//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Sunset Spying // by Bookpony579 //------------------------------// It was another ordinary day at Canterlot High, and we find three familiar girls walking together to their next class. "....And I said 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?'" Pinkie rambled, not noticing that Rainbow and Rarity were tuning her out. Suddenly Rainbow stopped and put her hand over Pinkie's mouth. "Wait!" She whispered and dragged Rarity and Pinkie behind a nearby corner. "Really Rainbow, what on earth-" Rarity tried to protest before Rainbow shushed her. "Look!" She whispered, pointing down the hall a ways to where Sunset and Twilight were talking. "....you should really meet him sometime Twilight. He's so cute!" Sunset gushed. "And he's got the most adorable accent!" "Well you did say he just moved here from Trottingham, right?" "Yep! He lives right next door to us." "That sounds convenient." Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow hung on to every word. "What's she talking about?" Rainbow asked, still whispering. Rarity giggled. "Why isn't it obvious darling?" Pinkie and Rainbow just gave her blank looks until Rarity answered. "It appears our Sunset Shimmer has a new beau!" She squealed. "'Beau'?" Rainbow asked in confusion. "Ooh! What kind of bow? A bow tie? A bow for a present? Or a new bow and arrow for archery-" Rainbow covered Pinkie's mouth with her hand again. Rarity just sighed. "As in a new partner." "You mean like for chemistry class?" Rainbow asked. "I mean a new boyfriend!" Rarity said, exasperated. "Boyfriend?" Rainbow asked. "Sunset's got a new boyfriend? That means a new friend for us!" Pinkie said, already planning his welcoming party in her mind. "Hang on a sec." Rainbow said. "If Sunset's got this amazing new boyfriend, then why hasn't she told us about him yet?" "She's probably just shy about him darling and just wants to find the right words to tell the rest of us. After Flash broke up with her, she's bound to be a little nervous about going into the dating scene again. So we must be a little patient with her." "Shh! They're talking again!" Pinkie told them. "...and I've gotta be honest, when it started out, I was a little nervous. What if I messed up or what if it got boring? But he's actually really fun to be around." "Well I'm glad you've found something that makes you happy." Sunset then donned a playful smirk. "Also doesn't hurt that I'm paid by the hour when we're together. Plus, it's a whole lot better than the sushi place." Rarity gasped when she heard this. "No way.." Rainbow gaped. "What?" Pinkie asked. "This boy is paying Sunset to go out with him!?" Rarity summarized. "That doesn't sound like Sunset." Pinkie pointed out. "Either Sunset kept some aspects from her old self.....or the guy's just that desperate and she's taking pity on him." Rainbow concluded. "We have to do something about this!" Rarity declared. "Look, let's just talk to Sunset and-" "Are you crazy!?" Pinkie asked, interrupting Rainbow. "That isn't how these things work. She'll just deny it." "Then what do you suppose we do?" Rarity asked. Pinkie just grinned. "Easy! We just follow her around all super-secret for a while to see what she's up to and find out who this guy is!" "That sounds like an unnecessary inconvenience." Rarity pointed out. "But it'll be so much fun! And I've still got that spy kit I got for my birthday! PLEEEEEEAAAASSSEE?" Pinkie asked, widening her eyes until Rarity and Rainbow gave in. "Ugh! Alright!" Rainbow groaned. "Well I suppose it couldn't hurt..." "Sweet!" Pinkie hugged both girls. "This is gonna be so much fun!" She noticed that Twilight and Sunset were walking away. "Come on girls. After her!" Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow followed Sunset, making sure to keep out of sight, as she walked into the forest behind CHS. Soon, she found a nice log to sit on and took out her sketchpad and pencils and began to capture the beauty of the forest around her. "Ugh!" This is boring!" Rainbow groaned as she watched Sunset from behind a bush. "Spying isn't like in the movies Rainbow. It takes time and patience." Rarity scolded from behind a tree. "Exactly" Pinkie agreed as she appeared next to Rainbow donning a bright pink camouflage suit." "What are you doing!? That's like the opposite of camouflage!" Rainbow said with a glare. She quickly glanced at sunset before panicking. "Quick! Get down!" She pushed Pinkie down and hid back behind the bush as Sunset looked their way. After a moment, she just shrugged and continued drawing. "Phew! That was close." Rainbow sighed. "Look what I found!" Pinkie said while holding something up with both hands. "A kitty cat! Isn't he cute?" Rarity quickly noticed the white striped and fluffy tail and began trembling in fear. "Pinkie thats not a cat! That's a-" But it was too late as the creature lifted it's tail and- "SKUNK!" In the cafeteria, Sunset was calmly eating her lunch as she was being watched by our (very smelly) trie from a few tables away. Luckily the smell was enough to drive anyone away before they could ask the girls what they were doing. "Look I already said I was sorry!" Pinkie cried when she noticed that Rainbow and Rarity were still glaring at her. "You can apologize when I stop smelling like garbage!" Rarity hissed. "Look!" Rainbow pointed and they saw Sunset get up, dump her tray, and leave. "After her!" The trio rushed after their target, not noticing the wet floor caution sign until... "Aaaahhh!" The girls slipped and slided until they ended up in a painful pile-up. "Ow..." At the sushi restaurant in the mall, Sunset carried a tray of sushi and set down in front of the customer. At a table in the far corner were our very smelly and bruised trio wearing big coats, huge sunglasses, and fedoras as disguises. How they thought this wouldn't get them noticed is anyone's guess but it appeared to be working as Sunset hadn't come up to them yet. Suddenly Sunset's cell phone began to rang and she stepped into a corner near them to take. The trio quickly pulled up their menus to hide their faces as they listened in. "Hello?.....Yeah it's me.....tonight? I can do that, I get off in about one hour....thank you so much, see you then!" With that, she hung up and got back to work. "So she's meeting with him tonight! This is our chance!" Rainbow declared. "Look!" Pinkie pointed and they saw Sunset take out a note and toss it into the garbage shoot. "That might be a clue! After it!" With that, Pinkie rushed over to the shoot and jumped in. "Pinkie!" Rainbow rushed after her friend to stop her. "Oh...Do we really have to?" Her protests were cut off as Rainbow grabbed her wrist and dragged her down the shoot. Down and down they went until... *Splat* They landed safely...in a dumpster. "Agh!" Rarity cried out in disgust. "PINKIE PIE!" "I got it!" Pinkie cried out as she popped up, holding the note. "Well....what does it say?" Rainbow asked. Pinkie read it with an intensity of a thousand suns. "Nigri, three sashimi and two temaki." She looked up at her friends. "Do you think it's a secret code?" Rarity and Rainbow just groaned. "What in tarnation are ya'll doing!?" The girls looked to see Applejack and Fluttershy with shocked and confused looks on their faces. "We're trying to find out more about Sunset's secret boyfriend!" Pinkie said in her usual cheer. "Secret what-now?" AJ asked. "Sunset's got a new boyfriend and we're trying to find out who it is!" Rainbow explained. "So you decided to look...in the garbage?" Fluttershy asked nervously. Rarity just sighed. "It's a long story. Basically Pinkie thought it would be a good idea if we followed Sunset around all day." "Why didn't ya just...talk to her? Ask her about it?" AJ asked. "I'm sure she'll tell us if we're all there." "That sounds great! Why didn't we think of that?" Pinkie asked, not aware of Rainbow's and Rarity's dagger-sharp glares. The group drove to Celestia and Luna's house. It was a nice large house with a sizable greenhouse in the backyard. Rainbow was the first to climb out of the car and marched straight up to the front door and knocked loudly until it opened. "What is - oh, hey guys." Sunset asked when she answered, Twilight just a little ways behind her. "What happened you?" She asked the smelly, bruised and covered in garbage girls that were Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow. "Oh, we've just been following you around all day to see your secret boyfriend!" Pinkie explained before anyone could stop her. "My secret what!?" Sunset exclaimed. AJ sighed. "For some reason they think yer hidin' something from us and they want to know what." Sunset looked even more confused now. "I don't know what your talking about, but let's go inside." With that everyone entered the living room. "Now what is going on with you girls?" Twilight asked. "Spill the beans Sunset! We overheard you talking to Twilight about him in the hall!" Rainbow accused. Both Sunset's and Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! You mean--you've got it all wrong! it's-" She was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Sunset just smiled at this. "I'll just show you." "Oh! Is it him?" Rarity asked and tried to clean herself off, to little affect. Sunset said nothing and answered the door. "Shimmy!" "Hey little guy." The girls looked and saw a small school aged child hugging Sunset. He was short with pale white skin interrupted by light brown 'splotches' all over him and a think head of brown hair with eyes to match. Still at the door were two grown women. "Thank you so much for agreeing to look after Pipsqueak again on such short notice!" One of them said in a thick Trottingham accent. She turned and smiled at her wife. "Indeed. It's been so hard for him with the move and all. He just loves coming over here!" The other woman said, smiling at their son. "It's no problem. See you later!" With that, the couple left and Sunset carried Pipsqueak into the living room. "Girls I'd like to introduce you to Pipsqueak or 'Pip' for short. He and his moms just moved in next door from Trottingham a few weeks ago. When Celestia went to visit them, they told her they needed a babysitter for him and she recommended me. Pip, these are my friends that I told you about." With that she put him down. "How do ya' do good ladies? My name Pip Pinto Squeak or just 'Pip' for short. Sunset loves telling me all about your adventures together!" He said with the same accent as his mothers. Fluttershy was gushing while Rarity, Rainbow and Pinkie just stood still, wide-eyed as they took in this revelation. "Oooohh...." They said at the same time. "Well....this is rather embarrassing for us." Rarity coughed. "Hehe...whoops." Rainbow blushed. "Aaawww! He's so cute!" Pinkie squealed. Rarity and Rainbow approached Sunset with looks of shame on their faces. "Sunset, darling, you have our deepest apologies. It appears we've let our imaginations run wild." "Yeah...sorry 'bout that." They looked over at Pinkie who took a moment to realize what they meant. "Oh yeah! Sorry Sunset!" Sunset just smiled in good nature. "Don't worry about it. We all make mistakes. Though you could have just talked to me and I could've just clear it up." The trio just sighed. "We know." "Anyway, now that you're here, Pip can finally get to know you all." She took a quick sniff and quickly covered her nose. "...though maybe after you've had a few showers?" After several showers, the girls were finally clean and all was well.....until the next time Pinkie's imagination went out of control.