The gym had a locker room that was kept spectacularly clean—including its showers. In retrospect, Sunset thought, she should have known, this place being up to Rainbow Dash standards and all.
Rainbow had also been 'courteous' enough to bring a fresh outfit from Sunset's house (and a brand new pair of briefs from a local store), so once Sunset finished showering, she quickly dressed in her own t-shirt and shorts. They felt loose and flowing, and after the workout that Rainbow had given her, it was more than welcome. Especially since some parts of her still ached.
An object flew her way out of the corner of her eye. On reflex and instinct, Sunset caught it, and saw a small cellophane package now in her hands—a brightly-labeled protein granola bar. She looked in the direction it had come, fully knowing who had tossed it already.
Speak of the devil.
Rainbow, also freshly showered and in her own clean t-shirt and shorts, walked up to the benches. She also had a bar in her hand, already unwrapped.
"Hey," Rainbow said, before biting in.
"Hey," Sunset said back, before unwrapping her own and trying it out. It was chewy and sweet, containing chocolate chips and nuts, and a just-as-sweet waxy outer coating. Oh, and there was also some granola in there. Somewhere. Sunset savored the flavor regardless. "Wow. We sure these aren't really just candy bars?"
"Haha, right?" Rainbow said, wolfing down hers at an increasingly faster pace. "Energy's real, though, so not complaining."
Sunset nodded, sitting on the bench, while Rainbow leaned against a nearby locker, both of them munching in silence for a short while.
Then, Rainbow, being the first to finish her bar, closed her eyes, and spoke.
"So, I was out jogging last Wednesday night," she said, in a voice which Sunset quickly detected to contain 20% less of Rainbow's trademark boisterousness than usual. "And I saw someone who looked like they were in some serious trouble. They were standing real close to a curb, and a car was totally about to hit them."
Sunset's eyes shot up as she turned to Rainbow. "What? That's awful!"
"Thought the same. So I do my thing, blink into action, zoom 'em out of there." She paused before continuing. "Turned out, they were just hailing a cab. Once I dropped them off three blocks away, they... begged me not to hurt them. I told them that that was crazy talk, and even offered to run them home, but they ran away."
Crimson eyes met cerulean. As usual, Rainbow was a master at hiding her emotions beneath a cheery, carefree exterior—and, as usual, it didn't work on Sunset in the least, as she easily saw the hurt she all too often saw when looking at herself in the mirror. She got up, walking over to, and leaning on, the lockers next to her best friend.
"Rainbow, I'm…" She placed a firm, reassuring hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "I'm really sorry you had to go through that."
Rainbow didn't move. "Before they ran, they said they've seen some of 'that magical stuff' on the internet. People are finally talking about it. Maybe they always were and we just never caught it. I don't know, I…" Rainbow sighed, slouching slightly. "I always liked the idea of being a cool magic superhero. Being able to help people, really help people, let 'em see how awesome they are, or how awesome they can become, just… speaks to me."
She turned to Sunset, her eyes wider than before. "But… there's stuff that comes with it, isn't there? Stuff no one ever thinks about. Stuff that's easy to screw up."
Sunset nodded. "Yeah."
Rainbow looked away, towards the locker room entrance doors. "I get why you're always so worried. I mean, I'm not from some whole other magical world. But even before getting my geode, it was always easy to have questions about what to do with what I have."
"I… I wish I had an answer." Sunset put her other hand on Rainbow's other shoulder, feeling the latter relax under the former's touch. "Maybe it's one we can find out together."
Rainbow looked back, the smallest of grins on her lips. "Oh. Changed your mind?"
Sunset grinned back. "Maybe. I mean, I am pretty well-equipped to help. Though, once we find the answer, someone's gonna have to guide the true-blue heroes of tomorrow." She squeezed Rainbow's shoulders. "Preferably someone with a pure heart, infinite energy, and who never, ever gives up on her friends…?"
Rainbow's grin widened to show teeth. "Yeah, sure, I'll take the job. Why not."
"Somehow, I figured you would," Sunset said, letting go of Rainbow.
Still smiling, Rainbow started jogging in place. "So, you said tonight wasn't your first time in a ring. I, uh, believe it. But how? You were a demon in there. No pun intended."
Sunset giggled. "None taken." She clasped her hands together, reminiscing. "It was right after Princess Twilight defeated me—with help from you guys, of course."
"No regrets," Rainbow said, still jogging without looking back.
Sunset outright laughed. "Oh, please, never regret that. "Queen-B Me deserved to get knocked down so many pegs. But after that, I'd never felt more alone in this world, including the times when I literally was alone. I wandered around Canterlot City on my own, and not really right in the head—thanks, Elements—until a woman downtown took me in. Her name was Zecora."
Rainbow stopped jogging, and turned around. "Whoa! The lady who runs the bar near here!"
"You've been?" Sunset asked, with raised eyebrows.
Rainbow shrugged. "Not often. Don't have much reason to, till she starts selling workout smoothies." Momentarily, her eyes sparkled in the light. "She's got great hair, though."
"Yeah, she does," Sunset agreed with another giggle. "She's got a great heart, too. She gave me a place to sleep, and even let me work there. She then noticed I would get angry at customers while on the job, because of course I would. But instead of firing me, she sent me to a gym, run by this old guy called Gruff. Everyone called him—"
"Grampa Gruff," Gilda said, entering the lockers at that moment. She still wore both her jacket and her sardonic sneer. "You jokers still here? I swear," she said, looking straight at Rainbow, "first I can't get you to show up without pulling teeth, and now I can't get you to leave so I can close up!"
"Love you too, G," Rainbow said, her expression the exact inverse of Gilda's.
"You knew Grampa Gruff?" Sunset asked.
"Know him? He's fucking unavoidable! If you're Clan Griffon, anyway. Otherwise he doesn't want anything to do with you," she said, peering at Sunset with those same lidded, curious eyes from an hour ago. "Usually. Anyway, he retired last year, and put me in charge."
"Clan Griffon…" Sunset gasped and snapped her fingers as the lightbulb went off in her head. "I thought this place felt familiar! This is Griffonstone Gym! It has to be!" She looked around. "Even if it looks different. Different color scheme, equipment…" She sniffed. "A lot cleaner."
"Was Griffonstone Gym. It's Gilda's Gym now." Rainbow walked up, offering Gilda a fistbump, which Gilda accepted.
"Yeah," Gilda said. "First thing I did was give this dump a makeover and up the cleaning budget. I may have a filthy mouth, but that doesn't mean I like my workout space that way."
"Wow," Sunset said. "Good job with the place. And I've got a lot to thank Grampa Gruff for, too." She looked to Rainbow. "Through his… very intense training, he taught me how to have an outlet for my anger. Instead of denying myself and my emotions, I was encouraged to embrace them and myself, to work through them by channeling them." She shrugged. "Okay, he never actually said those words—it was usually just a lot of punching and taunting. But I think that's what he was getting at."
Gilda's eyes widened. "Hold up. Gramps kept telling me about the only student fighter he ever had here who was worth a damn! Some crazy unstoppable chick with fire hair and…" Things finally clicked, and Gilda did a double-take. "Huh. Welcome back, I guess. The hell'd you leave for?"
Sunset looked up at Gilda's towering frame with a sheepish titter. "Would you believe… friendship?"
A lone grunt was Gilda's reply.
"No, really. Once I got friends, people actually willing to give me the time of day in spite of… well, everything, I swung in the other direction completely. I put them—" She met Rainbow's eyes again. "You, above everything—meanwhile pushing my own wants and needs down, and out of sight, and berating myself whenever I felt myself about to burst.
"Really, the only way I've been able to keep it together all this time, was to convince myself that whatever it was, whatever I felt, or wanted…" She looked to the ground. "I wasn't worth it."
Wordlessly, Rainbow slowly walked over to Sunset, took her hands… and fed her the same stony look Sunset had seen earlier in the ring. "And you never thought to ask us how we felt about you doing that?" she asked. "To let us know how you felt at all?"
"I…" Sunset looked away. "Had a pretty good idea of what you would say."
"Damn right you knew, and you wallowed in self-pity anyway instead of letting us set you straight!" She looked at Gilda, snickering and rolling her eyes. "This is what I have to deal with now," she said.
"Don't bring me into this," Gilda said. "You know how I feel about friendshippy mush."
Rainbow turned back to Sunset. "It's not just about us, Suns. It's about you, too. In a lot of ways, it's about you the most. I know you hate to hear that, but… you're kind of a big deal." A tiny bit of Rainbow's smile returned as she let go of Sunset's hands. "Sorry."
A blushing Sunset sighed. "I'll do my best to let that sink in. Really. But even past that, I really appreciate the listen tonight. I've never even told Twilight this stuff."
"You gonna?" Rainbow asked. "I can hold it till you do. But I think you should."
Sunset nodded. "Yeah. I'll round up the others soon."
"Cool. Just hope I helped." Rainbow undid the combination to her locker, fetching her blue outer vest. "Didn't know what else to do, really."
"Now, that's a first," Sunset said.
"What?" Rainbow said. "I'm not perfect. Still working my way up from 99.9 percent."
Sunset giggled. "Yeah, and I'm a 100 percent mess. But you've got it all together, Rainbow. You're great at listening, giving advice, being a great friend…" She looked over Rainbow, now wearing her vest, a lazy grin washing over her face. "…and being someone who wears a workout getup pretty darned well."
"Hah! Well, thanks," Rainbow said, returning the gesture. "You don't wear one so badly yourself."
"So I have heard from many, many hushed whispers in gym class." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I won't tell Rarity. Last thing we need is to be models for an entire sports-fashion line." With a deep breath, Sunset made for the locker room doors, with Rainbow close beside. "Time to start work on my apology, I guess. This one's gonna be long."
"Ugh, don't even bother with that flowery shit," Gilda said, rolling her eyes. "Making it some big, begging speech just makes it dumb. Just cut down to the real stuff, your real feelings. Kill the noise. If they're really your friends, they'll get it. Then you can move on to backing up your words—you know, the shit that really matters?"
Sunset and Rainbow both stopped and turned to look at her, mouths agape in awe.
"...yeah, stop that right now," Gilda growled, her cheeks tinting as their stares persisted. "I mean it. Stop."
"Thank you, Gilda," Sunset said, and meant it. "That's actually really helpful."
"She does that," Rainbow said, her expression now the smuggest in the world.
"Ugh," Gilda said, walking towards, and pushing through, them both. "Fuckin' dweebs."
Outside of Gilda's Gym, Rainbow and Sunset walked the streets of downtown Canterlot City. It was still mid-evening, meaning the streetlamps were bright, the cars were still fairly plentiful, and while the people were sparse, the faint hum of their chatter persisted.
"Guess it's time to go home," Rainbow said, hands behind her head. "Time sure flies when you're having fun."
"I'll have to take your word for it," Sunset said, her eyes on her phone. "Hang on, though. Need to be sure of my destination."
The latest text message on her phone's screen was from herself: "I'm sorry too, Twi. Can I come over to talk?"
She'd sent it two full minutes ago and still hadn't gotten a response. Maybe Twilight was asleep? Or maybe she'd changed her mind and was still mad?
Just as her brain was about to explode with possible scenarios, none of which would have helped the butterflies in her stomach, her phone chimed with an answer:
"You are always welcome in my home, Sunset Shimmer."
With a heavy exhale, Sunset wiped her eyes for absolutely no reason whatsoever. "Rainbow? Can I say something? While I'm doing this newfound thing of revealing my feelings, and stuff."
Rainbow, who was just ahead of Sunset, slowed her walk. "Shoot."
"When I walked away yesterday, it was the scariest thing I ever did. And a few hours later, I realized… no one came after me. I thought for sure that I'd blown it with all of you, completely. That was pretty scary, too."
"Oh, right. That." Rainbow slowed more to let Sunset catch up, then wrapped an arm around Sunset's shoulder. "No one came after you, 'cause I stopped 'em."
Sunset did a double take. "Wait, you did?"
"You think you're the only one in this group who's ever blown up like you did?" Rainbow firmed her grip with a smile. "People like you and me, we need more time to cool off than most. So, uh, call me next time you feel like this. Or at least buy a punching bag? I really don't like kidnapping my friends. Makes me look like the bad guy."
"How charitable," Sunset snickered. "Thanks, though. I'll do everything I can to prevent this from happening again, promise. Starting with... sharing more."
"Cool. Anyway, Twi texted me, so grab on, I'll take you to her." Sunset climbed on Rainbow's back, holding on tight from behind, and Rainbow locked her arms around Sunset's legs. "Oh, and Sunset?"
"Yeah, Rainbow?"
Rainbow looked up to the stars, her expression earnest and carefree once more.
"I love you, too."
The two raced off into the night.
~fin~