Chapter Nine
Last Minute Preparations
Struggling with the guilt of the events she had caused earlier in the day, Sunset leaned back against headboard of the bed closest to the corner and sighed heavily. She knew it was silly to care so much over what happened in the wand shop, as she never technically knew about any of the wizarding world's laws, and no one had expected her to know any magic already. There was just something about the face Dumbledore had made that had unsettled her. It was hard to place what was bothering her. Perhaps she was just used to him as an unwavering pillar of strength, it was just uncomfortable seeing him when he wasn't. It was actually very similar to her opinions of Celestia. Her head hung glumly as she found herself returning to her mentor. It was only-
"Are-"
Sunset jumped at the sudden noise beside her, slamming her head violently into the headboard behind her. A moment of shock entering her before pain began to bleed through it. She held her head protectively breathing out in pain, "Tch! Haaaaa..." she moaned, rocking back and forth, dealing with the impact caused by her startlement. The sudden noise had brought the attention of each of the girls, minus Rarity, to her. Rarity had disappeared into her bag when they had reached their hotel room, saying she had a busy night ahead of her.
"I... I'm so sorry," Fluttershy gasped in shock, "I didn't mean to startle you..."
Damn you Fluttershy, how can you be so quiet? Taking a minute to breathe deeply in and out, Sunset finally reached a point where the pain was bearable enough to let go of her head. "I know Fluttershy... It's not your fault," she comforted the distraught girl, who seemed very shaken by the situation, "I was lost in thought and let my guard down. So what did you want?"
"Oh..." Fluttershy paused, looking embarrassed, "I, um... I actually came over here to see if you were okay..."
Sunset and Rainbow burst into hysterical laughter as she finished explaining herself, appreciating the irony in the gesture. Applejack appeared amused, but refrained from an outburst for Fluttershy's sake, who had withdrawn into her hair by now. Sunset rubbed the tears from her eyes as her laughter began to die down. A moment passed in silence before she started to get a bad feeling. Wait... where is-
"HI SUNSET!" Pinkie shrieked from behind Sunset.
"Whaa!" Sunset squawked, flinging herself off the bed away from Pinkie and right into Fluttershy. The sudden weight of Sunset sent the two toppling to the ground, with Sunset sprawled over the top of the pink haired girl. She pushed herself up slowly, having received entirely too much physical abuse in such a short amount of time, before registering she was still laying atop someone. Sunset stared down at Fluttershy about a foot from her face. She froze uncertainly, noticing Fluttershy's face flush a deep shade of red, causing a level of horror to enter her. Crap! I made her mad! She jumped up from the ground carefully, trying not to make the situation any worse than she had made it. It had been years since she had first met Fluttershy, and not once had she seen her angry before. "I'm so sorry!" Sunset sputtered, thrusting her hand out, offering Fluttershy assistance.
Fluttershy merely stared at her hand as if petrified. Her mouth worked as she appeared to be forming words that never ended up escaping her lips. Unsettled by the awkwardness of the lack of response, Sunset withdrew her hand and took a few steps back to give Fluttershy some space. "Sorry..." Sunset said again deflatedly. It had only been a few days since she had been trying to reform herself, she wasn't very surprised that any of them would have any leftover resentment to her. Especially Fluttershy. She had done terrible things to each one of them, but Fluttershy was the only one who wouldn't fight back and took whatever abuse was directed at her in silence. The ease of it had ended with her going much too far at times. Recalling those memories brought an unbearable wave of disgust for herself. I really am the worst...
Fluttershy stood up slowly, her mood seeming to fall along with Sunset's. "It's okay..." she said sadly, seeming unsure what else to say. She made her way over to her cart silently took her pet rabbit, Angel, from his cage, cuddling with him on the far bed. Rainbow went and sat next to Fluttershy, and the two whispered back and forth with each other for a moment.
"Uhhh..." Applejack began awkwardly to fill the silence, "Did anybody get anythin' interestin', when they were out shoppin'?"
"I pretty much just bought the necessities," Sunset replied dully, still a little down from what had just happened, "I honestly don't have anything I'm interested in."
"What? Seriously? Nothing?" Pinkie asked in confusion, before smiling coyly. "Not even... Rarity?"
"What?" Sunset sputtered, her face burning in embarrassment. Where the heck did this come from? She shot a nasty glare at Pinkie, causing her to wither back slightly. After dealing with the troublemaker she returned her attention back to the others. Fluttershy seemed to have stopped whispering with Rainbow, instead seemingly paying attention to the conversation now, watching Sunset out of the corner of her eye. She unsuccessfully tried to hide her interest, pretending to be absorbed with Angel. She seemed tense for a reason Sunset couldn't really explain. "I like her the same way I like all of you. She just has a very comforting presence..." Sunset trailed off, unsure of what else she could say.
"Uh-huh..." Rainbow joined in, unconvinced, before walking over to her cart. "Right... So you bought nothing interesting," she changed the subject, pulling a broom from her suitcase, "Unlike me!" She showed the group her purchase proudly.
"You bought a broom?" Sunset asked in confusion.
"You, uh... plannin' on cleanin' or somethin'?" Applejack asked, equally unsure how to take the object in question. Rainbow seemed irritated and taken aback by their reactions, while Pinkie was rolling around on the nearest bed giggling in amusement.
"What? No!" Rainbow denied adamantly, "It's for flying!" Now that it had been pointed out, it did seem a little ornate for a common broom. The bristles coming to a clean and smooth point, with bright golden letters artistically splaying across the head of the broom: Nimbus 2000.
Sunset still seemed a little shocked by the revelation, "How come we were never told about this?"
"Well, technically first years aren't allowed brooms," Pinkie answered the question drawing a scandalized response from Rainbow.
"Pinkie!"
"What?"
"Ya broke the rules already?" Applejack responded in horror, "It's not even been a single day yet!"
"Professor McGonagall let you buy that?" Sunset asked skeptically.
"Well... not exactly," Rainbow responded uncomfortably, "I kinda, sorta... maaaybe... had Pinkie Pie distract her while I went and bought it."
Applejack sighed in annoyance, "Well I ain't defending you if yer caught..."
"Awesome! Thanks Applejack!" Rainbow responded quickly, putting her broom back into her pack.
A sudden knock at the door interrupted the group. "That must be the pizza," Sunset commented, standing and walking over to answer the door. Sure enough, the lady at the door was holding four pizza boxes stacked atop one another. The exchange took only a few moments, before Sunset brought the stack over to the kitchen and lay them out across the counter, propping each box open to showcase the contents: Vegetarian, Cheese, Pepperoni, Supreme. Applejack made her way over to Rarity's bag, opened it, and called out inside.
"Rares! Pizza's here!"
A moment passed by before Rarity called back, "That's okay, darling, I'm not hungry. You all go ahead and eat without me."
Applejack just stood there at the bag, trying to process what she had just heard, before giving up, closing the bag, and joining the others in the kitchen. Each of them seemed to gravitate toward different pizzas: Applejack grabbing from the meat pizza, Rainbow from the pepperoni, Pinkie from the cheese, leaving Fluttershy and Sunset who took from the vegetarian. The latter of which shared a small smile at their choice in food. Sunset was relieved that Fluttershy had calmed down enough to be on pleasant terms with her again. She would try her best to make everything she had ever done up to her, no matter how long it took her. The group spent the time joking and conversing, as they each ate their fill, before making their way over to the lounge, each taking a moment to stop by their carts to take their animals out, and give them some love.
Applejack's dog, Winona, wagged its tail excitedly, but was too well trained to go wild, instead sitting at Applejack's feet waiting for a command, which she happily gave him. Rainbow for some reason had a pet tortoise, which she named Tank. Pinkie though, had the most bizarre pet of the group, sporting a toothless alligator, which she had unsurprisingly named Gummy. Fluttershy brought her rabbit, Angel, over to the lounge, leaving just Sunset without a pet. Seeing the group enjoy their pets made Sunset feel a little lonely and envious of their interactions, but she had always rationalized that she would be better off without the extra responsibility, as it would cut down on the amount of time she could spend on more useful activities.
The group continued to play with their animals to pass away the time, Applejack taking some time to take Winona outside to let her relieve herself, before they each decided to put their pets back in their kennels. It was mutually decided as a good time to retire for the night, as they each decided the sleeping arrangements. Pinkie seemed disappointed that she was given a bed all to herself, on the grounds that she cuddled whoever she ended up sharing a bed with. She had fought the accusation, but eventually admitted that it was true. It didn't take entirely too long before it was decided on Rainbow and Fluttershy taking one of the beds, while Sunset and Applejack could sleep on the other.
Sunset stared at the ceiling dully, counting the seconds that passed by with the sounds of the clock in the room. The sound aggravated her to no end. Each tick making her anger rise further, making it impossible to sleep. Not to mention Rainbow snored like a thunderstorm was gracing the room with its presence. Eventually she climbed out of bed, trying her best to not wake Applejack with her movement, before making her way over to Rarity's bag, and climbing inside. Taking a moment to close the entrance behind her, she made her way down the stairwell into the grand room. Rarity had her back to her, across the room, completely absorbed in the fabric laid out before her. Sunset heard a gentle mewling, drawing her attention to Rarity's cat who sat perched on a ledge to her right, staring at her glumly. The thing was eighty percent hair, and twenty percent attitude. It was by far the ugliest cat Sunset had ever seen.
She dismissed the poor critter from her mind before making her way over to Rarity, "Hey Rarity."
Rarity jumped in shock before turning to regard Sunset, "Sunset, darling! I never heard you come in. I really ought to install some kind of chime at the entrance... Is that even possible?..." She wondered for a moment before focusing on Sunset again, "What's the matter?"
"I just can't sleep, between the day tomorrow and Rainbow's obnoxious snoring." Sunset flopped back on the couch nearest to Rarity. "I was wondering maybe if you could use some help."
"Oh." Rarity seemed a little shocked, "I wouldn't know entirely what you could do to help me, really." She mulled over the thought for a moment before changing the subject, "I've already finished one of them." She got up and put on the finished robe hanging from the clothing rack beside her, "How does it look?" Sunset stared at her in surprise. She had no idea how she had done it, but she had made a robe not particularly feel like a robe, but it still seemed a robe? She shook her head in wonder. It just barely fit the category of a "plain black work robe", but it fit her very well, hugging her in areas that made the entire piece seem much more flattering, yet still maintaining the basics that made the robe what it was. Not knowing too much about fashion, being from another world less concerned with clothing, she could only really tell that it looked great.
"It looks amazing..." she breathed out in wonder, "How did you do that?"
Rarity chuckled in amusement, "Perhaps you would like me to help you make your robes a little more flattering? There are simple adjustments I can make to help it fit your figure."
"Only if you can somehow make my jacket an acceptable replacement for a robe," Sunset said sadly. She loved her leather jacket for as long as she had it. It was a shame she would have to start wearing those robes instead.
Rarity thought for a moment, considering some possibilities before finally conceding, "I can't think of a way to really make that work. Luckily you'll still be able to wear your jacket after classes are over and during the weekends."
"Yeah..." Sunset said sadly, before standing up and turning back to the stairwell, "Well I guess I'll try to get some sleep again, good luck!"
"Good night, darling." Rarity smiled at her warmly before turning back to her work station.