//------------------------------// // Sunny Skies: The Woman from Croupton // Story: Playing Hero // by ArtieStroke //------------------------------// When one thinks of crimes, usually they are done under the cover of night. What better way to avoid being caught by the authorities when you've got the advantage of low visibility and everyone being asleep? But that's just what the authorities WANT you to think- at least, that's what was going through a would-be thief's head as he tried picking the lock to the backdoor of Canterlot Gems and Jewels. All those delicious, valuable gems- and just one door between them and him. He was practically giddy with excitement at the brilliance of his plan. What he wasn't expecting was the heavy "whumpf" of someone landing behind him, dropping his picks in surprise before whirling around. "It's lights out for you," The pale woman who practically just appeared behind him said, decked in a pastel blue and red suit complete with domino mask. She reared back a single fist, and with a mighty "THOK!" slugged the attempted burglar out cold. The headlines were abuzz the next day- "Vigilante 'Sunny Skies' Busts Bumbling Burglar". Sunset blinked once, putting the paper down as her six best friends looked at her. "Well, that's..." "Totally AWESOME, right?" Dash cried out, practically jumping in her seat, "I mean, people are becoming ACTUAL superheroes now! That's-" "I was going to say extremely problematic," Sunset interrupted, looking over the headline picture of the would-be burglar dangling by his underwear from a lamp post. "I mean, I'm all for proactive solutions- trust me, I am- but aren't there literal laws against this?" She said with a frown. Applejack shrugged. "Come on now, Sunset- this Sunny Skies gal is doin' some good. 'Sides, with people like her around, there's less y'all have to worry about interfering with folks' troubles." Sunset frowned more, humming, "Well... I guess you have a point there. It does get a little grating having to worry about thousands of people crying out for help and not having the time to do... well, anything." She sighed- as much as she hated the moniker, being more or less a physical goddess was a lot harder than she ever expected it to be. Most of her time was devoted just to keeping the universe from collapsing in on itself- fixing all of that was going to take at least centuries of her time. And while part of her was still here on Earth to keep herself grounded and not become some distant concept, it still took a lot of concentration to maintain that sense of identity and keep the overwhelming responsibility of everything from crashing down on her. "Still, I think I'd like to chat with this 'Sunny Skies' at some point- maybe give her the whole 'great power, great responsibility' speech." Twilight frowned, "Oh, you mean- oh." Sunset quirked an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'oh'?" All eyes were on Twilight now, as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Well, uh... I maybe kind of thought that... Sunny Skies was you?" A beat passed. "I mean, you're 'Sunset', and she's 'Sunny', and well you're always trying to do the right thing too- and I don't know exactly what the limits on your own abilities are or how many of you could be running around at one time and-" Rainbow and Pinkie shared a snicker as Sunset sighed, placing a hand on Twilight's shoulder, "Sorry, Tiger- but you didn't hit the jackpot this time. I'm just mostly-omniscient and omnipresent. No secret superheroics here." "Still, I have to wonder who it could possibly be," Rarity said, a finger to her chin as she thought, "There's been scant few pictures of her, and all blurry- ohh! Perhaps I could start designing a line of outfits for heroes in training!" Rarity already had her sketchpad and pencil out before Sunset could get a word in about how encouraging this behavior couldn't possibly be good. Sunset sighed again, and Twilight leaned against her. "You doing okay?" Sunset looked at Twilight for a moment, her face softening before ruffling the other girl's hair a little, "Yeah. I'm just not going to enjoy the upcoming headache all this is going to cause." Sunny Skies cracked an eye open, standing on top of the Crystal Empire State Building and letting the sun's rays soak into her skin. "Three blocks south, a mugging." She thought, before cracking her neck. With a mighty leap, she practically flew through the air- an exhilarating rush usually reserved for those with a Pegasi aspect. Definitely out of the norm for someone who seemed to be just a simple Earth aspect. The pavement crunched underneath her as she landed, and she took in the scene before her. A young woman, clutching her purse and a crook with a gun. This should be simple. The crook turned around, holding his gun shakily. "H-hey! Stop right there! I'm warning ya-" "Do you know who I am?" Sunny said, calmly stepping forward. BANG! Plink! The crook nearly dropped his gun as the bullet ricocheted off Sunny's arm and into a brick wall. The smoking barrel was proof enough that it wasn't just firing blanks. "See, if you knew who I was, you'd already know that was going to be useless." Sunny glowered over the shaking crook, before grabbing the gun by the end and twisting hard. The crook was holding onto it with dear life- which was just good enough for Sunny as he spun around with it and landed on his back. The crook groaned, before Sunny whipped out a zip-tie and bound his wrists faster than you could ask "Is it a bird or a plane?" Dusting off her hands, she stood up and looked at the shaking woman before her, still clutching her purse. "You should call the police, make sure this one gets locked up." Sunny said, keeping a boot firmly planted on the crook's chest to keep him from getting up, "Don't want him trying to hurt anyone else." The woman nodded, fumbling with her phone, before hesitating to glance at her savior. "A-are... are you-" "Sunny Skies?" A new voice called out from the alley way, and the hero in question turned her head to find a very familiar sight. "Yes she is," Sunset Shimmer said, brushing off some residual magic from her shoulder as she walked closer, "And I think she and I should have a very serious conversation." Sunny sighed, "I figured this would happen sooner or later," she looked back at the woman, "Are you going to be okay?" She nodded, and Sunny smiled, "Good to hear. If you'll excuse me, I'm probably about to get my ear chewed off by god now." "I'm not- you're totally just saying that to get on my nerves," Sunset said with a growl. Sunny walked past her. "Meet up with me on top of that building over there- I'd prefer a little privacy for our talk." She said, crouching low and sailing through the air with a mighty jump once again. Sunset rolled her eyes, and a moment later appeared on the roof. Sunny landed just a second later. "Okay, I've got to admit- I was mostly planning on just giving the old 'don't be an idiot, great power and responsibility' speech here, but seriously- what the hell, Principal Celestia?" Sunny raised an eyebrow, before placing a hand on her hip, "And here I thought the domino mask was doing its job." "I'm practically omniscient, and you thought you could hide who you were from me by covering up your cheekbones?" Sunset asked, incredulously. Sunny- or as it was revealed, Celestia- sighed, before removing her mask. "Point taken." Both of them stood on top of the building for a few moments in silence, before Celestia cleared her throat. "So, wasn't there something you needed to say to me? Speeches on using my powers responsibly and all that?" "Well, that was before I knew it was you," Sunset said, running a hand through her hair, "I mean, I could go on about how this is setting a dangerous example for the student body if you ever got found out, but... Honestly I couldn't think of a more capable person to take up the mantle of being a superhero." Celestia smiled, and placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder, "Thank you- that means a lot more to me than you could think." Sunset nodded, "Just promise you won't go all mad with power at some point, okay?" They both had a small laugh, and Celestia nodded, "Don't worry, I'm not about to play into any of those old tropes- I just felt the color scheme fit with me being solar powered," she thought for a moment, tapping a finger to her mouth, "Although, Luna did suggest going more for a mythological, 'Knights of the Round Table' look." "Of course she did," Sunset said, rolling her eyes, "Actually, could you do something for me?" Celestia nodded, "Of course." Sunset started pacing, "Well... I know that there's more than a few people out there with weird... quirks, unusual to their aspect," She looked over at Celestia for a moment, "And I know you're probably not the only one who'll think to use those gifts to start trying to be heroes." "I can see that," Celestia said, a little hesitantly. "And I'm already kind of incredibly busy making sure the universe doesn't collapse in on itself," Sunset continued, "So, if you find anyone else doing the whole vigilante thing, could you... try and guide them? Or something?" Celestia raised an eyebrow, "What, like starting my own League of Justice?" Sunset grimaced, "HOPEFULLY it doesn't come to that, but... basically?" Thinking for a moment, Celestia nodded, "I think I can manage that-" She stopped suddenly, looking over the city with a squint. "...Someone's holding up a store on Fifth and Stirrup Street," She said, and looked back towards Sunset. Smiling, Sunset nodded. "Go ahead- far be it for me to stop Supermare from doing her job." Celestia smiled in turn, placing her mask back on her face before leaping to the distance. Watching her quickly vanish towards the horizon, Sunset let out a breath. "The girls would never believe this."