Recovery

by AlexLoneWolf

When faced with excruciating circumstances, who do we turn to? Are we brave enough to face it alone? Or is facing such things alone really considered bravery? One thing for certain is that all we really want in the end is to feel like ourselves again. And whether it's loved ones, priceless memories, or tangible notes of an instrument, we desperately seek recovery. (Relies on ANH)

2. Strings of the Heart

I didn't realize how I had started humming that same tune as I brought in the huge cart of books from Tia, but for some reason, it was really catchy. Actually, I wasn't sure if Celestia allowed Twilight to have these books because she felt bad about what happened to the Golden Oak Library, or if was because of the new update to her title. Either way, I was completely sure that Twilight was going to be absolutely astonished to see the amount of books in her library. It was actually a good "house-warming" present since the castle library's shelves were new and bare.

"What's that song you're humming?" Spirit, who was accompanying me, asked. "Not that it's bothering me, but I've been hearing it over and over."

"I don't know." I answered as I stepped in through the giant doors of the library. "It was just stuck in my head after I woke up this morning." I stopped in the center of the room, unhooked myself, and turned to her. "You've ever had a moment like that? Where you wake up one day and something's stuck in your head almost all day?"

"I…don't know?" Spirit answered as if she really didn't know the answer to that. Fair enough. "Either way, I'm glad to see you're doing better. After all, when you're happy, I'm happy. Literally." She released a short giggle.

As I started pushing groups of books from the cart into the shelves, I continued speaking to Spirit. "So, now what?" I asked, ready to follow up. "Now that we know where you come from and stuff, are you ready to break out of your shell?"

"What do you mean?" Spirit formed a look of confusion on her face.

"Well, you were so secretive with me, right?" I explained. "After all, you only talked to me. Besides being… 'invisible' to the others, it seemed you were only interested in me. Now that what happened happened, are you going to open up to the others?"

"Open up…?" Spirit held the same look.

"Well, for short, be friends with them, you know?" I clarified.

"Oh. Yeah, um, I guess." She answered briefly, almost as if she wasn't really too interested in befriending them like I did. But I wasn't sure about that. "But…we can still…hang out, right? Like the times when you and I messed around in that other castle?"

"Oh yeah, sure. Of course." I responded as I was about finished with the books.

"That's good." Spirit appeared sort of relieved. "After all, we can't stray too far from each other."

"Huh?" I looked back as she caught my attention with that statement.

"Well, I mean you can…but…" She tapped her hooves together. "You're kind of like…the 'host', if you get what I mean. Imagine if there's like an imaginary line or leash between us. I hold the collar and you hold the leash. I can't get too far without hurting myself unless I'm close enough to you. It's just the way it is, I guess."

"So…" I stopped finishing up with the books to pay more attention to her for the moment. "…how close do you have to stay by me?"

"Of course, it doesn't matter at all when I'm back inside you." She put out first. "But when I'm outside…I don't exactly have to be right there, but I can't be like at another town." She paused for a moment and cringed when something painful seemed to cross her mind. "Oh man, I can't imagine if we were both at a train station and you got on a train without me knowing. Ughhh! I don't even want to think about the pain I'd feel."

I sort of shared her thoughts on the matter, even though I didn't know what kind of pain she felt. "I guess I have to more careful around those parts now."

"I mean, I could probably still be okay." She mentioned. "If I can return back to you in time. Well…I don't even know." She bumped her head with her hoof and stuck her tongue out. "I'm never been in that situation, so I wouldn't even know if I'd be able to 'return'."

"By 'return', you mean like…send yourself back inside me?" I asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "It's almost like teleporting but easier since I only have to focus on one place: you. I just wouldn't know if the pain would be too unbearable or if 'returning' is even possible if you're too far." She sighed. "If you don't mind, I guess just be a little more careful around those kind of situations? Please?" She asked of with an earnest smile.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful." I said. "Just…don't pop out without me knowing."

"Heh heh." She chuckled. "You'll know."

I turned back to the shelves and finished with the books. "There. They're not in alphabetical order…but Twilight loves rearranging them anyway."

"You're just lazy." Spirit placed bluntly.

"Yeah, maybe." I didn't really want to deny it if it was true. "Come on, let's go help out the others with the stuff they're moving."

"Okay." Spirit agreed as she followed me out of the library. Before we left, I thought I heard something, but it was too quiet to pay any attention too. It wasn't until Spirit let out a soft and small cry of surprise as she quickly turned around behind her. "Alex. Something's going on with one of the books."

"Huh?" I turned and walked after her to see what she was talking about. I reached her when she stopped to hear that certain sound more clearly. She stared at the book that seemed to glow and shake after falling from the shelf to the floor.

"It's like… vibrating or something…" She noticed the book's actions.

"Why would it be doing that?" I asked as I moved closer to the book. "You're not pranking me, are you?" I quickly turned to her, preparing for any surprises.

"No, no!" She shook her head with eyes widened. "I'm not!"

"Hm…" I turned back to the book and cautiously picked it up with my magic. I opened the book to find it still vibrating. The first pages I found were all letters that seemed to be addressed to Princess Celestia, but I didn't bother going through them as I was too focused on trying to find the source of the vibration and glowing, if there was any. As soon as I got to the middle of the book, there was one entry that glowed once and stopped, along with the vibration. It was as if this entry was very recent.

"What does it say…?" Spirit asked, almost revealing her fear of what the book holds.

"It says…" I began as I squinted my eyes a bit to read what was inside. "Dear Princess Celestia… I know it's been such a long time since I've spoken to you. There's so much I want to tell you, and so much I want to apologize for, but in all honesty, I'm reaching you because something horrible has happened here in the world through the mirror. Being your former student, I don't know what to do, and I'm actually pretty scared. I'm trying to make…changes…but I'm afraid they'll all be for nothing if this…this evil does something really bad. You see, there's these girls that appeared out of nowhere. At first, I thought they were your average teenage girls, but ever since I talked to them, they've had this strange vibe. I wasn't sure what to think about it until their recent behavior. They practically got everyone here to fight with each other just by singing, especially when Twilight had just gotten everyone together. But there's another thing. My new friends and I weren't affected. It was almost like…we were protected. Anyways, there's too much to explain. I just wanted to let you know this as soon as possible. It looks…like we might have another really big problem on our hands…or…hooves in your world. Please get in touch with Princess Twilight and Prince Alex. They might know just what to do." I stopped and stared at the page for a moment. "No way…" I almost mentioned in disbelief with widened eyes. "Is this really…?" I looked down at the signature to find my guesses correct. "It's from…Sunset Shimmer!"

"Sunset Shimmer…" Spirit seemed to try to recall. "I think I remember her…"

"I don't know exactly what's going on…but we need to show this Twilight." I told Spirit as I closed the book and hurried out the door.

Spirit caught up to me when I stopped in front of everypony who appeared to be relaxing in the room of thrones.

Rarity immediately noticed me first. "Is something on your mind, darling?" Her question caught everyone's attention and had them turn to me.

"Twilight, there's something you gotta read." I presented the book they all noticed when I passed it over to Twilight.

"Why?" She asked with a smile on her face. It appeared she didn't get that I wasn't just recommending a book to her. "Found another book I'll absolutely love?" Her smile disappeared and her eyes shot open as soon as she got to the page I bookmarked. As she activated her "one-thousand words per minute" reading speed, the others became intrigued to what she was reading.

"What is it, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked first as they all joined around her.

"It looks like…" She squinted her eyes almost like I did. "…a message to Princess Celestia from…" She paused and her eyes grew once again. "…our friends at Canterlot High!"

"Wha-what?" Rarity questioned in shock. "How is that even possible?"

"I have no idea, but it... looks like they need our help." Twilight shut the book after reading the last of the words and placed it on the table. Without word she stood up and trotted to the library, having us follow after her. Once inside, she quickly scanned through the shelves and picked out a certain book without having to even read the title. "The way Sunset Shimmer described them, I think these new girls sound an awful lot like... the sirens." Twilight ended after placing this new book on the table we all stood around.

"Not the sirens!" Pinkie Pie yelled out horribly before sharing a whisper with Fluttershy. "I don't actually know what that is!"

"The sirens were three beautiful but dangerous creatures who had the power to charm ponies with their music." Twilight explained after having opened the book to a certain page. There was a picture that depicted these sirens, and they definitely didn't look like any kind of pony. "But to maintain this power, they had to feed on the negativity and distrust of others. The more of this negative energy they consumed, the stronger their voices became, and the farther they could spread their dark magic."

"I don't think I like this story very much…" Fluttershy couldn't help but share her fear on the subject.

"It can't be those sirens, can it?" I asked. "I mean, what are they doing in their world if they're supposed to be here in Equestria?"

Twilight proceeded to answer my question by continuing on from the book. "If the sirens had their way, they would have divided and conquered all of Equestria. But a certain Star Swirl the Bearded wasn't having it. Rumor has it he found a way to banish them to another world – one where he believed their magic power would be lost. That world must have been the one where our Canterlot High friends live."

"Hold it." I stopped her. "Why did he think that that world would have them lose their magic power? I mean…if he didn't know, he'd be taking a really large risk…"

"I don't know…" Twilight shook her head with a small frown. "If I could, I'd ask him, but after all, it is a rumor. We don't know what really happened."

"If that rumor is true, Star Swirl must have sent them there ages ago." Applejack brought up. "How come they're just surfacin' now?"

"I don't know that either." Twilight flipped the page. "But if my hunch is right and it is the sirens who have come to Canterlot High, this spell they've cast is just the beginning. Our friends on the other side need us. We have to get back to them." She said as she began walking away.

"I hate to burst your bubble, Twilight, but the connection between their world and Equestria will still be totally cut off for a super long time." Rainbow Dash mentioned, flying in Twilight's direction to stop her.

"Okay, first of all…" Pinkie Pie immediately cut in between them. "…if there was bubble-blowing going on, why wasn't I told about it?!" She took too seriously. "And secondly, if the connection is totally cut off, how was Sunset Shimmer able to get a message to here, where we are?"

Twilight's eyes floated upwards to her cranium until she suddenly gasped in realization. "Pinkie, you're a genius!" She ran off.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." She giggled boastfully. However, she immediately grabbed on to Rainbow Dash and pulled her face-to-face. "Now about those bubbles..."

Before she continued, Twilight already began bringing in all this…science stuff in the center of the room. But the most noticeable thing was the mirror, at least to me. She quickly sorted out everything and connected it in ways I'd never know how. Soon enough, the result of the project looked like nothing I thought it'd be. I was too busy going through her astonishing construction to pay attention to all the specific formulas and details she was explaining about activating the mirror. Honestly, it wasn't like I would have understood it anyway.

"...And the interval between the two points is defined as the square root of the sum of the squares of the separation between the points along three spatial dimensions." She looked back at everypony else with a beaming smile as she finished her lecture.

Of course, every one of them had understandably lost faces besides Pinkie Pie for some reason.

"Say what now?" Spike asked.

"Duh!" Pinkie yelled out as if she completely understood every little thing. "She's gonna take the magic in here…" She pointed towards the book and moved on over to the mirror. "…and put it in there. That'll make the portal open up so that whenever she wants to, she can go from here to there." She began to continuously repeat herself and switch between objects. "There to here. Here to there. Here there! Here there! Here—"

"We get the idea!" Applejack almost yelled out after having had an annoyed look on her face.

Nevertheless, Pinkie returned to her post with her smug smile.

"Now to see if it actually works." Twilight started as she walked towards the machine. From there, she grabbed the book and placed it on top of the mirror. Soon enough, magic began pulling out from the book and to the top of machine. Then, every part began moving around until a large cloud of magic formed above the mirror. All of us waited for the next step, but it seemed to just be frozen there. "…did it…did it work?" Twilight asked.

Everypony looked at each other and shrugged.

I took a close look at the mirror, but the mirror itself didn't seem to change. I mean, it wasn't glowing or anything like it was last time. "I don't…think so…"

"Did I miss something?" Twilight brought her hoof to her chin and thought. "I'm sure I calculated everything and got the materials down…"

Spirit had been staring at the mirror for some time before she finally walked forward without sparing a word. She stopped in front of the mirror and tilted her head. Although, she didn't really look like she was trying to figure out how to work it. Instead, she lifted her hoof and tapped it. Doing so proved that the mirror wasn't activated. She almost had this concerned face before she suddenly had a strange and silly idea.

She closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue towards the mirror.

"Oooh!" Pinkie Pie suddenly cried out after seeing Spirit do that. "Is there something tasty on there?!" She dashed towards her and actually carried her above her back to be in the same spot Spirit was. However, in doing so, Spirit was brought closer to the cloud of magic.

Almost in the kind of way a magnet worked, the cloud was attracted towards Spirit and suddenly electrified her. She could certainly feel the literal shock before that piece of cloud in her was transferred over to the mirror. Soon enough, a vortex formed inside the mirror and finally appeared to be working.

I raced over to Spirit to check on her. "Are you okay?!" I quickly asked.

"Ughh…" She responded a bit disoriented. "Yeah…"

"That was certainly…something…" Twilight commented.

"Don't suppose we could join you this time around?" Applejack asked in curiosity.

"Better not." Twilight advised. "It could make things pretty confusing if Canterlot High all of a sudden had two of all of you." She mentioned, remembering those that stood beyond the mirror.

"But I still get to go, right?" Spike immediately questioned after the rest of them agreed with Twilight's suggestion. "There isn't another one of me at Canterlot High. And you never know if you might need your trusty assistant." He reasoned both confidently and a little fearfully.

Twilight looked at him and nodded clearly. "Mm-hmm."

"Yes!" Spike cried out.

I looked at Spirit and helped her up after she had been sitting down to recover from the shock. "There definitely can't be one of you or even me through the mirror." I gave her a sort of mischievous look. "Considering how complicated we are, it's just not possible.

"Plus, you're stuck with me whether you like it or not. Literally." She smiled brightly with closed eyes.

"Then, it's settled." Twilight stated and looked at the others. "We won't be gone long." She told the others.

The majority of them grouped together to hug Twilight while another portion of them pushed me inside to join the group hug. Pinkie Pie took an extra measure of hugs and smiles before she was finally satisfied.

Twilight looked at me before she stood by Spike and spoke to him. "Ready, Spike?"

Spike cracked his claws, exhaled, and prepared himself in a runner's position. "Ready."

I turned towards Spirit. "Ready?"

"I'm ready when you're ready." She meant in an ambiguous way and smiled.

Twilight looked back at us until Spike started on ahead. Twilight followed while we followed Twilight. The four of us all jumped through that mirror and prepared for the wild ride ahead.

---

As we passed through the final light, the first thing we heard was a crowd of cheer.

"They're here!"

"I'm back." Twilight mentioned a little nauseated while rubbing her head.

I saw a hand extend out to us. I looked up to see a familiar face. Before Twilight could see who it really was, she didn't hesitate to grab it. However, noticing and recognizing the face, she quickly retreated it back.

Nevertheless, in hope to keep her heart from breaking, I grabbed it myself and allowed her to help me up. "Sunset Shimmer!" I greeted her. "You look…different."

I suppose she didn't understand my viewpoint since she wasn't in my shoes. "Do I?"

Before moving on, I looked at Twilight who was still sitting on the floor, but I wanted her to be helped by Sunset. After all, it seemed like the first step to sort of…completely settle things out with each other. Sunset Shimmer must have kind of gotten the message to extend her hand out again, so she did. Possibly noticing the change as I did, Twilight decided to accept her hand once seeing a careful large grin on Sunset's face.

"It's just…" I tried to continue before the others rushed in to greet us.

There was one missing. Fluttershy was too busy looking extremely embarrassed, having her hair cover most of the side of her face when looking in my direction. I suppose she still felt a little…anxious.

"I've got some bad news about those new girls." Twilight mentioned seriously once the others finished their greetings.

"Who's your friend?" Sunset Shimmer suddenly mentioned, confusing us.

We looked in the direction she was looking at to notice someone else having a completely rough time getting the hang of things. There was a familiar looking girl trying to get on her two feet and throwing her arms all around her in an attempt to keep balanced. At one point, she tripped over and fell on her two hands.

"Ow…"

I immediately remembered who this was supposed to be. I would have thought she'd be…well…inside me instead of out here.

"Spirit!" I jogged over to the girl wearing a loose but small white shirt, shorter than average shorts, and a fashionable baseball cap to top it off. Pun intended. I grabbed her hands and picked her up from the ground. However, her legs wobbled and she immediately reached for my arms to keep her up.

For a while, Sunset Shimmer observed Spirit for a moment before rubbing her chin with her hand.

Rainbow Dash sort of broke the short silence.

"Okay. I'm pretty sure there's a lot that's happened between us ever since the last time you guys came, so why don't we head over to the Cakes and talk there?"

---

Spirit had to stay close to me the whole time for support. Either way, she was learning the ropes around being in her new form and slowly getting used to it as we walked towards that shop near the school. Nearby, I glanced over to Fluttershy, and I was actually pretty surprised she hadn't said a word to me. It was almost as if she was trying not to look at me or even speak to me. She isn't angry or upset with me, is she?

We all gathered around the familiar spot at the shop. I let Spirit have my seat while I remained standing up. She probably needed a break after being on her new two feet.

Mostly noticing Spirit and wondering what she had to do with us, Rarity spoke up about the situation. "Oh, I do hate that you had to return at a time of crisis." She said as Pinkie Pie returned and offered us drinks that we accepted. "There's so much catching up to do!" Rarity took a sip of her tea. "Perhaps you would give us just the slightest bit of gossip from your world?" She asked after taking another glance at Spirit in a curious manner.

"She's got an official title now." Spike, whom was sitting on Fluttershy's lap, began before the two of us could have a chance to speak. He imitated fanfare coming from a horn with the biscuit Fluttershy gave him. "The Princess of Friendship!"

"Wow, that's really impressive." Sunset Shimmer expressed genuinely. "Guess you really were Princess Celestia's prized pupil." She turned towards me. "What about you?"

I've only know the new Sunset Shimmer for a very short while and I could already feel the humbleness that had grew inside her. I honestly felt no need to be suspicious that she might be "faking" it or something. "I kind of got a title too…but to be honest, I don't really care for it."

"They even got their own castle!" Spike added, as if he was proudly showing off two trophies while waving around his biscuit.

"A castle?!" Rarity reached for Twilight in shock and excitement. "You have your own castle?!" She almost screamed out, accidentally spilling some of Twilight's drink onto her. "Eh..." She noticed everybody looking at her and cleared her throat once recomposing herself. "Ooh, uh, lovely." Rarity calmly replaced as she cleaned Twilight's shirt.

"Well, before we get too into things…" I began to say. "Let me introduce you all to someone really important." Spirit raised an eyebrow in sort of confusion as she sipped the drink she was offered while still fumbling a bit with her hands. "This is Spirit." I presented a hand towards her.

"I must say, you look absolutely adorable." Rarity told her after everyone else had greeted her. It seemed she had been waiting to say that when they'd finally been properly introduced. "You simply must be Alex's little sister, are you not?"

"What?!" For some reason, Spirit jumped in the way as if she had been labeled my girlfriend instead. Due to her suddenly standing up from the couch in shock, she accidentally bumped into the table and caused the drinks on there to almost completely spillover had it not been for the others that quickly caught them before it was too late. Spirit realized what she did and quickly sat down, looking embarrassed for almost causing a mess. "I mean… I'm actually… Well…" It seemed she didn't know how to explain the situation between us, so I decided to elaborate for her.

"Well, you can kind of say…she's my Spirit… She's actually the reason why I seem to have this…power of light or whatever you want to call it."

"Ooooh." The others responded in a way as if they understood something they didn't get at first.

"Oh, I see." Rarity continued. "My apologies. I was only wondering if you were his little sister because you very much look to Alex as Sweetie Belle does to me. Sweetie Belle is my little sister." She explained.

"It's fine…" Spirit still seemed to be a little uncomfortable.

"You all are a sure an interesting pair…" Sunset Shimmer couldn't help but mention.

"How have you been?" I asked Sunset.

"Well…I'm getting by…" She didn't exactly answer in a satisfied way.

I suddenly began realizing something that bothered me a little. I suppose it was Spirit, whom had been quiet the entire time unless she was spoken to. I figured she was on her shy side of herself, so I turned to see if I could interact with her. However, I noticed she appeared a little frightened by something. Spirit now had a beverage in her hands, but something stopped her from taking any sip of it. Her eyes were dead locked onto something else. In fact, that "something else" was Pinkie Pie. Spirit appeared to immensely become uncomfortable when Pinkie Pie wouldn't stop staring at her. I suppose since the conversation came to a temporary halt, everyone turned their attention to this little scene.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity softly scolded. "Don't you know it's rude to stare?!"

"I can't help it!" She answered without turning her field of vision away. "I've never seen someone's eyes like that!"

Having her eyes talked about, which seemed a more vulnerable area to her, Spirit looked as if she wanted to crawl into a shell.

It seemed the others hadn't actually noticed her eyes until now. Nevertheless, they seemed to have more sense of trying to shift the attention instead of joining the staring.

"C'mon, Pinkie. She's probably really sensitive about that and you're going off and scaring her." Applejack shared.

"It's…It's okay…" Spirit managed to say while keeping her eyes down at her beverage.

Had there been any free space on the couch, I would have stepped in to keep her closer company. After all, she's known me apparently her whole life.

"Anyways!" Twilight spoke up, seeming to work in Spirit's favor. "What's new here? I mean, besides your school becoming the target of dangerous magical creatures from Equestria?"

"Yeah, so, that isn't exactly the only strange thing that's happened since you left." Rainbow Dash pulled out her mobile device and presented it to us, the newcomers. It appeared to be a video of her playing guitar. Oddly, that same kind of magic from last time happened as she was playing. "Pretty sweet, huh? It happens to all of us when we play." She ended by placing her feet on the table and her arms around the top of the chair behind her head.

"Hmm." Twilight placed her drink on the table and prepared to provide her thoughts on the matter. "My crown was returned to Equestria, but some of its magic must have remained here at Canterlot High. Now that we're all back together, we can use that magic on the sirens. Just like when we were able to use it on Sunset Shimmer when she turned into that horrifyingly awful winged monster!" Realizing that Sunset Shimmer was still in the very area we were in, she stopped and looked over with an embarrassed look. "No offense…"

"None taken." She answered in a disgruntled tone, folding her arms in front of her chest and looking away. "I'm used to it."

I guess she's had same experiences with others…

"They'll never even know what hit 'em!" Rainbow stood up and began kicking and punching about until Applejack put an end to it by holding on to her last fist.

"We've got nothin' to worry about now that Twilight's back." Applejack confidently assured.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I could find something to worry about…" Fluttershy reverted to her insecure side, but quickly grew out of it. "But it won't be the sirens!" She happily addressed.

"The sooner we do this, the better." Twilight suggested. "Any idea where they might be?"

She received only shrugs and shaking heads before Pinkie Pie waltzed her hand to her face and shook it energetically. Before she could proceed, she made sure to finish her drink to the last drop. She gave a hefty sigh of pleasure afterwards. "There's a big party tonight for all the bands who signed up to be in the showcase! That would include them, the Dazzlings." She answered, picking up her straw to finish off the chocolate at the end.

"Looks like we've got a party to crash." Twilight smiled positively as she moved over to clean Pinkie's cheek with the leftover chocolate.

Seeing as she was probably being a bit squished between Twilight and Pinkie, Spirit quickly stood up. In the process, she began wobbling about in unbalance. She seemed to hold herself better than before, but I still handed her a hand to help.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." She felt a little better being next to me. "I guess I just needed a little space." She looked towards the others. "No offense."

"By all means, darling." Rarity mentioned, proving her mannerisms.

"We should probably get going." Sunset Shimmer advised, hopping off the side of the couch she was sitting on. "As soon as we get rid of those girls, the better I'm sure we'll all feel. Maybe…we can celebrate afterwards." She seemed hesitant or reluctant to say.

"Totally!" Pinkie Pie immediately agreed. "Come on! Come on!" She began hopping off, heading towards the door. "We might still catch them at the school before the party!"

Twilight shared an agreeing look with me before having Spirit and me follow.

---

"Sorry for freaking out about the 'sister' thing Rarity mentioned…" Spirit apologized as we made our way. "I guess I'm still a little jumpy about being seen by everyone else…or maybe I'm just a little depressed that I'll never be a sister." She mentioned oddly.

"It's fine." I reassured. "But it's a little weird you mentioned that because…haven't you been inside me the whole time?"

"Hey." She suddenly grew softly irritated. "Just because I wasn't made like the rest of you, doesn't mean that I don't have feelings like you do."

"Sorry…" I slowly backed off verbally. "Actually…now that I think about it…maybe it's my feelings you're feeling. You know, back when I hated feeling like I had no type of sister."

"Yeah, maybe…" She kind of distanced her eyes away.

I was too caught up by her behavior to realize the swords and daggers everybody's glares threw at each other at the gym. It was just like when everybody had their own little groups they kept to the last time we were here, except this time, it was practically hostile.

Pinkie brought the entire group over to the table that served refreshments, attacking the cookies on the big platter. However, the location seemed to allow us to keep a look out for what we were supposed to see while staying at the sidelines.

"Would you like a drink, Spirit?" Rarity extended a cup towards her. "I would offer you some cookies, but it appears Pinkie Pie is currently busy with them."

Pinkie Pie didn't pay no mind. As Rarity mentioned, she was too busy helping herself to the large amount of free sugar in front of her.

"Oh, um. Thanks." Spirit brought her hand to it. Right before she was about to touch it, she stopped and stared at her hand. Her eyes remained on her hand as she confusingly and awkwardly moved her fingers around.

"Pretend it's a claw." I offered anything I could to help.

Spirit managed to open her hand up like a claw and slowly wrapped it around the drink. Then, she appeared to have gotten a grip on it, but it wasn't too solid. Before she could take the first sip, Rarity lightly squealed. "Oh, I just want to pinch your cheeks!"

Spirit didn't know how to respond to Rarity's obsessive behavior over her loveable looks. She could only react in an embarrassed manner as she tried to converse. "Oh…uh…t-thanks?" Rarity only grinned widely in delight before Spirit turned towards me and spoke softly so only I could hear her. "I'm not sure if I still want to be here…"

"I know it's a little…frightening at first…" I tried to offer her words of encouragement. "But you get used to it, trust me."

"If you say so…" She proceeded to drink her beverage like a little girl until we heard the sounds of the gym doors opening behind us. This caused Spirit to look up to see who it was until she unexpectedly reacted in a worse manner. Her eyes widened as her beverage slipped through her fingers and splattered over the floor.

"What?" I asked, turning around to see what terrified her so badly. As I noticed a pair of three girls that seemed to stand out from everyone else, Spirit huddled and hid behind me.

"No way…I can't believe it… It's them…" She mentioned fearfully.

"Them?" I questioned.

"The Dazzlings!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, pointing them out to us. "Those are the girls we were talking about!"

"The Dazzlings…" I repeated to myself. I know the girls were supposed to be evil and whatnot, but why was Spirit so scared of them? She didn't know about them until a while ago. After all, they didn't even look that terrifying to be honest. The one in the middle had a look that seemed to replace Sunset Shimmer's back when she was still a little…crazy. The one on the left just seemed bored to be here. And the other on the right appeared to be more interested in the party than any diabolical plans.

"What, really?" Twilight walked in, taking a look at the girls herself as they walked further into the gym.

"So what's the plan, Princess?" Rainbow asked, huddling us together.

"Well…" Twilight held her fingers to her chin. "It's simple really. We just do what we did last time and show how our friendship conquers all."

Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes at Twilight for a moment before she shrugged and casually responded. "Alright." Rainbow began walking off, leading the others including Pinkie Pie who struggled to snatch as many cookies as she could for later consumption.

"C…Can I stay here?" Spirit asked, stopping me from joining the others.

"Why? We're going to be together. There's nothing to be afraid of." I said.

"Y-yeah." Spirit began changing the tone of her voice and quickly scanned the table near her. "It's just…I haven't tried the cookies yet. I mean, it's you all that do your whole friendship thing, right? You did it last time without me."

"But, weren't you inside me last time?" I recalled in a question. "You're out here right now. It's you who works the light, isn't it?"

"W-well." Her eyes searched for another excuse. "Either way. You go on ahead. I think it should work anyway if I'm over here." She worked a weird nervous laugh. "Psh. Ha. I'm like what, five feet away from you?"

"Hey…!" I heard from behind me, causing me to look and see Rainbow gesturing me along in a hushed manner. "Come on!"

"Okay, fine." I allowed, seeing as I needed to join them either way. "Just do your thing, okay?"

Plugging a cookie in her mouth, she nodded her head.

As we were closer to these girls, it seemed we were able to hear some part of what they were muttering to each other about.

"Imagine what a tizzy they'll be in by the time the Battle of the Bands starts." I heard the one with the large orange hair say.

"There isn't going to be a Battle of the Bands!" Twilight was quick and confident to start. The rest of the girls, except Fluttershy, looked ready in their positions. "We're gonna make sure of that!" Sunset Shimmer stood on the side and nodded with a self-assured clenched fist. "Alright, let's do this!" Twilight linked hands with one and turned towards me with her other outstretched hand. As I grabbed it, I could only feel super casual about the entire situation as I only had the story of the sirens to go about with these girls. Every other girl in the group looked intentionally determined in erasing the presence of pure evil. When every one of them, including me, linked together, Twilight exclaimed out with all of her heart. "Friendship is magic!"

All of them lurched forward as they expected that impact of magic to shoot out from them, but all I felt was a group of weight pulling my arms forward. Since I was the only one who left my eyes open, I was able to capture the strong sense of silence that ensued afterwards, which was something that clearly was supposed to happen. Those three girls stared at us, I mean, the whole gym stared at us. Feeling nothing happen, I turned over to the refreshment table to meet eyes with Spirit.

Continuing to watch us from the sidelines, she merely stared and came up with a short shrug. I tried gesturing my head my way to see if anything would happen if she was with us, but she refused by shaking her head. I gestured harder, but she only shook harder with closed eyes.

"Uh, weren't there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time?" I heard Rainbow ask softy, preventing my charade with Spirit any longer.

"I don't understand." Twilight responded, beginning to look around worriedly. "We're all together again. Why isn't this working?"

"You, uh... really need to go ahead and do that whole "magic of friendship" thing now." Spike suggested as he climbed out of Twilight's backpack.

"I'm trying, Spike." Twilight answered. "I thought the seven of us standing together against the sirens would bring out the magic we needed to defeat them. That's what happened before."

"Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!" The loud one spoke up again. "This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they already got this thing all locked up." She seemed to take our behavior as a feisty challenge to this competition they were having.

"Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!" Trixie unsurprisingly had the need to share.

"Whatever, Trixie! We're the best band at CHS!" Another shouted.

"No! The Crusaders are gonna win!" Applebloom stepped in.

As everyone began exchanging angry and even hostile words, the vibe around the room immediately darkened and felt extremely uncomfortable. Back at the refreshment table, I saw Spirit hurriedly walking out as fast as she could while clasping her mouth with her hands and shutting her eyes tightly. Even though she almost tripped with every other step, she managed to escape the suffocating gym. With worry, I sped after her.

She appeared to find her way out of the school and sat on the steps with her hands to her head.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, retrieving my hand that was holding the front door after walking out.

"It was…too noisy…" She responded as I sat by her.

"Tell me about it." I agreed as I continued observing her recovering from the scene. The first question that popped in my mind was what I asked afterwards. "Do you know those girls somehow? Or did you have a lucky guess it was those 'sirens' Twilight was talking about?"

"Mghh…" She struggled in thought. "It's…hard…"

As I stared at her with a questioning look, I heard the doors behind us open.

The rest of the girls that stayed behind back at the gym came out, looking…dissatisfied.

"It doesn't make any sense." Twilight mentioned as she walked down the steps and the others took their seats around. I especially noticed Pinkie Pie, whom had the balance to sit on the railing right by me, and Rarity, whom sat with her back against me with her legs crossed. Nevertheless, everyone paid attention to Twilight as she was going over what just happened. "We should have been able to create the spark that would help us break their spell. That's how it worked before."

"But to defeat me, you drew magic from the crown I was wearing." Sunset Shimmer reminded. "I don't have that crown now."

"No, no…" Twilight shook her head in thought. "Didn't it have to do with Alex or something? His light was the key to bringing our magic together…" Twilight stopped and widened her eyes. Then, she immediately turned to Spirit. "Spirit, since you're Alex's light, aren't you supposed to…?"

Spirit suddenly looked away with an uninterested look to her face, as if she was upset. "You all should have been able to do it on your own…"

"Hang on a second." Sunset Shimmer intervened. "The sirens' magic comes from their music. So maybe you have to use the same kind of magic to defeat them." She contributed as she looked at each one of us. Spirit didn't offer a response, so it seemed Sunset was brought down because of that. "Or... maybe not."

"No. I think you're onto something." Twilight stated otherwise.

"Really?" Sunset's hopes were brought back up.

"I just remembered something." Twilight explained. "It's when you play music that you transform now, right?"

"Yup. Ears, tails, the whole shebang." Applejack confirmed.

"So maybe the way to use that magic to defeat the sirens is by playing a musical counter-spell!" Twilight slammed her fist into her other hand.

"You mean like a song?" Fluttershy mentioned as she pulled away the bang in front of her eye to the side.

"Uh-huh." Twilight replied. "I can't exactly put together a logical explanation that'll guarantee our success by this method, but the fact that the magic within you all activates when you play, it's a high probability that all of our magic will come to light when we play. And in order to free everyone who's been exposed to the sirens' spell, we'll need them all to hear it."

"Hmmm..." All of them besides Spirit and me thought.

"The band competition!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed after gasping. She took a stand to continue her statement. "That's the next time we can be certain everyone will be in the same place at the same time."

"Guess the Rainbooms are the band to beat." Applejack shared.

"And since there are two more of you with magic, I believe the both of you just became our newest members." Rarity directed to Twilight and me.

In excitement, they gathered closer around us, leading Pinkie Pie to ask a question. "So what do you wanna play? Triangle?" She held out the instrument. "Sousaphone?" She played a sample of a note. Where'd she get that from? "Theremin?" She played a high frequency tone using her hand which was actually pretty disturbing to me. "Soooo magical." She finished as if deeply enchanted by the instrument.

"I might take a little too long to learn how to play something with these." Twilight responded, holding out her hands. "I'll just sing."

"Like, as in, lead singer?" Rainbow was quick to respond. "Cuz that's usually my gig. This being my band and all."

"It's our band!" Applejack was also quick to correct Rainbow Dash. "And, of course, as lead singer." She defended. "She's the one with the magical know-how to help us pull this thing off."

"Okay, yeah, that's cool." Rainbow Dash backed off. "I'll just use this as a chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills."

"It's only temporary." Twilight assured. "And we don't have to win the Battle of the Bands. We just have to perform during the first round of the competition."

"What about Alex?" Sunset Shimmer shifted the spotlight onto me. "What is he going to play?"

As they looked to me for an answer, I turned to the ground to think about it. "Well, I don't really play anything. In fact…I…" As I began to realize what I was saying, I figured that I was actually wrong. There was something I technically had experience with. "Actually… I have tried using the violin a few times… I can't say I'm any good with it though."

"Good enough!" Rainbow slapped my back, causing me to lurch a bit forward both from the impact and surprise. She seemed happy that I wouldn't be taking the guitar position from her. "Let's get to learning that musical counter-spell!"

"Well, that's just it. I don't know any." Twilight disappointed them with that answer. "But I'm sure I could figure out how to write one." She offered as a resolution.

"Totally!" Spike walked around to Twilight's side. "Twilight can write a spell like it's nobody's business. That's pretty much how she got to become a princess in Equestria." He reminded her.

"Technically, I helped finish a spell. And there was a little more to it than that, Spike." Twilight revised.

"Yeah, whatever." Spike brushed off with his flipping paw.

"I've got this." Twilight made a fist and grabbed Spike as she headed back towards the school. "C'mon!" She directed mostly towards Spirit and me.

"Where're you goin'?" Applejack asked, stopping Twilight and turning her around.

"Well, last time we were here, we all spent the night in the library." Twilight answered.

"Are you crazy?!" Pinkie rushed over to Twilight and tightly squeezed her, suffocating Spike in between. "We're besties now! Slumber party at my house!" She exclaimed, causing even more excitement for the others.

Strangely, only Spirit and I were still holding not so much of a smile as we observed their anticipation.

"You don't seem interested." I asked her, continuing to hold my head up with my hands on my cheeks.

"Should I be?" She answered with an unchanging face, looking rather backwards towards socializing with the others.

"Just thought you might be since you're the energetic fun type." I mentioned.

"It's not the same." She returned as she turned her head away again.

Not the same? I continued lightly staring at her expression as I thought.

---

Once again, it was only Spirit and me that didn't change into comfortable clothing for sleeping. Then again, back in Equestria, we didn't wear clothes when we went to sleep…but it's a different place than back home. Either way, Pinkie Pie lent Twilight some sleepwear that actually looked more appropriate for Spirit. The color and patterns on it looked like something Spirit would wear, but Spirit didn't ask to wear it instead. As a matter of a fact, it looked like she didn't really like being in the room with everyone else. Maybe it was her need of space again.

"You two!" Rarity called us out as I had been staying with Spirit as she sat in the corner of the room. "Come take a selfie with us!" She referred to her and the other two she was with, Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer.

"What's a… 'selfie'?" I asked, unfamiliar with the term. There was a loud slam that caught my attention elsewhere.

"Hey! I was about to beat you!" Applejack complained to Rainbow Dash.

"I doubt it." Rainbow spun her controller and changed the subject over to Twilight. "So, Twilight, how is that counter-spell comin'?"

Twilight had been too focused and busy writing in a journal the entire time. "Huh?" She returned, not expecting for anyone to speak to her in the state she was in. "Oh, uh, good. Great." She flipped through the pages quickly and hugged the book to her chest. "Thanks for letting me use your notebook, Fluttershy. I really like the song you wrote for the Rainbooms." She told her, whom was admiring the rubber alligator Pinkie had that looked just like Gummy.

"Thanks." She replied modestly and then sighed. "Hopefully one day, we'll get a chance to play it." She spoke under her breath, looking in the direction of Rainbow and Applejack.

As I heard Rainbow Dash messing around with Applejack by taking her controller and putting it out of reach, I turned to Spirit to converse with her. "What do you think is up with Fluttershy? She's hardly said a word to me ever since we got here."

"I don't know." Spirit seemed to be of no help.

"You're a girl. I thought you might have an idea why." I said. She raised an eyebrow and looked at me in almost a scolding manner. "Sorry I asked…"

She sighed and lowered her head as she wrapped her arms around the legs huddled to her chest. "I'm not good with this kind of stuff."

"I understand…" I easily sympathized and decided to remain silent with her.

It wasn't long before a doorbell suddenly rang.

"Pizza's here!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed before the rest of them dashed outside, leaving Twilight, Spirit, and me. I turned to Twilight to see what she was going to do, but she only brought herself to the side of the bed, looked at the notebook she was working on, and sighed. Before I could ask what was up, Pinkie Pie came back upstairs with a pizza slice in her mouth. "Don't you want any pizza?" She asked with a muffled voice.

Twilight returned an enthusiastic smile and nod, allowing Pinkie Pie to leave back downstairs. Twilight turned over to the drawer by the bed, opened it, placed the notebook inside, and shut it. Then, she turned towards the door and began walking out in silence. It seemed like she had some problems of her own to worry about as well. After all, she only technically finished a spell once. I don't think she had much experience writing one out of scratch, so it was probably holding a decent amount of stress over her.

I stood up and prepared to leave the room but not without Spirit coming along first. "You coming?" I asked.

"I kind of feel like staying here…" She remained her sight at the floor.

"Come on." I held a hand towards her. "I don't think you've eaten anything yet."

"I don't really need to eat." She turned her eyes to mine, but was surprised when her stomach suddenly growled and grumbled.

I chuckled a little. "It's probably safe that you do here."

"Okay…" She answered with a little embarrassment and grabbed a hold of my hand to pull her up.

Making our way to the kitchen, I could hear Pinkie Pie excitedly talking with the others over the pizza they shared. "Did you see his eyes?! They were so cool! Does he go to our school?!"

"I don't think so." I saw Rainbow shaking her head. "With those kind of eyes, I'd remember seeing him before if he went to our school."

"Besides, it looked like he was wearing some kind of uniform." Applejack included, holding a slice of pizza. "Must be from that other school in the city."

"Speaking of his eyes, doesn't Spirit have the same kind of eyes? With those two different colors?" Rarity recalled.

"Ughh…!" Spirit looked a bit puffed and steamed as she turned her head away with reddened cheeks. She looked almost angrily disgusted.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I hate when others talk about my eyes." She clearly answered.

"Hey, do you have a brother here?! Was that him?!" Pinkie Pie suddenly ran up to Spirit and asked her.

"Pinkie, she's not from around here, remember? Even though his and her eyes looked the same, doesn't mean they're related." Applejack mentioned.

"Oooooh!" Pinkie expressed.

On the other hand, Spirit's face puffed up as she lifted her shoulders up in tension. However, she didn't bother saying anything and only turned around to head back into the room. I didn't stop her, as I understood how she felt.

"Hey, guys. Take it easy with the 'two different eyes' talk." I requested as I grabbed a plate and placed a few slices of pizza on there.

"Oh my." Rarity placed her hand in front of her mouth in worry. "Did we upset her with that? I'm so sorry. I didn't know she was sensitive about her eyes."

I guess I didn't really know either.

After I filled up the plate, I walked back upstairs to join Spirit. She was sitting in the same manner and place.

"Why don't you just stay down there with your friends?" She asked, her voice still holding her upset mood.

"You're my friend too." I took a seat next to her and placed the plate in front of us. "I'm not going to leave you on your own. Besides, I know it's kind of hard right now, but they're your friends too."

"Hm." She simply shared and her eyes drifted off to the plate of pizza.

"Hey…" I brought up, wanting to speak with her about something relating to what happened minutes ago.

"Huh?" She turned to me.

"Do I…upset you when I talk to you about your eyes?" I asked.

"…no…" She answered softly.

"Why not me?" I was curious to question about.

"…because you know me." Spirit stared at the pizza with a frown on her face.

"Oh…because you're…inside me?" I tried to clarify.

It appeared she released a silent sigh through her nose. "Sure." She briefly responded.

---

By the time the girls were already heading to sleep, Spirit was sort of quick and sneaky to slip by and out of the room. It wasn't hard to guess that the room was already crowded enough, and many of the others would have to sleep on the floor for the night. I decided to follow after Spirit, especially since I didn't want to leave her alone.

Downstairs, I found her sort of curled up on the couch. She hadn't been trying to sleep yet. Instead, her eyes remained opened as they seemed to stare blankly at whatever was across from her. I observed her for a moment in silence before I decided to walk towards her. Since she didn't have her legs outstretched, I took a seat next to her.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" I asked.

Without appearing startled or surprised, she answered after a few seconds of brief silence. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you haven't been your usual self lately. I'm sure you should have noticed yourself." I told her.

She burrowed her head a little closer to her body. "I guess I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff."

I took a moment to think about what to say. "Before we came here, you were fine. You were happy and talkative when we were helping with the books in the library. Now…no offense, but you're kind of…mopey…and silent."

"Maybe I've just got a lot on my mind…" She simply said.

"What's that?" I inquired into.

She began readjusting her position on the couch. She moved from a curled ball to sitting sort of timidly next to me. "Alex…" She began. "How do you think I really am?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned with some confusion.

She continued speaking as she stared at the floor near her feet. "You said back at the castle…that I was 'happy' and 'talkative'. Is that how you really see me? Is that who you think I really am? Is that…how you think I really feel inside?"

Feeling my expression change into concern, I answered as honestly as much as I was able to understand her. "Well…yeah. That's how you usually are when we're together."

"I see…" She replied back and remained silent afterwards until her lips opened again. "What would you do…if I wasn't like that? Like…I suddenly just started being how am I right now every time we are together?"

"I'd…try to find out what's bothering you." I began. "Because…there's no way this is the real you." I seemed to surprise her with that comment as she quickly turned her eyes and head to me. "I know I haven't known you for that long…but…I just feel like inside, the real you is happy and optimistic. And the only reason you'd be like this…is because something is getting to you."

"You really think so…?" She asked.

"Yeah." I answered.

"Hm." She closed her eyes and took in a heavy breath, releasing it out slowly. "I guess hearing that…makes me feel a little better…for now."

"Do you still want to talk?" I offered.

"I think I'm okay." She mentioned a little drained. "We should probably get some sleep."

"Are you staying here?"

"Yeah… It's a little too…crowded up there."

"I'll stay here with you then." I confirmed.

"You don't have to." She assured, turning her head away.

Deciding it was unnecessary to verbally give her my answer, I stood up and began to walk away. "I'll go find some blankets then."

"Ah…" She sounded, holding a sort of reaching hand but then quickly withdrew it after she knew I wasn't going to change my mind. "Mm…"

I rummaged around for some sort of closet that would have extra blankets or pillows. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty because I might have been feeling like I was looking around in someplace that didn't belong to me. I suppose the thought that it was Pinkie Pie who was hosting this "party" and knowing Pinkie back home made me feel a little better. Other than that, I felt that finding some things to help us sleep was something Pinkie Pie would totally understand.

As I gathered the amount of blankets and pillows I needed by stacking them together, I heard some movement from kitchen, such as the sound of the refrigerator opening. It made me wonder who could be up this late after the girls had just went to bed. Was it Spirit? I placed the stuff I was carrying onto the nearest flat surface and headed into the direction of the kitchen.

I looked around inside the kitchen, hearing a familiar voice. "Who could possibly need this much whipped cream?"

I turned into the direction of somebody who was holding a can of whipped cream and spreading it out onto her thumb.

"Sunset Shimmer?" I called casually.

Nevertheless, she jumped at the sudden sight of me, accidentally releasing her grip on the can she was holding. "Waah!" The can fell and dealt a pretty loud noise once hitting the floor. But I doubt it was anything to wake the others upstairs. Once she calmed down, she released a relieved sigh and bent over to pick up the can she let slip through her fingers. "Don't scare me like that…"

"Sorry…" I apologized. "I was just curious about who was here. You're up late."

"I could say the same to you." She returned, continuing her consumption of whipped cream. It didn't look like she was too happy. Hm…almost just like Spirit.

"I haven't even really gotten around to sleeping yet. Right now, I was looking for blankets and stuff." I explained.

"Pretty crowded upstairs, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah…" I replied as I observed the rest of her body. It was a bit weird now that I realized it. I had never seen Sunset Shimmer in such a…cozy manner? Her hair was a bit messy and even the top of her sleepwear seemed to be at her shoulder, looking like it might just slide down further. In other words, I never thought I'd see Sunset Shimmer in this kind of calm and relaxed kind of way. I guess it was because of the fact that she was crazy before and seemed to feel the need to look perfect.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, noticing how I had been sort of staring at her while I was lost in thought. Because of that, she even looked a little embarrassed.

"Sorry." I apologized again, shaking myself out of it. "It's just…You really…look different."

"Because…I'm wearing this?" She directed to her clothes.

"Not just that… It's you. You seem almost like an entirely different person." I stated.

"I get it." She walked towards the counter in the middle kitchen and rested her arms on the top while leaning forward slightly. "You're still used to the whole 'evil demon' part of me from last time. If I could go back and change myself, I would." She sighed heavily and roughly rubbed a part of her face with her clenched fist and palm. "I can never stop thinking about what I did. And everyone except the ones sleeping upstairs won't let it go either. They keep looking at me like I'm a monster. I hate it… I wish I could just start over…" She burrowed her head in her arms and released another heavy sigh. As I remained silent to try to think of a meaningful response for her, she lifted her head and looked at me. "Sorry. I shouldn't be telling you this. I can't expect someone I tried to permanently erase to care about anything I say."

"I care." I joined her at the counter.

She lightly scoffed. "Come on. After everything I did? Especially to you?"

"A sincere apology is good enough for me." I told her. "And look at you. I can really tell you changed for the better. That's what…catches my attention about you so much. In a way, it's a really good surprise about you. I'm glad that out of a lot of others I know, you stopped yourself and turned around quickly as you did. You should be happy because of that."

"Heh." She rubbed her arm a little bashfully. "You know, I probably would be if everyone else wasn't so scared of me."

"I guess you just have to show them that you're really not bad anymore." I said.

"B-but how?" She became a lot more expressive as if the emotions inside her kicked into high gear. "Every time I try to help someone out, or even when I ask if anyone needs help, they just look at me like I'm still trying to ruin their lives! There was this one time in class where this other girl was having a bad day and thought she looked ugly. You know what I did? I told her that I actually thought she looked really pretty. And then out of nowhere, she started tearing up and cried out loud! Everyone turned their heads at me and gave me disgusted looks as if I had just intentionally insulted her. It was so bad and embarrassing that I had to make up an excuse to go to the bathroom and skip the rest of the class!" She sighed and buried her head into her arms again. "I get it… I get that what I did before was bad… I've learned my lesson…but…but it's still like I'm being punished… I would personally tell every single person at the school that I'm sorry…but they won't even let me get near them."

"Maybe you need to be a little slower…" I offered a piece of my mind.

"Huh?" She lifted her head to look at me in question.

"By what you're telling me, it sounds like you're desperate to let everyone know you're not who you were anymore, and I totally understand that. But, I think you need to let everyone know that without going out of your way." I tried to say.

"What do you mean?" She asked for a clearer answer.

"Say you see someone walking down the hallway." I borrowed the can of whipped cream she had by her and spread some of it for myself. "Instead of just walking straight up to them and asking them if they need anything, surprise someone by helping them at the time they really need it. Like if someone was carrying a whole bunch of books in the library, open doors for them. Or if they dropped a few books, pick it up for them and then you could possibly offer to help carry those books. When you go up to someone who's doing fine on their own and ask if they need any help, they'll take one look at you and think that you might be up to something mischievous. But if you surprise them by actually doing the helping when they first see you, they might actually think otherwise. You get what I mean?"

"Y-yeah…" She answered after having had listened to all of that. "Th-that makes sense. I can try that. I just hope it doesn't backfire on me like a lot of things."

"I'm willing to help if I'm with you. After all, seeing that you really want to redeem yourself, I'd love to see everyone else see you for the new you." I shared honestly.

"Thanks…" She responded in a heartfelt manner. "Listen…I don't know or remember if I ever really apologized for what I did to you…but just in case I didn't…I'm really sorry." She held her hands together at her waist and bowed her head down a little as if she was ashamed for her past actions.

I couldn't help but laugh warmly a little as I gently messed with her hair. "I still can't believe how neat and cute you really are under all that attitude."

"What are you saying?!" She raised her head in a fit of embarrassment as her cheeks began to redden. She actually almost looked like Spirit with that kind of reaction.

"That's what everyone else needs to see." I answered. "Then…I'm sure everyone will grow to love you." I smiled almost confidently.

Sunset looked at me for a good while in silence before she looked away with a bowed head. She turned her body back to the counter and rested her arms there. "Hm. Thanks…Alex."

If I did any help, then I was glad that I did. But there were still some things I wanted to know about her, and I hoped she wouldn't mind me asking about those things. "Sunset?" I lightly called her.

"Hm?" She turned her head to me.

"Can I know…why you left Princess Celestia?" I asked almost hesitantly.

"Oh…" It seemed I sort of caught her off-guard. "Wow… That's…that's…quite a lot. Did she…tell you anything about me?"

"If I remember right…" I began to recall. "I think she said something about you being 'cruel and dishonest' when you didn't get what you want."

She sighed heavily. "She got the wrong idea…"

"Wrong idea…?" I grew softly intrigued.

"Where do I start…?" She questioned herself, staring down at the can of whipped cream. "I guess…you can say I bit off more than I could chew in a way…" I allowed her to speak with no interruptions from questions. "You see…back when I was a filly…I was in this stupid talent show kind of thing. I was paired up with somepony else from school, and we really wanted to wow the crowd. We wanted to be…different from the others. We wanted to…really stand out. Show everyone what we were made of. So…we decided to do this song, but not just any kind of song. A song that we could really put our heart into. The other pony I was with was the main singer. I had an important part to play myself. Using my magic that I surprisingly was pretty gifted with, I added a lot of things like fireworks or dancing spinning lights as she sang." She giggled a little as she must have been reminiscing back to the time she was talking about. "Now that I think back to it, it was a lot of fun… And you know what? We really accomplished something. The whole audience seemed to love us for that. We actually got first place. Why? Well… For one, I guess it was because we both had a thing for showing others what we could do…and second…we had a powerful and close friendship." She surprised me at that moment. Questions were lining up at my lips to jump out at Sunset Shimmer, but I forced myself to remain quiet so she could finish her story. "You'd think something like that surely would have made everything all the better…but it didn't. In fact, that's when everything went downhill. I think it was someone important from Canterlot that talked to my parents about me. Apparently, he saw how 'gifted' I was." She used a tone of disgust when referred to that one word. "Just me, since I was the one who used magic back at the show. He convinced them to send me to Canterlot for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. And being a filly, I didn't have a say." She began releasing hints of anger throughout that statement. "My parents wanted the best for me. They didn't think I had anything special or dear to leave behind. So next thing you know, I'm heading to Canterlot…" Her voice seemed to want to break all of a sudden. Even tears welled up in her eyes. "Just…like that." She used her sleeve to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I won't lie. Princess Celestia was really friendly and nice…but it wasn't enough. It wasn't the same. As I stayed in Canterlot, that's when any idea of friendship disappeared in me. After leaving home, I couldn't make any friends in Canterlot. I isolated myself because I didn't want to make any friends. Not after the one I left behind in the dust. Over time…when I studied with Princess Celestia, I grew angry and bitter. I could never let what happened go. I think…I started feeling like what happened then was everyone's fault…even the Princess. Maybe…maybe I thought she wasn't understanding to what I had to leave behind to study with her. Either way, I knew my body soon began to fill with hatred, and Princess Celestia knew it too. One day…I just broke. I let all the stress, anguish, and anger get to me. Remembering her introduce the mirror to me one time during my studies, I deceived her, took what I needed, and bolted out of there. I ran straight towards the portal, knowing that I knew nothing what was beyond. I guess that made me feel a little safe…feeling that it would be too risky for her to go after me. At the time, I didn't really know what made me just bail out of there and through the portal… I guess it was freedom… I felt like…everyone back at Canterlot was expecting so much of me, and even as I grew up, I still had no say. I couldn't go back home and live the life I used to live anymore. That was gone. And it seemed that no one cared that I had to wake up every day knowing that. But here… Here at Canterlot High, I let it all get to me. I didn't care about how evil I was. People listened to me. People in a way worried about my thoughts and did what I wanted them to do. When I had something to say or an opinion, everyone would listen to me. And I let it get to my head." She sighed heavily. "Over all these years, I've learned so much. I don't think I can ever replace what I had…but at least I can try to contribute and hopefully make a difference in others' lives."

"Wow, Sunset…" I responded with great empathy. "That's…so horrible… I'm sorry…you had to go through all that."

"Yeah…" She merely shrugged. "Well…what can you do?"

I stared at her for a moment. I almost felt guilty that I had kind of thought she was just a bad person. That she wanted to be such a jerk because that's just how she was. Just like…someone else I knew. "Can I…hug you?" I asked.

Sunset Shimmer was pretty stunned for a moment when she heard that right. She looked away and grabbed her arm with the opposite hand, sort of closing off her chest. "…you really want to touch a mess like me?"

"If that was true…I wouldn't have asked you in the first place." I responded honestly, catching her attention. "Things only seem like a mess to you right now…but they'll clear up soon. I know it…"

She lowered her head and closed her eyes. She released her grip on her other arm and opened up her chest. She took in a heavy breath and exhaled. Then, she nodded and spoke. "Okay…" She said as she possibly tried to hold back tears.

As if not wanting to frighten a scared child, I slowly reached out to her. Then, as carefully as I could, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a soft yet firm embrace. I wanted it to be as meaningful as it could be. Something to show her that she was not alone, nor was she hated. I felt Sunset soon relax her tensed body and slowly bring up her arms. From there, I could feel her hands on me. However, she clenched her fingers into fists, grabbing the back of my shirt tightly. Softly, I could hear sniffles along with damp clothing.

From the time she spent latched onto me in a sad silence, I could feel the warmth from her body. There was something different I noticed about the upright body here in this world. There was a sort of…comfy cushion between the both of us. This not only went for Sunset Shimmer, but during the times I'd hug the others as well in this world. I had to admit…it felt really…good. It kind of…expressed or emphasized a tight bond along with the care and love behind the embrace. And being here with Sunset Shimmer allowed me to think more and observe this difference.

"I can't thank you enough." She managed to say calmly. "You know…I'm really glad you guys came here… If you hadn't…I'd probably still be the same person I hated."

"Well…you were planning to rule Equestria, weren't you?" I lightly joked.

"Ugh…" She groaned. "Please don't bring that up." She mentioned as if she didn't want anything to ruin the moment.

"I know. I was just joking." I returned a bright smile.

I was soon glad to hear Sunset taking it humorously instead of personally when I heard her start to laugh. "Heh heh, hah hah…!" She continued to smile. "…hah…Waaah!" She suddenly screamed out and jumped from me.

"What?" I asked in surprise before I turned noticed another girl that had been behind me.

"Boulder was hungry." She stated in a deadpan tone, holding a small rock and opening a cabinet near her without taking her emotionless eyes off of us. She reached for what looked like a box of crackers and brought it out, shaking the contents outside to her rock. Sunset backed off into the counter, holding her hands together as if she was terribly afraid of this actually harmless girl.

She continued staring blankly at us as she fed her rock more of the crackers inside the box. If I hadn't known who she really was, I'm sure I would have been pretty intimidated by her as well. "Hi, Maud." I took the initiative to say.

Her eyes merely turned my way with no change in expression. "Hi." She said in the same tone. Without even asking if she's met me before or how I knew her name, she turned and walked away from us while continuing to feed her pet rock.

"I still can't get over the fact that she's related to Pinkie Pie." Sunset Shimmer shared in a whisper when Maud was far enough.

"She's really not that bad." I responded, speaking from experience. "Trust me, if you ever get to really know her…she's…a good kind of different."

"Hm." Sunset thought about that. "If you say so. After all, you're the one surrounded by friends." She laughed lightly.

Realizing what we were doing before Maud came into the picture, there was another thing I wanted to ask about. "Sunset…if you don't mind… Do you still remember the friend you had to leave back behind?" If I had an idea of this friend…maybe I could get them to meet each other again… Maybe that's sure to give Sunset Shimmer the confidence she needed!

"Yeah, of course." She replied in a sure manner. "Actually…" She rubbed her head and looked a little away in guilt. "You two saw each other."

As soon as she said that, the grin that had formed on my face froze, but my mind was absolutely puzzled. "Heh?" I met her before?! Well, who was she?!

"I mean…I think it's someone you know fairly well…" She continued to raise the suspense, wanting me to just have her spit it out already. She looked really reluctant, as if she didn't really want to recall her name. "You know…" She rubbed her arm shyly. "It's your sister…Starlight…?"

I didn't move an inch after I heard that name. I only stared back at Sunset Shimmer with the same frozen smile on my face as she slowly flinched back at me. "St…Starlight…?" I weakly said. But it sure didn't stop me from practically exploding in front of her. "WHHHHAAAATTT?!"

"Shhhh!" Sunset quickly covered my mouth with her hand. "You're going to wake the others."

I nodded, allowing her to remove her hand. "Starlight?!" I exclaimed in a hushed tone. "She was the friend you had to leave behind!? You were in Fillydelphia?!"

She nodded with a sort of timid frown. "I can't believe she actually agreed to help me with what I was trying to do before…" She mentioned, recalling last time. "I mean…we hadn't seen each other in ages. I don't even think she knew what had happened. In fact…when I first tracked her and met with her at the end of one of her concerts…she didn't look happy to see me. Not at all…"

"But…did she know who you were?" I inquired about.

"I think so…" Sunset continued. "She didn't ask who I was. But she didn't ask where I had been the whole time either. It's almost like as if…she buried everything that happened between us deep in the ground. Of course, at the time, I didn't care. Not while I was sick to the mind. When we met, we didn't mention anything about our past. It was like as if we knew who we were but at the same time complete strangers. I didn't catch her attention until I explained in detail with what I needed her help for. Getting the…crowns… When she heard that, she decided she would help. I still don't exactly know why, but as she kind of proved before, she wasn't interested with what I was aiming for."

"Oh… I see… So that's why she was with you…" That answered a question that I hadn't really investigated thoroughly about.

"But forget about that…" Sunset mentioned, wishing to change the subject. "Starlight…" She began. "…how is she doing?"

"She's…" I tried to think over how to put it in a brief explanation. "A lot happened between her and me. I mean, I'm sure you know she hated me the last time we all met. I found out about the reason and…well…I guess we finally forgave each other. You know…now that I think about it…maybe… Maybe another big reason she lashed out her frustration at me was because of you. Maybe she felt both angry and confused… If you two were really close and best friends, it's completely understandable for her to be that way."

"I see…" She thought as well. "I'm, I'm sorry." She apologized and sighed. "I don't know if I can make up things with her… After all, I think she hates me now anyway. I treated like our friendship in the past was nothing, and she even threw that sledgehammer at me!"

"Right…" I sort of cringed from imagining how the pain must have felt.

"I can believe her if she never wants to see me again…" She shared gloomily.

"I'm sure that's not the truth." I argued. "If you two really had such a strong friendship, there's no way she'd want to bury you away like that. I'm sure…she still thinks about you."

"…you really think so?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah. In fact…if you really want to try to fix things between you two…I can bring her with me."

Sunset widened her eyes and then looked a little anxious.

"I-I don't know… With what's going on, I don't know if it's a good idea."

"Hm…" I crossed my arms and placed a little thought into it. "Actually…it might just be a good time to bring her. You're looking for support and acceptance. With that, there's no way Starlight would just ignore that. Not after what you two have been through."

"O…okay…" Sunset uncertainly agreed. "I mean…if we only met back when I was such a pain and you've had the heart to forgive me, then…surely an old close friend should have the heart too…right?"

"Right." I reinforced. "There's no way a person will forget another if they're engraved to your heart."

"Okay." She nodded with more confidence. "Alright, I trust you." She inhaled and exhaled a breath as if she was trying to calm her nerves. "When were you planning to bring her?"

"Well…" I thought about that. "I have to get my violin for tomorrow so…I could probably get her then."

"Okay…so…tomorrow…alright." She already looked like she was letting her nerves get the best of her.

"Try to relax." I placed a hand to her shoulder. "Don't want to let it steer you away."

"Okay." She said for the fourth time now as she nodded. "I hope some sleep will help me get through this…though…I don't know if I'll be able to sleep at all now."

"Heh heh." I chuckled a little, seeing as it was practically my fault for bringing all this on her so late. "Sorry."

Sunset Shimmer seemed to notice something behind me as she leaned over to the side to see past me. "Hey, Twilight. You're up late." She greeted.

I turned around to notice Twilight at the doorway looking at each one of us. "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting anything?" She asked as she held the notebook she had been working on close to her chest.

"Not at all." I responded. "What's up?"

"Just looking over the counter-spell." Twilight walked in over to the counter where we were. She looked like she wanted to open the notebook, but she hesitated. "We only get one shot at this. It has to be perfect."

"Oh right." Sunset Shimmer remembered. "I almost forgot about that… Do you need any…" She seemed to stop mid-sentence. She shared a glance at both of us as she paused. "Actually…never mind." She formed a confident smile. Afterwards, she yawned. "I should really head to bed… We've got a really big day tomorrow…" She turned towards me, mostly likely referring to not only the Dazzlings, but Starlight as well. "Good luck with the counter-spell." She told Twilight as she began heading off. "Not that you'll need it. This must be nothing compared with the stuff you're expected to deal with as a princess in Equestria." She mentioned easily while Twilight seemed to fixate a frown when she slightly opened the notebook to view the contents within partially.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight called suddenly, stopping Sunset in her tracks. Twilight looked as if she had something big to say when she opened her mouth, but then she quickly shook her head. "...Never mind. It's not important." Sunset Shimmer gave one last grin before she left the room. "No…I have to be able to do this. I have to." Twilight seemed to tell herself.

"What's wrong?" I decided to find out the subject of the matter myself.

She opened the notebook and stared at it on the counter.

"It seems I may have…" She paused and then sighed. "…nothing. I'm fine."

"It doesn't sound like nothing." I shared.

"It's just…I don't want to keep you up. It's already so late. We can talk about it later." She revealed.

"So what about you?" I questioned. "Are you going to stay up?"

"Yeah… Don't worry about me." She assured as she began to study her scribblings on the notebook. "You know me, after all. I'm used to pulling all-nighters."

"Yeah… I guess you're right there." I agreed. "Well, take it easy okay?"

"Okay." She briefly responded.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I finally made my way back out of the kitchen.

I grabbed the blankets and pillows I had retrieved and headed towards the couch Spirit and I were crashing on. It was getting there and seeing Spirit that I realized I forgot about her. It appeared she removed her shoes and socks as it was probably more comfy to sleep without them. The hat she wore rested on the table nearby. She was only left with her small loose white shirt and shorts, which seemed comfortable enough in sleeping in. Either way, she had already fallen asleep which had me feeling a little guilty. I must have been in the kitchen with Sunset Shimmer for a pretty long time…

Despite that, I spread out a blanket over her and somewhat tucked her in. I lightly picked up her head to place the pillow underneath and carefully placed her head back down. Afterwards, I made myself comfortable in my own space and thought to myself for a while. In the moment, I found how quiet it was inside the house. It was sort of eerie…but not so much. I suppose it was just the strange feeling of sleeping over in a place you're not too familiar with.