Make Your Own Magic: Starswirl Do-Over

by Whitney Ralls

  “Almost… there!”

  “Pinkie, watch out!”

  The golf cart speeds right into the Star Swirl the Bearded parade balloon. They bounce off and into a jumble. PostCrush’s VIP cart slows down just long enough for Sunset to see K-Lo shoot her some major side-eye. Then it whizzes off!

  Sunset’s distraught. “Could this day get any worse?!”

  Just then, the security guard grabs them by their collars. “Destruction of property, fabrication of a pastry emergency… You two are hereby banned from Starswirl.”

  Back at the glamping RV, Sunset is not a happy glamper. She sulks by the fire while Pinkie roasts marshmallows. “If it weren’t for you, we would’ve met PostCrush, and we’d be front row at their concert right now.”

  Pinkie tries to cheer her up, throwing a marshmallow. It explodes into confetti. “Look, a shooting star! Make a wish!”

  Sunset turns away. “If I made a wish, it would be to do this day over again. Without you.”

  Sunset takes one look at Pinkie’s hurt face and walks away from the RV and into the woods and looks up at the sky. Not a shooting star in sight. She sighs, closing her eyes, and doesn’t notice the wisps of purple magic that ripple past her.

  CLICK HERE.

  THE NEXT MORNING…

  Sunset Shimmer tosses and turns, grumbling in her sleep. Her eyes slowly blink open to see Pinkie Pie’s eyes an inch away.

  “IT’S MORNING!”

  “Pinkie, quit it. Are you going to wake me up like that every morning?” Sunset groans, covering her head with a pillow.

  “I’ve finally decided on my Starswirl day-one look!” Rarity declares. “Or, wait, should I switch out the wide-brimmed hat for a flower crown? So many festival-ready ensembles, but so little time!”

  “I can’t believe Starswirl day one is already so much fun, even before we’re inside the festival. Starswirl morning one for the win!” Pinkie cheers.

  Sunset’s eyes shoot open.

  “Did you say Starswirl day one?”

  “Why, yes, dear. Why? Do you think it’s too gauche? I can change! I don’t want to start off the festival on the wrong foot, in the wrong shoe!”

  Sunset’s confused. Something must be wrong.

  She’d already gone through the trauma that was Starswirl day one. How can this be happening?

  Then it dawns on her.

  “My wish!”

  The rest of the Mane Seven look at her.

  “You made a wish?” Fluttershy asks.

  “What kinda wish are we talking about here?” Rainbow Dash demands.

  “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME WE WERE WISHING WISHES?!” Pinkie explodes.

  Sunset turns away, still processing. The day is repeating!

  What should Sunset do?

  Have the perfect do-over! Her wish came true! Now she has the chance to do just what she wants and see PostCrush. CLICK HERE.

  Ask her friends for help. Whatever’s going on here, she can’t face it alone. CLICK HERE.

  Go back to sleep. This is definitely a dream. CLICK HERE.

  SUNSET SHIMMER GOT HER WISH!

  And she’s not about to waste it.

  Inside the festival, Sunset rushes past all the distractions. Giant ice-cream bar? Pass. Art installations? No way. PostCrush’s meet and greet? Better not risk it. This time, she’s gonna be in the audience for PostCrush front and center, even if it means spending hours waiting at the stage.

  A food-truck worker calls out to her, tempting her with free samples of deep-fried candy bars. A lounge’s neon lights beckon. At the vintage market, unique beaded necklaces jangle in the breeze. Without blinking, Sunset runs right past it all.

  Pinkie Pie runs, panting, trying to keep up with her.

  “Sunset, where are you going, and why are you going so fast?! OOF!” Pinkie hits the guardrail where Sunset plants her hand, triumphant.

  “Front and center.”

  “But PostCrush doesn’t play for hours! We should have a festival adventure until then!” Pinkie Pie pulls out a festival map. “Like here, here, here, here, or over here!”

  “Thanks, but I did my adventuring yesterday.”

  Pinkie Pie squints, trying to do the math on that. “You mean, on the way to Starswirl?”

  Sunset just waves her off. “You go have fun—I’m staying right here.”

  Pinkie’s surprised and disappointed, hanging her head.

  “Oh okay. I thought we were gonna do it together.”

  “It’s my festival, too, and this is how I want to spend it.”

  Pinkie nods and heads out, crestfallen.

  Sunset keeps her hand on the rail, front and center, stone-faced, as different acts take the stage. A country pop singer drawls, a DJ duo wicky-wicks, a hip-hop crew hypes, but none of them get a smile from Sunset. She’s on a mission.

  As dusk falls, Sunset is drooping at the guardrail, half-asleep. Someone nudges her, and she perks up. “Pinkie Pie?”

  But it’s a stranger. In fact, fans are packed like sardines all around her, but she has the best seat in the house. At last, she smiles.

  “This—”

  The lights go down.

  “Is—”

  The first note echoes.

  “Perfect!”

  As the lights come up from the corners of the stage, the crowd goes wild. PostCrush stands in silhouette for a tense, exciting moment—and then they launch into their hit song.

  Sunset is in awe as K-Lo wails on her electric guitar. “So cool!” Sunset looks to her left and right, expecting Pinkie Pie to be there. But she’s not. Sunset shakes it off. No reason for her not to have fun.

  Colored projections flash, K-Lo and Su-Z dance-battle in between songs, and Sunset loses her voice from screaming so much. K-Lo finishes an unreal guitar solo, then tosses her pick into the crowd.

  Sunset jumps…

  …and catches it!

  After the most incredible show of her whole life, Sunset walks back to the glamping RV, running her finger along the guitar pick. What a perfect day.

  “Okay, Universe, you really came through on this one. I promise I’ll never ask for anything ever again!” she says, looking out at the stars.

  The next morning, Sunset smiles, rolling over in her sleep.

  “IT’S MORNING!” Pinkie Pie shrieks. Sunset opens her eyes, skeptical. She looks around. There’s Pinkie, hovering inches above her, and Rarity twirling in front of the mirror in her beaded poncho. Oh no. It’s the same morning all over again! Her eyes widen.

  “Umm, Universe, can we have a word?”

  Sunset thought fulfilling her wish would solve this whole repeating-day situation, but clearly it’s a little more complex than that.

  What should Sunset do?

  Ask her friends for help. This is too big to handle by herself. CLICK HERE.

  Take advantage of the situation. More time at one of the coolest festivals around? Yes, please! CLICK HERE.

  SUNSET SHIMMER DUCKS RIGHT.

  Rarity follows her as she barrels down the pathway.

  “I’m pretty sure she ran this way!” Sunset shouts.

  The garden walls curve overhead, and they suddenly find themselves in a tunnel. It is lit only by the neon lights running along either side of them. The tunnel is seemingly endless, and the farther they go, the more the neon lights twist into a swirling pattern.

  They run, but it’s as if they’re not going forward.

  “Are we even moving?” Sunset asks, frustrated.

  “Never mind that, darling. This color palette is driving me absolutely mad! Neon purple with neon lime? Whose sick idea of fun is this? Why is this happening to me?!”

  Rarity drops to her knees, clutching her head. Who knew a color scheme could affect a person so much? Sunset shifts objectives. Forget finding that mysterious stranger—Sunset has to get Rarity out of here before she has a full-blown meltdown.

  Sunset hoists up Rarity and runs back in the direction they came. Except the colors keep swirli
ng. The tunnel doesn’t end. It’s as if the entrance has vanished! Sunset slows to a halt. Rarity’s laughing now, shouting, “LIME AND PURPLE AND LIME AND PURPLE!”

  Sunset sighs. So much for that. It’s going to be a long night.

  CLICK HERE.

  “EVERY DAY IS THE SAME, OVER AND OVER AGAIN…”

  “Okay, those lyrics can’t be a coincidence.” Sunset Shimmer is sure whoever’s singing those words must be the culprit behind her current predicament.

  With her friends, Sunset tears across the festival grounds toward a secondary stage, where a significant crowd has gathered. Sunset jumps, not quite able to see through the crowd.

  Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara sing along:

  “Again and again,

  when will it end?

  We’re stuck here with all these

  humans for friends.”

  “Excuse me, what band is playing?” Fluttershy asks. But everyone’s swept up in the song, singing along as if entranced. Twilight Sparkle checks her festival schedule as Sunset pushes through the crowd. She gasps.

  “The Dazzlings are playing Starswirl!” Twilight announces, horrified.

  Sunset looks up as Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze sing their auto-tuned song onstage.

  Sunset is furious. “Can’t they leave us alone?! They must be back to their old tricks, using Equestrian magic to regain their voices and control the masses with music!”

  Pinkie Pie starts pushing through the crowd, rolling up her sleeves. “Lemme at ’em! Things are about to get seriously serious!” Pinkie grabs at her forearm again, meeting skin, and pauses. “I wish I had more sleeves to roll up!”

  “What are you going to do?” Twilight Sparkle asks, grabbing Pinkie’s and Sunset’s shoulders. “Just jump onstage?”

  “Yes!” Sunset cries.

  Rainbow Dash points out the security guard standing next to the stage. “Or we could go backstage and take ’em on.” Rainbow Dash pulls out some sunglasses seemingly from nowhere and puts them on.

  “But we’re not VIP,” Fluttershy points out. “I mean, you’re Very Important People to me, but we aren’t to them. How will you get past the security guard?”

  “We’ll just sneak past him,” Rainbow Dash says with a shrug.

  “No!” Applejack says. “What we gotta do is march up to this guy and tell him we mean business!”

  Sunset considers.

  What should Sunset do?

  Jump onstage and confront the Dazzlings. CLICK HERE.

  Find a way backstage. CLICK HERE.

  THE WHO’S WHO OF STARSWIRL LOUNGE BACKSTAGE.

  Shimmery lights, picture-perfect snacks, custom infused sodas. It’s as if there’s a beautiful, sparkly Snapgab filter over everything and everyone. Sunset Shimmer’s in awe as she passes the familiar faces of up-and-coming artists. There’s mastermind producer Peony Petunia talking to country troubadour Dirk Thistleweed. Oh, and that’s DJ Pon-3 swapping singles with techno-pop vocalist MC Dex Effex! And that’s…

  That’s…

  “PostCrush!” Her voice cracks as she says it aloud, and Peony Petunia side-eyes her. K-Lo lounges on a chaise, looking at her phone, while Su-Z sways, spacing out on a swing set.

  Yes, they literally have a swing set in the artists’ lounge. Sunset shakes it off, trying to play it cool.

  Just then, the Dazzlings walk in and collapse on furry, glittery beanbag chairs.

  What should Sunset do?

  Confront the Dazzlings. CLICK HERE.

  Meet PostCrush. CLICK HERE.

  SHE MAY BE CAUGHT IN A TIME LOOP, BUT SUNSET SHIMMER DOESN’T HAVE TIME TO MESS AROUND.

  Twilight Sparkle explains it to Sunset. They know that the reset point happens sometime between going to sleep and waking up. All Sunset has to do to break the time part of this space-time kerfuffle is pull an all-nighter.

  “And lucky for you, I’ve pulled a few in my time,” Twilight says as she cockily polishes her glasses. “Not for studying, of course. Sometimes I just can’t put down the book I’m reading!”

  “So what will happen once I stay awake through the reset point?”

  “That’s the fun of an experiment—we don’t know!”

  Sunset slowly raises a skeptical eyebrow.

  Twilight Sparkle clears her throat. “Theoretically, you’ll escape the time loop and stay awake into the next day of Starswirl.”

  Sunset’s eyes glimmer with hope. “Sleep-overs are always the most fun when you don’t get much sleeping done.”

  Twilight agrees. “Now, first things first—coffee!”

  Twilight and Sunset find a gourmet coffee cart. They slurp mochas, gulp down chai lattes, and munch on coffee beans. As they work their way through the menu, Sunset can’t help thinking that she’s never wanted a day to pass so quickly. It’s like the last day of school before summer vacation. Except this is supposed to be the vacation! She looks at the time. It’s only two o’clock? She yawns.

  HOOOOOONK!

  Twilight Sparkle blasts an air horn. “No yawning allowed. If we’re going to stay awake all night, we’re going to need to keep our adrenaline up. Luckily, Starswirl has lots of energizing activities. But first, cappuccino.”

  Sunset wears virtual-reality goggles, feeling as if she’s soaring through the air.

  “Woaaaah!” She waggles her arms, trying to keep her balance, spilling her cold brew.

  Twilight giggles until the booth attendant puts goggles on her. “WAHHHH!”

  Later, Sunset and Twilight Sparkle lick cones of coffee ice cream and walk past a paint party. SPLAT! Sunset’s suddenly hit with a water balloon filled with pink paint. Bulk Biceps is the culprit. She looks to Twilight, and in unison, they shrug, smiling. Together they hurl their cones at him—SPLURCH! With that, they dive into the paint party, laughing as they smear blue, orange, and purple across canvases and launch yellow paint cannonballs across the field. They’re a multicolored mess, and Sunset’s invigorated. All this excitement is definitely going to keep her awake!

  But soon enough, Sunset is snoozing into a coffee-flavored cinnamon bun.

  “Wake up, we’ve got a hypothesis to prove!” Twilight lifts Sunset’s closed eyelid.

  Sunset groans. “Not exactly thrilling.”

  Twilight Sparkle considers. “If you need a thrill, maybe it’s time we go full sleepover mode.” She gets a dangerous glint in her eye. “Truth. Or. Dare.”

  Sunset sits bolt upright. “Are you serious?”

  “Dare it is.”

  “Wait, no—I didn’t—!”

  “Find the cutest guy at Starswirl and ask him out.”

  “Twilight, if your hypothesis does break the time loop, I’ll really be asking him out!”

  “In that case, I double-dare you.”

  Sunset gulps. Then she sees him.

  His perfectly tousled hair would make Flash Sentry envious. Rarity would nod in approval of his trendy but understated denim jacket. As he walks by, Snips and Snails literally fall all over each other, bowled over by his effortless coolness. And, with even more coolness, he helps them to their feet.

  “Easy there, guys. Save some for the bumper cars.”

  Snips and Snails laugh, charmed. All that, and he’s funny?

  He walks past Sunset, giving her a shy smile. Twilight Sparkle nudges her. “You got this. Just be cool, calm, and—”

  “HEY, DO YOU WANNA GO OUT SOMETIME?!”

  Sunset jumps to her feet, awkwardly drawing the attention of what feels like everyone at Starswirl. Including the coolest guy she’s ever seen. He stares at her, caught off guard. Sunset panics, thinking of how she can play it off, when he smiles.

  “Yeah, how about right now?”

  No doubt about it: Sunset’s adrenaline is officially pumping.

  Long after the sun’s gone down, Sunset’s worries about the time loop are far behind her. She and the boy are laughing, sharing stories and a basket of French fries. Sunset’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. They have so m
uch in common! They both are secretly afraid of scary movies. Sunset loves to draw comics, and he loves to paint watercolors. Sure, Sunset is a pony from Equestria transformed into a human, but they both think ketchup is overrated! Plus, he is so cute when he grins at her and says, “I’m really glad you asked me out. Not a lot of girls would do that.”

  She shrugs. “I’m glad I did, too. I wouldn’t have done it normally, but there were special circumstances.”

  “You’re right, I’d say this is a pretty special circumstance,” he says a little bashfully. He leans in to kiss her, and she closes her eyes, leaning in as well.

  WHOOSH.

  Sunset opens her eyes, and she’s suddenly sitting alone in the library of Canterlot High School. What?!

  Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie enter the library, abuzz with excitement.

  “Starswirl tickets go on sale in five minutes!” Twilight announces.

  “I sure hope we get ’em!” adds Applejack.

  “Sunset, can you believe we might get to see PostCrush?!” Pinkie Pie can hardly contain herself. But Sunset’s mind is miles away, back at Starswirl.

  She looks around wildly. “What just happened? Where did he go?!”

  Pinkie Pie cocks her head, confused. “Where did who go?”

  Sunset’s at a loss. She didn’t even get his name.… It all felt so real, but could everything that happened just have been a dream? Or did breaking the time loop create some kind of reverse time slingshot?

  “I got the tickets!”

  The other girls cheer while Sunset smiles thoughtfully. She’ll just have to keep an eye out for a watercolor-painting, scary-movie-fearing cutie in a denim jacket.