The Shimmer of Magic

by Hakuno

First published 11th of May, 2014

Sunset Shimmer is stuck again in the human world. Struggling with the consequences of her actions, she must redeem herself with the help of five girls and a very interested magician.

After Sunset is blasted by the Elements of Harmony and left in the human world again, she struggles with the consequences of her actions. But even if everybody hates her, there are five girls willing to help her redeem herself.

Meanwhile, a certain blue-skinned magician is more than interested in Sunset's knowledge of true magic.

Edition and Proofreading:
Parchment Pen
plumander
Special thanks to crowscrowcrow.

FEATURED 09-12-15 Thank you so much!

1. Stuck Again

Chapter 1. Stuck Again

One thing was clear to Sunset. The Element of Magic didn't like her.

Once she put on the crown, raw magic flooded into her body so fast, she didn't get a chance to react. But, it wasn't a pleasant experience, for she started to feel a burning sensation all over her body. Her body and mind, emotions and entity were set alight with the fires of agony. Like an entire forest was set ablaze, her pain was in every single fiber of her being.

And with the growing unbearable pain, Sunset also felt a violent assault of emotions. But, above them all, she felt hatred. Hatred towards little princess Twilight Sparkle, who not only got the title and the power Sunset deserved, but also tried to ruin all the plans she'd been building for the past thirty moons. She felt hatred towards the five girls who tried to help Miss perfect Twilight Sparkle stand against her.

As the magic of the Element filled Sunset's every desire of power, she also felt her flesh burn and her blood boil; she felt her brain furiously beat against her skull, and the skin of her back, tear apart as bones jutted out and formed the shape of wings. When the transformation was over, Sunset opened her eyes and looked at herself.

She didn't expect to be turned into a demon; but, she didn't mind at all. Her skin was now red, her clothes changed to match the red and yellow patterns of her hair, and she also had grown a tail. She was thrilled, she had missed her tail ever since she became a human, and even if this wasn't exactly her pony tail, it was a tail, and it was hers.

But the joy she felt was quickly replaced by anger as the pain returned. Her arms started to shake violently, desperately trying to convince her body to produce, and send some adrenaline to cease the pain. Sunset clenched her teeth, and forced her body to stop shaking. She wasn't going to give up, not now.

Sunset used her otherwise impossible magic and turned her loyal minions into half demons, just like her. She frowned seeing that they didn't seem to suffer the same pain as she did, but she decided to ignore it for now. She then proceeded to show her new power by destroying the school's entrance with no apparent effort. The students screamed in fear, and that pleased Sunset, but if she was going to use them, she needed them to be loyal, so she brainwashed them all, students and teachers. Sunset growled as the pain increased, but decided to ignore it. She was this close to conquering Equestria; she only had to bear the pain a little more.

Unfortunately, the Element still didn't like her, so it found a way to restore its bond with Twilight, and with her, it found provisional bearers to connect with the other Elements in Equestria.

Sunset saw the six girls rise from the ground and glow with the brightest light she had seen since the sun itself. She heard Twilight say something, but the purple beam the Element used to connect with the princess produced a sound in Sunset's ears that resembled to white noise. And then, an explosion of light happened just above her and a rainbow was shot directly to her feet, and started to spin around her forming a small tornado.

"What… is… happening?!" She cried.

Sunset's conception of pain was then taken to another level. She wanted to scream, the pain was just too much; she didn't care anymore if they heard her scream, but she couldn't do it. And suddenly, all the pain vanished and was replaced by a soothing sensation. Her limbs felt weak; so weak that she had to kneel and lean on her hands. For a moment she wondered when she had returned to the ground.

"You will never rule in Equestria. Any power you may have had in this world is gone." Sunset heard Twilight's voice echoing from above; she opened her eyes and realized that she was in some sort of crater. "Tonight, you've shown everyone who you really are. You've shown them what is in your heart."

The feeling of being burnt alive was gone, but it quickly was replaced by a new kind of pain; one that overwhelmed her heart and made it feel heavy in her chest: regret.

"I-I'm sorry… I'm so sorry!" She yelled, and she could feel her throat dry, and cold tears running down her face. "I didn't know there was another way!"

“The magic of friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria; it's everywhere." Sunset started to climb the crater, fortunately for her, it wasn't too high. "You can seek it out…" Twilight paused and turned away, repressing a heavy sigh. "… Or you can forever be alone… The choice is yours."

Sunset finally got to the edge of the crater, but she felt so tired and weak that couldn't bring herself to get out of it. "But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart..." She put a hand on her mouth to suppress herself from bursting into tears. "I don't know the first thing about friendship!”

Her eyes closed as tears ran like rivers down her cheeks. Twilight took her hand and helped her come out of the crater. Sunset felt her knees shake with both cold and tiredness. "I bet they can teach you." Twilight pointed at the five girls behind her, who gave different kinds of smiles at Sunset.

Sunset looked at them with a confused gaze. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight herself had grown wings, and all of them had pony-like ears. She wanted to question them about it, but she was tired, so tired that she decided to walk to the destroyed entrance instead while everyone gathered around Twilight. Sunset sat down and leaned against the wall. Her eyes closed unwillingly and she fell into slumber.

The sound of cheerful voices and laughs startled her. She opened her eyes and saw the six semi-anthropomorphized girls gathered in front of the statue that held the portal back to Equestria. Sunset stood up with less effort than she thought and walked to the opposite wall, the one she had previously demolished.

She saw them turn to see her after a group hug. For a reason that Sunset would never understand, she felt the need to hide behind the broken wall. "Miss Shimmer." Sunset looked at her right and saw Vice Principal Luna being followed by Snips and Snails, who were carrying bricks and mortar. "I hope you know how to use this." Luna then gave her a trowel.

Sunset looked at the small tool and then at Luna. "You can't be serious…"

Luna raised an eyebrow. "I am very serious. Construction workers will be hired to repair the entrance and cover the hole in the front yard. But you will help them for the time they require. After that, you three will attend to a month of detention."

Sunset felt her stomach fall. "W-Wait…" She wanted to tell her that she didn't even belong to this world; she wanted to run away through the portal. But then she heard a thud coming from the statue. Rainbow Dash was on the ground as if she just fell, while Pinkie slammed her face with the portal. It was closed. Sunset stared blankly and dropped the trowel to the floor.

Snips and Snails looked at each other with worried expressions, while Luna was more confused than anything. "For now you may leave. I expect you to come tomorrow at eight in the morning." Luna turned to see the young boys. "As for you two, aside from the month of detention, you will help clean the school's halls for two weeks."

Sunset turned to see Luna. "Wait, they won't help with the repairs?"

Luna shook her head while Snips and Snails frowned at Sunset. "No, you are the one who destroyed it. You should be grateful, Miss Shimmer, that my sister decided not to call the police." And with that, Luna turned around and walked away, followed by the boys.

Sunset stood there for a moment and then slammed her fist against the wall, making some dust fall from it. She was angry and sad at the same time. For a moment she had all the power she ever wanted, but it had been unbearably painful. And now she not only had lost all that, but she felt really tired and weak, and the only chance to return to Equestria was gone. She was stuck in the human world for another two and a half years.

Sunset looked at the floor and sat down, leaning on the wall again. Tears started to form on the corner of her eyes as the realization hit her. "Hi there!" Sunset turned to see the source of the unmistakably cheerful voice. Pinkie Pie was mere inches away from her, giving her a really big smile. "You don't look so good."

"You don't say…" Sunset said with a frown.

Pinkie kept smiling, ignoring Sunset's angry gaze. "You want a ride?" She pointed at the limousine they rented to come to the dance. The other girls were already in it.

"I can go home on my own." Sunset answered sharply. Pinkie was going to ask again, but Sunset silenced her with an angry gaze.

"Ok…" Pinkie said pouting. "See you around!" She trotted to the limousine where her friends were waiting.

Normally, Sunset would have yelled at the pink girl, but since the Elements blasted her just an hour ago, she somehow felt bad with her own attitude. She didn't like that feeling. It was like being another person.

Even if she felt a little -just a little- bad about rejecting Pinkie's offer, she still didn't want them to know where she lived. They wouldn't let her hear the end of it. Even worse, they would take revenge on her and tell everybody about it. And she had been humiliated enough in one night.

Sunset sighed, finally alone with her thoughts. She looked at the closed portal again and felt her heart ache. She remembered the first time she came to the human world, she felt the same way for a whole week. She was homesick, and the pain in her chest was getting worse the more she thought that she would stay in this world for another thirty moons.

She stood up and walked into the school. The corridors were completely covered in darkness, but her eyes wasted no time to get used to it, and soon she was able to see where she was going.

Every step she made, Sunset felt more and more tired. The rainbow laser must have taken all her energy away in order to change her back into a human, but deep inside, Sunset wished it had turned her into a pony instead. As Sunset went farther, she noticed that the air was getting slightly colder; she never liked cold, but after the experience with the Elements, it was a bless she was more than willing to embrace.

She decided that walking home would be impossible, for she knew she'd fall asleep anytime soon, so she came to the conclusion to do the same thing she did the first time she came to the human world.

Sleep in the school.

She went straight to the gym as quickly as her tired legs allowed her to. When she opened the doors she was greeted by the mess left from the dance, some streamers and deflated balloons on the floor and tables placed against every wall, filled with baked goods and punch.

Sunset made her way to the storage room. She took some mats and stacked them upon each other to improvise a bed. It took her just a few minutes, but it felt as hours as her arms sore. When she finished her pseudo-bed, she took a big Wondercolts' banner and unfolded it. She then lied down on the mats and covered herself with the banner, using it as a blanket.

She didn't even have a chance to make herself comfortable, her eyes closed out of tiredness and she quickly drifted off to sleep.

2. The rarity of the situation

Chapter 2. The rarity of the situation.

Sunset woke up in the darkness that the storage room was submerged in. As her eyes lazily tried to bring the world into focus again, she moved her tongue in circles, trying to produce and spread some saliva and moisten her dry mouth. She slowly rolled on her back to face the ceiling, blinking twice to dismiss the slumber and heaviness of her eyes.

The events of the night played in her mind as her consciousness returned. She had been so close to achieve her goals; for the past years she had to endure living away from home, away from everything she knew, yet surrounded by so many familiar faces. She had to lie about who and what she was, because in this world, magic didn't exist, and the strange creatures that called themselves humans were the only species able to fully communicate with a language she understood.

And as soon as she got there, she learned that being rude with everyone wasn't enough to make them do what she wanted; so she also had to lower herself to the most filthy levels, threatening and blackmailing the other students. She still remembered the first time she blackmailed. It was in her very third day in the human world. Homeless and starving, Sunset saw the opportunity of a lifetime: the former trainer of the football team. When he thought nobody was hearing him, he called someone and said that he was running out of steroids. Fortunately for Sunset, the day prior she read an article in some magazine about it. So she threatened the poor man to telling Principal Celestia and the police about it if he didn't gave her money.

She knew that what she was doing was wrong, evil even. But she was desperate, the school's cafeteria only gave very small portions of food; she was starving, she needed clean clothes, school material, and a lot of things she required to fool everyone that she was a human like them. She felt her heart ache remembering when the poor man just nodded and gave her everything he had in his wallet that first time.

However, as weeks passed by, Sunset grew more and more used to the barbaric methods she had to use in order to survive. It frightened her how fast she stopped feeling guilty, and started to feel powerful. In just six months she had made everyone afraid of her, and yet nobody would ever say a word to the school's personnel because she knew everything about everyone, and she would use that information against them.

By the time her first victim of blackmailing was discovered of using steroids and got fired of school, Sunset already had another, legal way to gain money. She still felt a little -just a little- awful knowing that everyone hated her, but at least money wasn't involved anymore.

She sat up on her improvised bed, her left bicep sore for sleeping on it. She had hoped that everything would be finally over last night. She finally would be in Equestria, ruling as she deserved. But, Miss Perfect Twilight Sparkle ruined everything, and not only she was stuck in this world again, but now that everyone was united again, she wasn't sure she would be able to keep threatening them. No. She thought. I don't want to do it anymore.

Sunset frowned. Of course she didn't want to do it anymore; she didn't want to do it in the first place. But she had to; it was the only way she had to keep everything under her control. Even if everyone was together and against her, she still knew everything they didn't want others to know, so she still was able to at least rule the school.

Her expression darkened. No, she definitely didn't want to do it anymore. Her heart ached as the very first time she used those barbaric methods to get what she wanted. That wasn't her: she wasn't some kind of criminal. She was a respected and honorable member of Equestrian society, and one of the most powerful unicorns there are. At least, until she crossed the damned portal.

She felt how tears started to form in the corner of her eyes. Why did she cross the portal in the first place? What was she trying to achieve? She couldn't remember, her memories from back then were a gray blur in her mind. Sunset sighed in defeat. It was pointless to be thinking on it right now; she had to endure another thirty moons in this alien world before she could return to Equestria. But, with what purpose? She questioned herself, hearing her own voice as a distant, yet understandable echo inside her mind. Celestia will most likely imprison me… or worse.

She shuddered at the thought of her former mentor dictating sentence upon her. Princess Celestia was known as the kindest and most comprehensive pony in Equestria, though: maybe if Sunset begged hard enough, Celestia might reconsider the punishment and only make her write a hundred thousand word essay about why she shouldn't try to coup Equestria with an army of teenagers again.

Sunset smacked her right palm against her forehead hard enough that it started a chain of pulsations within her head that might become a migraine. What was she thinking? An army of teenagers? Why not an army of bunnies instead? That would be scarier; they might have rabies.

She sighed again. Thinking about it wasn't helping. She stretched her arms in front of her, hearing a few pops here and there, giving her an ever so grateful feeling of relaxation.

But, instead of placing her arms on her lap as she always did, she froze in place when something dreadful caught her attention. Her blood felt electric in her veins and cold sweat started to form in her forehead. The dim light coming from the painfully small window at one side of the storage room as the sun struggled to illuminate the world once again, cast small shadows in her arms; but even if her jacket was of a coal black, she was able to see the horrifying, heartbreaking sight of the direst of her paranoid delusions.

Her favorite leather jacket had several tears along its sleeves.

Sunset stood up so quickly that she almost tripped with the banner she used as a blanket. She took off the jacket in record time and pulled it away from her so she could see it better. Her stomach fell as her fears were confirmed; not only the sleeves, but the whole jacket had tears big enough to sew more sleeves. The small pockets at the sides had been ripped in several pieces and the zipper was missing.

Ruined. Sunset thought as she pulled the jacket against her chest. It's completely ruined. She leaned in a wall as the memories of the last night replayed in her mind once again. Sunset considered herself to have a really sharp eye, nothing went unnoticed for her, at least, until today. She just couldn't explain how she didn't notice at all that her favorite jacket had been ruined, most likely because of the rainbow laser.

She frowned and clenched her teeth. Not only did Miss Perfect Princess Twilight Sparkle ruin her life and got what she deserved, no, she also had to ruin her favorite jacket. That's it! Next time I see you I will smack the thickest book I find in your stupid-looking face!

Sunset let out a heavy sigh, the day hadn't even begun yet and she already had to mourn the loss of her beloved object. She tossed the jacket in a trashcan near the door; it had been her friend for a whole year, it had been with her in the good days and in the bad ones, it had helped her be warm in cold days, and look badass in the hot ones. It had been a loyal and comprehensive companion; but it had said goodbye, and it would never return. Sunset let out a single tear roll down her left cheek as the war hero was buried underneath deflated balls, broken gym material and ripped banners.

After several seconds, Sunset finally decided that she had to move on; her jacket wouldn't want her to be sad for it. So she got out of the storage room and into the gym. Her stomach growled as the faint smell of punch filled the air. She remembered that she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon. She took a muffin from a nearby table and bit it. It was a little hardened, but it was edible and tasty. The punch caught her attention, she never really liked it, but she needed something to help her swallow the muffin, so she filled a small plastic cup and drank it.

Once she had eaten enough, she moved to the girls' locker room. Fortunately, since she had the best grades in all the school, she had convinced Principal Celestia to give her the key. Unfortunately, Sunset thought, after the events of last night, she wouldn't be able to keep it. She took the key from the hidden pocket in her skirt and opened the locker room. At least I can use it today.

She went directly to her locker and opened it. There she had her sports uniform, consisting in a dark blue pair of pants with yellow stripes and a grayish white T-shirt. She also had a small notebook where she kept the cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses of everyone in the school, a brown wallet with some compromising photos of a few of her classmates, and a hairbrush. She took the brush and closed the locker, heading to the nearest mirror.

She looked at the clock that was hanging on a wall. It was seven in the morning. She sighed a little; she had a whole hour before she had to go to the entrance as Vice Principal Luna ordered.

Sunset then looked at the mirror and started to brush her slightly messy hair. As the seconds passed by, she grew more and more uncomfortable with her own reflection. In the time she spent in the human world, she had gotten used to her human form; but for some reason, she found her own face unfamiliar. She stopped brushing and leaned closer to the mirror as her frown deepened. No, not only her own face was unfamiliar, she didn't like it at all. By now she would be in Equestria again, in her pony form.

Her eyes narrowed as realization hit her. She hated being a human, not because she hated humans, but because she missed being a pony so badly. She missed her magic, powerful and handy; she missed her fur, soft and warm, yet fresh; she missed her tail, another extension of her body since ponies were able to control their tails as extra limbs; she missed the strength and resistance of her equine legs, letting her walk and stand still for hours without even noticing; she missed her sense of smell, as a human it was almost impossible for her to smell the scent of flowers. But there was something she missed the most about being a pony: her estrus.

She would never have thought she would think or say that, but she really missed having the estrus. As a pony, it only came twice a year, and she would use her magic to eradicate the smell to avoid having stallions around her as vultures; then she would hide in her room or in the library until it was over. But, as a human, it was uncomfortable, it was inconvenient, it was messy, it was painful, and it was every. Single. Month.

Honestly, she was completely and utterly unable to understand how human females lived the most part of their lives with that. Sunset felt like she was about to cry; she had been so sure that her plans would be victorious, that she would be a pony again. Yet she was stuck in this world again, as a human, with the most annoying biological function in the two worlds knocking the door every three weeks.

Sunset sighed and started to brush her hair again. At least this time she knew what was coming, and she had the resources to face it. And it was even better that high school was just one year away to end, thus she'd have another year and a half to prepare the speech that hopefully would save her from a lifetime in the dungeons. Maybe, if Sunset used the proper words, Princess Celestia would even consider having her as her student again.

She smiled at that. Even if she would be denied the title of princess forever, at least she would be able to keep learning from the wisest pony of all.

Once she was completely sure that her hair looked perfect, she finally stopped brushing and went to save the brush in her locker again. She then returned to the mirror to wash her hands and clean the last pieces of tiredness of her face. She then looked at the clock again; she had thirty minutes. She decided to head to the entrance to wait for her punishment to begin. She didn't want to, but if stacking bricks was going to help her be at the Principal's and Vice Principal's good side again, then she would do it.

Sunset decided to go to the statue and sit down, leaning her back on the closed portal. She crossed her legs underneath her body and rested her hands on her lap. She looked at the sky. There were a few faint clouds making their way to the west. The soft and fresh morning breeze played restless with Sunset's hair. She closed her eyes, leaning her head on the portal.

It had been years since the last time Sunset did something like that. No studying, no practicing magic, no learning from Princess Celestia, no plotting against Equestria, no making everyone's life miserable. No, right now she was just there, enjoying herself.

And a thought crossed her mind. The punishment consisted in helping repair the entrance and then a month of detention. She opened her eyes and scanned the mess she had made the night prior. Doing some calculations in her mind (using her knowledge in how humans worked), Sunset estimated that the repairs would be over in about a week, nine days at most.

So, she would just be obliged to be there for little more than a month. And when everything was over, she didn't need to return to the school. What was the purpose on doing it, anyways? If she wanted to learn something, there were libraries with those -she had to admit- magnificent devices called computers with internet. She didn't need to keep ruling the stupid school; she just did it for her plans against Equestria. But, now she didn't want to rule anything anymore, she just wanted to return to her own world.

Sunset closed her eyes again and smiled at herself. Yes, only a month and a week of punishment and then just wait for the portal to open again. It had to be easy, or at least, easier than the first thirty moons, since now she only had to take care of herself and everything else could might as well just go to hell.

"Sunset?" No, the wizard of Oz. "What are you doing here?"

Sunset opened her eyes. In front of her was Rarity, who was using a soft pink sweatshirt and jeans. And her hair had been tied up in a ponytail. It wasn't exactly the kind of attire one would expect from the fashionista. Sunset had to blink several times to make sure that it was Rarity who spoke.

"I'm waiting to be punished for becoming a monster and destroying a high school." She answered with a sarcastic tone in her voice. "Y'know, a typical Tuesday."

Rarity cocked an eyebrow and placed the back of her hands on her hips. "Well now, there's no reason to be so rude." She said with a faint smile. "I asked because I'd have never imagined that you would sit in the grass like that…" She paused a little, gazing at Sunset's skirt. "You seem to be the kind of person that gives a high priority to her clothes."

Images of her loyal friend being tossed in a trashcan came to Sunset's mind. "Yeah, well…" She said with a bored expression. "That's an acquired habit."

They stood there for several seconds without talking, and Sunset was growing more and more uncomfortable as the silence got more and more awkward. She glanced over Rarity and saw her opening and closing her mouth, as if trying to say something but kept forgetting. She wanted to stand up and walk to the school's entrance, but she was still a little tired, physically speaking, so she quickly dismissed the thought. Fortunately, Rarity finally broke the silence.

"So… How are you doing?" She asked with an uneasy smile.

Sunset sighed and looked at Rarity directly at her eyes, taking her by surprise. "What do you want?" She asked with an annoyed tone; perhaps a little more than she had intended.

"I just want to know how are you doing. Is that a bad thing?"

"Why do you want to know how I am?" Sunset snapped, not wanting to answer any question. "Why the sudden interest in me?" Her eyes then widened a little as if she just remembered something. "Oh, I know. You want me to apologize for what I did to you in the last Spring Fling. Don't you?"

Rarity was taken aback. She indeed wanted an apology, but she wasn't thinking that in that precise moment. Besides, Sunset sounded somehow, unsettlingly calm. "Well… I…"

Sunset interrupted her with a motion of her hand. "No, don't try to deny it." She stood up using the edge of the statue as support. "I suppose you deserve it. Fine. Sorry for ruining your dress. Is that better?"

Rarity had her jaw slightly dropped, because having it fully dropped was so unladylike. She was really surprised; never in her life did she ever expect Sunset to apologize for nothing, even if it didn't really sound honest. Well, in retrospect, she didn't expect to meet a pony princess from another world, have a pony-like transformation and blast a half-demon girl with a rainbow either. Yep, weirder stuff has been seen by her beautiful eyes. Though, maybe Sunset apologizing was a little more unexpected than the talking dog that in reality was a dragon.

Giving Sunset a quizzical glare, she finally nodded. She did promise to try befriending Sunset, and she did get the apology she wanted. "Yes, better." She answered with a smile. "But you haven't answered me yet."

Sunset narrowed her eyes. She obviously wasn't going to get away that easy. Clearly, an apology wasn't enough, no; the drama queen also wanted a conversation. She sighed in defeat. "Just one month…" She whispered to herself.

"What was that?"

"I said that I'm fine." Sunset answered a little louder than she intended to. "All things considered…"

Rarity gave Sunset a confused look. "All things considered? Are you feeling sick or something?"

"I've been feeling sick ever since I came here." Sunset snapped, and almost instantly took her right hand to her face and started to rub the bridge of her nose. "Listen, Rarity. What happened yesterday was a mistake. All of it. But that doesn't change it." By this point, she was staring at the big crater in the yard. It somehow looked a lot smaller than last night. "I have a lot of things in my mind right now. Things that you'll never understand and-"

"Try me."

Sunset turned to see Rarity, who was giving her a reassuring smile, but her eyes had this shine of challenge in them. Sunset narrowed her eyes, but after a few seconds, she just sighed in defeat, finding a rock near the crater a lot more interesting.

"What did Twilight tell you?"

Rarity didn't expect that question, so now she had a confused shine in her eyes. "What do you mean? About… About where is she from?" Sunset only nodded, not looking away from the rock. "She said it's a place called Equestria where its inhabitants are mostly ponies. She also said she is one of the princesses there, and that her talking dog is in reality a fire breathing dragon… I know it's… kind of hard to believe, but after the events of yesterday, I don't have option other than to, well, believe it."

"You're talking as if I didn't believe it." Sunset said. Her voice was unnervingly serene, though it had a tone that Rarity didn't quite catch at all.

"Well, now that you mention it…" Rarity put her left hand on her chin and rubbed it with her thumb. "You knew about the portal and other things…" Her eyes widened in realization and her mouth closed tightly.

"Yes, Rarity. I also belong to that other world." Sunset said, still staring at the rock. Rarity finally understood the other tone in Sunset's voice. It was homesickness. "So, do you still want to be my friend?" Sunset finally turned to see Rarity, her eyes were narrowed, but her gaze was somewhere between sadness and annoyance. "I'm a pony. For human standards, that means I belong to a farm or something. And I also have been a bitch with everyone ever since I got here."

Sunset looked directly at Rarity's eyes. "It's just because Twilight made you promise to befriend me, isn't it?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Well, let me tell you this: I do not need, nor want, friends. Much less, fake friends."

"Oh really?" Sunset arched an eyebrow. "Then everything you said last night was a lie?" Sunset was about to answer, but Rarity spoke first. "If you don't want friends, then why didn't you say so? And don't try to lie to me, I know what I felt when the rainbow reached you."

Sunset's eyes widened in surprise, and that surprise quickly changed to fear. She looked away and gave a step back. "What did you feel?"

"Pardon me?"

Sunset looked again at Rarity, her gaze now filled with anger. "What did you feel when you blasted the rainbow to me?!"

It was Rarity's turn to step back. "I… I felt that you were… well… sad… and… lonely…"

"Sad and lonely?! SAD AND LONELY?!" Sunset snapped at Rarity, who started to walk backwards in fear. "Do you want to know what I felt?! PAIN!" She started to walk towards Rarity. "Do you know how it's like to be burnt alive?"

Rarity's heart sunk in her chest at Sunset's words. "I…"

"No! You don't!" Rarity got to a dead end as her back pressed against the statue. Sunset was now mere inches away from her. There was a pause as Sunset sighed heavily and looked at the ground. "Do you… Do you even know what happened last night?"

Rarity was at a loss of words. Sunset was known for having anger outbursts when something didn't happen as she wanted; but this, this was completely different. Sunset was changing from sadness to anger, to sadness again. She shook her head, but then remembered that Sunset wasn't looking at her. "N-No…"

Sunset gave a forced laugh. "Of course you don't…" She then stepped backwards and turned around. "Of course you don't." She repeated and started to walk to the school's entrance.

"Wait!" Rarity called, but Sunset just ignored her. "Tell me what happened! I want to know! I… I deserve to know!"

Sunset stopped and turned around to see at her with a confused gaze. "Why do you want to know?!" She yelled as a migraine was starting to build up. "Isn't it better to just ignore me?! Why can't you leave me alone?!"

"Because I want to get to know you." Rarity answered almost instantly, offering Sunset a warm smile. Sunset was silent, and Rarity interpreted it as a chance to keep talking. "Ever since you came to… this world, you've been driving everyone apart, being rude and mean, threatening and blackmailing…" Rarity put her hands in her chest, as if trying to embrace her own heart. "But now, both of us know that you can't keep doing it. So, what's left for you then?"

Sunset was now listening intently. "I, for one, am willing to let the bygones be bygones." Sunset's right eye twitched at those words. "I'm not saying that we become the best friends right away; but we are certainly more than mere acquaintances, don't you agree?" Rarity let out a soft sigh and crossed her arms, giving a more confident body expression. "Besides, you want to learn about friendship, don't you?" Her expression darkened a little. "I'm not exactly the best example to follow, but I'm pretty sure we can learn together, and with the help of the other girls as well, it will be easier."

There was a pause as Sunset contemplated Rarity's words. For all her life she had been alone; she always thought that other ponies were there just as stepping stones to help her reach greatness, "friend" was just a meaningless word to her. But now, after all she had done, there were people willing to befriend her. Was friendship really that big of a deal? Was it really worth to give it a shot?

She embraced herself as a cold breeze surrounded her body, looking away from Rarity and to the very interesting rock near the crater. "I…" She bit her lower lip as she pondered her situation. She was going to be in this world for a long time, did she really want to spend all that time locked in her house with no social interaction whatsoever? Granted, she'd been driving everyone apart since she can remember, but being completely alone?

"I suppose I can… try" She finally said, still hesitating on her own words.

"We." Rarity corrected, making Sunset look at her again. "We can try."

Sunset looked at Rarity for several seconds. The silence returned, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as before. Rarity was giving her a welcoming smile, was she really going to just forgive and forget? What if she wants me to lower my guard so she can stab me in the back? I know humans like to do that a lot. Sunset sighed; for some reason, she didn't want to think that of Rarity. Sure, the fashionista had a reputation for liking gossip, but she couldn't picture her plotting like that. However, her paranoia wouldn't let her live five minutes without thinking that Rarity might actually be planning something evil.

But, if at the end Rarity was really saying the truth and she really wanted to befriend Sunset, it was a chance, maybe a small one, but a chance nonetheless, to learn a little more about the Elements of Harmony, and why they picked humans as provisional bearers. To Sunset's own studies, the human world didn't have magic because then humans would have already eradicated the human race from earth.

"So…" Sunset said, finally deciding to give Rarity a chance. "Why are you here? I'm pretty sure school is cancelled for the lack of a proper entrance."

Rarity giggled a little. "Yes, before Twilight returned to Equestria, we had a last dance. After the dance, Principal Celestia told us that school would be closed until further notice." She looked at the former wall, now a pile of broken bricks and dust, and then to Sunset again. "But we, as in, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and yours truly, decided to come one by one to help you with your punishment and, well, talk with you and get to know you."

Sunset raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "And you are the first one." Rarity nodded. "And I suppose Principal Celestia will absolutely love that someone is helping me with this." She said with the most sarcastic voice she could make.

"I don't know if I love it, but I sure do appreciate it." Both Rarity and Sunset jumped in surprise at the new voice, one they knew too well. Principal Celestia was looking at the girls with an unreadable expression. "Good morning Miss Rarity… Miss Sunset." She said the latter name with a too obvious tone of disappointment and a little of anger in her voice.

"Good morning, Principal Celestia." Rarity said with a smile, not a smile one use with their friends or family, but a more professional, if cold, smile one uses with authority.

Sunset remained silent, looking directly at the woman's eyes. The first weeks in the human world, Sunset had troubles keeping her composure around the principal, for she often feared that the princess had followed her and in any moment would punish her. Now, though, Sunset was perfectly able to tell the whole set of differences between the human and the pony; for example, Princess Celestia would never talk with anger to anypony. Disappointment, yes, but never anger.

"I think you will be happy to know, Miss Sunset, that the repairs are estimated to last just a week." Sunset only blinked, but inside her mind she had a Cheshire smile. Ha! Nailed it! "After that, as my sister have already told you, you are to attend to one month of detention." She made a pause. When Sunset didn't try to say anything against it, as she was so used when dealing with teenagers, she continued. "But I want to talk with your parents before classes begin again."

Rarity's eyes widened in surprise. Sunset had just admitted to be a pony from the other dimension, which meant that her parents wouldn't be in this world. She looked at Sunset with a worried gaze, but to her bigger surprise, Sunset had an almost invisible smile.

"I'm sorry, principal, but you cannot talk with my parents."

Celestia arched an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"They're not here." Sunset said, putting her hand on her hips. "And I don't mean right now; I don't mean for the time being; I mean that they are not here."

Rarity was confused by Sunset's answer, she wasn't telling the truth, but she wasn't lying either. But the look in her eyes held a weird sense of seriousness. Rarity then looked at Celestia, who was looking at Sunset with a mix between sadness and self-loath. And then something clicked inside Rarity's mind.

"Your tutor then." Celestia finally said after a few seconds of silence.

"Don't need any. I'm an adult." To prove her words, Sunset took her small black leather wallet from a hidden pocket in her skirt and pulled out her ID card. Celestia inspected the card thoroughly, used to teenagers falsifying them just to buy some beers or enter in night clubs. This one, though, seemed to be real. Name: Sunset Shimmer; age: nineteen; address...

Celestia blinked, reading the address again, and a third time just to make sure she didn't misread the words. After what seemed like minutes, Sunset retrieved her card to her wallet, and her wallet to the hidden pocket. "Well then..." Celestia said, trying to recover her serenity. "I want to have a talk with you in my office after the repairs are done."

Sunset shrugged. "As you wish."

Celestia nodded. "The construction workers will arrive soon. I have already told them that you are to help them, so don't try to get away from your punishment." Sunset crossed her arms, letting Celestia know that she just offended her. "Miss Rarity," Celestia ignored Sunset's expression. "I let you know that your volunteering work is highly appreciated."

Rarity blushed a little. "Oh, it's nothing, really. I'm here just to help Sunset." Celestia nodded and walked to the school, leaving the girls alone again, at least until the workers arrived.

After Celestia was out of sight, Rarity turned to see Sunset. "Forgive me if I'm so bold as to ask, but, did you just imply that your parents-"

"Are dead?" Sunset interrupted, completing Rarity's question. "No, I said they're not here, but you humans like to assume the worst of everything, and since that seems to work almost for everything, I just let it slide."

Rarity blinked. "Okaaay, so, would you like to tell me what happened yesterday?"

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck with a hand, as if giving herself a massage. "Easy." She said with a bored expression, trying to give it less importance. "The crown I stole? A powerful magical device of a set of 6 retrieved just a year or so ago. They are called the Elements of Harmony.

"I took precisely that one, because it's the Element of Magic. I wanted the power within it to coup and rule over Equestria. About what happened last night…" She made a pause a let out a heavy sigh. "The Element didn't like that I stole its magic, so it restored its bound with Twilight anyway. I don't know why you five were chosen to connect with the other Elements in Equestria though, but you were, and you used the full power of the Elements of Harmony to give me a painful experience worse than death."

Rarity swallowed as guilt started to build up in her heart. "I think that's why you all grew pony ears and three of you had wings." Sunset said, the tone in her voice was alien to Rarity; a weird combination of anger, fear and utter curiosity on the subject. "And when the Element returned to Equestria, the bond with you five was completely broken. That's why you lost your transformations." Sunset turned to see Rarity. "But why it required you to transform, I will never know."

"I see…" Rarity muttered, trying to assimilate what Sunset had just said. "I… I'm sorry."

Sunset arched an eyebrow. "You what?"

Rarity met Sunset's gaze with a sad look on her own. "You said the rainbow hurt a lot… It's not something I ever thought myself saying, but it happened… And for that, I'm truly sorry."

Sunset closed her eyes and waved her right hand in a dismissive way. "Bah, I think I deserve it for being the Alpha Bitch for so long." She then looked at Rarity with a small frown. "I just wish my jacket hadn't been completely ruined."

Rarity blinked. "Oh…" She was about to apology again, but then her eyes sparkled and a big smile spread across her face. "Oh, I know!" She said, taking Sunset's hands with her own and looking directly at the surprised -and slightly uncomfortable- girl. "What if I make you a new jacket? You like leather, right?"

"I…" Sunset said, a little dumbfounded by Rarity's sudden outburst. "You don't have to. Yes, it was my favorite jacket, but I have more."

"Oh don't play shy with me, Sunset." Rarity said, freeing Sunset's hands and delicately placing three fingers on her chest. "It is only proper that I give you a brand new jacket after I ruined your favorite one!"

Sunset gazed at Rarity for several seconds before speaking with a slightly annoyed voice. "No offense, but I don't think you understand my sense of fashion, or rather, the lack of it." She said, waiting for Rarity to turn to look at her before speaking again. "Black leather jacket." She said blankly. "No shiny dresses with 'not enough' sequin. To me, black leather jacket goes with anything else."

Rarity smiled fondly at Sunset. "I understand your sense of fashion just perfectly, Sunset." She said with a prideful expression. "Why, I've known you for years. And outside of the princess' coronations, you've always used black leather jackets. Just give me a chance; if you don't like it, you just toss it to a nearby trashcan, ok?"

Sunset's left eye twitched. "Ok…"

3. The mane six

Chapter 3. The mane six.

There were so many things Sunset hated of the human world, that she even made a list. This list needed to be updated almost daily, since there was always something that made her change the order of the elements in that list. It was something tedious to do, but making lists helped Sunset keep her sanity.

Today, the thing that deserved to be moved to the first position of the list was sexism.

The workers arrived just five minutes after eight in the morning. They were three men of different ages. Sunset didn't pay much attention to how they looked like, but rather to how they acted. One of them, who Sunset assumed was the boss, told her that today they were just going to take measurements and do some calculations to estimate how much money they'd need to buy the materials and, of course, to pay the manpower.

Sunset smiled a little, if there was something she was the best, it was at doing calculations. She told the boss that she could help with that, but much to her surprise, he rejected her help and instead 'asked' her to take a broom and sweep the entrance, then to take as much dust as possible into bags and toss them into the trash containers at one side of the school. Sunset was about to kick him and possibly break his knee, but fortunately to the man, Rarity intervened and gently pushed Sunset away.

"Who does he think he is?!" Sunset barked as Rarity handed her one of the two brooms she found in the janitor's storage. "I'm clearly smarter than he can ever hope to be! Just because I'm a girl he thinks he's better!"

"Now, Sunset, he never said that, did he?" Rarity gently placed her broom in the floor, trying her best to not do something that made her sweat. "Besides, even if he did, you and I both know better."

Sunset groaned, gazing at the men working on the crater. "How can you be ok with this? Aren't we supposed to be in an era of equality or something like that?"

Rarity looked at the workers, giving them a frown on her own. "I'm not ok, but it's pointless to argue with them."

"Hmph!" Sunset decided to ignore their stupidity and just get the work done.

But, since sweeping was so boring, Sunset opted to put her body on auto-pilot and think thoroughly on more important things. Like her mental checklists and schedule. First and foremost, she needed to edit her weekly schedule. It was filled up with things concerning her rule over Equestria, like getting a royal breakfast at exactly eight-thirty-two in the morning. She completely cleared it up, since she still was in the human world, she needed to keep making a living.

It was a slow process, not because she had many things to do, but because she wanted her schedule to be perfect. Unfortunately, she didn't know how much time she was required to be in the school every day while the reparations were taking place, so her schedule wasn't as perfect as she'd like to. And that made her angry. Fortunately, she didn't have important things to take care of anyway, so she still was able to organize it with ease.

Once it was done, Sunset changed the mental image from a schedule to a to-do checklist. And again, it was filled up with things concerning her rule over Equestria. She mentally sighed and cleared her checklist. The first thing now was to decide the things she was interested in achieving. 'Finish the school's entrance repairs' was a good first option; the sooner it was over, the better. She then remembered Principal Celestia's words, why she wanted to talk with Sunset? A list of possibilities formed at one side of the checklist, but every one of them was as good a reason as any. Sunset decided that talking with Celestia needed to be on her checklist.

A few other things joined after the first two. Studying the girls the Element of Magic had chosen was one of them. There had to be a reason why they were able to use the magic of the elements. She added a note to be careful, Rarity seemed to be willing to give her an opportunity, but she wasn't sure about the other girls. Not that she cared too much on making friends, her objective was to study them. It was only an academic research.

Other small things later, Sunset made sure that her to-do checklist only had important things; that done, she sorted them in priority order. Then, she checked and double-checked the checklist to make sure she didn't miss anything. Once she was satisfied, she created a new checklist. This one, she decided, was about the possible obstacles she'd have to face the next thirty moons. She thought a little, everyone in school hated her, but they had hated her ever since she got there, the only difference was that now they were united and she wasn't going to win any coronation again. She shrugged, that didn't seem like an obstacle.

"Sunset."

Snips and Snails knew about most of her wrongdoings. Normally she would be sure that they wouldn't say anything, but since the events of last night, she couldn't risk it. Would she need to threaten them? She didn't want to do those things anymore, but she didn't want them to tell everyone about the things she had done. Even if they were partially involved in all of them, she knew they weren't exactly smart boys. She made a mental note to develop a plan of action to convince them not to say anything.

"Sunset!"

Sunset blinked, cancelling the auto-pilot of her body. Rarity was looking at her with a worried expression. "What?" She asked with a bored gaze; she even fought the urge to yawn.

"Wow, you really zoned out there!" A cheerful voice called out from her left, an unmistakable voice with one of the most annoying high pitches a human voice could have, coming from one of the most annoying girls in any world, who also happened to have a skin, hair and a liking of the most annoying color: Pink. "What were you thinking? Oh! I know! You were thinking of the parties you can attend with us, right? Amirite?"

Sunset frowned and looked at Rarity. "I thought you were going to come one per day."

Rarity nodded. "That was the plan. But, the workers already left and it's not even nine in the morning." Sunset looked at the crater, and true to Rarity's words, they were gone. How long had she been lost in her thoughts? "We have the whole day free to ourselves, and I thought it would be nice to hang out as a group and get to know each other."

"But we already know each other! You are Rarity and you work at Carousel Boutique!" Pinkie called cheerfully, making Sunset tighten her jaw.

"That's not what I meant." Rarity said calmly. "We haven't talked to each other in years. Things changed in our lives, and since we're friends again, we should have a nice talk."

Sunset rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She'd rather just go home and gather her ideas, but she didn't know how long this new friendship of them would last. She knew that it was ridiculously easy for humans to stop being friends, why, it only took her a few text messages to break their relationship. And she needed as much information as possible if she wanted a logical explanation to the Elements' behavior.

"Oh! That's true!" Pinkie offered a big grin. "Did you call them all already?"

"Yes." Rarity answered looking at Sunset. "I hope you don't mind a little wait. Applejack lives the farthest of us all."

Sunset shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like I have better things to do."

"This is going to be so awesome!" Pinkie hugged Sunset so hard that her arms were bending in an awkward way. "We all are going to be the bestest friends ever!"

Sunset tried to free herself from the hug, but Pinkie had her arms all around Sunset's. "Pinkie, if you stop hugging me now, I won't hurt you." She hissed, glaring daggers at the pink girl.

"Sorry." Pinkie let her go and gave a few steps back, putting her hands behind her.

Moving her arms in circles, Sunset finally noticed that she had finished sweeping the dust of the entrance some time earlier, and she had been just staring at nowhere for a few minutes. She even had packed the dust in garbage bags, threw them into the trashcans at the side of the school and placed the broom against a wall. It sometimes surprised her how many things she was able to do without even noticing every time she turned on the auto-pilot.

Sunset started to walk towards the statue that held the portal to Equestria. "Well, Applejack will take at least half an hour to arrive, that gives me time to go home and change my clothes." Rarity said, following Sunset along with Pinkie. "You girls don't mind waiting here just in case Fluttershy or Rainbow arrive, right?"

"Of course not!" Pinkie answered while Sunset only shrugged. "Sunny and I'll wait here."

"Thanks, I won't be late." Rarity said as Sunset muttered a 'don't call me that'.

Rarity quickly made her way out of the girls' sight. Sunset decided to sit on the ground, leaning her back on the portal's surface. Staring at the sky and the few clouds, her mind started to wander and replayed the events of the last couple of days. She didn't want to think about that, but she knew her mind wasn't going to let it go; she had been so close to achieve her dreams, after all. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to distract herself from those thoughts. Fortunately, Pinkie Pie was a machine of words, currently she was talking about something related with a pumpkin cake or something like that. It wasn't remotely interesting to Sunset, but it was enough to get a little distracted.

And before she knew it, she was silently sleeping.

"Get up get up get up get up get up!"

Sunset found herself being shaken by Pinkie, right in front of her, with her stupid grin dangerously close to her face. "Shut up!" She shouted, pushing the annoying girl away from her. "The heck is wrong with you?!"

Pinkie bounced backwards, still smiling. "My left wrist makes funny sounds." She answered lifting her left arm, making a fist and rotating her wrist clockwise, producing multiple pops that resembled bubble wrap. "Mum says it's because I fell from my baby crib when I was two."

Making her best effort not to comment about that, Sunset stood up, using the statue as support. "You woke me up just to tell me that?" She asked, doing her best to stab Pinkie with her gaze alone.

"No, silly! I just wanted to tell you that the girls are here already!"

Right then, Sunset could hear four voices coming from behind. She casually turned around, and there they were, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity. While Rarity, who now was using a purple skirt and a white blouse, offered her a friendly smile, the other three girls were progressively less friendly. Applejack was smiling too, but it was way too forced, not that Sunset could blame her, she had insulted the Apple family hundreds of times. Then there was Fluttershy, trying to hide behind the three girls, she was clearly afraid of Sunset. And at last, Rainbow Dash.

If looks could kill, Sunset would be dead right now.

That was strange, to say the least. Sunset could understand Fluttershy's fear and Applejack's forced smile, but Rainbow Dash hating her was unexpected, why, the only thing she did to her was send a single text message, and in two years she didn't even cross words with her. And it was even stranger since she had been smiling at her last night. Had that smile been an effect of the Elements of Harmony?

Sunset wanted answers, and for now, the only way to get them was going to be by hanging out with these girls. Even if Rainbow would most likely try to initiate a fight with her. No, if Rainbow wanted to fight, Sunset would be only too happy to comply; she wasn't exactly a fighter, but she wasn't going to be intimidated by a girl with the gay flag in her hair. And thinking about that, she didn't understand why gay people chose a rainbow to represent them; she didn't even understand why humans had the need to tell the world who they liked to sleep with. In Equestria nopony cares for your 'sexual orientation', as humans like to call it.

Ah, why am I thinking about that? The Elements of Harmony. Focus, girl! Sunset mentally shook her head to clear her mind, now's not the time to point out how better Equestria was compared to the human world.

"So, where are we going? Oh, I know! I know!" Pinkie raised her hand, as if trying to answer one of the teacher's pop quizzes. "The Karaoke! No! The Gotcha! No! No! The Bingo! Please say bingo, please say bingo."

"Actually, why don't we go to Sugar Cube Corner?" Rarity offered. "We used to go there all the time, I can't think of a better place to have a nice girls' talk, don't you agree?"

Sunset fought the urge to gag. "That's a nice idea, Rares" Applejack said, giving the fashionista a true smile. "And since school's cancelled fer a week, we ain't hafta worry 'bout stayin' late."

"Yeah! And with my coupons we get free cupcakes!" Pinkie excitedly jumped on her tiptoes.

"That sounds… nice…" Fluttershy said, but nobody seemed to hear her.

"Well then, let's get going!" Rarity called, walking away from the school grounds, leading the way as the leader she very often liked to believe she was.

All the girls complied and followed her.

They quickly formed a pattern of pairs. Rarity and Applejack were at the front, talking about their respective little sisters. Fluttershy and Pinkie were in the middle, in a one-sided conversation about animals, surprisingly leaded by the shy girl. And finally, Sunset and Rainbow were at the end, in a tacit, though very intense silent duel of ignoring each other.

After a few minutes, the six girls finally arrived to Sugar Cube Corner and quickly made their way to one of the seats near the windows. Pinkie produced a few coupons out of her hair and used them to order a few trays of various pastries, all of them with free cupcakes.

"So, Pinkie." Rarity said after all the girls ordered what they wanted to eat. "I heard you're babysitting the Cakes' twins?"

Pinkie gave her a smile from ear to ear. "Yes! It's super fun! The babies are sooooooooooo cute! Two days ago Pumpkin said her first word! And it was 'Cupcake'!"

"Heh, if ya keep babysittin' them, they'll learn the whole kitchen layout before they can say 'mom' or 'dad'" Applejack said with a laugh before eating a piece of her pear pie.

"I know, right?"

Fortunately for Sunset, no one saw her rolling her eyes. She knew that nothing they were saying was important, but she just couldn't just ignore them, her brain wouldn't allow that. She took the blue cupcake from the tray and bit it. It was a blueberry cupcake, not exactly her favorite, but the others were of different shades of pink, and she wasn't going to eat anything pink.

The conversation went on and forth, with the five girls updating each other about the things they had been up to the past years, their plans for the future, and they even went in a round of apologies for being separated the whole time. Sunset had been patiently sitting there, succeeding in her quest of watching through the window and not paying attention to what they were saying.

That is, until it was Rainbow's turn to apologize.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry for letting Sunset drive us apart."

At the mention of her name, Sunset's attention had been called, and she unconsciously turned her head to the girls. They all were looking at her. "What?"

"It's your turn, silly!" Pinkie answered, completely oblivious of the sudden change of mood.

Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "My turn for what?"

"To apologize." Rainbow snapped, glaring daggers at her.

Sunset decided to play a game. "Apologize for what?"

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "Don't play fool with me, Sunset." She growled.

Sunset smirked. "Yeah, I'd totally lose."

There was a small pause before Rainbow smacked her palm on the table and stood up. Fearing the worst, Applejack, who fortunately was sitting between the two girls, stood a little and placed her hand on Rainbow's shoulder.

"Calm down, Dash, this ain't the place to start a fight."

"There shouldn't be places to start fights." Pinkie muttered, poking a slice of pie with a fork.

"Girls, everyone's looking." Fluttershy said, trying her best to hide behind her hair.

Rainbow looked around the restaurant, and true to Fluttershy's words, all the customers were looking to them. "Besides," Rarity interrupted with a soft cough. "We can't force Sunset to apologize."

"Yeah," Sunset said, looking directly at Rarity's eyes. "Especially when I already apologized. Y'know, right after the pony princess show."

Rainbow looked at her, finally relaxing her muscles and sitting again, making Applejack sigh in relief. "An apology isn't enough for all she's done." Rainbow said to no one in particular.

Sunset rolled her eyes. In other circumstances, she'd push Rainbow to her limits, but she was still a little tired, and not exactly in the mood. "I have to agree with Rainbow Dash there, Sunset." Rarity said with a serious expression. "Though, while I think repairing the school's entrance and a month of detention is punishment enough, I'd like you to do something for us, too."

Everyone looked at Rarity, then at Sunset, then at Rarity again. "What is it?" Sunset asked, already preparing to bark a 'No' to whatever Rarity was going to say.

"Tell us more about yourself." Rarity said, offering a warm smile.

Everyone turned to look at Sunset.

"What?" She asked, completely taken aback. She had been expecting Rarity to tell her to redeem herself by helping everyone at school or something as stupid as that. But before she could say anything else, Pinkie leaned closer to her.

"Yeah! Now that I think about it, we only know your name!"

Sunset looked at the girls, all of them were looking at her, and even Rainbow had a spark of curiosity in her eyes. She sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll play along." She leaned against the wall and rested her arm on the table, giving her some comfort to face the five girls. "Ask away."

Rarity smiled in satisfaction. "You told me you are from the other world too…"

"You are?!" Pinkie yelled, almost leaning on the table.

"Tell us more about it." Rarity continued, using her arm to gently return Pinkie to her seat. "I noticed that three of us had wings when we had the… Transformation."

Sunset closed her eyes, thinking on the best way to explain herself. "In my world, Equestria, in the nation of Equestria…" She started, unable to hide a melancholic tone in her voice. "There are three kinds of ponies. Earth Ponies, which are like the ponies of this world, just, you know, with the ability to speak and physically stronger. And then there are Pegasi and Unicorns. Then, there's a fourth kind of ponies. They are called alicorns, and they have the three traits of the other races." She opened her eyes and looked at the girls. "Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn."

"That explains why she grew wings." Applejack said. "But then, why did Rainbow and Fluttershy grew wings too? They're humans, not ponies"

Sunset accommodated in her seat. "I don't know why you transformed in the first place, but if I'm correct, and I think I am, when you transformed, you were partially linked to your counterparts in Equestria."

"Wait, counterparts? There is a me in your world?" Rainbow asked, her anger completely vanished.

"Yes." Sunset answered. "As far as I can tell, all of you have pony counterparts. The Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy of Equestria are pegasi." She made a little pause. "Applejack and Pinkie Pie are Earth Ponies, and Rarity is a unicorn."

"And you?" Rarity asked. "You are from that world too, what are you?"

Sunset breathed and looked at Rarity with a bored expression. "I'm a unicorn. One of the most powerful there are, by the way."

"Wait a second!" Pinkie yelled, dragging all the attention to her. "I'm sure I saw Twilight once! I mean, this world's Twilight!" Now all the eyes were upon her. "Though it was like a year ago, but still!" She made a pause to breathe. "If there's a human version of Twilight, then it means there must be a human version of Sunset!"

The five girls then looked again at Sunset, who only shrugged. "It's possible."

"If that's true, then she must be in prison by now." Rainbow said, and Applejack hit her in the shoulder. "Hey!"

"That's just bein' plain rude."

"Whatever." Sunset said. "It's not like I care."

"I have another question." Rarity said, rubbing her chin with a thumb. "You told me that the crown was part of a set of six magical devices retrieved a year ago. But you've been in this world for over two years. How did you know that?"

Sunset smirked. "That, I won't tell"

Rarity arched an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Listen, you can ask me anything about Equestria, magic and all that stuff. But I won't tell you how I know what happens there even if I'm here. It's the only thing I have to keep my sanity."

"Ok, ok, you don't have to be so rude." Rarity said.

"Hey! I just had the most brilliant idea in the world!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Now that we're all friends again, and Sunset is our newest member, we should be called 'The mane six'!"

There were several seconds of silence before Rainbow spoke up. "Why?"

Pinkie offered her a big grin. "Making names is fun!"

Sunset took a sip of her chocolate milkshake. "That's a stupid name."

Author's Notes:

It's been a long time, right? Well, I hope to be able to write a little more often.

Things will start to happen since the next chapter!

4. Break down

Chapter 4. Break down.

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

Sunset always believed in that statement. More than that, it was her philosophy. She always hated to work in teams, to depend on someone else for something. Since she was a little filly, she always worked alone, and she was always the best in her class, that's why Princess Celestia had noticed her. Sunset was smart, skilled, powerful, and independent, and she never needed others, ever.

However, as she soon had to learn, sometimes you have to betray your own beliefs, if it is for a bigger purpose. This time, the bigger purpose was repairing the school's entrance.

Through the course of the days, the five girls all came to help Sunset with her punishment. Since day two, the six girls did whatever the workers asked them to do to speed up the repairs. At first she didn't like to work with them, but she had to admit that six was definitively better than one. And fortunately for her, every day was filled up with work, so they didn't exactly get a chance to talk to each other, more specifically, to bother Sunset. And at the end of each day, they all were so tired that they just returned home without crossing more than a few words.

So, basically, for the whole time they helped Sunset, there never was the occasion to keep asking her about Equestria and everything related to that, but on the bad side, neither did Sunset have the chance to study them, so it was a whole week wasted. And because of these two things, she didn't know if being happy or sad. But she shrugged; she'd have the time once classes began again.

And classes were going to begin really soon, for they had already repaired almost everything. The crater on the front yard had been filled up with dirt and covered with grass, and the wall had been completely repaired. All the dust and pieces of the former wall had been cleaned up, and even the windows and the front door had been replaced. The only thing left was the paint.

"Pinkie! Stop painting hearts! You're only giving us more workload!" Rainbow yelled at her friend, who was at the top of a ladder with a brush and two buckets of pink paint tied up at her sides. "When did you even get the pink paint?!"

Pinkie waved her hand at Rainbow, offering a big smile. "Don't worry, Dashie! It's special paint, it'll wash off with today's rain!"

"Rain?!" Rainbow looked at the sky and then frowned at the pink girl. "There's not even a single cloud in the sky!"

Applejack put a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to face her. "Oh, but it'll rain, Dash! Ah can fill it! A big storm's coming tonight!" She said with a knowing smile.

"Applejack, you're a bad liar."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Come on, Dash, have a laugh! The weather girl, uhh Cloud Chaser Ah think, she said it's gonna rain, and she's always right." She put her hands on her hips. "Ah tell ya, thanks ta her we at the farm always know when to keep the animals inside."

Rainbow sighed forcefully, but gave a small laugh nonetheless. "Sorry, I'm just a little… uhhh… not happy at the time."

"Is it 'cuz Sunset?" Applejack asked, and both girls turned their heads to the aforementioned girl, who was at the other side of the wall, using a roller with a bored expression in her face. "Listen, sugarcube-"

"Not now, AJ." Rainbow interrupted, scratching the back of her head. "I… I don't really want to talk about it, ok?"

There was a small pause between them, and that pause quickly became a fight of wills. Applejack was staring at Rainbow with a big frown, as if trying to make a hole in her face, while Rainbow was looking back, using her own frown as a shield, doing her best not to yield. At the end, Applejack finally closed her eyes and sighed. "Ok, but ya'll hafta tell us what's wrong sooner or later, and I'd really like it to be sooner, ya hear?"

"Thanks, AJ." Rainbow answered with a weak smile. Applejack nodded and went to work again.

Minutes passed and the six girls, along with three men kept painting the wall. They didn't talk too much in the process, but luckily, since they were nine people, they finally finished their work in less time than expected. Almost a whole day before what they had originally planned.

"Well I think we all can say that we did a very well job, don't you agree?" Rarity said with a satisfied smile, and was quickly followed by nods and sounds of agreement.

Two of the workers excused themselves and went to their truck while the third one, who now they knew it was the boss, went inside the school to tell Principal Celestia that they had finished their job.

"Now what?" Rainbow asked.

Applejack shrugged. "Well, today's Monday, so Ah think Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna will want school to begin once again by tomorrow." She said, earning a few groans. "Ah think we better go home and rest."

"OR!!" Pinkie intervened before anyone could say anything. "We can have a "We repaired the school's entrance" party! It can be at my house, I have plenty of space!"

"Well, I don't think that's a bad idea, as long as we don't stay up too late." Rarity offered.

Rainbow nodded. "That's more like it! We didn't have a chance to talk this week since we were fixing Sunset's mess." She said, making Sunset glare daggers at her.

"Well then, let's get going!" Pinkie said, completely oblivious of anything wrong. The girls decided to comply, for they wanted to play and relax, not to fight. "Sunny, aren't you coming?"

Unlike the others, Sunset hadn't moved from her place. She turned to look at Pinkie. "No, and stop calling me that."

"Aww but it's gonna be super fun!" Pinkie said stretching her arms at both sides of her body and with a big grin. "We'll dance and eat pastries and drink soda and play board games and dance again and play truth or dare and tell stories and play bingo!"

"Are we really going to do all that?" Fluttershy asked, but no one seemed to hear her.

"I have to talk with Celestia." Sunset said. "And I have better things to do after that." She really didn't. Granted, she wanted to study them, but a party wasn't exactly an appealing situation for her.

Rarity walked a little to her and offered her a small smile. "If you change your opinion, Pinkie lives three houses to the left of Sugar Cube Corner."

Sunset looked at her for a moment. She wasn't able to understand why Rarity was being so nice to her. Even after all the things she did, even after she almost killed her just a week ago. Sunset looked down for a moment. She still doesn't realize just what I was about to do to them…

"Come one, Rarity!" Rainbow called from the other side of the street, with the other girls behind her.

"In a second, dear!" She answered, and then looked at Sunset, using her right hand to gently lift her chin. "You know, I've been working on your jacket these days. I will bring it tomorrow, and I'm sure you're going to love it." She said with a warm smile.

Sunset gave her a smile on her own, and, Rarity noticed, it was her first true smile since the first day after the incident. "Thanks." Rarity nodded and gently patted Sunset on her shoulder. She then turned around and joined the group of friends, leaving Sunset alone in the front yard.

Once the girls were out of her field of view, Sunset walked into the school, stopping but a moment to admire the work of a week. Even if it was for a punishment, somehow, Sunset felt very proud of the new entrance. She made a mental note to not destroy that entrance again.

She smiled at her own silly joke and quickly made her way to the principal's office. The door was closed as always, so she casually walked to it and lifted her hand to knock. "Huh?" Sunset looked at her hand, it was shivering. "What's going on?" She whispered, taking her shivering hand with the other, now noticing that her whole body was doing it too. She was shivering.

She noticed how her heart rate increased not only in speed, but in force too. She felt as if her heart was going to explode in any second. She looked at the door again, and her shivering increased a little. Am I… Afraid?...

Her eyes widened in realization. She was afraid of talking to Celestia, but why? Surely the principal only wanted to know what the hell happened a week ago, or maybe she just was going to reiterate about her punishment. Then, why was she afraid? Because she resembled her former teacher and mentor? Sunset knew for a fact that they weren't the same Celestia. One was a powerful alicorn able to raise the sun and moon every day for a thousand years, while the other was just a normal middle-aged woman with a degree in pedagogy.

Sunset breathed deeply and sighed slowly for a few times until she finally stopped the shivering. She didn't have a single reason to be scared of Principal Celestia. She was just over thinking it, even if she didn't even thought about it until just a few seconds ago.

With another deep breath, she knocked the door.

"Come in." Celestia's unmistakable voice echoed from inside, making Sunset gulp before opening the door. Celestia was sitting there in her desk, reading a few papers, as she always did when someone entered her office. There even was the rumor that every time someone knocked at her door, Celestia always picked the nearest paper to fake a sense of busyness. "How may I help you?" She asked, still reading the paper. Sunset knew that Celestia was waiting her, so the fact that she so robotically asked the same question over and over again told her that the rumor might be true.

"It's me. You wanted to talk with me." Sunset walked to the front of the desk and grabbed the back of the chair with both hands. Celestia put the papers at one side and looked directly at Sunset. There was a moment of silence, just a few seconds, but for Sunset it felt like years. Celestia finally looked away and instructed her to take a sit with a movement of her hand.

Sunset did as she was told, carefully sitting in the chair, still looking at Celestia's eyes. "I suppose you're wondering what I want to talk about." Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again and only nodded. Celestia sighed and looked away. "I won't lie, you are probably the best student I've ever met. You have the best grades in the school and all the teachers love you."

Sunset frowned a little, she already knew that she was the best, but there was something in Celestia's voice that unsettled her. For some reason, she didn't want to hear the rest of what the principal had to say. But, she wasn't going to just run away. She wasn't a coward.

"That's why I decided to ignore the fact that you don't have any kind of academic records whatsoever before Canterlot High." Celestia then looked directly at Sunset, sending a shiver down her spine.

H-How does she know that?! I made sure that all the papers looked original! Sunset gulped as Celestia's gaze seemed to harden. "I… I don't know what you're talking about." Not that stupid cliché phrase! Uhg!

Celestia didn't flinch, and her frown only deepened. "I'm pretty sure you know exactly what I'm talking about." Without looking away, Celestia opened the top drawer of the desk and pulled out a blue folder. She closed the drawer and put the folder on the desk at equal distance from her and from Sunset. "I've seen a lot of students trying to falsify documents for stupid reasons. But you? You falsified yours to enter the school." She opened the folder and the first paper was Sunset's birth certificate. "That's why I didn't say anything. What better than someone capable of everything just to feed their desire for knowledge? And you demonstrated that you really love learning." She passed the paper, and the next one was Sunset's record of Canterlot Elementary.

Sunset couldn't help but notice how Celestia was still looking directly at her eyes, as if trying to break her with her gaze only. "In all my life, I never knew of someone able to get the best grades and win all the coronations of their school. I was really impressed, that's why I didn't say anything when I noticed that all your papers are falsified." Celestia leaned a little closer to Sunset, and her eyes moved a little from side to side, as if trying to read Sunset's mind.

"And through the years, you maintained your perfect grades, and you never caused any troubles… Or, at least, that's what I thought." Sunset couldn't say anything, Celestia's stare was really strong, but she wasn't able to tell if the principal was angry or not, and honestly, she really didn't want to find out. "A week ago, Snips and Snails kidnapped Twilight Sparkle's dog to make her follow them to where you were. And everyone followed her shortly after, just to see how you became a monster."

Celestia never changed the tone of her voice, but that last word felt to Sunset as a stab in her heart, partly because it was technically true, partly because it had been said with Celestia's voice. "Quite literally, in fact… And then you just… Destroyed the school's entrance…" Now her voice had a very obvious tone of surprise, as if she was having troubles believing her own words.

"After that, I only remember an explosion of colors, and then, you were in a crater." Celestia closed her eyes and leaned on her chair. "I wanted to ask you in that very moment about what happened, but you were sleeping, and I just couldn't deny the students the fun after that show, so I decided not to ask Twilight and friends." She opened her eyes, still looking directly at Sunset's. "But I did ask Snips and Snails, and after a quick chat, they told me everything."

"E… Everything?" Sunset asked mostly to herself, but Celestia heard her anyways.

"Yes. They told me about all the things you've been doing the past years." Celestia sighed, and the expression in her face was a mixture of different emotions. Sunset couldn't separate them properly. "At least, all the things they know about."

Sunset nervously shifted in her seat, and for the first time, she couldn't keep looking at Celestia. A question formed in her mind, she knew that it was going to be answered at sometime within the conversation, but she needed to know in that moment. She looked up at Celestia once again. "What… What are you going to do to me?"

"It depends." Celestia answered instantly, as if she was expecting that specific question. "It depends on how you answer my next question." She said before Sunset had the chance to ask. Celestia leaned forward, resting her upper body on her crossed arms upon the desk. "Who are you?"

Sunset blinked. That's it? She nervously made herself comfortable in her sit. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, of course."

Celestia didn't change her expression; she didn't even move a muscle. She only kept staring at Sunset. "How old are you?" Sunset was about to answer quickly, but Celestia hardened her stare, which made Sunset to press her lips.

Obviously, Celestia wanted the truth, and in other circumstances, Sunset would just say everything, but these weren't normal circumstances. She wasn't sure of just how much Celestia trusted her, and even so, would she believe everything? Sunset looked at the blue folder again. It really didn't matter if Celestia would believe what she said, what really mattered was what she was going to do with Sunset.

Sunset opened her mouth to take a deep breath. She quickly pondered her situation, and soon she came to the conclusion that she really didn't have anything else to lose. Her life couldn't get any worse. She decided to say the truth.

"I'm… I'm twenty-five." She said, looking at Celestia. And expectedly, the principal had an eyebrow arched. Sunset gulped, but said nothing.

"Where are you from?"

Sunset pressed her lips once again. She knew that she was going to ask that, but she still didn't have an answer. One thing was to tell everything to the girls who literally became a part of her world, even for just an hour, but it was a completely different thing to tell someone who didn't have the slightest clue. She had decided to tell the truth, yes, but for some reason, she couldn't say anything.

Silence flooded the room for a full minute. Sunset kept looking everywhere, desperately trying to make herself invisible, but Celestia only stared back, directly at her eyes, forcing her to look back every few seconds. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Celestia sighed. "Are you going to answer?" Sunset looked down but said nothing, making Celestia sigh again, but this time it sounded more like a groan. "Sunset, I need you to answer."

"You won't understand." Sunset said under her breath.

Celestia narrowed her eyes a little. "How do you know? Why don't you explain yourself and let me decide what I can and cannot do?" Sunset didn't reply, she was too busy contemplating the edge of the desk. Celestia frowned and leaned a little closer to Sunset. "Sunset, please, help me understand." She pleaded.

Suddenly, Sunset's eyes widened as two plates, her heart stopped for a moment and her stomach fell. And for a second, just a second, she was in Equestria again, she was a pony, and in front of her, there was Princess Celestia in all her regalia, looking down at Sunset with disappointment in her eyes. "Sunset, please, help me understand." It was a memory, a memory from just a few days before she crossed the portal.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. She took her left hand to her aching chest and pressed her teeth. She didn't understand what was happening, but she just couldn't stop crying. She looked up, and Principal Celestia was looking at her, unable to hide her surprise. Sunset started to sob as her body slowly forced her to give up. For years she had been holding up, convincing herself over and over again that she was doing the right thing for her future. When the elements purified her heart, she cried; but she cried out of guilt and remorse for her wrongdoings, for hurting and threatening and blackmailing, for plotting and manipulating and breaking friendships.

But, now it was different. It only took one phrase, and after all this time, she was finally broken. She couldn't hold it anymore, she needed to cry, and cry she did. She cried because she missed her world and her magic and her family, she missed her tail and her estrus and hay burgers. Sunset looked up, her eyes were red and her breathing was constantly interrupted by a hiccup of her chest. The principal had a worried expression, but she was smiling, silently telling Sunset that it was ok to cry, to let go all she had been holding.

There was something she missed above everything else. Sunset's jaw made pressure in its position.

She missed Princess Celestia.

Several minutes passed before Sunset finally calmed down, and honestly, she felt better. No, she felt better than better. All that pressure, all those repressed feelings were finally gone. At the end it was true that crying over important things really helped.

Principal Celestia had been in silence the whole time, waiting for Sunset to let it all go, as a mother cares for her children when they need someone to care for them. Well, it was easy when you only have to sit there doing nothing, but she did it, and she felt very proud. But, she still wanted answers, and she wasn't going to let Sunset go until she got them. "I take it you feel better?"

Sunset nodded. "Yes…"

"That's good to hear…" She made a pause to take a deep breath. "I'd like to tell you to go home already, but-"

"You want answers, I know." Sunset interrupted, making Celestia arch an eyebrow. Sunset puffed through her mouth and offered the principal a weak smile. "You're a lot like her." Sunset laughed a little at Celestia's expression. She had to laugh, not everyday one could confuse someone like her. "I'm going to tell you everything, but you have to promise two things." She said, showing two fingers, as if trying to reiterate her point. "First: You won't interrupt me. It's a long story, and I don't want to repeat myself. Second: Everything I'll say is the honest truth, and I can… partially prove it. So don't try to get me psychological help."

There was a moment of silence, but finally, Celestia nodded. Sunset made herself comfortable in her chair and closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them, she told her everything.

She told her about Equestria and how magic existed there. She told her about all the sentient creatures that shared the same world, creatures that in the human world were either farm animals or mythological beings. She told her everything about ponies, the races, their society, their past and their present.

At first, Celestia was looking at her with doubt, and for a moment Sunset thought that she would laugh at her. But, as the minutes passed by, Celestia grew more and more interested in what Sunset was saying, as a kid listening to a storyteller. "Now: Politics." After almost an hour, Sunset had grown very comfortable in the conversation. At the end it was true that talking things over really helped. "The nation of Equestria is a kingdom, though there's not a king or a queen, only princes and princesses. But, there are two kinds of royalty. First, nobles: They are relatives from the ponies who used to rule the land. They really don't do anything important and just have the title because they have the money. And then, there's the true royalty…"

Sunset made a pause, thinking how best to approach this specific subject. "They are the most powerful beings in the whole world, and all of them are alicorns." She said, moving idly her thumbs against one another. "Twilight Sparkle is one of them. She is the weakest, her power barely surpasses a normal unicorn, but she has the Elements of Harmony, so, while alone she's not nearly as powerful as the other princesses, when she and her friends use the power of the Elements, there's literally nothing that can stand a chance against them." She said with a dark expression on her face, mostly because she remembered last week's incident.

She blinked hard and slowly shook her head to dismiss that memory. "The next in power is Princess Cadence. Along with her husband, she is the ruler of the Crystal Empire and guardian of the Crystal Heart, which is a powerful artifact. Though it's not even half as powerful as the Elements of Harmony…" She looked at Celestia with a sly smile. "Her husband is just a normal unicorn, so he doesn't count here." She stretched her neck a little until she heard a pop, then she looked again at Celestia. "And finally, there are the Royal Sisters."

Celestia noticed how Sunset's face saddened again. "They are the most powerful beings, and the true and only rulers of Equestria. They can move the sun and moon, and they do it every day and night. Yes, that's how it works there." She said after noticing a spark of doubt in Celestia's eyes. "The younger sister, though, was imprisoned in the moon for exactly a thousand years. It's a long story, maybe another day I'll tell you about it. Anyway, she returned just about a year ago, but for those thousand years, the older sister had to move the sun and moon every day and night while ruling Equestria alone and creating a golden era of peace and harmony all by herself."

Sunset looked away, lowering a little her voice. "She was also my teacher and mentor… And I even consider her a second mother…" She rested her back on the chair and looked at Celestia with an unreadable face. "Do you want to know the names of the Royal Sisters?"

There was a moment of silence while Celestia assimilated the information, and a shimmer in her eyes told Sunset that she was connecting the dots. But instead of just assuming, the principal decided to only nod and wait for an answer. Sunset smiled weakly. "Regent of the night and co-ruler of Equestria: Princess Luna. And…" With a sooth movement, Sunset leaned on the desk and looked directly at Celestia's eyes. "Regent of the day and co-ruler of Equestria: Princess Celestia."

Even though she suspected it, Celestia couldn't hide her surprise as her eyes widened and her mouth slightly opened. It was too much information, and not only that, everything sounded as a very well written fairy tale. She didn't want to believe it, but all the time she had been observing Sunset and her mannerisms, trying to find something, anything that told her that she was lying. She couldn't find anything, so she was trying to convince herself that Sunset was mentally damaged. Then again, what she saw a week ago defied any logical explanation, at least, that humans could offer. And Sunset was explaining it to her right there.

She sighed. "Ok… That was… interesting…" She grabbed her chin with her right hand and looked at Sunset. "I'll need time to assimilate everything… But I believe you." To her surprise, Sunset's face lit up as a smile formed in her face. "I just have one more question." Sunset leaned back to the chair. "Why are you here?"

Sunset looked away. "That's a complicated question… Why did I come here? I don't know myself… Not anymore."

"No…" Celestia shook her head to give more emphasis. "You clearly miss your home… Why you don't return there? Why are you still here?"

Sunset gave her a sad smile, a smile one forces when trying to suppress bursting into crying. "I… I'd be lying if I say that I have some kind of… civic motives…" Tears started to form in her eyes. "The truth is… I can't…"

"Why not?" Celestia almost interrupted herself, as if she just realized something important. "Did they forbid you to return?"

"Hah… That'd make things easier…" Sunset wanted to laugh, not because she was happy, but because she didn't want to spend another ten minutes crying. But, she was losing that fight with her own emotions. "No. I… I can't return because the portal is closed and… And…" The back of her head started to ache as tears ran down her cheeks again. "It won't open in another two and a half years… And there's nothing I can do about it!" She yelled, not on purpose, but mostly as a reaction of her feelings. "Twilight came because I stole her stupid crown. One would think that she'd take me with her to-to be judged there, but no!" She stood up and slammed her hands on the desk. "She left me here! She condemned me to a fate worse than imprisonment! She… SHE ABANDONED ME! And not only in another city or country! IN ANOTHER DIMENSION!"

Celestia didn't say anything, but she didn't need to do it, her gaze said everything. She was very, very confused and surprised. Sunset looked down and slowly sat down again. "She knew as well as me that the portal was going to close soon, but she decided to return alone and leave me here. She didn't even say anything, like "I hereby banish you". No…" The hiccups returned and the pain in the back of her head grew. "I'd rather face Celestia's wrath than this… Than… Be abandoned as a street animal…"

Sunset closed her eyes, and tears only streamed faster. "I just… I just want to say I'm sorry…" She looked at Celestia with pleading eyes. "I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry for being so greedy! I'm sorry for being such a brat! I'm sorry for… For disappointing her!" She crossed her arms on the desk and leaned closer, placing her forehead on her arms. She was fully crying again. "I'm sorry, Celestia… I'm sorry…"

Author's Notes:

Did you know that you can make awesome magic tricks with a completely new and totally not tricked deck?

((This chapter requires a little fixing. It will be when my editors can ^^))

5. Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 5. Smoke and Mirrors.

Princess Celestia and Principal Celestia were two completely different beings. Sunset knew it better than anyone else. Well, not that any other than she and Twilight Sparkle could know the both of them. But, somehow, Principal Celestia was able to make Sunset talk about not only Equestria, but also about her former teacher and mentor.

It was, for a lack of a better term, weird to tell Celestia about Celestia. But Sunset managed, even if she ended up crying her eyes out for ten whole minutes. Ok, maybe it was twenty minutes. Nevertheless, after she finally calmed herself, she asked Celestia if she could just go home. She was tired, mentally speaking, and even if it was just a couple of hours past midday, she wanted to sleep.

Much to her surprise, Celestia agreed.

"Tomorrow classes begin again though, and I expect you to come and be on detention afterwards." She had said.

Sunset didn't complain. Perhaps it was because she was tired, perhaps because Celestia had been very understanding. But, it didn't matter, she just wanted to get over with her punishment. The sole idea of not planning anything after the month of detention made her inner organizer die a little, but she just didn't feel like it. Ok, maybe she'd work on a schedule after a good rest.

The moment she stepped out the school, a cool breeze gently met her. The sky was completely covered in clouds, and their color was that of a light gray. It was going to start raining soon, or maybe the rain was going to start in five hours. She didn't know, and it exasperated her.

Stupid humans and their stupid lack of control over the weather.

She took her wallet out of a hidden pocket in her skirt and opened it. Good, she had enough money to go and buy a cheap umbrella to head home safely. And maybe stop in a restaurant and eat something. Actually, the idea of getting something to eat wasn't at all unappealing, especially when her stomach was growling.

Sunset retrieved the wallet to the hidden pocket. She glanced over the portal, taking a moment to decide where to go. Sugar Cube Corner? Their pastries were the best, she had to admit, but it was dangerously near Pinkie's house, and she didn't want to be spotted by those girls. At least, not right after her talk with Celestia. She looked at her right, trying to remember exactly what was in that direction. There was a hardware store around the corner, and two or three houses beyond, a small coffeehouse going by the name of Joe's Dough.

She shrugged. There were places with worse names.

The cozy interior of Joe's Dough Coffee Shop almost made Sunset let herself fall on one of the big, dark green sofas near the entrance. The overwhelming smell of freshly brewed coffee and the soft scent of treats and snacks all combined created an inviting environment within the building to which Sunset could get easily used.

A small growl of her stomach made her return to reality. She casually eyed the half full shop, and she relaxed her shoulders when she couldn't recognize any of the faces in there. With a satisfied smile, she walked to the counter to read the menu and her smile grew at what she saw. "I want a Corretto alla grappa and a baguette with extra sauce." Once she got her order and paid for it, Sunset made her way to an empty table near a window.

Sunset made herself comfortable on the chair. How she had missed this shop that was really near Canterlot High was beyond her. But she wasn't going to complain, she found a nice place to go after school, or whenever she wanted, to relax and think. And the food was really good too. Perhaps the sauce needed a little more of spice, but everything else was delicious. And rather cheap. It didn't take her more than a couple of minutes to eat half the baguette.

She looked outside the window as the first drops of water started to fall from the sky. "Should've bought the umbrella first." She muttered to herself. Now she had to wait until the rain stopped, at least a little, so she'd have time to buy an umbrella.

Not that she had something important to do, or somewhere to go. She took a sip of her alcoholic coffee with a bored expression. She really didn't like anything with alcohol in it, but when it was mixed with coffee, it was just the most delicious thing in the world. She put the cup on the table and smiled. "When I return home, I will sell this thing. I will be rich."

Since being a princess was out of her To-do list, she would need something to make a living in Equestria. And she had to admit, the human world had a lot of interesting things that would sell really good in there, even in the other nations. Especially with the minotaurs. She imagined herself living in the most expensive mansion in Manehatten, or perhaps she could open her own school of magic. She chuckled. No, she'd be a really bad teacher, mostly because she didn't have enough patience.

"What do you mean you're out of orange cake?! You're never out of orange cake! I'm the only one who buys it!" A loud and unsettlingly familiar voice barked from the counter, making Sunset involuntarily turn to see the source of said voice. A chill ran across her spine as she easily recognized the blue skinned girl.

"Sorry Trixie, there's always a first time." The salesman said in a bored expression, obviously used to Trixie's personality.

Sunset had never crossed a word with Trixie, but the blue girl was hard to ignore with her loud and arrogant manner of speaking. She decided to look away to the very interesting rain and just ignore her. A sigh escaped through her mouth. This was a really nice place, but knowing that Trixie frequented it killed any plan she'd have to return. Although, perhaps if she just ignored Trixie, and Trixie ignored her, there was an opportunity to share the same coffeehouse.

"Hey, you!" Trixie yelled. Sunset took another sip of her coffee while glaring at a weird guy surrounded by at least ten dogs. "I'm talking to you!" Sunset heard the sound of steps getting closer and sighed in frustration. She turned her head just to see that Trixie was standing right in front of her.

"I have a name, y'know." Sunset said with a frown, perhaps a little too loud than she had intended.

"I know very well who you are!" Trixie yelled. Well, it was yelling to Sunset's ears, and she wasn't used to people yelling at her. It was usually Sunset who yelled at people.

There was a moment of silence while Trixie and Sunset only stared at each other. Trixie had the obvious spark and movement in her eyes of hesitation, and it was even more obvious since she was forcing a frown, trying to fake a stern look. All the while, Sunset's frown was genuine, and she was trying to shoot a laser to Trixie. If only she had her horn. "The heck do you want?!" Sunset finally snapped, and thankfully, that seemed to take Trixie out of her train of thought.

But she still didn't say a word and just leaned back a little. A few more seconds passed where the staring contest kept going on. Sunset was quickly losing her patience, and she was about to stand up and yell at Trixie, and possibly break her knee, when Trixie made her way to the seat right in front of her and placed her arms on the table, looking directly at Sunset's eyes. "Last week…"

Sunset cocked an eyebrow and unwittingly snorted through her nose. "What? You gonna tell me you hate me too? Save that for tomorrow."

Trixie looked at her hands for a moment with a doubtful frown. "Actually, no. I don't have reasons to hate you. You've never done anything bad at me." She answered, looking up again at Sunset. "Which makes me wonder why… BUT!" She interrupted her own train of thought as she suddenly remembered why she was talking to Sunset. "But, that's not important right now." She hesitated a little, making a little pause, as if trying to gather her ideas. "I have… Something very important to ask you."

"No." Sunset said calmly, sipping a little more of her coffee. Trixie was about to say something, but Sunset interrupted her with a movement of her hand. "Whatever it is, the answer is no. Now leave me alone."

Trixie pressed her lips and her frown deepened. "I'm a magician." She started, and she was going to say her full speech even if Sunset pretended to ignore her. "I've studied the most magnificent magic tricks there are ever since I was a little girl. But last week, you…"

"Did what you can't?" Sunset interrupted with a mocking smile. When Trixie didn't respond, Sunset's smile disappeared. "Hurry up and say what you have to say. The answer is still no."

"What-"

"No."

Trixie frowned and raised her voice. "What do I have to do for you to teach me magic?" Sunset idly bit her baguette and slowly chewed, looking at Trixie with a bored expression. "Trixie shall become the best magician in the world! And as much as I hate to admit it, you know how to do magic! Real magic! So teach me!"

Sunset only stared back at Trixie and groaned. "Magic doesn't exist in this world. Humans can't do magic. Now leave me alone."

"You contradict yourself!" Trixie pointed a finger to Sunset. "You just said that last week you did what I can't! You obviously meant magic! And I'm not blind. I know what I saw at the Fall Formal!"

"Then you saw what I can do to YOU if you don't stop annoying me." Sunset replied, forcing her hands into fists.

For the first time, Trixie smiled. "Oh, I also saw who can make you cry like a baby." At that, Sunset slammed her fist on the table and leaned closer to Trixie with a menacing stare. "I only remember you being in the crater though; I don't know how they defeated your… demonic transformation."

Sunset sat back, still trying to shoot a laser at Trixie. "Why don't you go bother them instead? Oh, that's right, they can't do magic either."

"Then what the heck happened?!" Trixie yelled. "Yes, you are my last option because they said they can't do magic. But they don't want to tell me what happened!" She crossed her arms and leaned on the back of her seat. "And it's usually the villain who knows more about these things."

Sunset took a moment to watch the rain and sighed. It was a strange feeling, something between guilt and self-loath. "You're right. I'm the villain, am I not?" She looked at Trixie, who widened her eyes in surprise, as if she just noticed that she hurt Sunset. "Even after what happened, I'm still a villain." She took another sip of her coffee and sighed. "I could be the good girl and tell you exactly what happened, even though you won't believe half of it. Or I could still be the villain and recruit you for evil purposes." She chuckled and looked at Trixie with a serious expression. "Either way, the magic I used last week only lasted for, what? Ten minutes? I think it was ten minutes. And I can't teach you magic, because humans can't do magic."

"But… You did magic, and you're a human."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Listen, I don't really want to talk about it. You only need to know that I can't do magic; you can't do magic, and nobody can do magic. Now, go away."

At that, Trixie let out a weird sound through her mouth that reminded to a frustrated sigh and a groan. Sunset was about to make fun on her, but she decided not to do it when Trixie nervously bit her thumb and looked through the window. Sunset closed her eyes and sighed. I'm going to regret this…

"Ok, what's wrong?"

Trixie opened her mouth a little and looked at Sunset with a confused expression. "What?"

Sunset groaned. "You want something, and you had five first options to get it. I was your last option. The fact that you're here means that you're desperate." She leaned closer and took her cup of coffee. "Why?" She sipped.

"Trixie is never desperate." Trixie puffed and crossed her arms.

"Sure you're not." Sunset said calmly and took another slow bite to her baguette.

Trixie pressed her lips and frowned. "Ok, maybe I'm a little in need of assistance." She spoke through her teeth while glaring daggers at Sunset.

"I only heard that you're desperate." Sunset teased.

"Trixie is never-"

"Spit it out already!" Sunset yelled, smacking her cup on the table.

Trixie pouted for a few seconds while gathering her thoughts. "My parents think that my dream of being the most famous magician is stupid…" Sunset raised an eyebrow. "They think it's childish and pointless. And I want to prove them wrong." She forced a sigh and closed her eyes, leaning on the back of her seat. "Of course, they won't help me get the props for my performances, so I can't really make big shows." She opened her eyes and looked directly at Sunset's eyes. "That's why I want to learn real magic."

Sunset sipped a little more of her coffee and realized that the cup was almost empty. "And why you think you're any good to be famous?" She suddenly felt as if she was interviewing Trixie, it wasn't exactly a good feeling. "There are lots of 'magicians' out there. No one really cares about them."

"Because they don't care about illusions." Trixie muttered. "They just have money and pay for some air time to show their crappy tricks that are no more than fake 'public' performances. But they pay the 'casual public' to fake their amazement."

She couldn't tell why, but Sunset was intrigued. "Isn't every magic trick a fake? It's not actual magic."

"You're not listening." Trixie interrupted. "I said that they fake their amazement, not the magic. Magic and illusions are to amaze people, if they fake that amazement, then it's not magic, just a bunch of idiots." She rubbed the bridge of her nose for a couple of seconds. "I want to amaze everyone with real illusions and not shameless attention grabs. But for the best tricks, I admit I need either money to buy props, or real magic."

Sunset leaned on her back and looked thoughtfully at what was left of her baguette. She then looked at Trixie, and to her surprise, the blue girl had a determined expression on her face. She couldn't quite tell why, but she was a little -just a little- interested in knowing what Trixie was able to do. She sighed and leaned forward, resting her arms on the table and looking directly at Trixie. "Magic doesn't exist in this world. I can't teach you what you can't learn." Trixie let out a long sigh, but before she could say anything, Sunset continued. "But… I may be able to help ya."

Trixie arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? How so?" She tried her best to hide the hope in her voice.

Sunset hummed doubtfully for a moment. Why am I doing this? "I know people who can get you things for rather cheap prices."

"No thanks." Trixie said immediately. "I don't want to get in troubles with who-knows-who just for a few props."

"And yet, you're still here." Sunset smiled deviously at Trixie's silence. It was so easy. "Tell you what. You amaze me with a magic trick, right here, right now, and I'll see what I can do to get you something without 'troubles'."

Trixie looked suspiciously at Sunset. "Why you suddenly want to help me?"

"I'm giving you an opportunity to prove that you are worthy of my help with your life-dream." She answered putting her hand on her chest, faking an offended posture. "Also I'm bored."

There was a moment of silence before Trixie spoke. "Very well."

"Just one thing." Sunset said, raising a finger, as if trying to reiterate her sentence. "You've got only one chance."

To her surprise, Trixie smiled. "It's good then, that The Great and Powerful Trixie is always prepared for a spontaneous performance!" Trixie didn't see Sunset rolling her eyes, as she was already searching for something in her right pocket. After a couple of seconds, she finally produced a normal-looking deck of cards. She smiled widely at Sunset. "The best magic tricks are always the simplest! And Trixie shall amaze thee with the best of the simple magic tricks!"

Sunset crossed her arms. "You won't impress me with a trick like that."

Trixie kept smiling. "Oh! It seems we have some neigh sayers in the audience!" Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Here!" Trixie placed the deck face down on the table and slid it to Sunset. "Make sure it's a perfectly normal deck, and shuffle it yourself!"

"Ok…" Sunset tentatively took the deck with her right hand. She knew that tricks with decks meant that the deck was somehow rigged, so she was a little confused. And as she was told, she made sure that the deck wasn't rigged. She searched for cuts or marks or anything. When she found nothing, she started to shuffle it.

Once she was satisfied, Sunset placed the deck face down on the table and passed it to Trixie, who quickly spread the cards. "Now, take one." She ordered. Sunset took one in the middle and used both her hands to hide which card it was. Ace of hearts, ironic. Trixie stacked the cards in a deck again. "For this trick, I will need you to write your name on the face of your card!" She said, handing her a marker that she took from… Somewhere. "A lot of people think that the deck is rigged, or that the magician has a duplicate or something! That's why you're going to mark your card, so you know that this is real magic!" Sunset almost snorted, but said nothing. She took the marker and with the beautiful penmanship she developed in the past years, she wrote her name.

"There, impress me." Sunset said with a sarcastic voice, giving back the marker.

Trixie tossed the marker on the table, deciding to save it later. "Now, please put your card on top of the deck." Sunset did as was told. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will now amaze you!" She cut the deck in half and started to shuffle it again. But unlike Sunset, who only mixed the cards in the simplest way, Trixie moved the cards from one hand to another, making them dance in the air while one of them kept spinning around in between her hands. The cards flew to and fro, fro and to, jumping and moving from hand to hand. It was so unreal, almost hypnotic.

When Trixie finally stopped, Sunset almost told her to keep shuffling. "Now, as you can see," Trixie said, turning over the top card of the deck, revealing the Three of Spades. "This isn't your card, and," She turned it over again, but then she rotated the whole deck, showing the bottom card, which was the Seven of Diamonds. "This isn't either." She then placed the deck face down on the table. "But don't worry, Sunset! Your card doesn't like any position in the deck but the top! So…" She snapped her fingers right above the deck, and after one second, she turned over the top card. It was the Ace of Hearts with a big 'SUNSET' wrote on it. "Hmm the Ace of Hearts, kind of ironic, don't you think?"

"Har har. I'm still not impressed." She was, in fact, a little impressed. But, she didn't want to admit it.

"Oh, but the trick's not over yet!" Trixie took the deck with her left hand while turning over Sunset's card. She took the card and put it in the middle of the deck. "Now, Sunset, please help your card reach the top again! Snap your fingers!" Sunset didn't want to do it, but something in Trixie's eyes told her that she was obliged. So she snapped her fingers, and almost immediately, Trixie turned over the top card, revealing the Ace of Hearts. "I can do it all day!"

"Show off." Sunset said. "You didn't put my card in the middle."

Instead of the angry gaze Sunset expected, Trixie smiled fondly. "Very well! I shall show you!" She turned face down Sunset's card and put it half way in the middle. Then, she turned over the top card, revealing the Queen of Clubs. "As you can see, the top card isn't your card, because your card is in the middle! What's more…" She turned over the Queen of Clubs, and using that same card, she finished putting in Sunset's card in the middle of the deck. "Now- Oh! What's this?" She turned over the card she had just used, only that it wasn't the Queen of Clubs anymore. It was the Ace of Hearts, with Sunset's mark on it.

Sunset had to use all her will to not let her jaw drop. She knew that magic didn't exist in this world, and she had researched the most common magic tricks humans often did. But she never saw anything like this. However, she wasn't going to admit that she was impressed. "You didn't show me that my card was going in the middle of the deck."

And yet once again, Trixie only smiled. "Very well!" She turned over Sunset's card and placed it on top of the deck, and after a quick shuffle, she turned over the top card again, revealing Sunset's card. "Now watch closely!" She turned face down the Ace of Hearts and put it once again half way in the middle of the deck. Only this time, she bended it a little upwards, letting Sunset see which card it was.

Sunset's smile grew deviously. It's the King of Diamonds! "Wait a second!" She almost yelled, stopping Trixie from putting the card all the way in. "That's not my card!"

Trixie blinked at Sunset for a few seconds. "What do you mean it's not your card?" She slowly took the card out of the deck and slowly turned it face up. It was the Ace of Hearts, and it had Sunset's mark.

"What… But… How did…" Sunset stammered, unable to keep her jaw closed. But she had to regain her posture, since a little crowd had formed sometime earlier, and they were cheering at Trixie's trick.

"And here's when you tell me that I cheated somehow, right?" Trixie was smirking. She was enjoying every single second of it. "That's why, for the last part of this trick, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall make yet another mark on your card!" She said while turning over and over again Sunset's card. Trixie took it face up, so everyone could see that it was, indeed, the marked Ace of Hearts. "This is so all of you can recognize the card even if it's face down!" And with that, she bended the card in the middle. Now the card always made a little arc. Trixie turned if face down once again and slowly put it in the middle of the deck. "Now, my lovely audience, at the count of three, let's snap our fingers to help the card go to the top!"

Sunset could see what was going to happen, but she just couldn't figure out how it was going to happen. "One, two, three!" Trixie said, and everyone snapped their fingers, including Sunset. And to everyone's surprise, the top card jumped a little and magically bended itself. Sunset held her breath while Trixie very slowly took the card and turned it over.

It was her card.

The crowd cheered.

"So, impressed?"

After her little performance, Trixie had been graciously accepting compliments from the few people who gathered to watch her. Sunset had decided to just finish her food, enjoying the brief moment where everyone just ignored her. "Even I have to admit when something's impressive." Sunset answered, putting her now empty cup on the table. "But you're too loud."

Trixie hummed in satisfaction. In Canterlot High, receiving praise from Sunset Shimmer was not only unheard of, but completely impossible. It was known that she treated her little minions as slaves and she never even said thanks. "So, how exactly are you going to help me?"

Sunset looked out of the window. The rain had stopped a couple of minutes earlier. "I know these guys. They can get you almost whatever you want, but there's always a trick, and you end up working for them or worse." She looked at Trixie, smiling at the fear building in her face. "But, luckily for you, I'm a special customer of theirs. Hmm I'd say I'm like their partner or something like that. So they won't try to trick you… Maybe."

"And who are these guys?" Trixie cautiously asked, not so sure anymore if she wanted Sunset's help.

Sunset leaned on the back of her chair. Now that I think of it, this may be entertaining. "Do you know that Pawn Shop that opened just a few days ago?"

Author's Notes:

I hope the magic trick part is not confusing, if it is, just search for "ambitious card" on youtube.

6. Getting Started

Chapter 6. Getting Started

"Are you really sure I won't get into troubles by talking to these guys?" Trixie asked for the seventh time, reading over and over again the big sign in the brown façade of the building that read 'Flim Flam brothers' Everything-Under-The-Sun Emporium'. There was a big arrow pointing at the entrance with numerous bulbs decorating its sides.

Sunset scratched her chin. "Huh, the sign is new."

"Don't ignore me!" Trixie barked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Hey, don't you trust me?" Sunset asked with a sly smile.

Trixie snorted. "No, I don't." She put her hands inside the pockets of her hoodie and leaned back a little. "Though I think it's worth giving you the benefit of doubt, but at the first sign that these guys want to trick me into something bad…"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll go." Sunset dismissed the blue girl with a movement of her hand. "You said it enough times already."

Trixie scrunched her nose and offered Sunset a big frown. After a few seconds, she sighed. She wasn't sure about getting help from the girl that literally became a demon and could've done more damage than just destroying the school's entrance. But, at the same time, it was an opportunity to get what she wanted.

She opened the door, and was greeted by the ever so familiar sound of a small bell. She eyed the local; it was arguable spacious. There were several counters at the sides of the interior, all of them showing various kinds of things. She saw musical instruments, jewelry, technological stuff and miscellaneous. There was a bored looking guy playing idly with the cash register that didn't seem to notice her yet. Well, at least it looks like a normal Pawn shop.

"Hey, you!" Sunset yelled from Trixie's back at the guy, who jumped at the sudden loud noise. "Why aren't you attending us?"

The guy had long, green hair and a particular gray skin color. He muttered something that sounded like an apology before walking the counters' side to the entrance. "G-Good afternoon. Are you going to sell, pawn or buy?"

Sunset crossed her arms and groaned a little. It was really frustrating to her when people were so… weak, so to speak. The poor guy was shivering. "I want to talk to Flim and Flam."

"Ah, well, they said that, uh…"

"That we are always available for Sunset!" A voice came from the other side of the room. Trixie saw two men standing at the side of the other. She thought they looked funny because they were dressed very similar, it didn't help either that they were twins. At least, she thought, if she was to work with them, she'd be able to differentiate them because one of them was using a mustache.

"It is a peculiar sight, though." Said the twin without the mustache. "You never want to come to our businesses."

"Or perhaps you finally understand how incredibly spectacular it is to work within the shop, hm?" The other twin said.

Sunset frowned. "Of course not, Flam."

Flam, the guy with the mustache, approached Sunset with a weird gaze, as if studying her. But, before he could say anything, the other twin, who by process of elimination Trixie guessed it was Flim, eyed her and leaned closer. "Oh! You bought a friend! How amazing!" He said, stretching his arms up.

"And I'm sure this lovely lady would like to buy, sell or pawn something!" Flam said, having walking at the side of his brother.

"Perhaps you want an electric guitar!" Flim announced, producing the said instrument from… somewhere.

"Or maybe a top hat!"

"Or a necklace!"

"Or that you let her talk." Sunset interrupted them. "That's why you don't have customers. You scare them."

"Well then, talk!" Flim said, offering Trixie a big smile.

"Any friend of Sunset…" Flam started to say. The two brothers hug each other with one arm and raised the other.

"Is a friend of us!" They said at the same time.

For a few seconds, Trixie only stared at them. Sunset had told her that they were businessmen, but for what she was seeing, professionalism wasn't exactly a substantive she'd use for them. For the first time that day, she was really considering it a bad idea to ask Sunset for help. "Well…" She said, looking for the exit to run at the first chance.

"She wants magic stuff, but she has no money." Sunset said with a disinterested voice.

The twins looked at each other and then at Trixie frowning. "I'm not sure you understand the meaning of the word business." Flim said, or was it Flam? She couldn't remember. "Perhaps we should give you a quick explanation:" The other brother said, and making the exact same movements, they both sang along. "No money, no ware."

Trixie offered a frown on her own. "Well, if you're treating your customers like this, I'm not surprised that this place is empty." She said, moving widely her arm to show the building, and true to her words, the place was almost completely empty, which was a little strange, considering the impressive amount of things they offered for sale. "Listen, maybe we can work together. I just need a few props for my performances, and I can pay them after the shows…" She looked away. "I know it sounds stupid, you don't even know me, so I can't exactly guarantee the success of my shows, so…"

The twins looked at each other, and after a few seconds, they turned to Sunset. "What do you have to say in the matter, Sunset?" Flim (or Flam) asked.

Sunset eyed Trixie for a few seconds and then at the brothers. "I can't talk for her, I barely know her." She said, earning a surprised gaze from Trixie. "You two should decide…" She paused for a moment and when she spoke again, her voice was serious. "But the last time this happened, it turned out pretty good, right?"

Trixie looked suspiciously at Sunset and then at the brothers, and then at Sunset again. There was something going on between them, like a silent understanding, as if they were having an argument only with their glances. After what seemed like an eternity, the twins stepped back and started to whisper to each other.

"What's going on?" Trixie asked, not looking away from the comically arguing brothers. "Is there something I should know?"

Sunset smirked a little, but not at Trixie, perhaps at the situation itself. "Nothing important, but I think you'll get your props."

Trixie was about to ask something, but the brothers came to her field of view. "Why don't you show us what are you good at?" Flim, assuming it was Flim, asked.

"Show us a magic trick!" Flam, or perhaps Flim, said loudly.

"Right here, right now!"

"And if we like it, we'll help you!"

Trixie snorted and crossed her arms. "Yeah, this is the second time today people ask me to do magic without any kind of prior preparation…" She said, but instead of an angry look, she smiled at them and popped her neck. "Not that I complain, of course. Because the Great and Powerful Trixie is always prepared for a public performance!" She announced as she produced a deck of cards out of the left pocket of her hoodie.

Of course she took a full minute to show her expertise in shuffling cards. She just loved the look in the audience's eyes when she made the cards jump from hand to hand, spinning restlessly in midair. It always reminded her that it was totally worth all the time she spent practicing. Sadly, she couldn't just keep doing it forever, or else the audience might get bored. She had to move to the next step of the magic trick.

She cut the deck in half and separated one half about an inch above the other half. "Now, Flim or Flam, one of you tell me to stop whenever you want." She said, and when they nodded, she started to let the cards fall to the stack below.

"Stop." The brothers said, and Trixie immediately interrupted the fall of the cards. She took the last one that fell and, without seeing it, she passed it to Flam. Well, maybe it was Flim. "Look at your card, remember it. Now, put it on top of the deck, please." They did as told, and Trixie started to shuffle the deck once again. "You know, people sometimes want to put you down just for the sake of it. And sometimes, your luck just doesn't like you. So, what do you do?" She said, ending the shuffle and just turning the deck in her hands. "I'll tell you what you do. You put all your negative feelings together, and before they explode… Kick them."

And as she said those last two words, she let the deck fall, and with all her strength, she kicked the deck at the exit's direction. When all the cards finished falling and spreading everywhere, the twins noticed that one of them was face down on the glass. "Only that way, you'll only see what's really important." Trixie said, moving her hand to tell the brothers go for their card. Flim took the card and looked at it. He frowned and showed the card to Trixie.

"This isn't our card!"

But against all odds, Trixie's smile only grew. "Ah, sometimes, there will be things that won't let us reach our goals."

"Brother…" Flam said, touching his brother's shoulder. Flim turned around to see the same place where he took the card from. His eyes widened in surprise as his brother's. Their card, the seven of diamonds, was right there, stuck in the window. Only that the card was at the other side of the glass.

Sunset didn't realize that she had her mouth open until she wanted to speak. "When did you do that? I was with you the whole time, you shouldn't have had enough time to do that!"

Trixie hummed with a satisfied smile. "Oh, dear Sunset. A good magician can do many things without others noticing. I can set up almost any trick almost anywhere, and people won't ever see anything."

Flim scratched the back of his head while Flam played idly with his moustache. "Well, we've seen that trick a lot, we know how it works." Flim said.

"But, the fact that you prepared the trick even before we asked you to do it, says a lot about your capability of anticipation." Flam praised a little, just a little. He didn't want them to notice.

"So, I take it you're going to help me with no funny business." Trixie said. She obviously noticed the praise.

"Hmm I don't know…" Flam scratched his chin. "What do you say, brother?"

"It can be beneficial or prejudicial. As she said, we don't know her."

"So how do we decide? We throw a coin?" Trixie raised an eyebrow.

"No, that's not very professional, brother. I think we should ask the opinion of our official counselor."

"Agreed."

The brothers then turned to look at Sunset, who only rolled her eyes. "In other words, you want me to make the decision." The twins nodded, and she forced a sigh. "Well, I say to give her one chance to prove herself. If she's not good even with the props, then we don't help her, but if she's good, we can start making serious deals."

"Very smart and beautiful, that's our Sunset!" Flim said as Flam nodded in agreement.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"So, what's your name?" Trixie decided that the one with the moustache was Flam.

"Trixie Lulamoon."

"I suppose Sunset already told you who we are, but just for the sake of introductions…" Flim started, and Trixie already knew that Flam was going to be the next one to speak.

"He's Flim!"

"He's Flam!"

"And we are the Flim Flam brothers!" They announced at the same time.

"So, what exactly do you need?" Flim asked.

Trixie leaned back a little and smiled. "Oh, for now I just need very few things."

The sky was still a little gray. But there were a few holes here and there, announcing the end of the rain. A gentle breeze made Sunset's hair to move against her face for a couple of seconds. She slowly inhaled through her nose, smelling the unmistakable scent of fall. Sadly, it wasn't exactly the same smell she liked, but a gross amalgam of various gases, result of human technology. It took her a whole year to assimilate how these humans were able to create so many amazing things to make their lives tons of times more comfortable every year, and at the same time, to destroy their beautiful environment, and transform it into depressing, lifelessly colored cities.

If she was to stay in this world for another two and a half years, and this time she didn't have evil plans to focus on, at the very least, she'd like to visit some of the last beautiful places left in the planet. Jungles, deserts, forests, lakes, the poles; anything that hasn't been tainted with human technology. For what she saw in the T.V., those places looked like Equestria sans magic.

"Flim and Flam sure have anything in there." Trixie called from behind, exiting the pawn shop. She was carrying a rather big box with both hands. "They had everything I needed."

"One week." Sunset said without seeing her. When Trixie didn't answer, she turned her head and glared directly at her eyes. "In one week you have to perform and show us the best of your 'magical abilities'." She crossed her arms and rubbed the cold out of her biceps.

Trixie leaned her head a little to her left and offered a weak smile. "I will. I've been training restlessly, now that I finally got the opportunity, I will take it. And I will show you just what I'm capable of."

Sunset snorted. "It's not me who you have to impress, but the brothers." She eyed the poorly closed box, spying what seemed like rope. "Since I'll see how you use the things you got from them, I'm not going to be impressed at your performance."

"You say that now." Sunset raised an eyebrow and frowned a little. "The final magic trick I'll make at the show, it's something of my creation. It started as a silly little girl's fantasy, but as I grew up, I learned that with the help of this handy thing called math, I can do it. And I will do it." In that moment, Sunset could see that Trixie's eyes were filled with determination. "Now that I have the proper tools, a week is all I need. And it doesn't matter if you know how it works, because when you see it on stage, you will be impressed."

Sunset hummed and gave a faint smile. "Well then, what are you going to do now?"

"Do you think Principal Celestia is in the school?"

"She is." Sunset answered. "She, her sister and half the teachers are already there. Why?"

Trixie shifted the weight of the box on her arms. "I want to ask her if I can use the gym. I know she's keen of this kind of things. That way I don't have to lose time searching for a place to perform."

Sunset nodded. "Then let's go. We still have three hours of sunlight." And without waiting for an answer, Sunset started to walk. Fortunately, Canterlot High was just a couple of blocks away.

"Do you really have to come with me?" Trixie asked, seemingly not noticing the weight of the box.

"Yes." And not another word left her mouth. Trixie decided not to ask again. It was obvious that Sunset wanted to make sure the props were in perfect condition just in case, so the brothers wouldn't get mad at her.

That, or Sunset enjoyed her company.

Well, everyone enjoyed Trixie's company, of course.

The girls walked in silence for a few minutes until they finally got to Canterlot High. Sunset decided to wait outside while Trixie entered to ask Principal Celestia for permission to use the gym.

Sunset trotted to the portal and leaned on it. A breeze met her hair, forcing her to close her eyes in instinct. She heard the annoying noise of cars passing by endlessly. Embracing herself, she decided to concentrate on not hearing anything. The hustle of the street, the birds chirping above the statue, and her own thoughts; everything went silent. She sighed, brushing off the tension on her shoulders. Interestingly enough, it was way easier than ever before.

She felt a warm sensation in her back, like a thick blanket in a cold day. She hung her head to let the wind caress her hair. She could smell the grass below and the pollen being carried from the east. She could hear, far, far away, an unmistakably sound, one that she was so used to since the very day she was born. It was clop. It was the clop of adults and children, getting louder every second. And as the sound got closer, she heard the sound of laugh, of chattering. She heard the occasional beam of energy, a flap of a wing.

She frowned as much as she could when the smell of the grass and flowers got stronger. She could smell the trunk and leaves of the trees; the smell of the rocks in the paths; the smell of the concrete of the castle's walls.

She smiled. She was in Canterlot. She was in Equestria.

Sunset could feel herself standing on four hooves. She could feel her tail twitching slightly at the pass of wind. She could feel her horn, ready to cast any spell she could think of. Sigh… Home, sweet home. She thought.

There was a big oak-tree at the biggest park in Canterlot in which Sunset always loved to lie down and read something. She was leaning on the trunk, with its surface occasionally scratching her flank. A book was in front of her, she didn't know what it was about, because she wasn't reading. She was just enjoying herself, breathing slowly and calmly.

"… et…"

A distant echo threatened to interrupt her peaceful moment. Sunset just ignored it and returned to her reading. "…unset…" She frowned and pressed herself a little more against the trunk, but she noticed that it was somewhat cold and shallow. She raised her hand to her back and touched the surface.

"Hey, Sunset!"

She opened her eyes.

Suddenly, her daydream of Equestria faded into a sad image of Canterlot High. Trixie was in front of her with a proud grin. "Principal Celestia agreed to my magic show. I will perform next Monday!"

Sunset growled. "Yaaaaay see you tomorrow." She said plainly and turned to her left. She absentmindedly put a hand on the surface of the portal and stared at it, as if waiting for it to start glowing and let her return home. She sighed and started to walk home, ignoring whatever Trixie was complaining about.

"Are you really, really sure about it, Pinks?" Rainbow asked for the umpteenth time. And Pinkie only nodded with a big smile.

"How do ya even know that?" Applejack asked, playing idly with an empty bottle of apple fizzy cider.

"It's my job to know that kind of things, silly!" Pinkie answered, patting gently Applejack's hat. "'Sides, Principal Celestia told me to tell you."

Rarity shifted in her chair. "Perhaps she wants us to avoid confusion amongst the students?"

"Or maybe she wants us to make sure Sunset won't try to do anything bad." Rainbow said, crossing her arms and balancing her body in the chair.

"But Sunset changed, right?"

Rainbow snorted. "Come on, Flutters, people don't change that fast."

"Not with that attitude, gurl!" Pinkie said, making Rainbow frown.

"I do believe Sunset changed." Rarity intervened. "You should give her a chance to prove herself, Rainbow Dash."

"Hmph!"

"Anyway, what're we gonna do 'bout this?" Applejack looked at her faded reflection in the bottle. "It can't be just a coincidence."

"I don't know." Rarity slowly scratched her chin. "It's a complicated situation."

"But, we can just explain everything, right?" Pinkie asked.

"Darling, please, I still don't believe at all what happened a week ago and you pretend to tell it to a new student?"

"Yup!"

Rarity groaned and Applejack laughed. "Fine, but when she takes you like freaks, I will come with a more subtle, realistic explanation."

Author's Notes:

So school is very demanding.

Did I mention I need an editor? Maybe I should mention it now. Three people already abandoned me =/

7. Behind the Scenes and Bloopers

Chapter 7. Behind the Scenes and Bloopers.

Sunset woke up in the darkness at the sound of her alarm clock. She instinctively slapped the little machine with her left hand, effectively shutting it off. A sigh escaped her lips, as she put her arm on her forehead and stared at the ceiling. It had been another dreamless night. Ever since the Fall Formal, she hadn't dreamed. She would close her eyes at night, and almost immediately wake up in the morning, with nothing but a black screen on her mind.

And for some reason, that didn't seem to help her get enough rest.

She sat up and brushed the tiredness out of her eyes. At least she wasn't having nightmares that would ultimately force her to redeem herself in order to stop them. She could survive with black screens, not that she remembered any dream after the first seconds of being awake anyway.

She scratched idly the back of her head and made her usual morning routine: Have breakfast, brush teeth, change clothes, admire her astounding and natural beauty in a mirror, and go to CHS.

Sunset lived fairly far from the high school; she needed to walk ten minutes to a bus stop, travel about forty minutes in the bus, and then other twenty minutes of slow walk to the school grounds. And even so, she usually got pretty early, about half an hour before classes begun, which gave her a really good amount of time to study or prepare her blackmails of the day. Only that now, she just wanted to use that time to sit next to the statue and lean on its surface.

For some reason, she was very comfortable there. Perhaps it was because that was the closest she could get to Equestria.

She let out a long sigh and watched the sky change its last dark blue hues to a bright, light blue as the sun raised above the horizon. That was other thing she had problems getting used to in the human world: The sun and moon moving on their own. But she had learned to just ignore it. She rested her arms crossed on her knees, and then her forehead on her arms. Maybe she could make a research work of this alternate world and become the most renowned researcher slash scientist in pony history. She closed her eyes and smiled.

As time passed, she could hear more and more students chatting and walking to the school. At first, it was aahs and oohs at the entrance being completely repaired. But then, she started to hear muttering as they begun to notice her. She couldn't quite understand what they were saying, but she could imagine.

She opened her eyes and in a smooth movement stood up. Suddenly, about fifty students that were staring at her turned around and continued to enter the school. Sunset raised an eyebrow. So the silent treatment huh. How childish. And with that, she walked to the school.

She eyed the big wall clock in the hall and smiled. She still had ten full minutes to get to her first class.

But, after only a few steps, she started to feel uneasy. The students were getting away from her, that alone shouldn't be something different, but unlike when she ruled the school, when they were afraid of her, this time around they weren't afraid, they were mad at her. Breathing slowly, Sunset tried to just ignore them, but the halls were strangely cold as she felt more and more stares upon her. Stares like daggers, trying to dig holes in her, to make her disappear.

She focused on her peripheral vision, and could easily see the students with big frowns, still muttering amongst themselves, staring at her, always staring. She suddenly felt really cold, and cursed herself for not bringing one of her many jackets. She embraced herself and rubbed her hands against her biceps. And that's when she started to hear them.

"She's a monster."

"Bitch."

"Why isn't she in prison?"

"Principal Celestia must pity her. I know I do."

They weren't speaking loudly, in fact, they were trying not to be heard by Sunset, but she could hear them very clearly, and every word felt like a stab in her heart.

"She's got guts to return here."

"I bet she thinks she can threaten us again. How stupid."

"I'd like to break that pretty face of hers."

"Do it, no one will stop you."

Sunset lowered her head and scrunched her nose as the corner of her lips started to shiver. What was happening? She never had cared of what others said of her. Why it was now affecting her so suddenly? She tried to keep her slow breathing, to remain calm, to hide her emotions. But, for some reason, it was getting really hard to do it.

"She's a monster."

"Monster."

"Monster."

"Monster."

"Monster…" Sunset said under her breath. She had reached her locker when the word finally sunk in. And before she could try to dismiss the thought, she noticed that there was something written with black, thick marker on her locker door. It was a single word: Monster.

Her hand started to shiver, losing its hold on the padlock. "Monster…" She repeated, and tears started to form on the corner of her eyes. Why was it affecting her so much? Everyone had hated her since the day she decided to rule the school, what was different now? Why? Was it because of the Elements? They had to have something to do with this. Those damned Elements! And that damned Twilight Sparkle!

"Hey Sunset, you ok?"

Sunset turned her head so fast that she could hear a pop coming from her neck. Trixie was in front of her, and she looked genuinely concerned. "Ah… Uh… Yes…" She answered, rubbing her nose and frowning a little. "I think I'm getting sick. 'S all." She even faked a nasal sound. Somehow, her acting helped her calm herself, if just a little. "What do you want?"

Fortunately, Trixie seemed to buy it. "Nothing, I just saw you and thought to say hi, you know, 'cause we're working together."

"Technically," Sunset said, raising a finger. "You are working for me, not with me."

Trixie offered a mocking grin. "I'm working for the brothers, not for you."

Sunset rolled her eyes, opening her locker to retrieve a notebook and a pen. "Whatever." she slammed the door and turned to her left, walking past Trixie. "See you after class."

Trixie tried to stop her, but Sunset was already gone. "That was… weird…" She said to herself. The sound of muttering came to her ears, and she turned her head, only to see the students incredibly failing to hide the fact that they had been staring at her. Trixie felt uneasy, but decided to ignore them. She shrugged and turned around, but before she started to walk to her own class, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. It was Sunset's locker, and the word written on it. Trixie frowned. "Ah, I see…"

Classes were uneventful, thankfully. Even if all her classmates tried to throw daggers at her with their gazes only, Sunset could easily find shelter within her mind, just focusing on the class itself. The few teachers that actually turned to look at her were very confused, as if trying to believe that the events of the Fall Formal were just a really weird dream. Not that Sunset complained, of course.

As the bell rang and the halls were filled up with noisy students, Sunset made her way to her locker, trying her best to go unnoticed. Half the time she was successful; there was at least one good thing of not bringing her usual black jacket; many students had troubles recognizing her. The other half though, she had troubles ignoring the stares and the whispers. The death wishes.

A heavy sigh escaped her mouth when she reached her locker, unsurprisingly, there were more insults written on it. She didn't even know the meaning of half of them, or at least, not entirely. She opened it and put in her stuff. She paused a moment to look at the notes that covered the walls within. All of them reminding her of people to blackmail, people to threaten, people that was easy to let out some frustration with, amongst other things. She quietly took them one by one, slowly stacking them between her fingers. Once she was done, she tucked the notes into one of her pockets, deciding to get rid of them later.

She stepped back and closed her locker. She had to put a hand on her mouth to suppress a scream, but she let out a loud gasp nonetheless when she saw her ex-boyfriend standing mere inches away from her, staring at her eyes with a big frown. "Damn it, Flash!" She yelled, pushing him backwards a few inches. "You almost scared me to death!" She put a hand on her chest and sighed, and then she looked at him with a small grin and a really big frown. "You've been waiting all your life to do that, haven't you?"

Flash shrugged and offered her a nonchalant smile. "You know me, I love movie clichés."

Sunset passed a hand over her hair and sighed again. "Alright, what do you want?"

"I've been searching for Twilight and-"

"Ok, stop right there." Sunset held a hand in front of Flash to effectively silence him. "I don't know if you noticed, but…" She turned her head to look at her locker door, and Flash looked too. "I'm CHS' brand new men-eating monster." That last word came out more as a whisper than anything. And for a moment, Sunset hesitated to continue. But she pressed her lips and looked at Flash again. "I don't know where your new girlfriend is, and even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you." She decided to lie, partly because there were students around and she didn't want them to think she was crazy, and partly because she liked that sad expression on Flash.

Flash sighed and looked away for a moment. "You too like movie clichés."

"Heh…" Sunset quickly scratched her nose. "You're not going to warm my heart with namby-pamby talking, y'know." She stepped back a little. "Listen, Twilight is gone, and for good. So you better forget her and stop bothering me with that." And without waiting for him to answer, she turned around and quietly disappeared around a corner.

Sunset made her way through the very pissed off students and to the gym. She pushed open the door and closed it behind her. "What the…" She muttered as she saw what Trixie had built there.

There was a metallic structure in the ceiling made of what seemed like rails, its shape reminded Sunset to one of those interconnected highways the humans did. It was like a gray clover. One of its sides was longer, going all the way to the stage where Trixie was, using a ladder to reach it. "What is this? Some kind of illusion with lights?"

Trixie chuckled a little but said nothing. She was doing something up there, but Sunset couldn't quite see what exactly. When Trixie finished, or at least it seemed like she finished, she leaned back a little, and a rope fell free all the way down, just an inch away from the platform. At the end of the rope, there was a stirrup. Or at least it looked like a stirrup. "You must know something, Sunset." Trixie said, getting down the ladder. "There are illusions that require a hell lot more things than others. This one," She motioned to the weird structure in the ceiling. "Requires distraction, light playing, sound playing, and a certain level of fascination on the audience's part to work."

"So I take it this is your master piece?" Trixie nodded. "How's it work?"

Trixie took the ladder and put it in a far corner, where she had more of her props stacked upon each other. She moved some of them and retrieved a big roll of paper. "Take a look at this." She handled it to Sunset. "I know you're quite good at math. So I figured you'd understand better the plans than an explanation."

Sunset unfolded the plans and read the equations. She took a few minutes to read it carefully. To her surprise, it was very simple, yet at the same time, it was really impressive what Trixie had done. "You sure it's gonna work?" She asked, unable to hide a spark of genuine interest.

"I know it will work." Trixie said, walking past Sunset and getting to the center of the gym. "The space isn't really big, so I had to ah, remake the plans quite a few times last night." She scratched idly one of her hands before rising it and pointing to the right wall. "I'll need you to put the dry ice there…" She turned around and pointed to the left wall. "…And there. The key phrase is 'my last illusion'."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? When did I become your assistant?"

"Don't play shy with me, Sunset." Trixie teased with a smirk. "You are dying to be my pretty assistant."

Sunset let out a very loud chuckle and offered a big smile to Trixie. "Don't get your hopes so high, little filly." She said, and almost instantly shut her mouth. What did I just say?!

"Filly?" Trixie asked with a chuckle of her own. "You sure have a funny way to talk, when you're not giving orders." She said and snatched the plans from Sunset's hands. "Come, we've got a lot to do to prepare the show." And with that, she walked to the scenario.

"Sure…" Sunset said and slowly followed her. And here I thought I got rid of the pony argot… That was so close. Good thing she thought it was a joke. She cleared her throat as she approached the rope. "Ok, show me how it works."

"Right…" Trixie muttered to herself, passing her right foot through the stirrup, she held the rope tight to make it easy. "So, the rope is just for testing and practice," She said, pulling it a few times to check its resistance. "In the show I'll use another material so it's virtually invisible unless you search for it." She giggled a little and looked at Sunset. "Though even so, it'll be hard to be spotted due to the lights and dry ice."

Sunset crossed her arms and just waited for Trixie to continue. "This here is the remote control for the mechanism." She said, showing a weird array of metallic wires connected from the tip of the fingers of her left hand to some kind of rectangular device attached to her wrist. "I just need to move my fingers the right way, the wires pull or push the small levers here…" She slowly moved down her index finger, and as she did so, the rope started to move upwards, and with it, Trixie elevated at least 3 feet. "And I'm magically flying!"

"Like a bird." Sunset teased with a bored expression.

Trixie crossed her free leg on the other and crossed her arms in front of her, offering a big frown. At that, Sunset actually had to step back a little and lean her head. And after a few seconds, Sunset finally realized what Trixie was doing.

Using only the strength of her right leg, and an incredible balance, Trixie was maintaining herself in the air without even holding from the rope. And if Sunset used her imagination and erased the obvious rope going all the way behind Trixie and to the ceiling, it actually looked like Trixie was levitating. She hesitantly pointed a finger to the magician and soundlessly moved her mouth until a word finally made its way out. "How?" Was the only thing she could say.

Trixie produced a very proud and satisfied smile from ear to ear. The trick wasn't even half way complete, Sunset knew how it worked, and even so, she was amazed. Yes, that was exactly the reason she had always wanted to be a magician. "Practice, my dear. Practice, and being sent to artistic gymnastics classes."

She decided to wait until Sunset stopped gaping to start her real practice. Trying not to move her arms, she started to play slowly with the mechanism in her hand. The rope started to move to the center of the rail, taking Trixie to the middle of the gym. Sunset followed her with her gaze, noticing how Trixie was still crossing arms and legs. "You know," She started to say, turning slowly to Sunset. "When my parents enrolled me to gymnastics, it was an attempt to make me forget about the 'magic nonsense'." She chuckled. "Little did they know it'd only help me develop this one magic trick."

"Your parents sound like idiots."

"I understand them." Trixie said, returning to the scenario. "But that doesn’t mean I'll abandon my dream just because they don't agree." She carefully moved her fingers to control the rope while talking, until she could safely jump down to the platform. She then used her other hand to click a small button to turn the thing off. "Come," she sighed a little, but almost instantly she put up a happy face. "I'll tell you how things are done here. If you are to be the best assistant, you might wanna learn from the best magician."

Sunset snorted with a small laugh and rolled her eyes. "And I am full of myself."

"Pfft, what fun there is in being humble? People will hate you anyways."

"Isn't your goal to be loved instead of hated?" Sunset asked with genuine surprise. "Or am I missing something important in the magical world of magic?"

Trixie moved her index to the sides in negative response. "My goal is to amaze everyone. I don't care if they hate me or love me, I don't care if they believe in magic or not; all I care about is them to be awed by my illusions. I only want to see that spark of fascination in their eyes. I want to hear the silence in the audience when the illusion sinks in; the following gasp when they collectively react, and finally, the applause and praise." She said, and she kept smiling to herself all the time she was talking. "That is what really matters to me, nothing else."

There was a moment of silence as the girls looked at each other. For a few, brief seconds, nothing happened, but it quickly became a little unsettling to Sunset, who decided to say something before it started to creep her out. "Yeah," She cleared her throat. "That sounds pretty good. So, what am I supposed to do? Pretend to be cut in half?"

"Don't be silly," Trixie said with a chuckle. "Everyone knows how that one works." She walked to the pile of things and produced a small piece of paper, and then handing it to Sunset. "Here's the list of all the things we're doing."

Sunset took it and carefully read it. It was a rather long list, and she had to raise her eyebrow many times. When she finished, she just gave Trixie a serious look. "I don't recognize half the things written here, and I don't know how the other half work."

Trixie crossed her arms and produced a face Sunset couldn't quite understand. "We've got a whole week. What, are you telling me you can't do it?"

Putting a hand on her hip and leaning her body, Sunset gave Trixie a look of disbelief. "Do you really think a cheap trick like that will work on me? I only stated a fact. I never said I couldn't do it."

"You didn't say the contrary." Trixie teased with a big grin.

Sunset shortened the space between them in an instant and stared directly at Trixie's eyes with a big frown. From this distance, she noticed that she was just a little bit taller than the magician. "I can learn anything in that list by the end of the week, twice."

Trixie, on her part, kept smiling deviously. She leaned her head to the side, easily fighting Sunset's dominant presence with her own strong gaze. "Prove it." She challenged, and was quickly answered by a short, yet audible snicker.

Both girls kept staring at each other, trying to bring the other down, to dominate the battle of looks. And it was quickly becoming an intense war where the two teams were equally strong. None of them were holding back, nor were they anywhere near to give up. Their eyes started to tremble as their will swords collided once, and sparks ignited from the impact, but not once did they blink, for it'd be a sign of weakness, and therefore, their doom.

There was a knock at the gym door, but went unnoticed. The epic war of stares trading was at its most bloody moment, and even the slightest flinch would signify the end of one of them. The door opened, and for a moment, there was just silence. As the seconds passed, the silence grew more and more unsettling. Both girls knew that there was someone watching them, they could feel their presence, but neither of them dared to try using their peripheral vision, for it'd weaken the force they were putting into their glares.

"So…"

Pinkie Pie?! Sunset thought, and had to grind her teeth to maintain her stare. What is she doing here? No, I don't care, I will just ignore her.

"Are you girls gonna kiss or what?"

At that, Sunset started to choke for a few seconds. Her pupils shrank and her cheeks turned into a bright red, almost the color of her hair. She blinked twice and quickly turned her head to Pinkie, who was innocently smiling at her. She let out a silent gasp and moved her mouth a few times before remembering she could actually speak. But she couldn't say anything, for she was distracted by Trixie, who suddenly raised her arms, pointing to the ceiling. "Yes! I win!"

"Wha-No!" Sunset frowned at Pinkie, and then turned at Trixie. "She distracted me!"

"I can't hear yooouu!" Trixie said in a singing voice while walking away to the gym's entrance. "Gotta get something, I'll be back in a couple of minutes!"

Sunset growled, and the red of her cheeks were now of frustration and anger. "Pinkie Pie!" She yelled and turned at the pink girl with the biggest frown she could make. "What the heck was that?!"

Pinkie casually put a finger on her lips and hummed a little before looking at Sunset again. "You totally lost a stare match."

"I WILL END YOU!" Sunset yelled and charged at Pinkie, she wanted to tackle her, but her vision was filled by a black screen, making her lose her balance and ultimately fall flatly on the floor. "What is this?" She said, noticing that the black screen was actually a piece of cloth.

"A gift!" Pinkie answered happily.

Sunset actually had to stop for a second and feel the touch of the cloth. She knew that feel, she knew it very well. "Is it…" She muttered, and finally decided to take it off her head and take a look.

It was a black leather jacket.

Not only that, it was the most badass-looking black leather jacket she had ever seen. She quickly stood up and in a moment she was already wearing it. "This is…" Apparently, she was unable to say more than two words at a time. But she didn't care. Rarity wasn't lying when she said she understood her lack of fashion sense. "So awesome…" She whispered.

Pinkie entered her field of view and offered her a big grin. "Rarity had to go to work today, so she asked me to find you and give you this."

Sunset embraced herself and turned around, trying her best to hide a small blush from Pinkie. "Thanks." She said, walking to the edge of the scenario. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem!" Pinkie beamed. "Say, wanna hang out with us this weekend? We're going to watch Dashie at her soccer tournament."

A groan escaped Sunset's mouth as she sat down on the platform's edge. "I can't. I'm busy this whole week."

"Helping Trixie with her magic show?"

"What?" Sunset turned her head with a confused gaze. "How do you know about that?"

Pinkie snickered and put a hand on her hip. "It's my job to know that kind of things, silly! Besides, I'm making publicity for it."

"Right." It was easy to forget that Pinkie was actually an incredibly responsible person when it came to parties and shows and the like, and that was the reason why she was always in charge of them. Perhaps Trixie did tell her so it'd be easier for Flim and Flam to enter the school.

"How about next Tuesday?" Pinkie asked after but a moment of silence. "We're going hiking at AJ's farm."

Sunset forced a heavy sigh and dropped her shoulders, showing a defeated posture. "You're not going to stop inviting me to stuff until I accept, right?"

"Mmhm."

Will this torture ever end? Sunset thought before letting out yet another sigh. "Fine, I'll go hiking with ya."

"Yaaaay!" Pinkie yelled excitedly. "I'm gonna tell them! They'll be sooo happy!" She said while bouncing to the gym's door and disappearing from Sunset's view.

"Just what am I getting into?" Sunset muttered to herself, unsure if befriending those girls would actually be beneficial for her. She idly rubbed her new jacket's right sleeve with two fingers. "At least Rarity's being nice, and even though I hate to admit it, Pinkie's obliviousness to my wrongdoings is nice too." She sighed and looked at the ceiling, observing distantly Trixie's mechanism. A warm sensation started to build up in her chest, and she couldn't help but close her eyes for a moment.

Perhaps it wasn't so bad not to be alone.

Author's Notes:

So Rainbow Rocks is about to come out! I wonder how many things can I put into this fic...

8. Nightmare Sunset

Chapter 8. Nightmare Sunset.

Sunset and Trixie spent the next couple of hours practicing and planning the show. The more time that passed, the more convinced Sunset got that Trixie was actually pretty good at it. And quite a few times she got really impressed by the most mundane tricks, and the only reason of that was that she didn't know how they worked. It was until the sun started to hide down the horizon and produced long and thick shadows, that the girls realized just how late it was.

"Well, I think it's time to go home." Trixie announced, watching at the small windows and their rather pretty yellow and red hues.

Sunset looked at Trixie and narrowed her eyes. "Is it that late already?" She said in a very bored tone and idly scratched the back of her neck, sighing a little. "At least isn't dark yet."

"Why? Afraid of the dark?" Trixie teased.

"Hah, you wish." Sunset said with a dismissing movement of her hand. She then stretched her arms in front of her. "See you tomorrow." She said and started to walk to the gym's door.

"Wait." Trixie said, and Sunset obliged. For a moment they just stood there for a moment, and Sunset quickly became very impatient, tapping the floor with her right foot. Trixie looked away with a small frown. After a few seconds, she looked at Sunset again and shrugged. "I forgot. See you."

Sunset rolled her eyes and reassumed her walking home. "Weirdo." She said in a whisper.

The next day came faster than expected. Mostly because Sunset didn't have anything else to do, so she just got home to eat something, take a shower and go to sleep. And after another dreamless night, she woke up and got ready for her second day as a prisoner in this world.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

She wasn't a prisoner in the literal meaning of the word, but she felt like it, since she wasn't able to do anything she wanted to. Like do magic, for example, which was a part of her since the very day she levitated something for the first time. Nor could she eat flowers or hay, since her human mouth and stomach wouldn't ever allow her. And she had tried. Twice.

And now, prisoner Shimmer had to go to the prison within her prison world. Where the other not-really-prisoners wanted to hurt her but wouldn't ever dare to do it, because she still knew everything about everyone. "And thinking about it…" Sunset took her skirt and searched in one of the hidden pockets, quickly finding the small stack of notes she retrieved from her locker. Notes she had written to keep track of her wrongdoings and other stuff she wasn't interested in anymore.

She let out a heavy sigh, more out of guilt than anything. She took a small bucket she didn't even know why she had, and tossed the stack of notes into it. "Time to get rid of these." She said and produced a lighter from a nearby shelf. She took one of the notes and set it alight. And without hesitation, she dropped the burning paper into the trashcan, and the fire spread really fast.

Another heavy sigh escaped her mouth as the flames consumed the paper and ink. She waited until the fire didn't have any more to burn; until only ashes remained. And when the fire finally disappeared, she frowned. "This was supposed to make feel better…" She said and waited a few seconds, looking at the bucket, as if waiting for it to answer. When that didn't happen, her frown deepened and she pressed her fists so much that her knuckles started to turn white. A sob escaped her, and without even thinking, she kicked the bucket, spreading the ashes everywhere.

"How disappointing…" She said and sat down on the floor, leaning on a wall. She decided to take a fetal position and bury her head in her arms. "Why it doesn't make me feel any better?" She said as tears formed in her eyes and quickly made their way down her cheeks.

Sunset stood there for the longest time, crying in silence. Only crying.

The sky was completely cleared, not a single cloud could be seen. The sun was shining brighter than it had the past months. Birds were chirping, street dogs were playing and barking, and cats were meowing or sleeping. And Sunset was cursing everything for being so happy and colorful. Of course, the universe didn't care if she was sad or depressed or angry or tired, and that just made her curse the universe a lot more.

She made her way to the high school trying to ignore the universe, which just happened to be a really difficult task.

But before she entered, she realized that she lost a lot of time burning those notes and crying. "Ruminating." She corrected herself out loud. It was late, like, first class missed late. And she thought she'd get a nervous twitch in her eyes or something, since it was the first time in her entire life that she was late to anything. But for some reason, she just couldn't care less. She just stood there, in front of the school, with her new favorite place behind her. She knew that she was very, very late, but she just didn't care.

She sighed -it seemed that sighing was becoming a very recurrent habit- and decided to enter the school nonetheless. She still had a punishment to bear. Though, thinking about it, the day before she wasn't called for detention. Sunset found that very weird, but decided to shrug it off and not ask questions.

There were a few students here and there. Sunset instinctively embraced herself, rubbing her fingers in her new jacket's sleeves. She walked past a small group of students. Even though she knew, it was still a surprise that there was a member of the football team talking so friendly with a nerd. Sunset tried her best to go unnoticed, but failed miserably. They noticed her, and she prepared herself for the insults and stares. But she heard nothing. Perhaps they were tired of insulting her behind her back.

She got to her locker pretty quickly and oh surprise, more insults. She just rolled her eyes and opened it to take a notebook. This time, she was more aware of her surroundings, and she could hear the students in the hall. They were whispering about her, she knew because she could hear her name between lines. She slammed closed the door, deciding that this time she'd be able to ignore them.

Only this time, they weren't trying to kill her with her gazes. She didn't even need to use her peripheral vision, since even in front of her, they were looking at her, but they were smiling. And not the friendly kind of smiles, but devious ones. Those were smiles of children after they set up a prank, and were waiting for their victim to fall in it.

It was unsettling, to say the least. Sunset knew it; she could actually feel that something bad was going to happen to her, that she'd be humiliated by the students. She was absolutely certain that whatever they had planned, it was going to be so big, that their ulterior motive might as well be to see her crying again. As if the events of the Fall Formal hadn't been humiliation enough. She sighed once more and shrugged. If it had to happen, then by the heavens, she'd do absolutely nothing to stop it.

Not that she wanted it to happen, she'd rather not. But if the students got their revenge, maybe they'd stop insulting her. It wasn't like she was going to spend the rest of her life in that world anyways, for she was going to return to Equestria at the very first chance she'd get. So what was a little humiliation? She still had a bright future, there were tons of things she could do to ensure herself a nice and wealthy life.

With that in mind, she decided to hold up her chin and walk as if she still ruled the school. And obviously, the more confident she seemed to be, the bigger the students' smiles grew. Of course it was totally her plan to fall the roughest, for it'd mean that she was a really important person.

And like that, it was lunch time already.

In the few classes she had, all her classmates had been staring at her with devious smiles. They were so obvious that Sunset started to feel uneasy. She wondered just how many students were involved in this something they had prepared for her. And what if it was the whole school? And what if they uploaded it to internet? She still had the promise of returning to Equestria, and no one was able to take that from her.

She was just getting out of the classroom when Trixie called her from behind. "Hello hothead."

"I'm pretty sure you meant to say 'hot stuff'." Sunset replied with a teasing smile.

Trixie chuckled a little. "In your dreams."

Sunset and Trixie started to walk at the side of the other in the direction of the cafeteria. "So, are you gonna tell me how did you do that with the coin?"

Trixie passed a hand over her head to push back the restless hairs that always wanted to be in her face. "It's not complicated, you only have to practice."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

The girls entered the cafeteria and quickly made their ways to the queue. "All in due time, Sunset. We have to focus on your roles first, so everything goes right."

Sunset rolled her eyes and sighed in disappointment. "Fine."

"Aww you really want to be my assistant!" Trixie teased, unable to hide her amused smile. "Maybe I should actually teach you a trick or two just for your enthusiasm!"

"Shut up."

Trixie let out a loud chuckle as she took her food and Sunset followed her shortly after. Trixie was going to her favorite table when she suddenly stopped, making Sunset almost trip and fall. "Hey, you almost made me drop my food!" Sunset yelled, but Trixie looked at her with a concerned frown. "What?"

"Can't you notice that everyone is watching us?"

Sunset turned to see the cafeteria, and true to Trixie's words, everyone was staring at them. No, they were staring at her, at Sunset. And their gazes were of different emotions. Some were really confused, some were really mad, and some others still had those devious smiles. Sunset felt really nervous, but did her best to hide it. She walked to the only empty table and placed her tray on it.

But, before she could decide to sit down, Rainbow Dash came walking really fast and stopped until she was uncomfortably near her. "What did you do?!" She yelled, and Sunset had to turn her head a little to the side, closing a little her right eye.

Rainbow Dash was really angry. Perhaps she's in one of those days. Sunset thought and smiled to herself. Rainbow was really trying to dig a hole in her, and it quickly became annoying. Sunset decided to have some fun out of the situation. "I've done many things in my life. You need to be more specific." She said with dismissing tone in her voice.

But Rainbow grabbed her from her jacket and brought her closer. "Don't play dumb with me, Sunset!"

"You repeat yourself." Sunset said calmly, but with a clear warning tone in her voice. "Now, would you mind stop ruining my jacket and ask things like the adult you always pretend to be?"

Rainbow was about to answer with an insult, but a voice from behind her stopped her. "Rainbow Dash! What do you think you're doing?!" Rarity yelled, even being but a few feet away from her.

"Why are you defending her?!" Rainbow yelled back, dropping Sunset, but not turning around. "She did something to her and I just want her to admit it!"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Dashie, please. I've done many bad things to many girls. Being so vague won't benefit anyone." She said, idly touching her jacket there where Rainbow grabbed her.

"Don't call me Dashie!" Rainbow yelled again, pointing a finger towards Sunset. "Don't you EVER call me Dashie! Only my friends call me that!"

Sunset put a hand on her chest and faked a hurt voice. "Oh woe is me! And here I thought we were friends!" She even faked a sob, and Trixie, who was behind her, chuckled a little. "Seriously though, you have to be more specific."

"It's Twilight." Rarity said with a concerned voice. "Our Twilight. She started studying in CHS today."

For a moment, Sunset stared blankly, and after a few seconds, she sighed. "What are the odds?" She put a hand on her forehead and looked up. "Sometimes I think I live in a bad written novel."

"What did you do to her?!" Dash asked again.

Sunset looked at her with a bored expression. "And, pray tell, who told you I would ever dream to do anything to a simple mortal?" She said, faking an offended tone. "You know I only steal crowns to magical princesses."

Rainbow's frown deepened. "I swear that if you don't tell me-"

"Then what?!" Sunset snapped at Rainbow, who had to step back a little for the impression. "You know what? I'm sick of you attitude towards me! I am sure I never did anything bad to you! So stop acting like you deserve to treat me like that!"

"You know very well what you did!" Rainbow yelled. "You made us fight against each other to break our friendship!"

"OH MY GOODNESS I'M SUCH A BAD PERSON!" Sunset yelled, glaring daggers at Rainbow. "May I remind you that I only sent ONE SINGLE TEXT MESSAGE to you?! And what did it say, huh?! Do you remember?! Because I do!" She took air, and didn't let Rainbow to answer. "It said that Applejack changed the date of an event of hers! Only that! And what did you do?! You stopped talking to her or any of your other friends!"

Rainbow only stared at Sunset, unable to say anything. But she was pressing her fists so much, they were turning white. "I am the monster who made everyone hate everyone here, I won't deny it. But you? You are the worst friend ever!" At that, Rainbow showed her teeth and leaned a little to the front. "Where were you when I insulted Applejack because of her family?! Where were you when I ruined Rarity's dress at the Spring Fling?! Where were you-" She stopped a little, almost hesitantly, and her next words came in her normal volume. "Where were you when I humiliated Fluttershy time and time again?"

There was a moment where the two girls only stared at each other in silence. Trixie who was listening to every word, Rarity who was concerned of what happened just moments before the argument started, Fluttershy who was trying to become invisible, and all the students that were there; all of them were silent, just waiting for something to happen.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the wait didn't last long. Sunset raised her head and glared down at Rainbow Dash. "I am a terrible person, I can recognize that. I've done many bad things, and everyone here hates me to some extent. But I've never denied that, and I don't try to pass the blame to others."

"Shut up."

"You, on the other hand, abandoned your friends. You ignored them when they needed you. You completely forgot them, and it only took one. Single. Message."

"Shut up!"

"I threatened and blackmailed and insulted and humiliated your friends, and I am a horrible person because of that. But you abandoned and ignored and forgot them, and now you try to take it on me so you can sleep peacefully every night." Sunset paused a little to get some air and to let her words sink in Rainbow Dash. "And that's why you are worse than me."

"SHUT UP!"

And then, Sunset's world spun, and she found herself hitting the floor like deadweight. Her vision darkened, and she felt the world move below her. She couldn't think of anything, and at the same time, her mind was a turmoil of different thoughts. And when her vision started to normalize, she started to feel a tingling sensation in her face, and it quickly became stronger and stronger until it transformed into pain. She put a hand on her face, but the touch sent a wave of pain that made her flinch. She felt something moist in her hand, and she blinked a couple of times before looking down at it.

There was blood in her pinkie finger.

Without thinking on anything else, but still having in mind the pain, she put her hand again on her face. It hurt, but she ignored it, and after a couple of seconds, she moved it away so she could see it better. And confirming her fears, her hand was now half covered in blood.

Before she could do anything, Trixie filled her vision wearing a concerned frown. "Here, let me help you." She said and offered a hand to Sunset, who took it and slowly got in her feet. She tottered, but finally could bring herself to stand on two feet. But even so, she had to use Trixie's arm as a third balance spot. She put her hand on her nose again, this time only as an instinctive way to alleviate the pain with pressure, and then gave Trixie a thankful glance before looking down again.

"Rainbow Dash, what did you do?!" Rarity said, making Sunset slowly turn around.

And she could see Rainbow Dash with her fist in the air, but what really impressed her was the expression in her eyes. It was a mixture between anger and confusion. As if she still didn't know what she did. Sunset only narrowed her eyes and turned to Trixie, who offered her other arm as support to prevent her from falling. "Come on, I'll take you to the infirmary." She said so low that almost sounded like a whisper.

Not that Sunset complained. She only nodded and sighed before realizing she could only breathe using her mouth. "Yeah… you do that…" But then, a thought crossed her mind. She smiled to herself, and decided to say it before going anywhere. "Congratulations, Dash…" She said and breathed through her mouth once. "You are CHS' new Alpha Bitch." And with that, she walked away with Trixie's help.

"You don't have to tell me who did this." Nurse Redheart said while cleaning the last blood stains in Sunset's face. "But I do have to encourage you to report them to Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna." Sunset only rolled her eyes and flinched a little when the nurse pressed a little too much. "Well, it's all clean now. You can go, but come back tomorrow to see its progress."

"Sure." Sunset said, or attempted to say, since she felt all her face numb from the medication.

"And don't attempt to retire the gauze." The nurse warned, tossing the bloody cotton into a trashcan and taking off her gloves. Sunset groaned as a response, but Nurse Redheart seemed oblivious, perhaps she was used to cranky students after nose realignments.

Sunset slammed the infirmary door after coming out and turned to leave, but Trixie stopped her, motioning at her own nose with a finger. "You have something… here…" A small smile escaped her, and Sunset actually chuckled a little, but kept walking. "Well, that was quite the show. I don't think mine can outdo yours."

"Har har." Sunset wanted her sarcastic voice, but the numbness of her face made her sound rather stupid. "I jusd wadt to kdow what was all that aboud." Trixie was struggling, and losing her inner fight not to laugh at Sunset, who just ignored her. It was fair, if it was Trixie talking like that, Sunset would totally laugh at her.

"Well, I can tell you." Rarity said behind the girls. "How are you feeling?" She asked when she saw the gauze in Sunset's nose.

"Good." She answered and waited for Rarity to walk to her side. "So?"

"Let's go to the science lab." Rarity said and let out a heavy sigh as the girls started to follow her. "As I said earlier, Twilight was transferred this morning to Canterlot High. I volunteered to show her around, you see, and from what I saw, she's really similar to the other Twilight."

"Woah woah woah, slow down there." Trixie interrupted. "You also said something like that back there at the cafeteria. Like 'Our Twilight', and now you are talking about the 'other Twilight'? What exactly is going on?"

Rarity sighed again. "The Twilight that came a week ago is from a different world, and the Twilight here is from this world. They are different, and it's important that you know that."

"Hey, I'm the magician here, but if it weren't for what happened last week, I wouldn't believe you."

"Anyway, as I was saying…" Rarity said. "I kind of convinced her that there was a student that looked like her and shared her name, so she wouldn't freak out when a sea of students tried to ask her about the events of the Fall Formal." She turned a corner and waited a second for the girls to catch up with her. "It was all going really smooth, and I was feeling brave, so I thought that she should meet you before the other students tried to convince her that you're evil or something."

"Which I totally am." Sunset said, and noticed that the numbness was wearing off.

"Anyway," Rarity said rolling her eyes. "We were at the cafeteria, just talking and all that, and everything seemed to be going very well. That, until she saw you entering the cafeteria…" She made a small pause and actually stopped walking. She turned around and looked at Sunset's eyes. "She became really pale and rigid. And then she just burst out. Applejack went right after her, but it was clearly a sign of fear."

"I'm no medic, but I'd say she was feeling sick." Trixie said with an eye arched.

Rarity shook her head and scratched it a little. "No… After you two went to the infirmary, we found Applejack and Pinkie trying to calm Twilight down at the science lab -where we are heading-, and after a couple of minutes, she finally told us what happened." She sighed again and closed her eyes for a moment. "It's a very interesting story, and it took us a really big amount of effort to convince her to talk to you."

"Let me guess, for some reason she was passing by at the Fall Formal when she saw me becoming a ferocious -and quite sexy- she-demon, and now she's having nightmares."

Rarity and Trixie shared a chuckle. "No, it's not that." Rarity said and stopped right in front of the science lab's door. "It'd be easier that way." And with that, she opened the door.

Sunset was the first to enter the lab, and she could see Rainbow Dash at the far corner, looking at the wall next to her. In the opposite corner, there were Applejack and Pinkie Pie standing and talking to each other, and between them, sitting and trying to be unnoticed, she could see dark blue hair with pink and purple tufts, who had to be Twilight Sparkle. Sunset stepped further into the lab and decided to talk before the girls noticed her.

"So!" She said, and everyone looked at her. But she focused on Twilight, who actually flinched at the sound of her voice and very slowly looked up. And Sunset could see the emotions that flooded her eyes. There was fear, yes, but it was nothing compared to the confusion, the surprise, and the betrayal that showed up when she looked at her eyes. Sunset felt a little uneasy, but decided to keep forward. "They told me you're afraid of me!" She declared in a serious, but comical tone, as if she was parodying a soldier.

Twilight looked away and bit her lips, but said nothing. "Sunset?" Applejack said with a tone of surprise. "What happened to ya?"

Sunset looked at Rainbow for just a moment and almost immediately returned her gaze to Applejack. "Speedster girl over there thought I needed a rhinoplasty." She said with a bored tone and quickly dismissed whatever Applejack was going to say with a movement of her hand. "No need to think about it too much. We're here for a subject immensely more important than a stupid argument." She looked directly at Twilight's eyes while saying that, and she made Twilight look at her. "Ok, first things first," She said walking to her and grabbing a chair to sit right in front of Twilight. When she was but a feet again from her, she sat down and leaned closer, always looking at her eyes. "What do I have to do to convince you that I'm not the same Sunset Shimmer you know and most likely hate?"

There was a heavy silence in the room, and everyone turned to look at Twilight, who was having troubles figuring out just what was going on. But, even if it didn't last long, it wasn't Twilight who spoke up, but Trixie. "Wait, there is another you?"

Sunset turned around without standing up to look at Trixie. "Think about it, this Twilight isn't the same Twilight you know. And still she has some negative feelings towards me. But I've never even crossed a word with her, so it's obvious she has some history with the other me."

Trixie frowned as the words sunk in, and after a couple of seconds she just shrugged. "Sounds logical."

"Logical?" Twilight asked, and everyone turned to look at her again. "You're saying that there's someone that looks exactly like me and shares exactly my name, and that it's the same for you!" She said directly at Sunset, who only raised an eyebrow and had a very bemused smile. "You can't be serious."

"I bet the other Sunset would say exactly the same." She said very calmly. Twilight leaned back and looked at Sunset's eyes with a very confused gaze. "I figured as much." She said and moved a little to make herself a little more comfortable in her chair. "You told the girls what my evil twin did to you. I'd like to hear it as well."

"Sunset Ah don't think-"

"Calm down Applejack, I just want to know." She took a breath through her mouth. "Besides, it's not like I'm demanding information. I want a trade." She said, looking directly at Twilight, who leaned back a little more and produced an unsure frown. "You tell me what I want to know, and I will answer any question you may have about this whole mess. Perhaps that way I will convince you that I'm not the same Sunset."

Twilight had to stop for a second to think. She put her head on her hands and closed her eyes for a moment to meditate about what Sunset had said. After a couple of seconds she let out a long sigh and looked up at Sunset. "I can't exactly put my finger on it, but…" She said and frowned in concentration. "There really is something different… Between you two." She made a pause to gather her ideas and sighed."Ok… Two years ago, I started freshmen year at Manhattan's Academy of Technology and Research."

There was a low whistle, and the girls turned to the source of it, looking at Trixie who blushed sheepishly. "Sorry, it's just that that's a very expensive school. Even I couldn't afford it."

"I had a full scholarship." Twilight said almost instantly.

"Even more impressive." Trixie said with a small smile. "But… Sorry, please continue."

Twilight nodded and took a deep breath before talking again. "Anyway, I was a boarding student there, and you can guess who my roommate was."

Sunset snorted. "Let me guess, she bullied you to no end until you finally decided to change school."

"No…" Twilight answered in a whisper. "We became really good friends, actually." Sunset raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I mean, she always was really harsh in her words and she liked to give orders… But, she always helped me in my homework and we made a lot of science projects together. And when a few students tried to bully me, she defended me, and they never tried to be mean with me again."

"We were very close, she even…" Twilight blushed a little and made an awkward smile. "She even helped me with this guy I liked… Gosh it was so embarrassing…" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, the point is that we were best friends… Or, well, at least that's what I thought…" And suddenly, she grimaced and her semblance darkened. "A few months after sophomore year begun, she began to grow distant with me. At first I thought… I wanted to think that it was just my imagination, but she didn't want to help me anymore, she didn't want to do anything with me. She… She even requested a change of dormitory. I didn't know what was going on…" Tears begun to fall down her cheeks and she started to sob softly. "She wasn't only my best friend, she was my only friend! I asked her many times why she was acting like that, but every time she dismissed me saying that it was my imagination, and that I was making a storm in a glass of water…"

Sunset was growing very uncomfortable, but decided to listen to everything until the end. "And then…" Twilight said, sobbing. "And then, a month before classes finished, she told me that she had something important to tell me, and asked me if we could meet… I thought that she wanted to apologize in private, so I told her to go to my dormitory…" Twilight shook her head very slowly a few times. "I couldn't be more wrong… She… So bluntly, told me… No, she ordered me to down my grades. Because she needed to be the best so she'd get the scholarship for the university…"

There was a moment when Twilight stopped to take a deep breath. "I couldn't believe it! She wasn't even threatening me, she had a bored expression, as if I had to obey her just because it was she who was giving the order! And I couldn't take it anymore… I snapped at her. I was very angry, and told her that I wasn't going to do it. I even told her that we weren't friends anymore, and that she could as well forget about the scholarship, because it was going to be me who'd get it."

"Of course that didn't make her happy, but… But… I never, ever, considered the possibility that she'd get like that…" Her mouth trembled and her eyes were distant, clearly remembering that moment as if it had been the day prior. "She slapped me, and told me that if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even be there… That I owed her that much, and that I was obliged to do what she wanted." She frowned, and her eyes filled up with the emotions she felt that day. "I… I slapped her back… And I… I told her that… That she'd have to do the principal some 'favors' because I was getting that scholarship…"

And then, she opened her mouth for a few seconds, but not a single sound came through it. She was having troubles saying the next part, but none of the girls told her anything, for she had to do it by herself. They waited, and Twilight finally found her voice again. "And the next thing I remember is… I was falling…" She looked directly at Sunset's eyes. "She pushed me off the window… And I fell three stories…"

"The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital… Thankfully, I only broke my left leg and arm. It could have been worse… A lot worse…" She sobbed. "Imagine my surprise when she came to see me… I… I honestly thought that she regretted what she did... But, again, I was very wrong… She told me that it was my punishment for disobeying her, and that she hoped I learned the lesson…" A growing pain appeared in her forehead and it was becoming really difficult for her to continue. "I told my family the truth, and they believed me, but Sunset had a very solid alibi where I 'tripped'. And what's worse: her family is very wealthy, so even if I sued her, I'd lose, and it'd be counterproductive."

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply and slowly. "So, my parents decided to take me to live with them again and to enroll me in a different school… That's why I'm here, and it's also why I could only begin studying here from today… I had to make a full recovery, both physically and psychologically, from what happened…"

And the silence reigned once again in the lab. The only thing that could be heard was Twilight's sobs and hiccups. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow and Rarity already knew the story, but even so, it wasn't less painful to hear it a second time. Trixie didn't exactly know what to do, so she tried not to make eye contact with anyone. But Sunset had a very serious expression, she didn't even blink.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Sunset finally spoke up. "I see…" She said in a whisper, but it could be heard by everyone. Twilight looked up at her, and found that Sunset had an unreadable expression. "Sorry to hear that…" She said, and immediately after stood up. She then turned around and took a deep breath. "I… will answer your questions tomorrow." And with that, she walked to the door and got away.

None of the girls could react in time, but Trixie was the first to do it. "I'll go get her." She said and ran after Sunset.

"Well, that was… somethin'." Applejack said and Rarity hummed thoughtfully.

Sunset ran to the gym and into the storage room, closing the door behind her and leaning on the next wall, letting her body slide to the floor. She looked at the ceiling and just stood there without moving a single muscle. A few minutes passed, and she heard the sound of the door unlocking. Trixie cautiously entered, and when Sunset laid her eyes upon her, she showed her the keys that Principal Celestia gave her to let her practice her show.

Without crossing a word, Trixie closed the door and walked to Sunset's side, sitting on the floor as well and looking at the ceiling. Sunset didn't look at her, and kept staring at the void, only staring.

The silence grew between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Trixie's company actually helped her calm herself, if just a little. She could feel her chest heavy, the corner of her lips shaking and tears forming in her eyes. And then, she suddenly felt very tired, and she wanted to lie down a little, so she did it. Her head met Trixie's shoulder, but neither of the two girls did anything to get away. They just stood there for the longest time, staring at nothing in particular, only staring.

"I'm a horrible person…" Sunset said with a very low voice, but thanks to the silence of the room, Trixie could hear her very clearly. "I've done many bad things in my life… I've hurt many people… But…" She had to make a pause to repress a sob and force her not to burst into crying. "But… I'd never try to kill someone… I… I'm not…" The tears were now falling free down her cheeks, and she had to close her eyes, but still kept herself from sobbing. "I'm not a monster…"

Trixie could feel heaviness in her chest as well. She took a silent, deep breath and did her best not to move. She slowly turned her head to look at Sunset, and she could only see her red and yellow hair, and the gauze that covered her broken nose. "I know, Sunset." She sighed and looked at the ceiling again. "I know."

Author's Notes:

So I wrote this chapter in only two days! What is this madness?!

The events here were actually going to happen in two chapters, but I decided to make them into only one.

The name of Twilight's Academy is an invention of mine, any similarity with reality is mere coincidence.

9. Ulterior Motives

Chapter 9. Ulterior Motives.

Trixie had ran to get Sunset back only a couple of minutes ago, but for the girls in the science lab, it seemed like an eternity. Silence dominated for the longest time until Applejack finally decided to break it.

"So, Rainbow Dash." She said in a serious tone. Perhaps more serious than she intended. "What did you do to Sunset?"

Rainbow didn't look at her, but it was easy to know that she was trying to figure out how to answer. If her gaze was prove enough, she wasn't very proud of what she did. "Didn't she tell you?"

Applejack frowned and walked to her, leaning on a table and putting a hand on her hip. "Ah told you to come n' talk to me 'bout it."

A sigh escaped Rainbow's mouth. "I'm sorry."

"Just tell me what happened." Applejack said calmly. "We can't go hiding things from each other, not if we want t' remain friends."

Rainbow flinched at that and produced a small, sad frown. "She… She said some things I didn't want to hear…" She sighed and shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. "No, she said the truth I wanted to hide…" She looked at Twilight, who was looking her back with a concerned gaze. "I wanted to blame her for things she didn't do, just because I didn't want to accept my own faults…"

"You have to apologize." Applejack said, and it was more as a statement than an advice.

"I know…"

There was another moment of silence. Rainbow and Applejack stood at the far corner of the lab, as if they were talking in the silence. Pinkie, Rarity and Twilight were at the opposite corner in their own silent conversation that, fortunately, didn't last too long.

"I…" Twilight started hesitantly, but when Rarity looked at her with a warm smile, she could calm herself. "I find all this really difficult to assimilate… That there's another Sunset, I mean…" She said, looking at the door. "And even more, that there's another me…" She swallowed and looked at Rarity. "I probably will need a lot of time to believe it, but… Please tell me. What's going on?"

Rarity sighed a little and crossed her arms in front of her. "All this situation is hard to believe for everyone, trust me. I believe even Pinkie Pie here hasn't assimilated it all yet." She pointed at Pinkie with a smooth movement of her hand. Pinkie only nodded and decided to start playing with the balloons attached to her skirt. "Everyone in Canterlot High knows something, there are people who know more than others, and as you can guess, there are a lot of students who will tell you completely different versions of what happened."

She said and looked at Twilight with a serious, yet understanding gaze. "The girls in this room; Fluttershy, the other girl you met at the cafeteria -and who isn't here for some reason-, and probably Trixie know a lot more than any other student." She paused a little and shifted a little. "But, only Sunset knows the real truth. I could tell you what I know, and so Pinkie, or Rainbow, or even Applejack. But wouldn't you prefer to ask Sunset? She is the only one who has all the answers you seek."

Twilight looked down. "I want to know, but… I'm scared…" She said and looked at Rarity with pleading eyes. "If you put her the uniform of Manhattan's Academy, she looks exactly the same… Even if I told her all that… Even if I can tell that she's not the same person…"

Rarity put a hand on her shoulder and offered her a warm smile. "Don't worry Twilight. We'll be with you. Besides, she said she'd answer all your questions, right?" Twilight smiled a little and nodded. "Now, I must warn you. The more you ask, the more unbelievable it will be. So I need to ask you this…" She put her other hand on the other shoulder and knelt a little to be at Twilight's eye level. "Will you be able to handle the truth?"

Twilight took a full minute to think, but she finally looked directly at Rarity's eyes with a determined gaze. "I can, and I will."

As minutes passed, Sunset finally managed to calm herself and stopped crying. And as a plus, she didn't let out one single sob. The storage room was a little cold, but thanks to Trixie's company, she didn't notice too much. And the silence wasn't uncomfortable either. She closed her eyes, and decided that she could get used to a silence like this. A silence where she wasn't alone, where she could think of anything, but at the same time, where she could rest her head on someone else's shoulder.

"So…" Trixie's voice came in a low volume, but it still startled Sunset, if just a little. "I know it's kind of late to ask this, but I think this is the best moment…" She said, still staring at the ceiling. "What the heck is going on?"

"You are disturbing my sleep. That's what's going on." Sunset tried to say in a serious tone, but she just couldn't hide the fact that she was smiling.

Trixie smiled and narrowed her eyes a little. "Seriously though. As if the events of the Fall Formal weren't hard to believe in already, a new Twilight comes out of nowhere, and saying that her nemesis is another you." She made a little pause. "And even more incredibly, those girls, and even you, don't seem surprised at all."

"Do you want to know the truth? You can't handle the truth."

"Maybe not yet." Trixie said. "But I think in a near future, an army of space leprechauns will attack earth and we'll have to use giant robots to fight their dark fairy overlord before tea hour, and we all will be like: 'You know what? Weirder things have happened'".

Sunset chuckled for a few seconds. When she finished, she sighed and remained silent for a moment, staring at the door. "The other day, at the coffeehouse, I told you that magic doesn't exist in this world, that humans can't do magic…" She closed her eyes and paused for a moment. "Why do you think I needed to be that specific?" Trixie didn't say anything, waiting for Sunset to continue. "Tell me, Trix, can you believe in magic?"

Trixie turned her head just a little and looked at Sunset, and once again, she could only see her hair and the gauze on her face. "Obviously, I have to. I can't just ignore what happened last week."

"Then, can you believe in alternate worlds?" Sunset asked, and when Trixie didn't answer, she continued. "Twilight Sparkle, the girl from last week, is from a different world. A world where magic not only exists, but pretty much everyone can do it… To some extent, of course." She said, and her smile quickly faded into a thin line. "Now, I believe you wonder why she came here, right?"

"I know whatever I say will be incorrect, so stop asking me questions and tell me already." Trixie said, looking back at the ceiling.

Sunset snorted. "Party pooper." She said and sighed a little. "I stole her crown. Literally. And not because it's made of pure gold, but because the gemstone in it is really powerful. I thought that if I had that power, I could become a princess. I thought that I deserved to be a princess, mind you."

"Sounds like a little girl's dream."

"Heh, it does." Sunset said. "Anyway, I finally got the power of her crown, and she still managed to defeat me and humiliate me. And if that wasn't enough, my real punishment is not being able to return home for another two and a half years." Trixie raised an eyebrow and looked at Sunset. "Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. I'm from that other world too." Sunset said in a nonchalant tone.

Trixie hummed. "So that answers why there's another Twilight and another you."

Sunset raised her head a little, just so she could look at Trixie's eyes. "You know, I'm starting to worry that you're not even a little surprised by all this."

"Oh, trust me, I am surprised." Trixie said and decided to look back at the door. "I just don't feel like overreacting or trying to deny it." She shrugged. "Maybe I just need a cup of coffee."

Sunset looked back at the door yet once again and sighed. "Maybe."

And silence fell again in the room. Sunset closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She was really comfortable. Perhaps that was the reason why Trixie didn't seem surprised, perhaps she, like Sunset, just wanted to enjoy herself in the peaceful silence. Yes, there would be the time to worry about those silly things, but now, they just wanted to be there, doing nothing.

"I know that this probably isn't the best time to say it, but…" Trixie said hesitantly. "I lied."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "What a surprise. Did you know that everyone lies at some point of their lives?"

Trixie sighed. "Back at the coffeehouse, when I asked you to teach me magic..." She said. "I lied when I told you that you were my last option. In fact, it never crossed my mind to ask the other girls." She waited for Sunset to do something, but when that didn't happen, she continued. "I also lied when I said I wanted to learn real magic…"

"So what then?" Sunset asked. "What? Was talking about magic your way to hit on me?" She said teasingly, but surprisingly enough, Trixie didn't chuckle, she didn't even say anything. Sunset's expression quickly became a serious one, and she couldn't help but look at the floor. "… Do you want to know why I dated Flash?" She didn't need to look at Trixie, for she could actually feel the spark of curiosity in her eyes. "Of course you want. Ok, I'll tell ya."

"Flash Sentry is one of the shallowest guys I've ever met. He's like the handsome guy that's there only for the protagonist to have a relationship with in movies. Only worse, because Flash can't stop talking about movie clichés." Sunset suppressed a laugh. "And he's also very popular, so I decided to date him just to gain more influence over the students. I actually find surprising how long it took him to realize that. There you can tell how shallow he is."

Sunset took a deep breath. "So let's go down the list. I've threatened, blackmailed, terrorized, used, manipulated and stole. My dimensional twin is a crazy bitch who tried to kill someone, and oh yes, I'm from a different world and I could actually be a giant, mutant cockroach from bugland." She turned to look at Trixie again with a serious expression. "You know all those things; you know what I've done and what I'm capable of." She narrowed her eyes. "Do you still want to date me?"

There was a moment when both girls only stared at each other. Only this time, they weren't trying to win a war, no, they were only trying to read their gazes. And after the longest moment, Trixie closed her eyes and sighed a little. "I know that you're still hiding a lot of things. I know that you are a really hard person to deal with… And I also know that you changed from what you used to be. Or maybe, you returned to your true self." She smiled a little and leaned back. "I want to get to know the real you… Well, as long as you're not really a giant cockroach, yes, I want to date you."

Sunset stared at Trixie only for a few seconds before both girls started to laugh. And Sunset soon discovered, it was the first genuine, carefree laugh she produced in a very long time. When she finally recovered her breath, she shifted and closed her eyes. "Good, because I really like your shoulder."

Trixie snickered. "Wow, that's a really weird fetish." They chuckled again. "But now it's me who finds surprising how you just accepted this. I don't know, it feels so anticlimactic…"

"Well…" Sunset said, raising her head a little to look at Trixie again, when the magician turned to look her back, she continued. "I'm drugged with painkillers, so you're obviously taking advantage of me."

"Oh no, you totally figured out my evil plan!" Trixie said, exaggerating a dramatic voice. "Then I must hurry up and finish it before you can do something to stop me."

Trixie moved back, forcing Sunset to lift her head off her shoulder. She carefully, but decidedly turned her body to Sunset's direction and looked into her eyes. And she realized, it was the first time since they got out of the science lab that they looked at each other's eyes. Sunset's eyes were a little red, and the gauze was a little wet there where her tears ran minutes ago. But what fascinated her was her gaze. She could see the strength, the calm and the security, but beyond that, she could catch a glimpse of uncertainty, and that was enough to let her see a little of her real self. The Sunset she wanted to know.

She leaned closer to her and stopped when their noses met. Sunset was still looking directly at her eyes, but she wasn't staring, she wasn't trying to impose her gaze. She was just looking expectantly. And the lack of resistance of her part was enough to tell Trixie that she was allowed to continue. She narrowed her eyes and decided to lean closer, moving just a little to her right. Only a second passed, but it seemed like minutes, since she started to move, but at the end, she finally pressed her lips over Sunset's, and closing her eyes, she let out her breath through her nose.

They stood there for just a brief moment until Trixie decided to break the kiss. She opened her eyes and saw that Sunset was looking at her with a challenging smile. "Don't get used being in control."

Trixie chuckled a little. "Then I must enjoy it while I can." She said and gave her a quick kiss. Or at least she tried, because Sunset grabbed her with one hand from the back of her head and pushed her, forcing the kiss to last long. And without letting her react, she leaned back, quickly lying on the floor and taking Trixie with her. Trixie quickly stopped struggling and just let herself lose against Sunset. And she found really awkward how she was on top, yet she wasn't in control anymore. It normally would make her mad to have lost so easily, but her heart was beating so fast in her chest, she feared that if she got angry, it might explode.

After a couple of minutes, Sunset finally broke the kiss and bemusedly watched all the emotions running across Trixie's face. "Yeah, I still got it."

Panting quietly, Trixie had to take a few seconds before speaking. "You know, I can't help but keep thinking of how fast this is going."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Are you complaining that you got what you wanted? You sure are weird."

"I don't complain, it's just…" Trixie paused for a few seconds before looking directly at Sunset's eyes. "Two days ago, you didn't even want to talk to me. And now you just accepted to date me without thinking too much on it…"

"Well…" Sunset said, looking away for a moment, producing a sad frown. "Let's just say I'm trying to live in a different way… You see, in all my life I never did something that didn't benefit me in some way…" She paused and looked back at Trixie. "And where did that get me? I'm practically an enemy of royalty in my home world." She forced a laugh, trying to suppress the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "So I thought… Why not start doing things I have no idea how will end? It's not like I can lose any more things."

She put a hand on Trixie's cheek and smiled a little. "I like you. You are really fun to talk to, and I actually feel somewhat comfortable on your shoulder." Trixie snickered a little, and Sunset's grin only grew wider, but after a few seconds, it faded into a thin line. "But if I have to be honest, I don't know if we're friends. I've never had friends before, you see, so that's a completely new and unknown ground to me." She then smiled again and looked deviously at Trixie. "But I do know a thing or two about dating someone. Flash had to be useful for something, after all."

"Are you saying that Flash taught you how to kiss?" Trixie teased, moving her head a little to feel the contact with Sunset's hand.

Sunset chuckled. "Actually, I taught him that. No, no, what I meant to say is that he knows some interesting places to go with someone." She said, slowly moving her hand to caress Trixie's cheek. "So, yeah, it might be a little rushed, and I don't know what will happen next, but that's exactly what I want… I don't want to elaborate complicated plans to become princess of the next school dance, not anymore… I just want to live one day at a time. If we feel comfortable as a couple or not, is something we'll find out only by dating, don't you agree?"

Trixie grinned. "Good thing people don't go berserk anymore by watching two girls kissing in public."

"Yes, you are really weird." Sunset said. "Where I come from, nobody cares who you sleep with. And it's been like that for thousands of years."

Trixie leaned closer and gave Sunset a soft kiss. "It's good to know that we don't have problems with it. I'd hate to go hiding it and denying it like it was some kind of sin."

"Or naughty secret." Sunset said with a teasing smile.

Trixie chuckled and took a few seconds to answer. "You know what? I kind of want you to be my naughty secret, at least for a couple of days."

Sunset grinned deviously. "Well, good luck at hiding me."

Author's Notes:

This is where people think I went nutz. Trust me, I have quite a few things planned to happen that will explain the "speed" of this chapter.

10. Rumors

Chapter 10. Rumors.

Sunset slammed open the door of the science lab, and watched satisfied how the girls jumped at the sudden noise, being Twilight who jumped the most. Before anyone could say a word, she quickly made her way towards Twilight and sat on the table in front of her, looking at her with a confident smile. "Ok Sparky, ask away."

Just as she said the last word, Trixie entered the room with her own nonchalantly smile, closing the door while humming a song only she knew. The girls had dumbfounded expressions on their faces, and Twilight wasn't able to process what was going on. After just a few seconds, Rainbow Dash slowly walked until she got but a few feet away from Sunset. "Hey, uh…" She cleared her throat and scratched the back of her neck. "I've been thinking and… Sigh… You were right… In everything you said. So…" She took a deep breath and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry."

Sunset turned to look at her, still smiling, and made a gesture with her hand in front of Rainbow that seemed as if she was spreading dust in the air. "You are forgiven."

Rainbow lifted her head, offering a confused gaze, and then an angry one. "I'm being honest here! You were right in everything you said, and I had no right to hit you! I'm swallowing my pride and apologizing! Why do you have to make this even more difficult?!"

Applejack tensed her body as Rainbow raised her voice, she looked at Sunset, preparing herself in case she started to yell as well, and interfere before things got out of control. Fortunately, Sunset didn't seem like arguing, and she forced out a sigh that seemed more like a groan as she rolled her eyes. "Why people complain when they get what they want?" She looked directly at Rainbow's eyes with a bored expression. "I forgive you. Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Yes! It is!" Rainbow yelled, but she was more confused than angry now. "I broke your nose! You should be mad at me! You… You should break my nose back!"

"Rainbow…" Rarity muttered under her breath.

"Why?" Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "You all instantly forgave each other after over a year of insults and ignoring each other and who knows how many other things. Why is it hard to believe that I can too instantly forgive people?"

"Because-" Rainbow started to say, but instantly closed her mouth. Sunset narrowed her eyes, telling her that she had to finish her sentence. Rainbow sighed and looked away. "Because… You don't look like the kind of person that forgives so easily."

Sunset snorted. "You know what? I don't care if you don't believe me. I've got better things to care for." She said and turned around to look at Twilight again. "You can thank your friend Speedy, because now I'm only answering three questions." She lifted that amount of fingers in front of Twilight's face. "And you better be specific in what you want to know, because I despise vague questions."

Rainbow made a sound between a snort and a sneeze when she heard the nickname Sunset had given her, but said nothing. She just stepped aside and sat down on a chair, resting her arms on a table. Twilight looked down a little, only this time it wasn't of fear, but rather as a way to gather her ideas. After a few seconds, she looked up at Sunset with a small frown. "Tell me, what's exactly the difference between you and the other Sunset?"

Everyone in the room looked at Sunset, not because they didn't know the answer, but because they wanted to see if she was going to say everything. Sunset leaned back and crossed her arms on her lap. "Magic." She said with a big, teasing smile, and watched bemusedly how behind Twilight's frown, her brain started to overheat for the resent information, and just moments later, it stopped. Sadly, her scientific part had quickly won the war, and Twilight's frown deepened a little.

"Do you really want me to believe that such thing as magic exists?"

"Yes." Sunset said with a shrug. "Now you only have one question left."

Twilight's eyes snapped open at that. "What? No! That's cheating!"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You asked two questions. Unless you suddenly want to ignore how to grammar?"

Twilight's left eye twitched at that, but she decided to force a sigh and calm herself. "You just want to make fun on me…" She said and looked away. "You don't really want to tell me everything, so I won't try to ask questions anymore. Now if you all excuse me…" She stood up with a frown. "I have a dog to feed at home."

"Sparky," Sunset said with a neutral voice. It wasn't a plea, but it wasn't an order either. Twilight looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You still got one question." Twilight smiled at that and sat down again. "Just so you know, that won't work again."

But Twilight didn't care, because it had worked now. "Very well then, please tell me the truth. What's the difference between you and the other Sunset?"

"Magic." Sunset said again, but before Twilight could produce a frown, she continued. "From here, it will be your decision to believe me or not, but I will only say the truth." She took a deep breath. "I am from a different world where magic exists. And there are dragons and minotaurs and griffons and other things that here are just mythical creatures. And Tartarus is an actual place where anyone can go to see all the monsters that have been punished with eternal suffering." She looked up a little, remembering everything she was saying. "Though I don't recommend it, Cerberus might think you escaped." She laughed a little and then looked at Twilight. "What else? Oh, yeah. The sun and moon need someone to move them every day. The weather is taken care of by the pegasi; they even create the rainbows by themselves."

"Well, I'm talking only of the kingdom I was born in: Equestria. Best place for vacations, I tell ya." She snickered a little. "It's the utopia humans will never have. Mostly because our benevolent rulers are immortal and also the most powerful beings in existence." She paused a little a narrowed her eyes, still smiling. "From one of the wealthiest families in all of Equestria, I was born with a natural affinity to magic. That's why Princess Celestia chose me as her protégé, her personal student…" Suddenly, her face darkened, and for a moment, she went silent.

Twilight feared that Sunset was going to burst out from the lab again, but thankfully, she just took a deep breath and offered a sad smile. "Anyway, the Sunset you know is just a mundane human. And from what you told me, a greedy selfish bitch, worse than what I was." She saw how Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Oh yes, I terrorized this school for, like, two years. But a week ago, a group of girls nicely told me to stop, and I agreed just like that."

Trixie chuckled as the other girls just looked at each other with uneasy smiles. "So, basically, that's the difference. Or differences, if you like." Sunset said and patiently waited until Twilight finished assimilating everything. When enough time passed, she spoke up. "Now, I believe lunch time finished already. How about we all head to our respective classes and not talk about this anymore?" And without waiting for a response, she stood up. "Let's go Trix." She said and walked to the door, being followed by the magician.

Just as the door closed, Applejack stood up and made silent movements with her mouth before speaking. "What just happened?"

Rarity hummed a little. "It's strange. She said more than she told us the other day, but this time she hid the fact that she's a unicorn."

"She is?" Twilight asked with genuine surprise.

"Uhm… yes…" Rarity said. "At least that's what she told us… But I don't have reasons to doubt her."

Pinkie stretched her arms and made an arc with her body, looking at Rarity with her head upside down. "I think she hid it because Trixie was here!"

"What does that have to do with this?" Rainbow asked.

"Isn't it oooooobvious?!" Pinkie said, spinning around one of her feet and spreading her arms at both sides of her body, somehow avoiding hitting anything. "Didn't you see the signs?!"

"No." Rainbow said with a bored expression. "Why don't you tell us already?"

"Pinkie Pie," Rarity stepped closer. "Are you implying that they…"

"Yup!" Pinkie said happily. "They are besties now!"

Rarity slammed a hand against her forehead as Rainbow and Applejack only laughed. Twilight, on her part, was staring at the table with a frown. "Is everything alright?" Rarity asked, and Twilight only leaned back and let out a forced sigh. "I know it's hard to believe, but…"

Twilight looked at her with an uneasy frown. "It's just… I've dedicated all my life to science. And I promised myself not to believe in anything that science couldn't explain… And now you want me to believe that magic exists and that there's an alternate world filled up with magic!"

Rarity hummed a little. She could understand Twilight's inner fight. If it wasn't because she played a big role in the Fall Formal events, she wouldn't believe herself. An idea crossed her mind, and she could feel her eyes sparking. "Twilight, can you tell me what a scientific theory is?"

"Of course I can." Twilight instantly answered, her eyes shimmering as she prepared herself to share her knowledge. "A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation."

"Ok, ok." Rarity interrupted before Twilight tried to quote the entire book. "So, what if I tell you that a few hundreds of students observed the manifestation of a magic event last week, and that through experimentation in first person, I can confirm such phenomenon?"

Twilight slowly tilted her head and offered a cautious glare. "Then I'd tell you that I need proofs that validate your statements."

Rarity smiled. "Very well. I didn't want to show you these so soon, but…" She said, searching in a pocket of her skirt and producing a small, purple cell phone with little diamond stickers on it. "This is the best proof I can offer to you." She pressed a few buttons, and turned the device so Twilight could see the screen. "This happened at the Fall Formal, after we ahh 'nicely' asked Sunset to stop terrorizing the school."

At first, Twilight only frowned at the image, but as seconds passed, her expression changed and became one of extreme surprise. Her pupils shrank to the point that they seemed to disappear, and she gaped for a whole minute. There, in Rarity's smartphone, was a photograph of six girls with complicated -and really shiny- dresses. But she couldn't see anything more than the girl in the middle. It was her! And not only that. In front of all the girls was a small puppy that resembled… No, it was definitely Spike! She had personally bought that purple collar for his first birthday!

"The crown Twilight is wearing is not only an ornament to represent her success as becoming Princess of the Fall Formal." Rarity said, and used a finger to press a button, thus passing the photo to a one where that same Twilight was with a guy in weird poses, apparently dancing. "That is actually her real crown, which Sunset stole and was confused with the fake crown, that's why Twilight came to this world." She pressed the same button, and yet another photo showed up. This time, it was of Twilight trying to get some punch and failing miserably. And beside her, Rainbow Dash was hugging her stomach, obviously out of laughter. But the thing that caught her attention was Rainbow's pose in the air. As if she was flying.

"The wings are real… Well, they were real." Rarity said and pressed the button again. Now it was Rainbow Dash, again in the air, only that this time she had a little girl sat on her shoulders, smiling from ear to ear with unspeakable mirth. "Little Scootaloo had the best day of her life, wouldn't you agree?"

Twilight bit her lower lip and pondered the situation. She could try to argue saying that those photos had been modified, but then again, what would be its purpose? Why waste such an incredibly well planned prank on the new girl? No, she already had accepted the veracity of those girls' words. But seeing that girl that was her exact image and shared her exact name was still really, really weird. But then, a thought occurred to her, and she looked up. "Wait, you said that her crown is real? Does that mean that she…"

"Yeppers!" Pinkie said, startling both girls. "She's a pony princess in her world!"

Twilight groaned, more out of frustration for the sudden change of belief in her life than anything. She wanted a reasonable explanation of all the weird things happening, but those explanations defied anything she had learned since she was a little girl. Maybe this is just a weird dream and I'll wake up when everything gets out of control. Just like Alice in Wonderland… I hope.

Sunset was walking through the empty halls, moving her hips with a confidence she thought she had lost. It probably was due to the fact that there weren't students around, but she wasn't going to admit it. Well, not out loud.

"So… dragons?" Trixie asked, moving a little faster to get at Sunset's side.

"It's true!" Sunset said with a gesture of her hand. "Almost all the creatures that in this world are just myths, in my world are real and sentient."

Trixie hummed for a couple of seconds. "Say, with everything that has happened, and with what you've told us -which I believe it's not everything-, I've been thinking…" She stopped and waited for Sunset to turn around and look at her. "I gotta ask… two things. First: If the Twilight of the Fall Formal and you are from that other world, and earlier you said you were Princess Celestia's student… Does that mean that everyone here has a dimensional twin in your world? That includes me?"

Sunset scratched her chin for a moment and then shrugged. "From my observations, a really big amount of people have counterparts in my world, if not everyone." She then looked directly at Trixie's eyes. "But not everyone is famous enough or part of royalty, so finding them is nigh impossible… So, while it's very probable that you have a counterpart too, I can't really confirm it."

"That only raises more questions." Trixie said with a small frown. "But the most important is… Could you try finding the Trixie of your world?"

Sunset let out a small sigh. "Technically, I can try… But I can't assure you that I can find her."

"Why not?"

"Because there are, like, seven billions of humans!" Sunset yelled, and quickly put a hand on her mouth before speaking again in a lower volume. "And not all of them are from the same race. Just take Professor Doodle as an example. He's a donkey."

Trixie raised an eyebrow. "A donkey?"

"Don't say it like that! It's racist!" Sunset said in a loud whisper, and when Trixie's cheeks became a little pink, she snickered a little. "I'm just messing with you." She gave a soft punch in Trixie's arm. "But yeah, he's a donkey. And I'm pretty sure some of the students are from other races. So finding your counterpart can become a titanic effort."

Trixie rubbed her arm and sighed. "But didn't you say you've been forbidden to return? I mean, you're talking as if you could do it any day you want."

Sunset looked at the ceiling while humming for a moment. "I've got my ways…" She said and then looked at Trixie. "Why do you want to find yourself?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Great and Powerful Trixie must be great and powerful in any world!" Trixie said, raising her arms, mimicking her words. "Trixie only wants to see how great the Great and Powerful Trixie of your world is! Since magic is common, then Trixie must be the best magician!"

Sunset rolled her eyes, but couldn't help to smile. "I hate to break your self-centered bubble, but…" She said in a bored tone. "No one is better or more powerful than the princesses, first. Second, Twilight is the weakest of the princesses, yet I have to admit she'd give me a very rough battle if she'd wanted to." She leaned closer with a challenging smile. "After all, I was so great and so powerful, if I wasn't a greedy bitch, I'd be the princess instead of Twilight."

Trixie leveled the challenge with her own smile. "But in this world, I am better than you."

Sunset chuckled. "You know what? I'll give you that. You are better than me at human illusions. I'm still better at real magic."

"Aaaand that brings me to the second question." Trixie said, leaning back and pushing Sunset. "You keep saying the word 'human' as if it's something strange to you. Is it that you're not a human?" She asked a little -just a little- concerned.

"Why? Afraid of committing bestiality?" Sunset said with an evil smile, and when Trixie couldn't answer, she only laughed. "What you said is true: I'm hiding a lot of things. And who knows? I probably wasn't lying when I said I'm a giant cockroach." She paused for a moment and then leaned closer, narrowing her eyes just a little. "I'm not only a hot girl you met at a bar. I'm not even from this world…" She stared at Trixie's eyes. "Are you really sure you want to date me?"

Trixie frowned a little, but smiled. "Are you going to ask me that every time I know something new about you? How about you let me tell you when I regret my decision?" She gently grabbed Sunset from her cheeks and leaned her closer. "I told you I want to know the real you. I'm taking the risk that you might end up being a farm animal."

Sunset snickered. "Actually…"

"Shut up." Trixie said and gave her a kiss. It wasn't a quick, testing one like the first she gave her, nor it was a kiss filled with passion and dominance like the second. It was just a gentle kiss, a soft press of her lips over Sunset's that didn't last more than a few seconds. She leaned back just a little and barely opened her eyes. "Now you can tell me what you are."

But before Sunset could articulate a word, a loud sound of a throat being cleared interrupted them, making both girls jump a few feet from each other. Trixie put a hand on her chest, as if she could lower her heart rate with that, while Sunset unconsciously bit her lower lip and quickly turned to the source of the sound. There, at one side of the hall, was Principal Celestia, wearing a small, but clear smile of complicity. "Shouldn't you girls be somewhere else?" She then turned to look at Trixie, who somehow managed to make a terrified expression in her face. "You ought to hurry, the first class is about to end."

Trixie's face became an intense red as the realization of being caught by the principal not only kissing another girl in the school's halls, but also skipping classes sank in. She couldn't get herself to say a word, so she only turned around and started to trot away. "Don't run in the hallways!" Celestia said raising her voice, but not quite getting to a shout. A curse could be heard as Trixie disappeared around a corner.

Sunset forced out a sigh. "Sorry, I was in the infirmary getting my nose fixed, and I got distracted on my way to classes."

Celestia turned to look at her, offering a small smile. "Don't worry. I know you were probably helping our new student getting familiar with CHS." She then finally registered the first part of Sunset's phrase. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just…" She put a finger on the gauze. "Twas an accident, 's all."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "If the students are hurting you, you must tell me." Sunset only nodded, and Celestia sighed. "Anyway, I wanted to talk with you about your punishment."

Sunset gulped. "Ah, yes, about that…"

"Since you are helping Miss Trixie with her show for next Monday, you don't have to be on detention these days." Sunset sighed in relief. "But, I expect you to come to my office next Tuesday after class." She waited until Sunset nodded to wave her goodbye and walk somewhere else, not before telling her to go to class, of course.

Sunset stood there for a moment with a dumbfounded expression. "She knows I was with Twilight and didn't suspect anything bad from me?" She asked in a whisper. "Not that I'm complaining, but…" She turned around and walked to the next class she had. "Maybe she really trusts that I'm not going to do anything bad…" She smiled at that. It was nice knowing that someone like her didn't think she was a monster.

She couldn't focus on anything aside of her classmates. As it was becoming normal, they had been staring and whispering about her, only this time it was a bit different. Half the gazes were more of confusion than hatred, and as she focused on her hearing, she was able to understand what they were muttering about.

"Did you hear? That girl Rainbow Dash beat up Sunset!"

"It's true! I was there! They were arguing and then Rainbow broke her face!"

"What were they arguing about?"

"Beats me, I was too far away and could only see it."

"They say that Rainbow now wants to rule the school and her first step was to make Sunset her minion."

"As if! I'm sure it's all a big scheme planned by Sunset to rule the school via Rainbow!"

"Did you guys hear that Twilight returned?! That means that Sunset is still evil!"

"Or maybe it's Rainbow who became evil!"

"I hope they'll sing again at lunch time. That song's so catchy!"

Sunset had to roll her eyes quite a few times at the stupid things they were coming up with. But she couldn't care less, in fact, she was somewhat happy that it was going to escalate to the point where she wouldn't need to move a finger for it to solve itself. Well, someone was going to solve it, but it wasn't going to be her.

The bell rang, announcing the end of classes. While the students practically ran to their imagined freedom, Sunset simply made her way to the gym. In her way she overheard two girls talking. "What's that 'Alpha Bitch' thing everyone's talking about?" asked one to the other, who only shrugged. "They're probably talking about Sunset. They say she's still evil." Sunset frowned a little, but decided to ignore it. It was going to solve itself anyway.

She entered the gym and looked around. It seemed empty, so she decided to do something idle while Trixie arrived. She walked to the scenario and to the stack of props, at first she wanted to try that trick with the coin and the fingers, but then she saw the rope connected to the mechanism of Trixie's master trick. She raised an eyebrow and walked to it, observing it closely. She looked at the rails in the ceiling and then at the stirrup on the floor. "How hard can it be?" She asked to herself and walked to the stack, retrieving the control and putting it on her left hand. She felt her heart beating a little faster, but she paid no mind to it.

Taking a tentative step forward, she analyzed the structure one more time. Trixie had used it a couple of times, so she knew it wouldn't fall apart. She hesitantly passed her right foot through the stirrup, just as Trixie did it, and then grabbed the rope and gave a couple of pulls, just in case. When the thing kept on its place, Sunset took a very deep breath and slowly let it out. "Ok… Here goes nothing…" She used her thumb to press the small button that activated the control. She heard a click coming from the rail, there where the rope connected to it. She gulped and proceeded to raise her index finger. She did it so slowly that it didn't seem like it was moving. Her heart raced as she thought that she might've broken the thing, and in that instant, she moved her index a little too fast, and she felt how the rope pulled her upwards.

Sunset suppressed a yelp as her grip on the rope tightened. She gulped again, feeling her left hand frozen in place. "Calm down…" She whispered and forced out a sigh, trying to lower her heartbeat. She looked down and realized that the stirrup had barely moved, and her left foot was still touching the floor.

Taking yet another deep breath through her nose, she pulled herself up, using only the stirrup to stand on. With the sudden impulse, Sunset unwillingly pulled herself backwards, and by the third law of that guy whose name she didn't remember right in that moment, the rope then made her move forwards, and then backwards again. Sunset grinded her teeth as the small movement ended. She knew that she was just an inch or so away from the floor, but it still somehow made her start rethinking her decision. She shook her head. "No, I'm not a coward." She said and took two or three deep breaths to calm herself. When she thought she was ready, she started to move her finger again. She could feel the rope pulling her, but thanks to her grip, she didn't move to the sides.

When she was about three feet in the air, she stopped for a second and moved down her middle finger just a little, making the mechanism to pull the rope to the center of the gym. Sunset wasn't going very fast, but since she was having troubles maintaining her balance as it was, she wasn't going to risk at a higher speed. When she got to the middle of the mechanism, she pulled her finger to make it stop, but even if she did it slowly, the rope still moved in a weird way, making her lose her balance. She tried to stabilize herself with the hand she was using to grab the rope, but it was moving too much. And then, she accidentally moved the fingers of her left hand in random directions, making the rope travel really fast, and in the process, throwing Sunset to the floor.

She fell on her backside with a loud thud and a very clear cry of terror, and almost immediately after that, she heard an even louder clang as the stirrup smacked the base of the scenario. Fearing the worst, Sunset pressed the button to deactivate the thing and quickly took off the control. She didn't know what to do, her heart raced, her rump hurt and her head ached as tons of ideas swirled in her mind, all of them being as useless as the next one.

But before she could even get up, she heard a clap coming from the gym's door. "That was so amusing, I will ignore the fact that you almost broke my master piece."

Sunset's head snapped to the source of the voice and found Trixie leaning on the door with a very pleased smile on her face. "I was just, uh… checking that it was in perfect shape!" She lied with a weak grin and quickly getting on her feet. "The rope is a little loose."

Trixie walked to her with her arms crossed in front of her. "If you want a ride, you can just tell me." She said, still smiling. "Though as you could experience by yourself, it's a little complicated."

"A little complicated?!" Sunset asked a little too loud, producing a frustrated frown. "It's the hardest thing I've experienced since learning how to use these pesky fingers!" She smacked a hand on her forehead and groaned. "You make it look so easy. I'm usually the one who makes everything look easy!"

Trixie leaned her head to her left and grinned a little. "You didn't have fingers before?"

For a moment, Sunset froze in place and then turned to look at Trixie. "No. I thought that had been already stated before."

"Yeah I guess I forgot." Trixie said and walked to the scenario. "With the students saying so many stupid things about you and Rainbow… It's kind of hard not to laugh at them, and thus to remember minutiae."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Minutiae? You think that not being a human is a minutia?!"

Trixie rubbed her chin for a moment. "In a way, yes…" She took the stirrup and idly inspected it. "I've been thinking, you see. And I came to the conclusion that whatever you are, it doesn't really matter here, because in this world you are a human." She said and looked directly at Sunset's eyes. "And the fact that you are a human means that, for whatever reason, you can't be your true species here. Then I thought: What if it's the other way around? What if I go to your world? Would I still be a human?" She asked and stared into Sunset's eyes.

"Unlikely." Sunset answered. "Humans don't exist in my world."

"Then, I'd most likely become one of the species of your world." Trixie put a hand on her hip. "If you, not originally a human, can date other humans, it means that with the change of species, you also changed in what you like to date."

Sunset crossed her arms. "What are you trying to say with all this?"

Trixie smiled. "Easy, if I go to your world, I'd become one of the species there, and then, I'd start liking other beings of that species even when, as a human, I don't."

There was a moment of silence as the girls stared at each other. Trixie had a good and solid point, but her argument still lacked of real experience. Though it still was impressive how good her deductive ability was. Maybe Trixie was only trying to make Sunset feel comfortable… Well, it was working.

Sunset looked straight into Trixie's eyes. "A pony."

"What was that?"

"I'm a pony. A mare. And a unicorn." Sunset said with a serious expression. She took a deep breath. "More or less like the ponies of this world, but with very notable differences: One, we are smart and can speak, as you could already tell." She said, using her fingers to count. "Two, our bodies are more stylized and a little smaller. Three, in my world, ponies divide in three principal races: Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies. Four, all of us can do magic to some extent. And Five, I'm even sexier as a mare, I tell ya."

Trixie looked at Sunset with her eyes narrowed for a moment before smiling. "Ok, I believe you."

Sunset's left eye twitched a little. "Just like that?"

"Yeah." Trixie shrugged. "I mean, we all saw that those girls grew animal ears before Twilight returned home. And let me be serious here: The only reason why I can believe these things so easily, it's because my dreams are normally about things that have less sense than this." Sunset frowned a little and Trixie smiled sheepishly. "Like taking a bath in peanut butter."

Sunset sighed. "You know what? I don't want to think things too much anymore. You want to believe me just like that? Students want to tell stupid rumors about me and Rainbow? Twilight's dimensional twin conveniently starts studying in this school right after the other one left? Ok… I'll just roll with it. What can possibly go wrong?"

Trixie lifted her hand, making Sunset frown at her with an eyebrow raised. "So, how about we go have a drink or something before everything starts going wrong?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, Sunset snickered. "Alright, but you pay."

Author's Notes:

The friend that made the cover is making another one as per my request. I believe that one will send a better message of what I've planned for this fic.

See you next chapter!

11. Date Night

Chapter 11: Date Night.

The sun was finishing its way down the horizon when Sunset and Trixie entered in Joe's Dough, the same place where they started to hang out a couple of days ago. Strikes of red, yellow and pink filtered through the windows, which mixed with the rustic style of the coffeehouse, gave the customers a relaxed place to drink something in a break.

Trixie ordered a slice of orange cake and a small mug of hot cocoa. Sunset on her part ordered a baguette and a cappuccino.

When both girls got their orders, they went to a table near the entrance. "This place is always half full of people." Trixie commented while poking idly her cake with a fork. "I wonder why, everything here is delicious."

Sunset shifted in her seat. "Beats me. But I won't complain, I don't really like crowded places." She gave her baguette a big bite and leaned back. She then noticed that Trixie was staring at her. "What?" She managed to ask with her mouth full of food.

Trixie blinked. "Usually, I don't care what people eat, but…" She glanced over the baguette and then to Sunset. "Since you're a pony, shouldn't you be a vegetarian?"

Sunset stopped chewing for just a second, but then reassumed the mechanical movement until she could safely swallow. "Lemme tell you something." She said, looking directly at Trixie's eyes. "Ponies don't eat meat for different reasons. The majority doesn't eat it simply because, to us ponies, meat doesn't give nutritional value. Some excuse themselves saying that only griffons, minotaurs and dragons eat meat, and others say that animals shouldn't be eaten." She took a small piece of lettuce coming out from the baguette and ate it. "When I came to this world, I was actually surprised that humans need meat to survive. But I am a pragmatic person, you see. Even if I didn't want to eat meat, trying to be a veggie would be troublesome and annoying. Since you can eat meat almost anywhere, and it's a requirement of human bodies, I didn't find any reasons why I shouldn't eat it."

"So you just didn't care of the sudden change in nutritional habits?"

"Trixie, hun, being a human girl is so different from being a magical unicorn mare, that eating meat or not was the least of my problems when I was adapting to this place."

Trixie gave a look to Sunset. "Oh? And what are the most notable differences?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

Sunset crossed her arms thoughtfully. "Anatomy, I'd say. It took me six months to completely understand why I had to bleed a full week every month and not freak out."

"Six months?" Trixie asked with an eyebrow raised. "There are lots of books and info about it nowadays."

"Oh, yes." Sunset said with an annoyed voice. "I quickly learned the basics. But there's something important you're missing." She waited for Trixie to ask with her gaze. Sunset raised a finger, trying to emphasize her next words. "I was alone. I didn't have anyone by my side to help me understand. I was alone in a completely different world and everything was so different from what I knew that it took me six months to fully understand it."

Trixie looked down guiltily. "Sorry, I didn't know..."

But Sunset wasn't angry; she was smiling. "Of course you didn't, no one ever expects the high school bitch to have had difficulties adapting." She looked up to the ceiling and sighed. "But I can't complain now. It was my fault to begin with."

"Why?" Trixie asked, and Sunset looked at her a little confused. "Why it's your fault?"

Sunset embraced herself and took a deep breath. "Long story short, I was a greedy selfish bitch, and for some stupid reason I thought that going through the portal was going to help me achieve my goals…" She forced a small laugh. "By the time I wanted to return, it was too late; the portal was closed."

Trixie shifted awkwardly in her seat. "But…" She said, and swallowed before continuing. "But you actually survived the change of lifestyle. Aren't you proud of it?"

A small chuckle escaped Sunset's mouth. "No, no." She said and looked at Trixie with tired eyes. "It was mere luck." When Trixie gave her an inquisitive stare, she continued. "The first weeks here were like hell. I was homeless, so I sneaked in the school to sleep in the gym's storage room, to eat in the cafeteria and to clean myself in the gym's showers. That situation was driving me crazy; I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't met the brothers."

"In that time, Flim and Flam were trying to sell who-knows-what in a very weird stand they built in Canterlot Square. I noticed that they didn't really know how to build things, and their stand was about to collapse. I convinced them to let me help them with that. I had never built anything in my life, but I did know a thing or two about it. After that, I started to hang out with them… Well, I really was only following them so I could help them build their stand and I could get a few bucks in exchange."

"A week after that, I noticed that they were having problems with money, debts and other stuff. And once again, I managed to convince them to let me help… I noticed that they weren't exactly good at math, so they were losing money just because they didn't know exactly how much they were spending. Naturally, I fixed the problem immediately. They decided to hire me as their accountant for a couple of reasons: First, I only asked for enough money to survive, and second, I didn't ask questions nor did I care of the source of their money."

"They had lots of ideas for businesses, and I often advised them in some of them. I didn't know much about this world, but economics was the same as in Equestria, so it was easy for me to foreshadow the development of some decisions. With time, I passed from being their accountant to be their personal counselor. They only raised the money they gave me a couple of bucks, but they did offer me a place to stay."

Sunset sighed, finally finishing her story. "I wasn't homeless anymore, and I had a constant source of money. If it wasn't for them, I don't know what would've happened."

There was a moment of silence, and Sunset decided to take another bite of her baguette. Trixie opened her mouth a couple of times before her voice finally found its way out. "So you live with them?"

At that, Sunset chuckled and almost spat her food. Her nose hurt a little when she took a deep breath and swallowed her food before speaking. "No, no. I don't live with them… It's just… They had an apartment they didn't use and let me move there."

Trixie raised an eyebrow. "They gave you an apartment just like that?"

Sunset buffed. "I spent a year making them win lots of money and I only asked for a couple of bucks to survive. They're not bad people, but I wouldn't say they're good either. Even so, they know when to show gratitude."

"Very well then…" Trixie said. She was going to eat another portion of her cake when something clicked in her mind. "Wait, does that mean that you slept in the school for a year?"

"Can we talk about something else?"

Trixie smiled. "Of course. I'd like to know more about you." Sunset raised an annoyed eyebrow. "I've been thinking…"

"It seems that all you did today is thinking about me." Sunset teased.

"Well, we're dating. It's normal that I wonder some things…"

Sunset hummed and drank a little of her coffee. "And what is it that you wonder?"

Trixie made a pause to gather her ideas, deciding to drink a little from her cocoa before speaking. She quickly put the mug on the table and looked directly at Sunset's eyes. "Ok, here's the thing." She said, taking a deep breath. "I tried to make the conversation go there, but I'm not a subtle person, and even if I could, you'd notice right away, so I'll just ask it…"

"You can ask me anything, don't be afraid." Sunset replied with an idly movement of her hand. "As long as it's not related to corndogs."

"I… uh, what?" Trixie asked confused, but decided to shrug it off. "Anyway, my question is: Can you tell me about your, uh, prior relationships?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow and went silent for five very uncomfortable seconds before speaking up. "You sure are a bold one." She teased, and smiled satisfied at Trixie trying to hide a blush and failing miserably. After a couple of seconds, she let out a breath through her teeth. "'S okay. I prefer bold to italic."

Trixie gave a confused gaze, and it quickly turned into a small grimace as Sunset slowly started to take off the gauze on her nose. "Hey, you're not supposed to do that yet, are you?" But it was too late, for Sunset had already freed her nose and slowly wrapped the gauze with a napkin. Her nose had visible marks of red and purple, slowly fading on the edges.

"It doesn't matter." Sunset replied, scrunching her nose a couple of times. She gently grabbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index fingers and pressed a little. A small, almost imperceptible wave of pain ran through her face, making her hiss for a moment. When the pain disappeared, she put down her hand and looked at Trixie. "I'll be alright." She declared and shifted in her place. "So, you wanna know about my love life as a pony. Interesting."

Trixie's cheeks became a soft hue of pink as she looked down to her cake and nodded. "You say that you never had friends, yet you know about dating. And I wonder how's that possible."

Sunset made a sound between a chuckle and a cough and leaned back, resting her arms on her lap. She smiled for a moment and then looked up a little, remembering some of the good times she had in Equestria. "You know, for a reason I'm yet to understand, I'm telling you more than what I'd like to…"

"And that's a good thing, right?"

"Maybe." Sunset admitted. "Maybe not. But it doesn't matter, not anymore. As I told you, I'm taking decisions without really considering the consequences." She took a breath through her teeth. "It's probably due to the fact that I already told you more than what I've told the other girls, if just a little more. But I don't think it'll hurt to answer more questions. As long as you promise not to push when I don't want to tell you something, that is."

"Sounds fair."

Sunset gave an unreadable expression, and then she sighed and took a quick sip of coffee before speaking. "I can remember with outstanding clarity my first kiss." She said, crossing all her fingers together. "I was fifteen at the time. He was a new cadet of the royal guard. His name was Golden Spear, sixteen years old and very handsome too, I must say." She suppressed a chuckled and then looked directly at Trixie's eyes. "We dated for about three months, if I remember correctly. At the end, it just didn't work out; he was way too focused in becoming a royal guard, and I was way too focused in my magic lessons."

"Your first kiss was until you were fifteen?" Trixie asked with a teasing tune in her voice. What she didn't expect, though, was that Sunset only smiled back; a very suspicious smile.

"Oh, Trixie, unlike you humans, we don't try to force our first kiss." Trixie gave her a confused gaze. "I've heard people saying that they had their first kiss at the age of ten. Ten!" She exclaimed, as an elder complaining about the youth. "The first time I heard that I was really shocked, of course I didn't know that humans only had a first kiss." She said, and then offered a devious smile, knowing that her next words would shock Trixie. "Of course you'll feel about the same when I tell you that when we ponies give our first kiss, we also have our first time."

It was probably the fact that Sunset said it so plainly, as if it wasn't something personal at all, but Trixie's cheeks became of a brighter pink, and she could feel heat rising in her face. She muttered a few words in silence. "What?" She finally managed to say.

Sunset chuckled and leaned closer, placing both arms on the table to support her weigh. "It's true, tough. That's why a first kiss is a big deal to us, unlike to humans. In fact, most ponies wait until their twenties, but doing it at the age of fifteen isn't looked down upon either. You're legally considered an adult after you get your cutie mark, after all." Trixie's expression wasn't one of confusion; it revealed that she was completely lost. "Never mind that. That's a subject for another time."

After a couple of seconds of silence, in which Sunset took the opportunity to finish her baguette and ask for another cup of cappuccino, Trixie finally managed to reduce her blush and heartbeat. "Ok, that was a little unexpected, but I know that's not all, right?"

Sunset smiled again, humming. And Trixie wondered why it was being so easy for Sunset to talk about those things. "Well, after Golden Spear, I didn't last more than a month with others. Either I broke up with them, or they broke up with me. And for reasons so varied like I got bored of them, or they found me too abrasive."

"You are abrasive." Trixie pointed out.

"Never said I wasn't." Sunset replied dismissingly. "Anyway, I had many partners. The royal guards are good when you only want to scratch an itch." Trixie suddenly became red. "If I wanted to have real conversations, I'd date someone from college. Now that I think about it, I never was picky, they just had to meet the average standards." She then produced a smile and almost a chuckle. "There was this time when Princess Celestia caught me making out with one of the maids." Trixie opened her eyes as if she just saw a ghost. "It… probably wasn't a good idea to do it in her bed chambers."

At that, Trixie dropped her hands on the table and leaned closer. "You did what?!"

Sunset leaned back in a defensive posture, but kept smiling happily. "Don't judge me! I was in heat, and I knew that she ogled me every time I passed by."

After a long moment, Trixie finally let out a resigned breath. "And here I thought you had some good drama to write a soap opera." She said sarcastically, more to help herself feel a little less awkward than anything else.

"Oh don't sound so disappointed. You're the first one to know all this about me."

"Which makes me wonder what you talked about with Flash, unless he was with you only for that other reason?"

"Not quite." Sunset admitted. "I never really liked him that way, and considering how human bodies work, I'd never take that risk with him."

Trixie's eyes flickered with curiosity. "I don't know if it'll ever stop being amazing how different you really are."

"Don't say it as if I was some kind of endangered animal."

"I say it because…" Trixie started, and glanced over her hands on the table before continuing. "You can talk about those subjects as if it was nobody's business…"

Sunset frowned a little but remained silent. Trixie thought for a moment that she was angry, but then she felt Sunset's hand over hers. She looked up and watched with disbelief that Sunset had a sad expression, but was looking directly at her eyes. And then she spoke up, and her voice was a bit shaky; it was the kind of voice one has when trying to suppress strong feelings. "It has been nobody's business for a long time." She stated, and shortly after she started to caress Trixie's hand with her fingers.

To her surprise, the magician's hand was both soft and rough. Probably due to years of training gymnastics. She felt the hand wrap her own, and she could only keep moving her thumb up and down. "I told you I don't know why I'm telling you all this…" She made a pause to take a breath and quickly glanced somewhere else; it was so fast that Trixie thought she imagined it. "Perhaps I only want someone to hear me out. Someone I can trust in…"

"You're trusting too much in someone you just met." Trixie said, and her voice was tender and serious at the same time.

Sunset smiled and shrugged a little. "I also told you I'm doing things without considering the consequences." She leaned closer and kept caressing Trixie's hand. "Before things start going wrong again, I want to feel like I can trust someone."

Trixie tightened her grasp on Sunset's hand and gave her a small smile. "You're pessimistic and optimistic at the same time."

"Yes, perhaps I am." Sunset said looking at their hands. "So… As much as I enjoy it, how about we stop talking about me?"

Trixie smiled awkwardly as Sunset looked up at her eyes, showing her teeth in a small grin. "Ok… What do you want to know?"

"The same I told you."

Trixie leaned back but kept wrapping Sunset's hand with her own. "I think it's fair." She said and looked up for a moment. "My first kiss was when I was twelve. It was in that stupid bottle game with my classmates." She then looked at Sunset's eyes and shrugged. "I don't even remember his name."

She went silent for a moment, and Sunset could see that even if Trixie was looking her directly in the eyes, she wasn't really looking her. Her eyes were vague, clearly remembering something important. "A couple of years later, when I was fourteen, I started dating this girl, and thanks to her I discovered that I liked girls instead of boys." She said with a brief chuckle. "The bad thing is that I became really obsessed with her. I even thought that she was the love of my life and all that. Of course she didn't like it, and she tried many times to help me see my error, but I was blinded and I didn't want to hear that." She took a breath through her teeth and looked down. "At the end, she broke up with me, and I cried for the longest time. Naturally, I finally realized my error, and I grew up."

After those words, Trixie became silent and gave Sunset a glance that said that she had finished. "Not soap opera material either." Sunset teased, and Trixie laughed for a couple of seconds. "And what's the name of this girl?"

Trixie shifted in her seat and looked at the last portion of her cake. "She's three years older than me. I believe that she's in college right now, but I don't know. I haven't even seen her since we broke up."

"That doesn't answer my question." Sunset said, and tried her best not to sound pushy.

"Does it really matter?" Trixie asked, and then forced a teasing smile. "You're not getting jealous already, are you?"

Sunset huffed. "We've been dating for less than a day, ask me that next month and I'll even consider it a joke." She leaned closer. "It's ok if you don't want to tell me, she's in the past, and now you're mine."

Trixie chuckled and leaned closer to Sunset, stopping until she was just a few inches away from her face. "Oh? I don't remember being on sale."

Sunset used her free hand to lift a little Trixie's head from her chin, letting herself look directly at her eyes. She wanted to reply with a smart line to make Trixie chuckle again, but she couldn't come up with anything. There was something in her eyes, a shine in her irises that she just couldn't stop staring at. And then, ever so slowly, she looked down, observing thoroughly every detail in Trixie's face. She looked her long eyelashes, the subtle makeup in the form of a black line in the border of her eyes, her almost unnoticeable cheekbones, the rounded form of her chin, her small and delicate nose, and finally, her mouth. And she realized that that was the part of Trixie she liked the most: her fine lips without any makeup.

She looked up without moving her head, and noticed that Trixie's eyes were narrowed. She smiled satisfied; knowing that she had that effect on others made her really happy. Trixie leaned closer, and gave a low moan of disappointment when Sunset leaned back. "Say it." Sunset said in a singing tone. "You know you want to say it."

Trixie frowned, but shortly after gave a resigned sigh. "P-Please." She said, and almost instantly felt Sunset's lips over hers. She gave in the kiss, letting Sunset guide every movement. It didn't last more than a minute, but for some reason she didn't complain when Sunset broke the kiss and leaned back, offering a small smile.

"Now, I'd like to know more about you."

"Shouldn't it be your turn?" Trixie asked, and noticed that she still had Sunset's hand wrapped with hers.

Sunset smiled and took a sip of her coffee. "I've told you a lot about me already. And I barely know things about you."

Trixie made a face and scrunched her nose. "I'm eighteen." Sunset chuckled a little, and Trixie smiled at that. "I dunno. My parents have money, but the raised me in a way I wouldn't become a spoiled brat. I've won a couple of competitions in gymnastics and my biggest dream is to be the world's greatest illusionist."

"You've won competitions? That's impressive, I guess." Sunset admitted, and there was an honest tone of admiration in her voice.

"Yeah I think so." Trixie replied dismissively. "I prefer to disappear a coin than to do a double back flip."

Sunset's eyes flickered. "I'd like to watch you do that."

"Maybe later." Trixie said with a smile. "First I have to amaze the brothers with my amazing show this Monday."

"I'm sure you will." Sunset said with a warm smile. "Without me you'd be helpless though."

Trixie laughed so hard that she had to dry some tears from her eyes with a napkin. "Sure, just make sure to follow the instructions I gave you and everything will go smoothly."

"Aye aye, captain!"

Author's Notes:

Woah almost a month! School is heartless I tell ya!

It surprises me that I was able to write three chapters concerning a single day within the story.

Hope you like it!

12. Fast Track to Hell (Part 1)

Chapter 12. Fast Track to Hell (Part 1)

Sunset laughed. She opened her eyes and looked at the ground. Where moments ago Twilight Sparkle and her friends had stood against her, was now a small crater of burnt dirt and concrete. Sunset grinned from ear to ear as the pain she felt in her body quickly faded. The Element of Magic finally had accepted her as its new owner, and all she had to do was kill Twilight.

She laughed again, and this time it sounded like a howl of victory. And she felt her blood flood with adrenaline and her heart beat faster, only this time it was with thrill. She turned around and saw her little army already gathered in front of the portal. She showed her teeth in a grin and felt her grown fangs against the back of her lips. "You gonna turn 'em into demons like us?" Snips asked, looking as excited as her.

"No. That would be a waste of energy." She answered and then turned to face the portal. She pressed her right hand into a fist in an attempt to stop herself for bursting into maniacal laughter. "They will serve only as a meat shield. While the guards are busy with them, I will take down the princesses." If she could smile wider, she'd do it. And she saw from the corner of her eyes her two loyal minions grinning like her. "I will go first. You two make them pass right after me. But be quick, or I'll be done by the time you cross the portal and will miss the action."

Snips and Snails nodded, and she prepared herself to cross the portal. Adopting a posture that resembled a predator about to bounce on its pray, Sunset breathed deeply, and with a jump she shortened the distance and crossed the portal.

The travel was as she remembered. A turmoil of colors and the feeling of being sucked from inside out and put together in a different form. But she was prepared this time, and she quickly got in her hooves at the moment she landed. She looked around; the mirror was still in the same room in the Crystal Palace. She had expected to meet guards or any pony for that matter, but she only saw trophies and other crystal jewelry she wasn't interested in.

She felt a little strange, a weird feeling of vertigo as she stood up, but it was probably due to the travel, so she ignored it. She gave a couple of steps and found herself in front of a mirror. Not like the portal, whose surface seemed like a silver plate, but an actual normal, full sized mirror. And she quickly understood the vertigo.

Like in the human world, the Element of Magic had also transformed her in Equestria. She was tall, and not only a few inches tall, but Celestia's height tall. Her fur was red, and her Cutie Mark, although remained the same in shape, was of darker hues of yellow and red. Her eyes were also very different: The sclera was of a dirty yellow, the irises were dark red and the pupils had shrunk into thin lines, resembling a dragon's. She even had wings, albeit they were like a dragon's wings, and they were of a red so dark that almost seemed black. But what impressed her the most was her mane and tail. Instead of hair or even ethereal waves of magic like the princesses', she had opaque, live fire going from her head, back neck and tail to the sky.

Sunset smiled again, and then heard the sound of hooves near the portal. She turned to see the humans arriving and being transformed into ponies. She waited until at least a few dozens had crossed and clumsily but decidedly got to their hooves, admiring the empty stares in all of them. With a triumphant smile she turned around, ready to take over Equestria and claim her righteous place as a ruler.

She lit her horn and saw living sparks of green dancing in front of her as she concentrated her magic. After but a couple of seconds, she released that magic into a wall, effectively turning it into dust and pebbles. "Attack! Kill anypony using armor!" She shouted, and all her slaves gave guttural shouts as they charged to the unknown, running through the thick wall of smoke that formed when she destroyed the wall.

Sounds of fight could be heard, and Sunset knew that her army wouldn't last too long. She had only minutes to find and slay the princesses. She grinned and cast a barrier around her, and then charged with all her might, crossing the smoke wall and pushing away anyone in her way. When she crossed the smoke, she saw Princess Celestia standing there, right in front of her.

All around Sunset became silent as she laid her eyes on the princess and time seemed to slow down. Celestia had her horn lit and fully charged of energy. Sunset felt a chill ran down her spine as sparks of yellow ignited from her former teacher's horn. And after what seemed like an eternity, she realized that Celestia's stare was nothing she had ever seen before. It wasn't a disappointed stare, it wasn't even angry or sad; it was filled with disgust, the kind of stare someone makes before killing a big and repugnant bug.

Celestia grimaced, and seemed like she was about to vomit. "Monster." She only said that one word, and then focused all the magic in her horn in a fine ray of gold light. Sunset didn't had a chance to react, for in just the moment she took to blink, Celestia's laser beam made a clean hole through her magic shield with ease and crossed her heart.

Sunset screamed in terror and jumped, sitting on her bed. Her heart ached and throbbed as if it had been stabbed with an electrified knife, and for a moment she thought that it would stop beating. She put a hand on her chest and let out a heavy and quivery sigh of relief at the feeling of her unharmed body. After but a couple of seconds, she felt her hand wet, and she realized that she was fully covered in sweat. She instinctively moved her shoulders and promptly cursed at the cold breeze that met her back and only felt colder because of the hot sweat. She took a few deep breathes and passed her other hand over her messy hair, taking it to the back to cool her head with the rather fresh air.

When she finally calmed herself enough so that she didn't feel her heart bumping furiously against her chest, she dropped her hand on the side of her bed and spun to her left, throwing the blanket away with her other hand and letting her legs fall freely until they reached the floor. The cold surface of fake wood sent a small shiver through her body, but she ignored it and stood up with a lazy swing of her arms.

With the loose parts of her pajama falling freely, she finally realized just how profusely she was sweating. She felt as if she had stood under heavy rain, only that it was hot and sticky. Her hair felt as if it was glued against her skin, and the parts of her body where her skin was a little longer like her neck and the opposite part of her elbows and knees felt disgustingly wet and tacky.

She looked at the glowing red numbers of her alarm clock. It was two in the morning. Sunset had thought to only get a glass of water even if her mouth wasn't particularly dry and then go back to sleep, but for some reason she didn't feel sleepy. In fact, she felt very awake, probably due to the fact that her veins were filled with adrenaline because of her resent nightmare.

"Nightmare…" She whispered, lifting both hands in front of her and staring at them. "It was a nightmare…" Her voice was even, but she felt a weird feel of emptiness in her stomach every time she said that word.

She stood there for the longest time, only staring at her hands. With her perception of time severed for only the moment she spent there, she didn't know, nor did she specially care, how much time she had been in that position. It was until another cold breeze made her shiver that she snapped out of her trance.

A little headache was starting to build up at the right side of her head. She frowned at the throbbing pain, taking deep breathes again in an attempt to relax her body. It didn't work that well, and she let out an exasperated sigh.

She absentmindedly looked around her room. It was small, probably smaller than the storage room she slept in her first year in the human world. But there was enough space to fit the only furniture she required: Her individual bed made of thick, dark wood with a rather tall and hard mattress; the kit of blankets, pillow cases and blanket were of different shades of teal, resembling the color of her eyes. Next to the bed was a rustic night table of light brown wood, upon which laid her black alarm clock. Placed against the east wall was a short, white dresser that occupied almost the entire length of the wall. There was a mirror with a plain, black frame on the dresser, along with a very small amount of beauty products. And finally, on the opposite wall were a small, brown desk and a black swivel chair, and on top of the desk rested a lone, white laptop.

Sunset's teeth shivered as yet another cold breeze met her body, and the fact that the sweat was cooling down didn't help either. She resisted the urge to embrace herself as the idea of feel the sticky moist disgusted her. She eyed the door, remembering what was beyond, and smiled as an idea popped up in her mind.

She decided that a hot shower at two in the morning didn't sound so bad. She opened one of the drawers of the dresser and took a big, pink towel and went straight to the bathroom, not even bothering to take her feet away from the floor, thus sliding them, which proved quite easy on the smooth surface.

It didn't took her more than a few seconds to open the water tap that would quickly heat up the falling water and take off her clothes, tossing them into a plastic basket near the door. She decided to lean on the sink and look at her reflection in the mirror while the water warmed up. Her face and body had several white spots there where the light interacted with the sweat, and she frowned, already wanting to clean herself. But aside of that little -and quite disgusting- detail, and the fading red and purple colors on her nose, she didn't find anything unusual. For some reason she had thought that she'd have bloodshot eyes, or bags of tiredness beneath them, or any other sign of her going crazy.

She gave herself a weak smile and leaned back, getting a better view of her naked body. She preferred a thousand times her pony form over the human one, but even if the first months in this world she had hated it, over the years she had come to see its appeal and actually like it.

"Hey Sunny-girl! Looking good!" She said to her reflection and turned her hands to look like guns pointing at the mirror while closing one eye. After but a moment she returned to a normal position and let out a calmed sigh. She stretched her arms in front of her, hearing a few pops. The warm feeling of steam claimed her attention, and she happily bounced to the shower, sliding the plastic curtain after her and accepting the embrace of hot water over her body.

She couldn't help but sigh and moan at the pleasure that gave taking a hot shower, and for a moment she just stood there, closing her eyes and lifting her head, letting the water fall directly on her face.

"Monster."

She frowned as the image of Celestia appeared behind her eyelids. The princess' eyes were cold, empty of emotions except for the clear repulsion towards her. Sunset opened her eyes and hung her head, looking at her toes. It had been the first time in her life that she had a nightmare, and not only that, it was very rare that she could remember a dream well after waking up. Yet there she was, being able to remember with frightening clarity every detail of said nightmare.

But what unsettled her the most was the time.

She had expected to start having nightmares right after the Fall Formal debacle, but every night since then had been dreamless. So why was it starting until now? She closed her eyes in a frown and extended her arms in front of her, using her hands to rest her weight on the wall and letting the water fall on her neck. The dream replayed once again in her mind, forcing her to snap open her eyes.

"Yep, I'm losing it…" She said and groaned. Just when she thought her life was getting a little brighter, there was a big step back. She forced herself back under the water and proceeded to clean her body with monotonous, almost robotic movements, and had to press tight her jaw when she washed her hair and had to close her eyes for that moment. She quickly finished cleaning herself, but decided to enjoy the wonderful feeling of hot water drops running down her body for a little while longer.

For minutes she just stood there under the water, staring at nothing in particular, trying to think of anything, but her mind was completely blank. And after what seemed like a lot of time, she finally forced a blink and a heavy sigh, deciding that she had spent enough time there. She closed the water tap and stepped out of the shower. The cold air at the other side of the curtain made her shiver a little, but she didn't pay it too much attention, as she lazily took the towel and started to dry herself.

When she was sure that she stopped dripping water, she casually stepped out of the bathroom, welcoming the even colder air of her hall. It was actually quite refreshing to feel the sudden drop of temperature in her body after a good hot shower. She smiled at the heavenly feeling and put the towel over her shoulders, letting it fall in front of her as a scarf.

Even if she had been surrounded by water only moments ago, and still was far from being completely dry, she felt her lips a little rough, especially in the corner of her mouth. She shrugged and walked to the kitchen without turning on any light, as she knew very well how to navigate through her apartment, though it wasn't really that hard, since she was very organized and never had anything thrown on the way.

She reached one of the cabinets and retrieved a glass, already licking her dry lips in anticipation. She quickly filled the glass with tap water and gave a long sip, only that it wasn't what she had expected; it was hot, and it tasted like metal and dirt. She spat everything on the sink and looked at the glass, and she felt that it was warm against the skin of her hand. She blinked in confusion and spilled the water on the sink. "So weird…" She whispered and then refilled the glass, this time double checking that it was the right tap water; the cold one.

When she made sure that it was indeed cold water, she drank the whole glass in one go. When she finished, she let out a loud sigh of satisfaction and placed the glass in the sink, deciding that she'd care for it the next day.

And with that, a refreshed and rehydrated Sunset returned to her bedroom, finishing drying her hair on the way. She tossed the towel on her bed after closing the door of her room and proceeded to get dressed with only panties and another set of pajamas, this one being dark blue and consisting of long pants and a shirt with buttons. Once she felt comfortable, she took the towel and placed it on the back of the swivel chair. She sighed again and sat down on her bed, looking at the ceiling.

She stood there for a couple of minutes, her eyes occasionally wandering through the room. She inhaled deeply through her nose and closed her eyes. This time she didn't recall the nightmare, which was a good thing, considering that she was feeling slumber return to her body. With a triumphant smile, she lay down and in a single move took the blanket over her, adopting a fetal position and making herself comfortable before her tired eyes closed and she was dragged to the dream world once again.

"Hey, Sunset! Earth to Sunset!"

Sunset blinked, and Trixie suddenly appeared in front of her, wearing an amused smile. "Hey, Trix." She said with a lazy voice. Since she had gotten forty minutes early to school, she had decided to sit down against the portal, and she was lost in her own mind, not really thinking anything, and for Celestia-knows how much time.

"Are you alright?" Trixie asked with concern and squatted down, leveling the height of her eyes with Sunset's. "You look kinda sick."

"I'm good." Sunset shifted awkwardly and rested her head on the statue, offering a smile. "I was just thinking about the show, we only got today and a couple of hours on Monday to get ready."

Trixie gave her a knowing smile. "You sure? 'Cause Principal Celestia is willing to let us practice on weekend days."

Sunset's eyes flickered and a small grin formed in her face. "You know, if I had to do more than just press buttons behind the scenes, I'd actually be a bit worried."

"Just a bit?" Trixie teased. "You really can't do one single magic trick to save your life."

Sunset huffed with a single laugh. "Well, I can make you melt for me."

"That's just a weird phrase."

"Still true, though."

Trixie made a sound between a laugh and a cough. "Anyway, classes are about to begin. See you at lunch?"

Sunset looked at the sky as a white sky just covered the sun, barely making a faint shadow beneath it. "Sure, I'll be in the cafeteria."

Giving a weak smile, Trixie stood up and walked to the school, where the students were starting to gather as the entrance didn't provide enough space for the lot of them, and a few little groups on the way, chatting carelessly, reducing the available space even more. Sunset sighed and relaxed her body. She knew that she'd have to attend classes eventually; she just didn't feel like doing it immediately.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we've got here." A girl suddenly appeared in Sunset's field of view. She had a soft pink skin and curly, purple hair tied up in a messy ponytail, and her voice was nasal and toned with forced sarcasm. "If it isn't Sunset Monster in person."

Sunset looked up with an annoyed stare, and saw a girl standing a little behind the one who spoke up, though she couldn't quite see her from her angle. "Do I know you?" She asked with a lazy voice and raising an eyebrow.

"I hope, for your own good, that you're not planning to run for princess of the Winter Dance this time around, 'kay?" The girl asked with a devious grin, ignoring the question.

Sunset rolled her eyes and just put her arms on her lap. "If that's a threat, you're not doing it well enough. You need to be more assertive, to impose your presence…" She then grinned slyly. "But above all, you need to know your place." The girl frowned, but Sunset didn't let her speak. "You sure have guts to dare to threaten me, Suri."

Suri opened her eyes as plates and gave a step back, but her frown remained. "Hah, you don't scare me, 'kay?" She said, but her voice quivered, and Sunset decided to slowly stand up. "You don't rule the school anymore, everyone openly hates you, and those girls are with you only because they pity you! You can't do anything to me, m'kay?"

"Oh, really?" Sunset walked over her with very slow steps, hiding her hands inside the pockets of her jacket. "Then I suppose the magazine you work for already knows about your… 'misadventures' with the police." She said, and a wave of both satisfaction and guilt ran through her body as Suri's face turned into one of horror, but she managed to produce an evil smile. "What? You thought that I ruled the school only by being a bitch with everyone? Yeah, I don't rule it anymore, and also yes, everyone can now openly insult me; they've been doing it for the whole week. But, please, don't be so stupid as to come and think you can threaten me with lame talking, because you're the one that will lose at the end."

There was a moment where they just stood there in silence, and Sunset could see that the other girl had light amber skin and two-tone grayish cyan, straight hair. She recognized her as always being following Suri, but she couldn't put a name on her in that moment.

Suri made a noise between a cough and a growl, and Sunset decided that she had grown bored of her. "Look, I'm not interested in winning any other event in this school, so feel free to run for princess of whatever you want. Just don't try to insult me anymore, and I might forget your little mishap, ok?" She didn't even wait for a reaction and decided to walk to the school. It never had felt good to treat people like that, but while she knew that she deserved everyone's hate, she wasn't going to allow any sort of humiliation. She still had a bit of her pride left.

Sunset walked past the students, which proved easy since all them got out of her way, only that instead of it being out of fear, it was out of hatred. She didn't mind, though, as long as she didn't have to struggle to pass like everyone else. But before she could even finish walking through the main door, she saw Twilight, standing in the middle of the foyer and being surrounded by at least fifty students. Sunset could see that Twilight was trying her best not to be there, and judging by the nervous movements of her body and the awkward and clumsy tone of her voice, it was obvious that she didn't like being in the spotlight.

"There she is!" A random guy shouted, and everyone was suddenly staring at Sunset. She decided to only raise an eyebrow and look at them with a bored expression.

"I don't know what you did to her, but you better apologize!" Yelled a girl Sunset couldn't even see.

"We all are with Twilight! You better know your place!"

"You're nothing but a monster!"

"Leave the school! We don't want to see you ever again!"

"Learn when to give up, you demon!"

Sunset did her best to maintain her stoic expression, and even though she wouldn't ever admit it, every single word stung in her heart like poisoned daggers. She saw Twilight, who was looking everywhere with a terrified expression in her face, and for some reason, that made her let out an unnoticeable sigh. She mentally counted from one to ten, and then made a little jump forward, taking her hands out of her jacket and grinning deviously. Everyone fell silent and stepped back, and Sunset quickly regained her nonchalant posture. She then looked directly at Twilight's eyes and offered her a faint smile. "Must be nice to know that everyone loves you." She said, struggling to keep a calm tone. And not even waiting for a response, she turned to her side and quietly disappeared in one of the hallways.

"Sunset-" Twilight tried to call her, but the students around her started to shout insults and threats again, and she could only stand there.

Sunset ran through the empty hallways. Her heart was pounding in her chest as a migraine was growing at the right side of her head, throbbing louder in her ears with every step she made.

She made her way to the throne room and opened the door before the guards even realized what was going on. "Celestia!" She yelled, feeling anger boiling in her veins and heat rising in her face. "Who's this Twilight Sparkle and why everypony's saying she's your personal student?!"

In just the moment she took to say those words, she was already mere feet away from the throne, where Princess Celestia looked at her with a surprised expression in her face. Sunset lifted her head and pressed her jaw, but didn't let her answer right away. "Are you getting rid of me? Is that so? Did I not match your expectations? What is it, Celestia?! Am I no longer needed in your scheme? Tell me!" Her eyes were filled with fury, and she allowed herself to give a heavy and quick huff through her nose, feeling the heat of her own breath.

But Celestia only gazed in pure confusion, and after but a couple of seconds, she lowered her head a little. "Who are you?" She asked, and Sunset felt her heart stop for a moment and then sink down to her stomach. "Why are you disturbing me with senseless questions?" She paused and narrowed her eyes, as if trying to understand a very difficult equation. "And why do you think I'd ever take as a student such disgusting monster like you?"

Sunset opened her eyes as plates and stepped back. And she realized that she had stopped being a pony and instead was a biped, furless, red and ape-like creature with featherless wings and claws at the end of her arms and legs. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt anything?" A voice came from behind her, and as she turned around, she saw Princess Twilight Sparkle, wearing her full royal regalia with the Element of Magic shining behind her horn. She began circling Sunset with a graceful gait and looking at her with a smug grin until she was at Celestia's side.

"It is nothing important, my dear Twilight." Celestia assured with a motherly voice and then looked up directly at Sunset's eyes, and when she spoke up, her voice was cold and void of any emotion. "She was already leaving."

"How can you do this to me?" Sunset cried and fell on her knees, looking at Celestia with pleading eyes. "I thought you loved me!"

"Love you?" Celestia spat the words as if they were poison. She stood up, and her sole presence was enough to make Sunset feel tiny, as an ant facing a dragon's wrath. "Who could possibly love a heartless, pitiful and disgusting monster like you? No, no. What you need is punishment." She declared, injecting every word with so much hatred that Sunset felt as if she was being stabbed with swords embedded in frozen fire.

Celestia charged her horn and sparks danced in front of her face as she prepared a spell. "Wait!" Sunset begged, but Celestia ignored her, and with a smooth movement of her head, she pointed her horn towards Sunset and released an overheated and blinding ball of energy.

Sunset felt a violent chill ran through her spine as she made a little jump, producing a very loud and quivery gasp. Her heart pounded furiously and cold sweat ran down the sides of her forehead. She pressed a fist against her chest and let out a heavy sigh. "Miss Sunset? Are you alright?" A low, hoarse voice snapped her out, and she saw Professor Doodle looking at her with an eyebrow raised and his well-known frown.

She realized just then that she had fallen asleep in the middle of the class, and now everyone was staring at her with different levels of surprise in their eyes. Sunset mumbled something before looking at the professor with tired eyes. "I'm feeling sick," she lied, "can I go to the infirmary?"

Fortunately enough, Professor Doodle hadn't been at the Fall Formal, and since Sunset had always been an excellent student, he didn't have reasons to be mad at her. And what made it even better was that he either ignored what the students said about her, or he just didn't care. "Yes, you can go." He said, and since the class was about to end, he didn't complain when Sunset took all her things and burst out the classroom.

The moment Sunset closed the door behind her and started to walk, she felt her muscles relax. She quickly got to her locker, ignoring the new set of insults painted on the door, and tossed her small backpack inside. With a heavy sigh, she closed the door and turned around, resting her body on the locker and looking at nothing in particular.

Having a nightmare was one thing, but having two nightmares the same day, both being completely different from each other, yet ending with her being killed by Celestia, was another thing. She didn't know why she was having those dreams all of a sudden, and the more thought she put into it, the less she could come with a reasonable answer.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset decided to go outside for a moment. Maybe some fresh air would help her clear her mind. She hurried to the main door, but stopped when she saw the very familiar form of Twilight Sparkle carrying a small stack of books against her chest. And when Flash appeared from a nearby hallway and turned to look at Twilight with confusion and surprise, Sunset decided to sneak on them and eavesdrop. Perhaps something fun would happen.

"Hey Twilight!" Flash called from behind, but almost immediately past her and stood in front of her, offering a warm smile. "I thought you weren't going to return. Glad to know I was wrong."

Twilight shifted awkwardly and leaned back. "Uhm, hold on." She used only one arm to keep holding the books while reaching a pocket of her skirt with the other, producing a small piece of paper. With an expert movement of her fingers she unfolded the paper and started to read. "Even though it may sound unbelievable, I assure you that the following is the truth: I am not the same Twilight Sparkle you know. So while I do appreciate your kindness, I'd like you to treat me as a normal new-student in Canterlot High." She sighed, folding the paper again and hiding it in her pocket, and then gave Flash an awkward smile, stretching her arm in front of him, offering a polite shake of hands. "Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Pleased to make your acquaintance, uh…"

"Flash," he said after a moment of hesitation and shaking her hand, "Flash Sentry." He chuckled nervously as Twilight limited herself to keep smiling. "Whoa this is… I mean, you are just like her. It's like-"

"Magic?" Twilight said promptly and leaned back a little. "Yes, I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen the photos of the Fall Formal."

"Yeah…" For a moment they just stood there with awkward smiles, and Flash kept looking everywhere. At last he finally broke the silence. "So, uh, nice to meet you. See you around?"

"Sure."

Twilight looked at Flash disappearing around a corner and let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. She stood there, staring at the spot where Flash had been moments ago. It was weird, but she seemed to be getting used to talk with strangers; most likely due to them trying to talk to her first.

"That's my ex-boyfriend."

Twilight yelped and turned around in mid air, struggling to avoid her books from falling. Sunset was resting her body on one of the lockers and looking at her with an amused smile. "Uh, is that so?" Twilight asked with a quivery voice, suddenly realizing that they were alone in the hallway. Her heart started to beat faster and her throat suddenly felt very dry.

"Yup." Sunset replied. "And if you want a friendly advice: be careful around him."

"W-why?"

Sunset shifted and leaned her head on the arm she was using to rest on the locker. "Because Princess Twilight and him fell in love." A small wave of satisfaction ran through her body at Twilight's confused gaze. "You happen to be her dimensional twin, so he might want to approach you in a romantic way." She took a small breath and then gave her a weary smile. "He may develop honest feelings, but he's a helpless idiot, so you just keep an eye on that."

Twilight blinked and gave a step back. "Uh, he seems nice, but I just met him. Don't you think it's a little early to be thinking about that?"

"The princess didn't waste a minute." Sunset shrugged. "But I suppose everyone is different, even if they're your dimensional counterpart." Twilight felt her heart flinch and she gave Sunset a nervous smile. Sunset then offered her a serious gaze with a little amount of sadness. "Anyway, I'll get going. See you around, Sparky."

Just as Sunset was going to turn around, Twilight stepped forward. "Wait." She said, and almost instantly tried to make herself smaller. "I just wanted to say that…" She breathed and looked at Sunset's eyes with forced determination. "I don't think you're a monster."

To her surprise, Sunset gave Twilight a small, warm smile. "Thanks." And with that, she walked away.

13. Fast Track to Hell (Part 2)

Chapter 13. Fast Track to Hell (Part 2)

Sunset idly poked her salad with a fork. The lettuce was dry and insipid. It wasn't like it even tasted good, not for her human mouth, anyway. But today it was especially tasteless. The little cheese cubes felt like plastic, and she was pretty sure that the tomato was spoiled. She sighed through her nose, lazily dropping the fork on the plate.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Rarity's voice came from Sunset's right.

She looked up, realizing that the table was full of people. When she sat down, she had been alone; and in what seemed like just a minute, she was surrounded by girls. Rarity was at her right, then Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy at the farthest seat. In front of her sat Applejack, with Pinkie Pie at her right, and at the far end of the table was Twilight. All of them had worried expressions.

Sunset tilted her head, faking a bored expression. "School food is terrible," she said. Thankfully, they seemed to buy it, and with soft nods, they went back to their previous chit chat. She then decided to stare at her salad until lunchtime was over, ignoring the silent growls of her stomach.

"So, Twilight, how's the life of a bookworm?" Rainbow asked, earning a scowl from Applejack and Rarity. She laughed nervously. "Uh, no offence."

Twilight gave her a small smile. "Well, I'm pretty sure everything I do will sound boring, but-”

“Nonsense, darling,” Rarity interrupted her. “Everything is interesting if you know how to appreciate it.”

Twilight smiled weakly. “If you insist…" She said, and her face lit up in excitement. "I'm going to participate in this year's national science fair. If I win, I will get a full scholarship for almost any university I want!"

"That sounds great, Twi!" Applejack said, spinning an apple in her hand. "Whatcha gonna do?"

Twilight looked around at the cafeteria, making sure that no one eavesdropped on her. She even motioned the girls to lean closer, so they could hear her whispers. "Wireless Electricity."

If Sunset was still a pony, her ears would have automatically perked up at that, but she just raised an eyebrow and slowly turned to look at Twilight. "Is that even possible?" Rainbow asked, and the girls stared at Twilight with the same question written on their faces.

Twilight smiled, part from her excitement, and part from nervousness. "Well, it's not exactly easy. I've spent an entire year working on this project. No one, not even my family, knew exactly what I was doing until I made it work just last week!"

"That's so cool!" Pinkie exclaimed, taking out her phone. "Now we won't have to be stuck in crowded corners just to charge these pesky batteries!"

"Well," Twilight ducked her head a little. "It's still a little unstable. I have to do some modifications and make sure it doesn't interfere with other people's projects. But, it does work, and if it doesn't get me the scholarship, nothing will."

"And when's the nerd con gonna be?" Rainbow asked, earning a punch on the shoulder by Applejack. "Hey! It's not my fault she's a nerd!" Applejack punched her again, effectively silencing her this time.

"On October," Twilight answered. "A week before Halloween."

"What's on October?" A voice asked, and the girls turned around, finding Trixie standing a little behind Sunset with a tray of food. She sat down in the only empty seat of the table; at Sunset's left.

Everyone sans Sunset stared at Trixie for a moment before Twilight answered. "A science fair."

"Oh, cool." There was more silence, and Trixie quickly noticed the confused gazes she was getting. And after a couple of seconds, she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Sorry, darling," Rarity said. "I think we're just a little surprised that you decided to join us today."

Trixie pouted thoughtfully. "Well, you're Sunset's friends, aren't you?" They nodded slowly, and Sunset didn't fail to notice the hesitation of their movements, especially Twilight's. "Since Trixie is hanging out with Sunset, she decided to get to know you too!" She explained. "And who knows? Maybe you can be Trixie's friends as well!"

"Sure…" Rainbow said, and then cleared her throat. "By the way, Pinkie's been talking 'bout your magic show. Will it be good, or will it be more smoke bombs?" She dodged Applejack's punch.

Trixie frowned. "Trixie will make your jaws drop in awe! You'll be so amazed, you'll ask Trixie to keep performing forever!"

"You're not really selling yourself." This time, Applejack kicked Rainbow's left leg. "Hey! The legs are off limits!"

"Stop bein' a jerk 'n I might not kick yer right leg!"

"Fine, geez!" Rainbow leaned back, crossing her arms. "Party pooper."

"Well, I know it'll be super duper fantastically awesomely amazingly incredible!" Pinkie yelled. "I've seen them practice! They'll blow your minds!"

"Thank you," Trixie said. "At least one appreciates my show."

"Well, I do want to see what you are capable of," Rarity admitted with a small smile. "If Pinkie uses six good words to describe something, then it must be really good.”

Applejack snorted. "True."

As the girls shared a laugh, Sunset could only stare at her salad. Her stomach demanded food, but the plastic-like flavor of her meal made her gag. She already wanted classes to end so she'd go to Joe's for some real food. Her stomach growled again at the thought, and she unconsciously frowned her lips.

"Is something wrong, dear?" Rarity asked

Sunset lift her gaze and looked at her with a tired expression. "School food is terrible."

Rarity pouted for a moment. "Do you want my apple?" she offered, pointing at the yellow fruit in her tray. "Fruit is the only food in this school that is actually fresh and good."

Sunset was about to politely reject the offer, but her stomach complained once again. She snatched the apple from Rarity's tray, muttering a thank you before taking it to her mouth. Sadly, it also tasted terrible, like it had been refrigerated for a whole week and then left to warm in the sun. She gagged when she swallowed and dropped the apple on her tray, coughing a few times.

"Just my freaking luck," she muttered.

Trixie grabbed the apple with curiosity, inspecting it for several seconds. Sunset watched in horror at Trixie biting it and chewing, but to her surprised, Trixie seemed to enjoy it.

"It's juicy and tasty," Trixie said, and then looked at Sunset. "I think you're just in a bad mood."

Sunset deadpanned at Trixie. "Oh wow, that's so very helpful."

"Sunset," Rarity said with a serious voice. "Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

"No," Sunset answered. A small headache was starting to build above the bridge of her nose. She inhaled deeply and sighed. "I think I'll go to the infirmary." And with that, she stood up.

"Do you want me to accompany you?" Trixie asked.

"No, no, I'm fine on my own." She gave Trixie a small smile and started to walk to the cafeteria's entrance.

But just as she gave two or three steps, she tripped over something. She yelped and barely had time to put her arms in front of her before meeting the ground. But she hit her head with her wrist, making the headache grow stronger.

The cafeteria erupted into laughter, with the exception of her lone table of recently acquaired friends. They quickly stood up to help. Before most of them had even managed to leave their seat, however, Trixie was already crouching in front of Sunset, helping her up.

"Sorry," a male voice called from behind. Sunset turned around to see that a guy with bright purple skin, pale blue hair and wearing glasses was sticking out his leg, all the while offering her a smug grin. "I didn't see you there."

Sunset glared daggers at him, and he suddenly was very aware of the possible consequences. But after a couple of seconds, Sunset closed her eyes and sighed. She turned around to look at Trixie and offered her a pained smile.

"Actually, I do want you to come with me."

Trixie nodded, and after glaring at the stupid nerd, she turned around to help Sunset. She noticed that Sunset was limping, so she grabbed her right arm and passed it over her shoulders, helping her walk out of the cafeteria, which still was full of laughter and mocking.

Once they had crossed the door, Trixie turned her head to look at Sunset.

"Why didn't you do anything to him?!" She yelled. "You could have kicked him and we wouldn't judge you!"

Sunset sighed tiredly. "I deserve it." Trixie was about to answer angrily, but she kept talking. "I used to do that to him time and time again."

"You don't deserve any of that," Trixie said, "and if you don't tell Principal Celestia about this, I will."

"You don't understand," Sunset said, sighing heavily. "I terrorized them for years, they deserve a comeback."

Trixie stopped so suddenly that Sunset put her weight on her hurt leg, making her hiss in pain. "An eye for an eye will make the world go blind." Trixie said, using her hand to lift Sunset's chin. "You don't deserve being hurt. No matter how much you bullied them in the past, they don't have the right to do the same to you."

"But-"

"No buts!" Trixie yelled. "Sunset, you're a smart girl, and you want to redeem yourself, I can understand that. But this is not the way to do it."

Sunset sighed in defeat, deciding not to respond. They weren't going to get anywhere if they argued.

"I thought I told you not to retire the gauze," Nurse Redheart said as she gave Sunset's leg an exploratory massage.

"Guess I forgot," Sunset answered with a deadpan.

The nurse pressed a particularly sensitive spot, making Sunset hiss in pain. "Sorry," she said, although Sunset was pretty sure that that had been on purpose. Redheart stood up and took off her gloves. "Well, you just twisted your leg, so it'll be fine in a couple of days, as long as you don't put too much pressure on it. I'd recommend you using a walking stick."

"Sure thing," Sunset said and stood up, making sure to put more of her weight on her healthy leg. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Nurse Redheart said with a smile. "But I'd rather not see you here again."

Sunset sighed as she limped to the door. "Can't promise anything." And she got out.

Trixie was waiting for her, leaning on the opposite wall with her arms crossed against her chest. She looked up and smiled at Sunset. “How’s your leg?”

Sunset grinned tiredly. “It’s nothing. Just a little twist, nothing to worry about.”

“You’re not getting away with it,” Trixie stated.

Sunset forced out a sigh. “Fine, geez!” She turned around and began limping her way through the hall. “I’ll tell Celestia after classes. Happy?”

“Yes,” Trixie admitted. They walked in silence for a moment when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch time. Trixie sighed in annoyance. “Well, I gotta go to my class. I’ll wait for you at the principal’s office after classes, got it?”

“Yes, mom,” Sunset answered with a roll of her eyes.

Trixie gently grabbed Sunset from the shoulders, leaning on her toes to make up for the height difference, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Bye.” She said and walked away, disappearing in a corner.

Fortunately, Sunset wasn’t too far from her classroom. She realized that she didn’t have a notebook, but since it was algebra, she shrugged it off. She limped to the door of the algebra classroom and opened it.

She watched an eraser fall to the floor, spreading quite a lot of chalk dust on her boots. She looked around the room. The students were either talking to each other, or whistling. Sunset decided to ignore it and go to her seat at the middle of the room. But before she sat down, something caught her attention, and she leaned down to see what it was.

There were four tacks on her seat, patiently waiting for her. Sunset looked around, and once again, everyone was failing to go unnoticed. She sighed through her nose and brushed the tacks off of her seat before sitting down. She wasn’t so desperate for redemption that she’d willingly get hurt.

The teacher came just a minute later and started his quite boring class. Sunset rested her head on her left hand, not wanting to try and pretend she was any interested. Her mind quickly trailed off, and she found herself remembering the nightmares she had. She shivered at the thought of being punished by Princess Celestia; there were tales of her wiping out entire kingdoms single hoofdedly just because they made fun of her sister. Sunset didn’t want to know what would happen to her, who betrayed her trust and teachings for a stupid crown.

There was soft tap at the back of her head. She absentmindedly passed a hand through her hair.

Sunset was sure that, if she were to return to Equestria when the portal opened again, she’d have to face Celestia’s wrath. Or Cadence’s. Or Twilight’s. Or the three of them at one. But, Twilight had wanted her to make friends, just like Celestia. So, upon her return, she could say that she made friends, thus avoiding being severely punished.

Another tap. This time, Sunset noticed. She looked around, but everyone seemed to be focusing on the class, so she dismissed it.

She went back to her thoughts.

Even if Celestia never forgave her, Sunset was sure that she could avoid going to prison. Maybe she would be able to stay in Equestria. Maybe she would be able to travel and meet new places. She smiled, already picturing herself visiting the beautiful landscapes some of her books depicted in monochromatic pictures.

Once again, she felt a tap, but this time it was near her right eye. Immediately after, she heard something small and light hit her table, and she looked down. It was a paper wad.

Sunset frowned. So this is what they’re going to do? Stick to childish pranks? She thought. Of all the nasty and humiliating things they could do to her, they were resorting to the most harmless. Not that she minded, of course. But it was a bit disappointing.

She rested her head on her both hands and stared straight to the chalkboard. She took a deep breath and prepared herself.

For the rest of the class, Sunset was bombarded with paper wads of every size. A couple of times the teacher had looked her way, and she had just faked that she was writing something down. At least she knew that, if the students were focused on annoying her, they wouldn’t be listening to the class, and they’d most likely fail, while she’d get another A+.

The class ended, and Sunset limped her way right behind the teacher to avoid anyone ‘don’t seeing her and spreading their legs in her path’. She knew that half of that class was in the next one with her, so she mentally prepared for more taking back.

She didn’t bother going to her locker, as her current state would make her be late, so she just went right to the last period of the week: English. Just like with Algebra, it was a guaranteed perfect grade for her. It was fortunate that, aside from the specific mannerism, the language was exactly the same in both worlds. And, of course, as Princess Celestia’s prized student, Sunset had to quickly learn every grammatical rule there is, and thanks to days upon days of memorizing complex technicism to understand how many advanced spells worked, it had been like a walk in the park for her to learn human’s specific technicisms.

Especially those used on the internet.

As gracefully as she could, Sunset got to her seat, once again, at the middle of the classroom. She had been the first to arrive, so she didn’t have to check her seat for tacks or any other stupid prank. She just sat there and waited for everyone to come.

She succeeded on ignoring the stares and the muttering as everyone sat down, but it became much harder when they started throwing more paper balls at her. She silently groaned in annoyance, and it quickly became a hum of surprise. Save for the repeated sound of paper hitting her, her armchair, and the floor, the classroom was fairly quiet. Maybe they were trying to avoid being spotted, fearing that she might take revenge if she knew who was bothering her.

She didn’t know how to feel at the thought of them still fearing her. In one hand, it meant they’d never try to hurt her directly, but in the other hand, it meant that she had been a real bitch to them.

She felt a sudden pain in her arm, and she yelped at it. When she looked around, nobody was looking her way. She glanced down at the floor and found an elastic band dangerously near her chair.

They’re getting braver. She thought. A shudder ran through her spine at the thought of them evolving into more harmful ways to take revenge on her.

She took a deep breath and stared at the chalkboard. She wasn’t going to let them win. She wasn’t going to let them see a weak side of her. She was going to endure their pitiful bullying just for one month, until Principal Celestia’s punishment ended, and then she would stop attending to this pathetic school, and only come back when the portal to Equestria opened again.

Another band hit her, and she suppressed the yelp with a low hiss.

She frowned and closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming bombarding of papers wads, elastic bands, and the occasional eraser. She knew that they deserved a get back, and since they were unable to do exactly the same she did to them, it was understandable that they improvised and resorted to these stupid -and quite frankly annoying- ways to bully her.

She certainly hoped, though, that their antics didn’t escalate to insufferable levels.

Fortunately for her, by the time the class came to its end, she had built a certain resistance to the pain of the elastic bands. It may have had something to do with the thickness of her jacket protecting her, but she was sure she would be able to endure that pathetic attempt of punishment.

When the bell rang, she stood up and got out of the classroom as fast as her injured leg let her, making sure she didn’t trip with the many spread legs on her way. Once she was out, she started walking to her right, until the sound of a throat being cleared stopped her.

“That’s not the way to Principal Celestia’s office,” Trixie said.

Sunset straightened up and turned around. Trixie had her arms crossed in front of her and her right eyebrow raised. Sunset gave her a guilty smile. “Oops?”

Trixie sighed. “Come on, ginger girl. The sooner we get there, the sooner it’ll be over.”

Sunset groaned, but decided to oblige, slowly following Trixie. “I’m half ginger, half blonde, by the way.”

“Really now?” Trixie asked with genuine curiosity, observing Sunset’s hair. “I see more red than yellow.”

Sunset passed a hand through her hair, using her fingers to spread it apart, effectively showing the hidden yellow patches. Trixie hummed in surprise. “But I look way better with more red than yellow, so I try to keep it that way.”

Trixie looked away and grinned. “Well, that explains why you keep saying stupid things half the time.”

“Har, har,” Sunset replied humorlessly.

After that, they just walked in silence. Fortunately -or unfortunately for Sunset- they arrived at Celestia’s office fairly quick. Trixie was about to knock the door when a voice interrupted her.

“Yes?” Principal Celestia walked up to them.

Trixie turned to her, cleared her throat, and pushed Sunset. Sunset grunted before looking up at Celestia, and then at the interesting wall next to her.

“Do you need something, Sunset?” Celestia asked. Sunset felt her stomach fall. Her voice had that little crescendo at the beginning of the sentence that screamed that she already knew what was going on.

“I uh… Hello!” Sunset faked a smile. She didn’t want to chicken out at Celestia. She had never been a teller, preferring to deal with her problems on her own.

“Sunset...” Trixie muttered.

“Fine, geez!” Sunset snapped at Trixie and then looked back at Celestia. She knew that Trixie wasn’t going to let her get away. “I…”

“But first,” Celestia interrupted her. “Please come in.” She motioned to the door of her office, opening it wide. Trixie practically shoved Sunset inside, leaving her no time to complain. Celestia closed the door behind her and sat on her chair, motioning to the girls to do the same. “Now, what is it you want to tell me, Sunset?” She asked with a gentle voice.

As Sunset sat down, she began pondering her options. She looked at Trixie, who gave her an encouraging nod. Sunset sighed and fixed her gaze at Celestia’s nameplate.

“I, uh…” Sunset pressed shut her lips for a moment. “I think my leg hurts.” Trixie grunted loudly, making Sunset roll her eyes. “Fine, I tripped.” Trixie flicked Sunset’s arm. “And with ‘I tripped’, I mean that someone made me trip.”

“How so?” Celestia asked.

Sunset sighed and looked away, idly stroking her arm, there where Trixie last touched her. “At the cafeteria, someone kicked my legs while I was walking, making me fall. I twisted my leg because of that.” She frowned when Trixie forced a quick sigh through her nose. “It was Poindexter.”

Celestia tilted her head. “Well, he came to my office right after lunch and said that you tripped trying to kick him.” Trixie was about to complain, but Celestia silenced her with her hand. “Several other students corroborated his story.”

“Of course they did.” Sunset sighed. She had known this was a waste of time before she even came here. What had she really expected to happen? That Celestia would just believe her? Maybe that would have worked before she’d been exposed as a monster. She sunk in her chair, waiting for Celestia to increase the days she’d have to be on detention.

Trixie was torn between looking guiltily at Sunset, or looking angrily at Celestia.

“However, I believe you,” Celestia said, giving the girls a small smile.

With an overly enthusiastic tug, Trixie pulled Sunset a little too close, beaming from ear to ear. “You see?!”

“You do?” Sunset asked. She stared at Celestia for a moment, failing to find any sign of lying on her face. Celestia’s smile was a little twisted downwards, and Sunset quickly realized why. Her eyes widened in realization. “You do… but you can’t do much about it without proof, can you?”

“Not immediately, no.” Celestia admitted. She shook her head slowly, sighing heavily. “However, I can promise that you don’t have to worry about suffering any penalties for false accusations by other students.”

Sunset could feel her shoulders lightening up, as if a weight she didn’t know was there had been lifted.“Thanks.” She muttered. Somehow, the fact that Celestia -even if it wasn’t exactly the same- trusted her, was enough to make Sunset’s heart beat at a normal rhythm again.

“I know this must be hard for you,” Celestia continued, “but please, keep telling me about anything that happens. You know you can always come here, Sunset.”

Sunset’s gaze moved to the nameplate again as a small smile appeared on her face. “Thanks…”

Celestia tapped her fingers on her desk for a moment as a thought occurred to her. “I may be powerless to help you… At least, for now.” She said, and Sunset looked up at her with an expectant gaze. Celestia gave her a comforting smile. “But, I will ask your teachers to be on the lookout for any more incidents that should arise. That way I’ll get the proof I need to help you.”

“What? No!” Sunset objected. “I don’t need to be babysat!”

“Sunset-”

“No, Trixie!” Sunset interrupted her. “I already agreed to swallow my pride here! I don’t want to be treated as a baby too!” She turned to look at Celestia. “Please don’t do that. I can just come and tell you everything that happens.”

Celestia’s face was unreadable for a moment. “Fine,” she said. But when Sunset momentarily closed her eyes in relief, she gave Trixie a quick wink.

Trixie smiled and then looked at Sunset. “Come on, let’s go practice my show.”

Sunset looked at Celestia, who just nodded. “Go ahead. And remember that my door is always open.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said once again. She stood up and slowly limped out of the office, being closely followed by Trixie.

They walked in silence for couple of minutes. All the while, Trixie would occasionally look at Sunset’s limping. She gradually stopped, allowing Sunset to mimic her. “You know,” she started, looking at Sunset with a mix between a smile and a pout. “I just remembered that I have to get home early today.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Trixie frowned. “No, I actually want you to go home and take a good rest. You need to let your leg heal, and the practice won’t help it.”

“I’m fine,” Sunset answered. “Besides, we still need to work on the synchronization.”

“We can work on that tomorrow. If we stay all day, both Saturday and Sunday, we’ll get it just right.” She put her finger on Sunset’s lips to avoid her complains. “Please, go home and have a good rest? For me?”

Sunset groaned and grumbled for a moment. “Fine.”

Trixie smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “See you tomorrow at eight in the morning.”

Sunset sighed, giving Trixie a smile of defeat. “Sure thing.”

Sunset was running. Her breath felt hot against her nose, her hooves ached, and her lungs burned with every pant. The grown grass and flora did nothing but hinder her way, and the coldness of the night frizzled her fur.

She heard yelling, and it was getting closer at each passing moment. Sounds of hooves stomping against dirt and plants filled her ears. She didn’t know who was pursuing her, but she knew that it was big crowd. She didn’t know why they were chasing after her, but she knew, deep down, that she didn’t want to find out.

She turned left when the path bifurcated, then right, then left again. It seemed like she was trapped in a labyrinth, but she was the only one that didn’t know the right path. And just when she was starting to lose all hope, she turned right, and found herself in Canterlot’s Castle main hall.

She stopped for a moment, eyeing the guards very quickly before running upstairs. She could still hear the crowd getting closer, and she knew that she only had one chance to salvation.

After a few more turns, she got to the throne room. The door was closed, so she charged her horn and blasted it open. She ran desperately, skidding right below the throne. Looking up, a smile appeared on her face when she saw the pony she was looking for.

“Princess!” She cried, “Please! You gotta help me! They’ve been chasing me for hours!”

Princess Celestia looked down at her, at first with an even glare, which then became full of glee. “Oh, Sunset Shimmer! I was just looking for you!” She straightened up and cleared her throat. “I was afraid you might have gotten lost. But now that you’re here, I’ll make sure you never escape again.”

“What?” Sunset asked, but before she could process what was going on, Celestia lit her horn, summoning heavy shackles around Sunset’s hooves. Sunset looked up in horror, and she could hear the crowd right behind her, yelling the most obscene insults she had ever heard. “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t worry, Sunset,” Celestia said. Her natural tender voice sent a chill through Sunset’s spine. “I won’t let them hurt you. That’s what I’m here for.” She smiled, and the next word was spat with so much hatred, it was impossible it had been said with a smile.

“Monster.”

Sunset’s eyes shot open, and she gasped heavily through her nose. Her heart was racing, furiously pounding against her chest. She blinked a couple of times, finding herself staring at the ceiling of her bedroom.

Another nightmare. She thought as she slowly sat up. She noticed that she was covered in sweat, and so the top of her pajama was stuck at the middle of her back. She heaved a sigh and took a hand to her mouth.

“At least she didn’t kill me this time…”

Author's Notes:

Is this a dream? No! It lives!

I want to thank crowscrowcrow for helping me put my ideas together. He's already editing the chapter. But I couldn't wait and decided to publish it before the edition end. It's been so long that I just couldn't wait!

Criticism and snarky comments are well received!

14. Calm

Chapter 14. Calm.

“Then, you’ll strip in front of everyone.”

“Sure,” Sunset said, stifling yet another yawn.

“You’re not listening!” Trixie yelled, flicking her fingers at Sunset’s forehead. “Wake up!”

Sunset blinked, looking at Trixie with a lazy frown. “Sorry,” she said before yawning once again.

Trixie let out an annoyed sigh. “What’s going on, Sunset?” She asked. “You’ve been awfully absentmindedly today.” She leaned back a little, putting her hands on her hips. “Just because you have the ‘lovely’ part of the ‘lovely assistant’ down, doesn’t mean you can skip over the actual assisting.”

“I know, I know,” Sunset replied. “I didn’t sleep very well last night, s’all.” Stupid nightmares. She thought as she crossed her arms.

“Do you want to take a break?”

“I’m fine, really,” Sunset replied.

Trixie huffed. “Very well, but if you start snoozing out again, I’ll kick you.”

“You and your weird fetishes,” Sunset said, walking up to the stage’s edge. Trixie noticed Sunset’s failed attempt at hiding her limping. “The brothers will be at the very front,” she commented, seeing two seats with signs of ‘reserved’ on them. “You really think you’d be able to fool them?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Sunset, you should already know that the closer people are to the magic tricks, the more amazed they are.”

Sunset gazed at the rows of chairs turned to the stage, already set for the show. “I guess you’re right.” She yawned again and turned around to look at Trixie. “So, one last practice and call it a day?”

Trixie hummed for a moment, staring at Sunset’s tired gaze. Sunset already knew what to do at every moment of the show, and their last rehearsal had gone pretty good, even with Sunset’s yawns. She offered Sunset a smile. “Alright.”

The next twenty minutes went by really fast. Even with the tiredness holding her back, Sunset still admired every single trick Trixie did. Even when she knew exactly how everything worked, she couldn’t help but be amazed at how Trixie played everything and made it look so easy. She was sure that Flim and Flam were going to be completely astonished.

By the time Trixie was getting off of the mechanism for her last trick, Sunset was already sweeping the remaining petals and feathers from the stage. “I believe that we’re ready for the show,” Trixie said, unhooking the stirrup from her boot. “We can do one last rehearsal tomorrow and use the remaining time to enjoy ourselves.”

Sunset smiled slyly at Trixie. “You know, I still want to see you do a double backflip.”

Trixie slowly walked to Sunset and gently grabbed her jacket from the zipper, playfully pulling her closer. “Well, you can invite me to a date today, and I might bring my sneakers tomorrow to please your request.” Her fingers trailed up and down the jacket’s zipper.

“Luckily, for you,” Sunset said, touching Trixie’s hands with her own, “I have enough money on me to take you out today.” Her gaze was fixed on Trixie’s lips. “But, nothing too fancy, ok?”

“A date’s purpose is to get to know each other,” Trixie replied, playfully biting her lower lip. “I wouldn’t mind if you want to go to Joe’s.”

“Joe’s it is,” Sunset said, licking her lips with a predatory smile. She leaned closer and gave Trixie a nice kiss on the lips. “Shall we get going, mademoiselle?”

Trixie snickered at that. “You’re so weird.”

“How so?” The smile didn’t leave Sunset’s face.

“I’ll tell you on our date.” Trixie turned around, effortlessly freeing herself from Sunset’s grip. “But first, let’s finish cleaning this place.”

“Roger.”

“You know…” Trixie had chosen the farthest seat from the entrance; a dim lit corner next to the window, but not too far from the counter. The yellow lightening of the coffeehouse, mixed with its rustic decorations, gave the impression that it was late in the afternoon, even when the wall clock barely reached 2 p.m. “I have a confession to make.”

Sunset drifted her gaze from the window and to Trixie, giving her an interested smile. “You’re gay?” Trixie deadpanned. Sunset shrugged apologetically, but her smile didn’t fade. “Sorry. What is it?”

Trixie sighed through her nose, idly playing with the spoon of her cappuccino cup. “When… When I asked you out… I was really scared that you-”

“Wouldn’t be into girls?” Sunset finished. When Trixie nodded, she reached out her hand. “Well then, it’s a good thing I’m… how do humans call it? I think the correct term is pansexual.”

“Uh…”

“It means I don’t care, as long as you know how to cuddle.”

Trixie arched an eyebrow. “Have we even cuddled?”

Sunset shrugged. “I rested my head on your shoulder for, like, twenty minutes before you asked me out. I’m pretty sure that counts as cuddling.”

Trixie smiled at Sunset, momentarily showing a grin. “If you think that was cuddling, then you must learn what proper cuddling is. And of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie will be happy to teach you… How to cuddle.”

“You repeat ‘cuddle’ too many times. It loses its meaning.”

“Are you afraid that Trixie ends up being a better cuddler than you?”

Sunset narrowed her eyes as a thought occurred to her. “Say, I’ve always wondered why do you always speak of yourself in third person.”

Trixie leaned back and looked at her cup of coffee. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

Trixie blushed. “It’s… embarrassing…”

Sunset arched an eyebrow as a devilish smile appeared on her face. “Oh, come on, Trix,” she insisted. “We’re dating. What can possibly be more embarrassing than holding hands?”

Trixie slowly looked up at Sunset with a thoughtful expression. “We’ve never held hands.”

“Because it’s embarrassing. See my point?”

Trixie deadpanned. She scratched her forehead for a moment while taking a deep breath. “Fine.” She straightened up and stared straight to Sunset’s eyes. “You know that when toddlers start speaking, they struggle with something about the language.”

“Uh-huh.”

“In my case, it was the pronouns. It was easier for me to just say my name when referring to myself…” Trixie couldn’t held Sunset’s gaze, and decided to focus on her coffee once again. “Since people thought it was cute, I kept doing it, and it just kind of… stuck with me. Nowadays, I use it more as a theatrical way to draw attention to me as a performer.”

Sunset hummed for just a second. “And the “Great and Powerful” title is a toddler thing too?” Trixie glared at her. “Too far, I get it.” Sunset raised her hands in front of her. “I won’t joke about it anymore.”

Trixie huffed. “Really?”

“Nope.” Trixie couldn’t avoid chuckling at that. “But on a more serious note… There’s something that’s been bugging me…” Sunset crossed her arms upon the table and leaned on them, taking a closer look at Trixie’s eyes. “Why me?”

Trixie blinked. “What?”

“Why me?” Sunset repeated. “Up until two weeks ago, I was the big bad bully of Canterlot High. Of all the girls there, why pick me as romantic interest?” When Trixie looked away, Sunset decided to lighten up the mood. “It’s the jacket, right? It has to be the jacket.”

“You know what? I’m hungry and I want to take my order right about now.” Trixie waved her hand at the waitress.

Sunset decided to speak before the waitress could hear her. “Did you accidentally see me naked in the lockers room?”

“Are you ready to order?” The worker asked, just as Trixie’s face became a cute shade of red as her jaw worked silent words.

“Yes,” Sunset answered calmly. She leaned back and rested her body on the back of her chair. “I want a baguette, extra spicy. And she wants a slice of orange cake.”

When the waitress finished writing down Sunset’s request, she turned around to go for the food. Sunset grabbed the cider she had asked for herself and gave it a quick sip, all the while gazing at Trixie’s expression.

“I can get used to that look on your face,” Sunset said before quickly smacking her lips. “It’s certainly adorable.”

Trixie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before slowly releasing it. “Just for the record, I’ve never seen you naked.”

“Do you want to?”

“Fine, I’ll tell you!” Trixie snapped. “Freaking perv.” Sunset shrugged nonchalantly, but remained silent. Trixie started to idly play with her fingers. “But I warn you that you won’t like it.” At that, Sunset arched an eyebrow, and Trixie took her time to order her thoughts. “I’ve… always found you quite hot, honestly. But you were a total bitch, so I didn’t give you much thought, until…” She swallowed some air. “Two months ago, I saw you crying.”

“Tch, yeah, right.”

Trixie gave a sad frown. “It was well after classes finished. I forgot my phone in my locker, and since I was near the school, I decided to go and get it.” She gazed down to her coffee. “I saw you walking towards the gym. Of course, given the hour, I found it weird, so I followed you. You went straight to the storage room, and for a moment I thought that you were just, you know, planning to do something bad to someone…”

The waitress appeared in that moment, reaching the requested food to each girl before walking away.

They sat in silence for a full minute; Trixie staring at her food, and Sunset gazing at Trixie’s eyes. Even through the bustle of the coffeehouse, they could hear one another’s breathing. Trixie’s was deep and slow, while Sunset’s was sharp and in rapid successions. Trixie didn’t dare to look up at Sunset, and yet, after another minute, she decided to continue.

“You were crying and screaming… And I didn’t know what to think… I mean, you clearly were having a really bad day. But whether it was a one-time thing, or something you did on a regular basis, I don’t know.” She idly played with her thumbs. “But I did realize that you weren’t just the stereotyped high school bee queen. You were -still are- a real person. You weren’t full of just ambition and power; you had fears and weaknesses, just like any normal girl. I realized that beyond the mask of big bad bully, there was a real girl… The real you.”

Trixie finally gathered enough courage to look up, and she found that Sunset’s expression was unreadable, if a little saddened. Trixie managed a weak smile. “And since then, I’ve been meaning to meet the real you…”

“And you jumped at the first opportunity.” Sunset’s voice was unnervingly calm, but with a certain shakiness that didn’t go unnoticed.

Trixie nodded slowly. “In these months, I’ve been searching for something that could help me get past your shell… But-”

“It was completely obliterated at the Fall Formal,” Sunset finished. She closed her eyes, resting her weight on her elbows and intertwining her fingers. “I told you I was, in my world, a student of magic, right?”

“Yes, you said that the principal’s counterpart was your teacher, or something like that.”

Sunset smiled so briefly that Trixie thought she imagined it. “Yes. Princess Celestia, the sovereign ruler of Equestria, picked me as her protégé in magic.” Sunset’s voice was full of nostalgia. “That’s not something that happens everyday. It is something every young unicorn dreams of. I wouldn’t have to do anything else anymore, as I had been granted a life of luxury… My name was already going to be in history books, just because I was Princess Celestia’s personal student…”

Sunset took another, longer sip to her cider, sighing heavily before looking back at Trixie again. “But, you know, I was greedy. I wanted more…” Her voice was progressively becoming shakier. “I wanted to become a princess, just like her. I thought I deserved it… You already know the consequence of my stupidity…”

“But… when I came to this world, I was so full of myself that I thought… I actually thought that Princess Celestia would regret the day she lost me as her student... “ She chuckled in an attempt to hide a painful cry. “Imagine my surprise when I learned that, as fast as I disappeared from her life, she got herself another student!”

Tears ran freely down her cheeks, but Sunset still refused to stop recalling her story. “I was furious! I hated her, and I hated Twilight for taking the place I thought it was only mine! But I still thought I was better. I still thought that Twilight would never be any better than me at anything… But then, two months ago…”

“She became a princess…” Trixie finished. Her voice was barely audible as understanding was slowly sinking in.

“Back… Back then…” Sunset continued, despite the hiccups. “I thought I was engulfed with rage. But now that I have a clear mind, I know that… It hurt me… It still hurts… Not because she became what I desired, but because I was replaced so easily… I was nothing but a disposable pawn that turned out to be defective…”

“Sunset-”

“I loved her…” Sunset interrupted her. “I loved Princess Celestia. She was like a second mother to me… Formerly, I would have never admitted it, but I always loved her… And I was willing to happily play as a pawn for her… But I wanted my prize before my deed, and she disposed of me, like one disposes a used napkin…”

Sunset placed a hand over her forehead, as if trying to hide her tears from Trixie. “I think that’s when the stupid idea of conquering Equestria came to my mind... “ Her voice was a low yet audible whisper. “Maybe, in my wicked reasoning, I thought that Celestia would acknowledge me…” She snorted. “I’m so stupid…”

Trixie leaned forward, reaching Sunset’s hand -the one still upon the table- and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Sunset, you’re not stupid. You’re… You’re just lost.”

“Lost,” Sunset deadpanned.

“Yes.” Trixie gulped and shifted in her place, using her thumb to caress the back of Sunset’s hand. “Back then, you didn’t know how to react at what looked like betrayal. You could have had many bad ideas that could have ended being a lot worse.” She took a deep breath. “Sunset, it’s meaningless to look at your mistakes. You have to look at your present and future instead.”

“Are you going to give me the “you have a life full of possibilities” speech?”

“Maybe…”

Sunset lowered the hand from her face and looked at Trixie with a pained gaze. “Honestly, you don’t strike me as the type of giving motivational speeches.”

“Well, I’m like this just with my girlfriends.” Sunset snickered at that. Trixie relaxed her shoulders and let out a silent sigh. “Seriously though. The past is in the past. You have to start thinking on what’s in front of you, and on what you want to see in the future.”

Sunset gave a thoughtful expression for a moment, looking down at her cider before returning her gaze to Trixie’s eyes. “Are you saying I should start going serious with you?”

Trixie arched an eyebrow, gaping for a moment before pressing shut her lips before speaking up. “Weren’t you being serious already?”

“Well, yes and no,” Sunset answered. “I don’t think the girls know about us yet.”

“Are you going to tell them?”

“Do you want me to tell them?”

Trixie frowned. “Are you going to answer all my questions with more questions?”

Sunset smiled playfully. “Are we going to keep talking with questions the next couple of minutes?”

They stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

It felt good, Sunset thought, to laugh with someone as if everything was good in the world. Even if her life wasn’t exactly terrific, she was having a pretty nice moment. Trixie was one of the very few people in any world that somehow knew when to start joking and when to be serious with her. She was glad she hadn’t rejected Trixie when she asked her out.

The rest of Saturday went by real fast. Sunset and Trixie decided to talk about other stuff, like the upcoming magic show, classes, and the like. When the sun was starting to hide in the horizon, they went to their respective houses, agreeing to meet once again the next day for one last rehearsal.

Sunset wasn’t exactly delighted with the idea of going to sleep, given her recurring nightmares, but the promise of spending another day with Trixie was something worth looking forward to. If anything, being with her helped Sunset forget about her problems for a while. She wondered if spending time with her self-proclaimed friends would too help her ease her mind.

It was something she’d have to test some day.

Sunday morning was especially chilly. Sunset had heard on the radio that there was something called a Cold Front, and that the following week was going to be really cold, even if it wasn’t winter yet. These random weather patterns didn’t happen in Equestria, so she was really confused when she first learned about it. Thankfully, she was prepared this time.

Instead of her usual look of high-heeled black and fuchsia boots, mid-thigh length skirt, cotton blouse and leather jacket, she opted for a warmer set of clothes. She was using a dark red turtleneck sweater, black wool pants, black flat-heeled winter boots, and to cover everything, she picked a dark gray coat that reached her knees, a yellow and red striped scarf, and a pair of black wool gloves.

It wasn’t exactly in season, but Sunset was warm and still looked stunning.

Tucking her scarf over her mouth and nose, Sunset walked up to the statue in front of Canterlot High. She had agreed to meet Trixie there at ten in the morning, and she had gotten there with a full hour of anticipation. Mostly because she didn’t have anything better to do.

She placed a hand on the surface of the portal and stared at it. She didn’t know why, but every time she touched the portal, she felt relaxed, at ease, as if the worries of her heart and the weight on her shoulders disappeared. She wondered if the nightmares would stop if she slept in this place.

With a soft sigh, Sunset placed her forehead on the portal and closed her eyes. The first of the thirty moons sure was taking its time.

“Hey, Sunset,” Trixie called from behind. “Are you feeling sick?”

Sunset slowly turned around. Trixie was wearing navy blue pants, white sneakers, and a dark blue coat to cover her usual lavender blouse and blue hoodie. “No, I’m fine.” Sunset looked at the portal again, producing a sad smile.

“Are you sure?” Trixie asked. “You don’t really look fine.”

Sunset inhaled loudly. “I think I’m just… homesick.”

Trixie glanced over the statue and then at Sunset, arching her eyebrow in the process. “You know, it just struck me that you haven’t told me how to get to your dimension.”

“I thought you already knew,” Sunset replied before humming for a moment. “Now that I think about it, I guess the girls are the only ones that know…”

“I suppose it’s my fault for not asking.”

“No, no,” Sunset turned to look at Trixie. “They know because they saw Twilight returning home. Which makes me wonder if Vice Principal Luna saw her too or not… Hm…”

Trixie glanced at the statue again, seeing how Sunset gently moved her hand through it. She narrowed her eyes. “So…”

“Yes,” Sunset said in a whisper. “This is the portal.”

“The statue?” Trixie asked, scrunching her nose in disbelief. “Really?” Sunset nodded. “Who would put a magical portal to another dimension on a statue, in front of a High School, where anyone could trip and fall through it?”

“I don’t know, but…” Sunset chuckled for a moment. “It’s impossible to cross it by accident.”

Trixie leaned back a little. “What do you mean?”

“If you don’t know it’s a portal, you can’t physically cross it.” Sunset smiled sadly again. “When I learned about that property, I almost had a heart attack.” She chuckled again at Trixie’s confused expression. “Two weeks ago, before I returned to… to steal Twilight’s crown... “ She sighed. “Two weeks ago, Snips and Snails surprised me when they came before I crossed the portal. They leaned on the surface, and I thought they’d fall to the other side and find out the truth… But they didn’t. Because they don’t know the truth.”

“It sounds too convenient,” Trixie said, then shrugged. “But who am I to criticize how magic works?”

Sunset tilted her head, looking at the portal with a nostalgic smile. She worked her mouth silently for a full minute, before deciding to speak up. “Remember when you asked me if I could find your counterpart in Equestria?”

Trixie arched an eyebrow. “Yeah…”

“The girls asked me something that relates to it… They asked how could I know things that happened there, even if I was here and the portal was closed…” Sunset turned to look at Trixie, giving her a serious glance. “Trixie, I’m going to tell you something very important. Something I don’t want anyone else to know. Even if I’ve already told you a lot, I need you to tell me I can trust you…”

Trixie smiled tenderly. “You can trust me.”

“You won’t tell anyone. Not even the girls. Not even the Principal. Not even your diary.”

“Sunset.” Trixie placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I won’t tell anyone. What kind of girlfriend would I be then?” She put her hands behind her body, leaning playfully on her heels. “If you want, I can tell you a secret of mine. To make it even.”

Sunset crossed her arms, looking expectantly at Trixie. “Alright.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Fine, I go first.” She looked around to make sure no one would hear her. She leaned closer to Sunset and whispered. “I have stage fright.”

“Really now,” Sunset deadpanned.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true,” Trixie said, putting her hands on her hips and looking away. “Since I was a little girl, I always felt really nervous when I have to talk with people I don’t know, and it was worse if I had to speak in front of a crowd.” She tilted her head and looked at Sunset. “It was the gymnastic classes that started to help me get over it. I was terrified to compete for the first time, now I’m just a little scared…”

“As a matter of fact, I started calling myself Great and Powerful in part to help myself get over my stage fright.” Trixie made a gesture with her hand. “That, coupled with the third person speech, draws attention to me, forces me to be in the spotlight. It took me quite a few years -six, to be exact-, but now I can be on a competition or have a magic show with relative ease.”

Sunset remained silent for a moment before smiling at Trixie. “Is it ok I can only think that I want you to do the backflip you promised?”

Trixie smirked, holding back a chuckle. “Well, just after you tell me your secret about the portal.”

Sunset sighed once again and looked at the portal. “Not a word about this to anyone.” She placed a hand on the surface and stared at it. “This was a theory I had that turned out to be correct. Every full moon, for just one day -the whole day-, if you concentrate hard enough, you can force a small opening in the portal. Like a window.” She smiled fondly at the thought. “You can see Equestria. You can watch and hear everything that happens there, just like a movie.” She looked at Trixie, the smile never leaving her face.

“That must be really cool,” Trixie said. “When’s the next full moon?”

“In twelve days,” Sunset answered, dragging her hand over the surface. “I don’t know if you can do it since you don’t know what Equestria looks like… But if you’re a good girlfriend, I might let you try.”

Trixie bit playfully her lower lip. “If backflips is all I need, then I’m already looking forward for the full moon.”

Sunset chuckled at that. “I still need to watch you do that.”

“Then let’s get going to the gym.”

“After you, Trix.”

Trixie hummed, turning around and walking to the school’s entrance. Sunset followed her, hiding her hands in the pockets of her coat. They walked in comfortable silence until they got to the gym. As soon as they arrived, Sunset began taking and folding the chairs.

“What are you doing?” Trixie asked.

“What does it look like?” Sunset replied, stacking the folded chairs on a corner. “You need space to do the backflip.”

Trixie chuckled. She supposed that the rehearsal could wait an hour or two, so she helped Sunset taking the chairs away, leaving the gym with enough space to let two basketball teams practice at the same time.

Once they finished, Trixie took off her coat and tossed it on one of the stacked chairs. Sunset also disposed her coat and scarf, stacking them upon Trixie’s coat, and then leaned on the stage’s edge. She crossed her arms and tilted her head, smiling expectantly at Trixie. “What’s the best thing you can do?”

Trixie was stretching her arms, already sweating a little by putting away the chairs while using a thick coat. Sunset noticed that Trixie’s clothes weren’t exactly the usual, as she originally thought, and instead consisted on a dark-purple leotard with black sleeves, matching the black of her pants. “Instead of telling you, I’ll show you,” Trixie answered. She sat down and took off her sneakers.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“I can’t perform with these things,” Trixie answered simply, tossing the sneakers to her left.

“Why did you bring them then?” Sunset frowned. “Why did you need them in the first place?”

Trixie smiled, stretching her left leg in front of her and easily reaching her toes with her fingers. “I went running to warm up before I came here.” She switched to her other leg. “If I don’t warm up properly, I can get hurt real bad.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” Sunset tapped her fingers against her arms. “How much do you run? A hundred meters?”

Trixie chuckled. “Ten kilometers, minimum.” She smiled at Sunset’s surprised expression. “I’m an athlete, Sunny. That’s like a walk in the park to me.” She then placed her hands on the floor in front of her and spread her legs apart, effortlessly making a split.

Sunset whistled, showing a wide grin afterwards. “Alright, forget watching Equestria. You already earned to visit it when the portal opens.”

“I’m not sure I like that look on your face,” Trixie said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s your fault for being so… flexible.”

Trixie deadpanned. “Don’t get your hopes so high.” Sunset groaned, making Trixie smile. “I learned to take things slowly, you know?” She stood up and did one last stretch with her back. “You’ll have to conform with backflips for the time being.”

“And splits,” Sunset added.

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She took a deep breath to prepare herself and observed the space she had available.

It happened in just a couple of seconds, but to Sunset, it felt like minutes. Trixie was incredibly agile, jumping and flipping in mid-air, falling with her hands to boost another jump. She did realize a double backflip at some point, but it didn’t really matter to Sunset, as she was enthralled by Trixie’s mesmerizing performance. Trixie had such grace and elegance, it almost looked like she was dancing in the air.

Sunset gulped a few times, feeling her cheeks getting numb and warm. She was so, so glad she hadn’t rejected Trixie.

Once she had finished, Trixie ended her performance by softly falling on her toes and lifting her arms, stretching them upwards and smiling. Sunset didn’t realize she was clapping until Trixie started walking towards her. “Thank you, thank you. That routine got me a second place at a national tournament last year.”

“Really?” Sunset couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice. “I mean, this is the first time I see something like this, so my opinion may be a little biased, but I think you should’ve gotten first place.”

Trixie stopped mere inches away from Sunset, grinning pridefully. “I won’t tell you to stop praising me,” she said, placing her hands on Sunset’s shoulders, “but you oughtta know you’re not getting in my bed anytime soon.”

Sunset circled Trixie’s waist and pulled her closer. “I can wait.” She gave Trixie a quick kiss and smiled. “It’s not like I’m with you just for sexy times.”

“That sounds like it’s the exact opposite.”

“We wouldn’t be talking if that was the case.”

“Touché.” Sunset leaned down to kiss Trixie again. “It’s not fair,” Trixie said in a whisper. She smiled nervously at Sunset’s confused expression. “You’re taller than what I expected…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, and for the first time, she realized the true height difference between them. Trixie was short; about one and a half meters, if she had to guess, which made her about five or so inches shorter than Sunset. And for some reason, Sunset found that to be painfully adorable.

“Are you saying you use ridiculously high-heeled boots to put up with your tininess?” Sunset asked, smirking at Trixie’s increasing frown. “I guess it makes sense you have such an amazing balance, what with walking with those tentpoles you call high heels all the time.” Trixie huffed and tried to step back, but Sunset held her firmly against her. “Oh, come on, Trix. I’m just messing with you.”

“Well, don’t,” Trixie said, not really making a big effort to get away from Sunset. “I don’t like people mocking me because of my height.”

“And here I thought you were a grown girl.”

Trixie’s frown deepened. “Quit it.”

Sunset’s grin grew wider. “You shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.”

“You done?”

“Just a little more.”

“You think this is funny, huh?” Trixie glared daggers at Sunset. “Well, you’re the one who’s coming up short.”

Sunset tilted her head. “For someone who plays with cards all the time, you wouldn’t be a good poker player.”

Trixie pouted, but just a moment later, she chuckled. “You’re a dork.”

Sunset hummed. “I’ve been called many things in my life, but never a dork.” She narrowed her eyes as her smile became more tender. “I might get used to it, if it’s you who calls me that.”

This time, Trixie leaned up for a kiss. Sunset didn’t fail to notice how Trixie had to tiptoe in order to reach her mouth. “Let’s rehearse already. After that, we’ll have the whole day to do as we please.” Sunset wiggled her eyebrows. “Except that.”

“What?” Sunset asked innocently. “I just want some cuddling. Especially now that I learned how adorably tiny you are.”

“I’m not tiny,” Trixie replied through her teeth.

Sunset playfully squeezed Trixie’s waist before releasing her, chuckling softly as she walked to the stage. Trixie huffed as she prepared her props for the rehearsal, but by the time she started with the first trick, she had forgotten her anger at Sunset’s teasing.

The rehearsal went by pretty fast, mostly because they decided to skip the parts where Trixie would have to distract the audience and keep driving their attention away from the trick. Even the last trick, Trixie’s masterpiece, was shortened to just a couple of seconds, if only to make sure the nylon string that replaced the rope worked fine.

Trixie jumped off the stirrup just as Sunset finished sweeping the stage. “I think we’re ready,” she stated.

Sunset hummed. “If this doesn’t amaze the brothers, nothing will.”

Trixie stopped and looked at Sunset with a worried expression. “They will like it, right?”

“I dunno,” Sunset admitted. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t, though.”

Trixie walked backstage and searched a box filled with the props the brothers gave her. She grabbed something and walked to Sunset, who was tossing away the trash. “Well, I know you like it. That means everyone else will like it!”

“I only like it because I’m dating you,” Sunset replied with a bored expression. She immediately smiled guiltily. “Just kidding.”

“I know you’re kidding,” Trixie said, raising an eyebrow. “Anyway, can I practice a trick with you?”

“Sure, I guess.”

Trixie sat down cross-legged and showed a deck of cards. Sunset mimicked her and waited. “This is one of the first tricks I ever learned.” She shuffled the cards, making them jump from hand to hand and making them look like they were moving on their own. She placed the deck on the floor and spread the cards. “Pick one.”

Sunset did as was told, taking one from the center and lifting it, careful to not let Trixie see it. It was the Queen of Spades. “Alright, now put it back.” Trixie was holding the deck in her hand, face down. Sunset carefully placed the card in the middle of the deck. “Now, shuffle it.” Sunset raised an eyebrow, but obliged. Trixie noticed how Sunset had to use the floor as support to shuffle the cards.

“What was your card?” Trixie asked.

Sunset tilted her head in confusion, intrigued by Trixie’s question. “The Queen of Spades.”

Trixie hummed, staring deeply into Sunset’s eyes. “Interesting card. Very fitting, I’d say.”

“How so?” Sunset asked, still shuffling the cards.

“Well, in order to tell you that, I’m going to give you a history lesson… So to speak.” Trixie cleared her throat. “The Kings, Queens, and Knaves all represent historic or mythological people. In the case of your card, the Queen of Spades, it represents Pallas, who was Athena’s childhood friend.”

“Uh-huh…”

Trixie sighed. “Athena is the greek goddess of strategy,” she explained. “Anyway, Athena and Pallas used to practice the arts of war together. But, one day, they had an argument and started fighting for real. Pallas was gaining ground, and she was about to strike Athena down, but then, Zeus interfered, taking Pallas by surprise. Athena took advantage and killed Pallas. She gets so distraught by this, that she adopts her name for herself, thus being called Pallas Athena ever since.”

Sunset hummed for a moment. “I still don’t know how that relates to me.”

“Didn’t you pay attention?” Trixie asked. “Athena was the goddess of strategy, and yet Pallas was a better fighter.” She placed a hand upon Sunset’s and smiled at her. “You have a lot of skills you’re not even aware of. I still don’t know much about your past, but I do know that you’ve overcome many obstacles in your life. You are brave, and you can take anything life throws at you and use it to step up and move on.”

Trixie inhaled deeply and took the deck from Sunset’s hand. She placed it face up and spread it. Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise at what she saw. Fifty cards were from the red suits, and two of them were Queens; one of Spades, and one of Clubs. Trixie smiled. “Ah, the Queen of Clubs. That’s my favorite card.” She looked at Sunset’s awed expression. “Two black cards amongst red ones. Kind of reminds me of you and me…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“I admire you, Sunset,” Trixie said, looking away to avoid Sunset’s gaze. “You are brave and strong… Going even against the royalty of your world just to pursue your dreams… You have guts.” She smirked. “It doesn’t matter if it was a mistake or not. You had a goal, and you chased after it. And me? Heh, I have to hide that I’m doing this show from my family. I don’t have the guts to go against their word. Who know’s how they’ll react?” She chuckled. “Heck, I don’t even want to imagine just telling them I’m gay.”

Sunset placed a hand on Trixie’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Don’t worry, Trix. You just need your career to start, and you won’t have to worry about what anyone has to say. I’m sure you’ll…” She blinked. “Wait, what?”

Trixie looked at Sunset. “What?”

“They don’t know you’re gay?”

Trixie went silent for several seconds.

“... No?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

Trixie looked away, pouting. “Because they are close-minded, and also homophobic. They think my ex-girlfriend was a guy…”

“... Huh…”

“Yeah…”

Sunset idly scratched her nose. “Well… I think you’ll have to tell them… eventually… I guess…”

Trixie couldn’t help but smile at Sunset’s awkward tone. “This may be a new concept to you, Sunny. But to us humans it’s pretty normal to worry about that stuff…”

“What? ‘To us humans’? Are you discriminating me, girl?” Sunset asked, exaggerating an offended voice.

Trixie chuckled. “And what if I am? What are you gonna do about it?”

Sunset grinned and gently grabbed Trixie’s shoulders, effortlessly pushing her down. “Depends on whether you hate or love the punishment.”

“Well.” Trixie placed a finger on Sunset’s lips. “I’d really hate if you invite me to a third date.”

Sunset made a thoughtful expression. “I think I can afford something like that… How does it sound going at the Jazz Club five blocks from here?”

“I might hate it.”

“The Jazz Club it is.” Sunset leaned down, closing their distance. “But, it opens in six hours. We’ve got a lot of free time on our hands.”

Trixie smiled. “I would really hate to spend all that time on the cuddling session you’ve been pleading for the whole day.”

Sunset leaned her body down, resting her weight on her arms. She gave Trixie a quick kiss. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Author's Notes:

... before the storm.

15. Tough Crowd

Chapter 15. Tough Crowd.

Sunset lazily scrabbled random words on her notebook. English class was, in the human world, the most boring thing that could have happened to her; even more so than Professor Doodle’s History lessons, and that guy was dull as a rock. It wasn’t because Cheerilee was a bad teacher, but because Sunset had already gotten a certificate back in Equestria, ten years ago. She knew everything about her language, and although she was still getting used to human mannerisms, there wasn’t anything she didn’t know that would be in the lessons of this high school.

So, basically, she was bored. The wall clock still marked five full minutes before the day’s classes ended. She let out a frustrated sigh once again, partly because of her boredom, and partly because paper wad number six hundred and twenty-seven happened to fall on her right eyebrow.

She shoved the wad off her table and began scribbling some more. At this point, she was just writing every third word Cheerilee said. Once upon a time, she would have never let her own work look as miserable, but the constant nightmares and the students’ payback had tired her mind too much to care.

She noticed that the number of paper wads and elastic bands thrown at her were progressively lessening as time passed. Either they were getting tired of it, or they had something else planned for her. She couldn’t help but wonder just how much they hated her. Would they keep annoying her the whole month? Would they plan one big payback that would make things even? The thought sent shivers through her spine. Teenagers could get real dangerous if they got together against one single target.

That was actually the biggest reason she had separated them in small groups when she ruled the school. If they had teamed up in more than ten people at a time against her, she wouldn’t have won the dance’s crowns, not even once.

As the class came to an end, Sunset hurried her things inside her backpack. It was the last class of the day, and she only had one hour to get to the gym and get things ready for Trixie’s show. Once the bell rang, she stood up, but before she even took one step away from her seat, Cheerilee cleared her throat.

“Sunset, may I have a word with you for a moment?”

Sunset pulled a weird pout, a mixture of disgust, worry, mistrust, and hurry. She didn’t respond, but didn’t move from her seat either. Her classmates just got out of the classroom, glancing mocking stares at her every now and then.

It took a full minute for the classroom to be cleared, leaving just Sunset and Cheerilee inside. Sunset moved from side to side, waiting for the conversation to be already over.

“Are you feeling alright?” Sunset rolled her eyes. Of course she wanted to play counselor. “You’ve been acting weird today.”

“I’m fine,” Sunset deadpanned.

Cheerilee crossed her arms in front of her. “Sunset, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“Hey, I really need to get going. If I’m not in trouble, then I’m leaving.” She hadn’t meant to sound so rude, but she did need to get to the gym as fast as she could.

Cheerilee sighed in defeat. “Very well, you might-”

But Sunset was already gone.

Sunset felt bad for that. Even during her days as ruler of the school, she had never been rude to the teachers. Mostly to always be on their good side, but still. Nevertheless, she had to operate the special effects in Trixie’s show, and she had to make sure everything went smoothly. She didn’t have time for petty speeches.

“Hey, Sunset!” An all too familiar voice called from behind.

Sunset groaned and turned around. Twilight was at a safe distance from her, and wore a sheepish expression. “What?”

“Uh, well…” Twilight shuffled her feet nervously. “You got out from Biology class before listening to what the professor had to say…” Sunset crossed her arms and started to tap her fingers impatiently. “Ah, uh, ok… So, we have to make a team research by next week’s thursday… And I’m your teammate.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. It was true that they shared two classes, she had seen Twilight sitting at least three or four seats away from her. Incidentally, those were the classes where less paper wads were thrown at her, for some reason. Her mouth formed a twisted pout as she processed Twilight’s last sentence.

“Sorry,” she said.

Twilight gave her a nervous chuckle. “W-why are you apologizing?”

Sunset looked away. “For being paired up with me. I’m not stupid, I know you don’t like me.”

There was a moment of silence before Twilight answered. “It’s true that I still have mixed feelings about you… But I know you’re not the same girl. I can’t dislike you just for how you look like.”

“Yes, you can,” Sunset replied. “But it doesn’t matter. Just text me what I have to do. I’ll give you my part of the research later. But now I have to go.” She turned around and started to walk away.

“Wait! I don’t have your phone number!”

“Use your head!” Sunset yelled and hurried her pace. She knew that this Twilight was completely different from the pony princess, and she had nothing to do with her problems. And yet, Sunset couldn’t help but frown when she was nearby. And that only made Sunset feel worse.

Think of something nice. Sunset commanded to herself. She tried to think on Equestria; tried to picture herself there, sitting underneath a willow’s shadow, reading her favorite book. She tried to remember the feeling of the soothing breeze of autumn playing restlessly with her mane. She smiled. That thought alone helped her ease her emotions.

She couldn’t wait for the thirty moons cycle to be over.

“Oof!”

Sunset knew she had bumped into someone, but her brain was slow to erase the image of Equestria from her mind to let her see who was in front of her. She stepped back cautiously. The minty-green skinned girl was slowly stroking her forehead. Sunset’s heart jumped and her stomach fell.

If someone in Canterlot High had a secret Sunset could exploit, that person was on her list, and she’d always remember them. Even now, two weeks after she had given up her bad ways, Sunset still knew the faces and secrets of nearly every student in the school. This girl, however, wore a face that rang some bells in Sunset’s mind, and yet, her name and secret were blurry lines.

Sunset just couldn’t put a name to this girl, and yet, she felt really bad. Maybe she had done something terrible to her in the past. That was the only logical explanation. Sunset decided, then, that she had to apologize. Even if it was just for the bumping, an apology was still an apology, right?

“Uh, sorry,” Sunset said. She didn’t know why that word still felt odd. Maybe she hadn’t apologized enough.

The girl shot her eyes open and glared up at Sunset.

In the two weeks after the Fall Formal, Sunset had become used the hatred stares. Even Rainbow Dash had tried to dig a hole in her head. But this girl was different. There was a fire of pure rage burning in her eyes, looking like an enraged lion ready to bounce.

Sunset gulped and stepped back some more. The girl gritted her teeth, but otherwise said nothing as she walked past Sunset. She did, however, push Sunset with her shoulder with enough force to take her off balance.

That was a whole new level of hatred, Sunset thought. To make matters worse, the students in the hallway had witnessed someone shoving her off without any sort of consequence. Sunset shuddered at the thought of the students getting more physical with their payback.

Just one more month. She thought as she tried to keep her cool, and decided to get to the gym as fast as she could.

But just as she was about to get to the gym’s door, another voiced called her name. Sunset sighed in defeat as she turned around. “Hey.”

“I know you’re in a hurry,” Rarity said, “so I won’t take much time from you.” Sunset didn’t say anything, but her gaze told Rarity that she had to be somewhere else. Rarity cleared her throat. “I just want to tell you that the girls and I will be at the show. I know you’ll be backstage the whole time, but know that you have our full support.”

“Shouldn’t you be telling that to Trixie?”

“I already did. We are in history class together, after all,” Rarity answered, making Sunset scrunch her nose slightly. “That said, I wish you two luck.”

Sunset snorted, but offered Rarity a weak smile. “No, Rarity. You don’t wish luck to someone you want to triumph. You wish them success.”

Rarity put her hands on her hips and smiled warmly at Sunset. “Then, I wish you success. We’ll be in the third row of seats.”

“Got it.” And with that, Sunset entered the gym and closed the door behind her. Once again, she felt bad for being so rude at Rarity, but she really needed to hurry.

Trixie had already arrived, and she had already set up the decorations; black curtains covered the walls; the stage had big purple ribbons that created a frame around it; up on the ceiling, there were phosphorescent stars and moons that helped hide the structure of Trixie’s final trick.

Sunset walked up to the stage, where Trixie was sitting and putting on her performance boots, purple with blue moons and yellow stars, and very thick platforms. “Sorry I’m late.” Sunset felt like she was apologizing too much today.

“It’s ok, Sunny,” Trixie said, standing up. “What matters is that you get the panel ready. It takes you ten minutes, no?” Sunset nodded. “Then that gives us about twenty minutes of spare time to kill the nervousness.”

Sunset couldn’t help but grin. She wouldn’t have problems admitting she was nervous, if it meant she could use it as an excuse to make out with Trixie.

It was weird, now that she thought about it. She wasn’t really sure why she liked being with Trixie so much. Perhaps because she hadn’t been directly involved in the whole pony princess ordeal, and, unlike the other girls, she hadn’t promised anyone to try and befriend her. She had said so herself, she’d been crushing on Sunset for quite some time before the Fall Formal.

Sunset walked backstage and to the control panel for the special effects, and she did so swinging her hips with a confidence she thought she had lost. Looking back would ruin her display, so she could only hope that Trixie was looking at her.

She positioned in front of the panel and turned it on. She had to make sure the buttons and levers responded properly. Unfortunately, she couldn’t rush this process, or else she could inadvertently sabotage the show. Once she made sure it worked properly, she practically bounced to the stage. Trixie was making sure her attire didn’t create obstacles for her tricks.

It was an interesting sight, Sunset thought. Trixie was using a pastel lavender corset with blue laces and a moderate amount of sequin, a knee-length lavender skirt with black stitching and yellow decorations, platform purple boots with moons and stars, a lavender cape with moons and stars sewed everywhere that fastened by the neck with a gem-shaped hook, and a lavender pointy hat with the same design as her cape.

Trixie had her back turned to Sunset. Sunset grinned and took advantage of this, bouncing at her prey and giving her girlfriend a very tight hug from behind.

“Ahg! Sunset, be careful!” Trixie cried, barely maintaining her balance.

Sunset had successfully trapped both of Trixie’s arms in her embrace. “Come on, Trix, you can’t just ask the impossible.”

Trixie wiggled her body in a failed attempt to free herself. She sighed in defeat, bending her arms upwards to touch Sunset’s. “You’re impossible.”

“You like me that way,” Sunset hummed, her nose brushing against Trixie’s hat. She remembered Flash trying to hug her like this once, just as she was doing with Trixie now, and she had struck him in the stomach with her elbow.

Trixie leaned back her head, careful not to accidentally hit Sunset. “And I know you like me too.”

Sunset leaned forward to look directly at Trixie’s eyes and noticed that they were at the same eye level. “I guess I do like you... a little.” Trixie snickered. “You said we have twenty minutes for ourselves, right?” Trixie only hummed an agreement. “Cool.” She shifted a little to get more comfortable and pulled in for a kiss.

The gym’s doors opened, and Sunset jerked her head in surprise. She was sitting on the stage, with her back against the wall. Trixie was right next to her, with a leg tangled with Sunset’s and her head resting on her chest.

She snickered at Sunset’s sudden reaction. “Good thing the stage’s curtain is down,” she said. Her left hand held Sunset’s upon her stomach; their fingers intertwined. “Otherwise, they would see a very embarrassing scene.”

Sunset blushed. Trixie relished on the sight. She didn’t know Sunset was able to wear a cute blush.

“Anyway.” Sunset shifted and slowly stood up. “We gotta get ready.”

Trixie followed suit, smiling at Sunset’s awkward attitude. She walked to the center of the stage, and did one last check to her attire, making sure everything was in place.

Meanwhile, Sunset walked to the side and watched the seats through a small opening in the curtain. Principal Celestia was standing next to the door, leading the teachers inside. It was easy to see how excited she was for attending a magic show for free. The teachers didn’t look as excited, but they certainly looked like they were looking forward to it.

At some point, Sunset saw Pinkie Pie bouncing inside, being followed by the rest of the crew. They sat in the third row, just as Rarity had told her. Sunset drifted her eyes to the entrance just in time to see Vice Principal Luna being followed by Flim and Flam. She smiled and leaned back.

The top of the hour quickly approached. “Five minutes, Trix,” Sunset called as she walked backstage. “The brothers are here, so do your best.”

Trixie gave her a reassuring smile. Sunset knew she was ready. Both of them were ready. This was going to be one heck of a magic show.

They waited a couple of minutes, giving the crowd time to sit down. Trixie sighed slow and heavily before looking back at Sunset, who offered her a thumbs up and a confident grin. It was time.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Trixie announced, and Sunset turned off the lights. The crowd immediately went silent. “Be prepared to be amazed by the most magnificent illusions known by mankind!” As she spoke, the curtain went up, slowly revealing the stage, all the while, smoke coming through. “Behold the mesmerizing magic by The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Trixie was spreading out her arms as three lights illuminated her. The crowd applauded, and Trixie turned at them. She quickly spotted the brothers at the first row, right in front of her, and she grinned.

“I will not delay the show and go straight to the magic!” She produced a deck of cards out of nowhere and showed it to the audience. Sunset’s eyes sparkled, she was lucky that she didn’t have to operate more than two buttons during one of her favorite performances.

There was the sound of someone coughing. Sunset frowned, but Trixie did say that it was to be expected.

“It seems that you aren’t amused by this!” Trixie stated, her smile never leaving her face. “I suppose it is so common for magicians to do card tricks, it gets boring, right?” She saw one of the brothers arc an eyebrow. “Then, I will not bore you with this!” She said and dropped the cards to the floor.

That earned a silent response, and Trixie smirked. She showed her other hand as another deck magically appeared on it. “Huh, this is new!” Trixie exaggerated a surprised tone. She dropped the cards, and once again, another deck appeared in her other hand. “It appears that my cards don’t want to go.” By this point, the crowd had their attention completely on Trixie. Even Pinkie Pie, who was at the edge of her chair, was quietly waiting for Trixie to do the next move.

Trixie put her free hand on her hip, showing the cards on the other. She started to drop one by one just as a song started to play. The cards fell at the rythm of the song, and when the hand was empty, Trixie showed her other hand, once again filled with cards. As the song began increasing its tempo, Trixie started to dance, dropping the cards in perfect synchrony. At some point, she showed both hands empty, but after a quick turn, they were again filled with cards.

She walked from one side of the stage to the other, progressively looking more concerned as the cards just kept magically appearing in her hands. And she was always dropping them at the beat of the song. There was a moment -Sunset’s favorite-, where Trixie dropped the entire decks thrice, along with three explosive notes of the song. Trixie spun, walked, and jumped, dropping more and more cards to the floor. And just as the song had lasted two third parts, the cards that started to appear in Trixie’s hands were of various colors. Green, blue, and red. It looked like a kaleidoscopic waterfall of cards.

Finally, when the song reached its final crescendo, Trixie spread her arms at the sides of her body as the last cards fell. The song ended, and the crowd erupted in applause and cheers. Trixie walked to the edge of the stage, inspecting her hands to make sure that cards didn’t keep appearing unwillingly and tilted her head guiltily. “Finally, we can commence the show for real!”

Sunset bit her lower lip. She wanted to be in the audience to see the show in all its glory, but she had to operate the special effects such as lighting, sound, and smoke. She had to pay close attention to the keywords, and thus was unable to actually see the illusions. Of course, she had seen them a lot of times, but she knew, deep down, that a rehearsal wasn’t the same as the real deal.

She could hear the crowd applauding every time Trixie amazed them with one of her illusions: Making dozens of fish appear out of nowhere, transforming water into coins, holding a pigeon on her hands and cloning it in plain sight, burning down a red candle and making a bouquet of roses appear from the ashes… Sunset had seen those tricks many times, she knew how they were done, and yet, she wanted to be in the audience to watch them one more time.

“Thank you! Thank you all!” Trixie yelled, and Sunset grinned from ear to ear. At last! “It is time to end this show! But worry not, as The Great and Powerful Trixie shall amaze you one more time!”

Trixie unhooked her cape and threw it to the other side of the stage. “And now! For my last illusion!” Sunset pressed some buttons, and dry ice started to ease its way through the floor, creating a mist at the audience’s feet. “Behold Trixie’s most great and most powerful illusion!” She clapped her hands once and spread her arms at the sides of her body.

This was it, Sunset didn’t have to press more buttons or pull more levers. Her last role consisted on closing the curtain after the trick. She cautiously jogged to the side of the stage, making sure to hide herself while also getting a good view of Trixie’s masterpiece, and her illusion too.

The lights went dim, except for the spotlight pointing at Trixie. She smiled at the crowd and began lifting her body. At first, it looked like she was just tiptoeing, but sooner than later, her body left the floor. She raised slow enough to let the illusion sink, but not so much that it’d bore the audience. “Levitation!” Trixie yelled cheerfully.

Sunset blinked. She knew how the trick worked, she could easily spot the wire and the mechanism, but she chose not to do so. She just looked at Trixie, who was effectively levitating, reminding her of Princess Celestia’s Summer Sun Celebration. The pose was pretty similar, but Trixie did not have wings, and that made it even more amazing.

Trixie didn’t let the audience cheer yet, and she started to move forward, floating above their head while spinning around and deliberately moving her legs and arms. She looked like she was dancing in the air. Sunset held her breath in anticipation when Trixie started to return to the stage.

Trixie was relishing on the clapping and cheering, but she was not done yet. When she was above the stage’s edge, she leaned down -as if bowing to the audience- and reached her toes for just one second before doing a backflip in mid air and falling elegantly at the center of the stage, just to bow once again.

The crowd erupted with cheers and applause as Trixie took her final bow. Sunset could only smile and did her best to blend into the background, not wanting to steal any of the attention Trixie was basking in. She counted to five and pulled the rope that would close the stage’s curtain. To her surprise, the audience kept cheering well after the curtain was down.

“Bravo!” Sunset said while clapping. “That was pretty good.”

Trixie sighed and turned around to look at Sunset with a nervous smile. “Yeah… I guess it was…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Come on, Trix, don’t belittle yourself.”

Trixie paused for a moment. “You are the worst…” Sunset kept smiling, and Trixie couldn’t help but grin too. She walked up to her girlfriend and gave her a tight hug. “Thanks for being here.”

Sunset returned the embrace. “Well, it was this, or detention.” Trixie chuckled. Sunset decided to give her a quick kiss before stepping back. “Let’s see how well you did.”

Just as she said those words, she heard the sound of footsteps growing closer. The Flim Flam brothers had come backstage, being closely followed by Principal Celestia, who was utterly unable to hide the excitement and her weird-looking goofy smile.

“Girls, let me be the first to congratulate you!” Celestia said, smiling brightly. “You two did an amazing job!”

“Yes, yes,” Flim stepped forward and looked at Trixie. “Trixie! Trixie, Trixie, Trixie! I bet you already know what we’re going to say!”

“But if not,” Flam continued, casually playing with his mustache, “then let us tell you!”

“It was amazing!” The two of them said at the same time.

Trixie did her best not to cower nervously, and instead chose to puff her chest proudly and put the back of her hands on her hips. “Was there ever any doubt?”

Flam grinned. “You demonstrated that you have the ability you claimed!”

“This show of yours was incredible! Therefore, we will be glad to discuss the terms of our partnership!” Flim claimed.

“Before that, of course, we’d like to reiterate our thanks to the beautiful principal for letting the show be held here!” Flam said, looking directly at Celestia.

Celestia only gave him a reassuring smile. “As much as I’d like to, I don’t think I can allow it anymore. At least, not this year.”

“We totally understand,” Flim replied. He looked at Trixie. “Well, we must be going for now.”

“But first,” Flam interjected, “let’s arrange a meeting to sign the contract.”

“Uh, contract?” Trixie asked with a nervous chuckle.

Sunset reached her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, Trix. I’ll make sure they don’t try to play it on you.” She gave the brothers a smug smile.

The brothers shared a chuckle. “That’s why we like you so much, Sunset!” Flam said. “Anyway! How about this Saturday at our Emporium?”

“Sure,” Trixie answered.

“Excellent!” Flim clapped his hands once. “See you there at midday!”

When Trixie nodded in agreement, the brothers bid their goodbyes and walked away. Principal excused herself when she saw a group of friends walking backstage.

“That was amazing!” Pinkie yelled, bouncing up to Trixie and placing her hands upon her shoulders. “It was even more betterer than watching the rehearsal! It was incredibly fantastic!”

“Although grammatically incorrect,” Rarity said, offering a small smile at Trixie, “I agree with Pinkie Pie.”

Applejack only crossed her arms and smiled friendly. “Ah reckon ‘twas somethin’ to behold.”

“It was lovely,” Fluttershy said, although nobody seemed to hear her.

Rainbow looked away, but couldn’t hide her smile. “It was a’aight.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “I do believe that the optical illusions you performed were absolutely delightful.” She blushed when everybody looked at her. “I mean… I liked it.”

Trixie smiled at them. “Thanks.”

“I’ll do my best to go to any other performance you make!” Pinkie said with a grin almost too big for her face. “I can’t promise I’ll go to all of them, because you are totally going to perform worldwide! And I don’t think I can save enough money to follow you everywhere! But every time you perform here in Canterlot, I’ll go! Except if I can’t go for any unexpected event! Then I won’t be able to go! But otherwise, I’ll definitely go!”

Trixie stepped back, not able to remember everything Pinkie said, but still getting the general idea. “Thank you.”

Pinkie leaned back and gave her a sad frown. “And also, I’m sorry.”

Trixie took a second to process that. “What?”

“I said I’m sorry,” Pinkie answered. “I told everyone at school you were performing, but nobody showed up! Well, the teachers and we and those two men did.” That made Sunset arc an eyebrow. Rarity and Applejack tried to reach Pinkie to get her to shut up, but they were too late. “I’m pretty sure I sent messages to everyone saying that you were doing a Magic Show, and that Sunset was helping ya!” She hummed. “Maybe they didn’t send properly?”

Everyone, except for Pinkie, reflexively turned to look at Sunset, who was pale and wore a guilty expression.

Trixie stepped in her direction. “Sunset-”

“Don’t say it,” Sunset put her arm in the space between them, not wanting to look her way. “I don’t want to hear that.”

“Well, you’re gonna hear it anyway!” Rainbow yelled. “It’s not your fault!”

Sunset looked up to her with an incredulous gaze. “Really? Of all people, you are going to pull the supportive card?”

Rainbow closed her arms and snarled at Sunset. “I’m not always hotheaded, you know!”

“Rainbow is right,” Rarity spoke up. “You did nothing wrong! It is them who missed a splendid show!”

“Yes, because of me,” Sunset deadpanned. She then leaned on a wall and looked down. “I’m sorry, Trix. I ruined your first performance.”

“Look at me,” Trixie ordered, and Sunset complied, although very slowly. Trixie was frowning. “This was not my first performance. This was just a mere staged show. I only cared for two people to show up, and they did. All the other seats could have been empty, for all I care!” She walked up to Sunset, stopping mere inches away from her. “I wanted to impress the brothers, and I did it. I don’t care if a bunch of teenagers are so immature they decided to miss my splendid show over a stupid grudge. It’s their loss, not mine.”

Sunset looked away, and Trixie could catch a slight glimpse of a pout. “You’re just saying that. But we know the truth.” She sighed. Her next words came as a very low mutter. “Maybe I should leave you alone.”

Trixie pressed her fists so tight, her knuckles became white. She breathed deeply a couple of times before speaking up. “Sunset, look at me.”

Once again, Sunset complied. This time, however, instead of saying anything, Trixie seized the back of Sunset’s head and pulled her in a kiss. It was only a press of lips, but the message was strong. The girls gasped in surprise, but didn’t say a word. Trixie leaned back just a little and stared directly at Sunset’s eyes. “If, and only if, I ever think you are to blame for something bad that happens, then you’ll be allowed to break up with me. And trust me, you’ll know if that’s the case. Understood?”

Sunset’s mouth was a thin line; her eyes full of surprise. Trixie was blushing furiously while wearing an embarrassed frown, and Sunset’s mind clicked. It must have taken every ounce of Trixie’s courage to have outed herself like that, and she had done it just to get her point across. Sunset couldn’t help but feel guiltier; she had ruined Trixie’s first performance, and she had also forced her to get out of the closet in front of the girls. She knew she was being a bother to Trixie, but, at least this time, she chose not to say it aloud.

She nodded and looked down. “Fine.”

“Wait,” Rainbow said, and Trixie did a little jump backwards. “You two are dating?”

“Looks like it,” Applejack confirmed while adjusting her hat.

Pinkie grabbed her chin in a confused manner. “Wait, it was a secret?”

Rarity rolled her eyes at Pinkie before looking at Sunset. “Although I must admit I suspected something, it still comes as a surprise.”

Trixie’s blush was growing so much, Sunset feared she would overheat. “Can you guys keep it a secret?” Sunset hurried. “We, uh, we don’t want to make it public just yet.”

“No prob,” AJ said, “what’re friends for?”

“Yeah. We’re totally gonna tease you two, though,” Rainbow stated with a devious smile.

“If that’s the case,” Sunset replied, “then I’ll make remarks on your hair.” Rainbow frowned, but remained silent. Sunset smiled at her victory as her eyes trailed to Twilight, who was staring at her with an unreadable gaze. “What?”

Twilight blinked. “Uh… nothing.” She looked away.

“That doesn’t sound like nothing,” Sunset insisted.

With a heavy sigh, Twilight turned to look at Sunset. “It’s just… weird… Sunset had, like, five boyfriends…” She looked down. “I’m sorry, I keep comparing you.”

“Well, that’s a good thing,” Trixie said, and everyone looked at her. “The more you compare them, the easier it’ll be for you to put them apart. I think that’s how parents work when they have twins.”

“Or triplets,” Fluttershy mentioned.

“I guess you’re right,” Twilight replied with a small smile.

Rarity stepped forward. “Oh, come on! You seriously think I will just accept this as it is?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You have to tell us how did it happen! Who asked whom? Have you had dates? We should go to Sugarcube Corner so you can tell us everything!”

“Uh, Rares?” Applejack placed a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “Dontcha also wanna read their diaries?”

Rarity blushed. “Sorry.”

Sunset gave a look at Trixie, who just smiled. “I suppose we can tell you some of it,” Trixie offered. “But not today, I’m really tired, and I wanna go home for today.”

“Oh! We’re going hiking at AJ’s farm tomorrow!” Pinkie said, bouncing on her toes. “You can come with us too!”

Applejack made a thoughtful face. “Ah s’ppose Big Mac’s truck can fit the eight of us.”

“Yeah about that…” Sunset said, giving the girls a guilty smile. “I kind of have detention tomorrow, so I can’t go.”

“Say what?” Applejack asked.

Sunset ducked her head. “You know, for destroying the school’s entrance… Principal Celestia deemed that detention was the only thing she could punish me with.”

“Punishment is such a strong word,” Trixie said, “How about ‘penalization’?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Patata, potato…”

Author's Notes:

And it's done!

For the curious souls out there, here's what Trixie's card trick looked like... more or less:

Clickity.

16. Creative, Consistent, and Cruel

Chapter 16. Creative, Consistent, and Cruel.

Sunset slid her fingers through the hem of her shorts. She didn’t like how it felt, and she couldn’t understand why sports uniform was mandatory. They could just make a regulation for P.E. clothes.

She stood at the center of the gym. All the chairs had been returned to the storage room, and the stage was as bare as always. It felt like Trixie’s magic show hadn’t happened at all.

The loud yelling of sweaty teenagers took her out of her thoughts, and she moved to her left, barely avoiding three girls fighting for a basketball. She looked at her right and found Rainbow Dash near the basket, waiting for a pass. It was funny, how just two weeks ago, she’d just sit down away and look at the students get wild in their games. She always excused herself, telling the trainer that she had a problem with her legs.

Unfortunately, that same trainer had been at the Fall Formal. He had told her that since she was able to transform into a she-demon and literally blow the school’s entrance, then she was able to do some exercise. Sure, she could just ignore him and have P.E. as her only failed class. But then, she’d be a bother to the trainer as well.

So, there she was, pretending to play when the trainer looked her way, and just walking around when he wasn’t. She briefly considered asking Principal Celestia for a special permit, but then she would be bothering her, so she discarded the thought.

She sighed. Just one more month. She thought. She had to meet with Principal Celestia after classes to discuss about her detention. Maybe, if she played her cards right, she could convince her to lower her punishment’s time at least one week. The less she had to attend classes, the better.

Of course, following Princess Twilight’s orders, the girls would still want to befriend her. Sunset was sure that befriending those girls had to be some kind of test she had to pass if she wanted to return to Equestria. But even so, she didn’t need to keep going to Canterlot High. She could just make appointments with them. Preferably, as far away from the school as possible.

There was Trixie too, of course. Sunset honestly liked her. She was curious to know just how far their relationship would get. Her longest relationship had lasted thirteen weeks and two days. So, basically, if she was still girlfriends with Trixie by December’s second week, she could start going serious with her. Serious as in start calling her pet names, anyway.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden force against the right side of her face. Sunset fell to the ground, instinctively putting her arm in a failed attempt to protect herself from more harm. Her head spun wildly, and she could only hear a screeching sound hammering inside her head.

She tried to get up, but her balance was so off, she couldn’t even lift her torso without experiencing a violent wave of vertigo. She decided, then, that the best course of action now was to do nothing until she recovered her senses.

As seconds passed, Sunset started to catch on the voices of the students. There was a lot of yelling, a few thumps, and just general hustle. She remembered that she was still in the middle of a basketball game, and she feared that she’d make someone trip. She did another attempt at standing up, but a stinging pain appeared at the side of her head, making her hiss and fall again.

A hand appeared from the corner of her left eye, and she slowly looked up. It was the trainer.

“Can you stand up?” He asked.

Sunset tried to think on what was going on, but the pain was demanding all her attention. She hung her head, wanting to say no, but she could only mutter a groan.

“Alright,” he shifted. “I’ll have to take you to the infirmary.”

She briefly wondered why she should go to the infirmary again, but the thought was replaced by the concern of being a bother to the trainer. She took a deep breath and slowly stood up. She tottered a couple of times, and bit her lip guiltily when she had to use the trainer’s arm as a third balance point. But it was that, or falling again, and that would only mean she’d have to be carried, and that would only mean that she’d be bothering more.

She glanced around the gym. Everyone was looking at her, but she couldn’t see their expressions, as her vision was still a little foggy. But she knew that they were smiling. Of course they’d enjoy seeing her getting hurt.

Thankfully, she only had to endure this situation for just one more month.

As the trainer helped her walk out of the gym, she heard him yell something at the students, but she didn’t pay attention, as his voice only rang painfully inside her skull.

Sunset flinched when Nurse Redheart rubbed an alcohol impregnated cotton ball to her injury.

Apparently, someone had thrown her a basketball, and it happened to hit her on the right eyebrow, giving her a wound. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything the school’s nurse couldn’t handle on her own.

“Is this because of the Fall Formal?”

“Wha-ouch!” Sunset was cut off by the already fading pain of the alcohol in her wound. She looked at the nurse with a frown. “You were there?” Her question sounded more like a guilty whimper.

Although their gazes could easily meet, Redheart kept her focus on her work. “I attend to every big event in this school. You’d be surprised how many students injure themselves while dancing. I’m still surprised how many refuse to go to the infirmary.”

Sunset looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Redheart said, changing the cotton ball for a cleaner one. “It’s not an everyday experience to be mind controlled. I guess I can cross that one from my bucket list.”

Nurse Redheart’s little joke did nothing to enlighten the mood, as Sunset only let out a heavy sigh. “Not that… I mean, I am sorry for what happened at the Fall Formal, but… On top of that, I’m still being a bother to you…”

Redheart raised an eyebrow at that. “You do know it’s my job and chosen career to treat injured people, right?” Sunset didn’t answer, so Redheart decided to keep talking. “As a nurse, it isn’t my place to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, if it’s not related to your health, of course. But as an adult, I can’t be quiet about this.” That earned a raised eyebrow, to which Redheart grimaced slightly. “Your P.E. teacher vaguely told me what happened. If it’s not him, or yourself, then I am going to report this to Principal Celestia.”

Sunset suddenly looked back at her, and Redheart had to move the cotton ball away to avoid rubbing it in Sunset’s eye. “Don’t do it!” Sunset cleared her throat. “I-I mean. You don’t have to. Rainbow Dash was there, I’m pretty sure she has already told the principal.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Redheart leaned back and looked at Sunset with a gaze of disbelief. “If I’m correct, that’s the name of the girl that broke your nose.”

“Well…” Sunset laughed nervously. “This and that happened… I can’t say we’re friends, but… We kind of solved our problems.”

Redheart made thoughtful face for a second before reassuming her work on Sunset’s injury. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Even if I didn’t want to, I’m legally obliged to report any kind of violence to the authorities.”

Sunset sighed through her nose as a sign of defeat, deciding to just wait in silence until the nurse finished her job.

The bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end of classes. Sunset was the last one to get out of her classroom, more out of tiredness than anything. Apparently, having a small gauze covering her eyebrow was some sort of shield that prevented the students to bombard her with paper wads and elastic bands. She was certain that tomorrow they’d start over again.

She made her way to her locker to offload her things. She really didn’t want to carry anything more than her wallet and phone to her house.

“Hey there,” Trixie’s voice came from her left. “Rainbow told me what happened, are you ok?”

Sunset couldn’t help but crack a smile. “‘Tis nothing. I once broke my four legs and a rib practicing a magic spell.”

“Ouch.” Trixie grimaced at that. “What kind of spell?”

“Teleportation,” Sunset replied as she closed her locker. “It probably wasn’t a good idea to do it in the castle’s roof tops.”

Trixie hummed. “From what you’ve told me, it seems that you have a lot of bad ideas.” She shut closed her mouth as her eyes widened. Having realized that she had said something stupid, she was ready to apologize, but Sunset interrupted her thoughts.

Sunset grinned, looking at Trixie with a mischievous glare. “I’m thinking something bad alright.”

Trixie’s jaw worked silently for a couple of seconds, she then let out a frustrated groan. Sunset chuckled, and Trixie couldn’t help but smile at her girlfriend’s carefree laugh. It certainly was a nice change, given that Sunset barely smiled when the other girls were around.

Sunset started to walk, making sure to keep a steady pace so that Trixie would always be besides her. “It must be nice,” Trixie began, placing both hands behind her body, “to be able to teleport wherever you want.”

“Yeah, well,” Sunset’s smile didn’t leave her face, “it’s not like everyone can do it. Teleportation is one of the most difficult spells. Just being able to do it is a feat on its own, so a lot of unicorns don’t even bother.”

“So why do it then?”

“Because, once you get the hang of it, it gets progressively easier.” Sunset’s eyes rolled up as she recalled her memories. “My maximum is five hundred meters, and that’s pushing the limits of my magic.”

Trixie whistled. “Still, that’s a lot if you talk about disappearing in one place and reappearing in a completely different one.”

Sunset smirked. “Well, I wasn’t called a prodigy for nothing,” she said with a soft sigh at the end.

There it was, Trixie realized. That hint of homesickness in Sunset’s voice that erased any trace of the playful and teasing girl she was just seconds ago. Trixie couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when the time for Sunset to return home came. She decided to brush that thought off. They were still pretty fresh in their relationship, and it certainly wasn’t the time to be wondering about those things.

Sunset let out a heavy sigh of resignation as they got closer to Principal Celestia’s office. “Well, here goes nothing.” She knocked three times.

“Come in,” Principal Celestia called from the other side.

Sunset looked at Trixie, who only answer with a nod. She opened the door and stepped inside. “You wanted to see me?”

Celestia looked up from her papers and offered Sunset a concerned smile. “How are you feeling?”

Sunset shrugged. “Been worse.”

Celestia hummed, eyeing the gauze in Sunset’s eyebrow, and shifted a little. “Please take a seat. This won’t take long.”

Sunset closed the door behind her, giving one last glance at Trixie. She walked up to the chair and sat down. “So… I’m new to this whole detention thing, how does it work?”

Celestia leaned back, resting her hands on the desk. “Well, normally, you sit in a classroom for 2 hours after the end of classes doing homework or other written work the teacher assigned to watch over you decides.” She tilted her head. “The other option is to have you do some chores around the school. That usually takes more time out of you, depending on the chore.”

“And that’s exactly what I’ll do, isn’t it?” Sunset asked, not very surprised.

“That’s the kind of detention for students that vandalize the school’s property.”

“Figures.”

Celestia sighed, but kept a small smile on her face. “For today, you only have to clean your locker.” She leaned closer. “And don’t worry about it getting vandalized again, I’ll have the janitors keep an eye on there.”

Sunset could feel a small smile forming on her face. At least she wouldn’t have to keep reading insults anymore.

“You can go home after that,” Celestia continued, “and I’ll expect you to come everyday after school for the next month.”

“Alright,” Sunset replied as she got up. They shared goodbyes and Sunset practically leaped to the door.

“How did it go?” Trixie asked.

Sunset jumped a little and raised an eyebrow. “You’re still here?”

Trixie stepped forward and placed her hands on Sunset’s hips, producing a very fake frown. “You didn’t kiss me goodbye, how else am I supposed to know when to leave?”

Sunset hummed, placing her hands on Trixie’s shoulders. “Great, you’re clingy now.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

“Not one bit.” Sunset leaned forward, making their noses touch. “I prefer it this way.”

Trixie looked down at Sunset’s lips, and then up to her eyes again. “We should move someplace else.”

“Afraid of getting caught?”

“We’re in front of the principal’s office.”

Sunset’s grin grew. “So strange. You seem like the kind to love risks.”

“Sunset…”

Trixie was blushing, and was looking away. Sunset pressed her lips together before giving Trixie’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “I have to clean my locker. It won’t take more than a couple of minutes. Would you wait for me?”

Trixie relaxed, and managed a smile. “Of course.”

Sunset smiled, and after another squeeze, she freed Trixie’s shoulders and stepped back.

They walked to the concierge to grab a bucket, some soap, and a dishcloth. They made a stop at a nearby bathroom to fill the bucket with water and then headed straight to Sunset’s locker. Trixie had offered to help, but Sunset explained that it was her detention, and she had to do what the principal told her to do. If anything, she was glad she could erase all those insults with her own hand.

Once she finished, and after a full minute of admiring her own job, Sunset took the things she borrowed back to the concierge.

“Well, that was fast,” Trixie said, “only fifteen minutes.”

Sunset stretched her arms, feeling a few pops in her joints. “Yeah, well, I’m sure it won’t be this fast the next days.”

Trixie grinned. “Then, let’s take advantage and go out on a date today.”

“It sounds like you’re inviting me,” Sunset said with a wide smile.

Trixie smiled guiltily. “Once I start earning money for real, I promise I’ll take you out someplace nice.”

Sunset chuckled. “I like that idea.”

The next day came faster than Sunset expected. As usual, her date with Trixie had been marvelous, as hours felt like minutes. Yes, she had a couple of nightmares when she went to sleep, but at least, this time, they woke her up just ten minutes before her alarm clock started ringing loudly.

After getting ready for another miserable day at school, Sunset put on her coat and went out to face the music. She had to take the bus to get there. She wished she had a car or something like that, but she didn’t even know how to drive. But, maybe, after her punishment ended, she could go to a school and get a driver’s license. And perhaps even buy a car. She had her savings, but she’d still need to work a little harder. Maybe Flim and Flam had other jobs she could do. And thinking about it, it was time for her to get a raise.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of her girlfriend, leaning on the school’s statue. Trixie smiled when she realized that Sunset was coming her way. And Sunset could feel a warmth in her chest. She really liked that girl.

“Sup, Trix,” Sunset greeted. She wanted to give her a kiss, but there were people around them, so she bit her tongue to stop herself.

“Hey there, Sunny,” Trixie called back. “How are you?”

Sunset shrugged. “Can’t complain. And you?”

“Pretty good.”

They walked alongside each other, talking about trivialities as they climbed up the front stairs. They didn’t share any class, so they had to use any time they had to talk or just hang out, being lunch period the longest during classes.

Since they still had fifteen minutes before the beginning of classes, they decided to accompany each other to their lockers to pick up their stuff. Trixie’s was the nearest, so they headed there first. Sunset noticed the confused stares she got, and she couldn’t blame them, since she never took this path in the mornings.

Once Trixie had taken a notebook and a textbook, they headed towards Sunset’s locker. Once they got to the right hallway, the students there looked at Sunset, and then looked away, some even leaving the area. Sunset didn’t have the chance to think of what was going on, because once she got closer to her locker, it became pretty obvious.

There was water leaking from the sides and bottom of her locker. It didn’t take a genius to know that someone had poured at least a bucket of water into her locker.

Trixie gasped in horror. “What- How… Who did this?!” She asked to no one in particular.

“I had my textbooks there… They were pretty expensive…” Sunset said and then sighed in defeat. “I’ll go for a mop.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Trixie said, grabbing Sunset from the shoulder. “We’re going to tell Principal Celestia about this.”

“What for?” Sunset replied with an even voice. “It’s not like she can find whoever did this.” She didn’t wait for a response, as she was already on her way, carefully avoiding to bump into one of the few students there.

Trixie, for her part, had an idea. She grabbed her phone and started to tap on the screen.

Lunch time was just getting started. Sunset carried her tray of food to the table where Trixie, Rainbow, and Rarity were sitting. Her back and arms ached a little, as she was unused to mopping floors

She let herself fall on the chair, letting a half sigh, half groan in the process. “Are you ok, darling?” Rarity asked.

“She’s obviously not,” Trixie huffed, turning to glare at Sunset. “You didn’t have to mop that mess. That’s why we have janitors.”

Sunset groaned again, more out of tiredness than anything. “My detention basically consists on playing janitor. All I did was lighten up my workload.”

“Au contraire,” Rarity said. “The culprit was caught. Her punishment was going to be cleaning the mess she caused, but you already beat her.”

Sunset paused a second, blinked, and then raised an eyebrow. “She? Wait, how did they catch her?”

“Yes, she,” Rainbow said with a grin. “Apparently, Suri Polomare thought it was a good idea to mess with Trixie’s girl.” Sunset glanced over at Trixie, who looked away with a blush. “Trixie here told us what happened,” Rainbow continued, “but before we could do anything, she was already investigating. Someone saw Suri walking ‘round school with a bucket. I got there just when Trixie found Suri alone in a hallway.” She threw her head back with a laugh. “You should’ve been there! She cracked like a withered leaf under Trixie’s death stare!”

“It didn’t happen like that,” Trixie muttered, her blush deepening.

“You kidding?!” Rainbow laughed some more. “She almost peed herself!”

“Ew! Rainbow Dash, that’s disgusting!” Rarity exclaimed, scrunching her nose.

“Still true,” Rainbow answered. “Vice Principal Luna came after that, and she took Suri with her. Beats me what she did to her.”

Trixie snorted angrily. “And what about the girl that hit Sunset yesterday?”

“I noticed that Bonbon was looking at Sunset with a weird stare. But I didn’t think she’d actually do that.” Rainbow said and then smiled. “Fortunately, me and the trainer were looking her way when she threw the ball. I think she got suspended, but I’m not sure.”

Rarity huffed after taking a sip of her apple juice. “I just can’t believe this school is full of ruffians.”

“Teenagers,” Trixie huffed. “They can do so much harm when they are together…”

Rarity looked between Trixie and Sunset for a moment, and then reached Sunset’s shoulder with her hand. “Don’t worry, darling. We’re here for you, and we won’t let them bully you anymore.”

Sunset cracked a small smile, her gaze drifting to Trixie. “Thanks.”

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Aside from the constant bombarding of paper wads, the students were reluctant to even look at Sunset. They probably had heard of Trixie intimidating Suri. On the other hand, however, Sunset was sure that they’d only become stealthier. So she had to be more cautious with her surroundings while at school.

After classes, since Sunset had cleaned the mess created by Suri, Principal Celestia decided to make Sunset only dust the trophies’ shelves at the entrance. She also wanted to help Sunset buy new school material, but Sunset had lied, saying she had enough money to do so herself in the following week. Of course she wasn’t going to buy anything, but she wasn’t going to let Celestia buy things that Sunset wasn’t going to use anyway.

The dusting took Sunset only half an hour. Once she finished, Sunset headed home. It was becoming harder each day to decide if she was looking forward to another day where she could see Trixie again, or if she didn’t want to keep getting bullied. At the end, it didn’t matter, as she still had to endure detention for a month.

Once again, the next day came faster than expected.

Sunset was in front of her locker. It was completely bare; not a single mark or scratch, but it was also completely empty. She had thrown her stuff away; notebooks, textbooks, her bag, and some make up. She was currently trying to decide whether or not to keep using her locker.

Sure, she had bought a new notebook to take notes during classes, but it wasn’t like she was going to stay in the school after her detention, so even that was pointless. At the end, she decided to carry her notebook everywhere, and leave her locker alone. That way, the students wouldn’t try to vandalize it again.

As always, the first class was so boring, Sunset felt like the minutes were hours. It wasn’t hard to notice that she hadn’t gotten hit with any paper wad, or elastic band, or eraser piece, or anything else. The students were either tired of it, or their ammunition had finally run out. Maybe they were planning something else, or maybe they were scared to get caught and be punished like the other girls the last few days. Either way, Sunset didn’t complain.

She got out from class, and noticed with relief how good it felt to not have to clean her hair from her classmates’ immaturity. She got to the gym, as P.E. was next, and headed straight to the locker room. There were just a few girls there, getting ready for the class. They were failing really hard in their attempts to not look at Sunset. As always, their stares were of anger, but this time, with a mix of hesitation, and a pinch of fear.

Sunset had never been proud of being a bully, but thanks to that, she had developed a sharp intuition when it came to bullied people. Formerly, she had used that skill to manage them as she wanted, but this time, she could use it to help herself, because those stares meant anticipation.

They were definitely scheming something, and by the looks of it, the five girls inside were involved.

Sunset walked up to her gym locker. When she opened it, she half expected it to be filled with something nasty, poured from the slits as it had been done with her other locker. But, to her surprise, it was just as she had left it. She shrugged and picked her uniform. Maybe they were planning to just hit her again. She’d have to be very cautious then.

She changed fairly quickly, not wanting to have her body exposed for too long. Not because she was embarrassed, but because her bare skin was very sensible at the cold.

She really missed having fur.

After she offloaded her perfectly folded clothes into her locker, amongst with her notebook, phone, wallet, and emergency make up, Sunset got out of the room and into the gym.

She glanced around. The trainer wasn’t around. It wasn’t strange that he got a little late every now and then, so Sunset didn’t put much thought into it. She walked following the red line on the floor for just a minute, and then she caught sight of one rainbow haired girl jogging to her.

“Hey, Sunset! Wassup?” Rainbow asked, panting slightly. She was already dressed with the P.E. uniform, and was carrying a big bag.

“Not much,” Sunset said. “Did you have soccer training?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow answered, walking towards the locker room. “It took a little more time than expected. I was just gonna put this thing in my locker. Be back in a minute.” Sunset nodded and resumed her walk on the line.

It wasn’t long before the trainer arrived. He was already apologizing for being late, when he glanced at Sunset and walked directly at her.

“Sunset!” He exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

Sunset looked at him with confusion. “Uhh… Attending to class?”

“No, no,” he said, shaking his head. “You got a nasty wound on your face, you oughta rest. Go get changed and sit on the tiers. You can come back to exercise with your classmates next class.”

Sunset was about to retort, saying that her injury wasn’t that bad, but the smarter part of her brain told her that it was a perfect opportunity to do nothing for two hours straight. She could spend the whole class thinking on anything, instead of worrying to be hit again.

She nodded and walked again into the locker room. It was empty, except for Rainbow Dash, who was in front of her locker, reading something from her phone. She noticed Sunset’s presence and looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked.

“The trainer said I should rest from my injury,” Sunset answered, walking to her own locker. “I don’t like P.E. anyway, so I don’t complain.”

Rainbow laughed. “Your loss.” She tapped the screen of her phone a couple of times and then put it inside her locker. Sunset opened her locker once again, holding the heavy lock in one hand. “Anyway, I can hear the trainer’s yelling already. I better get going,” Rainbow said, closing her locker and walking towards the door. But when Sunset didn’t answer, she turned around. “Sunset?”

Sunset was staring inside her locker with a blank gaze. She grabbed something and pulled it closer to her. At first, Rainbow thought that Sunset was holding a dishcloth, but upon closer inspection, she realized that it was Sunset’s signature magenta shirt with a golden and red sun.

It was completely shredded.

Rainbow stepped closer to Sunset. “What the heck?!”

Inside the locker was the rest of Sunset’s clothes; her skirt and jacket, in the same state as her shirt. At the side, her phone had a nasty crack along the screen, and her wallet had been emptied; her ID card cut in at least six pieces.

Sunset couldn’t remember the last time she had been stunned like this. Her jaw worked silent words as she tried to process what was going on. Not content with spoiling her very expensive textbooks and other school stuff with water, the students had also destroyed her clothes and phone, and stole the ten bucks she kept in her wallet.

“They won’t get away with this!” Rainbow yelled.

Sunset lowered her head. “Who?”

“What?”

“Who?” Sunset repeated. “Who’s not going to get away? Do you know who did this? Can you even find them?”

Rainbow huffed angrily. “Are you serious?! There were a lot of girls here when I arrived! Somebody had to witness!”

Sunset laughed weakly. “And you think they’ll talk? Come on, Rainbow Dash, they won’t tell who did it. It’s useless.”

“Sunset,” Rainbow called. When Sunset looked at her, Rainbow slapped her with enough force to make her totter. “What the hell happened to you?! You should be angry! You have the right to be angry! Besides, it’s obvious someone saw who did it. If no one will point at the guilty, then all of them are guilty!”

Sunset looked away, the pain of Rainbow’s slap increasing progressively. “You’re wrong, I have no right to be angry.”

“What, are you going to pull the Emo card?!” Rainbow said. “You might have bullied them for years, but you never hit them, or destroyed their things! You don’t deserve this!”

“I blackmailed them. It’s as bad.”

Rainbow grunted. “Fine! You want to be a wannabe-victim? Go ahead for all I care!” She slammed a fist against a locker. “But I’m still telling the trainer, whether you like it or not!” She turned around and walked outside the lockers room, slamming the door behind her.

Sunset just stood there, hearing some yelling from outside.

She didn’t want to admit it, she wanted to tell herself any excuse, any ridiculous reason as to why she deserved this. The pressure in her chest told her that she deserved a payback. She had been trying too hard to behave, to let them do as they pleased, to let them get even with her. And yet, deep inside her, she knew that the students were going too far.

She leaned on the locker next to hers, gazing at her ruined clothes. Maybe, this was their last revenge stunt.

As Rainbow had said, when she told the trainer what happened, and none of the girls pointed at the culprit, all of them were deemed responsible, and thus sent to the principal’s office, most likely to get detention. Sunset wanted to feel bad for them, but after clearing her thoughts and realizing she didn’t have any money left to even get home, she decided to think that they all deserved it.

Also, she had to wear the sports uniform for the rest of the day until she could get home and change clothes, and they were really uncomfortable.

It was lunchtime already, so she got in the cafeteria. Of course, word of what happened had spread like wildfire, and everyone was staring at her with smug grins. She decided to ignore them and get her food.

Once she was done, she took her tray and walked up to the table where Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight were already sitting.

“Are you ok, sugarcube?” Applejack asked as Sunset sat down. “Rainbow told us what happened.”

Sunset sighed. “I’m alright. I just have to buy a new phone, and get another ID card… And a new jacket.”

“I can’t believe they did that to you,” Twilight said. “Don’t they realize they are just completing the circle of bullying?”

“It’s ok, really,” Sunset said. “The teachers were already keeping their eyes on them, and after this, I don’t think they’ll want to risk again.” She leaned on the backrest of her seat and let out a heavy sigh.

“Besides, y'all got us covering yer back,” Applejack assured with a friendly wink.

“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I got my eyes on them! There’s nothing that can evade my pinkie vision!” She said, mimicking binoculars with her hands.

Sunset couldn’t help but smile. So this is what it was like to have friends. She sure wouldn’t mind their company some more.

The rest of lunch went by really fast. After the rest of the girls showed up, they started talking about their newfound anger against the students, and how they needed to support each other. They even joked about Trixie being Sunset’s personal bodyguard.

Classes were uneventful. By the looks of it, Sunset was sure that the students wouldn’t try anything else on her. At least for a day or two.

For detention, Principal Celestia had told her to only sweep the entrance. Celestia had put it like it was a very difficult task, unable to hide her true intentions. While wanting to maintain herself as an authority, Celestia couldn’t bring herself to make Sunset do more laborious or heavy tasks, since she was already being bullied so much.

Of course, Sunset didn’t complain. She wanted so bad to go home already to change clothes. The hem of her shorts was really getting on her nerves.

Author's Notes:

There has been a lot of stuff going on these last chapters, and it all leads to next chapter.

17. Beeldenstorm

Chapter 17. Beeldenstorm.

Friday was completely uneventful, to Sunset’s relief. There hadn’t been any more destruction to her stuff, or stealing, or paper wad bombarding during classes. And on top of that, everyone seemed to be avoiding her. For the first time since the Fall Formal, Sunset felt calm within school’s grounds.

At lunch, Rarity had offered Sunset to make her another jacket. Sunset rejected her, naturally, as she had a spare jacket, and Rarity had already made one for her. Rarity tried to camouflage it as just an act of generosity between friends, but Sunset saw through her facade.

Rarity wasn’t easy to reject, however, so Sunset had to negotiate. And at the end, they decided to go shopping together. Sunset wasn’t sure why shopping was an activity for friends to do, and she wasn’t very fond of the idea, but at least it was better than receiving gifts out of pity.

“Why don’t you girls join us?” Rarity asked. “We never go shopping together.”

“That’s because you use us as mannequins!” Rainbow huffed. “I’m not going through that ever again!”

“Oh, come on!” Rarity insisted. “That was just once! I promise it won’t happen anymore!”

Applejack chuckled. “Well, Ah don’t mind going with y’all, but when exactly are y’all gonna go?”

Rarity hummed. “How about tomorrow?”

“No good,” Sunset said, glancing at Trixie and smiling at her. “Trixie and I already have plans.”

“Sunday, then?”

“I’m sorry, but I must decline,” Twilight said, idly poking her salad. “My brother is coming to visit, and I rarely see him lately.”

Rarity leaned back, placing a finger on her chin. “I want all of us to go together.”

“Easy! Just say dates and we will raise a hand if we’re available!” Pinkie suggested. “And we’ll just pick the day when all of us can go!”

“I agree with Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said.

“Alright,” Rarity replied. “Next Saturday?”

All but Rainbow raised their hands. “I have soccer practice.”

“Sunday?” Everyone raised their hands. “Marvelous! We’ll go shopping on next week’s Sunday, then!”

“But not only clothes, right?” Pinkie asked, earning a few raised eyebrows. “I mean, Sunny needs a new phone! We can help her with that too!”

“I don’t want to sound rude, but,” Trixie said, giving Pinkie an even stare. “... Ok, I do want to sound rude.” She pointed at herself. “Only Trixie can call her Sunny.”

Sunset chuckled while Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Anyway,” Rarity said after a soft cough, “Now that everything’s settled for the shopping trip, we must make plans to go to the spa too!”

The following argument between Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity about going to the spa or not went by for the rest of lunchtime. That day, Sunset had to clean the chalkboards of all the classrooms for her detention. It was an easy task, but it took her two whole hours. And by the end of it, her right arm was numb and weak.

After that, she went home and got prepared for the next day.

She had agreed to meet with Trixie at eleven in the morning at Flim and Flam’s emporium. And with just a pear and some cookies as breakfast, Sunset walked to the bus station.

A cold breeze made her shiver, and she wondered if she should have put on thicker clothes. Normally, she’d have picked her winter clothes without a second thought, but she had a date with Trixie after their meeting with the brothers, so she had decided to use something that her girlfriend would like better.

Under her spare black jacket, she wore a magenta shoulderless blouse sewed to a black necklace, and her usual skirt had been replaced by a pair of mid-thigh length denim shorts. She had always found human fashion to be a little weird, what with using a lot of clothes to cover the torso, and almost nothing to cover the legs. Hers were freezing, and it wasn’t even Winter yet.

She really missed her fur.

As she got off the bus, she caught sight of Trixie, who was standing at a crosswalk. Sunset jogged towards her, and just before Trixie started to cross the street, Sunset hugged her from behind, pulling her backwards to avoid an accident.

Trixie yelped as her arms flailed aimlessly. “Gotcha!” Sunset laughed.

“Why do you feel the need to scare me like this?!” Trixie yelled as she regained her balance.

“You look cute in my arms.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Trixie sighed, freeing herself from Sunset’s grip and turning around to look at her. She eyed Sunset’s attire and grinned. “Trixie approves.”

Sunset chuckled. “I’m glad.” She leaned forward and locked her lips with Trixie’s, hugging her waist with an arm. “You look beautiful, too.”

Trixie frowned awkwardly as her cheeks started to heat up. She was using a dark blue turtleneck, jeans, and similar boots to her usual, but white with purple details. “Well, this is our first real date, and not just an after-school hang out.”

“Yeah… I just wish you used flat shoes.” Sunset leaned back a little at Trixie’s deadpan. “What? Can’t I like how you look with your real height?”

“You only make fun of me.”

“No, I tease you. It’s different,” Sunset replied. “If I really wanted to make fun of you, I’d call you names.” She used a finger to lift Trixie’s chin. “But, if it really bothers you, I’ll stop.”

Trixie looked down for a moment and offered Sunset a small smile. “I will find something to tease you with, and then we’ll be even.”

They shared a laugh before resuming their walk to the emporium, holding their hands. Sunset couldn’t help but notice that, even if Trixie’s hand was rather cold for the weather, it still provided more warmth than any of her gloves. It was a weird, yet very welcome sensation.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at their destination. Sunset looked up to the flashy sign and made a mental note to tell the brothers that it was an unnecessary waste of electricity. She released Trixie’s hand to open the other and let her in, to which Trixie obliged with a smile. The amount of articles inside the pawn shop had increased since her last visit, Sunset noticed.

The man at the counter straightened up at the sight of customers. His eyes sparked in recognition, and adjusted his glasses, offering them a big smile. “Miss Sunset Shimmer and Trixie Lulamoon, I presume?” He greeted.

Sunset walked toward him, swinging her hips in forced confidence. Her eyes darted to his ID badge, reading the name Silver Shill. “So the brothers told you we were coming.” Silver nodded, his eyes drifting every now and then to Sunset’s legs. “Then tell them we’re here,” she said, crossing her arms.

Silver went to the backstore, Trixie approached Sunset with a frown. “He was checking you out without even trying to hide it.”

Sunset grinned at her. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of that guy.”

Trixie blushed, but her frown remained. “Don’t be ridiculous! It’s impossible for someone like him to be with someone like you.” She puffed her cheeks in a childish pout. “I just find disgusting that men his age lust after young girls.”

Sunset barked a short laugh. “Think of it this way,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Checking me out is as far as anyone can get, except for you. So you should be showing me off, saying things like ‘yeah, she’s mine, be jealous’.” She chuckled. “That’s what I do.”

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with showing you off…” Trixie blinked for a moment and then raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you actually say that?”

“Well, more like I think it. You don’t notice, but people ogle you too.” Sunset grinned at Trixie’s increasing blush. “All those times I kiss you out of nowhere at our dates? It’s a message for them: She’s taken, get lost.” She laughed a little more. “And in the process, I get to kiss you. It’s a one sided win-win.”

Trixie snorted. “You’re so weird sometimes…”

Sunset hummed an agreement, puffing out her chest in pride.

The door that lead backstore opened, and from it came Silver Shill, followed by the brothers. “Sunset! It’s always a pleasure to see you!” Flim exclaimed with his arms spread.

“And I bet it’ll become an equal feeling for you too, Trixie!” Flam said, holding the knob of the door. “But please, do follow us! We have much to discuss!”

The girls nodded and followed the brothers to a room that reminded Sunset of an office. However, it was made a complete mess, with stacks of papers hurriedly placed upon desks and boxes, and wires scattered through the floor, leading to unknown destinations. Sunset shuddered, and did a poor job at hiding a disgruntled expression.

“What the heck happened here?”

As Flam closed the door, Flim rounded a desk and sat down on a worn out swivel chair. “I am ashamed to admit that we do a very poor job at organizing our files.”

“We were considering calling you for help,” Flam continued, “but we didn’t want to disturb your vacations.”

Sunset let out a heavy sigh. “What am I going to do with you two?” She asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Tell you what. I’m free next Saturday. I’ll help you clean this mess then.”

Flim raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” he asked. “We can just wait-”

“It’s ok,” Sunset said with a smile. “I was planning on returning to work a little earlier anyway.”

“We’ll take your word for that, then,” Flam announced, walking to his brother’s side. “Now, how about we get down to business?”

Sunset nodded, pulling a chair and sitting down. After Trixie did the same, Flim reached for a few stapled papers and handed them to Sunset. “Here’s the contract.”

“Let’s see,” Sunset said, taking the papers. She shifted and crossed her legs, getting comfortable before starting to read. Trixie played idly with her fingers, glancing around the room and occasionally looking at the brothers, who were reading some other papers. Most likely related to the pawn shop.

“Alright,” Sunset said, putting down the papers. She took a pen that was lying upon the desk and placed it on the front paper. “It’s pretty solid. I’m glad that you decided to try to make it fair for both parts. But there are certain points that need some fixing.” She placed the papers on the desk and circled a paragraph with the pen. “For example, here. You can’t expect Trixie to advertise your company weekly. First, because she isn’t a professional yet. Second, because performers work under different kinds of contracts.”

Flam scratched his chin. “I see.”

“Then,” Sunset turned page and circled almost half of it. “As sponsors, you can’t discuss anything financial directly with Trixie; you have to do it through her manager.” She looked at Trixie. “She still has to find a manager, but my point still stands.”

“I thought you were her manager,” Flim pointed out, and Flam agreed with a nod.

Sunset glanced at Trixie, who only shrugged. “Well, I’m not.” Flam gave her a look. “I’m not!”

Flam nudged at his brother. “My word, Flim. I think we’ve read that completely wrong.”

“I think you meant to say that you read that wrong, dear brother of mine,” Flim replied. “I knew from the start that Sunset was not her manager.”

“Ah, so you say now,” Flam said. “Well, I think we can both agree now that their relationship wasn’t financial.”

Flim nodded. “I suppose you’re right, Flam. It wasn’t financial, it was physical.”

“Say, didn’t we have an idea like that for a movie once?”

“That’s right!” Flim turned to Trixie. “Say, when is your bir-”

“Stop!” Sunset yelled, her cheeks red with both embarrassment and anger. “If you dare continue that line, I will hurt you! Both financially and physically.”

“My, my, Sunset!” Flam said, putting his hands in front of him. “It was only a joke!”

Sunset placed her hand on her forehead and inhaled deeply. “Anyway,” she said in a sigh. She looked at Trixie, who wore a confused stare, and then back at the brothers. “Let’s just get this over with.”

To Sunset’s relief, the brothers remained silent for the most part, agreeing or humming or asking real questions every time she circled a paragraph of the contract. Then, when everything had been discussed, Flam proceeded to rewrite the whole contract on his computer, a very old one, at that. Sunset had to get to the other side of the desk to see the screen, so she could point out mistakes and keep discussing the terms and conditions.

It took them almost a whole hour, but finally, the contract was done. Sunset made sure that both Trixie and the brothers could benefit from their association, and also, that whether or not Trixie succeeded in her career, she’d still be safe from any unjustified debts or contract holes from where the brothers could take ill advantage.

“And now that it’s finally done,” Flim announced, stapling the freshly printed papers, “all that’s left is a signature!” He handed the papers to Trixie, who took them cautiously.

“Let us know when you hire a manager,” Flam said. “But it’d be better if it’s within the next month.”

“Alright,” Trixie replied, giving the papers a quick glance before smiling confidently at the brothers. “Trixie will keep in contact with you! And she is looking forward to a successful and beneficial relationship with you!” She shook hands with them and headed to the door.

Sunset was right behind her, but Flam cleared his throat. “Ah, Sunset, can we talk to you for a second?”

“Sure.”

Flim glanced at Trixie. “Oh, right,” Trixie said and got out the room, closing the door behind her.

She was curious to know what they wanted to talk with Sunset about. It probably was related to their businesses, since Sunset was their counselor. Trixie decided not to be nosy. At least, not in front of her soon-to-be sponsors.

Silver Shill looked at her and gave her a small smile. She narrowed her eyes for a moment, and smiled back. “Say, I didn’t get your name,” she said.

“S-Silver Shill,” he answered, managing a small blush. “You are Trixie Lulamoon, right?” She nodded. “Oh, gosh, Flim and Flam have been talking about your show all week! I wish I could’ve seen it myself!”

Trixie couldn’t help but smile proudly at that. “Worry not! Since Trixie will become a professional, world-renowned illusionist, you might be able to attend to one of her shows!” He managed to squeal in excitement. She wanted to dislike this guy, but he was a potential loyal fan, and she wasn’t going to be mean to a fan. “So, how old are you?”

“Twenty.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow as her eyes widened in surprise. “Really? You look-”

“Much older, I know,” he admitted, idly scratching the bridge of his nose. “It’s the chin. Too big for my head.”

Trixie bit her lower lip guiltily. She had thought that he was an old man, a creepy one at that, since he was checking Sunset out earlier. Of course, she still felt uncomfortable with the fact that he liked her girlfriend, but knowing that he was actually a young dude made it way less creepy.

The door behind her opened once again, and Sunset walked through it, looking back at the brothers. “Alright, see you later.” Flim (or Flam) yelled back a farewell before Sunset closed the door and turned to look at Trixie. “Our business here is over, for now. Let’s go.”

“Finally,” Trixie said, letting Sunset lead the way. Unfortunately, she caught sight of Silver Shill, who was, once again, drooling over Sunset’s figure. She shuddered a little, but then, an idea occurred to her. “Hey, Sunny?” She called, gently grabbing Sunset’s jacket before she reached the front door’s knob.

“Yeah?” Sunset asked, turning to look at Trixie.

Trixie leaned forward and pulled her closer, locking their lips for a few seconds. “Thanks for doing this for me.”

Sunset smiled. “No problem,” she said before turning back to the door and opening it.

Before she followed, Trixie glanced back at Silver Shill and gave him a victorious grin, and not even wanting to see his reaction, she turned around and got out of the pawn shop, closing the door behind her.

She noticed that Sunset was staring at her with a knowing smile. “What?”

“I’m so proud of you,” Sunset said, dramatically placing a hand over her chest.

“Shut up,” Trixie muttered, unable to hide her blush. “But it does feel good to make people know you’re taken. By me.”

Sunset chuckled. “Now we’re speaking the same language.”

Trixie rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “By the way, what did the brothers wanted to talk to you about?”

“They asked me if we’re dating.”

“Eh?” Trixie blinked. “Didn’t they imply that they already knew?”

Sunset hummed, tilting her head playfully. “They just wanted to make sure. And they also asked me to separate my relationships from the business.”

“Well, I suppose that’s normal, right?”

“Oh, but of course. I’m just summarizing it for you, though. They also joked a lot about it.” She snorted. “Some of what they said was actually pretty funny,” she said, looking at Trixie with a side grin. “And I’m actually considering the other stuff.”

Trixie deadpanned at Sunset. “Great, now you have another thing to think at night. Now, how about we go on already?”

“Alright, alright,” Sunset said, still smiling. “But we still have an hour before the movie starts, let’s go eat something real fast.”

Trixie couldn’t help but smile. She casually pulled a loose strand of hair back behind her ear and nodded. “Lead the way.”

Sunset woke up, taking a breath so deep that she could feel her lungs hurt for the excess of air. She had had a nightmare in which she was thrown to the bottom of a lake with her feet tied to a heavy concrete block.

She slowly sat up, passing a hand through her messy hair. She didn’t know why these nightmares kept happening. At some point, she had searched the internet for an answer, but the closest she got to a good reason, was guilt bottled up in her. And the solution sounded so simple, and yet so hard at the same time.

She had to forgive herself.

But, how could she do it? Yes, she was trying to be a better person, and she was letting a bunch of angry teenagers have their payback on her, as unfair as it was getting. But, no matter how much she could try, she could never get even to the things she did back in Equestria -the things she did to her mentor and teacher. At least, not until she returned.

She sighed in defeat. Maybe, having nightmares for two and a half years was a kind of punishment, at least until Princess Celestia got a word with her.

She looked at her clock. It was fifteen minutes past midday. Her stomach growled in demand of food, and she got up to oblige. It was fortunate that she didn’t have any plans for today, it had been years, probably even decades since the last time she allowed herself a day of pure laziness.

So, after preparing a very complex bowl of cereal, she ate it very slowly and very lazily, not even bothering to turn on the T.V. Once she finished, she put the dishes in the sink and decided to do them later, probably at night, or the next day.

She walked to her room, climbed to her bed, covered herself with her blankets, and opened her laptop. Pinkie Pie had told her many times already that cat videos were funny, so she decided to give them a try.

And so she spent the following five hours watching funny cat videos, until her stomach demanded more food.

It wasn’t exactly something she was used to, but she wouldn’t mind having another lazy day next week. The thought of inviting Trixie over and have a lazy day together crossed her mind, and not even the cat videos would stop her from entertaining the idea.

The next day, and despite the nightmares, Sunset woke up with newfound energy. It seemed like a whole day of doing absolutely nothing productive had helped her with most of her tiredness and stress.

She got to school a little early than usual, and decided to sit down at her favorite spot: the portal’s base. The day was a little cold, but not so much that forced Sunset to wear any more than her usual jacket. The spare one, that is. She did, however, replace her skirt for a pair of jeans. It was better for the already cold days.

She leaned her head back, resting it upon the portal’s surface, and closed her eyes. A gentle breeze tried to mess her hair, but only her bangs moved, caressing her face in a soft manner. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling, and imagined herself, once again, back in Equestria. She pictured herself taking an afternoon nap under a willow, and wished she could go back in time, if only to kick herself for not appreciating those moments.

“Hello, Sunset,” Rarity’s voice snapped Sunset out of her reverie, making her open her eyes. “How are you today?”

Sunset closed her eyes again, but smiled nonetheless. “I am.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at that, but instead of asking about it, she decided to change the topic. “Did you have fun on Saturday?”

At that, Sunset opened her eyes again, and Rarity swore she had seen a little spark in them. “Oh, yes. The movie sucked big time, though.”

“Well,” Rarity placed her hands on her hips. “I told you Rainbow Dash has a very strange taste with movies, did I not?”

Sunset chuckled. “Lesson learned. I think we’ll go with Pinkie’s suggestion next time.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with my suggestion?”

“Rarity,” Sunset began, slowly standing up, “you think Rainbow Dash hates mushy stuff? Then let me tell you a thing or two about Trixie.” She snorted. “And I’m not really fond of that, either.” She gave a nonchalant shrug.

Rarity pouted for a moment. “Suit yourselves.”

The growing flow of students told the girls that classes were going to start soon. While Rarity hurried to her locker, Sunset decided to stay against the statue some more. Not only did she want to wait for Trixie to show up, but the mere contact with the only gateway to Equestria soothed the tension of her shoulders. If only a little.

She closed her eyes once more and leaned her head back, resting her weight against the statue. She could hear the students muttering something in loud whispers -most likely insults to her, but her mind drifted away with the thoughts of Equestria, and of her under a willow tree. While she were there, nothing would get under her skin. Those pesky teenagers were no threat to her, as long as she could just lean on the portal, close her eyes, and sigh her worries away.

The first half of classes was pretty uneventful. Ignoring the stares and the muttered insults, Sunset was relieved that any physical harm was seemingly gone. Sunset dared to think that she’d only have to endure death glares for the rest of the month, and maybe just the occasional direct bullying to her things.

She’d have to keep an eye on that. She didn’t want her other jacket to be ruined too, after all.

The whole gang had already gathered up at a table when Sunset arrived for lunch. With her tray holding a pair of sandwiches, a pear, and a glass of water, she sat down at the only empty seat, which had been left empty on purpose in order to let her be right next to Trixie. In hindsight, it was a good thing that they knew about their relationship.

“So, as I was saying,” Pinkie said after stuffing a whole cookie into her mouth. How was she still able to vocalize perfectly with her mouth full, Sunset didn’t know. Fortunately, Pinkie did swallow before continuing. “That new Pizza restaurant in front of Sugarcube Corner has a game I wanna try with you!”

“A game?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah!” Pinkie leaned over the table. “They have this gigantic pizza that a normal person can’t possibly eat on their own! They say that if a group of eight people can finish it, they’ll give us free pizza for a year! A YEAR!”

“Eight people?” Rainbow counted each girl in the table and grinned. “Girls, I think we’ve already won that free pizza.”

“Hold on yer horses, Dash,” Applejack interjected before looking at Pinkie. “Just how big is this pizza?”

“Big!” Pinkie spread her arms wide, managing not to hit Rarity in the process. “Like the size of this table!”

Everyone looked at the table. “That’s too much pizza,” Trixie said. “And I never thought I’d actually say that.”

“Oh, come on!” Pinkie pouted. “I know we can do it! AJ, Dashie and me can eat the major part! And the rest can eat normal portions! We can totally win that free pizza!”

“Alright! I’m with Pinkie!” Rainbow said, reaching a hand at the center of the table. “I say we go today after class! Who’s with me?!”

“Alright! Let’s do this!” Applejack said, reaching Rainbow’s hand.

Pinkie did too. “Yay!”

Then Rarity. “I do like pizza every once in awhile. I’m in.”

“I don’t think it’ll cause any harm,” Twilight said as she reached their hands too.

Fluttershy was next. “I, uhm, I’m in too.”

“Oh what the hell,” Trixie joined, and then nudged at Sunset.

Sunset smiled nervously. “I have detention… Sorry.”

The girls looked at each other, but before any could take out their hand, Pinkie raised her free hand, somehow avoiding to fall on the table. “Oh! We can tots wait for you!”

There was a shared round of agreements. “But, I don’t want you to be here all bored while I finish whatever Principal Celestia asks me to do today.”

Pinkie bit her lower lip before lighting up again. “Well, we can wait for you at Sugarcube Corner! We won’t eat there -obviously-, so you don’t have to worry about us being bored or having fun without you!”

“Come on, Shimmer,” Rainbow said. “I want to eat my lunch already!”

Sunset hesitated for a second, but upon another nudge of her girlfriend, she gave in and put her hand on top of the pile. “Alright, I’m in too.”

Rainbow lifted her hand, and everyone followed, cheering a loud PIZZA before laughing. Even Sunset found herself giggling a little, and she kept holding Trixie’s hand, if only a little longer. She was actually looking forward to it; the last time she ate pizza was almost a year ago, after all.

The second half of classes went by pretty fast. Mostly because Sunset found herself daydreaming in the middle of the lessons. Fortunately, the teachers didn’t seem to notice that she wasn’t paying attention.

The bell signaling the end of school day snapped Sunset out of her reverie. She stifled a yawn and stretched her arms as she got out of the classroom. The swarm of teenagers flooded the corridors, wanting to leave the school as fast as possible. Sunset stepped away from their paths, not wanting to make them aware she was there, and rested her body on the wall next to the classroom’s door.

Some students did notice her, but, as they’ve been doing the past weeks, they only glared, mumbled insults, and got on their ways. Sunset didn’t know whether it was a good or a bad thing that she was getting used to being hated this openly. She decided to shrug it off. It didn’t matter, anyway, since she wasn’t going to see any of them after her month of detention ended.

Once she was sure that there wouldn’t be another wave of students, she went straight to the principal’s office. She was grateful that the teachers hadn’t asked her yet why she wasn’t bringing anything to classes, not even notebooks. She could just walk around the school without having to go to her locker all the time.

She crossed the foyer with haste, gracefully dodging the students there, and made her way to the principal’s office. Upon three knocks at the door, a voice called. “Come in.”

Sunset entered the room, and watched Principal Celestia close a small, brown portfolio. “Good afternoon, Sunset.”

“Afternoon,” Sunset replied with more reluctance than she had intended.

Celestia didn’t seem to notice Sunset’s tone, as she smiled at the girl. “Listen, I have to attend to a meeting with the School Board,” she said as she circled her desk. “That doesn’t mean you won’t get detention. You’ll help clean the kitchen, and you’ll be able to go when Ms. Smith allows you to.”

Sunset nodded slowly. She was aware that CHS’ cook was Applejack’s grandmother. And she was also very aware that the woman could ramble for hours. Fortunately, she also knew that Applejack’s big brother picked her up at some point, so maybe she wouldn’t have to be at school more than strictly necessary. She had to meet the girls at Sugarcube Corner, after all, and she didn’t want to keep them waiting too much.

“Alright, get going,” Celestia said. “The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be over.”

“Ok,” Sunset replied and got out of the office. She almost hoped to see Trixie outside, or maybe one of the other girls, but that was not the case. She huffed and hurried to the cafeteria.

It was a strange sight to Sunset, seeing the cafeteria completely empty. She remembered her first months in the human world, when she had to sneak in here and look for the leftovers. It made her feel uncomfortable, and she reasoned that it was because of the familiarity.

There was a loud clang that took her attention to the now empty food counter, and Sunset found Granny Smith leaning on it, giving her a small and warm smile.

“Well lookie here!” Granny Smith said. “What can Ah do ya for, young’un?”

Sunset’s eye twitched at the unfortunate choice of words, but she managed to smile back. “Principal Celestia sent me here to help clean the kitchen. For detention.”

Granny Smith’s eyes widened in comprehension. “Oh, right. She told me a student was comin’.” She eyed Sunset up and down for a moment. “Y’all don’ strike me as the troublemaker type.”

Sunset let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. It was good to know that Granny Smith hadn’t been at the Fall Formal. “Let’s just say I had a bad day.”

“If you say so,” Granny Smith said, shrugging. “Well, don’ just stay there doin’ nothin’! Get here n’ help!”

Sunset cracked a small smile at the woman’s command. It was really hard to take her seriously when she had such a weak and cracking voice. In the past, Sunset would have shown her superiority, but she was a different person now, so she obliged without complain.

That day, Sunset learned a valuable lesson. Even though Granny Smith always treated students with kindness and the occasional harmless ramble, she wasn’t exactly an easy-going, laid-back old woman.

She made Sunset mop the floor twice, because she had missed a spot of oil near the fridge. After that, Sunset had to do the dishes, which much to her chagrin, consisted not only on very dirty food trays, but also the ridiculously big saucepans, grills, and ladles. And then, she had to mop the floor again because she accidentally spilled some of the saucepans contents while doing them. And as if that wasn’t enough, she also had to clean the stoves and the counter.

By the time she was done, her arms felt numb and weak, and her back ached in places she had never experienced pain, even as a pony. Sunset now admired Applejack a little more, just for growing up with a grandmother like Granny Smith.

“Y’all did a good job alright!” Granny admitted, narrowing her eyes a little. “Of course y’all still far from doin’ it properly, but y’all already better than most young’uns! To think y’all only had to mop three times!” She gave a satisfied smile. “Mah dear Applebloom still don’t get ‘round the proper way to hold a mop, and she has to do it four or five times ‘fore it’s clean. Ah’m just glad Applejack n’ Big Mac got the hang of it real fast, ‘cause now y’all can see it ain’t easy to keep a kitchen clean, especially when yer as old as me! Mah back hurts so bad Ah sometimes have to just sit down for a little while ‘fore continuin’ the chores.”

“Can I go now?” Sunset pleaded. Her back muscles throbbed in pain, and she only wanted to sit down and rest for the rest of the week, if possible.

“Of course!” Granny Smith said. “Y’all were really helpful, Ah might ask Principal Celestia to getcha here again if’n y’all still on detention.”

Sunset shuddered at the thought, and she knew that the idea was going to haunt her for the rest of the day. She made her way out of the cafeteria and up to the foyer. The big wall clock signaled 4 o’clock. It was really late. She was sure that the only people left were just the janitor, Granny Smith, and probably Miss Cherilee.

She stretched back, feeling a few pops along her spine, and some of the stiffness faded away. Not wanting to waste any more time, she crossed the front door.

The afternoon sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky, making Sunset shield her eyes from the sudden change of brightness. She stood there for a couple of seconds before her sight adjusted to the new light, and she pulled her hand down, blinking a few times. Her eyes unconsciously wandered over the portal, and she froze.

In front of the statue was a girl, a student, Sunset reckoned. She had a light green skin, and teal and white spiky hair. Her amber eyes were focused on Sunset, scrutinizing her with a wide, sideway grin. Her arms were behind her body, and she was leaning forward in a failed attempt to look playful, and rather resembling a predator ready to bounce.

Sunset gulped involuntarily, and for a moment didn’t dare to move. Her stomach felt like a void ball as she knew that this girl was up to something awful.

“Are you going to stay up there all day?” The girl asked. Her tone was playful, but there was a venom in her voice that hissed an obviously ulterior motive.

Sunset’s legs moved on their own, slowly taking her down the front stairs. When Sunset was just a few meters away, the other girl began stepping back, and when she got right next to the portal, she lifted a hand in front of her.

“Stop, would you?”

Against her better judgement, Sunset didn’t listen, and she kept walking to the girl. She saw the golden collar with a little lyre trinket resting on her clavicle, and Sunset finally remembered the name of this girl.

“I said,” Lyra Heartstrings announced, reaching behind her and lifting a big and heavy sledgehammer to her right, and her eyes morphed from jolly to pure anger. “Stop!” She yelled.

Sunset froze again, feeling an icy chill run through her spine. Her eyes widened in horror as her pupils shrank to their minimum, and every muscle in her body stiffened. “What-”

“No, no, no,” Lyra interrupted, her voice somehow maintaining the mischievous tone from earlier. “You will only speak when I say so.” She grinned widely when Sunset gave a very subtle and hesitant nod. “So you really have been tamed, huh? Tell me, how does it feel like to pass from alpha bitch to pitiful whelp?”

“What are you going to do?” Sunset was unable to contain the urge to ask such a question, as her eyes locked onto the raised sledgehammer.

Lyra stared at her, and for a moment Sunset thought that she had angered the girl a lot more. “Answering a question with another question is cheap. Then again, what can one expect from the likes of you?” She made a clicking sound with her tongue. “But don’t worry, this big guy ain’t for you. I’m not a monster.” She chuckled a little. “No, I’m going to smash this statue and blame you. Hopefully, you’ll finally get expelled.”

Sunset’s heart stiffened, and she felt her blood increasing its speed through her veins. It was unnervingly cold. After a quick analysis of the situation, Sunset gulped, fighting the urge to lick her dry lips. All the teachers and her friends had already left, Lyra must have waited for just such an occasion. “Isn’t… Isn’t there a better way to get me expelled than destroying school’s property?” Her mouth quivered a little. “You could get caught and get in trouble…”

“Oh, please,” Lyra huffed. “You don’t really think you’re the only one that can plan things, right? I made sure that nobody will come here in the next hour.”

“But why bother doing it like this?” Sunset asked, trying to buy time to think on a way to convince Lyra to not continue her plans. “Wouldn’t it be easier to do it at night and still have me take the blame? And, of course, I can just tell the principal what happened.”

Lyra snorted, leaning the sledgehammer into a more comfortable position. “Come on now, who do you think they’ll trust more? A student with a spotless behavior record, or a bitch that actually destroyed school’s property?” She laughed some more. “Besides, there is a bigger reason behind this, yes.” She looked straight to Sunset’s eyes, and her smile disappeared. “You see, as everyone here, I want revenge. But unlike those brutes that went straight to breaking your things, I actually put some thought on it. And I discovered something very interesting!”

Sunset didn’t like where this was going.

“You act really weird around this statue,” Lyra stated, and Sunset felt a chill run through her entire body. “I don’t know why, but you always look so nostalgic, so at peace, so happy, when you’re near it. You look at it and you touch it, as if it was some kind of gift or memory.” She huffed again. “I don’t really care why, no. What matters is that this statue is important to you, unlike your books or your clothes.” Her smile appeared again when she saw the spark of understanding in Sunset’s eyes. “This statue is irreplaceable to you.”

Sunset tried to gulp, but her throat was dry. Cold sweat ran through her face, and her heart pounded so fast and so hard, she thought it was going to explode. While Lyra spoke, she was trying to remember what she did to her. But try as she might, she couldn’t. Of all the things she had done, and of all the things she had kept track with, she just couldn’t remember what had she done to Lyra Heartstrings.

“I…” Sunset found her voice raspy, and she cleared her throat before continuing. “I’m really sorry for what I did to you.” She knew it wasn’t a good apology, but she hoped it could help her buy some more time.

Lyra’s face morphed into a wicked frown, and her eyes shone with ire. “You don’t remember what you did.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement. “Of course not, why would you? You didn’t really care back then, you just wanted to prove a point. And prove it you did, didn’t you?!” A vein was showing from her forehead as her cheeks turned red.

Sunset stepped back unconsciously, and cursed herself for that.

“But it was my fault, no?” Lyra said, balancing the hammer with her right shoulder. “I shouldn’t have disobeyed the new bully. I shouldn’t have tested her limits. I shouldn’t have confronted her.” Her eyes were focused on Sunset’s, and her pupils were shrank, letting her amber eyes shine brighter with the sun. “Tell me something, bitch. Did you have fun? Huh? Did you enjoy seeing my life fall apart?”

Sunset decided to remain still, doing her best to not move a single muscle. A few remnants of memories swam her mind, and she could vaguely remember having a heavy talk with Lyra when she had first sat down the throne of ruler of Canterlot High. But the very specific, important details, escaped her.

Lyra twisted her mouth in a scowl. “You know, I find it highly offensive that you don’t remember.” Her fingers tapped the sledgehammer’s handle with thoughtful haste. “Since you seem to have grown a conscience, I’ll refresh your memory.” She took a deep breath, never taking her eyes away from Sunset. “I was running for princess of the Fall Formal, but you wanted to win too.”

Sunset’s eyes widened as the memories returned to her from the dusty, forgotten corner in her mind. An audible gasp escaped her mouth.

“So you remember now?” Lyra asked.

Sunset nodded quietly. Lyra stared at her, and Sunset knew that she had to say it.

“I…” she gulped. “I found out you’re… homosexual. And I threatened you with spreading the word…” Lyra’s eyes narrowed, and it took all of Sunset’s willpower to not look away. “You didn’t give in, thinking that I had nothing but my useless word… But I had proof…”

“Yes…” Lyra said slowly, as if thinking on her next words. She then cracked a forced, wicked grin, leaning her head a little backwards. “I was taught to stand up against bullies! Boy, that was a good idea, huh?! Who would’ve thought you’d have spied on me?! That you’d have taken my phone and used my photos and messages?!” She leaned forward, almost losing balance because of the hammer, and stomped her foot. “And not only did you post them online, but you also sent them to my whole family!”

“I-”

“Shut up!” Lyra yelled as tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. “You think the mockering from the students was what made me step back from the dance?! Wrong! I had countless arguments with my family! I was kicked out from my home! Do you have any idea how that feels?! Huh?!”

“Well-”

“Shut up!” Lyra stomped her foot again, breathing heavily.

Sunset couldn’t help it. Try as she might, she couldn’t hold back the tears running from her cheeks. Her heart throbbed painfully, and her stomach ached with a void sensation. She looked down, hugging herself, as guilt and remorse built up upon her back. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so, so sorry... I wish I could go back in time to… to change everything I did… But I can’t… I’m sorry…”

Lyra looked down at Sunset, her teeth clenched and face red of fury. She straightened herself as her expression slowly became an inscrutable one. “Being sorry ain’t enough,” she said, unable to hide the tremble of her voice. “I don’t want you to apologize, bitch,” she inhaled sharply, holding the hammer above her head and glaring daggers at Sunset, “I want you to beg.”

Sunset pressed her hands into tight fists, working silent words with her jaw. In other circumstances, she would have walked away, but Lyra was threatening, unbeknownst to her, the portal back to Equestria. Sunset couldn’t take any risks, reckoning that agreeing to Lyra’s demands was the best chance she had of saving the portal.

And for the first time in her entire life, Sunset kneeled down and bowed her head, letting her arms fall freely at the sides of her body.

“Please,” she said, barely loud enough for Lyra to listen. “I beg you…” she contained a hiccup and raised her voice. “Please! Please don’t destroy it!” She looked up to Lyra, but her vision was blurred away from the tears. “Do anything you want to me! I won’t tell anyone! Hit me instead! Do whatever you want to me! But please!...” She felt her back throbbing in pain, and a strong headache at the sides of her head. “Don’t do it!”

Lyra observed her in silence, as if pondering her next move. And when Sunset had stopped talking, she tilted her head and frowned. “Impressive.” She lifted the hammer. “But not good enough.”

Sunset felt her heart stop. “Please!” She felt a surge of adrenaline, and she somehow stood up. “It’s my only way home!”

Before Sunset could even step further, Lyra gave her one last look. “Oh, boo hoo.”

And she swung forward.

Author's Notes:

Well, this happened...

18. Abdication

Trixie slurped her milkshake, making a loud and half-annoying sound. They had agreed not to buy anything, so they could perform better at the pizza eating game. But Trixie could not resist the temptation of a cold chocolate milkshake with cinnamon. She was really hungry after hours of waiting, and the girls were starting to consider the option of ordering at least a light pastry.

“So I was thinking,” Rainbow said. Her right foot tapping the floor in rapid successions. “How about we make a band?”

“A band,” Applejack deadpanned.

“A rock band,” Rainbow added.

“As… interesting as that sounds,” Rarity said, “I don’t think we are suited for that.”

“Yes we are!” Rainbow insisted. “I play guitar, and I know that you play the piano.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I play for recreation, darling. Besides, I don’t see how a piano forte fits in a rock band. Especially considering your tastes.”

Rainbow groaned and then looked at Applejack. “How about you? Being a country girl, you must know how to play something!”

“Ah will ignore the offense behind that phrase,” Applejack replied, “and just point out that Ah play the harmonica. Not exactly a rock band instrument.”

Rainbow’s eyes then fell on Pinkie. “And you? Please tell me you play something!”

Pinkie smiled widely. “Oh! I can tots play the drum!” She smacked her index fingers on the table repeatedly, producing a loud set of unsynchronized and senseless thumps.

Fortunately, Rarity stopped her by grabbing one of her hands. “I believe that drummers need more than just energy, dear.”

While Pinkie leaned back on her chair with a pout, Rainbow was already looking over Fluttershy. “I bet you have a hidden talent with music!”

Fluttershy gave her an apologetic frown. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t need to apologize,” Rainbow said, as she gazed over Twilight, but huffed. “I don’t think you play anything either, right?”

“Actually,” Twilight said, straightening up in her seat. “I’m considered an expert with the flute, and I’m generally good with any wind instrument.”

Rainbow was already resigned when she, at last, looked at Trixie. A faint spark of hope in her eyes as she silently waited for an answer.

Trixie looked up over her milkshake and deadpanned. “Trixie’s hands are for illusions, not for music.”

Rainbow sighed in defeat and leaned back, crossing her arms and pouting.

Trixie fought the urge to chuckle at that. She took one last slurp to her milkshake as her eyes drifted to the rest of the girls. It still escaped her how they had accepted her just because she started hanging out with Sunset, and it was even more impressive that they didn’t seem to mind their relationship, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She wished everyone were like them.

As she leaned back and placed the empty cup on the table, she casually eyed Twilight, narrowing her eyes a little. That girl knew the Sunset of this world, and said that she was a worse bitch than Sunset ever was. Trixie wondered what would happen if that Sunset also became a good person, and she imagined her coming to Canterlot.

A stupid smile appeared on her face as the idea of two Sunsets in the same room came to her mind. She couldn’t help but entertain the silly thought of the two of them fighting over Trixie.

In that moment, Pinkie Pie decided to do the most random thing Trixie had seen her do in a very long time. It was a very fast set of movements, and Trixie had to take a moment to process everything.

First, Pinkie shuddered in a way that looked like she was being electrocuted. Then, her arms shot up her head as her hair seemed to flatten and smarm just to become poofy and curly in an instant. And finally, she produced a sound that resembled a mix of a snort, a sneeze, and a groan.

It looked painful, Trixie thought, and by the looks of the rest of the girls, it wasn’t something that happened on a regular basis.

When her weird movement ended, Pinkie found herself balancing on her coxis alone, her arms and legs lifted and frozen, and her eyes and mouth agape. She looked around the table, unable to understand herself just what was going on. Her heart hammered in her chest almost painfully, and cold sweat ran down her spine.

“Pinkie?” Twilight, who was right next to her, cautiously asked. “Are… Are you alright?”

“I…” Pinkie managed to say. Her throat was dry, and she felt the urge to lick her lips before speaking again. “I don’t know… That’s never happened before…”

Rarity, who was at Pinkie’s left side, placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with a worried expression. This helped Pinkie relax, and she slowly returned to a normal sitting position.

“That looked like Pinkie sense to me,” Rainbow said, leaning forward and on her arms.

“Pretty much,” Applejack admitted. “But it ain’t never this big.”

“Pinkie sense?” Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rarity nodded. “As impossible as it sounds, Pinkie Pie does have a kind of sixth sense. She sometimes foresees very random events, like “Someone’s going to forget an object”, or “Someone is in dire need of a hug”.”

“Yeah, right,” Trixie snorted.

“It’s true,” Pinkie said, not looking at anyone and rather focusing on the table. “But it’s usually just an itchy nose, or a twitchy ear… This is something completely different…” She placed a hand over her chest. “It doesn’t feel like a good thing. No good at all.” She grabbed her chin thoughtfully and leaned back, humming.

“Let’s get down the list,” she said. “A shudder means bad. The more I shudder, the badder it is. If my arms lurch, it means that something will break, the more they lurch, the bigger the thing that breaks is. My left ring finger touched my palm, that means bacon, and it did when I sneezed-groaned-snorted; a sneeze means friend. I mean, I’m hungry, but I wouldn’t eat a friend, amirite. A snort means unstoppable, and a groan means sad…” She hummed some more.

Trixie lifted a hand. “That sounds awfully specific.” She grimaced, feeling a turmoil in her stomach.

“I know, right?” Twilight replied, writing down what Pinkie said on a notebook. “I’ve been hanging out with Pinkie just a little longer than you, Trixie, and I’ve already come to know about the so-called Pinkie sense. And trust me, as random and impossible as it seems, it’s very much real.” She finished her notes and leaned back, taking the pen to her mouth in a thoughtful gesture and staring at her notebook. “I’ve been studying it since the first time I saw it. I know that, even if I can’t discover how or why it works, I can decipher the meaning of the combined movements.”

Pinkie leaned over to read Twilight’s notes. “Oh, cool! I only know I don’t like how it felt.”

Twilight hummed. “Well, it’s obvious that everything here is connected, but I don’t see how the bacon fits in here…” She tapped the pen on her mouth before speaking again. “But let’s go part by part. First, the shudder meaning bad, or bad news, most likely. Then, something breaking. It’s easy to infer that that’s the bad thing: Something big will break. And that is related to a friend. We also know that it’s sad and unstoppable.”

Applejack looked over the girls. “Do y’all have something that might break?”

“Aside from our phones?” Twilight asked while shaking her head, not taking her eyes out of her notes. “But the bacon part is what puzzles me. What does bacon have to do with everything else?”

“Maybe that friend is hungry?” Rainbow proposed. “I know I am.”

Trixie couldn’t help but imagine a rasher of bacon sitting in the middle of a white plate. Her stomach growled a little, and she wished that Sunset would hurry up and come soon.

Her eyes widened and her heart leaped as realization hit her like a bucket of ice water. She stood up so suddenly, her knees hit the table and startled the girls. “It’s Sunset,” she said, and almost instantly ran to the front door. The girls were fast to move and catch up with her.

She didn’t know why, but Trixie had a very bad feeling. She was sure that she had to hurry to the school and make sure that Sunset was ok. And she wished, with every fiber of her being, that the pinkie sense was just as stupid and impossible as it sounded.

Wind blew hard against her hair, making it dance and twirl in weighless daze for just a second. The whole world stopped for an endless moment, only to being brought back to motion with a loud thump. She felt like her soul was being torn from her body, and she couldn’t even scream out the unbearable pain.

But if said pain was physical or emotional, she couldn’t really tell.

She watched helplessly at the hammer hitting the surface of the portal to Equestria, producing a nasty set of cracks. Dust and pebbles fell to the ground, and Sunset could see -she could feel tiny, virtually invisible sparks of magic, breaking off the statue and dispersing in thin air. Her heart shrunk in on itself, and she felt something shattering inside of her.

Lyra retrieved the hammer and looked at what she did with a big frown. She hadn’t expected that it was so resistant. She lifted the hammer again, but instead of aiming for the same surface, she decided to raise the stakes, and swung upward. The hammer hit one of the legs of the horse statue, effortlessly obliterating the piece of rock.

The statue, unable to hold with just one leg, began to tremble and crack, until it finally gave up and collapsed on itself. Lyra barely got out of the way as the sculpture fell and smashed, becoming a mere pile of whatever type of rock it was made of. She dropped the hammer and took a moment to admire her work. The base was cracked only where she hit it first, along with a couple of severances there where chunks of the sculpture fell.

Somehow, Lyra didn’t honestly feel like it was enough, but when she looked at Sunset, she knew that she had finally gotten even.

Sunset’s look was one of desperation and horror, and her skin had lost color, making her look like she had seen a ghost. Her mouth worked silent words as she swayed back and forth for a few seconds, taking her hands to her mouth, but not quite touching. Her breathe was cracking up as tears began falling through her cheeks. She tried stepping forward, but her body didn’t respond her commands, and so she just stood there, staring at the broken statue, unable to make out coherent thoughts.

Sunset’s chest began spasming and her throat started to let out short, jarring gasps. Lyra briefly thought of putting salt to the wound by mocking her, but a yell made her drop that idea.

“What the heck?!”

Lyra jerked her head to the side and saw seven girls running towards school grounds. She cursed out loud and broke into a sprint in the opposite direction.

Rainbow Dash saw this, and for a reason she didn’t quite understand yet, her chest filled up with pure anger. “Oh, no, you won’t!” But just as she was getting set to sprint, she felt a hand grabbing her arm. She came to a halt and turned around to find Rarity. “What are you doing?! She’s getting away!”

“Let her,” Rarity replied with a stern voice and a deep frown. She looked at Pinkie. “You saw her, right? You know her name.”

Pinkie’s hair had managed to flatten, and she could only stare in pain at the sight of a broken friend. She bit her lip hard enough to open a small wound, and nodded. “Yes…” For the first time in her life, she hated having such a good memory, as she was going to be unable to forget the look on Sunset’s face.

Trixie did her best not to look at the statue and instead ran towards Sunset. Unsure of what to say, or even if she should say anything, Trixie placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders, staring her with a pained frown.

Sunset didn’t register Trixie’s touch at first; her eyes locked on the pile of broken rocks. It wasn’t until Trixie filled her field of view, that Sunset looked up and stared into Trixie’s eyes. And for a reason she’d never get to know, the sight of her girlfriend was the last straw.

And she cried.

She grabbed Trixie’s hoodie with both hands and held onto it with all her strength, resting her head on Trixie’s left shoulder. And she screamed. She screamed the loudest she had screamed in her entire life; and she screamed, not even feeling her throat giving up at times. And her legs gave up, forcing her to kneel down and drag Trixie with her. She barely felt Trixie’s arms embracing her head and pulling her closer.

Even if her voice was being a little muffled by Trixie’s body, Sunset kept screaming. And she felt her torso give in too, weighing on Trixie and still clutching on her as if her life depended on it. She didn’t notice when she had closed her eyes, but now she was pressing them shut, not wanting to open them anytime soon. And yet, her tears continued cascading through her face, drenching her hands and Trixie’s clothes.

And for what felt like an eternity, she cried. And she cried until she used the last remnants of her energy.

And when she had screamed all there was to scream, her senses blacked out, and she fainted.

Time was an unmeasurable thing when strong emotions collided with each other and altered the senses of a person. Thus, Sunset couldn’t tell if it had been seconds, minutes, or hours, since she lost consciousness. She only knew that she was waking up, and that her heart felt like it was being crushed with knives.

She saw a grayish white ceiling, and she was sure that she recognized it, but she wasn’t exactly in the mood to try figuring out.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, grunting as she felt her body jolt with a freezing chill. Her mind was a complete mess of unorganized thoughts, and it was making her head ache and throb.

“Sunset…” A voice distracted her from the pain. Sunset turned to her right and found Trixie sitting on a chair next to her. Her eyes showed quite a few emotions, but Sunset couldn’t make out any of them. Trixie looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn’t mutter a single word.

Sunset then remembered, and the pain in her heart increased.

She remembered the portal being smashed, and its magic dispersing and disappearing in the air. Her jaw stiffened, and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She took a hand to cover her face in a failed attempt to stop herself from crying.

She wanted it to be just another nightmare. She wanted to wake up in her bed, to believe -to know that it had been just the worst dream she had ever had. But the pressure in her chest felt too real; the pain of her sore throat and her stiffened jaw and her throbbing head -it all felt too real to just have been a nightmare.

And Sunset couldn’t do anything about it.

The past days, she thought of the Fall Formal as her greatest failure. Not because Princess Twilight and her friends had stopped her plans of attacking Equestria, but because it represented the epitome of everything she had done wrong in her life. She had thought that she deserved punishment for every time she lied and insulted and bullied and blackmailed and disobeyed and thought she was better than everyone else. She had thought that she could take anything they threw at her, that she’d be able to endure whatever punishment for her actions.

Once again, she had been wrong.

The only way she had to return to Equestria was now gone. Her plans of apologizing to Celestia, of trying to start over, were gone.

It was too much. She was now trapped in the human world for the rest of her life. She’d never be able to see her family again; to eat hay again; to do magic again. She’d never be able to be her true self ever again. She was now bound to live as an alien to her kind, forced to the mundanity of a magicless world.

“I’m done.” Her jaw felt heavy, and her teeth were still clenched, but her words were perfectly understandable. She lifted her hand from her face and looked at it with foggy, vague eyes. It was wet with tears. She turned it into a fist and pressed hard until her knuckles became white and her nails dug small wounds in her skin. “I’m done.”

Trixie wrapped Sunset’s fist with her both hands, shedding her own set of tears as she looked at Sunset, but remained silent.

Sunset lazily looked at her, blinking her tears away. “I know I did bad things to everyone…” Her voice was low and hoarse, but she managed to not stutter, even when her lips quivered in a failed attempt to make her cry again. “I was willing to let them do anything they wanted to me… I deserved punishment…” She closed her eyes, and she had to take a moment to fight back the urge to cry. “But… I think… I want to think… That they went too far…”

“Sunset…”

“I’m done,” Sunset repeated, and this time, she was able to focus her sight on Trixie. “I won’t return to this school ever again.”

Trixie was silent for a moment, but kept staring into Sunset’s eyes. “What are you going to do?” she asked cautiously.

Sunset moved her eyes to the left thoughtfully. “I don’t know.” She opened her mouth a couple of times, trying to come up with the right words. “For now, I just want to go home…” As she said that, she looked at the rest of the room, and realized that she was in the school’s infirmary. “Why am I here?”

“You passed out. This was the nearest bed we could take you to.”

Sunset sat up slowly, groaning at the pain and tiredness of her body. “I mean... It should’ve been closed well before I even finished detention.”

“Well,” Trixie said, never letting Sunset’s hand go. “We called Principal Celestia. Apparently, Pinkie Pie has the phone number of, literally, everyone in this school. Even the gardener’s.” Her little joke did nothing to make Sunset smile, but she didn’t let her disappointment show. “Anyway, we told her what happened and she came as fast as she could. She’s furious.”

“She should be. She commissioned that sculpture with her own money.”

Trixie sighed. “Anyway, she said she’ll get in contact with that girl’s family. We all think she’ll get expelled.”

“Yeah, right,” Sunset huffed. But before Trixie could reply, she decided it was time to change the subject. “Where are the girls?”

“At the cafeteria,” Trixie answered. “They decided to order pizza, and Principal Celestia is letting us use the school for today… And speaking of food, you must be hungry. Wanna go eat something?”

Honestly, Sunset really didn’t feel like eating. Her stomach felt empty, but not exactly because of the lack of food. She just wanted to go home already, but she supposed that she could eat a slice or two of pizza, if only to not worry her girlfriend any further.

“Sure…” She said, but before Trixie pulled away, she continued. “Hey, can I ask you a favor?”

Trixie looked at her. “Sure, what is it?”

“Would you accompany me home?”

That took Trixie by surprise, and she couldn’t hide the growing blush in her cheeks. “Uhm… Not that Trixie doesn’t like the idea, but… Why?”

Trixie half expected Sunset to grin deviously, or to insinuate something. But instead, Sunset’s gaze was weak and almost pleading. “I could really use your company a little longer…” She looked away. “But I’ll understand if you don’t want to… My apartment is a little far from here, after all.”

It took Trixie a moment to react, and when she did, she let out a soft sigh and placed a hand on Sunset’s cheek, leading her head to look at her. Trixie then leaned closer and gave Sunset a soft, yet meaningful kiss. “Of course I want, and I will.”

Finally, and after what felt like an eternity, Sunset managed a small smile.

It was fortunate that nobody decided to ask Sunset if she was alright, or if she was feeling better. Normally, she’d feel out of place if nobody talked at all, but this time, she appreciated the silence. It gave her a good chance to ruminate on what had happened, and on what she wanted to do from now on.

The pizza was tasteless to her, and since she wasn’t even hungry, she just grabbed one slice. She knew that the girls were giving her glances every now and then, but if they were of pity or honest concern, Sunset didn’t know, nor did she particularly care. Besides, she made sure to avoid looking straight at any of them. And she was very aware of her appearance, knowing full well that her red, swollen eyes, messy hair, and pale skin, didn’t make her look her usual gorgeous self.

When everyone finished their meal, they went to the principal’s office to tell her that they were leaving. Rarity had been the one to call her because even though Pinkie Pie was the one who had her number, she wasn’t exactly in the right mind state. And so Rarity was the only one that dared enter the office.

Rarity got out after only a couple of seconds and only motioned the girls to move on. Sunset was very glad that Celestia hadn’t asked for her; for some reason, she didn’t want a disgruntled Celestia to be her last memory of the principal.

Once they got out to the school’s entrance, Sunset did her best not to look at the statue. Her heart ached at the memory, and she wanted to bury it deep inside her mind. The girls noticed this, and they were fast to wave their goodbyes so that Sunset could get away as soon as possible.

For once, Sunset didn’t mind being pitied. She grabbed Trixie by the hand and began walking away from CHS. And during their silent walk to the bus stop, Sunset kept her head lowered and her gaze straight to her own feet.

Even though her mind was a confusing swirl of incoherent thoughts -all an attempt to keep her busy, Sunset looked at Trixie every now and then, grateful that she had agreed to accompany her. Even though the girls and Twilight especially, after overcoming her initial shock, had been trying to befriend her, Sunset found Trixie’s company to be the most enjoyable. Probably due to the fact that Trixie was the only one whose selfish reason to be with Sunset wasn’t a promise to Miss Princess Sparkle, or an attempt to overcome a physical and emotional trauma.

During the bus travel, Sunset never let go Trixie’s hand, squeezing it every once in awhile.

It was also a weird feeling to have someone know where she lived; she didn’t even bring Flash. She was sure that Trixie was subject to freak out or something, but Sunset really wanted to be with her, if only a couple more hours.

And so they descended the bus, managing not to let their hands go.

Trixie shivered as a cold breeze met her, and she gazed the place wearily. She had inferred their destination just minutes earlier, but seeing it with her own eyes still left her with widen eyes and a deep feeling of insecurity.

The streets weren’t particularly dirty, but there were potholes everywhere, and not exactly small ones. The buildings were majorly apartment complexes, but they were really worn out, with their walls cracked and full of graffities, many windows broken, and some even looking about to collapse.

Hollow Shades was known as the darkest part of Canterlot, and not because of the lack of illumination.

There were small gangs at every corner, usually three to five people, drinking alcohol and smoking what certainly didn’t smell like tobacco. Some were gambling with games Trixie was barely aware of, and some were just hanging there. She half-expected to see someone fighting at some point, but such thing didn’t happen. Fortunately.

But what unnerved Trixie the most was that all of them, no matter what they were doing, turned to look at Sunset and her as they passed by. Especially at Trixie, as she was the new face around.

And Trixie didn’t like it one bit.

She started shivering. She wanted to ask Sunset many questions, going from How can you live here? to Can you take me to the bus stop already?. But before she could even mutter a word, they were forced to a halt as a massive shadow interrupted their path.

As Trixie looked up, she noticed that it was a person. He was a very tall man, almost two meters high, built up with both exercise and steroids, short green hair laid back with unhealthy amounts of gel, dark purple skin, and deep, scrutinizing amber eyes. His gray t-shirt struggled not to rip apart as the massive muscles of his arms moved to cross in front of his chest.

Trixie, suddenly very aware of her true height, felt like a tiny ant in front of this man. And she wanted to run as fast as possible. She was about to, in fact, but Sunset squeezed her hand in a reassuring gesture.

“Wassup, Sunburn?” The man asked with a deep, raspy voice that sent a chill through Trixie’s spine.

Sunset only looked up at him with tired eyes, managing a fake smile. “Not much,” she answered, not even trying to hide the emotions from her voice. “How’s the business going, King?”

King shrugged. “Slow, as always.” He then looked at Trixie, and his grin was wide and predatory. “Who’s your friend?”

Trixie shuddered and tried to hide behind Sunset, and failing miserably.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Sunset replied.

King raised an eyebrow, still staring at Trixie. His smile disappeared, and for a moment, Trixie thought that Sunset had done a very stupid thing. Fortunately for her, King decided to look at Sunset again. “You have good taste,” he said, showing his very white teeth in a grin. “Anyway, I gotta do some errands. See you later Sunburn.”

“Later.”

With that, King walked past them and crossed the street, disappearing in a corner.

Trixie then hugged Sunset’s arm and clung to it as if her life depended on it. “You won’t laugh if I say I’m so scared I could die, right?”

Sunset turned to Trixie with a faint smile. “Of course not. He gives that first impression to everyone.”

“Ok, I have many, many questions right now,” Trixie said. “First of all, why did he call you Sunburn? Is that some kind of gang nickname? Are you in a gang?”

“Trixie, calm down,” Sunset said as she started walking again. It was a little difficult with Trixie clinging to her arm for dear life. “I’m not in a gang. Everyone here has a nickname. It was the brothers who gave me mine so that I could fit in here a little faster.”

Trixie hastily looked around, trying to make sure no one could eavesdrop them. “So this is where the apartment they gave you is located? Couldn’t they give you something less… dangerous?”

In that moment, Sunset came to a halt. Trixie noticed that they were in front of one of the many buildings, this one being one of the smallest with only three stories. “They grew up here. This was their apartment a few years ago.” She looked at Trixie. “Because I know them, the people here don’t do anything to me. And because King knows you’re my girlfriend, he’ll tell everybody not to do anything to you. So don’t you worry about it.”

Trixie wanted to feel relief by Sunset’s comment, but she still felt like someone would try to mug them at any time. She briefly looked at Sunset before focusing on her tight grip around Sunset’s arm. “Can I still be scared for a little while?”

“Of course.”

They entered the building, and to Trixie’s surprise, it looked way better on the inside. The wooden walls were recently painted a light blue, and the carpeted floor looked clean. As they climbed up the stairs to the second story, Trixie half expected to see someone through an opened door, or to hear yelling or crying or something remotely bad. But the place was so silent, she wondered if there even were neighbors.

She followed Sunset to the third door to the left, and when Sunset motioned her to enter. She didn’t think twice and obliged.

“Welcome to my humble abode. Get yourself comfortable. Mi casa es tu casa, and all that,” Sunset said as she stepped forward.

The first thing Trixie noticed was that the living room was separated in two. The part in the left was the living room, consisting on a large brown couch and a small T.V. upon a wooden furniture. The part to the right was the dining room, with only a dark wooden table and three chairs.

There were no paintings, or photos, or anything that gave the place even a little decoration.

A little more to the right was what Trixie guessed was the kitchen. Sunset walked to the narrow hallway that led to two opposite doors. She motioned Trixie to follow her, and she obliged.

Sunset’s bedroom was so simple, it didn’t really look like it belonged to the girl. The bed, night table, and desk were of dark wood, and the dresser was white, upon which a mirror stood propped up against the wall. The only thing that barely resembled to Sunset was the teal bed sheets; the color of her eyes.

Trixie grabbed the swivel chair and sat down while Sunset decided to lie down on her bed, not even bothering to take off her boots. They looked at each other for a moment, and Trixie started tapping her knees at some point.

“So,” Trixie started. The feeling of unknown environment heavy in her mind. “Are you serious? About not returning to CHS…”

Sunset narrowed her eyes, looking at her bed for a moment. She then looked up at Trixie and tapped her bed twice. “Come lie down with me.” At Trixie’s blush, Sunset cracked a small smile. “I won’t bite, I promise.”

Trixie decided to comply, and she stood up, walked up to the bed, and just like Sunset, lay down without even taking off her boots.

The bed wasn’t exactly big, and it barely fit the two of them. The space between their noses was just a mere inch. Trixie’s right hand was close enough to Sunset’s face to feel her soft breath. With her free hand, Sunset reached Trixie’s face, caressing her cheek and back to her hair, burying her fingers and twirling them with a white strand. Trixie could feel her heart hammering against her chest, and a thousand butterflies making mayhem in her stomach.

“I am serious,” Sunset finally answered. Her eyes locked with Trixie’s. “I was planning to stop attending when my detention ended anyway.”

“But, why?” Trixie couldn’t help the question.

Sunset sighed heavily as her eyes drifted to Trixie’s hand. “There’s nothing there for me. I only enrolled to CHS because…” She pursed her lips for a moment, squeezing her eyes before inhaling deeply. She felt Trixie’s free hand taking hers, and she looked at Trixie’s eyes again. “Now that the portal is no more… I have no business there…” Her voice was a whisper, but Trixie could hear her perfectly.

“What about the girls?”

“What about them?”

Trixie frowned slightly. “They’ll be worried about you.”

“Yeah, right,” Sunset replied. “Sans Twilight, all of them just want to abide by a promise they made to the princess.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to be pitied.”

“You’re wrong,” Trixie said. “I don’t really know what happened at the Fall Formal with the lot of you, but I’ve been hanging out with them too. They have honest intentions of befriending you, and not just for a promise.” She squeezed Sunset’s hand. “And they don’t pity you. They are truly concerned, just as I am.”

Sunset looked down again. “I’d like to believe that…” She moved her mouth silently a couple of times before continuing. “But my decision still stands.”

“Alright,” Trixie said. “And what are you going to do now?”

“Work,” Sunset replied almost robotically. “I don’t have goals or aspirations as of now. So I’ll just stick to working for the brothers until I figure something out…”

Trixie hummed, running her fingers along Sunset’s arm and up to her cheek. They were silent for a full minute, just looking into each other’s eyes. The only sound was their breathing.

At last, Trixie passed her thumb through Sunset’s forehead and back to a golden lock, twining her fingers with it. “Hey, something occurred to me.”

Sunset blinked. “What is it?”

Trixie grinned. “Would you like to work for the Great and Powerful Trixie? You know, as her manager.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a very bad idea on paper.”

“Are you saying your feelings can mingle in your business decisions?” Trixie asked. “I thought you were better than that.”

There was a pause before Sunset sighed through her nose. “You know what? Ok, I accept. I’ll make you the best illusionist in the world.”

“Trixie would not expect anything less.”

Sunset smiled.

Author's Notes:

What? No more CHS? Stay tuned and find out!

19. Transition

Chapter 19. Transition.

Sunset stared at the steam coming from her coffee. It was a strange feeling, waking up at ten in the morning on a school day. Her phone had rung twice, but she had ignored it since the caller ID told her it was from CHS, and she didn’t want to speak to Celestia -she had a feeling that it could only be her.

She had half expected the girls to call her as well, knowing that Pinkie most likely had her phone number somehow. But such call never came. She thought that maybe they were leaving her alone so she could rest. Not that Sunset minded, but she had mixed feelings: On one hand, she was grateful that she wasn’t being bothered, but on the other hand, she didn’t like being pitied.

A sigh escaped her as she grabbed her cup of coffee with her both hands.

Last night had been a dreamless one. No nightmares forcing her awake drenched in sweat, just a black screen from night to morning. After a week of constant nightmares, it felt weird to not dream at all. She even felt refreshed, if only for the lack of post-nightmare morning adrenaline rush.

She stretched her feet forward and rested them on the opposite chair to her own, and after a quick sip to her coffee, she leaned back and looked up to the white ceiling.

It had been a sudden decision, leaving CHS for good, but Sunset didn’t even think it was wrong. She needed to get away from there for her own sake. The only con she could find was that she didn’t have anything better to do until Saturday, when she had to go help the brothers and restart her job.

Taking another sip of coffee, Sunset’s mind wandered for a while, and inevitably, she started thinking on her girlfriend. Trixie had left before dusk, saying that she really didn’t want to walk through Hollow Shades’ streets at night. Sunset couldn’t really blame her, as she had felt the same way the first few weeks she started living there.

Sunset had also agreed to be Trixie’s manager, and in hindsight, that decision seemed more abrupt than leaving CHS. Sunset knew many things about how human businesses worked, but she had no real clue of how to be a manager, least of all a magician’s manager.

She let out a long sigh as she leaned forward. And after a couple of seconds of humming and drumming her fingers against the table, she realized that she could always search it up on the internet. She had a laptop, after all. She could also investigate of and write a contract, so that no matter what could happen in their romantic relationship, their professional one wouldn’t get damaged.

Now that she had something she could focus her mind on, she felt a little more relaxed. And with a small smile, she sipped her coffee once more.

Trixie placed her tray of food upon the table as she sat down. The only one there besides her was Twilight, who was scribbling something in a notebook and didn’t seem to have noticed her. Trixie leaned back as she munched an apple, idly gazing at Twilight and waiting for her to realize that she had company. When such thing didn’t happen, Trixie decided to peek on Twilight’s notes by leaning forward and practically invading her personal space.

And yet, Twilight was completely oblivious of her, so Trixie cleared her throat loudly.

“Oh, hey Trixie,” Twilight said, offering a small smile.

“What are you doing?” Trixie asked, resuming a normal sitting position.

Twilight eyed her notes and sighed. “I’m trying to figure out how to stabilize the coils so that the energy current doesn’t get cut off every second. That would greatly help the battery to charge at a constant rate, and prevent the wires from burning up.”

“Uh-huh,” Trixie munched a little more of her apple before continuing. “Trixie will assume you’re talking about your science project thingy.”

Against her better judgement, Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am.” She took the tip of her pen to her lower lip and hummed. “The real problem is that the amperage is so irregular, the converter can’t keep up properly and ends up blowing.”

Trixie decided to ignore any further technobabble. If it were physics or trigonometry, she knew that she would be able to hold a decent conversation. But even though she knew the basics of electricity, thus being able to build her levitation illusion, Twilight was talking about something really advanced, and Trixie didn’t really feel like trying to figure it out.

“... But I think I almost solve the issue, I just need to keep trying until I make it work,” Twilight said, scribbling some more on her notebook. “I’m certain that I will be a hundred percent prepared for the Science Fair.” She smiled and drunk a little of her grape juice. “But enough about me, what about you?”

Trixie blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Your magic show,” Twilight replied. “Or magic career, if you prefer. What have you done about it?”

“Well, I’m about to sign a contract with some sponsors, so I should start holding shows in the near future.”

“That’s so great!” Pinkie’s voice startled the girls. “I can’t wait to go to your shows! I bet they’ll be as awesomely fantastic as the one you did here!” She said as she sat down with her food tray.

Not very far from Pinkie were Rarity and Rainbow, who sat down at each side of Pinkie.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but, don’t you need a manager for that?” Rarity asked.

At that, Trixie produced a confident smug. “Indeed. In fact, Trixie has hired Sunset to be her manager! And before you say anything: yes, it is possible.”

“I dunno,” Rainbow said, idly scratching the back of her head. “Won’t it getcha in trouble to sleep with your manager?”

Trixie did her best to scowl at that, but her puffed, slightly red cheeks didn’t give her the look she wanted. Fortunately for her, Applejack, who was just arriving, overheard the conversation, and thus hit Rainbow’s arm.

“Hey! Why are you always hitting me?!” Rainbow asked angrily.

“Maybe that way y’all start thinkin’ before speakin’!” Applejack replied as she sat down with her own tray of food.

The little distraction gave Trixie enough time to regain her composure. “I don’t know why I even speak to you,” she said, crossing her arms. “But just so you know: There aren’t rules that forbid me to date one of my business partners.”

“I don’t want to sound rude,” Rarity said, “but there’s a reason people avoid situations like yours. Are you sure you two can work it out?”

“Absolutely,” Trixie replied. “And we’ve already talked about the many possible outcomes. Even the negative ones. We have everything sorted out.”

“Alright,” Rarity said, offering a small smile, “But just in case, you know that if anything happens, we support you.”

Trixie nodded.

“And speakin’ of,” Applejack continued. “How’s Sunset doing?”

Trixie huffed, deciding to stare at her sandwich. “She’s… She’ll need time, and she’ll need our support.” She looked up to Rainbow. “And that we don’t bring up the subject.”

“Hey! Why do you look at me?” Rainbow asked.

“Trixie wasn’t looking at you, you just happened to be the first one Trixie saw while saying that.” Trixie couldn’t help the grin from forming when Applejack and Pinkie started laughing. “But my point still stands. Just don’t talk about it unless she feels ready.”

“I think that’s fair,” Rarity mentioned. “By the way, Principal Celestia asked me to tell Sunset to go to her office tomorrow. You can get in contact with her and tell her, right?”

Trixie hummed for a moment. “Why does she want to see Sunset?”

“Obviously, so that Sunset can tell her what happened,” Rainbow answered. “I think she only wants more excuses to expel that girl.”

“Lyra,” Pinkie intervened.

“Whatever.”

Trixie sighed as she leaned back on her seat. “Well, I could tell her, but…” She looked up at the girls and produced an awkward smile. “She kind of won’t return to CHS.”

Everyone turned to look at her with surprise. “I‘m so sorry, darling,” Rarity said, stifling a nervous laugh. “I think I didn’t quite understand that.”

“She said that she won’t return, that there’s nothing here for her.”

“And you didn’t try to convince her to keep coming?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

Trixie shook her head. “It’s her decision, not mine.”

“But, if she stops coming to school, what is she going to do?” Twilight asked. “I mean, won’t she go to college either?”

“I don’t know,” Trixie replied. “All I know is that, even if she won’t show it, she’s really depressed, and the last thing she needs is that we try to force her to do something she doesn’t want to.”

“But, does that mean we won’t see her again?” Pinkie asked, and her hair seemed to flatten, somehow.

“I believe I can convince her to still go shopping this Sunday with us.” Trixie scratched the back of her head. “I’ll be honest with you. She still thinks that you aren’t being sincere with the whole befriending her thing.”

Applejack hummed at that as she leaned on the table. “Ah can see why she’d think that. But then, how can we show ‘er that we really wanna be her friends?”

“The best thing I can think of right now is supporting her,” Rarity offered. “Even though I disapprove the idea of her abandoning her studies, she is an adult, and as such, she can decide to do whatever she wants.”

“But it’s hard to think of Sunset Shimmer as a dropout,” Fluttershy commented. “I always pictured her as becoming some kind of business woman, or something like that.”

Trixie snorted. “You are not wrong, yellow one. She’s my manager now, that totally counts as business.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Fluttershy answered.

“I just hope she gets better,” Twilight said. “Nobody deserves to be deprived of returning home… I can’t even begin to imagine if I wasn’t allowed at my parent’s anymore.”

“You know what we should do?!” Pinkie asked, raising her hand.

“A party?” Rainbow replied.

“A “We tots wanna be your friends and you’re awesome” party!” Pinkie concluded. “It can be at Sugarcube Corner after we go shopping!”

“Ah don’t know,” Applejack said. “It’s on Sunday, and we have classes the next day.”

“Aw come on!” Pinkie pleaded. “One absence won’t harm our academic record!” She looked around the girls. “Pretty please?”

Rarity hummed for a moment. “Well, I certainly don’t see any harm in that.” She turned to the rest of the girls. “What about you?”

“A day off of school? Count me in!” Rainbow said.

“Ah don’t think Ah can skip school with Granny Smith bein’ the cook,” Applejack said. “But Ah can still assist to the party if Ah leave early.”

“Uhm, I don’t think my parents will allow me to stay up late at a party,” Fluttershy said. “I’d have to go very early so I don’t worry them.”

Twilight tapped her index finger against her lips before speaking. “I can always ask my dad to pick me up.” She turned to Fluttershy. “If you don’t live very far off course, we can take you home too.”

“Well, I live near Central Square.”

“Yeah, I think we can pull it off.”

“What about you, Trixie?” Pinkie asked.

Trixie looked thoughtfully at Pinkie for a few seconds. “It will only be us, right?”

“Aside from Mr. and Mrs. Cake, yes.”

“Then I’ll probably be able to go too,” Trixie replied. “I’ll just have to tell Sunset about it.”

“But I want it to be a surprise!” Pinkie whined.

Trixie huffed. “Yes, but she has a job. And since I don’t know her schedule, I have to make sure she can make it to the party.”

Pinkie leaned back with a pout. “Ok…”

“Wait,” Rainbow said. “She works for you now, doesn’t she? How don’t you know her schedule?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “She has another job. How do you think she’s been able to make a living in an alternate world for over two years?”

Rarity straightened up. “Now that you mention it… I’ve never thought about it. I always assumed she had a family or something, but after she told us she’s not from this world…” Her eyes widened. “I’m a terrible friend! I didn’t even put a thought on the subject!”

“Don’t worry Rares,” Applejack said, placing a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “Ah don’t think any of us thought about it. But that don’t make us bad friends.”

“No, but that’s precisely the reason why Sunset doesn’t quite trust you yet,” Trixie deadpanned.

Rainbow huffed. “And here I thought we were already past the trust issues! She was a jerk to everyone for years and we forgave her! But we don’t ask her how she earns money and that suddenly makes us unworthy of her trust?! I call bullshit.”

“Well, I took the time to ask her all the pertinent questions,” Trixie replied, pointing a thumb at herself. “Besides, I’m the only one that approached her without promising anyone to do it!”

That caught Rainbow off guard, as she couldn’t even respond.

“She…” Rarity was the first to speak. “She told you that?”

“Yes. You all promised the princess to befriend her. And thus, Sunset thinks you’re just forcing a relationship without even wanting it.”

“You actually did that?” Twilight asked, producing a concerned frown.

“Hey! It’s not like she forced us to do it!” Rainbow replied. “She asked us if we’d take care of her and we agreed. We aren’t forcing anything!” She looked at Trixie. “Besides, you weren’t there! You don’t know how it happened!”

Trixie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Ok, this is getting out of control.” She shifted in her seat to make herself more comfortable. “I’m just saying what she told me, what she thinks is going on. She wants to trust you, but she’s having troubles believing it. And not because you are bad girls, but because she was a bad girl herself.” She stared straight to Rainbow’s eyes. “She’s having a hard time believing that you can just forgive her like that, and that you are just trying to befriend her for the promise you made to the princess.”

Rainbow blinked. “... Really?”

“Yes,” Trixie replied. “That’s why I told you that she needs your support. If you show her that your intentions are genuine, she’s more likely to open up to you, and to overcome her depression.”

“Well, that’s awfully nice of ya,” Applejack said with a smile.

“Yeah, I never thought you could be this nice,” Rainbow mocked.

Once again, Trixie rolled her eyes. “Anyway, let’s eat before lunchtime is over. I’ll try to convince Sunset to go to the party.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Rarity concluded.

Sunset stretched up her arms. She was sitting on her couch with her laptop upon her crossed legs. A few pops came from her shoulders before she relaxed again. The little clock and the right bottom corner of the screen signaled four o’clock. She hummed, a little surprised that she had been working non-stop for so many hours. That explained the little food-lacking induced headache that was building in her forehead.

The bell of her apartment rang. Sunset let out a heavy sigh. It was probably the old woman from next door that wanted to sell her shoes. Again.

She lazily stood up, carefully placing the laptop aside, and walked to the door. But when she opened it, not only did she feel relieved that it wasn’t her neighbor; she was pleasantly surprised to find her girlfriend standing there.

“Hey, Trix,” Sunset said with a wide smile. “Come on in.” Trixie stepped inside, turning around just when Sunset closed the door. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Trixie forced a sideway pout as she placed her hands on her hips. “Care to tell me why everyone here is calling me ‘Lulu’?”

Sunset grinned sheepishly. “Uhh, coincidence?” When Trixie frowned, Sunset couldn’t avoid to chuckle. “Hey, you needed a nickname so that people here recognize you as not a foreigner. You wouldn’t want to get robbed, right?”

“I understand that,” Trixie replied, deciding to cross her arms in front of her chest. “But you could’ve told them I’m The Great and Powerful Trixie! My stage name would be more proper!”

“Yeah… no,” Sunset said, still smiling. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want them to know your stage name. At least until you’re famous.”

Trixie huffed. “Whatever.” She glanced at Sunset’s attire and smiled. “I like your pajamas.” Sunset snickered, and Trixie stepped forward to give Sunset a quick kiss in the lips. “And to answer your question: I just wanted to know how you’re holding up.”

Sunset’s smile remained, although Trixie did notice a faint quiver in her eyebrows. “I’m fine. I wrote our contract!”

Trixie raised an eyebrow and blinked twice. “Our contract?”

“Yeah,” Sunset replied as she walked up to the couch. “We need to do everything legal, you know? A contract will allow us to have a healthy business relationship completely separated from our romantic one.” She sat down and took the laptop upon her legs again, tapping the other place of the couch, motioning Trixie to accompany her. “Take a look.”

It didn’t take Trixie more than a few seconds to realize that Sunset had purposely changed the subject. She figured to just let it slide; Sunset will talk about it when she is ready.

“Show Trixie what you’ve done,” Trixie said as she sat down, crossing her legs under her body.

Sunset scrolled up the screen to the first page she wrote. “I’ll read it aloud. If you have any question, just ask.”

Trixie hummed an agreement.

For the following hour, Sunset proceeded to read and explain every single sentence written in the contract, making sure that Trixie fully understood it all.

At first, Trixie was very lost. All that legal technobabble was even more confusing than what Twilight often prattled about. But as she kept asking Sunset to reword and explain, she slowly began to understand.

Sunset had created a contract that greatly favored Trixie. Basically, as her manager, Sunset had to find Trixie the best contracts to perform, serve as a third party for businesses, search for the best sponsors, and overall have Trixie’s best interests at heart. She even had already decided to only get herself five percent of Trixie’s total earnings as her payment.

“That, Trixie doesn’t agree with,”

Sunset blinked. “Which part?”

“You are not getting only five percent, that’s too little,” Trixie replied. “You will get fifteen percent, no less.”

“Trixie-”

“No,” Trixie interrupted. “We talked about it. Our relationship won’t interfere with our partnership. Fifteen percent is an ideal amount for a manager. Period.”

Sunset sighed and bit her lower lip. “Ten percent.”

“Fifteen,” Trixie insisted. “It isn’t debatable, Sunset.” She looked directly at Sunset’s eyes. “Why do you do this?”

“Do what?”

Trixie leaned closer as a frown formed in her face. “Ever since the Fall Formal, you act like you don’t deserve to be happy.”

Sunset closed her eyes and turned around, letting out a jaded huff. “How many times do I have to go over this?”

“No, I get why you feel guilty. That’s perfectly understandable. But you act like you aren’t worthy of having fun, or of people’s help.” Sunset stood up and walked to the opposite side of the room. “Empathy is not the same as pity!”

Sunset turned around, producing a deep scowl. “I don’t know, ok?!” She snapped, throwing up her arms. “I thought I deserved punishment! And I had it! The only thing that gave me a reason to live is gone! And now I don’t know what to do or how should I feel!” She didn’t notice she was crying until her tears started dripping from her chin. “I don’t even know how I feel right now…”

Thinking fast, Trixie stood up and closed the distance between them, wrapping Sunset in a tight hug.

Sunset placed her forehead against Trixie’s shoulder, letting her arms fall at her sides. “I just can’t figure this out… I… I’m lost…” She drowned a hiccup.

Trixie started to caress the back of Sunset’s head, pulling her just a little closer. “Let it out, Sunset.”

As if it was a command, Sunset couldn’t hold back anymore, and she cried. All the while, Trixie remained silent, patiently waiting until Sunset finished.

When she was sure that Sunset was starting to calm down, Trixie ended the hug, taking Sunset by the hand and guiding her back to the couch. As they sat down, Sunset used her free hand to clean the tears from her eyes.

“I won’t claim I understand how you feel,” Trixie started with a loud whisper. “But I feel empathy. I know that you’re going through a very difficult situation.” She placed her free hand upon Sunset’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “But you’re not alone. I’m here, and you have friends, too.”

Sunset looked at the floor, but before she could say anything, Trixie continued. “They do care about you, Sunset. In fact, they want to throw you a party this Sunday after we go shopping.”

“A party,” Sunset deadpanned.

“They want to prove to you that they are being honest when they say they really want to be your friends.” Trixie gently took Sunset’s chin and lifted it to make her look at her. “Give them a chance, Sunset. And give yourself a chance too. You deserve friends, and you deserve to be happy.”

For a moment, Sunset remained silent, but after just a couple of seconds, she managed a small smile. “I don’t think I deserve you.”

Trixie snickered and pulled Sunset in a kiss. When she leaned back, she had a smug grin. “Is the Great and Powerful Trixie too much for you?”

Sunset gave a chuckle of her own. “You’re a dork.” She leaned closer and began kissing Trixie’s chin and cheeks with quick kisses.

Trixie couldn’t avoid to giggle. But as much as she enjoyed the attention, she knew that it was time to stop when Sunset was starting to get too affectionate. “Alright, alright, don’t get too carried away,” she said as she gently pushed Sunset away. “We still have to finish the contract.”

“Aw, come on!” Sunset whined. “Can we make out properly for once?”

Trixie sighed and placed a finger on Sunset’s lips. “Contract now. Make out later.”

Sunset pouted. “Fine.” She grabbed her laptop and changed the part of her payment from five percent to fifteen percent. “There, done. Do you agree with the contract? I know I do.”

Giggling, Trixie placed her hand on the laptop lid and carefully closed it, all the while staring at Sunset’s eyes. “Just one thing. Don’t you dare leave any hickeys, understood?”

Sunset grinned deviously.

Author's Notes:

Constructive criticism is appreciated.

20. Friendly Soireé

Chapter 20. Friendly Soireé

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Sunset sighed while they got off the bus and she laid eyes on the gigantic shopping mall.

“Just trust me on this, it is a tried and true therapeutic treatment for teenage girls on this world.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I’m not from this world.”

“Yeah, well, we can try some hay later,” Trixie said with a nonchalant motion of her hand.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that, looking at Trixie with a mix of disbelief and amusement. “Sassy,” she said with a grin. For things like this she liked being with Trixie; she knew exactly when to joke around. It was probably for that same reason that she had agreed to go shopping with the girls.

The last week had been a boring one, to some degree. On one hand, Trixie had visited her every day, but on the other, she had have a lot of free time with nothing better to do than browsing the internet and watching funny cat videos. At least, she was going to begin working for the brothers again tomorrow, so she was going to keep her mind busy for a while.

To her surprise, Principal Celestia didn’t call her again. Maybe she had gotten word that Sunset wasn’t going to return. She felt bad for ignoring her, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with CHS. Not anymore.

A chill ran through her body as she entered the mall. The weather outside wasn’t exactly warm, but the air conditioner of the building certainly made it feel like its own environment. That, and the rows of stores, escalators, elevators, and the dozens upon dozens of people carrying heavy plastic bags. Even though the place was really spacious, it didn’t really feel any different from a regular building with this many people around.

She grabbed Trixie by the hand as they began walking towards the first row of escalators. Sunset noticed that Trixie was wearing a faint blush, finding her so irresistibly adorable. When they were half the way to the second floor, Sunset gently turned Trixie around and kissed her. It was just a brush of lips, but one that sent a powerful message.

Trixie leaned away as soon as she realized what was going on. “S-Sunset!”

“Yes?” Sunset asked with a very good impression of obliviousness.

Trixie looked around. Nobody seemed to have even noticed their presence. She turned to Sunset again. “Why did you do that?” She asked through her teeth.

Sunset blinked. “What? Can’t I kiss my girlfriend when I feel like it?”

“No!” Trixie replied as her blush deepened. “I mean… You know!”

Sunset couldn’t help the smile forming in her face. “Come on now, Trixie. Nobody here gives a damn about us. Now, if we were furiously making out, that would be a different story.”

Trixie rubbed the bridge of her nose as she walked away from the escalator. “What if someone sees us? Someone that isn’t our friends, that is.”

For a moment, Sunset stared at her in silence. “If it is someone from CHS, and they try to bully you, I’d put my bet on either Speedy or Applejack beating ‘em up.” She shrugged. “I don’t see why you should worry about it.”

Trixie sighed in defeat. “I give up, you’re impossible.”

Sunset closed the distance between them and gently hugged Trixie’s waist. “I can’t be impossible, I exist. I believe what you meant to say is: ‘I give up, you’re improbable’.”

Trixie giggled. “You really are a dork.” She wrapped her arms around Sunset’s neck and gave her a quick kiss, pressing their lips with just a little too much force. “Now let’s go. The girls must be already waiting for us.”

“Lead the way.”

The concept of a mall was entirely human. The closest to a synonym ponies had was a city square, an area in which big streets met, whose purpose wasn’t for houses, but for businesses. In smaller towns, it would resemble more to a market in which ponies would sell or buy things at tents built upon dirt roads. But in bigger towns, such as Canterlot, the stores would be set within buildings. It left more space for ponies to walk around, and it looked cleaner.

In the human world, however, even though squares and markets still existed in some places, there was a much bigger proliferation of malls. And, really, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why; they were the exact same thing, but with the advantage of offering protection against weather nuisances, such as rain, snow, heat, cold, etc.

But, above all of that, Sunset found the food court to be the most interesting part of the mall. The concept was so simple, and yet, at the same time, very clever. Having an area dedicated to sell food, with a centric array of tables and chairs, and surrounded by small fast-food restaurants was a very smart way to attract people.

Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were already sitting at one of the bigger tables right in the center of the fairly empty area. Ten in the morning was still too early a time to find bigger crowds, it seemed.

The moment Pinkie Pie saw them getting closer, she started waving her right arm and making it look like a fan.

Trixie slowed her pace just enough to get to Sunset’s left side before stepping a little faster and sitting right next to Applejack and in front of Rainbow and Pinkie. Sunset took the seat next to Trixie.

“Sunset! It’s been such a loooooooooong time!” Pinkie leaned forward to hug Sunset, which proved to be a little painful, taking into account that there was a whole table between them. “Where have you been? What have you done? Why didn’t you call us?”

Thankfully, Rainbow muffled any further jabbering by placing a hand on Pinkie’s mouth. “I think Sunset would prefer if you ask one question at a- Stop licking my hand!” She retrieved her hand and used a napkin to clean it.

Pinkie hummed for a moment. “Mystery solved. You do taste like sprinkles!”

Rarity rolled her eyes at that. “Ignoring that… unpleasantly achieved information…” She turned to Sunset. “We do want to catch up with you, Sunset.”

“Yeah! Trixie here’s been tellin’ us everything, but we wanna hear it from you,” Applejack added.

Sunset sighed as she leaned back, crossing her arms. “There’s no much to say. I’ve been doing absolutely nothing for a week, aside from talking with Trixie when she visits.”

“Trixie told us you are her manager now,” Rarity said. “How did that happen?”

“She asked me to do it,” Sunset answered with a lazy movement of her hand. “We talked about it and we signed a contract.”

“Did you get her a cool show yet?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset snorted. “I normally wouldn’t do it, but I want to show off my girl, so I’ll correct you.” She briefly looked at Trixie with a grin and then back at Rainbow. “My job is to get her contracts for performances. She’s the one doing the cool shows.” She chuckled when Rainbow rolled her eyes. “But, in all seriousness, no, I haven’t gotten her a contract yet.”

“But you have something in mind, right?” Rainbow insisted. “I mean, you had a whole week to look for contracts.”

Rarity and Applejack looked from Trixie to Sunset a couple of times.

“In order to avoid misunderstandings, Trixie shall explain thy concern,” Trixie intervened. “As much as I loathe to admit it, I’m a nobody in the world of spectacles. Sunset is doing her best to find me a good contract, but for now we’ll have to put up with small things. Besides, I’m planning to at least finish high school, she can’t get me contracts that will interfere with my studies.”

There were a couple of seconds of silence before the girls processed what Trixie said with hums and sounds of agreement.

Sunset couldn’t help but smile wider. “Isn’t she smart? I wish I’d have met her earlier.”

“Yeah, but you’d have bullied her then,” Rainbow blurted out, and almost instantly smacked a hand to her mouth.

Sunset stared at Rainbow for a long time with a thoughtful expression, her eyes were narrowed and her mouth slightly open.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack yelled before the silence got more uncomfortable.

“Sunset, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, you’re right,” Sunset interrupted Rainbow. “There’s no point in pretending it didn’t happen. If Trixie had tried to hit on me anytime before the Fall Formal, I would’ve done something horrible to her.” She looked down at her crossed arms and sighed. “But I’m glad it happened the way it did.” She turned to Trixie and smiled. “Without her, I don’t know what I’d be doing… Maybe I’d have started drinking, or doing drugs.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Trixie stated.

“Yeah, drugs are lame.” Sunset chuckled and then looked at Rainbow. “But seriously, I appreciate that you aren’t oblivious of the situation, but I’d prefer if we all act like the adults we like to think we are, and just talk about it without worrying it’ll hurt me.”

“So, you want to talk about it?” Rainbow asked. Applejack scowled at her. “What? It’s an honest question!”

Sunset tilted back her head and hummed. After mere seconds, she looked at Rainbow again and huffed. “Alright, Speedy, shoot.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. “So, nobody knows why Lyra smashed the statue.”

“Yeah, I knew you’d ask that,” Sunset answered as she straightened up. “Long story short, something I thought would only get her in troubles for a while actually got her kicked out from her home. That was a year ago.”

“What did you do?” Applejack couldn’t help to question.

Sunset sighed. “Let’s just say I revealed a secret of hers to her family.”

“Wait, you were the one that posted that she’s gay in MyStable?” Rainbow asked.

“And believe it or not, I’m not proud of it,” Sunset replied. “I just wanted her to step away from the Fall Formal so I could win. It was just last week that she told me the real consequences of my actions.”

“But, you couldn’t know it would escalate to that point,” Rarity offered.

Sunset leaned on the table and rested her head on her left hand. “Does it matter? What’s done is done. I ruined her life, she ruined mine... We’re even.” She pursed her lips for a moment, and suddenly stood up. “I’ll get a coffee, you guys want anything?” The girls shook their heads. “Okay, be right back.”

When Sunset was out of earshot, Trixie scowled at Rainbow. “You just had to ask.”

“What? She said it was fine!” Rainbow replied.

Before Trixie could answer, Applejack placed a hand on her shoulder. “She’s right, Trixie. Even though Ah’d have asked somethin’ else, Sunset did say it was fine.”

Trixie leaned back, crossing her arms and pouting.

“I think that’s the reason she decided to leave for now,” Rarity said. “It’s still a sore subject for her, but she does want to talk about it.”

“By the way,” Trixie said, looking at Rarity. “Do you know what happened to Lyra? I haven’t seen her all week. Please tell me she was expelled.”

Everyone turned to Rarity, who just raised her eyebrow.

“Why do you think Principal Celestia would tell me of all people if a student gets expelled or not?” Rarity asked.

“Sorry, Rares,” Applejack replied. “Since you were the one to speak with ‘er the other day, we just thought she’d have told you somethin’ ‘bout it.”

Rarity smiled. “Don’t worry.” She then looked at Pinkie and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, darling? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

Pinkie was lying on the table with her head upon her crossed arms. She looked at Rarity and let out a muffled whine. “I just don’t like seeing Sunset like that. I mean, I know she did pretty mean things in the past, but she didn’t deserve what Lyra did to her.”

“But that’s why we’re here,” Rarity replied, gently squeezing Pinkie’s shoulder. “We have a whole day to cheer her up, and if that doesn’t work, your party is sure to succeed.”

Pinkie brightened up, smiling widely and straightening up. “You’re right! We’ll make this a super fantastically awesome day for Sunset!”

“I sure hope so,” Twilight’s voice interrupted the conversation as she approached the table. “I’m not very good at this shopping with friends business, but you five look like you have some experience.”

“We sure do!” Pinkie confirmed. “We used to do this all the time! Right, girls?”

There was a round of sounds of agreements.

“Well, you and me are on new ground, Twilight,” Trixie said as Twilight sat down. “This is Trixie’s first time going shopping with a bunch of friends.”

“Oh, this isn’t my first time,” Twilight said. “The other Sunset and me used to go shopping too.”

“It isn’t too much a surprise, really,” Sunset said as she approached the girls, holding two plastic cups. “You did say you two were very close.” She sat down next to Trixie and handed her one of the cups. “I got you a frappé.”

“Thanks,” Trixie said as she grabbed the cup.

Twilight shifted in her place. “Hello, Sunset. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Sunset replied, sipping on her mokaccino. “Hey, did you know that you can make music with Tesla coils?”

Twilight blinked. “Uhh, no. Is it true?”

“I saw quite a few videos,” Sunset replied. “I have no idea how it works, but people connect the coils to some machines, and they act as loudspeakers, and you can see the electricity dancing at the beat of the music.”

“Huh, well that’s an interesting use of the coils…” Twilight grabbed her chin in a thoughtful expression. “Can you show me those videos? It might help me with my project.”

“Sure,” Sunset answered. “Give me your mail and I’ll send them to you.”

“Or, you can just use your phone,” Rainbow said with a grin. And before Sunset could ask, she leaned over the table and looked past Sunset. “Right, Fluttershy?”

Sunset turned around, and true to Rainbow’s word, Fluttershy was standing behind her with a small smile. But what caught her attention was a small, blue box upon Fluttershy’s hands. “Of course,” she said as she handed the box to Sunset. “I hope you like it.”

Sunset took the box and read the words printed on it. “You bought me a phone?” She asked, turning around and looking at the girls.

Applejack smiled. “Yup! We all pitched in. And don’t you dare try to refuse, it is a gift from your friends.”

Sunset opened the box, quickly finding the phone and taking it out to give it a better look. I wasn’t the newest one, to which she felt oddly relieved, but it was a nice one nonetheless. She noticed that the hard part was a dark teal, almost the color of her eyes.

“Pinkie wanted it to be pink,” Rainbow said. “But we know you don’t like it, so we had Rarity pick the color.”

“Pink is fun,” Pinkie muttered.

Sunset pressed the small button at the side of the phone, and the screen quickly lit up.

“It already has the basics,” Rarity said. “And we also took the liberty to save our numbers in the contact list.”

Sunset looked up at the girls and smiled. “Thanks.”

The first few times Sunset had bought clothes, she had just gotten to a store, picked something nice she could afford, and paid for it. No big deal. It was until a couple of months after she had arrived to this world, that she learned that humans had a specific system of organizing clothes by size. In Equestria, clothes were entirely optional, only being mandatory for the fanciest gatherings in Canterlot, so they were made with the exact measures of each pony.

Of course, it was logical that a species that required to use clothes at all times, and that needed to produce them by millions, would be forced to develop a sizing system so that many people could buy them.

It was all perfectly reasonable. That is, until Sunset learned that different brands also had different opinions on how to label their clothes. It had taken her months to accept the fact that two shirts of the exact same size were labeled small and medium. She had later learned that it was just a big marketing scheme whose purpose was still a mystery to Sunset, but it surely hadn’t good intentions.

She let out a sigh as she held two skirts in front of her. One was gray and thigh length, and the other was teal and knee length.

“You can’t decide?” Trixie asked. She had bought a sleeveless dark blue turtleneck in the last store, and had put it on.

Sunset pouted. “I’ve been using skirts for a long time. And I’m honestly tired of them.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Then start using jeans instead. They look really good on you.”

With a chuckle, Sunset placed both skirts upon the rack. “You know what? I’ll take your word for it. They’re more comfortable and easier to buy.”

“Mhm. I’ll probably switch to jeans too.”

Sunset crossed her arms and tilted her head. “So, now that you’re deciding my new wardrobe, what should I try now?”

To Sunset’s amusement, Trixie’s face lit up with a wide smile. “I have the perfect idea! Come with me!” She said as she grabbed Sunset by the hand and dragged her to the other side of the store.

It was weird, Sunset thought, that Trixie seemed to already have planned a few new looks for Sunset. Or at least that’s what looked like, because Trixie didn’t even hesitate while taking the clothes from the racks and stacking them in her arms.

When Trixie had a mountain of garments on her arms, she somehow managed to push Sunset into a dresser room, giving her the clothes.

“These clothes look nice,” Sunset said from the other side of the curtain.

“And they will look better on you,” Trixie replied as she sat down in front of the dresser. “But I’m not really sure which style is the best for you, so you’ll have to try all of them.”

A giggle was Sunset’s response as she started changing.

In just a matter of minutes, Sunset opened the curtain to reveal the first change Trixie picked for her. It was a shoulderless, magenta shirt, and a pair of dark gray jeans.

Trixie hummed for a moment. “No, it doesn’t really suit you.”

Sunset put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “You know, I was thinking that since you’re picking my wardrobe…”

“I won’t start using flats,” Trixie deadpanned.

“Party pooper,” Sunset said with a small frown. She then closed the curtain and began changing again.

Another few minutes passed before Sunset opened the curtain once more, revealing the second set. It was a similar pair of jeans in model, but soft blue, a white, sideless shirt, and a dark gray bonnet.

“This feels awkward,” Sunset admitted. “After so much time in this world, using something that lets this much air flow through the body is just… weird.”

Trixie hummed. “I think it looks great on you. It can be a look for summer, mayb-” she pursed her lips together as Sunset turned around to look at her reflection in the mirror. “Uhh, Sunset?”

“Yeah?”

Trixie shifted in her place, doing her best to avoid the inevitable blush of her face. “Why did you take off your bra?”

Sunset blinked, then turned a little to look in the mirror. The sideless shirt turned out to be more revealing than she thought. “I didn’t. I don’t usually wear a bra,” she admitted nonchalantly.

A sharp inhalation of air made Trixie cough a couple of times. And yet, she couldn’t take her eyes off of Sunset’s torso. “Why?” She asked forcefully.

Sunset shrugged. “Honestly? They’re way too uncomfortable and unnatural. I only wear them if I’m going to use very thin shirts.” She looked at her reflexion a little more, spinning her torso a couple of times. She stopped with a pose, lifting the bonnet with one hand and placing the other on her hips. “If I use a sports bra, I think it can work,” she said lazily.

“Uh-huh,” was Trixie’s only response.

Sunset turned at her and giggled. “You look so cute when you’re flustered.”

Trixie’s blush deepened as she frowned. “Trixie is not flustered!”

Grabbing the hem of the shirt with only two fingers, Sunset gently pulled the fabric, showing just a little more skin to Trixie. Her smile tried to be seductive, but her eyes yelled mischievous intentions. “Boy, is it just me or is it hot in here?”

Trixie looked at the entrance of the dressers and then at Sunset. Her expression was a cute mix of nervousness and excitement. “Can you not? This is a public place!”

Sunset grabbed the curtain, making sure to let Trixie see the side of her torso, and smiled. “I think I’ll buy this shirt,” she said with a sideway grin before closing the curtain.

Trixie crossed her arms and huffed. She knew that Sunset was just teasing, but that didn’t make it any less difficult to ignore. And her blush didn’t help stop Sunset from doing it. She breathed in deeply in an attempt to calm herself.

After a couple of minutes, Sunset opened the curtain again, revealing the last attire Trixie had chosen. It consisted on a pair of soft blue jeans and a long, soft teal shirt with a transparent extra length that went to her mid thighs and a pointed neck that showed Sunset’s clavicles.

“So? How do I look?” Sunset asked.

On her part, Trixie felt her heart race just a little. “You should keep that look.”

“Really?” Sunset turned to the mirror, grabbing the hem of the shirt and examining it. “I don’t know. It looks too simple.”

“Maybe a jacket could work with it,” Trixie offered, and then her eyes sparked as she suddenly stood up. “I know! Wait here!” And she ran away. Fortunately for Sunset, it didn’t take Trixie too long to return. “Put this on,” she said, giving a jacket to Sunset.

“I already have a jacket,” Sunset said. Trixie looked at her with a pleading frown, and Sunset rolled her eyes playfully. “Fine.” She put on the jacket and looked at the mirror. The style was different from her spare jacket. This one had a short torso that barely got below her chest, the sleeves were 3/4 length, fastening upwards and with orange arrows at the shoulders, and the flap was straight upward.

“Now that looks way better,” Trixie stated with a satisfied smirk.

Sunset placed her hands on her hips and smiled. “Yes, yes it does.”

“The only thing left is to get boots that match the jacket and you’ll be rocking that new look in no time!” Trixie continued.

Sunset giggled and stepped closer to Trixie, wrapping her arms around her neck. “I can rock that sideless shirt too, you know.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “I’m not picking a bra for you.”

Sunset smiled widely. “You know me so well.”

The rest of the shopping trip lasted two more hours, with Rarity and Pinkie trying dozens of different attires and combinations, only to end up buying matching bracelets. Which lasted five minutes, because Pinkie felt bad that only the two of them had friendship bracelets, and so she bought matching bracelets to everyone.

At some point, Trixie found a pair of boots that matched Sunset’s new jacket. These were a lot shorter, only getting midway to her knees, but their heels were about the same as the old boots. Sunset, on her part, had grabbed at least ten pairs of flat shoes for Trixie, who refused to even try them. Rarity had noticed this, but Trixie dismissed it as just don’t liking flats.

Fluttershy bought a hoodie and a pair of warm pants for the upcoming cold days. Applejack got a white coat for herself and a green one for her little sister. Rainbow Dash didn’t buy anything, saying that she had everything she needed back home. And Twilight bought a couple of blue button shirts and a new pair of black shoes.

All in all, it hadn’t been as boring, or expensive, as Sunset had suspected it to be, and she had gotten herself a new, skirtless style. It felt refreshing to get rid of the reds and yellows, changing to blues and greens. And her jacket also made her look less like the stereotyped high school alpha bitch. It was almost like moulting to a new appearance, to a new Sunset.

She huffed and giggled at the thought, wondering when had she gotten so philosophical.

“What are you laughing at?” Trixie asked. She had her arm wrapped to Sunset’s as they made their way out of the mall.

As per Rainbow’s suggestion, after shopping and eating something, they agreed to go to Sugarcube Corner to start the party. Thankfully, it was just a couple of blocks away, so they wouldn’t have to be in the cold for too long.

Sunset looked at Trixie with a sly smile. “Do you really wanna know?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Forget I even asked.”

With another giggle, Sunset leaned closer to Trixie and playfully kissed her cheek. “Aw don’t be such a grumpy pants!”

Trixie couldn’t avoid the little snort she produced, and it took every ounce of will to not smile.

“I see you want to laugh,” Sunset insisted, playfully poking Trixie’s side. “Come on, laugh for me.” She blew a little at Trixie’s ear.

“Stop it!” Trixie demanded, but her wide smile and childish laugh didn’t make it a serious request.

“Can you two get a room already?” Rainbow said, half annoyed, half amused.

Sunset raised an eyebrow, but kept a devious smile. “What’s the matter, Speedy? Are you jealous?” She hugged Trixie closer. “No matter, I don’t share.”

Rainbow gave her a flat glare.

“You brought it upon yourself,” Rarity said holding a giggle.

Pinkie and Applejack joined in the giggles, and Rainbow only groaned.

The rest of the way was relatively quiet, with Twilight answering every question Pinkie had about her science project. Sunset found quite remarkable how Twilight didn’t get tired of answering so many inquiries, to the point of having to explain the fundamentals of electricity itself. At some point, she even tried to draw a little diagram to illustrate how current and voltage worked. It was kind of cute, really. Mostly because Pinkie didn’t seem to completely understand, and just kept nodding and making surprised noises.

By the time Twilight was starting to repeat the fundamentals, Rainbow interrupted them. “We’re here!” She called out loud, entering Sugarcube Corner.

Sunset looked up at the building. She half expected to find a banner announcing that it was a party or something, but everything was as usual. Just a big, squared, half cake looking building. She shrugged and followed the girls, holding Trixie close to her.

The inside was much more colorful, with balloons and streamers everywhere. Sunset wondered how had Pinkie managed to get the owners’ permission to close the locale and throw a private party there. She’d have to ask her later.

Sunset’s smile became a little awkward when she did find a banner, held above the bar full of cupcakes and other pastries, that read “We tots wanna be ur friends n ur awesome!”. Sunset had a hard time deciding if feel flattered, embarrassed, or mildly uncomfortable at the way the words had been shortened to fit the banner.

She decided to feel the three of them at the same time. And it proved to be surprisingly easier than expected.

“So, you like it?” Pinkie asked, somehow maintaining balance on her toes.

Sunset forced her grin to be a little wider. “Sure.”

“Yay!” Pinkie yelled, throwing up her arms. She then ran to the bar and grabbed one of the trays full of cupcakes. “Come on, girls! Let’s party!” She grabbed a remote control from her pocket and pressed a button. Music started to play.

Pinkie had grabbed two cupcakes and placed the tray on a table before starting to dance in the middle of the shop. Rainbow and Applejack joined her shortly after, flailing their arms and bumping their heads. Rarity, who had a less erratic dancing style, noticed that Twilight was just staring, and so decided to grab her by the hand and dance with her. And Fluttershy, on her part, was dancing in a corner, with slow movements and a happy smile. She’d never win a dancing contest, but she looked like she was enjoying herself.

Sunset felt a little uncomfortable. Back in Equestria, she had learned to dance like the nobility in order to fit in any classy ball. And while the principle was mostly the same in her human body, she had never danced since coming to this world.

“What’s the matter?” Trixie asked.

“Do you want the embarrassing truth? Or the white lie that will avoid us breaking up?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at that. “Are you saying you don’t know how to dance?”

Sunset tried to shrug, but it came out more as a whimpering gesture. “No…”

With a chuckle, Trixie grabbed Sunset’s hands. “It’s not hard. Just follow Trixie!” She started swaying their hands. When Sunset started moving on her own, Trixie began moving her legs from side to side, following the music’s rhythm.

It didn’t take long for Sunset to get used to the movements. She had seen the students of Canterlot High moving like this at the dances, but she had never tried it herself. And the only time she actually danced, it had been with Flash, and only a slow song that resembled what she already knew.

She soon realized that she liked it. It was probably because the music was actually good, or because the other girls were laughing and talking among themselves, or maybe, it was because she was dancing with Trixie, holding her hands and looking her in the eyes. She soon found herself laughing and enjoying it.

After a couple of songs, they started to stop dancing. Some just grabbed a drink and started again, and some just sat down and rest for a while. At some point, everyone was sitting at one of the tables, enthralled in a session of idle chit chat. Normally, Sunset would have spaced out, but this time, not only did she pay attention, but she even occasionally participated.

“So, what’s with you and Flash?” Rainbow asked, nudging at Twilight.

Unluckily, Twilight was drinking some juice, and the question made her gasp while swallowing, making her start a coughing fit.

“Rainbow!” Rarity scolded. She tried to be dissimulated, but Sunset saw her looking her way.

“You know Flash and I are not a thing anymore, right?” Sunset asked, casually bringing her arm around Trixie’s neck and to her shoulder.

Rarity blushed out of embarrassment. “Of course I know. It’s just that, well… He broke up with you.” She said that last line with a half whisper.

Sunset shrugged. “So what? Of all the things coming from CHS, he is not a sore subject to me.”

“Oh,” Rarity said. She cleared her throat and looked at Twilight. “So? What’s with you and Flash, darling?”

Once again, the question caught Twilight off guard, but this time, she managed to breathe and swallow independently. “Why are you asking that?”

“You two are always together,” Rainbow answered. “So we figured-”

“Well, stop figuring things,” Twilight interrupted calmly. “It is true that he’s always following me around, trying to make conversation with me…” She looked at her glass. “I did try to give it a chance, to see if I could like him. But he’s just not my type, you know?”

“Wait,” Applejack said. “With ‘give it a chance’ you mean…”

Twilight blushed. “No, not like that! I mean, I tried to follow his conversations to see if we have something in common.” She sighed. “He’s a cute guy, yes. But he’s the opposite to me.”

“Opposites attract each other,” Rarity said with a sly smile.

“In physics, yes. In human emotions, no,” Twilight answered simply. “I can only consider him a friend.”

“But have you even tried it?” Sunset asked. To her surprise, everyone looked at her with wide eyes. “What? I said it’s fine!”

Twilight shifted in her place. “Look, I appreciate your support. But I’m not interested in him that way. And quite frankly, I really need to focus on my science project, I only have five weeks left, and it has to be perfect.” She lifted her hand to stop whatever Rainbow was going to say. “If I win first place, I’ll get a full scholarship to Everton Academy. That means I’ll have to be prepared, and…”

“It’s ok, darling,” Rarity gently placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “We understand. Although I believe poor Flash will be heartbroken, but if you don’t see him like that, then it’s not our place to say otherwise. Right, girls?”

A collective set of agreements helped Twilight relax.

From there, the conversation took a more mundane turn, as they started talking about the upcoming Halloween. It had been really weird to Sunset how most of Equestrian festivities and traditions were very alike to those of the human world. Then again, it was a world with way too many similarities to her own.

As the hours went by, the girls moved on to playing some games, like poker.

It had been a ferocious battle between Sunset, Twilight, and Trixie. Sunset was the best at bragging and making them think she had the best cards. Twilight, on her part, was the best at strategy, and was the hardest for Sunset to fool. But Trixie, with a less logical mind than Twilight, and a less assertive attitude than Sunset, had her tricks, as she often flashed cards to her opponents, which turned out to be mere illusions, effectively deceiving them more than once.

At the end, strategy had been victorious, and Twilight had now a full tray of cupcakes all to herself. But they were too many, so she ended up sharing them with everyone.

“I still think what you did was cheating,” Rainbow said to Trixie.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Stop whining, Speedy. You got to see how she does it after you lost. You know she didn’t cheat.” Rainbow crossed her arms and huffed.

Trixie giggled and hugged Sunset’s left arm. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Yes,” Sunset admitted. “But I’d have enjoyed it more if you had used flats.”

Trixie sighed with a smile. “You know what? I might use them on special occasions. If we’re still together by Halloween, I might dress up as a mummy.”

Sunset’s smile grew wider. “A Terrible Tiny Trixie? That sounds very, very cute.”

“Don’t push it,” Trixie said through her teeth.

Trixie’s phone started ringing. The melody was a song Sunset didn’t recognize, and before Trixie answered the call, she swore that the two words she heard were in Trixie’s voice.

“Hello, dad,” Trixie said, holding the phone to her ear and looking at the window. “Yes, I see you… Ok dad… Yes. Ok, bye.” She hung up and looked at Sunset. “I have to go.”

“Won’t you introduce me to your dad?” Sunset teased with a grin.

Trixie gently pushed Sunset a few meters back. “Not yet.” She gave Sunset a gentle kiss, brushing their lips for a few seconds. “See you tomorrow.”

“Good night,” Sunset replied.

Trixie then proceeded to wave her goodbyes to the rest of the girls and went on her way.

Rainbow walked up to Sunset. “Did she push you so that her dad wouldn’t see you two kissing?”

Sunset let out a small sigh, but nonetheless smiled. “Yeah, it’s kind of a complicated subject.”

For a moment, Rainbow only stared and Sunset, and then shrugged. “Whatever.”

A few minutes later, Applejack’s big brother arrived in his truck, and she waved goodbyes before leaving. And not even ten minutes later, Twilight’s dad arrived too to pick her and Fluttershy. With that, only Sunset, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow remained.

They started cleaning up, which to Sunset’s relief, wasn’t too much. They had used disposable dishes, so it didn’t take them more than twenty minutes get everything clean as new.

Once done with that, Pinkie walked up to Sunset. “So, Sunset. Did you enjoy the party?”

Sunset smiled a little. “Yeah. I thought it’d be either boring, or a chaotic mess. I’m glad neither was the case.”

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed, holding Sunset in a tight hug for a few seconds. She then turned around. “And yet another successful party by Pinkie Pie’s Party Planning Program! Now, let’s go!” She said, walking to the entrance of Sugarcube Corner.

Sunset blinked. “Where are we going?” She knew that after the party, they had agreed to sleep at Pinkie’s. She had even brought a sleeping bag with her.

Pinkie turned around to look at Sunset with a big smile. “To my house, of course!”

“Right…” For some reason, Sunset had thought Pinkie lived in the restaurant in a spare room or something. She realized just now how stupid a concept that was.

Once they all were outside, Pinkie closed the restaurant. Sunset had thought many things about Pinkie Pie in the past years. Some were good, some were bad, but this was the first time she recognized Pinkie as actually responsible. The owners of Sugarcube Corner trusted her enough not only as to allow her to throw a private party at their restaurant, but they also gave her a spare key.

A breeze met Sunset, swaying her hair in many strands. It made her remember that each passing day was just getting colder. Fortunately, Pinkie’s house was just a few blocks away. Ever since coming to the human world, Sunset had acquired an unnerving fear to being in the streets at night. Probably due to the neighborhood she lived in.

“We’re here!” Pinkie announced, stopping in front of one fenced house.

Looking at Pinkie Pie’s house, Sunset couldn’t help but find it odd. Sure, it was painted a soft pink with white corners, the front door was a childish green, the lawn was full of cartoonish leprechauns, and there were two small weird looking colorful umbrellas next to the window. It was a house that sure looked like Pinkie Pie, but it had a flat roof, and it was too square, too serious in architecture, to belong to Pinkie Pie.

It was almost like an oxymoron.

Pinkie opened the pinkish white fence door. “Just try to keep it low. My sister is sleeping,” she said in a whisper.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You have a sister?” The very idea sent shivers through Sunset’s spine, and she wasn’t very sure why.

“Actually, I have three,” Pinkie answered with a smile. “But I only live with my baby sister, Marble. Well, she’s only two and a half minutes younger than me, but she’ll always be my baby sister.” She tried to keep her voice low, but the excitement of talking about her family was too evident.

“Wait, you have a twin sister?” Sunset didn’t know what scared her the most, multiple Pie sisters, or two Pinkie Pie sisters.

“Shocking, huh?” Rainbow said, nudging Sunset’s arm with her elbow. “Don’t worry, Shimms, we all had the same reaction.”

Sunset ignored how Rainbow had called her, focusing on the bright pink girl. “But, if you have a twin sister, how come I’ve never seen her around CHS?”

Pinkie forced an awkward, nervous smile, and for a moment, Sunset dreaded that she had stepped in a sore subject. “Well,” Pinkie started, looking at the second story window. “She’s agoraphobic.”

Sunset blinked. “Pinkie, I’m sorry.” It still felt awkward to apologize. “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s ok, Sunny!” Pinkie said brightly. “Oh wait, Trixie forbid me to call you that… Uh… I’ll use Dash’s name! It’s ok, Shimmy-Shimms! You didn’t mean any harm, and to be fair, it was a rather obliged question, right?”

“Uh, I guess?”

“But anyway, we better get in ‘fore it gets colder!” Pinkie began walking to her house. “Maybe you’ll get to meet her in the morning!”

Rarity placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, darling. Marble is not really as… randomly energetic as our dear Pinkie.”

Sunset wanted to trust Rarity. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle another Pinkie Pie.

Author's Notes:

I requested an image for this chapter. Once it's done I'll post it in a blog post.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy!

21. Offerings and Managements

Chapter 21. Offerings and Managements.

By the time Sunset woke up, Rarity and Rainbow were already in the kitchen, finishing their breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs with bacon, and some orange juice. Just then, Sunset realized that a whole week with no responsibilities whatsoever had messed her schedule up, as she was now used to waking up a lot later than usual.

Looking around, Sunset noticed that she was alone in the living room. Sleeping bags scattered in a somewhat star pattern was the only reminder of the prior night. Even Pinkie was nowhere to be seen, to which Sunset would have made a snarky comment, but she was still too sleepy to care.

She stood up and lazily made her way to the kitchen. “Good morning, darling,” Rarity greeted, while Rainbow only mumbled, still half asleep.

“Morning,” Sunset said, walking up to the stove, where a pan half full of still hot scrambled eggs awaited for her. She stretched a little before picking a portion for herself, being extra generous with the bacon.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be herbivuroos?” Rainbow asked, gazing at Sunset’s plate.

Sunset sat down at the other side of the table, next to Rarity, and as far from Rainbow as possible. “First off, it’s ‘herbivorous’. Second, humans tend to call it as ‘being vegetarian’. Third, bite me.” She then proceeded to take a mouthful of her bacon and chew lazily.

“Oh? Someone’s grumpy in the morning I see.” Rarity teased, playing idly with the last bits of eggs in her plate.

Sunset’s only response was an angry mumble. It had come to her knowledge in more than one occasion that she wasn’t exactly pleasant right after waking up.

But it couldn’t be too much of a surprise, really. True to her own name, Sunset was not a morning person. Sure, she could wake up at the crack of dawn without a problem if she needed to, and she had been doing it for years since coming to the human world. But, even so, it hadn’t become a habit in the slightest, as she’d easily sleep all day long, if hunger didn’t force her to move.

And, to make matters worse, Pinkie had casually mentioned last night that she didn’t have coffee in her house. Something about messing with her sugar-powered body or some nonsense like that. Sunset had stopped paying attention the moment she realized she would be deprived of her bitter fuel until she could buy some.

“Oh, hey there, Marble!” Rainbow said.

Sunset perked up at that. She wasn’t particularly fond of meeting Pinkie’s sister, even after Rarity reassuring her they weren’t very alike. She couldn’t be too sure of how true that was, and she had hoped to leave before having to meet this Marble girl. But it couldn’t be helped, Sunset realized, and she decided to at least say hi.

Looking up, with her mouth still full of food, Sunset was surprised at the sight in the kitchen’s door. Judging by the many portraits around the house, Pinkie’s parents and big sisters all had dull, grayish colors. Sans her dad, whose skin was light brown, but still dull. Marble Pie was no exception to the rule, her skin and hair were different shades of gray, her eyes were a dark shade of purple, and her hair was straight and waist length.

So, basically, she and Pinkie weren’t identical twins. Had they not been born together, Pinkie’s mother would have had a lot of explaining to do. The thought was so amusing to Sunset, she realized too late that she had been staring at Marble for a long time.

And the girl didn’t look too comfortable with it.

Rarity cleared her throat. “Good morning, Marble dear. Let me introduce you to our friend Sunset Shimmer.” She turned to Sunset. “Sunset, this is Pinkie’s sister, Marble.”

Sunset was about to say something, but her interest was piqued by Marble’s body language. Her shoulders were a little above her collarbone, her elbows were tightly pressed to her sides, her knees were touching, and her torso was a little leaned towards Sunset. And on top of that, she was fidgeting with her fingers as her eyes drifted from Sunset to the floor too much and too fast.

In a normal day, Sunset would have playfully teased the girl in an attempt to soothe her, but she didn’t have enough caffeine in her veins, and she wasn’t exactly in the mood to be friendly.

She stared a little longer at Marble, chewing her food very slowly before swallowing.

“I take it you don’t talk much?” she said, lazily poking her bacon.

“Mhm,” was Marble’s only response.

“And judging by your reaction, Pinkie didn’t tell you I was here, right?”

“Mhm.”

“And although you want to have breakfast, you’re not sure what to do if there’s an unknown face in the kitchen, even though it’s your house.”

“Mhm.”

Sunset made chewing movements with her jaw, still staring at Marble. She was really glad that she had met her after the Fall Formal fiasco, or she’d have mocked this girl until she was reduced to a pitiful pile of sobs and cries. Not that it would be too hard, but that wasn’t the point.

With Marble still fidgeting, and the other girls in complete silence, Sunset knew that it was upon her to make a good impression.

She let out a soft sigh. “Would you be more comfortable if I just go to the living room?”

Marble took a few seconds to answer, slowly shaking her head. “Uh-uh.”

Sunset blinked and then turned to look at her own food. “Alright. Food’s on the stove. Serve yourself.”

“Mhm,” Marble replied before quietly making her way to the stove.

It hadn’t been exactly the most fulfilling conversation Sunset had, but she was still half asleep and wasn’t feeling exactly in the mood to deal with shy girls. One Fluttershy is more than enough, thank you very much.

For the rest of breakfast, Rainbow and Rarity engaged in a one-sided conversation about the complex intricacies of the wondercolts uniform design process and how it might be updated to align with modern fashion. It was clear that Rarity tried to attach her interest to Rainbow’s interest, to keep her interest, but Rainbow was no longer interested. Instead she was poking at her breakfast with a look that said she never thought a wondercolts conversation could be this dull.

Sunset couldn’t really blame her, the only two that seemed to enjoy Rarity’s rants about fashion were Fluttershy and Pinkie.

All the while, Marble had sat down in the closest chair to the kitchen’s door. She had not produced a single sound, but she kept glancing at Sunset every now and then. Either she was truly afraid of Sunset, or was admiring her natural beauty, in its most natural state. Not that Sunset could blame her, in any case.

The sound of a door opening and closing moments after caught Sunset’s attention. She didn’t have to wait long to know the cause of it, as Pinkie Pie suddenly burst into the kitchen with plastic bags hanging from her hands.

“Good morning girls!” She said with a particularly high pitch. She bounced next to her sister, who looked oddly undisturbed by Pinkie’s attitude. Then again, they were twin sisters, so they were probably used to each other by now. “I’m so glad you already met Shimmy-Shimms, Marble! I told you there was nothing to be afraid of!”

“Mhm,” Marble replied as a little blush of embarrassment made its way to her cheeks.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. Marble had, in her own way, said that Pinkie didn’t tell her that she was there. But, considering that Marble was agoraphobic, Pinkie’s remark had probably more to it than just meeting one random girl in her kitchen.

Pinkie then bounced towards the counter where she placed the bags. “I went to buy some things!” She said while taking out the items. “Some green tea for Rarity.”

“Marvelous!” Rarity said. “Thank you very much, Pinkie.”

Pinkie nodded before taking a can. “A soda for Dashie.”

“Oh yeah!”

“Coffee for Sunset,” Pinkie continued, taking a little bag of instant coffee.

“What?” Sunset blinked. Pinkie had bought the same brand and flavor Sunset liked and had every morning. How in the world did she know?

“And malted milk, because it was running out!”

Sunset decided not to question it, and simply stood up to prepare her coffee. It took her barely two minutes and one sip of the heavenly brew to find the color in the world again. Letting out a content sigh, Sunset leaned against the counter, limiting herself to just watch and hear the conversation. It was just Pinkie talking about how much fun she had, with the occasional question to Sunset, to which she just answered with a nod or a shake of head, and then sipped some more coffee.

The moment didn’t last long, as Rainbow changed the subject.

“So, what are we gonna do today?”

Rarity stood up, taking her dishes to the sink. “Well, I was hoping for Sunset to come to the boutique with me.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Why?”

“The clothes you bought yesterday are simply marvelous, and they look really good on you. But they are a little bit oversized. I just want to tweak them.”

Sunset blinked. “I didn’t notice anything wrong with them.” She sipped the last of her coffee, and with a satisfied sigh, she let the cup in the sink. “But if you think they’re wrong, then I’ll take your word for it. But I kind of have to work today.”

Rarity made a face. “At what time do you think you’ll be available?”

“I dunno,” Sunset said with a shrug. “I’m two weeks behind my schedule.”

“Wait, you have a job?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset turned to her with a thoughtful expression. “Didn’t I mention it?” Rainbow shook her head. “Well, yes, I have a job. It’s not the best thing ever, but it pays the bills.”

Rainbow stared at her for a few silent seconds. “So… you’re a stripper?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity scolded.

“What? It’s so fitting!”

Sunset gave Rainbow a flat look. “If you want me to strip for you, it’ll be five hundred.”

“Sunset!” Rarity cried out, taking a hand to her chest. “Are you really-”

“Of course I’m not!” Sunset snapped.

Rainbow pulled out her wallet and opened it a little. “Are you sure?” She smirked slyly.

Rarity facepalmed. “Anyway,” she looked up at Sunset again, ignoring Rainbow’s scowl. “Tell me when you’re free so I can fix your clothes, ok?”

Sunset shrugged. “Alright. I’ll text you tonight.”

A quick refreshing in Pinkie’s bathroom later, Sunset packed all her things in her bag, deciding to use her usual attire and save the new one until Rarity worked her magic on it. And after a few farewells, Sunset was already on her way to the emporium.

Working with the Flim Flam brothers had always been somewhat relaxing to Sunset. They were ridiculously disorganized with their files, and they more often than not would lose important documents beneath mountains of hastily stacked papers. Had Sunset not taken over when she did, they would have lost all their money long ago.

But Sunset had never complained, not even in her thoughts. Going to work every day after school always helped her, in a way, take a break from all the plotting and scheming. It was her own private grotto. It also helped her workload wasn’t that heavy, so she could take it easy and make sure that everything was perfect.

Unfortunately, she had taken two weeks off as vacations. Originally, she didn’t have any intention of returning to this job, as she was sure that she was going to get back to Equestria. So, of course, these two weeks had piled up, and now she had to put up with the incredible ability of the brothers to create a big mess in such a short time span.

It wasn’t precisely tiresome, but it did take her until late night to get the most important papers out of the way. She’d need another day or two to return to her usual pacing, but, then again, it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

She even had the whole morning to rest and take it easy, now that school wasn’t going to consume any more of her time.

She sighed heavily as she carefully placed her perfectly organized stack of papers upon Flam’s desk. She had tried to not give it a thought in the slightest, but the image of the statue, shattered in front of her, would play in her mind every now and then, and she’d have to take a break to the restroom to wipe out the tears from her eyes.

It was becoming really frustrating.

If the brothers noticed this, they didn’t show it at all, to which Sunset was immensely grateful.

“I believe this will be all for today,” Flam said, eyeing the new stack in his desk with delight. “You can go, Sunset. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, good night,” Sunset replied lazily and spun on her heels, making her way out of the office and into the shop.

Her house was barely twenty minutes in bus from the emporium. Once she got there, Sunset prepared herself a cup of coffee, sat down on her couch, and opened her laptop lid. Whilst she had the whole mornings now, she still wanted to use what little time she’d get to search for a good job opportunity for Trixie.

So far, she had a few options she had been gathering the past week, all of them wrote in a text file with numbers, addresses, dates, and more. Of course, all of them had to be either on weekends, or after school. It had been taxing, but Sunset was sure that she had quite a few good possibilities. Now she just had to decide which one should be the one.

A loud, obnoxious sound startled her, and she quickly recognized it as the MyStable website, or more accurately her private chat alert. She arched an eyebrow. Up until three weeks ago, the only ones that ever messaged her were Snips and Snails, and they had blocked her since the Fall Formal.

Opening the chat, she was surprised to find a message from Pinkie Pie.

“Hey there Shimmy-Shim-Sham!” The message read. “Are you busy?”

Sunset sighed at the ever growing nickname Pinkie was giving her. She should probably stop her before it was too late. “No,” she wrote back. “And stop adding syllables to that nickname.”

“Oki doki loki! Hey, did you find Trixie a cool contract yet?”

“Not yet,” Sunset replied. “Why?”

“Awesome!” Pinkie answered.

Seeing how she was taking her time to write the next message, Sunset took the chance to sip from her coffee.

“So, do you remember Diamond Tiara? You know, that girl that always walks around with a tiara! Anyway, her birthday is in three weeks and they hired me as her party planner! Isn’t that cool?! Apparently, she reeeaaally likes how I plan the school events!

DT (That stands for Diamond Tiara btw) told me that she wants an illusionist! And of course I thought of Trixie, because the show she gave the other day at school was incredibly spectacular! So sad DT missed it because she would have thought of her too! But since I didn’t miss it, I know how good she is, and I thought to hire her! But you are her manager, so I thought that I should contact you first!

What do you think?!”

Sunset blinked several times. She could actually feel the sugary energy coming from that wall of text, and it was already tiresome. She took her hand to her mouth and hummed. It was yet another option for Trixie’s performance. A quick search told her that the birthday was on October 3rd, a Saturday.

With a hum, she wrote back.

“Sounds like a plan to me. What kind of illusions are you planning for?”

“The whole shebang!” Pinkie replied almost instantly. “The best of the best she can do!”

Sunset smirked at it. She and Trixie had agreed to have two kind of prices for now, seeing that Trixie was still an amateur. Sunset cracked her knuckles before writing again.

“Alright. Trixie charges 250 per hour for complex illusions.”

Now came the part where Pinkie would try to negotiate the price. Sunset hoped she wouldn’t have to spend the whole night trying to convince Pinkie that it was impossible.

“Alrighty!”

Sunset blinked. Really?

“She’d have to perform two hours,” Pinkie continued. “She’ll need a stage, right? Mr. Rich has one in his backyard. I dunno why, but I’m sure Trixie can use it for her performance! When can you come to check it out?”

Sunset hesitated for a second. Well this was easy. “This saturday,” she answered.

“Oki doki loki! I’ll see you there at 10 am! I’ll text you the address tomorrow morning. For now I have to get going. Good night!”

“Night.”

Sunset leaned back on the couch and let out a long sigh. She knew that Pinkie somehow knew everyone at school, but just now it dawned on her that Pinkie’s social nature and unnervingly high professionalism were the qualities a good contact needed.

Suddenly, Sunset was very glad she had decided to give this friendship thing a shot.

Stretching up her arms, Sunset realized that it was a little after nine. She decided that it wasn’t too late, and that it was safe to give Rarity a call. She’d have preferred using the chat like with Pinkie, but Rarity was either doing homework, working on her boutique, or watching soap operas, and she wouldn’t probably notice the message until it was too late.

Finding Rarity’s name in her contact list, Sunset pressed the call button and held her phone to her ear.

“Good evening, Sunset!” Rarity’s voice greeted immediately after taking the call. “How was your day?”

Sunset shrugged. “Average. Yours?”

“Simply marvelous! It might not be the best thing for my grades, but this extra day off really helped me finish a few commissions I had.”

“Ok,” Sunset replied. “So, about that thing of my clothes-”

“Oh, that’s right! When will you be available?”

“I can work tomorrow morning and meet you in the afternoon,” Sunset replied. She was really glad that the brothers didn’t really care the time she showed up, as long as she worked her mandatory hours, and did her signature perfect job.

“Perfect!” Rarity squealed. “How about we meet at Sugarcube Corner at two fifteen?”

“Sure. See you there.”

“Very well. See you tomorrow, Sunset.”

“Night.” And with that, Sunset finished the call. Not a moment later, she browsed her contacts again and pressed call. After a few beeps, she spoke up. “Hey, Trix.”

“Hello, Sunny, what’s up?” Trixie answered back.

Sunset relaxed in her couch, and couldn’t help the smile forming in her face. “Just wanted to know how was your day.”

“Really?” Trixie asked with curiosity. “It’s the first time you call me just for that. Alright, what’s up?”

“What?” Sunset did her best to sound offended. “Can’t I call my girlfriend to see if everything’s right in her life? You insult me!” Trixie giggled, and Sunset could picture her rolling her eyes. “Come on Trix, don’t be such a grump.”

“Fine, fine. School’s boring as always. And I feel neglected by my girlfriend!”

Sunset chuckled. “Oh woe is you! But don’t worry, I want to invite you on a date tomorrow.”

“That sounds great,” Trixie replied. “Where are we going?”

“Well, I first need to stop by Rarity’s so that she fixes my clothes. Something about them being oversized… Anyway, after that I want to take you to go see a movie or something, I dunno.”

“Oh! I want to see that one with the dog and the helicopter!”

Sunset smiled. “Alright. See you at Sugarcube Corner at two fifteen. Good night, Trix.”

“Good night.”

Stepping off the bus, Sunset found herself barely a block away from Sugarcube Corner.

For whatever reason, Flim and Flam had seemed to enjoy the idea of Sunset working in the mornings. Apparently, they didn’t tell her anything because she was attending to school, but after explaining that she had abandoned it, the brothers looked all too pleased with the new development.

It seemed like Sunset would have to become a morning person once again. At least, that would allow her to hang out with Trixie and the whole gang more often.

It occurred to her that she was getting too used to this friendship thing.

She decided to shrug it off for now. It served her as a distraction from her own problems.

It took her barely a few minutes to get to Sugarcube Corner. She was a little late, but she figured it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Hey, Sunny!” Trixie called from the table where the gang got together every so often.

“Hey,” Sunset replied back with a smile.

Rarity flashed a smile to Sunset. “Good afternoon, darling. How was your day?”

Sunset shrugged. “Average.” She sat down next to Trixie and leaned in for a quick kiss. “How about you?”

“Boring,” Trixie answered, crossing her arms and huffing a silver tuft from her face. “Can’t wait for classes to be over.”

“Oh come on, now,” Rarity offered. “It’s not that bad.” Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. Rarity cleared her throat. “Anyway. Shall we get going? I’d really love to see you in your new style, Sunset.” She turned to Trixie. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Absolutely.”

Sunset snickered. “Alright, alright.” They all stood up and walked away.

Rarity’s boutique wasn’t far, as it took them only ten minutes to get there. Sunset didn’t know what she had expected, but as odd as a house with a facade of purple and white diamond pattern was, it did feel very Rarity.

The interior was more of the same. Soft purple carpet and blue-ish walls, decorated with golden and magenta details everywhere. Mannequins and rolls of fabric scattered haphazardly at the corners, and a table at a far end with clothes and yarns of every color, although making a messy look of the building, somehow fitted in the whole boutique image.

“Fancy,” Trixie said.

“Thank you,” Rarity replied. “Now, Sunset, would you be a dear and change in your new outfit? There’s the changing room,” she said, pointing at a curtain behind the table.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because I need you to wear it so I can properly mark the needed corrections.”

Sunset and Trixie shared a quick look before shrugging. “Alright,” Sunset said and went to change her clothes.

Trixie sat down in one of the few chairs and looked up at Rarity. “When you said you had a boutique, I really thought you were speaking metaphorically.”

Rarity let out a soft giggle. “Many people say that, I wonder why.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “But this is also my house. My parents let me open the boutique here, until I earn enough money to move it to a proper locale.”

“Cool,” Trixie answered with a flat voice.

“Is something wrong, dear?”

Trixie looked away. “Nothing. I think it’s cool that your parents support your dream. Mine want me to be a lawyer.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Resting her chin on her hand, Trixie sighed. “Yeah…”

“But you’re now officially a magician, right?” Trixie nodded. “And you haven’t told them?” Trixie shook her head. Rarity held her breath for a few seconds. “Well, I hope everything turns out well for you.”

Trixie smiled. “Thanks. I hope so too.”

Rarity sat down next to Trixie and threw an arm around her neck, gently squeezing her shoulder. “Just remember that your friends will always be there for you, ok? And I don’t have to say that Sunset will too.”

“Thanks.”

In that moment, Sunset got out of the dresser, wearing her brand new attire sans the jacket. She looked at Rarity, then at Trixie. Raising an eyebrow and placing her knuckles on her hips, Sunset spoke. “Are you trying to seduce my girlfriend?”

Rarity gasped, and attempted to retrieve her arm, but Trixie held her with a hug, nuzzling Rarity’s cheek with her own while looking deviously at Sunset. “I’m sorry Sunset, she just smells so good!”

Beneath her arms, Trixie felt Rarity stiffen, then shudder. If she had to guess, she’d say that Rarity was as red as a tomato.

Sunset erupted with laughter. “You should see the look on your face!” Rarity pouted, but Sunset ignored her, even more so when Trixie joined her. After a couple of minutes, Sunset finally managed to calm down. “Ok, ok, I’m cool.”

Rarity had moved to her platform, surrounded by three mirrors, and was crossing her arms. “Shall we begin?”

“Oh, come on!” Trixie said, still snickering. “You find it funny and you know it.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I do not find amusing to be in the middle of your incessant teasing, no.” She flashed a small smile. “But it was funny.”

Sunset walked over the mirrors. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

“Sure, sure,” Rarity answered. “It won’t take long.” And with that, she began taking measurements and placing pins through pledged of Sunset’s clothes.

Once she was done, Rarity asked Sunset to change to her other attire, pleading her to be careful with the changes she had made. Sunset did as was told, and soon found herself with the same attire she had arrived.

“They will be finished tomorrow,” Rarity said, carefully stretching Sunset’s new shirt upon her desk. “When can you pick them up?”

Sunset pondered for a moment. “I believe I can change my work schedule to the mornings, so… tomorrow.”

Rarity smiled, pressing her hands together. “Marvelous! See you tomorrow, then.”

“Sure.”

Sunset grabbed Trixie by the hand and, after waving goodbye to Rarity, exited the boutique. Not long after the door closed, Sunset spun Trixie around and kissed her.

“I worry at how fast I’m getting used to that,” Trixie said with a very small frown.

Sunset snickered. “I have a surprise for you.” When Trixie raised an inquisitive eyebrow, Sunset continued. “I got you your first job.”

Trixie blinked. ”Really?” Sunset nodded. Trixie’s smile widened, and she could only hug Sunset’s neck and bury her face in the fiery hair. “Thank you! This is so awesome! You’re awesome!”

With a satisfied smirk, Sunset hugged Trixie back. “I know.”

Author's Notes:

I is not dead!

22. Never Trust a Hatless Magician

Chapter 22. Never Trust a Hatless Magician.

“I mean, I’m really grateful, honest,” Trixie said, walking down the path to the Rich Mansion’s front door. “But, a birthday party?”

For the hundredth time that week, Sunset rolled her eyes. “Trixie, seriously, I can’t find you anything better. You need experience, and this is as good an opportunity as any to build your curriculum vitae.” She gave Trixie a quick peck on the cheek. “Now, stop being a grumpy pants and put on a smile. You don’t want to give a bad first impression.”

“Fine,” Trixie said after an angry mumble. She managed to lift the corners of her mouth before Sunset rang the doorbell.

An old man in a tuxedo opened the door. He tiredly eyed the girls for a moment. “What can I do for you?”

Sunset cleared her throat. “This is Trixie Lulamoon,” she explained. “She’s the illusionist for Miss Tiara’s birthday.”

The old man breathed slowly. “Of course. Mr. Rich is expecting you.” He stepped aside. “Please come inside. He is in his office. Second door to the left.”

“Thank you,” Sunset replied and motioned Trixie to follow her.

The walk to the office was a short one, but Sunset could still marvel at the sight of the mansion’s interior. Ornaments of all kinds were carefully scattered around the place. paintings and decorative furniture and porcelain figures truly gave the feeling of wealth. It made her wonder why Diamond Tiara’s parents had enrolled her in a public school instead of a private one.

She lifted her hand in front of the office’s door, and then turned at Trixie, who had both hands inside her hoodie’s front pocket, moving them nervously. “Hey,” she placed a hand on Trixie’s shoulder. “Are you ok?”

“Just a little nervous,” Trixie answered.

Sunset glanced down at the hoodie’s pocket. “More like, really nervous,” she said, nodding and smirking at the hasty movements Trixie made. “I don’t think here’s the appropriate place for that kind of stress relief.”

Trixie rolled her eyes, taking one hand out and showing Sunset a deck of cards. “Playing with the cards like this helps me with anxiety,” she explained, then hid her hand into the pocket and began fiddling with the cards again.

“Alright,” Sunset said. She then knocked the door three times.

“Come in,” a deep voice called.

Sunset opened the door and was greeted by what she’d describe as the heaven of neat offices. The shelf at the far wall was a perfect array of books, the only decoration on the walls were the many diplomas and certificates that most likely belonged to Mr. Rich. And the desk was so clear and organized, Sunset thought she was dreaming.

The only reason she knew it wasn’t a dream was the middle age man sitting behind the desk, typing something in his laptop.

Sunset cleared her throat to draw his attention. “Good afternoon, my name is Sunset Shimmer. I’m Trixie Lulamoon’s manager.” She did her best to sound clear, calm, and professional, but for some reason, her legs were shaking like crazy.

Mr. Rich looked up at her. “Who?”

Sunset mentally smacked her face. “The Illusionist,” she answered, stepping inside the office. “I’m sure Pinkie Pie told you about her.”

“Oh, of course,” he said, looking towards Trixie, who was still at the door frame. “Please come in, and close the door.”

Trixie looked like she was going to say something, but instead nodded and did as she was told.

“You said your name is Sunset Shimmer.” Mr. Rich said, looking at Sunset again. “That name rings a few bells…”

Sunset froze, feeling a chill run through her spine. “I… Maybe you’ve heard a similar name?”

Mr. Rich observed her for five slow, unforgiving seconds. “Mhm, that’s probably it.”

Sunset felt her whole body relax. Nice save. “So, do you want Trixie to show you an illusion or something?”

“No, it’s alright,” he said, turning to Trixie. “You can use the stage in the backyard. If you need to inspect it, I’ll have someone take you there.” He turned to Sunset again. “Pinkie Pie will be the one to pay for your services, but I instructed her to do so only after the show.”

“Half now, half later,” Sunset said. Mr. Rich raised an eyebrow, and Sunset cleared her throat. “We are grateful that you’re providing the stage, but Trixie still needs to set up her equipment and run a few tests. She’ll already be working before the show even starts, so it’s fair that she receives compensation.”

After Sunset’s ramble, the only thing that could be heard was her heavy breathing, and some fiddling from Trixie’s hoodie.

Mr. Rich smiled. “I like it when the people I hire know what they’re doing. Alright, I’ll have Pinkie give you half now.” His smile disappeared, and he looked directly at Trixie’s eyes. “You better put on the best show you can and properly entertain my daughter and her guests. You are inexperienced, and don’t even have a reputation yet. It’s in your hands whether or not you’ll make a living out of this. Understood?”

Trixie’s following gulp was so hard, it probably could be heard in the whole mansion. “Of course,” she answered.

“Good,” he said, and then looked down at his laptop. “You are dismissed.” Trixie opened the door and got out, but when Sunset reached the knob, Mr. Rich spoke up. “Wait. I want to talk to you,” he looked at Trixie. “In private.”

“Sure,” Sunset said, and after a reassuring smile to Trixie, closed the door. “What is it?”

Mr. Rich observed her for a moment, intertwining his fingers in front of his chin. “I do know who you are, Sunset Shimmer,” he said. Sunset felt her heart skip a beat. “It’s hard not to remember the bully of my daughter’s school.”

Sunset paled, and her throat went dry. “Mr. Rich, I can explain!”

“Please, don’t,” he interrupted her. “Whatever you did, it’s none of my business. You never did anything to my girl, and that’s all that matters to me. I also know that you stopped attending to CHS.” He never stopped staring directly at Sunset’s eyes. “It’s not my place to ask questions about it, but you have to know that that’s not a very trustworthy curriculum.”

“I-I…”

“However, Pinkie recommended you,” he said. “And I trust her judgement. That’s why I’m letting this Trixie girl work here. I’m confident that she will deliver a proper show, but, on the other hand, my daughter doesn’t have you in a very good light.” He took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is: don’t upset my daughter, or I will fire you before you even begin. Trixie’s career is in your hands. Now, leave.”

Sunset could not say anything, and she just nodded and exited the office.

“What happened?” Trixie asked when Sunset closed the door. “You look like he asked you to strip or something.”

Sunset forced a chuckle. “Is that your fetish?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset motioned Trixie to follow her as she made her way to the backyard. “We just discussed some business things, don’t worry.” They were escorted by the same old butler that opened the door, and they quickly arrived at the back lawn, finding Pinkie Pie near the arguably small stage.

“There you are!” Pinkie waved really fast. “Do you like the stage?”

“It’s… nice,” Trixie said, reluctantly.

Not that Sunset could blame her. The stage was, indeed, nice. It was more or less the same size as the one in the school’s gym, and it probably was more expensive to build. It was, by all means, a really nice stage, but it lacked something really important, something crucial for Trixie’s performance.

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked. It was weird how Pinkie could be painfully oblivious half the time, and absurdly observant the other half.

“Nothing’s wrong with it,” Trixie replied, “it’s just that I won’t be able to do the levitation illusion here.”

Pinkie blinked, nodded, paused, then gasped. “Gasp!” She yelled. “That’s terrible! That’s your best illusion!”

“Won’t I know,” Trixie said flatly. “It doesn’t matter, though. Trixie can still deliver the best show, even without her masterpiece!”

“That’s the spirit!” Pinkie said, trapping Trixie in a tight hug. “I have to go supervise the flour order!”

“Why are you taking care of the food two weeks before the birthday?” Sunset asked.

Pinkie went serious all of a sudden. “That’s Party Planning 101, chapter two, section three. Food is very important, and it’s one of the first things to consider when planning a party! I didn’t make the rules, even though I wrote the book!” And with that, she literally bounced away.

“She’s really weird,” Trixie said.

“I sometimes wonder if she’s actually an alien.”

“That would explain a lot of things.” Trixie snickered, and Sunset joined her. It felt good to laugh carelessly.

“And what, exactly, do you think you’re doing here?!” A nasal, high pitched voice distracted them. Sunset paled at the sight of Diamond Tiara, standing mere feet away from them, with her hands on her hips, and a really big frown.

“I uh… It’s a surprise?” Trixie said. Sunset was sure it was meant to be an answer, and not a question, but until that moment, they haven’t stopped to consider if Diamond was aware of whom was doing the magic show for her birthday.

Diamond raised an eyebrow. “A surprise? Wait, you’re the magician my dad is hiring?”

With the tacit question answered, Trixie saw no reason to lie. “Do not think for a second that Trixie cannot awe you with her performance! Pinkie Pie witnessed her amazing show at CHS! And so she wishes you to enjoy it, too!”

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Diamond answered, then looked at Sunset. “But what are you doing here? Came to steal something?”

“What? No!” Sunset answered. “I work for Trixie!”

There was a moment of silence, and Sunset wondered if she had done right with saying the truth. She mentally smacked her face. What if Diamond went insane and told them to leave?! That would ruin Trixie’s career! She should have said she was with Pinkie, instead! Nothing could ruin Pinkie’s reputation!

Her train of thought was interrupted with Diamond Tiara’s laughter.

“So you left the school to become a mere stagehand! I knew you couldn’t possibly have a bright future, but to think you’d get so low!” Diamond laughed some more. “Just wait until everybody knows! The almighty princess of every popularity dance at CHS, reduced to a mere workman!”

“Why you-” Trixie said, but Sunset grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her head.

“You’re right,” Sunset confirmed with an uneasy smile. “I’m broke and desperate, and Trixie here offered me money in exchange of carrying her bags. My life couldn’t be more miserable.” It was really hard not to sound sarcastic, Sunset realized.

Fortunately, Diamond didn’t seem to notice. “Serves you right!” She then grabbed her phone and took a photo of Sunset. “This goes directly to MyStable!” After pressing some buttons, she put her phone in her pocket again and looked at Trixie. “Miss Cheerilee says that your show was really good, so I’m looking forward to it. You better impress me, understand?”

Trixie puffed out her chest with pride. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will execute the most amazing and mesmerizing illusions you’ll ever see! It will be the best day of your life!”

Diamond huffed. “Yeah, I doubt you’d manage that without Apple Bloom being here-” She bit her lower lip as her eyes widened in horror. “Erm b-being here for me to humiliate her with how much better my parties are than hers!” She yelled, then turned around and jogged back to the mansion.

Once Diamond was out of sight, Trixie grabbed Sunset by the shoulder and spun her around. “Why did you do that?”

“Do what? Confirm her idea of me being your maid instead of saying I’m your manager, so that she would not get you fired before you even begin?” Sunset asked, then shrugged. “Gee why would I do such a thing?”

Trixie observed her in silence for a moment. “So that’s what Mr. Rich wanted to talk about with you?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Sunset admitted. “I didn’t want to tell you anything, but he basically told me that if Diamond says so, he’ll fire you just because she doesn’t like me. So I thought that if I give her a reason to laugh at me, she’ll allow you to perform.”

Trixie hummed. “Ok. I will accept it just this once.” She cleared her throat. “So, what do you think was that comment about Applejack’s sister?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I think she noticed how much Apple Bloomed.”

Trixie snickered. “Would you say she’s yearning for some apple cider?”

“Maybe,” Sunset joined in the laughing. “Or maybe she’s just craving for some apple juice.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Trixie erupted with laughter. Once she managed to calm down, she said, “Hey, is it hypocritical for us to make fun of her?”

“If it’s because she’s gay, yes. If it’s because she thinks nobody notices, then no.”

“Awesome.”

For the following weeks, Sunset found herself working almost all day.

She would wake up at the crack of dawn, work at the emporium with Flim and Flam, meet with Trixie at the Rich Mansion to run sound and light tests, and rehearse Trixie’s magic tricks at least once.

It was exhausting, but at least Sunset had the promise of a daily date with Trixie at the end of it all.

“So, I was thinking,” Sunset began just as she finished cleaning the results of that day’s rehearsal. “We’ve been practicing for a whole week, and Diamond’s birthday is yet in another week.” She walked up to Trixie, who was sitting at the edge of the stage. “So, how about we rehearse just the two days prior to the show, and enjoy the other four?”

“Uh-huh,” Trixie answered absentmindedly.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I also think the show would be a lot better if you use rabbit ears and fishnets.”

“Uh-huh.”

Letting out a sigh, Sunset sat down next to Trixie. “What’s wrong? You’ve been zoned out all day.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just… I had an argument with my parents today.”

Sunset’s breath caught on her throat. “What happened?”

Trixie looked down. “Just the usual. They reminding me that High School is almost over and I have to study to be a lawyer. Then I telling them I’m not going to please them. Then yelling...”

With a little hesitation, Sunset placed her hand on Trixie’s shoulder. “When are you going to tell them you’re already working as an illusionist?”

“When I graduate,” Trixie answered. “The moment I tell them, I’m sure they’ll kick me out.”

“Are you sure?” Sunset asked. “They may be overly strict on you, but they’re still your parents, and you’re their only daughter.”

Trixie chuckled dryly. “You don’t know them like I do, Sunny. There was this time, a few years ago, at a family reunion… One of my cousins confessed to everyone that he’s gay, thinking that his family would support him…” She sighed. “My father went nuts, demanding that he left his house and never came back. Fortunately, my cousin managed to convince him that it was a prank, and my father, while calmed down, told him not to joke like that again.”

Sunset’s mouth worked silent words for a few moments. “And the rest of your family didn’t say anything?”

“Oh, they were mad… They’re still mad. But my father is the only one with money, and he’s helped everyone without expecting anything in return. They all agreed that he deserved to think and act however he wants.” She closed her eyes. “And I know what you’re thinking, but I can’t go live with any other relatives. They can barely hold themselves, and I’d just be a bother.”

“Well, I got nothing else,” Sunset said, pulling Trixie into a hug. “But I support ya. If they were to kick you out, you can drop by at my place. You’re always welcome in my bed.”

Trixie giggled. “You’re an idiot.”

Days passed, and following Sunset’s suggestion, she and Trixie decided to just hang out for a few days. And they were content with just taking quiet strolls and enjoying each other’s company.

Sunset realized that these were the most peaceful days she had ever had. Even working at the emporium felt somewhat relaxing, now that she had everything under control once again. She felt good.

On Friday, a day prior Trixie’s first official, paid show, they decided to meet at Sugarcube Corner with the rest of the girls, as per Twilight’s request. Because of her job, Sunset was the last to arrive.

“Hey there,” Sunset greeted as she approached the table where the seven girls were gathered. She sat down next to Trixie and gave her a quick kiss.

“Hi, Shimmy!” Pinkie said, leaning on the table. “Are you excited for tomorrow?!”

Sunset shrugged. “I guess.”

“Oh, come on,” Rarity interjected. “It’s also your first job as a manager. You should be excited.”

“Well, if you put it that way…”

“Give her a break,” Trixie said. “She’s tired.”

“Alright, I suppose you’re wondering why I called you here...” Twilight began.

“You’ve been waiting all this time just to say that, haven’t you?” Rainbow said with a smirk.

Twilight blushed, but ignored her. “As you know, the national Science Fair is in three weeks. My project is almost one hundred percent done, I just need to finish the last details and run a few tests.”

“Yes, yes, we all know about nerdy con,” Rainbow said. Applejack punched her in the arm.

“I’d like you to come with me,” Twilight said. “I know it might sound incredibly boring, but while my parents are driving me there, they can’t stay, and if I win, I’d like to share the moment with you.”

“Of course, darling,” Rarity said. “It’s on Saturday, right?”

Twilight nodded. “Right. The week before Halloween.”

Rainbow hissed. “Gee, sorry, Twi, but I gotta train with my soccer team that day.”

“At least try to sound sad,” Applejack scolded her, then smiled at Twilight. “Ah’ll be there. And Ah can drive y’all back here.”

“Yay! Road trip!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing on her spot.

Fluttershy tried to make herself invisible. “I, uhm… I’m sorry, but I already promised to help at the animal shelter that day. They will be short of volunteers, and…”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Twilight said with a smile. “If you can’t, you can’t.” She then turned to Sunset and Trixie. “What about you?”

Sunset shrugged. “I got nothing better to do.” She placed her arm around Trixie’s neck. “What about you?”

Trixie shifted in her place to get more comfortable in Sunset’s embrace. “Alright. I want to see what Twilight’s capable of.”

“Thank you, girls,” Twilight said. “It means a lot.”

“Yeah… What are you doing again?” Trixie asked.

“Wireless electricity,” Twilight answered, then leaned back. “One of my first ideas was an endless battery, but it was going to be too expensive, and it isn’t a new idea.” She looked up and hummed for a moment. “Well, wireless electricity isn’t new, either. But it’s cheaper.”

“Cool,” Sunset said.

Pinkie leaned closer to the center of the table. “I wish you girls could go watch Trixie’s show tomorrow!”

“Me too,” Rarity answered. “But it’s a private party. And without invitations, we can’t go.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rainbow intervened. “We already saw her show, and we will again when she gets her own stage and stuff, right?”

Sunset snorted. “So you can say smart things, after all.”

Rainbow glared at Sunset while everyone else giggled.

It was about half an hour before show time, and Sunset had watched Trixie get quieter and quieter as time went on. By now, the only noise she made was the almost insufferable, muffled sound of shuffling cards.

Sunset walked up next to Trixie, who was just an inch away from the curtain, staring at it. “You’re gonna be ok?”

“Shush,” Trixie answered after some breathing exercises. “I’m trying to relax.”

“You can’t ‘try’ to relax, you know?” Sunset teased. “That’s a contradiction.”

“Shut up.”

Sunset peeked through the curtain at the garden party. It was already sunset, but Diamond Tiara was still receiving presents. In fact, she was just in the middle of unwrapping a box big enough to contain a pony.

“No pressure, but… You’ll have to work pretty hard to top whatever’s in there,” Sunset said, glancing at Trixie.

Trixie groaned, but said nothing.

“Hey, I’m kidding,” Sunset said, placing a hand upon Trixie’s shoulder. “Diamond must be so used to big, expensive stuff, that they could gift her a plane, and her reaction would be asking why isn’t it pink.” She chuckled at her own joke. “But I bet she’s never seen a magic show, or at least, not one like yours.” She offered Trixie her most sincere smile. “You’ll do great.”

That seemed to calm Trixie down, as she relaxed her shoulders and smiled. “Thanks.” She stopped fiddling with her cards and took out her hands from the hoodie’s pocket to hug Sunset. “I needed to hear that.”

Sunset returned the hug. “Anytime, short stuff.”

“And now you ruined it.”

They giggled, and Trixie did feel a whole lot better. She felt ready for her very first official performance, and she knew it was going to be a show that nobody watching it would ever forget.

And it was, indeed, a great show.

She wasn’t able to do her best trick, her masterpiece, but everything else went smoothly, perfectly, even. The people cheered at every illusion, and they laughed the few times she made a joke. The Great and Powerful Trixie was now part of their lives, and she had come to stay.

She bowed after her last illusion and turned around, hearing the curtain closing behind her. She could still hear the clapping and cheering.

“See? What did I tell ya?” Sunset asked with a wide smile.

Trixie grinned and posed. “Was there ever any doubt?”

Sunset giggled. “You can consider yourself an official magician now.” She walked up to Trixie and hugged her by the waist. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Trixie said and leaned in for a quick kiss. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I know.”

Trixie cocked an eyebrow, but her smile remained.

“What? Want me to say that you did this all by yourself?” Sunset asked. “I mean, I can lie if you want, but you gotta pay for that.”

Trixie giggled, then sighed. “Alright, alright. Speaking of which...” she said with a smile. “I can finally afford taking you on a date for a change! If you thought today was mind blowing, just you wait! Tomorrow noon at Canterlot Square. How does that sound?”

“I like it.”

“Wait, you two are dating?”

Sunset and Trixie turned around to find Diamond Tiara standing just a few meters away.

“Uh…” Sunset looked at Trixie. “I’m so glad you’re still getting paid.”

Trixie rolled her eyes “Yes,” she simply replied to Diamond. “But that is not important! What matters is the reason you came here!” She placed the back of her hands on her hips. “Trixie knows that you loved her show, did you not?”

Diamond crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “It was… nice.”

“Here, I got a present for you,” Sunset said, producing a very small, blue box with a red ribbon. “Happy birthday.”

“Hmph! You think this will change my opinion of you?!” Diamond yelled, snatching the box from Sunset’s hand. She then looked at Trixie. “The show was nice, but your egocentric persona is insufferable!” And with that, she turned away and left.

Trixie looked at Sunset with a small frown. “You didn’t tell me you were going to give her something.”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s just a little memento of the day she got out of the closet.”

“What?” Trixie asked, confused. “What did you give her?”

“An apple brooch.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay! I reached dangerously low levels of motivation. But hey! I has returned! And next chapter will be THE chapter!

Criticism is well received!

23. Science Unfair

Chapter 23. Science Unfair

Trixie was feeling great. Naturally, her show had been so amazing, that the people at Diamond Tiara’s birthday had been calling Sunset to hire her for more upcoming birthdays, family reunions, and more events. Sadly, only one was the current year, in November. But the fact that she had started her career with such a high note gave Trixie a warm feeling in her heart.

She walked through Canterlot’s Mall, barely glancing at the many stores within. It was Friday, and she had just gotten out of school, so she had agreed with Sunset to meet at the food court just to hang out for a bit.

As she approached the array of tables, the scent of the many different dishes filled her nose. It was always a weird mix, but never to the point of being disgusting. She sighed when her eyes met a familiar red and yellow head. She smiled and walked towards Sunset.

“Hey there,” Sunset greeted when she noticed Trixie getting closer.

“Hi,” Trixie answered before giving Sunset a quick peck. “How are you?”

Sunset shrugged. Trixie had grown quite fond of that simple gesture. “I’m fine. You?”

“Good.”

Sunset smiled. “You know, I got a call this morning,” she said, and waited for Trixie to raise an inquisitive eyebrow. “Apparently, word of your debut show has spread like wildfire. Fortunately, I gave all of Diamond’s relatives my number, just in case.” She chuckled a little. “And boy are they interested! At this rate, in two or three more shows I’ll have to hire a secretary or something!” She joked.

Trixie grinned. “That is only natural! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not disappoint! But you, my dear, loyal manager, swore that you were up to the task!” Trixie had to take a few seconds to hold back a laugh. “I guess I’ll have to hire another, more competent manager!”

“Oh, yeah? Well-” Sunset was interrupted by the sound of her phone. “Hold on, Trix. I have to take this one.” She pressed the answer button. “What is it?” While she waited for the answer, she reached Trixie’s hand and began caressing it. “What? Why?” Her hand tensed up as she put all her attention to her phone. “What?! I told you the documents were in-... No! They were in the third row! Easy to spot! How in the world did you miss them?!” She retrieved her hand and used it to massage the bridge of her nose. “Of all the irresponsible things you’ve done, Flam! You’ve gotta be kidding me! … You know what? I’m charging double for this, you hear? … Yes, and next time, follow the stupid chart!” And with that, she hung up, groaning.

“I’m guessing it was bad news?” Trixie asked.

“No kidding,” Sunset replied and sighed deeply. “I’ll have to work tomorrow.”

Trixie’s eyes widened. “What? But tomorrow’s Twilight’s Science Fair!”

“I know, but my stupid bosses lost some really important documents and I have to go fix it before the inspector arrives on Sunday,” Sunset replied.

For a moment, Trixie remained silent. “And if you don’t do it, you’ll get fired, right?”

Sunset snorted. “No, I’m the best thing that could’ve ever happened to the brothers... “ She grimaced. “But without those documents, they will be forced to close the emporium, then they’ll be broke, and then I’ll lose my job.” She sighed slow and deeply.

Trixie wrapped Sunset’s hand with both hands. “Hey, I’m sure Twilight will understand.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said with a smile. “You’ll have to be sassy for me at the fair.”

Trixie blinked. “What? No! If you’re not going, then neither am I!”

“Oh, come on! You’ve been driving me crazy with the whole friendship stuff! Well, guess what? They’re your friends too!” Sunset placed her free hand upon Trixie’s. “Besides, I don’t want you to be bored all day just because I have to work. I’ve been having so much fun thanks to you, it’s time you have fun too.”

Trixie leaned back and crossed her arms. “Well, I don’t want you to be the only one not having fun!”

Sunset smiled. “Hey, don’t worry, once you come back, we can have all the fun you want, and then some more. Besides, Halloween is next week. I’ll even let you pick my outfit. What do you say?”

Trixie sighed heavily for a few seconds as she pondered Sunset’s deal.

“Fine.”

Trixie got out of Applejack’s truck and stretched. Rarity had called shotgun, leaving Trixie in the back seat with Pinkie. And that wasn’t exactly a fun experience, despite Pinkie’s many tries to make her laugh.

“We’re finally here!” Pinkie yelled excitedly as she exited the vehicle.

After meeting at Sugarcube Corner at six in the morning, Applejack had driven five hours to Everton’s College of Science and Research. It was mere luck that the traffic in the highway had been, for the most part, very light. It was now eleven o’clock, barely an hour before the Science Fair started.

They had agreed to meet with Twilight at the main gymnasium, which, fortunately, was just ten minutes from the spot Applejack had parked at. Or at least that’s what the map said. There were so many people walking around that it was really hard to orientate. But thankfully, Applejack and Rarity managed to lead the group towards their destination with little effort.

From the outside, the building looked big, but once on the inside, Trixie had to hold her breath.

It was at least twice the size of CHS’ gym, if the four basketball baskets were any indication. The space was flooded with rows and rows of tables that supported the many projects people did either alone, or in groups. And of course, all the participants, their families and friends, coordinators, and security officers roamed the place like rapids.

Amongst the ever moving crowd, the girls spotted a lavender girl waving at them.

“Hey, Twi!” Applejack greeted when she was at hearing distance.

“Good morning, darling,” Rarity seconded.

“Twilight!” Pinkie yelled before trapping Twilight in a hug.

“Hi, Twilight,” Trixie said.

Pushing Pinkie away, Twilight smiled. “Hello girls, I’m happy to see you all here.”

“Of course! We promised!” Pinkie said.

While the girls told Twilight about their long journey, Trixie took the moment to admire what she had set up.

There were two of those coils at each side of the table, connected to different batteries and other stuff. In the center, there was a pyramidal shaped machine with lots of wires and screws showing, and on top of it, a single lightbulb. Behind Twilight, just like in the rest of tables, there was a kind of wall where she placed a diagram of how her project worked, and how could it be reproduced in a much bigger scale.

“So, this is your wireless electricity thingy?” Trixie asked. “Can I take a photo for Sunset?”

“Sorry, but cameras aren’t allowed here,” Twilight said. “But yes, this is it, girls!” She smiled brightly. “You came just as I finished setting it up. Now I can just show you, and any other person that stops by!” She shifted in her place a little nervously. “You can recognize most of the judges, but there’s always one that blends in the audience, and is never with them. This forces us participants to always treat everyone kindly, and always explain thoroughly and answer all questions, no matter how many times you have done it.” She took a deep breath.

“Whoa Twi, it sure looks like a mighty stressful job,” Applejack admitted.

Twilight smiled confidently. “It is, but I’ve been getting ready for quite some time now. I can do this!”

“That’s our Twily!” Pinkie said.

“I know you can do it, darling,” Rarity assured, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “We’re just here to watch you win.”

Twilight giggled nervously. “Thanks. I’m aiming for first place, of course, but some of these projects are really good too.” She looked around. “Like the Immediate Water Filtration System,” she said, pointing at one far off table. “Or the Tankless Amphibian Breathing Device,” she continued to a more nearby table. “Or the-” She froze.

The girls looked at each other for a moment.

“Uhh, Twi? Are y’all feeling alright?” Applejack asked.

Twilight suddenly went pale, and she started shivering. As Rarity and Applejack were asking her what was wrong, Pinkie and Trixie looked in the same direction Twilight was pointing with her shaking finger.

Trixie felt a chill running down her spine.

Three booths over, a quartet of girls in wine colored uniforms crossed the walkway, each carrying a cardboard box. Twilight's eyes were fixed firmly on the girl at the head of the pack, Sunset Shimmer.

“Hey, girls?” Pinkie said, nudging at Rarity. “You might wanna take a look at… them…”

Rarity and Applejack turned to where Pinkie signaled, and they became silent.

“Sunset?” Applejack asked after a few seconds. “Ah thought she wasn’t comin’.”

Rarity crossed her arms. “I don’t think she’s our Sunset.”

“She isn’t,” Trixie confirmed, not taking her eyes off the doppelganger.

It was strange, Trixie thought. That girl didn’t just look like Sunset, no, she was her very image, from head to toe. Even the fiery hair had the same percentage of red and yellow. It was eerie, to say the least.

“Are you alright?” Rarity asked, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

Twilight gasped, flinching at the touch, then looked at Rarity for a few seconds before producing an uneasy smile. “Yes, yes, of course! I-I’m fine, very fine, yes. Fine.” She grabbed the table, looked down, and began breathing heavy and slow. “I’m fine.”

“Do you need some water?” Pinkie asked, offering a bottle of water she took from somewhere to Twilight.

Twilight snatched the bottle from Pinkie and quickly drank half of it. When she finished, she sighed heavily. “Thank you, Pinkie… I think I’ll be fine.”

“‘Sides, you got us,” Applejack said. “She can’t harm ya.”

Twilight smiled gratefully. “I know… I’m glad I have you…”

“So, you’re going to be ok?” Pinkie asked.

“Yes…”

“Nice! Because she’s coming this way!”

True to her word, Sunset Shimmer, the version of this world, was walking toward them.

By her appearance alone, Trixie could barely tell them apart. It was the way they walked what really differentiated this Sunset from the one she knew. Just a year ago, Sunset used to walk with a slow, provocative swing of hips, her shoulders thrown backwards, her chin raised, and one hand on her waist. She always looked like she was in control, like she was untouchable. Lately, though, she walked with her shoulders dropped, her hands inside her pockets, her head low, and her hips barely swinging.

This Sunset Shimmer, however, walked in a completely different way. Her shoulders were slightly to the front, but with her upper body leaned back, her chin was lowered just a little bit, her arms fell freely at the sides of her body, and her hips swung in wide circles, as if trying to hypnotize someone, and her smirk stretched just a little bit upward from the left corner of her mouth.

She wasn’t confident like a queen, she was confident like a predator.

As she got closer, Applejack and Rarity flanked Twilight, while Pinkie remained in front of the table, as a shield. Trixie limited herself to watch from her spot, motionless.

“Hello, Twilight.” Even her voice was exactly the same. “It’s good to see you again. How have you been?”

Twilight didn’t look at her, choosing to remain silent.

“Hey there!” Applejack intervened. “Mah name’s Applejack! What’s yours?”

Sunset looked at Applejack with a wide smile. “My apologies. I’m Sunset Shimmer. Twilight and I are old friends.” She chuckled a little. “Well, old is a bit of a stretch. We met about two years ago or so.”

Applejack and Rarity shared a few confused looks.

Rarity uneasily cleared her throat. “My name is Rarity. This is Pinkie, and Trixie,” she politely introduced the rest of the girls, using her hand to point at each of them.

Sunset followed with her gaze, looking at each girl. When their eyes met, Trixie felt like time slowed down for a bit.

This Sunset’s eyes were the same shade of green, the same curvy eyelashes, and there even was the very same, almost imperceptible beauty spot at the side of her left eye. And even so, her eyes had something different, something Trixie couldn’t quite tell, something that made her heart beat just a little faster, and her head feel just a little warmer. She unconsciously hid her hands inside the pockets of her hoodie.

The endless moment broke when Sunset turned away.

“Twilight! Why didn’t you tell me you made so many friends? We could’ve hung out from time to time!” Sunset said, never losing her smile. “Well, I suppose that with you moving away and enrolling to another school, it would be a bit difficult.” She sighed. “Anyway, it was nice meeting you, girls. I have to go back to my booth. Let the best project win, Twilight!” And with that, she walked away.

“Well, that was… somethin’...” Applejack said.

Rarity only hummed an agreement.

“She was really nice!” Pinkie said, turning to Twilight. “Maybe she changed!”

Twilight looked up at Pinkie. “That’s just a charade. I bet if I had been alone, she would’ve threatened me or something.”

“I don’t know,” Trixie said. “She does act like she’s the bee queen in her own school, but not as the evil type.”

“Are y’all calling Twilight a liar?” Applejack asked, pointing a finger at Trixie.

Trixie frowned. “No. I’m saying that I’m with Pinkie. What if she did change?”

Applejack crossed her arms. “Girls like that don’t change!”

“Our Sunset did,” Trixie answered flatly, taking Applejack by surprise. “Or are you saying that you still doubt her?”

“T-That’s different!”

“Different how?” Trixie continued. “Sunset may not have pushed anyone from a window, but she did hurt a lot of people. Rarity there is an example!” She looked at Rarity. “Didn’t she throw a bucket of mud on you at the Spring Fling?” Without waiting for a response, she turned to Applejack again. “People can change. I’m not saying that I’m certain this Sunset changed, I’m saying that, just like our Sunset, she deserves the benefit of the doubt.”

Silence reigned between the girls for a moment, until Pinkie broke it.

“You know, it’s getting confusing. Which Sunset are we talking about now? Why don’t we call this Sunset as Human Sunset, and our Sunset as Pony Sunset?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Is that the best you got?” Pinkie shrugged.

“Oh! How about we call Sunset to our girl, and Shimmer to the one in that marvelous uniform?” Rarity suggested.

Trixie hummed. “Yeah, I think that works.”

“Well, none of that matters,” Applejack said, walking up to Twilight. “If she changed, then good for her, but if she didn’t, it don’t matter anyway.” She patted Twilight’s shoulder. “We’re here for you.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you, girls.”

“Anyway, now that everything’s fine again,” Trixie said. “Can you show me your project?”

“You’ve listened her rants about it quite a lot now,” Rarity intervened. “Why do you want yet another explanation?”

Trixie shrugged. “I dunno, maybe I just want to have something in my mind other than the very hot girl that looks exactly like my girlfriend.”

Twilight giggled. “Alright. This will help me get ready. The Fair officially starts in half an hour, after all.”

Somehow, Twilight managed to fit all the relevant information of her project in a span of only ten minutes. Trixie was sure that it was so she could explain it to the biggest number of people possible. But it was frustrating how she required hours just a few days ago.

After the third time Twilight explained her project to people arriving at her booth, Trixie became rather bored, and she couldn’t take her mind off of the girl just three booths over. Shimmer, as the girls had decided to call her, was doing the very same thing as Twilight: Presenting and explaining her own project. Trixie couldn’t see what it was from her position, which did nothing but itch her curiosity.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, her mind would easily forget about the mysterious project, and pay attention to the back of the doppelganger’s body. Trixie had to admit, she rocked the uniform look. She decided that the first thing she was going to do upon returning to Canterlot, was to buy a uniform for Sunset, since she had granted Trixie the permission to pick her Halloween costume.

Trixie chuckled deviously.

“What’s so funny?” Applejack asked, taking Trixie by surprise.

“Nothing,” Trixie lied. “I’m getting really bored. When is this thing supposed to finish?”

“Well, the judges have to see all the projects first,” Rarity answered. “Then, they have to discuss which one is the best one. Now, considering that they already saw half of the boots here, I’d say two more hours before they announce the winner.”

Trixie groaned. “I will not survive.”

“Oh, come on! Dontcha say that!” Applejack said, playfully smacking Trixie’s back with her hand. “Y’all can go watch the other projects if you want to! Why, Pinkie left half n’ hour ago!”

Trixie blinked. “Wait, I can actually roam this place? I thought we would stay by Twilight’s side.”

“Don’t worry about it, darling,” Rarity said. “Applejack and I will stay with Twilight. We won’t leave her alone. You can go watch other projects.”

“Great! You don’t have to tell me twice!”

Now unbound of her spot, Trixie decided to distract herself with whatever projects people had made. She got really surprised with some of them, like the Levitation Boots one, and then she got really disappointed with others, like the Chess Playing Robot; it had a winning streak of 2, against 14 losses!

Since she barely understood half of what people said about their projects, Trixie didn’t stay to listen to most of them, and just walked by, admiring the mechanic constructions, the lights, and overall the scientific feeling of everything.

That is, until she found herself in front of one particular booth.

“Hello there,” Shimmer greeted her with a smile.

“Uh… hi,” Trixie replied.

Unlike the first time, Shimmer now had all her attention on Trixie, and it made her feel a little flustered.

“Are you interested in my project?”

Trixie looked at the table. There was a cellphone connected to some sort of robotic rig, with wires and other electric stuff she barely recognized, and it all ended in some kind of black box, which had more and more electric connections.

“Uhm… Sure,” Trixie answered, doing her best not to look directly at Shimmer’s face. “What is it?” Immediately after asking the question, she saw the information behind Shimmer, and mentally smacked her forehead.

“An endless battery,” Shimmer answered. “As its name says, it’s a battery that will never run out, because it charges itself.” She motioned to the whole thing. “This is basically what it looks like on the inside. Do you want to know how it works?”

Right then, Trixie made the mistake to look at Shimmer’s face. It was like looking at a photograph of Sunset. Only that there was something different with her gaze, something that made Trixie’s heart race, her breathing become heavy, and her mind a little fuzzy. Something in her sideways smirk made her feel like she was looking at a completely different person, as if they weren’t identical at all.

By the time Trixie returned to the real world, more people had arrived to the boot, and Shimmer was giving the explanation. Even though she barely understood what Shimmer was saying, Trixie stood there the whole twenty minutes.

Of course, that didn’t go unnoticed, and after the people dispersed, Shimmer turned to Trixie and smiled.

“So? What do you think?” She asked.

Trixie blinked several times. “Uh, great! It was great!”

Shimmer chuckled. “I’m glad.” She got around the table towards Trixie. “I’d hate it if you found my project to be… boring.”

“Uh… Sure…” Trixie’s eyes darted from side to side as she leaned back. “So, uh… Where are your friends?”

“Who? Oh! You’re talking about the girls that were here?” Shimmer hummed. “I believe Adagio was feeling sick, so they went to the infirmary.” She smiled. “Why?”

Trixie felt sweat forming in her forehead. “No reason! I-I just thought-”

“Attention everyone,” a loud voice interrupted them. It was one of the judges, using a microphone from the far end of the building. “We are taking a thirty minutes break so that the owners of the projects can go to the restroom or get something to eat. If you don’t have anyone to look after your project, you can ask one of the security guards. That is all.”

“Well!” Trixie said a little too loud. “I gotta go, see you!” And without waiting for a response, she jogged away.

Her heart throbbed furiously in her chest, more out of adrenaline than anything else. She wasn’t sure why she felt like this. Was she attracted to Sunset’s human counterpart? It would be logical, she thought, since they basically were the same girl, only from different worlds, and with different lives.

She nodded to herself. Yes, it was mere physical attraction. She only liked Sunset, her Sunset. She only wanted to date her Sunset, and to kiss her Sunset. This Shimmer girl was nothing but a mere infatuation that was not going to last.

Taking a deep breath, Trixie placed her hand on her chest and sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

Trixie yelped, surprised at Rarity’s sudden appearance. She then noticed that she had arrived at Twilight’s booth without even thinking.

“W-What do you mean?” Trixie asked back

Rarity raised an eyebrow, then looked back, making sure that Applejack and Twilight weren’t listening. She turned to Trixie. “Darling, you were at Shimmer’s booth. And now you’re red as a tomato. Did she do anything to you?”

“No!” Trixie said a little too loud. “I mean… No. I just…” She tugged the neck of her hoodie a few times before an idea formed in her mind. “It’s really warm in here, don’t you think?” She forced out a laugh. “I’ll go outside for some air. You don’t mind, right?”

Rarity stared at Trixie for a few seconds before smiling. “Of course not, darling. Just don’t take too long, please.”

“Sure!” Trixie said right before turning around and walking to the exit of the building.

She didn’t exactly lie to Rarity. The building was really hot, despite the A/C, because of the insane amount of people inside. Trixie wanted some place where she could calm down in peace, so she walked up to a nearby garden, where there was nothing but a sole tree. She sat down against the tree and closed her eyes, breathing slow and heavily.

Despite the craziness of the situation, and her confusing feelings, Trixie couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous her problem was. Twilight had to deal with being near a girl that almost killed her, while Trixie was just a little flustered. It was laughable, so she laughed.

“Hello there.”

Trixie’s breath caught in her throat and she was locked in a coughing fit for a few seconds. Shimmer was just a meter away, looking at Trixie with a smile.

“Mind if we share the tree?” Shimmer asked, walking up to the tree and leaning on it.

“... Sure…” Trixie answered, looking away and wishing she could actually disappear or teleport elsewhere. What kind of convenient coincidence was this? Or maybe it wasn’t a coincidence, and Shimmer had followed Trixie. And if so, with what purpose? Was Shimmer interested in Trixie? She certainly hoped not, as she didn’t really want to break her heart, telling her that she was already dating another Sunset.

“Your name is Trixie, right?” The question took Trixie out of her reverie.

“Ah? Uh, yes…” Trixie answered, instinctively looking up at Shimmer. Her heart bumped hard at what the image before her.

Sunset Shimmer, wearing a nice school uniform, leaned back on a tree, and with a cigarette between her lips. It was certainly an image Trixie had never even considered, but surely didn’t mind at all. She had to remind to herself that this was an evil Sunset.

Trixie hid her hands into the front pocket of her hoddle and as silently as possible, began fiddling with her deck of cards.

Shimmer lit her cigarette and removed it with two fingers, blowing out some smoke. She took the cigar pack with her other hand and offered it to Trixie.

Trixie’s eyes widened and she looked away.

“I-I, uh… I don’t smoke,” she said. Why was it so hard to speak?

“It’s cool,” Shimmer said, taking the pack away into one of her pockets. “So, how’s Twilight been?”

Trixie frowned, but remained silent.

Shimmer took another drag on her cigarette. She waited a few seconds, then blew out the smoke with a heavy sigh. “What did she tell you?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “About what?”

“I know Twilight,” Shimmer answered. “And I’m a people person. Your friends’ attitude alone said a lot.” She crossed her arms. “But… I’m afraid Twilight is still confused…” That finally got Trixie to look at her. Shimmer put the cigarette between her lips and looked up. “Twilight’s my best friend, you know? It pains me that she thinks I’d hurt her.”

Trixie stopped fiddling with the cards. She had a lot of questions in her mind. Why was Shimmer talking to her? Why did she sound so sad? She wanted to know, but for now, she could only formulate one question.

“What’s your version of the story, then?”

Shimmer snorted, blowing out some more smoke.

“You’re a clever girl, Trixie,” Shimmer said with some amusement in her voice. Just then, her expression darkened, and her smile disappeared. “Twilight and I had an argument. It started over a stupid misunderstanding, then it escalated quite fast… We said things we didn’t mean… Hurtful things…” She paused to take another drag on her cigarette. “I should have stopped, but I wasn’t thinking straight… The look in her eyes when I insulted her… I can’t apologize enough… And then…” She closed shut her eyes, frowning. “The stupid window broke!” Her hands turned into fists, and her knuckles became white. “By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late…”

She took a hand to her face and sobbed. “If only I hadn’t been so stupid! If I hadn’t said all those hurtful things… Maybe… She wouldn’t think I…”

Trixie felt a headache forming in her forehead. She couldn’t bear the image of any Sunset Shimmer crying in front of her. “So… She thinks you pushed her?”

Shimmer didn’t answer, and instead took another, larger drag on her cigarette, holding it for a few seconds, and then slowly releasing the smoke with a heavy sigh.

“Have you tried-”

“It doesn’t matter...” Shimmer interrupted her. “It doesn’t matter how many times I try to talk to her. She just won’t listen…” She looked down, taking the cigarette between two fingers and crossing her arms. “Once she has something in her mind, it’s virtually impossible to convince her otherwise…”

Trixie hummed. “That’s why you’re talking to me. You want me to tell her this.”

Shimmer sighed. “I’m sorry if it feels like I’m just using you, but you saw her other friends. They won’t even let me talk to her.” She turned to look at Trixie and smiled. “You’re the only one that looked like could give me a chance to explain myself… Thank you.”

Trixie looked away, trying to hide her blush.

“I’d very much appreciate it if you help me talk to Twilight. Even if the lot of you are present. I just want to clear up the misunderstanding,” Shimmer said.

“I can’t promise anything,” Trixie said, still looking away. “I will talk to them, but I can’t assure you anything.”

“That’s ok,” Shimmer replied. “Even if I don’t get a chance with them, at least I’d like a chance with you.” She grinned. “We may live far away from each other, and with me enrolling in Everton, it might be difficult, but… Can we be friends, Trixie?”

Trixie’s heart skipped a beat. She mentally reprimanded herself before answering. “S-Sure.”

“That’s good to hear,” Shimmer said. “Now, I have to return. My friends must be waiting for me.” She extinguished the cigarette against a nearby trashcan and disposed of it. “I’ll wait for you here after the fair. Don’t leave me waiting, ok?” She winked and walked away.

Trixie didn’t respond, she just stared at Shimmer as she disappeared inside the building.

To say that she was confused was an understatement. She needed time to assimilate what just happened, so she decided to wait for the fair to finish to talk with the girls. It would give her at least one or two hours to think.

“There you are!” Rarity said as Trixie arrived at the booth. “Whatever took you so long?”

“Sorry,” Trixie replied. “I got distracted.” She looked around. “Where are Twilight and Applejack?”

“They went to the restroom!” Pinkie answered from behind Trixie.

“Gah! Stop doing that!” Trixie yelled.

“Sorry!”

Trixie huffed, then turned to Rarity. “So, what’s new?”

Rarity crossed her arms. “Aside from you talking to the other Sunset?”

“Ohhhh! Busted!” Pinkie said happily.

Trixie’s jaw worked silent words for a moment. “T-That is… I was… I-It’s none of your business! I-I mean! You know!”

At that, Rarity snickered. “Oh, darling, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound like I’m questioning you.” She waited for Trixie to raise an eyebrow. “You just wanted to make sure that Shimmer is a good person like she made it out to be, right?”

Instinctively, Trixie nodded.

“So? What do you think?”

Trixie cleared her throat. “I still need to think.”

“Oh, come on!” Pinkie insisted. “I need to know whether to throw her a “Congratulations you’ve changed and are sorry” party or not!”

Rolling her eyes, Trixie stepped away from Pinkie. “You’ll have to wait.”

“At least tell us what did she say,” Rarity said. “We should take a decision together, including Twilight.”

Trixie sighed. “Fine. As expected, she has a different side of the story, but she still wants to apologize to Twilight.”

“A different side?” Pinkie asked. “Come on, Trixie! Don’t leave us in suspense like this!”

“It would be better if we wait for Twilight and Applejack to return,” Trixie said. “I don’t want to repeat myself.”

“Well, we won’t have to wait for long,” Rarity said with a smile, pointing behind Trixie. “Here they come.”

Trixie turned around, and true to Rarity’s words, Twilight and Applejack were just arriving.

“Whaddup, Trixie?” Applejack said. “We thought you got lost!”

“Trixie never gets lost!” Trixie claimed, placing her hands on her hips. “I was… gathering information!” She then looked at Twilight and relaxed her arms. “About Shimmer.”

Twilight didn’t show it, but her heart skipped a beat, and her stomach felt hollow. “W-What about her?”

“She has a different version of what happened between you two.” Twilight frowned, but before she could say anything, Trixie continued. “Now, Twilight, I’m not saying I don’t believe your side of the story.” She took a quick, deep breath. “She wants to apologize to you.”

Twilight didn’t answer, she just stared at Trixie for a while.

“And y’all just gonna believe ‘er?” Applejack asked, breaking the silence. “Y’all just said you don’t believe her side of the story! Why’d you believe she wants to actually apologize?! For all we know she’d try to hurt her or somethin’!”

Trixie sighed. “Because she even wants the lot of us to be there, if only to make sure she doesn’t try to do anything.” She crossed her arms. “As I said earlier, we should give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“But what about her side of the story?” Rarity asked. “If it differs from what Twilight told us, and you just said you believe Twilight, then it means she lied to you, doesn’t it?”

“Well, yes,” Trixie admitted. “But she looked really guilty while telling it. I think she was remembering what happened, and what she did, and she’s really sorry.” She looked straight into Twilight’s eyes. “She lied to me because she wanted the best chance to talk to you. Of course I won’t force you to actually do it, but at least think about it.”

Twilight looked away. “I… I can’t promise anything… But I’ll think about it.”

“Attention everyone,” the same voice from before was heard throughout the building. “The break will end in five minutes, and Everton’s Annual Science Fair will continue. All participants, please return to your respective booths as soon as possible. That is all.”

“Well, let’s wait for another eternity,” Trixie said, sighing. “I wish Sunset was here.”

“That would only make things awkward,” Rarity said, raising an eyebrow.

“I know!” Trixie said with a smile. “It would be hilarious!”

Two hours later, Trixie found herself daydreaming. Her fantasies about her and the two Sunsets had started off rather PG, but as time passed, they became really spicy. Applejack, Rarity and Twilight had decided to just ignore her senseless mumbling and constant drooling, and pretend they didn’t know her.

Pinkie, for her part, was in her own world, trying to make friends with everyone. It proved to be a challenge too big for her, since just two or three people had actually stopped to listen to her ramblings.

“Attention everyone,” the judge said once again through the microphone.

Trixie blinked, returning to reality. “Oh, come on! I was getting to the best part!” Applejack rolled her eyes, while Rarity and Twilight only giggled.

“The judges have finished looking at all the projects,” the voice continued. “We are going to take thirty minutes to decide the winner. You can exit the building if you so desire, but we ask the participants to be here after this last break. That is all.”

“Ugh, finally!” Trixie exclaimed, stretching her arms. “I thought this thing was going to last forever.”

“Ah don’t see why’d it bother you,” Applejack said with a smile. “Y’all looked pretty entertained just a minute ago.”

“Shut up,” Trixie replied. She then looked to Shimmer’s booth, and saw her gazing back before walking away. Trixie turned to Twilight. “So, ready to talk?”

Twilight mumbled something, looking away.

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine,” Rarity said, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

“No, no, I-I want to hear what she has to say…” Twilight answered, taking a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with…” She then looked at the girls and gave a sheepish smile. “But… You’ll be with me, right?”

“The whole time, sugarcube,” Applejack affirmed with a nod.

“Wait a minute,” Trixie said. “Where’s the pink one?”

“Still trying to make friends,” Rarity answered, pointing five booths over the back of the building, where Pinkie was engaged in what looked like a one-sided conversation with an old lady. “She made it a challenge to herself to befriend at least five people.”

“How many so far?” Applejack asked.

“Two. Good thing I told her she had until the announcement of the winners, or we’d be stuck here the whole day.”

Trixie clicked her tongue. “Whatever, let’s go with your hot frenemy, Twilight.”

“Wait,” Twilight said, fidgeting with her fingers. “I-I can’t leave my booth unattended.”

Trixie rolled her eyes, turning to Pinkie’s direction. “Hey, Diane!” She shouted, easily earning the girl’s attention. “You watch this booth!” Pinkie nodded furiously before returning to her talk with the lady. Trixie turned to Twilight with a smile. “There. Our physics-breaking friend will take care of it.”

“Why don’t you ever call us by the name everybody else does?” Rarity questioned.

“I just called Twilight by her name, twice,” Trixie answered. “I just sometimes feel the need to call non-insulting names.”

“You might actually end up insulting somebody!” Rarity said.

“Then they have my permission to call me names,” Trixie replied dismissively. “Now, let’s go and talk with Shimmer before the break ends.” And without waiting for a response, Trixie began walking towards the exit of the building.

Trixie looked to the garden, and sure enough, Shimmer was there, leaning against the tree, arms crossed, and holding a cigarette with her left hand. She looked up and smiled.

Followed by the girls, Trixie approached Shimmer, stopping just two meters away.

“Hello again,” Shimmer greeted, looking at the girls. Her eyes then fell upon Twilight. “And hello, Twilight. I’m glad you agreed to come.”

Twilight leaned her body in acknowledgement, but didn’t dare to look at Shimmer, or even mutter a single word.

Shimmer saw this as a sign to continue. “Listen, Twilight. We left on pretty bad terms. But it’s been long enough. I’m sorry for what happened.” She offered Twilight her right hand. “Can you forgive me and be friends again?”

For a moment, Twilight didn’t answer. She only frowned, deep in thought. After almost a full minute, she finally turned her head and looked directly at Shimmer’s eyes. “You… pushed me out of a window.” Her jaw stiffened and her hands turned into fists. “I don’t think we can be friends again.”

“Pushed you?” Shimmer blinked, completely taken aback. “Twilight! You fell! How can you still say I’d ever try to hurt you?”

In that moment, Trixie was witness of the most terrifying, furious stare she’d ever seen. And the fact that it was coming from the usually friendly, chirpy nerd, made it the more frightening.

“What is wrong with you?!” Twilight yelled. “Do you think I and my friends are stupid?! Nobody buys your ridiculous story! Do you really think I’m such an imbecile as to randomly trip through a window?!”

Shimmer gaped for a moment. “Twilight, you hit your head, remember? The doctor said-”

“Don’t use the doctor’s words against me! Even if it was true, you still showed up, gloating about what you did!” Twilight was leaning forward, but her feet never moved an inch. And yet, it looked like she was over Shimmer, trapping her against the tree. “And you have the nerve to call me a liar right to my face?!” She leaned back and took a deep breath. “I honestly thought you really felt guilty, but I see you still want to play your sick games.”

“But Twilight!”

“Shut up!” Twilight interrupted her. “I know what you’re trying to do! You want my friends to think I’m the one that’s crazy. You just want to turn my friends against me so that I’ll quit. Well, guess what? It won’t work.” She paused for a moment, and then, against her better judgement, she flashed a smug smile. “I think you’re scared that I’ll win the fair, ” She snorted. “You always manage to sink even lower.”

Up until that moment, the only one raging and screaming had been Twilight. Trixie was beginning to think, if only for a second, that Twilight might have been in the wrong. But that last statement, that last line from Twilight worked like a fuse reaching the bomb.

Shimmer moved like lightning, and she slapped Twilight with so much force that the girl stumbled against Applejack, who was at her immediate right.

“You bitch!” Shimmer yelled, as the mask she had been wearing disappeared. The former guilt driven face was quickly replaced by one of raging fury. “You think you’re better than me?!”

Before Shimmer could say anything else, or even think of hitting Twilight again, Rarity stepped between them, glaring daggers at Shimmer, all the while Applejack helped Twilight regain her balance.

“Well now,” Rarity started. “It seems you did nothing but prove that Twilight wasn’t lying.” She huffed, crossing her arms. “I suggest you, for your own good, leave and stay as far from us as possible, or we’ll call the police.”

Shimmer’s breathing was heavy and fast, and her stare was trying to dig holes in Rarity’s face. She remained silent for a one long minute before she huffed. “This isn’t over.” And with that, she walked past the girls and towards the building.

Trixie couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed. Shimmer had really struck her as a repentant girl. She had looked and acted just like Sunset during the first week after the Fall Formal. And yet, it all turned out to be a charade to make Twilight quit the fair. It was so unreal, for a moment Trixie thought she was watching a bad soap opera.

During the last exchange of words with Shimmer, Twilight had been clinging to Applejack for dear life, keeping her eyes shut and slightly shivering. And once she heard Shimmer leaving, she dared open her eyes and look up at her friend.

“You ok there, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“I… I’m sorry…”

“You have nothing to apologize for, darling,” Rarity said. “She was trying to put us against you. Honestly, I think I would’ve acted the same.”

Slowly, Twilight stepped back, wiping her eyes before she looked at Rarity. “I mean… When she hit me… I-I just froze…”

“That’s only natural,” Trixie said, making everyone look at her. “She almost killed you in the past right after slapping you. I think it’s normal that your body would react like that…” She noticed the looks in Rarity and Applejack’s eyes. “What?”

“I’m sorry, but… You were the one wanting to give her a chance,” Rarity said. “You’re taking this awfully well.”

Trixie cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “I did say I knew she was lying. Besides, it’s not like I know her or anything. Now, if it was Sunset pulling a stunt like this, then I would feel horrible.” She snorted. “They’re not the same person. I can keep them apart pretty easily.”

“Uh-huh,” Applejack said. “Anyway, let’s head inside and tell Pinkie about this.”

“Yes, and let’s stick together until the fair is officially over,” Rarity added. “Let’s not forget Shimmer isn’t alone. She has three friends that might want to try something.”

Twilight sighed heavily. “I only want to leave now… I don’t care if I win or not anymore…”

“Now don’t you say that!” Rarity said, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t let that crazy girl ruin this for you!”

Twilight nodded weakly. “I’ll try.”

Once Twilight had finally calmed down and Pinkie had been warned, the girls gathered up at Twilight’s booth and didn’t move from there, observing quite indiscreetly every movement of Shimmer and her little gang.

Unsurprisingly, even if they never moved from the booth, the three girls never seemed to cross a word, or a single glance, with Shimmer. They kept talking to themselves, with the occasional gaze towards Twilight and company.

It was a really tense and awkward situation, and the twenty minutes left of the break felt like hours. They tried several times to engage in idle chit chat, but after some minutes, it always died down into an uncomfortable silence.

Fortunately, the same judge from before took the microphone and tapped into it, getting everyone’s attention to the slightly raised platform at the back of the building.

“Attention everyone,” the judge said. “We have finished discussing, and we came to an agreement of which is this year’s best project here at Everton’s Science Fair. As you know, the winner shall be granted full investment to their project.” There was a round of applause and cheers before he continued. “Of course, that is not the only prize. As this event is renowned throughout the country, and over twenty high level universities, including Everton, of course, grant full scholarships to those involved in said winning project.”

A huge, loud cheer echoed the building.

“Whoa, this really is a big deal, isn’t it?” Trixie asked.

“It is,” Twilight answered with a nervous smile. “It’s not only the investment, or the scholarship. Winning Everton’s science fair also gives you a lot of good reputation in the scientific community.” She took a sharp breath. “It’s the biggest achievement for young, inexperienced scientists.”

“Well, let’s cross fingers then,” Rarity said.

“And without further ado,” the judge said, effectively silencing the whole building. “The winner of this year’s Everton’s Science Fair is…” He paused, smiled deviously at everyone, enjoying the suspense, and threw an arm over his head. “Wireless Electricity by Twilight Sparkle!”

Even though the girls cheered beside her, jumping around and hugging her, Twilight only took her hands over her open mouth, and froze.

“You won! You won!” Pinkie yelled excitedly, shaking Twilight from side to side.

“Pinkie! Let her process it!” Applejack said, grabbing Pinkie by the shoulders.

“I… I won?” Twilight asked to herself.

“Of course you won, darling!” Rarity answered.

In that moment, Trixie dared look in Shimmer’s direction. The saying of murderous looks seemed like child's play, compared to the intense glare full of hatred she was throwing towards Twilight. Trixie waited until Shimmer laid eyes upon her, just to sneer and flash her middle finger in her direction.

And to think she had been having the lesbians for Shimmer not even an hour ago.

“Twilight Sparkle,” the judge continued, having spotted the celebrating group. “Please come over here.”

She was still trying to organize her thoughts, but her feet were already moving towards the platform. Twilight braced herself. She had fantasized with this moment for a few years now, and it was scary just how perfect it all was. She had won the country’s biggest, most renowned science fair, thus securing her future as a scientist, and opening all the doors for future projects or whatever she’d want to do.

During the minute it took her to reach the platform, she pinched herself a few times, just to make sure it wasn’t a dream. And by the time she was just a meter away from the judge, her stomach felt hollow and she felt about to throw up. Fortunately for everyone, she didn’t.

“Twilight Sparkle,” the judge began, raising a red neck ribbon with a big, golden medal attached to it, sporting an easily readable number one. “Congratulations.” He proceeded to put the medal around Twilight’s neck. “We would like to discuss the terms of the investment on your project.”

“Y-Yes!” Twilight answered. “I-I also want you to know I want to enroll here in Everton!”

The judge chuckled. “We are thankful for your choice. We can also discuss that. Tomorrow at two in the afternoon at the administration building, room 201.”

“S-Sure! I’ll be there!”

“Excellent,” the judge said. Then, he turned to the crowd and lifted the microphone to speak. “And with this, Everton’s Science Fair is over! Do not get discouraged for not winning. Remember that you can always try again next year. Thank you very much!” The crowd gave a round of applause for courtesy. The judge turned off the microphone and smiled at Twilight. “See you tomorrow, Miss Sparkle. And bring your project’s information with you.” He stretched his hand.

Twilight immediately took his and hastily stretched it. “Of course! I’ll be there!”

Little by little, all the participants started to pack up their projects and leave. Twilight, on her part, slowly walked to her friends, feeling like she was walking on clouds.

“I thought they’d ask you to give a speech or something,” Trixie said.

Twilight looked at her with a stupid smile. “I wouldn’t be able to mutter a coherent sentence.”

“Fair enough.”

“Well, we hafta go now, right?” Applejack asked, looking at Twilight’s booth. “Want us ta help ya pack up?”

“Well,” Twilight fidgeted. She looked like she wanted to jump and scream of happiness in her spot, but she forced herself to calm down. “I first have to call my parents and tell them the good news… And also that I have to be here tomorrow too.”

“You have?” Rarity asked.

“Yes. We’ll discuss the investment in my project, copyright on it and future projects, and of course, my enrollment here,” Twilight answered, then took her phone. “You don’t mind if I speak with them here? I kind of don’t want to be alone, knowing that Sun- I mean Shimmer is here too.”

“Sure thing!” Pinkie said, and was seconded by a round of nods and agreements.

Twilight smiled and called her father’s number. “Dad, is mom with you?... Put me on speaker.” Her excited smile grew, and she could barely contain herself. “I won first place!” She squeaked.

The girls watched, very amusedly, how Twilight went on and on about her medal, the investment in her project, her enrollment in Everton, and how her future was brighter than ever before. She talked about how many doors have opened before her, how she felt more confident on herself than ever, and how she was going to innovate science in the future.

It was an endearing sight, watching Twilight rant like that at her parents. If Trixie had to guess, she’d say that they hadn’t said a single word since Twilight began speaking, letting their daughter let out all her excitement. She had to admit, she felt a little jealous for Twilight and her supportive family.

When Twilight finished her rant, she spent the following minutes telling them that she needed to return as per the judge’s request. Fortunately, it appeared that they were able to drive her there and back, and it only made her happier.

She hung up after a rather long round of goodbyes, then looked at her friends, who had amused smiles. “What?”

“Nothing, darling. We’re just happy for you,” Rarity answered. “It appears that your parents will accompany you tomorrow.”

“Yes. But if you still want to come…”

“As much as I’d love to,” Trixie said. “I think I had enough of this place.”

“Y’all don’t hafta be so rude ‘bout it,” Applejack said with a scowl.

Trixie shrugged. “Whatever.”

“It’s ok,” Twilight said. “I only wanted you to be here today. At least you could see other projects and stuff. But tomorrow will be rather boring. So don’t worry.”

“Either way,” Pinkie intervened. “You deserve a party! And if I’m not mistaken, I can gather everyone at Sugarcube Corner by the time we return! We gotta celebrate!”

Twilight chuckled. “Well, I don’t think it can hurt, as long as I don’t stay up too late. You know Everton isn’t exactly fifteen minutes from Canterlot.”

“Considering that the drive here was five hours, and the time we take packing up your project, we may be arriving at Canterlot at about ten o’clock, at best,” Rarity said.

Twilight blew out some air. “That is pretty late…”

“Don’t worry Twi-Twi!” Pinkie said. “We can throw your party any other day!” She closed the distance between them and placed her hand next to her mouth, as if trying to tell her a secret. “We can even skip school for you!”

Twilight giggled. “We’ll see. For now, let’s just pack everything up, and return to Canterlot.” The girls agreed and went to work.

By the time they finished placing everything into cardboard boxes, most of the building was already empty, save for some security guards, janitors, and the occasional mopping student.

They reached the parking lot where Applejack’s truck was, and loaded the boxes on the back. It was about five o’clock, but it felt like the day had ended. Everyone was tired, and they only wanted to sleep all the way back to Canterlot, but they decided against it, since it would be unfair for Applejack, who would be driving, and thus unable to nap too.

When the last box was secured, Pinkie was ready to call shotgun, but something caught her attention. “Girls, Shimmer’s coming this way.”

They all turned really fast in the direction Pinkie was facing.

It was true. Shimmer was walking towards them, looking really pissed off. And she wasn’t alone, she was being closely followed by her three friends. It only then dawned on Trixie that she hadn’t seen much of those three until then.

The girl to Shimmer’s right had pale yellow skin and a massive amount of puffy orange hair, then, a blue skinned girl with blue hair tied up in a ponytail, and to Shimmer’s left was a light purple girl with purple hair tied up in pigtails. They all were wearing the same uniform.

Immediately after spotting them, the girls circled around Twilight, as if forming a shield.

Unfortunately, Trixie was left right in front of said shield. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to protect Twilight, but the girl that looked exactly like her girlfriend was marching right towards her with a murderous glare.

Trixie swallowed, put on her best challenging frown, and crossed her arms. When Shimmer was at hearing distance, she spoke up. “Hey! Did you come to whine like a sore loser?”

“I don’t think you should mock her,” Twilight whimpered.

Trixie acknowledged the warning with a nod. “Don’t try to do anything stupid, Shimmer! Or else we’ll call the police!”

But Shimmer ignored her, and kept getting closer. Her friends were doing their best to look menacing and confident, but with every step, they started to look more and more insecure and confused.

Not only them, Trixie was also feeling a lot more nervous. When Shimmer was only two meters away, Trixie leaned back, and made one last effort to dissuade her.

“I’m warning you!”

Or at least, that’s what she tried to say.

Suddenly, Shimmer pounced forward, effectively closing the distance between them.

Trixie felt a tug, but she paid it no mind, as Shimmer’s eyes were a mere inch from hers, pouring hatred and disgust. Trixie couldn’t mutter a word, she was paralyzed by fear alone. Only a second later, Shimmer stepped back, pushing Trixie away. That’s when she noticed an intense heat in her stomach. She stumbled against Applejack’s truck and looked down.

Shimmer was holding a bloody pocket knife.

I was stabbed, Trixie thought as she took her hand to her burning stomach, feeling a sticky moisture. Sunset stabbed me… She felt the strength in her legs fading away, but before she fell, Twilight, who was right next to her, grabbed her by the arms and carefully helped her down.

That’s when she heard a thud, and a clank. She looked up, and saw Shimmer, pinned to the ground by Applejack, who was also twisting back her left arm.

“Unhand me, you disgusting hick!” Shimmer yelled, struggling in a futile attempt to free herself from Applejack’s grip. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with!”

Applejack gave a quick, painful twist to Shimmer’s arm, earning a scream in response. “Shut up!”

Meanwhile, despite the situation, Twilight had reacted quite fast. After helping Trixie sit down against the truck, she took a pack of handkerchiefs from her pocket, and pressed all of them against Trixie’s stomach.

“A-Alright, everything’s going to be fine,” Twilight said, although it was hard to tell if it was to calm Trixie, or herself. “We need an ambulance.” She looked up to Rarity, who was staring in horror at Trixie. “Rarity! Call an ambulance, now!” Rarity flinched, blinked, and nodded, taking out her phone. “Now, the police.” She turned to Pinkie, who had a blank stare. “Pinkie, I need you to go get a security guard, stat!” Pinkie nodded and ran away. With that taken care of, Twilight turned to Shimmer’s friends, who also were frozen in place, sporting horrified expressions.

“You three!” She said, and the girls looked at her. “What’s wrong with you?!”

The girls stepped back, but the yellow one decided to answer. “We didn’t know she’d do this! I swear!”

“If that’s true,” Twilight said, frowning. “Then you’ll stay here and wait for the police to tell them what happened.”

The girls were going to reply, but Shimmer beat them to it.

“Like that’ll help! I can buy my way out of this!” Shimmer yelled, doing her best to look at her companions. “If you even think of testifying against me, your lives are the ones that will be ruined!” She then turned to look directly at Twilight. “And I swear I’ll make you pay!”

Not wanting to hear more of her, Applejack grabbed the back of Shimmer’s head and smacked it against the floor, breaking her nose with the impact. “Ah said shut up!”

“It doesn’t matter how much money you have,” Twilight said. “You seem to have overlooked the fact that there are security cameras everywhere, and that your fingerprints are on the knife.” She looked at Shimmer’s companions. “You either do the right thing, or go to prison with her.” She sighed and turned to Shimmer again. “Even if you manage to buy a small sentence, it still will ruin whatever reputation you might have had, or might achieve in the future… What were you thinking?”

Instead of replying, Shimmer just screamed furiously, still trying, and failing, to break free. Her face was covered with dirt and blood, and as seconds passed, tears of impotence.

Twilight then decided to ignore Shimmer, and concentrate on her wounded friend. Trixie was pale, and looking blankly at the floor.

“Hey, Trixie,” Twilight said, barely getting Trixie’s attention. “I-I need you to tell me what you’re feeling, can you do that?”

Trixie opened her mouth for a few silent seconds before finding her voice again. “It... burns…”

“Ok, t-that’s a normal response…” Twilight said, giving Trixie a weak smile. “Y-You know, your wound is not that bad. I-I mean, not that it’s not bad, but for what I saw, your guts are still inside you, which is totally a good sign.” She said quickly. “B-But I’m no medic, I mean, I know a thing or two about first aid, but I can’t tell how deep the wound actually is, or if it damaged any vital organ…” Her eyes widened. “N-Not that that’s the case! I certainly hope not! B-But even so, we have to stop the bleeding. That’s already taken care of… more or less, but we still need professional help, right?!”

Trixie managed to place a hand upon Twilight’s, effectively silencing her rant. She forced a chuckle and looked up at Twilight. Suddenly, the rest of the world seemed to dim around Twilight.

“You’re a nerd,” Trixie managed to say before her vision blacked out completely.

And she fainted.

Author's Notes:

Did I just...

24. Cut the Deck

Chapter 24. Cut the Deck

Sunset sat alone, quietly inspecting a bloodstained deck of cards. Trixie had told her once that keeping her hands busy helped her when she was nervous. It wasn't doing much for Sunset though. It just helped remind her of how Trixie had always been there for her, but when Trixie needed her, she hadn't even been in the same state.

She sighed as her thumb brushed one side of the deck, feeling the cut along all the cards. She had just gotten home after working at the emporium last night when Rarity had called her. Her heart felt like it was being crushed the moment she learned what had happened to Trixie.

Rarity had been adamantly refusing to say who had stabbed Trixie, but Sunset had been just a few seconds from smashing her brand new cellphone against a wall, so Rarity complied.

The information didn’t sit well with Sunset, and she just let herself fall in her couch, dropping her phone to the floor and ignoring whatever Rarity kept saying. Of all the times her crazy doppelganger had to show up, it just had to be when she wasn’t around, and she just had to hurt her girlfriend.

It was unfair.

By the time Sunset had assimilated it, Rarity had hung up, but was actively calling her again. Part of Sunset wanted to just go to sleep and hope it was a dream, but the more rational part of her brain told her to get a hold of herself. So she picked up the phone and asked Rarity to tell her where was Trixie.

Rarity didn’t hesitate this time, and she told her that Trixie had been taken to the nearest hospital from Everton. Sunset hung up immediately and ran to the nearest bus stop. But, when she was just getting there, Rarity called her again, telling her that Trixie was being transported to Golden Oak Hospital Center, the biggest private hospital in Canterlot.

From there, Sunset ignored any advice or suggestions Rarity had for her, and went straight to the hospital.

Unfortunately for her, not only was Trixie still not there, making her wait for two slow, agonizing hours, only to be told that she could not visit Trixie until she was stable. And thus, Sunset spent the night in the waiting room.

The next day, Rarity arrived with a few plastic bags. Most of them had food, knowing full well that Sunset hadn’t eaten anything, and some toiletries, for which Sunset was very thankful. And in one last bag, there was an even smaller, pitch black bag. This one contained a bloodstained deck of cards.

Before Sunset could even ask, Rarity explained that Trixie’s father had urged Everton’s hospital to transport his daughter to the one in Canterlot once it was safe, and because of the natural chaos of a hospital, her clothes were left behind. Thankfully, Rarity had stayed, so she retrieved the clothes, deciding to try and repair Trixie’s hoodie, and finding the deck in the process.

And now, after Rarity had excused herself for a moment, Sunset sat alone in the waiting room in utter silence. She knew nothing about Trixie’s status; the nurses wouldn’t tell her anything, and she still wasn’t allowed to visit Trixie, so the only thing she could do was wait. And every second of it felt like a merciless eternity.

To say she was worried would be the biggest understatement of the century. Yes, Rarity had said that, according to Twilight, the probability that Trixie’s wound was lethal was minimal, maybe just ten percent. Sadly, that did nothing to ease Sunset’s mind. She was a logical person, and she knew that, no matter how low, a probability always meant that, in fact, there was a chance. And, thanks to recent events, Sunset wasn’t feeling very optimistic.

She sighed, her fingertips were feeling rough for all the fiddling with the deck. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to have anything bloody in a hospital’s waiting room, but Sunset was, metaphorically speaking, holding on to it as an attempt to keep herself from violently bursting into Trixie’s room to see whether she was alright or not.

“I see you haven’t eaten anything,” Rarity said as she approached Sunset, eyeing the plastic bags, still full of various pastries and beverages.

“I’m not hungry,” Sunset replied without looking at her.

Rarity sat down, blowing out some air. “She’s not in intensive care, Sunset. She’ll be fine.”

Sunset closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I’m not only worried about Trixie… I just… I can’t… No, I don’t want to believe that my human version would try to…” Her lips trembled as she struggled with the next word. “To… Kill someone…”

“But, you knew she had done something similar to Twilight.”

“I know…” Sunset sighed. “And trust me, it took me awhile to come to terms that she’s not me, and that I’d never do what she did… And I managed to forget about it…” She shook her head for a moment. “But now, the very first day she reappears, she stabbed Trixie, and if it weren’t for Applejack, she’d have attacked Twilight, and quite possibly Pinkie and you too!” She opened her eyes, feeling tears forming at the corners, and looked at Rarity. “I’m afraid that Trixie might hate me…”

Rarity smiled and placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “I know she won’t. She can easily keep you two apart.”

Sunset looked away and sighed. “I hope you’re right…”

“I believe it would do good to you to change the subject,” Rarity said. She grabbed a pack of chocolate cookies from the bag and offered it to Sunset. “And while we talk, you eat something, or I’ll tell the girls.” With a groan, Sunset agreed. Satisfied, Rarity decided to start the conversation again. “So, Trixie told us that you had to work. How did that go?”

Sunset had opened the pack and given a very small bite to a cookie. “I had to rewrite some documents. It took me all day, but I managed.” She gave another nibble at her cookie.

“I… see…” Rarity said. It was difficult enough to engage Sunset in a conversation, even more so now that she couldn’t think of anything besides Trixie.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to search for more topics, as a nurse was getting closer with the obvious intention to speak with Sunset.

“Miss Shimmer?” the nurse asked. When Sunset snapped up her neck to look at her, she smiled. “I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark. Trixie’s father wanted her to only be visited by the hospital staff until she was in condition to receive guests.”

Sunset stood up immediately, getting at an uncomfortable close distance from the nurse. “Is she alright? Can I go see her now?”

“Yes,” the nurse answered as she stepped back. “You may see her, but first, I must ask you to not be so… energetic… for now. Trixie is tired, and if you don’t behave, you could slow down her recovery.”

Sunset’s breath caught up in her throat. She frowned and crossed her arms. “Well, maybe if you had told me a damn thing about her, I wouldn’t have been on edge for, how long? Oh, yes, twelve hours straight!” She snorted, feeling a small tingle of guilt, but paying it no mind. “I know how to be around sick people, thank you very much.”

The nurse didn’t seem very satisfied with the reaction, if her raised eyebrow was any indication. However, she gave a sigh of defeat. “Room 304. You have only one hour today,” she said, then made a face. “And sorry about that, the hospital’s policy only allow us to discuss the patient's’ health with the family.”

“Thank you,” Sunset said before she made her way to Trixie’s room. Mindful of the fact she couldn’t run in a hospital, she managed to keep herself from breaking into a full on sprint, but she was only barely below that speed limit.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, her legs were shaking like crazy, and her breathing was hot and heavy. She had wanted to see Trixie for over twelve hours, she even slept in the hospital, but now she was beginning to doubt if she really wanted to see her now. For a moment, she wondered if she was prepared.

She didn’t have enough time to ponder, though, as she suddenly found herself at Trixie’s door. She took a very long, deep breath to calm herself, and entered.

As she opened the door, her eyes immediately fell upon Trixie. She was sitting up, dressed in a very ugly green hospital gown, with a plastic tube attached to her left arm, and holding the T.V. controller with her right hand. Her bored expression turned into one of happiness and relief when she noticed Sunset.

Right then, Sunset felt a weight disappear from her shoulders, and her heart slowed down at a comfortable rate again.

“Hello there,” Trixie said. “I was beginning to think they’d never let you visit me.” She then noticed Sunset’s weird expression, and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“N-Nothing,” Sunset answered. She closed the door behind her and approached Trixie. “I’m glad to know you’re fine... “ She put her hand upon Trixie’s and smiled.

Trixie squeezed Sunset’s hand. “As if The Great and Powerful Trixie would go down at the hands of one crazy fan!” That earned her a snicker from Sunset. “But I’m glad you’re finally here…”

Sunset took the hint, and she leaned closer, giving Trixie the most tender kiss she was capable of. After a few seconds, she leaned back and smirked. “Peppermint? I thought you preferred strawberry.”

Trixie rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “When I woke up, I had an incredibly terrible breath. Heck, it even made myself gag! I asked my dad to bring me some gum, but he took the first thing he found.” She sighed dramatically. “Alas, we’ll have to stick to peppermint for the time being.”

After another chuckle, Sunset gave Trixie another kiss. “I certainly don’t mind the change…” She looked down at Trixie’s torso. The green blanket, and her own gown perfectly covered Trixie’s torso. Sunset couldn’t ignore her curiosity any longer. “So… How are you feeling?”

Trixie tried, and failed, to hide the pain in her eyes as she looked down at her torso. “Just breathing hurts… And when I move, it feels like I’m being stabbed all over again…” She frowned for a moment, then looked up at Sunset and smiled. “The doctor says that the pain will gradually disappear in a week or two.”

“I see...” Sunset said. “I take it the wound wasn’t that bad after all?”

“Fortunately,” Trixie answered. “If I understood the doctor, and I think I did, I was very lucky that I happened to have a deck of cards in my hoodie’s pocket. Apparently, it was like a barrier, or something, and prevented the knife from going deep enough to reach a vital point”

“Speaking of…” Sunset took the deck from her pocket and showed it to Trixie. “Rarity took it from your hoodie. I must admit that fiddling with it helped me with my anxiety.”

Trixie smirked. “A little creepy, if you ask me, but I’ll let it slide.” Her smile disappeared and she pushed the deck away. “Keep it. I don’t want that to remind me of what happened. I’ll have a scar to do that.” When Sunset hesitated, Trixie smiled weakly. “Who knows? Maybe it’ll protect you too.”

Sunset snorted. “Damn, that’s so cheesy.”

“Oh, shut up.”

In that moment, the door opened up, and Sunset felt the urge to hide the deck of cards, just in case, into her pocket. A man stepped inside, dressed with a tidy black suit, white shirt, and purple tie. His skin was a light blue, his eyes amber, and his silver hair was neatly drawn backwards. Sunset also noticed that he was quite tall, even for a man, and his gaze was hard and piercing, but not to the point of being uncomfortable, rather, it projected authority and respect.

Upon entering, his eyes quickly fell upon Sunset, silently observing her as if she was some kind of criminal.

Fortunately, Trixie broke the silence. “Hey, Dad,” she said. The man took his time to shift his gaze towards her. “This is Sunset, I told you about her.”

“Of course,” he answered. His voice was deep and a little raspy. He looked at Sunset again. “The similitud is outstanding.” He cleared his throat and approached Sunset, stretching his hand. “My name is Straight Totamoon. It’s a pleasure to finally meet Trixie’s best friend.”

Sunset felt her stomach fall a little, but she hid it with a smile and stretched his hand. “Yes, I’m Trixie’s friend, Sunset Shimmer.” She did her best not to stretch that one word too much.

Straight nodded, then looked at Trixie. “I spoke to the doctor. You’ll only be here for a few days, until the wound closes. Then you’ll be on bed rest for a week, more or less, depending on your recovery. Then you’ll be able to return to school. And don’t worry, I’ll call them to tell them what happened.”

Trixie groaned a little. “Alright.”

“I have to go now,” Straight said. “There’s a woman I intent to throw the book at.”

Sunset felt a freezing breeze through her spine, and she couldn’t help herself to ask. “You’re talking about the girl that stabbed Trixie, right?”

Straight turned to Sunset. His expression still serious and hard. “Don’t worry, Sunset. Trixie was very insistent in having me know the whole situation.”

That eased worries Sunset didn’t even know she had.

“Wait a moment,” Trixie said. “Twilight said there were cameras and fingerprints… Shouldn’t she already be in prison without the need of a trial?”

“It’s more complicated than that, Trixie. If you’d just read the books I give you, you’d know,” Straight reprimanded with a slight frown. “But, to answer your question, Sunset Shimmer, the other one, or more precisely, her family, is affluent. They will do everything they can to prevent her from going to prison.” He chuckled, and Sunset felt uneasy with the way his smile twisted to the side. “How naïve of them, thinking that money can get them out of any situation. Sadly, for them, they will only be able to hire the country’s second best lawyer. It is most unfortunate that they are going against the best.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I have to go. See you later, ladies.”

“Bye, dad.”

Once Straight left the room, Sunset turned to Trixie. “Now I know where did you get your ego from.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Well, he’s not exactly lying. He knows a lot of people, and many of them owe him favors.” She smiled. “And I know he’ll use those favors to send your doppelganger to the worst prison possible.”

“Well, now I’m afraid of your father, too,” Sunset said. “I don’t want to know what he’ll do to me when he learns that not only am I dating his very gay daughter, but that I’m also an illegal immigrant.”

Trixie erupted in laughter at the comment, only to moan in pain a short moment later. When she calmed herself again, she looked up at Sunset and smiled. “Well, then, I can give you my books so that you know how to defend yourself.”

“Good idea,” Sunset replied with a smile. She then trailed her fingers through Trixie’s hand and to her arm. “You know, I was thinking…”

“A dangerous habit,” Trixie retorted with a smirk.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “You say it hurts, even when you breath, right?” Trixie nodded. “Well…” Her fingers softly drummed along Trixie’s arm. “What if I kiss your booboo away?”

“Good luck with that. I’m bandaged,” Trixie pointed out.

That only made Sunset grin deviously. “In that case, I can just kiss lower… Until you start feeling better…”

Trixie rolled her eyes, attempting to belittle Sunset’s comment, but her blush gave her away quite fast. “I’m just going to ignore you.”

Sunset snickered. “You’re no fun.” She stopped drumming her fingers when they reached Trixie’s shoulder, and gently squeezed. “Anyway, I was wondering… Your dad said his name is Straight Totamoon, right?” Trixie nodded. “Call me weird if you want, but I kind of expected you two to have and share the same family name.”

Closing her eyes, Trixie sighed heavily. “I knew this moment would come…It’s such a pain to explain.” She opened her eyes and looked up at Sunset with a frown. “We don’t have a family name, we have a family naming tradition.”

“I see,” Sunset replied. “What is it about, exactly?”

“Well, basically, there are two rules to follow,” Trixie said, somehow managing to get a redder blush. “One, the word “moon” must always be in the second name, and two…” She looked away. “The whole name must be some kind of pun, or have a meaning.”

“So, if your father is Straight and Totamoon, it’s… Straight to the moon?” When Trixie nodded, Sunset snorted, miserably failing to hold back her laughter. “So, what about yours?”

Trixie sighed in defeat. “Trick a lull to the moon,” she muttered.

Sunset erupted in laughter. “Aww that’s so awowable!”

“It’s not adorable!” Trixie retorted while Sunset laughed. “It’s a hundred years old family tradition!”

“That doesn’t make it any less adorable, and you know it,” Sunset said as she finished laughing.

Trixie clicked her tongue. “Shouldn’t’ve told you anything.”

“Oh, come on!” Sunset said, leaning over until their cheeks met. “What’s the point of having a cute name if your girlfriend can’t make fun of it?” She began brushing their cheeks together.

“You’re always- What are you doing?”

Sunset froze as her eyes widened. “Uh… nothing…”

Trixie flashed a devious smile. “Are you nuzzling me?”

“... No…”

Trixie snickered and circled Sunset’s head with an arm. “Who knew you’d be a cuddler?” She asked, nuzzling Sunset back. “Melikes.”

“I’m not a cuddler!” Sunset said, trying to pull herself from Trixie’s grip, but failing miserably, as she was actively avoiding to move Trixie too much as to not hurt her.

“Is that so?” Trixie asked, still smiling. “Then, is it a pony thing?” Sunset immediately froze, and Trixie’s grin only grew. “It is, isn’t it?”

Sunset sighed and closed her eyes. “Nuzzling is to ponies what patting is for humans…” She blushed. “It’s… A simple show of affection between friends.”

“And lovers,” Trixie finished.

Sunset turned her head just enough to look at Trixie’s face. “You think you can just make fun of me and not expect vengeance?”

Instead of widening her eyes in horror, like Sunset expected, Trixie only smirked.

“You know, Sunny, I can still pick your costume for Halloween…” She smirked and gave Sunset a quick peck on the cheek. “I’m still debating whether to pick the sluttiest costume, or the most laughable… Hmm, choices, choices…”

“But… What’s the point? You’ll be in your house by halloween.”

“Oh, yes, that’s true,” Trixie confirmed. “But I’ll feel great satisfaction knowing that you’ll be out there, strutting your stuff around and about in whatever I pick for you.” She flashed her teeth, and her eyes seemed to glimmer. “And before I forget. Now that you’ve been properly introduced to my dad, you can now drop by my place, since I’m calling dibs on half the candy you manage to get.”

Sunset swallowed. “H-Hey, that’s just plain evil.”

Trixie caressed Sunset’s cheek, then playfully pinched some skin with her fingertips, and pulled. “That’s what you get for teasing me all the time.”

“Someone knows how to hold a grudge.”

“Just when the revenge will be so sweet,” Trixie said. “I can’t wait to see my parents’ expressions when they see you in a naughty costume.”

Sunset groaned. She supposed she should please Trixie, after everything she’d been through. With a sigh, she hung her head in defeat.

Halloween was going to be a long day.

Author's Notes:

You didn't really think I'd kill Trixie, did you?

25. Treating Trixie

Chapter 25. Treating Trixie

Golden Oak Hospital was the best private hospital in Canterlot. It had the best doctors and nurses, the best customer service, the best equipment, and the best facilities. It was Canterlot’s best hospital, and second of the whole country.

That suited Sunset just fine, because there was a very comfortable sofa in Trixie’s room, and along with the bed, it was placed right in front of the plasma T.V. that hung from the wall.

The one bad thing about Golden Oak, was that while they had the best facilities and equipment, they completely neglected the T.V. service. There were very few channels, and all of them were boring too. Sunset had been changing channels for an hour straight, looping through the same ones over and over.

“If you’re bored, go home,” Trixie said. “Or go to work… Don’t the brothers need you, or something?”

Sunset sighed, letting her arm which she used to hold the remote fall on the sofa. “Nah, I told them what happened, and that I’d be with you till you get out of the hospital. They agreed without a second thought.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Really now?”

“Well…” Sunset lifted her shoulders. “I may have made them feel a little bit guilty… But honestly, if they hadn’t lost the documents, I would’ve come with you, and my bitchy doppelganger wouldn’t have hurt you.”

“Which makes me wonder what would’ve happened if you two had met.”

Sunset shrugged. “We probably would’ve furiously made out in the middle of the fair.”

Trixie rolled her eyes, but started entertaining the thought.

“And,” Sunset continued, “I was going to go home, but after seeing how laughable this T.V. service is, I couldn’t just leave you alone to die of boredom.” She changed the channel. “I mean, I don’t have a T.V. in my house, and I have better entertaining means than this so-called prestigious hospital. “She changed the channel again. “Can’t they spend a few more bucks for…” She suddenly became silent.

Trixie looked at Sunset for a moment, and then at the T.V. It was a sports channel, one that have been showing a tennis match for the past two hours, or at least that’s what Trixie gathered, since Sunset changed channel within two seconds. But now, the match had ended, and in its place, there was what looked like a motocross competition, if the irregular, brown field and the distinctive bikes were any indication.

“I didn’t know you liked motocross,” Trixie said.

Sunset hummed. “I don’t know yet, myself. What is it about? A race of some kind?”

“Yes,” Trixie answered with a shrug. “But I don’t know anything besides that.”

“Mhm, I think I’ll watch it and decide.”

“Suit yourself,” Trixie said, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. “By the way, I was thinking about your Halloween costume…”

Sunset groaned. “I can wear whatever you want, but do I really have to go out for candy?”

“Yes,” Trixie answered, nodding. “I want you to use something sexy, you can pick whatever you want, I bet Rarity will help you.”

Sunset slumped back on the sofa. “I will get my revenge. I’m just warning you.”

Trixie shrugged. “And now that that’s decided, I want to have a sleepover with you girls.”

“Really now?”

“I already asked my parents, and they said yes,” Trixie continued. “My bedroom is big enough to fit the eight of us, if you use sleeping bags.”

Sunset sighed. “I’ll tell the girls.”

“No need, I already sent messages to them,” Trixie said with a grin, showing Sunset her cellphone. “Four out of six have agreed. Only Applejack and the yellow one are yet to confirm.”

“Since when you have your phone?” Sunset asked.

“Since yesterday,” Trixie answered simply. “I knew the hospital’s T.V. service is awful, so I asked my mom to give it to me.”

Sunset huffed. “Well, ok then. You play with your phone, I’ll watch this motocross thing in the meantime.”

“Sure thing, Sunny.”

“It was sarcasm.”

“I know,” Trixie said, turning her attention back to her phone.

Trixie was allowed to go home in the morning, and her parents had immediately taken her home. Sunset went to her apartment to get a nice, hot shower, and called Rarity to visit her after school ended.

Of course, Rarity agreed, and Sunset now found herself sitting on a fancy red couch in the boutique while Rarity worked on some costumes.

“Honestly, Sunset, I’d love to make a Halloween costume for you,” Rarity said as her hands sewed with practiced ease two pieces of fabric together. “Your shape is really enviable, and I rarely have the chance to make clothes for girls like you.”

Sunset snickered. “Maybe for another occasion. I already picked my costume, as per Trixie’s request.”

“Oh? I kind of assumed… Given you’re here and all. Why did you want to meet then?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I thought friends could visit each other without ulterior motives. Or are you saying that you and your friends only see each other when you need favors?” Rarity frowned, and Sunset laughed. “Hey, I’m kidding, no need to dig holes in my head.”

Rarity stared for a few seconds, and resumed her work. “Returning to the subject, what are you going to go as?”

“That’s a secret,” Sunset answered simply.

Rarity huffed. “Rainbow wants to be a zombie, and said she’ll just tear some old clothes. Pinkie always goes as Glinda. Always. And dear Twilight said she’ll use a labcoat and say she’s a mad scientist.” She sighed. “Only Applejack and Fluttershy accepted my help with their costumes.”

“What are they going to be?”

“Applejack will be a vampire, and Fluttershy wants to be a bear.”

“A bear?”

“A non-scary, huggable and with a full-face mask on bear,” Rarity confirmed.

Sunset chuckled. “That’s strangely fitting.”

“You tell me,” Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. “Fluttershy always brings animals to whatever she does. Don’t get me wrong, I find it cute. But it gets so predictable…” She held the fabrics in front of her for a moment before working on them again. “I love the girls, but it’s hard to experiment with different styles when they all pick the same things over and over again. That’s why I wanted to do something for you and Trixie.”

Sunset slumped back on the couch. “Trixie said she wanted to be a mummy, but she won’t be able to leave her house, so I don’t think she’ll even dress up.”

“And to make it worse,” Rarity continued. “We go to college next year. I don’t think we’ll be able to gather as much by then. We all will study different things, and I think only Fluttershy and Pinkie will go to the same college. And don’t get me started with you and Trixie.”

“Yeah, if things go as planned, Trixie will already have debuted in big scenarios, probably even on T.V.”

Rarity made a face, dropping her hands on her lap and looking at Sunset. “I sometimes wonder if our friendship will survive after high school…”

Sunset shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Even if you just gather once a year, you should still be best friends. Only immature people think that distance destroys friendships.”

“We,” Rarity said. “You are a part of our group.”

“Whatever.”

“And Trixie too, of course,” Rarity added. “It’s funny, though. I never thought we’d be friends with her. Not that she’s a bad girl, mind you, but she was kind of like you, driving everyone away by pretending to be so self-centered and obnoxious.”

Sunset looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I thought so, too. Imagine my surprise when she started hitting on me.” She snickered.

“I do think you two are doing so much good to each other,” Rarity said. “It would’ve been a lot harder to help you trust us without her, and she’d still be searching for a way to begin her magic career.”

Sunset sighed heavily. “The other day, at the mall, I only half joked… I seriously don’t know what I would’ve done without her, after… you know…”

“Yes,” Rarity answered with a nod. “I think you’ll be happy to know that Lyra was expelled, after all.”

“No kidding?” Sunset said, and Rarity nodded again. “Well, I don’t really know how to feel about it. And… I don’t want to think about it.”

“That’s understandable,” Rarity agreed. “Anyway, I better hurry with these costumes. I will make Applejack and Fluttershy look so good, the others will ask me to make more clothes for them!”

Sunset only laughed.

The rest of the week went by in a blink.

Sunset returned to her work at the emporium in the mornings, and visited Rarity in the afternoons.

She had wanted to visit Trixie, maybe even with the excuse to bring her homework, but not only did Pinkie email her everything, but Trixie herself told her to go until Halloween, since she wanted to have some rest and get everything ready for the sleepover. That, and Trixie wanted to see their parents’ reaction at Sunset’s costume.

Too bad Sunset had something different in mind.

And now, the dreaded Halloween had come. Sunset had a few hours to prepare before meeting the girls at Sugarcube Corner at seven to start with their candy hunt. She had to buy a few things, but she knew it would be worth the effort at the end of the day.

It was a quarter to seven, and Sunset arrived at Sugarcube Corner, quickly spotting the group of girls waiting for her. She really didn’t want to go out for candy, but she reckoned that it was a small price to pay for what she had in store for Trixie.

“Hey girls,” Sunset said as she approached them.

“Hello, Sun-What are you wearing?!” Rarity screamed.

“My costume, obviously,” Sunset answered amusedly. She had decided to grab a blanket, cut two holes in it, and put it on, covering her whole body. “I’m a ghost.” She lifted her arms and made ghost noises, just to prove her point.

“I could have made you look like a real ghost!” Rarity said.

“Oh, come on, Rarity, give her a break,” Rainbow intervened. She had torn some of her father’s old clothes and stained them with dirt and red paint, trying to resemble a zombie. “I bet she put a lot of effort into it.”

“Laugh as much as you want, Speedy,” Sunset said. “I’m doing this for Trixie, not for you.”

“Aww that’s so sweet!” Pinkie said. She was wearing a very pink dress, a golden tiara, and a pink wand. Sunset failed to recognize where was it from. Pinkie then looked at what Sunset was carrying. “But, why do you have two candy buckets?”

Sunset made a face that was thankfully hidden beneath her costume. She held the one she had on her right hand. “This one has a set of spare clothes. Unlike you, I don’t want to return home still in disguise.”

“Aww where’s the fun in that?” Pinkie whined

Sunset rolled her eyes. She then turned to look at the rest of the girls.

Rarity was using a black dress, with a black cape, black heels, and a black pointy hat; she was a witch. Fluttershy was using a full bear suit that somehow looked stylish and cute. Applejack was using an antique suit, a black cape, and fake fangs for her vampire costume. And finally, Twilight had put on a lab coat upon her normal attire, and claimed to be a mad scientist.

Sunset felt self-aware of the ridiculousness of her own attire all of a sudden, but paid it no mind. She wanted to watch Trixie’s reaction, and it was going to be so worth it.

And so, with Sunset’s arrival, the gang began their tour through the city. Pinkie had brought a hand drawn map that started at Sugarcube Corner and ended at Trixie’s house, passing through what she called “the best candy gathering places” in Canterlot.

The streets were filled with disguised children running around, some in groups, some accompanied by their parents. Laughter and chants to either get candy or get pranked reminded Sunset of a very similar holiday back in Equestria, and made her reminisce of all those wasted years, locked away from what she considered nonsense.

And now, here she was, most likely the oldest person to ever go around asking for candy like a nine year old. She wondered if the girls were aware of her real age, and if not, how would they react?

What would Trixie say?

She supposed it was a matter to discuss later, as she approached the first door to get candy. She let her friends do the chanting while she just held her empty bucket.

“Aren’tcha girls a little old for this?” The old woman asked while dropping a piece of candy into each bucket.

“You’re never too old for candy!” Pinkie answered happily.

The old woman chuckled. “You won’t be saying that when you lose all your teeth.”

Half the rest of people they visited said something similar, and Pinkie answered the very same thing. The other half only rolled their eyes. But all of the houses they visited gave them candy. By the time they reached the last house, Sunset’s bucket was full of multicolored candy, lollipops, chocolates, and more.

“I’ll say this year was really good,” Rarity said as they walked away from the last house. “I wish we could’ve done it last year, too.”

Rarity was about to apologize to Sunset for the comment, but Sunset spoke up before she had the chance. “I think I did you a favor. A bunch of grown up girls asking for candy? Did you even notice how everyone looked at us? I’m glad no one recognized me.”

“If you don’t like it, then why did you agree to this?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset shrugged. “I guess I wanted to experience this thing at least once. I always ignored it back in Equestria, and let’s say I didn’t want to miss it this one time.”

“You have Halloween in Equestria?” Twilight asked.

“Well, it’s a very similar holiday, but its background is different, and we celebrate it during the winter solstice, when the night is longer.”

“That’s on December, right?” Twilight inquired further. “Pretty near Christmas here, what about it?”

“Well-”

“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie interrupted them. “You totally gotta wait and tell those stories when we get to Trixie’s!”

Sunset rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “Alright.”

They walked up through Canterlot towards the nicest part. As the sun hid in the horizon, and the street light began to turn on, the streets changed too, going from asphalt to cobblestone. The houses were suddenly bigger, with larger gardens and more space between them. Kids still walked around asking for candy, but Sunset noticed that their costumes were a lot better, probably a lot more expensive, too.

The girls couldn’t avoid talking about it, commenting on how nice everything looked.

Sunset recognized a little bit, since she had crossed all the way of the biggest avenue to the Rich mansion. This time, however, Pinkie, who was the one leading the group, did a turn halfway there, navigating through the ample streets until they reached a private. The houses here were a little bit bigger, but they weren’t mansions at all.

A few more minutes of walking later, Pinkie stopped in front of a three story high sky blue house with white corners. Next to it, there was a garage big enough to fit at least two cars. The front lawn was really beautiful, with perfectly well kept rose bushes. It didn’t have a fence, only a single, curvy cobblestone path from the sidewalk to the front door, which was a very fancy wooden door with a blurry window in the middle.

“This is Trixie’s house?” Rainbow asked. “It’s huge!”

“Ah reckon Ah didn’t expect this,” Applejack agreed. “Ah knew her family has money, but this is another level…”

“I think we should get moving before people start thinking we want trouble,” Twilight suggested.

“Good idea,” Rarity answered with a nod and walked towards the entrance, being closely followed by the rest of the girls. She reached the doorbell and waited.

The door opened moments after, revealing a middle aged woman with blue skin, the same shade as Trixie’s, her long emerald hair rested on her shoulders, and her eyes were soft and purple.

“Oh, I’m sorry, we’re out of candy,” the woman said.

“Ah, uh, we’re Trixie’s friends,” Rarity said. “My name is Rarity.”

The woman’s face lit up at that, and she finished opening the door. “Oh! You’re here! Please come in, come in!” She said as the girls walked inside. She closed the door behind them and guided them to the living room. “I’m Trixie’s mother, you can call me Selene. Make yourselves at home!”

The interior was elegant, yet simple. The white walls had wooden corners, and the floor was light brown tiles with rhomboid patterns. In the living room there were two stylish light gray couches and one armchair of the same color, all surrounding a single glass coffee table that was in front of a plasma T.V. that was upon a black entertainment unit. And the whole place was decorated with plans of various kinds.

“Thanks!” Pinkie said. “I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, shaking Selene’s hand.

“Ah’m Applejack,” Applejack said with a solemn nod. “These here are Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.” The named girls waved their hands.

“And I’m Sunset,” Sunset said, with a lot less decibels than usual.

Selene looked at her, and her smile hardened a little bit, but only Sunset seemed to notice. She blinked and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m still wrapping my head over what Trixie told us.”

Sunset gulped and couldn’t help but ask, “about how much I look like the one that hurt her, right?”

“Yes,” Selene asked, resting her face on her left hand. “You must feel really weird, knowing that there’s a sociopath out there that is your exact same image, and even has the same name! I would cover my face too, if I were you.” She smiled weakly. “But don’t worry, we know the truth, so you’re safe.”

“T-Thanks…”

“Anyway, I’ll tell Trixie you’re here, and then return to the kitchen. I can’t abandon the cookies in the oven, you see.”

“Wait,” Sunset said. “Can I go tell her? I, uh, I also gotta give her something she asked me for.”

Selene chuckled. “I can give it to her for you.”

“She asked me to give it personally,” she lied, closing the distance with Selene and lowering her voice to a whisper. “I think it’s a surprise for her dad.”

“Oh, alright then. I will go to the kitchen then,” Selene said. “Just go upstairs, second door to the right. It has her name written on it, so you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Sunset said before turning to her friends. “I’ll go get Trixie. You guys gonna be alright?”

“Just go already,” Rainbow said. “And take your time, I don’t want to see you two ki-”

Sunset immediately closed the distance between them, placing a hand on Rainbow’s mouth, effectively silencing her. She looked behind her, making sure that Selene was gone, and then at Rainbow again.

“I will tell you this just once, Speedy,” Sunset said in a low, threatening voice. “I normally don’t care about your teasing, but Trixie’s parents must not, for any reason, know about her relationship with me. If you say something about it in front of them, I swear I’ll tear your tongue apart with a pair of kitchen tongs, get it?” Rainbow’s response was a single nod. “Good.” Sunset stepped back and smiled. “Now, I’ll go for Trixie, you guys wait here!” And with that, she walked away.

After a long silence, Twilight spoke up. “Are we really sure this is the good Sunset?”

Sunset walked up the stairs, admiring the various frames that decorated the walls. They all were photos of Trixie’s family in various periods of time. There was one that caught Sunset’s attention the most; it was of a five year old Trixie, dressed with a really cute blue dress, her hair was short, and a few teeth were missing from her ear-to-ear smile. It was really cute, and Sunset made a mental note to take a photo of it with her phone later.

She got to the second floor of the house and quickly found Trixie’s bedroom door. There were a lot more portraits hanging from the walls, but she decided to ignore them for now. She got in front of Trixie’s door and knocked thrice. There was no answer, so Sunset grabbed the knob and moved it a little to make some noise, when she met silence again, she opened the door.

Trixie’s room was, indeed, quite big, probably the size of half of Sunset’s apartment. A single bed was placed in the middle of the farthest wall, covered with a navy blue quilt. The walls were a light purple with golden details. A single, white desk was placed at one side of the bed, while a drawer was at the other side, and a dresser with a big, oval mirror decorated the opposite wall. And finally, there was yet another door in the remaining wall.

It was empty, though, which Sunset found weird. “Trixie?” She called out instinctively.

“Sunset?” Trixie’s voice came from the door inside her room. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Alright,” Sunset said with a devious smile. It was her chance.

Sunset closed the door behind her, finding a lock in the knob and turning it. Then, she took her stupid ghost costume off and dropped it near the door. Finally free of that suffocating thing, Sunset walked up to Trixie’s bed and lied down on it. Then, she patiently waited.

Trixie opened the door of what looked like a small bathroom inside her room. She was using a set of light blue pajamas, and was using a towel to dry off her hair. “Sorry, I was taking a shower. I didn’t expect you this ear… ly…” She said, dropping her towel as she laid eyes on Sunset.

Sunset was using a very revealing set of red and black lingerie, and she had adopted a very seductive pose on Trixie’s bed. She grinned, staring at Trixie with bed eyes, and made small circles on the bed with a finger.

“Well, hello there, Trix,” Sunset said with a provocative voice. “You look like you’re recovering quite fast.”

Trixie, on her part, was gaping. Her face was frozen in what could only be described as a dumbfounded expression. She blinked slowly, and took her time to find her voice.

“What in the world are you wearing?”

Sunset faked a pout. “What? You said something sexy, and I don’t think there’s a sexier costume than…” she gestured to her own body with her hand. “... this.”

“I… You… But…” Trixie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I trust you brought a change of clothes… You have ten minutes to change into that.”

Sunset felt a knot in her stomach. “What?” She frowned a little, feeling confused. “Don’t you like it?”

“Just do it!” Trixie said and went back to her bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Sunset straightened up, staring confused at the closed door. As she took off the lingerie and donned the loose purple t-shirt, panties, and pair of jeans, she wondered what had she done wrong. Why had Trixie reacted like that? Had it been too much?

Once she was ready, Sunset saved the lingerie inside a pitch black plastic bag to ensure nobody found it. She sat down on the bed and took a deep breath.

“You can come out,” Sunset called, hearing her own voice cracking a little bit.

Trixie slowly opened the door, peeking for a moment before fully coming out. She had taken the time to brush her hair a little bit. Her frown was all Sunset needed to know that she wasn’t happy at all.

Sunset rested her hands on her lap and looked up at Trixie. “So… Are you ok?”

Trixie didn’t immediately answer, choosing to remain silent instead for a few seconds. She forced a steady breath for a moment. “No,” was her only answer.

Lowering her head a little, Sunset gulped. Trixie didn’t seem to want to speak, and as time passed, Sunset felt more uncomfortable. She looked around, finding the bucket of candy sitting nearby. She took it and showed it to Trixie.

“Here’s the candy, I don’t know much about it, but Pinkie says it’s good,” Sunset said with a forced, awkward smile.

“I’m sure…” Trixie began. “Sunset, I…” She looked away, hugging herself. “I’m sorry, I’m not ready…”

Sunset tilted her head a little. A thousand thoughts went through her mind, but only one word came out from her mouth. “What?”

Trixie’s frown became one of guilt. “I…” Her jaw stiffened a little as she worked some silent words. “I know that you’ve done it before, but… I-I’m not ready… I know you must be getting impatient, or mad, but…”

“Woah, wait, hold on a second,” Sunset interrupted her. “Trixie, you know I was only teasing you, right?” For a moment, Trixie didn’t answer, but her widened eyes was the only answer Sunset needed. “Trixie…” Sunset started with a weak, apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I think I went too far this time.” She breathed sharply. “You said I had to wear something sexy, but…” She sighed. “I’m sorry I made you think I wanted something else.”

Trixie blushed, but finally looked at Sunset. “You… You’re not mad?”

“No, why would I?” Sunset asked, offering a supportive smile. “I’m not a sex crazed teenager. I can wait.”

Closing her eyes for just a moment, Trixie sighed. She walked up to Sunset and sat down next to her. “Listen, I… I like you, a lot. I don’t know yet if I… you know, want to do it or not, yet… What I don’t want to happen, is that I start obsessing over you… You know it didn’t go well with my first girlfriend…”

Sunset smiled. “I see. I like you too, Trixie. And I’m sure I like you more than any other partner I’ve had…” She placed a hand on Trixie’s shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. “I’m curious, though. What do you look like being obsessed?”

Trixie looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s… embarrassing.”

“Oh, come on,” Sunset said. “My own girlfriend told me to cover up in the bedroom. I think we’re well past embarrassing at this point.”

“Shut up,” Trixie muttered. She took a deep breath and sighed. “I… I don’t want to admit it, but I was stupid crazy, and not the good kind. I took things way too far, to unhealthy levels…” She shook her head. “I don’t want it to happen again… I don’t want to hurt you…”

Sunset placed her hand upon Trixie’s and gently squeezed it. “Don’t worry, Trix. I’ll wait till you’re ready. And I’ll also try to be less, uh… provocative.”

Trixie smiled, and leaned in for a quick kiss. “Thank you.”

“Now, I think we should get going. Your mom might get suspicious if we take too long.”

“Agreed.”

Trixie stood up and made her way to the door, and that was when Sunset finally noticed that something was different on Trixie.

She wasn’t using heels.

“Hey, Trixie?” Sunset asked as she stood up. When Trixie turned around, Sunset looked around, faking a confused expression. “Where did you go?”

Trixie’s cheeks puffed as she blushed and frowned. “Shut up.”

Sunset laughed and closed the distance between them, trapping Trixie in a tight hug, resting her chin on top of Trixie’s head. “Oh, don’t be like that. You know I like me some tiny Trixie.”

Trixie groaned, but instead of trying to pull herself away, she circled her arms around Sunset.

They hugged in silence for a few seconds, and then made their way to the living room, where the girls were engaged in a very intense game of UNO. Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were silently staring at their cards, whilst Pinkie narrated every move of theirs as if she was the secondary character tasked with exposition in an animated series.

“Oh! The wild draw four!” Pinkie yelled when Rainbow made her move. “What color will she choose?!”

“Does it matter?” Rainbow asked. “Rarity will have to draw four cards, anyway.”

“You don’t know that,” Rarity said. “I may be able to do something. That’s why you have to say a color.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Alright. Red.”

Rarity grinned, and she placed a red draw two card.

“Incredible! Rarity managed to avoid Rainbow’s trap, and now is making Applejack draw six cards!” Pinkie narrated. “Will Applejack be able to save her hand?!”

“Hey!” Trixie interrupted them. “How dare you have fun in Trixie’s house without Trixie?!”

Rainbow looked up at her with a frown. “You two were taking too long! We got bored!”

“Don’t worry, Trixie!” Pinkie said. “We just started, so you two can join!”

“Do we even have enough cards?” Twilight asked. “The deck is too thin as it is.”

Pinkie’s smile widened. “I got you covered!” She said, and immediately produced a new deck seemingly out of nowhere.

The girls scooted over to make space for Sunset and Trixie while Pinkie grabbed the cards and shuffled them.

“You look good, Trixie,” Twilight said. “I’m glad your injury wasn’t that bad.”

“Thankfully,” Trixie answered. “But it still hurts a lot if I make sudden movements.”

“But, you’re going to be alright, right?” Fluttershy asked. “Oh, it must’ve been a horrible experience, to be attacked by Sunset’s version of this world…” Her eyes widened as she looked at Sunset. “N-Not that I’m saying you’re still evil! I-It’s just that-”

“Shy, it’s fine,” Rainbow interrupted Fluttershy, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Sunset knows what you mean.”

When Fluttershy looked at her, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, no need to worry.” That seemed to calm Fluttershy, as the girl’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Changing subject,” Rarity said, looking at Trixie with a smile. “I must say I’m impressed with your house! It’s simply divine! The decor is simple, but very stylish. You must tell me who decorated it!”

“That would be me,” Selene answered as she approached the girls with a plate of homemade cookies. “I’m an interior designer, and I have a preference for simplistic decor.” She placed the cookies upon the table. “If you want, I can give you a business card.”

Rarity’s eyes lit up. “Yes, please! I’ve been thinking of remodeling my boutique for some time.”

Selene giggled. “Well then, I’ll give you my card in a bit, and you can call me anytime during the week.” She straightened up and looked at Trixie. “Your father will arrive at midnight, so be sure to move the sleepover to your room by then.”

“Sure thing,” Trixie answered.

Selene smiled and walked away.

“So,” Pinkie said, placing the tripled deck of cards in the center and looking at everyone. “We have a few hours to see who’ll win at this. And once in Trixie’s room, Sunset shall tell us her version of halloween.”

Trixie turned to Sunset with an inquisitive raised eyebrow. “Your version of halloween?”

Sunset shrugged. “If I say no to Pinkie, her spirit will haunt me forever.”

Trixie only stared back at her.

It was an intense showdown, with Pinkie’s absurd luck, Twilight’s strategy, and Sunset’s heartless moves, but in the end, surprisingly enough, it was Fluttershy who won. The girls argued a little bit, but in the end, they all accepted defeat and quietly moved to Trixie’s room.

They all had brought their own sleeping bag, having hidden them in their costumes. Everyone except Sunset, though, who had thought that she’d sleep with Trixie in her bed, but after her stupid stunt with the lingerie, she wasn’t so sure about it anymore. And now, as the girls prepared their sleeping bags, she wondered if she should ask Trixie’s mother for some quilts and sheets.

“What’s the matter Shimmy-Shim?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset blinked, realizing that everyone was looking at her. “I, uh… I forgot my sleeping bag,” she lied.

“Really?” Rainbow asked. “You brought a spare change of clothes, but forgot your sleeping bag?”

Sunset frowned at her. “Yes, try to keep up.”

“No worries Shimmy!” Pinkie said, producing a very pink sleeping bag from her own sleeping bag. “I got you covered!”

With a blank look on her face, Sunset stood silent for a few seconds. “You know what? I’m not even going to ask.” She took the bag and placed at the immediate right to Trixie’s bed. “I just wish you liked colors other than pink. Especially one so… garish.”

“Pink is fun!”

“Uh huh.”

“Anyway, now that everything’s in place…” Pinkie said, walking over to the light switch. “It’s time for horror stories!” She announced, turning the lights off and immediately after turning a flashlight on just below her face.

Applejack sighed. “Here we go.”

“What’s the matter AJ? Scared?” Rainbow teased.

But before Applejack could start arguing, Pinkie interrupted them. “Sunset promised to tell us a horror story!” She said, giving the flashlight to Sunset.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” Pinkie replied. “You know, about Equestria’s version of Halloween!”

Sunset sighed sharply. “It’s not really a horror story. It’s just a made up legend Celestia created so that nobody would forget her sister… It didn’t really work out, though.”

“Oh, come on, Sunny,” Trixie said from upon her bed. “If you don’t tell a story, Rainbow Dash will start telling hers.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Ugh, alright…” Sunset said, leaning back and pointing the flashlight to her face from below, casting shadows in her expressions. “Tis the story of Nightmare Moon, the mare in the moon.” She saw Rainbow rolling her eyes, but ignored her. “She haunts ponies on the longest nights, and chase them all like some puny mice. That’s why, every year, we put on a disguise to save ourselves from her searching eyes. But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: To gobble up ponies in one quick swing.”

She turned off the flashlight and stood up. “Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by.” She quietly walked behind the girls, making as little noise as possible with her feet. “If she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year. If she sees you and you must flee, there’s one trick that’ll help you live.” Lowering her voice, she made her way behind Trixie. “Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won’t return to come eat …” She paused and suddenly moved right to Trixie’s ear. “...you!”

Trixie yelled, and Sunset only recoiled back in a fit of laughter. “That wasn’t funny!”

“I disagree!” Sunset replied back, holding her stomach with both hands.

Twilight stood up and turned on the lights. “I think it was interesting. This is culture of another world we’re talking about, after all.” She cleared her throat and looked at Sunset. “So, which part of that story is true?”

Sunset took her time to calm down while Trixie only glared daggers at her. “None of it. Nightmare Moon is actually Princess Luna being corrupted, but she was sealed in the moon. The tale was created by Princess Celestia’s bards as per her request, so ponies wouldn’t forget about Luna. But after a thousand years, there are zero to none ponies that even think Nightmare Moon ever existed.”

“But then, how do you know she did exist?” Trixie asked.

“Because Celestia told me the truth,” Sunset answered simply. She then looked at Rainbow. “But anyway, it’s your time to tell a story.”

“Oh yeah! I’ve been waiting for this!”

Twilight turned off the lights again, and the girls sat down to listen to Rainbow. Sunset had conveniently forgotten to return to her sleeping bag, and stayed with Trixie on her bed for the rest of the evening, until Trixie forced her to return to her sleeping bag.

After the story telling, the girls played a rather boring game of truth or dare. At first, Sunset had thought it would get pretty wild, but since it was in Trixie’s house, none of them dared dare the others do interesting stuff, especially after they heard Trixie’s father walk down the corridor.

And so, by three in the morning, they called it a night and went to sleep.

That was the plan, but Sunset was feeling very awake. She couldn’t just ignore the fact that she was sleeping in her girlfriend’s house, and right next to her. Especially after the lingerie fiasco. She rolled in her sleeping bag a few times over, but she just couldn’t drift off to slumber. She was starting to think that maybe it was Selene’s cookies.

After a few more sleepless turns, she heard sheets being pushed away. Doing her best to appear asleep, Sunset concentrated on the sounds. Feet quietly touching the floor, fabric brushing, and a door being painfully slowly opened, then closed.

Sunset stood up, finding Trixie’s bed empty. The first thing that crossed her mind was that maybe Trixie went to the restroom. Then again, there was one ready inside the bedroom. Thinking that maybe Trixie didn’t want to wake the girls, Sunset knelt down to tuck herself again. She waited for what felt like ten minutes, but Trixie didn’t return, so Sunset took it upon herself to see if something was wrong.

Being as quiet as Trixie before her, Sunset got out of the room. She immediately saw light coming from downstairs, so she followed it, doing her best to not make any sound, and thanking that the stairs weren’t made of very noisy wood.

Trixie was sitting on a couch, hugging her legs to her chest, and staring at a white candle upon the end table. Sunset approached her, being less quiet, as to not startle her.

“Hey Trix,” Sunset said with just enough volume to be heard.

Trixie turned her head towards Sunset and gave a small smile. “Hey.”

Sunset walked up to Trixie and sat down next to her. “Can’t sleep?”

“More or less,” Trixie answered with a sigh.

“What goes in that pretty head of yours?”

Trixie snorted, but immediately after made a face. “I don’t know… I… I feel strange…” She hugged her legs closer. “I know it’s… well, silly, but this is my first sleepover…” She paused for a few seconds in silence, then looked at Sunset. “You’re not laughing?”

Sunset blinked. “Why would I? Pinkie’s party was my first sleepover.”

“Oh…” Trixie blushed and turned to look at the candle again. “Then I feel even stupider.”

“What?” Sunset placed a hand on Trixie’s shoulder. “What’s wrong about it?”

“It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. Come on, Trix, I won’t tell anyone.”

Trixie sighed heavily. “Well, it just feels really weird. When I was a kid, I always wanted to either go to a sleepover, or host one. But it never happened…” She narrowed her eyes. “I never had friends growing up… And suddenly, I find myself with six of them and a girlfriend… I-I said it was stupid.”

“Then you’re calling me stupid,” Sunset said. When Trixie looked at her, she only shrugged. “We’re in the same boat. If I don’t find it stupid, then why do you?”

“I don’t know, it’s just... “

Sunset waited for five whole seconds before asking, “Just what?”

Trixie looked away. “Nothing. Let’s go back to sleep.”

Groaning, Sunset gently shook Trixie’s shoulder. “Come on, Trix. You can’t leave me in the dark like this.”

Closing her eyes, Trixie sighed in defeat. “It’s Pinkie Pie. Of all the people with whom I’d possibly become friends, I never thought Pinkie was going to be one of them.”

“... Well, that’s the exact same thing I thought for a few weeks…” Sunset replied. “But… Why do you say that?”

Trixie shook her head in silence for a few moments. “I really don’t want to talk about it…” She turned to look at Sunset with a small frown. “Please, promise that no matter what I say next, you won’t laugh, or get mad, or just react weird.”

Sunset opened her mouth to answer, but closed it immediately. “I promise.”

Trixie smiled and looked away again. “I…” She sighed. “Pinkie’s oldest sister is my ex…”

For a moment, the only thing that Sunset did was blinking. “Really now?”

“Yes.”

“Uhm, alright… Lemme just- Lemme process it. You,” she said, pointing a finger at Trixie, “and a Pie sister?”

Taking a deep, slow breath, Trixie nodded. “I know it sounds weird now, but… At the time, it seemed perfectly normal.”

“Yeah, but… I mean, does Pinkie know?” Sunset asked, and Trixie only nodded. “Then, why does she never mention it? I mean, she doesn’t even act like she knows.”

“Not now…” Trixie could feel the raised eyebrow Sunset had, and she sighed. “After her sister broke up with me, Pinkie disappeared from my life, quite literally. I didn’t notice at first, and I really didn’t put much thought into it, but... “ She sighed again. “Sunset, have I told you I wanted to run for princess of the Fall Formal in freshman year?”

Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”

“Mhm… When I asked how I could sign for it, they told me to look for Pinkie Pie.” She snorted and shook her head. “I was completely and utterly unable to find her anywhere. Even though both students and teachers constantly told me that she was around, I never saw her, and thus, I was unable to run for the dance.”

“So, Pinkie was avoiding you,” Sunset said. “That’s kind of a jerk move from her part, and that’s coming from me.”

Trixie chuckled quietly. “Maybe, but Pinkie was really mad at me. I hurt her sister, so obviously she wanted to avoid even looking at me at all cost… I think she doesn’t even know I wanted to sign up for the contest.” She looked at Sunset and smiled warmly. “In hindsight, it’s a good thing that happened. Otherwise, you would’ve destroyed me.”

Sunset produced an awkward laugh.

“Well, I’m glad Pinkie forgave me. She’s proving to be a good business contact.”

“Wait, what do you mean Pinkie forgave you? You did nothing to her.”

Trixie groaned. “Are you paying attention? I hurt her sister.”

“She broke up with you. She hurt you, not the other way around!”

Trixie shushed. “Don’t be so loud.” She sighed. “I already told you I was unhealthily obsessed. I practically forced her to break up with me. That must’ve been a really hard decision. I mean, it’s me we’re talking about.” Sunset snorted. “Being serious, though. I have no idea what she told Pinkie, but it clearly made her hate me for the longest time.”

Sunset leaned back and sighed. “Have you two talked about it?”

“No… I think she knows how I feel, and that’s why she can see me as a friend.”

“I’m not really convinced about it,” Sunset said.

Trixie leaned back and rested her head on Sunset’s shoulder. “That’s how things are now. I may have felt terrible at the time, but I’m glad it happened. Otherwise, I wouldn’t’ve met you.”

Sunset circled Trixie with her arm and gently squeezed her. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right…” She closed her eyes and smiled. “Everything we’ve done have led us here, right?”

“Mhm…”

Trixie felt something in her shoulder, and immediately after, her body was shaking. She opened her eyes, and blinked the blurriness away. A pair of sapphire blue eyes stared back at her.

“Wakie wakie!” Pinkie said, smiling brightly at Trixie.

Trixie frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Pinkie?”

“Yepperoni! I’m making pancakes!” Pinkie answered. “Also, you might wanna move a lil bit ‘fore your parents wake up.”

For a moment, Trixie didn’t understand what Pinkie was saying. Then, she felt a warm breeze at the top of her head. Looking up, her heart skipped a beat.

By the looks of it, she had fallen asleep on top of Sunset. She gasped and pushed herself up. It proved to be a grave mistake, as she felt a very squishy thing with her hand. Her face turned red and her heartbeat fastened to unhealthy levels as she retrieved her hand.

Pinkie giggled a little bit. “Well, Imma start cookin’! I’ll call you when the pancakes are ready!”

“Wait,” Trixie said as her mind started to clear up. “Pinkie, I…” She took a deep breath and gave Pinkie a sheepish smile. “Tell Maud I’m sorry.”

Pinkie opened her mouth to reply, then closed it and smiled back. “Okie dokie lokie!” And with that, she walked away.

A weight left Trixie’s shoulders, and almost instantly, there was some shifting beneath her.

“That was so cheesy,” Sunset said, still half asleep.

Trixie felt her whole face heating up. “Ah, uh, hey Sunny! Slept well?”

“Yeah…” Sunset replied lazily, not wanting to even straighten up. “Just answer me this: Why did you decide to wake me up by groping me?”

Trixie worked silent words for almost a full minute before she could answer. “I-I was not- y-you must’ve dreamt it!”

“Uh huh…” Sunset placed a hand on her chest and made a face. “Is this drool?”

“Pinkie needs my help in the kitchen, bye!” Trixie leaped to the floor, ignoring the pain in her stomach, and stormed into the kitchen.

Sunset only snickered.

Author's Notes:

And thus, the myterious ex-girlfriend has been properly mentioned!