This… was embarrassing.

Last week she’d volunteered to help Fluttershy hand out pamphlets promoting the animal shelter. During the weekend she was coaxed into helping Rarity model for an ensemble of hers. In all honesty; she found herself quite fond of what the fashionista had conjured up, almost wishing she could have had one for keeps.

It was now Wednesday. More specifically, the day of the Canterlot High Culture Fair. And perhaps the liveliest one in the last two years ever since…

Sunset Shimmer felt like somehow kicking herself for the thought. She was meant to be mending from her past misdeeds, yet every day a stray thought or the wrong words would spring up; if not from her, but from someone else. Her current mode of dress did not help either; out of embarrassment, and the feeling that her personal resentment was only making her look worse.

She and her new, or rather, first friends in the world had settled on a Prench theme, combining a multitude of ideas, though emphasizing mostly on Pinkie’s, given the party girl’s enthusiasm when it came to her boundless sweet tooth, culminating in them hosting a Prench confectionery stand out on the soccer field among those of their fellow students. Staying true to theme, the lot of them had agreed to dress as Prench servers, complete with black and white, frilly outfits.

As Pinkie was calling to passing students in her overly enthusiastic manner, Rainbow Dash grumbled something under her breath beside Sunset, looking particularly miffed over how she was dressed, and how Rarity had insisted on doing her hair in a Prench braid, very unbecoming of the tomboyish athlete. The blush and mascara hadn’t helped either.

“Why do I have to dress all frilly?” Rainbow moaned, pouting, her arms crossed in indignation of her predicament.

“Why, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity, naturally enjoying the attention the lot had been getting, seeing as the outfits were her handiwork, “As top athlete, surely you would understand the importance of team effort,” she cooed, “We must all look the part.”

If Rainbow’s head was a kettle, it would have been steaming, given the death glare she was giving Rarity. Even Sunset herself couldn’t help but giggle slightly at the athlete’s display, idly adjusting the ruffle headpiece she’d adorned.

“Don’t forget, Applejack’s just as frou-frou’d up as you are, Dash,” Sunset remarked, aforementioned death glare snapping towards her, enough to make her reel.

“So how come she didn’t get the face treatment?!” Rainbow growled, jabbing a finger at the farmgirl who was busy serving two students one of Pinkie’s eclairs each.

“Oh, trust me, darling,” said Rarity with a sigh, “I tried…”

“Tried?” asked Sunset with intrigue.

Rarity groaned, “‘Could you take off a little of the blush’, ‘little of the mascara’, ‘little more of the blush’…” Rarity mouthed whilst miming wiping her face.

Sunset Shimmer did her best to stifle her giggling, and failed miserably. With her lifted spirits, she turned back to eyeing the crowd, when she spotted Principal Celestia and Vice-principal Luna approaching their stand.

“Good afternoon, girls,” said the ever-regal principal with the near glistening tri-colored hair, “My, it seems you’ve been busy.”

“Darn toot’n!” came Applejack’s enthusiastic reply, “Somethin’ we can do for ya, principals?”

Vice-principal Luna dismissed her with a wave of her hand, “We just came by to thank Sunset Shimmer for her help in reworking the student council charters, now with the Autumn Crown privileges revoked.”

Sunset could only look down at her feet, or the smidgeon she could make out past the hems of her Prench server’s outfit, “It was no trouble, really. I was glad to help.”

Principal Celestia smiled softly, looking at the former biggest bully and of Canterlot High, “Believe you me, Sunset; I for one am proud of your efforts. It’s nary been a month and we’ve noticed much improvement regarding not only student camaraderie, but overall performance all round.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, “I’m fairly certain that’s more to do with Prin- um, Twilight Sparkle’s efforts more than mine…”

“True, Miss Sparkle may have claimed your previous title; but it’s also by example that you and your friends have set that had made the further difference,” said Celestia, to which she looked among the rest of the girls, “You girls wouldn’t happen to have heard anything about Twilight Sparkle at all by any chance?”

The five behind their stand promptly feigned ignorance, aside from Rainbow who was still too peeved over her attire.

“I see…” the principal pursed her lips, sighing regrettably, “I was hoping you would know, seeing as you seemed to have a rapport with her. You’re saying that you’ve not seen or heard of her since the tournament?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so, Principal Celestia,” said Rarity, bringing a hand to her chest, “We just lost contact with her, like she’d vanished from the face of the Earth. A shame really; she seemed so nice…”

The principal and vice-principal looked at one another questioningly, to which Luna whispered something to Celestia from behind her hand.

“That’s a shame… Well, we won’t take up your time further. Have fun with the fair!” as soon as the sibling heads of the school were taking their leave, Celestia turned to Applejack; “Oh! I think we’ll also take three-”

Luna’s head snapped towards her sister in an instant.

“Two! Two is what I meant to say! We’ll take two eclairs!” the principal giggled nervously in her younger sister’s gaze.

The girls stifled their chuckles as Applejack handed the two their eclairs. Once Celestia and Luna were out of earshot, the five let loose a round of laughter.

“Okay; that might have been worth this…” Rainbow guffawed, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye, accidentally staining herself with the mascara, “Oh for crying out loud!”

Rarity was on Rainbow Dash with a cotton pad in an instant. As that went on, Sunset watched as Pinkie Pie called to one of the students walking past. Sunset recognized him as one of the third-year students, though the name escaped her as Pinkie beckoned him over, giving emphasis on the peculiar choice of hat he wore.

He was a tad on the shorter side with a striking charcoal skin tone and neck length silvery hair that angled much to the left side of his head and azure eyes. His wardrobe could best be described as retro, if not downright archaic; consisting of a dark grey collared shirt with a matching pair of pants and navy converse sneakers, while over his shirt he wore a very vintage looking green vest with a complementing checkered scarf tied around his neck. The most striking features were what appeared to be a bowler hat atop his head and a bronze chain clasped to his vest leading to a pocket. Perhaps connected to an antique watch of some kind? A matching bronze pin was also adorned on his vest in the shape of a quill pen.

Sunset tried to smile as naturally as she could when the student approached her part of the stand, going over their selection with a contemplative look.

“Hi there! Uh, I mean bonjour,” said Sunset, “Um… I like your hat.”

He looked at Sunset with raised brows. Possibly not the best of greeting, though Sunset as she grinned awkwardly.

“…Thanks?” he spoke, grinning back with an equally awkward expression, “Yea… bowler hats are cool and all,” he chuckled, “Dig the Prench outfits.”

“Heh. Tell that to Rarity, she’d appreciate it,” Sunset nodded towards Rarity who was finishing reapplying Rainbow’s eyeshadow.

The student glanced in the direction of the pouting Rainbow Dash, before switching his attention back towards Sunset.

“Sorry about losing your title,” he said, looking like he was staring right into Sunset’s eyes.

Sunset’s body froze at the archaically dressed student’s words.

“What?” asked Sunset, sounding suddenly breathless, “It’s… It’s fine. As far as I’m concerned; I never should have had that title in the first place. I think, for all intents and purposes, relinquishing it was the best thing to happen to me in quite a while.”

He raised a confused brow, “Really?” his eyes darted to the side contemplatively, “To be frank; were I on your shoes; I’d have fought tooth and nail to keep it. Maybe that would have finally meant something.”

Right now, whatever this man was on about, Sunset felt a sudden sense of dread. Externally, he did not seem malicious, but it his eyes betrayed something that he was not expressing directly. And yet, over her years of manipulation and getting into people’s heads, Sunset felt a sickening familiarity emanating from his choice of words.

“Can we help you, by any chance?” Applejack walked up next to Sunset, her wording slow and deliberate. The farmgirl was eyeing the man warily, Sunset feeling the deepest gratitude at the intervention.

He looked at Applejack, clearly intimidated by the farmer’s defensive posturing, though his face remained neutral.

“It’s nothing…” he muttered, “I… Can I just have one of those macarons?”

Applejack complied to the man’s request and handed him one of the triads of macarons on small cardboard plates. He bowed in thanks and turned to leave, stealing a final glance at Sunset before walking off. Sunset’s gaze followed him until he melded with the crowd.

“What the hell was that about?” asked Applejack, eyeing in the direction of the bowler hat wearing student. She looked over at Sunset, “Ya’ll right there, Sunset?”

Sunset hugged her arms, “I get the feeling someone here might not be happy with the changes at Canterlot High,” she and Applejack looked at each other concernedly, “Who is he?”

“That’s Night Quill; he’s in the same history class as me,” informed Rarity, “While I always thought he pulls off the Vaultingese-era look quite nicely, I’ve never really spoken to him outside class.”

“Real barrel of laughs, I bet,” snorted Rainbow Dash, “So what exactly was he on about?”

“Just saying he’s sorry I lost the Autumn Crown title. And that he’d have fought, apparently tooth and nail for it,” said Sunset in reiteration.

“You mean back when the title meant having authority?” asked Fluttershy.

Sunset groaned, fighting the urge to slump on her knees from the frustration. Just great, less than a month and already her old influence was coming back to haunt her.

“Hey now,” said Applejack, placing a comforting hand on Sunset’s back, “We know you’re tryin’, Sunset.”

“And besides!” said Pinkie, popping up right next to the two sporadically, “It’s not like Sunset’s making him be a grade-A meanie. He’s the one being the grade-A meanie when Sunset’s been working hard to be a grade-A goody!”

Sunset chuckled, rubbing the back of her head, “Thanks, Pinkie… I think…” she mused

“Pinkie, what’s the duelist system got on ‘im?” asked Applejack, prompting Pinkie to fish for her phone out of her hair, as expected.

“Let’s see heeeere…” she fumbled with her pink smartphone, going through the app for the Canterlot High dueling database, “‘N’ for ‘nougat’, ‘I’ for ‘icing’, ‘G’ for- got it!”

Sunset held out her hand where Pinkie promptly placed her phone. Certain as can be; there was Night Quill’s profile, complete with his photo, minus the hat. Scrolling down, his personal information (third-year student, registered in the eco and game club), down to his recent dueling history. His latest deck was marked as ‘Ancient Gears’, and going back to earlier that month, his win-lose ratio had been recorded as 9-1 preceding the quarter finals.

“Nine-to-one? That’s actually not all that bad,” she remarked.

“Nope, but just looky there,” said Applejack, tapping a finger.

Gently nudging Applejack’s finger aside, the time of his last duel was at 3.45pm., after which there were no further match-ups.

“Wait…” Sunset muttered, musing over the information before her, “So he loses once, with over an hour to still duel, and he just stops?”

Rainbow shoved in between her and Applejack, “Really? Who did he lose to?”

“Flash Sentry, big surprise,” Sunset rolled her eyes with a wry smile.

“And just look at all the people he beat; there’s Ember, and Spitfire,” Rainbow chimed in, “Valhallen, Cloudy Kicks, Micro Chips, Sandalwood, Crimson Napalm, Indigo Wreath and Cherry Crash. A lot of these guys aren’t exactly second-stringers by CHS standards!”

“Wasn’t Spitfire in the top eight?” asked Applejack, taking the phone from Sunset as she scrutinized further over the defeated students.

“Yea, until I knocked her out of the roster,” Rainbow grinned.

“So, we’ve got a good duelist who is on a roll, loses once and just forfeits?” Sunset asked, sounding more incredulous than intended.

“Ah think I’m seein’ a pattern here…” said Applejack, flipping the phone to its side, “Seems this Night Quill deliberately went after the top contenders with the highest win ratios.”

“He wanted a challenge?” asked Rarity.

“But, if he’s so good and wanted a challenge, then why did he quit upon losing to the top duelist on campus?” Fluttershy chimed in.

“That… is a very good question…” said Rarity in response, bringing a quizzical finger to her chin, humming contemplatively.

The sound of someone’s clearing of their throat snapped the six girls’ attention when a familiar blue-haired male stood in front of their stand.

“Uh, hi,” greeted Flash Sentry, with an awkward chuckle, standing back being his two bandmates, Ringo and Brawly Beats, “So, are you on break or…?”

Rarity’s face beamed, “Ah, Flash, just the man we were looking for!” she stated as she took her turn with Pinkie’s phone.

“We weren’t looking for him in the first place…” murmured Fluttershy in a matter of fact tone, which went largely ignored.

Rarity showed the profile on the screen, “By any chance do you know anything about this finely dressed gentleman, Flash?”

Flash took the phone and went over what was presented, “The hat guy?” the sound of a few people clearing their throats in disgruntlement sounded in the near distance, “Err, the… dome hat guy?”

“Actually, it’s called a bowler hat,” Rarity interjected, raising a finger.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “The guy who looks like he raided his great grandparents’ closet, yes.”

Back to looking at the phone, before handing it back to Rarity, he bobbed his shoulders, “I don’t know all that much. Just a decent duelist, I suppose. Real shame really how he just quits every time.”

“So it’s not the first time?” asked Applejack.

Flash idly scratched the back of his head, “I think your best bet would be to talk to Sandalwood. I hear he and Quill used to pal around during freshman years. Why the interest?”

Sunset Shimmer pursed her lips, looking in the direction where the archaically dressed student wandered off.

“Let’s just say I think we have one more piece of the past to put behind…”

-

Night Quill inserted the empty cardboard plate into the proper recycling container, wiping a stain off the side of his mouth with a handkerchief. He went back to leaning against the soccer field bleachers, looking around as the various students went about enjoying the culture fair.

“Isolating yourself from everyone will not fix your problems, Night Quill,” he almost jumped in surprise, seeing Vice-principal Luna standing beside him.

Sighing in relief as his heart settled down, he shifted his back against the bleachers, crossing his arms, looking away from the vice-principal.

Luna sighed, looking at the boy sadly, “I heard the news today.”

Night Quill looked up at her, his visage emotionless before looking back at the fair ground, “Right,” he murmured.

Luna brought a hand to her hip as she watched the student deliberately try to ignore her, “Night Quill, we’ve talked about this before; I understand your frustrations, and time and time I’ve just wanted you to realize; you’re not inadequate or a failure.”

This time Night Quill did not even bother looking back at her. His eyes stared vacantly at whatever he could focus in the distance, “With all due respect, Vice-principal Luna; you wouldn’t understand.”

Luna shook her head, “Maybe not exactly. But bear in mind, I have a sibling too. Contrary to what you think, even she and I have had our differences, and sometimes I felt I couldn’t stand her myself.”

Night Quill let out a chuckle, “Vice-principal, may I ask; have you ever felt like all your life you’ve just been living under someone else’s shadow? And how that shadow just keeps casting itself over you, no matter where you are, until it very much defines you?”

She looked at the student solemnly, crossing her arms, “Sometimes, Night Quill. But over time I learned that I am not my sister, no matter what others might have thought or expected of me. I did my thing, she did hers, and because we understood one another and our strengths, we were able to make it where we are today, and I now have the joy of sharing the same institution with Celestia. For all our differences, we felt that with our rapport, we could run CHS much more efficiently, because of that understanding.”

Night Quill this time had the courtesy to look up at her, a wry smile forming on his lips, “And I’m really happy for you and the work you two have put into, well, putting up with the lot of us. Maybe in some reality I know what it’s like to have this rapport, but…” he hesitated, before groaning, “Excuse me, Vice-principal Luna.”

With that, he stood straight and walked away along the bleachers. Luna could only watch sadly as the lonesome Night Quill walked off, deliberately avoiding the fair.

“He still doubts himself,” came the voice of Celestia, her sister approaching from the direction of the fair, watching with her.

Luna nodded, “I’ve tried my best to help him understand that he is not his brother,” she sighed, “I’m not certain what to do about him.”

“Have you considered getting on an even level?” asked Celestia, holding her arm out.

“I have, yes,” Luna concurred, “I’m just not certain that I should.”

Celestia hummed, eyeing the fairgrounds contemplatively, “Maybe this is something we should best let someone less familiar handle,” she said, a small smile on her lips.

“Sister?” Luna raised a questioning brow.

“Hmm, just a thought…”

-

It was Thursday’s lunch period, and Sunset Shimmer, as part of her show of good faith, was the last to be served as she’d offered her place in line to pretty much everyone else. She walked briskly to her and her friends’ usual table, seating herself next to Fluttershy, who gave a smile in greeting. As Sunset sank her fork into her helping of vegetarian three-bean chili, she noticed across from her as Rarity and Rainbow Dash were going over the contents of a manila envelope.

“What’cha got there?” asked Sunset before inserting her loaded fork into her awaiting mouth.

“Ah, Sunset, you’re here!” beamed Rarity, “I did some investigating, with my overeager assistant,” to which Sunset noticed Pinkie Pie, wearing a deerstalker cap, a fake mustache and had a toy calabash pipe in her mouth expelling soap bubbles.

Sunset decided to not question the unfathomable anomaly that was Pinkamena Pie and focused on Rarity, whom she could have sworn to have seen earlier that day wearing a wide-brimmed fedora. She motioned for the fashionista to continue.

“Well, it turns out Night Quill’s brother is none other than Sharp Stroke,” the fashionista elaborated.

Sunset, in thought, sloshed the chewed-up contents in her mouth before swallowing, her mind drawing a blank, “Sharp Stroke?”

“I know, right?!” blurted Rainbow Dash, her hands thumping the table as she leaned forward, “As in the Sharp Stroke; the local who was just accepted into the international dueling circuit! It was just announced yesterday!”

Sunset produced her smartphone from her jacket pocket, “Ooh. So that’s what your post on MyStable was about… Wait, how did you know?”

Rarity shrugged, “I may have told everyone else before you, what with your busy schedule.”

Fair dues, seeing as Sunset’s helper routines did take a drain on her time. Just yesterday she’d been tasked with the final clean-up of the soccer field after the culture fair had ended. Though Applejack and Rainbow Dash, to her joy, had decided to help.

“I’m still not seeing the big picture though,” said Sunset, taking another forkful of her chili, “What does Night Quill’s brother have to do with his demeanor yesterday?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Rainbow Dash, crossing her legs, “Guy’s just proud of his big bro!”

“Um, are you absolutely certain, Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy, who was halfway through finishing her cup of fruit cubes, “He didn’t seem all that enthusiastic yesterday.”

“If not downright passive aggressive if ya ask me,” Applejack added, “And it still don’t explain what exactly he was on about, and this whole give-up attitude of his.”

“I get that you, AJ and Rarity have a great rapport with your sisters and equivalent, but trust me on this Rainbow,” Fluttershy pursed her lips, “Not everyone is always too proud of their siblings.”

Rainbow’s eye visibly twitched at the shy one’s comment, until a shudder ran through the rainbow-haired athlete’s body.

“And didn’t Sharp Stroke attend Crystal Prep?” Fluttershy inquired, “I mean, if he were an alumnus of CHS, that would be one thing, but Night Quill attends our school. I think, um, if you permit me, that maybe Night Quill might not be all too happy about it.”

“Oh, trust me; I’m not.”

Eliciting a yelp from Fluttershy; standing at the end of their table was none other than the bowler hat donning Night Quill. Sunset Shimmer could not help but notice the sounds in the cafeteria had dulled just slightly upon the archaically dressed student’s approach. Night Quill stood, arms crossed looking a tad bit peeved over at Rainbow Dash.

“Hiii!” said Pinkie, waving cheerfully, though the intention did not seem to resonate.

“Pardon me,” said Night Quill flatly, “But could someone explain to me why my MyStable, and the school message board, are laden with crap about me?” he asked, flashing his phone for everyone at the table to see, namely the original post by Rainbow Dash and the plethora of likes and follows it had received in only a few hours.

Sunset and her friends all looked at Rainbow Dash, who could only grin awkwardly with a slight blush lighting up her cerulean face, “Umm, oops?”

Night Quill grimaced at Rainbow’s response, “And since it’s online now, everyone in the world is going to see and know how about Sharp Stroke’s ‘inadequate little brother’ who couldn’t make it himself.”

Sunset exchanged worried looks between Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

“Sorry, but I don’t quite follow…” said Rainbow uneasily.

Night Quill sighed, shaking his head, “Of course not…” he murmured, “Fine; Rainbow Dash, out of respect for you as a fellow duelist, I challenge you to a duel.”

The bowler hat wearing student’s declaration turned much of the attention in the cafeteria towards the girls’ table, the students murmuring amongst themselves at the prospect.

Rainbow smiled wryly, “Is that all?” she chuckled, “Heh. For a minute I thought-”

“With a wager…” Night Quill added forebodingly.

“This is not going to be something fun…” whispered Pinkie audibly to Rarity, still wearing the hat, mustache and pipe in her mouth.

“The loser, as a show of courtesy, will relinquish their deck to the winner, until the end of the term,” Night Quill declared, raising a brow, his expression difficult to pin down.

Sunset felt she understood what was going through Night Quill’s head. He was playing into Rainbow Dash’s ego. He knew that if Rainbow declined, her personal image when it came to bravado and confidence could be tainted. She still did not quite understand what it was about Night Quill and people knowing about his pro-league brother, but in earnest, she was strongly hoping for Rainbow to swallow her pride just this once and decline.

It did not seem likely, as Rainbow’s brows furrowed in defiance, “Alright. After school, soccer field. Bring your A-game…”

Author's Notes:

I like to think Night Quill as being voiced by Wendy Powell (i.e. Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist).