//------------------------------//
// 16. Sunny Z! 
// Story: Magical Girl Sunny 
// by Jetto 
//------------------------------//

"...and with that out of the way, we'll spend the rest of our days bathing on the sunny beach of Hawaii, with our only worries being which color the next cold drink I get for the lovely ladies this time!"

The eight men nodded to each other, staring at the round table of various blueprints and notes scattered around the pieces of equipment, masks and guns. They were all experts in their fields: armed robbery, safe cracking, sharpshooting, hacking, stunt driving, forgery, they had it all covered. Four of them, the strike team as they called themselves, would get inside the Canterlot National Bank, armed to the teeth with assault rifles and shotguns bought on the black market, wearing rubber masks of cartoon characters and easily taking control over the situation. Inside were a few of their accomplices, who provided them with details on the surveillance system, including the information on how long it would take the police to appear if anyone managed to trigger the silent alarm. They knew exactly where the most valuable stashes were held and already had the equipment ready to cut through the bunker, as well as a car with false plates with the driver waiting outside and cops sent on a goose chase by anonymous calls shortly before the main event. And once out of the city bounds, they had new clothes, papers, alibi and plane tickets ready.

The plan was as perfect as it gets. If there was something that could possibly go wrong, it had to bend the laws of reality. 

"What about... you know..."

"No, I don't know!" 

"Magical Girl Sunny! What do we do if she appears?"

The rest of the group looked at each other, then started laughing.

"Hahaha, don't tell me you're afraid of some little girl!"

"What's she gonna do? Shoot a friendship beam at us?" 

One of the other robbers started making some terrified expressions. "Oh no, I'm soooo scared of some little !@#$ in a slutty dress!"

"It's not slutty, it’s stylish!" Sunny interjected. "Also, calling someone a !@#$ is really rude!"

"Hey, she dresses like that it’s like she’s asking for some!" 

"You do realize I'm underage, right?"

"You know what they say, if she wants a D, then who am I to... to..." He slowly turned his head left, looking into the eyes of someone they did not invite. "AAAAH!" All the robbers jumped away from the table at the same time, one even fell of his chair, then crawled as far away from Magical Girl Sunny, suddenly in the middle of the room.

She wore a new purple dress, the one from the party graciously gifted by Rarity (she had two of them anyway), though slightly modified by Coco. The sleeves were completely removed, leaving the hands and shoulders completely bare and covering the hands with elbow long matching gloves, as well as shortening the skirt to knee length and adding kneesocks to cover her legs all the way to her long, matching boots. It was a quick fix made by Coco, since dress number one and two were severely damaged and number three (now renamed to four) was still under construction, in early stage and barely any progress made.

Sunny sat on the table, happily waving at them. "Hi guys!"

 The 'naughty' robber (she would later call him Bob, she had no idea what his name was) pointed his finger at her and started yelling. "WHAT? HOW? WHEN! WHY? How long have you been here!?"

Sunny tapped her chin. "Aaaaround the time you mentioned colored drinks, I think."

"H-how did you find us!?"

Sunny shrugged. "A little birdie told me you had a secret 'meeting', no girls allowed."

This wasn't entirely false. Blue Jay was a young, common street thug that had the misfortune of stealing a purse while Sunny was nearby. She caught him easily and was about to send him to the nearest police station, when the guy broke into tears and started begging for mercy. Caught off guard, Sunny listened to his sad story of how his parents didn't listen to him, his girlfriend cheated on him, that he was too handsome and wouldn't last a day in jail and would do anything she asked him instead. Before she opened her mouth, he told her about the heist that some of his friends were planning, even giving her the address and time. More annoyed than confused, Sunny let him go with a warning, hoping to Princess Celestia (she seemed like a cool woman... uh, pony) this wouldn't backfire on her. Luck had it, Blue Jay was right and deserved to be pardoned for his crime. This time.

'Bob' growled and pulled out a handgun from his jacket pocket. Everybody mimicked him, reaching out for the nearest shotgun or rifle, every single one aimed straight at Magical Girl Sunny. She didn't even flinch.

"Yeah, here's the thing about me and guns: we don't really mesh too well. Anytime I come near one, all the bullets inside just magically vanish!"

Some thugs checked their guns, only to find out they were all empty and none of them had any spare ammo in their pocket anymore! Someone behind her pulled the trigger a few times, hearing only empty clicks instead.

"Which is a good thing, because if they didn't," she tilted her head at the guy who tried to shoot her "you would've totally just murdered a teenager. Like, I get you're greedy, but adding a murder to your conscience? Really? You think it’s worth it?"

As the thug in question backed away to think about his life choices, another thug (she would later call him 'Jim') growled and tossed his rifle away, grabbing the pipe wrench from the table and walking towards her.

Sunny gasped, shielding her face. "Oh no, is... is that an aluminum pipe wrench?"

Jim stopped on his tracks and scratched his head. "Uh... yeah, I think?"

Sunny left the table an extended her hands forward, her face all terrified. "Aluminum is my only weakness! I-I can't feel... my powers... are... waning..." She collapsed on her knees.

"R-really?" Jim asked, looking at his other comrades who only shrugged.

 Sunny slowly got up and tilted her head. "Nope, it's a lie." She said, blowing a raspberry at them.

Jim's eye started twitching, his face scarlet red from anger. "Why you little !@#$! I'm gonna kill you dead!" 

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Then come at me already, bro!" She assumed a defensive pose, smiling slyly, with a battle plan ready in her head.

All the thugs grabbed some nearby object to use as a weapon, whether a pipe, bat or even a knife, and were about to start rushing at her with their full force, giving her plenty of occasions to use their numbers against them, confuse them with fireworks and teleporting tricks alongside some sick martial arts moves, when...

 "POLICE! EVERYBODY GET ON THE GROUND!"

"What!? The police!?" The thugs turned towards all the entrances of the warehouse, where a seemingly endless stream of SWAT officers poured inside, forming a line of rifles pointed straight at them.

 "Awww ..." Sunny frowned as all the thugs raised their hands in the air, dropping whatever they were holding, before allowing themselves to get arrested and cuffed, one by one. She expected at least a few of the SWAT members to get to her and demand she surrenders too, but thankfully she was for the most part ignored by law forces. Unsure if she had anything else to do, she was about to just turn and walk away, say something cool in a flashy way and vanish back to school, when...

"Wait!" She heard an unfamiliar voice calling in her direction. "Magical Girl Sunny?"

 She turned around to the man. Unlike every other SWAT member, he was dressed casually, with blue jeans and and a brown leather jacket. He wasn't wearing a helmet, so she had a good look at his white skin and dark blue short hair, with few lighter streaks in between. His eyes were narrowed and set at her, giving her some odd vibes. This guy seems like a big deal. Gotta play it cool!

"Can I help you, handsome?" Ok, little less cool!

 He didn't react, showing his badge instead. "Captain Shining Armor, CPD."

"Magical Girl Sunny, charmed" she turned on her heel and started walking away "it's been good meeting you, Captain, but I have something to do, so Sun'y-"

 "We need to talk. In private."

Nothing really stopped her from teleporting away at the moment, but what would that achieve, other than anger a captain of the police? Drat!

 They met a few minutes later on the rooftop of the warehouse. It was a bright afternoon and she had barely a few minutes until classes resumed. Unlike the criminals, who happened to have a meeting during her lunch time, cops had the tendency to drag things out and getting late to history classes three times in a row wouldn’t do any favors to her already strained reputation. The Captain joined her as soon as he was done issuing orders. He was about to open his mouth, but she beat him to it.

"Okay, if this is about me dishing out 'vigilante justice' without your consent, then don't bother, because I've watched enough cartoons to know that the law was created to bring order, but it won't stop crime from happening no matter what, like how these guys would’ve robbed a bank if I didn’t show up, although I guess your team had it under control, so bad example. Anyway, if you guys want to arrest me and put me in the same prison cell as the ones I put there in the first place, then let me give you a short reminder that I can teleport out of anywhere, so unless you somehow block the magic inside me it won't do squat! The sheer fact I'm even standing here and talking to you should speak volumes about how much I wish our relationship stays professional and mutually beneficial. Also, if I wasn't doing what I do, plenty of people could, and would, have gotten hurt during the fire incident this past week, not to mention the sort of hell a certain little girl would have to endure if it was up to the police to negotiate with a terrorist. So, if you want me to step down because the law says so, then I'll say screw the law and do what I want, and I want to do what's right and there's nothing you can do about it, other than deal with it!"

 Shining Armor blinked, his face unchanging throughout all this rant. Once she stopped and took a long breather, he asked. "Are you done?"

 After taking a few deep breaths, Sunny nodded. "Yeah, I'm good... Rant over. Sorry."

Shining Armor took a deep breath. "Now, I only recently got back after my honeymoon and let me start by saying that you're the topic number one at HQ. Ever since you first came, there's been an internal debate over what to do with you. So far, most of the field officers, especially the ones you met personally, vote highly in your favor, while the higher ranking ones are for the most part against, if only because there are no procedures towards magic, supernatural powers and whatnot, while vigilantism is still considered a deviation from the norm that brings more harm than good in the long run."

 She swallowed, parts of her confidence slowly burning out. "And what's your opinion?"

 He thought for a moment, she wasn’t sure if he knew that the waiting was killing her inside. "I believe that you want to help. And if you wanted to do something bad, you would've done it already and none of us could stop you."

"Damn straight! ...sorry."

"But I also believe that your escapades could cause a lot of harm, if left on your own."

"Because I use magic, or because I'm just a kid?"

"Because you're a human!" He said quickly, taking her slightly aback. "And any amount of power, magical or otherwise, can leave you wide open for mistakes. And in this line of work, those can cause a lot of harm, to you and your environment."

 Sunny blinked. "Oh..." She nodded, unable to think of any rebuttal.

"But I can't deny that so far you've been doing a good job and that you're still learning, so," he took a deep breath "I'm going to trust you for now."

 Sunny's eyes widened. "E-excuse me?"

"You are the first superhero in this world. I also watched a lot of cartoons while growing up, and all of them taught me that shunning those who wish to do good is rarely a good idea."

She gasped. "Oh my gosh, does that mean... no witch hunting?"

He shook his head. "I always hated that part. I know it's a base for good drama, but it was never worth the risk."

"I know, right?"

The two smiled, then Sunny started laughing; and although Captain Shining Armor didn't join her, she did catch him chuckling a bit.

 Sunny scratched her head. "So, how's this going to work? Do I get a badge or something?"

"No, that won't be necessary. Not for the time being."

She nodded, when an idea crossed her mind. "Can I get some handcuffs?"

"Don't push it."

"The one I bought online is already broken. Oh, do you have some of those plastic thingies?"

"Flexicuffs?"

"Yeah, those! I could use a few. I mean, if it’s not a problem?"

Shining Armor thought for a moment. "I'll see what I can do."

She smiled, happy that she managed to bargain something, anything, out of an actual police officer. The sheer fact that she wouldn't be hunted by armed forces alone made her sigh with relief. Or at least she had someone on higher position backing her up. Whether she could trust him was an entirely different question. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she had a good feeling about this relationship. On a fully professional level, of course.

"Just to remind you," Shining Armor continued "I'm risking my entire career by putting my trust in you. If you start misbehaving, I will be held responsible for putting you down. And trust me, none of us want that to happen."

"It's alright, Cap... can I call you that?" She asked, getting a shrug in response. "I Pink- um, I mean, I promise I will always stand for the good cause... except that vigilante part that I hope nobody will make a big deal out of. Besides, I really don't think the police can handle magical threats anyway." Unless they ask the Rainbooms, but why would they know anything about them?

Shining Armor snorted. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. A word of advice- confidence is important, but don't underestimate your opponents, Miss Shimmer."

Sunny waved her hand. "Yes, I already learned that lesson the ha-" WOAH HOLD ON A SECOND! Her eyes shot wide open and sweat poured all over her body. "Wh-what did you c-call me...?"

He smiled as he answered. "Sunset Shimmer. That's your real name, isn't it?"

OHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRA- No, focus! Quick, contingency plan A!

"O-oh, I see," she laughed, slightly turning her head away "you're mistaking me with Sunset Shimmer from Canterlot High. Yeah, I was surprised too, the resemblance is uncanny, I must say, but we met up and cleared up the misunderstanding! I even have a photo together to prove that, in case people confuse us and it becomes a problem, I swear it’s not photoshopped or anything..."

"She's a unicorn from another dimension and you're her human version." He calmly explained. "Also, you're a student in Crystal Prep High, sharing a room with Coco Po-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH! "Wh-what, h-how did you, what, b-but... w-who told you tha-" She stopped, as dots inside her head connected, one by one, creating a cohesive narrative. 

Honeymoon... just like our Dean... Twilight's sister-in-law...

Her eyebrow twitched, as she finally came up with an answer. "You're Twilight's brother!"

Shining Armor crossed his arms, and smiled brightly at her. "You are as smart as they say."

Sunny tried to smile alongside him, but couldn't let go of the disappointed frown. "No offense, Cap, but I might need to smack some sense into your sister. in her face. With my fist!"

"In her defense, she didn't say a single word."

---

"No way!" 

"B-but Twiley!"

"No buts!" The bespectacled little sister crossed her arms and looked away. "I Pinkie Promised that I will never say anything! Not even to you!" 

"Oh come on, little sis!"

"No!"

"Please? I promise to keep it a secret!"

"No! And if you keep on asking, I... I will... I will tell Cadance about the hidden folder!"

Shining Armor gasped. "Y-you wouldn't dare!"

She looked in the eyes. "Try me!"

The two locked their eyes for a moment, until Shining Armor relented. "Ugh, fine! Sheesh!"

Twilight nodded proudly. "Sorry Shiny, one can't break a Pinkie Promise!"

With one more victorious chuckle, Twilight went back to the dining room, where Cadance was in the middle of telling their parents what appeared to be another hilarious story from the ski trip. Leaning over the wall in the hallway, Shining crossed his arms and groaned. I was hoping this was going to be easy. I know Sunset Shimmer had some magical misadventures and she helped Twily during the friendship games! He glanced over at the purple puppy, playing with a squeaky toy in the corner, no worries in the world. I mean, we have a talking dog, for crying out loud! If mom, dad, Cadance and I can take it, why wouldn't... wait a second! He looked a bit longer at the talking dog, then smiled.

"Spike, here boy!" He crouched down, calling the dog over. Spike immediately lost all interest in his toy and rushed to get the well deserved (for being so adorable and obedient) head pats. "Who's a good doggie?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know I'm great... behind the ears please." Spike asked and received. Shining Armor didn't have the nails that Rarity, Cadence or Mom had, but he was still a master at using his fingers. Cadance confirmed as such. His eyes shot open as his nose picked up some blissfully amazing scent. "What's that smell? It's... is it...?"

Shiny smiled, revealing a large piece of juicy, delicious of ham. Spike's tail waggled harder than ever before as he stood on his two legs and went from side to side, as Shiny waved the piece of meat just above his reach.

"Can I have it? Can I? Gimme, gimme!" He wobbled for a while, before shaking his head and going back to his all fours. "N-no, I-I can't! Mom said that it’s not for me and will be mad if she finds out! I-I don't like her when she's mad!"

Shiny laughed. "Trust me, I can relate. But don't worry, this will be our little secret. And speaking of secrets..."

---

"That traitorous mutt!" Sunny stomped the floor, only now realizing that Spike hadn't been included in any parts when they promised to keep everything a secret. Nobody imagined it would be a problem big enough to issue a Pinkie Promise against him.

Shining Armor laughed. "Don't blame Spike. He means well, but his animal instinct takes the better of him. And thanks to him, I know that you can be trusted. Trust me, if my little sister and her talking dog hadn't vouched for you, this would've been a completely different conversation."

“Y-yeah, I see...” she sighed heavily, fully resigned from taking charge in this conversation. "Can I go now? I don't want to be late for classes."

He nodded. "You are dismissed," she nodded back and slowly walked away "If something happens, I'll be sure to call you, I already have your phone number. Oh, and Sunny?" She turned back to him one more time. "My wife is looking forward to meeting you."

Sunny hummed, then shrugged. "Sure thing, BBBFF! Sun'ya!" She vanished.

Shining Armor snorted to himself, before getting back down to finish his job.



 

Some time later.



 

Coco sat on her bed, facing the doors, with a laptop on top of her lap (woah, is that where the name came from?!). This position proved to be much safer for work, since Sunny had no back to surprise her from, to take a sneak peek at her monitor, boo at her ears or stick an ice cold beverage at her cheek. For the past three days Sunny had been meeting up with Sunset, rotating between their room and the latter's apartment to practice magic. She was there the first two times, until she realized that magic lessons weren't as exciting as she expected. She decided it was more productive to stay home and work on the next dress. She liked Rarity's modified version just fine, but wanted to finish her current one as soon as possible. It didn't feel right for Magical Girl Sunny to walk around in anything other than a Pommel production. Has a nice ring to it!

But just like last few days, she wasn't getting anywhere with her work and forced herself to take a break after few fruitless hours of no progress. She had her browser tab opened at her personal mailbox, where among several read messages, one was still lit as unread.



From: pinkamena@pie.com ; Subject: have fun ;-D



For the past hour and twelve minutes since she sat down, the cursor went from the title, then towards the trash can icon, then opened a new tab to play a silly video or two, then went back and ended up doing nothing. The cycle continued for an hour and twenty two minutes.

Just one click, be done with it and go back to the dress. It's not that hard.

Her finger kept shaking, but not hard enough to properly click anywhere to get things done. Just delete it and get it over with! She breathed and pointed the mouse at the delete icon... then moved it away. B-but, what if it's the only chance I'll ever get? How many people get a chance like that? Wasting it would be inconsiderate to Pinkie... except they are still naughty pictures... but she is in her underwear, making it 100% safe for work... oh, that makes it all fine, HOW EXACTLY? ...w-well, she posed for them and she's aware they exist... and that makes it okay to use them for your nefarious needs? ...w-what nefarious needs? ...oh, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!

"ARGH!" She groaned and fell backwards, only now realizing she was too close to the wall and hit the back of her head. Grunting from the sudden pain and massaged her head, she cursed karma for punishing her for her sin. Whether it was the sin of impure imagination, sloth or inability to make a proper, assertive decision.

The doors to the room suddenly opened, making her instinctively close the tab, just in time for Sunny's lazy return.

"I'm back," she yawned loudly as she plopped on her bed face first and remained motionless.

"Welcome back. How was the lesson?" She only got a muffled groan in response. “That bad?"

Rolling herself to the side to see her roommate, Sunny let out yet another long sigh. "If two months ago you told me that magic lessons would've been so boring..."

"We didn't know each other two months ago."

"...and all of that so that I could learn how to grow mustaches!"

Coco blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you heard it right! Apparently just because I didn’t have a formal training and lack the theory, I'm forced to learn the most boring things, just to 'adjust my inner mana matrix' stuff to avoid straining my horn, or whatever I use for concentrating mana, we haven't figured that mystery yet. Adjust my ass, more like... that sounded way better in my head." She coughed, trying to ignore the hushed giggling. "I mean, I can teleport and shoot fireballs, what else she wants? 'You need to practice your precision'? I could teleport the clothes you're wearing right now!"

She paused and gave that 'oh god she's thinking about something naughty' smile that Coco dreaded and loved so (in a very inappropriate way), then raised a finger and with a blink of light, a pair of light blue panties appeared at the tip of her finger. Coco shrieked in terror, tossing her laptop aside (it landed safely on the bed) and covered her skirt area, exploding in a deep red blush as Sunny kept swinging her new treasure around her finger, smiling smugly.

It took Coco at least ten seconds to discreetly check under her skirt... only to find out that not only was she still wearing everything, but she had white panties today. Her embarrassed gaze slowly morphed into confusion, then over to exasperation street, before taking a detour towards 'that lovely inflated cheeks while pouting face' that she knew was Sunny’s plan all along, but couldn’t compose herself to deny her the satisfaction.

Sunny laughed, still twirling the piece of undergarment on her pinkie. "Relax, I took the fresh one from the drawe-"

"GIVE IT BACK!" She lunged at Sunny and snatched her property back and turned away, holding the reclaimed good near her chest.

"Coco, those are..."

"PERVERT! CREEP! MOLESTER!"

"...those are mine."

Some time passed. Maybe a few minutes, half an hour. Actually, only a few seconds, though one could argue it felt like an eternity. Coco's eyes went over the pair of panties, examining them closely, before...

"EEEP!" She jumped away, tossing them right at Sunny's face, as she kept smiling widely from the ensuing comedy. She took them off her eyes if only to look at one more version of Coco she enjoyed way too much.

"I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRY-" could be heard from the hand waving, cross eyed, messy haired little bundle of embarrassed apologizer. Sunny was well aware that this was a stressful time for her friend and felt bad for being responsible for it. She felt even worse for enjoying it so much that she considered it a worthy sacrifice for her own amusement. I'm a terrible friend... sometimes. Like right now.

It took some time, gentle back patting, plenty of apologies and one ice cold can to bring Coco back to her usual, if more flustered, self. They were glad nobody else had witnessed that scene, or it would've been extra awkward to explain how their usual day goes by.

"So, that was my day," Sunny continued "how was yours?"

Taking a sip from her soda, Coco narrowed her eyes as she answered. "Other than getting sexually harassed by my friend?"

"Oh please, that wasn't even a foreplay!"

That's kinda the issue here. "Not great." She looked at the mannequin in the middle of the room. "I know more or less what I'm trying to achieve, I have all the materials and plans, but it just doesn't... I dunno, I can't seem to get into it. It's hard to explain."

"So, a seamstress version of writer's block? What do you call it? A 'sewing block'?"

“We don’t have a name for it." Coco deadpanned.

 Sunny thought for a moment. "You know, I think I know exactly what you need."

 Coco swallowed the bad feelings she just got. "I'm afraid to ask..."

"How about," she walked in front of the mannequin and made her signature pose "some inspirational modeling?"

Coco flushed, slightly turning her head away. "N-no, I don't think that's it."

"What if I removed my clothes?"

"W-what?!"

"That way you'd either become more motivated to dress me up, or get used to seeing nudity! It's a win-win!"

"Sunny..."

"If you're too embarrassed by the live model, maybe you'd want some pictures? I'm pretty sure Diane could send you a few from the par-"

POMF!

Sunny remained silent for as long as the pillow remained on her face. Once it slid down to the ground, she coughed. "Too far?"

"Too far."

"Sorry." Sunny rolled her eyes. "Okay, now seriously, what you really need is..."

"Tread carefully," Coco's eyes narrowed as her hand reached out towards her bed, where a few more pillows lay within her hand's reach.

Sunny swallowed, then announced. "...some fresh air!" The sheer fact that all the pillows stayed in their place was a good sign. "I mean, you’ve been stuck here all this time. When was the last time you went to have some fun outside?"

"Well, there was the slumber party just last week."

"Apparently you need more relaxing. Which is why I’m taking you outside!" She grabbed Coco’s hand.

 "W-what, b-but where are we..." Is this a... a date? I wasn't briefed for this! I'm not ready!

She pulled Coco towards the door, but stopped and let go of her hand. "We will think about the details on the way! A movie, bowling maybe? Oooor, we could visit some tea place? You could use some herbal tea, you know, to lower your blood pressure a bit?"

Coco blinked, then tilted her head. "Wow, you actually care!"

"Of course I care!" Sunny pouted, crossing her arms as she looked slightly away, (not) offended. "I would've jumped into a flaming building for you!"

"You would've jumped for anyone."

"And that includes you! Bottom line is, the sooner we get you out of the sewing block, the sooner the dress will be ready!" Realizing how it sounded, Sunny quickly added. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Rarity's battle uniform just fine, but I'd much rather wear something with a bit more..." She blushed slightly, turning her head away and fiddling with her hair. "...Pommel."

There were reasons, emotional and logical, not to take her up on her offer. There was some of that unexplainable teenage angst that she was aware was there, made zero sense and couldn't wait to grow out of. But for the time being, there was only a blushing Sunset 'Sunny' Shimmer in front of their door, waiting for her reply.

"I'll wear something more comfortable," Coco finally announced, "meet you downstairs?"

Sunny gasped, then smiled and left the room without saying a word.

Coco sighed heavily as she looked at her closet, realizing that despite her life revolving around fashion, she barely had anything to wear, other than her uniform and some casual clothes. Maybe I could convince her to go clothes shopping with me? For all the abuse I had to endure today, she owes me that much!

She giggled to herself, she picked some light dress, nothing fancy, then opened the door. She looked at the unfinished dress number four.

It's not perfect... She smiled brightly, closing the door behind her. ...but I'll take what I can get!