Everyone sat in total silence around the dining room table of human Sunset’s mansion. What had they just witnessed? Someone rising from the dead? The reanimation of dead flesh? It was incomprehensible.

“He’s….he’s….” Suri stammered.

“But that’s impossible,” Royal said. “I thought everyone said he died!”

“Well, clearly he’s not,” Jet said, evoking a long sigh from everyone.

The door opened, and in walked human Sunset Shimmer holding a silver tray with several coffee cups and a plate with chocolate chip cookies.

“Hey, guys,” Sunset said, putting the tray down. “Thanks for coming on such short notice. I have something very important to tell you.”

“What is it?” Fleur asked.

“I’ve been doing some thinking…” Sunset said. “…I’d like to register at Crystal Prep Academy.”

Everyone’s eyes went wide, and some broke out in grins.

“Darling, a-are you serious?” Upper Crust asked.

Sunset nodded.

“Sunset, this is wonderful news!” Jet exclaimed.

“What made you change your mind?” Royal asked.

“I decided that I can’t stay alone anymore. Since you all agreed to help me end all of this chaos with the magic, I thought it should only be fair that I’d join you all at your school. Besides, that way I can also keep you all updated constantly on things at my end.” Sunset said.

Trenderhoof grinned, “Well, it’d be amazing to have you there. It's been getting pretty dull without someone like you to help us out.”

“Well, I’m glad you all accepted me as a…a…” Sunset trailed off.

“Friend?” Royal asked.

“Y-Yes,” Sunset nodded, “I-It's great to finally have friends.”

“Wait, what do you mean... finally?” Jet asked.

Sunset bit her lip, looking down at the ground while playing with her hands.

“Sunset, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t wish to,” Fleur said.

“No, it's okay. I… I’ve just never had friends before…” Sunset said. “I think you all should hear this. Back when I was younger, no one really liked me. It’s not that I didn’t try, I just never had any luck. However, my mind immediately stopped trying to make friends when it came to around a few years back… with what happened at CHS, on one particular night...” Sunset trailed off, gritting her teeth. “I saw… her. My other counterpart, supposedly. After I saw what happened, I thought she was going to take over the world. I got all the video and photographic evidence, but nobody believed me. I stuck to my story with an iron grip, but they all assumed I was crazy.”

Sunset paused, looking around the room at her new friends.

“We’re listening,” Fleur said.

“Please, keep going,” Royal said.

Sunset gave a nod. “Later… I saw what happened at the Friendship Games. What I had witnessed… it was too much. That… that thing was about to destroy us all. Tear the threads that hold our world together. From then on… I vowed to rid the world of every magic-infested creature. Eradicate them before they harm the world or put anyone around me in danger.”

Sunset didn’t look up, too lost in her own thoughts. The memory of every magical creature that threatened to destroy everything she knew.

“So, that’s your mission?” Royal asked.

“To rid the world of chaos and magic?” Suri asked. "Just so we all see the light of day?"

Sunset nodded.

“Sunset, we’re all on board,” Jet said. “If it means ending that other Sunset Shimmer and her little magic-infected friends, then we’re in.”

Sunset gave a small, but genuine smile. “Thanks. Everyone… thank you.”

Before she could make another noise, her stomach began to rumble.

“Uh, I’m gonna go use the bathroom real quick, Be right back.”

Sunset walked out of the dining room, leaving the Crystal Prep kids to talk.

“Does anyone think we should tell her about… you-know-who?” Royal said.

Everyone nodded.

“But if no one’s going to say this, then I will. Neon, why didn’t you do anything when he was right in front of you? You never back down from anyone. Neon?” Jet asked.

Suri stopped and saw Neon wasn’t paying attention to any of them. His face was totally frozen.

“Neon?” Fleur asked.

Neon blinked for a moment, looking up to find concerned looks on his friends’ faces.

“You okay?” Royal asked.

“Um… y-yeah,” Neon stammered. “I just… need to clear my head real quick. I-I need a drink.”

Not giving any time to be questioned, Neon bolted out to the kitchen.

“You think he’s alright, what with… you know…?” Fleur gestured.

“I’m not sure he is,” Royal said.

Neon entered the kitchen, going to the sink and splashing his face with some ice-cold water. Standing at the sink, he gathered his thoughts. His head began to pound, swirling with a concoction of remorse and hate.

He wiped his hands dry on his clothes before reaching inside his blazer, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, and just for a moment, the contents brought him peace...

Neon held his rifle, gripped in his hand, ready to pull the trigger.

“Ready… aim…. Fire!”

He pulled the trigger, the recoil delivering a light bump back. After firing, he took his eye away from the scope.

“Ugh, again!?” Neon groaned.

He had missed the target again! He was having the worst luck at this prize corner.

“Hey, no one’s a perfect shot Neon.” Smokestack said, patting his back.

“This entire carnival is rigged,” Neon sighed.

“Better luck next time, huh?” Smokestack grinned, holding a teddy bear in his arms. AKA his prize from this very prize corner.

“The only reason you won was because the targets were set up easy,” Neon glared.

“Hey, now. The only reason I won was because I had years of practice with aiming targets. Practice makes perfect Neon, remember? But... admittedly Sour Sweet also took me out to paintball fields enough times for me to get the idea of how to lock onto a target and never give up.” Smokestack chuckled.

Neon shrugged, “I guess that explains it. Come on, let's find the others.”

After walking for a few minutes, they found the rest of the group standing near what appeared to be a spinning UFO ride.

“Hey guys, how come you’re waiting here?” Smokestack asked.

Royal huffed slightly, “Trenderhoof kind of made a dare on Indigo saying that she couldn’t last a second in that spinning space ship ride.”

“Ooh… big mistake.” Smokestack said.

Once the ride stopped, a door opened up revealing a nauseous Trenderhoof, and a grinning Indigo Zap.

“That was fun, let's do it again!” Indigo pumped her arms in the air.

Smokestack giggled, “Same old Indy.”

Trenderhoof stumbled around, holding his head.

“You don’t look so good Trenderhoof. Need a hand?” Smokestack asked.

Trenderhoof raised an arm up, gesturing a no.

Smokestack just shrugged and slowly stepped away.

“Come on, let's find a spot. I want to get a group photo!” Sunny said.

“Lead the way, Sunny,” Jet said.

A bittersweet memory. Happy, but heavy with shame after everything they’ve done to their past friend. Neon just stood there, the happiness and sadness canceling each other out into a blank, vacant stare as he looked at the photo.

Unfortunately, he had to get back to the group before they began worrying. He folded the picture back up and placed it in his blazer before going back out to join everyone.

Sunset Shimmer walked out of the bathroom, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed something above her living room fireplace. A mantle with some flowers, two silver urns, and a picture in the middle. In the picture, two adults in orange and reddish skin and hair color, in a hospital setting. And one of them held a baby.

Sunset walked up to the picture, placing her hand on the frame. Perfectly synced with her finger running down the frame was a tear on her cheek.

“I’m gonna put an end to this once and for all…” she murmured. “Balance will be restored. This I vow.”

With a sigh, she managed to pull herself away from the picture, rejoining the others.

“So…” Sunset said, “How are things on your end? Did that spectrometer work okay?”

“It worked fine, Sunset,” Royal said. “But you don’t know how much we risked to get the blueprints for the damn thing.”

“It was worth it though... right?” Sunset asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Right before we were about to use it, Neon got strangled by your counterpart’s reanimated boyfriend.”

“What? Who’s her boyfriend?” Sunset asked.

“Smokestack… that damn traitor,” Neon snarled.

“Huh?” Sunset said. “Who’s Smokestack?”

“He transferred to CHS at the end of last school year,” Royal growled.

Sunset tilted her head. “Um… still drawing a blank…”

Suri sighed. “Gray skin, bad attitude, highly aggressive, eyes that don't match the same color…?”

Sunset still looked confused.

“Okay, the photo you showed us with that boy? The one with the blue vest that had all the pins and patches?” Jet asked.

Sunset nodded.

“That’s him,” Jet said.

Sunset’s eyes widened, “Wait, hold on a second. Did you say he has two eyes that didn't match the same color? And gray skin?”

Jet nodded.

Sunset bit her lip. “Um… would you excuse me for a moment?”

Sunset dashed out of the room, heading for the basement. She ran down the stairs, almost tripping on her way down. She flipped on the lights, but she didn’t see what she expected.

The chains meant to hold a prisoner were snapped off. All of them were. Every chain hooked to the wall had been snapped off. Some of them were a bit older, while some were recently snapped. The basement was completely vacant.

“No… no….” Sunset pleaded.

Sunset rushed back upstairs and sat back down at the table, practically heaving.

“Okay… do not panic, but I think I’m the reason Smokestack is back,” Sunset said.

“What?” Fleur asked.

“What do you mean?” Trenderhoof asked.

“I’m sorry, I... I should’ve told you earlier,” Sunset said. “Smoke… I found him on my front lawn. It was uncanny. It was like he’d fallen from the sky, like a meteor. I didn’t know who he was at the time, so I took him to my basement to find out. He wouldn’t talk, though. The only thing I got was some magic, but nothing else. And somehow he got out. I-I’m sorry, guys.”

Sunset bit her lip, awaiting the shouting and rage from her friends. But it never happened. Instead, they just smiled at her.

“Well? If you’re gonna yell at me, just do it already!” Sunset pleaded.

They all started chuckling.

“What are you talking about?” Royal asked.

“Wait… you’re not mad?” Sunset asked.

They shook their heads.

“As far as we know, we have a sample or two of magic, a laboratory, and weapons to fight against magic, and of course, you,” Trenderhoof said. “That’s a start, right?”

“So he’s back,” Fleur said. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Everyone else nodded, still smiling at Sunset.

“We’ll take them down either way,” Jet said. “And with them, the magic too.”

Sunset let out a sigh of relief, smiling back at her friends.

“Yeah… we’ll take the magic down once and for all,” Sunset said. “And if Smokestack is really is my counterpart’s boyfriend, we might be able to use their relationship to our advantage...”

Shorter this time around. Don't worry, we'll be back to our main leads!