Sunset Shimmer sighed as she walked through Canterlot High’s hallways. It had been a long week for her as she got used to living with the Apple family. While she wasn’t as opposed to mornings as Rainbow was, five in the morning was still earlier than she would like.
Still, it was nice living with the Apples. Granny Smith had insisted she eat as much as she could and Big Mac had been a big help with moving some of her things. Even Applejack’s little sister had joined in, taking it upon herself to be like Sunset’s personal butler.
Sunset lifted the book bag on shoulder and set it on the floor in front of her locker. She opened her locker and stuffed two of her textbooks into the bag filling it to near bursting. She closed the locker and hefted the bag back onto her shoulder. It was the end of the day so she had to meet Applejack outside so they could be picked up to go back to the farm for the day.
She turned on her heel and nearly ran into Applejack and Rainbow Dash who were standing right behind her. “Sunset, there ya are we’ve been lookin’ all over fer ya,” Applejack said reaching out to steady Sunset who had nearly tipped over from trying to avoid a collision with her two friends.
“Why?” Sunset asked after she managed to stay upright.
“Cause Commander Shepard just walked into the school!” Rainbow near shouted.
Sunset’s eyes widened, “What! Why?”
“Don’ rightly know sugercube,” Applejack said shrugging her shoulders. “But, that’s not even the weirdest part.”
“Yeah she seemed to recognize us,” Rainbow said.
Applejack nodded in agreement at Sunset’s quizzical look, “Yep she walked with some asari, noticed us and then made a beeline towards us. Started askin’ questions too.”
“What kind of question?” Sunset asked.
“Our names, if we knew you, if we went to school here, stuff like that,” Rainbow said denoting each question with her fingers. “After we answered she just nodded, thanked us, then walked off with the asari.”
“Why would she-“ Sunset was interrupted by a loud blaring from the speakers in the hallway.
“Sunset Shimmer please report to the principal’s office, Sunset Shimmer to the principal’s office,” Celestia’s voice said over the speakers.
All three girls stared at each other with wide eyes. “Guess that answers one question,” Applejack said. She put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “Do ya want us ta come with ya?”
Sunset shook her head, “No… No, I’ll be fine.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “Whatever it is I can deal with it.”
“If yer sure sugarcube,” Applejack said releasing Sunset’s shoulder. Rainbow and I will see if we can’t find the other. We’ll all wait fer ya at the entrance.”
“Thanks, Applejack,” Sunset said nodding. The three parted ways, with Applejack and Rainbow heading off in the direction Sunset had come from and Sunset continuing down the hallway. She wound her way through the corridors, ignoring the whispers and stares from the other students, eventually finding her way into the school office.
She stood in front of Celestia’s office. Breathing in and out slowly to help calm down, she straightened her should and walked inside. Celestia sat at her desk, hands folded on top of a few papers on her desk, talking to an asari who was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the large desk. The asari was relatively young, though by any standards young for an asari was ancient for most humans, and was wearing an elegant blue and gold dress.
A familiar voice sound out on Sunset’s right, “Was wondering if you got lost. Sunset turned to find Shepard giving her a lazy smirk as she leaned against one of the many filing cabinets that lined the walls. There were sunglasses perched on top of her head and she wore military-style cargo pants with an N7 hoodie covering a gray shirt. Her clothes combined with her posture gave the image of a military brat who spent too much time in the principal’s office.
Celestia cleared her throat, “Yes, well she is here now so we can get started.” She gestured to the last remaining chair in the room, “Please have a seat Sunset.”
Once Sunset had settled herself in the chair and placed her bag on the floor she spoke, “What is this about?”
Celestia shuffled the papers on her desk, “It has been brought to my attention by Dr. T’soni,” She indicated the asari sitting to Sunset’s left, “And Mrs. Shepard, that you have spent the last few years homeless. Is this accurate?”
Sunset’s eyes widened and her breath hitched. She shot a glance at Shepard, who had moved up beside her. She nodded at Sunset concern etched on her face. Eventually, Sunset spoke, “Um… yes, it's true.”
Celestia’s face fell and her shoulders slumped. She glanced at the other two occupants of the room before staring at the papers on her desk. “Right, well this changes a few things.”
“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.
Celestia straightened back up squaring her shoulders as she spoke, “As a teacher and the principal of this school it is my responsibility to ensure each student has the best possible chance to succeed.” Her face softened as she leaned forward on her desk looking directly at Sunset, “Beyond that, I care about each and every one of my students, including you Sunset. And I can’t, in good conscience, allow any of my students to stay homeless.” She straightened back up once again messing with the papers on her desk, “I would have to report this immediately.”
“What! No!” Sunset said leaning forward as well and placing her hands on the desk. “I… I’m fine now. I’m living with the Apples. It’s fine now I’m not homeless.
Celestia sighed, “While that is good, they are not your legal guardians. I would still have to report this to CPS and you would most likely be put into foster care. However-“
Before Celestia could continue Sunset jumped up and shouted, “But that would take me away from here, my friends, and-“ A calming hand settled on Sunset’s shoulder stopping the girl’s tirade against the principal.
“Whoa, calm down Sunset. We don’t want to take you away from here either,” Shepard said removing her hand from Sunset’s shoulder. She gestured to the others in the room as she said, “Which is why Liara, Celestia, and I have come up with a solution if you want.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes at Shepard, “What kind of solution?”
“If you hadn’t interrupted me I would have told you,” Celestia said gesturing back towards the chair Sunset had vacated. Once Sunset sat back down she continued. “Now, if you so choose, Allana Shepard would become your legal guardian and you would live with her and her husband instead of going into foster care.”
“What they would adopt me?” Sunset asked.
At this Liara cleared her throat, “No they wouldn’t be adopting you. Basically, we would skip the process of reporting this to Child Protective Service and their process of placing you in foster care and simply place you under the care of Shepard and Garrus. They would essentially be your foster parents guaranteeing that you could stay here and continue to attend this school with your friends.”
“So… what, I have to move in with you now?” Sunset asked looking at Shepard.
“Nope,” Shepard said with a shake of her head. “You could let CPS take care of you.” She sighed and ran a hand through hair, "But... I know how important friends are and I wouldn't want to take that away from you."
Sunset stared at Shepard for a moment before looking down at her hands, “I… I don’t know.”
“Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have,” Liara said smiling at Sunset.
“Yeah, we want this to be your decision Sunset,” Shepard said again placing her hand on the girl’s shoulder.
Sunset looked up at Shepard, “Why me?”
Shepard smiled and stuck her hands into the pockets on her hoodie, “Cause you remind me of myself at your age. And if someone hadn’t done something similar to this for me, then I wouldn’t be where I am today. So… I want to do the same for you.”
Sunset looked back down at her hands and sat in silence for a moment before speaking. “Fine, I'll go along with this.”
Shepard smile grew wider, “Great!” She turned to Celestia, “Is there anything else we need to do?”
Celestia shuffled the papers in front of her looking at each one before saying, “Everything appears to be in order. If I could go over a few things with Dr. T’soni that would be helpful, otherwise all I need is a signature from Sunset here.” She placed a document in front of Sunset and indicated with a pen where Sunset needed to sign.
Sunset leaned forward and signed the document. She handed the document back then stood up, grabbing her bag, and followed Shepard out.
They walked in silence for a while as they wound through the school’s halls. While the school was mostly empty there were a few other students lagging behind the rest of the student body. Sunset could just barely make out the confused whispering as the student stared at the two of them but before she could make out exactly what the students were saying Shepard spoke.
“I know this seems sudden, cause it is, but I hope this will be a good thing for you,” She said as she looked at Sunset.
Sunset nodded, “Yeah I… this is just all really quick.”
Shepard chuckled, “I know if you have any questions feel free to ask.”
“Um, you live here, on Earth?” Sunset asked.
“Yup,” Shepard said popping the p as she nodded. “We got the place a few years after the Reaper war. Someplace quiet we could relax. It’s also close to the spaceport so Garrus can get to work.”
“What does he do?” Sunset tiled her head to the side as she looked towards Shepard.
Shepard ran a hand through her hair, “He actually the Executor of C-sec.” She chuckled as Sunset’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry he’s not as much of a hard ass as his predecessor.”
They had made it to the school’s entrance but, before Shepard could open the door, Sunset placed her hand on the door handle stopping her. “Before we go out, I should probably warn you, my friends are more than likely right outside,” She said.
Shepard smirked at Sunset. “Don’t worry,” She said flicking the sunglasses, still perched on her head, down in front of her eyes, “I got this.” With that, she opened the door and walked outside. Sunset closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply before following.
Silence met her as her friends all stood staring at Shepard and she stared back. Sunset cleared her throat. “Shepard these are my friends,” She pointed to each of them as she said their names, “Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and you’ve already met Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”
“Yes, yes I did,” Shepard said clapping her hands together, “Well, how are you all today?”
Pinkie took this as her cue to leap forward and start talking, “Wowzie, you really are Commander Shepard not to say that you aren’t though you could be a clone wouldn’t that be funny if there was a clone of you and you had to fight over who was the real Commander Shepard she’d be like ‘I should go’ and you’d be like ‘Do I really sound like that’ and-“
Pinkie’s tirade was ended when Applejack managed to wrangle the hyper girl back and put a hand over her mouth. “Sorry ‘bout that. Pinkie here’s just a bit excitable around new people.”
“Don’t worry you get used to it,” Sunset said looking over at Shepard. “It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.”
“Right, Pinkie being… Pinkie,” Shepard said as she lifted up her sunglasses to stare with narrowed eyes at the pink haired girl who was still talking despite the hand muffling her.
Rarity stepped forward this time. “It is a pleasure to meet you Commander, or should I say, Admiral?” She said offering her hand to Shepard.
“Either one,” Shepard said taking the offered hand in a firm handshake. “The admiral position is more honorary anyways. I mostly work with the Spectres still, training new recruits and the like.” Shepard released Rarity’s hand and turned to look at the other girls. “Besides you’re all civilians anyways so the ranking is unneeded so just Shepard is fine.”
“”Actually Rainbow Dash here is part of the junior ROTC program,” Applejack said indicating the rainbow haired girl.
Shepard smirked and turned towards Rainbow, “Is she now?”
Rainbow Dash gulped as Shepard looked over her. “Yes, ma’am,” She said straightening her posture.
Shepard chuckled, “At ease cadet, no need for formalities, neither of us are in our uniforms at the moment.”
“Right, just kind of reflex at this point I guess,” Rainbow said running a hand through her hair a slight redness appearing on her cheeks.
“That’s good,” Shepard said nodding. “Though I wouldn’t have pegged as military, why did you want to join?”
“I want to be a pilot,” Rainbow said straightening up again. “Fly with the best you know.”
“Good for you, though I’d watch it with the hair dye,” Shepard said as she pointed at Rainbow’s hair.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah I’ve heard that before. This is actually my natural color though.”
Shepard shifted her sunglasses down to look at Rainbow with a raised eyebrow, “Really?”
“Yep,“ Rainbow said, the rest of the girls nodding in agreement. “If you want hair dye though Rarity’s got plenty.”
Rarity scoffed, “Please Rainbow Dash this-“ she flicked a hand through her hair “- is au natural as it were.”
“Right, like we haven’t all seen the dye you keep ‘hidden’ in her room,” Rainbow said as she smirked at Rarity.
Rarity scoffed again and turned away from Rainbow. Before anyone could say anything there was a loud, “Woah nelly,” from Applejack. They all looked over to find Pinkie sitting on top of Applejack finally having overpowered her captor.
Pinkie breathed in deeply then said, “Is it true you had a hamster on the Normandy?”
“Uh… yeah, I did,” Shepard said. “How did-“
“Just a hunch,” Pinkie said with a wide smile.
Fluttershy stepped forward this time hiding half her face in her hair as she spoke, “Um… What kind of hamster was it? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“Golden hamster I think,” Shepard said shrugging her shoulders. “I didn’t really ask too many questions when I bought him.”
“What was his name?” Fluttershy asked.
Shepard smiled, “Reginald, Reggie for short.”
“That’s a nice name,” Fluttershy said smiling back at Shepard. “I have a bunny called Angel.”
“Don’t forget the cat, the hamster, the bird-“Pinkie said.
“You really like animals then huh,” Shepard said cutting off Pinkie before she could get started. “You know, I was thinking about getting a new hamster soon, any suggestions?”
“Oh we’re always looking for people adopt the hamster at the shelter,” Fluttershy said as she took off her backpack. She rummaged inside eventually pulling out a flyer which she handed to Shepard. “Here’s the information, you can come by anytime.”
Shepard took the offered flyer and scanned its contents before sticking it in a pocket. “Thanks, I’ll definitely come by sometime,” She said causing Fluttershy to smile even wider.
The door behind Shepard and Sunset opened revealing the asari, “We’re good to go Shepard.”
“Thanks, Liara,” Shepard said before turning to the girls. “Hey, girls this is Dr. Liara T’soni, Liara this is,” She paused as she looked over the girls. “Wait I got this,” She pointed to each of the girls as she said their names, “Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity.” Each of them nodded as Shepard said their names.
“It’s is a pleasure to meet you all,” Liara said. She turned to Sunset, “Celestia wanted me to give this to you,” She said handing a large black case to the girl. “She said since you’ll have a place now you might want this.”
“Thanks,” Sunset said taking the offered case. At Shepard inquisitive look Sunset explained, “It’s my guitar, I kept it here so it wouldn’t get stolen or damaged.”
“You play guitar?” Shepard asked.
“Heck yeah, she does!” Rainbow exclaimed. “She’s in our band, The Rainbooms.”
“Really I’ll have to see that sometime. Maybe you all come over to the house practice,” Shepard said.
“Not that we don’ appreciate the offer, but why would we practice at your place?” Applejack asked.
Sunset cleared her throat gaining the girls attention, “Actually I’ll be living with Shepard now. She’s becoming my legal guardian.”
The five girls stared at Sunset before they all broke out into speech all talking over one another. Shepard stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply causing all the girls to jump and turn towards Shepard. “Alright enough of that,” Shepard said with a stern edge. “Now I know you’re all worried and have more than a few questions.” Her face a voice softened as she continued to speak. “First off this was her choice. I had to do something about her situation after I found out. Second, I wanted to make sure she wasn’t taken away from her. So I offered her a place under my care instead of the possibility of her having to go somewhere else.”
Applejack turned to Sunset, “You sure about this sugarcube?”
“Yeah…yeah, I am,” Sunset said nodding to Applejack. “Considering... everything, I think this is one of the better options.”
“Well… alright if yer sure,” Applejack said. She turned to Shepard, “You’ll have ta stop at my place, Sunset’s things from the warehouse are there.”
“Right well head there, after we’re done here,” Shepard said.
“Wait a minute,” Pinkie said. “Does this mean we can finally have slumber parties at Sunset’s house?”
Sunset looked at Shepard who simply chuckled and said, “Yes I suppose it does. Why don’t you all come over this weekend? I was planning on taking Sunset to the Citadel to do some shopping on Saturday. You all could tag along then stay over into Sunday if you wanted.”
“Ah shouldn’t have anythin’ goin’ on,” Applejack said with the other girls giving similar sentiments.
“Plus it’ll give us time to prepare for the Friendship Games next week,” Rainbow said.
“The Friendship Games?” Shepard said.
“It’s this competition held every four years between our school and Crystal Prep,” Sunset said. Liar perked up at the mention of the other school. “It’s kind of a big deal.”
“Yeah! And this time gonna kick their sorry buts,” Rainbow said punching a fist into her other hand.
“Sounds interesting, we may have to attend that,” Shepard said as she looked towards Liara.
“Yes I think it would be a good idea,” Liara said.
“Alright well we really should be going,” Shepard said sticking her hands into her pockets. “Applejack, we’ll follow you to your place to pick up Sunset’s things then head home ourselves.”
Sounds good to me,” Applejack said turning to leave. “I’ll see you there.”
The rest of the girls left saying goodbye to Sunset before going their own way. Eventually, only Sunset, Shepard and Liara were left standing in front of the school’s entrance.
“Whelp we should probably get going,” Shepard said starting down the front steps with Liara following close behind.
“Right lets… go home,” Sunset said following Shepard and Liara.