Lightning Strikes

After glee club, Pinkie Pie skipped home to get ready for the slumber party. There were snacks to prepare and pizzas to order and balloons to blow up. She’d bought special little pillows that she decorated with ribbons and decals for each of her friends. Rainbow Dash’s had a soccer ball and Fluttershy’s a bunny and Applejack’s a lasso and Rarity’s a high-heeled shoe, but she hadn’t known what to put on Sunset Shimmer’s. What was it Sunset Shimmer liked to do most of all? In the end, she chose a beautiful decal of a setting sun with its rays spreading up toward the clouds—shimmering.

“There,” she squealed, looking around her bedroom. “Almost ready.”

Applejack was the first to arrive. “Looks mighty pretty in here!”

Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down with excitement. “I know! I know!”

“I brought us a jug of cider and some apple muffins,” said Applejack. “We had them left over when we finished up at the newspaper.”

“That’s perfect!” Pinkie Pie skipped downstairs to answer the door. Fluttershy and Rarity were there.

“Hello!”

“Hello!”

“Hello!” Rarity had brought her keytar so the girls could jam together later on in the night, as well as a case of different-colored nail polishes.

“I want my toes to be pink!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, and all the girls laughed together.

The girls loved their pillows. How did Pinkie Pie do it? She always had a special surprise waiting for her friends when they came over. It was so much fun to have a sleepover at her house.

When Sunset Shimmer arrived, she was thrilled with the pillow Pinkie Pie had made for her—until she saw the designs on the other girls’. They each had something that made them special. But what made her special other than her name? She didn’t know. While the other girls painted one another’s toes and fingers, she took her journal from her overnight bag to see if she’d heard anything from Twilight Sparkle. Nothing. She sighed.

“What color do you want to paint your toes?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“I want to paint my toes pink like you,” Sunset Shimmer answered, and then immediately regretted her answer. Was she just copying? Wasn’t there anything original about her at all?

But Pinkie Pie took it as a compliment. “Pink’s always perfect!”

“You have such style, Sunset Shimmer,” said Rarity.

Rainbow Dash arrived at the same time as the pizzas and brought the boxes up to the girls. But she wasn’t hungry. She threw herself down on Pinkie Pie’s bed in a huff.

“What’s the matter?” asked Fluttershy, sitting beside her.

The other girls crowded around, concerned.

“It’s our team uniforms,” said Rainbow Dash. “It shouldn’t matter, but they are old and faded. We’re going to look so scrappy on the field compared to the other teams in the championship. We have to win this year to boost morale. Everyone is getting nervous about next year’s Friendship Games.”

“Why don’t you buy new ones?” Sunset Shimmer asked without looking up from painting her toes.

“We can’t afford that right now,” sighed Rainbow Dash.

The other girls nodded in agreement.

“It’s not what you wear—it’s how you play,” Applejack said reassuringly.

“And our team practices so hard.” Fluttershy touched her friend’s hand.

“Uniforms don’t matter that much,” said Rarity, but tears welled up in her eyes. She hated to think of her friends having to look anything but their best.

“It’s about morale,” explained Rainbow Dash. “Sometimes it just gives the team that extra edge.”

“Why don’t we do some kind of fund-raiser?” Sunset Shimmer screwed the top back on the nail polish and realized that all the girls were staring at her, their eyes wide. “We could do a bake sale or a car wash or a show and charge for tickets. It wouldn’t be that hard.” She took out her notebook. “If we take the number of kids in the school and multiply that by a reasonable ticket price and add in a little extra from a bake sale, subtracting, of course, what decorations would cost…”

The girls watched with amazement as she scribbled a line of numbers across the page.

“You’re right!” Rarity clapped her hands.

“That’s a brilliant idea, Sunset Shimmer! You are so smart!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“Wow!” A huge smile lit up Fluttershy’s face.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” squealed Pinkie Pie. “A fund-raiser! We can make posters and flyers and tickets and invite everyone we know and it will be a huge success and this year we’ll win the championship for sure!”

“Now, how come I didn’t think of that?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Sunset Shimmer was thoughtful. “But we are going to have to decide exactly what kind of fund-raiser we want to do.” She paused for a moment, her mind racing with possibilities. What was the best option? The girls were leaning in expectantly.

“I’ve got it!” she said at last. “A fashion show. And not just any kind of fashion show, but a way to show off designs for the new uniforms.” Rarity’s eyes lit up. “I can create sample designs for new uniforms to show everyone.…”

“And the kids on the teams can model them! They’ll love that.” Rainbow Dash was very pleased.

“And we can have a bake sale, too!” Applejack rubbed her hands together as she thought about cooking up a mess of apple cider donuts with Granny Smith.

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “I have an idea,” she chimed in softly. “What if we have a pet parade with animal fashions?”

“That’s an adorable idea,” said Rarity.

“Love it!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“Totally cute,” agreed Pinkie Pie. “And I’ll be in charge of decorating.”

All the girls burst out laughing. Of course Pinkie Pie would decorate, and it would be the best fund-raiser ever.

Fluttershy turned to Sunset Shimmer. “What do you want to do to help out?” she asked.

Sunset Shimmer looked taken aback. What was her special talent? “I don’t know,” she said.

“She had the idea, didn’t she?” Applejack pointed out.

“Of course she did! She’s full of them!” said Pinkie Pie, giving her a hug. “And you can help us all with getting the fashion show ready, isn’t that right?”

“Absolutely,” said Sunset Shimmer. “And I’ll come up with something special that I can do. I don’t know what. Yet. But something. Maybe we could write a new song for the Sonic Rainbooms to play. That might draw in even more people.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Another great idea! You are amazing.”

But Sunset Shimmer didn’t feel amazing. She felt a little lost. She wanted some special way to contribute to the fashion show. What could she do? She didn’t have any special talents like the other girls.

“It’s time to practice, then,” said Rarity. “Let me just tune up my keytar.”

While the girls got ready to play, Sunset Shimmer slipped out of the room. She felt frustrated. All she had ever been interested in was magic. Pinkie Pie was an enthusiastic decorator, and Rarity was a skilled designer. Rainbow Dash was athletic, Applejack was an expert cook, and Fluttershy was gifted with animals. But all Sunset Shimmer could do was tag along. If only she could find some special way to stand out among her friends.

She glanced in her journal one last time—and there it was, an answer from Twilight Sparkle.

Dear Sunset Shimmer, wrote Twilight Sparkle. You have always been such a good student, and now you have this wonderful opportunity to explore the Magic of Friendship. I know it doesn’t always look that way, but it is the most powerful magic of all. I can’t wait to hear what you find out and learn. Please let me know and say hi to everyone. I miss you all! Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.

Rainbow Dash’s guitar twanged from the other room, and Rarity began singing scales. Pinkie Pie tapped at her drum set, and Fluttershy’s tambourine jangled. Each girl brought her own special sound to the music—and to the magic.

The girls were singing together now, and Sunset Shimmer peeked into the room. She already knew what she was going to see. The Sonic Rainbooms were ponying up. Ordinary girls were ponying up. Their pretty manes shook. Their ears twitched. Their pony tails swung from side to side. They were dancing and prancing and singing.

Every time she saw it, Sunset Shimmer was amazed. But how did it happen? What made it work?

Could it be that each girl’s special talent also contributed to the magic in some way? Maybe what made Rainbow Dash such a star on the soccer field was also magic. Maybe Fluttershy’s ability to communicate with animals was a kind of enchantment. Maybe it was time for Sunset Shimmer to leave her books behind and start investigating magic up close. Wasn’t that what Twilight Sparkle had meant? In chemistry class, they didn’t just learn formulas; they did experiments, too. That was it! While the girls worked on the fashion show, she was going to unlock the secrets of ponying up. That was her mission. That was what made her special. She was going to be a magic investigator. She imagined making a huge discovery that made the magic even better—and she would unveil it at the fashion show. She smiled and went back into the room to join the band. This was going to be so much fun!