As much as they wanted to stay, to make sure she wouldn’t have another nightmare, most of the girls had to leave Saturday morning. Rainbow had a soccer game, Applejack had to help out with the family farm, and Rarity had work to do along with a sister to babysit while her parents left again.
Sunset assured them it was alright, that she had enough presence of mind to call them if things got worse. Pinkie and Fluttershy stayed, both with little to do today.
At first, it had been a continuation of the movie marathon. Pinkie had insisted on showing Sunset many ‘nostalgic’ movies, sure that they’d be a new experience. At first Sunset assured her that she’d already seen a lot of movies that people their age saw as nostalgic.
Naturally, Pinkie had to prove her wrong, as Sunset had only watched the popular nostalgic movies, not the ones that were amazing but lost to the due to being animation other than a Disney Musical and not getting sent to Merchandise Hell. It lasted long enough for Pinkie to realize she should probably space out the amazingness.
“We should go somewhere!” Pinkie suggested, still upside down on the couch.
“No offense,” Sunset began, “but I don’t think there’s many places we can go. At least not without running into someone from CHS, and I don’t want to face them yet.”
“Are you going to be okay on Monday?” Fluttershy asked.
“No clue,” she said. “But I at least have time to prepare myself for that.”
“What if we found somewhere to go where no one would be?” Pinkie asked.
“Maybe,” she relented.
“There’s usually no one we know at the animal shelter,” Fluttershy offered. “And it’s hard to be sad when you’re covered in kittens.”
“Sure, why not?” Sunset shrugged.
It was a thankfully short trip, one they didn’t even need a car for. The animal shelter was as expected, a lot of animals that, while well taken care of, needed a home. Though it was on the small side, at least as far as staff was concerned.
The few employees seemed to know Fluttershy rather well, as she did spend a lot of time there. And they were glad that even if they weren’t there for a full volunteer session, they’d at least have some help getting the dogs their exercise.
It was only a few minutes before they were overrun. Pinkie was giggling under a pile of puppies as they licked her face, and Fluttershy tried her best to get them off. Sunset, meanwhile, sat on the floor with a large golden retriever in her lap and laughed at the duo.
“So,” Pinkie began, finally free from the pup-nado. “Is it everything you’d expected from a bunch of dogs?”
“Well, they’re dogs,” Sunset said. “I’m not sure I could expect anything less. It’s kind of hard not to adopt all of them though.”
“You, uh,” Fluttershy started. “If you wanted to you could get a dog. Or a cat or a-well, have you ever had a pet before? What kind of pets are in Equestria anyway?”
“Mostly normal ones,” she answered, gently petting the dog’s head. “Though I’ve heard of a few more exotic ones. My parents had a dog when I was little, but he was old and died back when I was still too young to understand death. My brother got a cat before I left, though I didn’t meet it much. And, well, she’d hate if I called her a ‘pet’, but I did have a Phoenix.”
“A Phoenix?” she asked. “Like a fire bird?”
“Yep,” she nodded. “She’s not actually made of fire, but she has fire magic and does the whole ‘dies by bursting into flame only to be reborn in the ashes’ thing. Phoenixes are also highly intelligent, even if not on a Sapient level. But she wasn’t exactly a pet.”
“How isn’t she a pet?” Pinkie asked.
“Because she was a Familiar,” she answered. “A powerful Companion with a magical bond to a Spellcaster. They’re pretty unusual, especially nowadays, but the Princess gives one to all her students. Philomena was mine, but I left her when I came here. She probably would’ve hated it here anyway. Still, I hope she’s okay.”
“I’m sure someone’s taking care of her,” Fluttershy said.
“Totally,” Pinkie nodded. “I bet she’s-woah!”
They laughed as Pinkie was once more taken down by overzealous puppies. It was the definition of adorable. Sunset stood up, stretching herself out and debating about rescuing her.
“I don’t think I’m ready for a pet,” Sunset said. “I mean, I’m going through a lot right now, and a new creature to take care of probably isn’t the best idea.”
“Well, it could be if you get the right pet,” Fluttershy said. “Perhaps not a little puppy, but a dog. They’re not as high-maintenance. And, I hate to say it, but we won’t be around all the time. The girls and I would love if we could have sleepovers every night, but we can’t unless we all really move in together.”
“You always could move in with me,” she joked. “I think I could spring for a few extra beds. But you guys would have to contribute to the food and utilities.”
“Not quite yet,” she laughed. “But what I meant was that there are times where you’ll be alone. And I don’t know if you’ll have more nightmares like…. Like last night. While a pet isn’t a complete replacement for Human, or Pony, interaction, they can be a comfort. And nothing brings you back to reality like a lick or a cold nose.”
“I… you have a point,” she mused. “I don’t know if I should jump into that.”
“You don’t have to,” she smiled, her grin so soft and warm like a hug. “But it’s something to think about.”
As Fluttershy left to help Pinkie with the puppies, Sunset thought. While part of her screamed that it was a bad idea, another part of her truly debated. And the dogs were cute.
Two hours later, Sunset, Pinkie, Fluttershy and a golden retriever walked back through her front door. Fluttershy set down the bowls and toys, while Pinkie easily carried a large bag of food to the kitchen.
“I’m not sure how you carried that home,” Sunset said as she watched her easily bounce through the room.
“You should see me at Christmas!” Pinkie chirped in response. “I have a lot of trees.”
“You mean a lot of ornaments, right?” she asked.
“No,” Fluttershy sighed. “So, are you going to give her a different name? Azalea is pretty, but if you want to change it, you should train her to respond to it now.”
“I might,” she said, kneeling down and smiling as the dog licked her face. “I still can’t believe I just got a dog, but once that settles I have a few ideas. Mostly Greek Myths.”
“So, Cerberus?” Pinkie asked.
“Nah, he’s a bulldog,” she answered, trying to figure out how to talk past the dog licking her face.
“What?” both girls asked.
“Right, ‘myths’,” she rolled her eyes. “I got really into Greek Myth when I found out how many things it had in common with Equestria. Most similarities are just creatures, well, monsters. But Pegasai architecture resembles your Greek architecture, and our whole Underworld system has a lot of crossover as well.”
“Not to sound rude,” Fluttershy began, “But do you mean you know for a fact that the… the Underworld exists as an afterlife or is it a religion?”
“And how do you know it exists and what Cerberus looks like?” Pinkie asked.
“It actually exists,” Sunset said. “Though it’s more of a pre-afterlife for those who either need to or want to stay in the world before fully moving on to who knows where. By the way, Equestria doesn’t have any exact religions like this world does. Mostly because the Princess is the closest thing to a God we have, but she insists she’s not a Goddess. Some do believe she is one anyway, but even then there’s very little actual worship.
“However,” she continued, “The perks to being the personal student to a sort-of-goddess is access to powerful magic and strange places. Along with interesting field trips, like to the Underworld. Of course I wasn’t allowed to see the Fields of Punishment and I was kept well away from Tartarus, but the Asphodel Meadows were nice and Elysium was beautiful.”
At their silence, she looked back up to them. Both girls stared, though Fluttershy’s was more wide-eye confusion. Laughing, she got back up and went to the couch.
“Have I mentioned how weird this is?” she asked. “Just talking about my actual life, not making up fake schools and fake events that match what a Human had experienced? I can say things like “I took a field trip to the Underworld’ or ‘back when I was a Blank Flank’ or even ‘I’d bet my horn’.
“I’m an Interdimensional Unicorn,” she snickered. “And now I can actually say that to people. Sorry, you probably think it’s nuts, but I feel like I could talk for days about it all.”
“Totally get it,” Pinkie said.
“We’re here to listen,” Fluttershy nodded.
They spent the night again, helping Sunset test out names for her new dog and teaching her little tricks. Pinkie already managed to help the dog figure out how to open the fridge. Somehow. Thankfully, Sunset kept her chocolate in the freezer instead.
There was another nightmare, different from the first yet oh so similar. Fluttershy had been right. As soon as Sunset jerked awake, still panicking, the dog was there to comfort. Pinkie and Fluttershy followed after, but even just the dog helped to ground her.
The next day was like before, but with Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack stopping in for a bit at a time. Each were excited to see the new dog, and glad that she was moving forward in a way. Sunset didn’t know if it was truly ‘moving forward’, but it was something.
By the time all had left and the two were alone for the night, Sunset had decided on a name. Hopefully the dog did too. Both walked up to the bedroom, and she prepared herself for another round of nightmares.
“Come on up, Rhea,” Sunset said, patting the side of the bed.
Rhea seemed to like her name, because she hopped up, licked Sunsets face again, and settled on the bed. It was good to have someone, even if ‘someone’ was a dog.