do?”


***


Twilight exited the principal’s office in a daze, a worried frown adorning her face.  The sound of the door closing drew the attention of Cadance, her tri-colored locks falling in her face as she continued to search through the secretary’s desk for Principal Cinch’s contact sheet.

“Twilight, you’re done already?”  Seeing the look on the girl’s face the dean’s eyebrows knit in concern.  “What’s wrong?”

Snapping out of her trance, the bespectacled girl replied, “Nothing.”

Rising from the seat, the former babysitter went to her young friend and carefully raised the girl’s face to meet her own.  After studying her for a moment, the woman embraced the girl in a tight hug.

“Oh, Ladybug, I’m so sorry.  I knew you didn’t want to be on the team, but Principal Cinch wasn’t taking no for an answer and then she went and got your brother involved.”  At that, the dean let out a frustrated huff.  “You know I love him, but sometimes he’s just so oblivious when someone’s using him.  Plus he’s still into the whole Crystal Prep/CHS rivalry.”

Cadance continued to support Twilight, and the younger girl enjoyed the comfort, finding a little comfort after a day that had been nothing but a disaster and that seemed to still be spiraling out of control.  The teen considered revealing everything to the older woman.  She had been Twilight’s confidant and pseudo-big sister for years.  If there was anyone who would believe her about all of this and be willing to help her without question, it was Cadance.  

But Cadance was also the school’s dean and Principal Cinch was her boss.  Cinch had already threatened Twilight’s academic career.  What would stop her from threatening Cadance’s actual career, and as her superior, it would be easy for Cinch.  No, Twilight couldn’t do that to the woman.  Cadance loved her job and was one of the few bright spots here at Crystal Prep.  Twilight was smart.  She was sure she could handle competing in the Friendship Games, and then she’d be able to go to Everton and study in peace. 

“It’s alright, Cady,” the teen mumbled into the other woman, “I told her I’d be on the team.”

Pushing the shorter girl away so Cadance could look her in the eyes she said, “But she shouldn’t have gotten your brother to help bully you into doing it.  Do you want me to-“

“Don’t worry about it, Cady,” the teen said, shaking her head.  “I’ll be fine.  What’s one more competition, right?  Who knows, maybe Shiny’s right and I’ll have fun.”

The woman held her gaze for a moment no doubt debating if she should step in any way before finally relenting.  “If you say so, Ladybug.  Go ahead and get back to Spike.  Give him an extra belly rub from me.  Shiny had to head back to work, so I’ll drive you home.  Might be a while though.  I have to finish up the paperwork for the Friendship Games to send over to CHS.  I guess I’ll have to update our team roster now as well.  Meet me by my car in a couple of hours?”

“Sounds good,” replied the teen heading for the office door before turning back, “and, Cady, thanks for being there for me.”
The woman smiled, “Any time, Ladybug.”


***


Twilight returned to her lab empty-handed; the purpose of her trip forgotten after the conversation with Principal Cinch.  She would no doubt hear it from Spike as the promise of treats had been made and that was not something the puppy was not likely to forget.  She would have to make it up to him when they got home tonight.  

That thought reminded the scientist of another problem she would have to work out before Cadance came down to take her home; just what was she supposed to do with the unicorn?  While she might be able to sneak it home tonight and probably keep it a secret through the weekend as her mother had to attend some writers’ convention and her father had opted to tag along.  Her BBBFF, Shining Armor, was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, though she was oftentimes more mature than her older brother.  Also, his work as a member of the Canterlot Police Department meant that he was usually working the hours Twilight was home, as apparently was the case tonight.  Cadance had volunteered to help out with taking her to and from school, but Twilight figured she could keep the pony hidden for the times Cadance was over, at least temporarily.

With her mind still a buzz with mapping out the potential long term logistics of housing the mythical creature she had secreted away in her lab, Twilight opened the door absently, only to have the creature she’d been preoccupied with bolt past her and take off down the hallway in a mad dash.  Following right behind her, Spike barked happily as he ran off to chase after the pony.  Twilight stood in a dazed shock for a moment before the realization of the situation set in, and then promptly followed suit after the two.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wait!  Come back!”  Twilight shouted after the pair as they bolted down the hallway of Crystal Prep.  She wasn’t sure when scientific research had become a good cardio workout but that was something to worry about at a later time, preferably after she caught the escaping unicorn. Mentally she noted how she was not fazed by what should have been a ridiculous statement, choosing to simply add that to the growing checklist she had of things to worry about another time.  

As she chased the duo down the halls, she began to lag behind, her unconditioned pair of legs clearly not on par with those of the quadrupeds.  Rounding a corner, the scientist barreled into a group of other Crystal Prep students just leaving one of the private study rooms.

     “Hey, Sparkle,” an irritated voice called out, echoing through the hall and causing said girl to flinch.

     “Oh hi, Sour Sweet,” Twilight squeaked out as she stood and adjusted her glasses.  The scientist turned to face the new girl, though she kept her eyes focused on her own shoes which only caused the glasses to slide once more down the bridge of her nose.  

The new girl was a tall girl with pale yellow skin and pale pink hair.  She reminded Twilight a bit of the girl she had stolen energy from at the shelter, though the magical girl lacked the teal shock that ran through Sour’s bangs as well as the freckles that dotted her cheeks.  

     “What is this we hear about you being added to the team for the Friendship Games?” asked another girl.  She was a thin teal skinned girl with a trendy short cut to her raspberry highlighted mulberry hair named Sunny Flare. She punctuated the question with a sharp jab of her finger to Twilight's sternum, causing the nerdy girl to back herself up to the lockers.

     “Um...well, you see-” Twilight stammered, rubbing at the bruise she knew was now forming on her chest.

“Considering you have the highest GPA in school, you should be able to manage a coherent sentence consisting of words more than a single syllable,” interrupted Sugarcoat in a deadpan tone. She was a powder blue-skinned girl who wore her silver-blue hair in three ponytails and sported orange horn-rimmed glasses over her orchid eyes.  

Honestly Twilight didn’t mind Sugarcoat that much.  Out of all Sour Sweet’s friends she and Lemon Zest were the least likely to torment the girl.  Sugarcoat was never malicious, just brutally honest, while Lemon Zest, the pink-skinned rocker was perpetually oblivious to the world around her as she headbanged to whatever blared in the headphones she wore over her multi-toned green hair.   

     “Listen, Dorkle,” a blue-haired girl with goggles snarled muscular peach arms shooting out to grab hold of the smaller girl's shirt and practically picked her up by it, forcing the glasses-wearing girl to meet her eyes.  “I thought we told you to stay away from the Games.”  

“Indigo, I-I didn’t…” the helpless girl started to stammer out. The situation was all too familiar for Twilight.  Indigo Zap had been her personal tormentor since middle school, taking any opportunity she could to bully the genius girl.  Things had only gotten worse when they’d both entered Crystal Prep thanks to Principal Cinch’s policies.  When the abuse had started again her freshman year, Twilight had gone to the dean.  Dean Cadance had been her babysitter and longtime confidant.  When the athlete was given detention, it was quickly overturned by the Principal who cited the need to have Indigo attend soccer practice as she had made the varsity team and they had to maintain their excellence on the field.  In the end, Indigo had gotten off scot-free while Twilight had received a further abuse for snitching.  After that, Twilight had concluded it was safer to try and avoid Indigo when at all possible and to do whatever the athlete asked when she did run into her.

“Shut it, Sparkle,” the angry jock said punctuating the statement by slamming the scientist against the lockers.  “The last thing we need is for you to spaz out and ruin our perfect winning streak.  I know you're supposed to be some kind of super brain or something, but if you're too stupid to follow such simple directions, maybe I'll just have to teach this lesson the hard way.”

With another shove, the goggle-wearing girl pushed Twilight even harder into the lockers, causing the injured girl to slump forward, doubled over after the impact.  The movement allowed her energy collecting device to slip out from where it had been hidden in her zipped hoodie.  

“What do we have here?” Indigo cooed.  Reaching for the pendant, she jerked it hard breaking the cord and causing the already injured Twilight to cry out as it dug into the back of her neck before breaking free.  Holding up the stolen pendant for the other Shadowbolts, Indigo then tossed the device to Sunny Flare.  “Here ya go, Sunny, you’re into clothes and jewelry and junk.  What do you think of the nerd’s new bling?”

The fashionista caught the device but promptly sported a disgusted look.  Holding the offending item delicately in two fingers by the broken cord, she kept it as far from herself as she could manage.  “Honestly, dearie, it looks like you made it yourself out of scrap.  Here, Lemon, dispose of this so she doesn’t look like more of a loser than she already does.”  Tossing it towards the headphone-wearing girl, the comment went unheard as Lemon continued to rock out to the music blaring in her ears, and the pendant went sailing passed her.  

“No!” Twilight shouted, but as she was still pinned by the sporty girl, the helpless scientist could only watch in horror as her device, the core of her research project and bringer of mythical beasts, fell through the air and impacted the linoleum with a thud.  When there was no explosion of light or summoning of an ancient horror, Twilight's body seemed to remember that breathing was a necessity and so began again in earnest.  Unfortunately, she was still not out of danger.  Indigo might not have been a creature of legend, but at the moment she was no less dangerous.

 	“Listen up, Dorkle,” Indigo spat, eyes leveled at the pinned scientist.  “Crystal Prep always wins the Friendship Games.  Always.  I didn’t want you on my team, I don’t need you on my team, and I will not have our perfect streak ruined by some loser who doesn’t belong.  So to make sure the message is clear this time since apparently you didn’t get the picture the first time we had this little chat, I think a little demonstration of exactly what I’ll do to you if we lose will ensure you get my meaning.”

Twilight saw Indigo release one side of her collar and cock back her fist.  Still pinned by the muscular girl’s other arm, Twilight could only close her eyes and wait for the blow.


***


Sunset rounded another corner, putting more distance between herself and the out of shape scientist.  She wasn't positive where she was running to, but anywhere had to be safer than here.  If the human Twilight was anything like the pony princess she knew, she would not stop until she had the answers she was looking for.  She already knew enough to pull her through the portal, which meant that she knew its location in this world.  What else could she learn if she got a hold of Sunset?  She might be a crackpot scientist working out of a closet now, but that would all change if she had Sunset as proof.  Then she could get backing, proper funding, and do who knows what to the portal and to the ponies back home.  Sunset couldn't risk it.  She knew what humans could do and she wouldn't let innocent ponies be hurt if she could help it.  She had to get away without being spotted.

Unfortunately, Spike continued to pursue her clearly under the belief that this was a game.  As they pulled away from the scientist, Sunset heard the clamor of angry voices echo through the halls from where they had come.  She was immediately reminded of the last time she had been in a high school, and the memory caused the pony to pull up suddenly resulting in the purple puppy barreling into her, only to shake it off and bark happily believing he'd won their game.

“Shush, Spike,” The unicorn chided, bringing her ears erect and searching for the sound of the teen’s clunky school shoes.  “Where’s Twilight?”  Seeming to understand, the pup cocked is head back the way they’d come before rushing back leaving the unicorn blinking in surprise.  

  	Finally alone and without any pursuers, Sunset was free to head out the door and back to the portal.  She was still familiar enough with the city, that she was sure she could make her way there without being seen.  With any luck, she could be back through the portal and safe in Ponyville in no time. But something about the angry sounds of teenagers continuing down the hall made her pause with a growing sense of worry.  Sunset couldn't stop the memories of her final day at CHS; knocked to the ground, and surrounded by angry students, all of them glaring at her, accusing her of something she didn’t do.  As her tears flowed freely, she had hoped desperately that one of her friends would help, to stand up for her, to believe her, but they were nowhere to be found.  They’d assumed the worst and abandoned her to the mob.

A look of determination fell across the unicorn’s face.  True, this may not be the Twilight Sparkle that she knew, but Sunset Shimmer refused to let anyone else be treated the way she had been.  Unsure of what she would do when she got there, but no less set on her course, the amber pony headed back down the hallway toward the commotion.

Reaching the hall the voices seemed to be coming from, Sunset carefully peeked around the corner.  There she saw a crowd of uniformed Crystal Prep students had the human Twilight Sparkle backed up against a locker.  After her years as the Queen Bee at Canterlot High, Sunset easily recognized the fear in the bespectacled girl’s eyes.  With experience on both the giving and receiving sides of the bullying coin, a fire lit in the unicorn’s heart as she knew she had to do something to help this Twilight.  

The problem was, what exactly could a three-foot-tall pony do versus nearly half a dozen teenagers?  Sunset raised a forehoof to her forehead to try and spark an idea, only to have it brush against the bruise at the base of her horn.  Her horn!  How could she forget?  Being sucked back to the human world and coming out a tiny pony was a mystery for later, but at least it did come with one advantage.  

Thinking quickly, Sunset’s horn began to glow in warm red light as she began weaving the various spell patterns.  With the persistent pain in the head, she knew she was doing herself no favors trying to cast something so complex in a world with so little magic, but someone was in trouble, and like Tartarus was she going to just sit back and watch as someone was harassed, unlike the students at CHS.


***


As Twilight stood frozen, held fast in Indigo’s grasp waiting for the impact, her ears picked up on a familiar sound.  Frantic barking as four paws ran swiftly down the hallway, nails clicking audibly on the tile.  Twilight chanced a peek and spotted a familiar purple and green fluff ball racing towards her, his usually happy puppy face sporting as fierce a growl as he could manage.  

Sour Sweet stepped forward with a happy smile on her face.  “Aww, look at the little puppy,” she cooed, then her smile dropped into a scowl, “too bad it's the only one around here who'll to come to your rescue.”  With a wicked smirk, she made to kick the poor pup.  Luckily she didn’t have the same soccer skills as Indigo or the little dog could have really been hurt.  As it was though she clipped him hard in his ribs, causing his legs on that side to give out and the little dog then slid across the well-polished hallway floor.  Spike skidded across the hall impacting the wall against which Twilight had collapsed.  Picking up her injured puppy, Twilight tried to comfort her protector as well as shield him from whatever the group of bullies had in store for them next.

“What is going on here?” a voice none of the Shadowbolts recognized called out.  Striding down the hall was a surprisingly tall woman with aurora colored hair.  Her purple dress pants and tan blazer indicated her to most likely be a teacher, probably a sub as none of the group towering over the downed scientist recognized the woman. Choosing not to risk a new teacher trying to assert her authority, the group backed away from the girl and her dog and headed the opposite direction as the approaching authority figure.  

As she left, Indigo spotted the pendant Twilight had been wearing.  With another glare at the bespectacled girl, the athlete lifted her sneaker-clad foot up and proceeded to drive it swiftly back down on the pendant.  The device proved sturdier than the jock had anticipated and was not broken into pieces, but the sudden force was enough to pop open the latch and cause the device to open.  Immediately, it began to hum and whorl as it sparked to life with an ominous pink glow.

Some of the retreating Shadowbolts had seen the action of their friend, but all noticed as the sparks jumping off the device intensified.  

“I think it's gonna blow,” Sunny Flare yelled.

     “Awesome, light show,” the headphone-wearing girl yelled, throwing up the horns and continuing to headbang to the music.

     	“Run you idiot,” the pigtailed girl said, somehow maintaining the same neutral tone even as she shoved the rocker out the door followed by the rest of her group.

     	As the remaining bullies fled from the scene, Twilight was frozen in dumbstruck awe as the sounds and sparks emanating from the device intensified.  Then a large jolt of energy shot out of the device and exploded in a burst of brilliant pink light that was sent hurtling down the hall straight for the mystery woman who had come to her rescue.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle, genius scientist that she was, was still no stranger to lab accidents.  Her early days of trying to improve all of the household appliances had resulted in a minor explosion that left her traumatized and terrified of quesadillas to this day.  That, however, was nothing compared to what was before her now as the pendant she had created to collect the mysterious energy looked ready to explode.  She watched in horror as a bolt of magenta electricity streaked through the air heading straight for the form of the mystery woman that had been coming to her rescue earlier.  

Before the downed girl could manage to get an intelligible sound out of her mouth, the bolt of energy headed straight through the aurora-haired woman.  The woman did not react, and Twilight wasn’t sure if that was from shock or just a lack of opportunity as the next second a circular vortex opened right behind the woman and she winked out of existence, finally eliciting a strangled scream from the glasses-wearing teen.  

Spike was a smarter dog than his family often realized.  Hearing his mistress’s cry and seeing her reach out for the portal, he knew she wanted the person who had rescued them both to come back, and being the good boy that he was, Spike was going to do what he did best; Fetch.  With some difficulty due to his sore ribs, the little pup scampered down the hall toward the portal and after a few steps managed a quick leap into the hole.

Twilight watched in horror as Spike, her only friend, disappeared through the hole.  As tears began to form at the loss of her friend, she was shocked as yet another portal appeared, and the purple pup fell out of it, only to be swallowed up once again as a third portal appeared.  Twilight’s mind was frozen.  What she was seeing was not possible and having her pup apparently falling through space-time, had shorted her brain.  

As another portal opened, adding to the ever-growing swirl of energy now in the hall of Crystal Prep, Spike once again appeared, but as he fell once again toward another portal he passed through a stream of pale yellow colored energy the devices was now starting to emit, causing a yelp from the little dog.  

His cry, spurred Twilight into action as she struggled to get to her feet.  She rushed for the mass of vortexes, not entirely sure what she was going to do when she saw that Spike had stopped his descent toward the new portal.  He was hovering in midair, enveloped in a pale red aura.

“Your device,” Twilight heard a female voice shout over the din of the energy portals, “You have to shut it.  Hurry!”  The genius teen wasn’t sure who the voice belonged to.  It seemed too young to belong to the woman she had seen before, though part of her hoped it was the tall woman as it would mean she had survived the energy beam, and not been atomized by Twilight’s research project.

"Where are you?  Are you okay?  I saw the energy hit you-" Twilight began to call into the portal.

"The woman is fine, that was an illusion.  Now close your device or you'll be the one pulled through to Celestia knows where," grunted the voice seemingly in some sort of distress.

Twilight puzzled a moment at the odd turn of phrase, but set it aside as she hurried across the hall to where Indigo had tried to crush her pendant.  Retrieving her device, she struggled to force the lid back down as the device was still emitting energy.  With a burst of effort and a slight grunt, the scientist finally managed to close the locket, noting with some sadness that the majority of the energy she had collected had been released. 

Leaving the concern for her admittance to Everton aside for the moment, Twilight let the currently inert pendant drop back to the floor as she rushed to her still hovering puppy.  Kneeling down, she scooped him out of the air and carefully took him in her arms, hugging him tightly to her chest.  

“Spike, are you okay?” Twilight asked, worry evident in her tone.

“Um, I think so,” the little dog voiced, turning to his owner and gracing her with a puppy smile that Twilight happily reciprocated.  Then, after a beat, it seemed to dawn on both what had just happened.  The result was a dual pair or screams and Spike airborne once again as Twilight dropped the pup to the ground and quickly bolted down the hall towards her lab.


***


“Twilight, come on!  Wait for me!” Spike shouted as he chased after the plum haired scientist.

Sunset stepped around the corner of the hall as the two disappeared in the opposite direction.  Walking over to where Twilight had dropped the device, Sunset picked it up in her red-hued magic.  She glanced over her shoulder back the way she had come, toward the door and escape from the school. There was no one to stop her now.  She had the magic collecting device, and no one chasing her.  Hay, after what just happened she was pretty sure that the human Twilight wouldn’t even come looking for her or magic of any kind now.

Sunset frowned at that though.  The fact that the scientist had been looking for magic in the first place, whether or not she knew what it was, was a concern.  Not to mention that her version of Spike now seemed to be infused with it as well.  

Sunset let out a low growl as she face-hoofed.  It seemed that no matter what she did or didn’t do, the mistakes that she had made in the past would forever be there to come back and bite her in the flank.  From what Sunset had seen on the conspiracy board when she woke up, Twilight had been researching CHS for a while.  And just like the Sirens, the magic had led another to CHS in search of the Equestrian magic that Sunset had brought to this world.  Would there ever be a time when she wasn’t forced to deal with the consequences of her past?  

Part of her wanted to walk away.  Just take the device and with what magic she could manage in her current condition, Sunset was still confident in her ability to cast an invisibility spell.  She could make her way back to CHS and hopefully, back through the portal.  It was simple enough, though probably an obscene amount of walking for a pony who had spent the last year or so in a lab or classroom, but Sunset was sure she could manage.  

But, that was the old Sunset.  That was the Sunset that didn’t care about people or ponies and merely used them for her own goals, despite the effects it might have on them.  Though she wasn’t interested in friendship anymore, Sunset did not want to become the kind of pony that would leave someone terrified and alone again either.

A voice inside reminded her of her track record of her help only leading to more problems. Tackling Rainbow Dash at the Battle of the Bands had only gotten the Rainbooms and the entirety of the school mad at her. She was pretty sure that helping stop the Sirens and gaining the respect and forgiveness of the school factored into the creation of Anon-A-Miss.  Whoever it was behind it likely not wanting to see Sunset as anything but hated by the school.  And now Sunset’s latest revelation, her existence and misuse of magic had attracted the attention of even more people who had developed the ability to siphon magic.  The potential danger that could cause if raw magic were to be used and exploited by humans was terrifying.  

Knowing what she had to do, Sunset followed in the direction Twilight and Spike had run, the magic absorbing device floating alongside her.  Sunset was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been able to remember where Twilight’s lab was located had it not been for the purple furred dog pawing desperately at the door.  

“Come on, Twilight, let me in,”  Spike shouted desperately as he scratched once again on the wooden surface.  Hearing the clip-clop of hooves on the tiled floor of the hallway, the pup’s ears perked up and he turned to see the intruder he had chased before.  “You again,” he said curtly and then proceeded to bark at the pony.  To his surprise, the other creature did not run this time.  Instead, she merely rolled her eyes and lit up her horn.  From behind him, Spike heard the handle turn and the door open to where Twilight had gone.  Casting a suspicious gaze back at the creature, she merely lifted her foreleg in a gesture towards the door indicating he should head inside.  


***


Twilight Sparkle sat hunched over in her desk chair, her head securely in her knees and covered by her arms.  As she tried to stave off the impending panic attack, she missed the sound of the door clicking open and the patter of paws on the tile.  It wasn’t until a familiar canine face popped into her vision that she was aware of him.

“Twilight, why did you run away like that?” the little dog whined in his new voice causing the scientist to leap out of her chair, causing it to be shot across the room.  Quickly backing herself against her worktable the teen resumed her panicked breathing.

“Oh, umm, I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with the atomized woman, or the holes in space, or my talking dog!”  Twilight’s speech had steadily increased in volume and terror, though the little pup remained unphased as he was used to her freakouts.

“Yeah, weird right?” Spike responded, as he lazily scratched his ear with his back paw, clearly taking the whole ordeal in stride.  The little dog’s calmness regarding his whole experience seemed to rub off on his mistress as she relaxed enough to lower herself from her desk and crouch down to aid Spike in his need for scratchies. 

“Are you okay?  How do you feel?” the scientist began to probe as she rubbed the underside of his chin.  “What happened?”  Her voice continued to rise as she took hold of the dog on either side of his face bringing him eye to eye with herself.  “Where did you go?!”

This time Spike’s responded in a strictly canine manner and licked the inquisitive teen across her nose, forcing the scientist to let go so she could wipe her face clear of slobber.

“Hey, one question at a time,” the purple pup soothed.  “This is pretty new to me, too.”

“Sorry,” was all the teen could offer.

“All I know is went after that lady through the glowy thing and then I was somewhere else.  The next thing I knew I was back here, floating in the air and I could talk.”  Taking a moment to think about that, the puppy concluded, “I don’t really understand why I couldn’t before.  I mean, it’s so easy.”  Turning his puzzled look toward the door he continued, “Maybe she has a better idea since she was ranting about magic and portals earlier."

Looking back, the teen saw the little amber unicorn closing the door to her lab, Twilight’s energy collecting device hovering in a red-colored light next to her just as the door had been as it closed.  

“Don’t be silly, Spike,” the scientist scoffed, “animals can’t talk.”  The response garnered a deadpan look from the pup that was mirrored on the face of the pony.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset steadied herself, “Yeah, actually I can, and we need to talk.”

Over the course of the day, Twilight had been pushed to her mental limits and stood strong.  In the face of bullies and violations of the rules of the universe, she had persevered.  She had discovered a mythical creature and now a talking dog with some freakouts, but still endured.  For whatever reason though, standing in her lab being corrected by a mythical creature and her own puppy was the final straw for Twilight’s sanity.  

“Oh ponyfeathers, she’s going down.”  Twilight heard a voice say though it sounded far away.  The teen barely registered her vision being bathed in a red light just before everything went black.
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was awoken by the all too familiar feeling of a cold nose trying to work its way into her neck.  With a groan, she slowly opened her eyes and was met with the sight of a blurrier than normal purple puppy.  A quick pat of her face confirmed that she was missing her glasses.  Seeming to know what she was thinking, the dog dropped her black-framed lenses on to her chest.  Once she had slipped them on, the scientist could see she was still in her lab at Crystal Prep.  Late nights here were not unusual for her, so much so, to necessitate the addition of the cot that she’d been sleeping on.  What was unusual was the fact that she did not remember how she had ended up in the bed this time.  

Massaging her temples with her fingertips, Twilight tried to jump-start her cerebral processes as well as soothe the headache that seemed to linger despite her rest.  “What happened?” she groaned.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” a vaguely familiar voice grumbled eliciting a growl from the puppy in Twilight’s lap.

Looking over to where the voice had come from, Twilight spotted the amber unicorn from before perched in her desk chair going through her research notes on her computer.  "Wait how did she get into my files?"  That however was not the question that finally made it out of her mouth once it reestablished a connection to her brain.   What she managed to squeak out the other question that first came to mind, given the angry unicorn glaring at her from her desk was, “Y-you can talk?”

The unicorn rolled her eyes, but before she could provide another snide reply, Spike cut her off.  “Yeah, and she’s been doing nothing but complain since you passed out.”

“Well excuse me for being less than happy at being ripped through an unstable transdimensional portal back to this Celestia-forsaken world, and by the looks of what I’m seeing here, by someone who has no idea what she’s even dealing with,” the unicorn fumed at the dog before rounding on Twilight.  

“Back to this world?”  Twilight wondered, catching that bit of the unicorn’s tirade.

“Do you know how dangerous magic can be especially for someone with no arcane training?” the pony continued to rant.  “Do you know what kind of damage you can cause tampering with the thaumic levels in a world that has no self-sustaining harmonic energy matrix? Obviously not, because if you did you wouldn’t have tried to drain what little magic there is in this world into an untested siphoning and storage device.”

“I’m s-sorry,” Twilight managed to stammer out under the pony’s piercing gaze.

“Sorry?!  ‘Sorry’ doesn’t fix the problem.  ‘Sorry’ doesn’t change what you did.  ‘Sorry’  doesn’t get me the buck out of here!”

“I-I'm sorry.  I didn’t mean to,” Twilight struggled out as tears started to pour down her face and she fled the room.  Spike following right behind but not before he shot an accusing look at the amber unicorn.


***


Twilight ran through the halls, just letting her legs carry her as she had no destination in mind.  Her usual refuge was her lab, which she had just been forced from.  After a short time, she finally gave up and collapsed against a locker in a secluded alcove in one of the hallways.  

She suddenly found herself exhausted both mentally and physically, and after all she’d been through that day, she wasn’t surprised in the least.  Everything she had held back since this whole ordeal started finally broke though and Twilight began to cry.  The weight of all that had happened finally poured out of her in a much-needed release.  She didn’t know how long she sat there when a small, male voice cautiously interrupted her grief.  

“Twilight?  Are you okay?”

Looking up, the scientist spotted her familiar purple puppy cautiously peeking around the corner at her. It was clear from the way his ears were pressed down and he was curled in on himself that he was scared to approach her, though the look in his large pleading eyes showed how much he wanted to go and comfort her.

Taking off her glasses, Twilight smeared away the tears from her cheeks.  “I don’t know, Spike.  Everything has just gone wrong today.  I don’t know what to do anymore.” The pup took the acknowledgment as okay to move closer.  When he was in arms reach of the still sniffling girl, she scooped him up into her lap and started to scratch him behind the ears, an action that had always worked to calm both of them in the past.  

“It’ll be alright, Twilight.  I know it will,” the dog said melting under the attention.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because you’re you.  You’re the nicest, smartest, most determined person I know.  You’ve never met a problem you can’t solve.  After everything you’ve been through you never give up, and I don’t think you’ll give up now.”

The compliments brought a smile to the young scientist’s face and she gave her canine friend the biggest hug she could manage without crushing him.

“Don’t worry about those bullies.  You just let me handle them next time.”

Remembering his earlier injury from Indigo, Twilight just shook her head.  “No, Spike, I don’t want to see you hurt again, and those girls are too big for you to take on.”

The pup gave her a lick on the nose in acknowledgment.  “Fine, fine, if that’s what you want, but I still think I could take ‘em."  Considering for a moment, an action Twilight found particularly adorable, Spike then offered, "Then just let me handle that jerk pony in the lab.  She’s closer to my size.  I chased her out of the lab once, I can do it again, no problem.”

Twilight’s shoulders only drooped at the suggestion, though she hugged the dog a little tighter.  “No, Spike.  I appreciate the offer, but it’s not her fault.  I dragged her here against her will and I can only imagine what she’s feeling after waking up in a strange world.”  Though apparently not that strange since the unicorn showed little surprise at encountering a different species and seemed perfectly adept at using human technology.

“Alright, fine,” Spike grumbled, snapping Twilight from her musings and clearly still unhappy about the way the amber pony had yelled at his person, “I’ll play nice, but if she tries anything on you with her weird powers, I’m going to bite her.”  Twilight gave the pup a stern look but in the end, let it go and gave him an appreciative scratch tummy rub for the concern.  

After enjoying the sensation for a moment, Spike turned his gaze up to Twilight and asked, “So what’s the plan?”

“Plan?”

“Oh, come on, I know you.  You always have a plan for everything.  Your Everton Energy Discovery plan seems to be a bust, so what do we do now?”

Considering for a moment where to begin, Twilight took a breath and said, “Spike, I think we should start by fixing our mistakes, and that means doing whatever it takes to help that unicorn get back where she came from.”  

Taking the purple pup with her as she stood, Twilight started to head back toward her lab.  Rounding the corner of the hall that contained her lab, the teen spotted Dean Cadance in front of the door, ready to open it.  

“Cadance!”  Twilight flinched at how loud that had come out.  “Sorry.  Uh, what are you doing down here?”  

The dean wore a look of confusion at the girl’s reaction, but it was quickly replaced with a look of concern when she spotted the tear tracks still adorning Twilight’s cheeks.  Spotting the purple puppy in her arms a worried frown spread across Cadance's face.  "Is Spike okay?  Do you want to take him back to the vet?'

"Oh, uh, no, Cadance he's doing okay.  Nothing to worry about."

The former babysitter had know Twilight long enough to know that was the truth, and so heaving a worried sigh, tried her next guess as to what was bothering the girl.  “Is this about the Friendship Games?  I told Cinch that you wouldn’t want to participate.  With the pressure of being in front of everyone and I know about the problems with Indigo and her friends.  And don't even get me started on your brother.  I can't believe he let Cinch use him to get you on the team like that.  I swear, for a man trying to make detective, sometimes he is completely oblivious..."  

The educator cut off her angry rant and took a calming breath before continuing, "I can try and talk to Cinch.  See if I can’t suggest a different candidate.”

“No,” Twilight said, a little too quickly.  Remembering her discussion with the principal, Twilight tried to reassure the dean.  “I mean, no thank you.  I’ll be fine.  It’s just another academic contest right.  I’ve been in lots of those.  I mean, I can’t let Crystal Prep down, right?”  

The tone left Cadance unconvinced, but it seemed like Twilight wasn’t in the mood to talk about it at the moment.  She knew t had clearly been a long day for the girl so maybe the former babysitter would just have to try again another time.  Perhaps Twilight would be more willing to talk after she’d had a chance to get Spike home and get some rest.

“Okay, well I was just stopping by to see if you were ready to go home.  I’m giving you a lift since Shiny had to go back to work.”

“Home?” Twilight questioned, casting a worried look at the lab door.  “Um, sure thing.  Can you give me ten minutes to make sure everything’s wrapped up for the night?”  Without really giving the dean a chance to respond, Twilight continued, “Great, I’ll meet you in the parking lot when I’m done.  Thanks!”  With that, the teen let herself into the room and swiftly closed the door behind her, leaving a puzzled Cadance speechless in the hallway.  

Her gold heels echoing in the empty hall, Cadance slowly walked towards the school door shaking her head and thinking, “Yep, definitely going to have to talk to that girl soon.  Maybe a girls’ day is in order.”


***


Quickly edging through the door, Twilight closed her eyes, awaiting the demand for an explanation to her rudeness, and then let out a sigh of relief as she heard the clipping of heals head away.  Opening her eyes, Twilight spotted the amber pony was laying on the cot the teen had been passed out on earlier.  As she was facing away from the door and made no move to acknowledge the hasty entrance, Twilight wondered if the unicorn might have fallen asleep.

“H-hey, um…” Twilight started carefully before realizing she wasn’t sure how she should address the talking mythical creature in front of her.

“Sunset,” the mare said, turning to face the returning girl.  Her tone was still tense, but the anger that Twilight had seen earlier had faded to an irritated simmer in her absence.

“Huh?”  Twilight looked about for a window before remembering her lab didn’t have any.

With a roll of her cyan eyes, the unicorn tried again, “My name.  I assume that’s what you were going for.  It’s Sunset, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Oh, right, um, I’m…” the girl said, as her gaze drooped to the floor causing her glasses to slip down her nose.  Something in the unicorn's, no Sunset’s, gaze was so intense that the girl found it hard to maintain eye contact.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Sunset cut off her stuttering, “I know.”  Then turning to the purple puppy who had been keeping a wary eye on the other quadruped, she said, “and you’re Spike.  Now that that’s out of the way, we can focus on what’s really important; getting me back through the portal so I can get back and help my friends.”

“Good,” Spike practically snorted, “the sooner you’re gone, the better.”  

The comment earned a mild glare from the pony.  While Twilight’s brain finally caught up to the conversation.  “Wait, you can’t go now.  I-it’s late, and I have so many questions.  Where do you come from?  What is it like?  Are there other mythological creatures where you come from?  How do you know our language?  What is…”

“Twilight!” Sunset shouted before it could devolve into a full-on explosion of questions, which earned her another growl from Spike.  Rubbing a hoof to her forehead, the unicorn winced as she remembered the bandage that was still there.

“Sorry,” Twilight said, both for the rant and remembering Sunset’s injury had come as a result of the girl’s experiment.  "You're right I-"

“I'm sorry but I can’t stay here, I have friends on the other side of the portal that might be in trouble.  When you pulled me through, something was happening, some sort of magical surge.  It was big, really big, that amount of magic that I felt since…” The unicorn trailed off and shivered at a thought.  Shaking herself out of it, she continued, “That kind of power usually means something bad, and I can’t let my friends face that alone,” the unicorn said meeting the young scientist’s eyes.  “They were there for me in the worst times in my life, and I know I don’t deserve them considering I’ve been pretty lousy at the whole friendship thing, but unlike some people I won’t abandon a friend that needs me.”

“Alright, what can I do to help?”  Twilight wasn’t sure if it was the pony’s determination that made her agree or the fact that by the end of her speech, Sunset’s eyes seemed to shine with unshed tears.  

Sunset Shimmer did not want to cry.  She didn’t have time for that now.  Trying to get herself back under control, Sunset took a deep breath in as she brought an extended forehoof into her barrel and then slowly released it as she moved the limb back out.  

Recognizing the move, Twilight let her finish before mumbling, “I do the same thing when I’m stressing.  My babysitter taught it to me when I was younger.”

Meeting the girl’s gaze, Sunset smirked.  “Picked it up recently, myself, from a friend.  She learned it from her foalsitter when she was younger.”

The mention of the former sitter reminded Twilight what she had come back to the lab for.  “Oh no. Cadance!” Twilight said, starting to rush around the room, cramming the supplies she needed to take home in her backpack.  “I told her I’d meet her outside so she can take me home.  I can’t have her coming back here to get me.”  Once packed, her gaze fell on the two creatures staring up at her.  “Um, I have to sneak the two of you out of here.  I promised Cadance I’d keep you out of sight from Cinch,” the scientist said addressing the dog, then turning to the pony she added, “and no one knows about you yet, and I’m not sure how I’d even begin to explain.”

Looking over at the pet carrier still sitting near the desk, she turned to the two, “Well, Cadance already saw me with the carrier.  If you two both squeezed…”

“Oh, no,” Spike cut in.  “I will not be trapped in that thing with her.”

“Yeah, I’m not really big on the idea of being locked in a cage again either,” The unicorn added.

“Well do either of you have any suggestions on how to get all of us out of here without raising suspicions?” the scientist asked.

“No problem,” Spike said, waving a paw.  “I can just hide out in your backpack like I normally do.”

“Fine, but then what about Sunset?”

The pony in question was sitting on her haunches while using a forehoof to tap her chin.  “You have any more bags?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, pulling out the duffle bag from under the cot where she’d stored her school uniform earlier, “but I don’t think you’ll fit in it.”

The unicorn smirked as her horn began to radiate in a crimson glow.  “Leave that to me.”

Twilight watched in a shocked stupor as the aura from Sunset’s horn expanded to encompass all of the pony’s body.  As she watched the unicorn’s face scrunch adorably in concentration, it didn’t appear to be anything more than a bizarre light show.  Noting that the damaged pendant she still wore around her neck was not reacting, Twilight sighed internally adding repairs to the growing list of things she now had on her plate thanks to today. 

“Oh no you don’t,” Twilight heard Sunset say.  Her coat seemed to be damp from sweat now as she watched the pony backing away from her.  No, Twilight realized, not backing away, shrinking.  As she watched, the previously small pony was reduced in size until she was just slightly larger than Spike.  Suddenly, Sunset gasped.  “Oh, ponyfeathers,” she breathed out, as the light that encompassed her winked out of existence and she slumped to the floor.

Rushing over to the downed pony, Twilight called out to her in concern, “Sunset! Sunset, are you okay?”

A groan from the unicorn forestalled a panic attack from the girl, though her worry was still apparent.  “Don’t worry, Twi,” Sunset said looking to reassure the teen, "just overexerted myself a bit with that spell.  Probably not the best idea casting after a blow to the head. 
Manipulating the thaumic field was like trying to wrangle breezies, but I’ll be fine in a second.”  

Unfortunately, that was not the case as, when she tried to stand, she nearly toppled face-first back into the linoleum.  Luckily, Twilight was there and, to her surprise, managed to catch the collapsing unicorn, saving her from possible injury and proving at least one of her past P.E. teachers wrong in the process.

“Don’t worry, Sunset,” Twilight said, her concern starting to rise, “We’ll get you to a doctor, or a vet, I don’t know, we’ll find someone who can help."  Cradling the downed pony in much the same way she did Spike thanks to her change in size, Twilight began to move for the door.  

“No,” the little pony mumbled, “I’ll be fine.  Just…need…slee...”  

When Sunset stopped talking, Twilight had a minor heart attack until she noticed the tiny unicorn’s barrel moving steadily.  Deciding to trust Sunset on her own self-diagnosis, the teen carefully carried the sleeping pony to the duffle. Twilight used the extra clothes she had to pad the bottom of the bag and then laid Sunset on top, zipping the bag only as much as was necessary to keep someone from seeing inside.  

“Come on, Spike,” Twilight called to her little purple puppy who seemed to want to keep an eye on the other bag.  Spike reluctantly hopped into the backpack, and Twilight picked both up noting how much easier the task was compared to the first struggle she’d had with the unconscious unicorn.  Locking up her lab, Twilight headed for the parking lot as fast as she could.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Saturday, and Twilight had woken up early to work on her project.  It was nothing unusual for the studious girl.  Weekends were often filled with research and extra credit she had to complete.  Spike curled up on her bed was a bit of an oddity as the fluffy pup had his own bed on the floor of her room, though he often guilted her into letting him join her in the big bed.  A feat made all the easier now that he could talk and inform Twilight just how lonely he got when not cuddled up next to her.

The pup’s normal spot was occupied by the even stranger oddity than the talking dog, that being the still sleeping unicorn.  The bizarreness of the situation wasn’t the fact that Twilight had awoken to find that the mythical creature did in fact exist and that the events from yesterday had actually happened.  It was not even the fact that said creature was still in its reduced, and all the more adorable size.  

The thing disconcerting Twilight the most this morning was the contorted form the unicorn made as she splayed out on the dog bed.  The jumbled mass of limbs that was the tiny pony had one foreleg tucked under her head as a makeshift pillow, while her other was tucked back next to her body.  Her rear legs were tucked under her, causing her sun adorned flank to stick up in the air.  The unicorn’s feathered mane was now a fiery mess that seemed to defy gravity as it stuck straight up into the air.  

Checking the clock, Twilight calculated the amount of time it might take the little unicorn to get ready for the day and compared that against what time she knew her brother would be home from work.  She didn’t want to risk him seeing her mythical guest and she didn’t want to run the risk of him going to sleep before she could convince him to give her a ride to CHS, so she needed to get Sunset up and moving.  Slipping out of her chair, Twilight knelt down on the floor next to the sleeping pony.

“Hey, um, Sunset,” the scientist called tentatively.  “It’s time to get up.”

There was a mumbled, incoherent response from the tiny pony as one foreleg absently swatted for, what Twilight assumed was an alarm clock.  Not finding one, Sunset gave up flopping over on the bed this time face up with her rear hooves dangling off the bed and her forelegs stretched flat above it.  Her mane now sticking straight out to the side.

Trying again, Twilight called a bit more confidently, “Sunset, if you want breakfast, you’re going to have to get up now.”  

“Listen, Princess,” the pony snarked, “unless you plan on blasting me out of bed with another Friendship rainbow laser, I will get up when I’m ready.  Just tell Spike to make me some haycakes and I’ll be down in a few.”  Sunset let out a grunt and threw a forehoof up to cover her eyes, making Twilight wonder just how dexterous the unicorn was with her hooves as compared to normal equines.   

The scientist turned to the pup who stared at her a second before tucking himself back into the ball he’d been dozing in.  “Don’t look at me,” he said, “I’m not getting her anything, not even one of those nasty teeth cleaning treats your mom keeps trying to give me.”

Turning back to the half-asleep pony, the teen saw Sunset was feeling around the bed, searching for something.  Though still covered, she could see the unicorn’s face scrunch in confusion.  Finally, Sunset let out a grunt of annoyance at not being able to locate whatever she was trying to find and her horn lit in a scarlet aura.  It did not, however, have the intended results as the glow quickly sparked and fizzled out, eliciting a pained yelp from the pony.  Sitting up, Sunset began to carefully massage her temples with her hooves.  

“Sunset,” ventured the young scientist, “are you alright?”

Turning toward the voice, the unicorn slowly cracked a teal orb and spotted the worried teen.  Closing it again quickly, she groaned, “Sweet Celestia, it wasn’t a dream.”

“I’m sorry to wake you, but I don’t know what sort of morning ablutions a being such as yourself might need to undergo to start your day, and I know you said you wanted haycakes, but I don’t think we have the necessary ingredients nor suitable substitutes needed to make such a thing, but maybe if you give me…”  Twilight’s nervous ramble was cut off abruptly.  Looking down, and causing her glasses to slip a bit, she found an amber hoof covering her mouth.  Glancing back up, she met the frowning visage of the tiny pony.  

“Twilight, just stop.”

Blushing and looking away, the teen pushed her thick frames back into place.  “Sorry, I just…”

“Look, it’s fine,” Sunset said, as she relaxed a bit, and broke her gaze.  “I just need to go.  I don’t want to stick around this world any more than I have to.”

“Oh, okay,” Twilight said, still a bit nervous around the fiery pony.  “My brother should be home in a little bit.  I can ask him to drop us off at Canterlot High.”

“Alright, that works,” the unicorn sighed.  As she went up to rub her head her hoof brushed her still frazzled mane.  Trying and failing to return it to some state of order, Sunset finally relented, turning to the teen and asking, “Any chance I could borrow a brush?”


***


One tamed mane later, Twilight and Sunset entered the kitchen in awkward silence.  Twilight, having never had a magical equine to breakfast was unsure of the proper etiquette for the situation.  Also, she wasn’t sure where to have her sit, or what to offer her for food.  The young scientist was completely out of her depth.  She hadn’t had anyone over for breakfast ever, let alone a talking unicorn.  As her mind began to race with all the possible worst-case scenarios, her breathing quickened and became shallower.

Before her worry could devolve into a full-blown panic attack, a voice broke through the blurring images of the world.  “Twilight, relax.  It’s just breakfast.”  Focusing on the source of the comment, the teen watched the tiny pony push out a chair from the table and hop up.  Looking around the kitchen, she finally asked, “So, what do you have to eat around here?”

“Wait,” Twilight her brain finally calming down enough to register the comments, “how did you know that’s what I was worried about?”  With a sharp intake of breath, the scientist lowered her voice nervously, “C-can you read minds with your magic.”

“Pffft, please, the last thing anypony needs is me with telepathy,” the unicorn chuckled.  “Nah, it was just a hunch.  You’re just a lot like my friend.  Sometimes she gets stressed out over the tiniest things and she’s so smart she can visualize countless ways for things to go badly in a short time and it just kind of overwhelms her.  She doesn’t get it as much as she used to from what I hear, but I’ve seen it once or twice.”

Searching the cabinets for what to offer, Twilight turned back to her guest.  “That sounds like me.”  Pausing, she then added, “You said she doesn’t get it as much as she used to.  Do you know if there was a treatment or technique she utilizes?”

“Not really,” the pony replied, “but if you asked her she’d probably say it had something to do with making friends.  Honestly, most of her solutions to problems involve friendship, though, given her track record, I suppose she’s probably right.”

“Oh,” the teen mumbled, “that sounds less like me.  Anyway, I don’t think that’ll work in my case.”  Trying to lead the conversation away from her lack of companionship, Twilight continued, “So, about breakfast…”

“Hey,” Spike called from the floor.  “How come she gets to eat at the table and I’m stuck eating down here?”

“Because,” the teen started, but then froze, her mind warring with itself as every argument she could voice was then quickly countered with a glance at the unicorn.  Sunset was little help and just shrugged.  After a few more seconds of indecision, the unicorn thought to end the debate for her.  Lighting her horn, Spike’s food bowl was encompassed in the same glowing red aura they had seen before.  It floated to the air toward the table.  Just as she went to set the bowl down, the magic flickered and died, causing the food dish to land hard on the table and scatter some of its contents.  Glancing at the pony, Twilight saw she was tired and out of breath.  Her face bore a small frown.

“Sunset, are you okay?”

“Is she okay,” Spike huffed, “Just look what she did to my breakfast.”

“Spike!” the teen admonished causing the puppy’s ears to droop.

“It’s fine,” Sunset said interrupting, “I’m fine.”  Despite the words, the observant teen caught the look of worry in the unicorn’s eye and wondered if the comment was to reassure them or herself.  Taking a deep breath, Sunset said, “Let’s just eat and get to the portal.  I should be fine once I’m back in Equestria.”   

Not being much of a chef, Twilight settled on toast for breakfast and as Sunset offered no objection she buttered a couple of slices for the both of them.  “Equestria?” Twilight questioned going back to what Sunset had said.  “Is that the world you come from?  What can you tell me about it?  Is it populated entirely by unicorns like yourself or are their variations in the population?”  Before she could continue too far with her tirade she caught the tired look of the pony at the table, and sheepishly mumbled, “Sorry.”  

Twilight placed the buttered slices in front of the still tiny pony, wondering why Sunset hadn’t returned herself to her normal size considering the small size was forcing her to have to practically stand on the chair with her hooves on the table to see her food.  

After a few minutes of Twilight munching quietly on her toast while Sunset just frowned at the food in front of her, the nervous teen attempted to restart the conversation.  “Um, maybe, since we still have time before Shining gets home, you’d like to take a look at my research.  It might be helpful to have your input for my project since you have a background in…uh, magical studies?”

Twilight’s hopeful expression soon fell when she saw the serious look the tiny pony was leveling at her.

“Twilight, you can’t reveal anything you’ve discovered.  Magic, the portal, me, none of it.  Once I get back through the portal, you have to delete your research and destroy that device.  Nothing about any of this can get out.”

“But, my project, what am I supposed to present for my Everton entrance project if I can’t use…” Twilight began only to be cut off.

“None of it, Twilight.” Sunset stressed fixing the girl with a hard stare.  “Magic doesn’t belong in this world.  It causes nothing but trouble here and in the end, someone always gets hurt.”  Sunset dropped her gaze and continued on a bit softer, “Trust me, you don’t want to be the one to unleash that on the world.  It’s not something you want on your conscience.”   

“O-okay,” Twilight mumbled out sadly.  The unicorn’s words striking her hard.  She knew it was her research into magic that had caused all this trouble for Sunset, and though she wouldn’t admit it, there was definitely something wrong with the tiny pony that she didn’t want to talk about.  Not wanting to think about what her project might have done to hurt the littlle unicorn, Twilight went back to eating.

With a frustrated grunt, Sunset picked up the slices from the table in one hoof and hopped ungracefully off the table.  “I’ll be up in your room.  Wouldn’t want your brother spotting me when he gets home,” she said and awkwardly walked out the door on three legs.

Hearing the hoof-steps disappear upstairs, Twilight turned back to her unfinished breakfast, suddenly not hungry for even the small amount of food.  She didn’t have long to wallow in her worry though as the sounds of a car pulling in the driveway stirred her from her thoughts.  A few minutes later, Shining Armor entered from the back door.  

Taking in the scene he asked, “Twily, why is Spike eating at the table?”
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luckily Shining Armor had just gotten off a long shift and was not in the mood to put too much thought into the scene he had stumbled upon.  Twilight tried to explain to him how it was research for one of her projects, and Shining just shrugged and accepted it.  He knew his sister was a genius, and it was easier just nodding along than actually trying to comprehend the science behind her research most of the time.  

A half-hour later, Shining Armor was heading down the road toward CHS with Twilight in the passenger seat next to him.  He’d readily agreed to drop her off, though he did give her a questioning look at the backpack and duffle bag that she had carefully placed in his back seat.  They didn’t get as much time to hang out as they used to since he’d started with the Canterlot PD and got assigned to the night shift.  He figured the ride would give them a chance to catch up.

“So, Twily,” he started giving her a knowing smile, “how’s school going?  Aside from heading up the Friendship Games team that is.  Anything interesting happen?  Something you might want to tell me about.”

“W-What?!” Twilight yelped.  “I, um, I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Shiny.” 

“Twily, I’m a cop.  You don’t think you can keep the truth from me, do you?”  He leveled his bright blue eyes at her in a serious stare.

“Wait, you know?” Twilight questioned; her mouth agape, “and you’re laughing about it?”  Shining Armor was her BBBFF and knew that he’d always try to look out for her and protect her, but she was pretty sure that breaking reality with powerful unidentified energy would prompt more than a light chuckle from her brother.

“Well, normally yes, but I’m not on duty at the moment so I’ll let it slide.  Just don’t make a habit of it.”

“Huh?” the teen asked, as it was all she could manage at the lackadaisical attitude her brother had to finding out she’d broken reality and practically kidnapped a magical talking unicorn from her plane of existence.

“Come on, I was the captain of my Friendship Games team, too.  You think I don’t remember what fun it was to get an early rise out of those Wonderdolts?”  Twilight just stared at her big brother as her brain tried to work through what he was saying.  “I’m so proud of you, Twily.  Captain just like your big bro.  I know you’ll do great.”  

“Uh…thanks,” Twilight mumbled, uncomfortable with the praise.

“I’m not going to ask what’s in the bags, plausible deniability and all,” Shining said with a smirk.  “I know whatever you have planned for that stupid statue will show CHS not to mess with Crystal Prep.  Just be careful okay?  Cadance texted me about yesterday and I don’t want to have to go back into the station to bail you out.”  Shining gave his sister a friendly ruffle of her hair and laughed.  Twilight only managed a weak chuckle in response as she tried to brush frazzled strands back into place. 


***


When they reached Canterlot High, Shining Armor dropped Twilight off across the street near the trees she’d hidden in the previous day.  She got out of the car and carefully grabbed her bags from the backseat.  

“Good luck, Twily,” Shining called out the window.  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”  With a wave and a playful wink, he pulled away, headed back home to get some much-needed sleep.

Twilight bent down and unzipped the tops of both bags producing a fluffy head from each.  Spike, used to this mode of travel, popped out with a happy look on his face as his tongue lolled out of his mouth.  Sunset, on the other hand, practically flopped out, her forelegs dangling over the edge as she gulped in air.  

“Sunset, are you okay?” the scientist asked worriedly.

“Uh, y-yeah, fine,” she panted.  “Just never flying coach again.”

“Aww, it’s not so bad,” said Spike.  “How else are we supposed to go to all the fun places like school, the library, and the electronics store?”

Sunset cast a knowing stare at the spectacled scientist's idea of fun, which caused the teen to blush a bit and mumble something about just liking the company, before turning back to the purple dog.  

“Normally I prefer entering through the front door on my own feet.”  

"Feet?" The scientist puzzled, but the unicorn continued on without giving the girl the chance to question the hooved creature's turn of phrase.

“Now, if you can just get me over to the statue, I can get back to enjoy my unimpeded mobility as I try to figure out what happened to my friends.”

Carefully, Twilight hefted both bags, and after checking that there were no cars coming, the teen crossed the street and made her way back in front of the mirrored surface of the plinth where she had stood yesterday when all this craziness started.

After having Twilight double-check that no one was around, the tiny amber unicorn hopped out of the duffle bag.  Taking a couple of steps towards the statue, Sunset turned her head to the scientist.  

“Don’t forget, you have to make sure you delete all your files on this.  I don’t want anything or anypony being torn though a dimensional rift again.”  Twilight looked pained at the comment but didn’t say anything only nodding in response.  Sunset didn’t seem to notice as she continued, muttering more to herself, “Hopefully this incident is enough to finally convince Tw…”  

Remembering where she was and more importantly who she was with, Sunset stopped short, eying the teen.  “Never mind.  The point is I think this is enough for me to convince the princesses that the portal is just too dangerous, and we should work on closing it permanently, so really your research will be moot.  Hopefully, with the portal closed, that’ll mean no more magical mishaps for this world.”

“I don’t know.  I think this was actually pretty great.  Only really had one drawback and that’s about to be resolved,” Spike said shooting the unicorn a glare.

“Sorry, dog, no more magic means you’re back to eating on the floor, and hopefully back to, what I can only assume, is a normally pleasant puppy,” Sunset retorted earning a growl from Spike.

“Whatever,” the pony said, breaking the tension, “Guess this is goodbye.  Good luck, Twilight.”  

The tiny unicorn walked up to the statue base, placed an amber hoof on the stone surface, and nothing happened.  The stone did not give way and allow her to pass through into the rainbow vortex of the portal.  There wasn’t even the faint rippling aura or the tingling sensation that Sunset should be able to detect indicating the portal’s location.  There was nothing to indicate there was anything more to this plinth than the stone it was made from.  

Rearing up on her hind legs, Sunset began to frantically pound on the surface that should be a doorway to her homeworld that was now stubbornly remaining shut to her.  

“Where’s the portal?  Where is the portal?!” the tiny pony cried in mounting panic, before whirling on the scientist with a harsh gaze and demanding, “What did you do?”

“W-what?” the nervous girl stuttered.  “I d-don’t know.  I thought…”

“Of course, you don’t know,” the unicorn growled, turning back to face the portal.  “As if it wasn’t bad enough being forced to try and fix the stupid portal in a world that actually has reference material on building and maintaining magical items,” the unicorn said bitterly, “now I get to do it in a world with no understanding of it!  This is just great because doing magical research has gone so well for me on this side of the portal.”

Lighting her horn in the familiar crimson glow, Sunset attempted to scan the thaumic output of the portal to see how out of sync it was with the Equestria.  When the results came back, the little unicorn’s already large eyes grew.  “No, no, no, no, no,” she voiced in panic.  “This-this isn’t possible.”  Firing up her horn, Sunset ran the scan again only to be met with the same results.    “No, it can’t be this low.  With thaumic levels this low there won’t be enough mana to power the…Buck it.  If it’s power we need…”  In an act of fear and frustration, the unicorn charged up her horn once more and fired a scarlet beam at the statue’s base in the magical equivalent of hitting it to make it work.  

The beam flickered a bit as Twilight watched the pony, seeing her grunt and then desperately poured magical energy into the plinth to no avail.  The lack of reaction, however, didn’t deter Sunset as she only gritted her teeth and pushed more magic into her blast.  Twilight could see the unicorn’s horn flare with the additional power, but she also noticed the pony start to sag and start to sway on her hooves.

 “Sunset, you need to stop,” she ventured, “I don’t think this…”

“No, you didn’t think, Twilight,” Sunset shouted, her concentration broken and the power winked out on her horn.  Sunset’s voice sounded ragged and she looked worn out, unable to fully focus on the person in front of her, “and look where that got me!  I’m stuck here, like this!  Do you know what they’d do to me if they knew I was here?  It was bad enough when I wasn’t a foot tall but now just look at me!  And as if that wasn’t bad enough, now I find out the magic that was in this world is practically gone, which means I can’t even rely on my magic; the one thing that might protect me in this Celestia-forsaken dimension.  But, hey, it’s fine, I’m at the mercy of whatever number of people who are probably still out to get me with no reliable way to defend myself, but don’t worry about it since Twilight Sparkle has some grand plan to fix it already outlined and bullet-pointed complete with a dance number, group hugs, and magic rainbows.” 

“Hey, knock it off,” barked Spike.

“Sunset, I…” Twilight started, tears starting to form behind her dark frames.

“Things break, Princess, and no matter what your intentions were, once they break, there’s no fixing them.  Only the pieces are left behind and someone to pay the price,” Sunset’s fury seemed to die with that thought, but her anger remained.  Looking away from the tearful scientist she added bitterly, “and I’m tired of it always being me.”  

Sunset walked over to the duffle bag she had occupied on the way over and hopped back in.  “You said you have readings on the ‘energy’ that you were researching right?” she asked grumpily.

“Y-yeah,” the teen responded once she realized the nod she was giving wouldn’t be seen by the unicorn who was refusing to make eye contact at this point.

“Good.  I need to see those as soon as possible to see if I have any hope of getting myself out of this bucking world.”  With that said, the angry amber pony curled herself into a cat-like ball within the bag and closed her eyes, clearly indicating the discussion was over.


***


Twilight’s memorization of the Canterlot’s bus schedule came in handy and after a long silent ride back to Twilight’s house, the bespectacled girl opted to bypass the front door and head straight for the detached garage behind the house.  Unlocking the door and climbing the stairs, Twilight flipped the lights on in the room that was built above the structure.  

Originally it had been planned as a workspace for Twilight’s mother as a quiet place for her to work on writing her novels.  However, after a few of Twilight’s experiments got a little more explosive than she had planned, it was decided that the space would go to the teen as a sort of lab to try to mitigate the property damage to the main house.  The space was similar to the one Twilight had created for herself at Crystal Prep, though this one seemed less confined and had a few more personal touches including a few star charts and a Daring Do poster.

Setting down the bags, their occupants popped out of their bags, happy for the release from their confines.  Twilight could see that Sunset was, understandably still upset, but wanted to try and start making up for her mistakes so tried to approach the surly unicorn.

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” she finally managed to get out though it was barely more than a whisper.  “I just wanted to learn about the strange energy coming from Canterlot High.  I didn’t know it was magic or how it works.  That day at the portal was supposed to be my first field test, but the energy spiked and my device just started absorbing it.  I don’t know why that happened.”  

At first, the fiery pony didn’t respond, and just fixed her eyes on the teen in an intense glare.  The intensity in those cyan orbs caused Twilight to shrink in on herself just as she did when confronted by all the other students of Crystal Prep.  

“Is there anything you do know?” Sunset seethed, her anger finally boiling over.  “You’re supposed to be so smart, but did you ever think that you shouldn’t be messing around with things you don’t understand?”

“But I want to understand,” Twilight responded, on the brink of tears.

“But you don’t.  And worst of all, you put the lives of my friends, the only ones I have left, in danger.”  “Whatever Spike and the princess were dealing with had serious magic and now there’s no one left in the castle to check on them or even knows that there was a problem.”  Sunset thought, remembering the increase in Harmonic magic.  Sunset could only hope that the two would be alright until she could get back to help them.  

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to,” Twilight struggled out as fighting the tears that threatened to pour down her face.  Turning away from the unicorn, Twilight went over to the computer desk and pulled up all the readings she had involving the mysterious energy she had been tracking the last few months.   Grabbing a binder, she turned nervously and opened it and placed it on the desk for the aggravated pony who hopped up on the chair and began to look them over.  “H-here’s everything I have on the energy readings,” she said, unable to look Sunset in the eyes.  “I…It’s almost lunchtime, I’ll go get us something to eat.”  The teen then hurried back out of the room leaving the two quadrupeds alone.

Spike watched Twilight disappear back down the stairs, surprised and rather impressed that Twilight had managed to hold out as long as she had.  He knew how bad she was when it came to confrontations.  He almost wanted to follow after again to give her another pep talk but didn’t want to miss this opportunity to finally confront the interloper.

Spike marched over to the desk and growled, “What exactly is your problem, huh?”

“Excuse me?” the unicorn said turning toward him with a raised eyebrow.

“You.  What’s your problem?  Practically since you’ve gotten here, you’ve been nothing but a big jerk.”

Slamming the portfolio closed, Sunset hopped down from the chair and stalked over to the purple puppy, who was now standing at the same height as her.  To his credit, the pup stood his ground and stared the perturbed pony in the eye.

“What’s my problem?  My problem is I got pulled, unwillingly through a dimensional rift to a world I don’t belong in.  I’m stuck as a unicorn, which is just begging for some conspiracy nut or government goon to grab me and drag me away for who knows what.  Oh and, I have to fix a magical portal that the greatest minds of my world couldn’t fix in a world when we had magic at our disposal from the other side, a world, where according to this,” Sunset levitated the binder and let it drop with a slam next to the puppy, “magic is disappearing.  At this rate, there might not be enough on this side for the portal to connect to, and the only pony who might know I’m gone or how to fix the portal is probably in danger at this very moment and there’s nothing I can do to save her until the portal hopefully opens naturally in oh 2 years!” Sunset shouted trying to glare the pup into submission.

“You’re this angry because you have to wait?”

“Twenty-seven moons, that’s how long it’ll be for the portal.  Two years over here, and way more on the other side of the portal.  Years when my friends might be in danger, and I’m stuck here!”

The little dog wouldn’t be cowed, though.  “And how is yelling at Twilight supposed to fix those problems?!” he shouted.  Not willing to back down, the purple dog squared himself and eyed the pony, “Fine, so you have problems.  So does everyone, and Twilight has enough without you making them worse.  You’ve already ruined her project to get into Everton.  Something that she’s been desperate to get into and spent months of work researching, and now she can’t use any of it.  Something she’s willing to do to protect you despite how you’ve been treating her and what it meant to her.  She’s made a mistake and she’s trying to make up for it and help you.  It was an accident and she wants to make it right, but all you keep doing is reminding her how badly she screwed up.

“You want to get back to your world to help the ones you care about, fine, I can respect that, but stop hurting the ones I care about.”   The dog turned in a headed for the door saying before he left, “I’ll be out back making sure the bunnies aren’t trying to get in again.  We already have enough trouble with unwanted pests around here.”

The response caused the amber pony to freeze, remembering the teen scientist’s counterpart and imagining what she would have to say about Sunset’s treatment of her counterpart.   Considering the second chance the pony princess had extended to Sunset after the first time when Sunset had stolen her crown and then proceeded to bully and torment her when she followed Sunset to CHS.  

After being blasted by friendship magic in the form of a giant rainbow laser and supposedly learning about the Elements of Harmony enough to actually contribute to them in the battle against the sirens, here she was bullying another Twilight Sparkle.  Clearly she had learned nothing.  Not even a day back in the human world and here she was back to her old ways.  She was angry and scared and she was going to take out those frustrations on whoever was available.  Sure Twilight had a hand in creating Sunset’s current predicament, but there was no way she could have known what would happen.  She didn’t even know what the energy was let alone that it could pull her through a broken interdimensional portal that Sunset just happened to be on the other side of.

Sunset blinked and as she did the anger went out of her eyes fell at the realization.  Raising a foreleg, she administered a solid face-hoof and dropped her head in shame.  This is why it was better for everyone if she was just done with these futile attempts with friendship.  Obviously it just wasn’t something meant for her.  She was better off alone where she couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.


***


Twilight had no idea what to make for lunch.  Her little interaction with the pony this morning at breakfast had not provided enough data to determine what she could and could not eat.  Compounding that was Twilight’s limited knowledge of cooking and her ability, as her family put it, “to burn water.”  As such, she had settled on the classics, simple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all around, as well as a variety of fruits and veggies.  

She had taken her time carefully making the sandwiches and slicing the fruit, partially due to her perfectionist nature, but more so due to her desire to postpone returning to her lab and having to face the upset unicorn again.  It wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to this treatment.  She was subjected to similar abuse at Crystal Prep nearly every day.  Now though, from the pony, was different.  Twilight felt she deserved the unicorn’s ire.  Unlike what the other Shadowbolts did to her out of petty jealousy, Sunset had a legitimate reason to blow up at Twilight, and that only made the scientist feel worse.  

Once she had procrastinated as much as she could reasonably justify, Twilight gathered up her offerings and headed back outside with all the enthusiasm of a convict heading for the gallows.  Pushing open the door, Twilight was surprised to find Sunset staring, not at the readouts she had requested, but instead at her ‘conspiracy board’ surrounding the mystery of Canterlot High.  

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” the pony said in a quiet, sullen tone, before letting out a depressed sigh.  When Sunset turned around, the teen could see that the mare’s eyes were red and a bit puffy, like she’d been crying.  “I think we need to talk.  You deserve an explanation.”
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m sorry,” came a listless voice.  Looking up, the pony turned to face the teen meeting her eyes with melancholic teal ones.  Rubbing a foreleg with the opposite hoof, the unicorn looked away.  "I was scared and angry and I took it out on you, and that’s not fair.”

Twilight took the chance to enter the door followed by a rather protective puppy who shot the unicorn an even glare clearly not wanting to leave Twilight alone with Sunset.   The teen approached the bed and knelt down to be on eye-level with the unicorn.  “No, you had every right to be angry.  It was my stupid experiment that got you stuck in this world, and I know things have gotten weird and scary and it’s- it's all my fault.”

“No, it’s my fault.  Everything involving magic in this stupid world is my fault,” the unicorn grumbled.  “Look, if you’re going to help me, I owe you an apology and an explanation."  

“Oh, um, o-okay,” Twilight said, putting down the food tray she was carrying on the desk and avoided looking the little pony in the eyes, a fact that for the first time was spotted by the unicorn.  

Sunset had been so wrapped up in her anger and fear that she had merely seen the teen as just another Twilight.  Now though, for the first time, Sunset really saw the teen scientist, and it made Sunset wince.  Sunset had been a bully long enough to know when someone was scared and right now, Twilight was and Sunset was the cause of her fear.

“I really am sorry.  The fact is I’ve never really been a good person…”

“Pony,” the teen cut in with the automatic correction.  A moment later a look or realization at what she had just done appeared followed by instant regret in doing so.  The scientist’s habit of correcting had helped to cement her status as a nerdy outcast and she began to worry how the already upset pony would react.

Sunset, however, didn’t seem to mind the correction and just plowed on, huffing, “Yeah, that too.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight asked, confused both at the statement and the derailing of her panic train before it could leave the station.

Sunset looked up into the violet eyes of the scientist and sighed, “I’m getting to that, but, well, it’s going to seem a bit crazy, so I’m just going to need you to trust me.”

The young scientist merely nodded dumbly at this, her brain warring between the fear she’d had earlier of the unicorn and the prospect of learning something new.  The concept of ‘crazy’ seemed to have lost its meaning for her recently and to gain firsthand knowledge from a new, sapient species was enough to overcome any lingering trepidation.

“Right, okay,” Sunset began trying to figure out where to begin, “I’m guessing you can gather a lot of this but, I’m from another dimension, and in that dimension, the planet is populated by a multitude of creatures that are considered mythological in this one.”

“Wait so it’s not just a world of unicorns?”  The scientist’s eyes grew wide behind her thick frames at the prospect of even more discovery then shook her head in disbelief, “And I can’t believe I asked that without an ounce of sarcasm.”

Sunset chuckled and continued.  “No, the world I’m from has griffins, manticores, sea serpents, bugbears, and even dragons.”  At that, the pony found herself unable to keep her gaze from the puppy version of her scaly friend.  “The country I’m from, Equestria-” Twilight snorted at that though she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth to which Sunset merely rolled her eyes and she continued, “is predominantly populated with, yeah you guessed it, ponies.  More specifically there are three main types or tribes of ponies; earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns like myself, each with their own special type of magic.  

“Magic,” Twilight questioned, “Like the kind my device has been tracking?”

“Hmm,” Sunset thought, tapping a hoof to her chin before continuing, “Yes and no.  Magic in Equestria comes in many different forms-”  

“Wait, wait, wait,” Twilight shouted, as she rushed about the room quickly collecting a notebook and pen and repositioning herself in front of the tiny unicorn, fixing her with an intense gaze.

“Are you seriously going to take notes?” the amber unicorn asked, quirking an eyebrow.  

“Please, it’s Twilight,” cut in Spike, making himself comfortable on the dog bed that he frequented while the teen did her work, “if you’re going to lecture, she’s going to take notes.” That earned a frown from the girl in question and prompted the puppy’s first nervous chuckle.

“Right, like I was saying, earth ponies, as the name implies have a special relationship with the earth and what’s grown there.  As such, a number of earth ponies have careers such as farmers, miners, or chefs.  Pegasi are winged ponies and their magic not only aids them in flight but also allows them to walk on clouds and control the weather.”  

“Control the weather?” repeated the teen scientist in a questioning tone.  

“Yes, a lot of things that just occur naturally in this world are magically managed in the other.  Things like weather creation and delivery, the changing of the seasons, and the raising and setting of the sun and moon.”

“You actually raise and lower the sun and moon?” Twilight gaped.

The pony shrugged, “Different universe; different rules.  Imagine how I feel knowing no one in this world controlling them.  That notion alone was enough to make me want to duck and cover until I could get back to where the world made sense.”  Twilight considered that and just nodded, as she finished her note on the subject.  

“Unicorns, like me, have horns and can actively cast spells drawing on our mana pools.  These spells can range in their applications and very from unicorn to unicorn though they are typically limited and correlate to our special talent.

“Special talent?"

“All ponies are born with magic specific to them, call it a soul or one’s destiny, it is magic that’s core to a pony’s being.  When we discover our special talent, what makes us us, we earn our cutie marks which appear on our flanks.”  Sunset indicated the two-toned sun she sported.  “For example, a unicorn with a musical cutie mark would likely have spells to help with the playing and enhancement of music, for example, on top of the basic levitation and light spells.”

The genius girl, nodded as she scribbled down the information.  “So then what does your cutie mark mean?  What kind of spells correlate to the sun?”  The little pony looked away and frowned, the lack of an immediate answer caused Twilight to look up from her notes.  “Unless that’s a topic that’s taboo,” she sputtered out hoping to backpedal out of the awkward silence.  “I’m so sorry if I violated some sort of pony social more and offended you, I-”

“No, it’s fine,” Sunset sighed, “most ponies would love to regale you with the story of how they got their cutie marks and what they mean.  I just… Can we just say I have a general affinity for magic and am versed in a variety of spells and leave it at that?”  Seeing the sad look on the unicorn’s face, the teen simply nodded and decided it was better to let her curiosity remain unsated. 

Desperate to steer the conversation away from something that was clearly a sore subject for Sunset, Twilight scanned back over her notes.  “That’s quite a diverse population,” the teen stated, grasping on the first topic that came to mind.  “Do they all cohabitate or do they have their own territories?”

 It seemed to bring the unicorn out of her funk a bit as she replied, “For the most part, each group tends to have their own homelands, though interactions between them are steadily increasing, what with Tw…err, my friend’s success in expanding diplomatic relations.  Actually, she’s been going on and on about some idea she’s had that could help with that.”  

“Your friend?” the teen scientist asked, “The, um, one you said might be in trouble?”

“Uh, yeah,” Sunset said with a worried frown.

“Sorry,” the teen responded sadly, “I didn’t mean to upset you again.  If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m not really good at talking to other people…or ponies now, I guess.”

“Well, you were always pretty good at talking to dogs,” Spike piped in from his place on his bed.  Tapping a paw to his muzzle he adopted a thoughtful look before continuing, “Though I suppose our conversations now might be a bit different as I’ll have more to contribute.”

Sunset smiled.  “No, it’s alright.  I know I probably shouldn’t worry so much.  I mean, she’s been through all sorts of crazy adventures and fought a lot of would-be villains, but things always seem to work out fine for her in the end.  Guess that’s why she’s a princess.”

“You know a princess!” Twilight gasped.

“A few, actually,” said Sunset rubbing her forehoof embarrassedly on her neck.  “When I was growing up I was taken in by the pony who ruled Equestria as her personal student.  She took me in and promised to teach me all the wonders that magic had to offer.”

“That sounds wonderful,” breathed Twilight.

“It was…at first.”

“What happened?”

“Me,” Sunset responded simply looking away.  Taking a breath she continued, “I told you I’m not a good pony, never was.  During one of our lessons, she showed me a magic mirror and when I looked into it, I saw myself as an alicorn.”

“A what?” asked Spike.

Seeing the confusion mirrored on the teen, Sunset replied, “Oh right, we didn’t get that far.  So there are three main groups or tribes of ponies but there is a rare fourth group, the alicorns, that possess the attributes of all three tribes; strength of an earth pony, wings of a pegasus, and horn and magic of a unicorn.  They are seen as living symbols of Equestrian unity and serve as the rulers of Equestria.”

“So the ruling family is a family of…alicorns?” Twilight questioned, pausing a bit with the unfamiliar word.

Sunset frowned.  “Yes and no.  For the longest time, Princess Celestia was the only alicorn as she had banished her sister to the moon centuries ago.”  Seeing the dumbfounded look on the teen scientist, she continued.  “She and her sister are immortal.  So with her sister gone, Princess Celestia was left to rule over Equestria alone.  Then one day a new alicorn appeared and we learned it was possible to ascend, to become an alicorn princess.”  

Sunset looked away, rubbing her left foreleg with her right sheepishly.  “I didn’t have the greatest childhood.  I was used as a pawn and manipulated by those I thought of as family.”  Looking up at Twilight, she fixed her with a serious gaze, “I don’t want to use that as an excuse for what I did, but it did leave me with a lot of trust issues and a lack of any real interpersonal skills.  

“I know how that feels,” Twilight sighed, then quickly snapped at what she had implied, “Er, not about the manipulation, well at least not by my family, they’re great…” Calming herself slightly, the teen continued, “Um…I only meant that I understand not being able to relate to one’s peers.  Actually, if it wasn’t for my family, I don’t think I’d have any real social interaction with anyone.”

The two shared a small, sad smile, comforted a bit in finding someone who understood, at least slightly, what it was like to feel alone.

Twilight, not use to the feeling of connection, was the first to break the silence.  Skimming back over her notes.  “Hmm…right.  As fascinating as learning about your world, and believe me I would love nothing more to gather whatever information and data you can provide…I’m not sure why you needed to tell me all that.

“Yeah,” Sunset began nervously, “I’m coming to that part.  So the truth is that this isn’t my first time in this world. A little over three years ago, your time, I discovered the portal that connects our two worlds.”

“So you’re like another worldly explorer, seeking out new life and new civilizations?” Twilight asked in wonder, earning a snort from the unicorn mare.

“Hardly," the unicorn chuckled, "more like an egomaniacal teenager who was too smart for her own good.”  That earned a puzzled look from both the teen and the dog prompting Sunset to elaborate.  “Okay, so you know how terminus of the interdimensional portal is the base of the Wondercolt statue?”  Twilight nodded while Spike offered a growl at the mention of the rival school.  “Well, the other side isn’t a plinth; it’s a mirror, a magic mirror.”  

Seeing a look of realization appear on the girl’s face, Sunset nodded, yeah, “ The one my mentor showed it to me that day as part of a lesson.  She told me to look into it and asked what I saw.”  Sunset sighed at the memory and her gaze fell to the floor.  “To this day I’m not sure why, but it showed me an image of myself as an alicorn princess.  Obviously, I was thrilled at the prospect, who wouldn’t be?  Was this a vision of the future, a sign that my destiny was to ascend and gain the power needed to protect myself and my little ponies, to rule beside my mentor?”

“When I told my teacher, though, she only seemed disappointed by what I had seen.  She told me to drop the subject and refused to speak any more about the mirror or what I saw, but I couldn’t let it go.  I became obsessed with the mirror and what it had shown me, to the point I started delving into the restricted tomes.  I found out that the mirror was a portal to another world, but in my research, I also learned that my teacher had been keeping things from me.  I learned it was possible for a pony to achieve ascension and become a princess and my mentor knew how to do it.  I confronted her and demanded that she make me a princess.  She refused, understandably.  She said that if I couldn’t get past this, that my studies with her would be over.  I… did not take that well.  I said some things that I regret and made a break for the portal.  

“From my research, I knew the portal was open but would be closing soon, which is why I had decided to confront my mentor in the first place.  If she wouldn’t turn me into a princess I figured I could do it myself and that the mirror was the key to doing it.  So after grabbing my bag, I teleported to the mirror and jumped through.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that not only wasn’t I an alicorn in this world, I wasn’t even a pony.  More than that, I had ended up in a world completely devoid of magic.  I had timed it so that I crossed on the last day so the portal closed behind me.  Brilliant strategy when you don’t want to be followed.  Not so great as it cuts off your escape route, not that I thought I could go back.  So I was stuck here.”

“And no one noticed the talking pony that time either?” quipped Spike.

Sunset rolled her eyes.  “Normally, the portal is equipped with spells that transform you to fit in with the local population, so no talking pony, just an angry teenager,” the unicorn laughed bitterly, “perfect camouflage for a high school.”

“That’s probably the magic I picked up on originally when I started siphoning from the Wondercolt statue,” Twilight said hanging her head, “I guess that’s another thing I owe you an apology for.”  After a sigh, a thought crossed her mind that she gave voice to, “But even with looking human, you had no family, no home, and no knowledge of human customs.  How did you find food and shelter, let alone enroll in high school?”  

Sunset shrugged.  “I had had some experience being on my own prior to being taken in by the princess so really that wasn’t a concern.  As for learning about humanity, I made good use of the local library.  Honestly, though, human customs aren’t all that different from pony customs, you just lack our clever wordplay.”

“Huh?” the scientist questioned, raising an eyebrow as she looked up from her notes.

“Never mind,” Sunset countered, waving a hoof, “so, I had some funds in my bag and apparently, solid gold coins and multi-carat gems fetch quite a sum in this world.  Long story short, I showed up in March and spent the next five months learning what I could about this world and setting myself up with a place to live as well as fake identity papers so I could get registered at CHS.”

“CHS?  Um, I mean, no offense, but out of all the things to do in a new world why was it so important that you register for high school?

“Mostly to keep an eye on the portal, I guess,” Sunset replied with a shrug.  “Maybe part of me hoped my teacher would be able to see what I was doing.”

“And what were you doing?” Twilight asked uneasily, feeling they were coming to the part of Sunset’s story that had left the pony so upset when she began her tale.

“I wanted to be a princess, and if I couldn’t be one in Equestria, I was going to make myself one here.  I set out to rule the school and woe to anyone who dared stand in my way.  Manipulation, blackmail, physical violence if necessary.  The halls of Canterlot High were my kingdom to rule as I saw fit.”  

“You were a bully?” Twilight asked timidly.

“That’s putting it mildly,” sighed the unicorn, laying down and letting her head rest atop her forelegs.  “Let’s put it this way, I was voted ‘Biggest Meanie’ in the school yearbook my freshman year and it wasn’t even a category, but it’s hard to deny when the whole school writes you in.”

“Ouch,” commented Spike with a wince.

“Yeah, but I can’t say it wasn’t warranted, and I just got worse from there until the time came for the portal to open again.  With my sense of superiority, I returned to Equestria to take what I felt I was owed.  I returned through the portal and found that not only had I been replaced as Princess Celestia’s student, but my replacement had gone on to become a princess herself and her crown was the Element of Magic itself.  Needless to say I felt cheated.  Seeing my replacement getting everything I had always strived for.  Well if Celestia wasn't going to give me power, I was going to take it for myself. Thinking I could utilize the power of the Element myself, I stole it and returned to this world.  Unfortunately, I was spotted and the princess followed after me.

“In the scramble for the portal, I lost hold of the crown, but after a few days of trying to get rid of the princess, I finally managed to get my hands on the Element again.  When I placed it on my head though, it was too much.  The power wasn’t meant for me and it wasn’t meant for what I intended.  The magic took hold of me, warping my mind and body and turned me into a she-demon.”

Twilight raised a skeptical eyebrow at that. “She-demon?”

“Really?” asked Spike quirking his head at her, “That’s where you’re going to start questioning the believability of the story the magical unicorn is telling you?”  Settling back in his doggie basket he concluded, “Take it from the talking dog, Twilight, magic is weird.  Just go with it.”

The scientist let out a ‘humph’ at that but relented.  “Fine, a she-demon.  I suppose that sort of transformation might explain the readings I had around the beginning of school.”

“Those aren’t from me transforming into a monster,” Sunset corrected, “They’re from my friend changing me back.  When I was in that form I tried to…”  Sunset paused, remembering the darkest moment of her life and hating to have to relive it.

“Y-you don’t have to say if you don’t want to,” said Twilight tentatively hidden by her notebook.

“No, no, I can do this.  It’s my past, but my past is not today.”  Taking a breath, Sunset continued but wasn’t comfortable enough to look at Twilight while she did.  “When I became that she-demon, I tried to kill the princess.”  The statement earned gasps from her audience.  “It was never part of my plan, but at the time and under the influence of the corrupted Element, I launched a massive ball of energy at her…”

“Oh, my,” Twilight breathed in wide-eyed horror.

“Don’t worry.  Like I said she’s a princess and always seems to win in the end, even against me.  You see while I was trying to get rid of her, the princess was busy making friends and reunited the bearers of the Elements of Harmony for this world.  They dove in front to protect her from my attack and triggered the Harmony Magic inside each of them.  Together they channeled a massive beam of it and quite literally blasted some sense into me, returning me to normal, but with a new perspective.  The portal was due to close soon after that so she returned to Equestria and left me in the care of her friends.”

“Wait, she left you behind?” asked the girl incredulously.  “Why didn’t she take you home with her?”

“I asked her not to,” replied Sunset.  “Most of the bad things I had done had been in this world, and if I left I wouldn’t be able to make up for it.”  Sunset toyed with the carpet absently with her hoof before continuing.  “That and I figured I’d work my way up to asking for forgiveness from the one pony in Equestria I had to apologize to the most, Princess Celestia.  I figured if I could redeem myself here, I could return to Equestria again when the portal opened, at least able to show her I really had changed.”

“That had to have been rough though, considering how much of a jerk you’d been,” commented Spike.

“Spike!” Twilight chastised.

“It’s okay,” said Sunset.  “You’re right, it wasn’t easy.  I went from the biggest bully to school doormat overnight, but it really wasn’t so bad.  The princess’s friends were true to their words and helped keep an eye on me so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  I worked hard to make up for what I had done to them and they included me as one of their group.  The school, however, was less receptive of my new attitude that is until there was another magical incident at CHS.”

“But with the portal closed how could another magical being have gotten to this world?”

“Apparently, they were already here.”

“They?” asked Spike, “As in more than one?”

The pony nodded.  “Three actually, the sirens.  Their voices could stir up negative emotions in others that they would feed on.  They were banished here centuries ago by one of our most powerful mages.”

“He sent those monsters here?!” gasped the girl.

“I’m pretty sure he didn’t actually know where he was sending them, but yes, they ended up here, in human form, though they retained some of their siren magic.”

“So what happened,” questioned the pup, seemingly more interested in the story.

“Well, like Twilight, they detected the magic used at the Fall Formal. They were drawn to Canterlot High in the hopes they could obtain it for themselves and, I guess, take over this world if not the other.”

“Since that didn’t happen, I’m guessing you stopped them,” said Twilight.

Sunset smiled a bit at that, recalling the night she felt she had redeemed herself. “Yeah, when they showed up, I found a way to contact the princess for help and she managed to find a way to bypass the time locks on the portal.  She teamed up with the other Element Bearers again in a band called the Rainbooms to enter the school’s Battle of the Bands, so they could perform a musical counterspell in front of everyone to defeat the sirens.  Things weren’t going well and the Rainbooms were knocked down on the edge of defeat until I picked up the mic and stepped up.  Together we formed a more powerful blast of Harmony magic and shattered the sirens’ magic pendants, and broke the control they had over the school.”

  “So you helped save our world by defeating an ancient race of monsters from your world that your greatest sorcerer could only banish,” Twilight summarized, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, “Sounds like pretty good proof of your redemption.  So did you return with your friend back to your world?”

The little unicorn shook her head. “No, I wasn’t ready for that yet.  I might have helped save the world but there were still a lot of people I had to apologize to, though I thought they might actually give me the chance to do that after what happened at the Battle of the Bands.”

“So, I’m guessing that didn’t happen,” inferred Spike.

“It did, for a while,” sighed Sunset.

“So what happened?” Twilight asked warily.

“Anon-A-Miss,” the pony practically spat.

“Anonymous what?” questioned the bespectacled teen.

“No, Anon-A-Miss,” corrected Sunset, emphasizing each part of the name.  “Back around December, someone created a MyStable account and used it to share embarrassing secrets about the kids at CHS.”

“So did they post something about you?  Was it something good?” asked Spike eagerly.

“No.  They didn’t spread anything about me, which was part of the problem.”

“I don’t get it,” replied the teen, “shouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“You’d think, but the secrets were about all of my friends and even included pictures off my phone that I’d taken at one of our sleepovers, but nothing about me.  That, plus the fact that the profile was done in my colors with a silhouette of someone who looks like for the picture, everyone assumed I had to be the one behind it.”

“That’s some pretty circumstantial evidence to go on,” said Twilight.

“It’s not a court of law, Twilight, it’s the public opinion of a high school, and after everything I had done before the Fall Formal, everyone believed I was just going back to how I used to be.  They figured that everything I had been doing since had just been an act.”

“Everyone?” questioned Spike.  “What about your-“

“Everyone,” Sunset cut him off firmly.  “So with everyone mad at me, thinking I was spreading their secrets, I figured I’d get away for a while, and hope things blew over, or at the very least, recruit some reinforcements to help me talk to the girls, but when I was heading for the portal, I got jumped by some of the kids from CHS.  After a solid beating, I made a break for the portal and dove through, opting to smash the apparatus around the mirror, so they couldn’t follow me.”  The unicorn blushed a bit, “Not my best idea, but I was kind of panicking at the time.”

Twilight pondered that for a minute before asking, “But if your friend was able to create the technology necessary to open the portal outside of the normal timeframe originally, shouldn’t she have been able to recreate her work?”

“Yeah, she could have, if the link was still established.”

“Link?” the scientist repeated.

“She needed something magical that connected the two worlds so that she could trace the magic and reestablish the magical connection.”

“Which was?”

“My journal.  It was enchanted so I could send messages to a matched one in Equestria.  When we were dealing with the Sirens I wrote for help figuring I they could at least help me figure out what we were dealing with.  Turns out my friend was able to piggyback off that connection to reopen the portal whenever she wanted.”

“So you think something happened to one of the journals?” inquired the teen.

“Has to be,” affirmed the pony.  “They don’t just transfer the information written; they are magical copies so whatever happens to one, happens to the other.  I saw the damage appear on the copy in Equestria.  I can’t be sure but it looked like it had been burned.”

“Is knowledge of the journal and its connection with the portal common knowledge at CHS?” Twilight thought aloud.

The little pony shook her head, “Most of the school knows there were some strange incidents.  We’ve told them it was magic.  Some accepted that while others just chalked it up to an elaborate light show.  Outside of the girls and myself, only the principal and vice-principal knew about the portal and the journal.”  

“Could the ones who beat you have known it would keep you from returning or was destroying your things just an attempt at petty revenge after the fact?” the scientist continued to hypothesize. 

Sunset just hung her head and sighed, “It couldn’t have been the ones who jumped me.  I didn’t even have the journal at the time.  The girls did.”

“So your friends-” Spike started.

“Former friends,” Sunset snapped, then calmed herself before she continued, “And I don’t know.  What I do know is that they didn’t want to listen to me when the whole Anon-A-Miss thing started, and nothing that happened afterward makes me believe they’ve changed that stance.”

Twilight sat quietly for a minute, digesting all of the information she had been given.  Sunset had been a bad pony, a bad person, and been a bigger bully than Twilight’s own tormenters, going so far as to seek out magic that turned her into a demon and attempt to kill those who would stand in her way.  With that sort of confession, Twilight should be running for the door as fast as her legs would carry her, call the police and let them take Sunset away.  But as she listened to the pony’s story, the teen could see the sadness and regret the unicorn felt for her actions reflected in the pony’s overly large eyes.  Twilight could see the joy Sunset felt when talking about defeating the Sirens with her friends and proving herself.  Admitting her faults so freely, Sunset had little reason to lie about the Anon-A-Miss incident, something that by all accounts was a minor offense when compared with Sunset’s earlier transgressions.  

Twilight knew what it was like to be alone and afraid, and she wouldn’t stand by and make Sunset face this on her own.  It had been her experiments that had pulled the pony here.  Whether or not that might have saved Sunset from a worse fate, was irrelevant.  The fact was Twilight was a part of this and she would do all she could to help see Sunset returned safely to her world.

Sliding across the floor closer to the amber unicorn, the teen placed a careful hand on the pony’s withers.  “Well, I believe you,” Twilight said, earning a weak smile from the dejected mare.  “And I promise I’ll do whatever I can to help you get back home.”

Sunset’s smile faltered a bit at that, but she muttered a quiet, “Thanks.”  After a minute sitting in silence, Sunset regained her composure and stood.  “Alright, enough of that.  How about we start from the beginning.  Walk me through your data and we can see if together we can’t come up with a way to jump-start the portal.”  Walking towards the computer, Sunset stopped and faced back to the still seated Twilight, “And thank you for believing me.  It…it really means a lot to me.”

A wide smile spread across the face of the teen.  She wasn’t entirely sure what prompted such a strong response though.   On one hand, she thought it might be excitement over someone showing a general interest in her research.  Someone who actually understood what she was talking about.  But on the other hand, it might be that she had never had someone confide in her as Sunset had.  “Huh,” the teen mused, “is this what having a friend is like,” before she rose and joined Sunset at the computer.
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was getting late.  The last rays of sunlight were painting the garage lab in warm red and gold light.  Shining had popped up an hour ago to say good-bye and goodnight before he headed off to work.  Luckily pony and puppy hearing were better than a human’s so Sunset had enough warning to get out of sight.  

They had been pouring over Twilight’s research for hours now with barely anything to show for it outside of confirming what they had already suspected.  The magic in the world had indeed been fading since the spike back in December, one Sunset couldn’t provide a definite explanation for but reasoned it was related to the breaking of the dimensional portal.  They had charted the decrease in magical energy and knew its current level, but none of that provided a reason, nor did it provide any help in getting Sunset home.  

“Ugh,” Sunset groaned letting her head hit the desk she had been seated at and instantly regretting the action as she remembered her injured forehead.  Rubbing the area carefully with a hoof she continued dejectedly, “Every time I think it can’t get any worse, I find out it can.” 

“What's so bad your thumping had to wake me up?” asked Spike grumpily.

“Oh, nothing major,” Sunset huffed, “just the collapse of this world’s harmonic matrix and the dissipation of all thaumic energy in the world.  You know nothing that might be problematic to reestablishing a magical gateway back to my homeworld!”

Spike just stared at the irritated unicorn before shaking his head, “Look, if you want me to care, you might want to try using words I can understand.  It’s not like I’ve had a lot of time to build my vocabulary in the one day I’ve been able to talk.”

“Actually,” Twilight interjected hoping to cut off the snark battle between the quadrupeds, “I’m confused too.  What exactly is a harmonic matrix?”

With a final glare at Spike, Sunset let out a breath through her nose and turned toward the teen scientist, “A harmonic matrix is a buildup of thaumic resonance, the residual magic of the world that encompasses the planet.  Ponies, as well as several other sentient species, have inherent magic.  It is produced naturally and can be displayed in several different ways depending on the creature’s tribe, cutie mark, or other aptitudes.  With that much magical energy, it built up over time and formed a harmonic energy matrix.”  

Seeing a still questioning look on the girl’s face, Sunset tapped a hoof to her chin and tried again.  “Think of it like the Greenhouse effect, but instead of keeping in radiative heat, it keeps in magical energy, reflecting it back into the world and helping to replenish the magical stores of the inhabitants.”

“Fascinating,” Twilight breathed as she scribbled down more notes, “So the saturation of magical energy is beneficial and serves to restore your magical…er…batteries?”

“Mana pools, but yes, though I wouldn’t say ‘saturation.’  The harmonic matrix helps regulate a healthy level of thaumic energy.  Like most things in life, too much something can be bad, magic included.  Places that have been saturated are usually places you want to avoid like the Everfree Forest,” Sunset said.

“Your world has an Everfree Forest too?” asked Twilight, surprised at the coincidence.

“Yeah, and it’s not somewhere you want to see.”  Pausing a moment she then continued, “Actually, if I had to guess, I think you may already have.”

“What? When? How?”  The questions from the intrigued scientist came quickly.

“When the portals opened up the other day, I’m pretty sure that they led somewhere in the Everfree.”

Spike shuddered, recalling his trip through dimensions and his brief time in the ominous forest.  “If that’s what magic does, you can keep all that glowy stuff away from me.  That place gave me the creeps.”

“I think you’re safe, Spike.  Like I said, that’s what comes from extreme magical use and this world doesn’t have anything near the kind of power that was used there.”

“Then how did you create these other spikes I recorded?” asked Twilight.  “Even if you weren’t around for the one in December, you knew about the others; the one in September and the one in November,” asked the teen as she looked back over the notes she had taken.

“True, the amount of magic released at the Fall Formal and then again at the Battle of the Bands was that of possibly the most powerful form of Equestrian magic, which is probably why a harmonic matrix was able to form in an otherwise magically barren world in so short a time.”  

“Maybe you only think you made that matrix thingy,” said Spike.  “Maybe it didn’t stick.  Like when I bark at the mailman,  no matter how many times I think I’ve gotten rid of him, he just keeps coming back.”

Sunset stared at the little dog for a minute silently reminding herself that the Spike in front of her was not her dragon friend from Equestria, but rather a newly sapient puppy.  Twilight on the other hand was trying to stifle her giggle with the notebook she’d been using, and was unable to respond to the canine’s observation.

Shaking her head, the unicorn continued, “After the first incident, that's what we assumed, that magic left the world when the crown was returned to Equestria and the portal closed.  Then the girls who defeated me started to display magic when they played music indicating that there was a functioning harmonic matrix for this world even if it was merely rudimentary.  When the princess returned, for the second incident, she confirmed it and trust me, she’s the expert when it comes to magic.”

Looking up from her furious scribbling of notes, the teen pushed her thick frames back up her nose and asked, “Then what happened to it?”   

“I don’t know,” said Sunset.   “By all rights, the harmonic matrix that was created should be, at the very least, sustaining the level of magic that was present, if not increasing it, but that’s not what happened.  According to the readings and data you collected over the past months, instead of magic in this world growing as it was used and reflected back into the world by the matrix, thaumic levels have decreased to a shocking degree.”  

“Magic since December has gotten so weak that the harmonic matrix has collapsed as it has nothing to support it.  Without the ability to draw on the ambient magic produced by the harmonic matrix, the magic I use has to be drawn from my stores, my mana pool.  Something I didn’t realize when I was casting earlier at the school.  Initially, with the portals open, I could draw on the Equestrian magic that was leaking through.  I could feel the fluctuating thaumic energy but assumed it was due to the interference of your device.  I started to suspect something was wrong when I cast the reduction spell on myself and passed out.  I had hoped that I was wrong and it had just been a side effect of the head injury, but after levitating Spike’s bowl I knew.  Levitation is a minor cantrip, something every unicorn can do.  The fact that I could register the mana used for that type of spell means I have to ration my mana pool.”

“Ration it?  How much magic do you have left?  After the portals and the size-changing, you must be almost empty?”

“Whoa, easy there, Twilight,” Sunset said waving a placating hoof, “I’m not out of magic.  Typically unicorn who uses too much magic will pass out before they can actually harm themselves from overdrawing their mana like I did the other day.    Without a functioning matrix, I just have to wait for them to replenish naturally, which can take a while. So no more big spells.  I have to limit even minor cantrip use if I want to have anything stored up for an emergency or when we try to fix the portal again.”

A smile broke out on the puppy’s muzzle, “So does that mean you’re staying my size?”

With a sigh, the tiny unicorn said, “Yes, Spike.  As much as I’d prefer to be my normal size, it’s not worth the magic I’d need to undo the spell.  Not to mention, if I have to keep hiding from your family, it makes that a bit easier.”  

“Good,” Spike said, “means I can still keep you in line.”  

Sunset merely rolled her eyes.  She thought she saw a happy smile on Twilight’s face as well, though if she did, it was gone when she turned to address the teen, replaced by a contemplative frown.  

“But, what happens when a unicorn runs out of magic?” questioned the scientist.  “I mean if I had used my device on you and taken all your magic.”

The unicorn thought about it for a second.  “I was here, in this world, when Equestria was attacked by a powerful centaur named Tirek.  From what I heard I’m very lucky I was.  He could pull magic out of ponies, using their power to revitalize himself.  The ponies he drained were stripped of their magic and left weak and helpless.”

“But it didn’t kill them, right?  They were still okay?”

“They were still alive, but they were far from okay.  When I said magic was an inherent part of a pony, I didn’t just mean it as some physical process we’re capable of.  Magic is a core component of what makes us who we are.  Each pony tribe; earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, have their own form of magic.  Earth ponies have a connection to the land and what comes from it.  Pegasi can fly and walk on clouds.  Their abilities allow them not only to fly but to craft and control the weather.  Unicorns can manipulate the thaumic energy of the world and perform a range of magic spells using our horns.  

“But more than that, our cutie marks,” Sunset said, indicating again the two-toned sun adorning her flank, “appear when a pony discovers their calling in life.  Once it’s earned a pony knows what they will do with their lives.  Luckily, it was something Tirek’s magic didn’t take away.”

“But without magic, a pony wouldn’t be able to do their given magic to perform their professions?” the scientist ventured.

“Yes, but it’s more than that,” the unicorn said, shaking her head.  “Tribal magicks are how ponies interact with the world and the magic in it.  Our cutie marks are a display of our connection to ourselves.  It’s your destiny, something in you that makes you- you.  Losing these kinds of magic, yes, you’re alive, physically, but is it really living if you’ve lost all of yourself?  As I said, we were lucky he didn’t drain all the magic, I’m not sure what would have happened, but I can tell you that even taking what he did was bad.”

“That sounds terrible.  How do you stop a monster like that, something that can just steal your soul?”

“With the most powerful magic of all,” Sunset said with a smirk, causing Twilight to go wide-eyed in anticipation, “the magic of friendship.”

“Huh?” the scientist blinked, “No, seriously, how did you defeat Tirek?”

Sunset snickered at the girl’s reaction, “Seriously, Twilight, don’t underestimate the power of friendship.  The Elements of Harmony were our most powerful artifacts and allowed us to tap into that magic.  It’s that power that was used in the Everfree and part of why it is the way it is now.”

“No.  No way,” the teen said waving a dismissive hand at the pony.  “There is no way I’m going to believe that friendship is magic and powerful enough to warp the magical fields of your world permanently.  Do you know how much energy that would take?”

“I do,” Sunset said seriously, “and so do you.  After all, you did the readings yourself.”  Sunset slid the binder with the energy readings Twilight had given her back over to the young scientist and tapped a hoof at the spikes from both the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands.  

“You can’t be serious,” Twilight said looking up from the readings and giving Sunset the most deadpan look she could muster.  “You expect me to believe that the most powerful source of magic, the source of the new energy I’ve been tracking for months is friendship?  You mean to tell me the solution to clean energy is getting everyone to hold hands and sing Kumbaya?”

Sunset couldn’t help but bust out laughing at Twilight as her outburst had left her hair frazzled and one eye twitching behind its thick lens. The sight of the adorably small unicorn laughing so hard she almost fell off the desk chair was enough to break through the teen's frustration.  After a minute to compose herself, Sunset was finally able to respond.

“Yes and no.  It’s the source you were tracking, but no you will not power things from song…well, at least not without a powerful bit of Equestrian magic to act as a catalyst.”

“But…but-” 	

“Twilight trust me.  As someone who’s been on both ends of the magic of friendship, I can tell you it’s powerful and not something I’d forget…or mistake…”  Sunset’s words fell off as something clicked in the mind.  

“Uh, Sunset?” the teen asked as the unicorn had simply stopped speaking.

“That’s it!” the little pony shouted, hopping up onto her hooves.  “How could I have not figured it out before?”  She rushed over to the computer and, to Twilight’s surprise, started clacking away at the keyboard despite her lack of fingers.

“Um, what's it?” the teen asked.

“Right, right, sorry,” said Sunset, calming down a bit.  “Okay, so the portal connects our two worlds.  It used to open once every thirty moons, enough time for whatever latent magic this world possessed to build up thave enough of a resonance to spark the connection between the worlds.  Thanks to my meddling and my friend’s genius, a permanent connection was made between the worlds so we could travel through whenever we wanted.  But something happened to the magic of this world and with nothing to keep it open on this end, we were stuck and couldn’t get back to this world.”

“Okay, but we figured that much out.  So what prompted your eureka effect?”

“When this all started, I was in Equestria, working on the other side of the portal.  Months we’ve been trying to get the Celestia-forsaken thing to work with no success, but then I feel this surge of magic…Harmony magic!  Ponyfeathers how did I not make the connection?”

“Okay, I’m still confused,” said Twilight, removing her glasses to massage the bridge of her nose.

“Somepony in my world loosed a massive amount of thaumic energy the same type and magnitude of the incidents you recorded, and they did it right near the portal I was working on.”

“And that energy was enough to trigger the portal?” the scientist surmised.

“Not quite," Sunset said shaking her head, "The connection was broken.  With that amount of energy, it’s hard to say what might have happened to me with just a magical surge of that magnitude. Maybe I would have just woken up in the lab amongst a pile of shattered glass.  Then again I could have been pulled into the portal that may have spat me out Celestia knows where.  But then there was you.”  

“Me?” squeaked the girl.

“Yes, you.  You’re investigation of the statue.  You started siphoning the portal’s magic and reestablished at least partially, the pull on the portal’s magic was enough to direct the flow of that magical surge and reestablish a connection to this world, even if it was only temporarily.  And since I was standing in the way when the magic was being pulled into the portal, I got swept along in the magical wake.”

“If that’s true, then all we would need to do to get you home is reverse the process.  Since Harmony magic is from your world, it would naturally try to return to it.  If we use my device to re-establish the connection, all we need is a massive amount of thaumic energy to power it and send you home.”

“Exactly!  If I had extra magic, I’d give you your first gold star in magic theory,” Sunset said causing the teen to beam.  

Twilight grabbed her device and her smile fell when she noticed the current level of the energy it contained.  “Oh no.”  Quickly pulling out a collection of wires and cables while continuing to mutter, “No, no, no, no, no,” Twilight hooked up her device for a more thorough analysis.  

“How bad is it?” Sunset asked worriedly.

“Energy levels are minimal and I’m not seeing any trace of the energy that corresponds to the resonance for what you’ve dubbed Harmony Magic.  I’m sorry Sunset when Indigo set it off in the halls, it must have used all the Harmonic energy I had collected.”  

Sunset’s ears drooped at the news.  Taking a look herself, she saw nothing that matched the readings Twilight had collected during the Fall Formal of Battle of the Bands.  “Without magic on that scale, there’s no way to open the portal on this end enough to get me back.”

“I’m so sorry, Sunset,”

“It’s not your fault, Twilight, like I said if it hadn’t been for you things could have turned out a whole lot worse.”

“You said the portal used to open naturally, right?  So you just have to wait until it opens again and you’ll be home.”

“Yeah, probably,” Sunset said, “With the magic fading on this side, though I’m a little concerned this side of the portal might just collapse, though I suppose now that I'm here, I’ll be putting out a measure of thaumic energy that should be enough to keep that from happening.”

“You still sound like that’s a bad thing.  You said it’ll open in like two years right?”

“Yeah, two years here.  There’s a time dilation effect in play between the worlds.  It was stabilized when we had the portals connected, but now that it’s out of commission…”

“How much of a dilation?” breathed Twilight not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

“The first time I came through, two and a half years here equated to about twelve and a half back in Equestria, and there’s no telling if our interference with the portal’s natural discrepancy will affect its natural opening cycle.  It could be longer or even never.”  Sunset’s frustration and worry that had only come out as angry outbursts before, but giving voice to her fears, it was just too much to try and fight anymore.  Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.  

Not sure if it was the need to comfort someone so clearly sad, or the urge Twilight had been repressing all day at the sight of the tiny pony, but Twilight couldn’t resist and scooped up the little unicorn and hugged her close like the plushie she’d mistaken Sunset for originally. 

“Well, no matter what happens, I won’t let you go through it alone.  We’re in this together,” Twilight assured.

“Thanks, Twilight,” said Sunset wiping her eyes as best she could, “that means a lot.”  They sat there for a minute before Sunset continued, “Uh, you can put me down now.”

Twilight blushed and quickly set the little unicorn back on the floor, “Er, right. Sorry about that.”

“No worries.  Someone once told me that the first step toward turning someone’s frown upside down is a hug, so thanks.”

“Always happy to help someone complete a checklist.  So step one is done, what’s step two”

“Well,” said Sunset, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, “step two usually involves consuming copious amounts of food as you vent your frustrations.  Depending on who you ask preferred options range from cupcakes to a gallon of double fudge ripple ice cream.”

Twilight thought for a moment, “Mom and Dad left me money for pizza.  We could order some dessert to go with it if you want.”

“Sounds like we’re moving on to step 3,” the little unicorn chuckled.

“What’s that?” asked the teen.

“Slumber party.”

“S-slumber party…?”

“Yep,” Sunset noticed Twilight’s change and continued uneasily, “Unless you don’t want to.  I mean, I know things have been weird between us and maybe it’s too soon to…  Uh, it’s just what we used to do and…it’s not important we can-“

“N-no, it’s fine, I’m fine.  I just…I’ve never been to a slumber party before,” the nerdy girl finished bashfully.

“Well, Twilight Sparkle, grab your notebook.  Tonight I’m going to educate you on the art of the slumber party.”
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The slumber party, such as it was, was going well.  They had made themselves at home in the living room after Twilight had been sure to cover all of the couches with blankets. Her parents had a rule about dog fur on the furniture, and the teen assumed that would extend to unicorns as well, so precautions were taken.  The three had relaxed with a movie on the couch, grateful for the distraction after a long day until the food had arrived.  With the movie now over and food still being munched on, the question of what to do had resulted in a certain revelation.

“I was being facetious,” Sunset groaned as she snagged another slice of pizza.  “I can’t believe you’ve actually been taking notes.  Not just that, but you already had pages of notes on slumber parties from before to reference for comparison.”

“Of course I took notes. You didn’t expect me to read a reference book and not take notes, did you?  I hoped this information would become relevant to me at some point and wanted to be prepared.”

“You have a reference book on slumber parties?”  

“Not currently, hence the notes,” Twilight said in a tone that screamed this should be obvious, “but the library does; Slumber 101: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties but Were Afraid to Ask.”

Sunset just sat dumbfounded as she tried to process Twilight’s apparently serious statement before opting to let it go, deciding that continuing that conversation would be more trouble than it was worth.  Luckily, Spike decided to interject.  

“Well, I can’t believe that you ordered a pizza without any meat on it,” Spike huffed.  “Couldn’t you have gotten some sausage or pepperoni, maybe some bacon?”  The pup’s eyes seemed to glaze over at the thought of these carnivorous delights.

“Sorry, Spike,” said the pony lifting her slice of pizza with a hoof, “if I was back in my human body, I might have taken you up on that offer, but ponies don’t eat meat outside of seafood, and anybody who ruins a perfectly good pizza with anchovies deserves to be banished to the moon for a thousand years.”

“I can’t believe…that!” Twilight waved a frantic hand in the direction of the unicorn.

“Please don’t tell me you’re one of those people,” said Sunset around a mouthful of pizza, “I don’t have access to the Elements right now to have you banished.”

“What?  No, not the anchovies,” Twilight said making a disgusted face and pointing at the pizza Sunset was holding, “That!  How are you grabbing things without an opposable thumb?  For that matter how do you lift it to your mouth?  Horses aren’t capable of that range of dexterity in their joints.”

“First off, I’m a pony, not a horse,” corrected Sunset with a huff.  “Second, I’m an Equestrian pony not one from this world.  I’ve seen the horses and ponies here and outside of some vague physical similarities, we are nothing alike.”

“Four hooves, mane, tail; not seeing a lot of difference,” Spike teased.

“Aside from the fact I can talk,” Sunset quipped.

“Hey, I can talk,” the puppy said, “doesn’t mean I’m not a dog anymore.”

Sunset opened her mouth to retort but was cut off as Twilight’s phone started to ring.  Sunset and Spike quieted instantly, not wanting Twilight to have to explain the number of guests she was hosting.  

Seeing the name, Twilight answered happily, “Hey, Shiny.”

“Wow, Twily, only two rings.  Usually, I have to call at least twice to get your attention away from whatever project you’re working on; three if you’ve 'just made a breakthrough',” teased the voice on the other end.

“I’m not that bad,” the girl grumbled.

“Sure you’re not,” her brother placated.  “Look, I was just calling to let you know that I won’t be home tonight.  The captain asked me to pull a double again since one of the other guys called out sick.”

“Oh, okay,” the teen replied, relieved at the thought of an easy night hiding her guest.

“Hey, don’t be too excited.  Just because I’m not home to remind you to get some sleep doesn’t mean you should be staying up all night.  Honestly, you need to get out of the garage more often.”

“Lab!” Twilight corrected in reflex.

“Seriously, have some friends over.” Her brother continued ignoring her comment.  “It’s not good for you to be cooped up alone all day.  You need to go hang out and get some sunlight.”

“I was out yesterday.”

“True, so maybe go hang out with some of the people from the Friendship Games team again.”

“Err…I don’t know if-”

“Twily, I’m just looking out for you.  I don’t want you to be alone all the time.”

Casting a gaze toward her two companions who were busying themselves with what remained of the food she said, “Don’t worry, BBBFF, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy this weekend.”

“Alright,” sounding anything like that was the case, “well I better get back to work.  Goodnight, Twily.”

“Goodnight, Shiny.”

Seeing the teen’s conversation was done, Spike asked, “Everything okay, Twilight?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.  Shiny just called to say he’d be out all night,” the girl replied.  Seeing the unicorn raise an eyebrow at this, she continued, “Work, you know.”

Sunset nodded at that but a puzzled look remained.  “That still begs the question, where are your parents?”

“Oh, they’re out of town for a party.  Mom’s an author and she’s got a new book coming out soon.  She didn’t want to get stuck going alone so she roped my dad into going with.  Shiny…er Shining Armor that is, my brother, is supposed to be keeping an eye on me, but he’s a cop and keeps getting called in to work nights.”

“Well, at least it works out well for us,” smirked Sunset, “you don’t have to explain the impromptu slumber party.”

“Are you kidding, if they found out Twilight was having a party, they’d probably throw one of their own in honor of the occasion,” interjected Spike causing the aforementioned girl to shoot him a glare.

Weakening, Twilight just added, “Yeah, you’re probably right.  I’m not big on socializing and between them and Cadance they’ve been on me to try and make some friends.”

“Well, since this is such a special occasion,” said Sunset hoping to liven the mood, “what does your research suggest we do next?”

Twilight smiled and pulled out her notes, “Well, we could watch more movies, but maybe we should wait until later when we’re more tired and we want something to do to relax.  We could give each other makeovers, though that may be hard as I don’t know the first thing about pony fashion styles, or human ones for that matter, and even if you gave me a makeover, I’d just have to wash it off when you were done so we could go to bed.”  Twilight continued to skim through her list of slumber party-appropriate activities quietly crossing them off until she reached an item at the bottom.  The teen adjusted her glasses as she looked up from her list and silently appraised the unicorn.  “Have you ever played any video games?”

A spark lit in the pony’s eye and a devious look appeared on her face that hadn’t graced it since before the Rainbow had wiped it off.  “What system do you have?”


***


“Wanna go again?” the unicorn asked with a smirk.  The teen next to her just stared dumbly at the screen, her avatar’s blood coming out in spurts as the announcer proclaimed her death.

“No more,” Twilight said, conceding her defeat as she buried her head in a throw pillow.  Losing to my family is one thing, but being crushed repeatedly by someone without fingers is more than my ego can handle.”  Sunset just chuckled in response.  “Seriously though, you never did answer my question.  How can you even do half the combos when you don’t have fingers?”

“Short answer, magic,” replied Sunset as she logged off the system and put her controller on the coffee table.

“But I thought you were trying to conserve your magic in case of an emergency,” said Twilight, lifting her head from the cushion.  

“I am.”  The little pony glanced at the curious girl and sighed, “Should have figured I wouldn’t get away with a short answer around you.”  Fully turning towards Twilight, Sunset straightened up and adopted a lecturing tone.  “When humans think of magic, they always seem to picture big showy spells like you’d see wizards do in the movies, but for the most part, that’s not what pony magic is.”

“So you can’t teleport or cast fireball?” asked Twilight trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

“Oh, no I can cast those, and pretty much every other popular spell on the Ogres and Oubliettes spell list,” Sunset giving the teen nerd a knowing smirk that resulted in a blush spreading across the girl’s lavender skin.  “But that’s because I’m a unicorn.  Unicorns have conscious magic, in other words, we learn to cast those big flashy spells by drawing on the magic in our mana pools.  That’s the kind of magic I’m avoiding using so that my pool will be full in case we need them.”

“Alright, then what kind of magic are you using to kick my butt at video games or to hold the pizza earlier.”

“Right, so unlike unicorn magic that draws on your mana pool, all ponies also have forms of inherent magic.  Magic is a part of us, like the autonomic responses in your body, some forms of magic are just a part of us that can’t be turned off; things like hoof manipulation and our Cutie mark magic talent fall into that category.  Heck even coming to another world doesn’t seem to affect it, though the sample size on that might be too small to make definitive statements.”

“So you’re saying things like closing the portal or using levitation will drain your magical reserves, but using inherent magic draws from a pony themselves?”

“Exactly.  If I was a pegasus or an earth pony, this wouldn’t even be an issue since their magic is all inherent.  A pegasus doesn’t have to think about standing on a cloud, they just do it, same with an earth pony farmer’s connection to their crops.”

“Same with Spike then, right?”

“Wait, what about me?” asked the canine in question, the sound of his name drawing him from the food-induced snooze he had been enjoying.

“Your magic, now that you can talk, I guess you have inherent magic too,” replied the young scientist.  Pausing for a moment, her face scrunched in thought before turning to the amber unicorn, “Though I’m curious now, why that is.  Do dogs in your world have inherent magic to talk?  Wait, do you even have dogs in your world?”

“Yeah, there are plenty of dogs in Equestria, but they don’t talk.  They’re just pets, same as you’d find in this world,” the pony stopped for a moment to cast an appraising eye on the purple pup, “well unless you count the Diamond Dogs, but you don’t seem the type.”

“Well then how is Spike able to speak?” asked Twilight exasperatedly, still searching for an answer to her original question.

“Hmm,” Sunset began tapping a hoof to her chin, “that’s a good question.  Obviously, he came into contact with the stray magic when your device opened at the school, and that magic would be what you had collected from the portal, specifically the portal’s magic as well as the Harmony magic you siphoned through it, but neither of those should grant sapience.”  

“Are you sure?” asked Spike, a hint of worry in his voice.  

“Positive,” replied the unicorn.  “The portal’s magic is just that, a portal like what opened in the hall so it can’t be that.  As far as the Magic of Harmony, well granted it’s not fully understood, but seeing as you didn’t get blasted into a crater, turned into a statue, or banished to the moon, I tend to think it wasn’t Harmony.”

“Banished to the moon?  Wait, you were serious?  That could have happened?” the nervousness the dog had before growing to panic.

“The moon, Tartarus,” Sunset recited then almost as an aside continued, “It might have picked somewhere new this time I suppose, but yeah banishment is a definite possibility with the Elements, but that didn’t happen so it makes me wonder what other kinds of magic you pulled out of the portal.  I mean, Spike didn’t turn into a person, so it wasn’t the transformation magic.”  

The pup only whimpered in response to all the things that could have happened to him today and hopped into Twilight’s lap.   Petting him slowly to calm him down, a memory of a similar scene at the animal shelter sprang to mind.

“Those weren’t the only places I siphoned energy,” Twilight said absently, as her mind tried to recall the details of the event.

“Where else did you find magic,” the pony asked a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

“W-well, after you came out of the plinth, you were hurt and I wasn’t sure what to do aside from find help, and it turns out there’s an animal shelter not too far from Canterlot High.” 

Twilight was worried how Sunset might take the fact that she had been taken to see a vet, but the pony’s gaze seemed distant through the teen’s ramble until finally uttering a single word to cut her off, “Fluttershy.”  It came out as barely a whisper, but the mere utterance seemed to bring a torrent of emotions to the little pony, from scowl to morose sadness, to an apparent moment of clarity that sparked a mad dash by Sunset for one of Twilight’s many notebooks.  Flipping to a clean page, the sheet was quickly covered in what the teen made out to be a combination of complex mathematical formulas coupled with arcane diagrams and runic markings.  Whatever it was, the result seemed to please the unicorn.  

“I think I know how I can get back,” Sunset said with a grin.


***


“You want to magic blast yourself back through the mirror?!” Twilight repeated for the umpteenth time.  This time it carried a tone that reflected her concern for the unicorn’s sanity and questioned if her previous head wound might have left lasting damage.

“For the last time, Twilight,” Sunset began exasperatedly, “I’d rather not be blasted by any rainbows ever again, but I think that a massive release of Harmony magic near the portal would be enough to trigger the connection between our worlds and I should be able to ride the thaumic wake back through to Equestria.  I’m just recreating the conditions that brought me here in the first place.”

“Fine,” the teen said, flopping onto the couch in a huff.  “Even accepting that you can’t guarantee the Harmony magic will actually travel back along the original path as I hypothesized, you said the source of the massive energy surges I picked up were from the blasts of rainbow magic.  How do you plan on acquiring more Harmony magic to recreate that phoenomenon?”

“Look,” Sunset said, flipping the pages to the notebook back to Twilight’s earlier scribblings, “as I said before, Harmony magic is a product of the Elements of Harmony uniting.  The Elements have already manifested in this world in the girls who helped the princess defeat me, so all we have to do is locate them and siphon some of their magic.  Hopefully, uniting them in your device will be enough to trigger the power of Harmony and send me back to Equestria.  No blasting necessary.”

“So we’d have to track down your friends-”

“Former friends,” corrected Sunset, trying and failing to hide the hurt and anger in the words.

“Former friends,” Twilight amended, “then we hope we can catch them when they ‘pony-up’…ugh, is that really what we’re calling it?”

“Trust me it wasn’t my idea,” Sunset sighed.

“So assuming they are ‘ponied-up’, we siphon some of their magic without being noticed and then set off a large magical blast on the front lawn of CHS to send you home.  I don’t know,” Twilight said nervously, “there’s a lot of supposition in your plan.”

“Do you have a better plan?” snapped the unicorn, causing the girl to flinch.  “Sorry, sorry,” Sunset said and took a few deep breaths to calm down.  “Look, I know it’s not a perfect plan, Tartarus, it’s barely enough to constitute a plan, but it’s the best we’ve got if I’m ever going to get out of here.”

“And you’re sure we can’t just ask for their help?”

Sunset shook her head, “That would be a bad idea.  We want Harmony magic.  If my name comes up, Harmony would be the last thing we’d get.”

“And I guess it would be weird for me to ask if they'd let me scan them,” Twilight stated.

“She’s speaking from experience on that one,” commented Spike, earning him a glare from the teen.  

“It would probably be best if they didn’t see you then either,” Sunset cut in, a bit of nervousness in her tone.  “We-we wouldn’t want them getting suspicious if they see the same person stalking each of them.”

Twilight saw the truth in the statement but sensed there was more to it and that Sunset was hiding something.  Her focus was diverted from that thought however when her phone rang.  Swiping it off the table quickly and glancing at the name, Twilight answered, “Hi, Cadance.”

“Hey, Ladybug,” Cadance chirped out on the other end of the line.  “Just calling to check up on you, and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tomorrow.  You know just me and you, get some fresh air and a little retail therapy.”

“Shiny put you up to this didn’t he?” Twilight countered irritated at her brother’s interference.

“Okay, yes, but don’t be mad at him.  He’s just worried about you.  You need to get out and live a little.  There will be plenty of time for you to be cooped up in a lab when you’re at Everton.”  The dean’s tone didn’t hide well the bit of disdain she held for the aforementioned institution.

“Cadance, we’ve been over this before.  Everton is where I want to be.  Just think of what I could discover with those resources at my disposal.”  And no Cinch breathing down my neck.  “In fact, I’m still working on my admissions project right now so I’ll be too busy to go clothes shopping with you.”

The comment seemed to gain the unicorn’s attention as her ears perked up and she hopped up closer to Twilight cocking an ear to listen in on the call.

“Come on, Ladybug,” Cadance continued to needle, “It’ll be fun.  We can hit a few stores, you can help me look at wedding dresses.”

“What?!” Twilight shouted.  “Shiny proposed and no one bothered to tell me?!”

“Oh, Twilight,” Cadance snickered, “You know you’ll be first to find out when he finally pops the question, but we both know it’s just a matter of time so it can’t hurt to start looking.”

Twilight opened her mouth to deny the request once again when Sunset placed a hoof on her shoulder.  The unicorn wore a wide grin.  She pointed to the phone, well as much as she could lacking the necessary digits, and nodded repeatedly.  Twilight was confused by Sunset’s vehemence but opted to go along with it.  

“Okay, Cadance, I guess we can go.  I mean, what kind of LSBFF would I be if I wasn’t there to help my future SILBFF?”

Cadance chuckled, “Pick you up tomorrow morning, say ten?”

Glancing at the amber pony still wearing a knowing grin and nodding, Twilight replied, “Sounds good, Cady.  See you tomorrow.”  Hanging up the phone, Twilight raised a curious eyebrow at the little pony.  “What was that about?  I thought we had to figure out how to acquire the Elemental magic to get you back home.”

“We do,” Sunset replied, “and I know just where to start.”

Twilight let out a groan, “And I have to go shopping to do it?” Twilight asked with a bit of a whine.

“Don’t worry,” Sunset said with a smirk, “you’ll be simply fabulous, darling.”
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cadance pulled into an empty parking space and glanced up at the posh purple building her teenage friend had directed them to.

“Prim Hemline’s boutique?” the woman asked with a skeptical look.  “Are you sure you want to start our shopping trip here?”

“Positive,” Twilight said, unfastening her seatbelt and getting out of the car leaving the educator to sigh before following suit.

Addressing the bookworm over the roof of the car she continued, “It’s just that Prim Hemline doesn’t really seem like your style.” Looking over at the younger girl slinging a large duffle bag over her shoulder clad in jeans and a sweatshirt, strangely with the hood up, the woman couldn’t help but worry for the younger girl’s social ineptness.

“Well, you keep telling me I should try to update my style and I heard some girls at school talking about this place so I figured we could check it out.”  These were not sentiments the educator could argue with though not the location she would have taken the nerdy girl to make her first foray into the world of fashion forwardness.  “Besides,” the teen continued slyly, “if Shiny ever gets around to popping the question, you’re going to need a dress, and it never hurts getting ideas early.”  The teen gave her former babysitter a grin as the educator blushed.

“Twilight, you know I love your brother, but we both know we’re not at that point yet.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at that.  “You two have been dating since high school and don’t think I haven’t noticed the hints you’ve been dropping around him.”

Cadance blushed a bit and looked away but Twilight heard her mutter, “At least someone noticed.”

Twilight just snickered at her former baby-sitter’s plight.  “Shiny’s a police officer.  He’s more observant than you think and considering all the overtime he’s been working with no correlating increase in his expenses, I’d say it’s a safe hypothesis that he’s been saving for something big.”

“How big do you think?” Cadance blurted out before she could stop herself.  Regaining her composure and clearing her throat she continued, “…not that it matters.  When your brother asks, any ring from him I’m sure will be perfect.”

“I’ll make sure of it,” assured Twilight giving the woman a knowing grin.  “In the meantime, we can window shop for dresses.”

“We?” 

“Of course.  I’m going to have to dress up as the Best Girl.”

Cadance laughed and brought the glasses-wearing girl into a side hug.  “You think I’m going to let Shiny have you just because he’s your brother?  No way.  After all the backup over the years, my best wing girl is going to have to be my maid of honor.”

“Well you two can figure that out after Shiny figures out the ring and how to give it to you,” Twilight replied, returning the hug. “For now, let’s head in and see if we can get any ideas.  It’s never too early to start planning.”

“Alright,” Cadance said then remembering where this conversation had started she glanced at the shorter girl’s appearance.  “I have to ask though, what’s with the bag and the hoodie?”

“Umm…” the scientist grasped for an explanation.  “My research indicated there had been a few instances of spontaneous energy spikes in the downtown shopping district.  I just didn’t want to be unprepared in case something happened.”

“Uh-huh,” the dean said, sensing the teen was not being entirely forthcoming.  “And the hoodie?”

“Err... I didn’t want anyone to recognize me,” Twilight answered though it came out as more of a question which earned a raised eyebrow from the older woman and prompted Twilight to continue.  “You know, umm, we’re pretty close to Canterlot High so in case we run into anyone from CHS who saw us the other day.”

“Right,” Cadance said obviously suspicious. 

However, she was unable to continue her questioning as the pair opened the door to the boutique and were greeted by an alabaster skinned teen with long, purple locks that had obviously been meticulously coifed.

“Welcome to Hemline’s Boutique,” the girl sang, “where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.”  Stepping forward she approached Cadance and offered a hand though Twilight shrank back clutching tightly to the strap of the duffle bag.  Rarity was adept enough to recognize the social cue and directed her attention back to the dean.  “My name is Rarity.  What can I help you with today?”

Cadance glanced at the retreating form of her friend with a puzzled gaze.  “Didn’t you want to look around?  This was your idea after all.”

Twilight shook her hoodie covered head and squeaked out, “You go first.  I can look around and get some ideas while you’re busy.  Wedding dresses take more time anyway.”

“Wedding dresses!” Rarity squealed before Cadance could respond.  “Oh darling, how absolutely fabulous.  Have you set the date yet?  Picked a location?  All things to consider when creating the perfect dress for the big day.”

“Well, actually…” Cadance began but was quickly cut off by a starry-eyed Rarity.

“Oh, the ring!” the crazed fashionista practically shouted in the dean’s face.  “Darling, let me see your ring. It can serve as a window into not just your style but your betrothed’s preferences in style as well.”

“He hasn’t proposed yet,” Cadance said in her educator voice, thinking it would grab the attention of the high school dressmaker.  Rarity however was far too lost in the lavish possibilities.

“Oh, that’s even better,” she chirped, “That gives us a clean slate to work with no restrictions.  I can create the wedding dress of your dreams and then you’ll be able to plan the ring and wedding to best complement them.”

“That’s not really,” Cadance started once again lost in the face of Rarity’s passion.

“Idea,” the young fashionista sang out.  “Come.  I have so many ideas and you simply must try on a few dresses to get a feel for what you might want in a dress.”  Grabbing the dean by the wrist she practically dragged the woman into the back of the boutique leaving Twilight to blink at what she had just witnessed.  

Following more slowly, the teen scientist entered the back hallway.  Bending down, she unzipped her duffle bag, and from the confines emerged the fiery head of the little unicorn.  

“Ugh, I don’t know how Spike does this all the time,” Sunset moaned as she flopped over the edge of the duffle bag, taking in as much fresh air as she could.

“Shh,” the teen scolded, “someone might hear you.  Caddy and your friend…”

“Ex-friend,” the pony cut-in with a growl.

“Um, yeah.  From the description you gave, it has to be her.  They’re both just in the next room talking about wedding dresses.  That seemed to perk the little pony up and out of the dour mood the f-word had caused.

“Perfect.”

“So what exactly are we doing here?” Twilight asked.  “You were rather cryptic this morning and with Caddy showing up early, you never really explained the plan.”

“Heh, sorry,” laughed the pony embarrassedly.  “It’s been a while since I’ve had a research partner.  I can sometimes forget others exist.”

Twilight smiled at the strangely tiny unicorn, “Yeah, I know that feeling, but didn’t you say your friend back in…”

“Equestria.”

“Yeah, that.  Didn’t you say it was her work originally and she brought you back to help her due to your expertise?  So then why weren’t you working together?”

Sunset sighed.  “A lot of reasons really.  She’s got a pretty important job that requires a lot of her attention dealing with other ponies and her duties.  But honestly, it was mostly that I just didn’t want to work with her.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know really.  I guess part of me blames her for what happened.  She left me here with them, told me to make friends.  I did that and look where it got me.  Then she drags me back to work on fixing the portal despite my express wishes to be done with this world!”  Sunset said holding back her anger, her words escaping in a hiss of rage.

“And why do you think she would do that?” Twilight asked, unphased by the tiny pony’s anger.

Sunset grumbled, “Because she’s a busybody who can’t keep her muzzle out of other ponies’ business when she sees something that she wants to fix.”  Twilight just responded with an even stare prompting the pony to admit with a huff,  “And because she’s my friend.”

“Exactly.”

“Look, I know that logically, but knowing it and feeling it are two separate things, and I didn’t want to do or say something that might cause me to lose the only pony I had left as a friend.”

“And you don’t think pushing her away and shutting her out wouldn’t have the same effect.”  Sunset stared at the scientist before hanging her head in shame.  “Look, Sunset, I’m no expert in friendship seeing as the number of those I talk to has with has increased by 33% this week thanks to magical shenanigans, but I do know that friends are supposed to be open with each other.”

“Yeah, I don't have much experience with friendship either.  I thought I was actually starting to get a handle on it, but then things went south, and I realized I just wasn't cut out for the whole thing.  I mean, look how I've treated you.  I was mean to you, yelled at you, and have been nothing but a jerk since we met."

“Sunset, you were put in a bad spot, in part due to my scientific meddling.  I can’t blame you for being worried and angry and lashing out.  I’ve also seen you save me from a group of bullies when you could have easily left me to fend for myself.”  Twilight put her hand on Sunset’s back, gaining the unicorn’s gaze.  “Data doesn’t lie.  You may have a temper and are clearly dealing with some personal issues, but you’re a good person…er…pony.  I promised I'd help you get home and I won't let you down.  We're in this together.”

Sunset smiled up at this Twilight, feeling a weight in her heart shift.  The pain from her experiences with her former friends wasn’t gone, but the teen’s words seemed to have broken through enough that hope had a chance.  

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.” Sunset smiled, “And the first step is catching you up on the plan, partner.  You have your pendant?”  

Twilight reached into the side pocket of the duffle bag and produced the aforementioned object.  “Got it.”

“Right, so you said you saw Fluttershy pony-up at the animal shelter, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Fluttershy was exhibiting her kindness in taking care of the animals, an Element in her element as it were.”

“Okay.  So then why are we shopping for dresses?”

 “With any luck, we can repeat the results of your first encounter and get Rarity to pony-up.  And if anything is going to get Rarity excited, it’d be a wedding dress; something meant to be big and flashy and the center of attention.  And with the prospect of true love, the romantic in Rarity is sure to be in a generous mood.”

“Let’s hope so,” Twilight agreed, “although with Cadance in the room, how do we explain when a glowing girl with pony ears and wings.”

“Rarity doesn’t have wings.  She’s a unicorn,” Sunset replied automatically remembering Ponyville's resident fashionista.

“Huh?”

“Erm, I mean Rarity's magic is more like unicorn magic,” said Sunset.  Trying to convince the teen scientist of the existence of magic was province hard enough, complicating things with the fact that her world was a parallel one, as well as the existence of doppelgangers, would undoubtedly complicate an already tenuous relationship.  

“So she gets a horn?”

“You’d think so, but no, though they probably would have been useful when we were fighting off the sirens,” the pony mused then seemed to shove the idea aside.  “Not important right now.  If she ponies up, let’s hope Cadance is in the fitting room, if not I’ll try and figure out a spell or something.”

“Seriously, that’s your plan,” Twilight quietly shouted at the unicorn in front of her.  “You want to just ‘wing it’ when we are dealing with collecting mysterious energy-”

“Magic,” Sunset interjected.

“-and hope that no one notices?!”

“Relax, Twilight.  We, unfortunately, do not have the time nor the relevant data to surmise how this scenario is going to play out making planning all but an impossibility, and trying to would just leave us a neurotic mess.  Besides,” the amber mare said, putting on a cocky grin that made her look rather adorable, “I work best under pressure, sometimes adrenaline can provide the best inspiration.
> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After being dragged into the fitting room by the store associate, Cadance found herself ensnared by a whirlwind of fabulosity.  Rarity was a girl possessed as she ushered the older woman onto the staging platform.  Adorning red horn-rimmed glasses, the fashionista quickly whipped a measuring tape around the necessary locations with an obviously practiced hand.  

“So I know you said you’re just planning ahead,” Rarity began nonchalantly before shooting the dean a knowing look, “but don’t tell me you haven’t given some thought to what you want your wedding dress to look like.”

“Well, maybe a little…”

“Perfect let’s start with this, imagine the big day.  Is the ceremony indoors or out?”

“In.”

 “Alright, that gives us more options,” said the fashionista with a smile.  “As lovely as an outdoor wedding is, the unpredictability of the weather needs to be accounted for when choosing a dress.  So would this be a more formal affair then, a grand gala, as it were, to celebrate the momentous occasion?”  

Cadance blushed a bit, “I have always wanted a fairy tale wedding.  You know when I finally get to marry my prince charming.”

“Then that is exactly what you shall have.  Now, do you see yourself in white, ivory, or something more daring?”

“Hmm…white I think, though maybe with a pop of color.”  Rarity nodded as she jotted down some notes on her sketch pad.”

“Any preference on silhouette?”  Rarity continued with more rapid-fire questions knowing that would help the customer in making decisions.  Finally, she turned to a workstation and accessed a store tablet.  “Feel free to browse a bit while I record all this for our records.  See if anything strikes your fancy.  If you see something you like we can either work it into your design or I can direct you toward the designer and we can see if they can better assist you.”

Flipping through one of the racks Cadance was impressed by the designs and amount of detail that had been added to some of the dresses.  “You did all of these?”

“Well, not all of them.  I am still in high school so I have other responsibilities you know.  And I have been focusing a bit more on my own personal project as of late.”  Her eyes flicked over to a rack in the corner at that before returning to her notes.

Curious, the dean wandered over to the mystery rack and was puzzled by what she beheld.  Amongst the clothes, she found hockey goalie pads, a cowgirl outfit, welding gear, and a jai alai uniform.  Staring at the odd assortment of clothing, Cadance struggled to see what would possess the fashionista to design these things.  The only thing they seemed to have in common was a color scheme reminiscent of fire and even spotted some detailing on the various pieces of flames, phoenixes, and most often a two-toned sun.  While visually appealing, the dean couldn’t keep the confusion from her face.  Her attention was drawn from the mystery, by a polite cough.

“Ahem, yes, I don’t think those racks will have what you’re looking for,” Rarity said leading her customer toward some dresses she thought might suit the woman.

“No, you’re right,” said the woman a bit embarrassed at being caught snooping.  “Sorry about that, I was curious what drew you away from designing these marvelous dresses and gowns.”  Cadance sensed a change in the teen’s attitude.  Though most wouldn’t have noticed as Rarity seemed to be an expert at maintaining her business persona, Cadance made a living reading teenagers and getting in their heads.  Rarity began selecting a variety of gowns from amongst the racks, using it as an excuse not to make eye contact with her customer.  

“Those are for an upcoming event at my school, the Friendship Games, and the thing is we don’t know exactly what we’ll be competing in, so I had to cover all the bases and make a few options for our uniforms.”

Cadance laughed a little, a light sound reminiscent of a tinkling bell.  “I’m well aware of the Friendship Games, it’s been nearly all Vice Principal Luna and I have been working on since the start of the school year.”

Rarity’s eyes went wide behind her stylish red glasses, “You work for Crystal Prep?”

“I do.  Sorry,” Cadance said with a smile.  “And, though I’m not allowed to say anything about what the events will be, I can’t imagine any events that would necessitate dressing as a bobby.”  Rarity blushed a bit at that one.  Bringing a few gown options, Rarity ushered her client away from her creations and towards a changing room.

“Yes, well, I may have gone a bit overboard with that one,” the fashionista admitted, closing the door behind her guest to give Cadance privacy to change.  “It’s just that putting effort into clothes is what I live for, and spending time with my friends fills me with energy…or it did until recently.”

“What happened?”  Recognizing the sullen tone, the dean’s instincts kicked in.

“Oh, there was a bit of a to-do at my school, a MyStable account posting people’s secrets.  It got so bad, one girl…left school.”

“I’m sorry.  Were you two close?”

Rarity fought to blink back tears.  “Not as close as we should have been, or she never would have left.  I hadn’t realized it at the time, but she and I had a lot in common.  We both shared a creative spark.  While hers was not for fashion, her artistic eye was a welcome help and inspiration, and in realizing my mistake too late, I’m afraid I lost my passion for design.  My muse, as it were,  has left me.”

“Well, you seem to have found it again,” said Cadance entering the fitting room.

“Yes, the Friendship Games has been a great motivation.  Just imagine a chance to foster better relationships with a new group of people that was once our bitter rivals.  The opportunity to show that we can make friends with those who had once been our hated rivals…eh, no offense.”

“None taken,” chuckled the dean, “and, though I appreciate the sentiment and getting behind the spirit of the Games, I’m afraid you’re in for a challenge, given the…atmosphere at Crystal Prep.”

“Oh, we are well aware, darling, but that is why it is so important that we succeed,” the fashionista replied, walking over to the rack containing the attire for the Friendship Games.  Picking up one of the pieces emblazoned with the familiar sun design that had inspired the entire line, she didn’t see it but an aura began to form over her taking on a royal purple hue.  “Even though she’s gone, she has inspired us to try harder, to work at making connections and seeing the good in everyone, giving them a real chance to become friends.”  Ethereal ears began to form atop her amethyst locks and they began to extend as she could feel herself begin to levitate.  

Rarity closed her eyes at the swell of joy filled her heart at the familiar sensation, one she had been without for so long.  Looking back down at the uniform in her hand she remembered why she had been without this feeling for so long.  Sunset had been the one to understand her passion for creating.  

While Fluttershy might have had better knowledge of sewing and clothing and could appreciate her work on a level her other friends could not, it had been Sunset who shared her eye for detail and her ability to see things in a new way.  They would often bounce ideas back and forth when they hung out, and would often inspire each other to create by sharing their artistic visions.  Though Sunset didn’t really get fashion outside of what she liked or didn’t like, she could understand and appreciate what it took to bring an idea from your imagination into the world.  

With Sunset gone, the world seemed dimmer somehow.  Everything Rarity created had just felt wrong.  They lacked originality and were little better than…ugh…buying of the rack.  But then came the Friendship Games and the decision to use it as a venue to honor Sunset.  The creative spark was once again alight, but the pain remained with the reality of the situation.  If she had just given Sunset the benefit of the doubt all those months ago, none of this would be necessary, and Sunset would likely be preparing for the Games alongside them right now.  Rarity felt the magic fading, just as it always did and knew it was her fault. 


***


Rarity couldn’t know, but outside in the hallway, two sets of eyes watched as the lights on a specialized spectrometer sprang to life causing smiles to spread across their faces.  The two had been unable to make out most of the conversation from the hallway, and Sunset had had to duck back into the duffle a few times to avoid being spotted by the other store associates.  

“Finally,” Sunset whispered, “I would have thought a design frenzy for a wedding dress would have sparked one of her inspiration moments a lot faster.”

“Shhh,” the teen scientist chided keeping her eyes focused on her readings, “It’s working, isn’t it.  I mean I can’t believe it’s working, but it’s working.”

“How are the energy levels?”

“They’re ok,” Twilight said, “Nothing like the portal but better than…hang on.”  Twilight stood up and looked toward the door.

“What’s wrong?” asked Sunset, a little irritated that she could no longer see the device and cursing her current diminutive size.

“The magical output is fading.”

“Fading?”

“Yeah, just like last time at the animal shelter.  The readings looked good and then faded out when the ears and wings faded out.”

“Well, it would make sense, considering you are siphoning energy from them,” the unicorn thought aloud rubbing her chin with a forehoof.

“Maybe, but…” Twilight turned to peek into the design room but was nearly bowled over by someone coming the other way.

“Excuse me,” Rarity said, hurrying down the hall.

When she was out of sight Sunset poked her head out of the bag.  “Huh, that was rather unladylike for her.  You okay, Twilight.”

“What…oh, yeah I’m fine.”  Twilight was used to getting shoved at Crystal Prep, usually by Indigo and her friends.  This time, though was clearly an accident and though she couldn’t be sure, the teen was pretty sure she had seen tears in the designer’s sapphire eyes.

Grabbing her bag with a now rehidden unicorn, Twilight went into the design room just as Cadance was exiting the fitting room in an elegant wedding dress.  

“Wow, Cady, that’s beautiful.”

“I know,” Cadance squeed with a giddy dance, “I feel like a princess.  Now you have to convince your brother to get cracking on that ring, or I’m going to have to find some other excuse to wear this dress.  You think I could get away with wearing it to work?”

“I don’t think it quite conforms to the CPA dress code,” the teen giggled, “but I suppose you’re the one in charge of dress code infractions so you could let it slide.”

“True though I’m sure Principal Cinch would…hey what happened to the girl who was helping me.”

“Oh, uh, she had to step out, I guess.  She passed me in the hallway on my way in.”

Just then another girl entered the room, she was shorter than Twilight with two-toned cyan hair she wore a purple skirt and white blouse with a red tie done fashionably under a purple collar.

“Excuse me, Miss Rarity had to step out for a minute, she…wasn’t feeling well.  My name is Coco Pommel and I can assist you.”

“Oh dear,” said Cadance, “I think that may have been my fault.  I got into councilor mode and I think I pushed too much into something she clearly didn’t want to talk about.”

“It’s alright, ma’am,” Coco said, “Rarity’s told me to assure you it was not your fault and she looks forward to you seeing what she created when she sees you again at the Friendship Games.”

“Well, let her know that I look forward to it, and I really hope she’s successful in her own mission for the Friendship Games.”

“I will,” Coco said with a smile.  “Would you like to try on some more of the dresses?”

Taking a look at Twilight who was looking uncomfortable, with her large duffle and hood pulled up, Candance shook her head.  “No thank you, but if you could notate this style dress for Rarity’s file, I would love to talk over some ideas with her once I actually get the ring.”

“Of course, I’m sure she’d love to.”

After jotting down the necessary information, Coco assured them the information would be kept on file for Cadance.  The young associate then escorted them to the front.  As they passed by one of the doors marked “Employees Only” Twilight was almost sure she heard the muffled sounds of sniffles emanating from within.  Pulling out the pendant spectrometer from her hoodie, a nagging feeling began to grow in the back of her mind.  

Both times magic had been collected from Sunset’s former friends, the subjects had been left in tears. Sunset had assured her that siphoning their magic would not be detrimental to them as it was not something that was normally a part of humans as it was for ponies, but still, the coincidence gnawed at her.  Clearly needed more data to form a hypothesis, though it did make her wonder if there wasn’t more going on than what she or possibly even Sunset knew.


***


The rest of Sunday had been relatively unremarkable.  After leaving Prim Hemline’s, the Crystal Prep duo tried a few more stores Cadance felt were more Twilight’s style.  Sunset had convinced the nerdy teen to leave the duffle in the car, taking the opportunity to take in some much-needed air after her time in the stuffy bag.  After a pleasant lunch where Twilight successfully steered all conversations away from the Friendship Games and her experiments and back to wedding plans, the pair had returned to the Sparkle Household to find the teen’s parents had returned from their trip.  

Twilight and Cadance then had to fill them in on their day indicating it was a celebratory outing for Twilight making the CPA team.  The nerdy teen was then subjected to an obscene amount of parental gushing before she was finally allowed to retreat to her room, where she was able to free the tiny pony from her confines.

“Finally,” the unicorn gasped as she flopped out of the bag and splayed across Twilight’s bed as much as she could given her diminutive state.

“Sorry about that,” I didn’t think my folks would be home until later.

“It’s fine,” Sunset said as she stretched like an overgrown cat.  “They seem nice.”

“Yeah.  I mean it worked out well over the weekend seeing as what happened, but considering Shiny’s schedule, the house feels lonely when they’re gone.”  It took a beat then the teen’s amethyst eyes expanded to fill her thick frames.  “Oh.  Oh, Sunset, I am so sorry.”  The non-sequitur just drew a curious eyebrow raise from the sprawled equine.  “I didn’t mean to make light of your situation.  You must be missing your family too and they don’t even know what happened to you.”

“Twilight!” Sunset snapped, her tone firm but not angry.  Enough to gain the panicky girl’s attention before it could descend into a full-on attack.  “It’s fine,” the unicorn continued once she had gained the teen’s attention.  “I don’t have any family, so no offense taken.”

“You mean you’re an orphan?” Twilight asked in a sad whisper.

Sunset only rolled her eyes and sat up.  “Yeah, but I never knew my parents so it’s not like I’m missing anything.”  The unicorn tried to dismiss it with a lazy hoof but the brainy teen seemed to want to ask something else, though she was hesitant prompting the unicorn to continue.  “No, I wasn’t always alone.  I’ve been taken in before, but…It never works out.  Guess my so-called friends ditching me shouldn’t have come as such a shock.”

“Sunset…”

“Don’t worry,” said the little pony, her voice a bit sad but resigned.  “I learned a long time ago that you can’t depend on others.  The only one you can rely on in the end is yourself.  It’s the only way to survive.  It worked in Equestria and kept me alive when I first got here.”  The unicorn gave a small smile, “I guess you've learned that lesson too.  You really have the right idea with that Independent Study Program.”  

Twilight moved to speak again but was preempted by the tiny unicorn hopping off the bed to land on Spike’s abandoned doggy bed that had been strategically placed on the far side of the bed out of view of the door.  After circling the bed, the tiny equine curled up in a cute ball.  “Being cooped up in that stuffy bag took a lot out of me.  I think I’m just going to take a nap if that’s okay.”

Surprised by the change in topic, the bespectacled girl just stammered out, “Uh, yeah, sure.”  Rising off the bed the teen headed for her door.  Twilight had been a relative social outcast for most of her life.  She’d been smart and found more interest in long-dead scientists and their theories than the up and coming boybands, and as such she had never had much in common with those her age.  As lonely as that could be, the nerdy girl had always felt loved and welcomed by her family.  Her parents were supportive and Shining Armor was her BBBFF and it was only a matter of time until Cadance was officially her family though she might as well be now.  Part of her hurt to think that Sunset had never had that feeling, or if she had, it had been taken away when she was abandoned.  

Turning back towards the pony’s hidden she said, “Sleep well, Sunset.  I’ll bring some food up later and we can plan our next move.”  “I’ll make sure we get you home,” she thought.  “I won’t let you down.”
> Chapter 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day found Twilight Sparkle arriving late for school.  Well not actually late, that would be unthinkable for the genius girl, but she arrived a mere fifteen minutes before the bell was supposed to ring.  While she usually tried to avoid spending time in the crowded morning hall, today she was forced to run the gamut of teenage bodies to get to her private sanctuary all while lugging around an extra bag that not only weighed her down but that she had to make sure didn’t get too jostled and bumped on the journey.  Entering her lab, the teen scientist closed the door and carefully set her bags down on the cot, and freed their two occupants, before beginning a frantic routine of activating all of her room’s machinery.

While Sunset flopped out as had become her usual method of egress, Spike hopped out of Twilight’s bag reluctantly.

“I have to stay here all day with her?” he whined.  “Why can’t I just come to classes with you?”

“You know the rules, Spike.  I’m lucky I can get away with having you here at all considering Principal Cinch’s allergies.  I don’t want to think what she’d do if she found out you’d been wandering the halls.”

“But why did you have to bring her along.  Couldn’t you have just left her at home?” Spike said, shooting the fiery pony a dirty look.

“Spike, Sunset is going to be going over my notes and planning our next move for collecting the energy…”

“Magic,” interrupted the unicorn.

“Fine,” the scientist said though the word leaving a bad taste in her mouth, “magic from the other sources, and I couldn’t risk mom noticing her if she went in the garage.  Besides, if she’s here we can collaborate during lunch and study periods.”

“But-“

“No ‘buts’ mister,” you could have stayed home if you wanted,” the teen chided.

“And leave you alone with her?  Yeah right,” the dog scoffed.  The mare looked like she wanted to retort but held her tongue.   Given their initial encounters she understood the pup’s dislike towards her, but it hurt that he hadn’t forgiven her as Twilight had, and the fact that it was the voice of one of her only friends condemning her, made it hurt all the more.”

“Please, Spike, try to get along.  For me?”

“Fine,” the puppy huffed.

“Good.  Now I need to get going.  Sunset, the computer is set up the same as the one at home so you should have no problem finding the files we were working on.  I’ll see you both later with lunch.”  With a final wave, she closed and locked the door before hurrying off to her first class.

Sunset took this opportunity to fully take in the janitor’s closet turned laboratory.  She hadn’t had the chance to check out the room for her first time in it.  She had been too preoccupied with escape and then finding answers to appreciate the aesthetics.  All things considered, it was a nice setup, and the fact that she had private access made it a nice refuge from the world.  It reminded Sunset of her own set up in Princess Twilight’s castle.  A bit of worry began to eat at the pony’s stomach, making the rushed breakfast Twilight had managed to grab her sit even worse than it had during the duffle bag ride through the hall. 

Hopping up on her rear legs, Sunset tried to examine the seismograph Twilight had set up on one desk.  Checking that it hadn’t registered since her arrival, the unicorn began to absently open the desk drawers.  This garnered a low growl from the puppy behind her.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Checking what we have to work with,” the pony said dropping back to all four.  Sunset sighed, “Look, Spike, I can understand why you were mad at me and I really am sorry for how I treated you both.  But, I apologized to both of you, and Twilight’s accepted it.  Why won’t you?”

“Because someone has to look out for Twilight!”  Spike yelled causing the unicorn to stare.  She had never seen this side out of the dragon Spike, so seeing the ferocity appear on the countenance of the puppy was surprising.  Spike took a breath before continuing in a calmer tone though still holding a note of anger though maybe not entirely directed at her.  “Twilight has a big heart and right now she’s feeling guilty for bringing you here, but you...you’re just like everyone else.”

“What do you mean 'everyone else'?” asked the pony.

“All of the other girls who have said they wanted to be Twilight’s friend.  They got her hopes up only to be crushed when she found out they just wanted her to help with projects, or copy her homework, or worse it was just a way to lead her into some mean prank.”  

The unicorn stared wide-mouthed at the revelation of how the human counterpart to the Princess of Friendship was treated.  Princess Twilight had said she had been a recluse at a young age and during her time at CSGU but nothing like this abuse.  “Maybe you can get away with being a nerdy shut-in if you’re the personal student of the Sun Princess,” Sunset mused.

“Spike, I’m not like-” she began but was quickly cut-off.

“Aren’t you?  You show up yell at her and get her to spend all this time on a project for you and then you’ll leave.   How is that different exactly?  Because you had a sleepover?”

“What am I supposed to do?  I can’t stay here.  I don’t belong here,” Sunset growled before sighing and then added quietly, “I can’t be her invisible friend forever.  Someone will catch on not to mention what the failing magic might do to me.”

Spike flopped down on the bed with a huff.  “Yeah,” he conceded, “but what do you think it will do to her?  She’s the best person ever and I don’t know why no one else seems to see that.  I’m a dog and I could figure that out even before I could talk.  I just don’t want to see her sad when she’s left alone again.”

“She won’t be alone.  She’ll still have you,” Sunset said with a half-smile.

“Yeah, but I’m just a dog,” Spike began.

“And I’m just a pony.  So what?” the unicorn interrupted.  “Spike, it doesn’t matter if you’re a dog, a person, or a magical unicorn.  You could be a fire-breathing dragon.  In the end, the important thing is that you’re there for Twilight.  You listen to her, help around the lab, and keep her safe.  You’re already her number one assistant.  Plus now you can talk so imagine what else you can do to help her.”

“Number one assistant huh,” mused Spike, “I like the way that sounds.”  The pup’s smile fell a bit though, “but I’m still just a puppy.  I don’t know any of the stuff you and Twilight do.  How am I supposed to help her?  I don’t know what any of those squiggly things mean in her books.”

“You can learn,” said Sunset with a shrug.  “Even the egghead had to learn at some point.  I can help you.  It seems like whatever magic gave you speech increased your intellect as well.  Maybe it’s just a matter of getting you started.”

“So I have to sit through classes?” the pup whined, “The last time I did that was obedience school, and at least they had treats.”

“Maybe we can make it fun,” the pony said poking around in a few more drawers looking for some books and paper to that might help in the endeavor.  “We want to get you a crash course on reading, writing, and maybe a start on math.”  Opening another drawer, a large grin spread across the unicorn’s face.  “And I think I have the perfect method.”  Reaching in, the drawer she pulled out a hard covered book whose cover was adorned with heavily armored people battling a large horned monster.


***


Twilight carefully made her way down the hall to her lab, a heavy tray laden with food from the cafeteria precariously balanced on one arm as the nerdy girl fished awkwardly in her backpack with the other.  She had managed to get the food out of the packed cafeteria without it being tipped or bumped by another student, a feat she was rather proud of, and she would not allow that achievement to be wasted when her goal was in sight.  

As she got nearer, the sounds of a heated argument could be heard emanating from within.  Twilight hoped that her four-legged companions had managed to get along today, but that did not appear to be the case.  Silently she prayed that their bickering had not been heard by anyone else as they would not be secret for long if they continued to carry on at this volume.

The bookish girl successfully juggled the contents of her arms and managed to find her keys, as the words of the argument finally reached her.

The young scientist heard her Sunset cackle maniacally before speaking in a sinister voice she did not recognize, “You’re all alone now.  You will fall before the power I command.”  

Struggling to find the lock the Twilight heard her puppy growl darkly, “I’m going to kill you!” the glasses-wearing girl heard the now familiar voice of her puppy shout.  

Quickly pushing open the door and surprisingly managing not to upset her tray, Twilight burst into her lab and froze as the scene before her was not her talking dog and unicorn companions about to kill each other.  No, it was far stranger.  

Spread out on the ground was a battle mat with an elaborate map drawn out across the one-inch grid lines.  Small paper figures of some sort of dragon fighter and a wizard character, were trapped in a tower constructed out of books the teen recognized from her shelves.  On closer inspection, the wizard, who bore a striking resemblance to Twilight, herself, seemed to be trapped in some sort of cage, while a giant monster was approaching from one side of the map.

“I’ll kill you for what you did to Twilight!” Spike barked, so wrapped up in his fantasy world, he did not notice the teen enter.

Sunset, who was seated behind the GM screen lifted the wizard out of the cage, “Arch Mage Sparkling Star,” she emphasized in her normal voice before return to the sinister one Twilight had heard earlier, “should learn to check for traps before rushing to grab mysterious artifacts left floating in the middle of an unguarded room.  Now there’s no one left to stop my return!” 

“You’re wrong.  I’ll end you and restore the land of Spiketopia,” the puppy said, posing dramatically before breaking character and scanning the sheet in front of him.  “Okay, so here’s what I want to do.  The pedestal for the Crystal Heart is below us in the middle of the fair right?” Sunset nodded.  “Right so I want to run and jump out the window.”

“Uh, gravity is still a thing in this game, Spike,” Sunset started warily.

“I know.  That’s why as I’m falling I’m going to activate my boots of flying.”

Sunset groaned, “Ugh, why did I let you have those.  Fine.”

“Alright, I swoop down and pick up the princess and carry her and the heart to the pedestal so she can perform the ritual.

Sunset frowned, thinking.  “Okay, I’m going to need some rolls.  A dex check to grab the princess on the fly and a strength check to carry her one-handed the whole way there.”

“Got it.  Right, dex first.”  Using his two front paws the puppy rolled the die.  “Yes, fifteen!”

“Alright,” Nodded Sunset moving Spike’s fighter piece to reflect his new location.  “Let’s see the strength check.”

“No problem, I’m great at strength.”  Rolling the die again, the purple pup’s eyes shrank to pinpricks.  

The unicorn smirked from her seat of power.  “Is that a one?  Poor Princes Radiant Heart and with her fell any hope of stopping the Dark King’s rise.”

“Wait,” Spike called, “I still have my inspiration.  I get to reroll.”  Quickly snagging the die, the little pup gave it a good shake and let it go. Eighteen and with my modifiers that’s twenty-two so there’s no way I’m dropping her.”

Sunset smiled, “Right so you fly through the piercing shadow spikes with the princess secure in your grip.  Landing she begins to cast the ancient spell to drive out the darkness while you place the crystal heart back on its pedestal, doing so just as the spell is completed and a wave of warm light rushes out to encompass all of Spiketopia, driving out the darkness and once again banishing the Shadow King to the abyss.”

“Aww yeah!” Spike gloated as he began to do the cutest victory dance Twilight had ever witnessed.

“Princess Radiant Heart then proclaims you to be the hero of the realm, henceforth to be known as Sir Spike the Brave and Glorious,” Sunset proclaims with mock pomp and finishes with a flourished bow to the new hero.

Staring dumbfounded still at the doorway, Twilight blinked before managing to force the obvious question past her lips.  “What are you two doing?”

“Oh hi, Twilight,” Spike said running up and greeting his mistress in the normal puppy manner.  “I wanted to figure out how I could help you more, so Sunset offered to help me.”

Placing the tray to the side as she joined the pair on the floor, Twilight took up the detailed picture of the dragonborn in armor that had to be Sir Spike.  “So you taught my dog O&O?”

“Well I was curious to what extent the magic had increased his intelligence and since he had expressed interest in helping you more, I figured I could gauge his reading, writing, and basic math skills in a manner I had a hunch he would willingly participate in.”

Twilight took a second to take that in before her expression fell to a pout, “So you were conducting experiments without me?”  Sunset and Spike just chuckled at the scientific girl’s reaction.

“Don’t worry, Twi,” the unicorn said as her horn lit in a soft red glow which then encompassed the tray and levitated it to the ground.  “We have other things to focus on today.” 

Taking a salad, the pony assumed was brought with her in mind, Sunset pushed a sheet of paper toward the glasses-wearing teen.  Glancing at it, Twilight noted it was a print out from her school’s website detailing the school events scheduled for this week.  Highlighted under today’s date showed CPA would be hosting a girls’ soccer match later today against…Canterlot High.

“In a world where magic has begun to fail,” Sunset said, once again adopting her dramatic GM voice, “a small band of warriors stands tall to save a lost unicorn.”

Twilight giggled before lifting her cheeseburger and pulling off a piece for Spike.  “You are such a dork.”

“Yeah, you’re one to talk,” said the unicorn taking a bite of salad.  “Those were your books after all.”

“Well, as I’ve heard, ‘it takes one to know one,’” the nerdy girl jibed taking a messy bite of her burger.  After chewing she continued, “Though I have to say, the important quest item just placed out in the open in a seemingly empty room?  What kind of inexperienced adventurer do you think I am to fall for such an obvious trap?”

“That’s what I said,” agreed Spike hoping to earn himself some more burger.

“Like I said it wasn’t you, it was Arch Mage Sparkling Star,” corrected Sunset with an eye roll.

“Uh-huh,” the teen said mockingly before lifting the detailed drawing of the wizard that had been the game miniature.  It showed a purple-skinned girl in flowing blue wizard’s robes decorated with stars.  Her indigo hair complete with matching magenta streak mirrored the teen’s hair, though this one wore her hair down and seemed to lack the eyewear the scientist sported.  Turning the figure around towards the unicorn, Twilight smiled, “And might I enquire the inspiration behind this character?”

“Umm…I plead the 5th,” said Sunset cramming a large bite of salad into her mouth before looking away.  

Twilight just laughed, believing she had proven her point and sensing the pony didn’t want to continue this topic, so Twilight opted to let the topic drop though part of her was curious why it seemed to bother the pony so much.  “Maybe she just doesn’t like being wrong,” thought the teen a feeling she could understand.  

The pair ate in relative silence as Spike chose to regale Twilight with the daring adventures of Sir Spike.  Finishing their lunch, Twilight rose to leave for class.

“So I’ll see you two after school and we’ll figure out the plan for the soccer game.” 

“Sounds good,” Sunset said offering a weak smile.  Even Twilight and her lack of social skills could tell something was bothering the fiery unicorn, but Sunset obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and given Twilight’s past experiences with the pony’s temper, the teen opted to head to class and hope that Sunset felt better before the soccer game.
> Chapter 19
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The afternoon was dragging slowly.  Twilight had been off attending her classes for over an hour, leaving the two quadrupeds alone in the lab once again.  The time had been spent with both working on their individual projects.  Sunset sat in the desk chair running through the data Twilight had collected and trying her best to convert the information into numbers she could actually use in the formulas she’d learned in CSGU.  

Spike had opted to pour over the O&O sourcebooks seeming intent on creating his own campaign.  Sunset had offered to help, but the pup had wanted to keep it a surprise for when it actually got played.  So aside from the odd disgruntled muttering about not finding vacuum cleaners listed under monsters or weapons, the time was spent in companionable silence.

Unfortunately, this left Sunset ample time to dwell on the worry that had been eating at her since Twilight left.  In all that the unicorn had told the young scientist about her homeworld, the fact that it was a parallel to this one had been left out of the explanation.  At first, it was mostly to simplify things for the teen who was having a hard enough time dealing with magical portals and stray unicorns, the thought of compounding that with pony princess counterparts seemed like it would be a bit more than the human Twilight Sparkle could handle.  

To be fair, she had brought up both Equestrian doubles previously, though she had merely mentioned them as her friends, or ‘the princess’, but that seemed to be enough.  When Twilight had seen the miniature for Spike’s game, she had made the obvious assumption that it was her, not knowing that the ‘adventure’ had been a retelling of a story that dragon Spike had made sure to regale her with at every opportunity upon her moving into the princess’s castle.  The pony could have corrected her, but what did it matter at this point?  It wasn’t as if Sunset had been lying to her.  

That thought made the pony wince.  She may not have had a lot of contact with either Element of Honesty recently, but she knew that you didn’t make friends by lying and even lies of omission were still lies.  And the human Twilight Sparkle was turning out to be a good friend.  Sunset shivered to think of where she’d have ended up if not for the girl’s involvement.  At best stranded in this world in her pony body; at worst whatever magical surge went off in the castle and sent her into the mirror could have stranded her in another world altogether.  Twilight’s research might have saved her from oblivion for all she knew, and despite Sunset’s terrible treatment of the scientist, Twilight had stood by her and promised to help get her back to Equestria.

A warm feeling sprang in the unicorn at the knowledge that she wasn’t alone.  It was a feeling she’d been missing out on for over a year.  While the Equestrian versions of Spike and Twilight had been there for her, Sunset had kept them at a distance.  Now though, their counterparts were reminding her of what it was like to spend time with others and actually enjoy spending time with friends.

But could she really call them friends if she was holding out on them?  Wasn’t the secret of their Equestrian doubles just another means of Sunset keeping others at arm’s length?  Would it really make a difference if Sunset told them now?  Twilight had more or less come to terms with the magical other world.  Would knowledge of Sunset’s other friend being the teen's pony princess double be too much for the human girl the unicorn had become attached to?  Would Twilight hate her for keeping that information from her for so long?  Would Twilight reject her and kick her out just like everyone else.

The fiery unicorn was shaken from her spiraling thoughts by the sound of a key in the lock.  If the bells were anything to go by, the current class hadn’t started that long ago, and Twilight Sparkle did not seem like the type to be skipping.  Spike too seemed to be concerned as the hackles on the puppy rose and he started to emanate a low growl.  Sunset shushed him, gaining his attention, and shook her head motioning in the direction of the cot.  He caught on and moved to hide.  Sunset hurried to lock the computer as the door opened revealing not the teen girl that Sunset had gotten used to, but a familiar face nonetheless.

Sunset quickly jumped from the chair and slid under the cot just as Indigo Zap entered the room.  Sunset remembered the girl from the hallway encounter last week.  During their sleepover, Twilight had explained how the group of five were the top students in the school, outside of herself.  Since they couldn’t beat her academically they instead took particular glee in belittling her socially.  

Indigo Zap in particular seemed to take exception to Twilight’s status.  She was captain of numerous sports teams as well as a top student, and her dominant personality didn’t appreciate coming in behind someone like Twilight Sparkle.  While the other members of the clique were content to bully the bookworm through insults and subtle shoves, Indigo would be the one to take it further, destroying her belongings, shoving her in lockers, even hitting the nerdy girl on occasion though she was careful not to do it where it would leave a mark that might be used as evidence.

Sunset and Spike watched as she carefully closed the door behind herself before taking a look around and smirking.  Spike immediately moved to chase her out, but Sunset held him back silently mouthing, “Not yet.”  Spike nodded though clearly not liking this.  He kept his eyes trained on the intruder in his person’s lab and couldn’t help but bear his teeth at the bully as a snarl formed on his muzzle. 

Indigo pulled out her phone and began taking pictures of the room before moving on to the conspiracy board mounted on the wall containing all the research Twilight had charted on magical phenomena around Canterlot, particularly CHS.  

Indigo scoffed as she noted the rival school, “What are you up to, nerd?  Think you can run off to be with the other losers?”  

Once she was done, the jock moved over to the computer.  Sunset breathed a sigh of relief knowing she had locked the computer.  Indigo plopped down in Twilight’s desk chair and fiddled with a mouse causing the password screen to appear.  Surprisingly, this didn’t seem to deter the athlete as she inserted a thumb drive into the USB port.

“This better work,” she muttered, “or Sugarcoat will have to learn to code with one hand.”

After a few seconds of whirring and blinking the lock screen disappeared revealing Twilight’s desktop and all of the documents Sunset had just been pouring over.

“Oh no,” the unicorn breathed, her eyes widening in fear.  Unfortunately, Indigo’s hearing was sharp enough to catch it.  

“What was that?” she said, surprised to not be alone.  Turning toward the source of the noise, her eyes narrowed on the cot.  Rising and stalking toward the hiding spot, she called menacingly, “Is that you hiding under the bed, Dorkle?”

Spike had gathered from all the secrets that no one was supposed to see Sunset and though his feelings on the unicorn’s presence might still be undecided, he knew he had to help her for the sake of Twilight.  Before Sunset could react, he dove out from under the bed and clamped down hard on the sports star’s ankle just as she moved to bend down and search under the bed.   

Yelping in pain, Indigo jerked backward, taking the little dog along for the ride.  Her athleticism paid off as she managed to not fall as she leaped backward with one leg still encased in the jaws of the purple menace.  Giving a hard kick worthy of the soccer captain she was, Indigo managed to dislodge Spike’s teeth, though they took a fair amount of skin with him as he flew across the room.  Sunset only just managed to slow him down as he connected against the wall, preventing him from suffering more than a bruise from the impact.  

Gripping her injured ankle, the goggle-wearing girl glared at her dazed attacker.  “Right, I forgot about the nerd’s mutt,” she growled.  “Well, pooch, you’re going to pay for that.  Let me show you who’s top dog around here.”  Indigo began to stalk toward the downed dog, a murderous glint in her eyes.  Not wanting to see more harm come to the puppy who had protected her, Sunset threw caution to the wind and began to cast a spell.  

As she approached the dog, Indigo froze as Spike was suddenly enveloped in a warm red hue.  The light intensified, blinding the athlete for a moment.  When the spots cleared from her eyes, where the small puppy had once been, stood instead a hulking beast.  He stood on all fours though his back legs appeared to have him standing on tiptoe while his forelegs appeared to be exceedingly muscular arms making the once little dog now struggle to keep from bumping his head on the ceiling.  

A smile spread across his face revealing a set of large teeth.  Extending a large front paw, that now more closely resembled a hand, Spike reached for the dumbstruck girl.  Indigo tried to force her frozen legs to get out of the way but only caused herself to fall backward, giving the new diamond dog a chance to take hold of her.  Lifting her up to eye level, the monstrous purple giant glared at her with narrowed yellow eyes.

“Leave Twilight alone,” the beast said in a low guttural growl.  “I don’t want to hear about you picking on her ever again or I will find you and I won’t be happy.  Got it.”  The athlete could only manage a whimper in response but opted to nod profusely.  Spike lowered her back to the ground.  “Good.  Now…Get Out,” he growled.  The sports star probably would have set some new school records for if anyone had been around to witness her dash from the lab, though she was probably glad no one was around to see the trail she left behind.

Shutting the door, the red glow once again enveloped the room, revealing the once again tiny puppy giving a sniff at a puddle left on the floor.  Spotting this, the unicorn gave another flash of her horn to make the mess disappear.  

“Spoilsport,” called the dog.  

“That’s just gross,” Sunset said, “besides, Twilight would probably blame you.”

“Yeah,” agreed Spike before smirking, “though I can’t wait to tell her about getting back at Indigo for her.”

“About that,” started the unicorn, “maybe it would be better if we didn’t tell her.”

“Why wouldn’t we tell her Indigo was snooping through her stuff?”

Sunset shook her head, “No, that part we’ll have to let her know about.  Just the part about scaring off Indigo.  Maybe it’s better if we don’t share all the details.”

“Why?” asked the puppy with a confused head tilt.

“I just don’t want her to worry,” said Sunset.  “I know how Indigo makes her feel, and with everything that’s been happening lately, Twilight’s been under a lot of pressure.  I don’t want me using magic or you scaring the pee out of Indigo to be another thing for her to stress out about.”

“Yeah that’s true,” agreed the dog. 

“Think about it this way,” said the pony, “after the scare you just gave her, Indigo’s not going to be messing with Twilight any time soon, so that’s even less stress.  And it’s not like Indigo could tell someone about Twilight’s giant talking dog.  They’d laugh her out of the building.”

Spike chuckled at that.  “I guess you’re right.”

“I am.  Trust me,” the unicorn said hopping up on the cot and flopping down unceremoniously.  “Now I’m going to take a quick nap before Twilight gets out of class and it’s time to head to the soccer game.  That illusion spell drained me a bit.  Mind keeping an ear out for any more trouble?”

“No problem,” the puppy said with a mock salute.  Then in a quieter, more serious voice added, “And, Sunset…thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Spike.”  Sunset smiled before drifting off.
> Chapter 20
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Spike!” Twilight chastised, “You know you’re not supposed to bite people.  I thought I’d taught you better than that.”

Sunset and Spike had just finished telling Twilight about the excitement they’d had while she had been attending class.  They had left out the part about using magic and left it at Spike attacking Indigo and making her run out of the lab.  

“Hey, go easy on him,” Sunset intervened, “he was just doing it to protect us.  If he hadn’t stepped in, Indigo would have seen me and gotten a hold of your magic research.”

“Yeah,” smiled the dog, “Sir Spike saves the day once again; defeating bad guys and saving damsels in distress.”  Sunset rolled her eyes at being categorized as a damsel in distress but ultimately held her tongue in favor of letting the little dog have his moment.

“That’s not-” Twilight started to argue about the use of the term 'magic' again but was tired of arguing terminology with the unicorn.  “He still shouldn’t have bitten her,” the girl said, her anger turning to worry.  “What if Indigo reports him to Principal Cinch.”

“Don’t worry you said the school okayed you having Spike here, right?”

“Yeah, I have him listed as the subject of one of my experiments for one of my many grant applications.  Given my past successes, they kind of just rubber-stamp those things for me, but it meant I got to have a friend with me at school so stretching the boundaries of the rules was worth it.”  The scientist reached over and scratched her "test subject" behind the ears.

“Well that’s it then,” reassured the pony.  “The only way Indigo can say Spike attacked her would be to admit that she broke into your lab.  A lab that was given to you to advance your research and the prestige of the school.  Something Indigo might have jeopardized by messing up potentially dangerous and time-consuming research projects by breaking in and tampering with your equipment.”  

A smile grew on Twilight’s face realizing the logic of Sunset’s argument.  “She won’t say anything or it would just get her into trouble as well.”

“Exactly, so stop worrying about it when we have a soccer game to get ready for.”  Twilight nodded and stood to retrieve her pendant, much to the dismay of Spike who had been thoroughly enjoying the attention.  

“Alright,” Twilight sighed thinking over their plan, “And you’re sure we have to sneak into the locker room?  Wouldn’t it be easier if we just siphoned the energy from the bleachers?  There is a clear line of sight from them to the team benches.”

“It may be safer,” agreed the pony, “but I doubt Rainbow Dash will be spending a lot of time on the bench.” Sunset smiled before continuing, “Besides, even if we were able to collect her energy while she was playing, all the previous attempts at magic collection have left the person drained and lethargic.”  The unicorn frowned, “One time during freshman year Rainbow went down during a game trying to go for the ball.  Another player came in after, she didn't want to step on her so she tried to jump over Rainbow but didn’t manage to clear her.  Dash took a knee right to the face, broke her nose, and left her with a  nasty concussion.”  

Twilight looked at the unicorn as a myriad of emotions played across her face, making the teen wonder if there was more to the past injury than the pony was letting on.  Finally, Sunset seemed to have fought back the roiling emotions over the memory and continued, “I-I just don’t want to see her hurt again.  Especially not because of something I did.”  Not knowing how to respond to that the scientist just nodded and the pair headed out for the locker rooms.


***


Indigo Zap stood in the dimly lit principal’s office fidgeting uncomfortably.  Not that she was a stranger to being in the administrator’s office, but she was usually being praised for her sports skills not being dressed down by an irate educator.

“So, you broke into Miss Sparkle’s private laboratory, where you...tripped," Cinch raised a questioning eyebrow at the goggle-wearing athlete before her tone took on a sterner edge, "potentially damaging any number of sensitive school funded projects that girl is running.” Principal Cinch leveled a stare at the athlete over her steepled fingers, “and you don’t even have the information I told you to gather to show for it.”

“Principal Cinch, it’s not my fault.  Her dog…”

“Yes, so you said.  ‘A... ferocious monster’ that attacked you.”  Cinch lowered her arms, crossing them on her desk before her.  “Miss Zap, I am aware of Miss Sparkle’s puppy, and while I dislike the creature it is hardly what I would consider vicious.”

“But-”

“No more excuses, Miss Zap.  I tolerate your behavior because you are useful to me.  Should that no longer prove to be the case, perhaps it is time Dean Cadance is made aware of your actions against Miss Sparkle.  I’m sure she’d be upset to learn of your treatment of her future sister-in-law.”

Indigo blanched at the threat.  Dean Cadance was typically considered the nicer of the two administrators, but Indigo had learned previously that was not the case when it came to offenses against the teen scientist.  Finding out that they were practically family explained the look of rage that the athlete had seen when she received her punishment from the normally friendly woman.  Indigo had learned that day not to do anything to the nerd in sight of Dean Cadance.  Twilight herself never reported Indigo, the athlete had made sure of that.  But Principal Cinch knew everything that went on in the school, the better to provide leverage to ensure that the students did what she wanted.

“No.  Um, that won’t be necessary.”

“Twilight Sparkle is the most brilliant student we’ve had at Crystal Prep.  Her name as an alumnus will help to enhance the already impressive reputation I have striven achieve for this school.  I will not lose her to Everton.  Now tell me why you couldn’t take care of her application experiment.”

“I’m sorry, I-I can go back and try again, and it wasn't like I got nothing though,” Indigo started, pulling out the phone from her pocket.  “I managed to get a few pictures of her work just not the computer stuff.”  Setting the phone on the desk, only earned a look of contempt from the Principal.  “Look if I’d know you were after her little glowy thing, I would have snatched it the other day.  It’s smashed though so I doubt Sparkle will be able to use it for anything, not after the fireworks that thing caused last Friday.”

“Fireworks?” the principal questioned, earning the athlete the barest of consideration.

“Um, yeah, after her project-thingy got smashed, and it started shooting off some kind of light show.”  The athlete paused remembering the details.  “You mean that sub lady never told you about it?”

“What sub?” the principal asked, leveling a glare at the athlete.  Cinch prided herself on knowing everything that went on in her school so insinuating that there was something that she was unaware of meant either lies from the student in front of her or insubordination from the faculty.

“We were um...chatting in the hall after school, making sure Sparkle understood just how important the Friendship Games are for the school and everything when we were approached by some lady I’d never seen before.  She sent us off and was with Sparkle after her doo-hickey went nuts.  Figured she must have been a sub since I haven’t seen her around school before.  Some lady with rainbow hair.”

“Rainbow hair…” the principal’s reply died in her throat as she saw the picture on the phone that was open in front of her.  A bulletin board centered around a building she’d made numerous visits to in recent months to prepare for the upcoming Games.  

Indigo, however, did not seem to notice Cinch’s lack of attention.  “Well not like a rainbow-rainbow, more like a pastel rainbow or something, and she was tall...like super tall.  Like I would not want to play against her in a basketball game...”

“That is enough, Miss Zap,” Cinch cut in, rage being barely contained behind her mask of professionalism.  Closing her eyes a moment, the principal took a moment to calm herself before once again fixing the sports captain with a withering gaze.  “Now, I believe you have a game to prepare for do you not?”

“Uh, yes, ma’am.”

“Good.  I suggest you get going.  This is a big match after all.  Facing Canterlot High on the eve of the Friendship Games.  Make sure you remind them of their place.  We wouldn’t want them going into the Games with any sense of false hope.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Indigo replied quickly heading for the door but was stopped by the cold voice of the principal.

“Oh and, Miss Zap, don’t disappoint me again.  “If you can’t succeed in anything you were brought to this school for, then perhaps those scholarships should go to someone more capable.”

“I-I understand,” the goggle-wearing teen said, biting back her anger.  “This is all Dorkle’s fault,” she thought as she stormed off toward the locker room, her menacing presence causing several people to jump quickly out of her path.  

This was supposed to be her year.  Being named captain of Crystal Prep's Friendship Games team was supposed to be hers, something even her saintly sister, Supernova, hadn't accomplished in her tenure at the school.  Something that might finally have her parents saying something great about her.  It wasn't good enough that she was the captain of three sports teams and in the top percentile academically.  No, not in her family.  Leading the team to another state championship was nothing when your sister was signing recording deals and making platinum albums.  But everyone at Crystal Prep, past and present, knew what an honor it was to be made captain of the Friendship Games.  Crystal Prep only accepted the best into its school and being made captain meant that she was the best of the best.  It was supposed to be hers but instead, Cinch gave it to her little pet Sparkle.  

A low growl issued from the athlete's throat as she stormed into the locker room.  “I’ll make that nerd pay for taking what was mine.”


***
	

Watching the athlete go, Cinch flicked on her computer and navigated over to bring up the security feeds for the school.  Having a reputation for being the best of the best extended to campus security, and the fact that Cinch could utilize it to keep tabs on her students was simply an added bonus.

Pulling up the footage from last Friday, Principal Cinch fast-forwarded through the various feeds until she located Indigo Zap and her friends.  It was clear from the video, as Zap punched the locker inches from Twilight Sparkle’s head, that the girl was more than just talking to the young genius about the Friendship Games.  Cinch frowned at being lied to, but as Indigo had not actually harmed the girl, perhaps it would serve as the proper incentive for the girl.  Despite all Cinch had done, it was clear that Twilight was less than motivated about participating.  

Then she saw it.  Just as Indigo said, a woman appeared on her screen.  Though the cameras were only displaying a black and white image, Cinch knew he hair to be an aurora hued rainbow.  

“Celestia,” Cinch growled out at the face adorning the monitor.  

“What was she doing at my school?” Cinch thought.  “We didn’t have any meetings scheduled that day.”  

In fact, most of their business had been done over the phone as the other woman always seemed to be busy.  Some sort of scandal that had hit the school around Christmas and Canterlot High was still dealing with the fallout.  Another embarrassment for CHS after the explosion at the beginning of the year and whatever fiasco their so-called "Battle of the Bands" devolved into.

But then what was Celestia doing with at Crystal Prep, and withTwilight Sparkle no less.  Clearly, she would need more information and it was obvious that Indigo Zap could not be trusted to procure it for her.  Somethings she just had to handle herself.  With a sigh, Cinch closed the feed and pulled up the records for Twilight Sparkle and began sifting through the various academic achievements as well as the numerous grant proposals for her research.  

Opening her computer she used her administrator access to log into Twilight's files.  It would have been better if Indigo had done her job and gotten the files and wiped the computer as instructed.  But apparently, even that was beyond the school brute, a true feat as she had only been required to run the already created program off a thumb drive.  A necessary go-between when the goal was simply destruction.  A degree of separation was always better and should suspicion ever arise, Cinch had the perfect scapegoat.  Now though, the goal was information.  What was Twilight up to, and what did it have to do with Celestia?

Skimming through the most recent files, Principal Cinch soon came to what she was looking for.  Graphs and data all centered around one location...Canterlot High.  Reading through Twilight's initial analysis if something she dubbed "mystery energy" Cinch's eyes bulged.  If these calculations were right, the amount of power being generated at that school could change the face of energy consumption for the world. 

This couldn't happen.  The technical revolution of the century would not be the product of Canterlot High.  Abacus Cinch would be damned if she let Celestia poach her best student and this breakthrough from her.  If Twilight Sparkle thought she could leave Crystal Prep that easily, clearly she was not the genius Cinch thought her to be.  Skimming over the files and applications, her eyes fell on one in particular that made her pause.  

Yes, this was just the leverage she would need, but Cinch wasn’t one to put all her eggs in one basket.  She didn't get where she was by not having options to fall back in.  While this should serve to deter whatever plans Twilight Sparkle may have about transferring be it to Everton or...ugh...Canterlot High, Cinch would be sure that Celestia didn't have the chance to announce this revolution even without Miss Sparkle.

Pressing the intercom button on her desk, she heard Cadance’s voice.  “Yes, Principal Cinch?”

“Dean Cadance, please locate Miss Sour Sweet and have her report to my office as soon as possible.  Tell her I have a new project for her.”

“Yes, Ms. Cinch,” came the voice of the dean.

“Oh and Miss Cadance,” said the principal, “this is a matter of importance.  See to it that she is excused from her classes and provided with whatever materials or assistance she requires.” 

Glancing down at the blueprints on her desk resembling a large compact with a display screen, Cinch smiled.
> Chapter 21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash sat on the locker room bench quietly gathering her thoughts before the big game.  It was something others might not expect from the brash girl, but as captain of the Wondercolts who were about to go up against their biggest rival right before facing them in the Friendship Games, she needed the moment to compose herself.  

The coach had just headed out for the field and left her to psych up the team before leading them out.  It was a job she usually loved, but ever since the incident at the portal last week, her mind had been even more stuck on the events of December and it was making it hard formulating the words she would need to motivate the team.  Finally Rainbow resolved to just go with her gut as she usually did and hope that it worked out better than it had with Anon-A-Miss.

“All right, ladies, listen up,” the rainbow-haired captain said as she rose from her seat.  “We all know why we’re here.  Our big match against our rival on the eve of Friendship games.  A chance to show these rich snobs what CHS is made of. 
Now I know what some of you are thinking.  How do we expect to beat Crystal Prep?  This fancy-schmancy school recruits the best of the best and drops tons of money on coaches and equipment.  There’s no way we can compete with that...And you’re right.  In all this time CHS has never beaten Crystal Prep.  Not even once.


***


“This is supposed to be motivational?”  Twilight Sparkle whispered to the diminutive pony in her bag.  The two had snuck into the spacious visitor locker room prior to Canterlot High’s arrival and hidden in a row of lockers on the other side of where the benches and whiteboards were set up for the visiting team to use.  Sunset wasn’t sure that they’d fit in such a narrow space, but Twilight was disturbingly confident when she assured the unicorn that the lockers were actually a lot bigger than they appeared.  The unicorn stored that information away to question the girl about at a later time.

“Just wait for it,” assured Sunset with a knowing smirk as the two quietly approached the edge of the row of lockers, getting as close as they dared to the CHS team.  “If there’s one thing Dash is good at, it’s putting on a show.  


***


Rainbow Dash stood before her team, head bowed, but not in resignation of an impending defeat.  No, she was staring at the crudely drawn sun that adorned her soccer cleats along with the red and gold strings tied around the laces.  Conference uniform rules sadly prevented doing more, but it was enough to remind the prismatic captain why she was here.

“But that was before.  Before actual magic came to our school and threatened to destroy it.  Was it Crystal Prep that faced down a fiery demon?  No.”  As her emotions began to build and lend fire to her speech, Rainbow began to emanate an azure aura that mirrored her feelings.  It flickered a bit at the memory of said demon but knew she had to continue on if she was going to motivate her team.

  “Was it Crystal Prep that stopped a bunch of creepy fish monsters from taking over the world?”

“No.”  This time it was stated by several of her teammates.

 “No,” Rainbow agreed, “it was CHS.  CHS that discovered the Magic of Friendship and used it to kick evil butt.”  The glow around the soccer captain seemed to have stabilized and as her hair seemed to lengthen, a pair of pony ears and a set of wings tried to form on her back as the magic made her float a bit into the air.  

“Now it may be a lesson we haven’t always been good at remembering.” The athlete found herself thinking back to the fight with the sirens and being locked under the stage where Sunset had seen them at their worst and was able to bring them back from the brink and remind them of the true source of their magic.  Then she remembered the Anon-A-Miss incident and believing that that same girl would have done something to ruin the friendships she fought so hard to protect.  Fighting to finish her speech for her team, Rainbow plowed on, “ But that doesn’t matter now.  A friend once told me that, ‘The past is not today.’  It’s not about what we did then, it's about what we do here, today, that defines us.  I’m here to remind you now that together we are Wondercolts and we’ll always be Wondercolts no matter where life takes us, we'll always be united by that bond of friendship and that’s something that Crystal Prep can’t buy with all their fancy money.  So let’s go out there and show them what it means to be a Canterlot Wondercolt!”

 The team cheered, banging lockers and yelling as they stormed out to take the field for the grudge match with their rivals.  Rainbow Dash hovered in the air a few more seconds as her last teammate left the room and gave an exhausted sigh as the magic gave out and she fell roughly back to the ground.  She’d held on to the magic as long as she could and, thinking of Sunset during the speech, not what they had done to her in chasing her off, but of the good times had seemed to make the magic flow more easily.  But in the end, it didn’t last.  

Rainbow was used to the feeling.  Every time they came close to actually ponying-up all the way, something would happen and the feeling would slip away.  During the speech and it was a struggle to hold onto the feeling as long as she did.  It wouldn’t be very cool if the captain collapsed in front of the team so she held out but now she was feeling the drain as she collapsed onto the bench tired from the magical effort, and unaware that she was not the only one dealing with problems caused by her magic.


***


Sunset could feel the magic in the room as the prismatic athlete began her speech.  The two had snuck out of the locker and crept as close as they dared to where the CHS team was gathered for their team meeting.  The scientist and unicorn watched the readings the device took as the magic was absorbed.

“See, what did I tell you,” Sunset gloated seeing the impressive numbers for Rainbow’s magical output, “Dash plus an audience equals instant magic.”

“Shh,” chastised the nervous teen.  “I don’t want to get caught in here.  Who knows what they’d do if they thought I was some sort of Crystal Prep spy trying to steal information on their game strategy or something.”

“Psh, you worry too much, Twilight,” waved off the pony.  “First of all, believe me when I say Rainbow Dash is good at keeping people's attention even when she isn’t glowing with wings so no one is going to notice us over here.  And second, even if they catch you, it’s not like they’re going to beat you up or any…”  The words died in her throat as she remembered her last day at CHS.  “Well, they wouldn’t beat you up.”

As the speech continued the readings continued to flood in.  Dash’s magical output was far more than either of them had anticipated and was quickly filling the device.  Too quickly actually.  

“Wow, if Rainbow keeps this up we might not even have to find the other girls,” Sunset said, scanning the data.  She hadn’t really been paying attention to what the soccer captain was saying at this point until a familiar phrase caught her attention.

“A friend once told me that, ‘The past is not today’.”

“Wait,” Sunset said, snapped out of her own thoughts, “what did she just say?”  It couldn’t have been what she thought she heard.  Could it?  "Friend?"

“I’m not sure,” Twilight said, her focus clearly on the magic siphoning device in her hand.  “Sunset, take a look at these readings, I don’t like the looks of this.  I’m afraid they might-”

But fear was all too soon realized as magical sparks began to shoot out from the device.  Panic set in and amethyst eyes widened behind thick frames as one of the sparks began to grow and a portal opened and a tentacle-like vine began to emerge.  

“Sunset what do we do?  Oh no, not again.”


***


Rainbow Dash had barely begun to catch her breath when something caught her attention.  “Sunset?”  It wasn’t just the word she heard, it was the voice she was sure had spoken it.  A voice she hadn’t heard since the Battle of the Bands.  Rising on still wobbly legs after depowering, Rainbow made her way as quickly as she could down the row of lockers, and was baffled by what she found.  Standing in her path was some sort of glowing hole in space that seemed to be shooting off a bunch of pinky-purple- or whatever made-up name Rarity would assign it- colored sparks.  

Rainbow might not have been some pony princess, but she knew magic when she saw it, and this was most definitely magic.  But, more importantly, someone was in trouble.  Someone who sounded a lot like Princess Twilight.

“Hey, are you okay over there,” Dash called as she tried to figure out a way around.  She may not have been an honor student, but she was smart enough to not want to mess with anything that was sparking like this thing was.

“It’s got me,” Dash heard the voice say, though it didn’t seem to be directed at her.  A moment later she was proven correct as she heard another voice. 

“Don’t worry, Twi, I’ve got you.  Just get the pendant closed.”  It was a voice Rainbow Dash had been missing for three months that she heard answering back.  It was her!  It had to be.  Rainbow had stood next to her in enough band practices and spent enough time riffing with her to recognize that voice.  

Sunset Shimmer was back.  She was back and in trouble.  As crappy as she was feeling right now after her little pep talk, there was no way in Hell she was going to let Sunset down.  Not again.  Rainbow could feel the magic begin to build around her once again, but just as quickly it was pulled away from her and toward the other side of the portal.

“Oh no, the magic is spiking again,” I can’t get it closed,” Dash heard Twilight’s voice say.

“You can do this, Twilight, I know you can,” Sunset’s voice said, “You’re stronger than you think.

As the rest of the magic faded from her and the portal blocking her path faded, Rainbow Dash found herself once again slumped down, though this time without the bench, she found herself collapsed on the floor breathing hard.

“Are you al-” Dash heard Twilight’s voice start though it seemed muffled and far away.

“Hey, Cap,” another voice called from the door to the field, “you okay in here?”

Finally managing to lift herself up enough, Rainbow watched as a familiar purple-skinned girl fled in the other direction out the door toward the school.  Exhausted as she felt, it took a few minutes to realize the girl was not in her usual outfit of light blue shirt and purple skirt but instead was wearing the all too familiar uniform of a Crystal Prep student.     

“You’re missing warmups so Coach sent me to-  Whoa, Cap, what’re you doing on the floor?”

“I’m fine, Misty,” Rainbow assured her teammate as Misty helped her captain up.”

“What happened?  Was it one of those Crystal Prep snobs?  It’d be just like them to try and pull something like this before the game.  Let’s go tell Coach-”

“No!  No, it’s okay.  I’ll be fine.  Besides if we tell Coach you found me on the floor in the locker room, she’d probably make me sit the game out, and there is no way I'm going to let that happen.” Rainbow said with a smirk trying to hide the emotions roiling insider her.

“Okay, whatever you say, Cap, just be careful alright.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Misty.  I’ve got my eye out for Crystal Preppers now.”
> Chapter 22
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Listen, sugarcube, I know you’re upset about the game yesterday-” 

“Don’t ‘sugarcube’ me, AJ,” Rainbow shot back, rising from her seat to glare down at the country girl from across the table the Rainbooms were meeting at. “I know what I saw.”

The outburst drew a warning glance from Mrs. Cake as she bustled about Sugarcube Corner tidying up after the other patrons.  Though the shop had seen a decrease in customers since the truth about Anon-A-Miss had come out with students either being punished for participating or still keeping a low profile following the release of their own secrets.  Needless to say, the loss of business and the sullen moods of her clientele left the previously welcoming shop owner more on edge than before.

“Would you two kindly sit down and lower your voices, unless you want to be thrown out of here,” Rarity hissed at the bickering pair.  Casting a wary eye to the other patrons, the observant teen had been the only one to catch the glares from Mrs. Cake as their meeting devolved into a shouting match, as the others were too wrapped up in the argument or, in the case of Fluttershy, cowering under the table.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash both relented in taking their seats but continued their heated staredown.

“I’m telling you, she was there,” Rainbow continued equally as adamant as before though with a decrease in volume.  

“Rainbow,” came the hesitant voice of Fluttershy as she slid back up into her seat, “It’s been months since…”  A choked sob escaped her making her unable to continue, though the others already knew.

Embracing the animal lover in a side-hug, Rarity continued the thought Fluttershy had been unable to voice.  “It' has been months since Sunset left, darling, months since we abandoned her, and Gilda and her goons made it clear what kind of treatment she would receive if she stayed at CHS.”  Tears started down at the memory, streaking her porcelain cheeks in a river of mascara.  

“Sunset’s gone, sugarcube, because of us,” Applejack stated seriously though the quaver in her voice hinted at the difficulty of this truth.  “She left and the magic left with her.  The portal and the book haven’t given us any response in months of trying, and frankly, Ah can’t blame them.  After what happened, I wouldn’t want ta talk ta us either.  So tell me, Dash, why, after all this time of ignoring our messages and apologies, would Princess Twilight finally turn up?  Not to yell at us, mind, or tell us off, or give us a speech about what friendship is supposed to be, but to go to your soccer game across town?”

“I don’t know, okay, but I’m telling you she was there!”  Rainbow began to rise from her chair again as her tone intensified only to be dragged back down by an eerily sober faced Pinkie Pie.

“Dashie, I don’t think you actually saw the princess…” Pinkie began only to be cut off by the athlete.

“I’m telling you it was her.”

“How do you know it wasn’t…:”

“Pinkie, if it wasn’t her then why would she have been talking about magic?”

“Magic? “ Rarity said, hope seeming to spark in her sapphire eyes.  “Really are you sure that’s what she said, darling?”

“I’m positive, and that’s not all.  I’m pretty sure I heard her talking to someone and…”  

“And what, Dash?” prompted the farmer.

“And I swear it was Sunset’s voice.”

The Rainbooms sat around their table at Sugar Cube Corner in stunned silence, trying to take in what Rainbow Dash had just told them.

“Daring, if this is true-” Rarity began	

“It is,” Rainbow insisted.  “She sucked the magic right out of me and then left.  I would have gone after her but my legs were still shaking.”

“But why would Princess Twilight be stealing magic?” Fluttershy asked.  “She might be mad at us, but I can’t imagine she’d do it to hurt you.”

“Not ta mention, what’s she doin’ at our rival school that’s plum across town?” put in Applejack.  

“And in a Crystal Prep uniform no less.  I mean yes the color pallet would compliment her hair color and skin tone, but really plaid.  It’s just so...so 90s.”

“Yeah, Rares, Ah doubt she’s there cause she likes the outfits,” retorted the cowgirl with an eye roll.

“Then why do you think she was there, Applejack?” huffed the fashionist.

“Ah don’t know.  Ah mean Crystal Prep is a private school so they have all sorts of things we don’t have here at CHS not ta mention they beat us at dang near everything-”

“Even friendship?”  The voice was small and quiet and could almost have been mistaken from Fluttershy’s except it came from the other side of the table.  Pinkie's blue eyes looked up from staring at the table and met her friends’.  “Do you think she’s trying to replace us?”

“Pinkie dear,” Rarity soothed, reaching across to the former party planner only to be cut off by Pinkie.

“No, Applejack’s right.  Crystal Prep is better than us at everything else, why not magic, too.  After what we did, it would be hard to be worse friends than us.”

“You think she’s taking our magic, so she can give it to people at Crystal Prep?” Rainbow said in shock.

“You said it yourself, Dashie,” Pinkie said.  “The magic got sucked out of you and was drawn to Twilight.  Twilight in a Crystal Prep uniform.”

“No, that can’t be right,” Dash began but then stopped, “Can it?”

“Well, sugarcube,” Applejack started, trying to piece things together, “have ya managed any sort of ponying up since the incident in the locker room?”

“Well, no, but that doesn’t mean anything.  I used a lot of magic right beforehand so I might just have worn myself out, not to mention we’ve all been having troubles with magic since...you know.”

“Actually,” said Rarity seeming to recall something, “now that you mention it, I haven’t been able to pony-up to any degree recently either.”

“You saw Twilight too?” asked Fluttershy.

“Well, no, not exactly,” began the fashionista, “at least, I’m not sure.  There was an incident at the store over the weekend.  I was talking to a customer about wedding dresses when she asked me about some of the ensembles I had prepared for the upcoming Friendship Games.”

“Ensembles?” cut in the farmgirl. “As in more than one for a competition we don’t even know the events for?”

“Oh really, darling, you say it as if I’d let a little detail like that get in the way of making sure we look fabulous for the Games.”

“Gettng back to the point,” Rainbow cut in, not wanting the conversation to devolve into fashion talk or another argument between the pair over fashion.

“Right,” Rarity said, “the point is that I, too, had a moment when I felt like I was on the verge of actually ponying up but then I lost it.  Not just like before, but like you described, where I was feeling weak and drained.  I haven’t managed even a flicker of magic since even as I was finishing up the line for the Friendship Games.”

“Line? Now there’s a whole Friendship Games line of clothes?” started Applejack.  “Is it possible, that ya just overworked yourself which is why ya were all tired?”

Before the designer could respond, however, it was Fluttershy that piped up.  “Um actually, I think the same thing happened to me too.”

“What? When?” cut in Dash, obviously protective of her oldest friend.

“Last Friday at the shelter,” the shy girl replied.  “I was in the middle of storytime for the animals when I started to pony up, but then it started to slip away.  I thought it was just because I had remembered…”  The whole table nodded in understanding.  “But hearing your stories, it was the same thing.  I got all weak and tired afterward.  If I hadn’t been, I might have gone after the girl-”

“Girl, what girl, darling?”

“Um, at least I think it was a girl.  She was wearing a hoodie so I wasn’t sure.  She seemed nervous, but that’s understandable, I mean I’d be worried too if one of my animals was sick.  That’s why I didn’t even stop her when she left with one of the crates from the shelter.”

“Whoa,” cut in Rainbow, indignant at the comment, “You mean she stole from the shelter?”

“Well, no,” replied Fluttershy.  “I mean it was returned over the weekend.”

“Was it Twilight?” asked Applejack.

“No.  Dr. Fauna said it was some lady with pink skin and tri-colored hair.”

Rarity gasped.  “That sounds like the woman I saw as well.  She said she worked at Crystal Prep.”  The table went silent at the comment.  Each of the Rainbooms staring at each other trying to figure out what it could all mean.  Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence.

“There’s no way this is all a coincidence.  Twilight’s taking our magic and teaming up with Crystal Prep.”

“I can’t say I disagree, darling, and not to put too fine a point on it, but what are we supposed to do about it?”

“What are we supposed to do?” Rainbow barked.

“Rare’s is right, sugarcube.  Princess Twilight gave us the magic so it seems ta me like she’s got the right to take it back if she needs ta.”

“Come on, AJ, you can’t be serious,” Rainbow balked.

“Dashie, Twilight gave us the magic because we were supposed to be the bestest at friendship, but we proved that wasn’t true when we fell for Anon-A-Miss.  If Twilight thinks our magic can do more good at Crystal Prep, if they can make others happy, maybe they should have it.”

“Especially if you said Sunset was there too,” added Fluttershy’s small voice.  “She deserves to find friends that will care about her.”

Rainbow just growled.  “No.  No, this can’t be it.  I will not let it end like this.”

“Well what do ya suggest, Dash?” asked Applejack.  

Rainbow paused, not sure what she was suggesting, but she’d be damned if she’d go down to Crystal Prep without even a fight.  She’d lost the soccer match, but she wouldn’t lose this.  This was too important especially if it meant the chance to see Sunset again and apologize to her for being such a lousy friend.  Then it hit her.

“That’s it!”

“What’s it, darling?”

“Look,” said Rainbow, “if we’re right, Twilight’s taking our powers, but she’s only got mine, yours, and Shy’s, which means she still has to get AJ’s and Pinkie’s right.”

“I suppose,” agreed the farmer cautiously.  Dash wasn’t known for her big ideas unless they involved pranks so Applejack remained wary.

“And if she’s hanging out at Crystal Prep, then the next time we’d likely see her is…” 

“The Friendship Games,” Rarity said finishing the sentence.

“So all we have to do,” continued Rainbow, “is win the Friendship Games.”

“Dashie, I don’t know-”

“No think about it, Pinkie, if we win we can show we’re better than Crystal Prep and maybe we can convince Twilight to give us another chance.  We can show her that we learned our lesson after Anon-A-Miss, and maybe she can tell Sunset we’re sorry.”

“Ah don’t-”

“What do we have to lose, AJ?  Huh?  Because where I’m sitting we’ve already lost too much, and I sure as hell am not going to give up on the possibility of making things right.  I don’t care how slim our chances are, if this is the only way we might have a chance to show Sunset how sorry we are for everything, you damn well better believe that I will fight tooth and nail to win.’

The farmer watched her impassioned friend and noted sadly that despite the unabashed loyalty on display right now by the athlete, that there was not even a flicker of azure glow around her.

“All right Ah’m in,” said the farmer.  “I don’t know if this scheme o’ yours will work but it’s not like we weren’t gonna try and beat those fancy prep school kids, and now we just have even more reason ta win.”

“Me too,” chimed in Rarity.  “We’ll prove ourselves once again in the heat of battle and look fabulous doing it too.”

“Rares-” Applejack began.

“Oh hush darling, once you see what I’ve been working on even you won’t complain.” 

“Yay,” cheered Fluttershy quietly though the enthusiasm was real.

“Pinkie?” asked the athlete, turning to the one member who had been relatively quiet throughout their discussion.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make Sunny smile again,” said the pinkette seriously.

“Then it’s settled,” said the athlete with a smile.  “I’ll talk to Principal Celestia tomorrow and see what else we can set up to get the school and the team ready to show those Crystal Preppers what it really means to be a Wondercolt.”
> Chapter 23
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Monday’s incident in the locker room, between being spotted by Rainbow Dash and Twilight almost being pulled into a magical portal to who knows where, the trio decided it would be best to head home for the night.  After an uneasy dinner with her parents, Twilight had snagged what snacks she could sneak in her pockets and took them up to her room for her guest.

“Sorry, I couldn’t get you more, Twilight apologized as she placed a couple of granola bars and an apple on the desk beside the tiny unicorn.  "I can probably grab some more later after my parents go to bed."

“It’s okay," Sunset reassured her, "I usually end up so immersed in my work I have to be reminded to eat anyway." 
Seeing the stressed and worried look on the girl’s face, the pony raised a brow, “I have a feeling though, that the lack of dining options isn’t the only thing that's bothering you though.”

Twilight dropped onto the bed with a defeated sigh.  “What are we supposed to do, Sunset?” Twilight asked, her voice pitched higher.  “The spectrometer was never designed for what we’re trying to do with it.  The more energy it collects, the worse the dimensional rifts are getting.  That one today was...it almost...I almost…”  Twilight’s voice had grown higher before her breathing grew ragged as she tried and failed to inhale deeply.  Spotting this, Spike jumped into her lap trying to calm her as he used to, letting her pet him slowly and using the familiar feeling to help focus and ground her in order to calm her anxiety.

“Come on, Twilight, you need to breathe.  In and out, just like Cadance showed you,” the puppy reminded her.

Sunset hopped up on the bed in front of the teen, her large teal eyes met and held the teen’s own violet ones.  “It’s okay, just like Spike said, “In and out,” you can do it, Twilight.  We’ll get through this together.  Don’t worry.”  Sunset slowly went through the motions that accompanied the breathing technique and with a shaky nod, the girl followed suit.  It took a few minutes, but the two continued the motions until the teen’s breathing had steadied.

“You doing, okay now?” Sunset asked, still a bit worried considering all Twilight had been through.  

The teen nodded causing her glasses to slip down her nose a bit.  “Yeah, I think so,” she said not exactly back to normal, but a definite improvement from where she’d been.  That is until the door burst open a moment later and in stepped a pale-skinned man with moppy blue hair.

“Hey, Twily, you okay in here?  I thought I heard...”  It happened so quickly but there was bright flash of crimson light and there was no longer a tiny unicorn seated on her bed.  Shining Armor blinked a couple of times then shook his head, sure that he had been working too many double shifts.  “What kind of experiments have you been doing in here?" he asked letting himself in and heading for the window to air it out, afraid the source of his hallucination might be chemical.  "You know you’re now allowed to work with anything potentially volatile after that time you almost burned down the house, that's why mom and dad gave you the garage,” he said as he started to scan the room with a detective’s eye for anything suspicious and honed in on a nervous sister.   "Unless it's not an experiment you're hiding in here..."

Worry and anger spiked in the teen, knowing Sunset still had to be somewhere nearby, and eyes flashed behind her thick frames.  She bolted up and marched toward her door.  “First, it’s my lab, not the garage.  Second, it was a controlled flame for my chemistry experiment, that only spread when you freaked out and tried putting it out by stomping it into the new wood floors.  Third, you are supposed to knock before you enter my room, Shining Armor.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry," he apologized.  "I just got home and mom and dad said you were a little down at dinner.  I heard what sounded like a panic attack and I got worried."

Twilight smiled at that.  True, Spike and Sunset had helped her with her panic attack, but it was always nice knowing there were more people looking out for her.  "Thanks, BBBFF, but Spike had me covered on this one."

"Well, it's nice to know someone's looking out for you when I'm not around," Shining joked making the dog in question seem to beam with pride, and a smile spread on his muzzle.  Shining was a bit puzzled at Spike's seeming comprehension but shook it off as Twilight redirected his attention.

"So what did you come up here for in the first place?"

"Oh, I thought maybe you’d want to go for a little run."  Shining's grin proved to his sister there was more to it so she crossed her arms and leveled a glare at him until he continued.  "You know relax, get some fresh air, and limber up.  The Games are only a couple of days away.”  While Twilight's temper after the room invasion had started to cool with her brother's show of concern, mention of the Friendship Games brought it roaring back to life and reminded her that sometimes her big brother was an over-competitive idiot.

Rolling her eyes, she said firmly, “No thank you, now get out,” before she shoved her brother out the door and shut it in his face.

“Come on, Twily, I really think you could use some time to decompress,” he called from the other side.

“No thank you!  Just leave me alone.”  The sounds of retreating footsteps could be heard in the hallway as Twilight rushed back to the bed.  “Sunset?” she called looking over where the pony had been before she vanished.

“Down here,” called a muffled voice before the fiery pony emerged from under her bed.  After extricating herself fully she sat heavily on the rug and began rubbing her head slowly with her forehooves.  

“Sunset, did you teleport yourself under the bed?” the teen scientist asked.

“Uh, yeah.  Look I’m sorry,” the pony said tiredly.

“Sorry?  Sorry for what?” asked the teen completely befuddled.

“Everything, all of this.  Bringing magic here, getting you involved, and now making you have your first fight with your brother.”

“First fight?” Spike asked with a chuckle making Sunset stop rubbing her aching head and look up at the purple puppy.

“Yeah, isn’t he, like, your B.B.B.F.F. or something?  You know Big Brother Best Friend, you know, "never have a single fight" kind of deal?” Sunset asked.  Twilight and Spike looked from the pony to each other and after a moment of befuddlement the two both bust out into hysterics leaving the unicorn unsure what to make of the situation.  “I’m sorry.  Did I miss something?”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said wiping her eyes, “I’m not sure if it’s a cultural difference or just the fact that you’re an only child, but clearly you don’t know what it’s like to have siblings.”

“Huh?” Sunset asked eloquently.  She’d heard Princess Twilight speak of her family on a few occasions and she had always spoken of her relationship with her brother as idyllic. 

“Twilight and Shining fight all the time.  I mean to be fair, most of it is good-natured ribbing and attempts to decide who the dominant one is.”

“Please don’t phrase it like that,” Twilight said with a shiver, “It makes it sound creepy.  It’s the Sibling Supreme and there’s a bit more to it than that, Spike,” she corrected her dog before turning her attention back to the befuddled unicorn.  “Sunset, all siblings fight.  Sometimes it’s just a result of being so close that it’s easy to get on each other’s nerves and let me tell you because you’re so close, you know exactly what buttons to push to get them mad or get back at them.”

“Like how Shining ratted you out for disassembling your mother’s laptop so you told your babysitter that Shining 
thought she was pretty and nice and smelled like flowers,' and that he had the biggest crush on her, but he was too scared to actually ask her out,” Spike laughed.

“Yeah, he was so mad about that one I thought he’d never speak to me again, but I think he forgave me for that one in the end, seeing how it worked out,” Twilight laughed.  Looking at the quiet pony, it was clear Sunset was mulling over the new information.  “You okay?”

“Uh...yeah, it's just, like you said, no real personal experience with siblings.  Just what I heard…”  

“Well, take it from an L.S.B.F.F., siblings fight.  Heck, t’s basically a little sister’s job to annoy their older sibling.  And though it may result in some name-calling, hurt feelings, or retaliatory erasing of one's game files, it doesn’t mean we don’t still love each other.”  	

The silence held for a few minutes as Sunset mulled over these words before Twilight finally asked, “Are you okay?”

“Huh?  Oh, yeah, I’m good,” the pony replied absently.

“Good because it’s going to take both of us to figure out how to enhance the storage capacity of the magic siphoning device without losing containment on energy already stored within it”

“Actually,” said Sunset returning her full attention to the teen scientist, “I had some thoughts on that.  Do you have your blueprints for the device as well as the printout for the energy levels you recorded?”

“Pfft, it’s Twilight,” laughed Spike, “of course she does.”

“What are you thinking?” asked the girl in question spotting the spark of an idea in the unicorn's teal eyes, while she moved to her desk to pull out the requested documents.  

“Well, storing magic in Equestria would be relatively easy if we were in Equestria.  A few gemstones infused with the right spell matrices and you’ve got yourself an easy storage battery for your mana,” explained the unicorn.

“Uh, Sunset, that might work in Equestria, but we’re not in Equestria, and we don’t have any gemstones, just lying around,” said Spike.

“Yeah,” agreed Twilight, “ and I don’t think my research budget is big enough to afford one.”

“Yes, but you’ve proven that technology can substitute for traditional magical mediums and be surprisingly successful.  So what I’m thinking is that we combine the two.  If we can strengthen the design with magic, some runes and sigils inscribed on the casing should help stabilize the spell lattice.”

Scanning her original plans, Twilight nodded.  “You, know, I bet I could reinforce the circuitry as well.  I wish I had built it bigger, we’d have more options.”

“Here, let me see,” called the pony, as Twilight brought them over.  Rubbing her chin with her hoof she nodded, “Yeah, I see what you mean.  Well, we could always add a pocket dimension spell as well, but that will mean extra calculations to ensure the circuitry doesn’t rupture the extradimensional space or leak any of the portal’s magic into it.  Trust me that would not be fun for anyone in the vicinity if that happened.”

Twilight nodded, unsure of whether her O&O knowledge was applicable, but trusted the serious look on the unicorn's face.  “I can help you run numbers if you can walk me through the formulas.”

Soon the two were starting on crunching numbers and working up a list of what components they might need for their upgrades.  Still, something about Twilight’s earlier conversation was still niggling at the back of her mind.  

“It’s basically a little sister’s job to annoy their siblings.”  

And then it hit her.  “It can’t possibly have been that easy...that stupid.”  In over a year of dealing with the fallout from Anon-A-Miss, Sunset hadn’t really thought about the true culprit behind the profile.  She had figured there were probably a lot of people who had not forgiven her for her behavior prior to the Fall Formal, and really she’d been far more focused on her friends’ betrayal.  But looking back now with this new insight she was shocked that she hadn’t figured it out sooner.

The Crusaders.



***


The morning was bright and sunny.  March seemed to have finally made the turn to Spring, with warmer temperatures expelling the winter bite from the air.  With any luck, the weather would hold through the Games at the end of the week and continue on for the Spring Break Trip to Camp Everfree at the end of the month.  

Celestia sighed.  Not that this year’s trip was going to be much this year, she thought bitterly.  With the number of students still suspended from school functions thanks to the Anon-A-Miss incident, they didn’t have enough students to meet the registration requirement.  They’d had to open the trip up to middle school students and even then the numbers were still depressingly small.

There was a hasty rap on her office door before Rainbow Dash barged into the principal’s office followed closely by the rest of the Rainbooms.  Not all of the Rainbooms, a voice in the back of her mind reminded her, memories of the last time the group had barged into her office like this and the news they bore causing the normally serene visage of the educator to frown at the intruders.

"Rainbow Dash, honestly, that is no way to behave, bursting into the principal’s office like that,” Rarity chastised, gaining the athlete’s attention for long enough that Celestia was able to readopt her calm mask.

Rainbow waved off her friend’s chastising and headed straight for the principal’s desk, slamming her hands down and staring determinately at the educator.  “This is important.  She needs to know ASAP,” the athlete replied, not looking at her friends she addressed the educator, “Principal Celestia, she’s back.”

Celestia’s heart leapt, a hope sparking in her, warmth seeping into her and filling a whole she hadn't realized had been there.  The feeling was not to last though as the prismatic girl went on.

“Twilight and Sunset are here, and they’re at Crystal Prep.”

The principal sagged at the thought of the girl...the two girls in Abacus' hands.  “Are you sure?” she asked, “You saw both of them?”

The intensity of the boisterous athlete faltered a bit at that.  “Well, not exactly.  I saw Twilight though...I think.  It was hard to tell for sure.  She was on the other side of this swirling magic vortex, so I couldn’t see perfectly, but I heard them, both of them.  They took my magic,” the girl frowned, “what was left of it anyway.”

“They took your magic?” Celestia asked worriedly.

Fluttershy stepped up and patted her oldest friend consolingly on the back.  “Actually, we think they may have taken mine and Rarity’s magic too.”

“Yes,” the fashionista took over knowing Fluttershy wouldn't want to be the one to elaborate, “the three of us each had an interesting encounter the past few days in which we started to pony up, but were suddenly left feeling drained.  None of us has been able to produce even a hint of magic since.”

“And you two?” Celestia asked regarding Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

“Nope, no sign of anythin’ fishy on my end,” replied the farmer, while Pinkie just shook her head.

“I see,” said the educator slowly, trying to hide the fact that she most certainly did not see and had no idea what should be done in regards to magic theft.  Meanwhile, her emotions were a messy jumble in her chest and distracted her from the problem.  She was saved from having to elaborate by another knock on the door followed by Luna entering while staring fixedly at a sheet of paper in her hand.”

“Sister,” Luna started clearly uneasy, “Cadence has just sent over the final roster for Crystal Prep’s team for the Friendship Games, and I think there’s something you should see.”

The principal wasn’t given the opportunity though as Rainbow Dash snagged the paper from the vice principal’s hand and hurriedly skimmed it quickly spotting what Vice Principal Luna had been talking about.  There, listed as team captain for the Shadowbotls, was Twilight Sparkle.

The athlete’s face fell, “You’re saying that Twilight isn’t just scouting Crystal Prep or whatever.  She’s actually gonna compete against us?”

“Do you think she’s already found people at Crystal Prep to replace us?” asked Fluttershy.

“So much for our plan,” sighed Applejack, removing her hat and running a hand over her hair.

“No, it’s not over,” said Dash, “Look, even if she already has replacements picked out.  Twilight still needs to get AJ’s and Pinkie’s magic, right?  So we just have to make sure she doesn't get them until after the Games.  If we can show Twilight that we’ve learned from our mistake, work together to actually beat the Shadowbolts, show her we remember what it means to be Wondercolts and have the magic of friendship, maybe we'll get the chance to apologize and try to make it up to both of them.

“But even if they don’t.  If she still wants to give our magic to a bunch of Crystal Prep kids, then I'll at least be able to say I tried.  But to do that, we need to make these the best Games ever!”  The sports captain turned back to the educator, rubbing a nervous hand on her neck, “I did have a few ideas, uh with your permission that is, Principal Celestia.”

“Yes,” Rarity piped up, “there’s actually something I’ve been working on as well.”

Looking at the determination in the girls’ faces, the principal nodded.  If she was going to lose the games, magic...and possibly Sunset Shimmer to Crystal Prep, she would make sure it was one hell of a fight.

“Of course, whatever you need.  Vice Principal Luna can get you the numbers for what we have left in the hosting budget for the Friendship Games.”

“Sounds good,” Applejack said, “Ah can hit the mall after school and pick up whatever supplies Pinkie needs.”  She nodded at the pinkette furiously scribbling on a pad of paper that no one had seen her with beforehand.  “Mac’s droppin’ off supplies with Granny so Ah should be good to snag the truck for a bit.  Do ya mind if Ah take Applebloom and her friends for the heavy lifting?”

“As it is for a school function, it seems as good a way as any for them to serve today’s detention,” Celestia said.	

With a nod and a tip of her hat, Applejack herded the group of girls out of the office to go start with their plans.  Luna however waited at the door ushering the girls out before shutting it after them and turning back to her older sister.

“Tia,”’ she began carefully, “I know how much you’ve been hurting these past few months-”

“Luna, do you know why Sunset ran away to our world in the first place?” asked the principal sadly.

Luna was taken a back, the past few months when she had tried to approach her sister on the subject, she had gotten a firm, "Stay out of it".  “Something about not being made a princess, by her former teacher," she replied carefully.

Celestia shook her head.  “She was looking for somewhere to belong.  She thought becoming a princess would get her that, but she pushed too much, started to obsess over it, and was kicked out.  Kicked out, Luna, of her home by that teacher of hers,” the woman said bitterly, “Princess Celestia.”

“Tia-” Luna began but was cut off by her teary-eyed sister.

“She was a child and that Celestia,” the principal practically spat the word, “threw her out.”  The woman’s anger cooled as she continued, “After the Fall Formal, Sunset was so surprised I wasn’t expelling her, she broke down in my office.  We’d learned so much about her and her origins, that she was alone in this world.  I wanted to help her more, but when she told me what my doppelganger had done to her, I froze.  I couldn’t ask her to trust me, not after what that other Celestia had done to her.  So I made sure she was safe and had a residence and food, but I left it at that, left her alone.  But she had her friends, I rationalized, just like Princess Twilight had said.”

“Sister, you couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”

“But it did happen, and I can’t help but think if I hadn’t been such a coward.  If I had been so afraid to ask her, maybe she would have felt she had someone to turn to during the Anon-A-Miss debacle.  Maybe she would have had somewhere to belong instead of having to run away again.”

“But Tia, even you can see the girls’ plan is wishful thinking at best.”

“Luna, if anything we do can show Sunset how sorry we are and how much we miss her.  Just the thought that we can show Sunset that she really and truly is wanted and has a place to belong, is enough motivation to give the Rainbooms whatever they need.”

“Very well, sister, I will go get the numbers for the remaining Friendship Games budget and let the girls know.”  Leaving the office she thought, Please don’t get your hopes up, Tia, I don’t want to see you hurt again.

Inside the office, Principal Celestia sat at her desk gingerly massaging her temples as she stared into the tea before her.  Celestia frowned at the cooled cup and pushed it away.  Tea wasn’t going to be enough to make it through today.  Pulling out her phone she pulled up the online ordering menu for Sugarcube Corner.  Today required a double slice of Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. 
> Chapter 24
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bell went off overhead and echoed down the opulent halls of Crystal Prep signaling that the lunch hour was over and sending students scurrying for their next class.  For one girl, however, the bell went ignored as she headed lower into the school where the school-directed research facilities were located. She may not be Twilight Sparkle, but as a member of the Friendship Games team, she could get away with missing class under the guise of preparing for the competition. 

Sugarcoat narrowed her eyes behind her orange frames. She was on the hunt and would not be deterred. Her quarry had avoided her all weekend.  That was about to end.

Having found out from Sunny Flare exactly where she could find her target, Sugarcoat approached the lab door and began to pound mercilessly on it.

“I’m kind of busy and don’t want to be disturbed,” a sweet voice called out from behind the door followed by a harsher, “as if that wasn’t obvious from the locked door.”

“Open the door, Sour Sweet, we need to talk,” Sugarcoat replied in her usual blunt tone.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I can’t open it from this side seeing as it’s locked.” Sugarcoat stated plainly.

“No! And why should I do that when I don’t even wanna talk to you!  You...you... irritating…!” Sour Sweet threw open the door to give Sugarcoat the full force of her anger, “piece of...ugh!”  Sour Sweet took the opportunity and shoved Sour Sweet back into the room. “What the hell,” the irate girl shouted, “Get out!”

Not dissuaded at all by the comments, Sugarcoat rounded on Sour Sweet and leveled a glare at the freckled girl.

“You missed lunch,” the blunt girl stated.

“I wasn’t hungry, but thank you so much for checking-” 

“You also missed class today.  All of them.  I checked.”

“I already told you I’m busy, so if we’re all done with questions-”

“I’m not.  What’s wrong with you?”

“Right now, you bothering me with all these inane questions when I have work to do.  I’ve asked nicely, but if you don’t get out, I’m going to make you.”

“Really...how?  Are you going to hit me, Sour?  Kick me maybe, like you did on Friday to Sparkle’s dog?  You kicked a puppy and you’re honestly going to stand there and try to tell me that there’s nothing wrong with you?”

The surly teen brushed past Sugarcoat and headed for her equipment-laden workbench, set up in the middle of the room, her gaze anywhere but meeting the stern eyes behind orange frames.  She shuffled the papers around haphazardly almost toppling the tools and components strewn across the workspace.

“Indigo was the one who decided to go after Twilight,” Sour Sweet spat, “Maybe you should go have this little talk with her.  Invite her to open up about her issues and talk it out, and then I can get back to my work,” she finished with a growl.

“I would, if I thought it would do any good, but Cinch has Indigo so wrapped around her finger, it wouldn’t do any good.  You, however…”

“What about me?” Sour mocked as she tried to ignore the feel of the other girl’s contemptuous glare washing over her and returned to wiring the large machine she was constructing.	

“You’ve been skipping lunch for the past few weeks,” Sugarcoat stated.

“I told you I wasn’t hungry.”

“And not just lunch, you’ve been avoiding me and the others and not responding to any of our calls or texts.”

“Maybe because you’re all completely annoying, and I have things to do,” the irritated girl huffed as she continued to try and fail at ignoring the invasive guest.

“Couple that with the aggression and that outburst you had with Sparkle’s dog-”

“It’s the week of the Friendship Games, sweetie,” Sour Sweet cut in, “The pressure is high and maybe the pressure is getting to me a bit.”

“Pressure, possible.”  Sugarcoat nodded before stopping in front of Sour Sweet’s bag and searching for something she knew would be inside, “Or perhaps this has something to do with it,” she stated, extracting a prescription bottle from within. 

“How did you-?!”  Sour shouted and jumped from her seat scrambling towards Sugarcoat only to have the pig-tailed girl move back around the table and out of reach.  “Give those back!” 

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Sugarcoat stated.  “Do you think I’m stupid?  Did you think I wouldn’t recognize the signs?"  

“Give them back, Sugarcoat,” Sour Sweet growled as she grabbed across the table for the bottle in the other girl’s hand.

Sugarcoat just ignored her as she glared at the Sour and continued on, “The decreased appetite, the secretive behavior, the aggressive behavior…” Sugarcoat’s normally unflinching exterior cracked, letting both hurt and worry creep into her normally detached voice, “Damn it, Sour, you promised me you were done with this shit after what happened last time.  You swore to me, so why?”

Sugarcoat’s loss of composure provided Sour Sweet the opportunity she needed as she launched over the table at the other girl clearing everything from the desk between them as she lunged for the bottle.  Sugarcoat was quick enough to move her hand out of reach, but there was no escaping Sour as she hurtled over the workbench, causing the pigtailed girl to lose her grip as the freckled teen tackled her.  The bottle flew from Sugarcoat's grasp and bounced on the ground, hard enough to pop the cap off and send a dozen blue pills rolling amongst the wreckage of the desk.  The broken glass and metal shavings that litter the floor did nothing to deter the desperate teen as she quickly scrambled off Sugarcoat and began picking through the debris to save her scattered prizes.  So focused on her goal, she didn’t notice the cuts she was amassing on her fingertips, or the blood staining the pills.  It wasn’t until Sugarcoat grabbed her by the shoulders and hoisted her against the desk that she even noticed the other girl had moved.

“Stop!  Just stop,” Sugarcoat shouted, and being this close, with the pigtailed girl yelling in her face, Sugarcoat finally saw the other girl.  Not the aloof exterior that she used as her shield in the arena that is CPA, and not the judgmental glares Sour was sure the other girl had worn a moment ago.  No, this time Sour Sweet really looked at Sugarcoat and saw the pain, worry, and sadness of someone who was concerned for another and had no clue what to do to help.

“I-I need them, okay,” the cornered teen said slumping against the desk, unable to meet the other girl’s hurt gaze.  “The Friendship Games were coming up, and I wasn't going to make the cut.  You know what being on the team means now and in the future for scholarship and college applications.  I needed to be at my best to ensure my spot in preserving Crystal Prep’s reputation.”

Sugarcoat frowned at her friend’s phrasing, “Sour, you are the smartest student at Crystal Prep outside of Twilight Sparkle and she’s a certified genius.  What would make you think you wouldn’t be on the team…”  The realization broke over the normally reserved girl in a wave of rage, “or should I say who?”  Sour winced and retreated into herself, doing a passable impersonation of Twilight Sparkle, and Sugarcoat had her answer, her eyes narrowing behind her orange frames and a surge of rage spreading across her normally placid countenance.

“That bitch!  She gave them to you, didn’t she, all for her precious reputation?!”  The ire ebbed out of her voice, though anyone who knew her could see it still lay right below that false calm exterior.  “We need to go to Dean Cadence.”

Heading for the lab room door, pills in hand, Sugarcoat turned for the lab door but was quickly blocked by an agitated Sour Sweet.	

“You can’t!” the freckled girl began, her voice almost panicky before composing herself and continuing in a placating tone.  “Look. You’re right, Sugarcoat.  I’ve been doing a poor job in managing the side effects and I will stop, but I need them right now.  Just until after the Games. Okay?”

The pig-tailed teen's eyes narrowed behind orange frames, “Why?” she asked back to her usual direct manner.  “You’re already brilliant and driven, and if P.E. counted towards our G.P.A., you would be the top student in the school.  You don’t need those,” Sugarcoat said waving towards the scattered pills.  “The Friendship Games might be a competition, but it’s Canterlot High.  They’re not really much of a challenge anyway, so why would you want to put yourself through this?  Do you really think you need these to beat a bunch of public schoolers?”

Sour Sweet stared into waiting orchid eyes, emotions warring, before finally crumbling.  “No, you’re right, but it’s not just the Friendship Games I have to worry about.  Principal Cinch gave me another project she wants completed ASAP on top of everything we have to do to prepare for the Games.”

“What does she want you to do?” asked the bespectacled teen.

Sour Sweet spread her arms wide indicating the massive device she was working on.  “I’m not exactly sure.  Building something of Sparkle's I think.  Cinch wanted it to be improved and done quickly.  She’s threatened to pull my recommendation for that summer internship I was telling you about.  I got it, but only thanks to Cinch, without her I’m out.  Plus, you know what my parents will say!”

“You need to stop taking these,” Sugarcoat stated plainly.

“And I will,” agreed Sour Sweet in a saccharine tone, “I promise.  When this is all over-”

“No, you need to stop now.”

“I’ll never be able to do it all without them, the project, the Games-”

“Then don’t do it all,” Sugarcoat cut in bluntly.

“But, if I don’t get it all done-” Sour began with a growl.

“No, you dummy, don’t do it all yourself.  Ask for help.”  

The statement was simple and straightforward like most of the things the teen said, but this one made Sour Sweet stumble and knock her out of her spiraling anger.  She blinked in the realization of such a simple solution.

“You want to help me?” Sour Sweet asked.

“No,” replied Sugarcoat in her standard matter-of-fact tone causing the scowl to return to the other girl’s face.

“Well, then what the hell-”

“I don’t want to help, but I will anyway,” Sugarcoat smirked, earning an eye roll and snort from the other girl.  “Why don’t we start by getting this mess cleaned up.”

 Sour Sweet’s eyes surveyed the remaining pills on the floor, her hands twitched as they wanted to reach out and reclaim what was hers but doing so caused an ache in her fingers that reminded her what she had already done to herself to get them back.  Finally glancing up at Sugarcoat who was waiting for her to make the decision.  “Together?” she asked, earning a nod from Sugarcoat.  Taking a deep breath Sour Sweet nodded, “Okay, together,” she agreed, earning a rare smile from the other girl.  Not Cinch did say I could utilize whatever resources I needed.  I suppose commandeering you as my helper monkey falls within those terms.” 

Leveling a warning glare at the freckled girl before turning her attention to the schematics Sour had spread back out on the desk, Sugarcoat said, “Let’s just get to work.”


***


“Are you sure this is everything we’re going to need for the upgrades?” Twilight asked as she struggled to put on her coat while double-checking her very detailed list with the other hand one.

“Twilight, we spent all day running magical calculations and adding the runes I suggested. Pretty much all of the upgrades left to make are technological meaning your area of expertise so really if something’s missing, you’d be the one to know not us.”

“I know, I know,” Twilight sighed, finally giving in and putting down the list so she could actually put her arm through the sleeve.  “I’m just-”

“Going a little Twilynanas,” Sunset finished.

“How did you kno-” the girl in question started but was interrupted by snickers from her number one assistant.

“See, it really is an adjective.”  Upon catching Twilight’s gaze however his tone became more serious as he addressed his fellow quadruped.  “Don’t be too hard on her, she’s probably still a bit on edge from skipping a day of school.”

“It wasn’t skipping,” corrected Twilight, affronted by the idea that she’d do such a thing.  “Crystal Prep allows you to miss class to work on your independent research projects as long as you make up the work.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never done it before, let alone for the entire day,” said Spike.

Sunset looked worriedly at the teen.  “You didn’t have to skip class.  I mean not that I didn’t appreciate the help with the calculations, but I could have done them myself if you’d wanted to go to class.”

“Are you kidding?” asked Twilight.  “I know the material for the classes.  I mean that’s what the books are for.  I go to class hoping that I’ll get to glean some new insight or maybe the teacher will expound on some topic and add new information that I’m unfamiliar with.  It doesn’t happen as often as it used to since I’ve done so much independent reading, but I just didn’t like the thought of missing out on learning.”

“Okay,” said the unicorn, lifting an inquisitive brow, “so why didn’t you go to class today?”

“Because I definitely was going to learn something new with you!  Sunset, I got to learn magical math today.  Magical...Math.  I didn’t even know that was a thing and now I’ve helped in its calculations.  Best Day Ever!”

Sunset looked at Spike, who just shrugged, then turned back toward the giddy girl and smiled.  “Alright, Twilight, it was pretty fun, but if you want to do any more work on this problem, you’d better get going before you miss the bus.”

“Oh right,” the teen said, glancing at the clock.  “You sure you don’t want to come with?”

“Nah,” said the unicorn, “I’m going to take a quick nap.  A day of spell casting even just these minor runes has tired me out.  Why don’t you take Spike with you?”

Spike perked up at that, looking hopefully, “Yeah, you and me, just like old times.”

Twilight shook her head quickly.  “That’s what I’m afraid of.  The last time I tried taking you to the mall, you jumped out of my bag and accosted an employee.”

“I wasn’t accosting him,” Spike huffed indignantly.  “I was trying to tell him what I wanted and he ignored me.  Guess, I’ll have better luck now that I can talk.”  Twilight shot the puppy a warning look causing him to chuckle uncomfortably, “I mean that will absolutely not happen this time because I will be on my best behavior and remain hidden the entire time.”

The teen relented and gave Spike a scratch behind the ears, “That’s what I thought, and if we have time we can swing by the food court for a treat.”

“Yes,” the little puppy cheered with an enthusiastic paw-pump as he hopped into Twilight’s waiting backpack.

Looking over at the unicorn who was snuggling into the cot’s pillow, the teen asked, “Are you going to be okay by yourself?  You can still come with us if you want to.”

“Nah, I’m good,” said Sunset closing her eyes, “Just taking a power nap, what’s the worst that could happen?”  Sunset’s eyes snapped open, and she looked warily at the magic siphon she’d spent the day working on.  “Um, actually, could you do me one favor?”

The teen and dog looked at her confusedly, before Twilight, asked, “Sure, what’s wrong?”

“I know logically that the runes we added should prevent any more portals from activating, but the last time I asked that question, I was unexpectedly pulled through a magical portal.  Would you mind taking it with you?  I don’t think my brain is going to let me sleep if I know it’s sitting there.”

Twilight managed to suppress the giggle that threatened to escape, but couldn’t hide the smile that found the way to her lips.  “Sure.  Actually, that might be a good idea to ensure any new components we purchase are compatible with the existing ones and the...upgrades you did.”	

“Sounds good.  You two have fun and try not to get into too much trouble,” said Sunset, letting herself relax back into the pillow and drift off to sleep.
> Chapter 25
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hurry up, y’all,” Applejack called to the trio of middle schoolers following behind her laden with bags of party supplies, “we still have a couple more stops on the list, then we have ta get all this back so we can start set-up for the party.  Luckily, Pinkie was very detailed in her notes for what ta get and from where, so we should have no trouble gettin’ what we need...Glowing, flying, self-folding napkins?” the farmer sighed and shook her head, “So much for that.  Oh well, nothing to it but ta do it.  Let’s go, girls.” 

Applejack set off for their next destination, focused on trying to make sense of her list.  The Crusaders, meanwhile, fell back a bit, partially to have the chance to talk partially due to the weight of their bags.  Not that they could even complain, Applejack was carrying twice as much as any of them in one arm while deciphering the list in the other.  When the older girl was a bit ahead of them, Scootaloo took the chance to finally ask the question that had been driving her crazy the whole trip.  	

“Not that I’m not glad to be doing literally anything to get me out of cafeteria cleanup for detention, but why are we buying all of these supplies now?  I thought the school had all of the Friendship Games stuff ready last week.”

The other two Crusaders looked from Scootaloo to each other and back again, surprised looks on their faces.

“Ya mean ya haven’t heard what’s been goin’ on with mah sister and her friends?” asked Applebloom.  Scootaloo shook her head.

“I thought for sure Rainbow would have told you,” replied Sweetie Belle before a worried frown fell across her face.  “I thought you two were doing okay and hanging out again.”

“We are,” assured the little athlete, “It’s not the way it was, but it’s getting better.  We haven’t hung out much the last few days though.  Actually, she was really weird about it after her game on Monday.  She canceled our meetup Tuesday because she said there was some kind of emergency.  Not sure what it was but when I asked her this morning, she said she couldn’t talk since she had to see the principal, but she’d tell me after school today.  Never got to find out though since Applejack picked us up for this.”

“She doesn’t know,” Sweetie said to Apple Bloom, staring back at her friend wide-eyed.

“Doesn’t know, what?” asked Scootaloo.

“Scoots,” said Apple Bloom, “It’s Princess Twilight, mah sister says they think she’s back.”

“Back!  Really that’s great..isn’t it?”  The little athlete’s optimism faded at the look on her friends' faces.

Sweetie sighed.  “Rarity said, they think she’s taking back their magic.”

“And she might be lookin’ ta give it to kids at Crystal Prep,” Apple Bloom finished for her.  “Rainbow Dash saw her at the game Monday in a Crystal Prep uniform.”

“What?!” shouted Scootaloo, “Can she do that?  Does she know that it isn’t the Rainbooms’ fault?  That we were the ones behind the whole Anon-A-Miss thing?” 

“Ah don’t know if it matters,” said Apple Bloom sadly.  “We may have started it, but they didn’t help it none.”

“They’re going to try to apologize though,” piped in Sweetie attempting to bring the mood back around.  “That’s the point of all the new party decorations.  They hope that at the very least they can show Princess Twilight how sorry they are and get the chance to make it up to her and  maybe Sunset, too.”

“So then we’ll see her at the party on Friday then right?” asked Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom just shook her head.  “She might be there, but we’re still banned from all school functions, remember?”

Scootaloo deflated at that.  “Come on, they should make an exception for this.  We should at least be the ones to tell her the truth about who was behind the account.”

Sweetie just shrugged, “I don’t know.  Maybe Principal Celestia will change her mind, but so far the closest we’ll be to that party or the Friendship Games is cleaning up after it.”

“That’s just not right,” huffed Scootaloo.

“Ah know, but what are we supposed to do?  All things considered, we got off easy for what we did, and Ah don’t want ta go breakin’ any more rules and have them reconsider expelling us.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” the athlete conceded.  “I just wish-”

“Oh my gosh!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, cutting across the two girls’ paths and nearly causing them both to run her over.

“Hey, watch, where you’re goin’, Sweetie,” called the youngest Apple as she struggled to right the boxes stacked in her arms.

“Yeah, what the heck were you thinking?” cried Scootaloo.

“I’m thinking,” Sweetie said happily, “that you might just get your wish.  Look!”

They followed her parcel-laden point across the open area of the mall and spotted a familiar-looking figure coming out of the electronics store.  Though the outfit and the glasses were different from the last time they had seen her, there was no mistaking the girl with the violet and pink striped hair 

Following the familiar girl as quickly as their heavy loads would allow, they saw her round a corner into a less busy hall leading to a shoe repair shop and the bathrooms.  Heading down the hall after her, they spotted the girl conversing with an equally familiar purple puppy.  It was a sight they’d all but given up on in the past months and seeing them here now the three were unable to contain their excitement.

“Princess Twilight!”


***


Twilight Sparkle stepped out of the electronics store and looked for a quiet place to sit away from the increasing crowd.  Rounding a less-trafficked corner, the teen set down her backpack on a vacant bench and unzipped the top, giving the puppy within a chance to look around.  Sitting down next to him, she produced a few tools from another of the backpack's pockets and began fitting in some of the components she had just purchased.

“There we go, Spike, see what careful planning and precise measurements can do?  The right pieces were acquired and everything went in without any problems.  Now, between these parts and Sunset’s magical modifications, we shouldn’t have any more incidents with random portals opening and trying to pull any of us in.”  They both shuddered a bit at the memories.  “Of course we’ll have to run some more tests once we get back, but these initial readings seem-”

She was cut off as a trio of heavily laden middle schoolers thundered up to her excitedly shouting what she thought was her name, though, given the decibel level of the squealing, it was hard to be sure.

“Oh my gosh, it’s you!  It’s really you!”

“I can’t believe you're actually here!”

“We were just talkin’ ‘bout ya, and now you’re here.  It’s almost like it was magic..but I guess, considerin’ it’s you…”

Twilight Sparkle was not used to social interactions in general outside of her family, let alone being accosted by a trio of gushing tweens in the middle of a public place.  She quickly snatched up the backpack containing Spike and hugged it to her chest as she rose to beat a quick retreat.  Unfortunately, with their packages and bags, the girls were blocking off her escape route.

“I think you must have me mistaken for someone else,” Twilight said as she tried to squeeze past the red-haired one’s boxes.  “If you’ll just excuse me.”

“Of course we know who you are,” snorted the one with the short purple hair.

“But maybe, she doesn’t know who we are,” cut in the third with the dual-colored hair in the headband who seemed to be carrying far less than her companions.

“That’s true,” said the redhead.  “It’s not like we ever hung out with ya’ll or nothin’.”

“Oh, right,” conceded the short-haired girl, “I’m Scootaloo, that’s Applebloom,” she said, indicating the redhead blocking Twilight’s path, “and the one with her hands free is Sweetie Belle.”

“My hands are not free,” argued the girl in question as she lifted the few bags in her hands easily to prove her point, “See?”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at her friends and then turned back to the older girl, “Ya might not remember us, but you’re friends with our sisters.”

“Friends?” the bespectacled teen questioned, doing a quick appraisal of the girls and trying to determine if they resembled any of the girls she knew at Crystal Prep.  Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn’t look familiar, but she thought Sweetie Belle did remind her a bit of Fleur de Lis, though calling her a friend left the genius girl with a puzzled look which made the three wince.

“Okay, maybe not friends,” amended Scootaloo, “but you do know them; Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.

Twilight froze at the realization.  She had had enough conversations with Sunset by now to know about the girls they were collecting magic from.  While they hadn’t figured out how to siphon magic from Applejack, she did remember Rarity and she wasn’t likely to forget their encounter with Rainbow Dash a couple of days ago when they had almost been caught by the soccer player had it not been for the portal opening again, which was what prompted the need for upgrades and today’s trip.

“Rainbow Dash?  Sister?” the older teen breathed at the surprise and fear of being tracked down by these girls.  Scootaloo, however, was unaware of Twilight’s thoughts and continued.

“Well, we’re not really sisters by blood like they are with Rarity and Applejack.  More like she looks out for me since we’re both only children, and I look up to her.”

“More like worship her ya mean,” snickered Apple Bloom causing the other girl to blush a bit though she didn’t deny the fact.

“Not the point right now, girls,” Sweetie interrupted sternly.  Then she turned to Twilight and her demeanor shifted, her eyes fell and her tone became somber.  “We know what you’ve been doing.”

“You know?” Twilight asked worriedly, once again looking for a way out as she feared a confrontation if these three knew she’d stolen the magic from two of the three’s sisters.

“Yeah, Rainbow told ‘em what happened at the soccer game, and then they told the principals, and that’s kinda why we’re here,” explained Apple Bloom, indicating her packages as if that clarified something to the confused older girl.

“Everyone at CHS knows what I’m…” Twilight gasped, her tone going up an octave and making Spike whimper nervously as she hugged the bag she was clutching tighter to her chest.

“Yeah,” admitted Scootaloo hanging her head, “and it’s not like we don’t understand why you’re doing it.”

That statement caught Twilight’s attention enough to draw her back from the edge of her panic attack to replace her anxiety with bafflement.  She was a literal genius, and despite numerous discussions and introductory lessons on magic, part of her was still confused by what she was doing, but here were three middle school students, who claimed to understand it?  Before she could begin to puzzle out that statement, Sweetie hit her with another shock.

“We know you’re upset about what happened in winter to Sunset Shimmer, but you shouldn’t be mad at CHS or our sisters, because we were the ones behind the account.  We’re Anon-A-Miss.”

“We were upset about being ignored and left out by our sisters, and they were spending so much time with Sunset.  It just didn’t seem right.  I mean she used to be a bully.  She wrecked their friendships and now they were spending all their time with her.  It just didn’t seem right,” said Scootaloo.	

“Ah remembered how much time AJ and Ah spent together back then since she didn’t have her other friends around, and Ah just wanted it to be like that again, like when Sunset ruled the school.  So Ah started Anon-A-Miss.”

“And I stole Sunset’s phone and posted the pictures she’d taken of our sisters and their friends,” confessed Sweetie with shame.  “I think that was what really convinced them all that Sunset was the one behind the account.”

“We didn’t mean for it to be so bad,’ said Scootaloo shifting nervously under the weight, though Twilight was unsure if it was from the packages she carried or the guilt.  “It was supposed to just be the Rainbooms involved, but it became popular so fast, and it was kind of nice having people liking something we had done for a change.  Then people started sending secrets for us to post and we figured we’d give them what they wanted.  We didn’t realize how much it was actually hurting everyone until Apple Bloom saw Sunset crying that day in the hall.  That’s not what was supposed to happen.”	

“We told Principal Celestia the truth, but by then it was too late and Sunset was gone,” said Apple Bloom sadly.

“Please,” sniffed Sweetie tears forming in her big eyes, “if anyone deserves to be punished for what happened to Sunset Shimmer it’s us.  Don’t take our sister's magic away.  They’re all really sorry and torn up about it.  They just want to have a chance to prove it to you and Sunset.”

The genius girl’s brain sputtered at that.  Aside from the confession as to who had driven Sunset back to Equestria, she was left to wonder why these girls would apologize to her.  Sunset was a given, but why would Sweetie single Twilight herself out specifically?

She wasn’t granted the chance to inquire about this new mystery though as another person rounded the corner to what she had believed to be a relatively unused hallway.  The new arrival wore a stetson atop braided blonde hair and was carrying even more packages than all of the trio combined.

“There ya are, girls,” she said exasperatedly, “Ah told ya not ta wander off.  We've still got a lot of stops ta make for…”  Words died in her throat as Applejack spotted the other teen with the group, and emerald eyes grew in surprise.

“Twilight?!”
> Chapter 26
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack wasn’t sure when she had lost sight of the Crusaders.  Not that the girls wandering off was that big of a surprise to the farmer.  She had plenty of experience trying to wrangle the trio when she was forced numerous times to supervise whatever new activity they were trying out to find their “thing”.  But then, that had been before the Anon-A-Miss incident.  Since the events of December, the girls had curbed most of their previously raucous activities and had taken their punishments, working hard to try and earn back everyone’s trust.  They knew the purpose of the party they were getting supplies for and who they hoped would be there.  The trio shirking their responsibilities now just didn’t make sense.  That is until Applejack spotted them down a side hall, and saw who else was with them.

“Twilight?!”  The word fell from her lips and stopped there.  There were so many things Applejack had wanted to tell the princess if she ever got the chance to see her again, things that she had dwelled on for the past three months, but now with Twilight actually standing in front of her, she drew a blank, leaving her staring at the other girl in slack-jawed disbelief.

“I-I need to go,” the girl in question stammered and took the moment of distraction as her chance to try and push past Apple Bloom.  Fearing to have another friend walk away and never be seen again, the farm girl quickly reached for Twilight’s shoulder causing her to stop.  As she turned back, Applejack saw a look on Twilight’s face that Applejack didn’t think she had ever seen on the other girl even when staring down a massive winged she-demon but was now directing at Applejack.  Twilight Sparkle was scared of her.  Seeming to sense his friend’s nervousness, a another familiar, and furry, head popped out of Twilight’s bag leveling a menacing growl at the farmgirl.  

Removing her hand from Twilight’s shoulder, Applejack held it up placatingly saying, “Please just wait.  Ah know ya probably don’t want ta talk ta us.  Ah’m sure Sunset let ya know everythin’ that happened back in December.”  The other girl nodded, still looking uncomfortable, but she didn’t turn and leave, which the farmer decided to take as a good sign.  

“What we did...there’s no excuse for it, but Ah think there is an explanation that ya’ deserve ta hear.”  

Twilight looked down at the puppy in her backpack and with an encouraging nod from him met the farmer’s eyes.  “I'm listening.”

Applejack put down her pile of boxes and removed the Stetson from atop her head which she then proceeded to wring the brim of nervously as she began.  “After the Fall Formal, we promised ta look after Sunset Shimmer and teach her about friendship.  We looked out for her when people came looking for payback for all the things she’d done as a bully.  She joined our lunch table and we hung out with her after school.  After the Battle of the Bands, she even became a member of the Rainbooms.”  

The farmer hung her head and sighed, before continuing in a more morose tone.  “We did our best, but Ah think deep we all still remembered who Sunset had been and what she had done.  When she broke us up the first time, she did it with a fake yearbook interview.  She got close to us, got us to spill our secrets, and then used them to turn us against each other.  When Anon-A-Miss happened, at first Ah tried ta ignore it.  My secret was just a stupid nickname, but then with the photos from Sunset’s phone that no one could have known about that got published the day after Sunset took them...it was hard not to suspect her and deep down, Ah think part of me never really let go of what Sunset had done ta us.  Anon-A-Miss just seemed ta prove what Ah had feared.”

“Why?”  Violet eyes narrowed behind thick black frames, while her stance still indicated that she was contemplating making a break for it at any moment.  “Why would she have thrown away everything she worked so hard for?”

“Ah dunno,” Applejack said, shaking her blonde head sadly, “but Ah was never good at piecing out her plans when she was behind things.  If Ah had been, maybe Ah wouldn’t have lost over a year’s worth of friendship with Rainbow Dash and could have stopped our group from falling apart back then.”

Twilight seemed to give the puppy a look which he responded to with an all too human-looking shrug before both went back to giving the farmer a critical stare.

“Ah know we messed up...we messed up really bad, me especially.  Ah-Ah called her my family, Twilight.  Ah don’t know about the Apples where you’re from but ‘round here that’s somethin’ that we take mighty seriously.  When Ah thought that she had gotten close to us just for another one o’ her schemes, spreading our secrets...it hurt so much thinking how easily she could just throw that connection away.

“Then when Ah found out it was my own kin who had started the account, Ah’m not proud to admit that in those first moments, Ah was ready ta blow up at Bloom here and never speak ta her again.”  The farmer’s anger showed as she growled out the words causing the redhead behind her to shrink in on herself a bit.  Applejack reigned in her anger though and continued, a note of sadness in her voice.  “But, Ah’ve lost too many family members, and Ah had just lost one that day ta mah own pigheadedness and anger.  Ah couldn’t bear the thought of losing another, so Ah did what Ah shoulda done for Sunset, and we talked.  Ah can’t say all is forgiven, but we’ve been workin’ it out.”

The older girl looked back at her little sister.  It was clear from the nervous smiles that the two were not as close as they might have been, but Twilight could tell they still loved each other and if what Applejack was saying was true, hopefully, their relationship would be all the stronger in the end.  While she was happy for them, a part of her remembered the sad and hurt little unicorn that was napping in her lab right now and wished that she had been given the same opportunity these girls had gotten.

The thought of Sunset reminded her of what had brought her to the mall today in the first place.  The magical siphon she had been upgrading was still clutched in her right hand wrapped around the backpack she was hugging.  Chancing a glance away from the penitent blonde, Twilight saw the device was already starting to blink as it picked up the traces of magic nearby.

Oh no, no, no, she thought, her eyes darting to the hall fearing who might see what she knew was about to happen. Not here...not now!  But whatever magic Applejack possessed seemed not to grant the farmer telepathy so as she continued unaware of Twilight's growing worry.  A faint aura of orange light began to form around her.  Just as the teen scientist had witnessed with the other girls, the glow solidified and formed pony ears that poked up from the farmer’s uncovered head as well as caused her ponytail to lengthen into a braid.  The genius girl was at a loss for what to do, not that her legs seemed to want to respond to her mental direction at this time anyway, so she was forced to hope that the first test of the new modifications to the siphon would withstand their first field test as Applejack continued.  

“Ah know Ah’m supposed ta be the element of Honesty, but Ah feel like all Ah’ve done since the Fall Formal is lie.  Ah said Ah’d help teach Sunset about friendship, said that Ah’d look out for her. 
Ah said she was mah family.”  Pain laced the girl's words but she looked Twilight in the eyes, owning up to her mistakes, and unaware of the magic being pulled from her into the device clutched in the scientist's hand.

“Rainbow Dash thinks you’re takin’ our magic back because of what we’ve done, and Ah can't rightly say Ah blame ya if that's the case.  After everything ya did for us during the Fall Formal, getting our friendships back together and unitin' the whole school, then comin’ back ta help us again during the Battle of the Bands, you deserve friends who follow through on their promises and don’t let ya down, with the one thing ya asked us ta do for ya.”

Twilight had been keeping one eye on the power levels the device was showing, happy that the siphon seemed to be functioning as it did before sans the random tears in space, but the farm girl's statement pulled her from her world of data fully back to Applejack.  “I helped fix your friendships?” the bespectacled girl asked in a near whisper as pieces began to come together in her head.  Sunset had talked about her worry for her friend several times.  The one who had stopped the former bully and then stood by her on numerous occasions.  Thinking back now though, Twilight realized she had never mentioned this friend by name, only referring to her as her friend or the princess.  Finding out about another dimension, there had always been the thought that it might be an alternate dimension.  Twilight was more than familiar with the concept both scientifically and through her reading of science fiction.  She knew that there was a Celestia in both worlds, but with one a ruler of the country and the other a high school principal, Twilight hadn’t dwelled too much on the possible implications, but now?

Oblivious to the internal debate she had caused in Twilight, Applejack plowed on as the truth that needed to be said her aura grew brighter causing the device in the scientist’s hand to begin pulling in the aura that surrounded the farmer at a increased rate. “And Sunset...she deserves a real chance ta be happy and have friends, but Ah know why she doesn’t want it ta come from us, not after we let ya both down so badly.  But we hurt you too, ignorin' what ya showed us about friendship and not doin' tha one thing ya asked us ta do after everything ya've done for us.  Can ya ever forgive us, Princess Twilight?”

Pupils shrunk to nothing despite the magnification of the thick lenses.  “Princess Twilight?!” the Crystal Prep student gasped.  "You mean the magical pony princess, the one who brought together a whole school in a few days, battled ancient magical evils as lead singer for a pop group, and wields massive amounts of mystical friendship power is Equestria’s version of me?! “

It was then that Applejack took a closer look at the girl in front of her.  With her sight no longer clouded by guilt and desperation, a number of differences stood out.  The glasses and hairstyle were different from the other times the pony princess had come to help them deal with magical miscreants, but that could be in the hopes of avoiding detection by CHS students.  The CPA uniform too would make sense if Rainbow Dash’s theory of her looking for alternate candidates to be Element bearers as the rival school required it.  But there were other more subtle differences in this girl that the farmer had missed in her relief at seeing someone she had been so overjoyed to run into. For instance, this Twilight possessed none of Princess Twilight’s self-confidence.  She was hunched in on herself more from fear than a lack of familiarity with bipedal movement.

 “Why didn’t Sunset tell…” the girl before her asked, a note of hurt coloring her confusion.

“You’re not her are ya,” Applejack asked, disappointment clear in her voice as the magical aura that surrounded her noticibly dimmed.

“I-I have to go,” said the glasses-wearing Twilight, snapping shut the magic siphon which had finished with its work, and turned to run for the exit.

“Wait,” Applejack called moving to try and reach out for her again only to find herself falling forward, the loss of her magic leaving her feeling drained as the others had described.  Luckily she was saved from injury by the quick hands of her sister and Scootaloo who managed to grab onto her shoulders.  Applejack shook her head to try and clear the drained feeling she had.  No one would ever think of the rough and ready farm girl as weak, but right now she was pretty sure a stiff breeze would bring her down like a pine at Christmas.

“Ya alright, Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked worriedly, picking up her sister’s hat which had been dropped in the near fall.

“You want me to go after her?” asked Scootaloo who was already turning to do just that.

“Ah’m fine,” said the teen replacing the Stetson on her head.  “Just let her go, Scootaloo, ain’t no point now.”

“What do you mean there’s no point?” asked Sweetie Belle.  “You just said that wasn’t the real Twilight Sparkle, so Rainbow Dash was wrong.”

“She’s real,” corrected Applejack, “Just not the one Ah was hopin’ for is all.  And Rainbow was right about one thing.”

“What’s that, sis?”

Emerald eyes looked down at the girl she had practically been a mom to and smiled, “Princess Twilight might not be back, but given what she said and how much she knew about everything, I bet my bottom dollar that Sunset...our Sunset is back and working with that Twilight.”  Applejack remembered the look of sadness and pain in the human Twilight’s eyes when she’d learned about her pony doppelganger, and Applejack felt a spike or worry.  “Ah just hope they’ll be alright.”  Bending down the older Apple reclaimed her packages.  “Come on now girls, the plan still stands and we still have some stops to make so let’s get to it.”


***


Twilight ran.  Something she found she had done more in the past week than she had in all the rest of her time at Crystal Prep.  She ran all the way through the mall and out the door to where the bus stop was.  She probably would have missed it if Spike hadn’t barked to get her attention.  Collapsing onto the bench, the teen found that all of her burned; her legs, her lungs, and for some reason her eyes.

“Twilight?” Spike asked tentatively as he poked his head out of the bag.

Thoughts roiled in the genius girl’s brain.  Princess Twilight?!  The friend that Sunset was so worried about, the one that had saved Sunset when she had been at her darkest point and stood by her when her other friends had abandoned her.  Sunset’s one, true friend was her counterpart.  But then did that mean…

Before her mind could finish the thought, she was snapped back to reality by the sensation of a cold nose being pressed into her neck.  Looking down she met the worried eyes of her number one assistant.

“Are you alright, Twilight,” he asked worriedly.

“I don’t know,” the teen said, hugging her puppy who returned the sentiment with a wet lick to her cheek.  “I need answers, and there’s only one person...pony...that can give them to me.”  Spotting the bus approaching she stood and tucked her friend back into his hiding place along with the pendant she had still been clutching in her hand.  “Come on, Spike.  It’s time we got the truth...all of it.”
> Chapter 27
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset woke up from her nap feeling a lot better.  While it was no substitute for being in a world with a working Harmonic field, she was still one of the strongest unicorns in generations.  Possibly the strongest in Equestria today, since Twilight didn’t count anymore.  She frowned a bit as her ego showed, but then again she hadn’t been made Princess Celestia’s personal student for nothing, and her high mana production rate was saving her a lot of pain and trouble at the moment so she allowed herself the instance of pride.

Hearing the heavy strides of someone walking down the hall outside the lab, Sunset checked the clock.  If Twilight’s estimations and knowledge of Caterlot’s bus schedule had been correct, and knowing her it likely was, this was exactly when the teen had said they’d be back from their trip to the mall.  Sitting up, Sunset turned to greet the returning duo.

“Hey, Twilight, how’d it…” Seeing the sullen look on the teen, the words died in the unicorn’s mouth.  Tentatively, Sunset began again, “What happened?  Are you okay?”

Violet eyes rose to meet the pony’s and for the first time since she had run away from this world, Sunset was met with the look of betrayal.  The teen didn’t yell like Sunset's former friends had, but the pain in her voice as she struggled to keep it steady hurt more than the blow from Gilda had.

“Who’s Princess Twilight?”

Sunset’s ears pinned back to her skull.  “Twilight, I can explain.”  Her chance to do so was cut off, however, by another voice calling down the hallway.

“Twilight, are you ready to go?” asked Cadance.  “I just have to grab my purse from my office and we can get going.”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there in a minute.  Just let me grab what I need,” Twilight replied, her eyes never leaving those of the unicorn.

Hearing the click of the dean’s heels recede down the hallway, Sunset took a careful step toward the glaring girl and tried again, but was cut off by the teen.

“Not now,” Twilight said, stomping over to her desk and reloading her backpack with the books she’d need for the evening.  Her eyes fell on the duffle bag that she had been using this week to smuggle the unicorn in.  She plopped it on the floor.  “In,” she sternly without looking at the nervous pony.  

Sunset didn’t say anything but instead hopped into the bag.  A crimson aura engulfed the zipper as it proceeded to pull itself shut.  Despite the unicorn’s dislike for the stuffy claustrophobic feel of the bag, she preferred it to the glare of the teen and had a feeling that Twilight wasn’t in the mood to see her right now either.

Watching the scene, Spike decided to try his luck at diffusing the situation.  “Twilight…” This, however, only garnered the pup a glare of his own and he decided it best to let it be.  Hopefully, she would calm down a bit in the car ride so she and Sunset would be able to work through...whatever this was.   Hopefully.


***


The car ride had been quiet.  Having babysat for Twilight for years, Cadance knew better than to try and talk to her when she was like this.  Instead, Cadance left the teen to herself, hoping that she would be able to work through whatever had riled her up, though the dean made a mental note to check in on her Ladybug tomorrow to make sure whatever this was was resolved.

Exiting the car, with a worried good-bye from Cadance, Twilight bypassed the house and headed straight for her garage lab.  Pushing open the door, she dropped the duffle unceremoniously on the dog bed in the corner before turning to the desk and unzipping her backpack to free her canine companion.  Meanwhile, Sunset extricated herself from the duffle without her usual theatrics.

“Twilight-” the unicorn began only to be cut off by the person in question.

“You’ll never believe what happened while I was at the mall today,” the teen began.  “I can hardly believe it and I was there.  It’s almost like it was magic.”  Twilight laughed bitterly at that.  “But I guess with you that’s probably not being facetious.”  The girl turned and met the pony’s teal eyes.  “I met Applejack today.  It was a rather enlightening experience, to say the least, but I suppose that should have been expected from your Element of Honesty.”

“I can-” started Sunset only to be cut off once again.

“You don’t get to speak.  You had your chance.  So many chances, to tell me the truth, and maybe you didn’t lie to me, but you sure as hell didn’t tell me the truth!”

“Twilight, I wanted-”

“Oh I know what you wanted,” shouted the irate teen. “It’s the same thing people always want from me.  ‘Twilight, you’re so smart, would you mind helping me with this homework?’ ‘Twilight, we know how much you like school, you want to just handle all of the project?’  And that’s if they even bother to ask.”

“Maybe you should let her-” Spike started, trying to intervene, but Twilight ignored him and plowed ahead undeterred.

“I’ve been doing everything I can to help you. I’ve been willing to give up everything, just to make this right, and you know a part of me didn’t even care.  Hanging out with you and Spike these last few days has been more fun than I’ve had my entire academic career.  Giving up going to Everton and finally escaping Crystal Prep didn’t matter as long as you got home, because you were my...but I guess I was wrong.  Who needs the nerdy shut-in when you already have a perfect princess version of me back at home?”  
Twilight paused a moment as she pieced together snip-its from their past conversations as well as what she’d learned from Applejack.  “You did,” Twilight said as the realization hit her.  “You told me that there are six Elements of Harmony, but the girls at CHS, that’s only five.  I asked you about the last and you didn’t answer me.  It was because the sixth Element was her...Princess Twilight.  She's the last Element the one who wields the Magic of Friendship.  That’s why you did all this.  Why you pretended to be my friend.  You thought you could use me as a substitute since your princess isn’t here!”  Angry tears streamed down the teen's face, fogging her thick glasses, but she made no move to fix the problem but instead stared at the tiny unicorn on the floor.  “I thought you were different,” she said, the hollow heartbreak clear in her voice, “But you’re just like everyone else just using me for what you need and then tossing me aside.  Well, I’m done,”  Twilight said reaching into her backpack and pulling out the magical siphon.  “This is all I have left to give.  So take it since it’s what you really want.  Take it and go, because I can promise you you won't be finding any Friendship magic here.” 

With that said, Twilight turned and left the lab, not even looking back at the two quadrupeds she left behind.

“It-It’s not true,” Sunset said to the retreating figure, though she was sure the girl had not heard. Turning to Spike, the obviously distraught pony continued, “I didn’t-”

“No you didn’t,” said Spike, “but you should have.  You know Twilight, two of them apparently, so you should no better than to hide the facts from her.  She’s too smart, she’ll figure it out, but she’s not the Princess of Friendship like your pony friend.  She’s a teenage girl who has been bullied and used.  She’s smart, but not when it comes to understanding other people, or ponies in your case, so she falls back on her past experience and none of it was good.”

“I swear,” said Sunset, “I never did this to use her or hurt her.  I-I only wanted to protect her.”

“I believe you,” the puppy said sincerely, “And I’m going to help you fix this, but for now, Twilight needs some space.  You stay out here tonight, my bed here isn’t as good as the one inside, but it’s not bad.  Make sure the magic device-thingy is okay after Twilight took Applejack’s magic.  It seemed fine, no portals or anything, but you're the expert.  I’ll try to talk to Twilight and try to calm her down enough to get her to listen.  Just make sure you’re ready to explain everything tomorrow, and I mean everything, in excruciating detail because when she wants answers, she’s going to want all of the answers.”

“Got it,” said Sunset with a nod, “and Spike, thank you.  I know we didn’t start off so great, but I’m really grateful that you believe in me now.”

“I only want to make sure that Twilight’s happy and protect her from whatever tries to make her unhappy, even when that’s herself.  If I didn’t I wouldn’t be her number one assistant.”

Sunset laughed and used her magic to open the door for the pup.  “Thanks, Spike, for everything.  Now get going, I think Twilight is in need of your services.”

“Good night, Sunset.  We will see you tomorrow.”  Sunset nodded, and the little pup headed off to see what he could do for Twilight.  As he made his way to the house you began to wonder if he too had a counterpart in the pony world, and if that Spike had it any easier looking after a princess and not an anxious teenager.  A question for Sunset another time he guessed, probably when his own Twilight was out of earshot.


***


“Oh my gosh, I’m late,” gasped Twilight.  “I can’t believe I’m late, Spike.  I’m never late.”  

After leaving Sunset, Spike had found Twilight curled up on her bed.  She told her parents she wasn't feeling well and skipped dinner.  Despite the pup's best efforts, Twilight refused to talk to or even face Spike.  Not wanting to leave her in her sadness, the puppy chose to curl up against her back, to show her that he was still there for her.  She had cried herself into an uneasy sleep and had ended up sleeping through her alarm.  With Twilight in a panic and to time for a real conversation, Spike hadn't had time to talk to try and talk to her about Sunset.

“And you’re not late now.  Just breathe, Twilight,” soothed the little dog, “You still have fifteen minutes before the bell rings for class.”

“Fifteen minutes!  That’s not nearly enough time to copy the teacher's notes from the board, which means I’ll have to do it while he’s lecturing, which means I might miss something he expounds upon that might turn up on the test, and then my grades-”

“Would still be fine,” finished Spike.  “You’re a genius, Twilight.  If you can create a device that detects, tracks, and collects a completely unknown form of energy, I’m sure you can handle listening while taking notes.”  The panicky teen looked to say something but was cut off by the puppy, “Besides, isn’t this the teacher that once spent twenty minutes of class time showing off how he had coordinated his socks with the color of that day’s hand out.”

The girl genius huffed, “I bet half the teachers do that on a regular basis just by wearing white socks, and they never mention it, but because his were lime green it required twenty minutes and we didn’t even get to discuss whether the Second  Defenestration should rightly be called the Third Defenestration because the one in 1483 wasn't considered a significant enough defenestration.  I mean, honestly, how many people have to be tossed out of a window for it to be considered ‘significant’?” 

“The point is, I think you’ll be okay if you don’t devote all of your focus to your teacher.”

“You’re right.  Thanks, Spike.  What would I do without you?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve always got your back.  That’s what number one assistants are for right?”  Spike paused for a moment, “And I’m not the only one who’s there for you, Twilight.  You’ve got your mom, your dad, Shining.”  The teen nodded and smiled at the thought.  “This week alone, how many times has Cadence been there looking out for you?  Not to mention Sunset.”  Twilight tensed up again and her mouth lost its smile as it dissolved into a thin line.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Spike,” the teen said, grabbing her books and hurriedly stuffing into her now vacant backpack.

“I know you’re hurt, Twilight, but don’t you think this hurts her too.  You’re doing exactly what her friends at Canterlot High did to her.”

“I don’t have time to talk about this now.  I have to get to class.”

“Just give her a chance to explain,” Spike called as the girl rushed out of the lab in a huff.

Spike was left staring at the closed door.   It had been a rough night for both of them and they had not arrived nearly early enough for Twilight’s comfort so hadn't been able to really talk to her about what had happened yesterday.

And she rushed out so fast, she didn't even have time to fill up my kibble.  He gave his bowl a sad look and was quickly surprised to see that it was actually full.  And not just with his normal, hard food.  This was the soft stuff that came in gravy with vegetables floating in it.  The scent was heavenly as Spike practically floated over on the aroma alone, and the purple pup, promptly set to work devouring the whole bowl.  As good as it smelled though, something about it was a little bit off, not that it stopped him from quickly devouring the bowl.  

When he was finished, he glanced around the room to figure out what he should do to occupy his time.  He made his way over to the desk and pulled out the notebook and pencil he had been using to craft his custom O&O villain, Postmania.  The name needed work, he’d admit, but a roller skate-wearing, mail carrier with an army of vacuums was going to make for a great final battle, especially since Spike found out about thunder spells and was going to arm his boss with all the biggest booms.  

“Hmm,” Spike thought, “Maybe that’ll be too much for them at this level.”  Thinking it over he decided to pit Postmania up against a few monsters from the manual to see how tough he really was and what kind of challenge he would be.  Sticking his head into the drawer, he grasped one of the spare d20s in his teeth and pulled it out.  In doing so, the room began to swim.  The room spun and his paws slipped off the edge of the drawer and Spike fell hard on his side, causing the die to skitter across the floor towards the door...a door that was opening.

“Twilight?” Spike called turning to move toward the door to greet her only to find something wrong.  He couldn’t seem to get up and was having trouble keeping his eyes focused.  Blinking blearily at the opening door, he saw a blurry figure that appeared to be the same shape as Twilight, but he could tell by the smell it wasn't her.   This person was wrong and shouldn't be in here.  It was a scent he knew, but his addled brain was having trouble making the connection as he struggled unsuccessfully to get to his feet.  All he could do was growl at the approaching intruder as he fought to stay awake.

“Hey there, pooch,” he heard a voice say as his eyes slipped shut, “Not so tough now, are you?”  
> Chapter 28
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the revelations from Applejack and the resulting blow up with Sunset and avoiding the concerned looks from her worried dog, yesterday had been rather stressful for Twilight Sparkle.  Needless to say, she hadn’t slept well and that had all compounded into Twilight being a stressed ball of frayed nerves, even more so than usual, as she was being summoned once again to the one place that was guaranteed to drive her anxiety even higher.
Twilight wasn’t sure why she was being called up to the principal’s office.  Principal Cinch had already tasked her with winning the Friendship Games tomorrow.  Surely whatever other academic decathlon or research project she wanted accomplished could wait until after the principal's desired victory against Canterlot High was achieved.  The teen knocked nervously at the imposing wooden door.
“Come in,” called the stern voice from within.  Twilight tentatively pushed open the door to find the head administrator waiting with steepled fingers.  
“Y-you wanted to see me, Principal Cinch?”
“Close the door and sit down.”  Twilight obeyed, finding herself in the same low chair she had been less than a week ago.
“Miss Sparkle, when I selected you to head the team for the Friendship Games, it was not an invitation to slack off in your regular studies.”
“N-no, ma’am.  I wouldn’t-”
“Then why were you absent from your classes yesterday?”
“Well, I had a b-bit of a development with one of my research projects and it was necessary to follow up on some of the data to ensure all the findings were recorded properly.  I know I don’t usually take advantage of that part of my research studies, but I felt it was important in this instance.  N-not that I was taking advantage of anything, it’s just that there was work that needed to be done for one of my projects.”
“Yes,” said Cinch, narrowing her eyes at the nervous girl, “And you have so many research projects with us at the moment.  Tell me, Twilight, do you remember that a stipulation of those studies is that I be notified of any important discoveries or breakthroughs in your school sponsored research?”
“Y-yes, ma’am,” Twilight said, beginning to fear just where this line of questioning was heading.  “I am aware, though I don’t know if my findings are quite ready to be presented to you.”
“Come now, Miss Sparkle, I think we both know that isn’t true,” said Cinch, a wicked grin spreading over her face.  She pressed a button on her desk before calling to the hidden intercom, “You can come in now.”  A moment later, a smug looking Indigo Zap walked into the office holding an animal carrier with a sleeping purple puppy inside.
“Spike?” the teen asked but got no response from the caged puppy.  Turning back to the woman behind the desk she continued worriedly, “What did you do to him?  Why do you have my dog?”
In response, the principal smirked and opened a hefty folder that had been sitting on her otherwise pristine desk.  “Your dog?  Miss Sparkle, I’m afraid you are mistaken.  This animal is the property of Crystal Prep Academy.”
“What?!” 
“Of course, or don't you remember the paperwork you and your parents signed regarding the research you conduct while studying in this institution?”  Lifting the top sheet out of the folder, the woman began to read, “Crystal Prep Academy asserts ownership over research data and materials for projects conducted at the Academy, under the auspices of the Academy, or with Academy Resources.”
“But that doesn’t mean,” Twilight started to say before being cut off by Cinch quoting again from the document.
“Research Data and Materials include recorded, tangible, or intangible research information regardless of form or the media on which it may be record that is created or collected in the process of performing research supported by the Academy and include, but are not limited to; computer software, laboratory notebooks or notes of any kind...biological specimens.”  The principal emphasized the final words and let them hang as the teen processed the implications.
“B-but, he’s my dog,” Twilight repeated dumbfoundedly, her mind unable to accept what the woman was saying.
“I’m afraid I would have to disagree with you on that, Miss Sparkle,” Cinch stated, a victorious grin tugging at the corner of her lips.
With a smug smile of her own, Indigo pulled out her phone and pressed play on a video.  The video was of Indigo breaking into Twilight’s lab, and there, lying in the middle of the floor, was Spike looking ill and unable to stand up.  And then he called out for Twilight.  The worry in his voice made the teen’s heart clench.  Then she spotted the triumphant look on the faces of the two before her and it made Twilight’s blood run cold.
“I think that a talking dog is noteworthy enough for consideration of my time,” smirked the principal.  She reached over and pulled out another file and proceeded to leaf through it.  “And the data you’ve collected on this new form of energy you’ve discovered is well worth it.”
“That- That’s my Everton entrance project.  How did you get my research?” gasped the shocked teen.  “That wasn’t part of any of my grant proposals.  I never submitted any of that.”
“I thought one such as yourself would understand that knowledge is indeed power, Miss Sparkle, and one does not get to a position such as mine by waiting for information to be given.”
“But-but Spike isn’t even a part of my energy project,” Twilight stammered.
“Oh, we both know these readings say otherwise,” said the principal before pulling out another folder, “regardless, he most certainly is the subject of another of your Academy funded research projects,” thumbing through the folder and pulling out the proposal in question Cinch read, “‘Human/Canine Cohabitation: Effects and Implications’ I’m sure you remember the proposal but feel free to refresh your memory,” she said before putting it down in front of the nervous teen with the same authority as a master declaring checkmate.  
“Y-you can’t take my dog,” Twilight stammered, finding the worry that had resided in her gut at the beginning of this meeting had migrated and taken up residence in her chest, pressing down hard and making it difficult for the teen to take in a full breath.
“Oh, our lawyers assure me, I can and as with everything else at Crystal Prep, they are the best, but feel free to test that statement for yourself should you wish to challenge these signed, and legally binding documents in court,” Principal Cinch said coolly.  “Oh, if you were considering trying to transfer your research to another institution, let me remind you that any such transfer would have to be approved by the principal of Crystal Prep, and I assure you, I will not allow the loss of any of CPA’s projects to any other school be it Everton,” the woman leveled a knowing glare at the teen and practically hissed, “...or Canterlot High.”
“Canterlot High?” Twilight breathed the question clearly not indicating her puzzlement at the woman’s use of the name, but on the principal’s apparent knowledge of it.
“Don’t try to deny it.  I know this energy project is centered on CHS.  You’ve even had the audacity to meet with their principal, Celestia, in my school.  Canterlot High cannot be allowed to claim credit for such a monumental find.  Such a breakthrough could change the face of the world and immortalize those who discovered it.  That will not be some mediocre, public high school.”  Cinch stood from her desk and walked around to stand over the distraught teen.  “I’ve seen the readings from your pet, and know it possesses some measure of this new energy, but it pales in comparison to what your data shows happening at CHS.  So I will make you a deal, Miss Sparkle.”
“D-deal?” the girl in question asked nervously.
“Tomorrow during the Friendship Games, you will locate the source of this energy at Canterlot High and lead me to it.  CHS does not have the resources or clout to manage this kind of discovery.  A find of this magnitude should be handled by Crystal Prep.”  The educator paused, clearly picturing what such a find would mean for her school’s reputation, before once again addressing the cowering teen in her office.  “Once you procure the source of the energy for Crystal Prep, I will no longer need the modicum of energy that resides within your pet so he will be returned to you.  You will then lead the research needed to harness this energy into a marketable form.”
Realizing the implications of the principal's last statement, Twilight’s jaw fell, “But my application to Everton.  You said-”
“You will lead our research on the energy, unless of course you would like me to rethink my need for your dog,” Cinch cut in, her eyes narrowing dangerously.  “Perhaps it would be best to evaluate the effects this energy has had on its internal systems. I’m sure a biological research team would be able to provide us with an...inside look.”
Violet eyes shrank behind thick lenses at the threat. “Please, no!”
“Then I believe you know what you need to do tomorrow, Miss Sparkle.  The bus for CHS leaves at 7 A.M. sharp tomorrow.  Don’t be late.” 
Casting a look back to the cage held by the smirking Indigo, Twilight asked, “What about Spike?”
“Don’t worry.  Miss Zap will take good care of him while you are concluding your work.”
“But…” the teen began but knew in an instant that no argument would get her purple puppy back to her today.  With bitter resolve she stood and nodded.  “Yes, ma’am,” she croaked in little more than a whisper before finding her way to the door.
Twilight left the office in a daze, her body on autopilot taking her back to her lab while the sickening emptiness welling up in her made her feel as if she might cave in on herself like a black hole.  Entering her lab door, she entered and then slumped against the other side forcing it closed as she slumped to the ground, clutching her knees to her chest.  
In all her time at Crystal Prep, she had never felt this alone.  She had always had Spike, her number one assistant and loyal protector waiting for her after class, to ease the pressures of being the top ranked student or remind her that someone in the building cared for her after another round of her classmates’ harassment.  It was the bright spot in her otherwise dreary existence at the “great” Crystal Prep Academy.  
Now Principal Cinch was threatening to take even that away from her.  This was how Principal Cinch used power, and now she craved more? The teen had long since come to understand the woman would stop at nothing to ensure the school’s, and by extension her own, reputation was the peak of excellence.  Students’ lives and feelings meant nothing so long as the legacy of the institution was ensured.  Even Cadance had complained that her job seemed less about assuring the students’ mental wellbeing and more about preventing burnout that would negatively affect the schools test results.  
But what could Twilight do?  Principal Cinch knew about the magical energy and worse she knew that it originated from Canterlot High. She had Spike and the energy that was already inside of him as well as the contract to take him away along with the high-priced lawyers to back it up.  Not to mention a number of judges in town were Crystal Prep Alumni.  How could a high school student, albeit a literal genius, stand up to such overwhelming odds.  
Twilight shut her eyes and let her legs slide out from her grasp, flopping unceremoniously to the ground.  The clattering of plastic on linoleum met her ears. Opening her eyes, she soon spotted the colorful culprit, an errant d20, the die likely left behind by Spike.  The memory of the puppy's newfound excitement in the adventures of O&O made the teen smile in spite of herself.  That’s what she needed right now, what Spike needed right now, a hero like from one of those campaigns.  Her smile fell as fantasy gave way to reality.  There was no hero to face the monster, no magic to save the day…  Realization sparked behind thick frames.  Grabbing her backpack, Twilight rushed out of the lab.

***

Twilight didn’t remember how she got home exactly.  Her body seemed to have been running on autopilot for the most part.  The only reason she even knew she had texted Cadance and told the dean she wouldn’t need a ride home today was because her phone had beeped with a response of, “OK, try and get some rest.  Big day tomorrow.”  The distressed teen found herself once again on the bus this time heading home, a single bag hugged tightly to her chest feeling oddly light in her lap as it only contained her schoolbooks.
Reaching her home, Twilight bypassed the front door and instead headed straight for the lab afraid of what she might find, or rather, what she wouldn’t find.  Would Sunset still be there after what Twilight had said to her yesterday?  The teen knew what the unicorn had been through with her Canterlot High friends as Spike had reminded her last night.  Would her own rejection of Sunset push the unicorn to run away like she had so many times before?
Bursting in she was relieved to find a worried pony anxiously pacing her lab.  The abrupt entrance caused Sunset to jump a bit, clearly having been too wrapped up in her own thoughts to hear the pounding of shoes on wooden steps.
“Twilight!” Sunset shouted in surprise.  “I-I know you wanted me to go, but please at least let me…” Teal eyes finally chanced a look at the subject of the apology and found Twilight in a worse state than she, herself was.  The teen’s eyes were sparkling with unshed tears behind her thick frames and appeared to be on the verge of collapse both mentally and physically.  Sunset’s tone promptly shifted from nervous apology to firm concern at the sight.  “Twilight, are you okay?  What’s wrong?”
The distraught girl finally surrendered in the fight with her tears and sank to the floor as her sobs shook her from her feet.  Sunset wasn’t sure what to do.  She wanted to comfort Twilight, but with how they had parted before, the unicorn wasn’t sure how her attempts would be received.  That concern though was tossed aside as her ears pricked forward at the increasing rate of the girl’s breathing.  She could also tell from the pitch of the gasps that her breaths were becoming shallower.
The little pony quickly rushed over to the downed girl and, remembering what Spike did the last time this happened, she hopped into the teen’s lap.  It was a bit strange for Sunset, despite her current size the pony had tried to maintain her independence while she had been around Twilight not wanting to be seen as small and helpless.  The last interactions she’d had with people that had been borne from pity hadn’t exactly ended well and Sunset didn’t want a repeat. 
The thought of curling up now on the teary girl still felt a bit weird.  She wasn’t a pet after all, but upon seeing Twilight collapse and on the verge of a panic attack, Sunset pushed any embarrassment or pride aside in favor taking care of the distraught girl.  Clearly whatever had happened to Twilight was serious and getting her to calm down and breathe was more important than whatever mental hang-ups Sunset had, so she allowed the girl to cling to her like the oversized plushy she resembled.
“Breathe with me, Twilight,” Sunset coaxed.  “Deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth.  Nice and easy.”  Lavender fingers ran through red and gold locks, while the other arm held to the pony in a near death grip.  Sunset however contained her wince and kept quietly soothing while demonstrating over exaggerated breaths of her own slowly getting the teen’s breathing to match her own.  
Eventually Twilight and her grip relaxed until she was left gently petting the amber unicorn who was finding the sensation far more pleasant than she cared to admit (she did have an image to maintain after all).  Violet eyes finally opened, and Twilight gasped at seeing the pony clutched to her chest.  “Oh my gosh Sunset, I am so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to… That was completely-“
“Whoa, Twilight, easy.  It’s okay.  Everything’s going to be okay,” soothed Sunset.
Tears once again formed in the teen's eyes remembering the source of her grief.  “No, it’s not, Sunset.  It’s Spike.  She took him.”
“Who took him?” Sunset asked. 
“Principal Cinch.  She found out about the energy project,” Twilight began fighting down sobs, “I’m not sure how, it wasn’t a project for CPA, it was my project to get me out of Crystal Prep.  I kept all my research and data separate and away from Cinch, but it didn’t matter.  She knew everything.  She had my notes, my data files, and…and now she has Spike.”  
“I knew she was a jerk, but how can she just take Spike like that?” asked Sunset.
Twilight’s sobbing picked up again at the question.  “It-It’s my fault.  I had him listed on one of my other projects.  It was just in case anyone ever figured out I’d been bringing him in to school.   I didn’t even think she looked at my proposals.  She-she said he was school property, part of the collected data.  A-and then she said, if I don’t procure the source of the energy for her tomorrow, she’s going to use the portion that’s inside Spike to further the research, and she’ll use whatever means necessary to get to it.”  Twilight’s violet eyes found Sunset’s and the unicorn could see the hopeless, broken look in the teen’s streaming eyes.  “What am I supposed to do, Sunset,” she sniffled, “I can’t lose Spike.”
“No one’s losing anyone, Twilight,” Sunset said, determination sparking to life, and setting a blaze a feeling she hadn’t had since the Battle of the Bands.  “Now tell me exactly what happened.”
> Chapter 29
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After listening to Twilight’s recount of the day, particularly who else had been involved in kidnapping Spike, the amber unicorn’s ears drooped and her heart fell.  “This isn’t your fault Twilight,” Sunset said dejectedly, “It’s mine,” she breathed causing the teen to lift a puzzled eyebrow.
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.
“Last week while you were in class, Indigo snuck into your lab,” Sunset replied.  “She was taking pictures of your research and she was trying to get into your computer.”  Sunset sighed and looked away.  “Spike wanted to chase her off, and…”  Sunset hung her head, “I used magic to make him a bit more intimidating.  I just wanted to make Indigo think twice before messing with you again.  I was trying to help, but I only made it worse.  I’m so sorry, Twilight.  I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to get Spike back safe and sound.”
“I know you will Sunset,” Twilight said and then offered the unicorn a weak smile.  “You’ve been trying to protect me since we met.  You saved me from Indigo and her gang when they tried to attack me at school.  You saved me from the magic portals my device was causing, apparently you’ve even been protecting me when I didn’t know.  Twilight sighed, I just wish you didn’t have to protect me all the time.  I just wish you believed I was strong enough to at least me able to hear the truth.”
“Twili-“ Sunset began but Twilight continued right over her.
“I know I remind you of her, your princess friend.  I’ve seen it in the way you looked at me and how you've reacted in the past.  I might look like her, I might have some of her habits, but I’m not her.  I wish I was as good as the Twilight Sparkle from your world.  Some important princess with tons of friends that saved you and multiple worlds in addition to being a ruler of the country.”  Twilight’s tone went from sad to serious as she met the pony’s eyes.  “But, I’m not.  I’m just me, a regular girl who prefers books to people and is in way over her head.  But I have been trying my best despite it all, and I think I deserve to know the truth about what’s going on if I’m going to be a part of this.”
“You’re right you do, and Twilight, and I’m sorry I made you feel that way,” said Sunset hanging her head.  “The truth is I didn’t tell you about the Princess Twilight because you reminded me so much of her.  It’s because you reminded me so much of myself.”  
“Wait, what?” questioned the teen, the surprise draining the serious she had exuded a moment before.  
“Really?”  Sunset asked surprised Twilight didn’t see it.  “Okay, well tell me if this sounds familiar.  Brilliant student, top of her class with all the pressure to meet the expectations of the head of your school.  So you bury yourself in your studies leaving no time for any meaningful interactions with others.  You might not have my bad attitude as a result, but we do seem to share a knack for causing magical mischief.”  Twilight chuckled at that.
“I know what it’s like comparing yourself to Princess Twilight and coming up short.  She was my replacement as Princess Celestia’s student and she was the one who did everything right; found the Elements of Harmony, saved Equestria more times than she can recall, and even became a practical demigod for her efforts.  Needless to say, I didn’t take it very well and one hastily thought out plan to steal the Element of Magic later found me at the bottom of a crater in front of CHS reevaluating my choices in life.  I guess I just wanted to protect you from my mistakes.  Princess Twilight is great, but she’s not perfect.  Trust me, I’ve seen her eat a hay burger.”  That earned a blush from the teen, obviously indicating something two might have in common, as well as a small chuckle.
“Twilight, you shouldn’t worry about trying to be as good as Princess Twilight-“
“I know, I know.  Trying to gauge myself by a mythical pony princess version of myself is bit of a high-“
Sunset shook her head as she interrupted, “Because you’re already far more impressive.”  
The teen fixed the unicorn with a doubtful look.  “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but-“
“I’m serious,” Sunset cut in.  “From what I’ve heard, Princess Twilight was a standoffish book pony.  When she was in school, despite having people want to be her friend and invite her out, she still buried herself in her studies.  She was also the personal student of the ruler of the nation.  Do you think anyone ever threatened her or hurt her?
“You, on the other hand, are just as smart, but instead of learning under a benevolent sun princess, you got stuck with Cinch and the antagonistic environment she’s’ created in this school that makes everyone see you as a threat.  And, defend yourself, you’ve been forced to deal with these hostile students without magic.  But through it all, you didn’t close yourself off to the others, still trying to be kind and polite to those who ignore and bump you in the halls.  You even managed to get one grumpy unicorn to open up and start connecting with others again, something I might add, Princess Twilight has failed at for over a year.”
“What I’m trying to say is, yes you remind me of Princess Twilight, but me not telling you about her had nothing to do with me wanting you to fill in for her as the Element of Magic or anything else.  The parts that you have in common with her are what I should have seen and trusted enough in to trust in you.  You’re both geniuses able to find information no one else would even to know to look for.  You both try to see the best in people or ponies that have been less than nice to you.  And you both would do anything to stand up for what’s right and protect those you care about.  That’s why I know Spike is going to be okay, because he’s got you to look out for him.”
Twilight enveloped the little pony in another hug.  Though this one was less desperate, it was no less wet than the previous embrace.  “Thank you, Sunset.”
“I mean it, Twilight, I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for your help, both you and Spike.  I promise we won’t let Cinch hurt him or get her hands on magic.”
“How?” the teen asked.  Though she wanted to believe in what Sunset was saying, she didn’t see a lot of options.
“Clearly you’ve never had to manipulate an entire school into being under your control.”  Sunset smirked.  Leave Cinch to me.  I have a plan.  I’ll track down Spike and make sure Cinch doesn’t come after you again.”
Twilight frowned, “Are you really keeping secrets from me again after we just had this conversation?  I am going to help get Spike back.”
Sunset met her frown with a lopsided smile.  “I mean I can tell you, but part of me wants you to hang onto your innocence lest I corrupt you further into being even more like me,” she said earning a giggle from the girl.  “Plus, plausible deniability and all.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, “Fine, but you are not leaving me out of your plan.”
“Of course not,” the unicorn assured.  “Tomorrow you have the most important job.  You have to finish collecting all the magic.”
“Pinkie Pie?” 
“Pinkie Pie,” Sunset nodded.  “Your best bet will be at the welcome party when we get there.  The Element of Laughter, expect her to have gone all out. You have to locate her and syphon her magic, preferably without her or the other CHS students spotting you seeing as they probably already know you’re coming."  
“Oh, is that all,” Twilight blanched.
“Don’t worry, you’ve got this,” Sunset assured her.  “Then, once we have all of the magic, we meet up at the Wondercolt statue.  We’ll have to take the magic from Spike, or Cinch won’t give up on using him.  I know it’s not the best option, but at least he’ll be safe.”  Twilight was sad at the prospect of having to take the magic from her puppy but knew it would be for the best so nodded.  “Then we open the portal and I go through taking the magic with me, and given the rate the magic in this world is fading, what’s left will be gone before Cinch can get her hands on it.”
A worried look crossed the teen’s face as she lit upon the obvious flaw in Sunset’s plan.  “But the magic, we still don’t have all of it.  We’re still missing the last Element, Magic.  I’m not…so I never-” Twilight started worriedly before being cut off.
“It’s okay.  As much as you spontaneously gaining magic would have simplified things, like I said, I wasn’t really counting on it,” assured Sunset.
“Okay, then how did you plan on opening the portal?”  Seeing the unicorn hesitate, the teen quickly added, “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.  I mean I know I didn’t like secrets, but if it’s personal, I don’t want to make you feel you have to tell me.”
Sunset smiled at that.  “No, I promised I’d be honest and not hide anything from you anymore, and I think you’ve more than proven I can trust you.”  That earned a slight blush from the teen as Sunset continued. “Okay, so do you remember when I told you about cutie marks?”
“Yeah,” the girl replied slowly, “you said they’re symbols that appear when you discover your special talent, the power that’s innate within you.”
The pony nodded and shifted herself so that the two-toned sun adorning her flank was visible.  “My special ability is to help bring out the best in other ponies.”  The teen raised a questioning eyebrow at the symbol, making the unicorn roll her eyes.  “Look, cutie marks aren’t always the most literal.  They sometimes take a bit of creative license with what they represent.  Mine, I guess it’s supposed to show how I can help others shine their brightest.”
“No, that’s not what I was wondering about,” said Twilight hastily, “it’s just that you seemed so reluctant to talk to about your, uh, talent, but now that I know, I wasn’t sure what prompted your…hesitance?” Twilight finished awkwardly, not knowing how delicate a subject something like this was or not.
The comment made the unicorn’s ears droop as she stared at the dusty garage floor.  Sunset sighed.  “A lot of reasons really.  Knowing how to bring out the best in others, means I’m also really good at doing the opposite, and that was pretty much the only thing I did with my talent when I first came to this world.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Twilight said carefully.
“Essentially I can act as an amp for others, helping them do their best, with their abilities.  But even using my talent the right way, to help ponies or people, there’s always the chance that others will take advantage of you for that power, often for their own selfish goals.  After enough times of thinking I’d found people who cared for me only to find out I was being manipulated for my talent, I stopped trying.  I shut myself off from others and vowed that I would become powerful enough that no one could ever use me again.  It’s why I wanted to become and alicorn and when I started to believe that Princess Celestia was holding me back so she could take advantage of my talent, well…it’s how I ended up in this world the first time.” 
Sunset felt a hand on her shoulders and looked up to meet the knowing gaze of Twilight.  “I understand.  I guess that’s one more thing we have in common.”  She smiled, “Thank you for trusting me enough to share that with me.”
Returning the smile and leaning into the teen, Sunset continued.  “You’re welcome, but the point is, I think I can use my powers to amplify the power we’ve collected enough to use it to trigger the portal and hopefully get it to connect with power of the Elements in Equestria.”
“Are you sure that will work,” Twilight asked skeptically.
“Sure?  No, but I do have some experience channeling and enhancing Harmony magic and I think this will work,” the unicorn assured.
“And if it doesn’t?”
Sunset sighed, “Then I’m stuck here until the portal opens again in two years.  I’d have to hope that my magic is enough to stabilize the magical field of this world so that the portal remains anchored here.”
“Would you even be able to produce enough magic to maintain the field and yourself?” said the teen concern seeping into her voice and the fact that the unicorn wouldn’t meet her eyes, did nothing to alleviate it.  Twilight blanched, “But Sunset, without magic, you…”
“I know,” Sunset said, meeting Twilight’s eyes before offering a reassuring smile, “but like I said, I think our plan is a good one.  If I’ve learned one thing from Princess Twilight, it’s that you have to trust in Harmony and count on your friends.  And with a Twilight on both sides of the portal, I have faith that this will work out.”
Sunset’s look of sincere belief did little to lessen the worry that had washed over Twilight and left her stomach a roiling sea of anxiety.  Sunset believed in her, so much so that she was quite literally trusting the teen with her life.  Why couldn’t Twilight feel even a fraction of that belief in herself?  Looking down at the little pony that had come to be such an important part of her life, Twilight made a silent promise to herself; she would prove she was worthy of Sunset’s belief and do whatever it took to make sure Sunset got home.
> Chapter 30
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was finally Friday morning and after an early meeting at Crystal Prep, the busses were being loaded for the trip across town.  Twilight was crouched low in her seat trying to avoid eye contact with her teammates as they headed to the back of the bus.  Sugarcoat had all but carried a zombie-like Sour Sweet past her already.  Indigo had given her a knowing smirk then leaned in to shout in her face, “Are we gonna win?”  Before Twilight could manage an answer, the jock leaned in closer and growled, “We better, or that little mutt of yours is mine.”
Hoping to avoid any more encounters, Twilight kept her eyes down and was left to fiddle with the all too light backpack in her lap.  “Where is Sunset?” she thought.  When Principal Cinch had gathered them all for her pre-Games lecture, the amber unicorn had told Twilight that she had something she had to take care of and then she had disappeared...literally.  When the speech was over, they had been made to head for the busses.  Twilight had delayed as long as she could but was eventually ushered out the door by Dean Cadance.  
A sudden increase in weight, and a muffled, “Oof,” drew her out of her spiraling worry.  Carefully unzipping the backpack, Twilight found that it now contained the wayward pony.  
“Where have you been,” demanded the teen in a harsh whisper.  “I was worried you were going to leave me to deal with all of this by myself.”
The little unicorn met Twilight’s eyes with a frown.  “I would never abandon you.”  Relenting a bit at the sight of the anxious teen, Sunset gave her a small, lopsided smile.  “I promise, we’re in this together until the end.”  
Twilight returned the smile with a little one of her own then closed her eyes and took a cleansing breath.  “R-right, until the end,” she repeated.  “So what were you doing that you nearly missed the bus?”
“Poking my muzzle where it doesn’t belong,” Sunset smirked.  “I checked a few places in the school for any sign of Spike, but no luck.  I’m not familiar enough with the building’s layout to know exactly where to check, but I couldn't sense his magic either, so I don’t think he was in the school.  Cinch probably wants to keep him close.  My money says he was on one of the busses that left with the spectators for the Friendship Games.  I also may have set up a little surprise for Cinch in her office.”
“Sunset,” Twilight chastised, “that was reckless!  You could have been seen or stepped on.  Not to mention using all of that magic with nothing to show for it.”
“Whoa now,” interrupted the pony from the bag, “my magic levels are doing fine thank you, and it was worth it if it meant saving the little furball sooner.  It didn’t work out, true, but who says I have nothing to show for it?”
“What did you do?” asked the teen worriedly at seeing the devious grin spread across the unicorn’s face.  
“Just returning something that belongs to Cinch.  Nothing for you to worry about now.  We have things to work out.”  The rest of the way the two went over their plan for when they arrived.  Sunset did her best to describe both the school’s layout as well as what she would likely face if she confronted the girls, in particular Pinkie Pie as she was the one outstanding target for their collection.
When they arrived at their destination, Twilight opted to slouch down in her seat and allow the other Shadowbolts to exit before her.  It would provide a distraction, having to deal with all the visiting students, and hopefully allow Twilight to avoid any unwanted attention from any Wondercolts who might be looking for her.  After the run-in with Applejack at the mall, there was no doubt that they were aware of her existence and likely suspected what she was up to.  From her spot at the front of the bus, she could hear a woman greeting the delegation.
“...Vice Principal Luna can help your students get settled if you’d like me to show you around, Principal Cinch.”  Twilight chanced a look out the window to see the speaker, and her jaw dropped at the sight of a familiar woman with flowing aurora hair.  “There have been quite a few changes since your last visit.”
“Oh yes, Principal Celestia, I’m sure there have,” Twilight could hear her principal’s normal tone of smug superiority this tie laced with something else; jealousy, anger, Twilight wasn’t sure but having been on the receiving end of Principal Cinch’s ire, the teen did not envy the woman’s position.  “Though I doubt that a tour would be all that enlightening, perhaps it could provide some...insight as to your recent endeavors.”
Seeing the two principals headed toward the entrance, Twilight took the opportunity to slip off the bus.  Only to be shoved off the bus by Indigo Zap, causing Twilight to knock into the person in front of her and causing both to fall over.  Unfortunately, when the teen was able to straighten her glasses, she found that the one who had broken her fall was Sour Sweet and she found herself staring into a pair of enraged indigo eyes.  
“Seriously?!” the fuming girl seethed but caught the glare the nearby Sugarcoat shot her and reigned in her temper with a deep breath.
“Oh, sorry,” Twilight stammered as she scrambled back to her feet, “I didn’t mean to.”  Fearing either retaliation or unwanted attention from the remaining educators, she continued, “Why don’t you go ahead.”
“You are such a sweetie,” Sour began in her falsely sweet voice, then followed it up as she stalked past the bespectacled teen with, “I’m watching you.”
Sugarcoat decided it was best to follow after her friend to make sure her anger didn’t just find a new target but felt it necessary to point out something to Twilight as she passed.  “You are kind of being a doormat right now.”  
Winding through milling Crystal Prep students, including a still headphone wearing Lemon Zest who had graduated from head banging and now a full-on air guitar performance, the teen took refuge behind one of the large hedges in front of CHS.  Taking off her backpack, she glanced around quickly to make sure no one had spotted her, before unzipping it and freeing its occupant.  This time, the tiny unicorn did not flop out but instead seemed to unfold herself from the confines.  
“Well, this is it,” Sunset said after she had extricated herself, “You ready?”
“Not really,” Twilight replied nervously.  
“Don’t worry, you’ve got this.  First thing you have is the Welcome party, and Pinkie at a party will not be hard to spot.  Just go in there, stay out of sight and let your device do the work.  In the meantime, I’ll track down Spike and we’ll meet back out front at the Wondercolt statue then we can open the portal and send me back.  Magic will be gone again from this world, and with no magic, there is no reason for Cinch to go after you or Spike any more.  You’ll be free to go to Everton and do whatever you want far away from Crystal Prep and Abacus Cinch.”
Twilight nodded but she wasn’t so sure anymore.  Sure this is what she had wanted, to be free of Crystal Prep and Principal Cinch.  To be able to study and research whatever struck her fancy in the high tech labs of Everton had been the goal before, but now?  Now after she had spent time with Sunset and a talking Spike.  Now that she had studied magic and hung out with two magical creatures playing and planning together, was the Independent Study program really what she still wanted?
Not knowing the conflict in the young scientist’s mind, the unicorn just smiled and said, “Great.  Then I’ll see you in a little bit.  Good luck.”  And with that she once again disappeared into the crowd headed for the school.  Taking a second to perform one of Cadance’s breathing techniques, Twilight soon stood and followed after Sunset heading for the gym.

***

Sunset made her way down the once familiar halls of Canterlot High.  Though thankfully empty at the moment as all of the students were currently attending the welcome party for Crystal Prep, for the former Wondercolt the halls were full of familiar ghosts.  Returning to her former school was not something Sunset was sure she had wanted back when Princess Twilight dragged her onto the stupid mirror project but being here now as a miniature pony made Sunset want to buck the pony princess in the muzzle.
Wandering these halls again where she had been reduced to tears by an angry mob would be scary for anyone, but to do it as a tiny unicorn who’s only defense mechanism was nearly out of juice, was terrifying.  But a friend was in trouble, and she had a job to do.  Sunset trusted Twilight to get the rest of the magic they needed from Pinkie Pie.  There was no doubt the pink party planner would be found in the gym where the welcome festivities were being held along with the delegation from Crystal Prep.  
While Twilight handled that mission, this left Sunset in charge of locating Spike.  Sunset understood how manipulators worked having been a master one before the Fall Formal.  Cinch would want to have Spike close to use as leverage in case Twilight developed cold feet.  Having the dog on hand would serve as a reminder why the scientist had to deliver the magic to the administrator.  
As Twilight had informed Sunset of Principal Cinch’s allergy to dogs, it also meant that Spike was likely brought on the second CPA bus that had the students who had come to spectate, separate from the bus that Twilight had ridden with the team.  It was likely that Spike was still on board, but it was possible she had stashed the pup in the building.  Sunset knew of a few places on campus that would be easily accessible and out of the way for someone to hide something they didn’t want found, and so was taking the longer route through the school to the back exit where the busses were parked in order to double check some of those locations.  
Lost in her thoughts, Sunset rounded a corner she was surprised to find it decorated, which was strange as it was on the opposite side of the school from where the Friendship Games were being held and likely wouldn’t be seen by any of the Crystal Prep students.  It also confused her that the hall was festooned in banners of gold and red instead of the expected Wondercolt blue, until it dawned on Sunset exactly where she was standing, right in front of her old locker.  
It was barely recognizable as the entirety of the hideous green color used for the lockers was covered over in pictures.  Inching closer, drawn by curiosity, Sunset was shocked at the collage.  What had to be dozens of photos covered her locker all carefully cut and trimmed together featuring herself, well her human self.  Some of them were individuals, but more often they were her hanging out with different clubs or in the middle of helping some of the other students, but in each one the amber skinned girl was smiling out at the camera.  
The display caused the little unicorn’s legs to give way as her hindquarters met linoleum out of shock, a myriad of thoughts rushing through Sunset’s mind.  First and foremost was the realization that they missed her.  The time and dedication that this display must have taken and the fact that it hadn’t been defaced meant that it wasn’t just a select few, but the whole school.  The thought inevitably led to another.
“They must have figured out I wasn’t behind Anon-A-Miss,” Sunset muttered, still trying to sort through her feelings.  Staring up at the display, her gaze was drawn to a small podium set up next to it.  Teal eyes sparked with recognition as they spotted the book adorning the top of the podium, one the unicorn was very familiar with as it had belonged to her.
Calling on her magic, the book was surrounded by a red glow as it lifted off the podium.  Sunset’s mind buzzed with questions and overwhelmed by confusion over the whole situation distracting her enough that she didn’t notice how weak the aura was until it fizzled out causing the book to slip from her magical grasp.  The heavy tome banged against the edge of the thin podium causing it to tip over and clatter to the ground.  
Sunset tensed waiting and praying that everyone was busy in the gym and wouldn’t have heard the racket over the din of the party.  That hope soon died as her twitching ears heard the sound of heavy soled shoes moving quickly in her direction.  Sunset quickly glanced around trying to figure out her escape.  She could try running for it but the clatter of hooves on tile would be hard to mask if she was running and she doubted her little legs would be able to outrun a full-sized person unless they were as unathletic as Twilight.
Remembering the nerdy scientist, Sunset grasped hold of another idea.  Maybe not her best but she was running out of time.  The unicorn lit her horn and took hold of the dial of her locker quickly spinning in her combination.  Knowing she had scared teenage boys into lockers in the past, Sunset figured there would be ample space for her current diminutive size.  
That however proved to be untrue as she lifted the release for the door and a pile of pictures and notes came spilling out of the locker.  Unable to do anything about the mess as the footsteps were fast approaching, the little unicorn hopped into the locker and tried to pull the door closed behind her only to find that the deluge of papers was preventing the latch from hooking correctly.  Hearing the footsteps round the corner, Sunset knew she was out of time so she pulled the door closed as much as possible and prayed they wouldn’t think to bother looking inside.
A moment later heavy footsteps thudded into the hall stopping right in front of the locker at the downed podium.  Another might have missed it, but pony hearing proved to be superior to a human’s as Sunset heard the new arrival emit a low growl.  A sound Sunset still had memories of from when she was last on the human world: the sound of Gilda on the hunt.
> Chapter 31
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight found herself lurking under the bleachers in the CHS gym.  She had snuck in among the wave of maroon tartan that had entered and quickly secluded herself away from the staring eyes.  The Canterlot High students had stared awkwardly at the new arrivals as they entered the red and gold bedecked gymnasium.  Hundreds of eyes searching the Crystal Prep students hoping for a glimpse of someone they both hoped and feared to see again.	
After the incident at the Canterlot Mall, of course Twilight suspected that word would have spread through Canterlot High, especially after what Sunset had told her about her pony princess counterpart.  Everyone in the room was probably on the lookout for her now, knowing what she was up to.  What was she supposed to do now?  How in the world would she be able to find Pinkie Pie in this crowd?
She took a deep breath and stepped further under the bleachers until her back struck something.  Except what she bumped into was not the cold hard cinder blocks she would have expected. This was a warm squishy impact that could only be that of bumping into another person.  Before she could yelp, a pink hand clasped itself over Twilight’s mouth.  Surprise and fear gripped the nerdy girl as she remembered so many other instances like this and the pranks that came along with it.  
When she was spun around, however, she was met by a bright pair of baby blue eyes.  With a finger to her lips, the new girl whispered, “Shh!  If you’re trying to be sneaky, I’ve recently learned it means not being seen and being quiet...or else you end up running twelve blocks wearing a skirt made of a bush and let me tell you, those branches can really chafe.”  Removing the hand from Twilight’s mouth, she instead extended it to the bespectacled girl with a warm smile, “Hi!  I’m Pinkie Pie.”
The genius of Crystal Prep stood there utterly baffled.  Was fate really being that fortuitous that she had quite literally just bumped into the one girl she was looking for?  Sunset had warned her that Pinkie Pie always seemed to have a sort of magic of her own even before gaining access to Equestrian magic.  Casting a wary eye over the girl, she did seem to fit the description of the unicorn’s former friend, though she had expected Pinkie's hair to be more poofy.  
Extending a hand cautiously, Twilight replied, “H-hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle.”  Taking the offered arm, the bubbly girl proceeded to shake it so forcefully that it knocked out Twilight’s bun and caused her glasses to slip off.
“I know,” Pinkie replied matter-of-factly, “You look just like my friend.  Her name is Twilight, too.”  
It took the prodigy a moment to realize what this conversation meant.  “Wait, you know I’m not Princess Twilight?”
“Oh, yeah, as soon as I saw you,” Leaning in to whisper conspiratorially to Twilight she added, “Though I bet you could pass for her twin.” 
“Then how did you-”
“You’re obviously the Twilight from this world since you couldn’t possibly be the Twilight from the pony world since the Twilight from the pony world doesn’t go to Crystal Prep or wear glasses.”
Then the excitement faded as she became downcast.  Twilight wasn't sure, but she could have sworn that the volume of the pinkette’s hair actually deflated, like some sort of balloon.  “Also, you don’t seem to be mad or disappointed in me, and if you were Princess Twilight, you should be disappointed in me because I'm disappointed in me.  Instead of helping someone who was sad, we went all Meanie McMeanpants and turned our backs on someone who was our friend.  But we haven’t been able to talk to either one of them to say sorry...But I guess you know all about that seeing as you’re here to take my magic.”
“Wait, what?” asked the bewildered scientist.
“Duh!  You need to collect my magic which is the last of the Equestrian Element magics that you need because the mysterious energy that you were researching turned out to be magic and you accidentally pulled Sunset Shimmer back through the portal to our world, and she's been stuck here as an adorably small unicorn with no way home so you’re helping her collect all our magic so she has enough to open the portal and get back home.”
It took the prodigy a moment to piece together everything the other girl had just said before stammering, “Um...yeah, but how did you know all that?"
“Just a hunch,” Pinkie said with a shrug.
“And you’re okay with that?” Twilight followed up nervously.
Pinkie looked at her and her face took on a look of utmost seriousness.  “What we did to Sunset back in December was the absolute worst.  We promised Princess Twilight after the Fall Formal that we would look after Sunset and teach her about friendship, but instead we just hurt her more.  We were constantly bringing up her past mistakes, and during the Battle of the Bands when she was trying to stop us from showing the sirens our magic we yelled at her even though she was just trying to help us.  And of course, there was Anon-A-Miss when we left her crying in the hallway.  
“I know my Element is Laughter, and people think it’s just about me being a silly party girl, but it’s more than that.  It’s bringing joy to someone and being silly and throwing parties works for most people to make them happy.  But that wasn’t what made Sunset smile.  She was always the happiest just being with us, feeling included and wanted.
“When we turned on her, we didn't just take away her smile, we broke her heart and the promise we made to Princess Twilight.  Me...Pinkie Pie... broke a Pinkie promise, and nobody breaks a Pinkie promise!  You want to know if I’m okay with giving you my magic?”
The next moment, Pinkie Pie had pulled out two oversized gift boxes seemingly from nowhere.  Flipping the boxes away, the party girl revealed two large and festively decorated cannons.  Looking at Pinkie nervously, as she took hold of the two triggering mechanisms, Twilight asked cautiously, “Um, are you sure this is a good idea?”
Pinkie’s hair seemed to poof out into a ball of frizzy cotton candy and gave her a more eccentric look, but the determined gleam in her eyes showed she knew exactly what she was doing.
“If it helps Sunset...Absolutely.”
Pinkie pulled the cords to the two cannons and they exploded in a rain of red and gold confetti.  The party seemed to instantly transform as the standard gym lighting was replaced by a disco ball and the DJ put on some more upbeat music.  While most of the students in the gym cheered and started excitedly enjoying the party, Twilight watched as Pinkie began to glow.  Not just the faint hint of magic that she had witnessed when collecting the other girls’ magic, but a bright pink aura that seemed to radiate from within.  A pair of pink ears soon poked out of her poofy locks as her hair lengthened into a floor length ponytail.  Turning toward Twilight, Pinkie beamed at her with an elated grin.  
“You know, when we turned on her and broke Sunset’s heart.  I was worried that we had also crushed her hope.  I know she was alone for a long time, and we turned on her right when she was starting to open up.  I was so afraid she would give up on the hope that she could ever have a real friend.”
Twilight’s device began to react as the intensity of Pinkie’s magic increased, causing it to lift itself into the air as it began to pull in the energy.
“I’m super excited to see that that’s not true and that she found a real friend.  So thank you, Twilight.”
The teen scientist’s attention was snapped from the hovering pendant back to the ponified party girl.  “Me?  Why are you thanking me?”
Pinkie giggled as the magic aura was pulled into the pendant.  “Because it’s you, silly.  Why else would you be working so hard to help her with stealing our magic?  Obviously, you two are friends or you wouldn’t be here.”
As the last of the magic faded from the glowing girl, she sank to the ground, an exhausted but happy smile on her face.
“So as Sunset’s former friend to her new one could I ask one favor?” asked Pinkie.
“Sure, I guess,” fumbled the awkward teen, still shocked by the previous statement.
“I know that she doesn’t want to see us now, because if she did, Sunset would have just come to us for our magic in the first place, but would you mind telling her that we are super-duper sorry for everything, and if she ever wants to hear our apologies or give us another chance, we’ll do whatever it takes to make things up to her.”
“Um, yeah, I can let her know,” replied Twilight.
“Great!  Then you better get going.  You have a portal to open and a friend to help.”
Looking at the drained teen, the bespectacled couldn’t help but worry, “Are you going to be alright here?”
“Better than ever,” assured Pinkie with a smile.  “Now get going, and don’t forget to tell Sunset.”
“I won’t,” assured Twilight as she hurried out of the gym with a small smile on her face.

***

“When I find you, you preppy little loser…”  The thought went unfinished as Gilda’s hawk like eyes focused in on the pile of papers cascading from the partially ajar locker.  Standing up, Gilda stomped over to the locker and grabbed ahold of the handle.  “You think you can just show up and trash CHS?”  
Inside the locker, Sunset’s horn was lit and holding the back of the latch for all she was worth, though she knew it wouldn’t last long.  She could already feel the sweat begin to form.  Gilda tried pulling the door, but was met by a surprising amount of resistance, which only infuriated her more.  “When I get my hands on you, I'll beat you face in!”  
Whether from her failing magic or the memories that the comment caused, Sunset’s grip on the door failed.  The sudden loss of equilibrium in the battle over the door, caused Gilda to fall backwards and land heavily on her rear, while the door swung open only to bounce back again to a nearly closed position.
“Again?” Sunset spat, “You already beat my face pretty well last time.”
“Shimmer?” Gilda breathed, a look of disbelief sweeping over her face.  “Y-you’re really back?”  The tone of shocked amazement then gave way to utter bafflement, “Why are you in a locker?”  
“Saving you the trouble apparently.”   
“What?  No!  Look, when Dash said you might be here.  I didn’t believe her, but I’m glad I was wrong.”
“Why so you can beat my face in again?  Well, no need, you made your point very clear last time that I’m not welcome here.  Coming back was just a mistake and as soon as I can I’ll be gone again.” 
"What do you mean as soon as you can?  If you’re here isn’t the portal fixed?"  Gilda asked energetically before she seemed to think better of the rapid-fire questions and took a breath before continuing more calmly, "Look I’m not going to hurt you again.  I wanted to apologize and...could you just come out of the locker?  I want to do this properly and you deserve me saying it to your face.”
Sunset mulled over the words.  Gilda, though she had been a bully, she had always been the type to take the credit for her misdeeds.  Unlike Sunset, Gilda had not been a master manipulator and from what Sunset could tell, she was being sincere now.  Couple that with the fact that Sunset had been discovered and she didn’t have time to be trapped in a locker when Spike still needed to be found. 
Taking a deep breath, Sunset called, “Fine, I’m coming out.  Just...just don’t freak out or anything.”
“Why would I freak out?  Did you-” The question died on her tongue as an adorable tiny unicorn hopped out of the locker and stared up at her with huge teal eyes.  Gilda tried to hold it in, but in the end, she was no match for the sight before her and an audible “Squee” escaped passed her lips.  
The reaction coming from the person Princess Luna had had to banish from her dreams a time or two, was enough to blow past any remaining fear and cause the tiny unicorn to burst out laughing.  “Well, at least you didn’t pass out.  I don’t think I could have caught you at the moment.”
“Y-you’re a unicorn.  Like an actual unicorn.  Why are you a unicorn?  I mean, that’s cool.  Sorry.”  Gilda looked away embarrassedly as she rubbed the back of her short hair then knelt down so she could be closer to eye level with the diminutive pony.  “I’m sorry about a lot of things.  How I acted, how I jumped to conclusions and what I did to you are just the tip of the iceberg.”  Seeing the understanding in those big, teal eyes, Gilda sat down and leaned against the lockers before pressing on.  “I don’t know how much you know about me, but I didn’t exactly have the best home life and the only so-called friends I had were just there because they would rather be with me than against me.”
Sunset chuckled, as she sat down next to her former tormentor.  “Yeah, I know a thing or two about that.”
“But it’s no excuse for what I did to you.  Yeah, you were a bitch before, and I was mad about the site, but I acted without thinking.”
“There was a lot of that going on back then.  You just did what everyone else was too scared to do.  Probably threw you a parade for getting me to go.  Was this display just an easy way to cover up my disappearance?”
“Heh, not even close.”  Lifting the sun adorned journal from where it had fallen, Gilda handed it to the unicorn.  “The Rainbooms said this thing was supposed to send messages to your world.  I’m guessing it doesn’t work.”  
“Not since the day I left.”
“And you didn’t get a chance to look at it before I showed up?”  Sunset shook her head.  
“Maybe you should.”
> Chapter 32
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Maybe you should,” Gilda said, opening the journal to a back page and laying it in front of the pony.  
Teal eyes roved over the page as she saw a myriad of notes crammed in anywhere they could fit in a variety of colors and scripts.  Turning the page, she found the next ones to be just as jam packed until she had quickly leafed through the entirety of the journal and found only a few pages left blank at the back in hopes of a reply to the messages that had never reached her.  Flipping back to where the notes began, Sunset began to read.

“Sunset, I am so sorry.  I never should have started Anon-A-Miss.  When Applejack ignored me the night of the sleepover, I was just so angry.  I wanted to get back at her and I thought that sharing her nickname would teach her a lesson.  I never meant for it to go as far as it did, or for you to get hurt.  Please come back, I want to make it up to you, to help make things right again.” - Apple Bloom

“I am so sorry for what we did.  I know it was my fault my sister and the other girls suspected you.  If I hadn’t stolen your phone, they never would have believed it was you.  I just missed being able to spend time with Rarity like I used to.  Her kicking me out of the slumber party made me wish for it to be like it used to be back when you were the Queen Bee and Rarity spent all her nights at home making dresses and hanging out with me.  I don’t know if you can ever forgive us, but please come back and give Rarity and the girls another chance.  They really miss you.” - Sweetie Belle

“Sunset, it was all my fault that this all got out of hand.  I was the one that pushed A.B. and Sweetie to keep posting.  It was just so nice to be the center of attention for once, even if it was secretly, that it took a while for me to notice the kind of attention Anon-A-Miss was getting wasn’t the good kind.  I’m sorry we dragged you and the whole school into our stupid attempts to get attention.  We never thought it would turn out this way.  Please come back, everyone misses you and wants to say they’re sorry.  I know you might not believe us after everything but I can prove it.” - Scootaloo

And prove it is exactly what she seemed to do. The following pages were full of messages and apologies from what looked like the entire school.  Skimming over them, a few caught her eye.

“Sunset, I’m sorry I ever thought it was you.  It was very uncool of me.” - Sandalwood

“Sunset- the way that we treated you was completely unacceptable.  I’m so sorry, and I hope that someday I’ll get the chance to make it up to you.” - Octavia Melody

“I guess part of me never really forgave you for what you were like before the Fall Formal, looking back I can see how hard you were working to change and I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance.” - Lyra Heartstrings

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is sorry she treated you so horribly...When I believed you were behind the Anon-A-Miss, I was just so mad when those pictures got out I just couldn’t control myself.  Please forgive me.”

“Huh, that actually seemed rather subdued coming from Trixie,” Sunset thought, but then she noticed the postscript.

“PS- Don’t you think The Great and Apologetic Trixie is the most magnificent, humble person to write to you.  No need to respond.  We both know it’s true.”

Shaking her head, she continued to flip through the entries until one caught her eye.

“Sunset, I always knew you could be so much more than the Queen Bee.  You make wherever you are a little brighter and CHS is a little colder for losing you.  I hope you’re happy now, but we would love the chance to show how sorry we are.” - Flash Sentry

Sunset stared at the page.  Of all the people she had hurt, she never thought that Flash Sentry would forgive her.  She had used him as nothing more than a pawn in her scheme for power at school.  Something he eventually figured out, something she knew had hurt him deeply.  The fact that he had reached out to her left her dumbstruck.  
The next messages were from the Rainbooms, and they were ones that Sunset wasn’t sure she wanted to read.  Glancing back at Flash’s entry, she knew what it must have taken for him to pen such kind words, and if he could give her a second chance, she could at least see what her former friends had to say.

“Sunset, I don’t know how we could have ever doubted you.  You worked so hard to learn friendship from us, and we were the ones who totally blew it.  At the first test of loyalty, we automatically thought the worst and ditched you when you needed us the most.  We were terrible friends, and I can understand why you’d never want to talk to us again, but please if you can give us another chance, we want to do whatever it takes to make it up to you and be the friends you deserve.” -Rainbow Dash

“Darling, there are no words strong enough to express just how truly sorry we are for how we treated you.  When we were asked to give you a second chance, I said yes but I think part of me was still holding a grudge and was unable to give you a real chance.  I always worried that this might be another act., but in the time we spent together you had more than proved how genuine your change of heart was  and I'm sorry I let my fears cloud my judgment when you were in such need.  I know we do not deserve another chance from you after everything that happened, but I do hope that you’ll grant us the opportunity to do whatever we can to prove ourselves to you.” -Rarity

“Sunny, I’m so so so SO sorry for what I did.  Being such a meanie pants to you when I should have been the one helping you get through such a tough time is something I can never make up for.  I said that I’d be your friend and help you learn about the Magic of Friendship, but I didn’t and I took away your smile.  Me, Pinkie, broke a Pinkie Promise, and hurt you so much.  Please come back, Sunny.  I want to help bring back your smile.  I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy again.” - Pinkie Pie

“Sunset, what we did to you was more than just unkind, it was downright cruel, and I am so very sorry that I ever thought you weren’t our friend.  If anyone could see a change in you after the Fall Formal it should have been me.  I saw you at your worst when you were a bully, but I also saw how hard you worked to make up for everything you had done and tried to help others.  I always regretted not showing you kindness when you were the Queen Bee.  I thought you might have just needed a friend, but I was too scared to reach out.  I was happy to get another chance after the formal, but at the first hint that you might be have gone back to being a bully, I got scared and ran away instead of helping you and showing you the kindness you needed.  I am truly very sorry, and while I know I cannot make up for what I did, I hope someday I’ll get the chance to try.” - Fluttershy

“Sunset, I’ve thought about this a lot.  When I said you were family, I meant it.  Now I know you don’t have a whole lot of experience with family or siblings, but I can tell you from experience, even the most loving families fight, and as you can see by Apple Bloom’s actions, sometimes they even lash out at each other.  Now I’m not tryin’ to excuse what she did or what I did to you, I just wanted to be honest.  Something I seem to have had trouble with lately.  The truth is, sugarcube, you are family.  You’re like a sister to me, and you know how seriously we Apples take family.  When I thought you were posting those secrets, I saw it as you turning on that very idea of family that I’d just admitted to you, and it hurt so I lashed out and left you.  I don’t know how I can ever make that up to you or show how truly sorry I am.  I don’t know if it means anything to you, but when I found out that it was Apple Bloom and her friends behind Anon-A-Miss, I wanted to go off on her too for everything she did.  Then I remembered that acting like that had already cost me one sister, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing another.  I only wish I’d learned that sooner.  Please come back, Sunset.  We miss you so much.” - Applejack

“Miss Shimmer, 
The path to redemption is never an easy one to walk.  That is something I’m sure you know well.  It is full of hardships and self-doubt wondering if you can do it, and if you’re truly worthy of the forgiveness you seek.  But the most difficult part of seeking redemption is being granted the opportunity by those we hurt to make amends.  While it seems like many here might not have given you a true opportunity to earn your redemption, the question now is will you allow them the opportunity to apologize and show how much they regret their actions?  You may not have been forgiven, and you may not want to forgive them, but I can tell you from my own experience, that it is better to be honest and get your feelings out in the open.  Though confronting those who have hurt you in the past is never easy, if you let the pain and hurt others cause you build up inside, it will only cause you more pain and heartache until you lash out at someone and begin the cycle anew.” - Vice Principal Luna 

“My dear Sunset, 
I don’t know how to apologize enough for what happened to you.  Please know that Luna and I never believed you were behind the Anon-A-Miss account.  We were working tirelessly to discover the one behind the account, and I’m afraid we did not see just how bad the situation was growing for you.  I am truly sorry, not just for that, but also that you felt you had no other option but to return through the portal.  You are not the first person I have failed when they needed someone to step in and stand by them, but I truly hope you are the last.
“For years now I have watched you grow from a slightly shy, curious girl to the Formal Princess.  I worried about you, but any time I wanted to step in, to help you, I saw something in your eye.  Fear?  Hatred?  Sadness?  I’m not sure what it was, but I allowed it to push me away.  After the Fall Formal I knew it was wrong, that you’d needed someone to be there for you all those years, but you quickly filled that void with your friends while that same look still haunted your gaze whenever I was around you so I continued to keep my distance.  I saw you grow and find friends and even step up to save CHS when things were at their worst.  You have come so far, do not let this incident turn you away from friendship, and please know I am always here for you should you need it.  I should have told you in person, but I am so proud of you, Sunset Shimmer.” - Principal Celestia

***
Twilight snuck out of the chaos of the gym and let the doors close on the din of the party.  Letting out a sigh she slumped against the wall.  That was not at all how she had expected the encounter to go, but she supposed Sunset had told her to be prepared for anything when it came to Pinkie Pie.  The brief moment of peace was shattered by the clack of heels on linoleum and a stern voice.
“Lying down on the job, Miss Sparkle,” Principal Cinch snapped.  “I thought I had impressed upon you the urgency of your situation.  Now, have you located Canterlot High’s source of the energy?" 
“I…well…” Twilight stammered out, panic beginning to build as she was stared down by the stern woman.
“Were my instructions unclear?  You were expected to locate their source of the power that Canterlot High possesses and report back to me, immediately,” Cinch said coldly.
“Yes, but you said I had until the end of the Games,“ Twilight squeaked out.
“That was before I learned you were wasting time at frivolous parties. Now, you will lead me to the source of this energy now, or I shall be forced to make use of the source I already have available to me.”
“No!” Twilight shouted, causing the principal to glare down at her apparent refusal.  “I-I mean ‘yes’, Principal Cinch, I know where the power source is.  If I had just a little more time, I’ll have all the data you need to siphon the energy.  Please, just let Spike go.”
"You will have that canine miscreant back after you procure the energy source and not a moment before.”  With a cold sneer she added, “I do believe some of your classmates are taking special care of him as we speak.  Should you fail, I will be forced to run every test and collect every sample from mangy mutt until there is nothing left to experiment on.  Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes, ma’am,” the teen croaked in despair.  
“Good,” sneered Cinch, “Now do you still require more time?”
“No, ma’am.”  Hanging her head in defeat, Twilight led Principal Cinch, toward the front door.  As they left, some of the other Shadowbolt team members took notice and followed Twilight and their principal out to the courtyard in front of Canterlot High.

***

Unbeknownst to the group from Crystal Prep, they had not been alone in the hallway.  Waiting impatiently for the party to end was a trio of girls with a penchant for being unnoticed and overhearing things not meant for their ears.  It was after all what had gotten them banned from the party in the gym and left waiting for cleanup duty.
“Girls, did ya hear that?” asked Applebloom, turning to her friends.
“I can’t believe it,” replied Sweetie Belle, “that human Twilight isn’t just stealing our sister’s powers…”
“She’s stealing them for Crystal Prep!” Scootaloo finished disgustedly.
“We can’t let them get away with it,” the youngest Apple said firmly.
“Yeah,” growled Scootaloo, “if even half the stuff Rainbow Dash has said is true, there’s no way they should have friendship magic.”
“Well, what are we supposed to do?” asked a nervous Sweetie.
“We need ta find our sisters,” replied Applebloom, “and quick.”
Sharing a resolute nod, the plan was set, and the trio hurried off to find their siblings and their friends.
> Chapter 33
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Fluttershy who first spotted Pinkie slumped over in the bleachers.  Alerting her friends, they had quickly gathered around the drained party girl.
“Pinkie, are you alright?” the concerned animal lover asked checking over her friend with an appraising eye.
“Yeah, what happened, Pinks,” Rainbow cut in, “did Twilight steal your magic too?”  
The response was a shake of a surprisingly poofy head, a degree of volume the other Rainbooms had forgotten the girl capable of.  “No, she didn’t steal it,” Pinkie replied, a small smile appearing on her otherwise haggard face.  “I gave it to her.”
“Darling, you do know that’s not Princess Twilight, right?” Rarity asked delicately.
“She’s right, sugarcube, that Twilight’s the human one, and who knows what she’s planning ta do with all the magic she’s stolen?”
“I do, Applejack,” said Pinkie firmly.  “She’s going to help Sunset.”
“Ah said she ain’t pony-Twi, so how could she possibly…”
“I don’t know,” the party girl said, seeming to regain a measure of her former energy given the force she put behind her words.  Taking a breath she turned sparkling blue eyes to meet green, “I just know, it’s...call it a hunch.”  A wide, enigmatic smile, they hadn’t seen in months spread across the party planner’s face.  “She wants to help Sunset, which is what we should have done when the whole Anon-A-Miss thing happened, and if even a part of me can help Sunset now, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to not let her down again.”
Any further attempts at making sense of Pinkie Pie were interrupted as a familiar trio burst into the gym, looking frantically around before racing over to the Rainbooms.
“Sweetie Bell, really, you know better than to slam doors,” Rarity reprimanded.
Applejack only rolled her eyes before leveling a hard stare at the girls, “More importantly, ya know y’all ain’t allowed at the party.  Not until it’s time for cleanup any way.”
“We know, sis, and we ain’t here for the party,” Apple Bloom started before being cut off by Scootaloo.
“Yeah, it’s that Twilight Sparkle that showed up with the Crystal Preppers.  She was actin’ all weird so we followed her…?” 
“Girls!” Rarity began, outrage clear on her face.
“And she’s in trouble,” Sweetie Belle cut in knowing best how to curtail one of her sister’s lectures on propriety.
“What do you mean, she’s in trouble?” asked Rainbow Dash.  This may not be the Princess Twilight that she was friends with, but the athlete had learned her lesson and had promised herself she’d stand up for others when they were in trouble.  
“It’s that Principal, the mean one with the glasses.  She cornered that Twilight out in the halls,” continued Sweetie.
“She said something about leading her to some sort a ‘power source’ for all the energy Twilight’s been collecting,” piped in Apple Bloom.
“Energy,” questioned Rarity, then her eyes fell on the still recovering party planner, “Oh dear, you don’t think she means the magic?”
“Makes sense,” drawled Applejack pushing her hat back on her head in contemplation, “and Ah guess that makes us the power sources…except she’s already drained all our magic.”
“Yeah, but all of our magic came from Princess Twilight and she’s back in magical pony land and hasn’t talked to us in a long time since we were all gigantic meanies,” interjected Pinkie.
“Oh, um,” started Fluttershy, “but the portal is still here and, um, even when it wasn’t working, it’s still where the magic is from.”
“And now that she has all our magic, who knows what she can do to the portal, too,” Rainbow Dash cut in.  “We have to stop her.  Whatever’s going on with her, we can’t let her mess with magic, who knows what could happen.”  Rainbow hurried down the hall towards the front door.
Applejack turned to the trio, “Thanks, we’ll take care of it," before addressing her friends, "Come on, girls, we better go after her before she does something…her.”  The rest of the Rainbooms quickly hurried down the hall after Rainbow Dash.  
“We should go after them,” Scootaloo said, beginning to follow after the older teens, “maybe there’s something we can do to help.”
“No wait,” said Sweetie as her friends began to give chase, a contemplative look spreading across her face. “Maybe there’s something else we can do.”
“What do ya mean?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Twilight.  I don’t think she wants to do any of this.  You saw how that woman was talking to her.  The principal is forcing her.”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo chimed in, “what was it she said?  ‘Just let Spike go’?  Who’s Spike?”
“Her dog,” Sweetie gasped, a look of realization spreading across her face.  "Remember during the Battle of the Bands Princess Twilight had that cute little puppy, I’m pretty sure she called him Spike.”
“Ya mean that no good principal kidnapped her dog and is holding him hostage to make Twilight steal magic?” Apple Bloom gasped incredulously.
“We’ve got to rescue him,” said Scootaloo, the same determination in her voice as her idol had demonstrated minutes ago.  “I mean if we save Spike, Twilight won’t have any reason to do what she’s doing.”
“But we don’t even know where she’s keeping him,” interjected Sweetie.  “I mean he could be at her house, at Crystal Prep, who knows.”
“True,” mused Apple Bloom, "but if Twilight did get cold feet, Ah think that witch would want him on hand ta remind Twilight why she has ta do it.”
“So he is here?” asked the young athlete.  “Then they would’ve had to bring him in one of those giant busses the Crystal Preppers showed up in.”
“Ah mean we can’t be sure, but it’s the only place we’d be able to check anyway without a ride.  It's worth a try.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” shouted Scootaloo and raced off toward the back doors that led to the parking lot, her two friends hurrying after.

***

Twilight led Principal Cinch slowly down the hall away from the party in the gym, presumably towards the source of the “mystery energy”, but when the teen turned to head out the front door, the educator was furious.  As they reached the bottom of the front steps, Cinch grabbed hold of the girl’s shoulder and spun her around.
“I’m losing my patience, Miss Sparkle,” Cinch snapped.  “Have you located the power source here at Canterlot High or do I have to make use of the source I already have available to me?”
“No!” Twilight shouted panicked, causing the principal to glare down at her for apparent refusal.  “I-I mean yes, Principal Cinch, I know the source of the energy.  Please just let Spike go.”
“You will have that canine miscreant back only after you lead me to the location of the energy.  Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes, ma’am,” Twilight said, hanging her head in defeat.  Walking across the front courtyard, Twilight stopped in front of the rearing horse statue, remembering how her adventures with magic had started here only a week ago.  “Here," Twilight said sadly, "this is the source of the energy I discovered.”
“Don’t play games with me Twilight.  If you don’t want to divulge the source to me, I will make do with collecting what information I can from your test subject.”
“I’m not,” Twilight shouted, panicked.  She didn’t want to divulge the secret, especially to someone like Cinch.  Sunset was supposed to have time to find Spike and get him away safely.  She was supposed to have the duration of the Friendship Games.  This was all happening too soon.  This was not part of the plan, but what choice did she have now?  “This is the source of the energy.  It is a portal to another world.”
“Another world?” Cinch scoffed, “Do you really expect me to believe-”
“It’s the truth!” Twilight shouted.  “And I can prove it.”  Pulling her device off from around her neck, she turned toward the portal.  It was rash and impulsive, and for the briefest of moments, she wondered if the amber unicorn might have been rubbing off on her.  Carefully opening the device, the young scientist triggered it to release the slimmest of streams of magical energy.  Watching in awe, Cinch and the other Shadowbolts watched as energy swirled briefly in the air and formed a glowing tear in space in front of the statue.  
Unlike Twilight’s previous experiences with these rifts, this one did not lead to a nightmarish land of grabbing plants.  Instead, the image that they saw through the magic opening appeared to be a picturesque medieval-style village.  The houses were all timber framed with thatched roofs.  There was a large circular building in a similar style in the middle of what appeared to be a town square.  But what really caught the eyes of all the Shadowbolts, it was the myriad of ponies filling the area.  Unlike the standard horses they were used to, these ponies came in a variety of colors and with a range of hair-mane styles, making them more resembled people.
“That horse, has wings and is flying,” Indigo spat out, “What the F-”
“And there’s a unicorn,” Sour Sweet cooed, before her smile melted into an angry scowl as she turned on Twilight, 	“What the hell did you do to me to have these hallucinations?”
“I don’t know,” said Lemon Zest, actually deeming this moment worth removing her headphones for, “but whatever it is, I think we just found our first commercial application!”  Throwing up the horns and head banging to celebrate only earned her a slap upside the head from Sugarcoat.
Cinch took in the scene; it was better than she had ever imagined.  The discovery of a new world with riches and resources that were yet untapped.  The machinations forming for how to best handle this discovery.
“Excellent work, Miss Sparkle.  Once we have won these games and returned to Crystal Prep, there will be no more talk of your transfer to Everton.  You will work with our research team on this energy and begin developing ways to utilize it for a variety of commercial uses."  
“What?”
“Oh, come now, Miss Sparkle, I never would have thought you so short sighted.  Research and discovery are great, but without practical applications, your findings will fade into obscurity.  But develop practical applications and you will become a household name."
“But you can’t, don’t you see?  The source of the energy, it’s them,” Twilight shouted, pointing to the ponies filling the square they’re living beings.    
“So are rats and dogs and they are used for test subjects,” Principal Cinch said as she approached Twilight.  “So are cows, pigs, and chickens and yet we still raise them for slaughter.”
“You can’t be serious,” Twilight said, dumbfounded, “These are sapient beings, they have lives and feelings, and families, you would threaten that, threaten them just for your own reputation…”  
Something clicked in Twilight, a hot burning inside of her, spiking out from her core and pulsing through her body.  “Just like you’ve done to us.”
“That is quite enough, Miss Sparkle,” Cinch interrupted only to be interrupted herself.
“No, I don’t think it is,” Twilight said, gripping the device tightly in her hand, her eyes and focus leveled on the Crystal Prep principal and not noticing how the device was beginning to pulse in time to her increasing heart rate.  “For years, I have done what I was told, fallen in line and taken your abuse...all of your abuse,” Twilight growled turning briefly to glare at the other Crystal Prep students.  "I took it because you were the principal and we were your students...but we’re not are we?  You don’t treat us like students.  A teacher is supposed to mentor and encourage a student’s individual talents, not pit them against each other in an academic death match.  But we’re not students to you, we’re simply pawns.  Chattel to be used and discarded as you deem fit all for your precious reputation.”
“Miss Sparkle, I have had quite enough of this outburst.” Cinch interrupted, “I am the principal of Crystal Prep, and I will not let your frenzied outburst jeopardize what I have built.   Now, it is time to return to the school for the Academic Decathlon, which I expect you to win, or I will see to it that your little friend gets exactly the fate you predicted.  Do I make myself clear?”
“I’ll stop you.”  It was quiet but held an air of defiance that did not sit well with the principal.
“I understand you might have your...reservations about our arrangement, but if we don’t defeat Canterlot High in both the Friendship games and the discovery and development of this energy, I think I’ve made it plain what will happen to both you and that misbegotten dog of yours. These are facts, Miss Sparkle, ones you would do well to reacquaint yourself with.  I hold the power in this situation.” 
It was Cinch’s words that drew Twilight’s attention back to the device still tightly clenched in her fist.  She could feel the device practically vibrating in her hand.  The heat it gave off, seemingly hot enough to burn, but did not hurt her skin, instead it coursed through her body and burned under her skin.  She could feel it calling to her, wanting to be used, needing only the chance to be set free.  Cinch was threatening not just her, but Spike, and all the residents of Sunset’s world.  She had to be stopped.  And then another part reminded her that it wasn’t just Cinch that was the problem. Seeing her five tormentors, something jagged stabbed through her.  They were all to blame.  Raising her gaze, Twilight saw the gathering crowd of Shadowbolts and Wondercolts who had left the building to see why the teams weren’t inside for the first event.  Twilight remembered it wasn’t just her school that was guilty of mistreating others.  The burning feeling running through her turned to a sharp cold stab as she realized what she had to do.
“Oh, you’re wrong.  In this situation, I’m the one holding all the power.”
> Chapter 34
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Principal Celestia never thought I was behind Anon-A-Miss?” Sunset breathed.  
“Ha! Are you kidding?" scoffed Gilda,  "When she found out what I’d done, she had me in the office so fast it would have made Dash jealous, and I was pretty sure the look she fixed me with when I got there could have melted stone.”
“Wait, doesn’t V.P. Luna usually handle discipline issues?”
“Yeah, but Principal Celestia handled everything related to Anon-A-Miss and your disappearance personally.  I think the whole thing hit her kind of hard.  Not entirely sure why, but I do know the V.P. had to talk her down before she came in to see me.”
“Wait, Vice Principal Luna...Nightmare Moon herself was the voice of reason when it came to disciplining students?”  Sunset asked slack-jawed.  The legend of the vice principal's glee in handing out punishments to misbehaving students was well known and resulted in earning her the foreboding moniker which served as a deterrent for many in and of itself lest you face her wrath.
“Yeah, and let me tell you, an angry Luna is nothing compared to a pissed-off Celestia.”
“I actually have some experience with that too,” Sunset sighed.  “She doesn’t get you with yelling and punishments.  No, it’s disappointment.  Disappointment because she always sees the good in everybody and you had to be the one to prove her wrong.”
“Yeah, Principal Celestia asked me why she should give me a second chance.  Me being the arrogant jerk I was said I didn’t do anything worse than you ever did and she gave you one.  She fixed me with that fiery soul-searing glare and said, 	'Yes, and you stole that from her.'"  
Sunset’s jaw dropped at the description of the gentle and kind educator.  “Are you serious?  That does not sound like the Principal Celestia I know.”
“Yeah, freaked the hell out of me too and wiped the smirk right off my face.  Celestia said you’d shown real remorse after the Fall Formal and made the best of your second chance.  She said you were turning your life around until I took that from you. Then she said she wouldn’t be giving me any more chances.  At that point, I wasn’t sure if she was going to expel me or just hold me for the cops.  
“Then Principal Celestial stared me straight in the eye and said the only chance I had was the one I’d taken.  I’d already screwed it up for you so messing it up for myself wasn’t an option, and I owed it to you to become a better person.  
"And then we found out who was really behind Anon-A-Miss, and I knew she was right.  So, I busted my ass in detention and apologized to the Rainbooms who are surprisingly forgiving, which is something else I should probably thank you for.  Rainbow Dash in particular stepped up, even after the bad blood between us.  She got me onto the Big Sister program she’s in with Scootaloo.  That’s where I met Gabby.”  The former bully fished her phone out of her pocket and swiped it open to reveal a picture of Gilda with a shorter girl with a grey complexion and large blue eyes.  The younger girl was glomping on to Gilda who despite trying to look cool, clearly couldn’t hide the smile on her face.  
“I owe it all to you, Shimmer.  I didn’t really believe Dash when she said you might be here, but if there was even a chance, I knew I had to try.   I wanted to show you that I didn’t blow my chance...our chance...and it’s thanks to you.”
Sunset had always been observant, it was how she had learned all the secrets that enabled her to rule the school.  She hadn’t missed all the signs that her friends and the school had been truly sorry for what they had done.  Rainbow Dash’s locker room speech, the story Twilight had overheard Fluttershy tell at the shelter, the apology from Applejack to Twilight, and now the decorations and uniforms for the CHS Friendship Games team.  She had begun to suspect that her friends were sorry but had refused to believe it.  Now though, seeing it here in the journal messages and even directly from the one who had physically hurt her, Sunset felt something inside give, and the walls that she had struggled to maintain through this whole ordeal finally crumbled.   
Hugging onto Gilda’s midsection as best she could with her little forehooves, Sunset cried into the former bully’s t-shirt releasing over a year’s worth of frustration, heartache, and pain.  She was overwhelmed by feelings of relief and happiness knowing that she was wanted and loved.  That those who had wronged her were trying everything they could think of to make it up to her, to show her that they too were worthy of forgiveness.  Gilda stared down at the former she-demon and now adorable unicorn and, unsure of what to do, awkwardly placed a hand on her back and patted it soothingly, letting the tiny pony cry it out.
“Thank you, Gilda,” Sunset said when she had gotten it out of her system.  “I really needed that.  And for what it’s worth, I’m really happy you turned it around.  You seem much happier.”
Gilda beamed.  “Yeah, I am.  Uh, what about you?  I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy to see you, but you didn’t seem that excited to be here.  And uh, why are you a unicorn?”
Sunset rubbed one hoof anxiously against the opposite foreleg.  “Yeah, coming back wasn’t exactly my idea.  There was an accident and I got pulled back like this.”
“Oh,” Gilda said, sounding crestfallen.  “So now that you're here, what are you going to do now?”
“I still have to go back," Sunset said, knowing it wasn't what the other girl wanted to hear.  "This world isn’t ready for tiny talking ponies, but maybe there’s a chance of getting the portal to work if we can stabilize the magic on this side of the portal.“ 
“How do you do that?”
“I’m not sure, but I do know someone who might be able to help figure it out, but first I have to help her.”  
Just then, Sunset felt it.  A familiar surge of powerful magic as a wave of thaumic energy surged from somewhere in front of the school and washed through the building causing the little unicorn to stagger.  It was a sensation she recalled from her darkest day.  The power behind the magic carried a dark miasma that called to the parts of Sunset that she had long since forsaken but knew were still a part of her.
“Oh, that’s bad,” Sunset said, visibly shaken.  
”Why?  What was that?”
“That surge was magic, corrupted magic on the scale of what happened at the Fall Formal.  I need to go see what happened and try to stop it."
“What can I do to help?”  The offer was immediate and clearly genuine.  Gilda obviously wanted to prove that what she’d said was true and was willing to help in whatever way she could.
“I need to get to the front of the school and check on whatever caused that.  I was supposed to be looking for my friend’s dog.  I’m pretty sure that the Crystal Prep principal is holding him hostage.”  
“Seriously?  What kind of sicko kidnaps a defenseless do...oh um, no offense.”  Gilda looked away at the awkward slip-up, remembering Sunset’s actions at the Fall Formal.  
“Anyway,” Sunset continued unable to suppress an eye-roll, “I need you to go check the Crystal Prep bus out back in the faculty lot and try to find him.  He’s a purple puppy with green ears.  He also talks… don’t ask.  Just do what you can to get him away from Crystal Prep.  Take him to the girls or Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna.  They’ll know what to do.”
“You got it,” Gilda said, standing and giving a little salute to the tiny pony before heading towards the back entrance.” 
“Oh,” Sunset called to the retreating form, “and, Gilda, thanks.  I’m glad your life took a turn for the better.”  
“Thanks, Shimmer.  I owe it all to you,” the tough girl called as she jogged down the hall and thought, I just hope yours does too.

***

Her mind set, Twilight unclasped the device and let the magic flow out.  For a brief moment, the containment enhancements she and Sunset had worked so hard to improve held, leaving the magical energy suspended as a beautiful glowing orb of power.  Then the containment failed and the whole area was bathed in a magenta explosion of light.  The resulting concussion from the blast knocked all those in the courtyard to the ground.  
All except Twilight Sparkle.  She stood in the eye of the magical storm and felt the magic all around her.  It connected to her; called to her.  She remembered her discussions on magic and the lesson Sunset had given her on the Elements of Harmony and the Magic of Friendship.  This was likely where her princess doppelganger united the Elements of Harmony to cleanse Sunset of her corrupted form.  The thought made her glance down for any sign of the crater Sunset had mentioned, instead, she spotted her fellow Crystal Prep students and Principal Cinch.  She remembered what they had done to her and what they were threatening to do to her and her friends now.  She couldn’t let that happen.  She had the power now.  She would stop them from hurting anybody else and show them all what it felt like to feel powerless.
As the magic built, it lifted her off the ground.  The siphoning device fell away landing on the ground and rolling away.  It was no longer necessary.  The magic had found a new vessel.  Twilight could feel it now, it was like a part of her had been missing.  The energy built and grew as it resonated with the hovering teen.  Then with a final glare at her downed principal, Twilight allowed the magic to take hold of her.  The energy coursed through her, supercharging every molecule in her body.  She didn’t know how to describe it.  In an instant, she was all pain and power.  Her body was on fire.  It seared away the weakness leaving only the strength and determination to do what was necessary.
Her body transformed to better contain the magic that surged through her.  She felt wings sprout from her back, but they were not the bat-like wings Sunset had described gaining during her transformation.  These were large and feathered.  She then felt the horn forming on her forehead and her senses were opened to a whole new world.  She could feel the latent energy of the portal and of the students of CHS.  She could sense it all.  She began to understand why Sunset had so much confidence in the powers of her princess counterpart if this was the power she controlled.  And now she controlled it too.  
“With this power, imagine what I can do, what I can learn, and no one will ever hurt me or my friends again.”  
The newly empowered girl’s eyes flashed open, and as they did so a glowing teal light matching that of her newly acquired horn encircled her eyes and infused her sclera.  The glowing orbs fell on her former bullies cowering below her.  Girls that had tormented her for years for being smarter than them or winning whatever competition she had been required to participate in for the school.  Girls that had demeaned and abused her were now huddled in fear beneath her.  It almost made the years of ridicule worth it, but then she noticed Principal Cinch, the source of all of it, trying to slink away.
The raven-winged being released a menacing chuckle at the thought of Cinch believing she would be able to escape her punishment.  As if there was anywhere now that was beyond the reach of the demigoddess’ power.  A blue hue pulsed through her crooked horn, and Crystal Prep’s principal soon found herself floating back towards the dark angel that had once been her prized pupil.
“You were right.  I was powerless before,” the super-powered girl chuckled, “but not anymore.”
“Y-you can’t,” the trapped educator stammered.
“Oh, I assure you, I most certainly can.”  
Her horn once again lit with a surge of power, this time channeling it down her arm.  Taking aim at the rearing horse atop the plinth concealing the portal, she loosed the blast of magical energy.  The Wondercolt statue shone brightly in a wash of magical light before the surface began to give way to cracks and splinters that finally gave way as the entire thing exploded showering the courtyard in debris.
When they could look again, the spectators found that the blast had not only demolished the steed, but the very reality around where the statue had been causing a fissure of glowing light to appear and expand revealing the same medieval-style village she had shown them before.
The magic didn't stop there, it continued to spread and the crack in reality grew.  The magically charged girl cotinued to release more blasts at the other tears causing them too to open revealing a variety of locations from small towns to skyscrapers, familiar things like farms to fantastic wonders like a rainbow waterfall.  And in each location, a variety of brightly colored ponies going about their lives in their peaceful world.  Lives that the odious woman in her grasp had threatened to harm just for her own prestige.
Glancing down, the angel of vengeance saw another crack spread across the ground directly beneath where they hovered.  Releasing another wave of energy, the portal was ripped open forcing the other Crystal Prep students to dive out of the way as the ground crumbled to nothingness.
“Here it is, Cinch, the world you wanted to get to so badly that you blackmailed me, stole my research, kidnapped my dog, and threatened my friend.”  
Around the courtyard, the students of both schools began to mutter amongst themselves on hearing just what the principal of Crystal Prep had done to drive her student this far.  Cinch saw looks of shock and disgust on not just the Canterlot High students, but her own Shadowbolts as well.  
It was the voice of Celestia that drew her attention.  Despite the noise of the students, the voice of the rival principal could be heard clearly.  “Oh, Abacus, how could you?”  The look on the CHS principal’s face was not one of condemnation or smug superiority though.  No, those lavender eyes held only disappointment and pity for the Crystal Prep principal, and that thought caused something inside Abacus Cinch to break, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as she was drawn from her introspection by the malevolent voice of her magically charged star student.
“I hope you enjoy your time in Equestria.  After all, you’ll probably have less than a minute to enjoy it before you hit the ground, that is, unless you can manage to sprout some wings,” the magically infused girl considered for a moment, “which I suppose in that world is a possibility.”
“Y-you can’t!”  The principal’s eyes went wide behind her half-rim glasses.  “Twilight, y-you wouldn’t.”
“You’re right,” the winged girl said, earning a sigh of relief from the panicking principal.  “Twilight wouldn’t.  Twilight was weak, the ever-apologizing doormat who took your ridicule and abuse.  Twilight was powerless, and I am certainly anything but powerless now.  No, Twilight Sparkle is gone...call me Midnight Sparkle."  Locking eyes with the helpless woman, the being now called Midnight grinned.  "Goodbye, Principal Cinch.  You will never hurt anyone ever again.”
“Twilight...No!”
> Chapter 35
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The voice rang out through the courtyard, causing the power-mad girl to stop and look for the source.  Unfortunately, the crowd and the shape of the courtyard caused the voice to carry and bounce off the school walls making it seem like it could be coming from all around them.  The CHS students, too, froze at the familiar sound of that voice before they quickly filled the shocked silence with hopeful murmurs as they glanced around for a glimpse of the girl they had wronged so many months ago.  
There was a pop, and a bright flash of light, and when they looked again, what they spotted was not the leather-clad redhead that they had expected but instead a tiny, fiery-maned unicorn.  The sudden appearance of the pony caused the chattering to die as those in the courtyard stared, open-mouthed at the mythical creature.  All that is except for two.  An audible squee escaped from Fluttershy, who promptly blushed and sunk into her long locks realizing she had been heard by so many people.  This however was soon forgotten as Lyra Heartstrings shouted a triumphant, “I knew it!” garnering her a swift elbow to the ribs from Bon Bon who shot her a glare that screamed, Not now.
Despite the antics of those in the crowd, Midnight Sparkle’s eyes never left those of the new arrival.  “Ah, Sunset,” she called, “Still here I see?  I thought you would have hopped your first portal home by now and just been done with this miserable world.”
“Twilight,” Sunset frowned, “do you really think I would leave now when my friends are in trouble?”
“Friends?!” the winged girl screeched, losing her temper and actually tossing Principal Cinch aside to crash in an undignified heap atop a group of Shadowbolts before rounding on the pony.  “Don’t tell me you still think of those girls as friends after everything they put you through!”
Sunset took a deep breath looking over the CHS crowd and easily spotting the Rainbooms among their number.  The hurt and shame from their abandonment were still there, but looking at them now, the same sadness in their eyes coupled with the clear desire to make things right.  Sunset’s mouth twitched up in the corner, a crooked smile forming on her lips. 
“I do actually,” she replied, earning looks of surprise from the girls in question though Sunset’s attention was focused back on the girl hovering above, “but they aren’t the friends I was referring to, Twilight.  I was talking about you and Spike.”
“Me?” Midnight scoffed, “As you can see, I am no longer in any trouble.  With this power, I can easily get Spike back and make them pay for threatening us, for treating us like we didn’t matter.  No, Sunset, I’m not in trouble,” she leveled a menacing gaze at the group from Crystal Prep, “but they certainly are.” 
“Listen to yourself, Twilight,” Sunset called, “This isn’t you.  What you’re doing is wrong and you know it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Sunset, I think I’ve finally learned what Cinch has been teaching me all along.  It doesn’t matter what you do or how much you know.  The only thing that really matters is power, and now that they’re the powerless ones, they’re going to learn exactly how I’ve felt all these years.”
“Twilight this isn’t the way,” cried the unicorn, “Yes, what they all did was wrong, and what Cinch did to you was even worse; blackmailing you into being on the team, threatening your academic future, and kidnapping Spike.” The revelation of just what the Crystal Prep genius had gone through to push her to these lengths caused the entire population of Canterlot High, as well as many of those from Crystal Prep, to turn heated glares at the cowering administrator. 
“Exactly,” Midnight cried.  “She deserves to pay for what she’s done to Spike and me and what she plans on doing to your world.”  This drew a confused look from the unicorn as well as the crowd.  “She wants the energy, the magic, she has my research and she’ll use it to get to Equestria and who knows how many people or ponies she’ll hurt just to get it.  Don’t you see?  What I’m doing is what’s necessary.  I need to stop her, to protect you, and everybody from her.”
“She should be stopped, Twilight,” Sunset replied calmly as she slowly approached the still-hovering girl, “but punishing her, that’s not for you to decide.”
“Who then?  The school board…the police?” Twilight scoffed, “Really?  Who are they going to believe, the principal that has boosts the school's prestige or some dorky nobody?  Don’t you see?  This is what she does.  Her and her damned reputation.  With so many Crystal Prep alumni she’s helped find positions of authority and her penchant for blackmail and coercion who knows who else she has in her pocket.”
Despite staring down a raging magically empowered harpy, Sunset didn’t flinch.  She just smiled and said as her horn lit with a crimson glow, “Oh, I think I can help with that.”
Seeing the light, Midnight became defensive and readied herself for a possible attack, but nothing came.  “What did you…” she began before she was cut off by a guitar riff.
Exit light.  Enter ni~ight.
All eyes departed from the showdown between magical beings to the front steps of Canterlot High where Vice Principal Luna was hurriedly trying to pull out her cell phone from her pocket so she could silence it, garnering a reproachful look from her sister.
“Really, Luna?” Celestia questioned her sister.
“I put it on silent,” Luna began only to be cut off by a new sound coming from Celestia’s pocket.
I’m walking on sunshine.
It was then followed by a cacophony of ringtones and vibrations going off all around the courtyard.
“What’s going on,” Midnight asked warily.
“I told you I had a plan,” Sunset said.  “This morning, before we left Crystal Prep, while I did my search for Spike, I made a little stop in Cinch’s office.  Thanks to magic and that little device Indigo so kindly left in your lab when she was trying to steal your research, getting into Cinch’s computer was a breeze.  Guess when you think your reputation makes you untouchable, you don’t feel the need to hide all your incriminating documents that well, and man were there a lot of them.  It took this long to get them all uploaded and sent to everybody.  Figured everyone should know how her reputation was built on threats and blackmail of her students, not to mention the more criminal dealings I found that I sent to the principals, Cadance, the school board, oh, and your brother at the CPD.”
“The police?” Midnight asked incredulously, “That’s it?  After everything she’s done, you want me to forgive and forget and hope that she actually gets punished?”
“She will be punished, Twilight.  Her reputation is ruined.  She won't be able to hurt anyone ever again,"  Sunset said consolingly, before continuing, "But no, you shouldn’t just forget what happened.  Take what you can from the experience and learn from it, but you need to let the hurt go because forgiveness isn’t about them.  It’s about you.  When you forgive them, it frees you from the pain they have done to you.  Holding onto it only allows them to continue hurting you.”
“Why should I,” demanded the magically possessed girl, her eyes flaring with blue magic.  “You preach about forgiveness of my tormentors, but what about yours; this school, the ones who created Anon-A-Miss, your friends?  How can you forgive them?  After what they did to you, using you to defeat the Sirens and then throwing you away without so much as listening to your side of the story.”  There were visible winces from those CHS students in the crowd at the condemnation.  Five girls, in particular, were wearing sad, guilty looks on their faces.  “With everything you went through in Equestria, considering what it takes for you to trust, how can you forgive them?”
“Because they didn’t know,” Sunset said simply before sighing. “I never told them about my past or my cutie mark.  I never opened up enough, never trusted them with any of that.  Maybe if I did, they would have understood and believed me, or maybe after everything I did to hurt them in the past, they still would have left."  
“You’re not to blame.  It was our fault, dar-Sunset,” Rarity said, stepping out of the crowd toward the magical beings, "after the Fall Formal, Princess Twilight asked us to give you a chance and to teach you about friendship, but wasn’t that simple.  After years of you hurting us it was hard to let that image of you go.”  Rarity’s gaze became hard though as she met the cyan eyes of the pony that she had once called a friend.  “But we should have, with everything you did for us, especially after everything that happened with the Sirens.”
Pinkie nodded as she joined Rarity, “You were trying so hard to move on from your past, but we weren’t very helpful.  I mean, how could you forget when we wouldn’t let it go? Yeah, the whole, “No offense,” thing was kinda funny the first time, but it doesn’t really cut it as far as apologies go when it’s bringing up something that painful.  I love jokes, but even I could tell that one was overused and not funny anymore.”
Surprisingly it was Fluttershy who stepped forward next.  “I told you I forgave you for all of the mean things you said and did to me, but I think part of me was still scared of you.”  Sunset started to respond but was cut off by the other girl, “No, I’m not blaming you.  You apologized and were trying your best, but I never told you how I really felt.  When we were trying to be friends, I thought it would be kinder to try and just try and forget about what had happened between us.  It wasn’t a good way to start a strong, stable friendship as our old wounds left us all unwilling to open up to each other.  I should have told you the truth, and even if it hurt, we could have tried to work it out…together.”	
Applejack stepped up and joined them, hat in her hands.  “It’s not yer fault fer not trustin’ us.  We gave ya no reason ta.  We may have said we were yer friends, but we didn’t really act like it.  We should have trusted ya, and even if ya were behind it, we should have talked ta ya and figured it out instead a jus’ cuttin’ ya loose and leavin’ ya on your own.”
Rainbow joined the girls, an uncharacteristic look of seriousness on her face.  “Sunset, you trusted us to be your friends during that Anon-a-mess, but we failed you big time.  I don’t blame you for not wanting to tell us you were back or about what’s going on now.  I know we can’t make up for what we did, but please let us help you now.  Let us help you like we should have helped you before.”
“No, I was wrong, and I’m sorry, girls,” Sunset said, a smile coming to her face despite the tears forming in her large eyes, “I should have come talk to you sooner and ask for help instead of stealing your magic.  I thought you would still be mad at me because of Anon-A-Miss, but I should have had more faith in you, that you would be willing to put that aside when there were magical problems at hand.” 
“You had no reason to think things would have been different and that we would have heard you out this time,” Rarity began.
Sunset shook her head, “Maybe at first, but I saw what you’ve been trying to do to make up for everything even if you didn’t think I’d ever see it.  After seeing that, I could have come to you and asked for help, but I was still angry and refused to believe it.  What you did hurt me but holding onto this anger only made me bitter and lonely.  You’ve worked hard to make up for it learn from what you did, to be better.  I forgive you so please, forgive yourselves, and maybe we can try building a friendship for real this time.”  Looking up at Midnight, she added, “It’s time for us all to move past this.”
“No,” Midnight shouted.  “That’s not good enough!”  Scanning the crowd of Crystal Prep students, she was unable to locate the school’s principal, glowing eyes narrowed as anger welled inside her until she spotted a familiar goggle-wearing girl cowering in the back. Raising her hand, Midnight enveloped Indigo in a ball of blue energy and brought the girl to hover before her.
“Twilight don’t!" Sunset called, "Please believe me when I tell you, I know what it’s like to feel hurt and ignored by everyone.  To be betrayed by those who were supposed to look out for you.  The loneliness and fear that it leaves in you so easily turn to anger, as you lash out at the world you think abandoned you."
“Then you understand how I feel, why she deserves it,” Midnight said, drawing Indigo closer.
“I do.  It’s the same reason I would have deserved it after the Fall Formal.  All that anger, I let it consume me for years and I pushed everyone who tried to help me away.  I let that hate fester until I finally decided everyone else should share in how I felt.  I broke up friendships, blackmailed and threatened others, just like Indigo did to you, and just like Cinch has been doing to your whole school. 
“You once asked me what the difference was between ponies and humans.  I stole from Princess Twilight, embarrassed and belittled her, I even kidnapped her Spike, and in the end, I tried to kill her.  She could have used the Elements of Harmony to banish me, turn me to stone, or even destroy me.  As a princess she would have been well within her right and nopony would have questioned her.  
“But she didn’t.  Instead of exacting revenge, she offered me her hand.  She gave me a second chance to both makeup for what I had done to the school, as well as the chance to learn what it was like to live without the hate, without pushing people away.  She wanted me to learn what it’s like to finally open up to others and to be honest, to treat others with kindness and compassion instead of belittling them, to enjoy the happiness that comes from being around others and sharing a good-hearted laugh, to be generous and give of yourself to help people without expecting anything in return, to learn to loyally stand up for my friends and be there for them no matter what the cost or threat. But none of that would have been possible if she had held on to the pain I had caused her."  
Sunset sighed, hanging her head in shame, “It’s why she’s a princess and I’m not.  This whole time I’d forgotten what she did for me and haven’t been acting very pony-like.  I was holding on to my anger and resentment.  Their betrayal and abandonment hurt me.  To have my first real friends tell me to go away and leave me to the wolves, I thought it proved how pointless friendship was in the end, and I closed myself off from it again.  So much so that I shut out everypony who was trying to help me and just shut myself away.   
“Until I met you.  Twilight, you were there to take care of me when I was hurt and lonely.  No matter what you stood by my side, took me in, and promised to help me try to get back to Equestria.  You never asked for anything and were even willing to give up on your project and your chance to get out of Crystal Prep and away from Cinch just to help me.  You didn’t demand answers when I wasn’t ready to give them, but when I did, you listened and gave me honest feedback, and you have to admit we had fun along the way, despite the craziness.”  
As Sunset had spoken, the words resonated with the Rainbooms who started to glow faintly.  Looking at the Rainbooms who now stood around her, a silent look of understanding passed between them, knowing what needed to be done, and with a silent nod, they each smiled as the colored auras grew brighter.  Though still faint, the energy was steady.  Then the light of their magic flowed from each of the girls toward Sunset, growing in intensity as it neared the unicorn.  Power coursed through Sunset’s body returning her to her true stature, and taking in the power of the Elements of Harmony as she had done once before.  But unlike during the Fall Formal, this time Sunset was not trying to control the Elements.  She did not try to bring them to bear, to master them.  Instead, she let their power flow through her.  
Sunset remembered the feeling she had during the Battle of the Bands when her magic joined with that of the others.  That was what she needed now.  She needed the Elements power united, not for herself, but to save someone else.  Someone so much like herself, from going down a dark path and doing something Sunset knew the real Twilight would never do and would not be able to live with.  Sunset took all the element’s powers into herself and prayed that she would be enough to show Twilight that she wasn’t alone.  The power shone through her, focused like a prism on saving a friend, as her horn glowed with an ethereal light making the spiraled appendage appear longer. From her back, the same fiery energy took on the shape of magnificent wings that lifted her into the air.  
“Twilight, that’s what friendship is, what it’s meant to be.  But we can’t have that if we bury ourselves in the anger and pain we feel towards those that have hurt us.  We have to learn to let go and forgive others.” 
Midnight watched in shock as the crumbling ground beneath her was repaired.  Rage gripped her first, but when she looked back at the one who had undone her work, she didn’t see the anger or disgust she was expecting to see on Sunset’s face.  No, the expressive too-large eyes of the pony radiated worry, not for the unicorn's well-being, but for Midnight's and it touched something inside the power-mad girl as she remembered that there were those out there who cared for her and stood by her.  She had done this because she wanted them safe.  Was she really going to fight one of those she had tried to protect?
Seeing her resolve seem to waver, Sunset floated closer to Midnight and pressed on, “Harboring hate for someone, is like drinking poison and expecting it to harm them and not you.  It doesn’t work like that.  Anger and hate will fester and corrupt you until it turns you into something you aren’t.  A hollow shell of the girl I met who was willing to sacrifice her own chance at happiness to help a grumpy unicorn.  
“The choice is yours, Twilight.  You can take this power and exact your revenge on Indigo here, Cinch, and all of Crystal Prep, but would that make you happy?  Do they deserve to be punished and suffer for everything they’ve done to you?  I don’t know, maybe, but would that really help you?  You’ve been hurt and betrayed as much as I have if not more, but is this really what you want…to become just like them?  You have so many people who care about you Twilight, your family, Cadance, Spike…me.  You’re better than that Twilight.  The girl who stood by an angry unicorn despite everything and helped me find friendship again is better than that.  If you choose to do this, Twilight, you’ll have buried that girl in so much pain and hatred, nothing short of a rainbow laser to the face will be enough to bring her back.”  
Midnight looked at Indigo, the girl she held trapped in her magic, and for the first time saw not the face of her tormentor, but of a girl just like her who was terrified.  The glowing fire around Midnight’s eyes faded, leaving behind scared, amethyst orbs.  She allowed herself to take in those around her, and while they all shared a look of fear, it seemed to be not just for themselves, but a worry for her as well.  Even the Crystal Prep students seemed concerned though they shied away from her gaze as their eyes fell to the ground, guilt seemed apparent on many.  Then, on the school steps, Twilight saw Cadance in tears.  The woman who had looked out for her and taken care of her for so long still wanted to help her and protect her and even in spite of a super-powered magical rampage showed a desire to run to Twilight as evidenced by the CHS principals straining to hold her back.
“I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” the girl whispered, as tears started to run down her cheeks as she slowly lowered Indigo to the ground.
“I know, and I forgive you, but you need to let go, and start to forgive, both them and yourself."  Knowing she was getting through, Sunset hovered closer and extended a foreleg, “Take my hand, Twilight, let me show you there’s another way.  Just like you once did for me.”
“That’s a hoof, not a hand,” Twilight corrected automatically, before shrinking in on herself as she remembered where she was.
Sunset, however, just burst out laughing, “Whichever,” she said before continuing in a mock whisper, “You’re ruining the moment.”  Sunset extended her hoof once more giving Twilight a smile that the winged girl returned as she took the offered appendage.
The power that Sunset held was immense, and she wondered if this was what Princess Celestia felt like all the time.  Finding herself and Twilight pulled into a realm of light, she could feel the magic of the Elements of Harmony, magnified within her, were ready to be used again in the face of great darkness.  They called for her to claim them and use them as they had before, but looking into the teary eyes of her friend, Sunset knew that was not what was needed.  Instead, she allowed them to flow away from herself and into the other girl infusing her and healing what the corrupted magic had done with the true Magic of Friendship.  
Sunset knew that pain and reminders the Elements had left her after the Fall Formal and did not want that for Twilight.  Orange energy flowed from Sunset up the forearm and to the jagged horn of power emerging from the girl’s dark hair.  The tingling power sent a feeling of warmth through Twilight.  She was blinded by the flash of light as it removed her horn.  In that moment, she would have sworn that Sunset was not the unicorn she had become friends with, but a radiant angel wearing a beautiful dress and sporting a glowing horn.  
Blinking to clear her eyes, Twilight heard the voice of her friend and savior as she was lowered to the ground.  “Everything’s going to be okay now.  I just have one more thing to take care of before this power trip ends.  I'll be right back.”  And with a final squeeze from a fuzzy hoof, Twilight heard a pop, and when she opened her eyes again, she was standing once again in the courtyard of CHS with the eyes of all the students upon her.
> Chapter 36
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight found herself once again standing in the courtyard of CHS with the eyes of all the students upon her.  She was left feeling adrift in the sea of people until she was swept into a warm hug. Cadance’s voice was worried but also tinged with sadness for the girl she held in her arms.
“Oh Ladybug, I’m so sorry.  You never should have been put through all this.  Are you alright?”
The magically drained teen melted into the embrace and let slip the tears that had been fighting to escape followed by the first words to come to mind.  “I am so sorry.  I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” 
“It’s alright, sugarcube,” said Applejack, approaching the teary girl and putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“It wasn’t your fault, darling,” Rarity consoled, “Magic, we’ve learned, can be driven by your emotions, and with all you have been through-“
Rainbow cut her off, “Yeah, your principal is a total bi-“ 
“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy chastised. 
“What?!  We all got Sunset’s message showing what Cinch was doing to everyone at Crystal Prep.  Almost makes me feel sorry for ‘em,” the athlete said eyeing the Shadowbolt students huddled together, seemingly unsure what to make of their first encounter with magic. 
“Sunset!  Where’s Sunset?” Twilight shouted forgetting her guilt.  “Have any of you seen Sunset?  She was supposed to be here.”  The courtyard was still a buzz in the aftermath of the magical showdown.  
“Has anybody seen Sunshim?” called Pinkie though no one appeared to respond despite the shrillness of the question guaranteeing they had heard it.
“Oh dear, you don’t think she’s hurt, do you?” asked Fluttershy, casting a worried look at her friends.
“I don’t think so.  She was basically magically supercharged.  I don’t think she could really be hurt,” Rainbow ran a hand through her already messy prismatic mane and sighed.  “But, that was Equestria we were seeing on the other side of those holes, right?”
“Considering the presence of technicolor ponies, I would tend to think that was obvious, darling.”  Rarity huffed at Rainbow’s apparent digression.  Applejack, however, saw where the athlete’s thoughts were leading.
“You don’t reckon Sunset might’ve just taken her chance ta duck out and head back...home.”  The last word caught in the farm girl’s throat like a bite from a rotten apple.
“You think she left before our big ‘Thank you for forgiving us and Congratulations on standing up to a big meanie principal and saving us all maybe we can talk and try to get to know each other again party’?” Pinkie asked, her hair visibly deflating as her smile faded.  In a voice that could have been a credible impression of Fluttershy she added, “Do you think she really would have left without even saying goodbye?”  Twilight watched as the girl sank to the ground, her skin seeming dull and grey with her saddening mood.
“After all that talk of forgiveness, I don’t want to think so, but I mean after everything that happened and magic being weird now...maybe,” Rainbow Dash replied with a sort of sad acceptance in her voice.
The thought left Twilight in shock.  She knew that Sunset had always planned on heading back to her world.  Logically it only made sense, she had enough power during their confrontation to close the portals, surely she could have opened one as well.  She had had means, opportunity, and motive to head back to Equestria.  Afterall, she was a unicorn and as Cinch and the Friendship Games had proven, this world was no place for the pony.  
That had been the whole purpose of their partnership in the first place.  Sunset would help Twilight collect energy for her project by leading her to the known sources in this world as well as assisting the teen scientist in deciphering her readings and teaching her how the energy worked in the pony world.  In exchange, Twilight would help Sunset harness the energy they collected and reopen the portal to provide a means for the unicorn to return home.  
But was that all it was?  Was all of their time together only about gaining scientific understanding; a team-up that had now run its course as both parties had gotten their intended results?  Twilight couldn’t help but notice the sharp pang of sadness at the thought that her time with the amber unicorn was over and without even a farewell or good luck on your research.  She thought back to the time they had shared together from their first painful encounters with each other leaving the two to take care of each other in turn, to Sunset stepping in to protect her and Spike from potential disaster to the three of them hanging out and participating in Twilight’s first-ever slumber party, and Twilight bombarding the poor pony with all manner of questions on her world, its inhabitants, magic, and how her world compared to Twilight’s. 
Looking back on their time together, Twilight realized that she had confided in the little pony more than she had in anyone outside of Spike.  She had shared things with Sunset that she couldn’t bring to even mention to her BBBFF, and it had been nice to have someone who wasn’t part of her family to rely on.  Sunset Shimmer, in the short time that she had been a part of the nerdy girl’s life had become the best frie…  
“No!”  She thought tamping down on the sentiment and ache that was forming in her heart before she could give voice to it.  "That can’t have been the case, it was a temporary partnership or necessity and now it's over."  Clearly, the sentimentality of the other girls was starting to cloud her own feelings.  “We were colleagues, nothing more, and now that collaboration is over.  I can return to my lab and compile all this data that we-no, I collected and determine what my next course of action should be.”
Twilight straightened up and squared her shoulders before stiffly addressing the Rainbooms, “Iam truly sorry for what happened here, and I thank you for all of your assistance today.  If you’ll excuse me, I just have to find my dog and I'll be out of your way.”  Glancing around for the little purple puppy, the teen scientist’s cool demeanor gave way to worried concern as she remembered, “Wait, has anyone seen Spike?”  
It surprised everyone when Sunny Flare was the one to step forward.  “He was in the back of the spectator bus,” she said, still a little skittish around the depowered Twilight Sparkle.  “Principal Cinch assigned a few of the other students to stay on the bus during the Games to keep an eye on him.”  
That drew Cadance's attention from fussing over her former charge to take stock of the scene, “Wait, where is Cinch?”
“I’m not sure,” piped up Lemon Zest, actually showing interest in the conversation enough to remove her headphones.  “I haven’t seen her since Twilight turned into that dark angel thing and tried to…uh, no off-”  Her words were cut off by a swift cyan hand to her mouth.
“No!  We’re not doing that again.”  Turning to Twilight, she added, “We’re sorry,” to which Lemon Zest nodded readily.
“After she got knocked to the ground by that unicorn, she slunk off that way toward where the busses are parked,” Sour Sweet stated, “But that was a while ago, she’s probably long gone by now.”
“Not helping Sour,” Sunny Flare hissed.
“No, no, no, no, no!”  Twilight managed to get out between ragged breaths.  “I can’t lose him.  I can’t lose both of them on the same day.  I don’t want to be all alone again.”  Her chest burned, and her vision swum but try as she might Twilight couldn't seem to get enough air.  Unable to register much outside the pounding of her heart in her ears, it took a moment for the panicking girl to register the light pressure on her back as a hand rubbed her back consolingly.
"You need to breath.  It'll be alright,” a soft voice said into her ear. Despite its volume, the tone carried a surprising degree of force, yet remained comforting and reassuring at the same time.  Looking up she met the teal eyes of the girl she had first seen at the vet’s office a week ago.  She too had a worried look in her eyes, but her smile was reassuring.  “We’ll help you get Spike back, Twilight.”
“Of course we will!” Pinkie chirped, but then added in a surprisingly serious voice, “You took care of our friend better than we ever did, and for that, you deserve to smile again.  And I Pinkie Promise that we won’t let another friend down when they need us.”
“That’s right, sugarcube,” Applejack said, removing her trademark Stetson and casting her eyes down.  “Ah know ya may not have the best opinion of us all after what we did to Sunset, but we learned our lesson and that’s the honest truth.”
“She’s right, darling.  What we did to Sunset was unconscionable.  She was left alone, without a friend to turn to and for that, we had hoped to make amends…” Rarity trailed off, her eyes beginning to water and the words catching in her throat.  
“Look, we screwed up big time with the whole Anon-a-Miss thing, but no matter how much we wish we could, we can’t undo what we did to Sunset.  What we can do is make sure that it doesn’t happen again.  You need a friend right now just as much as Sunset did then, which is why we promise we’ll be there for you, Twi.  If you’ll let us.”
The five girls looked hopefully at the teary-eyed scientist.  It was something that she had given up hope of ever happening to her.  Here she was with not one, but five people reaching out to her, asking her to be her friend.  But while the first reaction was for her heart to soar at the prospect, the logical part of her brain rebelled.  It reminded her of her past experiences with would-be friends as well as her knowledge of the history these five girls had in particular.
“Look, you’re right, I do know what happened between you and Sunset, and frankly it only serves to solidify my original belief of the frivolity of friendship.  While I would appreciate assistance in locating my dog, the need for continued association once that is achieved seems…”  Twilight’s voice trailed off a bit at that.  Her mind once again returned to the little pony that had shown her what a wonder frien-No!  She shook the idea once again from her mind.  “Well, needless to say, such silliness does not seem worth the effort,” Twilight finished tersely.
The other girls shared a sad, knowing look amongst themselves.  Pinkie’s hair even went so far as to audibly deflate.  If this was noticed by the moody scientist, she gave no indication.  
“Twilight,” Fluttershy began, but whatever she was going to say would forever remain a mystery as she was interrupted by the thunderous approach of three sets of sneaker-clad feet.  
"Wait!” shouted a spiky purple-haired tween who was outpacing her two compatriots though she was breathing hard for her efforts and practically heaved out her shouts.  “Twilight, please wait!”
"Look, Scoots,” Rainbow interrupted casting a wary glance at the sullen Crystal Prep student, who had already leveled a death glare at the three new arrivals, “Now’s not the best time.  We’ve gotta find Spike, and all things considered, I think it’s best if you girls just head back inside.”
“That’s what we’ve gotta tell you,” squeaked Sweetie Bell panting hard.  Her mulberry and rose tresses were in a visible state of disarray much to the dismay of her elder sister.  “We have Spike,” she wheezed out, pointing a tired finger behind her as the final member of their group finally arrived cradling her fluffy cargo gently in her arms.”
“Spike!” Twilight shouted, lunging for her furry companion and firing off questions at him in rapid succession all while hugging him tightly.  “What happened, Spike?  Are you okay?  Oh, of course you’re not okay.  Who did this to you?”  In response, Spike could only offer a pained whine followed by a whimper and a sad tongue lick to her nose.
“May I?” Fluttershy asked as she delicately eased the puppy from his owner’s arms.  After a quick exam of the gloomy pup, the animal lover handed her patient back to Twilight, who once again treated her faithful companion to a fierce hug.  “He seems okay.  His leg's a bit tender, but I don't feel any breaks.”
“Please tell me, Spike,” Twilight pleaded with her pet.  “What happened?  Where were you?”
“That’s what we’ve been tryin’ to tell ya’ll,” Apple Bloom interrupted.  Trying to run while carrying the extra weight had tired her out and left her temper a bit shorter than usual.  “He can’t tell ya anything ‘cause that mean ol’ principal from Crystal Prep used the magic stealer on him.”
“Poor, Spikey-wikey,” Rarity cooed, sad for the adorable puppy to be in such a state.  The pup, however, seemed to perk up considerably at the sound of her worry.  
“It’s okay, Spike,” Twilight consoled the dog in her arms as she scratched his favorite spot behind his ear.  “You couldn’t talk before and you were still a big help.  Speech or not, you’ll always be my number one assistant.”
“That’s not the worst part though, Sweetie squeaked, Principal Cinch didn’t just steal Spike’s magic…”  But she was cut off by Scootaloo who was tired of the interruptions and who was not willing to risk further delays in delivering the message she had sprinted halfway across the school campus to deliver.
"She took Sunset!”
> Chapter 37
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset lowered Twilight to the ground as the white light that had surrounded them began to fade.  Similarly, the powered-up unicorn could feel her own energy flagging.  She had used most of what the Elements had granted her to heal Twilight, but there was still work to do so Sunset set off to save another friend.  Reaching out with her power, the pony searched for the now familiar power of Element magic.  After a moment, she felt something echo with the energy still within her, and with a flash of her horn, she disappeared from the courtyard in front of CHS and rematerialized in the back parking lot.
With all that had happened today, Sunset was no longer worried about being spotted and so she appeared right in front of the school bus containing Spike as well as the handful of Crystal Prep students who had been tasked with guarding him.  
Her sudden appearance at first went unnoticed by the disinterested teens who were more focused on their phones, so Sunset called out to them.  “Excuse me, you’re holding my friend there, and I’d like him back.”
“Get lost, Wonderdolt,” one replied.  Everything about him screamed ‘I think I’m so much better than you, from his condescending smirk to his meticulously styled quaff.  It took him a moment to deign to acknowledge the one that had spoken to him, but when he finally chose to look up, his jaw fell and his cellphone almost followed suit.
“What the hell is that?” he shouted gaining the attention of the others.
“I dunno,” one of them replied, “some kind of tiny mutant horse?'
“Sweet Celestia, I thought students at Crystal Prep were supposed to be smart,” Sunset sighed.  “Or did you really miss the horn coming out of my forehead?  I’m a unicorn.  Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you learn never to make that mistake again,” she said as the aforementioned appendage began to radiate with a crimson glow.  The Crystal Prep students’ eyes grew wide at the sight, and they tried to run from the strange talking creature in front of them only to find their feet were no longer touching the ground.  “Now," Sunset said, her voice hard, “I’ll ask again, where’s Cinch keeping Twilight’s dog?” 
They looked back at Spike and then at her as their eyes widened in fear.  “He’s in there,” the leader said, nodding at the back of the school bus they had been leaning the best he could do to point considering his constricted state. “Cinch told us to guard him, but he’s all yours.”  Sunset lifted the group out of her way as she walked to the rear door of the bus and let the group drop to the ground.  The group promptly made a break for the school and away from the bizarre creature.  Using her magic, Sunset opened the door to the bus and spotted Spike trapped in a dog carrier, but he smiled when he saw her, and his tail was wagging furiously.
“Sunset!” Spike called from inside the bus.  “You came to rescue me.”
“Of course,” she smiled, “Couldn’t leave a friend in trouble.”  Using her magic, Sunset opened the door to the cage and then formed a set of stairs for him to exit the bus.
Spike raised a quizzical eyebrow, “You okay to be using your magic now,” he asked as he hopped down.
“Yeah, there was a bit of an…incident with Twilight and the magic collector, but long story short, I’m doing great magic level-wise.”
The puppy just gave her a deadpan look.  “Yeah, I’m a dog not blind, unlike those idiots, I noticed the tears in space and the blinding pillar of light coming from the other side of the building.  I think I’m going to need a lot more detail.  To start with, where’s Twilight?  Is she okay?”
“Twilight, she let the magic out,” the pony said shocking the dog and causing his eyes to bulge.  
“She did what?!  After all the work you two put into stopping the magic from leaking out.  After all the problems it was causing and nearly sucking us into who knows where.  Why would she purposely let the magic out?”
Sunset sighed, “The bullying and the threats from Cinch and the others at CP finally got to her and she tried to use it.  She wanted to protect us."  Seeing Spike’s concern, Sunset hastily added, “She’s fine now, I promise.  She’s probably looking for us both right now so we should probably get over there.  I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you.”  
“Sounds good,” Spike began, before his expression fell and he breathed, “Oh no.”  His eyes grew wide as he caught a familiar scent of polish and paper buried under too much hair spray approaching them.  It was all the warning the pair got before they were both caught up in the familiar power of Twilight’s magic siphon.  They felt the magic being pulled from them, sapping their energy and causing both of them to collapse to the ground.    
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere,” said a cold voice, and turning they spotted Principal Cinch approaching them flanked by the goons Sunset had just run off and clutched in her fingers was the device Twilight had dropped when she had freed the magic it had contained.  

***

Spike was the first to be freed from the grip of the magic siphon.  The portion of Fluttershy’s magic that had been caught inside him was significantly less than the power that Sunset held.  
“Spike,” Sunset started in a pained wince.  The little puppy opened his mouth to assure the unicorn, but when he tried the only sounds he could produce were nervous yaps and whines.  “Spike,” Sunset said again, “you have to get out of here.  Go find Twilight.”
Thoughts warred in the pup’s mind.  He knew that something had been done to him.  Things that had been so clear before, he was now having trouble remembering.  Twilight was smart and big so she would probably be able to help.  But at the same time, Spike remembered the woman standing over them was bad, and he refused to leave the little talking pony to be hurt by her.  He may not be able to think as clearly or talk, but he had to try and help.  
Taking up a defensive stance in front of the pony, Spike lowered his head and bared his teeth in an angry snarl.  Dashing forward he jumped at Cinch hoping to bite her and get her to drop the thing she was holding that was hurting the unicorn.  Unfortunately, one of the boys that was with her blocked him causing the little puppy to crash into the boy’s knee instead of the woman.  Spike fell to the ground landing awkwardly but was quick to get back on his paws.  Pain shot up his front right leg as he tried to resume a threatening stance causing him to instead stand awkwardly on only three legs.  
Cinch opened her mouth, but before she could shout more orders to her students, her eyes squinted, and her nose scrunched up as Principal Cinch let out a powerful sneeze that sent a convulsion through her body and caused her to grip on the device to slacken.  Seeing his chance, Spike leapt again, this time not aiming to take a bite out of the vile woman, but instead, his teeth latched on to the dangling cord that Twilight had used to wear the pendant around her neck.  The sudden weight of the puppy jerked the spectrometer free, and Spike hurried away as fast as his three good legs would allow.
“Grab him,” Cinch yelled to the Crystal Prep boys once she was finally able to stop sneezing long enough to produce words. 
Spike quickly found himself being chased by three of the boys while Cinch sent the blue-haired boy with glasses to the bus he had been guarding.  A grey-haired boy with a bowl-cut dove for Spike, trying to tackle him.  He was slow and the movement was well-telegraphed, so the puppy was able to easily leap out of the way and avoid him. Unfortunately, though the dodge sent Spike right into the reach of the spiky-haired blond boy.  Rough hands grabbed him, but they were quickly met with sharp puppy teeth and that problem was soon solved, but it caused Spike to fall from his grasp and hit the ground hard, this time driving the wind out of him.  
Taking in his current situation, it was clear to Spike that things were not looking good.  He had already felt run down from the magic being pulled out of him, and now he was unable to put weight on his leg and was sore all over.  What was worse, the puppy saw the blue-haired boy return from the bus with the pet carrier and begin to load the barely conscious unicorn into it.
Spike was seriously thinking he should run for Twilight, if he could even manage to run away at this point.  At the very least, Spike was going to make these boys work for it if they wanted to try and put him back in a cage.  Lowering his head and glaring at the smug boy with purple hair approaching him, his two allies flanking him.  The pup uttered as menacing a growl as he could manage and readied himself for a fight.  
As focused was he on the boys in front of him, Spike was surprised when a blur of a similar color scheme to the smug boy, went sliding past the puppy into the boy’s legs, taking him out and sending him pitching sideways across the grass landing ungracefully with a thud.  The blur was back up in a minute and Spike saw that it was a young girl he thought looked familiar.  Then another girl in a large bow rushed in to deck the blond boy while the first girl did the same to the one with the bowl cut.  Spike noticed the smug one had gotten back to his feet and started to bark a warning when a third girl arrived and attempted to protect her friends.  She was clearly not as comfortable with violence as the other two girls.  Closing her eyes, she lashed out with a wild kick at the boy.  Whether through intent or sheer luck she hit him where it truly counted, and the smug boy fell back to the ground with a pained wheeze.  
Seeing them together, Spike recognized the three from their run-in at the mall and was thrilled by their timely arrival.  He wasn’t sure why they were here now, but he was grateful for the help.  His joy was cut short when the downed boys started to get up, and the looks on their faces made it clear that they would not be going easy on the group of middle schoolers.
“You’re gonna pay for that, runts,” growled the blonde boy.
“We’ll see about that,” came another voice Spike didn’t recognize.  Turning, he saw another girl, older than the ones from the mall.  She was tall with short hair and a hawk-like gaze trained on the boys from Crystal Prep.
“Gilda!” the middle schoolers called in a mix of relief and apprehension.
Spike didn’t know exactly who this Gilda person was, but she did look like she could handle herself in a fight.  With a smirk, the little dog turned back toward the boys, but his face fell when he spotted Cinch lifting the pet carrier, a visibly woozy Sunset inside.  The blue-haired boy, who had been with the principal was now heading towards them, apparently sent to help end this quickly and get ahold of Spike, but they were surprised when he called the others to head for the bus.
Barking for attention, the girls’ eyes met the pup’s, who frantically looked in the direction they were heading.
“What is it, Spike?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Following the dog’s line of sight, Scootaloo spotted the Crystal Prep principal.  “Isn’t that the grumpy lady who was threatening Twilight in the hall?”
“Where’s she goin'?  I thought she was after Spike,” said Applebloom, puzzled at the woman giving up so easily.
Spotting the familiar red and yellow colors in the pet carrier, Gilda’s eyes widened.  “She doesn’t need Spike, anymore.  She has Sunset!”
The trio’s eyes fell to the pet carrier and went wide at the sight of the unicorn bearing the familiar locks of the girl they had hurt so many months ago.
“That’s Sunset?!” they cried.
“Yeah, it is, and she’s in trouble,” said Gilda.
“We have to save her,” Scootaloo eagerly piped up, the other two quickly nodding their agreement.  
Gilda however was not so sure.  While the Crusaders had gotten in some nice surprise attacks Gilda did know how good they would be if it turned into an actual fight.  The odds did not seem to be in their favor if they chose to chase after the Crystal Prep students.  Then Gilda’s eyes met Sunset’s behind the bars of her cage and her resolve hardened, and her hands balled into fists.  As she moved to go after the boys, Sunset shook her head.  She was tired and drained Gilda could tell but her voice was clear despite the distance, “Save Spike.  Get him back to Twilight…please.”  
Gilda wanted to do more, but Sunset was right.  Without taking her eyes off the group slowly finding their feet, she called over her shoulder, “Apple Bloom you pick up Spike and get him out of here.  Scootaloo and Sweetie run ahead and find Twilight, let her and whoever else you can find know what happened.  I’ll cover you.”
“But what about-” Sweetie started before the older teen cut her off.
“Sunset wants us to get him out of here, so that’s what we’re going to do.  Now go!”  The three took off toward the front of the school, Scootaloo in the lead while Applebloom slowed down by the weight of the puppy brought up the rear.  Gilda watched as the principal and her students entered the bus.  The sight made her insides squirm, feeling she had once again been the one at fault for losing Sunset Shimmer.  Sunset had told them to save Spike not her, and as much as it hurt Gilda, this time she would listen to what Sunset had to say, but that didn’t mean she had to give up.  As the door closed, and the bus started to pull away, Gilda turned to sprint after the Crusaders.  They had to find Twilight and then figure out how they were going to get Sunset back.  They wouldn’t abandon her this time.
> Chapter 38
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What?!” the group shouted, the resulting din echoing throughout the courtyard of CHS. 
“Sunset can’t be gone!  We just got her back,” cried Pinkie Pie as her whole being becoming as frazzled and agitated. 
“It’s true,” said Gilda, finally catching up to the Crusaders, “Cinch has some locket-thing and she zapped Spike and Sunset.  Sunset got it worse though, she looked ready to pass out.  We wanted to go after her but, there were some guys guarding the bus, and with Spike hurt Sunset said to get him back to Twilight.  I didn’t want to leave her, but the look she gave me when they loaded her in that cage-”
“Cage!” the voices rang again through the courtyard.
Looking abashed at her previous volume, Rarity continued in quieter though no less harsh tone, “You're saying Sunset was not only captured by that reprehensible woman and her minions, but she was then put in a filthy cage?!”
Gilda looked around warily at the crowd, the students of Crystal Prep in particular, and the leaned in closer to the Rainbooms and whispered, “Umm, you do know she's…not exactly human right now, right?  She’s a…”
Gilda trailed off, unsure if she should continue given the crowd, but Fluttershy couldn’t help but finish in an excited squeal, “An adorably cute and cuddly little unicorn.”  Gilda and several others looked at the shy girl who let out a nervous “Eeep,” and promptly withdrew into the curtain of her hair and tried to hide behind Applejack who was closest to her.
Noticing the lack of shock from any of the nearby students, Gilda just nodded, “Uh, yeah, that.”
“Hold up, let me get this straight,” called Applejack.  Principal Cinch used the device Twilight had to steal our magic on Sunset-”
Twilight winced at the words, an automatic “I’m sorry” spilling from her lips.
“Don’t worry about all that now,” consoled Pinkie, appearing next to Twilight and providing a tight hug, “Sunset was right.  We know what magic is like and what effects it can have on people, both good and bad.”
The other girls nodded and Applejack continued, “Cinch used Twilight’s device on Sunset and Spike and stole their magic.  Luckily, Spike managed to snag the device and get away, but since Cinch had drained her, Sunset wasn’t able to escape and Cinch and made off with her.”  Applejack paused a moment taking in the nods of agreement from those around her, and then asked, “But why?”
“I don’t know, but I certainly don’t like the idea of that vile woman having Sunset imprisoned without her magic,” said Rarity.
“I can’t even imagine how Sunset must be feeling without her magic,” Pinkie said, her voice and appearance lacking their usual brightness.  “I remember how happy she was after the Battle of the Bands when she got it back.”
“Not to mention what she could do to Sunset,” added Fluttershy in a nervous whisper.
“Hold a press conference, reveal her to the world?” Dash offered.
“Ah doubt it.  That would mean showin’ Sunset ta the world and likely either the government hushes it up and Cinch gets nothin’ or Sunset gets ta explain how Cinch kidnapped her and stole Twilight’s device and Cinch would still get nothin’.”
“What if she…did something to Sunset, so she wasn’t able to talk to anyone?” worried Fluttershy, the thought causing her already wide eyes to brim with tears.
“I don’t think so,” Rainbow consoled, gently rubbing her friend’s shoulder, “Too many people would just think it was a hoax, and Cinch wouldn’t want that kind of publicity.  It would ruin her precious reputation.”
“Then why?  What’s her plan?” repeated Applejack.
“When I met with her last time,” said Twilight slowly trying recall the meeting beyond her worry over Spike, “Principal Cinch practically told me that she already has my research.  She could always build a new one, and with Sunset, she’d have access to a source of magic she could tap into whenever she needed more energy to experiment on.”
“Then we have to go save Sunset now, before she has time to build another device and turn Sunset into some sort of magical energy dispenser,” shouted Rainbow Dash.
“It's too late for that.  She already has another spectrometer.”  The voice cut through the group with its directness, and the Rainbooms, and Twilight looked up to see a bedraggled and Sour Sweet being supported by Sugarcoat and looking downcast.
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight, a hint of worry seeping into her voice.
Sugarcoat turned to Sour Sweet and with a nod of encouragement Sour explained, “Last week, Principal Cinch brought me some schematics.  She told me she wanted me to build the device on them, but to upscale it.  She let me off classes and schoolwork for the week to make sure it got done.” 
“So, you built a huge, untested device that absorbs and stores an unknown form of energy that may be more powerful than any we have ever before encountered inside a school filled with hundreds of innocent children?!” asked Dean Cadance, her pleasant demeanor giving way to a fiery passion only seen when those she cared for were in danger.
“I’m sorry!” Sour Sweet said quickly, fear creeping in at the enraged look on the usually sweet dean's face.  “I didn’t know, okay, and it’s not like you can say ‘no’ to Principal Cinch.  She told me to get it done or she’d pull my summer internship.”
“And more threats and blackmail against students,” said Vice Principal Luna her own disciplinarian mask sliding into place.  “It would seem that Abacus Cinch has quite a lot to answer for.”
Dean Cadance nodded, but Principal Celestia’s concern was elsewhere, and she said, “Did you complete the device?”
Sugarcoat nodded, “We got it done pretty easily.”
“Building off Twilight’s designs made it just a matter of upscaling and construction.  Not a problem especially when Cinch gives you access to unlimited resources,” Sour Sweet paused giving a look to Sugarcoat, “and you have some help.  It should be ready, but we never got the chance to test it.”
"We couldn’t have if we wanted to seeing as we weren’t really told what it was supposed to do,” concluded Sugarcoat.
“Horror dawned on Twilight’s face.  “Wait, you said you Principal Cinch gave you my plans last week?”
“I did,” confirmed Sour Sweet, “Cinch called me in on Monday morning.”
“But that means your plans wouldn’t have had any of the upgrades that Sunset and I added this week!” Twilight shouted, panic beginning to take hold.  “There’s nothing to stop the dimension tearing effect my original device was having.”
“Dimension tearing,” repeated Rainbow Dash, “Like what happened in the locker room?”
“And what happened in the hallway,” said Sunny Flare, a growing level of fear coming from the Crystal Prep girls. 
Twilight blanched but nodded.  
“But Rainbow said that portal almost pulled you in, and there were all sorts of strange things inside,” Fluttershy said.  Her voice was quite but still audible given the group’s level of silent worry.  “And that’s where Sunset will be.”
“And with the amount of magic she has access to, the portal would be huge, and the force of the pull would be even worse, and if she drained Sunset’s magic to open the portal, Sun Shim wouldn’t have any magic to protect her when the portals open!” Shouted Pinkie.
“Don’t worry,” said Rainbow determinately, “we’re going to stop Cinch and we’re going to get Sunset back.”
“But,” began a teary eyed Fluttershy only to be cut off by Rainbow Dash.
“No ‘buts’.  We let her down once before and there’s no way I’m doing that again.  I’m getting her back, so are you with me or not?
“While I appreciate the sentiment Rainbow Dash,” Rarity chided, “it is not as simple as that.  For one thing, Crystal Prep is in the city.  How do you plan to get there in time to rescue Sunset?” 
Principal Celestia, who had been surprisingly quiet until this point stepped up to the Rainbooms, “I'll take you," she said a look of fiece determination on her face.  "The vans the school uses for some of the extracurriculars should be able to accomodate you all," she said indicating Twilight and the Rainbooms.  Turning toward her sister, Celestia continued, "I'm sorry to do this to you, Luna, but I have to make sure Sunset is safe,” Celestia said, a hint of pleading in her worried tone.  "I can't-"
"I know sister," Luna cut in, "Don't worry, we’ll have to take charge of things here and figure out how to get this many Crystal Prep students home when we’re down a bus.”  Celestia smiled and gave her sister a quick hug before rushing back into the building to grab the keys she would need.
The Rainbooms and Twilight began to turn for the faculty parking lot, when the teen scientist felt a hand grab her shoulder, turning she found her Crystal Prep teammates looking sheepishly at the ground.  The Rainbooms, remembering what Twilight had said of her treatment by her classmates, turned back and stood with her.   
It was Indigo, who spoke.  “Twilight, I-I’m- sorry for…” she sighed, “everything really.  I've been awful to you, and you didn’t deserve it.  Cinch just made me feel like I had a purpose, you know, like I finally mattered to someone.  That I was important to the school and to her.  I should have known it was just a lie.  She was just using me,” she laughed bitterly before sobering and continuing, “I don’t think I can ever make it up to you, but I really hope your friend is alright.  No one deserves to be used like that.”
Meeting Indigo’s eyes, Twilight saw more than just her long-time bully.  She saw the sadness in the other girl and remembered Sunset’s words how she had not been so different from Indigo all that long ago.  
Slowly Twilight reached out and put a careful hand on Indigo's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, “None of us did,” replied Twilight, pointedly meeting the other girl in the eyes, "Cinch used and manipulated all of us, and we're going to make sure she can never do it again."
Sour Sweet stepped forward, still looking a bit out of sorts though there was a less abrasive air about her.  “If you plan to get into the lab at Crystal Prep, you’re going to need this,” she said, handing Twilight an access keycard.  
“Don’t worry,” added Sugarcoat, “We’ll help Dean Cadance manage all the students Principal Cinch ditched here.”  
“We’ll also see if we can find out who else Cinch has been blackmailing,” said Sunny Flare, “It can’t have just been us,” the stylish girl said pointedly.
“Yeah,” cut in Lemon Zest, “And if enough people are willing to step forward with whatever evidence that…uh, Sunset got off Cinch’s computer, I think Cinch can kiss CPA and her precious reputation goodbye.”
“Thank you,” said Twilight quietly, nodding to the group the emotion behind it felt by everyone present, and Twilight turned and hurried off with the Rainbooms.

***

After all the trips they had made today, this one was the worst as it spit the dragon and two ponies out in midair leaving them to fall in an undignified heap on the floor of the map room.  Spike recovered first, as the spell Starlight Glimmer had been using was pulled from his claws toward the still open vortex they had come from.  It began to glow and then released that power back down into the map table before it and the time portal disappeared in a blinding flash of magic that could probably be seen beyond Ponyville.
With the spell and vortex gone, the little dragon was finally able to take in the familiar surroundings, and quickly fell to the ground kissing it extatically.  "One Castle of Friendship...check," he said confirming their location, only to be interruped by five welcome faces.
"What in Equestria was that?" asked Rarity surveying the room.
Concern was clear in Fluttershy's voice as she spoke, "Is everypony okay?" 
Pinkie, however, had no concern for the strange light show or the pile of ponies still on the florr as she started to bounce around the room.  "Eee! can you do it again?!"
Spike could just smile as these were clearly the group that he had Twilight had been fighting all day to get back to.  "One group of amazing friends...check," he said, smiling at Twilight.
"Yeah, Spike," the Princess of Friendship agreed, "it looks like we're home."
The happy mood of the two was interrupted by the stern voice of Applejack as she noticed the other pony in the room, "Uh, what's she doin' here?"  The stern glare the farmer leveled at Starlight was soon reflected in the faces of all the Element Bearers as they spotted her.  After everything she had done to them, most of which they weren't even aware of yet, Starlight knew the looks were well deserved, but they still hurt, and she had to turn away.
Twilight, however, stepped in quickly.  "Actually, it's kind of a long story," she said placing a comforting hoof on the other mare's back."
"Well then you better start telling it quick," Rainbow Dash shouted, "because there are these huge rips in the sky, and you could see these weird hairless minotaurs on the other side."
Twilight looked confusedly at the others.  "The spell is gone now.  That flash should be the end of any disturbances.  Though, considering the nature of the spell, you really shouldn't be aware of any of its effects."
"It was rather hard to miss them, darling," said Rarity.
"And they're still there," called Pinkie as she perched on the ledge of the window.  Just then a wave of familiar magic washed over the room, one they had felt and been a part of in times of Equestria's deepest need.  Only this time, it wasn't coming from them.  Pinkie, who had fallen off her perch, poked her head back out the window and called, "Now, they're gone."
"What was that?" questioned Rainbow, "I thought the Magic of Friendship was supposed to be our thing."
The girls looked to Twilight for answers as it was clear that she was putting the pieces together.  "Hairless minotaurs...," she muttered before her eyes grew wide and she practically yelled, "We have to find Sunset Shimmer!"
The other five Element Bearers, looked uncomfortably between one anther before Applejack finally spoke, "We actually tried ta find her first, sugarcube, seein' as we didn't know when you'd be back from your trip.  She wasn't in the library with the mirror.  Actually, it was all torn up, looked like a tornado had blown through.  We couldn't find hide nor hair of Sunset."
A look of dread spread over the alicorn's face before she raced off in the direction of the mirror portal, but not before encompassing Starlight Glimmer and in a telekinetic aura and levitating her to come with.  If her friend was in trouble, they would get to the bottom of it.
> Chapter 39
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Normally Rainbow Dash loved going fast, after all, Speed was her middle name.  Right now however, as Canterlot sped by the windshield in a nauseating blur of color, Rainbow found herself pressing into the seat even more than the G-forces had already accomplished.  Turning away from the window, Rainbow’s gaze fell on the rigid form of their driver.  Principal Celestia was a far cry from her usual demeanor of relaxed control.  The woman sat tense in her seat, hands tightly gripping the wheel while she glared fixedly on the road ahead, which mercifully had been relatively devoid of other vehicles given the heated glare in the woman’s eyes.

“Hey, Principal Celestia, how long until we get to Crystal Prep?” Rainbow asked, obviously worried about Sunset and in no way concerned about being in the front seat of  the questionably old school van being redlined by a woman who looked ready to incinerate anyone who dared be on the road.  No, definitely just concern for Sunset.  This unfortunately drew Celestia’s attention from the road to herself.

“More time than it would take than if I threw you out of the car,” the principal stated in a low growl that caused Rainbow to flinch and cower even lower into her chair.

“Sorry, sorry,” the shaken girl yelped quickly.  

That tone coming from the normally brash girl was enough to draw the woman from her internal rage and take stock of the world around her.  Taking a slow, calming breath, Celestia released it and sighed, “No, Rainbow Dash, I am the one that should be sorry.  I did not mean to be short with you.  I lost my temper.  It was not fair to you.  You are not the one I am mad at and you didn’t deserve that.”

“It’s okay, Principal Celestia,” Dash said, affecting an air of bravado back into her tone, “and don’t worry, we’ll make sure Principal Cinch learns what a mistake it was to mess with the Wondercolts.”

Celestia sighed sadly, “As much as Abacus Cinch deserves whatever consequences that are coming to her for all the things she’s done both at CHS and Crystal Prep, she was not the one I was mad at.”

“Wait, really?” asked the surprised athlete.

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t enjoy seeing her get a blast of Friendship rainbow laser to the face,” the educator stated with a smirk before becoming more serious, “but, no, she was not the one I was upset with in this instance.”  Seeing the questioning look from the student, the woman answered the unspoken question.  “Myself.  I can’t help but think that if I had just stepped in one of any number of times I wanted to, this never would have happened.  None of this would have happened.  Cinch, Anon-A-Miss, maybe even the Fall Formal.  

“From the moment she stepped into my office to register for school, I could tell there was something different about Sunset Shimmer.  She was so gifted and yet always seemed to be seeing things for the first time.  Her paperwork listed her as an emancipated minor.  Being on your own even at an older age can be hard and she was so young.  I wanted to help her, be there for her if only as someone willing to listen, but she was always so skittish and closed off around me.  I was too afraid of scaring her off to approach her.  Maybe if she’d had someone, the anger and loneliness that grew and came to a head at the Formal might have been mitigated.  

“But no, I continued to be too scared to approach her.  Even after I learned the truth of her situation from Princess Twilight.  Because I learned the truth.  Sunset had fled her world, after fighting with her teacher, Princess Celestia.  It made so much sense.  Of course she was standoffish, why would you want to become close to another Celestia, when you had already run from another.  

“After the Fall Formal, she needed someone to be there for her but I was too much of a coward.  I said it was because I didn’t want to dredge up old memories for Sunset, but really I was too afraid of rejection.  If I wasn’t so much of a coward, I could have been there for her then and during Anon-A-Miss.  Instead I could only impotently fight MyStable to try and get the site to remove the page and block the user.  Sure I handed out detentions and suspensions for those threatening her during that time, but she was suffering internally, with no one to be there for her, and all I did was stand on the sidelines.  Not this time.  This time I’m going to be there for her, if I have to fight through magic empowered students, winged monsters, or whatever else, I will not stand idly by again.  This time I’ll be there for her.”

“But you were,” Rainbow said gaining the woman’s attention.  “Okay maybe you weren’t there for her like you were saying, but through everything you’ve been there for her.  I mean how exactly did an extra dimensional unicorn get enrolled into CHS.  I know the paperwork that takes, and don’t tell me an interdimensional unicorn was able to forge all that paperwork without raising some suspicion.”
Celestia blushed a bit before saying, “Whatever background a student has, should not prevent them from gaining an education.”

“And after everything that happened at the Formal, even excluding any of Sunset’s activities as Queen Bee, you can’t tell me that destroying the front entrance to the school wasn’t something that should have gotten her expelled at the very least, and more likely arrested.”

“I would never have done that even without knowing about Sunset’s extenuating circumstances.”

“I know you wouldn’t, but others would have.  I mean do you think someone like Cinch would have let Sunset get off with a few weeks of in-school suspension and a month of detention?  Of course not, but you gave her another chance.  You didn’t kick her out.  That's something that pony princess version of you didn’t do.  You gave her another chance and that meant more to her than you know.”

“Really?” Celestia choked out, her breath catching in her chest.

Rainbow nodded.  “Yeah.  Not long after the Formal, when things were still really bad with the other students giving her problems, we asked her if she’d thought about transferring.  It wasn’t like we couldn’t still help with teaching her friendship and it might be easier making friends somewhere they didn’t know about everything that Sunset had done.  But, d’you know what she said?”  Celestia shook her head.  “She said she’d screwed up in the past, burning bridges or losing those around her as a result.  She’d moved on or run away every time because she had no reason to stay.  But after the Formal you didn’t kick her out, you gave her a second chance and told her it would be hard, but knew she’d be up for it.

“The fact that you believed in her, thought she could do better, be better, was one of the key things that kept her going through all the crap she went through after the Formal.  She wanted to prove your faith in her wasn’t a mistake.”  Tears burned in Celestia’s eyes, as she fought to hold them back, as Dash continued, “And as far as Anon-A-Miss goes, you were working on finding who it was and putting a stop to it.  I mean yeah, if you two had been closer, you might have been able to stop her from running or given her somewhere else to run to when Gilda and her crew hurt her.  Look, none of us were there for Sunset like she needed, but you’ve always been there for her.”

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia sniffed tears finally breaking free, “I think I needed to hear that.”

“Yeah, uh no problem, Principal Celestia,” Rainbow said, uncomfortable with the obvious emotions of the educator.  “And don’t worry once we get Sunset back, you can make sure she knows just how much you care.”  Looking away, the prismatic girl’s focus was drawn to the imposing building that was looming ahead of them.


*** 


Twilight stared out the window of the CHS van as the city landscape flew by, idly stroking Spike who was curled in her lap.  The blur of color outside the window was nothing to the blur inside her mind.  A week ago, she had barely worked up the courage to take a bus across town to investigate the mysterious energy readings she had detected.  Now she had not only found out that energy was magic from another world of sapient ponies, syphoned that energy covertly from a group of girls under the direction of one such pony she had accidently pulled to this world, been blackmailed by her principal for that energy only to release it against her principal but be stopped by the pony who was then kidnapped by her principal.  Also along the way her dog had gained and lost the ability to speak.  Twilight let out a sigh.  If she could go back in time and talk to her from a week ago, she’d think Twilight had lost her mind.  She was so lost in thought, the gentle touch on her arm caused her to jump in her seat.  Turning, Twilight was met with an apologetic smile from the pink haired girl she had encountered first at the pet shop. 

“Um…excuse me, Twilight,” Fluttershy started in a low hum that was barely audible over the noise of the speeding car.  Twilight quickly noticed, though, that the girl’s eyes never quite met the teen genius’ own.  It was something Twilight recognized and understood well, the timidity and nervousness she felt every day in the halls of Crystal Prep.  Never before had Twilight thought she would be on the other end of this exchange and be the one instilling those feelings in another, but after what she had done at the Friendship Games, Twilight knew it was something she would have to get used to.

“Fluttershy, right?” Twilight asked, remembering the girl’s name from her conversations with Sunset.  The shy girl seemed surprised at the recognition, large teal eyes finally meeting Twilight’s own as she nodded in confirmation.  “I’m sorry for what happened at the games.  I was just so upset and mad about what Cinch had done to Spike and what she wanted to do to Sunset and her world, I just…”  Twilight took a breath to calm herself and slow her heartbeat and rambling.  “I’m grateful you all are helping me after everything I did.  I never meant to hurt anyone or scare you, and after today, if you don’t want to see me, I won’t-“

“Oh, um no.  I mean, not no I don’t want to see you.  Um, no, that’s not what I was going to say,” Fluttershy cut her off.  “I was just wondering how you’re doing.  You’ve had a rough day, and I know using magic can be really taxing let alone with everything Principal Cinch did you after everything you’d done with Sunset all week-”

“Sorry about that,” Twilight responded immediately, wincing at the memories.

“Sugarcube, Fluttershy didn’t mean anything by that,” Applejack joined in from the back seat.  “We understand.  You were doing what you thought was right and trying to help a friend.”

“She’s right,” Pinkie chimed in, a bit more life seemed to have been restored to her since their meeting before the Games, “What you did didn’t turn out so great, with the magic and tearing the fabric of space and time apart to punish that meanie principal, but we know why you did it and we know magic can be overwhelming…and make people go all crazy-” 

“What she’s trying to say, darling, is that we understand, and we don’t hold anything against you,” Rarity said.

Fluttershy reached across the aisle and placed a hand atop Twilight’s own.  “We all know what it’s like to regret something we’ve done, but Sunset was right.  At some point, you have to forgive yourself; learn from your mistake and if possible, try to make amends, but let go of the pain and regret.”

“As for not hanging around you, there’s no way we’re not helping you rescue Sunset from Principal Partypooper,” Pinkie said.  

“And after that, darling, we’ll be there for you if you want us,” Rarity added.  “We know a bit about magic and regret.  Maybe we can all help each other out.” 

Twilight smiled and hugged Spike, but her answer was cut off as the van jerked to a stop and Principal Celestia called from the front, “We’re here.”

“Okay, enough with the mushy stuff,” Rainbow called from the front seat, “we’ve got a friend to save.”
> Chapter 40
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia led the group to the main doors, and upon entering the building, they were met by their first obstacle in locating Sunset and Principal Cinch; a security guard.  However, she hadn’t gotten to the position she had without being able to think on her feet.  Whipping out her district ID, the educator adopted her best condescending glare and walked right past without even stopping.  Celestia held her breath as the group marched past the guard, waiting to be stopped or questioned, but either the idea of not needing clearance when you have confidence was valid, or the poor man had had too many run-ins with the CPA principal and knew better than to question another.  Either way, it worked to the group’s advantage as they quickly hurried down the halls.

Heading down the empty halls of Crystal Prep, Celestia led the students and puppy in the general direction she remembered the science wing to be, something Abacus Cinch had shown off to her during the last Friendship games as they had all been remodeled and upgraded following a sizable donation from one her alumni.   Turning a corner, Celestia pulled up short, causing the teens behind her to stop suddenly.

“What-“ Rainbow Dash started to say before being cut off with a quiet but harsh Shhh from her principal, who nodded over her shoulder.  Cautiously peering around the corner, before Principal Celestia pulled her back and quietly ushered the group back down the hall.

When the group stopped, the principal was met with a group of questioning looks.  Before she could say anything, Rainbow quickly stated, “There’s a group of guys blocking our way."  She then turned to the only student of the school and asked, "Is there another way to the labs?”

Twilight shook her head.  “No, this is the only hall to this part of the building without a building key pass."  She nervously glanced in the direction of said hall before continuing, "I don't get it.  Everyone's still at Canterlot High.  There shouldn’t be anyone here."

Realization dawned on Rarity’s face, “It must be that group of ruffians that attacked Spike and the girls.”  The statement elicited a menacing growl from the purple puppy.

“Well if that’s the case,” said Applejack pulling down the brim of her hat, eyes narrowing dangerously, “Ah think we should go return the favor.”  The sentiment seemed to be shared in the serious looks of the teens, even quiet Fluttershy had an anger burning in her eyes.  

“No,” Celesia said.  It was quiet but carried a weight of finality.  “There will be no more fighting.  We will not stoop to their level.”

“I don’t think they’re just gonna let us through,” said Pinkie.  “If that group of meanies is helping Cinch, and she has as much control over them as she did over everyone else in the school, and they probably don’t know everything that happened in the courtyard if they were in the parking lot with the busses, so they don’t know Principal Cinch probably won’t be Principal Cinch much longer.”

“Then I’ll just have to explain it to them,” Celestia said.  

“What if they don’t listen?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll make sure that they do,” the principal stated, causing the girls to flinch with the heat of her statement.  

Celestia strode back toward where the boys were stationed but didn’t make it far from the group before the rainbow-haired girl caught back up to her.  “Wait, Principal Celestia, are you sure you want to do this?  What you said back in the van… I can take care of those guys.  Get them to chase me or something-“

“No,” the educator cut in, “though I appreciate the sentiment, Rainbow.  As much as I would like to personally rescue Sunset and apologize.  This is how I can be there for her now.  I will take care of them while you get Sunset out of there.”  Rainbow opened her mouth before Celestia cut her off.  “I assume I can count on you to make sure she is safe.”

Determination won out, and the argument withered on Rainbow's tongue.  “Yeah, we won’t let her down.  Never again.”

“Good.” The principal said as she turned and continued her walk, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some delinquents to reprimand.”


***


Sunset awoke to find herself trapped in a cage that seemed far too small for one her size.  A part of her wished she was still her previous diminutive size, if only so she would be able to properly stand up in the confined space.  Sunset’s breathing picked up as she carefully shifted positions to try and ascertain her situation.  Though she hadn’t mentioned it to Twilight, Sunset was not a fan of enclosed spaces.  Her trips this week in Twilight’s bag was something she never would have agreed to had there been another option, though it was easier to overcome as she knew she could get out when she wanted.  Now, however, staring through the bars, there was no such assurance.  

Then, the more rational part of her mind reminded her that she was a unicorn who knew how to teleport. Channeling magic through her horn, Sunset ran the calculations and set a destination, but as she went to release the spell, a sharp pull racked her body as if someone had smacked her horn.  The surprise caused the unicorn to cry out and then wince at the resulting headache it caused.  “What the buck was that?” Sunset asked, rubbing her head under her horn.  Once again she started to gather magic, this time to run a quick diagnostic spell to figure out what had happened, but just as before, when she tried to release the spell, Sunset could feel the magic be pulled away.  As the spell required less magic than the teleport, the result was not as painful as the teleport attempt, but the amber unicorn’s head still ached and was feeling a bit winded.

Gazing more intently around the room, Sunset took in the large device her cage was connected to.  Though the sheer size of it made it nearly unrecognizable, Sunset had spent enough time this week going over Twilight’s schematics and helping improve them to recognize the device for what it was.  “That’s Twilight’s device,” the pony breathed, “but it’s massive.  But how?”

“Because I have not cultivated the reputation I or Crystal Prep has by waiting for greatness to fall into our laps,” a cold voice called.  Sunset had to turn her head at an uncomfortable angel in the too-tight space to make out the speaker, and found Abacus Cinch standing at what looked like, the controls for the massive device she was now connected to.  “A reputation that you and Miss Sparkle have attempted to destroy with the little stunt you pulled breaking into my office and sharing my private files.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed.  “You were hurting the people you were supposed to be teaching.  Students aren’t your trophies to display for others.  They’re people that you were supposed to be helping and mentoring, not manipulating and blackmailing.”

“I was doing it for them, for the glory of Crystal Prep.  Do you think it’s going to be easy for them just because they’re smart?  The real world doesn’t work like that.  It doesn’t care if you’re the best or the smartest.  People don’t listen to the smart one or hire the best candidate.  No, they hire their friends or listen to whoever is shouting the loudest.  The world is unfair and unfeeling, and the sooner my students learn that fact and how to overcome it, the better they will be.”

“I know what it’s like to be angry at everything and feeling that the world was pitted against you," Sunset said understanding in her voice, "but believe me when I say, foisting your bitterness and resentment on others does not make you feel better.  What you did to the students here was bad and you may not be principal anymore, but if you apologize and make amends, you can turn things around and help make CPA truly as great as its reputation.”

Abacus Cinch eyes met that of the trapped pony for a serious moment before the severe woman actually laughed.  “Ha ha, you really are one of Celestia’s sappy feel-good students.  You think I’ve lost?  Look around you.  With this device, I have a portal to another world.  One of unlimited untapped power.  That energy will make mine a household name, and the prestige that this discovery and its patents will garner will have them promoting me, not firing me.”

“You can’t just siphon Equestria’s magic.  It is a fundamental part of the world.  Without magic, everything about how nature works from the weather to the movement of the sun would not be able to function.  You’d destroy everything.”  

Cinch met the worried eyes of the trapped unicorn, her own cold gaze sparking slightly with a hint of something darker, “It is fitting don’t you think.  That I should destroy your world, since you tried so hard to destroy mine.”  And with that, Cinch started the device and Sunset’s ears folded at the piercing sound.  Feeling the full pull of the magic being ripped from her, it didn’t register that the sound was coming from her own mouth.

Sunset could feel as the magic that had been replenished while wielding the power of the Elements was pulled away from her, and she sagged at the loss of energy.  She prevented her body’s urge to just collapse and pass out through sheer will and stubbornness.  Sunset traced the winding tubes and cords to what she knew from Twilight’s schematics should be the containment device for the energy.  As she watched more and more of her magic be pulled away, she saw the familiar sparks of power ebb away from the machine and began to gather.  Terror grew as the power grew, and the familiar swirl and pull of a magical vortex began to form.

“Cinch,” Sunset called, from her cage, “You have to stop this.  The power is too much.  It’s opening another vortex.  You have to let me out of here so I can close it before it pulls us and all of Crystal Prep in.”

From her place behind the nearby control panel, the principal just smirked at the pony.  “Honestly, did you really think I would fall for such a simple ploy?  I’ve seen the rifts Miss Sparkle’s device created.  Both in the hall at CPA and at the Friendship Games.  I saw what they were capable of, and with this device, I can control it,” Cinch shouted over the din, as she increased the power to the device.

Sunset felt a painful surge rip through her body as the magic in her was hunted down and ripped out of her along with another pained cry.


***


Twilight led the way through the halls of Crystal Prep.  She could still hear the angry tirade the CHS principal was delivering to the boys as she led them toward the main offices and away from the labs.  With Principal Celestia gone, it had fallen on Twilight to direct the others to the labs.  It was strange for the teen to have a group immediately defer to her when most of her past experiences were her being ignored by her peers (if she was lucky).  Part of her mind wondered if this was connected in some way to them knowing the princess version of herself, or if it was simply because she was the only one who knew where the school’s science labs were located.

In any case, the group soon found themselves in front of the lab Sour Sweet had told them, and just entering the hallway, the teens could feel something was not right.  Quickly punching in the code that she’d been given, Twilight opened the door and beheld chaos.  The tool benches and worktable that were set up near the front of the room were devoid of their normal assortment of designs and calculations as the papers were now blowing fiercely around the room.  Beyond that, in the back of the room, stood a massive device that vaguely resembled her energy collection device.  It took up most of the left corner with a control panel that resembled a podium set up across from it where Principal Cinch stood seemingly reveling in her moment of triumph.  

Twilight, was also quick to notice,  that on the wall between the two devices, there was an all too familiar build-up of magical energy forming another magical portal.  This one was gathering energy faster than any the teen had dealt with previously as it swirled and thrummed with the stolen magic.   The rapidly growing vortex flashed and sparked with energy as its force swirled about, causing the air to whip around even more and pulling everything not bolted down to be pulled in.  

Quickly grabbing hold of the door frame, Twilight continued to scan the room until she spotted who she was looking for.  In a too-small cage attached to the monstrous machine was an amber unicorn.  It looked like Sunset would be wholly uncomfortable in a space so small, but the teen doubted the tightness was what was said pony's biggest concern, as she watched a stream or red energy be pulled away from Sunset, a pained grimace on her muzzle.

“Sunset!” Twilight cried, before turning to the girls from CHS, “We have to get her out of there.”

“We have to shut that thing down,” Applejack called over the increasing din, “Or its goin’ ta destroy the whole school and all of us with it.”  Twilight knew the farm girl was right, but another look at Sunset crying out in pain, left the nerdy girl unsure.

Seeing Twilight’s hesitation, Rainbow Dash stepped in.  “Don’t worry about it.  We’ve got this.  You go get Sunset,” Rainbow shouted over the roar of the winds, “We’ll get this thing shut down.”

Grateful for the opportunity to go save Sunset, Twilight hesitated.  The device was based on her designs, she would be the one with the best chance of shutting down the device.  “Are you sure?” she asked.  “Do you even know how it works?”

“Do I need to?’ Dash asked.  “It’s a machine, right?  That means it’s got to be powered by something.  Unplugging it should shut it down.”

Twilight blinked.  Sometimes being a genius, she tended to overlook the obvious solutions to problems.  Nodding her head, she said, “Yeah, essentially that’s how we closed the early ones, but you have to hurry before it gets too big.”  Surveying the set-up Twilight continued, “Getting to the control panel might be too risky given its proximity to the vortex.  Wait...there,” she said pointing to a corner of the device.  That’s the generator.  See if you can disconnect it.”

“Got it,” Rainbow replied, nodding toward Applejack and carefully heading from the door, and along the wall, clutching on to the workbench so as not to be sucked toward the raging hole in space.  

Turning her own gaze further down the machine, Twilight locked onto Sunset trapped and in pain, and carefully headed to the worktable in the center of the room and used it to bridge the distance to the monstrous device the pony was connected to.  Sunset had always been there for her, defending her from the bullies, Cinch, and magic.  Now it was time to repay the favor.
> Chapter 41
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah, Miss Sparkle," Abacus Cinch greeted when she spotted the new arrivals, "you are just in time to bear witness to my greatest achievement.  With this device, I have full access to another world, teeming with untapped energy.  I will single handedly usher in an era of clean, limitless power that will likely give spark even greater technological discoveries and secure my place in history.  You had your chance but failed to grasp the full potential of your discovery.  Now you'll be nothing more than a mere footnote in my rise to greatness.  Oh, but don't worry, despite what you tried to do to me at the Friendship Games, I shall leave you and your little pet alone, doomed to fade into obscurity as you watch your discovery reshape the world knowing that you could have been a part if it if you had only done as you were told."
"I don't regret for an instant standing up to you, Cinch," Twilight shouted.  "You manipulated and hurt everyone around you, and I almost followed down that same path when I used that magic.  That's what it is, not just power or energy, it's magic.  The magic of that other world is the magic of Harmony.  It's not meant to be used and abused by people for personal gain.  Learn from my mistake, Principal Cinch, before that magic turns on you and destroys everything you've worked to build," Twilight pleaded as she inched herself along the worktable.
Abacus Cinch merely laughed.  "Ha, what kind of fool do you think I am?  I will not stop when I am so close to achieving greatness.  No, now is when you will witness history being made."  Saying that, she flipped the switch to full power.
The sound of the machinery intensified and added to the growing thrum from the portal merging into a painful din the grated on the eardrums and dug into the mind.  The pull of the open portal whipped Twilight’s ponytail around mercilessly as the force intensified and pulled more toward itself.  For once, she was grateful for her corrective lenses as they saved her from being smacked in the eye and blinded quite a few times.  The pull of the open vortex continued to increase, and Twilight had to cling to the table as it caused her legs to slip out from under her.  Her own yelp of panic was echoed throughout the room, both behind her near the generator, as well as closer to the vortex.  Looking towards the control panel, Twilight saw no sign of Principal Cinch anywhere.
That wasn't what was important now, as the sound of rending metal tore through the cacophony and drew the teen's attention back toward her goal.  The cage containing the now unconscious Sunset was strong enough to withstand the force of a normal (or not so normal) animal, but clearly it was not strong enough to hold up against the force of a magical tear in space.  Twilight's eyes shrank in horror as the top of the cage was sheared clean off the rest of the structure and pulled toward the swirling tear.  It was only a minute later that her heart started to beat again, when she realized that the unicorn had not been pulled along with it into the turbulent magic nexus.  Whether due to some sort of latent magic on the pony herself or simply dumb luck, Sunset was still within the cage, being wedged into the tiny space had likely saved her from an unknown fate.
With the increasing speed of the vortex and pull of the magic, the teen knew she would not stay lucky for long.  Hurrying as fast as she was capable, Twilight clung to the end of the table and eyed the gap between it and where Sunset was stuck in the device.  It was only a few feet away, but it was a few feet being unattached to anything stable.  Her hesitation didn’t last long, knowing what would happen to Sunset if she waited.  Running the calculations quickly in her head, Twilight pushed off as hard as she could toward the device as the vortex also pulled her toward itself.  The angle resulting from the two forces caused Twilight to slam roughly into the raised cage portion of the devise, knocking the wind out of her.  Sucking in a pained breath, Twilight pushed down the pain as she set about unsticking the pony from the cage.  
With little regard for safety procedures and all focus on rescuing the unconscious pony, Twilight ripped the cables connected to the cage free.  Carefully, the teen worked the amber body free of its confines.  Tucking the unicorn as securely as she could manage in one arm, Twilight turned back toward the doors to try and devise a way back, when a sharp pull on her leg upended her, causing her to fall backwards and her head to bounce solidly on the ground.
How Twilight had the presence of mind not only to keep hold of Sunset, but the table as well she wasn’t sure. Blinking to clear her head, the teen found herself on her back, under the table. Clinging to her ankle was a red-faced Abacus Cinch who’s perpetually maintained hair was a frazzled, windswept mess. Her glasses were missing, and the look in her eyes blazed fire at the helpless girl.
“This is all your fault,” Cinch screeched. “You! You’ve ruined me, my school, my reputation.”  The enraged principal started to  claw her way up Twilight’s leg. “That creature is mine. I can still fix this. Hand it over!”
The effort of clinging to the unconscious unicorn amid the swirling vortex was taking its toll on the unathletic girl and with her other hand otherwise occupied preventing all three off them from being pulled into the tear in space, Twilight knew she wouldn’t be able to fend off the woman’s attempts to take Sunset for very long. She could feel her grip on the unicorn start to slip as Cinch grabbed for her, but then Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw past the angry woman to the portal.
Emerging from the magical tear were a pair of familiar vines. The long tendrils seemed to scan the room before locking on to Twilight’s location. They snaked their way across the floor of the lab before one took firm hold of Abacus Cinch’s leg. Startled,the educator ceased her struggle to dislodge the unicorn and looked down at the vine.
“What is this?” she hissed as she tried to kick it off, the jostling motion causing Twilight’s to further lose her grip on the table she was clinging desperately to. When that failed to free the principal from the plant, Cinch released one hand from the unconscious pony in an attempt to rip the vine off. The plant, however, did not appreciate her efforts, and the hand was soon seized by the second vine. Startled by the sudden grabbing of her arm, Cinch’s first reaction was to try and bat the new vine off with her other hand. 
Unfortunately for her, in doing so, she let go of Sunset, and there was nothing left holding her from the pull of the vortex. Twilight watched wide-eyed as Abacus Cinch let out a terrified scream as she was quickly pulled into the dimensional tear wrapped in the clutches of the grasping vines and disappeared. 


***


Rainbow Dash started shimmying her way around the front of the classroom, using the built-in tool benches to cling to. Luckily for her, anything that was going to blow off the shelves or pegs had already done so, while the few remaining tools were being pulled at odd angles but remained otherwise in place.
“So, turn it off?” Applejack shouted to her over the winds as she followed Rainbow Dash’s lead clinging to the workbench. “That’s your plan?”
“What,” Dash said with a smirk, “That’s always the first thing they have you do when your computer stops working. And Twilight said it would work, I mean she is the egghead, right? She would know.”
“Yeah, Ah guess, Ah just figured you’d want to be the one over there tryin’ ta get Sunset outta that thing.”
“Oh, I do,” Rainbow Dash said, “but this isn’t about what I want or what would make me feel better. This is about getting Sunset out. I made a promise, and this is how I can make sure that happens and Sunset is safe.”
Applejack stared at Dash for a minute, eyes wide. “Wow, Rainbow, that might be the most mature thing Ah’ve ever heard from ya. Ah think you’ve really grown after all of this.” Taking a moment
to realize they had both stopped as they reached the end of the workbench, the farmer surveyed the distance to their goal as the pull from the portal intensified. “Now, any idea how we’re gonna get over ta that machine. That’s gotta be fifteen feet at least.”
The athlete eyed the distance, a cocky grin spreading across her face. “We jump.”
“Ah take it back, you’re still an idiot,” Applejack deadpanned before exploding at the chromatic girl.
“Seriously, are ya outta you’re dern mind? ‘Jump’ that’s your plan?”
“Relax, AJ,” Rainbow soothed. “It’s not that far, plus with the way that vortex is pulling, we’ll be pulled right where we’re heading.”
“Yeah, Ah don’t think-“
“Thinking’s over,” Dash cut in, “Time to save a friend,” she called as she let go and was pulled by the vortex toward the device. She slammed hard into it with an audible grunt but flashed a thumbs up back to the farmer. “See, all good,” the athlete said, though the pain in her voice was clear.
“Rainbow Dash, what were you thinking?!” Rarity shouted to her as the fashionista made her way alongside Applejack.
“Ah don’t think she was,” AJ said, shaking her head.
Rarity sighed, “Now what?”
“Help her out,” Applejack said as she too let go and was pulled toward the machine, one hand holding tightly to her Stetson.
The farm girl impacted hard, and with only one had to grip, bounced and started to be drawn over the machine and toward the swirling tear in space, but a hand quickly grabbed hold of her arm and
pulled her back down along the edge of the device.
“Gottcha!” Rainbow called.
“Thanks,” Applejack said shakily.
“No problem. We idiots have to stick together,” the athlete said with a grin. “Now give me a hand with this thing.”
The two took hold of the massive cord that was feeding into the location Twilight had indicated and pulled hard, but the thing refused to budge.
“Come on, AJ, one more time. We’ve got this,” Dash said, psyching herself up.
“Ah don’t think so, sugarcube,” the farmer said as she surveyed the machine. “This thing is held in there good. It’s gonna take some tools ta get in there and shut this thing down.
"Luckily, we still have access to some of those,” Rarity called, still clinging to the workbench.  “What exactly do you need, darling?”
“Wrench,” Applejack said, “biggest ya can find.”
“I’m not seeing any-” Rarity began before being cut off.
“I’ve got it,” Pinkie called as she seemed to bounce back along the tool bench, seemingly unaffected by the swirling from the vortex. She leapfrogged over Fluttershy, who was still huddled in the doorway holding onto Spike, and to the other workbench where she claimed the necessary tool and completed the return trip alongside Rarity. “Here ya go, Dashie, catch!”
As the pinkette made to lob the heavy object toward her friends, the athlete and farmer called out, “Pinkie, no!” and causing the girl to freeze mid toss.
Taking stock of her position, Pinkie chuckled nervously, “Hehe, whoopsies. Uh, how do I get it to you then? That hole has gotten bigger, and the wind is really angry.”
“Teamwork, darling,” Rarity said, taking Pinkie’s hand. The other girl seemed to catch on as she let go of the tool bench and was pulled toward where AJ and Rainbow clung to the machine. Reaching out her hand, she handed the wrench to Applejack, who quickly went to work disconnecting the plug.
“There it’s out,” Applejack called.
“Then why isn’t that thing stopping?” asked Rarity as she started to lose her grip on the bench, only to be surprised when she was steadied by Fluttershy who, though nervous, had a determined fire in
her eyes.
“We must have been too late, it’s gotten too big,” Fluttershy said.
The group was stopped from discussing it any further as a frightened cry cut through the roar of the vortex.


***


Twilight clung tightly to the unconscious unicorn as the vortex tried to pull her free.  With one hand trying desperately to maintain hold of the amber hoof, the teen could feel her grip on the device begin to slip with the other.
"Sunset," the teen called, "Sunset, you've got to wake up.  I can't hold on.  You need to wake up, please!"
The ache in her fingers increased as they started slipping over the corner of the table leg.  Twilight knew that she couldn't hold on much longer with her one hand.  Her best bet would be to try and grab hold with her other hand, but that would mean letting go of the pony in her grip, and no matter how much her logical side told her that she should or even that Sunset would probably agree with the decision, she could not bring herself to let go of the unicorn that had come to mean so much to her over the past week.
Squeezing tighter to the furry appendage, Twilight readied herself for the final pull of the vortex.  As her fingers finally gave free and her body was pulled along the floor, the teen hugged the pony tightly to her body.  Wherever that tear led, at least the two would be facing it together.  As the pair neared the portal, Twilight buried her head in the pony's furry neck and shut her eyes...and then promptly opened them again when a sharp pull took hold of her arm jolting her head up.  Looking up, she was met with the smiling, if strained, face of Fluttershy and beyond her the rest of the girls from Canterlot High were each gripping onto each other in a human chain.
"It's okay," the normally quiet girl called, "We've got you."  Twilight couldn't help but smile back, which quickly devolved into relieved sobs which were echoed by a pained groan from the pony in her arms.
"Ugh, my head," Sunset slurred before blinking unevenly up at Twilight.  "What hap..." Her voice trailed off as her vision cleared, and the unicorn became fully aware of their predicament.  "Oh horseapples, that's not good."
"Don't worry," Twilight said, holding tighter, "we've got you," she assured, echoing Fluttershy's comforting words.  "We all came to rescue you."
Sunset smiled back at her and then at the line of people, her friends, beyond, and smiled.  "Yeah, but now it's my turn to rescue you," the pony said as she started to wiggle free of Twilight's grip.
"Sunset, no, it's too big," Twilight replied, desperately trying to hold tight to the squirming pony.
"It's okay, Twilight.  I've got this," Sunset said as she broke free of the teen's grasp.
Twilight watched as Sunset leapt from her arms and was quickly pulled toward the swirling portal.  Crimson light lit up the unicorn's horn before being shot at the portal.  Twilight couldn't see the pony's face as the teen was still held by Fluttershy, but even over the din of the vortex, the teen could make out a pained grunt as Sunset poured more and more magic into the breach.
It was clear Sunset's efforts were having an effect as the churning swirl of the portal began to slow, and the massive tear in space began to mend.  A smile started to form on Twilight's lips, but when her gaze turned back to the unicorn, the teen saw the pony's legs shaking and threatening to give way entirely.  Looking closer, the scientist's critical eye could see sweat drenching the unicorn's body, a body that seemed to be a much paler shade of amber than before.
"No," Twilight breathed as she continued to pour magic into the vortex.  The unicorn's entire body was shaking now with her effort, and her coat was shifting from washed-out to grey.  "No!" Twilight shouted as she frantically tried to free herself from Fluttershy's surprisingly strong grip.  "No, Sunset, you have to stop!"
"It's okay, Twilight," Sunset called, glancing back at the teen, "I promised I wouldn't lose anyone, and I meant it."  With a final, sad smile, Sunset turned back to the portal, and with one last blast of magic, the portal was sealed.  
The surge of power reacted with the remaining magical energy, resulting in a shockwave of magical power being sent back through the room.  A blinding flash and a rush of wind was the last thing Twilight saw before colliding with something hard and darkness claiming her.
> Chapter 42
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ringing in Twilight’s ears drowned out any other sound that might have been present as she looked up, including the groan that issued from her own mouth. Shaking her head to try to clear it, the teen straightened her skewed glasses and surveyed the room. The lab was an unmitigated disaster. The device Cinch had tried to use was broken and gutted, though the husk itself still emitted a faint column of smoke. The rest of the room fared little better with a number of Canterlot High students picking themselves up from the scattered amongst the rubble, as well as one unmoving amber unicorn.
“Sunset!”
Twilight's shout drew the attention of the other girls as they all ran to the downed unicorn.  Twilight was first to get there and carefully rolled the small pony over cradling her head in her lap and off of the debris strewn floor.  After a moment of tense silence, a response finally came in the form of a loud groan, and teal eyes blinked repeatedly to clear her vision.
Seeing that Sunset appeared to be in one piece, what followed was a cacophony of tears and sobbed apologies. None were understandable, but the emotion and meaning were clear.
“It’s alright,” Sunset said with a wave of a hoof. Her voice was weak and came out as a bit of a rasp, but she continued, “I know.  I’ve seen how much you’ve regretted what happened and what you’ve done to try and make up for it. And...I forgive you.”  Tears poured down the faces of the CHS students, finally hearing the words they had wished for the past three months.
Looking up into the tear filled faces that now surrounded her, she continued, catching each of their eyes and making it clear that this was important. It was enough to quiet their sobs, though tears still rolled, unabated down many of their cheeks.
“Now all of you need to forgive yourselves.  I know what it’s like living with regret. It hurts. It makes you question every choice for the fear of messing up again, to the point you stop making any decisions at all and just shut down; paralyzed you withdraw from the world. It’s what I did after the Fall Formal and again when I got back to Equestria.  I don’t want that for you,” she paused and found Twilight’s gaze, “for any of you.”
Sunset turned away and coughed, presumably to try and clear her throat, but it only seemed to make it worse. When she was able to speak again, her voice had gone from rasp to a wheeze, and it appeared to be taking a lot of effort to force the words out.
“We’ve all made mistakes, but we can’t keep beating ourselves up over them. We need to move on, but take the lessons we learn from them, and try to do better next time.”
This time, the wheeze triggered a full-blown hacking cough that rocked the amber unicorn’s entire body. Twilight pulled her friend up, trying to prop her up a bit more to make breathing easier, and hugged the tiny pony body towards her. With the shift in position, the teen’s keen eye for detail caught sight of the two-toned sun on Sunset’s flank. The normally brilliant red and gold symbol looked pale and faded.
“No, no, no! Sunset-”
“I know, Twilight. It’s okay.”
“But your cutie mark, you said-”
“I know what I said, and it’s okay.”
“Do one of you eggheads want to tell us what’s going on,” cut in Rainbow Dash. If there were more dangers heading her way, she’d prefer to know what they were going up against before they showed up.
“Sunset’s cutie mark, the sun symbol, “the scientist clarified, pointing it out, “it’s one of the kinds of magic ponies have...and hers is fading.”
“Okay so just put it back,” Pinkie chirped then proceeded to reach into her hair and fish around, “I have watercolors, oil colors, pastels, and,” she paused sticking out her tongue and squinting before producing several colorful tubes, “Icing, from my personal reserve.”
Twilight looked shocked and affronted how one of Sunset’s supposed friends could make light in this situation when she heard the hoarse laugh coming from her lap. A mix of coughing and weak giggles, Sunset smiled at her and weakly patted Twilight’s arm that was wrapped around her middle. “They were never as thorough as you when they asked about ponies and magic. They don’t know.”
Twilight’s anger abated and was replaced by a sad worry. “You don’t understand. A pony’s cutie mark isn’t decoration. It’s part of their magic. It’s what defines them. It’s a piece of their soul they get to display...And hers is disappearing.”
“But...you’re a unicorn, darling a magical creature. Can’t you... make more magic?” Rarity questioned only to have Rainbow cut in.
“Yeah, like you did at the school with the awesome light show and the laser blasts!” This garnered a backhanded slap to the shoulder from Applejack as she shot a glare at her rowdy friend.
“No,” Twilight said slowly, “She’s right. You should be generating enough energy to maintain your present level, and since the portal was just opened, you should be supercharged not draining.”
“I’m not sure what modifications Principal Cinch had Sour Sweet do to his version of your device, but while it pulled in my magic and opened a portal like yours, this one didn’t go to Equestria. The magic there is similar, but… wrong somehow.” Sunset shook her head to clear the fog that was creeping into her head. It did little to help and only prompted another coughing fit. When she finished, she continued, “I couldn’t tap into that world’s magic, and I needed more magic to close the portal, so…”
The pieces clicked together, and a look of realization that quickly morphed to horror washed over the teen scientist. “You didn’t just use what magic you had in reserve, did you? You pulled from your life force to close the portal.” The look on their pony friend’s face was enough to answer the question.
“I did what I had to do to make sure you, all of you, were safe,” Sunset said and there was a degree of force behind the words no one could miss despite being uttered as barely more than a whisper. Sunset’s eyes closed, prompting a moment of panic among the surrounding girls, but they soon saw her barrel was still rising, taking in regular, albeit ragged, breaths.
“Um…” started a quiet voice, “if she needs magic, is there a way we could, um, give her a transfusion?” Fluttershy looked up to find everyone staring at her and promptly grabbed hold of Spike and tried to hide behind the little puppy.
“A magical transfusion,” repeated Applejack, turning the idea over, “Is that even possible?”
“I will gladly volunteer whatever magic I have,” stated Rarity.
“A heaping dose Pinkie will put the pep back in your step.. er, trot in no time.”
“It won’t work,” Twilight hissed.
“It’s worth a try,” Rainbow shot back, “We’ve got to help Sunset no matter what it takes.”
“Don’t you see?” the genius girl spit out. “Look around you!  Even after each of those displays of friendship, of devotion to Sunset, not one of you is glowing or showing any sign of possessing magic.” Twilight looked down at the pony in her lap, and tears that she hadn’t registered before found their way out from behind her thick lenses and down her nose, dripping onto the unconscious unicorn. “Whatever magic you had is gone! I stole it from you, and then, instead of using it to get Sunset home safely, I used it to get revenge.” A shudder wracked her body, and the sobs were set free. “This is all my fault.”
“Twilight,” the voice from the body clutched in her lap was barely more than a whisper, but had a tone that commanded attention, “listen to me. This is not your fault.”
“But my experiment is what dragged you here-”
“And I already told you how that might have saved me from something far worse.”
“And if I hadn’t turned into Midnight, we’d have enough magic to send you home now,” the teen pressed through her tears.
“Twilight, that much magic...you weren’t ready for it. Believe me, I know. That much magic without direction, it just latches onto what you desire and pours itself into achieving it, and what you wanted was to protect the ones you cared for... I understand that, too. You did what you thought you had to do to protect your friends...and so did I.” Sunset started coughing again, a dry hacking cough that held tight as she seemed to struggle to pull air back into her lungs against the force of the coughing. When it finally abated, she looked up, teal eyes finding amethyst, “Never regret standing up for your friends,” she smiled her knowing half smile and then added, “but maybe next time try relying on them more for help.”
“But I don’t have any friends,” the teen croaked out between sniffles.
“Grr,” retorted Spike from Fluttershy’s lap, unable to fully articulate what he thought of that statement.
“Except for you, of course, Spike,” Twilight corrected with a watery laugh.
Sunset gave a warm smile, recognizing the words that she herself had uttered not too long ago when she had been at her lowest. Remembering the words one Twilight had told her then, she smiled at another and shared the advice, “Maybe they can teach you.”
Recognizing the words and what it meant coming from Sunset. It was Applejack who managed to speak. “We won’t let ya down, Sunset,” she said, removing her hat and placing it over her heart. Her eyes were glistening, but her voice was strong as she made the promise.
“Yeah, we’ll look out for her. You don’t have to worry about it,” Rainbow added her bravado giving way to faint cracks in her voice though she was managing to hold back the waterworks as she wanted to be strong now for the friends she had failed all those months before.
Pinkie popped in and encompassed the bookworm and unicorn in another layer of hug. “Maybe since Cinch was a big old grumpy pants and blackmailed Twilight, and all the students were basically meanies and picked on her or ignored her, she'll want to transfer to CHS where she can have a bunch of friends and we can throw a big party-”
“Whatever happens,” Rarity cut in, dabbing at the tears that had already turned to a river of mascara, “we will see to it that Twilight gets every opportunity to experience the joys of friendship.”
“No, I-I can’t,” Twilight sobbed, “not without you, Sunset.”
“You can. Remember, friendship is…” Sunset trailed off as her eyes fluttered closed.
“Sunset? Sunset!” the teen shouted as she tried to wake the tiny pony in her lap and saw that the two toned sun was now beginning to flicker in and out. Hugging the unicorn tighter, she marveled at how this magical being had fallen into her life only a week ago. Their relationship might not have always been good. They had definitely gotten off to a poor start, but in such a short time, Sunset had come to mean so much to her. She had taught Twilight about a mysterious world of myth and magic. Sunset had stood up for her against her perpetually bullies, even having barely known Twilight. The memory of finding the amber unicorn teaching her puppy to play O&O still made her smile. And when Spike was dog-napped, Sunset had stayed up with her all night comforting her and working out a plan to get him back safe and sound, promising that everything would be alright... But they weren’t. Twilight was losing her first real friend as Sunset willingly gave her life to save all of theirs.
Friend. She may not have said it and didn’t always show it, but that’s what Sunset was. Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, and Generosity, all traits that Sunset had demonstrated to her. She had never realized how lonely and isolated she was. Sure, she had her family, but having Sunset as a friend had shown her how much better it could be if she let others in. Sharing her interests, collaborating on experiments, laughing, and crying together, Sunset’s friendship made her life so much fuller with every experience, meaning so much more when it was shared with someone else. It opened something inside of Twilight she didn’t even know was missing. Like a warmth, it spread out from her heart and enveloped her entire body.
“You were right, Sunset,” Twilight whispered to the unicorn clutched in her arms, “Friendship really is magic."
> Chapter 43
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You were right, Sunset,” Twilight whispered to the unicorn clutched in her arms, “Friendship really is magic.”

“You ain’t kidding,” Applejack breathed in wonder.

Looking up, Twilight was dumbstruck at the sight of not just Applejack, but all five of the Canterlot High girls sporting familiar hair extensions and pony ears. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy even had pairs of feathery wings emerging somehow through their clothing.

“Wha-How?” gasped the bewildered scientist.

“It was you, darling,” Rarity said as she produced a pocket mirror and held it up for Twilight to see. A pair of shocked eyes behind thick frames stared back as they took in the full picture. Twilight, too, was sporting a pair of pony ears atop her head poking out of her now much longer hair that had somehow formed itself into a ponytail. Feeling a strange weight on her back and registering a movement she knew she shouldn’t be capable of, the teen turned and found she had her own set of lavender wings.

“But it shouldn’t...I’m not,” the teen began before shaking her head and putting aside the how for now as much as the scientist inside her was screaming for answers, there were more pressing matters now and now she had the power to fix them...she hoped. “Right, questions later. Now I need you all to focus on sending all of your power...uh, magic to Sunset.”

“Will it be enough to stabilize her,” asked Fluttershy looking worriedly at Sunset.

“Oh, we’re not going to stabilize her,” Twilight said determinatly The other girls looked confusedly at her, but still continued to circle around the pair.

“Then what are we-” Rainbow Dash began, but saw the look in Twilight’s eyes. The amethyst orbs blazed with a fire that Rainbow knew well. It was the same look that had stared back at her these past several days. One that said she was going to make things right no matter what it took. It was something she could understand and who cared about the rest.
Trusting her, Rainbow joined the others in placing her hand atop the downed unicorn and focused all her energy on sending whatever power was inside of her into Sunset. Each of the girls remembered the times they had spent with Sunset. Not all of them were good, but the good shone brightly and they remembered all the work done on both sides to try and make up for the bad. Sunset had worked hard to earn their forgiveness, and they in turn had fought to earn hers. They would make sure she got her second chance, a real chance.

The rainbow hues that radiated off of each girl, shot out from their gathered hands and directly into Sunset, and leaving the girls without their pony up forms.  They all sat expectantly staring at their friend, but nothing happened.

“Is that it?” asked Pinkie, “That’s what was supposed to happen right? She’ll be okay now?”

Seconds ticked by and nothing happened, each girl held their breath, praying for a sign. Then Sunset bolted upright, inhaling sharply as she did and caused all the girls to fall backwards.  Sunset’s eyes sprung open revealing glowing white pools. Her horn began to pulse with a red aura before blasting out in a wave of rainbow colored light.  

The light was so intense, the girls were forced to look away. When it finally faded, Sunset slumped back into Twilight’s lap. Checking on her friend, the teen saw that what was left of her fading cutie mark was now flickering in and out of existence, barely visible.

“No, it should have worked. It had to work. What was the point of all of that, if we’re still going to loser her?” Twilight asked as hot tears began to sting her eyes and fog her glasses. The Rainbooms, too, hung their heads, believing they had once again failed their friend when she needed them the most.

Then they heard a whimper.  Looking up, they found Spike pawing at the open space in front of where Sunset had just loosed her light show. As they watched, tiny cracks began to form in the air outlined by a rainbow prism effect. Unlike the previous tears in space, this one seemed to be having trouble taking hold, and it seemed like the cracks were trying to reseal themselves. Then there was a new glow that seemed to be leaking through from the other side of the cracks. A magenta aura gripped the edges of the tears and began to wedge them back open. Then the magenta light was joined by others in pale blue and teal, and the portal started to expand.

By now, Twilight had a lot of experience with magical dimensional rifts and was likely the world's leading expert, but this one was not what she had come to expect. It did not reveal a picturesque landscape or a macabre forest. No, this time, they found themselves looking at the interior of a crystal castle, and face to face with six familiar faces. Well, not exactly familiar, but it was hard to mistake who these ponies were.

“This is the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me,” the two Twilights echoed. Then Princess Twilight cast a sideways glance at an unfamiliar lilac unicorn, while the human girl glanced at the amber one in her lap, and they both followed up with, “Make that the second strangest.” Registering the stereo effect, Princess Twilight caught sight of her counterpart, but before she could add to the list of strange events this day had brought her, she spotted the familiar form lying unconscious in her double’s lap.

“Sweet Celestia, Sunset! Starlight, I've got this, can you grab her?” Twilight shouted, wanting to do it herself, but remembering she was propping open reality at the moment.

The mystery pony nodded and carefully enveloped the injured pony in her magic and hovered her through the portal. “It’s magic depletion. The worst I’ve ever seen even during my early days of experimenting with-”

“Can you help her?!”

“Oh, right...um, maybe?” the flustered unicorn started then more confidently, “I think so.”

“Good, do it. AJ, can you and Pinkie-” the princess began only to be interrupted by a saluting pink pony.

“One cart ready to go.”

“...get Sunset to Ponyville General while Starlight and Rarity keep try to stabilize her mana flows. Fluttershy, can you hurry their first and let them know we’re coming and help them get any supplies they might need. Rainbow Dash, you rush to Canterlot. I’ll have Spike send a letter, but I don’t want to risk it being lost in bureaucratic limbo. Make sure Princess Celestia knows as soon as possible what’s going on.” Ponies rushed to carry out instructions, and the lavender alicorn leveled a very angry gaze at the human girls on the other side of the portal.

“What happened? What did you do to her this time?” Princess Twilight had just had a very long day (or several days depending on how you looked at it), and returned only recently to discover the world was back to normal, but with no sign of Sunset anywhere, she was beginning to worry Sunset had somehow been written out of time after her misadventures with Starlight, only to find her friend once again on the other side of the portal, unconscious and with those that had hurt her before.  Needless to say, the pony princess's nerves were a bit frayed and she was testier than usual.

“It-It was my fault,” came a familiar voice the princess was not expecting. Looking over the crowd of humans, she was met by a familiar pair of amethyst eyes staring determinedly at her through an unfamiliar pair of glasses. “I was researching this mysterious energy signature I’d discovered at Canterlot High, and I guess a major surge of Harmony Magic on your side knocked Sunset into the portal, and...uh, I pulled her out?"

Princess Twilight blinked, barely registering the explanation as she was still dealing with the fact that her human counterpart not only discovered magic, and the Rainbooms, but was now ponied up herself.

The princess’s friends seemed to have finished getting Sunset secured in the wagon when Applejack called out, “Twilight, she’s sayin’ something.”

“What is it?” asked the alicorn.

“Oh, not you, Twi, the...uh, other one,” Applejack corrected awkwardly. “She says’ it ain’t your fault, and everything will be okay now...thanks to you.” Applejack smiled at the strange version of her friend, and saw in her eyes that this was a bit of truth she had needed to hear, then she heard more whispers coming from the amber unicorn. “She says, ‘And no one had to sing...Coom-bye-ah’? Not sure if I heard that last part right.”

“No, you got it right," the human girl said with a watery giggle, before addressing her best friend, "I’m going to miss you, Sunset.”

Pony Pinkie took up the translation, “Silly Twilly, she says, 'This isn’t goodbye. It’s just goodbye ‘til next time!' Oh, and she has one more thing for you.”

As the two earth ponies began to pull away with the wagon containing the fiery unicorn, a ball of light rose out from her horn and through the protective auras surrounding her, much to the disapproval of the two unicorns trying to stabilize her. Heading back through the portal, it shattered as if through a prism into six distinct colors and flew towards the human girls, with a spark of Fluttershy’s yellow energy breaking off and finding its way instead back into a thoroughly excited purple puppy.

“Alright!” Spike cheered, then ran to the edge of the portal and shouted, “See ya, Sunset. Thanks a lot. Watch out for those doctors, they like to give you shots and hide pills in your peanut butter, oh and one time they put me to sleep and when I woke up I was missing my-” He was cut off when he was snatched up by Fluttershy administering tummy scratches successfully derailing his train of thought seeing as the animal lover had a good idea where this comment was going.

The teen scientist turned back to her pony doppelganger. “She will be okay, won’t she?” the girl asked, worry clear in her voice.

The princess smiled seeing the care and concern for Sunset in not just her double’s eyes, but all of the human girls. “Yes. It may take some time, but Sunset’s a fighter, especially when she has friends to fight for.”

With that, the alicorn princess released her magical grip on the interdimensional tear, and allowed the rainbow cracks to mend until there was no sign of that other world or its magical inhabitants.

“Do you think we’ll see her again,” asked Fluttershy, still petting Spike.

“Without the journal, there’s nothing to connect to open the portal. It should revert to running on its original lunar cycle,” the scientist replied, trying to hide her emotions behind a wall of data.

“But she’s safe, and that’s what’s important,” consoled Applejack seeing through Twilight’s façade and placing a friendly hand on the dejected girl’s shoulder.

Rarity voiced what the bespectacled girl was feeling, “Yes, but two years without her?”

“Don’t count her out,” Rainbow said with a knowing smirk, “Sunset was able to get magic working again here, open and close holes in time and space, and save Twilight here from going magic crazy wiping out Cinch and the other Shadowbolts…uh, no offense.” The other members of the Rainbooms shot her a glare, while Applejack went the extra mile and slugged her in the shoulder.

“Now, we ain’t gonna be startin’ that nonsense again.”

“It’s okay,” Twilight sighed, “none taken.”

Rainbow Dash winced a bit at the response. Looking thoroughly abashed, she met Twilight’s eyes and said, “No, they’re right. I promised Sunset I’d look out for ya and that includes from myself and my own big mouth. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Thanks.” Twilight smiled knowing she meant every word of it.

“The point I was trying to make though is still true. Sunset’s faced worse odds and still managed to come through when it counts. My money says we’ll see her sooner than you think.”

“I hope you’re right,” Fluttershy said as she handed Spike back off to Twilight albeit a bit reluctantly.

“In the meantime,” piped up Pinkie Pie, “We have a party to get back for.”

“What party, darling” asked Rarity, raising a manicured eyebrow.

“The one for the Friendship Games, silly.”

“You mean the one Principal psychopath ruined to start the Games?” questioned Rainbow.

“No, not that one. The victory party I’m going to throw when we get back.”

“Uh, there were no Games, sugarcube, and I doubt we’d end up doin’ them after everything that happened today so technically nobody won,” Applejack corrected.

“You mean revealing a corrupt principal and replacing her with a super nice one that cares about her students, getting the Crystal Preppers to see Cinch’s methods were wrong and that they shouldn’t treat people as obstacles or stepping stones in their own pursuits of power, and making a super awesome new best friend who just learned super awesome best friend magic aren’t wins?” asked the pink party girl knowingly.

Applejack chuckled, “Well, I guess when ya put it like that, we've got quite a lot to celebrate, don’t we?”

“Yepperoonie so let’s go!” Pinkie proceeded to, quite literally unless Twilight was much mistaken (something to investigate later perhaps) bounce out of the room, the other girls following after in the conventional manner.

“Plus, added Fluttershy worriedly, “we have to let all the principals and other student’s know what happened,” dropping to a lower tone she continued, ”especially with Cinch’s disappearance.”

Twilight watched the group of girls head out. A new group of friends she’d found thanks to the one she’d just lost. She glanced back at where the portal had been one last time before glancing down at her number one assistant. “What do you think, Spike, think I’m up for this?”

“Based on what Sunset said those wings you had meant, I know you’ll do great.  Just remember, if there’s a big glowy artifact in the middle of an open room, it’s probably a trap,” the puppy added as an afterthought.

“Got it,” Twilight giggled, and together they walked out of the destroyed lab to catch up to their new friends.
> Epilogue: New Beginnings (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Abacus Cinch opened her eyes but couldn’t be sure what she was seeing. She certainly was no longer in the lab at Crystal Prep, nor did she find herself in the word she had beheld through the portals created by Twilight Sparkle. That had been a world similar, if a bit outdated to her own filled with ponies. Most certainly not the world she found herself in now.
Here the sky, if it could even be called that, swirled around in a tumultuous haze of inky blackness. Looking around she spotted a variety of small islands somehow floating nearby. Some were adorned with oddly colored trees whose species she'd wager were not native to Earth. 
Another island seemed to be exuding lava in a waterfall off its edge. She made the mistake of trying to see where the flow went and jumped back quickly causing her to fall heavily on her rear when she saw that the land she was on was floating in the void. Unable to find the strength in her legs after that shock to stand back up, she was forced to crawl away from the precipice.
“Wh-where am I? What is this place?” the confused principal called to the blackness. She was shocked and terrified even further when the abyss seemed to answer back. The air around Principal Cinch began to swirl in a thick black fog that blocked out the disturbing landscape but left the educator feeling trapped. Then a deep menacing laugh filled the air, seeming to echo all around the bewildered woman.
“Welcome, Abacus Cinch, you have been expected,” said the voice.
“Wh-Who’s there? How do you know who I am?” demanded Cinch some of her usual haughtiness finding its way to her voice.
“Oh, I have seen everything you have done during your time on Earth. So many things done to sow strife and disharmony and your actions have all led you to where you are now,” chastised the voice.
In the billowing smoke and flames around her, Cinch could now make out a monstrous, shadowy form.  As it approached, she spotted a horned head and goatee.
“N-no, I can’t be dead,” stammered the principal as a cloven hoof emerged from the darkness in front of her. Cinch let out a terrified scream and scuttled back, forgetting for the moment the abyss above which she was floating. Luckily, her back thudded into something solid...and squishy? Concerned that it might be another monster, the educator turned quickly to find herself leaning against a squashy, blue sofa, something she definitely hadn’t seen earlier.
“Hmm, perhaps that may have been a tad too much” said the mysterious voice very clearly right behind her though now it was far less ominous as it sounded like it was speaking around a mouth full of food. Turning Cinch beheld the creature in its entirety.
It had a long snakelike body and a variety of mismatched body parts and was lounging on the couch casually tossing popcorn from the tub in his lap into his mouth. With a poof, the couch and the popcorn disappeared, leaving the creature standing, now sporting sunglasses and a baseball hat emblazoned with the word ‘Director’ on it. Reaching out a clawed hand, a stack of papers materialized and its pages flew open until it stopped on the one the being seemed to be looking for. A megaphone formed in his other hand...paw and he raised it to his mouth.
“Okay let’s run it again, from the top.”
Abacus Cinch promptly found herself once again encircled in the billowing darkness, but this time just sat there dumbfounded, unable to come to grips with what was happening. Eventually the creature’s head emerged, its neck seeming to stretch longer than it had any right to in order to reach her. It was followed by a paw that slithered after the head in order to cup the elongated mouth and whisper to the shell shocked woman, “Your line is, ‘What is this place?’...Any time.” Cinch only blinked in response.
When it became clear that the woman wouldn't or couldn’t play along, the being snapped his fingers with a resigned, “Fine,” and the smoke and pyrotechnics disappeared, “but I expect detailed answers when you fill out your exit survey.”
“Exit survey?” Cinch asked, “What are you talking about? Where am I? None of this makes any sense!”
“Make sense?!” the creature laughed uproariously as if it had been a punchline. “Of course it doesn’t make sense,” he chuckled, “Don’t you know who I am?” Then he paused a moment seeming to consider it and continued, “Hmm, come to think of it, maybe you don’t. Oh, this is such a treat, here my card,” he said handing over what appeared to be a playing card. Flipping it over revealed it to be a king sporting the creature's face. Cinch looked at it confusedly until it winked at her causing her to scream and through the card away. As it fluttered to the ground, it morphed into a cartoonish looking firework that whistled up into the swirling sky and burst spelling out ‘’Discord” in glittering letters with the creature himself posed beneath leaning atop a flashing neon sign reading “The Lord of Chaos.”
“You see, Abby...Can I call you Abby?” He didn’t give the woman the chance to answer and simply wrapped a lion paw around her shoulders in a half hug. “You see Abby, I saw what you did back in your world, causing the human version of Princess Sparkle-butt to go all power crazy and start ripping holes in the fabric of space- Props on that by the way. Never could manage that level of manipulation on the four legged model myself, but any-who...I also heard what you planned to do to Sunset Shimmer and all the ponies you could get your hands on.”
Discord’s red eyes narrowed, and a sense of dread filled Principal Cinch. “I can tell you, I was not pleased about that at all...BUT,” he continued with a noticeable shift in mood, the pressure around Cinch decreasing, “then I remembered that I too had once treated innocent ponies unkindly.” There was a flash of light and a handkerchief materialized and hovered next to him, which he took and blew into with the sound of a drowning trumpet. Tossing it away with a wet splat, he returned his attention to his guest. “And as my best friend Fluttershy always says,” there was a flash of light and Discord now appeared in a rather shoddy looking yellow pegasus costume complete with flowing light pink hair reminiscent of one of the CHS students Cinch had seen, “Everyone deserves a little kindness. So I decided to take you under my wing as it were.” There was another blinding poof and the costume was gone returning Discord to his original form sans one of the aforementioned wings. Cinch felt a tap on her shoulder, and reluctantly turned to find the missing appendage hovering over her like a large purple umbrella. The principal shrieked and backed away causing the wing to retreat to its owners back.
“Now I know this is normally a job for Fluttershy and the Princess of Books, but they’re busy taking care of Sun-butt Junior and the revenge driven unicorn of the week, so Princess Cake Flank said I could take care of you.” With a snap of his fingers, Discord and Cinch were now poised on a sheer rock face. Discord bedecked in rock climbing gear and expertly harnessed while Cinch was tangled in a web of ropes of various colors and types. “They’ll probably be busy with that for a few weeks, maybe a few months, so no real time to find you a way back to your world, but that means plenty of time for us to hangout.”
Abacus Cinch blanched before her anger replaced it. “I can’t stay here. I have to get back. Do you know who I am?!”
“Of course I do,” Discord smiled widely and snapped his fingers again. This time found herself inside the house of chaos. There was a swirling vortex on the floor, furniture on the ceiling, and a staircase that seemed to lead to nowhere. Looking down, Cinch found she and Discord were sporting matching t-shirts bearing the words ‘Reformation buddies’ and caricatures of her’s and Discord’s faces in interlocking hearts. “You’re my new roomie!”
Abacus Cinch screamed, but it only upset the chaise lounge which proceeded to scamper around the room barking loudly.
> Epilogue: New Beginnings (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few weeks since the events of the Friendship Games, and Twilight saying good-bye to her first friend, though Spike would argue that characterization, and did now that he was once again able to talk. The teen assured him that it wasn’t an insult he ,and Cadance for that matter, were family so they weren’t eligible for the title.
Cadance and Principal Celestia had worked overtime to fast track her transfer to CHS and Sunset’s friends had kept their promise to “look after her''. She had quickly been indoctrinated into the world of friendship with mall visits, hangouts, and sleepovers. They had even convinced her to try singing with their band as her counterpart once had. That was how Twilight Sparkle now found herself seated at the piano in the Canterlot High music room as the newest member of The Rainbooms.

“Nothing stays the same for long
But when it changes doesn't mean it's gone
Time will always get away
As it leaves behind another day”

As Twilight’s part ended, she thought back over all that had changed for her in such a short time. Overall, things had improved for the glasses-wearing teen. Given her past bullying experiences by both students and faculty, there was no doubt of her departure from Crystal Prep, but it shocked many when she declined admission to the Everton Independent Study Program, opting instead to transfer to CHS.
Part of it was due to Sunset’s urgings not to give up on friendship. The girls that had been the unicorn’s friends, had been so sincere in fighting to get her back from Cinch and wanting to make it up to the pony, it seemed cruel to deny them the opportunity when Sunset had asked them to look after Twilight herself. They had welcomed Twilight warmly to their group though it was strange at first to be friends with people, just because someone else had asked them to be. That comment elicited a chuckle from some in the group.
“Sugarcube,” Applejack explained, “that’s exactly what Sunset said when we asked her to be our friend, too.” The comment brought a sad, wistful smile to the farmer’s face.
“We promise, we learned our lesson though,” piped in Pinkie Pie, “We really want to get to know you and be your for-real friends, who know you and won’t ditch you at the first opportunity-” A cyan hand shot out and covered the pink girls mouth before it could make the conversation more awkward.
“What Pinkie’s trying to say,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “is that we’re here for you, Twi. We’d love to get to know you and be friends, but if you don’t want to hang out with us, we’ll still be here for whatever you need at CHS or whenever.”
“Yes, darling, though we do hope you’ll at least allow us a chance to put our best foot forward as it were, seeing how our introductions were…ahem…less than ideal.”
Twilight agreed knowing first impressions on both sides could have gone better, eliciting a quiet, “Yay!” from Fluttershy.

“Things may come and things may go
Some go fast and some go slow
Few things last, that's all I know
But Friendship carries on through the ages”

Twilight listened as the shy girl took over the song, giving the teen scientist a beaming smile in congratulations on her part. It had taken a while after the girls talked the nerdy girl into coming to their band practices, and the offer was made that she should join them. After a lot of wheedling and the biggest set of puppy dog eyes adorning the normally energetic party planner’s face, Twilight had finally relented so long as it was a small part.
The girls really did welcome her into their group. They had each spent time getting to know her, and while it was often learning to appreciate new experiences, Twilight had found she shared some interest with these girls such as a love of animals with the shy girl. The surprise, however, was the connection she found with Rainbow Dash. Honestly, the nerdy girl had feared spending time with the jock, with memories of past interactions with Indigo Zap coming to mind. While the rainbow-haired girl was a bit on the egotistical side, as Indigo, Twilight was surprised to find that the athlete was in fact a bigger Daring Do fangirl than Twilight. The two’s planned hangout turned into a trivia battle on the series followed by speculating on the recently announced Daring Do movie.
Twilight was feeling more welcomed at CHS than she had ever felt at Crystal Prep or anywhere else. The girls and the school as a whole had taken Sunset’s request, which the girls had shared, to heart, seeing it as a chance to do for someone what they hadn’t done for Sunset. The thought that it was a friendship born of magic that had seen them through an apocalyptic fight, made Twilight smile. It was like something from one of her novels and the fact that she was here, now, surrounded by friends that welcomed her for who she was more than she could have ever imagined a few months ago while trying to plan her escape from Crystal Prep. It was as through that made her body warm and tingly, a sense of joy that seemed to radiate out from her heart and fill her whole body.
And despite all the friendship and comradery, her transfer to CHS has garnered, there was one more factor in her decision to turn down Everton. Her counterpart’s words to her implied there might be hope in getting the portal back open. Sunset had said, the princess had been the one to find a way to open the portal between the worlds outside of the normal window. While it was possible that the portal would open naturally in a couple of years, Twilight knew she could do better. After all if one Twilight could do it on her side of the divide, surely she was up to the challenge on this side. Especially if it meant she got to see her friend again.

“Things may come and things may go
Some go fast and some go slow
Few things last, that's all I know
But Friendship carries on through the ages”

As Rarity echoed Fluttershy, continuing the song, Twilight was struck by memories. Memories of the friend that had risked everything to help her. Who had been hurt and nearly died for her. Her friend was injured a world away, gravely injured and here she was playing music and having fun. As the soul chilling realization washed over her, the feeling killed the warm feelings that had been growing within her. Grabbing her bag, she rushed out of the room leaving her bewildered bandmates behind.
“Oh dear,” the animal lover gasped as the music of her friends skidded to a halt at the sudden exit of their new friend. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure, darling. Everything seemed to be going well. I thought Twilight had really taken to being part of the band.”
“Yeah,” cut in Rainbow Dash, “her piano solo is totally awesome and her voice is just as good as Princess Twilight’s was.”
“Really,” Rarity sniffed, “I seemed to recall a certain someone against the idea of a grand piano in the band.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t against it, just questioned how you planned on lugging it around with you everywhere.”
“Do you think we should go after her?” Fluttershy asked, getting everybody back on the issue at hand.  The band’s attention was grabbed by Pinkie as she jerked and twitched behind the drum kit.
“Wowza, that was a doozie,” the energetic teen gasped and then smiled. “Don’t worry, Twilight won’t be alone, and I think she just needs some time right now.”


***


Twilight hurried out the front door and collapsed on the steps. She knew she shouldn’t have run out without saying something, but she was feeling overwhelmed. As much as she liked her new friends, it was a strange experience to go from a reclusive shut in to the most popular girl in school. Not to mention how close the Rainbooms were. It was sometimes a bit much for her.
She wasn’t alone for long though as Spike appeared from one of the nearby bushes.
“Hey, Twi,” he greeted cheerfully before seeing the girl’s face, “You going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I just needed some time to myself.”
“Alright, if you’re sure then I guess I’ll leave you to it. There’s a squirrel over there who’s forgotten whose territory this is and Fluttershy’s not around so I get to explain it to him my way.” With that he bounded off, barking as ferociously as the ten pound bag of fluff could manage.
Twilight smiled at his antics, and then was started a moment later by a buzzing in her bag. Reaching in, she pulled out her phone and saw the new message.

Rarity: Pinkie thinks you could use some space, but just let any of us know if you’d like some company and we’ll be right there, darling.

It wasn’t the first time she’d been in tears after everything she’d been through, and her new friends were doing their best to help her through it. Since transferring to CHS, her phone had seen a great deal more use than it ever had before. Twilight smiled as she sent a quick thank you. Tossing her phone back into her bag, she withdrew the large leather-bound book that had been her other focus since arriving at her new school.
When she’d initially requested the chance to study the journal in hopes of reestablishing the portal link, Twilight was sure that the principals would laugh her out of the office. What she was not expecting had been a full-fledged offer of support as well as the use of a spare storage room to use as a lab.
Twilight was stunned at the generous offer and more so by the look in Principal Celestia’s eyes when she handed over the journal stating simply, “Take good care of it, Miss Sparkle.” There was worry and sadness in her voice, but Twilight felt it was mixed with a sense of cautious hope.
Word had spread through the school as to where Sunset’s journal had disappeared to, and that same sense of nervous optimism seemed to cling to the students and staff at Canterlot High. Twilight didn’t want to disappoint them, but after two weeks of research and locking herself in her newly acquired lab there had been no progress in recreating the effects of the portal. It was only in the past few days, the girls had managed to coax her out to spend time together outside of school, joining the band being the most recent development. With so many people, and probably ponies, counting on her Twilight didn’t want to let them down, but with no progress, she didn’t know where to go from here.
Twilight sighed, running a hand over the familiar red and gold sun emblazoned on the book. Then she reached in her pocket and pulled out a pen. Opening to the back where there was still room she began to write.

Dear Sunset,
I hope you are doing well. I know Princess Twilight (wow that’s so weird to write) said you would be fine with time, but I can’t help but worry. You know me, I don’t like not knowing and it’s so hard not knowing how you are. I guess that’s what happens when you have friends.
Well if that’s the case and the reverse also applies, I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m doing well at Canterlot High and the girls are working really hard to show me all the things I’ve missed out on. Actually the whole school has made me feel welcomed. I was really worried at first, about transferring to CHS. I mean transforming into a winged dark angel and trying to tear wholes in reality and murder your principal and classmates was probably not the best first impression. Luckily the full story on Principal Cinch came out. The files you sent prompted an investigation by the school board and the CCPD. They put out a warrant and when she finally turned up, a week after the Games, she was disheveled and kept muttering nonsense like “chocolate milk from cotton candy clouds". My brother told me she seemed all too happy to turn herself in.
You probably will never read these words, but I wanted to tell you that I owe you so much. You taught me so much and were there for me when I needed you the most. I can never thank you enough for everything you did for me and how much you have changed my life. I know that the portal isn’t due to open again for two more years, longer for you, but I want you to know that when the time comes, you will have a friend here eagerly waiting to show you everything I’ll have learned thanks to you.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle

Twilight smiled as she closed the book with a small smile. It didn’t matter that the journal had long since lost its connection to its counterpart in the other world. Even if Sunset never read those words, it was cathartic just to get them down on paper.
Checking the time, she knew she should start heading back to the music room or the others would likely worry and come looking for her. They tended to do that when they thought she might be trying to seclude herself. Twilight loved having friends, and the girls were kind and very welcoming, but they just weren’t Sunset Shimmer. I mean really how do you compete when your first friend is an adorable magical talking unicorn? Twilight giggled to herself as she headed back to the building, not wanting to worry the girls. As she did, she missed the faint glow that started to emanate from the now unadorned plinth.
> Epilogue: New Beginnings (Part 3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The teen was shaken from her reverie by the sound of an audible, “Oof.” Looking up, she was surprised to see a girl sprawled on the sidewalk near the Wondercolt statue. Sliding the journal back into her bag, Twilight rushed to help the downed girl. As she approached, she could hear the new girl muttering quietly to herself as she shoved the spilled contents back into her messenger bag before picking herself up off the ground.
Twilight took the opportunity to survey the new arrival. She was similar in height to Twilight sporting a leather jacket with orange chevrons around the upper sleeves over a long teal shirt that ended in an off-white see-through material that gave the illusion of a skirt. She was sporting a pair of form fitting blue jeans tucked into a pair of leather heeled boots sporting a matching orange chevron design. The overall look screamed rebellious-popular girl and years of experience with such girls made Twilight want to back away, but something about her long red and gold tresses seemed familiar and she’d been growing more confident since her transfer.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked nervously when she’d gotten closer.
“Yeah, no harm done,” the girl said as she dusted herself off. “Not even a hole in my…jeans? Huh, upgrade. Nice. That would have been worse if I’d been wearing my skirt.” Glancing up after appraising her own wardrobe, Twilight was met with the warm cyan eyes of the new girl. “Twilight? What are you doing here? Do you go to school here now?”
“Umm…Yes?”
“It’s so great to see you again! It feels like it’s been forever, but maybe that was just me,” the girl said as she enveloped the teen scientist in a hug and caused her highly accomplished brain to shut down. She was never popular at Crystal Prep and even transferring to CHS, the welcome had been warm but with an undercurrent of wariness given her actions at the Friendship Games. It was never this welcoming.
“Uh, I think you have me confused for someone else,” the nerdy teen managed to stammer out when her brain began to reboot and process the situation. Her new friends had filled her in on all the magical events at Canterlot High.
“Oh really,” the girl chuckled pushing her back and giving her an appraising gaze. “You seem pretty Twilight-y to me.”
“Yes, but you see I’m not the same Twilight from the Fall Formal. I actually just transferred here a few weeks ago. I kind of thought that news had made it through the school though.”
The girl in front of her quirked an eyebrow as the smile slid from her face. “Wait, you’re being serious? Don't you…” she began a look of understanding came over her face. The look quickly made way for a grin and Twilight caught a glint in her eye that she had seen before at Crystal Prep many times before and it had the nerdy girl immediately on edge.
Unsettled by the look she was getting, Twilight tried to draw the girl’s focus from herself. “I…I don’t think I’ve seen you around school. Were you out sick or on vacation or something?”
“Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah, something like that.” The non-specific answer did nothing to ease the awkwardness, Twilight was feeling in this conversation. Seeming to sense this the discomfort in the bespectacled girl she smiled warmly and elaborated. “I used to attend CHS, but I moved away at the end of last semester. I’m back now, though and I was hoping to figure out how to get signed up again.”
“Oh, um, I can probably help you with that. I mean just having gone through the transfer process and all I know what it entails. Actually, most of it is just talking to Principal Celestia, but I could show you where her office is…unless you already know…not to imply you got in trouble a lot or anything when you were here, just that, since you were a student here before and I’ve only been here a few weeks, you might know the school’s lay out better tha-“
Twilight felt a finger press against her lips and her gaze snapped to the bright cyan orbs in front of her.
“Whoa, there Twilight, take a breath. In order, yes I remember where the Principal’s office is, but I’d love the company. The vice-principal is the one to hand out punishments, and I am also well aware of where Vice Principal Luna’s office is. I’m not offended and if you want, maybe we can hang out later and I can tell you some of the more interesting things I’ve done to land a visit there.”
As the finger was removed, Twilight just blinked owlishly at the response she’d garnered from her rambling. The owner of said finger just chuckled and started walking toward the school, calling out, “You coming?”
Shaking her head in an attempt to restart its contents, the currently struggling genius managed to squeak out, “Oh, uh, yeah.”
“So…uh, did you know the princess well,” Twilight asked once she’d caught up to the leather clad girl.
“Yeah, it was weird at first, we didn’t get off on the right foot initially, but eventually we talked and we ended up as friends.”
“Oh,” Twilight said fiddling with one of her bangs nervously, “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” the red head asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“When you saw me in the courtyard, you seemed so excited. I’m sorry I got your hopes up at seeing your friend again. I guess since you were here before so I don’t have to try and explain magic, which is probably a good thing since I don’t really understand it myself, though I’m working on it since I… Sorry I’m rambling again, just sorry for letting you down.”
“Don’t worry about it. You could never let me down, Sparky.”
Twilight looked up at that, an inkling she’d had since she’d met this new girl growing stronger though still unable to place its source. Any hope of making the connection was dashed though as she realized she had been rambling and following the mystery girl and not paying attention to where they were going. They were nowhere near the main offices.
“I think we made a wrong turn. The principal’s office is on the other side of the building.”
“I know. There was a stop I wanted to check first.”
Following down the hallway, Twilight was surprised when they turned down the music hallway towards the band room she had been in earlier. Despite the school’s efforts, the sounds of her friends’ practice still echoed down the empty corridor as Applejack started to sing.

“Once upon a time,
You came into my world and made the stars align”

The teen scientist hear Rarity pick up the verse and was then joined by the rest of the Rainbooms as the unathletic girl struggled to keep up with her companion’s quickening pace.

“Now, I can see the signs
You pick me up when I get down so I can shine”

“Shine like rainbows
Shine like rainbows
Shine like rainbows
Shine like rainbows”

“Friends, you are in my life
And you can count on me to be there by your side”

As Rainbow Dash took up the song after the chorus, Twilight watched as the redhead slid to a stop outside the band room. Turning to Twilight as she caught up, she gave the bespectacled girl a playful wink. “Keep up, Sparkle,” she said, “You don’t want to miss this.” Then she pushed open the door, belting out the song’s next line.

“And when the music comes alive
We sing our songs to lift us up so we can shine”

The music came to a discordant halt and silence overtook the room, a rare occurrence for the group of gregarious girls. Twilight watched as the Rainbooms stared, slack jawed at the redhead before Pinkie screamed shrilly, “OMG! Sunny’s back!” The poofy maned teen then launched herself into the air, managing to somersault in the air before landing on the redhead and tackle-glomping her to the ground.
This was hardly a surprise to the bespectacled teen, who had quickly learned from her new friends that it was better to not question what or how Pinkie did the things she did. No, the strange thing was that the rest of her friends quickly followed suit, dogpiling on the downed girls. The girls quickly became a cacophony of greetings and tears with a surprising number coming from the normally too-cool visage of Rainbow Dash.
“Sugarcube, I can’t believe you’re back.”
“Darling, I simply love your new ensemble. It’s a chic new look of style and sophistication with an understated air of rebellion.”
“This is totally awesome. Things weren’t the same without you, but now that you’re back and Twi’s here things are at least 40% cooler.”
“I can’t wait to throw the biggest, loudest, craziest party that Canterlot has ever seen. A super-dooper Sunny’s back and the now the school can be better than ever party.”
Twilight stood in the doorway, feeling out of place at the happy reunion. Watching as her new friends glomped on to the red-head, all the thoughts and feelings Twilight had been feeling since meeting this new girl began to click into place. The familiar tone and teasing, the warm teal eyes and the familiar head of red and gold, the nickname. It was all right there, but the brilliant girl just stared at the girl, the human girl, in front of her, her mind struggling to reconcile the cute unicorn that had been her first friend with the beautiful girl extricating herself from the pile that from all Twilight’s experience said would never give her the time of day.
Escaping the tangle, Sunset Shimmer stood before her bespectacled friend. “Hey, Sparky.” Gaining no response, the former pony scratched nervously at the back of her head looking sheepish. “Uh sorry about not telling you who I was. When I realized you didn’t recognize me, I just wanted to see how long it would take for you to figure it out.”
The bespectacled girl continued to stare at the girl before, her not giving any response. The stunned scrutinizing look caused the unicorn turned human to fidget uncomfortably under the gaze.
“I didn’t mean to-”
“S-Sunset?” Twilight finally managed to stammer out.
“Yeah…”
“You’re…You're b-b...Big.” It likely wasn’t what she’d intended to say, but considering the difficulty she was having getting her mouth to function properly, she was just happy to have completed her sentence, which elicited suppressed laughter from all of her new friends.
“Uh, yeah,” Sunset chuckled sheepishly, seeming to be suffering the same malady as her bespectacled friend. “The portal seems to be back to normal, fingers, toes, even some new clothes.”
“And they’re simply marvelous on you, clearly it has impeccable taste,” said the fashionista though she was promptly silenced with a glare from the other girls sensing the tension between the scientist and former pony.
Seeing her distress, the redhead carefully asked, “Twi are you OK?” Getting only the same awkward stare she decided it might be best to cut her losses. “Look, I know this is weird, and if I’m making you uncomfortable, I can give you some time to-”
Twilight crashed into her with more force than she’d thought the unathletic girl capable of, nearly toppling Sunset back to the floor. “You’re back!” the scientist sobbed, happy tears starting to soak the former pony’s new outfit. “How are you back? It doesn’t even matter, you’re okay and you’re back. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too,” Sunset said smiling as she returned the hug. “As to the how…well, I told you Friendship is magic.” Sensing the eye roll from the scientific minded girl more than seeing it, Sunset chuckled and continued, “It’s true and you must know it too it since the only way we were able to get the portal open was you reestablishing the elements.” The girls gave the unicorn turned human a curious look. “The journal is still broken and without it there was nothing for the portal to latch onto that connected the two worlds.”
“Friendship is magic,” said Twilight quietly, pushing herself away from her returned friend, a focused gaze settling on her face as she pieced through the information. “Friendship is what triggered the magic of the Elements of Harmony in each of the girls, and it is analogous to the Harmony Magic of Equestria right down to the counterparts who wield it.”
“Huh?” Rainbow said, eloquently voicing the thoughts of most of the girls.
“Duh,” cut in Pinkie, “She used the magic in us and the magic in the pony us-es and since we’re both Elements and we’re both us, she could use it as the connection between our two worlds and follow it so she could go from there to here, and here to there, and there to here-” The bubbly girl’s antics were cut short by the strong arm of Applejack.
“We get the idea, sugarcube.”
“Err…yeah, what she said,” Sunset said. “Though it didn’t make for the most stable of connections and was a rather bumpy ride, hence my less than graceful appearance. Thankfully, the princess gave me a new one of these so the next trip shouldn’t be so bad.”
Reaching into her messenger bag, Sunset produced a new journal, similar to the one Twilight now possessed, though this one seemed to be emblazoned not simply with the dual-colored sun of Sunset’s cutie mark, but was intermixed with the star design favored by the scientist. A sense of dread shot through the glasses wearing teen at the implications. Next trip?
Twilight swallowed thickly, and then spoke, forcing the words out like oatmeal through a straw. “And h-how long are you staying?”
The rest of the girls seemed to catch on to Twilight’s concerns and worried looks soon spread to each of their faces. That this might be only temporary. Had Sunset finally returned only to drop off a new journal and return to the world she’d come from?
Sunset rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Well, I was actually planning on heading back tonight.” A pall fell over the room at the declaration, their eyes cast to the floor the group missed the mischievous smirk spread across the redhead’s face. “I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve lost my apartment by this point and with no place to go, Princess Twilight said I could crash in her castle while I figure out how to get reenrolled and find a new place to live.” Smiles grew on each girl’s face at the news, and Sunset was rewarded by happy cheers and a few new bruises for the joke.
“You’re really coming back to CHS?” Fluttershy asked.
“I haven’t checked with Principal Celestia since I’m guessing I have quite a few unexcused absences to account for, but if I can work things out, yeah I’ll be a Wondercolt again.”
Rarity asked through a river of tears and mascara, “I mean after everything that happened, you really want to be friends again?”
“I don’t think I ever stopped being friends with you,” Sunset said softly. “That’s what made everything hurt so much, because I still cared for all of you.”
“You’re such a sap, Shimmer,” Rainbow said, trying to discreetly brush away her own tears with a fist.
“Oh my gosh!” yelled Pinkie, “This totally calls for the biggest, bestest welcome back party I’ve ever thrown!”
“Pinkie!” Sunset shouted, cutting the hyperactive pinkette off before she could go into full on party planning mode. “As great as that sounds, I still have a lot to take care of, and I still have to get to Principal Celestia’s office. Can I take a raincheck on that party?”
“Sure thing, SunShim,” Pinkie chirped, “Just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll set it up. Oh, this just gives me more time to make it bigger-er and better-er!”
“With a final round of hugs and a promise to see them all tomorrow, Sunset headed for the music room door, guiding the still shell shocked scientist with her.
“Where are we going?” questioned the nerdy teen.
“Well, you did say you’d walk me to the principal’s office,” said Sunset smiling.
“Oh, right.”
Upon exiting the band room, the pair were greeted by the sound of jingling and nailed feet approaching on the linoleum. Turning the corner into the main hall, Spike approached happily.
“Hey, Twilight, where’d you go? If it’s about the squirrel, don’t worry, I took care of him,” the puppy said with a smirk before turning to the other person in the hall, “Oh, hey, Sunset.”
The teen scientist blinked at the purple pup’s flippant greeting. “Wait, you knew that’s Sunset? What? How?”
Spike just shrugged, puzzled by his owner’s confusion. “What do you mean? Who else smells like that?” Sunset, not sure if she should be insulted or not at the comment opted to sidestep it entirely.
“Hey, Spike. Keeping the place safe I see.”
“But…but…she…how?” Twilight was still unable to get passed the dog’s non-reaction though her mental gymnastics seemed to go unnoticed but the other two.
“Yeah, totally. People think just because they’re cute and fluffy that they’re not a threat, but that’s how they get you.”
“You know it,” Sunset said offering a fist to bump in agreement.
The teen scientist just rolled her eyes. Having a talking dog was every pet owner’s dream, until you actually had one. Twilight had quickly learned the bulk of his thoughts centered around food, scratches, and paranoid theories of whom was out to get his territory whether it be cats, squirrels, the mailman, or some evil cadre formed by all of them to fulfil their dreams of supplanting dogs as the ‘goodest boys and girls’.
“Please don’t feed into his paranoia,” Twilight groaned finally slipping out of her mental bind at the dog’s usual tirade.
“What paranoia,” Sunset asked seriously. “You of all people should know cute furry creatures no matter how adorable can often be the cause of no end of trouble.” The fiery haired girl smiled and bumped Twilight’s shoulder with her own. Seeing a distant look in the other girl’s eyes caused the grin to fall from her lips.
“Are you alright? I know you said you were fine, but I can understand if you’re uncomfortable with all of this after what happened.” Sunset’s look turned downcast. “Trust me when I say I understand what it’s like to be reminded of your mistakes, and I don’t want to be a daily reminder of that for you.”
Twilight stopped walking and grabbed hold of the leather clad arm next to her. The sudden movement gained the attention of the amber skinned girl and teal eyes met amethyst.
“Sunset, you are my first real friend outside of my family. Everything that happened at the games, no matter how terrible only served to prove to me how great a friend you are, and I will never be anything but thrilled that you’re back.” The scientist was pulled into a tight embrace by the former pony and was surprised when she felt warm tears seeping through her shirt. “Um, if you didn’t want to make the trip back to Equestria tonight, you’d be more than welcome to spend the night at my house…again I guess.”
“It would be nice to actually meet your family instead of having to hide from them," Sunset chuckled. "Yeah, I'd like that, besides who would turn down a sleep over with their best friend?" She heard the fiery haired girl say in a watery voice.
Best friend. The decision to come to CHS was looking even better Twilight thought.
“Fine,” Spike cut in, disrupting the happy pair, “but if she’s spending the night she can sleep in your bed. I just got mine back to the way I like it.” Both girls giggled at his comment, a faint blush tinting both of their cheeks but going unnoticed by the other.