Christmas at Sunset
The sight of snow welcomed Sunset Shimmer as she peered out of the window. While she was used to it snowing in Canterlot, the sight of falling snow without a physical applicator always took her by surprise. The main reason? She was used to hearing the pegasi bringing the storms, not nature itself. The concept of winged ponies bringing storms confused her human friends as they had to understand that Mother Nature didn’t handle all the storms and seasons in Equestria.
The former unicorn, now full time student to Princess Twilight, stretched as she climbed out of her bed. Her pajamas consisted of a long sleeve top and bottom with her cutie mark embroidered on them both. No matter how long she had been away from Equestria, she felt the need to have her mark on everything she owned. It helped that she knew someone who could do such a thing on everything she owns, even though it took a long time to explain that the markings appear on your flank when you have discovered whatever you were good at.
Sunset reached under her bed and pulled out her old backpack. Since it was winter break, she didn’t really have a reason to go through it, but today was different. It was Christmas Eve and she wanted to check up on her most important friend: Princess Twilight Sparkle. She pulled out her magical book and opened it to a blank page. No new messages.
The red and orange-haired girl fell back onto her bed with the book in her hands. It was the third week in a row that Twilight had not sent a message. No activity by the portal, no men in suits appearing at her front door, no messages, and no magic. It was as if the two worlds became silent.
The two men appearing at her door? Well, that can be the result of Doctor Twilight’s investigation continuing into the break. Ever since the Dazzlings were defeated, police and investigators have appeared at CHS and interviewed everyone who either worked there or studied. After some investigating of her own, Sunset was able to find that it was Twilight’s human counterpart that was investigating the school, and it was her sole duty to find whatever was causing the two magical outbursts and silence it. Sunset warned Twilight to stay away until there was no more heat, and that may be why she had not responded to her messages.
Sunset sighed as she stared out the window. “Just another winter I guess,” she said to herself. “Quiet as always.”
She rose to her feet, stretched, and began her day using her normal routine. Since she didn’t have any family, she had an apartment all to herself. While it wasn’t grand like the personal suite she had in Canterlot back in her world, it was home. She jumped into the shower, cooked a nice breakfast and spent the morning in her living room, watching TV. The first channel she found was the 10 O’clock morning news which still covered the police presence at Canterlot High. While many were baffled by their sudden interest, Sunset sighed as she knew the truth behind it all, and they weren’t going to find anything. Sunset was a master at hiding important findings. Any magic conjured by the Rainbooms was quickly hidden before Doctor Sparkle sent G-Men to snuff it out. Her book was kept on her person at all times to prevent snoops in suits.
Sunset smiled to herself. Snoops in suits. Pinkie couldn’t stop laughing when she said it the first time.
Sunset shut off the TV and sighed. Almost 10:30 and she had no idea what to do. Just as she was about to jump back into her pajamas, her phone started to ring. The girl’s heart jumped out of her place as the ringer echoed throughout her small apartment. She grabbed her phone and immediately recognized the number. Pinkie. She smiled as she answered. “Hello?”
"SUNSET SHIMMER!"
Sunset immediately recoiled. Sometimes answering Pinkie’s calls, video chats, emails and texts was very painful. How she managed to destroy Sunset's hearing over a text, she will never know. “Pinkie, good to hear from you. Merry Christmas,” she said.
"Thank you! All the girls are saying Merry Christmas too," Pinkie said.
“What do you mean?”
"Duh, we’re at Sugarcube Corner for lunch you silly goose. Wanna come over?"
Sunset looked at the clock that confirm the time. 10:31 on the dot. Breakfast was over at a lot of places. "So do ya?"
“Yeah, sure Pinkie Pie. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Sunset said.
"Great! Oh great, Gummy is gone again. Rarity, check under your seat; a lot of the animals love to hide under there when you’re here."
Sunset flinched as Rarity screamed. Sunset smiled as she hung up the phone. She was lucky to now have a car of her own, thanks to some bits that she magically transformed to meet the different currency of the realm (Don’t tell Celestia). Sunset grabbed her winter coat, threw her bag with the magical book on her back, and grabbed her keys. Before she could walk out of the door, her back started to vibrate. Sunset’s heart stopped as she threw her bag to the ground.
She reached down and grabbed the book. Skipping to her bookmarked page, there was a message from Twilight. Instead of a friendly letter, Sunset only found one word. That one word was fully capitalized and sent chills down Sunset’s back. DUCK!
Before she could do anything, a bright light blanketed her room. She ran to the window and noticed a lavender ball of light in the sky. The ball seemed to be getting bigger, almost as big as the Sun appeared on Earth. After closely examining the ball, Sunset realized it wasn’t getting bigger, it was getting closer.
With only a second to react, Sunset dove to the floor. Once she made impact, the glass above her shattered as the light entered the room. Glass and somewhat expensive pottery shattered, probably scaring the living daylights of her neighbors upstairs and downstairs.
The lavender light began to die down. Sunset was finally able to bring her head up, but she had to be careful. Broken glass was everywhere, and it would take time before she can clean it all up. Upon raising her head, Sunset was completely taken back at what, or in this case who, was in her living room.
It was Twilight. The proper Princess of Magic Twilight Sparkle, only in the most unprincess-like pose. Due to her crash, she was face down, plot up. Luckily she was wearing a skirt, but she counted the fact that even that may not be helpful. Sunset looked around, but Spike was nowhere to be seen. Around the princess were several colorful bags and packages.
Sunset picked herself up. “Twi-Twilight?”
The princess of magic groaned. She picked herself up from the floor and took in her surroundings. Immediately, the lavender princess was confused. Unless the portal now opened in someone’s home, she wasn’t where she wanted to be. She turned around, and standing in front of her was her student.
Twilight smiled. “Oh, hi Sunset. Sorry about that, I didn’t know the mirror was going to do that,” she said.
Instead of saying anything, Sunset ran to hug her friend/teacher. Twilight, taken back at the sudden display of friendship and affection, kept her hands away from Sunset. After a couple of seconds, Twilight relaxed and returned the hug. “Twilight, what are you doing here?”
The two broke the hug. “Well, I was hoping to surprise you girls at Sugarcube Corner, but when I entered the portal, something happened and my velocity greatly accelerated. I had enough magic to conjure the book and send the message, thinking that you were at the school. That, and I need a bit of a vacation from Ponyville. Rainbow and Rarity were arguing about whether or not Rainbow should try on Rarity’s new winter collection while Applejack used paper towels to plug her ears, and—”
“Twilight?”
The princess looked up. “What?”
“Thank you for coming. The girls have been wondering whenever you were going to come back. Apparently, promising them that the portal will always be available made them anxious for your visit. We even had to pry Pinkie from the statue because she thought running into it would help,” Sunset said.
Twilight laughed. “I’m sorry, but what?”
Sunset shrugged. “It was weird.”
The girls smiled. “How’d you know we would meet at Sugarcube Corner?”
“You’d write about going there every day at around this time. All your weekly reports would say the same: Pinkie nearly spilled my hot chocolate at Sugarcube Corner, Rarity just became bold and asked a guy working at Sugarcube Corner to see a movie with her, and a lot more,” she said.
Sunset’s jaw dropped. “You read my reports?”
“What, you don’t think I do? I mean, I don’t read them right away because of Princess Celestia’s need for me to work more on my title, but I find time. I just couldn’t respond because I’d either be too tired for staying up at night or I just don’t have the time. I’m extremely cautious about your last report concerning my human counterpart if I read that report correctly.”
“Yeah, she’s been all over the place the last few weeks. The Dazzlings somewhat disappeared, though, so we can’t count on them ratting on us. At least Adagio isn’t a threat,” Sunset said.
Twilight nodded. “So, onwards to Sugarcube?”
Sunset smiled. “Yes, onwards to Sugarcube.”
After changing into a more appropriate style of clothing, the two walked out of the apartment and to Sunset’s car. As they drove out, Sunset opened her window and threw out a small device. It fell to the concrete street and broke upon impact. Twilight watched as the strange machine was shattered and looked to her friend. “What was that for?”
“It’s some kind of tracking device Doctor Sparkle implanted on my car. Every week she’s tried to hide it somewhere so she can keep tabs on me,” she said. “We have to be extra careful, otherwise she will know what’s going on.”
Twilight looked at her student. “Pretty clever, on you and on my human counterpart.”
Sunset smiled and turned on the radio. With her favorite station already programmed with a melody of Christmas music playing, the ride to Sugarcube Corner was smooth. Sunset had to explain how the radio works and also the concept of driving to the hangout. She told the princess that it took a while until she got her license and even longer to get her own car. She blamed herself for not having any credit in her name (mainly because her human counterpart wasn’t living in the country).
Occasionally, Twilight found herself checking the rear view mirror. By what Sunset was saying about being watched, she suddenly became paranoid that her human counterpart, this Doctor Sparkle, was following them. The idea was nerve-racking.
The ride came to an end as the two Equestrians arrived at the lovely Sugarcube Corner. Lyra and Bon Bon were standing outside arguing about something but immediately stopped when Sunset walked by. Sunset entered first, earning the attention of the Rainbooms. Well, some of them.
Rarity and Rainbow Dash were debating about what song they should work on for their appearance at the Canterlot High Winter Formal. While Rainbow thought that rocking out was a great idea, providing a more soothing classical piece to the party was what Rarity had her heart set on. Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie were the only ones who noticed Sunset at the door and called for her attention. Fluttershy had a stuffed replica of Discord in her hands while Pinkie was busy gulping down her drink. Sunset knew that she must be trying to hide any evidence of coffee.
Sunset approached her friends and sat down. “How are you girls?”
“Good,” they responded, except Rarity and Rainbow.
Sunset looked at the pair. “How long have they been going at it?”
“A good hour ah think,” Applejack said.
“I think it was more than that,” Fluttershy said.
Sunset bit her lip. If they were going to rock Winter Formal, they needed to have a song ready quick. “Any luck with a song choice?”
“Well first, Rainbow suggested By a Pegasi’s Heart, but Rarity wanted A Diamond Ballad to be sung instead, so Rainbow proposed singing it but with a rocking guitar solo she created, but Rarity turned her down. Then Rainbow suggested Awesome as I Wanna Be, but Rarity immediately shot it down. Now they’re arguing about whether or not it’s a great idea to consider The Ever-Changeling Storm. Nothing yet so far,” Pinkie said.
“I thought that was a good choice, Pegasi’s Heart,” Fluttershy said.
“It is quite a catchy tune,” Sunset said, “But I think we need another opinion.”
Rarity and Rainbow stopped arguing. “Whatever do you mean, darling?”
The front door opened and walking into the shop was Twilight. The rest of the Rainbooms cheered as the princess walked into the room. They all ran up to Twilight and crushed her with the biggest group hug in the history of group hugs. Sunset smiled as Twilight cried out in pain.
After ordering a mint hot chocolate from Mrs. Cake, Twilight sat down with the rest of her friends at the table. Sunset managed to order one for herself, and for the first time since Twilight arrived, she felt warm inside as she sipped her beverage. The hot, silky liquid ran down her throat and into her stomach, spreading its warmth throughout her entire body. Sunset loved the Sugarcube Special.
Rarity was the first to speak. “What brings you here darling?”
“Well, I remembered looking at a calander the last time I was here and I noticed that the holiday season was coming, so I planned on taking some time off from Equestria, and—”
“Um, Twilight?” Applejack interrupted.
The princess looked over. “What?”
“Ah don’t think it’s best to say Equestria out loud, especially with that other Twilight watching the place,” she said while looking around the room.
“And maybe we should call you something else, otherwise if the other Twilight is here, she might get confused when we keep using your name,” Rainbow said. “How about Midnight?”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “NO! I mean, not that. I don’t like that one,” she said.
Sunset looked over at her teacher. “Um, what about—”
“Just call me Lavender,” Twilight said.
The girls all agreed, but Sunset had her suspicions. Something wasn’t right with Twilight, especially after she was almost called Midnight.
“Anyway, I just need to get away from the family for a little bit. All of the arguing and yelling and everything, and the holiday is a few days away. It doesn’t help that a blizzard is approaching Ponyville,” Twilight said.
“Oh that’s right, Heart’s Warming is coming up, isn’t it?” Sunset asked.
“Yup. I thought it would coincide with this world’s holiday, but I guess not. I can stay for the holiday, but I have to leave the day after to get ready,” Twilight said.
The girls all nodded in understanding. “Well, Sunset has kept me informed, but I want to hear from all of you how you all have been doing since I last visited.”
“Well for starters, we are singing at the Winter Formal at the end of the break. This time, we don’t have any problems with the Dazzlings or anyone else who wishes to enslave us or anything like that,” Rainbow said. “That, and I got a new guitar.”
“What happened to your old one?”
“Rarity saw a spider,” Applejack said. “Ya can guess what happened next.”
Rarity turned to the farmer. “Can you stop bringing that up? I still feel bad,” she said.
The farmer only shrugged. “I’m working full time at the animal hospital just down the street. I also petsit sometimes,” Fluttershy said.
“Ah signed a new contract fer our farm. We’re doing more apple cider once it stops snowing with help from our family out of town,” Applejack said.
Twilight turned to Pinkie. “Anything new?”
“Green is a loud color,” was all she said.
Rarity took the cup that was in Pinkie’s hand. “Yup, that’s coffee,” she said.
Twilight looked over at Sunset, who was taking Pinkie’s pulse. “She has a normal pulse. That, or it’s beating so fast I can’t tell.”
The girls looked at the pink drummer. She shook her head and smiled, letting everyone know that she was alright. The girls cheered among themselves and continued to talk about their current lives. While each one of her friends had something different going on in their lives, one thing kept popping up: the investigation.
“You see, it all started shortly after you left. It was supposed to be just another Friday, but with the Dazzlings still fresh in our minds, we kept our guard up and tempers low,” Rainbow said.
“These men came walking into the school wearing black suits and drove up in really black cars. It looked like a scene from the Men in Black movies, but there wasn’t any aliens. They called for an assembly and the whole school showed up scared,” Sunset continued.
Pinkie nodded. “Snoops in suits,” she whispered loudly at Twilight.
“Anyway, they said they want to know what the heck was happenin’ during the Battle of the Bands and Fall Formal earlier this year,”
Applejack said, “but we all saw they wanted us and them Dazzlings.”
“What happened to the Dazzlings anyway?”
“Sonata and Aria still go to Canterlot High, but Adagio disappeared before the men came,” Rarity said.
Twilight nodded. She knew Adagio was the one holding the Sirens together, and with her out of the picture, the girls could finally be free. “I hope they’re doing fine.”
“They are,” Sunset said. “It’s just that they don’t like being around us, with the memory of us beating them at their own game with the Rainbow Power and that alicorn in the sky.”
Rainbow finally could speak. “I’ve been meaning to ask about that. Why did that happen?”
Twilight shrugged. “Magical convergence caused by the resurrection of the Elements, but there are only 6 in creation as far as I know.”
“Elements?”
“The Elements of Harmony, remember?” Applejack asked Fluttershy. “The thing Sunset stole from Twilight the first time she was here.”
The memory came back to the shy animal doctor. “Well, there are 6 of them, beyond the crown.”
“Stealing the others was going to be impossible, especially since I heard they were with you at your home,” Sunset said. “I even heard that Equestria went into lockdown after you returned from here in the first place.”
“You heard right. There was an uprising and we had to take care of it. That was one very long night,” Twilight said. The image of King Sombra attacking her was still fresh in her mind.
The girls looked at her with curiosity. “What happened darling?”
“Let’s just say all of Equestria had an axe hanging over it.”
As Twilight began spinning the tale, the snow outside continued to fall. As more people started coming and going, the Sun started to set over Ponyville. Street lights began to illuminate the city and Christmas lights ignited the trees and shops. A soothing round of Christmas music filled the city as many of its residents walked and enjoyed each other’s company. Some were even couples who were using the Christmastown setting as a way to further ignite love.
Eventually, the Cakes had to shut down Sugarcube Corner. With the following day reserved for their families, the Rainbooms began going their separate ways. Rainbow and Applejack were having families get together for the holidays at the farm, Fluttershy and Rarity were going out of town, and Pinkie was spending the day with her family out of the city. This left Sunset and Twilight with no plans for the following day.
"Oh, and by the way!" Twilight called out.
The Rainbooms stopped in their tracks. "A Diamond Ballad should be a slow dance song, By a Pegasi's Heart should open the dance and The Ever-Changeling Storm should end the night!"
The Rainbooms cheered. They had their set planned out and they didn't have to ask her about it at all. They all continued to move their separate ways, but vowed to come back together before Twilight leaves to show them what those songs sounded like. They both hopped into Sunset’s car and they drove off back to her apartment, but not before grabbing something to eat on the way over.
The two entered the apartment. The windows were replaced thanks to the management and some leftover magic on Twilight’s part. The two plopped themselves on the living room couch with their food in their hands and turned on the TV. Again, it was the news and they were
still covering what was going on at Canterlot High.
Twilight felt it was her fault that the school was gaining all the wrong attention. The first time she came over, she expected a clean mission: find the crown and show Sunset what she was doing. The second time was different, however. She was noisy this time.
The two Equestrians popped open their meals. As they did, Sunset continued to search for anything besides the news, but there was little to watch. Canterlot High was on 24/7 thanks to Doctor Sparkle. Sunset gave up looking for something on TV and instead walked to where she stored her DVDs. After some quiet searching, she found a movie worth watching: Guardians of the Galaxy. She popped in the movie and sat back down next to her friend.
“What was that?” Twilight asked.
“That was a movie disc. There is a whole film on that bit of plastic that we can watch over and over,” Sunset replied. “It’s weird but fascinating.”
Twilight looked at the machine that took the disc. “Mainly fascinating. We still use film reals in Equestria, well I do at least.”
“I can’t believe we still have those. I remember when Celestia made me watch a film concerning—well you know what I’m talking about.” Sunset blushed.
“Yeah, that was weird, especially since when I watched it, some scenes kept repeating when I wished they wouldn’t,” Twilight said as she shuttered at the memory. “Whatever happened to The Talk being a discussion and not an award-winning film?”
Sunset shrugged. The red haired Equestrian pressed a button on the main menu and the movie began playing. A few minutes into the movie, Twilight was already questioning the story. “Why is that woman without any hair?”
Sunset looked at Twilight. “In this world, there is a type of disease known as cancer. It’s when the human body has a sudden increase in cellular regeneration and it can lead to an unbearable sickness. When people have it, they have to go through a procedure that requires their hair to be removed. A lot of people don’t survive the sickness,” she said. She pointed at the woman in the movie. “She has it.”
Twilight looked at the woman. “Oh wow, that’s awful. Why hasn’t this world found a cure?”
“It’s difficult to find a cure to work on it when there are many types of cancer. Plus, it’s rapid cellular regeneration that also is a factor. Doctors everywhere who study it can say that finding a cure for one form won’t fully help someone who has a different type of cancer.”
“Then why not stop the regeneration? Target and remove the cells responsible for the rapid regeneration and the cancer should be easy to remove,” Twilight said.
“I wish it were that easy.”
Twilight said nothing more and continued watching the movie. The two later finished their meals and the movie just in time for bed. The clock would soon strike midnight and Twilight wanted tomorrow to come so bad for so many reasons. One reason was her sudden decision to go on a bit of a shopping spree back in Equestria and bringing the gifts with her.
Sunset walked into her room, and finally realized something: she only had one bed. She looked back and there was Twilight setting up a blanket on the couch. Feeling herself moving toward the princess, Sunset had to do what any host would do.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Twilight looked up. “Setting up my bed for the night,” she said.
Sunset shook her head. “Oh no, I’m not having it. You can take my room for the rest of the week. I’ll be fine sleeping out here.”
“No. It doesn’t feel right to have the big bed when you can have it. Don’t worry, I don’t mind sleeping out here,” Twilight argued.
“Well I do mind, so don’t you dare finish setting up the couch. I’ll sleep out here.”
“Sunset, I know you mean well, but I can’t have you sleeping out here,” Twilight said as she got closer to Sunset.
“Well I’m not having it. Take my bed!” Sunset took a step closer to Twilight.
“NO!”
“YES!”
“NO!”
“YES!”
A loud banging from the living room wall stopped the argument. From the other side of the wall, a voice rang out. “Will you both shut up and share the bed already?! Geez it’s close to midnight and you’re waking the dead!”
The two locked eyes and blushed. Sharing a bed? The two glanced away from themselves for a moment, both cheeks were as red as the rising Sun. “Well, it would solve our problem,” Twilight said.
“We both have a comfortable sleep without worrying about each other freezing in here,” Sunset deducted.
“But there is that uncomfortable feeling of the both of us asleep just a few inches of each other,” Twilight said as her cheeks burned hotter.
“And the fear of waking up in each other’s arms.”
They both looked up at each other. “Well, it’s just for a few nights, right?”
The princess of friendship nodded. “There won’t be a lingering effect if something does happen. The most that can happen would be us waking up—”
“Yeah, well there are the pros and cons,” Sunset said.
The two Equestrians thought about it for a moment. “You know what, why not?”
“Yeah, it’s not like either of us are playing for the other team, right?”
“Right, and we can ensure that the girls don’t know, otherwise we both won’t hear the end of it,” Sunset said.
“I’m starting to feel like I’m never going to hear the end of it! Go to sleep!” the neighbor’s voice rang out.
Sunset blushed nervously. “He’s a jerk when he can’t sleep,” she said.
“I heard that!”
The girls chuckled. “Let’s just get this over with. However we wake up tomorrow is the result of our hasty motion, agreed?”
Sunset nodded. Her phone suddenly rang out. The time was clear: it was Christmas Day. The two Equestrians sighed as they both walked to
Sunset’s room. With some washing up and changing into their pajamas, the girls were finally ready for bed. Twilight and Sunset made themselves as comfortable as possible.
Twilight chuckled. She had never been in the same bed as anypony in her life and here she was, cozied next to her former enemy/new friend. Sunset felt the same way as her mind began racing. She fidgeted as she turned to face Twilight, who was redder than a tomato that was kissed by the Sun. This feels weird, she thought to herself.
“Well, goodnight Twilight,” she said.
“Goodnight Sunset. Merry Christmas.”
Sunset smiled. “Merry Christmas Twilight.”
Sunset turned off the light in her room and they both felt themselves drift into a quiet sleep. Well, one of them anyway. Twilight’s mind was going crazy at what was going on. She wanted to cup Sunset’s cheek, but doing so would probably make things awkward. She held herself down as she tried to throw those thoughts away. She sighed as she closed her eyes and found herself slipping into unconsciousness.
The following morning, Sunset began to feel the warmth of the Sun enveloping her body. The sunrays seemed to be hugging her, probably trying to keep her from waking up so quick. With the feeling of the soft pillows under her head and the cool morning air seeping through her window, Sunset was about ready to sleep for another few hours, but it was Christmas Day.
She opened her eyes and her heart dropped. It was dark in her room. The blinds were closed and there was barely any sunlight. The warmth she felt wasn’t due to the sunlight at all, but if it wasn’t sunlight, then what was it.
She figured out what was the problem. Her arms were asleep when she woke up. She looked down, and there was Twilight in a close embrace with the Equestrian turned Human. Sunset’s mind began racing as she tried to understand her situation. She was embracing her friend in a way she almost didn’t want to wake up to. At least she felt her clothes were still on.
She shifted in her spot. Where are my pants?