//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Burning Rubber And Flying Lead // by Gearsmash King //------------------------------// "It's been a long time." Sunset said, giving her warmest grin. To say Rainbow was surprised and upset would've been an understatement. She was frightened and furious. "That's what you have to say?!" Rainbow exclaimed, balling her hand into a fist, "You break into my apartment, point a gun at me, and all you have to say is, 'It's been a long time?!' What the hell?!" "Hey, hey! Keep it down!" Sunset replied, wincing as she raised her hands in defense, "I thought you were someone else. I put the gun away, didn't I?" Rainbow was about to retort, but stopped when she saw the blood on Sunset's left hand. Slowly, she stepped closer and noticed a blood splatter on the matching shoulder. "My God, Sunset!" Rainbow gasped, stepping around Sunset and seeing the bloody hole, "You've been shot!" "Yeah, I noticed." Sunset replied flatly, gently lowering her hands, "But, thankfully, it didn't hit anything vit- HEY!" Seeing the redhead drop her guard, Rainbow seized the chance to grab Sunset's gun and point it at her. "Rainbow!" Sunset exclaimed, turning to face her friend and seeing the muzzle, "What are you doing?!" "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the cops!" Rainbow hissed, keeping both hands firmly on the grip. "I need your help. Well, yours and the others too." Rainbow held her stance, but her curiosity twitched. Sunset noticed and continued. "I didn't want to," Sunset said, taking a step closer, "but you and the other girls are the only ones I know I can trust." "That's asking a lot, after almost six years, Sunset." Rainbow replied, unyielding to the other girl, but beginning to shake slightly, "You left without an explanation, no phone call, text, or anything. We loved you like a sister, Sunset. But, when you did that, it felt like you didn't give a damn about any of us." "I know and I'm sorry. It was unfair. But, I didn't want to drag all of you down with me. You've seen the videos and pictures during high school, when I was that she-demon thing. I know you've read comments that are attached. Even after graduation, I was still getting heckled and ridiculed for what happened. But, when I saw them targeting you girls because you were friends with me, I couldn't stand it anymore. People can badmouth me all they want, but once my friends were dragged into it, I refused to cause anymore problems for you. So I left, trying to protect you." Sunset stepped closer, letting the muzzle press against her chest. As she did, Rainbow strained to keep her composure as the gun twitched in her hands. "Why come see me and not the others?" Rainbow asked, feeling tears well up. "Because I knew you were the only one who'd most likely listen to me." Sunset answered, placing her clean hand on Rainbow's forearm, "But, if you feel differently, I understand. You've got a good life here, I don't want to ruin that. If you want me to leave, just say so. I'll walk out that door and you won't ever see me again, if that's what you want." Finally, Rainbow's tears began to roll down her cheeks as she lowered the gun and hung her head. Sunset placed her hand on the gun and gently took it as Rainbow released the grip, placing it on a nearby table and stepping closer to her friend. Rainbow leaned forward and rested her head on Sunset's good shoulder, crying into the leather motorcycle jacket. "S-Sunny!" Rainbow sobbed, feeling Sunset wrap her in a hug and returning it. "It's okay." Sunset hushed, feeling tears form in her eyes, "I've got you." They held each other for a while before separating. It was almost one o'clock in the morning, as they dried their tears and calmed down. "Does it hurt?" Rainbow asked, gesturing toward the gunshot wound. "It stings." Sunset replied, taking a seat at the table, "But, I can't go to the hospital. They'll have to report it to the cops." Rainbow thought for a moment, before pulling out her phone. "What are you doing?" Sunset asked, watching Rainbow swipe her screen a few times. "I'm calling Fluttershy." Rainbow replied, finding the contact and tapping it, "She's a veterinarian at the zoo. She might be the only one who can help us here." Holding the phone and setting it to speaker, Rainbow and Sunset listened as the ringtone chimed. But, soon after, it stopped and a voice followed. "Hello?" A sleepy voice greeted. "Hey, Flutters." Rainbow replied, "Listen, I know it's not the right time to be calling, but I need your help at my place." "Help with what?" "It'll be easier if I showed you. Oh, by the way, bring your medical kit. It might come in handy." There was a long pause on the other end, before Sunset and Rainbow heard shuffling in the background. "Alright." Fluttershy yawned, groaning as she shuffled around, "I'll be over in a bit." "Thanks, Fluttershy." Rainbow said, hovering her finger over the screen and hanging up. Sunset eyed Rainbow with unease, watching her put away the phone. For a long while, neither of them said anything as they waited for Fluttershy arrive. But, the silence was broke as Rainbow glanced at Sunset's hair and pointed. "What's the deal with that?" Rainbow asked, "If I remember right, you had red and blonde hair. Why solid red?" "After I left," Sunset explained, wrapping a few strands around her finger, "I realized I couldn't be Sunset Shimmer anymore. My name and appearance were too recognizable, especially my hair. So, I dyed it and started going by another name." Rainbow leaned closer, looking over Sunset's expression. "And what name is that?" Rainbow asked, leaning back in her chair. "Phoenix." Sunset replied, rolling up her left sleeve and showing a blood covered phoenix tattoo, "I got that a month after I left Canterlot and the name kind of followed." Shortly after, a buzzing sound filled the apartment, causing Rainbow to stand and approach the little speaker on the wall. "Hello." She said, pushing a button. "It's me, Rainbow." Fluttershy's voice cracked through the speaker. "Come on up." Rainbow pushed another button, before hanging up. They waited a moment, before hearing a knock on the door. Sunset stood up and watched as Rainbow approached the door and opened it. "Hey, Flutters." Rainbow said, pulling the normally shy girl inside, "How are you?" "Uh, fine." Fluttershy replied, still rubbing her eyes, unaware of the third girl in the room at that moment, "What's going on? Why'd you call me?" "Well, an old friend came to town and she needed some help. And you were the only one I could call." "Old friend? Who?" Then Fluttershy opened her eyes and waited for them to adjust. But, when her vision cleared and her eyes focused on Sunset. "Hi, Fluttershy." Sunset grinned, trying to appear friendly. Fluttershy didn't reply as she stared at Sunset with wide eyes. However, when Sunset tried to approach her, Fluttershy backed away. Seeing the fear and shock in Fluttershy, Sunset stopped moving and lifted her hand in a welcoming gesture. "Fluttershy, it's me. Sunset Shimmer." She stated, holding her hand out toward her friend, "You remember me, right?" "I remember Sunset Shimmer was my friend." Fluttershy replied, taking another step back, "But, the Sunset I knew, didn't run out on her friends. I don't know you." Fluttershy turned away to leave, but her path was blocked by Rainbow. "Flutters, please." Rainbow pleaded, placing a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder, "She's been shot and you're the only one we could call for help." "I'm an animal doctor, Rainbow." Fluttershy replied, brushing the hand away, "If she's been shot, she needs a human doctor at a hospital. You know that." "I already told her the same thing, but she won't trust anyone else to help her. Please, you're the best chance we got at patching her up." Fluttershy groaned as she hung her head in defeat and massaged her forehead. "Fine." She finally said, lifting her head and meeting Rainbow's eyes, "I'm too tired to argue about this, right now. So, let's get this over with." She turned and faced Sunset again, showing the redhead an annoyed expression. "Take off your jacket and sit down." Fluttershy ordered, placing her medical kit on the table, "Rainbow, grab a lamp or flashlight and shine the light on the wound." Fluttershy didn't say anything else as she grabbed another chair and placed it behind Sunset's, the latter shedding her motorcycle jacket and revealing a purple tanktop. Opening her medical hit, Fluttershy took out tweezers, sterilizer, needle, thread, gloves, and magnifying eyeglasses. Behind Fluttershy, Rainbow had found a flashlight and shined it onto the wound. In the light, both girls could see the glint on something in the wounded shoulder. "Well, the good news is," Fluttershy commented, putting on the glasses and gloves, before grabbing her tweezers and sterilizing them, "it's not a deep wound. I can reach the bullet." "And the bad news?" Sunset asked, turning her head slightly. "It's going to hurt." Then Fluttershy inserted her tweezers into the little entrance wound, twisting a bit in order to reach the bullet. Feeling the tweezers touch solid metal, she gently opened the little jaws and closed on the bullet. Sunset, meanwhile, was grunting and wincing with every twist and pull as Fluttershy extracted the bullet. Finally, the bullet was pulled free and Sunset relaxed. But, she tensed up and seethed as she felt intense stinging on her wound. "Hey, relax." Fluttershy said sternly, holding a sterilized cloth on the wound, "I said it was going to hurt. The bullet may not have hit anything vital, like an artery. But, it did do quite some damage." Sunset didn't say anything as she let Fluttershy work. Soon she felt the cloth pull away and be replaced by a sharp pain. The needle pierced through the skin with little effort, pulling the thread along with it. Shortly after, the thread was pulled tight and tied in a knot, before Fluttershy cut the needle free. Then she took some bandages and wrapped Sunset's shoulder. "There." Fluttershy said, removing her gloves and glasses, "It's not perfect, but it shouldn't get infected. The most you should get out of it, would be a scar." "Great." Sunset sighed, relieved that it was over, "Another one to add to the collection." Rainbow and Fluttershy paused when they heard that. Sunset sensed them staring at her from behind in silence, then it occurred to her what she had just said. Standing, she lifted her shirt, exposing her stomach and revealing three more scars. As well as a couple more tattoos. "I got two of those in New York." Sunset said, pointing at the scars, "That third one I got in New Orleans." She put her shirt down again, before gesturing to her legs. "I've got five more." Sunset continued, pointing to different parts of her legs, "Three on my left and two on my right." "Alright, that's enough!" Rainbow exclaimed, giving Sunset a hard stare, "It's hard enough to accept you're back and in trouble. But, to hear that you've nearly died multiple times is beyond scary, especially since nobody here would've known about it." Sunset stared back at them, seeing the shock and fear return in the other girls eyes. Shamefully, Sunset took a seat in a different chair and hung her head. "I'm sorry." Sunset said, glancing to one side and spotting her gun, "Perhaps, I made a mistake coming here. I'll get my stuff together and head out." "No, Sunny." Rainbow retorted, approaching the redhead, "You're not getting off that easy. And, I refuse to let you run away again. I'll help you. But, if you want our friends to help too, that's on you." Sunset stared into Rainbow's eyes, seeing the same determination she recognized from her past. Her eyes drifted from Rainbow to Fluttershy, who sat quietly as she put her tools away. "Fluttershy…" Sunset said, trying to sound comforting, "I know you aren't happy that I ran away. I'm sure the others are too. But, please understand, I wouldn't have come all this way to ask for your help, unless I knew I couldn't do it alone." "What about just coming home and being with your friends again?" Fluttershy sighed, closing the little kit, "Besides, whatever you're involved in, I don't think I'd fit in for it. But, I'll tell you what, if you can convince the others to help, I might consider it." "Deal." Sunset held out her hand for a handshake. However, Fluttershy just looked at the hand and let her vision roll up to Sunset's face. "I don't make risky deals." Fluttershy stated, turning her attention to Rainbow, "Could I stay here for the rest of the night? I have to be up early and I don't want to drive home, right now." "Sure." Rainbow said, gesturing toward her room, "You can crash in my bed with me. It's a double, so there's room. Sunset, you can stay here tonight too. The couch is open." "Thanks." Sunset replied, stepping to one side and letting Fluttershy walk by her. Rainbow and Fluttershy made their way into the bedroom, while Sunset slumped onto the couch, placing her head in her hands. It was still hours until sunrise, but sleeping was going to be difficult that night as they thought about what just happened. And what may happen. Then Rainbow flipped the light switch and darkness filled the apartment.