Finals are hard on everybody. For a study-obsessed, perfectionist, friendless bookworm, they are positively mind-bending. Sunset remembered seeing Twilight's scores and feeling a reflex somewhere between a dry heave and asphyxiation. High 90s all the way down the board, and her roommate was dissatisfied with those results. Sunset Shimmer was three years Twilight's senior, taking the exact same level of classes, and happy with her low 90s. Most other students in their classes were catatonic after pushing as hard as they could to get into the 70s and low 80s.

Numerically speaking, Twilight was annihilating Sunset on the books. However, while she might not have been quite as intelligent as her rival, Sunset was somewhat wiser. She had paced herself so that she could enjoy life while still driving relentlessly forward at the rate she wanted. On the other hand, Twilight was burning through the education system, but hadn't once given significant thought to what she was going to do with her life once there were no more written instructions on what was required of her. Sunset had dismissed that as being Twilight's problem up until today, when she noticed that Twilight was on the same page of her book as she was an hour ago. This was a huge red flag from the purple-haired girl, and being the closest thing Twilight had to a friend (which was really, really sad now that Sunset thought about it), Sunset felt it was her obligation to help her out a little. Hunting down her doppelganger might have been the primary reason for this road trip, but a close second was getting Twilight out of the studio and into a more relaxing environment.

"Um, Twilight? Heyyy... Twiliiiight...Hello! Are you in there?" Sunset waved her hand between Twilight's face and her book, but got no response. So Sunset decided to switch from talking to Twilight to talking at her.

What Sunset couldn't have known was that Twilight's duplicate was as much a problem for Twilight as her own was for her. From the perspective of a girl who was all about PR, being mistaken for a small-town hero would have been a huge boon. Twilight was introspective though, and had cutting self-esteem issues. Given her upbringing in a loving family, her impressive athletic skill, and her stunning academic record, the neurosis of her perceived faults were a mystery. However, that excellence in life had led her to believe that it was a standard she was compelled to maintain, or lose everything. This in turn meant that the introduction of a new Twilight: one who was happy, outgoing, loved by total strangers, and skilled at making friends- only highlighted her most glaring flaw and skyrocketed her awareness of it. Already bent by the pressures she put on herself, Twilight felt the extra strain of crushing loneliness and cracked.

"...so I invited him back here for pizza, but it turns out that chickens aren't any better at doing laundry than they are at making oatmeal. Can you believe that?" Sunset finished in a light-hearted tone. Like magic, Twilight was freed from her despair-induced trance. She saw Sunset's cheerful grin and returned it, blithely overlooking the fact that seeing hers wiped Sunset's face clear of anything resembling a smile.

"Not at all." Twilight replied, rather than pointing out that what Sunset had just said only made sense grammatically. She set her book down, saving the page she'd been staring blankly at for over an hour by spreading the book page-down on the coffee table, nearly giving Sunset a heart attack in the process, then stood up and stretched. "Sunset, what do you know about percussive brain surgery?"

"I know that it looks haphazard, sounds counter-productive, and to the best of scientific knowledge, only works in cartoons. Why?"

"No reason. Anyway, I need to pack a few extra things for this trip. I think I might find some time to practice for the upcoming softball season." Twilight said in the same light tone Sunset snapped her out of her reverie with as she all but skipped into her bedroom.

"No amount of practice on your part is going to help the rest of your team..." Sunset muttered, wondering if she should be worried for her life, her clone's, or that of whoever happens to be in Twilight's path when she snaps.

"I heard that~!" Twilight practically sang from her bedroom.