//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Talking and Planning // Story: Shepard's Sunset // by BrowncoatBrony11 //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer sighed loudly as she collapsed onto her friend Applejack’s couch. Her arms were spread haphazardly out, taking up as much room as the other occupant of the couch would allow. Rarity had laid down on the couch, taking up the other two seats. The other four girls took up varying areas in the large room. Applejack had taken a seat near the left side of the couch close to Sunset. While Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had taken the other side nearest Rarity and had brought in two chairs from the dining room. Rainbow Dash meanwhile had chosen to simply lie on the floor. She laid face down on the carpet with the only movement coming from her sides as she continued to breathe. Eventually, she mumbled into the carpet. “Rainbow Dash, darling,” Rarity said. “If you want us to hear you, you’ll have to lift your head up.” Rainbow lifted her head up slightly before speaking, “So… tired.” Her head flopped back down onto the floor, gaining a small amount of laughter from the other girls. “Aw, come on Rainbow, it ain’t that bad,” Applejack said. “Feels no diff’rent than ah hard day’s work tah me.” Rainbow turned and glared at Applejack. “Yeah, well first off,” She said bringing her arm into the air with one finger extended before it flopped back down onto the ground. “You’re used to it, we aren’t. And second.” Rainbow’s arm shot up again with two fingers this time, “Generally, a hard days work takes up, like a whole day, not an hour and a half.” “Ah think ya just need tah toughen up some,” Applejack retorted with a smirk on her face. “Yeah! Well,” Rainbow started to sit up continuing to glare at the farmer, “Screw-“ “Ahem!” Rarity interjected loud enough to cut off Rainbow. “I do find it odd,” She continued in a softer tone, ”While I may not be as active as Applejack or Rainbow Dash, normally I have a bit more endurance than this.” “It’s the magic,” Sunset said as she sat up slightly, ”Or more specifically the fact that your bodies aren’t used to channeling magic for long periods. It’s like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it becomes.” “But if that’s true then why are you tired?” Pinkie asked. “If magic is a muscle, shouldn’t you be way less tired than us?” “I haven’t done any serious magic in a long time. Plus, this,” Sunset gestured at herself, “Isn’t my original body. Technically it’s younger than any of yours by about twelve years.” “So… technically you’re only four years old?” Before anyone could respond Pinkie jumped into the air and screamed, “YES! I'M NOT THE YOUNGEST ANYMORE!” “However,” Sunset interjected, “I was nearing my twenties when I left Equestria so I’m around twenty two-ish.” “Aw shoot,” Pinkie whined as she flopped back down in her chair, causing the other girls to chuckle softly. After the chuckling died down, Applejack spoke up. “So not tryin’ to be picky or anythin’ but, ya said ya hadn’t done any serious magic in a few years?” Applejack asked turning to Sunset. Sunset sighed softly before speaking, “I’ve been able to perform small amounts of magic for a while now. It’s how I was able to become the queen of the school’ before Twilight showed up.” She laughed softly to herself before continuing. “That’s the only reason I was able to destroy your friendship so easily.” The five girls all stared at sunset for a moment. Rainbow broke the silence saying, “So, you used magic to break us up?” Sunset nodded before speaking, “Just small spells to keep you from questioning things.” Sunset moved to the edge of the couch, folded her hands together then continued, “I knew if any of you questioned each other you would figure out what was going on.” ‘Well, it’s all in the past darling,” Rarity said as she sat up and moved towards Sunset wrapping her up in a hug. “We’ve forgiven you a long time ago for what happened in the past.”  The rest of the group all nodded along with Rarity’s statement, each of them smiling at Sunset. Sunset gave Rarity a small smile as she was released from the hug. “Thanks, guys, honestly, I’m not really worried about that anymore.” “Well, what are ya worried about then?” Applejack asked. “No matter what it is we’re here for ya Sunset.” Sunset opened her mouth to respond however Pinkie jumped up once again nearly landing on Rainbow in the process, “Oh, oh! Does it have to do with Commander Shepard giving you a ride here today?” Four sets of eyes turned to Sunset who sheepishly nodded. Rainbow quickly hopped up on her feet knocking Pinkie over before speaking, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You actually met Commander Shepard?” Again Sunset nodded then added, “Though it is Admiral Shepard now.” Rainbow was nearly vibrating at this point, her entire body was tensed up and her face had seemingly collapsed into itself. Before Rainbow could do anything Pinkie had once again bounced back up and shoved a pillow into Rainbow’s face stating, “Here scream into this!” The smothered girl’s arms flailed slightly before she managed to push the pillow off her face. “What the heck Pinkie,” Rainbow said once she caught her breath. Pinkie simply shrugged letting the pillow drop to the floor. “What? I do that all the time. Keeps me from being too loud,” she stated. “I didn’t know you could be too loud Pinks,” Sunset said, smirking slightly. “Yeah, I mostly do it at home. Maud says I disturb Boulder too much,” Pinkie said. The five girls stared at their pink haired friend. She smiled nervously at the combined stare and held her hands up in a confused gesture, “What?” “Gettin’ back on track here,” Applejack said purposely, turning towards Sunset. “Why are ya worried ‘bout the Commander bringin’ ya here exactly?” “Because,” Sunset took a deep breath taking a moment to steady herself, “Because she didn’t just give me a ride. She also bought me coffee and we talked for a little bit.” Sunset ran her hands through her hair as it started to fray at the ends. “She was asking all these questions, like where I went to school if I had friends, where I lived before.” Sunset stood up and started pacing back and forth between the couch and Rainbow Dash. “What if she looks me up? What if she decides to drop by the school? What if she finds out about magic? We’ve all worked hard to keep this a secret to protect Equestria and the portal, but this could ruin all of that.” Applejack stood up and grabbed Sunset by the shoulders, stopping her quickly, “Hey, whoa there Sunset, I think you’re makin’ a mountain outta a molehill here. It’ll all be fine.” “You can’t-“ Sunset started. “Listen here Sugarcube, ya’ll haven’t grown up with stories about Shepard the galactic hero. We have. And from those stories I think we can all safely say that it’ll be fine.” Applejack let go of Sunset before continuing. “Honestly we can’t keep this up fer much longer. Considering Shepard’s the one who united the galaxy. I think it’d be a good idea to clue her in if she gets curious.” “I agree,” Rarity chimed in, “And I think the rest of us would agree.” There were varying degrees of agreement from the other three girls. Sunset bowed her head, “You’re right, You’re all right. It’s just hard not to worry sometimes.” “That’s understandable,” Fluttershy said softly. Sunset smiled at Fluttershy before she sat down again next to Rarity who gave her a small hug. Applejack, however, stayed standing, a small frown on her face. “Now I don’t wanna sound nitpicky like Rarity here,” she said, gaining a snort of indignation from Rarity. “But why, exactly, would where you were livin’ before come up?” Sunset paled significantly as she suddenly found the floor very interesting, “I…Um…” Applejack’s frown deepened, “What’s goin’ on Sunset? What ain’tcha tellin’ us?” Sunset continued to stare at the floor and started to tremble. Rarity squeezed her tighter trying to comfort the unusually meek girl. Finally, she looked up and spoke in a soft voice, “She… she found me at the… warehouse where… I’ve been staying.” The reaction among the girls was simultaneous. Rarity let go of Sunset, her mouth wide open, as she stared at the flame haired girl. Rainbow clenched her fists over and over as she stared at the ground. Pinkie’s hair had deflated and her eyes were starting to water while Fluttershy had simply started crying. Applejack meanwhile walked out of the room not saying a word. Eventually Rainbow broke the silence, “Why?” Rainbow looked up and stared directly at Sunset, “Why didn’t you tell us anything?” “I didn’t want to worry anyone,” Sunset answered. “Sunset, we’re your friends!” Rainbow shouted as she threw her arms into the air. “We’re supposed to worry about each other and help each other, not keep secrets like this!” Sunset stood up and was about to respond when Applejack walked back into the room. “Ah called Big Mac. He’ll be here soon with the truck so we can go get your stuff,” she said. “Listen, you guys don’t have to-“ Sunset started. “Like hell we don’t!” Rainbow said. “Listen up Shimmer, we aren’t going to just let you go back to some damn warehouse.” “I’m fine,” Sunset shouted, “I’ve been fine for four years now, I can handle myself!” Rainbow was about to respond but Applejack interjected before anything else could be said, “It ain’t about handlin’ yourself Sunset. We all know ya can. It’s about the fact that you ain’t alone anymore.” “You’ve said that before,” Sunset said, a cold edge to her tone. Applejack took a step back, her eyes wide like she had just been slapped. Her eyes then softened and she spoke softly, “Ah know Sugarcube, and no amount of sayin’ we’re sorry can really fix that.” She took a step forward, “But, we’re not gonna just let this continue. Not when we can do something about it.” “I…you…,” Sunset fell back onto the couch. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she drew into herself. “I don’t want to be alone again,” She said softly. Fluttershy got up and walked over to the couch sitting between Rarity and Sunset. She quickly pulled Sunset into an embrace. “We aren’t going anywhere, Sunset,” She said continuing to comfort Sunset. “We all feel bad about what happened. Let us show you how much you mean to us by helping you.” Sunset sat, silent for a moment. Tears were threatening to fall down her face as she fought to control her emotions. Eventually, she got control of herself and spoke softly, “Ok.” Applejack nodded, “Good, Ah wasn’t gonna take no fer an answer anyway.” Sunset snorted once in amusement, “Shoulda figured that shouldn’t of I?” “Eeyup,” Applejack drawled. Sunset smiled and the other girls took this as a sign to relax, most of them returning to their spots around the room. Except for Fluttershy, who refused to let go of Sunset. “So, did you tell Twilight yet about Commander Shepard?” Rainbow asked after a long silence in an effort to steer the conversation back to the war hero. Sunset shook her head, “No, haven’t had time. I will though. If she starts asking questions I want Twilight to be prepared.” “That’s probably for the best,” Rarity said. “After all Twilight’s and Sunset’s home is on the other side of that statue. If for some reason the portal gets damaged you both suffer. I’d rather give her a heads up in case anyone gets curious.” “Oh! Until we know for sure what Sheps gonna do maybe we should set up some kind of watch system,” Pinkie said. “That way we can warn Twilight if anyone suspicious is messing around with the portal.” “That ain’t a half bad idea Pinkie,” Applejack said. The rest of the girls all made sounds of agreement. “I have the book,” Sunset said, “So, do we want to alternate who has the book or find a way to communicate quickly?” “We should all have omni-tools. We could just message you if we see something,” Fluttershy said. “We could do that, but what happens if Sunset can’t get to her omni-tool or we can’t get to ours?” Applejack asked. “Well, I think we should all have classes near the portal,” Sunset frowned in thought. “If we trade the book for those situations, then use text for others, that should cover all our bases after school.” “Ok, but what about after school,” Rainbow chimed in. “I’m pretty sure all of us are doing things when we get out.” “If there’s a time we can’t be near the portal we tell Twilight to keep it closed,” Rarity said. “Definitely,” Sunset said. “It’ll cut down on her visits but protecting Equestria comes first.” “So, we’re all in agreement on the plan then?” Applejack said. When they all agreed Applejack nodded her head once, “Good! Sunset why don’tcha write Twi after we all get your things. Big Mac should be here soon with the truck.” As if on cue, Big Mac walked in, keys in hand, “Ya’ll ready,” he said is his deep drawl. “Eyup,” Applejack said as she stood up and stretched. “Come on, ya’ll! Lets get this done before sundown.” They all stood up and filed out of the room after Applejack, except for Sunset who was staring at the floor. Applejack poked her head through the doorway, “Ya comin’ Sunset?” “Yeah, I’m on my way,” Sunset stood up, a worried look on her face before she shook it off, and followed Applejack outside.