The bell had already rung, and Horizon Shimmer found herself already running late. Her mind was in the clouds as she sat on the toilet in the girl’s bathroom tuning out the world as her headphones played some rather intense death metal. She had discovered a new band called Sky Skrape a few days ago and had taken the liberty of adding their entire discography to her playlists on her phone.

With the holographic light headphones hovering over her ears, the girl sat with her pink eyes closed as she allowed the music to absorb her. Truthfully she hadn’t actually had to use the toilet and her clothing was still all on her body, she just didn’t feel like going to class, which wasn’t an uncommon feeling for Horizon.

She opened her eyes with her stoic look and considered heading back to class, but decided to give it another few seconds for her song to end before she headed to a boring lecture that she had little interest in (or none at all for that matter)

A few seconds had turned into eight long minutes and before she knew it, she was already deep into territory where her tardiness would certainly be noticed. Coming to a stand, the girl brushed off her skirt and stepped out of the stall. With a flick of her hands over her ears, the headphones vanished and the girl found herself staring at a familiar face in the mirror of the bathroom.

Horizon was a semi-short girl, which was odd as her guardian had told her that her mother was on the taller side, as was Twilight’s family. Standing at only 5’4, Horizon was a good few inches shorter than Twilight, which perplexed the woman.

Her hair was about neck length and the very definition of messy. The mess of muted purple hair with red tips was a mixture of cowlicks and wavy strands attempting to be curls, but failing. She had gotten her hair genetics from her mother for sure, as her hair was wild and thick, and often meant running a brush through it over and over just to get it to stay down. When Horizon woke up, her hair was the kind of thing that celebrities feared would end up in magazines.

Freckles spotted her cheeks as a pair of stylish glasses covered her face.

She had small lips and an expression that seemed to always give others the impression that she was zoning out. For most of her life, people never seemed to know if Horizon was taking them seriously or not as her expression and cold tone always made it difficult to tell what she was really thinking. Though most of the time, Horizon wasn't thinking of anything. She was blessed with the ability to not worry about things, and as a result, her thoughts were often occupied with the basics such as what to ask for dinner when she got home or what anime she was going to watch.

Horizon looked over her uniform and adjusted her tie before heading out of the bathroom as she adjusted the black skull hairpin in her hair.

Once she was out in the hallway, she was instantly met with the principal who blinked a few times before marching over to take the girl’s hand. She was a fair looking woman despite her coming age, and Horizon knew she was just as good-hearted as her appearance suggested. A few strands of grey hair were poorly hidden by a fading dye job as the woman spoke softly to her.

“Horizon, aren’t you supposed to be in class?” The principal asked.

“I got distracted, Aunt Cadance.” Horizon shrugged.

Cadence cleared her throat as she stood up straight. “I told you this already, but it’s Principal Cadance here.”

“I forgot,” Horizon replied bluntly.

Cadance squinted for a second as if she were trying to figure out if Horizon’s answer were sarcasm or not. Though after some consideration, she obviously realized that Horizon was not the type to use sarcasm, as Cadance couldn’t recall a single time she had ever engaged in it.

Guiding the girl down the hall, Cadance walked with her to her class. “I can’t keep bailing you out if you skip class, Horizon. The other students will think that I’m playing favorites with you...”

Horizon just shrugged once more, her face not really changing despite Cadance’s plight.

Deciding it was best to not beat a dead horse, especially when it was clear that she wasn’t going to get any further response out of her niece, Cadance changed the subject. “Are you liking your classes so far? I know you just started this school year not that long ago.”

Horizon had been attending Crystal Prep Academy for at least two years now. She had originally been going to a public school, but she always performed poorly. Twilight, unable to decipher what was wrong almost considered quitting her job to homeschool her, but her sister-in-law convinced her that Crystal Prep was a better place for the teenager.

Shortly after, Horizon had been enrolled in Crystal Prep, and while she wasn’t exactly a model student or a straight-A one, she was doing better about school thanks to the school’s structured programs that kept her on track. It was easy for Horizon to forget to do homework or to doze off in class, so Crystal Prep had all kinds of systems in place to ensure that the girl got her work done.

She managed to stay within a B- average across the board which she only did because it was bothersome to have the school always hounding on her.

“They’re okay,” Horizon replied.

Cadance frowned and stopped as she looked at her niece. Horizon looked up at her in response.

“You know you can tell me anything, right Horizon?” Cadance asked.

“I’m aware,” Horizon nodded.

There was silence between the two, followed by a sigh from her aunt. “Alright, well here is your class, please try not to be late again? I can’t keep writing excuses for you.”

“I’m sorry for letting you down, Aunt Cadance,” Horizon said.

“That’s... Never mind...” Cadance shook her head, already noting that Horizon only apologized for not meeting the expectations that her aunt had for her and not promising she wouldn’t do it again. Cadance had already mentally resigned herself to the fact that she would be writing up excuses for Horizon Shimmer until she graduated.

“Just get to class, alright?” Cadance smiled.

Horizon nodded and entered the classroom where the teacher opened his mouth to comment on her tardiness until he noticed the principal outside of the door. The woman nodded at him and he grumbled under his breath before allowing Horizon to come in and take her seat.

Moments after she sat down, Horizon placed her elbow on her desk and placed her cheek in her hand as she balanced her head, trying to pay attention, but finding it exceptionally boring and difficult to get enthusiastic about fractions, despite the teacher’s attempt to make them sound exciting.

Horizon wasn’t exactly great with numbers, but she could get by.

One of the other students in the class made a whispering sound before handing a note off to his friend. The note moved across the classroom from hand to hand until it found its way into Horizon’s hand. The girl blinked before looking down at the folded scrap of people with her name written on it.

She looked up at the student across the room who had passed it to her. The boy was obviously her age with spiky black hair. She didn’t remember his name, but she had seen him a few times around the campus.

Opening the note, Horizon could see a crude drawing of herself standing with what appeared to be aliens aboard a poorly drawn UFO. Above it was the caption:

Did you have to meet with your home planet?

The boy along with a few of his friends were snickering as Horizon looked back at them. The note clearly was referencing a correlation between her tardiness and her demeanor being seen as “abnormal”.

Ever since she had begun going to school, other children seemed to never really appreciate Horizon’s general personality. She was viewed as cold and uncaring by most, and her tendency to focus on being factual was able to offend others relatively easily.

This made her the target of jokes from time to time, but Horizon couldn’t really find the motivation to care.

Looking back down at the note, she scribbled something on it and folded it back up. Gesturing the note toward the person next to her, she turned back to face the teacher as the note made its way back to its originator, who was sitting there waiting for the response to his mean spirited note so that he could pick a fight.

When the note found its way back to him, he unfolded it eagerly and gave it a quick read.

He was stunned by the response. There in plain letters, written with a steady unemotional hand was the word “No.”

Had she not even understood that he was trying to insult her? He couldn’t tell. Horizon Shimmer was just that kind of girl. No one truly knew what was going on in her mind.

He stared for a few seconds before he realized that she wasn’t going to look his way again and instead she was trying her best focus on the lecture that she wasn’t particularly interested in. His words didn’t have any impact on her whatsoever.

With classes done for the day, Horizon stopped at her locker and retrieved her bag. Despite the money her family had, Horizon didn’t buy brands based solely on their price and instead focused on aesthetics. A lot of her clothing was gothic and came from various alternative brands, but seldom did she buy things just because she could afford them. It wasn’t in her nature to pay exorbitant amounts of money on things.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder she closed her locker to see a group of girls standing there, one with yellow hair and crossed arms leading the trio. With her teal eyes, she looked Horizon up and down and smirked. “Look at this, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an uglier example of the female species until now.”

Horizon looked behind herself to see if she was referring to someone behind her which seemed to annoy her more. “I’m talking about you, dipshit.”

Pointing to herself, Horizon tilted her head.

“Yes, you.”

She nodded then shrugged. “Vanity isn’t exactly an obsession of mine, though I imagine I could teach you how to do your eyeliner better...”

The girl hissed and squinted angrily. “Where did you get that haircut? The lawnmower salon?”

The other two girls behind her giggled and cackled as they stood there insulting the young teen, who didn’t seem that bothered by it.

“I have a stylist, did you want their business card? I think I have it here somewhere...” Horizon trailed off as she opened her bag and rooted around for said card.

The girl leading her charge blinked in disbelief. “Are you insulting me?” She asked with a huff.

Finding the card, Horizon offered it to her. “Not that I know of... Did my tone come off as insulting? Sorry, I tend to not notice what I sound like when I talk to people...”

Horizon was definitely annoying her, the girl thought (though she had no idea that her intentions were nothing of the sort). Her casual and uncaring tone and demeanor were only serving to escalate her annoyance.

The girl swatted the card from Horizon’s hand and snarled. “What’s your problem, kid?”

Horizon tilted her head. “I don’t understand, what do you mean?”

Horizon hadn’t seen this girl or her friends before. She surmised they must have been new to the school.

At that moment before the girl could respond, another girl came up and tapped their leader on the shoulder, causing her to turn around and smile. “Oh, Vanilla! How are you?”

The girl known as Vanilla nodded and smiled back as she hugged her friend. “Pretty good, what are you up to, Honeycomb?”

The girl who Horizon now knew was named “Honeycomb” gestured back at Horizon with a smirk. “Just giving this reject some fashion advice.”

Vanilla looked over her friend’s shoulder and her face turned pale upon seeing the other teen. She gulped and spoke in a hushed tone to her friend who seemed so proud of herself. “Uh... Honeycomb... That girl is...”

“Hm?” Honeycomb smirked as she tilted her head.

“That’s Horizon Shimmer...” Vanilla gulped.

It was as if she had just spoken the secret word. Honeycomb pivoted around and blinked as her eyes widened. Realizing what she was doing, she stammered as she tried to speak. “W-wait! Y-you’re Horizon Shimmer?”

Horizon tilted her head. “Yes, why?”

“Heir to the Shimmer estate?” She asked.

Horizon nodded. “I suppose that would be accurate.”

“Wait! You’re making fun of the richest family in the city?!” One of the other girls gulped as she stepped back, trying to hide her face.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Shimmer! Please, forgive me! I didn’t know it was you!” Honeycomb bowed furiously to the teen.

Horizon was confused. She wasn’t exactly understanding why these girls suddenly decided that who she was made a huge difference, but she shrugged. “Whatever. I have to get going...”

“O-Okay! Tell your family that mine wishes you the best!” Honeycomb bowed once more.

“Okay.” Horizon shrugged as she walked past the panicking girl.

As she came to the steps in front of the school, she thought out loud. “What an odd girl...”

Coming to the parking lot, the sixteen-year-old retrieved her car keys and tapped a touch-tone button on the key. A beep was heard and an expensive-looking Audi pulled up on its own in front of her. Placing her hand on the door handle, the fingerprint reader opened the door for her and she stepped inside, tossing her bag in the back.

The car spoke to the girl as it connected to the phone around her wrist. “Hello, Horizon.”

“Hey, Siri...” Horizon yawned as she scratched her head and sunk into the seat.

“How was your day?” The voice asked.

“Fine,” Horizon replied.

“Would you like me to map a route to Canterlot High as per usual?” Siri asked its operator.

“Please do.” Horizon nodded.

“Understood, please drive safely,” Siri responded before a hologram of a map of the town appeared next to her cup holder.

Horizon took the wheel and began her drive as she lazily kept only one hand on the wheel. Gesturing with her other hand, she had her car read off her newsfeed to get at least a general idea of what was happening in the world around her.

Social media giant Facebook finally files for bankruptcy today. After a long struggle for the past few years, major competitor Valor managed to steal 80% of the former top social network’s user base. Consumers really seemed to respond well to what Valor brought to the table with its ease of use and tight security features.

Horizon was one of the only people she knew that didn’t have a Valor account. She had contemplated making one, but saw little point as there were few she was trying to get in touch with that she couldn’t reach through other means.

Most kids her age were glued to the site.

Tech analysts today grew exceedingly excited for the unveiling of Apple’s new iPhone model. The new iPhone UXS boasts incredible performance boosts up to 80% faster than the current model. To add to this, Apple is promising that its projection technology will be able to achieve high-grade digital matter within the next few years. The CEO of the company had this to say about the matter, “Here at Apple, we have dreamed of a world where the holograms your phones create are more than just digital projections, but actual objects that you can touch and feel. Soon, your phone will be your everything.”

While Horizon wasn’t too tech-savvy, she knew that projection technology was essentially how all ultraphones worked. They were able to utilize projection along with augmented reality tech to create holograms that the user could manipulate to their own needs.

Within her lifetime, several phone manufacturers went out of business leaving only Apple, Samsung, and LG as the primary ultraphone providers. Horizon’s family had always stuck to Apple.

Twilight Shimmer, local millionaire announced today that she would be donating $800,000 to a program from the city of Canterlot to fund after school activity programs. The philanthropist stated that she, “felt it was insanely necessary to make sure that even the children who were not on sports teams had the opportunity to get extra enrichment from the school if they so chose.” This falls in line with her pledge to continue to donate to the youth of the city.

That was just like Twilight. As long as Horizon had known her, she was always donating to charities and stressing how kids were the future of the world. While she may have been a bit nerdy to most, Twilight was very kind and caring. She was the type of woman who couldn’t see someone struggle and do nothing about it.

Twilight had a good heart, and that was all there was to it.

Horizon turned off her feed with a flick of her hand before she rolled her window down. She had arrived at her destination as she looked out her window for signs of the person she was waiting for.

Many students poured out of Canterlot High, but one, in particular, stood out to her. He was tall for his age, even if he was a year older than Horizon.

As he stood tall in his outdated red plaid shirt, he smiled at Horizon. The hem of his shirt was cut in a slant that went to one side, creating an asymmetrical look, but the design on it made him seem like he was older and less in touch with the youth.

Perked atop of his head, covering his short messy blonde hair was a stetson that Horizon knew belonged to his mom at one point. He wore it everywhere since the day he got it and it was impossible to get him to part with it.

His gentle blue eyes studied Horizon before coming around to the passenger side of the car and stepping in. A few of the other students stopped to gawk at the car that Horizon was driving. She often forgot how most people in the middle-class sections of the city never saw expensive cars.

Rolling her window up so that they both wouldn’t have to deal with onlookers, Horizon placed her hand back onto the clutch of her car.

“How was your day?” The tall male asked.

“Fine,” Horizon said without much emotion to her words.

“Same, I ain’t lookin’ forward to tomorrow though. Teach’ givin’ us a big test...” The boy complained.

He was Horizon’s longest time friend. They had known each other since she was a baby. His name was Jasper Apple. He was the son of Applejack and Rarity, long time friends of Twilight and Horizon’s mother.

As the two began to move, Jasper blinked as he noticed something on the sidewalk near the school. He gestured for Horizon to stop the car. “What’s going on over there?” He pointed.

Horizon looked and could see three older boys surrounding another teenager who was sitting on the sidewalk. It was pretty clear that this wasn’t a pleasant encounter by the look of terror on the grounded teen’s face.

It was typical that Jasper would ask her to stop, as he had a tendency to get involved if he saw an incident like that one. Quickly deciding that it was best to investigate herself first, Horizon didn’t even glance in Jasper’s direction as she unbuckled her seatbelt before putting the car in park. “Stay here while I take a look.”

Jasper didn’t even get a chance to protest before Horizon had opened the door and stepped out.

Getting a better look at the kid on the ground, she couldn’t tell if they were a boy or a girl. They had the soft gentle hands of a female for sure, along with long gorgeous silky hair that had all the colors of the rainbow in it (though muted) which was all braided in a large braid that hung to one side of their head.

Horizon could see his eyes were misty with tears as the other three boys all crowded him.

She came within only a few feet of the group before one of his. Two of the leader of the group’s friends tapped their leader’s shoulder.

The gruff-looking teen grunted and turned toward his comrades and then followed where their fingers were pointed. Soon his eyes were examining Horizon as he grunted. “What do you want?”

“You should leave that kid alone...” Horizon stated plainly. Her tone wasn’t the slightest bit threatening, instead, it came off more as a suggestion than anything else.

“Why don’t you mind your own business, bitch? We’re just giving the girly boy a lesson on how to be a man.” The older teen smirked. His face contorted in a manner that made Horizon realize that it was possible for him to be uglier.

His words at least confirmed that the person they were picking on was indeed a boy as Horizon had suspected.

Taking a step forward, Horizon offered another suggestion. “Perhaps it’s a good time to just leave him be?”

The older teenager turned around and placed a single hand upon Horizon’s shoulder. With a quick motion, he pushed her back and she fell backward, landing on her rear.

That was enough though to get Jasper into action. Her blonde-haired friend stepped out of the car and quickly hopped over the hood and approached the group who had already turned away from Horizon. They didn’t see him coming when he quickly delivered a powerful punch to their leader’s head.

When the blow connected, the older teen staggered for a second before his friends noticed what was going on. Once their leader realized what had happened, he turned around and took a swing which Jasper dodged.

“What’s your problem, douchebag?” The other teen growled as he took another failed swing.

Jasper delivered a punch square to his head, followed by two more. “Y’all don’t ever put your hands on a lady.”

“Fuck you, man, she’s in on our action!” One of his friends chimed in.

Jasper shook his head as he kept his fists up. “Ain’t sportsmanlike to pick on those who can’t defend themselves.”

“How about we give you a roughing up then?” Their leader asked as he wiped his lip clear of the blood that was now there.

“Give it y’all’s best shot.” Jasper grinned.

The other two members of his group came at him, but Jasper was far too talented in the art of fighting for them. He ducked under the first one and jabbed him in the gut a few times, followed by an uppercut to his jaw. Once he gripped his mouth in pain, Jasper delivered a solid hit square to his nose which sent him down.

The second one was even dumber than the first. He swung stupidly which Jasper managed to move out of the way of and punch him back in the head four times. He had a bit more resilience than his friend, but four hits was his limit as he took collapsed to the ground gripping his head in pain.

Finally, the leader of their charge came at Jasper only for Jasper to catch his fist in his palm. Once he noticed that Jasper was holding his fist, he wasn’t prepared for the counter-attack that followed. Jasper gave him a good clout before he stumbled back.

As Jasper was finishing up with them, Horizon had gotten herself up and brushed off the skirt of her school uniform. She approached the boy sitting on the ground with the misty eyes and offered a hand to help him up.

His soft blue eyes looked up to her and he paused for a second before taking her hand. She lifted him up and could now see that he stood an inch or so taller than her. He was fairly short for a boy, but she still believed that he looked much like a girl.

“T-thank you...” The boy nearly whispered.

Jasper had finished up with the bullies who all ran away before he approached the two and smiled. The teen adjusted his hat and nodded at the boy.

“Howdy.” Jasper grinned.

“H-hello... Thank you both... Why did you help me though?” He asked.

Horizon tilted her head. “I don’t know...” She shrugged.

Jasper let out a sigh.

“You... Don’t know?” The boy blinked.

“I don’t have a better answer than that, sorry. Why were they picking on you?” Horizon changed the subject.

“Oh... A lot of people do. They thought I was a girl at first, but when they found out I was a boy they didn’t really appreciate that...” He blushed and looked away bashfully.

“So you are a boy then?” Horizon nodded as she asked.

“E-eh... What?” He blinked, his blush growing deeper.

Jasper let out another sigh and stepped forward. “Forgive my friend, she ain’t too worldly. She’s blunt and strange, but she means well. Name’s Jasper, Jasper Apple.”

The country boy offered his hand.

Looking down and taking it carefully, the other boy gasped as he felt how stern Jasper’s handshake was. He didn’t really shake back too hard, but he could feel that Jasper had a strong grip.

Once their hands were no longer locked, the boy placed both of his hands behind his back and wiggled awkwardly as he recited his name. “Cloud Dash...”

“Ah, I know y’all. You related to Rainbow Dash by chance?” Jasper asked.

Cloud nodded. “She’s my mom.”

“Aw shoot! Our parents actually know each other!” Jasper grinned.

“D-do they?” Cloud blinked.

“Sure do. Our parents all went to high school together.” Jasper informed.

Cloud considered it and determined that what he was being told made sense. “I see... We just moved back here after our last duty station, that’s probably why we are just meeting now then... We’ve spent our entire lives traveling the world because my mom is in the army.”

“Sounds about right. How come y’all are here now though? Ain’t no military bases near here...” Jasper asked.

Cloud rubbed his neck. “My mom is part of some kind of new special forces thing... She reports to a base about an hour away from here for normal duty, but she isn’t required to move around anymore. She wanted to come back to her home because she finally had the freedom to do so...”

Jasper didn’t quite understand all of it, but he caught the general idea. “I see, that’s pretty neat actually. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet y’all!”

“Likewise.” Cloud nodded before turning to Horizon with concerned eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“I never gave it to you,” Horizon replied bluntly.

Cloud blushed and looked away. “O-oh... Right...”

Jasper rolled his eyes and nudged Horizon’s shoulder. “Don’t let her demeanor scare ya’ away. This here is my best friend, Horizon Shimmer. She ain’t too sociable, but she’s an observant person for sure.”

“I think I’ve heard that last name before...” Cloud said.

“She’s part of the Shimmer family, obviously. They own that big estate on the other side of town. The richest family in the city, I reckon,” Jasper explained.

Cloud’s eyes widened as he heard this information. “W-what!? Really!?”

Horizon shrugged. “I suppose it is true.”

“I never imagined I would meet someone so important right after arriving here!” He spoke in his effeminate voice as he bowed to Horizon. “Thank you so much for defending me!”

His actions only served to confuse the young girl. She chose not to comment though as Jasper continued to handle most of the situation.

“Well, if y’all ever need help again, consider us friends. I’ll make sure most of the rougher types in the school know that y’all ain’t to be messed with. Once word gets out that y’all are under my protection, they’ll leave ya’ be.” Jasper grinned as he held up his bicep which was actually quite impressive for his age.

Despite being only seventeen, Jasper was in excellent shape. He spent most of his time at home helping his mother work the fields of the farm and that had made him big and strong. If anyone knew the value of hard work it was Jasper Apple, as his mother Applejack Apple always made sure of that.

For as long as Horizon could remember, Jasper had taken after his mom, but he had the manners of his mother Rarity. Through and through Jasper was a gentleman, and was nowhere near as crass as his mom, Applejack.

“Thank you both so much... I wish I could think of some way to repay you both.” Cloud wiped tears from his eyes.

“Just take care of yourself.” Jasper gave a thumbs up. “We’ll be around, we should hang around sometimes. Shoot the breeze, ya’ know?”

Cloud nodded and gave perhaps the most innocent smile Jasper had ever seen in his entire life. “Of course. I’d like that.”

They all said their goodbyes before Horizon and Jasper returned to Horizon’s car. When the two got back in and fastened their seatbelts, Jasper looked over at the girl and grinned. “Y’all did a good thing there, Horizon.”

“Did I?” Horizon asked, genuinely curious.

“Sure did. That kid seemed pretty grateful too,” Jasper reassured.

“Hmm...” Was all Horizon had to say in response.

The two continued their journey by car back to Jasper’s home. Horizon didn’t say much the entire trip, instead she just listened to Jasper talk about his day and what was happening over at Canterlot High. Occasionally, he’d ask her for her input which was usually something she could sum up in eight words or less. Most of the time though, her commentary was non-existent.

Other people would probably get annoyed with someone who didn’t respond much to what was conveyed to them but not Jasper. Jasper had patience, and even more patience on top of that when it came to Horizon. She was perhaps the most difficult person he knew to get close to. Most gave up after only minutes of trying.

Jasper just had the good fortune of growing up with her. The two had been together for as long as he could remember. They were an inseparable pair, though it was difficult to tell how Horizon felt about it to outsiders. To Jasper though, he knew that Horizon cared for him deeply and saw him as family.

The two pulled up to Jasper’s farmhouse on the edge of town, with Horizon’s expensive luxury car looking particularly out of place in front of the medium-sized ranch home.

The Apple family’s home was far from a mansion, but it had grown significantly over the years after Applejack’s hard work combined with Rarity’s success. Rarity’s fashion business had spread quite quickly and she often left to go to shows to show off her latest designs. Most of her job though could be run from home, a compromise she had to make so she could spend time with her family.

When the car came to a complete stop, Jasper looked over at his friend and smiled. “Wanna come in for a bit? I’m sure my folks would love to see ya’.”

“Okay.” Horizon nodded as she unbuckled her seatbelt and followed him out of the car and into the house.

Jasper took off his boots as per his mother’s demands and called out to his parents. “I’m home, y’all!”

The sound of heels clicked along the floor as Jasper’s mother stepped into the room. With long silky black hair, she brushed a lock out of her face as she smiled at her son. She was an older woman, but she certainly could fool many into thinking she were no older than twenty.

Horizon noted the tattoo on the woman’s right leg, shaped like a pentagram with a ring of teeth marks around it.

She was decorated in a rather attractive house dress with her stylish glasses perched on her nose. The woman grinned wider as she saw Horizon standing next to her son, though not taking her tall gothic boots off, implying she had no intention of staying long.

“Hello, Horizon, dear.” Rarity winked at the girl. “And how was school, Jasper?”

He removed his hat and nodded at his mother. “Pretty good, we ran into the Dash family’s boy.”

“Oh? I actually was thinking about giving Rainbow Dash a call since I heard she was back in town. I guess it’s true, she really is home for good now...” Rarity placed a thumb on her chin.

Horizon had only heard the Dash family’s names in passing. She knew that Twilight was friends with them in high school, but she didn’t talk much about her high school days with Horizon, so the name was only vaguely familiar.

“He’s a pretty good fella’, a bit on the effeminate side though,” Jasper added.

Rarity giggled as she covered her mouth. “I suppose he takes after Fluttershy then...”

Jasper had heard stories about how timid Fluttershy was, but he had never seen it first hand.

“Say, where’s ma at?” Jasper questioned.

Rarity shook her head. “She took your sister and went to the store, she should be back around dinner time. Did you want to stay with us, Horizon?”

Rarity already figured that the girl was trying to leave, but good manners dictated that she make the offer regardless.

“No.” Horizon shrugged.

“Are you certain? We’re having steak.” Rarity winked.

Jasper blinked. “I swear that’s like the fourth time this month!”

Rarity hushed him and chuckled.

Horizon looked back toward the door before glancing at Rarity with the same empty expression that Horizon Shimmer was known for. The longer Rarity looked at the girl, the more challenging to figure out she seemed to be. Horizon was a very stoic girl with a low emphasis on expressing her emotion. As a result, it was difficult for most to get a read on her, but Jasper was the expert on that subject.

Jasper had developed somewhat of a sixth sense when it came to his friend, Horizon, where he could tell quite accurately how she was feeling. Though admittedly, even he was stumped at times.

“I don’t really care much for meat...” Horizon said quietly.

“Ah that’s right. You take after your mother.” Rarity winked.

Horizon shrugged again. She didn’t mind meat every now and then, but she was far from a carnivore. For some reason she never really liked it that much and too much often made her sick to her stomach.

“I really should get going... Thank you for inviting me though.” Horizon bowed before turning to leave the house.

“Take care of yourself,” Rarity called back to her.

Horizon nodded and found her way back to her car with ease. Once she was inside the car, she started it back up and directed her phone to set a course for the Shimmer Estate. She didn’t want to keep Twilight waiting too long, as she knew that the woman had gotten off work not too long ago. Eight minutes ago by Horizon’s calculations in fact.

“Siri, can you auto-drive us home?” Horizon asked as she leaned back in her seat and pulled up a hologram of the current news stories.

“Sure thing, Horizon.”

AMD to introduce worlds first 80GHz processor.

Tech giant AMD is proud to introduce the latest innovation from their laboratory. With a whopping 80GHz, the future is now, promises the tech giant. These new units should be more than powerful enough to be the processing engine for virtually all public transportation systems.

AMD hopes to have a completely automated system that does not require drivers for any manual situations within the next eight years. The future will likely be auto-pilot for all vehicles.

“I guess you’d better get used to driving more,” Horizon commented to her phone.

Siri made a laugh at its master. “It’s always a pleasure to drive you anywhere, Horizon.”

“In a few years we’ll likely have androids to take care of most of our most annoying tasks, won’t we?” Horizon suggested.

“By my calculations, it’s a certainty,” Siri replied.

Horizon wasn’t sure how she felt about a future where androids ran around the country and performed all the menial jobs. It seemed somewhat like a recipe for disaster.

Leaning back in her seat, Horizon yawned and closed her eyes while her car took her the rest of the way home.

When her car made it to the car garage of her home, Horizon stirred and moved carefully as the voice of Siri woke her up. “Good evening, Ms, Shimmer. You have arrived at your residence.”

Yawning, Horizon nodded thankfully before giving a good stretch and pulling her seat back into the upright position.

“Would you like me to alert Twilight that you’re home?” Siri asked.

“I have it from here, Siri.” Horizon yawned.

“Alright, have a great evening, Horizon!” Siri responded.

Pulling herself out of the car, Horizon stuffed the keys into her bag and closed the door behind her. She wandered past the numerous expensive cars in their garage stopping to examine a motorcycle that was fairly dated.

It had been kept in excellent condition, though it was at least sixteen years old if not older. Twilight had mentioned that it was a gift from her aunt Shimmer to her mother from back when they were in high school.

Removing her eyes from the bike, Horizon made her way into the estate proper as she lazily closed the garage door behind her and headed to the main foyer. From there, the girl decided she wanted a drink. She made her way to one of the mansion’s kitchens and snagged a soda from the fridge, noting that the temperature of said fridge was kept at a cool 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

The girl pulled the tab back and took down a swig of the purple soda, followed by an immediate second swig. She stood there for a good few minutes, finishing the drink before tossing the can into a recycling bin.

Horizon longed to go to her room and zone out with her phone, maybe watch a few YouTube videos or something. Walking back to the foyer, the girl made her way up the stairs where she paused for a brief second to note a painting of her mother on the wall. It was incredible how much hair her mother had, and Horizon was no different.

If she didn’t insist on keeping her hair neck length, there was no doubt in her mind that she’d have a bigger mess attached to her scalp. Her mother’s hair was thick and wavy, which Horizon imagined would be a pain to maintain. It was too much work for her, so she just kept it trimmed down for simplicity’s sake.

In the painting, her mother was wearing a rather elegant Lolita style dress, which she obviously was only wearing for the sake of the painting.

Most would say that Sunset Shimmer was an attractive woman, but Horizon honestly couldn’t tell the difference between an attractive woman and an ugly one. The concept of beauty often eluded her.

Going back to what she was focused on, Horizon made her way down the hall upstairs toward her bedroom where she left the door open before stripping off all of her clothes down to her lacy black bra and panties.

Digging through her closet, she retrieved a baseball T with black sleeves and an emblem of a skull with crossbones on it that she slipped over her form. She decided against putting pants on, opting instead to lounge in her panties as she was used to. She sat her shapely butt onto her bed and then laid back before making a flicking gesture over the phone on her wrist.

A window came up for her apps, and she quickly selected YouTube where she began to browse the odd selection of recommended videos. She found herself watching one about a guy who went into the woods and built primitive technology with his bare hands. She had no idea why she was even remotely fascinated by such a thing, as she didn’t really particularly like camping, but she found herself watching his entire channel without thinking about it.

After a good twenty-eight minutes of video watching, she would get a text message from Jasper which vibrated her wrist.

She pulled up the message and read it to herself.

My mother is asking if you’re my girlfriend again. I wonder how many times we’re going to have this conversation. Lol

He and Horizon had been through this a few times already. Rarity meant well, but she really wanted to make a couple out of Jasper and Horizon, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. Jasper couldn’t bring himself to see Horizon as anything beyond a sister figure and Horizon was completely oblivious to the entire idea. The concept of dating never really occurred to her, despite being at an age where for most women, hormones start to kick in.

Physical attraction was something that Horizon had never experienced her entire life. Sex in general just sounded like an odd thing that was likely a waste of her time.

I suppose you could tell her that I am a homosexual if that ceases her inquiries into the matter.

It was dumb, but it was the best excuse that Horizon could think of to get Rarity to stop her insistent inquiries on the subject. Jasper was a conventionally handsome young man for his age after all (though Horizon didn’t quite know what that meant) as everyone had said to her. He was tall, blonde and had an award-winning smile and manners to boot. A lot of girls at his high school were fawning over him, but he was too much of a gentleman to accept such offers.

Horizon found him to be a very upstanding individual, but as far as “attractive”, she couldn’t say she felt anything. They were like siblings if anything. Jasper would rush to her defense if her odd demeanor had managed to put someone off (which happened frequently).

Yeah, but she is going to figure out that isn’t true when she sees you don’t have a girlfriend like... Ever.

Horizon contemplated it and then considered her options before replying.

So all I need is to convince a girl to pretend to be my girlfriend and your mother will drop this line of questioning?

She could already sense how Jasper was probably laughing on the other end.

You’d have to keep that charade going on for a while.

Horizon stared at her screen blankly as she responded.

I suppose I would just have to convince a girl to kiss me in front of her a few times until she believes it. How much do you think that would cost? What’s the going rate for such a thing?

There was no doubt that Jasper was blushing horrendously from such a message, though his reply suggested he had some reservations about the idea.

That would be prostitution, wouldn’t it?

Horizon typed her response easily.

I suppose, but what difference does it make?

Jasper responded quickly, which told her that he was now enthralled in the conversation.

You’d waste your first kiss on a plot to get my mother off my back? I’m flattered as a friend, but you should reserve that for someone you have feelings for. Besides, my mother has a lie detector built into her anyway.

The concept of kissing someone in general sounded odd in general to Horizon, male or female. She couldn’t really fathom why people would want to partake in such an odd swapping of germs.

Twilight had mentioned in passing that Horizon was atypical for a sixteen year old girl in that regard, but Horizon paid little mind to it. She had simply accepted that she wasn’t typical in many regards.

The old saying of “speak of the devil” occurred though, and Twilight tapped on the door to Horizon’s room. The bespectacled woman poked her head in and blushed as she noticed her daughter lounging on her bed with no pants on. She averted her eyes slightly and coughed. “Uh, you know sweetie... You could wear pants or something at home...”

Horizon looked up from her text window and made it disappear as she looked to her guardian. “I’m aware.”

Twilight wanted to retort, but she knew that she was wasting her time. Horizon had always lounged about half-naked (or completely so at times), so there wasn’t really a reason to press the matter further. Her daughter was strange, and she had to accept that.

“How was school?” Twilight asked.

“It was school,” Horizon said plainly, her eyes locked onto her parental guardian.

Rubbing her neck, Twilight stepped more into the room. “Did you do better on this book report than the last one?”

Horizon shrugged. “Mathematically speaking, a 78 is better than a 68, right?”

A long sigh escaped Twilight. It was an improvement, but still not where she felt her daughter should be. It baffled her how the daughter of two straight-A students, one of which an avid bookworm could be so moderate at reading. Horizon didn’t seem to have a knack of reading or storytelling, and she was far from artistic either. Truthfully, Twilight couldn’t really name many skills that the girl excelled at. If she thought really hard, she supposed Horizon was good at climbing things. She recalled when they went on a vaction, they did rock climbing and Horizon was exceptional at that. Her small hands and flexible toes made gripping on tiny ledges fairly easy.

Horizon Shimmer was the kind of girl that was just moderate at everything she did. She appeared to lack passion for anything, which is what Twilight gathered. Nothing really struck her enough to inspire her to put the maximum effort into anything, and that was likely how it would stay as she was a challenging girl to motivate.

“Well, I suppose it is an improvement... Good job, sweetie.” Twilight gave a smile to her daughter.

Enrolling her in Crystal Prep Academy definitely was improving Horizon’s schoolwork, though not as much as Twilight had hoped. She had hoped her daughter would become a straight-A student, but she was slowly giving up on that dream and accepting that her daughter simply didn’t like school and that pressuring her into doing better would likely have the opposite effect. So long as she passed her classes, Twilight would be content.

Horizon shrugged. “Thank you.”

Twilight smiled. “Your mother would be proud, I just know it.”

“Oh?” Horizon tilted her head at the mention of her mother.

Twilight touched her lip with her thumb as she appeared to be in thought. “Yes, she was a very smart woman, that’s for sure.”

“I see.” Was all Horizon had to say about it before returning to her phone.

Contemplating saying more for a moment, Twilight lingered in the room before deciding that it was probably best to just leave the girl be.

“Try not to stay up too late.” Twilight waved as she exited the room.

“Hmm.” Horizon nodded casually.

With her eyes glued to a holographic chat window that floated in front of her face, Horizon found herself walking through the empty hallways of her mansion not really paying much attention to where she was going as she texted Jasper, despite it being extremely late for him as well.

I know this may be an odd thing to ask, but do you ever feel as though you didn’t really exist?

Jasper was naturally very confused by her line of questioning.

What do you mean by that? I’m not sure I follow.

Horizon decided to spell it out for him.

There are many times where I just have this feeling that I’m not really there. That I either don’t exist or that I shouldn’t exist. I can’t really explain it beyond that.

Jasper took a few extra seconds to reply, but his reply, predictably was filled with concern.

Does that make you sad, or something?

Horizon didn’t even need to think about it.

Not really. I guess a part of me doesn’t really know what “sad” even feels like. It’s just a thought that I have sometimes that just sits there. It’s sort of like a rock, I can’t move it, I can’t do anything with it, it just sits there. Like I guess I feel neutral about it when it comes up.

Horizon couldn’t remember a time where she felt “sad”, but she did remember being confused, which was ultimately the feeling she always defaulted to when something happened that she wasn’t particularly fond of. Sadness was an emotion that eluded her, as was anger.

Her entire life, Horizon was always a very calm person, and if anything happened that startled her normally calm demeanor, she was often confused before anything else.

As she walked absentmindedly, staring at the text window levitating in front of her, she found herself tripping over her own feet. She reached forward and grabbed the nearest object to catch her fall.

Her hand found itself wrapped around a light fixture that went downward and made a “click” sound when it reached a certain point. As Horizon pulled herself up, she noticed an opening in the wall began to open, and an entire room was inside. She blinked and decided to head inside, signaling for her phone to produce light from her wrist so she could see.

Inside the room was what appeared to be a ton of old computer equipment and a desk with a few monitors at it. Sitting down at the desk, Horizon touched the mouse and moved it, seeing if the machine still worked.

The screen came to life and asked for a password, which naturally, she didn’t know.

Looking at the desk, she noticed two notebooks were sitting there, both quite old looking. She flipped one open and began to read the only page with text written on it. It appeared to be a woman’s handwriting.

Sunset,

If you’re reading this, then you’ve found a lot of my old research. I’ve transferred all my notebooks onto this server and destroyed the original copies. Everything has been moved off of a network and onto this machine for the sake of keeping it all protected. From here on out, if you discover anything worth noting, I suggest putting it into this terminal and not writing it down anywhere else.

I’m writing this because I’m not sure how any of this is going to play out. If the person reading this is not Sunset, then I assume something has definitely gone wrong.

Either way, I’m going to assume it’s you. The password to the terminal is something you should already know, take a minute to think about it.

Sincerely,

Shimmer

Horizon had heard about her aunt Shimmer, and she knew that she had been murdered a long time ago. It sounded like whatever she was working on might have been related to it, though Twilight seldom talked about it. She wouldn’t say heads or tails about the matter.

Picking up the other notebook, Horizon began to read its contents as well.

I can’t believe I’ve managed to fuck things up this bad. I really don’t even know how to feel right now, but I know what comes next will likely be something I don’t like. Horizon is still so young, I can’t believe this has happened.

I wish I could go back in time and undo this.

It’s too late to fix this the right way though...

There is only one path now...

Sunset Shimmer

Horizon was almost in disbelief, it was a note written by her mother, she was sure of it. She hadn’t seen her mother’s handwriting for so long, but she knew it was her. Furthermore, she referred to Horizon by name, so that confirmed it, right?

Flipping through the rest of the notebook, Horizon could see there was nothing else written in it, but some kind of strange sketch on the last page.

The sketch looked like some kind of puzzle. It had maybe 8 pieces to it, but Horizon couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be, but it seemed as though Sunset was having trouble with that part as well. Turning the book sideways and tilting her head, Horizon struggling to figure out if it even meant anything at all now.

Years had passed since the last time her mother was in the house, and that meant that she was looking around for a woman that was long gone. What happened to her, Horizon had submitted to never knowing. Twilight kept hush about the details and told her that her mother had to go away, and left it at that. She’d usually follow it by reminding Horizon how much she loved her.

Horizon decided to take the notebook with her. While she didn’t have a clue what it was for or what the drawing in it was about, she couldn’t deny that she was somewhat curious as to what her mother was working on prior to when she disappeared. Sunset Shimmer had always been somewhat of an enigma as far as Horizon could tell.

Twilight didn’t seem to know too much about her mother’s childhood, and anyone that Horizon asked seemed to know even less. It was clear that Sunset Shimmer was a very secretive person who kept important information on lockdown.

Perhaps there was a way to acquire the password for the computer, but it would definitely take some digging. Horizon already had her first clue: her aunt Shimmer. Another character that Twilight seemed to know next to nothing about, but Horizon already had some ideas of where to go from there.

Maybe, just maybe she could uncover the mystery of what happened to her mother, though she couldn’t even explain why she wished to know. Perhaps it was merely boredom. Horizon’s life always felt very stagnant, very plain. She was never too interested in much, but this promised at least some level of excitement. It was more than odd, it was a mystery. A mystery just waiting to be solved and Horizon was just the girl for the job.

Hey, it's been a long time and we're finally here. The final act. The big finale. Well, it'll actually be a while before the finale. As you can see, this act is intended to be split into three parts, making it different from previous acts. You're going to see a lot of the "effects" of everything that has happened prior to this finally pay off. Plot threads that have remained unanswered are going to finally be explained.

So, the children, you've met them all before, but now you're getting introduced to them for the first time properly. Horizon as you can see is a very stoic girl, a little like Twilight but less nerdy. Her design and concept has actually been in the works for years now, as have the other kids. We'll talk more about them as time goes on though!

Also... We have passed 800,000 words.