After getting Sunset's crying under control, the Rainbooms and Flash all gathered in Sunset's kitchen to talk with Princess Twilight. Due to Sunset not usually receiving guests in her apartment, the kitchen table was only big enough to seat two people. Twilight and Sunset sat down while everybody else stood around them. After Twilight explained that her most recent misadventure left her exhausted, Applejack used Sunset's stove to make her some eggs. Realizing Sunset had not eaten since last night, Applejack made her a plate too.
Once Applejack's eggs were ready, the Rainbooms, except for Sunset who sat at the table with a depressed silence, all regaled the events of the previous night to Princess Twilight: the Friendship Games, the appearance of Twilight's human counterpart, her ill-fated attempts to understand magic, and finally her friend's demise at the hands of her ambitious peers and principal. Twilight listened intently while eating her eggs. Sunset never even touched her eggs, letting them get cold.
Once the Rainbooms had finished telling their story, Princess Twilight sat there silently, as she played her friends' accounts in her mind. After a minute, she shook her head and let out a sigh.
"That... that's horrible," Princess Twilight exclaimed in a sad voice. Her face looked like someone who had witnessed a murder, and her eyes looked like they were about to water, restrained only by her newfound ability to restrain her emotions, an ability she needed to have learned as the Princess of Friendship. "Her classmates and that principal...", Princess Twilight paused and let out a frustrated sigh, clenching her fists. Had she not received behavioral training, she would have gone berserk.
"I KNOW," barked Rainbow Dash, her face red with rage, "I wish I could get my hands on those-,"
"Rainbow," said Princess Twilight, "don't waste your energy getting mad." Rainbow Dash cooled down, but her face remained contorted in anger.
"Twilight," Rarity asked, her voice composed but still eager.
"Yes?"
"Do you have any idea how this could have happened? In Equestria, is there magic that could vaporize a being?"
"Yes," Princess Twilight said, "My fellow princesses and I definitely have that power. But what you've described is something I've never seen done. Normally, the Elements..."
"Wait a minute," said Applejack, tapping her chin in realization, "Since you're here, that means the portal was fixed, right?"
"Yeah," said the Princess, "so what?"
"If the portal was fixed-," Applejack started.
"Yay," interrupted Pinkie Pie, suddenly appearing next to the Princess, "it means we can do magic and get pony ears again!"
"Let's test it out," said Rainbow, excited, "I wish I had my guitar, then I could-," Rainbow stopped when she saw Pinkie Pie pull her guitar out of her poofy hair and handed it over to Rainbow, who took it very reluctantly. Everyone else also looked confused, except Sunset, who continued to stare off into space.
"Um, Pinkie," asked Rainbow Dash nervously, "Why was my guitar in your hair?"
"Because it didn't fit in my shoe," replied Pinkie in a matter-of-fact tone. Rainbow Dash stared at her for a minute before sighing and sliding the palm of her hand on her face.
"I have my guitar, that's what matters," Rainbow said with a slight smile. "Let's see if it will work."
The group had moved to the living room for Rainbow's attempted guitar solo. The show was made easier by the fact that Sunset already had an amp lying around. She stood at the center of the room, closing her eyes and smiling as if she was performing in front of a huge audience.
Rainbow began running her fingers along the strings of the guitar and started performing an epic guitar solo. Within 30 seconds, Rainbow's body started glowing, and pony ears and wings popped out, to the joy of everyone in the room. Even Sunset, despite her despondent silence, looked somewhat hopeful.
"We got our magic back," cheered Fluttershy, who was unusually giddy.
"C'mon," said Rainbow Dash, her voice full of heroic confidence, "let's get down to Canterlot High and fix this." All the girls and Flash scrambled for the door, only to be stoped by the Princess' cry.
"Wait," the Princess yelled. Everyone who was planning on leaving stopped and looked at her with a confused expression. "What are you guys doing?"
"We're going to use the Elements to bring back Connor from Crystal Prep," said Rainbow Dash with a smile. Her smile faded at the Princess' frown. Twilight sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Rainbow, guys," the Princess said morosely, "you can't use the Elements to resurrected the dead." The mood of everyone began to sour, and Sunset went back to her forlorn demeanor.
"But Twilight," asked Fluttershy, "you said the Elements were the most powerful force-,"
"The Elements are designed for fighting back against Equestrian evil and disharmony," said Twilight with a hint of despair, "you can't use them to bring the dead back." Everybody in the room looked down at the floor, tired and morose. "I know because I've tried," Princess Twilight said with a little sadness. She felt Flash's strong arms wrap her up in a hug. Once he let go, Princes Twilight looked at Flash with a happy smile.
"Maybe you can't use the Elements to bring him back," Flash said top Princess Twilight, in a warm and encouraging voice, "but now that you guys have your pony magic again, maybe you can still find a way to reverse what happened to Connor."
"Flash," said Princess Twilight sadly, "It just isn't possible."
"Twilight, you're great at magic, I don't see..."
"Flash," Princess Twilight said firmly. Flash ceased his pleasantries. "I appreciate the kind words. And I am good with magic. But I can't do everything. If this Connor had been like... stabbed or poisoned, or crashed his car, I could fix that with Equestrian magic. But this boy was obliterated! Trying to put him back together, even if I could somehow collect all his mater, which is impossible, would take tons of magic I don't have, and too much time." Princess Twilight paused to take a deep breath while everyone's expressions went from troubled to sad.
"The other problem is that I have no idea why the pendent my human self was using did what it did. The magic here works very differently than in Equestria."
"But you can figure it out, can't you," asked Fluttershy. Sunset looked up at the question, staring directly at Princess Twilight.
"I could, but I don't have the time." Princess Twilight said, exasperated. "Figuring this out os going to take weeks or months. I also have a new student coming in so many other things to do, the most I can stay here is a week. And if trouble starts up again, I have to head home." Princess Twilight turned toward Sunset. "Sunset, let's work together for the next few days, and afterward you can try-,"
"Sure, let me experiment with magic," exclaimed Sunset in a sarcastic, exasperated tone, "and then I'll screw it up!" Everyone in the room looked at Sunset with a mix of compassion and exasperation. "That's what I've been since I was born A screw-up!"
"Sunset," said Princess Twilight, "that's not-,"
"I had the best teacher ever," Sunset yelled, "I screwed that up! I had a chance to build a new life in a new world, and I screwed that up by stomping on everybody to feel cool! I became a demon and nearly committed murder! And I brought magic to this world, the same magic that killed Connor," Sunset closed her eyes to fight tears. "If anyone deserved to die screaming, it should have been me, not him." Sunset looked down, crying, not noticing an angry stomp in her direction. Sunset looked up to see Princess Twilight giving her a neutral look for a few seconds, and then she saw her raising her hand-
SLAP!
Sunset rubbed her cheek, throbbing from Princess Twilight's slap, which was surprisingly strong for a creature that was not used to hands. Everyone looked on in shock.
"Ow, Twilight," Sunset said, "what was that for?"
"For being an idiot, Sunset," Twilight spat, "a selfish idiot."
"Twilight," Fluttershy said, "you're being a little mean."
"No, Fluttershy," Twilight snapped before turning back to Sunset. "Look around you; none of us want you to die. None of us want you to suffer. If we wanted to die, we would've let you rot in the crater." Princess Twilight narrowed her eyes. "But the fact that you want to die means that all our love and trust was for nothing, right? That despite everything, you would throw your life away and not care how we would feel? Is that what you would do?!"
"No," Sunset said with a sigh. "It's just...Connor didn't deserve to die, screaming. He was not horrible like I was." Sunset felt tears leaking out of her eyes. She felt Twilight's hands holding hers. She looked up and saw the Princess giving her a kind smile.
"Your right, Sunset. He didn't. But neither do you." SUnset felt Twilight squeezing her hands more. "You've made mistakes. Now, you've done so much good. No one wants you to be disintegrated. Please don't ever forget that."
"I know, but still, even if I don't deserve it, I'm still responsible for what happened. I yelled at her and-,"
"Honestly, Sunset, I've done really dangerous things since I started learning magic. Staying up late, starting a fire, brainwashing a bunch of fillies to create a friendship problem I could solve," the last part Princess Twilight said the last quietly and quickly, "and Celestia and my family would yell at me. I didn't enjoy being yelled at, but they were doing it because they loved me, and they were trying to protect me. Since my counterpart did put our friends in danger, I probably would have yelled at her myself. Sometimes, we need a verbal black-eye to wake us up to the fact we're hurting others."
"But you're family, once they stopped yelling, hugged you and assured you it would be OK right," asked Sunset.
"Yes."
"But I can't even do that," Sunset said morosely. "I can't tell that poor girl, I'm sorry. Not just because of what Cinch and those jerks made her do, but because I let my anger run wild and scared her off. That part was my fault."
"But you did want to make it right," asked Princess Twilight. Sunset nodded her need. "That means you're a good person."
"I still wish I could make it up to her," Sunset said bitterly, "and it burns me that I can't. And if I just figured out how the magic worked, none of this would've happened." She sighed. "If I just done my job, I could've helped her. Instead, I expected you to clean up my mess. I yelled at her for something that I should've known how to do."
"There is a way you can make it up to her," Princess Twilight said kindly. Sunset into her eyes, blankly.
"How?"
"Figure out how magic works here and find out what went wrong." Sunset looked reluctant, but the Princess went on. "If magic keeps growing, and we still can't figure it out, then more accidents will happen. The greatest thing you can do for him is making sure that this doesn't happen again." Princess Twilight took Sunset's hands and held them warmly. "I know you're hurting Sunset. I know you feel useless. You feel like you didn't do your job. But I have faith that you can make it right." Sunset gave Twilight a blank look but then gave her a big hug, warming the hearts of everybody who watched, except for Rainbow Dash, who complained sand in her eyes was making her weep.
"Thanks, Twilight," Sunset said, releasing the Princess of Friendship.
"You can thank me by cutting down on the moping," Twilight said in a good test.
"I'll keep it to a minimum," Sunset quipped.
"Another me out there," Princess Twilight exclaimed. She chuckled at that a little.
"What's so funny," Pinkie Pie asked.
"I'll tell you later when things are calmer," Twilight said. "OK, so, first things first," Princess Twilight said, her voice becoming serious. "The key to this mystery is that magic-absorbing pendent. Do you guys have it?"
"No," said Applejack. "If I recall, Cadence-,"
"Wait," Twilight said suddenly, "you guys met Cadence's counterpart?"
"Yes," said Rainbow. "She was the dean of Crystal Prep, but she is also Twilight's sister-in-law. And also Connor's teacher." She looked down sadly. "Or was." The sad truth hung over them. Sunset and Princes Twilight barely kept themselves from weeping.
"As ah was saying," Applejack said. "Dean Cadence took the pendant, as well as Connor's phone."
"Wait," said Pinkie, pulling out her phone, "that reminds me." She dialed a number, waited for it to ring. "Sunny," she yelled at Sunset. "Phone for you." She handed the phone to the fire-haired girl, who took it reluctantly.
"Hello," Sunset said. "Luna, I'm so sorry I didn't call in..." She paused. "Thanks, but..." She paused, but then her eyes watered in sadness. "What? But Luna, I don't know..." She paused, shutting her eyes to keep the tears in. "But..." She paused. "OK. OK, your right. Your right. She does deserve the truth." She paused. "What does she know." She paused. "What time does she want me in?" She paused again. "2 pm is perfectly fine." She paused. "Yes, I'll come down as soon as I can to take care of it." She paused and turned toward Princess Twilight. "Yes, she's right here in front of me. OK. Twilight, Luna wants to talk to you." She handed the phone to Princess Twilight.
"Hello," Princess Twilight said. "Luna! I'm so sorry about what happened." While she chatted on the phone, the rest of the Rainbooms chatted with Sunset.
"So you're going to meet with Dean Cadence," asked Rainbow.
"Yes," Sunset said quietly. "That woman wants to know about magic, and I'm the only one who can answer that." She smiled. "She got rid of Cinch and didn't blow our cover, so she deserves the truth. And if I go see her, I can get that pendent-,"
"What," exclaimed Princess Twilight into the phone, causing everyone to turn her in shock. "But why-," she paused. "But I can where some disguise to go outside." She paused and let out a reluctant sigh. "You're right. Alright, I won't go outside." She paused. "It was great speaking to you too." She hung up the phone and let out another sigh.
"What's wrong," asked Sunset.
"Luna says I can't leave this apartment while I'm here." Everyone stood up at that.
"Why," asked Flash.
"The Twilight Sparkle who lives here. Me walking around in public is going to...complicate things. Especially since the death of Connor Nickell was kept under wraps."
"But we need you at school to work at the lab," Sunset said.
"I know, but the risk of being exposed is too high," Twilight said. "Look, I can visit the school, but I can only if once. You guys had to push me down to prevent my counterpart's classmate from seeing m. We can't risk any of these close calls."
"That's a shame," Flash said sadly. "I really wanted to take you out on a nice dinner while you were here."
"I wouldn't mind if you guys had a dinner date here," Sunset said. "I mean, it's the least I can do for you for coming here on short notice." She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't answer the book and made you panic. I was just so broken. I could barely get up." Everyone walked up to hug her, but she held up her hands. "Don't worry. I feel much better now."
"Really, that'd be nice of you," said Flash. But suddenly, he got a guilty expression on his face.
"Is something wrong Flash," Twilight asked.
"Well Twilight," Flash said, "I met your counterpart and I...um-,"
"The guy flirted with the other Twilight," Rainbow blurted out with a smirk on her face. Flash glared at Rainbow, but it was broken when Princess Twilight gave him a big hug.
"Fash, I'm not mad," Twilight said, smiling. "That was an honest mistake." Her smile became wide. "Besides, how can I be mad at a guy who sang a tribute song to him. That was really sweet of you."
"Well," Flash said nervously, but it was cut off by Princess Twilight, giving him a big hug kiss, which he returned.
"And on Sunday night," said Sunset, "we could have a slumber party here for you."
"That would be fantastic," said Pinkie Pie. "I'll bring the cake and the pie!"
"Anyways," Sunset said, putting on her leather jacket. "Luna said there were rumors about Connor dying. I better go over there right now and put them to rest. But first, I'll put it on the group chat," Sunset said, pulling out her phone.
"Group chat," asked Princess Twilight.
"You remember how people can send messages to each other on MyStable," said Rainbow.
"Vaguely," replied Princess Twilight.
"Well," Rainbow said. "We set up a group chat. Which means everybody at CHS could get the same message. We set this up so we could deal with the next magical emergency, and keep everybody in the loop."
"Really," Twilight asked, her eyes widening. "That's pretty incredible. I bet disaster response would be easier to coordinate in Ponyville if we had something like that."
"Okay," said Sunset. "I sent the message, but I still want to tell everybody myself. Let's go back to school, shall we?"
Everybody piled out of Sunset's apartment, except for Flash, who stayed for a bit to hug and kiss Twilight before he decided to join the others. Twilight, realizing she had to sit and wait, decided to sit down on the couch, and read one of Sunset's encyclopedia's to pass the time.
"Twilight," Sunset said, returning to the apartment.
"Yes," Twilight said, looking up from her encyclopedia.
"Thanks for your help," she said quietly. "You pulled me back from the edge, again. Your the best friend anyone could have."
"Don't mention it," Twilight said, smiling, "It's my job." And with that, Sunset walked out with a smile and eyes full of determination. Twilight smiled at her friend, finding her strength again.
Sour Sweet drove back to Crystal Prep as quickly as the speed limits would allow, her face like someone who had seen a ghost.
After parking her car at Crystal Prep's lot, she walked into the main building in a bot of the daze, still unable to get what had seen.
'It couldn't have been her,' she thought as she marched down the road. 'Twilight was in class. Maybe it was my imagination and my guilt that made me want to believe-," her thoughts were interrupted as a large mass slammed into her. She fell to the ground with a grunt. As she rose up, rubbing her sore backside, she saw another person sitting on the ground, rubbing her head. She had light pink hair and greyish skin.
"Oh, Fleur," exclaimed Sour dramatically, "are you OK?!" She held out her hand to help the fallen girl up. Once Fleur was standing, Sour's concerned look was replaced by a scowl. "Next time, watch where you're going!"
"OK," Fleur said quietly. Normally the upper crust girl would make a nasty remark in response to Sour's abrupt outburst. But like everybody, the death of Connor was hitting her hard, but she seemed more out of it than most other people.
With the pain of the fall mostly gone, Sour went back to her thoughts about her deceased classmate.
"So, Sour," Fleur said quietly, desperately attempting to make small talk. "what's on your mind?"
"Connor," Sour uttered morosely.
"Small world," Fleur said, attempting to add like to this awkward. "So, you must have heard about Canterlot?"
"What about Canterlot," Sour replied, her stupor broken by interest. Fleur sighed as she pulled out her smartphone.
"Okay, so you heard how Canterlot built Connor a statue," Fleur said.
"Yeah," Sour said, "that was weird." Sour understood that Canterlot students were known for being goody-two-shoes, but building a statue for a boy they barely know seemed downright ridiculous.
Fleur pulled up a picture on her phone and handed it to Sour. Who stared. Her jaw dropped.
In front of CHS was a massive poster with a picture of Twilight, who, for some reason, wasn't wearing glass and was letting her hair down. In front was a massive stage, with some garage band playing in front of an unusually massive crowd.
"Those CHS people are saints," Fleur remarked. "They're honoring her better than we did," she looked down, shaking her head on the verge of tears. But Sour didn't pay attention because she noticed something was off. The lead guitarist in the band looked familiar.
'He was that guy in the car,' thought Sour. And he was supposedly sitting next to...
Sour gritted her teeth, which is what she did when things weren't adding up. She silently handed back the phone to Fleur and stormed off.
She eventually met up with her fellow Shadowbolts in study hall.
"You guys," she exclaimed as she sat down at their usual table, having a very intense discussion. They paused to look up and greet her.
"Hey," said Indigo Zap. "What's going on."
"It's about time," said Sour.
"You heard about that concert too," Sunny Flare said quietly. "Right now, we're brainstorming ways we can honor him. If CHS is doing that with a concert, we ought to be doing something too."
"Listen, I don't know how, but I saw Twilight in the car with those CHS losers." The Shadowbolts all gave an annoyed glare at Sour.
"Sour," Lemon Zest said in a somewhat livid tone, "it isn't cool to joke about that."
"I'm not joking. I saw her in the car with the same guitarist that was playing at the concert, and two of those Wondercolts." The look on the Shadowbolts went from annoyance to pity.
"Sour," said Indigo, her voice dripping with sympathy, "you really need to see a shrink."
"What," Sour blurted out.
"Well," Sunny Flare said calmly, "you always have these mood swings, and they've been a concern to us for a while."
"I appreciate your concern," Sour said kindly. She then glared at Indigo. "I don't have mood swings!" Indigo Zap and everyone else rolled their eyes at that.
"Now, You've jumped from emotional instability to hallucinations," Indigo continued. "Look, I know you feel guilty about what happened to him. Now because of that, you're seeing her everywhere you go. Maybe helping us brainstorm a project will make you feel better, and take some of it away," she finished by putting her arm on Sour's shoulder.
"Maybe your right," Sour said with a sigh, "maybe I am just guilty." She silently sat down at the table.
"Now where were we," Lemon Zest said excitedly, "Oh yes. How about we make Connor our school mascot. We can give him googly eyes, and dress it up like a prince. He would look so adorable!"
"Oh yes," said Sugarcoat, "let's honor him by turning him into something that would appear on a cereal box." The look on Sunny and Indigo's face meant they didn't think highly of the idea.
"C'mon," groaned Lemon, "a cute mascot will make him immortal."
Sour ignored the discussions, thinking again about what she had seen today. Even if he was a hallucination, she knows something wasn't adding up in all of this
And she wouldn't rest until she got answers.