The song ended with Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash on the same chord, Applejack on her chord, Fluttershy shaking her tambourine, Rarity on a note, and Pinkie topping it off with two slams on the snares. It was also the end of practice.
"Great job, girls!" Rainbow Dash screamed in excitement.
Everyone was sweaty and tired, but satisfied with the practice. Sweat and exhaustion were not new in Rainbow Dash's garage. The garage was filled with exercise equipment, dumbbells, and balls, tons and tons of balls of different sizes and different sports. Even with being the captain of every sports team, she somehow also had time to become a guitarist of a band. Since the weeks after their effort versus the Dazzlings, they had gotten better and better, their music became more out there and fresh: All thanks to Sunset Shimmer and her ability to music.
"You should have told us you wanted to pursue a career in music, Sunset." Rarity said.
"I know, but I thought you wouldn't take me because I want to do blues instead of the rock-pop we do," Sunset answered while she riffed one off on her guitar for all to hear.
The girls clapped and cheered after she was done, which made Sunset blush and her spirits soar.
"So I heard that you know who is gonna ask out that girl he is after," Rarity started as everyone began to pack their instruments away for the day.
"Geez Rarity, can you spend a day WITHOUT gossiping?" Applejack asked sarcastically.
"Are you crazy, AJ?! Gossip can be fun sometimes!" Pinkie chimed in.
As the girls argued over gossiping and whether or not it hurt people, Sunset packed her father's old guitar and sat on one of Dash's weight machines. She had a smile on her face when she reached into her bag, which was resting against the machine, and pulled out the brown book with her cutie mark. Even with her best attempts to live a somewhat "normal" life, she couldn't shake off the fact she was penpals with a pony princess in another dimension, the same dimension she was born in.
Dear Twilight,
I wanted to apologize for not writing yesterday. I decided to give the 'use my magic to help people' a try. I saved a woman from a group of thugs and it felt great. I made a difference in her life, and I cannot wait to try again. Bad news was that all good deeds don't go unpunished: my parents knew I snuck out and had me talk to a psychologist. I didn't tell her why I snuck out, and I feel like I will have to play mind games with her just to keep the secret. It's a small price to pay, really. Canterlot High and the girls are doing great. They argue once in a while, but it’s to be expected. There's also that one boy asking about you. Somehow he knows that we talk. I hope to hear from you soon, Twilight.Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer.
"So how is Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, killing the argument at the same time.
"She is doing good, is talking to their version of you-know-who."
The girls began to giggle.
"Those two just need to get a room," Rarity commented.
"Oh please, he wouldn't know what to do anyway," Sunset replied. She realized what she said and covered her mouth.
All the girls looked at her. They all caught what she said.
"Is there something you want to tell us?" Rarity asked.
Sunset was in a corner. She let it out and there was no going back.
Flash is gonna hate me.
Her mother had a knack for arriving at the best time possible, so it wasn't to her surprise that Hazel Cinnamon came in front of the driveway and honked her horn twice in rapid succession.
"SUNSET SHIMMER! GET IN, BITCH, WE ARE GOING SHOPPING!"
"Well, that's Mom. See you all at school tomorrow, girls!" Sunset screamed. She had given them all a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before she ran off to her mother.
* * *
"What's the occasion?" Sunset asked as she finally finished her daily struggle to climb into the SUV.
"Cookbook Royalties. You can't believe how much money they give you just to your face there just because people think it will be automatically good. I didn't even make up these recipes, but they do look delicious."
Sunset and Hazel laughed as they entered the freeway. The traffic was picking up, and only an hour or two before it would effectively become a parking lot due to the amount of people trying to make it home. The drive to the mall was nothing spectacular, but Sunset always liked new clothes, because it was free.
Her right interior breast pocket on her leather jacket was vibrating, so she had to answer the text message.
"Sending those nudes to the boys again?" Hazel said with a laugh.
Sunset expected Flash, but the text came from GLADIS.
You're being followed. New looking sedan in the right lane in front of you.
Sunset looked, and sure enough: There was an automobile in front of them, and the passenger taking photos of her.
What does registration say?
It was reported stolen this morning. Whoever is following you don't want to be found out.
Sunset kept her eyes on the back of the car, the back seat passenger shooting away in his expensive looking camera. Hazel Cinnamon always signaled ahead of time, so the guys always knew where to go. They pulled into the mall ahead of the mother and daughter. They parked quite a distance, allowing them to take more photos without being 'seen'. Sunset had her eyes on them the entire time, but only looked in their direction for a glancing moment.
Even if a mysterious group of men was tailing her, she felt safe with her mother as they entered the packed mall.
* * *
"How about this?" Hazel asked, flaunting her curvy body through a flower printed sundress.
"The ass is fat."
"Well, excuse me, sunshine. At least when I flaunt it, the men are not afraid to go to jail," she said as she went back into the dressing room. It was a short time later while walking through the mall that Sunset eyed a skirt and a tube top on display, and raced over to take a look.
"Looks good on you, Sunset, if you decide to sell your body for drug money."
"Sounds like Crystal Rose," Sunset replied nonchalantly.
"What did you say about your cousin, young lady?"
"Oh, come on, Mom. The woman is sleeping with everyone but her husband. You can see it in his eyes."
"Sunset, that's very disrespectful………….. Actually, now that you mention it, he does seem to be gloomy every time she mentions her business trips."
***
After a few hours of binge clothes shopping, the mother and daughter duo were in the food court. Hazel was enjoying a quick salad while Sunset had the biggest burger and friend the vendors can offer. They were pleasantly chatting away about family gossip, the television came alive with the sounds of the breaking news audio clip. The girls turned their heads to see it.
"We are about to go live in City Hall, where Chief Thunder Breeze is about to announce a reward for the capture and conviction of longtime fugitive Risky Line or his online alias: "Pedo Pete".
"Oh, I always love it when your father is on television. He looks more muscular with that ten pounds the camera adds," Hazel said, admiring her husband in his chief uniform in front of the many steps that surrounded the marble city hall building. The sounds of the camera shutters were audible throughout the entire conference.
"Good evening. Today, I, in accordance with the city council, the mayor, and several human trafficking survivor groups, am announcing a ten million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Risky Line, or better known from his online name "Pedo Pete". Pedo Pete is the notorious ringleader of a network of child sex traffickers and child pornography producers. Due to some credible sources we believe he is now operating in the city. We are also compelled to inform the public that he is armed, dangerous, and has been known to carry out acts of violence in other cities he has used as his hideouts, so we ask that you do not attempt to engage, and let police handle it."
He continued to talk, and right next to her father was a photo of a middle age man, with long hair, a beard, and a look of nothing left to lose. He had a giant scar on his right cheek, visible where the beard did not hide it.
"At this point in time, I would like to open it up for questions."
The crowd of journalists roared, trying to get the chief to notice him so they could have their question answered.
"Thunder, what can you say about his latest post? Where he has a picture of your daughter and threats to her?" the young woman asked.
"Excuse me?"
The reporter came into view of the camera and showed him her phone.
He turned deathly white and left the podium, and up the stairs, under a flurry of screaming reporters and the snapping cameras. His second-in-command came up to the podium in Thunder's absence, a younger cop who had unknowingly hit on Sunset Shimmer a few months ago while she was at the station to visit. Got him to buy her a pizza for her silence.
"As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, the chief has some life-and-death matters to attend to, so we are done with questions."
As soon as the TV cut out to the anchors, a next message from GLADIS arrived. It had a link.
Pedo Pete's Love Van
You see this girl? Her name is Sunset Shimmer, daughter of the chief of police. I'm going to find out where she lives. I'm going to stalk her every move. Where she goes to school, her daily routine, where she goes to eat, find out which boy she is fucking, when she showers, when she goes out, who her friends are. Then I'm going to take her. And when I get my hands not only on her, but IN her, well, she will only be calling your name in fear, Thunder Blue, for you to help her, but you will never see each other again.
Don't want me to take her as my personal 15-year-old fuck toy, Chief? Get with the program and don't get in my way, otherwise, here is what I'm going to do the second my men drag her in my personal love van.
Well first, the clothes and her cute underwear will have to go…..
Sunset continued to read but stopped after a while.
Wow, so much unoriginality. Heck, I bet Snails can tell me in better detail what he would do to me…. But at least he used a good yearbook photo of me.
Her train of thought was interrupted by her phone going off again, this time from her father.
"Before you start, Daddy: I'm here with mom at the mall and I'm fine. It'll take a lot more than a pervert to take me down."
"That's my sweetheart. Listen, we have to do the officer check, so tell your mom to get ready."
"Officer check."
"I heard honey, in fact, I see them," Hazel said.
Two policemen came up to them, they seemed legit, but there was only way to find out.
Hazel pulled out her miniature revolver from her handbag and pointed them at the officers in full view of the mall. People backed away, some even hid.
"You know how this works, boys. Badge numbers: give them. And sorry about the gun: this is our daughter, after all."
Each officer said their badge number out loud, which Sunset relayed the number to her father, who was on his computer in his office, looking up the symbol identifier. When he found a hit, he sent Sunset a snapshot of the officer's info through text. She would see it and ask the officers questions about their identity.
They passed.
"We are here to take you home… So if you wouldn't mind putting your gun away, ma'am."
"Aww, I was just enjoying seeing cute men in uniform under pressure."
As they were escorted through the mall, Sunset sent one last text to GLADIS
Saddle up, we are going live tonight.
