//------------------------------// // Christmas Eve. // Story: A Knight in Shining Armor // by Rinshi //------------------------------// Slowly and painfully, Sunset's consciousness returned. Her head ached with an intensity she didn't know was even possible, and her throat was dry as a desert. It didn't take a genius to understand what a hangover was. She didn't even open her eyes, but the sunlight coming through the window was strong enough that she decided to roll over and huddle under the delightfully soft blankets. Her prodigious mind worked, even with the headache, and reminded her that her bedroom didn't have any windows. Ever so slowly, she opened her eyes and waiting for the fog of tiredness to disappear. She blinked several times, and then straightened up so fast that her head felt like it was about to explode. She did her best to ignore the pain, as a more important matter had to be taken care of immediately. She wasn't in her bedroom. Giving a glance around the room, she recognized that she was in a matrimonial bed with white silk blankets and a blue cover. The walls were decorated with what looked like certificates, and the occasional formal group photo. Sunset’s face paled and her heart sank. What had she done last night? She remembered drinking beers to forget her situation, writing something down, and then nothing. Making a bigger effort -and increasing the pain of her head in the process, she remembered talking with someone with blue hair. Flash? No, it couldn't be him. This wasn't his room, nor his parents'. A thought occurred to her. She looked down to herself, and immediately sighed in relief. She was still dressed, save for her jacket, which was carefully folded on a chair next to the window. She slowly got up and took her jacket. Sunset spotted an open door, which led to a small, private bathroom. She supposed that since she had spent the night there, she might as well use the facilities. After freshening herself up, brushing her hair with a pink brush she found, and drinking quite a lot of water from the sink, she got out. The headache was still there, but at least it was now manageable. With a deep breath and a determined stare, she got out of the room to meet the owner of the place. Walking through the hallway, she couldn't help peeking into the other rooms. The first looked like a spacious office. It had a fairly big bookshelf, a desk, a computer, and it was decorated with rustic colors: brown and green with the occasional red. The second room she saw looked like somewhere her ex boyfriend's friends would live. There was a big shelf full of comics, action figures, and other trinkets she couldn't name. Next to it, another shelf, but this was full of what looked like videogames and movies. A simple desk held a computer with a more impressive appearance than the one in the office. Next to it there were a couple of video game consoles and even more trinkets. Seeing that this room didn't have a bed, Sunset supposed that it was more like a recreational room for the children of whoever lived in this place. She decided to stop wasting time, and so she walked downstairs. The living room was pretty normal, Sunset thought. Well, except for the sofa in front of the T.V., as it had a more stylized look, a pillow, and a rug. When she walked over the kitchen, she froze. Upon the dark brown table, carefully placed in front of an empty seat, there was a breakfast that consisted in very standard fried eggs and bacon. But at the far end of the table, there was someone, hidden behind an open newspaper. Putting down the newspaper, the man with snow-white skin and blue hair looked at Sunset with an even stare. "Sit down," he said with a weird mix of kindness and firmness. Sunset didn't move, and instead leaned back in distrust. "You know I can call the police and tell them a man brought me to his house while I was drunk, right?" She asked, trying her best to sound casual to observe the man's reaction. He just arched an eyebrow. "I don't think you can," he said and then placed his gun upon the table. Sunset's muscles tensed at that. In moments like this, Sunset would normally resort to the very limited use of magic she had, but with the nasty headache she was suffering, she didn't think she'd be able to produce anything more than a couple of sparks. The man then placed on the table a second accessory, which evaporated any bravado Sunset may have had. It was a police badge. "I am Officer Shining Armor. Please, take a seat." This time, Sunset obliged. "Go ahead, eat some," he pointed at the food in front of her. Sunset looked at the plate and grumbled something. "What?" "I'm vegetarian." Blinking, Shining hummed. "I suppose it makes sense," he murmured. "What?" "Never mind that. Would you like something else?" For a moment, Sunset contemplated the idea of something more elaborate, but she dismissed the thought and began eating the eggs, putting aside the bacon. There was a long moment of silence, with the only interruptions being the occasional tap of flatware with the plates and an annoying sound of a wall clock. Finally, when Sunset had finished her meal, she broke the silence. "Shouldn't you be arresting someone or eating donuts?" The corners of Shining's mouth twitched upwards. "I took the day off to investigate you." Normally, Sunset would have made a snarky remark saying that she wasn't interested, but the idea of a police officer behind her made her really nervous. And if that wasn't enough, she didn't have anyone to call for help. The only one that would try to help her would be Princess Twilight, but any authority she had was limited to Equestria. Finally, she decided to play along, doing her best to look confident. "Why? Did your son ask you to investigate me?" She asked, remembering the recreational room upstairs. Shining looked a little confused at that. "I don't have children, I live alone." Sunset pressed shut her lips for a moment. "So, a grown up, single man took a drunk girl to his home. Even if you're a cop, I could sue you," she said, trying to get under his skin. "As I said, I don't think you can," Shining answered with unnerving calm. Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah? And why do you think that?" "Because dead people can't sue anyone." At that, Sunset tensed her body. She made a fist under the table and started to concentrate as much magic as she could. "Is that a threat?" Blinking in surprise at the hostile question, Shining quickly reviewed their conversation. He mentally face palmed. "I'm sorry, I didn't word that properly," he admitted before pointing at a stack of papers upon a counter. "I spent the night researching." Sunset suddenly took notice of how tired he looked. His hair was a mess, and he had bags under his eyes. "I don't know if you remember, but you told me a few things last night. Like your name, Sunset Shimmer." Sunset’s eyes widened, and the magic she had been holding dissipated. "You attend Canterlot High," he continued. "Princess of the Fall Formal three years in a row, but lost it this year. You have an account on MyStable…" He paused to stand up and pour some more coffee in his cup. He sat down again, and after a quick sip, he continued. "The thing is that, when I searched for your record before High School, I found nothing." Sunset’s body tensed up again. "At first I didn't think it was too weird. Maybe you moved from another state. But when I got in the national database, I found something quite interesting." He got up once again and took a paper from the stack, placing it in front of Sunset. It was a death certificate of a six years old orphan girl. There was a picture of a very familiar girl, and the name read Sunset Shimmer. "I thought that it could be a weird coincidence, or maybe an impersonation. But your fingerprints are exactly the same." Sunset gulped, trying to find an excuse. "Maybe I'm that girl and survived. Or maybe I'm her twin." Her voice was quivery. She was clearly at a dead end, and Shining was very aware of that. "The girl had an autopsy before being cremated. And twins don't have the same fingerprints." He took a deep breath. "And lastly, illegal immigrants can't sue." "Illegal immigrant?" Sunset asked, partly confused, partly terrified. "Well, I don't think there's a passport for another dimension." "What?!" Sunset panted, feeling panic rising in her chest. Shining sat down and proceeded to explain to Sunset that not only had she performed magic in front of him while drunk, but she had also told him that she was from another world, and that she was a magical unicorn. Suddenly, the comment about her eating habits made sense. "So?" Sunset asked with fear in her voice. Her mind was flooded with images of her on a laboratory table about to be dissected. "What's going to happen to me now?" For an entire minute, Shining Armor only stared at her, and finally, he sighed. "I don't know," he replied, scratching the back of her head. "When I found you, you were clearly in trouble. When I investigated your school, I found out about this Anon-a-miss person." Sunset shivered at the name. "It wasn't hard to realize that you were being blamed for that. And when I saw your house-" "What?!" Sunset exclaimed. Besides herself, there was only one person that knew about the factory. Shining blinked in confusion. "Oh, that's right. While you were drunk, you told me your address. At first I thought you were joking or confused, but it turned out to be true." He shrugged. "I brought you here with a few changes of clothes." He stood up, taking his badge and gun. “Sincerely, as a geek, I loved the idea of a magical girl from another world." He grimaced. "But, as a person, I couldn't ignore a girl in your situation." He gazed into Sunset's eyes, and she could feel the sincerity of his words. "What happens next is up to you. I have a meeting to attend now. You can stay or leave. I don't have a problem with you staying a couple of days, though." He offered her a warm smile. "Besides, it would be cruel of me to kick you out this close to Christmas." After Shining left, Sunset contemplated her options. This man was a police officer, but he didn't seem to have any bad intentions, even offering her a warm place to stay. Then again, he was a complete stranger. Sunset had quickly learned that humans could be very dangerous. But the thought of returning to the cold, empty factory in winter made Sunset shiver. She decided to stay, at least for a couple of days, until she figured out what to do. There wasn't much that she wanted to do, so she just sat on the nice sofa and watched T.V. for a couple of hours until Shining returned. He looked depressed, and they didn't really talk until a little later when he asked her what she wanted to eat. They ended up ordering vegetarian pizza and just stayed there at his house, watching the typical Christmas specials on T.V. At some point, Shining began asking Sunset questions about her world. At first she was reluctant, but in the end she started answering. It was a nice way to distract herself, as she didn't want to think of what the future had in store for her. She supposed she could return to Equestria, but, honestly, what kind of life awaited her there? Jail, most likely. After all, she had stolen from a princess. She at least had Princess Twilight to visit her and have someone to talk with… if Twilight still cared. She could stay in this world, but it didn't seem like a much better option, aside from the fact that she wasn't going to jail here. When night came, Shining insisted that Sunset use his room while he slept on the sofa. Sunset tried to reject the offer, but he had already taken a spare pillow and blanket and set himself up in the living room. The next day went by quickly. Sunset stared at the T.V. without really watching anything, changing channels every once in a while, alone with her thoughts. She actually looked forward to Shining Armor coming back so she would have someone to talk to. At some point he had stopped asking her about Equestria, but he still had some pretty good stories to tell about the daily life of an officer. Another day came to an end, with Sunset repeating the exact same routine. Fortunately, Shining had been kind enough to buy vegetarian food for Sunset, and she only had to get up from the sofa to eat, go to the bathroom, and occasionally read some of the books in Shining's office. She knew the basics of how this world worked, but these books about laws and human rights and other stuff were pretty interesting. On the fourth day, the twenty third of December, she made a decision. In the three days she had been in the officer's house she had put a lot of thought into her situation. There wasn't anything better to do, after all. "I'll go tomorrow," Sunset said as she stared at the T.V., right before she ate another portion of her instant soup. Shining froze, chopsticks midway to his mouth. "What?" "I’ve made my decision,” Sunset said. “Besides, I don't want to keep bothering you." She refused to look at him. "You don't bother me," Shining replied quietly. He didn't want her to go. Since her arrival, it seemed like his life had brightened. The sole image of her sitting on the couch, idly staring at the T.V. while holding her knees against her chest when he returned from work was enough to make him smile. To not feel so alone. Maybe it was because he was so used to living with someone. He could remember clear as day how he would sit down with Cadence on Christmas Eve, criticizing and joking about the same old movies on T.V. He looked down at the food in his hand. That was another reason he wanted Sunset to stay. She helped him not to think about Cadence. In fact, up until now, he had completely forgotten about his little tradition with his ex girlfriend, even though he had been doing the same with Sunset. He wanted her to stay, at least one more day, because he was going to go meet with Cadence, and he wanted Sunset here when he got back. Sunset looked down to her soup. It suddenly tasted sour. "I have to take care of some things… I'll still stay tonight, but I'll leave tomorrow morning." It was a failed attempt to console him, but it didn't help that she was leaving right on Christmas Eve. She finished her food in silence, wondering what she was going to do with her life.