Sunset Shimmer usually spent her days outside as much as possible, though coming home was inevitable on the weekdays, especially when it was raining. It wasn't that she was ungrateful to have a roof over her head, she simply hated the person that she was sharing that roof with. But after being kicked out of Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope, she hadn't had much choice but to either sit in the streets waiting for something bad to happen to her, or take the first offer that came along to give her a chance at a real future.
Despite that, sitting on the comfy couch with a magazine resting in front of her was almost not worth listening to Principal Abacus Cinch march back and forth across the living room of her luxurious Crystal City estate. The old bat hadn't stopped moving since school let out, ranting and raving about the sheer disrespect Indigo Zap and her friends had shown her.
"They take advantage of my school!" Cinch's fists were clenched at her sides as she marched back and forth across the living room. "They take advantage of my willingness to teach them! They take advantage of me and have the audacity to talk back! Let alone pull this stunt with the balloon animals! It makes a mockery of me and everything I have ever given them!" Sunset Shimmer could only roll her eyes and try to keep her attention on the magazine as the rants continued, going in endless, nauseating circles.
After a while Sunset finally slapped the magazine closed and stood to retreat to the stairs, but she froze at the bottom step when her name was spoken in a shrill, demanding voice. "Sunset Shimmer! Come here!" After a long, steadying breath, Sunset Shimmer turned away from the stairs to meet her benefactor in the small study, where she was sitting at her desk typing away at a computer. As she approached the desk Cinch glanced up at her out of the corner of her sharp, hawkish eyes. "I have something I want you to do for me."
"Sure," Sunset Shimmer nodded disinterestedly. "What is it now?"
Instead of responding, Principal Cinch pulled a sheet of paper out of the printer on the desk and pushed it into Sunset's arms. She always got like this when she had something she wanted to convey without having to say it, as if somebody were waiting at the window with a tape recorder to catch her doing something nefarious. As far as Sunset was concerned, it was ridiculous and just a sign of how paranoid she was getting in her old age.
Sunset leaned against the kitchen counter as she read the note with her new instructions. At first she was amused, but her amusement turned to disgust when she reached the end of the page and read what Cinch actually wanted her to do with this information. Disgusted not just for having to do this in public, but for what it would do to Sugarcoat. She had no particular love for Sugarcoat... but she had to admit there was a grudging respect for the Shadowbolts representative. Plus Sugarcoat was friends with Sunset's best friend Night Glider. If she did this...
"I don't think Dean Cadence will let me do this," Sunset Shimmer pointed out. "Even if you try to tell her to let me at the intercom."
Cinch grinned the mad grin of someone who had it all figured out. "Dean Cadence is taking a vacation in three weeks. You'll have ample opportunity that week."
"I just don't know if this is something I can do," Sunset Shimmer continued. "Besides, can't I get in major trouble for this? I mean, this is a really public thing, what if the other students gang up on me instead?"
Cinch stood from her desk. The way her hands clasped behind her back was a little too calm for Sunset's comfort. "I assured you when you first transferred to Crystal Preparatory Academy that I would watch out for you. My assurance still stands."
Sunset Shimmer didn't back down as the much taller woman stood to her full height. "This just... I don't think it'll do what you think it will. We tried targeting Sugarcoat before and it didn't- HNGH!" Sunset Shimmer grunted as a hand locked onto the neck of her shirt and shoved her roughly back against the kitchen countertop, bending her spine over backwards as Cinch towered over her.
"You're a smart girl, Sunset Shimmer, unlike those ungrateful brats." Cinch pulled her off of the kitchen counter now that she was silent, dragging her through the house to the living room, where she spun Sunset towards one of the windows beside the front door, and one hand sharply pressed her face up against the glass. Sunset gritted her teeth against the impact and the cool glass against her cheekbone. "You know exactly where you will go if you don't work with me."
"I... didn't mean any... disrespect..." Sunset Shimmer didn't try to struggle, with her cheek pressed into the window and her hand yanked painfully up between her shoulder blades. "I just want to know... it'll work."
"Trust me, Sunset Shimmer." Cinch released her after a few moments and took a step back, folding her arms in front of her as if nothing had happened while Sunset rubbed her aching cheek and turned back towards her. There was a trace of madness in Cinch's eyes as she spoke. "This is something that needs to be done."