//------------------------------// // Fire Among the Woodwork // Story: What Happens at Clipper's, Stays at Clipper's // by SunnyDays //------------------------------// Sunset giggled quietly as Soarin made a show of drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of his truck to the music. Guitars flared and shredded throughout the melody of the song. “I didn’t know musicals could be this intense.” Sunset couldn’t help but keep a grin plastered on her face. As the car rolled to a stop at a light, Soarin air guitared fairly accurately to the song. “This one is!” He grinned dumbly. “And it’s perfect to get us in the mood for the game!” In the distance, Sunset could already see the campus of Canterlot University. It looked more or less like a park with a few fields thrown in, and wouldn’t have known any better if a giant stone and brick sign didn’t spell it out for her. “This looks nothing like a high school,” Sunset nearly had to shout over the blaring music. Soarin made no move to turn it down, instead opting to also shout over it, “Yep! Totally different worlds! Thanks for coming, by the way! Spitfire’ll be so surprised!” He grinned and took a hard right to turn into the stadium. It wasn’t exactly a stadium as much as it was a field with some bleachers, but it didn’t stop people from all across Canterlot from flooding in already. There were even a few highschoolers here that Sunset recognized. It was the same general crowd from CHS that Sunset was used to seeing in the bleachers with her during the Wondercolts games. Usually there to cheer on Dash, while everyone else took the sidelines. Though, to her credit, Dash was still pretty impressive as a player. Sunset had no doubt she'd be a professional player one day, and it seemed that everyone shared that sentiment. Soarin nudged her shoulder playfully as he passed. "I'd suggest getting snacks now if you want. I'll go snag us a seat before they fill up." "Want anything?" Sunset asked. "Just some popcorn." Soarin nodded as he headed off in the direction of the stands. People of various ages were flooding around the concessions stand, so it was simple for Sunset to simply blend into the crowd and wait. It wasn't entirely her fault when she overheard the chuckles of two teenagers a few people behind her. "...make it up! Who'll actually know?" "Like, the Captain? Aren't they, like, friends?" "So what? It'll draw Canterlot and Crystal Prep alike to the blog and shit." "Come on, gurl, if we're gonna smear, it's got to have some sting to it, ya know? Some truth." "It's the Internet, sweetheart." "So what?!" Sunset's brows furrowed, and she looked behind her to try and pinpoint the location of the two girls' voices. However, she turned around only for an unfamiliar middle-aged man to look down at her quizzically. "Thought I heard someone I knew, sorry!" Sunset smiled at him before spinning right around again. As she got up to the concessions counter, Sunset told herself to just forget about the two and their baiting. It was none of her concern, anyways. To say that she was over dealing with high School drama was an understatement at this point. She almost succeeded at it, too, as she brought her and Soarin's food to where their spots were. "Thanks there, Pheenie." Soarin grinned as he took the things from her. From there, the game itself started. It wasn't anything spectacular - not that Sunset was a good judge of whether kicking a ball around from right to left to right again down a field was fun or not. No, it was Soarin's excitement that kept Sunset interested in the game. He was always on his feet the moment that Spitfire neared the opposing team's goal, shouting cheers and whoops with each goal that was scored. Sunset couldn't help but nearly vibrate and hop up with him each time. The electricity in the air was absolutely contagious. So much so that energy was still coursing through Sunset as the final second ticked down, and the game had been officially won.    She was still buzzing with that energy when Soarin got up and told her to wait there for him. That's where she saw the two freshmen again, this time, snickering to themselves. "Okay, now that's rich." One of the girls from before leaned back with a wicked smile on her face. "Wait until everyone hears about their precious hometown hero now." For a split second, Sunset knew that it was best to keep out of it. Just stay low and let whatever those freshmen were on about happen. The only problem was, they had let a detail slip that they really shouldn't have: the "hometown hero" whom they were talking about - was Spitfire. Sunset's body rose up without her truly realizing it. Her clenched fists tucked in the crooks of her folded arms, she approached the freshmen - two girls she didn't recognize from CHS - and fluttered her eyelashes. "Oh my gosh, I couldn't help but overhear... Did you two say that you run a popular blog?" Her falsely sweet voice disgusted Sunset, but there was no backing down from the interested charade now. The two girls looked at each other before smirking up smugly at Sunset. "Like, you totally did overhear that. We've got over 2000 followers on HorseFamousNow. SimplePleasures. Look us up. We got a big story coming up and all." "I heard something about a hometown hero...? I'm here supporting the Vanhoover team, so I dunno who that would be." Sunset put her hand to the side of her cheek. "Aw shit, that's a good point. Nobody from outside of Canterlot will actually care about this." The first girl pouted slightly. The second looked up at Sunset, "There's a CHS graduate who's, like, the star of this team, right? We have, like, tons of photos of her smoking out back before the game!" She chuckled, "Which, ya know, wouldn't be a big deal if she hadn't had this whooole big inspirational piece written in the Equestrian about her being smoke free for months and that shit. It's gonna be all over the place, and we're gonna be the first ones to post it~!" Sunset's teeth clenched. "Oh! Oh! AND she might lose her scholarship for lying about it!" The first girl said, "It's juicy, really." "That's..." Sunset didn't really have words for that. She didn't even know that Spitfire smoked at all. She'd never smelled like it before, and Sunset knew that it was a hard smell to mask. Shocked as she was though, another feeling overshadowed the shock of Spitfire's secret. Rage. She uncrossed her arms. "Don't post it!" She snapped, eyes narrowing. "Woah, the Hell?" The first girl scoffed. "A second ago you were totally in on this." "Yeah, why are ya, like, a total bitch all of a sudden?" The second piped in. "Because otherwise, someone's going to get hurt. And not just Spitfire." Sunset said piercingly. "You're from CHS, aren't you? Fucking liar, just like all Wondercolts." The first girl stood, taking Sunset Shimmer's stare like a champ. "Don't listen to this pansy, post it now." She told her friend. Sunset launched herself at the two girls. For a moment, all that she could understand was the tangle and thrashing of limbs. Nails tore down Sunset's arm, but she didn't care. All that mattered in the moment was keeping these idiots from posting those pictures. Sunset was suddenly sent crashing into the empty bench in front of the two, but caught herself with her hands. However, when she looked up, she only saw the terrified expressions of the two girls, entirely frozen in place. When Sunset pulled herself up from the bench, she finally noticed Spitfire pulling herself up over the railing of the bleacher towards her. That, and the large, inky scorch marks she had made in the bench she had landed on. Her eyes went wide, and when she turned again towards the two freshmen, they did what was only natural for any human being in that situation. "HOLY SHIT!" Sunset wasn't entirely sure which of them exclaimed the curse in between all of the shrieking, but she couldn't help but feel a little satisfied when they both fled the scene, shoving each other the whole way. However, that did still leave Spitfire standing over her. She didn’t look happy, either. “Clipper’s. Now.” Spitfire frowned as she saw Soarin turn the corner, a confused look written across his face. She pushed the two of them all the way into the parking lot, and took the passenger’s side of the car. Soarin lowered the music all the way down. “I-I’m confused? What happened?!” He looked between the young women in the car. “Sunset nearly lit two girls on fire at the end of the game.” Spitfire put her feet up on the dashboard, her expression stern. “You did?” Soarin looked back only to see Sunset’s expression mirror his own: muted horror, confusion, and a pinch of curiosity. “I did?” “Yes, and we had to get out of there,” Spitfire replied, “I don’t have the slightest idea on how I’m going to cover for you on this! On top of that, I don’t think you’ll ever be allowed at one of my games again.” That seemed to be what she was most upset about. “I didn’t- The fire wasn’t-” Sunset stuttered, unable to know what truly to think about that. This hadn’t been how she wanted to figure out magic again. “Those two girls, what did they do?” Soarin asked Sunset at another red light, “What set you off?” “Th-they… They had taken pictures of Spitfire smoking before the game and were going to post them online.” Sunset noticed Spitfire suddenly go very still, and Soarin go entirely quiet. “I… didn’t know that you smoked, Spits,” Sunset finished. Spitfire let out a nervous laugh, “That’s because you weren’t supposed to ever know.” Sunset glanced to Soarin, only to see that he had traded Spitfire for her earlier expression. Soarin’s ever upbeat and slightly goofy tone had vanished completely. Instead, it dripped with disappointment. “You told me you had stopped entirely.” Spitfire sunk into her seat. “I know…” “No, you promised me you were clean,” Soarin stressed. “I know…” Spitfire’s repetition was even quieter now. Somehow, Sunset’s little fire hazard had entirely dropped out of the conversation in favor of Soarin berating Spitfire like a child. Or an old married couple. Whatever came first. “Why would you lie to me?” Soarin asked as he parked in the front of Clipper’s, “There’s literally no reason to!” Spitfire flinched as he turned to her, “I wasn’t lying to you for the first year…” She admitted, “But once finals set in and the big championships set in… With all the stress…” Spitfire rubbed her thumb and forefingers together, and looked directly away from Soarin. In response, Soarin sighed, leaning in and putting his hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s hard, Spits. I’m still tempted sometimes too, but you really should’ve told me that you relapsed.” “I know, I know, I know!” Spitfire sighed, shaking her head. “Wait, you smoked too?” Sunset almost missed that detail for a moment. “Of course I did. It was the ‘cool’ thing to do in our freshman year, and we were both in that crowd. Stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Damn things are a trap.” Spitfire silently nodded in agreement.   Soarin pulled his hand away from Spitfire’s shoulder as he opened the car door and went to unlock the front of Clipper’s. Sunset was about to follow, when Spitfire turned to her, “We’re not done talking about what happened, by the way.” “I figured.” Sunset sighed as she pulled herself from Soarin’s backseat. With the door closed behind them, Sunset sat down at the counter. “Now, about the fire…” Spitfire started immediately. Sunset shrugged her shoulders, “I’m a bit blank on exactly what happened there. I’ve been trying to figure out how exactly to have magic work over here, but I haven’t had any success until today. ...And I’m not really sure how I did it other than being angry.” “Could it be that simple?” Spitfire asked her. Sunset’s hands cascaded through her hair, “I hope not, for everyone’s sake.” “Why’s that?” Spitfire asked her. “Because, then we’d be dealing with dark magic.” Sunset looked over at Spitfire, “That may not sound bad to you, but it has… negative memories attached to it for me. Some memories that I’d rather not visit again.” “Just bad memories?” “Well…” Sunset trailed off, “That, and the fact that it’s outlawed in Equestria because of how incredibly volatile and unstable it makes ponies who try to use it. So, in other words: no, it’s not just because I’ve had bad experiences with dark magic. It’s because dark magic would make me no better than a ticking time bomb.” Spitfire had nothing better to say to that but a simple: “Shit.” “The fact that it reminded me of anon-a-miss didn’t exactly help,” Sunset huffed, placing her chin on the counter, “But maybe that’s also a good thing. We know that’s my big weakness or whatever.” “Your kryptonite,” Spits supplied. Sunset blinked, “Err, I’ll take your word for that.” “Point is, you might not explode again if we get you some help on this whole anon-a-miss thing, right?” “That’s my best guess.” Sunset shrugged her shoulders. “Well then, that’s what we’ll do.” Spitfire shook her a little, as if trying to wake her up, “Meanwhile, I guess that means that you should be more active in studying this magic thing, huh?” Sitting up again, Sunset readjusted her jacket. “I can get on that, yeah. Probably means another Equestria trip is in the works, sooner than I expected.” She glanced back at Spitfire. “One more thing though, what happens if those pictures get posted? Those freshmen were talking like it was going to get you kicked off of the team or something.” Spitfire blew that notion off with a wave of her hand. “I don’t really care, if I’m honest. It won’t matter to my coach. Besides, the way you made them shit themselves? I doubt you’ll be seeing those pictures any time soon.” She playfully punched Sunset’s shoulder with a chuckle. That, at least, made Sunset feel better about how today had gone. --- “She’s a freak, Sour! A freak!” Normally Sour Sweet didn’t pay attention to the freshmen that passed through Crystal Prep’s halls, but considering how these two had failed her, specifically, caught Sour’s attention. “Who?” “This chick, like, nearly set us on fire!” Simple Pleasures was panicking, “Sh-she had, like, red and yellow hair! It was kinda like bacon! She was really, like, pissed about us getting those pictures!”     A smirk crossed Sour Sweet’s lips, “Ohh, I see now~” Her near-purr confused the two freshmen, who watched her pace in front of the school’s entryway, “It seems the demon queen of CHS has shown her true colors again… Perfect.”