Twist wasn't having a very good first day at her new school.

Like many other students she had been caught in traffic and ended up arriving late, but unlike many other students she had also managed to get lost in the new and unfamiliar surroundings. This had led her to completely miss out on the opening ceremonies and student orientation. While other students were checking out their lockers and heading to their home rooms, Twist was still scrambling to figure out where her class, and she herself, even was. All of the other students walking past her ignored her plight, intent on their own conversations with friends or preoccupied with memorizing their own schedules.

That was why, when Twist thought she heard a familiar voice, she gravitated towards it... Despite who she suspected it belonged to.

"I can't believe you did that!" She could here a young girl saying, in what she likely thought was a whisper but was clearly loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. "Why go to all this trouble if you're just going to do whatever you want anyways? Ugh! It's like talking to a three year old!"

There was some soft, bubbling reply. It almost sounded like water going down a drain. Twist wasn't close enough to quite make it out.

"I know, I know, you need your glasses, but that's not going to work for long," the rich girl continued urgently. "That was just a fluke earlier. They won't allow it. Pulling a stunt like that in front of the Dean and Headmistress is just going to make them suspicious, and that's two more problems than we need!"

"Diamond Tiara... Is that you?" Twist asked tentatively. She half hoped the answer would be no. Before everything had gone wrong at CHS, Diamond Tiara had picked on her for her curly red hair and glasses. She'd joked that she didn't have a soul, though Twist privately always thought it was Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon that must be soulless, to treat others the way they did.

"Who's there!? Oh, it's you," was the dismissive reply. That was Diamond Tiara alright. "What do you want four eyes?"

Twist's instincts told her to say something along the lines of 'nothing' or 'nevermind' and just turn and walk away. That's what she would have done at CHS. But at her old highschool, there would have been other familiar faces, friends, that she could ask for help. Twist could walk away, but if she did she would be starting out at her new school the way she had at her old one. Alone, friendless, and already being bullied by Diamond Tiara.

She'd rather not have to start again from zero. So instead, she said, "I was just wondering if we had any classes together, since we're both from CHS originally. I'm afraid I'm a little lost. If we have the same homeroom, maybe we could go there together?" She smiled weakly as she left the question floating in the air.

Diamond Tiara just stared at her like she'd suddenly grown an extra head. "Do yourself a favor and get lost Twist."

That did it. Tears welled up in Twist's eyes, not from anger, fear, or sadness, but frustration. "Why do you have to be so mean all the time? I was hoping since this was a new school we could start over. After everything that happened last year I... Didn't exactly think we'd be instant friends, but I thought you'd at least be a little nicer!"

For a moment, the spoiled rich girl looked genuinely hurt by Twist's words, but then the other girl she had been arguing with slid forward out of the shadows. The smile on her face gave Twist the creeps. Diamond Tiara's eyes hardened, "Well too bad. What, did you think? Just because some wacko burned down our school that would mean I could suddenly be able to stand your stupid ginger face? Did you think we'd bond over our survivors guilt? Get a clue! Your still the same person you always were and I'm still the same person I've always been, and nothing is going to change that!"

"I was sorry..." Twist mumbled, fighting back hot tears.

"What was that?" Diamond Tiara snapped.

"I was sorry when I heard about Silver Spoon," Twist continued, "I figured you'd be heartbroken. I knew she was your only close friend, so I thought that meant you would be lonely. I thought that maybe you would be happy to see a familiar face. That maybe, in some small way, it would make you feel better. I can see I was wrong. You'd need to have a heart for it to break."

"Have a heart," crooned the smiling girl in a voice that mimicked Twist's own. For the first time, the red haired girl took a good, long look at her. She was a mess up close. There was a certain resemblance to Diamond Tiara, but everything about her seemed shabby and fake. Her cloths looked like they had been made by someone who had seen cloths, but had no idea how to make them. Her round belly and hips were actually protruding slightly, while her sleeves were baggy and wrinkled. It was a good thing that they were going to get their uniforms today because it looked like the girl was in dire need of a new outfit.

Then there was her face. A vacant smile, showing too many teeth, beneath a pair of comically large sunglasses. "Who's this? Is this supposed to be your cool new friend?" Asked Twist, more than a little mockingly herself as her frustration gave way to anger. "I'm sure she'll make a great replacement for Silver Spoon."

"Watch it Twist," replied Diamond Tiara, a warning invested in each clipped syllable. "I told you to get lost. Be mad at me if you want, but do it somewhere else... Please!" There was genuine pleading in that last word. If only Twist had noticed that, maybe things would have gone differently.

"You call me ginger and four eyes, and act like your too good to associate with me, but her hairs redder than mine and her glasses are way more goofy looking," the nerdy girl bellowed, years of abuse and quiet indignation bubbling to the surface to fuel her words. "What's so special about her that you can tolerate her existence and not mine!?"

"Four... eyes..." mumbled the pudgy girl in a rough approximation to Diamond Tiara's voice. One hand went up to her sunglasses and removed them. To Twist's horror, her face was perfectly smooth and blank beneath. "That's two more... Than you need," the eyeless monster hissed excitedly.

Maybe if Twist hadn't frozen, staring, trying to work out why the girl had no eye sockets, she might have been able to make a run for it. But as it was, she didn't even have a chance to scream before the strange girls body divided in half from the top of her head down to her crotch, exposing row after row of needle sharp teeth on either side of the divide. The monstrous girl that lunged forward and gobbled the red-haired teen down in a series of hummingbird fast bites.

A couple of Twist's fingers twitched in a shallow pool of blood, but these too were quickly absorbed as the pudgy girl passed one foot over the spot, leaving it sparkling clean. Indeed, anywhere she stepped the floor sparkled and shone as if the surface had been sterilized. For a moment, she looked even pudgier, as bulges distorted her body at random with Twist's struggles inside her swollen gut. Then her skin condensed itself, resuming it's shape much like an elastic band.

without warning, a hand burst out of the front of her face. It was missing much of its flesh, as well as two of its fingers, but still clawed at the air even as it smoked and sizzled. With a loud slurp, it disappeared once more, and it was as if Twist had never been there at all.

"Oh, now you've done it! Now you've really done it! You haven't even been able to get through the first day without eating someone!" The look on Diamond Tiara's face was one of horror mixed with disbelief. Perhaps even denial of what she was seeing. "What are you going to do when her parents come to pick her up, huh? What are we going to do when people realize she's missing!?"

In response, the gelatinous monster opened a cavernous mouth in her stomach. Inside Diamond Tiara could see what was left of Twist. It was a horribly putrid slurry of crushed bone and liquefied flesh, but her face was still recognizable. Her empty eye sockets seemed to look up at her, pleadingly. Despite the horrible state of her body, the teenager was still alive. Twist was trying to scream, but her vocal cords and lungs had long since melted away, leaving her mouth gaping open uselessly.

Diamond Tiara shuddered and looked away, "Stop that. I don't need to see that."

The mouth on the jelly girl twitches up into a grin, not unlike what you might see on the face of a young child having successfully grossed out an adult, before it closed seamlessly with no sign it had ever been there. When Diamond Tiara looked back, two light pink eyes had bobbed to the surface of the creatures 'face'. They floated around for a moment before structures like eyelids set them in place. After a few experimental blinks, they actually looked rather natural. That is, if you didn't realize that they had previously belonged to Peppermint Twist.

"Oh, fantastic," Diamond Tiara moaned, regarding the monsters new look bitterly, "You solved one problem by creating two more!"

"This will only take a moment. Just try to relax." clumsy fingers worked the straps and buckles that held a mesh wire cage in place over her mouth. Lemon Drop hadn't been kidding about muzzling her, and now the contraption only came off when either Sam was giving Sunset her meals.

Sunset took a moment to work her jaw, the bones popping somewhat painfully as she stretched the muscles and gave a huge yawn. "Hey Sam, what's cooking?" she asked, smiling. It felt good to smile.

"You seem like you're in a good mood this evening," the orderly remarked with a chuckle. He secured the muzzle out of the way before bringing forward a tray of, by now, lukewarm food.

"Things have been better recently," Sunset replied. It struck her that she wasn't just saying that either, but it was actually true.

Winter had been long and hard. The Candy Mare had devised more and more twisted ways to torment Sunset, to urge her to kill herself or to drive her mad. At the same time she had to endure that, the frequency and severity of Dr. Lemon Drops experiments had increased dramatically as well. The nights had been long, dark, and cold, but as the frosty months had thawed into spring things had calmed down quite a bit.

Sunset's curse seemed to subside as the sun had climbed into the sky, and as spring had melted into summer she rarely even caught a glimpse of the shade of the Candy Mare outside of her dreams. Lemon Drop too, it seemed, had found himself too busy to grace Sunset with his nocturnal attentions, and while she couldn't say she was comfortable sleeping in a straight jacket and muzzle in a padded room, she was much more at ease than she had been in some time.

As Sam spoon fed her the cafeteria food, Sunset actually found herself enjoying it. Her stomach wasn't growling as much and the food actually seemed to be hitting the spot.

Sadly, she should've known better than to allow herself to grow complacent. Just as Sam was about to move on to her dessert the lights in the cell flickered out with a pop.

"Uh, Doctor is that you? I'm still in here," Sam said in the dark, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice. "Or Nurse? Janitor maybe?"

Sunset could hear the large man shuffling in the dark, using his big hands to feel along the floor until he found the door. She could sense him standing up, but she had to imagine him peering out of the plastic mesh re-enforced window.

"Gee, it looks like powers out to the whole ward," the undercurrent of fear in the Sam's voice was palpable. Sunset could practically taste his apprehension... and it tasted sweet. "You sit tight miss. It's probably just a blown fuse or a tripped circuit breaker. I'll tend to that and then we'll get back to your meal."

"What's the rush Sam? you know you're safe with me..." Sunset whispered dreamily.

Even though it was dark, Sam could see the teenager was suddenly standing right behind him... Smiling. Her teeth looked longer than usual and her eyes were unnaturally bright. The way she was swaying side to side reminded Sam of a cobra poised to strike. Everything about this situation screamed 'danger'.

The teenager moved closer, and Sam couldn't help but notice how she was squirming beneath her straight-jacket."I'm sure someone else will fix the lights," Sunset hissed, her breath coming out hot and steamy, "And all that's left of my meal is the dessert. You know how much I enjoy having a little something... sweet to bite. You wouldn't want to deprive me of that now, would you?"

That her words were spoken in a sultry tone that Sam had never heard from Sunset before did nothing to allay his fears. If anything it increased his apprehension. that only seemed to make Sunset giggle. Was she enjoying his fear?

The lights came back on with a loud thunk and Same didn't even hesitate. He slipped out of the room as fast as he could and made sure to secure the door behind himself.

There was a sound of uncontrollably laughter as Sam's footsteps retreated down the hall, but then it cut off with a sudden gasp. The frightening aura around Sunset faded away the second a candified Sunset Shimmer stepped out of her body and into the cell. Sunset grimaced up at her and spat, "You've gotten stronger. I shouldn't have let my guard down. You wouldn't have gotten away with that a month ago."

"Mores the pity," replied the Candy Mare with a twisted grin, "it's fun to tease them when they're big and stupid like that."

"You really are such a child. Always playing with your food," Sunset joked grimly, trying to cover how terrified she was with gallows humor. This was the first time in awhile that her curse had been able to influence her words and actions. She hadn't realized what was happening until it was too late.

"Perhaps, but that was just a pleasant diversion. That's not why I've decided to talk with you tonight," replied the shade, the mirth fading from her candy face.

"Why tonight exactly?" asked Sunset before she could stop herself. "You had plenty of opportunities. What made you decide to stop sulking and grace me with your abominable presence? I was kind of hoping you had just shriveled up and died."

"If wishes and hopes were swishes and ropes we'd all hang out to dry," was the Candy Mare's nonsensical reply. " I needed to wait until they took your muzzle off. I'm not a fan of one sided conversations, and that horrid contraption might get in the way of our understanding one another."

"That still doesn't answer my question," pointed out Sunset, sulkily.

The Candy version of Sunset looked at her incredulously,"Don't tell me you can't feel it. The swell of power coming up through your toes. Little by little the nights are getting longer. It won't be long now before Nightmare Night returns. When it does, you and I need to be prepared. That's why I need to speak with you. I want to cut you a deal."

"Oh this will be good," replied Sunset snarkely, "So is this the deal where I kill myself and you vow to destroy my enemies? Or the deal where I eat the next person I see and get to go on a cannibalistic spree as we break out of the asylum?"

The shade ignored her sarcastic words and continued, "I know you've noticed that they aren't treating you like they would a regular inmate. I've figured out why you're here."

"Sure... and why is that?" Asked Sunset, feigning disinterest.

"Someone out there believed you. Someone is desperate to find a way to silence me for good, but the idiots are trying to suppress magic with science." The Candy Mare cast a disdainful glance over her shoulder,"I'll give them that they threw me off for a little while with their 'Dr. Lemon Drop' routine, but I knew I was on the right track when he backed off experimenting on you at the same time I backed off tormenting you. If he were anything like the *real* Lemon Drop, he wouldn't have stopped using you until you were dead."

"So, what? You think there's some plan to break this curse and they just haven't told me?" Sunset wondered aloud, her brow wrinkled in thought, "Why not tell me? Why go through with some weird act?"

"Probably because anything you know, I know... They wouldn't want me knowing how they plan to get rid of me," replied the Candy Sunset with a grimace. "Stupid as their methods may be, they aren't leaving anything to chance."

"Sounds like I ought to just let them carry on then," mused Sunset.

That got the Candy Mare to shake her head furiously, "Only it's not going to work. Eventually they'll figure out that magic doesn't work the way they think it does and they'll give up on trying to alter you chemically. Then they'll figure out they will need to give you the same treatment as the royal sisters gave poor Pumpkin Patch. That's when the knives will come out and they'll start sealing bits of you in concrete all over the country. I'd say give it a few more weeks of trial and error and they'll chop you up and seal away the pieces."

"Trapping me and you together for a thousand years," whispered Sunset in horror.

The candy doppelgänger nodded, "Possibly longer than that. Magic works differently in this world, and it's incredibly thin. In Equestria it took me a thousand years to absorb enough ambient magic to make a new body and escape my imprisonment. Even then I escaped earlier than I should have thanks to those three stupid little fillies. In this world it could take tens of thousands of years. Which would suit the humans just fine."

"W-well fine then. If that's he way it has to be to keep you from wreaking havoc again, then I guess... I guess that's just what will have to happen," Sunset tried to hold back her tears, but it was hard when she was forced to consider what the next several millennia might have in store for her. "I'm fine with it," she lied.

"Are you?" Asked the Candy Mare, a serious look on her disturbing face, "Because make no mistake, I will get out. When I do, you'll be just as stuck as Pumpkin Patch was, unable to pass on. That wasn't a fate I wished on her, but on you? I don't mind if you suffer for all of eternity. Even so, I'd rather not have to go through being imprisoned again just to put you in that position. That's why I'm going to make this one time offer."

As she said this, the Candy Mare extended one deformed hand. In the palm there sat a single piece of candy, vibrantly yellow and dusted with sugar. A lemon drop.

"It was all I could think of," the shade said, almost apologetically.

"So what, you expect me to just kill myself so you can escape?" demanded the teenager, bewildered. "How is that any better!?"

"Don't be daft! You know how weak my powers are in this world," The monster sneered. "This piece of candy is only a temporary thing. You eat it and it will give you some of my power for just long enough to break out of here. After that, you go back to normal. Well... You go back to the way you are now, anyways."

"You could just take me over like you did just now," pointed out Sunset. "Force me to hurt people... Kill people."

"No, I couldn't. I could barely do that parlor trick just now with you fighting me the whole time. As long as you keep resisting me, you'll shake me off in the end," grumbled the Candy Mare. "The real reason you haven't seen me in months is it took all of my energy to bring this one piece of candy into being. With you borrowing my power, it will be the same deal... You won't see me again until the effect of the candy wears of. Your will is going to be entirely your own. Hence why I needed to talk to you like this, to convince you to eat this candy of your own accord and loose your bonds for both of our benefit. I can't escape how we are now, but this way you can!"

"I see how it would benefit you, but I still don't see how it would benefit me," replied Sunset. "Besides, why don't you just slip that candy into someone's coffee outside and leave here yourself?"

"It wouldn't work," frowned the shade. "Whether I like it or not, no one else on this miserable rock has the same kind of connection we do. It's the same reason no one else can see me. For better or worse, you are my current host. But it doesn't have to remain that way. If you get out of here, you can do real research into a magical solution for our mutual problem. You can find a way to break this curse and free the both of us."

"I'm not going to free a monster like you," Sunset declared with a stern look, "First chance I get, I will finish what I started and destroy you!"

Inexplicably, that made the Candy Mare smile. "Likewise. But I'd much rather you find a way to wipe me from existence than spend another thousand years chained to a corpse buried in rock. So how about it? Do we have a deal?"

The unicorn turned teenager had a simple and straightforward answer.

She opened her mouth and closed her eyes.