The first thing Sunset noticed after waking up, was that she was held by someone. Looking upwards she soon found the sleeping face of her friend Fluttershy, who subconsciously was stroking the little pony in her sleep. Applebloom was sitting next to Fluttershy on the couch, watching TV, when she noticed Sunset being awake.
"Oh, y'are awake." Applebloom said, placing herself on her knees, so she could directly look into at the pony. "The other's needed to leave, because it got a little late." the small girl pointed at a clock hanging on the opposite wall. Looking up, Sunset found out that it was past 8 PM already.
"And Fluttershy?" Sunset asked.
"Ta be honest, no one had the heart to wake her up." Applebloom grinned. "Say, would ya mind...?" she tentatively raised her hand. Sunset let out a sigh, before dropping her head back on Fluttershy's lap. "You know what? I don't care anymore. Go ahead."
"Yay!" Overjoyed, Applebloom started stroking through Sunset's mane and occasionally scratched the back of her ear. And if the unicorn was completely honest with herself, it did feel good and Fluttershy's lap was very comfortable. Both Sunset and AB watched some kid's cartoon, Fluttershy somehow not waking up from the noise of the TV.
"Hey, where are the other Apples by the way?" Sunset Shimmer asked at one point.
"AJ is helpin' Big Mac with the tractor. The thin' was actin' up again and we need it to get the harvest into the barn. Granny Smith is sleeping upstairs already. She needs ta get out early ta prepare school lunch. You'd think she'd need ta get up last." Applebloom summarized everything.
"I once worked part time in a pizzeria. They open up at 11 AM, but the cooks need to be there way around 7 or 8 in order to get everything ready. Shouldn't your granny be in pension already?"
Applebloom looked down on her hands. "Nah, we can't afford it. The last two years have been bad for harvesting and with Mac, AJ and me still goin' ta school, we need every penny."
"Oh...I'm sorry." Sunset looked away.
"Is alright...hey, wait a minute! Ya're a unicorn, aren't ya? That means ya can fulfill wishes! Ya can help Granny with her hip!" Appleblooms eyes began to sparkle.
"That's a new one on the myth category. But sorry Applebloom. Magic doesn't work that way. My special talent isn't even medicine." she looked down her flank before looking up again, only to find the crestfallen face of Applebloom. Sunset quickly thought of something to cheer her up again and luckily got an idea.
"Hey, hey! No need to be sad. I may be no doctor, but I'm sure I can help you with your harvest tomorrow."
"Huh? Ya can?"
"Sure." Sunset grinned. "Just get up early tomorrow, so around 5. You'll see then. Urggh!"
"Thank ya, Sunset!" Applebloom hugged the unicorn.
"Urgh, thanks, but I haven't even done anything yet. Urgh, Applebloom! I need air!"
"Sorry." the girl smiled sheepishly.
AJ and Big Mac returned around 9 PM, finding Sunset still in the grasp of Fluttershy. Chuckling to himself, Big Mac tapped the girl on the shoulder, who finally woke up. "Uaahh. Oh, hello Big Macintosh. Hello Sunset, had a nice nap? Oh umm, if you don't mind me asking, where is everyone else?" the shy girl asked.
Applejack chuckled. "They already left, sugarcube. It's nine PM."
"Oh no!" Fluttershy jumped upwards, causing Sunset Shimmer to meet the floor. "Hey-! Ow..."
"Oh, I'm so really, really sorry Sunset Shimmer." Fluttershy carefully picked the unicorn up and placed her on her lap, inspecting Sunset for any injuries. "You aren't hurt are you? Oh you poor dear..."
"Fluttershy, I'm fine." Sunset groaned. "You better head home though. I'm sure your parents are worried. AH!"
"Oh my you're right!" Fluttershy jumped up again and headed towards the door. "Oh, um, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye."
The humans waved their goodbyes. Sunset could only groan and curse karma.
Sunset got a rather late dinner for Apple family standards. The others had already eaten and Applebloom was already preparing for bed, reading one of her comics before hitting the hay for the day. Sunset's dinner consisted of a few slices of bread, an apple and peanut butter. Since she forgot to bring her own toothbrush, she needed to borrow one from the family. After getting ready for bed, her friend Applejack showed the unicorn the guest bedroom. "It ain't anything fancy, but it'll do, right?"
"It's good. Bigger than my own room actually." Sunset looked around. The guest room consisted of a bed, a night desk, a desk with drawers for clothes, a small cabinet and hey, there was even an old radio sitting on the windowsill.
"Welp, good night sugar. See ya tomorrow."
"'Night AJ."
AJ left the room, closing the door. Now all by herself, Sunset walked towards the bed AJ prepared earlier today. And since she had nothing better to do and needed to get up early the next day, she climbed up the bed and levitated the blanket over her body with what magic she recovered over the course of the day.
The next morning, Sunset woke up with the first rays of the sun hitting her face. Groaning she forced herself out of the bed, walking towards the bathroom in order to get refreshed. According to a clock in the room it was just 10 minutes after five. Applebloom seems to have forgotten to set her alarm clock, so Sunset proceeded to wake up the girl. Finding her room wasn't all that hard, since a picture featuring a flower and a girl with the name Applebloom above both was hanging on the door.
Sunset knocked at the door with her hoof and waited.
She knocked again.
A groan came out of the room, followed by someone jumping off a bed and footsteps approaching the door. A few seconds later the youngest Apple opened the door, rubbing one of her eyes. "Sunset? *yawn* Do you know what time it is?"
"Have you forgotten that I wanted to help your family today?"
Applebloom needed to think for a few seconds, before she could say something. "Oh yeah, now ah remember. But, how ya goin' ta do that?"
"Simple, really. But first I need a good breakfast. Oh and be careful to not wake up the others. I want it to be a surprise." Sunset smiled a little.
"If ya say so." AB shrugged and stepped out of her room, not bothering to get out of her pajamas. As quietly as possible, the two sneaked down the stairs and walked towards the kitchen. Applebloom showed the unicorn where she could get everything she wanted for a good breakfast. The girl watched with wonder as Sunset used her magic to let everything fly around, open and closing drawers and cupboards and making herself three different kind of breads. The girl stuck with some simple cereal for kids. Still, the unicorn urged Applebloom to hurry up, since the Apple family in general tend to get up early.
Done with their quick breakfast, Sunset wanted to know where the family usually stored their harvest. 'Bloom put on some shoes, before walking outside and leading the pony towards one of the many barns.
"Okay Bloom. Would you mind opening the doors as well as the cellar door? I'm gonna need to focus on this one."
"What are ya gonna do?" The girl asked, while pulling the switch and opening the first barn door. Sunset only smirked.
"You'll see."
It's been a while since I have done something on a massive scale like this. But it's just levitation. I should have no problem with that. And hopefully have enough magic left for some emergency teleportations. Sunset took a good look around all the apple trees. Taking in a deep breath, she started to focus. Only moments later her horn began glowing in the familiar magic aura, only stronger than usual. Applebloom watched with interest as the glow intensified, not noticing that from an entire orchard, apples started to fly her way. It wasn't until she was accidentally hit by one that she noticed the strange phenomenon happening on her family's farm.
Her jaw hit the floor as she watched Sunset putting all the apples into the cellar. After the deed was done, Sunset stopped the magic flow and checked the cellar if everything was alright. Illuminating her horn, she saw that no apple had been damaged and no space wasted.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!!" Applebloom shouted, having found her voice back. Sunset scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"It's the least I could do for you guys letting me stay here. And hey, since I am a unicorn now, I might as well make some use of my magic, while I still have it."
Maybe she should have remembered that dog owners also need to get up pretty early.
If you are looking for shenanigans have Sunsets magic have surges and/or wild castings at unusual times, she is years out of practice. She was a student of the Princess before she rebelled so she could have some funny things happen. Just have her have some unexpected things going on with her magic.
6308569 Hmmm...thinking of banana split for some reason....
For shenanigans, at least you have a setup done already: the aftermath of the Apples and anybody else.
About harvesting the apples, totally believable. Sunset should not be lower in power than Season 1 Twilight and by that she already was harvesting apples by whole trees at a time.
Next? Let Sunset have a normal day, as much as she can. I forgot if it's a school day or not, anyway the Rainbooms should have band practice (don't they have a performance on Saturday?) Otherwise, Fluttershy's day. She must (a) be totally frustrated to be in class when she could be brushing Sunset or (b) seriously considering go through the portal to the magical pony land where everybody is a pony (she doesn't know if the portal is open or closed)
And that is how Sunset Shimmer was never allowed to turn human again.
Pinkie?
Dun dun DUN!
Thank you.
6308644 Normal school week. Hmm, I guess a mix of normal day and some shenanigans. Fluttershy is an excellent idea. I want to bring in Twilight more actively, but- IDEA!!!!
Should have thought about this earlier.
Back to Twilight, wednesday sounds like a good day, but I also got one for tuesday. Hmm, I'll decide later. Gotta work on my other idea.
6308657 lol
6308663 Now that I think of it, someone mentioned Sunset failing to do spells beforehand. That made me thing on a setup for that: Sunset is currently an unicorn, meaning it's the perfect opportunityto catch up with her magic practice (which is pretty rusted as of now), so she could ask Twilight for some books on more complex magic spells. Sunset is a supposed to be a rather powerful unicorn after all.
6308680 Hmm...need to think of the dialogue....done. now to get it onto digital paper...
Seeing massive magic undertakings for mundane affairs always remember of this.
Looking forward for H Twilight freakout next chapter.
Nice way of repaying the Apple family on Sunset's part.
6316435 Yeah, not exactly a master piece what I wrote back then.
GODDAMMIT! THAT'S A HUGE CLIFFHANGER! NOT COOL!
But in all seriousness, I love this story.
6374796 Huge? Anyone here agreeing with that statement?
6374809
I may have been exaggerating a little.
...
...A lot.
6464905
Not really, I know people who walks thror dogs in the afternoon.
6464905
i walk my dog in the morning