//------------------------------// // 18. Kamikaze Thief Sunny // Story: Magical Girl Sunny // by Jetto //------------------------------// After abruptly stopping his car on the street next to the Canterlot City Bank, Captain Shining Armor and his partner, Mithril Shield, quickly joined other officers at the blockade made out of several police cars, guns loaded and ready for action. "What's the situation?" "All the entrances are blocked off and the civilians have been successfully evacuated, sir!" The masked SWAT member answered. "We were going to send a team, but, umm, Magical Girl Sunny arrived." Shining Armor and Mithril Shield looked at each other and shrugged. "So, the situation is under control?" Shield laughed, holstering his pistol. "And here I thought we were going to join in on the action for once." Shining Armor glared at his partner then turned towards the gate, which suddenly slammed open! All guns pointed in the direction of a masked thug that rushed out in... panic? "HELP, POLICE! GET HER AWAY FROM M-UGH!" He didn't finish the sentence, as he slammed face-first into the asphalt, making all the police officers and a few bystanders wince. He failed to bring himself back to his feet due to his shoelaces being tied, yet he still tried to crawl away, when... "Where do you think you're going?" A cold, heartless voice brought the huge man to tears, as his crawling speed increased. "PLEASE, TAKE THIS BIT--EEEK!" He stopped when a girl in an orange dress suddenly appeared before him. "No, no, go on. Finish that sentence." Magical Girl Sunny, the same as they knew her, asked. She was wearing a brand new dress, but unlike every other time, there was no smile on her face. Only a cold, disgusted frown, which grew more hostile with each passing second. "What, cat got your tongue?" She leaned over him and raised his head slightly up by the collar. "Or maybe your balls are attached to that AK-74 you so proudly waved around to everyone. Yes, AK-74, not 47. I can tell them apart, unlike some brainless losers who buy their cheap-ass firearms at black market summer sale!" Then, partially with her magic, partially with a surprisingly strong for a teenager arm, she lifted him in the air. "Well, do you wanna say something to me now?" Between the sobs, he tried to mutter. "I-I'm so-sorry..." "Louder!" "I'm so-so-so-sorry!" Sunny growled. "Apologize like a man, dammit! I've seen babies with more dignity than you!" She raised her other hand so he could see it burn with literal flames of anger. All the dams broke and the thug in her arms turned into a sobbing, crying mess of a human. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" She screamed, pulling away her flaming fist. "SAY YOU'RE SORRY, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF GA--" "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sunny tsked, noticing Captain Shining Armor moving toward her. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she dropped the guy on the ground while extinguishing the fires on her fist. "Captain." She welcomed him coldly, her expression unchanged. Shining Armor looked between her and the crying, beaten up criminal. "Sunny." The magical girl in question pointed a finger back at the bank. "There are more inside. Look for three weeping idiots tied up in the corner." She frowned in disgust. "The ones with wet pants." Shining Armor and Mithril Shield looked at each other confused, then signalled to the others to go inside and secure the culprits. They had never seen a group being so happily to be arrested since that one drug den raid they'd rather forget about. "Can I go now?" Sunny asked, arms crossed and foot nervously tapping the ground. Shining Armor opened and closed his mouth a few times, catching a glimpse of the other three bank robbers being escorted by his men. They all had wet pants in the crotch area (ew). "Sunny, a word with you?" He asked, getting an annoyed eye roll in response. Once they walked a bit further away from everyone, he asked. "What was all that about?" She frowned. "What was what about? I only did the usual." "You don't act usual. Those robbers were terrified of you!" "And they should!" She snapped. "I shoot fireballs!" "Just because I allowed you to remain a superhero doesn't mean I will allow that kind of attitude!" "What attitude? He was aiming an AK-74 at me! He's lucky I didn't break all of his fingers, like I promised!" Shining Armor's eyebrow twitched. "B-break his... this isn't what we agreed on!" He lashed out on the magical girl, who at this point wasn't even looking at him, glaring at the few bank robbers, nearly giving them a heart attack with her eyes alone. "Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you!" Sunny snapped back. "Or you'll do what? Ground me?" Shining lost his voice for a moment. His mouth opened and closed a few times without a sound before he shook his head and pointed a finger at her. "D-don't use that tone on me, young lady!" "I'll use whatever tone I feel like!" She stomped the ground. "If you don't like it, feel free to tell my parents. Oh, wait, you're a decade too late!" Shining Armor didn't say anything. What was he supposed to say at a moment like this? He blinked a few times with his mouth wide open, as Sunny kept standing where she was, hands crossed and silent. Mithril Shield walked towards the two after a moment and looked around the awkwardness, earning himself an angry glare from Sunny. Smiling sheepishly, he searched around for a way to break the silence in the least offensive way he could think of. "Hey, uhm, Sunny I, uh... I like your new dress?" "AAARRRGGGGHHH!" She groaned loudly, before teleporting away. The two officers watched the space where a magical girl stood just a few seconds ago. They blinked. Shield slowly turned to his partner. "What just happened?" "I have no idea." They blinked again, before Shield shrugged. "Heh, teenagers. I'll take a good homicide any day, but teenagers with superpowers? That is outside of my job description. I am NOT qualified to deal with it." That said, he left towards their car, Shining nodding after him. "Yeah, me neither," he pulled out his phone. "But I know someone who is..." Sunny landed safely on the floor inside her room, immediately announcing her return. "I'm home..." said Sunny to nobody... she sighed heavily, looking over her room. Not much had changed since she left it this morning. What did change was the temperature inside, though she couldn't tell why that was since the windows were closed off and she hadn't messed with the thermostat. And yet, it was cold. Not freezingly so, just... ...soulless. She looked at the tangled mess of pillows, blankets, fiery orange pajamas and some of her rejected clothes on her bed. She didn't feel like touching any of it. The other bed was the complete opposite - neat and tidy, no unnecessary things over or under the blanket, only a few cushions, with one notably missing. Her favorite. She looked around and confirmed that a few more objects were lost. Book bag. Notebooks. Shoes. Umbrella. Probably some clothes inside the drawers, not that she wanted to check. All the objects a teenage girl needed to have on short notice. The only prized possessions not taken were the sewing kit, materials she used for dresses and a laptop. She probably figured I... Magical Girl Sunny needs it more. She smiled weakly, slowly taking off her newest, so far favorite, but most likely last, dress and getting into her school uniform. Despite being already late to her class, she was still walking in the hallway in a sluggish pace in what she hoped was the right direction. The penalty for tardiness was quite severe in Crystal Prep unless you aced all your tests, in which case teachers tended to be a bit more lenient, which was thankfully her case. She tried not to think about yesterday, but the only other thing that came to her mind besides that, was this morning. She stopped on her tracks to smack her head on the nearest locker. Keep it classy, Sunset Shimmer! Smack! You just COULDN'T shut up! FOR ONCE! She didn't notice as a few students quickly passed by her, casting judging gazes while trying to ignore her and moving on. The few that stayed close (including one very confused first year girl whose locker was being head-banged on) remained only until Sunny stopped and turned around, making the tiny crowd quickly disperse. I need to apologize to captain Armor and officer Shield. She thought as she pulled out her phone and was about to press the screen, but after a few seconds she put it back in her pocket. After the classes. Another moment of silent walking later, she turned the corner and stopped on her tracks, just barely avoiding a head on collision. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed the all too familiar tiny frame with short, teal colored hair. Coco looked at her only for a split second, before turning her eyes away, desperately avoiding any sort of contact while tightly clutching a history book to her chest. Sunny bit her lip and turned her head away too, though she stole a glance or two from time to time while desperately trying to find something to say. Something that might fix what happened yesterday, but nothing came. On the surface, Coco looked like she always did, never sticking out from the crowd and always acting as if she was smaller than she truly was, but deep inside Sunny knew she was hurting inside and that in turn tore a huge hole inside of herself. She wanted to make her feel better, while at the same time remained fully aware that anything she did could only make things worse. But even still, she had to try. She swallowed and opened her mouth, but as soon as a whisper came out, Coco immediately turned away and hastily walked away, as fast as she could without running. Sunny extended her hand but stopped herself in the middle, letting her go instead, though not without a sigh of regret. "You should lea-" "GYAH!" Sunny yelled and quickly turned around, throwing a literal fire punch, barely stopping her burning hand about two inches away from the bespectacled face as the backdraft wind made three light blue pigtails dance. Sugarcoat blinked at the flaming fist right next to her face. "You should be more care-" "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!" Sunny snapped, pulling her punch away and shaking off the flames. "I could've punched a hole through your skull!" Sugarcoat fixed her slightly crooked glasses. "Noted." Sunny's eyebrow twitched as she looked at the stoic, never changing expression of a girl that had just been this close to death. What IS she? She shook her head and planted her right hand (left hand was still hot from the flames) on her face. "L-look, I'm sorry, I'm, uh... I'm not having a good day." "It's fine. I just wanted to inform you that Coco spent the night with me (no undertones) and it seems like she has no desire to go back anytime soon. She went back briefly this morning to get some of her things." "Heh... I figured as much." Sunny sighed deeply. "So, how is she...?" "She barely spoke, didn't eat anything and cried herself to sleep. As expected from a girl with a broken heart." Sugarcoat answered in the same tone as always. Sunny was wrong- her heart hadn’t sunk to rock bottom before. But now it did. "If it's any consolation, she seems better today, although I had to force her to eat a light breakfast." She stopped for a moment as Sunny's eyes went down at the floor. She coughed and stepped forward to look her in the eyes. "I don't know exactly what happened between the two you and I won't ask, but if you care about her, then please leave her alone. Being around her won't make her pain go away and can only make it worse." Sunny nodded. "Yeah, that's for the best... c-can you take care of her, for a little longer? She's... she can be a mess without someone to, you know...?" Sugarcoat nodded. "She's welcome to stay with me as long as she requires. And Sunset Shimmer... you take care too." Sunny managed to smile weakly, but genuinely, before turning away and leaving. The smile lasted just until she disappeared from Sugarcoat’s line of sight. She stood in one place for a few seconds before forming a fist and punching the nearest wall, making a small cracking noise that was sure to leave a mark. Not to mention on her knuckle. "Damnit...oww!" Her lone contemplation was interrupted by a cough. "Miss Shimmer, a word with you?" Despite dressing herself in the most boring business suit possible for a teacher of a boring school, Dean Cadance made the most of it and her small, but honest smile managed to warm the area near her, if only a little. Sunny wasn't affected by it. "Sorry for the curse word, Dean Cadance. And for the wall." "Forgiven. Care to join me in my office?" Sunny swallowed. Despite the bright, warm smile, something told her that it wasn't a suggestion. She followed Cadance to her office and took a seat by the desk before such command was given. She knew exactly what conversation was about to take place and she wasn't looking forward to it, not one bit. Her eyes wandered around the various elements on the desk, from the monitor and keyboard, to a stack of papers, to a few framed pictures, most notably a wedding picture of herself and Shining Armor (could those two get any more saccharine?) and a picture of Shining Armor's side of the family, which included their parents, Sci-Twi (even a bigger mess than she is today), Spike (smaller and fluffier) and Captain Shining Armor in his university days, dressed in a black t-shirt from some old tv-show he no doubt grew up with. "Miss Shimmer, do you know why you're here today?" She knew exactly why. "I'm sorry." She whispered, gaze locked in the wedding picture instead. "Sorry for what, exactly?" Her gaze lowered. "F-for lashing out on the police officers..." Cadence nodded. "I realize that as a superhero you feel it's your duty to strike fear into evildoers minds, but you were taking it too far. Fighting them is one thing, but if what I heard from Shiny, er, Captain Shining Armor, is true, then we need to have a longer conversation. Last I heard, intimidating people to the point of, ehem, wetting their pants, is something done by bullies, villains and amoral anti-heroes." She leaned closer, drilling her eyes into Sunny's soul despite not looking directly at her. "I don't think that's what you were aiming for. " Sunny remained silent. She had no retort to offer. Cadence sighed, leaning on her chair. "We all have our bad days, but we can't let that influence how we act towards others. Especially to those who are concerned about you," she explained, making Sunny's head lay even lower and her crossed hands tighten around her chest. "Shining Armor and Mithril Shield have been in police forces for years, they know a troubled teen when they see one." She leaned with both elbows on the desk and added, "If there's anything you need help with, we're here for you. You can talk to us about anything. Even the magical stuff, though I'm not sure if we can wrap our heads around that. Twilight on the other hand..." Cadence waited for around ten seconds in vain hope that, for once, it was enough to get through to a young mind, but that rarely happened. Not this early or as easily. "Of course I don't mean to pry. I will let this one slide due to... unusual circumstances that I was never trained for (though I'm slowly gaining more experience in it). But I want to let you know that you're not alone and if you need to talk to someone, my doors are always open. And if you're not feeling comfortable with talking to 'us boring adults', then remember what friends are for. And I know for a fact you have quite a lot of them." After a few seconds, Sunny finally looked at the smiling face of Dean Cadance and managed to muster a weak smile in response. "T-thank you, Dean Cadance. I'll think about it." Cadance nodded. "That's all I'm asking. You're dismissed." Before leaving the room, she turned to Cadance one more time. "Dean Cadance, you may be an adult... but you're not boring." Then she closed the door behind her. Cadence smirked. "Flatterer." "Yes, they passed each other on the hallway, but they didn't talk. She didn't say anything to me all day, so I don't expect she will speak to the one girl responsible... I just told her to leave her alone... in a friendly manner... yes, I told her that, I... no, I'm not trying to sabotage their relationship just to have a roommate, even though some people think I would stoop that low... was that a rhetoric question or do you seriously suspect me of taking advantage over a girl with a broken heart when I'm not even into girls? ...apology accepted... nothing worth noting, she's been sitting on my spare bed, hugging her pillow... no, a normal pillow, not the body pillow... no, I don't have any... I refuse to answer this question... yes, she's been here this entire time... talking behind someone's back would require me to be away from that person, not sit in front of her... she hasn't said I couldn't, she's just looking at me indifferently... I doubt she minds, but if it bothers you so much, I can ask her..." Sugarcoat pulled the phone off her ears. "Do you mind if I talk to Sunny Flare, and by proxy to others, about you?" Moments passed, Sugarcoat got back on the phone. "She shrugged and turned away, so I will take it as a 'no'... she can stay as long as she wants, at least until they make up... I don't even know how it went... I'm going to assume it won't be soon..." Sugarcoat kept on talking in her usual, expressionless monotone, but it might have been gibberish as far as Coco cared. She had her doubts about sharing a room with a girl whose only interactions with her so far had been getting critiqued over the lack of spine she'd been displaying back in the day, but Sugarcoat proved to be a lot friendlier and kinder than she was given credit for. She just never showed it, whether she did so by choice or because she was mentally incapable of displaying emotions was a question she wasn't going to ask. Not now and not until she could think of anything other than that night... "Sunny, there's... there's one more thing..." She swallowed a huge lump of cowardice down her throat, away from the mind and mouth where they weren't necessary. Stomach was better suited for abundant emotions anyway. "...I-I've been me-meaning t-to s-say, that I... I..." Sunny snickered and put her hands on her shoulders. "Cocs, breathe and relax." The other girl did so. "There, now say what you needed to say without sounding like a highschool girl with a crush on that hot guy from football club (does CP even have a football club, anyway?), approaching him in a lonely place to hand over a love letter like it's some manga romcom," still holding her palms firmly on Coco's shoulders, she looked slightly away "okay, that was straight out of that 'whatsitsname' anime, except the football crush was also a girl and I wasn't aware of that when I first watched it. I didn't finish it. Not that there's anything wrong with, you know, per say, just, uh... well, not my thing... I don't know where I was getting with this, but hopefully my pointless monologue helped you get your head straight!" She paused. "What were you going to tell me?" Coco's mouth opened and closed a few times. She shook Sunny's hands off her shoulders. "Nothing." She answered, turning away from her friend. Sunny raised a finger, but ultimately shrugged it away. "Oookay, if you say so." With arms crossed, she looked at her new crime fighting dress, though she glanced at Coco from time to time. Noticing that her friend stood motionless away from her, she slowly walked toward her. "Coco, why the long face?" She asked, extending her hand towards her friend... "DON'T TOUCH ME!" ...only to have it slapped away! Sunny recoiled, stepping back to massage her hand, more shocked by the sudden outburst than actually hurting. She opened her mouth, but failed to deliver any commentary, too confused to process any thoughts. As precious seconds passed and Coco failed to follow up on or even explain herself, she finally spoke up first. "Um, what was that about?" She asked, still getting no answers. Scratching her head she continued. "No, seriously, what was that about?" She stepped forward. "We were all fine and happy, then, well, this... I mean, I didn't say anything weird, did I? I'm pretty sure I was just talking about some yuri crap that... just... oh..." Her eyes shot wide open at the earth shattering revelation. Coco turned her head slightly, looking at her profoundly sweating roommate with the corner of her eye as she slowly put the pieces together. "W-wait, you me-mean that you l-l-li-... li-... you... m-me...?" Coco's snorted. "Oh, you're finally figuring it out. Took you awhile..." She said in the most cynical, cold way she could. Some time passed before Sunny continued. "W-when d-did that ha-happen?" Without turning to her, Coco shrugged. "Oh, I dunno. Maybe when we first met and you helped with the fabric... that I later used to make this dress," she turned her head to her left "or when you complimented my dress, without even knowing I made it," she turned a little more, now halfway into facing her "or when you saved me from Suri, having stood up to her after you inspired me no less, or when you invited me to live with you as your crime-fighting sidekick?" Once her slow turn concluded and the two were looking each other in the face, Sunny's heart stopped beating at the sight of Coco's beet red face, with tears still flowing out of her bloodshot eyes. "Or maybe it was over time, as you kept teasing me, flirting, outright seducing me..." "I-I was just joking around! I... I didn't know... h-how you... how you..." "You said I was your number one!" "FRIEND! I meant number one friend! Because you are!" Looking away, Coco's head made the least convincing nod, before she turned away entirely. "Y-you are... right?" She wanted to say something more, but nothing came to her. Nothing that wouldn't make things worse, so after a bit of hesitation she backed off and turned away as well, though not without stealing a few glances in Coco's direction. The room was never this quiet before. Even before Coco moved in. Few minutes into the silence, Coco finally made a movement, grabbing a handbag and starting to pack it with several items. A mug, towels, notebooks, pencil case and some other smaller things. Sunny wanted to ask what she was doing, but bit her tongue in time, for once, only observing from the corner of her eye. When Coco started closing in on the door, Sunny crossed her path. "W-where are you going?" Coco hesitated for a moment, never even once looking directly at Sunny. She didn't give any intelligible answer, only a silent murmur. "Move." Reluctantly, Sunny obeyed and sidestepped to her right, letting Coco leave the room. Seconds after the door closed, the silence continued once the echoes of the closing door dispersed. Gritting her teeth, Sunny withheld a scream for about ten seconds, before yelling out and hitting the closest thing at arm's length, which happened to be the mannequin, toppling the dress onto the floor. Looking at what could possibly be the final Magical Girl Sunny dress, Sunny wiped her tears and carefully pulled it back on its feet, carefully swatting the dirt of off it, trying to figure out what exactly went wrong. Coco sighed for what had to be fifth time today, when in reality it was the fourth time in the span of ten minutes. It seemed like her body demanded the exchange of air in her lungs, since she didn't so much as speak a single word for what was now one and a half days. And even that was considered a progress from yesterday, now that Sugarcoat insisted, instead of forced, Coco to eat at least some of her morning cereal, or else she wouldn't be welcome back in the room. Few spoons’ worth was all Coco forced into herself, before spending the rest of her time at the table making circles in the cold, soggy, milky mess with her spoon. That was all the Shadowbolts could stand. "Okay, congratulations on not starving to death," Sour Sweet cheerfully muttered through her mouth, before adding in a more irritated tone "you can go now." With one more shrug, Coco slowly walked away from the table with the rest of her bowl not optimistically half-full. Few seconds after she was gone, Sour Sweet let out a loud groan, as she faceplanted onto the table. "Ugh, I don't know how much more I can take..." she lamented. Lemon Zest patted her on her head, despite once again not being in the conversation, busy with loud music and social media. The patting was appreciated, though. "She traded Suri for this?" "That's not a fair comparison," Sunny Flare said. "Sunset Shimmer didn't do anything wrong. I think." "Well, she's back to being an emotionally damaged wallflower. Not much of a difference." "She will heal over time," said Sugarcoat "it will take a while before she's back to her old self, by which I mean the happy one, not the sad one before meeting Sunny. Not yo-" "Don't! Even! Start!" After a brief pause, Sugarcoat continued. "She's on a good way." "On a good way towards the classroom, you mean?" Indigo Zap asked, pointing at Coco, as she absentmindedly tried to open the closed doors that led to the school part of the complex. The doors that were closed on Saturdays. Sugarcoat blinked. "It will be a long way." Sunny Flare sighed. "I got this." She quickly walked towards Coco to calmly explain that today wasn't a school day, which Coco took as indifferently as anything. While everyone else was absorbed in Coco's barely conscious behavior (aside from Lemon Zest, that is), Indigo Zap turned to the other end of the cafeteria. It was getting somewhat late and most students had ended their breakfasts, so there was little that obstructed the view of the few that turned up late or took their time with their meals. Most prominent among them was a fiery haired, ponytailed girl in plain jeans pants and an orange hoodie, sitting lonely at a large table. Indigo sighed deeply as she got off her seat. "Be right back." She quickly announced as she slowly approached the lonely Sunny Shimmer. Whether it was magic, loud footsteps in the nearly empty room or just plain old intuition, she was greeted before saying anything. "Greeted" being used in a rather loose sense. "What do you want, Zip? I'm not in the mood." Indigo's eye twitched. "You know what my name is." Sunny shrugged. "Yeah, so? I'm still not in the mood." Oh brother, this is going to suck more than I thought. Indigo coughed. "Well then, I was gonna tell you that Coco is spending the weekend with us." She said, earning an indifferent shrug in response. "Just thought you wanted to know." "Whatever," Sunny replied, turning her eyes even further away from Indigo, or her unfinished toasts and cold, scrambled eggs which were going to feed the stray animals "she's a big girl, she can hang out with all the girls she wants." "R-right..." Indigo scratched her head, turning slightly back to her own group of friends, now (temporarily?) enhanced by one more member. "So, are you going to be okay?" She asked, never before wishing she bit her tongue as badly as right now. It took at least five, maybe ten seconds, to get a clear answer. "I'm fine." I could just nod and walk away. "You sure? Cause whenever someone says they're fine, they usually--" she was interrupted by a hand slamming the table. For the first time today, Sunny Shimmer turned to look her in the eyes. "I'm more than fine!" She stood up to look at her even closer. "I still have superpowers. I still fight crime. I still have a huge, growing fanbase. I'm still on top of all my classes. And contrary to the rumors," she pointed a finger at Indigo's chest for emphasis "I have more than one friend! In fact," she pulled out her phone "to prove the point, I will text one of them right now!" And that she did, quickly typing on the screen. "Okay, fine, point taken..." Indigo slowly backed away and was about to turn away, when Sunny's phone vibrated. "Ha, guess who goes bowling today?" Sunny asked, almost shoving the screen with a long, emoji-filled text into Indigo's face. "I can always count on Diane! Always." "R-right..." "So if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting with my seven other friends," she walked right past Indigo, leaving whatever was left of her breakfast still on the table "at least they accept me for who I am..." Before Indigo could raise any objections, Sunny quickly walked away, almost bumping into Sunny Flare, who was guiding Coco towards the cafeteria's only exit door. All of them stopped for a second and their eyes met for a fraction of a second, before Sunny turned and left the building with a huff. Indigo Zap watched the door where a lonely magical girl left, then turned her gaze to a tiny, other lonely girl who was on the verge of tears, stopped only by Sunny Flare's gentle, emphatic patting on the shoulder. Indigo Zap huffed. "Yeah, fine..."