by Perdita Finn
As Sunset Shimmer began mopping, smoke started billowing from the oven and an acrid smell filled the air. “My first batch!” shouted Applejack, rushing toward the stove with pot holders. But it was too late. The treats were scorched.
Sunset Shimmer felt terrible. “I think the heat monitor may have increased the temperature. Sometimes that happens.”
“Well,” said Applejack, “at least you didn’t turn into a she-devil or sow disharmony or anything like that.”
Sunset Shimmer gulped, remembering the mistakes of her past. The girls were so nice and accepting, it was easy for her to forget that once she had nearly destroyed the whole school. But she would never do anything like that again. That was what was important about her magic investigations—if she understood magic better, she could make sure it was always used for good.
“What’s going on in here?” asked Granny Smith, coming into the kitchen. “Looks like you girls are cookin’ up trouble! What a mess!” She picked up another broom and began sweeping all the ingredients for the fashion show bake sale into a pile for the trash.
Applejack handed Sunset Shimmer a dishrag. “It’s not very magical, but it gets the job done.”
Sunset Shimmer scrubbed until the kitchen was spotless. But the whole time she was wondering how she could figure out the Sonic Rainbooms’ special magic. There had to be a secret ingredient—but what could it be?
Blueprint for Disaster
That night, just before she was about to go to sleep, Sunset Shimmer noticed her journal was glowing. A message from Twilight Sparkle.
Remember, wrote the Princess of Friendship. Magic is sometimes in the places we least expect.
Had Sunset somehow been wrong about the Sonic Rainbooms and their hidden abilities? Or was she not thinking about magic in the right way? What did Twilight Sparkle mean? Magic is sometimes in the places we least expect. Where did she least expect to find magic? What was the secret ingredient? She’d been reviewing the data from Rainbow Dash’s wrist monitor, but it still hadn’t shown anything special—nor did the color-change photos of Rarity that she had studied. Still, she was determined to solve this problem. She liked hard problems. Where wasn’t she looking? It hit her!
Fluttershy. Of course.
The shyest, sweetest member of the Sonic Rainbooms. She didn’t perform fancy guitar riffs or sing foot-stomping solos, but maybe, just maybe… could it be that as she quietly tapped her tambourine on the side of the stage, she was generating the powerful magic? That must be it! Why hadn’t she thought of it herself?
She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. “Hey, Fluttershy! Can I come help you at the animal shelter tomorrow?”
“Yes!” came the immediate answer. “Can’t wait.”
Sunset Shimmer thought about Fluttershy. It made sense, really, that with her love of animals she would have the most access to Equestrian magic. She just didn’t know she was a powerful magician. But with Sunset Shimmer’s expert guidance, she might be able to release her true powers. Then Fluttershy would admire her as a magic investigator—and be grateful to have her as a friend.
Fluttershy was cleaning out the hamster cages when Sunset Shimmer arrived at the shelter the next day. She had a laptop, a camera, and a whole series of notebooks.
“Be sure to shut the door carefully behind you,” said Fluttershy. “We don’t want any escapees,” she told her friend. “I’ll just finish this up, and you can cuddle some of the new kittens that just arrived. They need lots of reassurance. Would that be all right?”
“Sure!” agreed Sunset Shimmer as Fluttershy placed three purring balls of fluff in her lap. Magic could wait when there were kittens to pet.
“Can I ask you a question?” Fluttershy spread new cedar chips on the floor of the hamster cage.
“Anything,” said Sunset Shimmer.
“What do you miss most about Equestria?”
“What?” Sunset Shimmer was stunned. No one ever really asked her about her old life.
“Do you miss your pony friends there?”
“My friends?” Sunset Shimmer hadn’t really had friends there. Mostly she’d been focused on figuring out the secrets to Celestia’s magic so she could be the supreme ruler of the pony world. “Not really,” she said. “I was different then.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I just know that when my rescues come in, it can take a while for them to get used to being here.”
Sunset Shimmer paused. “It’s been a learning experience, but I think I’m doing okay for a rescue.”
“Of course you are,” said Fluttershy sweetly. “I love your fashion show idea. I’ve made replicas of Rarity’s uniforms for the animals to wear in their parade. It’s going to be so cute. You want to see how they model them?”
“Absolutely!”
Fluttershy took out a whistle, which made no sound when she blew into it. Still, the kittens hopped out of Sunset Shimmer’s lap. The puppies bounded over, and even the hamsters got in a line.
“How did you get them to do that?” asked Sunset Shimmer, amazed.
“Animals can hear sounds at frequencies that we can’t detect, so I use special whistles and clicks to communicate with them.”
“Twilight Sparkle was right!” exclaimed Sunset Shimmer. “You are magic.”
Fluttershy blushed. “No, just patient.”
Sunset Shimmer paced as she came up with a new experiment. “It’s just possible that you are generating a series of magical notes that—if we could detect and work into our song—would increase the magical force field.”
“Why would we want to do that?”
“Magic is a force for good in the world. Think if the Sirens showed up again. We’d want to know how to use our full powers, right?”
“That makes sense,” said Fluttershy.
“Would you mind if I hooked that whistle up to an amp when we are practicing this afternoon?”
“I don’t think there would be a problem with that.”
“I think it’s going to be very exciting,” said Sunset Shimmer breathlessly. “I can’t wait to try it. Maybe we could go over to the auditorium right now. This is going to be the experiment that breaks everything wide open. People don’t realize that magic investigators sometimes have to make a lot of mistakes before they have a breakthrough.”
“Okay,” said Fluttershy. “Right now?”
“Hurry!” said Sunset Shimmer. “I want to try this out as soon as possible.”
Fluttershy poured some food into the animals’ bowls and turned out the lights. The two girls hurried out of the shelter together. It was only when they were partway to school that Sunset Shimmer realized she’d left her laptop and phone behind. She could be such an absentminded scientist, but she needed to keep track of her ongoing investigations.
“I’ll go back and get them for you,” said Fluttershy.
“No, you go on ahead and set up the instruments. I need some time to think about the adjustments for this experiment.”
Lost in thoughts of wattage and electricity, she barely noticed the animals weaving in and out between her legs at the shelter. She gathered up her things and hurried back out the door—forgetting to shut it behind her when she left.
Sunset Shimmer’s True Colors?
Pinkie Pie was in the auditorium, covered in paint and glitter. She was working on a backdrop for the fashion show. “Grab a brush,” she said when Fluttershy arrived. “I’m filling it with rainbows and flowers and ponies and balloons and everything we love!”
Fluttershy skipped over to join her, but Sunset Shimmer, just behind her, stopped. “Actually, Pinkie Pie, we are going to try a magic experiment, if you would like to lend a hand.”
“What kind of magic experiment?”
“Sunset Shimmer is trying to find out why we pony up,” explained Fluttershy.
“Because it’s fun?” said Pinkie Pie.
“It’s not just about fun,” said Sunset Shimmer. “There is a mechanism to the magic that I am trying to unlock an
d reveal so that, if we need to, we can adjust the control settings and create an enhanced pony-up experience.”
Pinkie Pie’s eyes went wide. “Will we still have fun if we do all that?”
Sunset Shimmer realized she was not yet ready to explain magic equations to Pinkie Pie. “Would you play some drums for us during the experiment?” she asked.
“Sure!” said Pinkie Pie. “It’s always fun to play the drums.”
While the girls got the bands’ instruments arranged, Sunset Shimmer checked her laptop. She noted that Rainbow Dash’s blood pressure was steadily increasing. Something seemed to be happening to her, although it was hard to tell exactly what. She switched over to the website for an update on the color-detection process, but the whole site was down for some reason. She’d have to look into that later.
“We’re ready to play music and sing,” said Fluttershy. “For the experiment.”
“Perfect,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Let me just hook up that whistle of yours to an amp—and my computer monitor. You know, it’s like chemistry—you have all the right ingredients, but then it takes a spark to trigger the reaction.”
“If it’s like chemistry, I might not be very good at it,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Shall we just start jamming and see what happens?” suggested Fluttershy.
“Can you blow the whistle and play your tambourine at the same time?” asked Sunset Shimmer.
“Easy,” said Fluttershy.
Pinkie Pie picked up her drumsticks. “One… two…” The girls began singing together.
“Hey, hey, everybody
We’ve got something to say.
We may seem as different
As the night is from day.
But you look a little deeper,
And you will see
That I’m just like you
And you’re just like me.
Yeah!”
Pinkie Pie’s hair was flying and turning into a mane as she drummed. Fluttershy was lifting her knees and beginning to prance, and Sunset Shimmer was studying them, trying to see if she could detect a word, an action, or a sound that made the magic happen. The amp didn’t seem to be doing anything.
Sunset Shimmer was feeling more and more frustrated. The magic happened, but she couldn’t figure it out. Maybe she was a failure as a magic investigator—but there was nothing else she was any good at. Everyone was doing something special for the fashion show, and she wanted to do something special, too. It would be terrible if she had nothing to show for her efforts. She adjusted the controls on the amp.
Just then, Rainbow Dash burst into the auditorium. “We’ve got to cancel the fashion show. The team wants new uniforms—but everyone is mad at me, and I can’t figure out why because I’m burning more calories than ever.” Rainbow Dash was checking her wristband again, and without looking, she knocked a bottle of glitter onto the floor.
“Oops!” said Pinkie Pie, rushing over to pick it up.
Rarity arrived a moment later. She had curled her hair and was wearing an entirely new outfit with matching accessories. “I’m sorry I’m behind on the uniform designs,” she apologized. “But I have been having to focus on my own style. You would not believe the horrible things people were saying about my hair online.”
Sunset Shimmer waved her hand at them, trying to get everyone to be quiet. “Something is coming through on the monitor. Something is happening! Eureka! I think I may have found the source of the magic. It’s getting closer and closer and closer!”
The girls all crowded around Sunset Shimmer’s laptop.
“If you find the source of the magic,” whispered Rainbow Dash, “can you make my teammates less angry at me?”
“Will it convince people I’ve got a fashion sense again?”
“Will it make me another batch of donuts?” Applejack had arrived, covered in flour. She was exhausted from having to spend another afternoon in the kitchen.
“Shhh!” said Sunset Shimmer. “I’m trying to figure out this reading.…”
Everyone was very quiet. They didn’t dare breathe. The only sound was a steady beep coming from the laptop. A green line was going up and up and up.
“Meow?” said a tiny voice.
The girls whirled around. Coming into the auditorium was a tiny kitten, looking scared and frightened.
“What are you doing here?” said Fluttershy. “How did you ever get out?” She ran over and picked up the kitten.
Sunset Shimmer looked at the kitten and, with a terrible feeling in her stomach, realized that she had forgotten to shut the shelter door. Then she’d amped the pet whistle, calling all the animals to Fluttershy. Now they were probably all on the loose thanks to her.
As if to confirm her worst suspicions, Principal Celestia appeared. She did not look happy. “What is going on in this school? The cafeteria kitchen is in shambles, and the art room is littered with fabric. I’ve got athletes coming into my office telling me there is no way they want to do a fashion show, and I just got a call from the animal shelter that all the animals have somehow escaped.”
“My rescues!” gasped Fluttershy.
Principal Celestia held up her hand. “In a minute, Fluttershy, we’ll organize the whole school to give you a hand finding them, but right now, I want to know if this is your idea of a fashion show. Sunset Shimmer, I thought you told me you were up to this challenge. I expected more leadership from you.”
Sunset Shimmer looked down at her feet, disappointed in herself. But she wasn’t a quitter. “Principal Celestia, I want to make this up to the whole school. I made a promise, and I’m going to keep it. We’ll have everything cleaned up by this afternoon, and the fashion show will be ready to go by tomorrow night.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure,” said Sunset Shimmer.
“That’s what I want to hear,” said Principal Celestia. “Now, about those animals…”
“Give me one minute and we’ll all be right there.”
Principal Celestia gave Sunset Shimmer one last stern look before leaving, but Sunset Shimmer knew the other girls were looking at her—and they were upset with her, too. She had thought she had a magic problem to solve. But she didn’t. She had a friendship problem, and it was all her own fault.
Sunset Shimmer had been so focused on investigating the elements of magic that she’d overlooked the most important thing of all—friendship. You couldn’t measure it, photograph it, amp it, or dissect it, but it was real and it’s what really made everything happen. That was the secret ingredient. Friendship.
She took a big breath. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the past two days.” She braced herself for everyone’s anger. She was sure they were going to yell at her or, even worse, storm out and never speak to her again. “I’m sorry I’ve made so many problems for everyone.”
“But no one’s better at solving problems than you!” said Pinkie Pie.
All the girls laughed. It was true.
“You think you can persuade my teammates to model in the fashion show?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Can you repair my style status?” asked Rarity.
“Can you do some real cooking?”
“Can you blow up some balloons?”
“I can do it all,” said Sunset Shimmer, determined to be a good friend. “But the first thing we all need to do is rescue Fluttershy’s animals. Right, Fluttershy?” She handed Fluttershy her pet whistle—and removed the amp.
“Right!” said her friend.
“All right, then,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Let’s go.”
After the Storm
It was the hardest letter Sunset Shimmer had ever written to Twilight Sparkle.
Dear Twilight Sparkle, she wrote. I may be getting good grades in school, but I think I’m failing in friendship. I just wish there was something that made me special, like the other girls have, but the only thing I’m good at is making a mess of everything.
She had not even put down her pen when the journal began to
glow. Twilight Sparkle had written her back instantaneously.
Dear Sunset Shimmer, wrote Twilight Sparkle. What happened? Can you tell me everything?
Tears fell from Sunset Shimmer’s cheeks, blotching the ink on the page as it all poured out of her. All the other girls have something that makes them special. They are athletic and creative and artistic and good with animals, and I’m not really good at anything. Except I used to be good at magic and I thought maybe I could somehow be Canterlot High’s very own magic investigator. I tried to make magic happen—and instead all I did was ruin everything. Applejack’s donuts are burnt, and Fluttershy’s animals are missing, and it’s all my fault.
She wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t hear back from Twilight Sparkle. How many times could the princess forgive her?
But within an instant, the journal was glowing again.
Maybe you’ve been investigating the wrong thing at Canterlot High. You’ve already learned a lot about magic. Maybe now is the time to learn something else. Do you think you can really be a student again? Are you ready to learn? What can each of your friends teach you? That’s the important question.
Sunset Shimmer was still a little bit confused. The girls can teach me about magic? she wrote back to Twilight Sparkle. How?
Dear Sunset Shimmer, wrote Twilight Sparkle. The Magic of Friendship has special charms, and each of your friends is an expert at one of them. Together they are unstoppable. But it’s best if you find that out for yourself. You were a great student of magic in Equestria. I think you can be a great student of friendship. Are you ready?
Sunset Shimmer felt like her whole world had wibbled and wobbled. She didn’t know anything. Where do I start? she wrote.
Jump in and lend a hand. That’s what you did when the Sirens were threatening the school. Seems like there’s an emergency at the animal shelter. And I think it’s a good idea if you check in with me whenever you want. Consider me your friendship tutor. Is that okay?