“What’s the matter, Sunset? I thought we were gonna have a perfect day today.”
Sunset sighs. “So did I.”
Here she is again, back at the beginning. She doesn’t even bother explaining it to Pinkie Pie. If she wasn’t already frustrated, now she’s just plain fed up.
Pinkie Pie sulks away. Twilight Sparkle notices Sunset’s chagrin and comes over to her.
“What’s going on, Sunset?”
Sunset glumly looks to Twilight. “To put it simply? I’m caught in a space-time loop.”
Twilight brightens. “Oh, is that it? Well, have you tried breaking it?”
Sunset shrugs. She’s lost all hope. She’s not sure she has much left to do except run away from her problems.
What should Sunset do?
Try to break the time loop with Twilight Sparkle’s help. CLICK HERE.
Run for the hills. CLICK HERE.
“EVERYBODY COULD USE MORE FRIENDS!”
Pinkie Pie is sure of it.
“Even mean-looking tough-guy security guards?” asks Sunset Shimmer.
“Especially them!”
If anyone can win over this guy, it’s Pinkie Pie. Sunset decides it’s worth a shot.
“When the going gets tough—” begins Sunset.
“We ask nicely!” finishes Pinkie.
Sunset and Pinkie approach the security guard, who stoically watches them get closer. He has no reaction whatsoever to them, even when they’re right in front of him. They look back at themselves in his mirrored sunglasses. It’s as if he’s staring through them! Sunset gulps as Pinkie jumps in front of him.
“Hi, mister! How are you?”
He doesn’t reply.
“Enjoying the music? Or is this really more of a job for you? What are your interests?”
He doesn’t reply.
“Favorite color?”
He doesn’t reply.
Pinkie looks to Sunset Shimmer, who shrugs. Pinkie clears her throat.
“Well, now that we’re old friends, we have a favor to ask you. See, it’s a long story, but there are people back there who are definitely up to no good, and we need to figure out what they’re doing. Would you please kindly, oh-so-nicely let us back there for just a little bit?”
To Sunset’s shock, a big smile cracks across the security guard’s face and he says, “Why of course!”
Even Pinkie Pie is surprised, stuttering, “R-really?”
The security guard’s face falls.
“No.”
He gruffly takes each of them by an elbow.
“You’re not goin’ backstage, but I can take you to another exclusive area of the festival.…”
Pinkie and Sunset lock eyes. This can’t be good.
CLICK HERE.
“IT’S MORNING!”
Like every other day, Sunset Shimmer opens her eyes to find Pinkie Pie’s inches away. It can’t be. They deactivated the Time Twirler!
“Specifically, morning on Starswirl day two!”
Sunset lets out a sigh of relief and starts laughing. Her friends are all around her, excited to share the day with her.
“What do you wanna do today, Sunset?” Pinkie Pie asks brightly.
Sunset smiles. “I’m done choosing. Someone else decide!”
They pile out of the glamping RV and head for the festival, chattering excitedly about all of the day’s scheduled events. There’s music echoing through the trees, balloons flying, and the smell of fresh-baked pastries wafting from food trucks. Sunset breathes in the fresh forest air as if she’s doing it for the first time.
THE END
THE RAINBOOMS HAVE NEVER HAD FANS LIKE THIS.
Sunset Shimmer signs a loopy autograph for a fan who’s sobbing with joy. Rainbow Dash poses for a photo with a few giddy kids. A familiar voice pipes up:
“Can I puh-lease, pretty please with sprinkles have your autograph?”
It’s Pinkie Pie! Sunset gives her a hug, and Pinkie Pie is shocked, not recognizing Sunset under all her stage makeup and the outlandish outfit.
“Pinkie Pie, it’s me!” Sunset winks.
“I know, you’re in Wild Ones!”
“No, I mean, you and I are really friends!”
Pinkie is so moved by this that she gets a little weepy. “I humbly accept the title of friend and hope that I can one day live up to it!”
Sunset laughs, assuring her, “Hey, you are a great friend! You already live up to that title.” Sunset signs an autograph for her, and Pinkie beams.
“Thank you so much!”
Pinkie zigzags away, delighted. As Sunset watches her go, she can’t help feeling a little guilty. Pinkie Pie has always been an amazing friend. It was Sunset who wasn’t such a great friend on the very first Starswirl day one. She regrets yelling at Pinkie, but there’s no time to dwell on that! Her public demands her.
“Over here!” Someone shakes her hand.
She and Rainbow Dash stand back-to-back and people snap photos with their phones. Rainbow Dash leans over and whispers, “Doesn’t get any better than this.”
Then a guy in a red tank top checks the picture he just took. “Hey! You aren’t in Wild Ones! You’re imposters!”
Whoops.
Sunset and Rainbow Dash make a break for it, but they run directly into the security guard, who looms over them and snorts.
“You girls just got yourselves banned from Starswirl. For life.”
CLICK HERE.
“PLAY IT COOL, PLAY IT COOL, PLAY IT COOL,” Pinkie chants as she and Sunset Shimmer walk up to PostCrush. But as soon as they’re there, she bursts out, “HI I’M PINKIE PIE AND THIS IS MY FRIEND SUNSET AND WE LOVE YOU SO, SO MUCH!”
Sunset laughs and reaches out for a handshake. Su-Z stares at them, blankly suspicious.
“But you guys weren’t here on any of the other days—”
K-Lo elbows her, says, “Shh!”, and turns to Sunset, offering her hand.
“Always fantastic to meet a fan!”
Pinkie Pie shakes her hand vigorously, but Sunset can tell something’s up. She reaches out and takes K-Lo’s hand.
WHOOSH. Empathy flash.
Images come streaming through her mind. K-Lo found the Time Twirler when she stumbled across a mysterious portal. The first night, their show was a disaster. K-Lo points an accusing finger at Su-Z, while Su-Z blames K-Lo. They accidentally activate the Time Twirler, and a purple pulse of magic emanates from it.
Sunset gasps slightly as she snaps back to reality. K-Lo is gripping her hand tighter now. Sunset looks up to see that the Time Twirler has been styled into K-Lo’s hair along with other assorted gems. Seeing Sunset’s glance, the pop star’s eyes narrow.
“What did you say your name was?” K-Lo asks in a whisper.
Sunset reels back. “It’s you! You’re the ones using the Time Twirler!”
“You’re right.” K-Lo smirks, pacing now. “But I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Starswirl is our big reunion show. Our last moment in the spotlight. It must. Be. Perfect.”
Su-Z rolls her eyes. “Well, maybe if you learned your choreography.”
“Well, maybe if you could hit the high notes!” K-Lo claps back.
Sunset’s horrified. Pinkie Pie leans over to whisper, “This doesn’t seem like a great time, but what’s going on?”
“Security!” Su-Z screeches. “There, K-Lo. How’s that for a high note?”
The security guard throws Pinkie Pie and Sunset into PostCrush’s tour bus and locks the door. Pinkie looks around, wide-eyed.
“I can’t believe we’re in PostCrush’s real-life tour bus! And also that they’re evil! What’s that Time Twirler thing you were talking about?”
Sunset sighs. Where to start?
“This all started when I was a bad friend to you. I wanted a perfect day, but I only cared about having it my way. So when I got a chance to have a do-over, I thought it was because of my wish.”
Pinkie Pie listens somberly. Sunset explains about the repeti
tive days and how she wasn’t ever able to figure it out.
“But did you ever have a perfect day?” Pinkie asks.
Sunset smiles.
“Not until today. Because I spent it with you.”
“Really? Even though our heroes locked us in their tour bus and will probably keep this day repeating forever?”
Sunset nods.
“Even after that.”
They hear the distant roar of a crowd. PostCrush is about to go onstage.
“How many days do you think you’ve been here?” Pinkie asks.
Sunset considers and then laughs. “Let’s just say, happy birthday.”
Pinkie’s beside herself. “It’s my birthday?!” Ecstatic, she pulls out pastries she saved from the lounge and starts bursting them into confetti. Pop! Pop! Pop! Between gleeful confetti bursts, she says very seriously, “But also that’s horrible you’ve spent so long in this time loop, I’m so sorry. But also happy birthday to meeee!”
Sunset laughs as Pinkie pulls out a particularly hefty cupcake and bursts it into confetti—
BLAM!
The confetti blasts the tour bus door open. Sunset looks to Pinkie.
“Did you even mean to do that?”
“Nope. Now let’s go save the day!”
CLICK HERE.
“WE’LL BE BACKSTAGE IN A FLASH.”
Rainbow Dash watches the security guard, waiting for the perfect moment when his head’s turned.
“Here, hop on my back, Sunset!”
Sunset Shimmer does, and zip! They’re off! Rainbow Dash uses her super speed to give Sunset a piggyback ride at the speed of a cheetah-back ride. They whizz past the security guard while he’s preoccupied with picking a particularly tough booger.
He feels the breeze as they pass and looks up, embarrassed to be caught picking his nose. But when he sees that he’s still alone, he smirks, smugly thinking he got away with it, when it’s actually Sunset who pulled off the caper.
Backstage, Sunset hops off Rainbow Dash’s back, and they high-five.
“It worked!”
“Duh, it worked. Super speed always works.”
“Now we just have to confront the Dazzlings, get the Time Twirler, and break the time loop! Easy!”
Suddenly, a hand grabs each of their shoulders. Uh-oh. The security guard must have caught them after all.
“Maybe not so easy,” whispers Rainbow Dash.
“There you are!”
It’s not the security guard at all. It’s a frazzled event organizer. He speaks into his walkie-talkie.
“Copy that, found the missing members of Wild Ones. Bringing them to hair and makeup now.” He leads them into the hair-and-makeup tent. “You artistic types. Always wandering off when you’re supposed to be onstage!”
Sunset and Rainbow Dash lock eyes with each other. Onstage? Rainbow Dash is about to protest when Sunset elbows her. Might as well go along with this!
Suddenly, they’re in a flurry of assistants who pat them with makeup, spray them with hairspray, and pile chiffon stage outfits onto them. Sunset coughs through a cloud of glitter, and when it clears…
The audience is cheering.
Sunset and Rainbow Dash are onstage in front of a wild crowd, wielding keytars. They exchange a frantic glance. Their confused bandmates look at them—they’re not who they were expecting. But then Sunset nods.
“Let’s rock.”
They start playing, and Sunset and Rainbow Dash find their groove. Stage lights flash as Rainbow Dash wails on her keytar, delivering an insane solo. The crowd goes wild as Sunset joins her, back-to-back.
Their impromptu bandmates smile and egg them on, impressed. As they finish their set, fans throw flower crowns and streamers onstage—the crowd loves them! They take their bows and head offstage, clapping one another on the back.
“Great show, Wild Ones!”
As Rainbow Dash takes off her keytar, a slick-looking rock star comes her way.
“Saw your show—that’s the fastest playing I’ve ever seen! Sorry, I shoulda introduced myself, I’m—”
Rainbow Dash gasps. “Riff Slider! You’re Deviant Septum’s guitarist.”
“The one and only.”
Rainbow Dash’s jaw is on the floor. Her hero just acknowledged her. She turns to Sunset. “Best. Day. Ever!”
Riff nods toward a silvery tent that emanates coolness. “So, where ya headed? To the artists’ lounge?”
A group of fans break backstage, encircling them and asking for autographs. Sunset and Rainbow Dash share a smile—they’re rock stars!
What should Sunset do?
Chill out in the artists’ lounge. CLICK HERE.
Hang with the fans. CLICK HERE.
SUNSET SHIMMER IS OFFICIALLY A MEMBER OF THE POP DUO POSTCRUSH!
“I guess that technically makes us a pop trio, right? So cool!” Sunset is ecstatic. It’s a dream come true as she gets ready in their tour bus. K-Lo wears all gold, while Su-Z wears all silver, and Sunset dons all bronze.
K-Lo smirks. “Ready for your first show? Just follow my lead and you’ll do fine.”
As they approach the stage from the wings, Sunset hears the crowd cheering. It’s surreal as they step out into the spotlight. The audience roars, snapping pictures. This is next level. Sunset hasn’t just met her heroes; she has become one of them.
The music starts, and she sings and dances her heart out.
She leans over the stage, reaching out to the screaming fans, who reach back to touch her hand. Pinkie Pie is among them, looking confused but impressed.
A twang of guilt hits Sunset, wishing she could share this with her bestie.
“Sunset, back to position!” K-Lo whisper-yells.
Sunset falls into line with the other two, and they dance across the stage, kicking and ducking under one another’s legs. Confetti shoots out from the stage for their final number, and the three of them take a bow.
As they head offstage, Sunset’s aglow with adrenaline. “You guys do this every night? That was amazing!”
K-Lo shrugs, unimpressed. “It was okay. Su-Z’s voice was flat on that last note.”
Su-Z reels. “Well, your dancing was sloppy at best.”
Sunset’s taken aback by their negativity. “I thought it was perfect.”
They turn to her in unison. “Don’t get me started on you.”
Sunset’s perturbed. “So you’re just going to repeat the day until you have a perfect performance?”
“That’s the idea,” says Su-Z.
K-Lo pats Sunset on the back. “Look, you’ve had a nice day, but why don’t you get some rest. We have another performance tomorrow.”
Su-Z pulls out her instant-film camera and snaps a picture of Sunset.
“Just a little something to commemorate your first show with us!”
Sunset goes back to the glamping RV, feeling happier than she has in… well… days! Maybe being stuck in a time loop isn’t such a bad thing—it helped her become a part of her favorite band!
The next morning, Sunset hurries out of bed before the rest of her friends and makes her way to PostCrush’s tour bus. She walks up to the security guard.
“Hi! PostCrush is expecting me.”
To her surprise, the guard pulls the instant film photo that Su-Z took out of his pocket and compares it to Sunset.
“They sure are. Come with me.” The security guard grabs Sunset’s shoulder.
“Oof!” Sunset hits the dirt outside the festival.
The security guard brushes off his hands. “No crazy fan is getting in on my watch.”
K-Lo and Su-Z appear over his shoulder and smile nastily.
“Not just anybody can be in PostCrush. So you better get used to being thrown out of PostCrush every day for the rest of forever,” Su-Z sneers.
Sunset is crestfallen. She had her chance, and she blew it. PostCrush will never let her near them again.
“Sometimes,” K-Lo says with a laugh, “you just don’t get a do-ov
er.”
THE END
“WHO WAS SPYING ON US?”
“And why were they laughing all mysteriously?” Pinkie Pie wonders aloud.
“That was the knowingest laugh I ever heard,” says Applejack.
“Such a mysterious and trendy silhouette!” agrees Rarity.
Rainbow Dash points after the stranger. “Follow that trend!”
Sunset sprints across the fairgrounds, leaping over sunbathing concertgoers, ducking under Zephyr Breeze’s hacky sack game. She slides over a runaway churro cart as if she’s the star of an action movie and it’s the hood of a car. She squints in the sunlight.
“There! By the neon garden maze!”
Sunset looks over her shoulder to see that the churro cart has left everyone in a jumble. Well, almost everyone. Rarity grabs her hand.
“The show must go on, darling!”
The two of them race to the neon garden maze, hot on the heels of the unknown chuckler. Just as Sunset turns each corner, she barely catches a glimmer of the person as they turn the next. Sunset and Rarity are full speed ahead, when—THWACK—the path splits and they run right into the wall.
“Which way did they go?”
Rarity shrugs. “I haven’t the faintest clue!”
What should Sunset do?
Go right. CLICK HERE.
Go left. CLICK HERE.
Have a fashion show. Wait, what? CLICK HERE.
THE SECURITY GUARD CHEWS GUM DISINTERESTEDLY, BLOWING A MENACING BUBBLE.
Sunset Shimmer narrows her eyes as his bubble pops. He’s the only thing standing between her and getting to the bottom of what’s going on here. But Fluttershy’s right. They’re not Very Important People, so they can’t just walk into where all the actually important people are. What they need is a different solution. Sunset thinks out loud, “We don’t have backstage passes, so getting backstage is gonna require some—”
“Friendship?” suggests Pinkie Pie.
Make Your Own Magic: Starswirl Do-Over Page 5