Sunset sighed as she opened the large storage cabinet in her apartment that served as her closet. An adjustable shower rod served as the bar she hung her clothes from. In the bottom of the cabinet were a few pairs of shoes and boots, a couple with worn out soles that Sunset couldn't bring herself to throw out.
Going back to her old haunts in Klugetown meant a change in wardrobe. While Canterlot City didn't have a huge problem with crime, Klugetown was unquestionably the bad side of town. Toughness was key, or at the very least, projecting an aura of toughness.
While Sunset loved her current blue top and jeans, and the denim jacket and ankle boots that she wore with them, it wasn't quite the right level of tough that would make anyone wanting to start something think twice.
So there's really only one choice, isn't there?
With a resigned sigh, Sunset reached into the cabinet and pulled out a battered and worn leather jacket. She looked it over. While she had worn it on and off again following the Battle of the Bands, she had gradually phased it out of her regular wardrobe. Every scuff a memento of a fight. Every blemish a reminder of her bad girl days.
She ran a finger over the haphazard stitching she had done to repair the shoulder after she had been blasted with the Magic of Friendship. She sighed again and grabbed her knee high boots with the magenta flame pattern on the toes. She put the jacket on the back of her couch and the boots on the floor next to it, before going up to her loft.
She dug through her dresser drawers, unearthing the magenta tank top with her cutie mark on the front and the orange skirt with the two stripes. She put them on her bed and frowned.
I really don't want to do this, she thought. She shrugged off the denim jacket she was wearing and began stripping out of her clothes. But what else can I do?
Soon, she was back in the tank top and skirt. It felt weird to be wearing it after so long. She glanced over at the terrarium set up next to her bed. Her pet leopard gecko, Ray, was sunning himself under the heat lamp on his favorite rock. She walked over, lifted the lid and took the little lizard out. Ray gave her a sleepy look. Sunset smiled and ran her fingertips over Ray's head and neck.
“What do you think, buddy?” she asked. “Can I pull this off again?”
Ray looked up at her and gave the smile that never seemed to be far from his face. He craned his head upward. Sunset smiled and brought her face closer, letting him nuzzle her cheek.
“You always make me feel better, Ray.”
She put Ray back in the terrarium and went back down to the main floor of the apartment. She picked up the jacket and began shrugging her way into it. She paused as she heard a series of small pops. She looked down and groaned as she saw the popped stitches on the ripped shoulder. She grabbed her phone off the end table and dialed a number.
“Rarity? Yeah,. Sorry to bother you, but I have kind of a fashion emergency. Do you have time to fix the shoulder on my jacket? No... my old jacket.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “It's a long story. I'll explain when I get over there. Fifteen minutes or so? Okay. Thanks Rarity.”
Sunset ended the call and dialed another number. “Applejack? Can you come over a little early? I need a ride over to Rarity's before we go to Klugetown. Great. Oh, and AJ? Dress tough.”
“Honestly, Sunset, you should have brought this to me much sooner,” Rarity said as she worked on Sunset's jacket. “Not to belittle your skills, but leather's much trickier to repair than most people think.”
“And, no offense, Sunset,” Applejack said from where she sat on Rarity's bed. “But why are you wearin' your old clothes anyway?”
Sunset sighed. “Look, I haven't been to Klugetown in a while, but there's a reason everyone says to not go there. The people there will rob you blind and sell you for parts if you're not careful.”
“How exactly do you know all this, darling?” Rarity said, looking up with concern.
Sunset sighed. She looked around, but the only place to sit was Rarity's wheelchair. She looked over at the fashionista who was sitting at her desk. Rarity nodded and Sunset sat down in the chair.
“When I first came here, I had nothing. No money, no friends, nothing except these clothes.” Sunset
gestured to herself. “I wound up in Klugetown and probably wouldn't have lasted long if the guy we're going to see hadn't taken pity on me.
“He taught me how to think on my feet out there, along with... other things I needed to know to survive over here.”
Rarity let out a gasp and her and Applejack's eyes widened. Sunset groaned and held up a hand.
“Not that. Just certain skills that I don't want to talk about right now, okay?”
“Sorry, darling.” Rarity blushed and went back to sewing.
“Either way,” Sunset continued. “I didn't exactly part ways with him on the best of terms. So if I'm gonna go back there, I need to at least look like I did back then.”
“And me?” Applejack asked.
Sunset looked her friend over. Applejack was dressed in black jeans, her boots and hat, a T-shirt with a large apple on the front, and a blue denim jacket. She nodded. It wasn't the toughest look, but Applejack's height and build would give her an edge.
“You just need to look intimidating,” Sunset answered.
“Hm,” Rarity hmmm'ed. Applejack and Sunset looked at her.
“You sayin' I ain't intimidatin'?” Applejack asked.
“I'm saying you could look more intimidating, darling.” Rarity motioned to Sunset and tossed her the now repaired jacket. Sunset caught it and put it on. She looked a the shoulder and marveled at how the repair was almost invisible.
“Nice work, Rarity.”
Thank you, Sunset.” Rarity put her arms in her canes and got up from her desk. She made her way over to Applejack and leaned forward. Applejack's eyebrows raised.
“Somethin' wrong with my face?”
“I think, with the right makeup, we can ensure no one will harass you or Sunset while you're down there.”
Applejack paled. “Oh, no. No no no. We danced that dance before!”
“Yes, and I learned my lesson,” Rarity answered. “This isn't going to be anything like what I did before.”
“Do I want to know when this happened?” Sunset asked.
Rarity blushed. “The... um... the night of the Fall Formal.”
“Ah ha.”
“The point,” Rarity said, quickly changing the subject. “is that while what you're wearing is a good start, Applejack, your face is a little too... open to be truly frightening. Let me do a little make up on you, and I think I can ensure anyone looking to be... ungentlemanly is going to think twice about it.”
Applejack looked skeptical. She glanced over at Sunset, who shrugged.
“It couldn't hurt,” she said. Applejack sighed.
“Oh, all right,” she groaned. “But nothin' over the top, y'hear?”
Rarity let out a squeal of delight.
“Well?” Rarity asked, expectation in her voice. Applejack got up from the bed and looked in the mirror. True to her word, Rarity hadn't gone as overboard as she had during the Fall Formal. In fact, she had applied mascara, eyebrow pencil, and a dark shade of blush in a subtle way, so that Applejack's features were more sharply defined, giving her a lean, dangerous look. Applejack frowned into the mirror and almost scared herself.
“Wow,” she said. “Reckon you really got somethin' here.”
Sunset looked at the result and blinked. “Can you do something like that for me?”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity replied. She had returned to her wheelchair while she had been working on Applejack's face.
Applejack looked at her phone. “Reckon we'll need to take off as soon as you're done, sugarcube. I'm gonna use the bathroom before we go.”
“Don't smear my work, darling,” Rarity warned as Applejack left the bedroom. She looked back at Sunset, who was staring at herself in the mirror. “Sunset? Are you all right?”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah... I guess.”
Rarity frowned. “Sunset, if something's bothering you, you can tell me.”
“I just... seeing myself in these clothes again... it's weird. Like I'm going back to where I started.”
Rarity reached up and touched Sunset's arm. “Darling, I will deny I ever said this, but... they're only clothes. They only have the meaning that you ascribe to them. And you've worn them since the Formal.”
“Yeah, but only when I didn't have a choice, or couldn't do laundry or whatever.”
“Then why not just get rid of them?”
Sunset looked down at Rarity and blushed. “I still... kinda... like them.”
Rarity smirked. “I thought so.”
Sunset sighed. “I know they're just clothes, and yeah, I think I look pretty badass in them – “ Sunset and Rarity chuckled. “ – but, I don't like who I was when I wore these, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them. So they just sit in my cabinet, gathering dust.”
She sighed again and sat on the bed. “Stupid, right?”
“Not at all, darling.” Rarity picked up an eyebrow pencil and leaned forward, beginning to work. “They're special, even if painful memories are associated with them.”
“Yeah,” Sunset said. “I wish I hadn't ruined them for myself.”
“Well, give it time,” said Rarity. “You never know. Now, let's get this done so you can see your friend in Kludgetown.”
“I don't know if I'd call him a friend,” Sunset said. “But you're right.”
“Good luck, darlings!” Rarity waved from her front porch as Sunset and Applejack drove off in Big Mac's pickup. As she saw the taillights disappear down the street, she sat for a while in thought. She blinked and smiled as inspiration hit her.
She wheeled her way back into the house and to her room. She grabbed her sketchbook from the nightstand, flipped to a blank page and started sketching.
If old memories keep her from enjoying that outfit, then maybe it's time she makes some new ones.