The courtyard of the library stretches before us, two long walkways that go past a small rectangular pool and fountain before leading up to a set of steps lined with tall, thin fir trees that shot straight upwards. Past all that you have the library itself, three main floors to the massive square building topped with three smaller floors. And that’s just what’s visible. There’s another four floors underground.

“So… What now?” I ask as we all stand staring at the massive building

“Well d’uuuuuh!” Pinkie says. “We just go and find her!”

I cock an eyebrow at Pinkie. “Pinkie, the library is huge! Even between the six of us we’ll be lucky to just come across her!”

Pinkie looks out at the library and frowns slightly. “Oh…”

Applejack smiles wide and places a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Don’t you worry none! We’ve got BotherPal all loaded up! We can split up a form a search party!”

“Why that sounds like a fabulous idea!” Rarity says.

“Works for me,” Rainbow Dash says with a shrug.

“Oh… er… okay…” Fluttershy says reluctantly.

“Awwww…” Pinkie utters in a disappointed tone. “But I wanted us to jump out and surprise her! Then throw her a big party right there! They say first impressions are the most important after all!”

As amusing as it would me to watch Twilight Sparkle, even this world’s Twilight Sparkle, flee in complete terror from unknown teenage girls who suddenly jumped out to throw her a party, I feel it’s probably best to intervene.

“Uh, Pinkie?” I interject. “The girl hasn’t met any of us. I think all six of us suddenly ambushing her with a surprise party in a library of all places might startle her just a bit.”

Rarity nods. “We’d certainly all get kicked out as well!”

Pinkie looks slightly crestfallen, but her mood suddenly bounces right back. “Hey!” she exclaims excitedly. “What if she’s met Sunset before?”

We all stop and stare at Pinkie. You’d think the others would be used to the occasionally weird outburst and brush it off, but I’ve quickly learned that Pinkie is really good at saying something so ear catchingly strange it requires further explanation.

“Come again?” I say. “I’m sure I’d have remembered if I had met this world’s Twilight at least after we all met Princess Twilight.”

Pinkie just gives me a big grin. “No! What if she’s met the you from this world! You know… human flavored Sunset Shimmer! Won’t meeting you be a surprise?!”

I feel my eyes go wide. I never considered this. Clearly there’s a Twilight over here and in Equestria, so logically there’s a me running around too…

What if she has met me?

What if it didn’t go well?

What if I’m a total wad?

… Human flavored… er… The me that’s originally here that is… I already know I’m a total wad.

I must look like I’m freaking out a bit, because most the other girls are giving me concerned looks.

“Yo, Sunset!” Rainbow Dash says as she takes a close look at my face. “You alright? You look like you're about to lose your lunch!”

“Lunch?!” Pinkie exclaims. “It’s practically dinner time! Why would Sunset Shimmer be walking around with lunch?!”

Rarity turns towards Pinkie. “She means she doesn’t look well, darling!”

“Oh!” Pinkie exclaims. “Well she does look a little brown in the face.”

Okay… just… what?

Applejack raises an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie. I thought I was good at that, but A.J. looks like she does this professionally. “The heck are you talking about?”

“You know…” Pinkie says. “Green plus orange makes brown!”

Pinkie Pie… I still can’t decide if this girl is a complete airhead or a mad genius…

Fluttershy purses her lip in concern and leans just slightly closer to me. “Are you okay Sunset? You’re not scared that Twilight has met the you from here and that you… uh… erm… she… made a bad impression are you? Because I would be…”

“Na-no! Wha-whatever gave you tha-that idea?” I say.

Smooth Sunny, really smooth… It’s okay… I can do this. I absolutely can do this.

“Sunset, dearie?” Rarity asks. “Are you sure you’re feeling, alright? We’re probably not going to find Twilight from the inside of my car…”

I absolutely cannot do this.

I look back at Rarity through the open door of the passenger’s side. “Uh… Maybe I should keep an eye out for her here…” I say forcing a smile. “You know… make sure she doesn’t leave this way while you all check the library out.”

Pinkie looks disappointed, but the other girls give me small smiles.

“Why that sounds like a fabulous idea!” Rarity says. “And if we do meet her, perhaps we could ask if she’s met… uh… a woman who bears a striking resemblance to yourself and preemptively clear up any misunderstandings.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Rarity.”

Rarity smiles at me. “Of course, darling!”

Applejack grins at me. “You just wait here and holler at us if you see her.”

Fluttershy also smiles. “We won’t make you talk to her alone.”

I return the smiles and nod. Waiting in the car and alerting the others if Twilight Sparkle walks by is something I can do.

Pinkie has moved on from disappointed and onto concerned. “Are you sure you won’t get lonely sitting in this car all by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine, Pinkie. In fact, I have some reading I should catch up on.”

“Weelllll…. okay!” Pinkie says cheerfully.

“Come on!” Rainbow Dash says impatiently. “We’re burning daylight just standing around. Let’s go check out this nerd haven and find Twilight already!”

The girls began to walk off.

“Now hold yer horses,” Applejack says. “We’ve got plenty of time before the library closes.”

Pinkie gasps. “Applejack! Don’t say that phrase around Sunset Shimmer!”

“… ‘Hold yer horses’?”

“Well, d’uuuuh! Sunset Shimmer might think we’re after her, or something!”

I laugh. The girls laugh. I almost wish I was going with them, but the last thing I want is to meet the Twilight Sparkle here and freak her out because she’s met another version of me. The second to last thing I want to do is simply meet her… This is all a bit sudden for me, but it’s just been a handful of days since I went demonic and trashed the school. I certainly want to keep on the girl’s good sides.

Once the girls are far, far down the walkway, I dig into my handbag and pull out my tablet. I guess I won’t be able to do more than look through one or two of the books I ordered digital copies of, but it’s a start.

I get comfortable in the passenger seat of Rarity’s car and soon I’m up to my eyeballs in chants, symbols, and the names of the demonic.

I manage to enjoy some relatively quiet reading time while the girls go on their search. I say ‘relatively’ because I have to mute my phone eventually. The act of five teenaged girls trying to coordinate a ‘woman hunt’ in a massive, multi-story library results in many, many messages sent back and forth and we’re all in the same chat conference.

Given the girls are overlooking my past transgressions (and hoo-boy, are they horrible and numerous), I feel it’s better to just to suck it up and remain connected even if it means the texts aren’t so much useful as a distraction from my readings.

For example…

PartyHard: Anyone seen her yet? :?

AnimalFriend: No net yet… She’s not in the animal books section.

2Fast4U: FS u should check more than 1 place imho

AppleBucker: I agree. If Twilight is not in the animal books section
currently, it seems doubtful to me she will visit that area.

AnimalFriend: Oh. Okay.

PartyHard: XD AJ, you type like Rarity talks.

AppleBucker: Why, whatever do you mean, Pinkie Pie?

DiamonsAreForever: Indeed. I’m not that verbose when I speak.

AppleBucker: Pardon me if I believe anything worth taking the
time to write is worth doing correctly.

PartyHard: :( You could have punned! :(

2Fast4U: AJ u waste 2 much time typn

AppleBucker: And your texts are an absolute eyesore.

DiamonsAreForever: Couldn’t have put it better myself.

2Fast4U: f u guys!

DiamonsAreForever: Dearie, you type like a … What’s the
phrase? ‘Brain dead AOLer’?

PartyHard: >_> You really do, Dashie.

2Fast4U: stfu!

AppleBucker: I bet Sunset Shimmer would agree with us.
She is no doubt observing this farcical debacle and cringing
as you commit crimes against language!

PartyHard: :O Word crimes, dashie! The worst crimes of all!
Behind murder. :X
And assault.
And theft.
And Larsoney.

DiamonsAreForever: Larceny, dearie.

PartyHard: That too.

2Fast4U: Watevr
Suny’s probs not evn readin this

AppleBucker: You know we could simply ask Sunset
Shimmer if she is indeed reading this. She is still logged
In after all.

PartyHard: Good Idea! :) Sunset Shimmer!!!!! Are you
reading all this??? :?

PartyHard: Oh. :(

2Fast4U: PP your a spaz.

PartyHard: O:<

DiamondsAreForever: If Sunset Shimmer replied,
then that means she is reading this, dearie.

PartyHard: OOOOOOOOOH! ^_^;; Silly me! XD

2Fast4U: WTF?!

PartyHard: XD XD XD XD XD

AppleBucker: I erupted in mirth and merriment.

DiamondsAreForever: Hehehe! I told you, dearie!

2Fast4U: STFU guys!

2Fast4U: Really?

DiamondsAreForever: Here, here!

2Fast4U: Fine! I won’t type like that anymore.

PartyHard: Yay! :D

DiamondsAreForever: Oh thank goodness.

AppleBucker: Finally, we are rescued from the
scourge of Rainbow Dash’s horrendous butchering
of language.

2Fast4U: Whatever! Can we please focus on
finding Twilight?

Hey Fluttershy. Have you checked anywhere else, yet?

AnimalFriend: Yes. But I don’t think she’s in the nature
book section either.

2Fast4U: That’s just the next section over! Can’t
you at least try a different floor?!

AnimalFriend: Oh. Okay.

I open the package and examine the contents. A small paper booklet and the cards themselves. I thumb through the booklet quickly. Looks like the book describes each card… also its reversed meaning…? I guess this means if the card is turned upside-down? Interesting…

I take the cards and shuffle them about. Flipping some upside-down occasionally as I do. I’m not sure if these things really have any sort of magical properties that will give me guidance or prepare me for the future, but at least it’s a welcome distraction from thoughts of dealing with the demon inside me. Not to mention the girl who will no doubt serve as a constant reminder that there’s somepony out there who succeeded where I failed and is now living the life I wish I had…

I sigh heavily.

Yeah, let’s flip a few cards and see what’s in store for me.

I arrange the cards into three piles on the dash in front of me and flip the top card of each pile around, similar to how I did this with Pinkie. My ‘past’ card is the Seven of Wands reversed, a young man holding a staff and fighting off six other staffs. My ‘present’ is the Eight of Swords, a woman tied and blindfolded while surrounded by eight swords. Lovely…

I let out a groan. My ‘future’ card is ‘The Devil’. These cards sure aren’t doing a good job making me forget how much my life sucks at the moment…

Oh well… I look through the booklet anyhow. Seems the reversed Seven of Wands represents ‘Perplexity, embarrassments, and anxiety’. I certainly had all that in spades just a while back.

The Eight of Swords represents a mess of bad stuff. Bad news crisis, conflict, sickness… Supposedly this is my present situation…

I don’t bother to look up the information on the devil… I just put the cards back in their box along with the booklet and throw it in my handbag. I decide to stare at the window with a sad expression instead. Somehow, it seems about the most productive thing I’m capable of at the moment.

Maybe I should figure out some other thing to do in the future if I need to clear my head… Maybe even a bad habit… Like smoking... Just embrace that bad girl persona I have now. Plus it should shorten my lifespan, which seems like a major plus at the moment.

Ugh… I must be the most depressing person on the planet…

“AAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!”

A woman’s scream causes me to jump. She runs past the car, followed by several other people and more and more.

A fire? I don’t hear any alarms.

It’s then I notice a slight feeling of dread. You know… beyond the constant feeling of dread I’ve been feeling lately just for existing. This is different in that it doesn’t feel natural… It feels almost…

… magic?

I check my phone and try to catch up with what’s going on.

AnimalFriend: I’m scared.

2Fast4U: FS. Its just a library! Its just full of eggheads!
There’s nothing to be scared of!

AppleBucker: “It’s”. In both cases you are concatenating
“it” and “is”, so you need an apostrophe.

2Fast4U: See?

PartyHard: XD XD XD XD XD

AppleBucker: Now that was just uncalled for!

DiamondsAreForever: Teehee

AppleBucker: I don’t believe Rainbow Dash needs
Wait suddenly everyone seems to be fleeing the premises.
Did an alarm go off or some such?

DiamondsAreForever: Not that I’ve heard. But everyone
seems to be running here as well.

PartyHard: :O Here too! And I feel kind of strange. Like
tingly, but in a bad way. :(

2Fast4U: What Pinkie said, but less lame sounding.

PartyHard: >:[

AppleBucker: I also feel a vague feeling of unease, but not
so much that I desire to leave the building.

DiamondsAreForever: Still, we better regroup outside.

AnimalFriend: I can’t move. I’m scared.

PartyHard: :O Are you stuck?

DiamondsAreForever: My heavens! Are you in danger?

AnimalFriend: I’m not sure. A man came up here and then
he screamed and I don’t know what happened to him.

2Fast4U: Were r u?

AnimalFriend: Top floor. Help.

PartyHard: We’re coming, Fluttershy!

The chat simply ends at this point.

The me from a week ago would probably stay in the car, or maybe even put some distance from the library like other people seem to be doing. She certainly wouldn’t do something completely stupid like run towards the library, even if her friends were in there (not that the me from a week ago had anyone she’d consider a friend).

As my boots continuously tap against the ground while I dodge the people coming at me, I have to think… As much as I completely loathe the person I was a week ago, she probably had a much greater life expectancy than the me of now…

I jog up to the elevator and press the up arrow in the now empty library. The button lights up as I take a brief moment to look about. Books are strewn about randomly and it seems just about everyone dropped what they were doing, and pardon the pun, booked it.

The elevator dings and the doors open. I step into the empty elevator and press the top floor button labeled ‘Board Room’.

The feeling is getting stronger now. Some sort of compulsion to run away… Still, I somehow know it isn’t real so the experience isn’t like real fear and more this strange, disconnected idea of fear.

Clearly most to all the other library patrons didn’t feel the same way, but none of my friends seemed to be in the crowd. I don’t know if they understand this feeling is magic, but they don’t seem to be affected either.

Which only begs the question of what’s going on with Fluttershy.

The elevator dings again, the doors open up and I’m suddenly locking eyes with Pinkie Pie.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Pinkie says excitedly.

I barely have time to brace myself before the girl flings herself at me.

“OOOFFF… Hey… Pinkie…”

“We were so worried about you!” Pinkie exclaims.

I gently pry Pinkie off me. “Well I’m fine, how’s Fluttershy?”

Pinkie frowns and motions past the other girls to Fluttershy who seems to be having trouble standing but looks otherwise okay aside from slight discoloration in her face. Rarity is leaning down next to her.

“Hey, Sunset Shimmer…” Fluttershy says as she smiles weakly at me.

“Fluttershy, why’d you even come up here?” I ask. “I doubt Twilight is going to be up in the board room.”

“Erm… well… I was in the elevator and then someone got in in front of the buttons and pressed this one.”

Applejack expertly raises an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you jus’ ask them to hit a different floor?”

Fluttershy blushes slightly and stares at the floor. “Erm… Well… I didn’t want to disturb them.”

Rainbow Dash smacks a palm against her forehead.

Rarity speaks up. “Well, why didn’t you just wait for them to leave, then pick a different floor?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy exclaims, she holds up a ball-point pen as the color starts to slowly return to her cheeks. “Well, they dropped this pen when they left the elevator and didn’t notice… So I walked out to grab it. I tried calling out… er… but I don’t think they heard me. So I thought maybe I’d follow them… uh… But then I thought that might seem weird for me to be following them, so maybe I’d just turn the pen into lost in found... But then I’d have to talk to someone there… so… erm… and then…” The color that had returned to Fluttershy’s face left. “… Uh… and then they screamed really loud… and I got scared and couldn’t move… er… You all know the rest…”

“Oh, silly Fluttershy!” Pinkie says with a smile. “I’m sure they just tripped or something!”

I pause for a moment and think about this. “Okay, but why didn’t Fluttershy see them come back towards the elevator when everyone else started running out the building?”

“Everyone… everyone started running out the building?” Fluttershy says in a fearful tone. She manages to turn another shade paler and Rarity is starting to look a bit on the worried side as well.

Rainbow Dash gives me a smug look. “Uh, d’uh! You’re not supposed to take the elevator in an emergency! Geez, Sunset! I thought you were smart.”

I narrow my eyes at Rainbow Dash and point behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash turns past the glass encased fire hose and is suddenly a few inches away from a sign that reads ‘Stairs’ with an arrow that’s pointing down the hallway behind us.

Rainbow Dash grins sheepishly and rubs the back of her head. “Uh… hehehe… I retract my previous statement…”

I nod, though the irritated look on my face doesn’t go away. I’m trying to play nice with these girls, but that was just too much.

Pinkie suddenly holds up an index finger in a ‘ah-ha!’ fashion. “Maybe there’s another set of stairs down the hallway, or they even went all the way around the other way!”

I purse my lips slightly. “Those are all fairly plausible explanations…”

Fluttershy and Rarity seem to relax slightly.

Pinkie smiles and starts casually stroll over down the hallway. “We’ll just quickly make sure no one is still up here and—”

Pinkie turns the corner and her hair does something utterly spectacular. With a sound like all the air being let out of a balloon it deflates and goes straight. I’d ask how she did it if it weren’t for the fact her face is doing something equally as impressive for her, being completely gripped by total and utter terror.

“Yo, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash says. “What’s the hold up?”

Applejack tenses and I feel my body start to go warm and my heart beat in my chest. I didn’t think there was anything that could make Pinkie go quiet, but there is, and she’s looking right at it. Keep in mind this is a girl that helped stare down a twelve foot demon that could mind control people and shoot fireballs.

This can’t possibly be good.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and I all exchange glances and cautiously walk up towards Pinkie.

Rarity manages to choke out a “… I’ll just stay here… with Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy almost looks as white as Rarity at this point. It’s probably not a bad idea someone stick with her, especially considering her head injury from earlier today.

“Pinkie?” I say in a concerned tone as we approach the girl. “What’s wrong…? Did you…?” My eyes suddenly wander to where Pinkie is looking and I find completing my sentence difficult.

“Whoa! What the hell?!” Rainbow Dash exclaims.

“Oh my sweet lord in heaven…” Applejack murmurs.

We’re all staring at the windows that look into the board room, or rather the windows that would look into the board room if they weren’t completely covered with a thick, viscous red liquid.

“… Is that what I think it is?" Dash asks.

Applejack swallows. “If yer thinkin’ what Ah’m thinkin’, probably, yeah…”

Desperate for an alternative theory I chime in, “Maybe there was just some sort of crazy Jello party going on in there…”

Told you I was desperate.

Pinkie gulps, “I’ve thrown some crazy Jello parties in the past… and that’s not Jello…”

We all jump as we hear a small click coming from a turning doorknob attached to the door of the board room.

The unnatural feeling of dread is starting to feel a lot more natural now.