//------------------------------// // Dark Skies Still Bright (Part 1) // Story: What Happens at Clipper's, Stays at Clipper's // by SunnyDays //------------------------------// Sunset wielded the sander with great intensity as Soarin’s hands guided her smoothly across the surface of the wood. She wanted to get this right, for her sake and for Soarin’s. Luckily, the older bluenette’s instructions were easy enough to follow.  “And that makes the third sanding.” Soarin nodded to himself as he looked over their work. He flashed Sunset a thumbs up. “Good work there, apprentice Pheeny.”  Sunset smiled through her blush. “Th-thanks, Soar. It, uh, doesn’t look much like a guitar yet, though,” she chuckled.  “Of course not, that was just set up to carve out the shape of the top.” Soarin took a marker to the back of the wood, carefully tracing out the shape they’d have to cut. “And the hole where the sound comes from goes here.” Sunset nodded as she watched. It didn’t seem very difficult so far, just time-consuming. Sunset could handle that, however. After everything Soarin had done for her, helping him design guitars was the least that she could do. At least now, she finally had the time. The past few weeks had been riddled with misadventures of the Equestrian variety, and had really left Sunset wondering about her future. Being able to help beyond checking Soarin's inbox and keeping the place clean would be a solid start to considering staying here. On the other hand, she had a few solid family connections in Equestria to maintain. For now, though, Sunset focused on guiding the drill over the lines Soarin had drawn. Soarin hovered over her, helping to keep her hand steady when it looked like she needed it. Soon, the top plate had been cut, and Soarin focused on tracing out the back plate on another sheet of the wood. The door in the main shop rang before audibly shutting. That pulled Soarin from his work, and a soft smile split over his face. “That’s probably Shadey. I’ll be right back.”  “Alright, I’ll be here.” Sunset watched as Soarin got up from his stool, and headed out of the workshop.  The resounding “SHADEY!” that followed was loud enough to echo into the workshop, and Sunset couldn’t help but giggle. Good old Soarin was always so excitable when his sister was involved.  Unbeknownst to Sunset, Nightshade seemed rather distracted from Soarin’s normal greeting as she walked into the shop that afternoon. “Hey Soar. Is Sunset here?” Soarin pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward the back door into the workshop. “I was teaching her how to make a guitar in the back. ...Is something wrong?” He watched her readjust her backpack nervously and shuffle past him. “I’ve just got to talk to her, is all,” Nightshade said. When Soarin went to follow her to the back, she whirled around on him, “Privately, Soar. Please? Just for a few minutes?”  Soarin leaned against the nearest wall, “Err, sure, go ahead. I’ll go check the computer for orders.”   When Nightshade walked into the workshop, Sunset stood. “Oh, hey Nightshade. How was DnD?” Soarin was nowhere in sight, which struck Sunset as odd. Nightshade shrugged. “Fun, as always. How’s the apprenticeship going?”  “Well. Soarin said that it won’t be long until I’m making my own guitars. I might even be able to keep the first one I make myself.” Nightshade smirked. “You going to paint it with flames and shit?”  “Oh, you know it!” The two chuckled, though Nightshade’s laugh seemed a bit nervous. “So… What brings you back here?”  Nightshade tucked her hand into the pocket of her Shadowbolts varsity jacket. “Well, I won a raffle at school recently…” She pulled two tickets out of her pocket. “Soarin’s not one for big concerts, but I heard that you like this band.” She swallowed hard. “W-Wanna go with me?”  Sunset blinked a few times. “Like, as a date?”  Nightshade fidgeted, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She glanced away with a blush, before returning her eyes back to Sunset’s. “Yeah, as a date.”  “Absolutely!” Sunset grinned harder than she ever had. She couldn’t even express how much of a relief this was. “I’d love to go out with you.”  Nightshade seemed to relax as well, “S-Sweet! It’s Saturday night, so maybe we could grab some food before the concert? The prices there tends to be stupidly inflated.”  Sunset nodded. “That’s a deal. Who would we be seeing, anyway?”  “I think they’re called the Dazzlings?” Nightshade said, glancing down at the tickets. “I’ve never heard of them before.” Sunset stiffened very suddenly. “Th-the Dazzlings?”  “What, do you not like their style or somethin’?” Nightshade asked her, quirking an eyebrow.  “Nightshade, did Crystal Prep hear about the disaster that was CHS’s Battle of the Bands?”  Nightshade nodded, “Sorta? I heard that you guys won and overthrew some sorta magical dilemma again. Crash wouldn’t shut up about it for two weeks.” Sunset rolled her eyes at the mention of Dash’s bragging. “Yeah, well, they were the magical dilemma. They’re sirens-” Nightshade gasped, “Did they try to drown someone?!” Sunset blinked blankly at her in response. “I’m going to take that as a no, but that’s what the legends say that’s what sirens do. They lure sailors in with their hypnotic song and drown them. And probably eat them.”  “Err, no. Not the same thing. They're sirens from Equestria who were trapped here eons ago. They spread and feed on malice, and that’s what they were trying to do at CHS. But the thing about their hypnotic song is true.” Sunset sighed, beginning to pace around the room in thought. “So… I can’t ask you to come with me, but I have to check this out no matter what. Maybe we could just go to dinner?”  “What?! No way! Getting mixed up in some magical shenanigans sounds like exactly the trouble I’d want to tango with.” Nightshade smirked, grabbing Sunset’s hand, “I’ll just bring earplugs, and we’ll sneak backstage to take down whatever evil plan they have cooking!”  “No way,” Soarin’s voice broke through the excitement in the room, “there is no way I’m going to let you both try to face down any sort of magical menace on your own. A date to a concert was fine, but there’s no way I’m letting you two put yourselves in this kind of danger.”  Nightshade jumped a little. “Come on, Soar, Sunset’s probably an expert at this. We’ll be fine!”  “Nope,” Soarin said simply in response. Nightshade slumped over with an annoyed groan, “Fine. What if we set up a double date with Misty and Charger?” Soarin raised an eyebrow. “Misty’s such a goodie-two-shoes! She’ll come crawling to you and Spits the minute that we do something suspicious!”  Soarin blew out a breath, “I trust you two more than that. Just… Please promise me that you’ll go to the concert normally, or avoid it entirely?”  “I promise I’ll just watch the concert just to see what they’re doing,” Sunset assured him, “they could be doing absolutely nothing for all I know.” Soarin looked over to Nightshade.  Nightshade sighed, “I’ll at least text you if something goes down. Fair?”  “Expect me to be there if something freaky happens,” Soarin agreed, “now, Pheenie, can I have a word with you, alone?”  Nightshade slung her bag over her back as she pushed open the door back into the main shop. “I’ll be doing my work, if ya need me.”  As the door closed behind Nightshade, Soarin took his seat back in front of the guitar and motioned for Sunset to do the same. He smiled at her. “You know, I’m okay with this whole thing. I really am.” He swallowed hard. “But…?” Sunset could nearly see the contradiction on his face.  Soarin rubbed the back of his neck. “Nightshade and I have been through a lot recently with the whole… secret thing.” He flinched slightly at even the mention of it. “I’m just worried that this is more of a gut reaction in response to that whole incident and your involvement in it. Not that I think you’re a bad influence or anything, but… I’m worried about you two hurting each other.” Soarin bit his lip. “Why do you figure that?” Sunset asked him. “Because that’s Shadey’s coping method. When something like this happens, she puts herself in the way of risky situations to boost her self-confidence. She’s done it quite a few times, but now... I understand why.” Soarin shook his head slowly with a pensive expression. “I don’t really know how to put this nicely, but if I know anything about how Dash describes you, you’re kinda a magnet for magical happenings-” Sunset physically recoiled. “-Are you saying that Nightshade might only like me because I’m known for getting involved in problems?!”       Soarin grabbed Sunset’s hand, “What?! No! That’s not what I mean at all! I’m just worried that when these things do eventually happen; Shadey’s going to throw herself right at the problem! I’m worried that if I didn’t tell you about this in advance, she’d really get the two of you hurt! You’re already like a little sister to me, Pheenie, and I’d feel just as guilty and responsible seeing you hurt as I would Shadey. I’m sorry if I came off wrong and hurt you.”  The admission hit Sunset harder than expected, and her vision rapidly grew blurry as she launched herself at Soarin. Her boss. Her friend. Maybe even her family. “I can’t protect you two forever, I know that,” Soarin sighed, “but I need you guys to be transparent with me when something comes up. I’m here to help. Okay?”  Sunset wiped her face with her sleeve, “Y-Yeah, okay. I can do that.” Soarin was getting a bit misty-eyed himself, but he smiled through them. “Now… Shall we get back to our guitar-making, my apprentice?” Sunset pulled herself away from him. “Let’s do this.” She nodded firmly. “Yeah, let’s- OW!” Soarin yelped as he went to touch the saw, only to yank away his hand from it. He pouted, “Damn it! Stop shocking me!" Sunset laughed, “Wooow! What a way to ruin a mood there, Soarin!”  Soarin laughed with her, and the two went back to their guitar building.  At the beginning of the next day, Dash loudly slammed her locker as Sunset explained the whole problem to her and Misty. “Wait, you’re dating Nightshade?! CHS’s sworn enemy?!”  Sunset scowled, and Misty crossed her arms. “Really Dash, of all the things to be worried about, why would you focus on that?!”      Rainbow leaned in and playfully flicked Sunset’s nose. “Because I’m being a piece of shit and I think you’re blowing this out of proportion a little. We shattered the sirens’ gem thingies, remember? They can’t use their song thing anymore, so why are they such a threat?”    “I don’t know, honestly.” Sunset let out a breath and Misty relaxed behind her. “It just seems strange. The Dazzlings are back, and they’re putting on a concert that they’re giving away free tickets to? It just all seems so suspect. What if they’ve found a way to repair their amulets?” “Okay, okay, I’ll give you that, at least. Them repairing their gem things would be waay bad news for us.” Dash said, shouldering her bookbag, “So you’re going to just throw yourself into things without us?”  Sunset was reminded of Soarin’s words last night. “No. I’m just going to scout it out with Nightshade, and we might need backup. I know Soarin will be there in a heartbeat if we need him, but can I count on you two if things get hairy?” She glanced back at Misty.  “Hell yeah!” Rainbow fist-pumped. Misty smiled, “Count me in too. I’ll drive.”     “Good, because I have absolutely no idea what we’ll find when we get there. It could be absolutely normal, and I could have nothing to worry about in the slightest.” “OR those flying dragon things could use another thrashing.” Rainbow pounded her fist into her palm. At a flat look from Sunset, Dash added, “But let’s just hope for the normal, non-thrashing scenario.” She grinned innocently.   Sunset closed her locker with a concerned frown. So much was happening at once now. Her first date, the Dazzlings, internalizing Soarin’s words from last night, the recent run ins with her Equestrian family, and the looming of the Friendship Games on the horizon. It was all a lot to think about, even if it was mostly good. For now, her best bet was to try and figure out what to do about the concert in a few days. And possibly what to do if Nightshade decided to go bolting right into trouble.