Dueling Keyboards

by FanOfMostEverything


Rumination

Sunset Shimmer was far better at rebuilding her life than she ever wanted to be. The first time, she'd enjoyed it. That had mostly been psychological rebuilding, redefining herself as the student of the Sun and reconsidering everypony and everything around her in that context.

But then had come the second, much more literal rebuilding, where she'd found herself in a magicless world with nothing but the clothes that had appeared on her back. Yes, she'd brought a fair number of gems that were orders of magnitude more valuable here than home—and she still had pulling the same trick with aluminum foil in reserve, just in case—but pawn shops could only give her a small fraction of their actual value, and money couldn't buy her enough knowledge to seem unsuspicious. That she'd had to learn on her own, along with dividing and conquering the locals before they could imprison her. Or cart her off to Hoswell and dissect her, based on what she'd gathered from their pop culture.

And now? Well, "third time's the charm" was a saying on both sides of the mirror, but Sunset wasn't sure if that would really be the case. She still had her apartment and her bank account, and she supposed the girls Princess Twilight had assigned to watch her counted as a gain in some way, but she'd lost any and all respect at CHS, and that loss cut deep.

Still, the princess had demonstrated that unity produced far greater power than division, and Sunset had never shied away from learning a new way to bend the universe to her will. This one just meant accommodating other wills. And if the perfect purple princess could learn it, so could she.

Even if it meant driving a car almost as old as her peers—"friends" seemed a bit optimistic at this point—to the furthest outskirts of town for a "Sunset's-Not-Evil Week-a-versary."

"In a quarter of a mile, turn left, onto Saddle Street."

At least she had a car. And a phone that could rattle off the directions. She might never have magic again—and after the whole "raging she-demon" thing, she wasn't sure if she even deserved to—but human technology was an acceptable substitute in many ways.

For example, it could make the truck in front of her go at a mind-boggling speed of thirty miles per hour, unthinkable in Equestria without pegasus magic or tracks to steady a roaring steam engine the size of a young adult dragon.

Furthermore, it could make that feat of engineering feel like a snail after Sunset had been going fifty. She groaned and resisted the urge to honk. Good girls didn't honk. Sunset didn't think she qualified as one yet, but the lingering burn in her shoulder blades and coccyx reminded her that the alternative was much worse.

Then the first yellowish wisp blew by her, and she registered the finer details of the truck.

Her stomach growled. The others had assured her that it was best to go to a Pinkie party hungry, especially one at Sweet Apple Acres.

More wisps blew past her car, and she had to resist the urge to roll down the window and try to catch one. Possibly in her teeth.

The truck flashed its right turn signal. Sunset's hopes soared.

"In five hundred feet, turn right, onto State Route 219."

They soared for about three seconds before they came crashing down, which just meant they were back to her new normal. Still, maybe she didn't have too much further to go.

"In about five miles, your destination will be on the right."

Sunset resisted the urge to bite her steering wheel.


Applejack waved as Sunset pulled into the Apples' driveway. "Howdy, Sunset! Welcome to—"

Sunset marched up to her, grabbed two handfuls of her shirt, and stared into her eyes with all the burning, hellish fury of the Fall Formal. "I have been stuck behind a hay truck for the last ten minutes. I. Am. Starving."

"Why would... Right. Magic horse."

"Pony." Sunset was pretty sure she said that. She just wasn't sure if she said it in a human language.

Applejack's dumbfounded reaction wasn't giving her hints either way. "I'll, uh, get you some grub."

"Please do," Sunset nickered.