//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Sunset's New Hope. // Story: Sunset Shimmer and the Cowboy // by KittyrinnAiko //------------------------------// Sunset woke to find herself in a hospital bed. How she’d gotten there was at that point a blank. Or at best kind of fuzzy. “Hi, how are you?” asked the voice of a man who seemed vaguely familiar. Sunset cast her eyes over to the cowboy in the chair, looked around, the curtains were closed, but the clock showed that it was nearing ten. “Mm, hi.” “By any chance do you remember me?” “I… I… you pulled me off the bridge.” Sunset dropped her gaze down to the bed as the recollection came to her. “For what it’s worth someone named Fluttershy came by. She was worried about you. I gather she finally built up enough courage to tell the others what she thought and went looking for you.” “Fluttershy. Fluttershy would help anyone.” “She was genuinely concerned about you. Went to your apartment.” “Did she?” “Ya. Sometimes it can be hard to go against the people we care for. For what it’s worth the real Anon-a-miss has been identified.” “So why are you still here?” At this point, Sunset really didn’t think it would make any difference. She was also concerned that her lack of any legal papers was going to end her up in even more trouble. “By any chance does the name Dusk Shimmer ring any bells?” Sunset gave him a quick glance and then dropped her eyes back to the bed. “My father. Why?” “Well, that just might also happen to be my name.” “I’m not your daughter.” “So I understand. A double of some sort. From some other world, I gather. The thing is, in this world, I am your father, and you are my daughter. Regardless of where you may or may not come from until proven otherwise. If anything bad happens to you, I’m going to feel really shitty about it.” “You didn’t even know I existed until today.” “Not true. Maggie let me know shortly after you showed up.” “Maggie?” “Granny Smith. You didn’t think her parents named her Granny, did you?” “Now that I think of it, that would be a silly thing to name a baby.” “And I’ve been sending money to Lofty and Holiday. You do have to admit that you haven't exactly been lacking in things you needed.” “Lofty and Holiday helped me with rent when I insisted on moving out. Any chance they’ll let me come back? I kind of lost my part-time job. Not that I really want to, it’s just looking like my only option.” “I think we could come up with something?” “You aren’t going to suggest I move in with you, are you?” “I’m about as homeless as you are at the moment. Perhaps you forgot, I was going to crash at the Apple farm?” “I seem to remember a bad dream about being related to the Apples.” Sunset looked at the window as the idea of jumping flashed through her mind. “I’d imagine Brandy is going to have a similar reaction.” “Brandy?” “Applejack. She hates being called Brandy,” Dusty offered with a grin. A smile crossed Sunset’s face for the first time in what felt like forever. “Oh, you’re awake,” proclaimed a nurse at the door. She was blond with freckles and had the look of an Apple about her. “I’m Nurse Sweet Larks. Any chance you're hungry?” “Yes, I’m starved. But isn’t it after hours?” “We’ve got a number of vending machines in the staff cafeteria, and the docs want you eating.” “I’m vegetarian.” “Strict vegetarian?” Nurse Larks asked. “How do you feel about lunch meat?” “To be honest, I don’t really consider that meat any more than what the school cafeteria serves,” Sunset offered with a grin. “Good call. Let me see what I can dig up.” Nurse Larks turned on her heels and were out the door a moment later. “So um, you weren’t planning on sleeping in that chair all night, were you?” Sunset asked as she turned her attention back to Dusty. “Are you done trying to kill yourself?” "Oh… ya, that.” Sunset’s eyes turned back to the bed. “I, um, I’d given up. … The only people who ever cared about me turned their backs on me.” “Can’t say I can agree with that.” “I needed them and they turned their backs on me. What part of that don't you seem to get?” "The friend part." "They were my friends." “Were they?” He gave that question a moment to sink in. “Because if they were, they sure turned their backs on you mighty fast.” “I suppose they were just giving me another chance because Princess Twilight asked them too.” “Which would mean that they betrayed her too.” “I suppose they did.” “Way I figure it, there’s a lot of water under that bridge, and there’s a lot of immaturity coming to play. They are giving you a second chance, and at the first sign of trouble they push you away rather than thinking critically.” He thought about it for a moment. “Which is kind of out of character for Applejack. As stubborn as that gal is I’d half expect her to stick to you like glue. Especially if she honestly believed you were guilty.” “They should have known I was innocent when Rainbow Dash’s failed assignment got posted online,” Sunset offered. “And you, you want to be my father even though I say there is no way you could possibly be my father?” “Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?” “I’m from another dimension.” “In that case, I doubt the universe cares.” “You’re not going to dispute my claim of being from another dimension?” “Kind of immaterial so far as I can see. Heck, I’m a professional Rodeo star. More or less. I’ve got this part-time thing I do; I’ve seen some crazy stuff. And them people living in their big houses in their fancy neighborhoods making them three figured salaries might just as well be in a completely different universe. Hell, I lost my wife when her car went into that damn river all them years ago. We found her body in the vehicle, but never found my Sunset. The way I see it, even if by some strange twist of fate you are my daughter, gone there and back again, we’d still be complete strangers. Except…” “Except?” “We’d have a lot to catch up on. Like the fact that yer ma and I were separated and she’d shacked up with some idjet named Snap Shutter. But never mind about that, tell me about yourself starting with your earliest recollections?” “I was in Canterlot, in that other dimension, and I spent time in an orphanage. I… I… I remember being pulled out of a river!” “Parallel world. No reason to think you wouldn't have experienced the same things as my own daughter up to that point. Maybe you fell in and yer maw went in after you. I can see them putting you in a home if there was no one about to claim you and all you had was a name no one recognized. How about your dad in that other dimension?” “All I really remembered was his name. I didn’t know I had a dad in this one.” “Well, now you do.” “But?” Sunset was now looking at him with desperation in her eyes. “Like I said, the universe doesn’t care. One Sunset goes missing presumed perished in one world, and another one gets rescued in another world. Maybe you're ending up here is just the universe sorting things out.” “It’s not all in my head, I can prove it.” “You mean the book Fluttershy dropped off,” Dusty offered with a smile. “I never said I didn’t believe you and don’t worry, I don’t read other people's diaries.” “It’s more than a diary it’s a two-way communication device.” “You mean like a Cell phone?” “Kind of, only it’s all text and not much of anything else. Kind of a two-way Kindle.” “Does it have spell check?” “Not per se, the Equestrian language has a lot of characters that don’t show up in English. No internet, but I can draw anything I want and it’ll show up at the receiving end.” “So there’s just the two, kind of like a prototype. Can’t contact anyone else?” “Just the two and I can only contact the individual in possession of the other book.” “So it’s like a prototype.” “It was originally for school assignments.” “Ah, yes, that would make lots of sense. Like a workbook, and an exact copy of what you write would appear in the other book. I bet they could do that with a Kindle, and then you wouldn't have to worry about handing in assignments… except, it’d be kind of hard to not do yer work and blame it on the dog.” “And if I told you that it’s magic?” “ ’Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Arthur C. Clarke said that. Or in other words, it’s not magic. You just don’t have the appropriate vocabulary to explain it in terms that line up with what is known in this world right here, right now.” “Um, kay,” Sunset said softly. “Is it a repeatable process with logical explanations and methods?” “Well, yes. I mean we use what we call magic, but it’s just a form of energy native to that other dimension. And not entirely absent here either.” “I’d say that goes without saying.” “How’s that?” “Does the book work? Mind if I have a look?” “Yes, it does, and go ahead. Can’t say I have any deep dark secrets in there.” “Your book is dependent on that specific form of energy is it not?” He asked as he retrieved it from a bag the hospital had provided. “Well, yes, it is.” Sunset wasn’t entirely certain where he was going at first and then it hit her. She’d just assumed there’d been no magic in this world when the truth had been that she simply couldn't access what was there. “This is some pretty amazing stuff in here. These computations are way over my head. And I can see where your teacher has critiqued you.” He flipped through to the entries about the Dazzlings. “Ah, so they were sirens from that other world. Do you know what became of them?” “Not really. I tried looking for them but they seem to have vanished.” “ ’Stay strong, remember who you are, and find your family.’ ” He read out after flipping to the last entry. “I haven't heard from her since,” Sunset offered, the deep sadness evident in her voice. “Mind if I give it a try?” “Knock yourself out.” “Alright then, ‘dear Princess Twilight, the people you left Sunset with are complete idiots. Thanks to them I had to pull Sunset off a bridge.’ Signed, Dusk (Dusty) Shimmer.” “Please tell me you didn’t just write that?” “I did. ‘PS: She’s in the hospital, but don’t try to come right now there is a horrible snowstorm outside.’” “Dad!” Dusty looked back at Sunset with a big smile on his face. “What?!” “You called me Dad.” “Ahhh… I guess I did.” Sunset wasn't entirely sure where that had come from short of this man was certainly acting a good deal like how she remembered her father. “I’m back. Sorry it took so long,” Nurse Larks called as she walked in with a tray full of goodies. There was an egg salad sandwich, a garden salad, a muffin, and half a dozen juice boxes. “I got you juice because you probably don’t want any carbonation right now. Or caffeine.” She walked across the room and placed everything on one of those hospital tables that extend over the bed. “Now, where's yer call button? Yes, of course, hanging up behind the bed where you can’t reach.” “Isn’t that always where they put it?” Dusty teased. “Na, sometimes they hide it under the bed,” Nurse Larks offered. She handed the device over to Sunset and then went to retrieve the table. “Just press the button to raise the back to a sitting position,” she offered as she wheeled the table into position. “Any idea where you are going after Sunset gets discharged in the morning?” Nurse Larks asked a moment later as Sunset made ready to dig in. “They’re going to let me go?” “Don’t see why not?” “We might try contacting Lofty and Holiday?” Dusty offered. “You don’t want to try to patch things up with the Apples?” Sunset asked. “Is there a reason you don’t want to go to Lofty and Holiday?” “It’s going to depend on if Scootaloo is there and how she feels about it. That is to say, I’ll stay with them if that’s going to be my best option.” “There some long-standing issue between you and Scootaloo?” “Goes back to when Dash was hanging with Gilda and her gang,” Sunset offered. “Let’s just say I did some underhanded things to keep her out of that gang. She’s so enamored with Dash she simply couldn't see the danger she was in. She figured out I was the one who did it, we had a huge argument, and our relationship has been strained ever since.” “So, you are saying it might be less awkward at the Apples.” Dusty wanted to just come right out and say that it had been Apple Bloom, but he didn’t want to say it in front of Nurse Larks. “Are you by chance related to the Apple family?” Nurse Larks asked. “Granny Smith is Sunset’s grandmother,” Dusty announced. “I married an Apple.” “Really? Heck, that’d make us kin then.” “Ya don’t say?” “Lots of folks part of the Apple family here a-bouts.” “Sweet Larks!” called an orderly appearing in the doorway. “Word is there’s been a pile-up out on Interstate Eighty. They want everyone with ER experience downstairs. Don’t worry, I can cover all the basic stuff.” “Never rains except when it pours around here,” Nurse Larks stated with an air of resignation. “And Stewart, it turns out they are kin of mine, make sure you take good care of them.” “I’ll be sure to do that,” Stewart offered as Nurse Larks swept out the door. “So, I heard you were going to jump?” “I suppose I kind of came close to it,” Sunset offered just as she was about to take a bite. “Probably not a good subject to be bringing up,” Dusty cautioned. “My parents are up in arms because that Anon-a-Miss told the whole world my little sister had a vaginal fistula.” “And you just told us,” Sunset pointed out. “Oh, ah… I should be more careful.” “I doubt the perpetrator even knows what that is. Hell, I don’t know what that is,” Dusty offered. “I’ll give you a hint, people started calling her Pussy Farts,” Sunset offered. “She’s a good girl. And she’ll probably have to move to another school just because… by any chance did Fluttershy say why I was targeted?” “No, only who started it and a couple of the potential individuals involved.” “Was it that Shimmer girl like people was saying?” Sunset just looked at Stewart with a look of horror at first. And then she started shouting. “I would never have told the world about your sister’s problem and I sure as Tartarus would not have been standing on the wrong side of that rail out on the Avalon bridge if I’d have been so cold and spiteful! Even at my worst I never would have done something so asinine as to set myself up so that every pony – Person would figure out I was doing it!” “I think,” Dusty began in a drawl as he started to stand. “That you have worn out your welcome.” Outside the wind sounded a bit like the man in black himself singing Big Dusk, Big Dusk, and if that wasn’t enough to unnerve Stewart, Dusk stood six foot six and weighed two-forty-five every last bit of it brawn. When that shadow drew across the man’s brow Stewart just knew he’d better run. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think.” “You sure as hell didn't. Now get!” Dusty ordered all quiet-like. It was the sort of quiet that could shake even the stoutest down to their knees. Stewart gulped, spun around, and fled with his tail between his legs. Dusty sat back down and said nothing. “To think that I wanted an army never knowing that all I needed was my old man,” Sunset offered quietly. She was kind of smiling, but there were tears coming out of her eyes. Dusty got up, took a couple of steps, reached around with one arm, and gave her a hug. Every emotion Sunset had been holding in came flooding out in a torrent as she wept in his embrace. He’d tell her who Anon-a-miss was later.