//------------------------------// // Interlude: Preparations // Story: Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Despite the fact that she eventually overcame her emotional stress, brought on by her existential crisis she had when she wondered if she was the real Sunset Shimmer, Sunset was, unfortunately, forced to stay in the hospital for an additional two weeks. During that time she learned that Qwark was still very much alive, despite all the broken bones and ribs that he had sustained after taking two Gekishin's to the chest. She knew that she should feel angry, even enraged, at the former captain for shattering her bracelet and forcing this fate upon her, but all she felt towards him at the moment was pity. Qwark really believed that he was doing both Bogon and Solana a service by riding Sunset of her bracelet, which she and her family had assumed was the source of her powers until they discovered that it apparently did something completely different... besides keeping Searing sealed away that was. As much as she wanted to hate the man for doing this to her, or what he had done to her family throughout their entire journey through the Bogon Galaxy, she could only feel sorry for him... all because of what Searing did the moment she was freed from her prison. She also managed to pass those two weeks with frequent visits from both her family and Angela, though what she did depended on who actually came to visit her. Clank had, somehow, managed to score his own holovision series that was going to be called 'Secret Agent Clank' and Ratchet was apparently going to be the chauffeur who drove him around. Starlight had taken an interest in the show and had, at some point between visits, spoken with the producer about being added to the show, only she wanted to be an antagonist of sorts. Sunset had no idea where her sister's inspiration came from, because Starlight described her new role as something called an 'android', though she knew that Starlight was talking about cyborgs. Apparently they also gave Starlight's character a number, which Sunset guessed represented successful models, and an actual name for her to use in the future, something that Sunset figured they'd all forget about. The odd thing was when Clank asked Sunset if she wanted to take part in the show as well, though as the villain that had created Starlight's android character and was bent on eliminating 'Agent' Clank. "Why not ask Angela?" Sunset asked, knowing that Angela could use the time to get closer to Ratchet, "I'm sure that she would make a better villain than me... and I'm sure the producer doesn't want two ponies on the show." "We already asked her and she doesn't want to do it," Starlight replied, though she tapped on her tablet and pulled up a hologram that looked like a humanoid version of Sunset, "We came up with this idea for you, so that way you don't actually have to appear on screen unless the scene actually calls for it... you'll just be voicing some lines every now and then." "...what's the character called?" Sunset asked, not really caring about the show at the moment, but figured that she would humor her brother and sister at least. "Professor Darkstar," Starlight replied, immediately noticing that Sunset frowned at the name, "Most villains have a catchy name to go with them, so the producer decided that this would be the best name to give the character that built my android character." "I'll give it some thought," Sunset said, not bothering to sigh as she turned and looked at her own tablet, which she had painstakingly learned to use her horn to use magic. She and Angela had been exchanging notes on the research ship that she had recovered from Aranos, which the Thugs had stolen and modified to suit their own goals, but in the end Angela had taken it back and was hard at work reformatting the entire ship. Sunset had told Angela that, at some point in the future, she and her family would be returning to the Solana Galaxy and the lives that Qwark had ripped them from. To her surprise Angela knew it was coming at some point, so she had agreed to be leave Bogon alongside Sunset and her family, which is why she got started on working on her ship to begin with. The two of them were in the process of creating a proper starship, complete with enough rooms for all of them, a place to eat their meals, a control center to command the ship, and, by Sunset's recommendation, a place to store the Cores when they were recovered. At the moment Sunset had suffered no side effects from wearing Honesty around her neck for the last two weeks, nor had she suffered any relapse when she had taken it off either, so she assumed it was safe to build a holding cell that could contain the Cores they collected without revealing that they were there to begin with. There were far too many parties interested in claiming the Cores for their own purposes, which was why Sunset was so interested in keeping them safe from those parties. These plans, and others, were what she worked on while she was in the hospital, knowing that it would be some time before she was released from her room. When Sunset was finally released from the hospital, and free to do whatever she wanted, Ratchet and the others took her to the house that Qwark had given to Clank when they had started the adventure, which the real Mr. Fizzwidget gave to them for as long as they stayed in the Bogon Galaxy. Sunset didn't stay in the house very long, because the moment she was able to walk once more, without having to rely on any of her family for support, she had Angela pick her up and take her to the starship. She wanted to keep herself busy and forget about everything that had happened to her so far, so when they arrived at the ship she immediately got to work, following the plans that she and Angela had put together. The first week she spent on her security chamber, making sure that the containment field was working before she did anything else with her time, yet found that creating such a field took time and a number of calculations that annoyed her to no end. Angela tried to help her in discovering a way to keep the magic of the Core hidden, but in the end she was as confused as Sunset was, so Sunset had to work alone with the Core. Even after she admitted that she was confused Angela stuck around to see if Sunset was able to figure it out, as she had experience with magic and might be able to figure out the problem. "So did Ratchet tell you that he and I started dating a two weeks ago?" Angela asked out of the blue, no doubt to have Sunset take a break from the calculation that were annoying her. "Seriously?" Sunset asked, surprise crossing her face for a moment, to which she let Honesty down and turned to face Angela, "When did he figure out the fact that you were interested in him?" "When I leaned forward and kissed him," Angela admitted, her cheeks becoming red for a moment, "Thank the Maker that he was also interested in me, otherwise that would have been an awkward conversation after we both had cooled off. I honestly have no idea what possessed me to kiss him in that moment, but I guess I had to get around to addressing the fact that I had a crush on him at some point." "Did you tell him that you're also a lombax?" Sunset asked, knowing that Angela had been hiding the fact of her race since the moment she had laid eyes on Ratchet, though she had figured it out almost immediately. Instead of answering the question Angela moved her hands to her belt and undid her tail, working out the kinks in it for a few minutes before letting it move through the air. Sunset suspected that Angela had considered telling Ratchet the truth at some point, but might have backed out after her episode with kissing him... which she actually wanted to see how that had happened now that she thought about it. "I... told him the truth after I kissed him," Angela weakly admitted, letting out a sigh as she faced Sunset, "and I, after some inner reflection, told him why I had gone out of my way to hide the fact that I'm a lombax. There's someone out there, across the numerous stars in the universe, that wants every last lombax dead and their culture dead... though the second one was accomplished with the attack on our home planet. I do not know who is trying to eradicate the last of our kind, but I had taken steps to make sure I was well hidden and that no one could uncover the truth about me... until the four of you came into my life. Sunset, you and your family are quite possibly the best thing that ever happened to me in all the years I have been in the Bogon Galaxy, because now I can finally get that burden off of my chest and, maybe, find some comfort with the people who are my friends. I had been hiding in the shadows for so long that I forgot what having friends felt like... and now you all have saved me from my own terrible choices." Sunset had to smile at that comment, because she had been determined to see whether or not Ratchet and Angela could even have a relationship together when their mission to save the Bogon Galaxy was over. Now she knew that it was definitely possible, as the two of them had apparently hit it off and kissed while she was recovering from her ordeal. Sunset had wanted both Ratchet and Angela to be happy when she discovered the truth about Angela, so she was pleased to find that they were doing just that already. "How about you Sunset?" Angela asked, causing Sunset to look up for a moment, "How are you feeling after everything that you've been through in the Bogon Galaxy?" "Exhausted, tired, emotionally drained," Sunset replied, easily listing a few off the top of her list, before letting out a sigh and tapping her screen as she searched for something to distract her from the Cores completely, "I know, I should be pissed off at Qwark for what he did... but all I feel at the moment is pity for him, and its all traced back to when Drek started his campaign to build himself a 'new' world. Before we started our first adventure I purely made gadgets and repaired security walls, though after visiting some of the planets in the Solana Galaxy we eventually came to the one planet where my magic was unlocked; Umbris. After our visit to that planet I began to notice some, well, changes in both me and the golden bracelet that I had been wearing for the last thirteen years. Suddenly I was able to perform feats of magic that rivaled Starlight's, absorb her own leftover magic into the bracelet, and even use that absorbed power in addition to my own. I stopped tinkering with gadgets and started learning about the wondrous power that was suddenly available to me, learning both the advantages and disadvantages of using magic. So quite some time I wondered if there were even any serious disadvantages that came with using magic, because Searing only appeared when I seriously needed her help, which had only happened twice in our home galaxy. Now, however, I actually feel more in harmony with myself, as if the Core I'm carrying is actually allowing me to become more attune to the body I have been given. I'm going to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the other five Cores are going to reveal to me when we recover them, but I am also very interested in seeing what I might have forgotten thanks to that bracelet." Angela nodded and looked at what Sunset had finally pulled up on her tablet, noticing that it happened to a hologram that looked like one of the spirits that had stopped Searing a month ago. She also noted that there were additional tabs attached to the file, which made her wonder if there were more of the spirits that Sunset had created holograms for. "And what is this for?" Angela asked, knowing that she might as well pick Sunset's brain a bit so she could distract her from the Core that was sitting next to her. "I figured that the ship could use some sort of watcher when all of us are gone, on missions and whatnot," Sunset replied, a smile appearing on her face as she looked at the picture in front of her, which happened to be the white alicorn spirit she had seen in the video Starlight had showed her, "Someone to help manage the ship and protect the Cores. I think its something that we can work on in the next couple of months... before something forces us back to Solana anyway." Starlight had told her, about one week after she had woke up, that the white alicorn spirit had been given a name by Searing before Sunset was freed from her corruption; Princess Celestia. Sunset was sure that the name meant something to both her and her sister, but what that something was she had no idea at the moment, mainly because of all the missing memories. She also thought about the other three alicorn spirits that she had seen in the video, the dark blue one, the pink one, and the lavender one, because, oddly enough, she had designed holograms for them as well. Sunset had no idea what had possessed her to make the other three holograms, but after some thought she decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. None of them had any idea if, or when for that matter, that they were going to return to the Solana Galaxy, so they had all agreed, in the last week of Sunset's stay at the hospital, that they needed to make themselves ready for their eventual departure. Ratchet and Angela, apparently, were going to be dating for some of the time before that happened, so Sunset was glad that they had finally admitted their feelings for each other. Starlight, according to what she told Sunset before she left the house, was going to be designing more weapons and practicing her own magic, because they had both determined that they needed a backup plan in case Searing resurfaced. Sunset was also going to practice her own magic as she worked on the starship, knowing that she needed to reign in her dangerous power and learn control over what she was capable of doing. Sunset didn't want another 'Yeedil Episode' when they returned to the Solana Galaxy, as that was what many called their assault on the facility these days, so she was determined to reign Searing in completely. She also wondered what the next villain they were going to face would be like, if he was smart like Drek, dumb like Qwark, or even smarter than Drek. She sighed as she stared at her tablet, knowing that time would tell them everything that they needed to know.