CHAPTER 2:
“... and Rainbow Dash thought the tambourine was a pointless addition to the band but Applejack backed me up, saying that it gave the music flavor.” During their walk, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all left for their respective homes. Sunset Shimmer stuck with Fluttershy to walk her home and to hear the rest of her story.
“Wow,” Sunset said. “So Rainbow Dash and Applejack have been fighting even before I joined the group?”
“Even longer than that,” Fluttershy reminisced. “I remember when Applejack first came here in 6th grade. Rainbow wanted to see what she had to offer so she challenged Applejack to a soccer match.”
“Boy, I bet Applejack got handed it to her big time.” Sunset could imagine a younger Rainbow destroying Applejack on the field.
“Actually, no.” Sunset’s dream bubble popped. “Applejack was pretty skilled with a ball. Any ball really. Rainbow Dash couldn’t beat her at soccer, football, or softball. She was pretty sore that day, but Applejack made it up to her by taking them both to Pizza Den.”
“And they’ve been friends ever since?” Sunset asked.
Fluttershy nodded. “They are like peanut butter and jelly. But they also had their fair share of fights. I guess they sort of like having someone to butt heads with.”
“Hmm. When you put it that way, I understand why they would fight. I just wish I didn’t have to be in the middle of it.”
“I’ve been there. I usually just sit back and stay calm until it passes.” They finally arrived at Fluttershy’s house. “Oh, would you like to come in for a bit? We’ve got lemonade.”
Sunset smiled but declined the offer. “Sorry, I can’t. I have to get ready for work soon.”
“Oh, right. I forgot you have a job now. Well, hope you have fun.”
Although Sunset knew that work and fun didn’t go hand in hand, she still smiled at the sentiment. She wave goodbye as Fluttershy closed the door. As the set over the horizon, bathing the land in twilight, Shimmer thought of her pony friend back in Equestria.
“I wish I could talk to you,” she mused. There was so much she wanted to say. Sure she had her journal that could communicate with a similar book that Twilight possessed in Equestria, but it’s not quite the same. She missed those big purple understanding eyes.
In no time at all, Sunset Shimmer was back at her apartment. As she entered her door up on the 2nd floor, she passed 3 jars full of change and single bills. One was marked “RENT”, another was marked “DEPT”, and the last was marked “FRIENDS.”
She pulled out any loose cash she could muster from her pocket. She sighed at the RENT jar. It was due at the end of the week on Saturday. Hopefully there will be enough in her paycheck on Friday to fill the quota. She split the pocket change and put a dollar in the RENT Jar.
She frowned at the DEPT jar. So many people, so much money she had to pay back from what she stole from her fellow school-mates. It was the only way she could gather money back in the bad days. Though the jar was nearly, full, she still had a lot to pay back. She put a dollar and 2 quarters in that one.
Finally, she smiled at her FRIENDS jar. This was the money she planned on spending on nights out with her friends at the movies and dinners. It was the jar she cherished the most, but also the jar that was the most lacking. She needed her rent to keep living here, and she needed to clear her dept to clear her conscience. But while her friends were very near and dear to her heart, and she would love to treat them all to a nice dinner at Steaming Lobster, she could not afford it. Sadly, she only had 2 dimes a nickel to drop in the FRIENDS jar.
“I’m getting there,” she sighed. Bits were never this hard to come across in Equestria. At least she had money there. She thought Equestrian bits would turn into human money when she went through the portal, which it did. But, it turns out 20 bits in Equestria was only 2 dollars in dimes in the human world.
With money on her mind, she remembered what she was doing to make money. Her shift started at 6:00 and it was now 5:55.
“Shoot! I’m going to be late!” She hurriedly rummaged through her closet for her uniform, threw it on, and sprinted out the door.
She was sweating by the time she made it to Applejay’s family restaurant. Her manager yelled from the backroom, “You’re late!”
Indeed it was 6:01 by the time she clocked in. “I know, I’m sorry. I was walking my friend home.”
“Well sorry doesn’t make up for the dinner rush. Quick, there is a group who just sat down at table 7.”
Sunset looked around for table 7, nodded, and grabbed her notebook. “Hello, my name is Sunset Shimmer. Can I get you guys something to…”
“Sunset Shimmer?!”
Finally it registered to her just who was sitting at table 7. There, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia, and Vinyl were all looking up at her in amazement. Sunset blushed as red as her hair.
“Wow! I had no idea you worked here,” Octavia said.
“Um, should we eat someplace else?” Bon Bon whispered to Lyra.
Lyra gave an unsure look, but remembered what Applejack had said. Hesitantly, she said, “No, it’s fine. Um you were saying?”
Vinyl just bobbed her head to the music playing in the background.
After a pause, she continued. “Could I get you all something to drink?”
In the round, they ordered 2 sodas, an iced tea, and a fruit smoothie. Sunset wrote it all down and raced back to the kitchen. “Can someone else please take table 7,” she pleaded. “They hate me.”
Her manager shook her head. “No, you are already their waitress. Unless they request a new waitress, you’re staying. Now put on a smile and get their drinks.”
Sunset hung her head and did as she was told. She tried to keep her hands steady as she brought the girls their drinks. As she made it to the table, she could hear the remnants of a conversation.
“… I know what she did in the past, but Applejack told me we can trust her.”
“Yeah, but, don’t you find it weird that Sunset is spending so much time with them now? I mean, she is the one who broke them up in the first place. Maybe she’s just edging her way in to tear them down harder.”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t seem…”
“Here are your drinks!” Sunset handed out the drinks, pretending she didn’t hear any of it.
“Thank you,” they said in unison, except Vinyl who had promptly started sipping her smoothie upon possession.
“Are you girls ready to order?”
She took down their order, handed it to the kitchen, and then when the time had come, she brought out the giant tray full of their meals. Sunset was sure to pop up time to time to refill drinks too. She wanted to make a good impression on them, to really show that she had changed for the better, and to finally put the past behind her.
When the check came, they all paid their part. Then they all left for the car, all except for Lyra. “Sunset?” she called out.
Oh great, what could she want now? Her imagination was getting the best of her as Sunset pictured Lyra doing many hateful and increasingly outrageous things to her. But what had come next was beyond her wildest dreams.
“Can I buy a cup of coffee sometime?”
Sunset scanned her for any sign of malice, but her request seemed sincere. Finally, Sunset smiled. “Sure. I would love that.”
“When does your shift end?”
“At 9:00. Isn’t that a little late for coffee?”
“Psh, I get decaf anyway.”
“Okay. See you at 9 then?”
“Yep. See ya.” They waved each other goodbye as Lyra exited the restaurant.
Sunset paused for a second. “… What just happened?”