Sunset found herself pacing under the bleachers by the soccer field, feeling disconnected and agitated...and more than a little guilty. Right now, the rest of her friends were up in the bleachers, cheering on Rainbow Dash during early tryouts for the varsity soccer team. Her ears caught snippets of the conversation as she paced in an oblong path underneath them.

“Rares...do we have ta wear this get up? Ah know we’re here for Dash, but we look like a gay pride parade got lost.”

“Dearest, they're her colors. We are trying to look supportive and keep warm at the same time,” Rarity responded to her partner. “And you know very well that the Pride rainbow has some significant differences and variations.”

Applejack groaned. “Don’t go there. Ah’ve been tryin’ fer years ta block that memory from mah mind. Those weren’t shorts, they were a glorified technicolor belt.”

“They were not. Honestly, the way you go on sometimes, Applejack! You’d think I do naught but torment you. And since your memory works that well, I trust you are capable of spotting the differences without me pointing them out.” She paused. “As for what we are wearing today, they’re nothing more than a slight accent to our attire in an attempt to cheer on a friend.”

“Besides!” Pinkie chirped cheerfully. “They match the cupcakes I brought! Want one, Fluttershy?”

“Oh thank you, Pinkie...”

She should have been up there with them, watching their friend put her all into making the team. Instead, she was here, hiding while her mind went over the events of the week, trying to make sense from it all. It had started when Rarity and AJ had met her in the hall the other morning in front of her locker, both with worry etched into their faces....

“Girls? What’s wrong?” Sunset looked between the pair, feeling her stomach twist.

“Mac got the truck stuck in mud this mornin’…” AJ began. “So we got some boards down an’ Ah went ta maybe lift the front an inch’r so ta get the boards under the wheels…”

She trailed off and Sunset furrowed her brows. “Okay…so why do you look upset?”

“Sunset, Ah lifted the whole front half o’ the truck with mah hands…an’ it felt like it weighed nothin’ at all.” Applejack looked at her. “Couldn’t do that before…an’ Ah had that feelin’ inside, like when Ah Pony-Up.”

Sunset blinked, rocking back on her heels at this information. “You’re saying you had some kind of magic surge…and it made you super strong?”

“Eeeeyuuup.” AJ took off her hat and scratched her scalp. “Didn’t last too long. Maybe twenty or thirty seconds—Rares saw the whole thing.”

“I did,” the tailor confirmed. “She did seem to glow a bit, like we do sometimes right before a Pony-Up, but it wasn’t…it…seemed different? I do not know how else to describe it, as I am…not accustomed to magic, Sunset. It's quite the new experience for me.”

Sunset had spent most of that day worrying, instructing all of her friends to let her know if anything unusual happened or if they had any unexpected magical events. They hadn’t, but her weekly scans around the school had shown that the ambient magic was still creeping upwards, and she was beginning to catch brief flickers of what the former unicorn thought might be newly active leylines beneath their feet.

It didn’t help that she had so little she could offer in the way of answers, not to her friends or to the principals, who were counting on her to research and understand the magic and provide them with some kind of guide or instructions on how to best handle it. The former unicorn had gone through every book she’d gotten and all the notes Princess Twilight had given her, looking for answers, and found nothing more concrete than ancient Equestrian myths, mostly from her people but some from other creatures as well. Myths that had been old when Princess Celestia had been a foal. Only a fool relied on myths as hard fact without a lot of evidence to back it up…evidence that was lost to time.

She found herself cursing Discord—the Princess of the Sun had always been adamant that the bulk of their ancient culture had been lost in the Discordian Era, more than had been lost in the Warring Tribes Era. Knowledge of not just history, but of ancient magics, and wonders that ponykind hadn’t seen since, some of which were periodically rediscovered—like the Sonic Rainboom—and many of which would be lost outside the annals of legend and myth.

“Sunset?” Fluttershy’s voice broke through her thoughts, making the former unicorn halt in her pacing. “Are you okay?”

Blue-green eyes looked towards the voice, finding Fluttershy peering down at her through the gap in the bleachers. “Hmm? Oh…Yeah, I’m okay, Fluttershy.”

“But you’re hiding under the bleachers and pacing in circles…” Her friend looked concerned. “…is something bothering you?”

Sunset’s shoulders sagged, and she ran her hands through her hair. “It's just more of the same, Fluttershy—I still have no idea what’s going on with our magic, which is still growing, and now it looks like I’m not the only one having magic surges, and I don’t even have any real information to know whether or not this is good, or bad, or some kind of manifestation of human response to having magic. All I’ve got are legends and myths, folktales thousands of years old.”

Fluttershy frowned, glancing back briefly as their friends cheered for Rainbow Dash. “You mean like Applejack getting really strong? Do you think something like that might happen to all of us?”

Isn't that the two million bit question? Sunset thought bitterly. “I don't know…like I said, all I’ve are my people’s equivalent of…” she searched for a comparison, and remembered something her English teacher had commented on. “…It's like your Arthurian mythos. Sure, maybe ponies like Rockhoof or Mistmane or even Gusty the Great were real, and maybe they did do something important, but the stories they came from were pieces that were passed down from more than six or seven thousand years, including an entire thousand years where Discord’s Chaos and pandemonium meant creatures and cultures across Equestria lost nearly everything, since the effects of his roving chaos storms meant a village was lucky if it survived two decades. We were almost driven to extinction—Princess Celestia once told me that the population of ponies in Equestria by the time Discord was sealed away was less than a hundred thousand. A thousand years of that…we lost almost everything that we couldn't carry, and when you have starving foals, you're going to prioritize food and shelter over old books. Most of the knowledge that lasted was either sealed away and rediscovered later, or it was passed on from one pony to the next, orally or by demonstration.”

The animal lover’s eyes were wide by the time Sunset finished her explanation. “That so awful!” This time she didn't turn to see what Applejack was suddenly yelling and stomping her feet over. “That…can't happen anymore, can it?”

Sunset blew air out her nostrils. “Not unless somepony does something foolish and frees Discord from his prison. He was sealed away thousands of years ago by the Elements of Harmony.” She sighed. “It's the last known use of them before a thousand years ago, when the pony I now know was Princess Celestia used them to imprison her sister in the moon. Then they went missing until Princess Twilight and your pony counterparts found them and fixed Princess Luna.” Her skin prickled, mimicking the way her hide would have rippled as a pony. “Each of those stories is self-contained, and two of the wielders were alicorns, so they were already super powerful, bigger, tougher, stronger, and more magically capable than the average pony, meaning they are data points I cant use. And I’ve looked over everything the princess gave me—there's so little there because she's lacking data. Yes, her Dash is faster than before and her AJ is super strong, but how much of it is their own magic as a pony or even just pony biology? Its left me with nothing to work from, Fluttershy. Not for any of this. I’m going in blind.”

Head resting on her hands, Fluttershy asked, “So why not treat it like a completely new thing? Like when they discover a new animal, they try to get all kinds of notes on its behavior first before they start comparing it to other species.”

The former unicorn stopped in her pacing, turning the suggestion over in her head a few times. Was she looking too hard at the magic she’d always known for the answers? It was hard to tell if she was, because the magic that they had felt like the magic of the Elements, and her own power was decidedly unicorn magic flavored…but there was also an unknown quality to both now, something that felt….different than any magic she’d ever seen or touched.

“Sunset?” Fluttershy’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts once more.

“Sorry…I was just thinking about your suggestion. I…don't want to completely throw out what I know from Equestria about magic because some of it does apply and our magic does have the same feel as magic in Equestria….” She scuffed a foot along hard-packed earth.

“But…?”

Sunset blew air out her nostrils in a snort that steamed in the air. “…but I guess instead of getting angry and frustrated when I don't have an answer or something contradicts what I know I should look for the answer or take more notes, and realize maybe this is a thing that makes our magic different.”

Booted feet start pacing a path along the earth again, her mind racing. “So far, we’ve had several major events that have caused powerful magical effects and the creation of powerful wards, enchantments and even impossible transmutations, the spontaneous generation of native Equestrian plants, and now Applejack is reporting magic surges that are increasing her strength a hundredfold.” Sunset looked up at Fluttershy. “Maybe the rest of you should be on the lookout for new magical effects.”

“Like what?” Fluttershy asked.

The former unicorn sighed heavily, throwing her hands up. “I don't know!” came the frustrated growl. Fluttershy made a sound of surprise and distress that forced Sunset to rein in her temper forcefully. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” she apologized. “I’m not mad at you…I’m just frustrated at the situation—I want to help, I should be able to offer you something, but I can’t. As many years as I had at CSGU, it's no good when the magic here seems to be operating on its own set of rules.” Her hands tangled in her hair in a very human gesture of frustration, gripping her scalp for a moment. “I guess…just look out for magical things happening that have never happened before, or anything far above and beyond your normal abilities. You should feel the magic inside you….rising up…like it's responding to something, even if nothing is going on. If there are people around…try to be away from them or at least point yourself in a direction they aren't.”

In her mind’s eye, she saw herself on the bed with Twilight, magic burning in her veins so strongly it hurt, and the moment of fear she’d felt when to felt like her power was about to burst out of her, that she might do to her girlfriend like she’d done to ponies and objects in the past. Sunset shuddered, shaking herself to throw off the memories. “Magic surges can be dangerous,” she added.

They could also attract attention that neither she nor the girls needed. If Twilight could detect the energy, then any one with the right technology and know how could. Sunset was already having to invent ways to distract her overly curious girlfriend until she could figure out what to tell her—if she even could. Equestria was an entire world that was not prepared for broadscope contact with humankind, and Sunset was an Equestrian exile who had no authority to make a decision to tell someone who wasn't already in the know about the magic about the world of her birth. She could ask Princess Twilight, but the mare had only just found out she had a friend other than the girls and she wasn't sure if she was up for explaining the relationship she had with the human Twilight Sparkle to the pony one.

The former unicorn turned in a smooth arc, pacing back the way she had come, brows pinched together in a frown. Guilt and self loathing gnawed at her. She wasn't even sure if the princess was still talking to her, given their last conversation and it’s abrupt end, with the alicorn no longer responding in the journal after Sunset had been…less than kind in venting some of the bitterness that still lingered around the subject of Princess Celestia. It wasn't something she meant to do, but her temper had slipped a little and before she could stop herself, the words had been written, something she couldn't take back.

Her stomach twisted sourly, making her regret the vegetarian burrito she’d had for lunch. Sunset was slipping badly in the last two weeks. She’d gotten ugly with the princess over nothing, she’d snapped at Fluttershy, and just the other day, she’d panicked when she had found her girlfriend behind her school, and misused the affection the other girl had for her to derail her investigation. Just like the kinds of tactics she’d used in her past…though it was the first time she’d ever used her own body as the tool, and it made her feel…

“…set…?”

Dirty. Sunset felt dirty, and showering didn't make it go away. Twilight was her best friend, her girlfriend, the one person who she trusted more than anyone, and what she had done was wrong. She’d used the way Twilight felt, the desire and affection and trust between them as a way to manipulate the situation.

“…unset?”

And the fact that she had enjoyed it made it even worse! The entire thing had been instigated with an ulterior motive, but once she had started, she had lost herself in the heated kisses and tight embrace. It hadn't been her original plan—she had mostly been focused on keeping Twilight away from the statue—and the greenhouse had been a perfect way to let the inquisitive teen get her readings without actually scanning anything important.

“…Sunset?”

Granted, Sunset would be lying if she said she hadn't wanted to show off the small, quiet space that was the greenhouse just a little. It was private, intimate, and it reminded her of Equestria, surrounded by the low level hum of magic and vibrantly growing plants, many of them that were both food and decorative to her, and she thought it was pretty…but when Twilight had started to mess around with her scanner, Sunset had seized upon the memory of how Twilight had been utterly invested when they had been kissing in the loft, and before she could stop herself, she’d had her girlfriend sitting on the nearest open space on one of the plant platforms, legs wrapped around Sunset’s waist while the redhead had kissed her until she could barely remember her own name.

It had worked better than she anticipated, especially since she’d gotten caught up in it herself, surrounded by the scents of growing things and clean air and freshly churned earth and it was only when Twilight’s phone went off with a call from her concerned parents that they’d realized how long they’d been making out in the CHS greenhouse. She’d driven Twilight home, and left her in her driveway with a silly little smile on her face, getting a sweet kiss and a giddy sounding thanks from her girlfriend before she’d headed home herself.

By the time she had gotten home, she felt nauseous and awful, the warm feeling replaced by shame and self-loathing, and she’d limited herself to the nightly text chats and short good night calls that Twilight liked to sneak in before they both fell asleep, feeling like she barely even deserved that much. It hurt inside, knowing that at the first sign of panic, she’d fallen right back into her old habits without even realizing it until it was too late.

“Oh my gosh! Sunset!? Are you okay!?” Fluttershy’s voice finally cut through the mental static, and the former bully jerked herself to a halt in her pacing to stare at her for a long minute. Fluttershy frowned in worry. “Sunset?”

“I—” Her voice broke, and she cleared it, trying to dispel the choking lump that had lodged itself there. “Why wouldn't I be? I was just a little lost in thought.” The feeling of something squeezing her chest, making it impossible to breathe, intensified.

“Sunset,” her friend said gently, “you’re crying…”

One hand came up to her face and found that her cheeks were wet. “Oh…”

Fluttershy ignored the frantic call of her name, staying focused on Sunset. “Did you want to talk about it? Or want me to come down there and hug you? Dashie will understand.”

Sunset scrubbed the tears away furiously, before looking at Fluttershy. She couldn't explain, not yet, and—

“Fluttershy! Look out!” came a cry from the field, and several things happened at once.

Magic surged along her awareness like a powerful bolt of lightning, stunning her with its intensity. There was a rush of wind, a blur of color, and then Fluttershy vanished from where she was peering through the bleachers at Sunset. A second later a soccer ball smacked into the spot that the animal lover had been in, followed by a thud from behind Sunset.

“Fluttershy, are you okay?” Rainbow asked from over Sunset’s shoulder.

The former unicorn pivoted, already hearing the rest of their friends clamoring off the bleachers to come find them. Rainbow and Fluttershy were standing about a dozen feet from her and the athlete was hurriedly checking her friend for injury. The soft-spoken teen just looked bewildered more than anything. “I’m okay Rainbow Dash. What…just happened?” she asked.

“Flitter kicked the ball all wrong when Lightning Dust hit her in the ankle,” Dash explained. “It was gonna hit you in the head, Shy. So I got you outta there.”

“Exceptin’ the part where ya were all the way across the field, an’ ya covered it faster than Ah could blink,” Applejack drawled.

“Or the massive magic surge you just had,” Sunset said quietly. She shuffled in agitation, resisting the urge to pace again. “Which was definitely some kind of surge—did you pony up at all?”

Rainbow reached up and ran a hand over the top of her head. “No ears, and I didn't feel wings. Are you sure it was really magic? I didn't really feel anything like that…”

“I know a magic surge when I sense one, Rainbow,” Sunset responded tightly. “And I know what your magic feels like. It was definitely a surge from you.”

Rarity made a thoughtful sound. “And you did cross a considerable distance rather quickly, darling. As fast as you are, even you are not capable of those kinds of speed unaugmented. No human would be.”

“Eyup…crossed the field on a diagonal in less time than it took that ball ta fly. Ain’t no one that fast, Dash.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno. I just saw Fluttershy was gonna get nailed and I had to stop it. It's not really a big deal, even if it was magic—and if it is? Cool! Maybe I’ll end up like the Flash!”

Sunset rubbed her temples. “Dash, it's not really something you can—”

Shouts for the athlete interrupted Sunset, and Dash grinned apologetically at her. “Sorry, Shimmer. Gotta go back to tryouts. My team needs me to win it! We can talk later, okay?” And then she was running back towards the field.

Exasperated, Sunset thunked her head back against one of the support posts of the bleachers, much to murmurs of concern from the other girls. She heard Rarity clear her throat uneasily. “Sunset, darling, please correct me if I happen to be misremembering and misunderstanding your previous conversation on the matter…but I was under the impression that uncontrolled surges of magic had an element of danger to them?”

“There can be,” Sunset sighed. “Which is why I’m worried and I wish Dash would take this seriously.” The former unicorn took a deep breath to calm herself. “Magic surges for a unicorn don't come with things like super powers. Its more uncontrollable spell effects for us—I used to start fires or cause explosions.” A faint memory of a study room ablaze and panicking while she tried to keep the flames away from the terrified alicorn filly, fire licking painfully up her own legs made her shudder. “It almost killed me more than once. I can’t say these could be like that, but think for a moment. AJ could pick up a car. What happens if that strength shows up when she goes to clap a hand on someone’s shoulder or worse if it happens when she goes to hit someone?”

“Oh dear. I can see where that would be problematic.” Rarity touched Sunset’s arm with a concerned hand. “What can we do?”

With a shake of her head, Sunset looked at her friends. “Honestly? I don't know. This magic is similar but different to what I know. I’m sorry. I should be able to help, and you guys are relying on me to help figure out all this magic, but I…don't have an answer for you.”

She hung her head, feeling guilty that she had no real answers to give, when Rarity squeezed her shoulder. “Sunset…that’s quite alright if you don't know. No one here is expecting you to be all-knowing. We will figure this out together, darling—we always have, and you said yourself, no one person is meant to have all the answers.” Rarity glanced in the direction that the soccer player had run off. “As for Rainbow, in all the years we’ve been acquainted, I’ve never known her to take anything overly serious…but it does not mean she’s not paying attention to what you’re saying, or the warnings you are trying to convey.”

Applejack tipped her hat back from her face. “…Rares is right, Sunset. We’re in this together, like ya said before, an’ that means figuring out the magic as much as it does hittin’ magic monsters in the face. We’re here ta help, an’ ya need ta let us.”

“Yup!” Pinkie chirped. “And if that means we have to really work hard on learning about magic like you, Sunset, we’ll do it! I can tell you all about my Pinkie Sense!”

Fluttershy moved to hug Sunset around the shoulders. “…This magic is as much our responsibility as it is yours. We might not understand everything, but we can try our best to help you figure it out, even if it's just us being a sounding board for your thoughts and ideas.”

Blue-green eyes took in the faces of each of her friends, even as the faint trickle of magic from each of them wrapped around her soul. “…I…you’re right. I guess I got so caught up in being the only Magus among us that I forgot that I can ask for help.”

“Who knows,” Applejack added, rubbing her chin, “mebbe we’ll think of things that you wouldn’t, cuz we’re not workin’ off thousands of years of rules and traditions about magic.”

The pale skinned tailor made a loose gesture at the group, arching a brow at Sunset as if to say ‘See?’ “So why don't you tell us what we can do first to take some of the weight off your shoulders, darling?”

Sunset felt a smile creep onto her face. “…Alright,” she agreed. “Well, to start, we need to all be on the lookout for potential surges in ourselves and each other, which means each of you needs to get familiar with not only the feeling of your own magic, but the feel of each other’s…” She found herself relaxing as she fell into the rhythm of working with her friends to prepare themselves for whatever their magic threw at them next.

Someone feels guilty. Turns out she was doing something devious to distract Sparky. Shame on you, Sunny!

Also, some hints at Equestria's history and worldbuilding. Surprise! Modern Equestria is basically a post apocalypse. It is NOT actually the height of pony culture, or any of the other cultures really. Many things--including some entire species--were lost in the back to back eras of the Windigo wrecking shop, and Discord suffering from "Baby's first God Complex." Even more have been buried and forgotten, meaning Equestria is basically full of old, buried ruins that may or may not be still in the possession of magical defenses and lost knowledge. No wonder Daring Do had so much to root through. Heheh.

Sadly, apocalypses and civilization ending events/collapses are not great for the preservation of records. *jerks a thumb at the Bronze Age* So Sunset's not got much to work with.