> The Many Talents of Sunset Shimmer
>  by SonicSpeedster97
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Sunset Shimmer: Guitar Hero
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another day, another practice session for the Rainbooms done and dusted. And yet again, Sunset Shimmer had absolutely slayed it as second guitar and backup vocals. “Awesome work, girls.” Rainbow Dash smiled as she and the others powered down from their Ponied-Up forms.
“Seriously. If we keep this up, we can probably make tons at that next benefit.” Twilight Sparkle noted, remembering that ever since their success at saving Camp Everfree, the Rainbooms had made an excellent career out of performing for charity events, and their latest upcoming concert to help Canterlot High pay to replace the Wondercolt statue Twilight destroyed at the Friendship Games was no exception.
“Well, let me know if you guys want to rehearse anymore before the next session.” Sunset Shimmer smiled as she packed up her blue V-guitar. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Um, actually Sunset…” Fluttershy muttered nervously, freezing when Sunset looked back at her.
“What’s up, Fluttershy?” she asked.
“N- Nothing.” Fluttershy just shook her head… but Applejack stepped forward.
“Ah think Ah know what it is,” she noted. “We’ve all been holdin’ our tongues on this for a while, but we gotta know something.”
“Yeah? What?” asked Sunset.
“How’d you get so good on that thing?” Rainbow asked seriously as she pointed at Sunset’s guitar.
Sunset looked down at her guitar and couldn’t help but smirk. “Well, I guess it’s been out there long enough; might as well tell the story.” she shrugged and sat down on the piano, watching her friends pack up their instruments as she cast her mind back to her musical origins. “When I was a kid back in Equestria, I actually didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life for a long while. I tried tons of stuff to try and find my place in the world and eventually I just ended up deciding that… maybe music was my thing.”
“So you picked up the guitar out of sheer curiosity?” asked Rarity.
“Pretty much.” Sunset shrugged.
“How did you play it though? I mean, with hooves…” Pinkie Pie smiled, holding her fists like hooves.
“Who said I used my hooves? I just used my magic.” Sunset smirked. “And I gotta admit; I got pretty good at it. Got me some pretty good attention from musicians in Canterlot.”
Sunset couldn’t help but smile as she leaned back on the piano, thinking back on those days. “Even when I was accepted as Princess Celestia’s student, I still played; just… not as much. I had my studies to worry about, y’know?”
“And after you… left?” Rarity tried to couch that in the gentlest of terms.
Sunset sighed as she thought back. “I admit it; when I first came to this world, almost all I thought about was power and revenge. And… well, you guys know how that went.”
“Trust me; we remember.” Rainbow nodded, trying her best not to sound judgmental… but it clearly wasn’t enough as Sunset brushed some hair out of her face balefully.
“Anyway, after I established myself, I sorta missed playing, so I bought myself a new guitar and got to practicing again.” Sunset shrugged as she opened her guitar case. “Learning curve was pretty steep, especially with having to learn how to play with my hands in this world, but after a while, well…” She strummed a quick silent chord on the unpowered strings of the instrument. “I got good enough that your guys let me join the band.”
“Hey, you earned your place with the Rainbooms, Sunset,” Rainbow assured.
“If it weren’t for you, we probably never would’ve defeated the Sirens.” Rarity agreed. “And either way, your voice is simply divine.”
“Thanks girls.” Sunset smiled as she stood up and closed her guitar case.
“I know you’ve got a bunch of other talents, right?” Twilight pointed out. “Will we ever get to hear the story behind them?”
Sunset smirked. “Maybe. But for now, I gotta get home.” she smiled as she slung her backpack onto her back. “And hey; we’re still doing our solo songs for the show, right?”
“Duh,” Rainbow smirked in agreement. “Now get outta here; don’t wanna keep you.”
“Thanks girls. Later.” Sunset smiled as she left the music room, confident that this little look into her past she’d given the girls wouldn’t be the last.
> Sunset Shimmer: Motocross Maestro
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity smiled as she locked her car and walked toward the door of Canterlot High, happy to see her friends waiting for her until she saw a face missing. “Hm. Where’s Sunset? She’s usually here before all of us aside from Rainbow Dash.” she asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe she slept in too far.” Rainbow smirked; they all knew what a heavy sleeper Sunset was, so this idea didn’t seem too farfetched.
But the truth instead came with the rumbling of an engine approaching the school. The girls all looked and saw a bright red sports bike with teal hot-rod flames rumbling over to the curb near the side of the building before it parked, and the driver took off their helmet to reveal a familiar face and flaming head of hair. Sunset seemed a bit too distracted by something else to notice her friends’ impressed remarking at her bike, but it became clear what exactly she was thinking of when she stood up and almost doubled over, cringing as she held her left leg.
Spike was the first to plod over to her. “Are you okay Sunset?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m- I’m fine Spike; just… just a really bad cramp.” Sunset groaned in pain as she rubbed her leg. “Think I forgot my stretches last night; I had to limp to get my bike.”
“And a sweet-looking bike it is,” Rainbow remarked as she walked over and slung Sunset’s arm over her shoulder. “Sorry about the circumstances; you gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” Sunset shrugged as her friends helped her into the school.
“Just long enough for you to tell us how you got into motorcycling in the first place, darling,” said Rarity. “First you were chosen for motocross in the Friendship Games and now this beast?” She pointed back at Sunset’s bike as they went inside.
“Girl’s gotta get around town somehow. And I hate the bus.” Sunset shrugged.
“But how do you even qualify for a license? I mean, you’re basically an alien. In both senses of the word.” Twilight pointed out.
“I know. Let’s just say that when I came here from Equestria, one of the first things I got good at was leaving a paper trail.” Sunset explained vaguely, but it was enough for the girls to figure it out; Sunset had dabbled in counterfeiting papers. Yet another in a long list of crimes they’d have to cover up for their friend. “Plus, I’m a quick study. I aced Driver’s Ed in like a month and qualified for a motorcycle license a few weeks after that.”
“You don’t do it that often,” Rainbow noted, clearly reminding her friend of all the times she hadn’t seen Sunset on a bike.
“Only when I really need to; grocery runs, stuff like that.” Sunset shrugged. “My house is in a really good spot in town; everything’s within walking distance.”
“S’pose you lucked out there, then,” Applejack noted. “Bike helps out a lot in times like this though, huh?”
“You better believe it,” Sunset smirked as she stopped rubbing her leg. “Okay, cramp’s gone. Finally.” Rainbow smiled as she let Sunset onto her feet.
“If it acts up again, let us know.” Rainbow smiled. “We gotcha.”
“Thanks. See you in class.” Sunset smiled as she walked away. She was still hobbling a bit, but it was definitely better and the story she’d told her friends helped take her mind off the pain.
Two talents down, many more to go.
> Sunset Shimmer: Master Artiste
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The art studio at CHS was always quiet on Friday afternoons, and the Rainbooms had decided to take the opportunity to spend a bit of free time, which for Rarity, involved asking Sunset to paint her in one of her latest designs. “What brought this on, Rarity?” Sunset asked with a smile.
“Only my noticing that your history in art mostly consists of still life or… shall we say, abstract.” Rarity smiled, sneaking a quick wink. “I thought you might benefit from a bit of experience in portraiture.”
Sunset couldn’t help but smirk; she knew full well that Rarity was referring to her double life as the street artist Flanksy, as she was the only one of her friends who knew about it. “Well, I appreciate the thought, but I actually do have a bit of experience in that department.”
“From Equestria?” Rainbow asked, trying her best to ignore the attentive look Twilight was giving her to make sure she was doing her homework.
“Another hobby I picked up as a filly.” Sunset nodded as she continued her painting. “I admit I wasn’t as good at it as I was with the music, but I got better as I started studying with Princess Celestia.”
“You mean the princess was your muse?” Rarity asked in surprise, accidentally breaking her pose. Sunset quickly pointed with her brush to indicate for her to resume her pose, which she quickly did.
“Now and again, yeah.” Sunset nodded. “But I didn’t do portraits all that often; don’t know why. I guess I just felt more confident with still life for some reason.”
“And that confidence carried over when you came here.” Twilight surmised.
“Yeah, I don’t get why, but I just feel more secure when I’m painting something that can’t… y’know, look back at me.” Sunset shrugged, turning to Rarity with a smirk. “No offense.”
Rarity smirked right back, knowing exactly what she was doing. “None taken, Darling.” The girls couldn’t help but chuckle at that little callback as Sunset kept working.
Soon enough, she set her brush down. “Done.” Rarity stepped down and looked at the painting.
“Oh. Magnificent, Darling.” she smiled and hugged Sunset a bit. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been holding it in for a while.” The girls quickly made room and allowed Rarity easy access to the hallway so she could exit to the nearest ladies’ room.
Sunset couldn’t help but feel like Rarity wanted to talk to her about something else while they were alone… and she needed to use the bathroom too, so she slipped out after her and followed her into the restroom. Carefully, she slunk into the booth next to Rarity’s and smiled through the wall. “Go ahead and ask; we’re alone.”
She could practically hear Rarity smirk. “It seems you already know what I want to ask.” she pointed out; it was clear that Rarity wanted to know how Sunset became Flanksy.
Sunset shrugged. “I did a little tagging back in the day.” she shrugged. “Y’know, a way to tell everyone what places I wanted or had control over.”
“I remember. Part of your… shall we call it, ‘probation’… after the Fall Formal was to remove your tag from the side of the school.” Rarity nodded.
“Yeah well, even after you and the others showed me the way, I still kinda liked the appeal of street art.” Sunset shrugged. “But I threw a little more of my artistic nature into it rather than my lust for power.”
“And how did ‘Flanksy’ come about?” Rarity asked.
“I didn’t pick the name myself if that’s what you’re asking.” Sunset smiled at the wall. “People just saw my street art and put a name to it. All the positive feedback after I did so much wrong with this town… gave me some confidence in my new life and what I was doing with it.”
“Well, I’m pleased we could all help you, Darling.” Rarity smiled as the girls both finished in the restroom and washed their hands.
Sunset knew the girls would want to know about her numerous other talents, but that would have to do it for today.
> Sunset Shimmer: Master of the Sword
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Another Wednesday, another evening of matches for the CHS fencing club. The Rainbooms were a bit surprised when Sunset invited them to watch this evening’s fights in the gym – along with Applejack trying her hardest to hide in the background as she remembered when she photobombed the club’s yearbook picture in her contest with Rainbow Dash – but those feelings were quickly put on the back-burner when they saw Sunset absolutely decimate her fellow club members with almost professional sword-fighting moves.
After an evening of ringing steel, Sunset was the only one left standing as she flexed her foil. “This is almost too easy,” she smirked as she took her glove off. “You guys had me for a second there though; keep it up and you might stand a chance.”
“Easy there, Sunset; we’re just here to have fun, remember?” one of her opponents reminded.
“Yeah, I know. Same time next week?” Sunset smiled.
“We’ll be here.” the others agreed.
After a while, Sunset had changed out of her fencing gear and back into her usual clothes as she met her friends. “That was awesome!” Rainbow grinned broadly. “How’d you get so good at that?”
“Lots of practice.” Sunset smiled. “Just because I never resorted to it back in the day, don’t think I know how to fight.”
“There some backstory to that?” Applejack asked.
“Eh, maybe a bit.” Sunset shrugged as they walked out of the school. “When I was Princess Celestia’s student, I… may or may not have snuck out from time to time.”
“You snuck out of class?” Twilight was astounded by that; she thought Sunset was a model student.
“I was a rebel. Sue me.” Sunset shrugged. “Anyway, a lot of the times when I snuck out, I ended up hanging out with the Royal Guard. Ended up learning a lot from them.”
“Ponies used swords?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Well, as much as none of us like to think about it, Equestria wasn’t always all sunshine and rainbows back in the day.” Sunset shrugged. “We had our wars, same as any world. And so yeah, I learned how to fight without relying on my magic. It’s tough to think about it like that though.” The girls could tell Sunset was feeling down as she discussed this, but she quickly brightened back up. “I think that’s part of why I like fencing; it lets me take what I learned from the Royal Guard and view it more as a sport.”
“If it helps, I guess.” Twilight shrugged; she wasn’t expecting an explanation like that, but as long as thinking that way did in fact help Sunset to disassociate from swordplay, she wasn’t going to argue.
Still, she was concerned as only a friend could be and Sunset saw that… which thankfully gave her an idea as she remembered something. “Y’know, speaking of the Royal Guard… how’s your brother doing, Twilight?”
Twilight appeared surprised by the question. “Shining Armor? Uh, he’s fine; why?”
“Oh, I just remembered; his counterpart in Equestria was in the Royal Guard when I was Celestia’s student. Rising star of the ranks, last time I saw him.” Sunset remembered as she approached her bike. “He taught me a lot too; fighting and magic.”
“No kidding?” Twilight asked, almost impressed.
“Yeah.” Sunset nodded, her smile spreading into a cheeky grin as she jumped onto her bike. “He was pretty cute, too.”
“What?!” Twilight asked loudly.
“Easy, Twilight; it ain’t your brother,” Applejack advised, calming her friend down.
“Although that’s not to say your brother isn’t cute.” Sunset winked before she tore off down the street on her bike. Twilight yelled in objection as the others laughed, secure in the knowledge that they would absolutely not let her live that one down.