Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Sunset Shimmer was on her knees in front of her sink, arms rested on the table while she stared in an almost trance-like state at the dripping faucet, watching the water fall onto the steel surface and roll its way down the drain. She had lost track of time, and glanced towards the clock on her microwave.
She entered the kitchen to get a snack at 5:00 PM.
It was now 6:15 PM.
And she was hungry.
"Huh." she mumbled in a nonchalant tone.
Finally standing up - after working out the kinks in her back from being in that position for so long - she shuffled groggily toward her pantry and went for a small bag of sunflower seeds.
"The closest thing to Equestrian food I can get." she cheekily thought to herself.
Popping a few of the seeds into her mouth, she trudged up the stairs to her room and looked around. The place was rather neat and tidy, but there were definitely obvious signs of people living in it before her, made noticeable by the small dents and marks on the walls and floors from where its previous owner had removed the furniture that had been there prior.
This house had been deserted for some time after her... experience at the Fall Formal some years ago, due to how she'd managed to acquire it in the first place.
Threatening, blackmail and persuasion. Not exactly the best way to find a place to live, is it? Of course, when you're someone of the mindset she was back then, that was the only method available.
She of course paid her monthly rent on the house from the variety of part-time jobs she picked up, as she didn't want it to leave it to rot - she just couldn't find it in herself to live there with a clear conscience. However, after coming to terms with her previously toxic behavior, banishing her demons (literal and figurative) and finally accepting her inner peace of mind, she returned and decided to convert her then "exile shelter" into a proper home.
However, once she told her friends this story, they sprung into action to help with her renovations without the need for her to ask for it. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or stunned by how quickly they offered their time.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack were keen to help, with both naturally suggesting (and subsequently arguing about) exercise equipment for her rec room as well as helping her choose the essentials, i.e. TVs, gaming consoles, a laptop and many, many video games. They had also helped immensely with bringing in new pieces of furniture, even bringing Big MacIntosh into the picture to help out - however, with Applejack carrying the Geode of Strength, most of the work was done by her, as much as she tried to give her brother something to do.
Big Mac didn't seem too bothered about it. He never seemed to be bothered about much, really. Sunset was slightly jealous of him as she strived to achieve that level of Zen.
Rarity, of course, was on hand to suggest wallpaper and rug patterns, pillows and "fabulous" - her words, not Sunset's - décor for all the rooms in the house, while Pinkie Pie was eager to bring in her own unique "Pinkie" flair to the place. Rarity had personally made Sunset some pillows and a blanket for her queen-sized bed (Why the big bed? To be honest, she wasn't sure - she guessed for emergency sleepover warmth on those cold nights, because boy does it get cold.), as well as making sure everything was in tip-top shape - no dust or dirt that she spotted with her all-seeing, perceptive eyes was to be left uncleaned on anything Rainbow and AJ brought in. Pinkie, once everything was done, naturally threw a big housewarming party, bringing cupcakes, regular cakes, big cakes, small cakes, and pies; big pies, small... well, you get the gist.
Sunset wasn't sure if her house would be ready on the get-go for a pet, but Fluttershy kindly assured her that whenever she felt like she was ready to adopt, the animal shelter she volunteered at would be more than happy to help. In the meantime, she brought her a set of cute stuffed animals; dogs, cats, bunnies and various other small animals. Initially, Sunset felt like she was a bit too old for those sorts of things, but the ones her timid friend had chosen won her heart over, so she couldn't refuse.
The human Twilight - SciTwi, she'd grown accustomed to calling her as a pet name, much to the nerdy girl's adorably flustered embarrassment - took Sunset to her favorite bookstore to get some fresh books to fill her shelves, to make up for all the... darker books, on the shelves.
Her library pre-reformation mainly consisted of dark, frightening stories involving betrayal, banishment, loss, et cetera. Mainly Kafka, The Brothers Grimm and Orwell - which, she conceded to Twilight, were great works of fiction, but she didn't want those books to be the only things she read. She of course had bought other books since, admittedly about redemption and forgiveness since she was in that state of mind, but now she just wants to find her happy place by reading simple, plain old books, no matter the genre.
They occasionally had heart-to-heart talks about the effects magic had on them, with Sunset sharing some of her own experiences as well as revisiting the conversations the pair had during the Friendship Games. In the beginning, Twilight was reluctant, outright refusing to talk about the haunting presence Midnight Sparkle, which Sunset understood completely and kept her distance from the subject. But as time went on, and as they got to know each other more and more, she began to talk about it more and more, and Sunset let her talk.
That was how she discovered the nightmares her friend had been having about the magic that lingered within her. And after their trip to Camp Everfree, where she and the rest of their friends played a major factor in helping Twilight banish her own demons, their conversations became therapeutic and a major stress reliever on both ends.
One conversation was a thorough discussion about the dark genres of books Sunset was reading and the books Twilight had read during her time at Crystal Prep, books about being the odd one out and never being treated fairly or as the pawn in someone else's game of chess. Sunset mentioned that she tried to keep those books in her own room rather than on the living room shelf, because if she had guests over and those dark books were the first things they saw on the shelf, they would more than likely would be wary.
Granted, she didn't care of what people thought about her, but there's no telling who, even after all this time, still thinks she could return to being the demon she once was.
And speaking of which...
Sunset looked at her open closet, and stopped mid-chew to look on in silent regret at a familiar piece of clothing peeking out from all her other clothes.
She swallowed.
A jet black leather jacket with diamond-studded lapels. The one she had worn for a long, long time. And not necessarily under the best of circumstances.
The reason she had bought her new simpler leather jacket - the one with gold chevrons on the sleeves - was as a part of her new journey, both physically and mentally. But she couldn't bring herself to throw the old one away, because for as many bad memories as it contained, it still had something special about it, she just didn't know what it was. Sunset smiled fondly at the jacket, but she falters after a few seconds and sighs.
Sunset had "paid" for the jacket the same way as her house.
Threatening, blackmail and persuasion.
She cringed internally - that was always how she used to get what she wanted. And she wanted to apologize deeply to both the previous tenant and to that poor frightened sales clerk, as well as everyone else she had done harm to in the past, but she dropped that mission after a while. After all, she'd already had a hard enough time earning forgiveness from the whole of Canterlot High, as well as from the families and friends of her own friends, and there was no way she could get a sincere response from someone that didn't sound like they're accepting it just so she can go away faster. That meant that every time Rarity wanted to go clothes shopping, she'd avoid eye contact with the cashiers, and stay out of sight until after everything had been paid for.
Rarity understood, and didn't want to force Sunset into it. They both knew that forgiveness wasn't easy. Sunset had read online during her period of apologizing that for some people, there is no full circle. That even if you did the nicest things in the world, some people would still see you as the person you used to be. She learned that very well from many experiences after the Fall Formal - particularly a certain internet gossiping incident, which everyone involved had wisely shut away in the past.
She was glad Princess Twilight was willing to give her a chance. She was glad she was able to redeem herself in the eyes of the school, even if it took some time - which again, she understood.
But she had forgotten to ask Princess Twilight something very important during all her visits since the Battle of The Bands: did her former teacher, the one she felt she treated the most unfairly, miss her?
Did she know what happened?
Would she lock her up in chains in a dungeon if she ever went back?
And most importantly...
Did it matter?
This was something she needed to write to Twilight about.
She then looked at her clock.
It's now 6:30 PM.
And then the doorbell rang.
And, looking down, she realized that she was wearing her purple pajamas.
"Oh." she said, casual realization in her voice.
The book could wait.
Tossing away the empty packet of sunflower seeds - which she didn't even realize she finished during her exploration through her thoughts - she rushed downstairs to get the door.
Six familiar faces (and one purple talking pooch) stood on the porch with everything they needed for the sleepover they'd planned at her place, grins and eager smiles on their faces as they greet her, and she greets them.
SciTwi catches her eye.
She was smiling.
It was an honest, happy smile, and Sunset couldn't help but smile back.
She was able to leave her thoughts about Equestria behind when she was with the girls. And she was very sure that SciTwi felt the same way as she did about them.
They were all best friends.
And none of them would change that for any magic in the world.