Canterlot City - The next morning during the weekend

Goooood morning, Wondercolts, and welcome to your Canterlot High Radio: the only student-run school radio station that’s on even when school’s out!

The enthusiastic greeting was delivered by a plain-looking white-and-black alarm clock at full blast as the radio DJ went on about the day’s weather, upcoming school events, and the importance of school spirit. Before he could get to the local morning news, however, an amber hand slammed on top of the alarm clock palm-first with annoyed impunity, its fingers reaching for the alarm switch and setting it to the off position, shutting the radio off abruptly. The owner of the hand in question, with a tired groan, slowly sat up on her bed, which was positioned between a white wall to her left and the wooden night stand to her right that held the clock. It was clear as she took a moment to stretch out her arms and back that her hair, which was red with de-saturated yellow highlights that gave off some serious bacon vibes, was reeling from a bad case of bed-hair. This was made especially apparent by her bangs, which were normally well kept, but at this moment were hanging over her eyes in a disheveled mess. Her tired eyes displayed turquoise irises and droopy eyelids. Her violet pajama shirt was slightly wrinkled from the occasional tossing and turning that was the norm for her night-time slumbers. After taking a moment to push her bangs up above her eyes so that she could see, she moved her blanket off to the side and got up out of bed. Until about a week ago, it was not like her to wake up in the morning, for she had a bad habit of sleeping in like a bear during hibernation, even though she usually went to bed at a good hour. After dealing with one too many instances of her almost being late for school, however, she finally decided to give breaking the habit a real try, even though the act of getting up in the morning was a ‘pain in the barrel and rear’ as she would put it. The girl’s name was Sunset Shimmer, and it was time for the first task of her daily after-bed ritual; inspect her bedroom.

The bedroom itself, at a quick first glance, other than the obvious lack of windows, looked like a standard room fit for a teenager with all of the essential furnishings; a bed with a plain violet blanket that matched her pajama shirt, the aforementioned alarm clock and night stand, a bookshelf near the end of the bed that contained some school textbooks as well as brown book with a regal-looking spine that she had gotten from a close friend of hers, a large recently cleaned terrarium on top of the bookshelf that contained her sleeping pet gecko named Ray, a tall black guitar bag resting on a black guitar stand along the wall to the right of the bookshelf, a television that was placed on a large white stand along the wall to her far-right, a small closet to the left of the television that was closed the night before, and a medium-sized round wooden table situated in the middle of the room. Placed on top of the table were a coffee mug, a small lamp that was left on all night to keep room slightly lit, and a framed photo that Sunset carefully picked up with her right hand. The photo depicted her being lovingly embraced by her beloved friends, the Rainbooms, while they were out on the beach during the previous Summer. The generous fashionista Rarity and the honest farmer Applejack to her right, the loyal & proud Rainbow Dash and the kind animal lover Fluttershy to her left, the friendly genius Twilight Sparkle just above her head, and the nigh-eternally happy bringer of laughter Pinkie Pie striking a pose just below her head. They were all smiling cheerfully together, with no cares in the world hanging over their heads. Sunset stared at the photo with hope and contentment etched throughout her face as her mouth crafted a smile that expressed the familiar and welcoming warmth that was filling her entire being. A warmth that was melting away the tiredness and annoyance from a moment ago. That photo was always the first item she inspected whenever she got up out of bed, no matter what dream or nightmare she had experienced while she slept.

After taking a moment to let the warmth, borne from a tried and tested friendship, flow through her, she placed the framed photo exactly where it was before and continued her inspection of the room. When one takes a closer look at it, the room’s many faults become abundantly clear to anyone with half-way decent vision. The white walls and ceiling were ridden with cracks, the visible parts of the bed’s frame had rusted spots all over it and the night stand was slightly crooked on its upper-left leg (thankfully, not enough to cause the alarm clock to slide off of it). The bookshelf had a few shelves missing, had very few books to its name other than the ones mentioned, and was also slightly cracked in places. As for the television, unlike most modern rooms that would house a flat-screen TV of some description, Sunset’s room housed an old, large, and thick CRT monitor that only had access to basic cable. Why, the only pieces of furniture that were neither remarkably old or badly damaged were the round table and the terrarium. Simply put, Sunset’s room was functional, but only just, and Rarity, she imagined, would be mortified by its appearance alone. While noting in her head to fill in the cracks, replace the missing shelves, and clean up the rust as soon as she could afford to do so, Sunset finished inspecting the room and decided to put on a fresh set of clothes pulled from the closet, which included her signature decorated black boots, a purple skirt, an orange undershirt with an image on the front that proudly depicted a burning sun that was yellow on one side and red on the other, and a black leather jacket that she had nicknamed ‘Heather’. She also made it a point to fix up her hair as best as she could while noting in her head to take a trip to the bathroom mirror later. Before she could forget, she walked over to the terrarium to check in on Ray. As if he detected her presence through instinct, the lizard woke up and, after taking a moment to shake his scaly body a bit to clear up the sleepiness, looked over at his smiling owner with a giant grin of his own. Seeing this adorable display of affection prompted Sunset to coo over how cute Ray was being before giving him a greeting as warm as her human-pony heart;

With that, she walked back over to the closet, looked through it until she found an unopened white container of mealworms; a fine delicacy for leopard geckos like Ray. She picked it up, carried it over to where the terrarium was located, and pulled open the lid to grab a small batch of worms with her right hand. She then opened the food hatch on the terrarium with her left hand and dumped the worms into it. The worms wiggled and writhed as she closed the hatch while Ray walked over to his breakfast, clearly ready to chow down. As tempting as it was to watch her beloved pet eat like a king, Sunset had another matter to attend to before she had to leave.

She walked over to the bookshelf to pull out the book with the regal spine. There was a black pen poking out from the top through the book's pages, which served as a make-shift bookmark. She turned it to hold it at both sides, its cover prominently displayed before her. At the center of the cover was artwork that depicted a red and yellow sun on the left and a purple star on the right joined together in visual harmony. With a gentle smile, Sunset placed the book on the wooden table after carefully moving the photo off to the side with it to make space. She then opened up the book to the page where the pen was located, grabbed it with her writing hand, flipped over to the first blank page available, and began writing as if she were sending a letter to a friend.

I'm sorry I haven't been writing to you lately. You can thank the Winter season for keeping me so busy. No, I wasn't distracted by some wild magical event! In fact, we haven't had to deal with magic-related issues ever since that Time Twirler incident I told you about earlier. Which reminds me of something that's been on my mind for a while now...

Do you remember me explaining, in a previous entry, how stressed I would get over not knowing when Equestrian magic would rear its ugly head again and what we would need to do about it? Well, after dealing with, among other things, a wish-granting mirror, an enchanted smartphone, a time loop that made me swear off music festivals for a while, and a magic-powered thunderstorm, I had basically had my fill of solving one magical problem after another by the time the snow started falling. So, something as non-magical as a normal Winter season in the Human world quickly became a break that I gladly enjoyed!

Of course, it wasn't an entirely quiet season. There was one time when Pinkie Pie had made a souffle for Rarity as part of a personal holiday tradition of hers. She wanted badly to get the souffle to her before it could deflate and I was happy to help her out. We just had to get through a wild snowball fight that covered the entire street between us and Rarity's house. Let me tell you, Twi; it was the wildest, most intense snowball fight I ever had to navigate through! Seriously, it felt like a battle from this one war film I watched a while back, 'Saving Private Talon' I believe it's called. Snowballs were being thrown every-which-way, Fluttershy was huddled behind a snow fort while trembling in shock, and nearly everyone was playing the game! Even Granny Smith! I had to fight my way through the cold chaos to help Pinkie get that tasty snack to Rarity, but the joy on their faces was worth the trouble (Rarity loved the souffle). Now, with the snow melting to make way for Spring, I'm hoping that our break can last a little bit longer.

I just realized something: I never told you how the seasons change in this world, did I?

Since there are no flying, cloud-walking Pegasus Ponies around to make rainstorms and snowfall happen at scheduled times, the weather simply changes on its own! The moon moves on its own while the sun serves as the center of our solar system, but you probably figured that one out during your first visit. But, I'll bet you haven't figured out that our planet orbits the sun! All of this makes predicting the weather a challenge, but it's still possible to get it mostly right at least. Well, right enough to be able to make a living from predicting the weather as a meteorologist. I wonder what your Rainbow Dash would think of all this weather stuff? If she's anything like my RD, I would try to keep her from this world's rain clouds for the sake of farmers everywhere if she came to visit!

Anyway, I should ask before I forget; how's Starlight Glimmer doing these days? I haven't heard back from her ever since she helped us out of that wishing mirror. I remember you saying that she's helping you with some kind of secret project. I don't want to pry too hard, but you've made me curious! Let her know that my friends and I send her our love, okay?

For that matter, how have you been, Twi? I hope your duties as Princess haven't been causing you too much trouble. Then again, I'm not the only pony who has good friends at her back, am I? I hope to hear from you soon.

I know I'm saying this very late in the season, but Happy Hearth's Warming, Twilight.

With a sigh that filled the air in the room with contentment, Sunset placed the pen between two pages in the book and closed it while not expecting to get a response for some time. Princesses were busy like that, a fact that she was fine with. Leaving the book on the table, she walked over to the door that was to the left of the TV and opened it up to take her leave.

Of course, the simple act of leaving her room would be a trivial task, if the bedroom door had led to a hallway or a fleet of stairs. Instead, it led to a carefully positioned metal ladder that had two short handles positioned on its top at each side that held it on the bottom edge of the doorway, which allowed access to the ground below. With well-practiced methodical movements, she climbed down the ladder at a steady pace after closing the bedroom door with a rope that was skillfully fashioned around the outside doorknob and planted her boots on the ground. With a sense of relief over the ladder not tipping over for the first time in a month, she continued her after-bed ritual by checking in on what was, effectively, her DIY take on a combined living room and kitchen. There were walls built under and beyond the bedroom that revealed that there used to be a staircase that led to it, but was missing for reasons that were unknown to Sunset. As a result, the ladder, bedroom door, and where the staircase would have been served as an unfortunate combined centerpiece of the whole room, which also contained an uneven cement floor. All of the walls in the room had dried up wallpaper that was ripped off in numerous places. One of the only furnishings of note was a surprisingly well-cared for couch with a ripped off upper-right corner sitting a few feet behind the staircase with its back facing it. There were two doors placed on the walls on each end of the room; a closed door at the far-right end that led to Sunset’s personal streaming studio and another closed door leading to the bathroom that was situated at the far-left end where the kitchen is set up. The kitchen consisted of a gas-powered stove & oven combo that looked to be barely functional and dirtied up from frequent use, a medium sized closed cupboard with two shelves hanging above the stove, and an old but sturdy wooden dinner table placed a few feet away from the stove with one slightly crooked wooden chair placed at its left side. A small hook to the left of the door at the far-right end held a grocery bag containing several different varieties of potato chips and other kinds of snacks. There were two large windows in front of the couch and one above the front door that was several feet in front of the ladder and bedroom door. All of the windows were boarded up, so very little light could shine through, but a breeze could sneak its way through tiny cracks in the windows that the boards did not cover. Sunset was never too fond of the flooring, but it was strong and had no holes in it, so she could tolerate its unevenness. The few furnishings and utilities available were far from ideal, but they served her well enough to provide comfort and a means to cook her meals. The water dripping from certain parts of the ceiling, however, she could live without. Thankfully, the water was not hitting the couch, snacks, or stove this time, so she made a mental note to fix the leakage before it could get any worse. The windows being boarded up really killed the lighting, but she made them that way for a reason: the last thing she wanted was for someone to find out that she was living here. Normally, she would be taking a trip to the bathroom to fully adjust her hair and brush her teeth, as was her custom. Instead, she decided it was time for a quick walk outside to get her blood pumping a little more before taking the time to fully fix up her hair. After all, it was Spring time, so she was looking forward to enjoying a warm morning for a change after a long Winter. She knew she would brush her teeth before really kicking off her day, and she wasn’t going to fuss over her bed-hair too much anyway. So, she walked over to the front door, undid all of the locks that she had always set up at night, and opened it up to take her leave while expecting the day, and the Spring for that matter, to be relatively peaceful.

She did not expect to see Fluttershy, of all people, squatting down near the left side of the steps beyond the door in her typical blue and white outfit and long flowing pink hair! It was a good thing the weather had turned nice recently, or else she would have been freezing cold. Sunset was about ready to slam the door in a fit of panic, but managed to calm her sharply raised nerves enough to think better of it.

”If I can slowly close the door,” Sunset thought to herself, ”I can hide out in here until she leaves!”

With that plan in mind, she attempted to do exactly that, only to be painfully remind by the door of how loudly it creaks when closing it!

”Please let her be distracted by a rat!”, she pleaded to herself in rapid fear-induced repetition. She could only get the door half-way shut before hearing Fluttershy ask in her soft, genuinely adorable voice that could sooth a savage beast;

All she got in response was a terrified “EEEP!” and a slammed door, which made her jump a little in surprise. This had the effect of increasing her curiosity, however, as Fluttershy stood up, walked up the stairs to reach the door, and knocked ever so politely while asking softly;

Desperate to keep her friend in the dark about her relationship with this place, her place, Sunset quickly put to use her best take on an old man’s voice, her nerves spilling through as she spoke;

“Nothing’s wrong, young lady! I’m perfectly fine! Run along now, so I can take my nap!”

Fluttershy immediately saw through the act and, during a fit of giggles, exclaimed happily;

The bacon-haired lady turned pale in an instant upon hearing that response. Sunset had messed up big time, for she had picked the voice she would sometimes use to make her laugh during parties. Of course, her friend would catch that in a hurry! Feeling defeated and with no other recourse left, she slowly opened the door, which prompted Fluttershy to take a few steps back down the stairs to make room, revealing a nervous Sunset who, with a forced smile, declared;

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Fluttershy replied. She looked up at the building before her, which was an abandoned house standing with boarded up windows in the poorer, more rundown side of the neighborhood. She looked back down at Sunset with a look of worry in her eyes that tugged at her heartstrings. Sunset would not let her know the truth, but, in spite of her nerves, an idea popped into her head that she was quick to implement as she spoke after taking a breath to ground herself;

“You see... I’ve been shoring up this building here, so that if a homeless person finds it, they’ll have a decent place to crash for the night.”

The story, a half-truth to be clear, was enough for Fluttershy, who then expressed a beautiful smile that could melt ice blocks before pouncing her friend with a warm hug while exclaiming;

Sunset’s panic shot through the roof to the point that not even Fluttershy’s comforting embrace could hold it back as she responded in a frightened stutter while trying, and failing, to gently pull out of her friend’s hug;

She was interrupted by the far-from-subtle jovial southern drawl of Applejack’s voice as she yelled over at the both of them after catching sight of Fluttershy while walking down the street;

Sunset’s panic instantly upgraded itself into horror as she froze in place while staring down an excited Applejack wearing her favorite hat, cowgirl boots, and usual set of casual clothes as she walked over to Fluttershy, who was all too happy to release Sunset from her vice grip, turn around, and give the farmer a hug as well while telling her happily;

“What’s makin’ ya’ extra jolly today, sugarcube? Ya’ seen a cute critter scurryin’ about somewhere?”

“Actually, there was this family of rats that I was watching at this spot over here.”

She walked back down the steps, turned to face the spot she was eyeing earlier, squatted down again, and took at look. Sunset, while making a mental note to bring out the rat traps and disinfectant later, did not need to look around to know that there were rats at that spot. The adorable delight all over Fluttershy’s face was proof enough for her as the animal lover softly declared while holding her hands together out of sheer joy;

“Awwww, you are all so cute together. How’s your home? Do you get enough food to eat?”

Applejack, however, had a look of concern on her face as she slightly nervously told her;

“Now be careful with those var-,” she took a moment to correct herself for Fluttershy’s sake, “Ah mean those rats. Ya’ don’t wanna get sick from a rat bite or..." her face cringed slightly before finishing ; "What they leave behind.”

Fluttershy was too enamored by the rats to pay any attention to her though, which prompted the farmhand to shake her head and, while hoping internally that her friend doesn’t touch the rats, turn over to face Sunset before asking;

Until that exact moment, Sunset was enjoying the sight of Fluttershy being her sweet self, to the point that, for a short time, she had almost forgotten her terror. Hearing Applejack address her, however, made the terror return with a vengeance as she felt a big lump come up in her throat. Much to her intense relief, another distraction had caught hers and Applejack’s attention. Much to her surprise and horror, however, this distraction came in the form of Rarity, who was also walking down the street while rocking her usual fancy purple and white ensemble when she had noticed the commotion at the door. Seeing three of her friends prompted her to yell out in that well-practiced sophisticated manner that only Rarity could bring to a conversation;

Luck was clearly not in Sunset’s favor as she watched the fashionable fashionista walk up to Applejack, who was more than happy to hug her tightly. Soon after she got out of the hug, Rarity got Fluttershy’s attention by getting down on one knee next to her and gentling patting her on her shoulder while saying sweetly;

“Seeing you so enamored by even the most...” she took one good look at the rat family, which was eating what looked to be old and stinky cheese bits, before barely containing her disgust at the sight for her friend’s sake. She then nervously finished her sentence with a well-trained, though obviously fake, smile;

With a dignified cough to maintain her composure, Rarity stood back up and began conversing with Applejack. This was, to Sunset, her moment to act.

There was no getting around it; her friends were going to get into the house! But, she figured, if she could keep them outside for long enough, she could at least make the place look like it was for some other homeless person and not her. So, she slowly and gently closed the door, locked it tight, and told them loudly;

Without a moment’s hesitation, she made a break for the ladder, grabbed it tight, turned it on its narrow side, and placed it under her right armpit to carry it with ease. She then made a mad dash around the living room and kitchen, looking for a good place to hide it from her friends. Before she could find one, however, a gust of wind could be felt through the cracks in the window above the door as the familiar twinge of attitude in Rainbow Dash’s voice ripped through the wall into Sunset’s ears;

At that moment, she figures out where she can hide the ladder. She bolts over to the right-side door, shoves it open after turning the knob with her left hand, and throws the ladder into the room beyond before slamming the door shut. Unfortunately, in her haste, she did not get the ladder all the way into the room, so it was now fighting against her attempt at shutting the door. As metal, wood, and boot clashed while she battled against the vile ladder of cruel stubbornness, she heard yet another familiar voice call out to her from outside the house, the voice of Twilight Sparkle;

“What’s going on back there, Sunset? I’m told by the girls that you’re... Helping the homeless?”

”Why?!” Sunset thought to herself as frustration and horror gripped her while she continued to tussle with the ladder, ”Why are my friends coming here now?!”

At this moment, she was able to get the ladder all the way into the room with several kicks and shoves, allowing her to slam the door shut for real this time. Her fear temporarily replaced with jubilation over her success, she pumped her fist into the air while proudly, and loudly, declaring while momentarily forgetting about the guests outside the house;

As if on cue, the ever-cheerful voice of Pinkie Pie echoed in her ears, filling her with shock and reminding her of her terror;

Sunset’s irises shrunk down to the size of pebbles, her eyelids grew as wide as humanly possible, her arms fell to her sides, and her legs buckled under the weight of her stress as she fell to her knees.

“They’re all here...”, she told herself in horrified acknowledgment, here voice reduced to a whisper that only she could hear. The sounds of her friends talking becoming muffled by her thoughts as they raced like the wild animals from her world’s Everfree Forest;

She then looked straight up at the ceiling while quietly asking herself in a pained whisper;

She then remembered something that drove her to shake her head to get some composure back;

”The ladder is hidden now!” she thought to herself, ”I just need to keep it from them until they’re gone and I’ll be home-free!”

She then looked over at her surroundings before softly admitting to herself with a soft chuckle as her nerves finally dropped down a few levels;

She ran up to the front door and, with a resigned breath, she unlocked it and opened it up to welcome her friends inside.

As they scattered about to explore the living room, Applejack was the first to make a comment;

“Now, Fluttershy’s been tellin’ me that ya’ been sprucin’ this ‘ere house up for the homeless.”

Sunset nodded while responding nervously and valiantly pretending to be calm and collected;

Applejack turned over to face her, gave her a heartfelt smile, and proudly declared;

“Land’s sake, Sunset! That’ll be one more act of goodwill to add to that long list of yours, Ah reckon! Although, Ah will admit...” she turned her head to examine the cracks and ripped wallpaper that could be seen all over the walls, “Ya’ got a lot of work ahead of ya’.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck with her right hand to keep her nerves steady while softly responding;

Before long, it was Rarity’s turn to comment on their surroundings as she tried to take a diplomatic approach to her own reaction;

“I admit, this place is certainly not... Dazzling, per-say, but, if it is functional and keeps a person warm and safe at night...”

“Nothin’ a little elbow grease won’t fix, Ah’m sure.”, said Applejack in an enthusiastic tone while flexing her right bicep. Clearly, she was thinking of ways to improve the entire room by hand and tool. Rainbow Dash was quick to excitedly note as she jumped onto the ripped couch to relax for a spell;

“Not a bad couch, although it’s a bit ripped up! Just add a video game console here, a guitar there, slap some posters and fresh paint on the walls, and this room will look awesome!”

“Oh for goodness’ sake, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity responded out of frustration with her friend’s lax approach to redecorating as she went on;

“I may be more of a seamstress than a room designer, but even I know that there is far more to making one’s room a home than simply placing a few items here and there and calling it day!”

Sunset gave off a warm smile at the sight of those two bickering over how they should handle decorating a room as she turned her attention over to Fluttershy, who was walking around the place in search of more little animals to check on. As for Twilight Sparkle, who had left her dog Spike under the watchful care of her parents that morning, she was standing at Sunset’s right side when she asked her inquisitively;

“What’s the story behind this house? I mean, how did you find out about it?”

Welcoming the chance to take her mind off of her current predicament for a bit longer, she turned her head to face her glasses-rocking friend and answered as her nerves eased up even more at the sight of her lavender face;

“A long while back, I discovered this old building when I was exploring town and, when I found that no one was living here, I decided to try to fix it up myself. Apparently, an old religious family used to live here until they couldn’t afford it, so the city owns the place these days.”

“Not these days,” said Sunset before explaining calmly; “I did a bit of digging to see what was up. Turns out, the house had become an historical landmark after it was sold, so it can’t be demolished unless it’s been proven to be a health and safety-.”

Sunset was interrupted by the loud crash of falling metal, which prompted the two friends to make their faces scrunch a little over the noise before aiming their gaze at the right-side door, which was now wide open with the once stuffed ladder haven fallen onto the ground wide-side first. Pinkie Pie, who had made the choice to open the door in the first place, had jumped a few feet out of shock before asking a now frozen Sunset while pointing at the ladder and the now opened door repeatedly;

Sunset’s terror from before came back for a brief moment as her irises shrunk once again. Luckily, she was able to compose herself quickly enough to give a reasonable answer;

“Ah yes, the ladder! I had meant to take it out of there to use it to fix up the leaky parts of the ceiling later.”

Another half-truth, but it was far better than a lie, especially when the barer of the Element of Honesty was within striking distance of her face. She then pointed up at one of the damp spots on the ceiling, which just so happened to be directly above Pinkie Pie’s head. Without further ado, a drop of water fell from the spot and landed in her hair. She responded by taking a step back while shaking her hair with the fierceness of a dog shaking their fur to get the water out of it as Sunset went on;

“Now hold on a second ‘ere! Why in the hay are there no stairs for that there door?”

Before Sunset could respond, Pinkie Pie picked up the ladder and handed it over to Applejack while suggesting with her trademark ear-to-ear smile that could light up the gloomiest of places;

“Much obliged, Pinkie!”, said Applejack while tipping her trusty hat to her with a grateful smile before taking the ladder under her right arm with ease, thanks to her magical super-strength.

But, before she could walk over to the door to set up the ladder, Sunset had rushed over to stand between her and the wall underneath the door, her arms stretched out from the sides in panicked defense. By this point in time, the rest of the group had already moved over to where Twilight was standing, having been drawn to the crash of the falling ladder from before. Their curious eyes were switching between Sunset and Applejack as the later calmly asked her friend with a tiny speck of annoyance coming out of her voice;

She pointed at the bedroom door with her free hand as she said this. Sunset would not budge easily, though, for she declared with fear and worry etched all over face;

Now, it was Applejack’s turn to express worry on her face as she gently asked with a little more annoyance added in;

Sunset took a quick breath before answering in quick desperation while grasping the wall behind her for dear life;

Rarity picked that precise moment to chime in out of concern for her frightened friend by saying to her with dignified gentleness in each word she uttered;

“Sunset, darling! Surely, whatever it is up there can’t be all that bad.”

Rainbow Dash had also stepped in to help with some encouraging words of her own and a thumbs up for good measure;

“Come on, girl! I don’t think anything in that room is gonna make us mad at you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

When Applejack was confronting her a moment go, Sunset was terrified to point of shaking in place a little. But, as she heard of each of her friends’ show of support, her fear began to weaken little by little. As soon as Rainbow Dash had finished, Fluttershy stepped in as well;

“Whatever it is, we’ll face it together,” she said with the most soothing smile and voice she could muster. Sunset’s heart had nearly melted at the sight. But, then along came Twilight Sparkle, who gave her some advice of her own;

“We’re your friends, Sunset. If there is something about that room that’s bothering you, you can tell us.”

Pinkie Pie, as expected from everyone else in the room, jumped directly in front of Sunset while avoiding the ladder with an expertly performed leap before happily yelling out;

“Don’t worry! If it’s something scary, we can laugh at it together! Oh! Let me practice first!”

She then belted out a loud joyful laugh before leaping back over to a spot behind the others with gusto. Sunset’s fears were at death’s door when Applejack asked her with a supportive wink and a smile;

That last sentence reminded Sunset of an old and powerful memory; the memory of when she had fallen from grace and, while she wallowed in her guilt from within the crater she was sitting in, a certain princess offered her hand in friendship. The offer wasn't made in a literal sense, but the meaning behind the act was never lost on Sunset. As the memories of the wonderful times she spent with her friends as a result of her taking that offer played out in her mind, she made her choice. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, held it for three seconds, and released as her body finally relaxed and her fear died. As the warmth she had felt earlier that day returned to egg her on, she raised her eyelids and told the girls plainly with a sad look in her turquoise eyes, her arms resting on her sides;

“That’s what it comes down to, doesn’t it? You’re all my friends... You’re all my family.”

That last phrase warmed the hearts of every Rainboom present, with a slight twinge of an old pain mixed in. With a pained smile, Sunset stepped aside to let Applejack through. They all gave her warm grins that could melt glaciers together, which helped her relax a little more, as the farmhand placed the ladder along the wall with care and slowly climbed up to open the door and climb inside.

Everyone was silent as Applejack explored the bedroom. The girls outside of it each internally decided to wait for her to give the all clear before going in as well. The other girls did this to be safe, as abandoned buildings had their own set of dangers to consider, while Sunset did this specifically because she knew what was coming anyway and figured it best to settle the matter where the rest of her friends were. As she waited, she could not help but think to herself;

After three minutes of verbal silence, Applejack returned to the doorway, climbed back down the ladder while pulling on the rope to close the door, and stood still with her head lowered just enough to hide her eyes under her hat. All eyes were on her as Rarity asked;

She kept her head lowered as she turned her body to face Sunset’s. A frown could be seen just below the shadow under the hat as Applejack asked her in a voice that was equal-parts calm and serious;

A collection of gasps could be heard from the rest of Sunset’s friends upon hearing this. Sunset didn’t want to say it, certainly not to her friends. But, far more than that, she couldn’t bear to lie to them now, after they showed her so much support. With a sigh, she told them simply and clearly with her head lowered to face the floor out of shame;

Even more gasps echoed from the group, with Rarity looking especially shocked, as Applejack asked without even glancing at Sunset;

Sunset could feel tears coming up, but she held them back as best as she could while telling them all;

“Ever.... Ever since my apartment’s landlord made the rent too expensive for me to afford, which was... a few months ago.”

Silence filled the room for a whole minute. Sunset could not bring herself to look anyone in the eye until Applejack her hand under her friend’s chin to gently raise her head to face hers. The two locked eyes on each other. Sunset looked positively distraught with tears building up in her eyes, but Applejack, like the others, gave her a warm, comforting smile as she told her with a loving voice and a confident wink;

Just then, the human-pony girl was almost buried in a pile of hugs as her dear friends gave her a bounty of support. Rarity made it a point to express her horror over Sunset’s living arrangement while barely able to contain her own sorrowful tears;

“Oh, sweetness, it is absolutely dreadful that you’ve had to live in squalor for so long! I ought to file a complaint with that landlord on your behalf!”

Rainbow Dash was, understandably, annoyed as she declared in visible frustration while giving Sunset’s right arm a light punch as she hugged her;

“Oh come on, Sunset! You could have told any of us about you being homeless and we would have taken you in almost as fast as I can run, you dummy!”

“There’s always room for ya’ in Sweet Apple Acres!”, noted Applejack, “Just say the word and ya’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

“You can always crash at my house! In fact, I’ll throw you a ‘Sunset’s Not Homeless Anymore’ party to celebrate!”

Before anyone else could add anything to the heartfelt chaos, Twilight sweetly declared as she moved through the group to face Sunset after everyone backed out of the hugs;

“The point everyone is making is that we’re here for you, Sunset, like good friends should be. But, I also think everyone is wondering...”

She adjusted her glasses for a moment before asking on the group’s behalf with worry in her eyes;

That entire group hug experience was enough to instill a sense of deep calm and ease within Sunset, even as her tears streamed down her face. The warmth of their friendship had that effect on her, as if a comfy blanket was wrapped around her heart. After wiping her tears off with her right arm, she looked at each of them and explained herself with complete honesty for the first time all day;

“I didn’t want to make you girls worry. You all have enough on your plates as it is, so I didn’t want to add ‘oh, your good friend Sunset lives like a bum on the street’ to the mix.”

“Such nonsense!” cried out an annoyed Rarity, who gracefully navigated through the group to look Sunset in the eye while gently holding her hands, “Friends help one another, especially in times of dire need, and there is absolutely no shame in asking for help when you need it.”

“Sunset...” said Fluttershy, though her friends did have to listen closely to be able to hear her soft voice as she continued, “I would love it very much if you could spend the night at my place. That way, you’ll be in a warm, cozy house for at least a little while.”

“Well, this explains why you like going to our sleepovers so much,” noted Rainbow Dash with a short laugh and a sharp side-eyed glare aimed squarely at Sunset that screamed ‘ask us for help next time’. A gesture Sunset instantly understood as she told her with one of her choice smug smirks;

“Say it then," said Rainbow Dash to Sunset with a serious tone and narrow eyes while pointing at her chest with her right index finger.

Feeling especially guilty over the whole situation, Sunset looked away for a moment before looking Rainbow Dash in the eye while saying softly;

The athlete’s go-getter attitude was enough to push Sunset to say in an enthusiastic and slightly loud voice;

Before long, the girls began to discuss how they were going to improve Sunset’s living situation. Applejack was the first to come up with an idea;

“Ah reckon we take this old rundown house and make it into a real livable home!”, she declared while giving each of the girls a warm glare.

The mixture of excitement and sweetness in on their faces made it clear to Applejack that they were all in agreement. Rainbow Dash was thinking of cool items to add to the place, Pinkie Pie was planning at least seven different house-warming parties in her head, Twilight was scanning the area with her eyes to get a feel for the layout while doing all manner of measurements in her head, Rarity was eyeing the windows while trying to decide what sort of drapes would be best for them, and Fluttershy could not stop herself from thinking of ideas for a special spot in the house reserved for Sunset’s pet gecko. Speaking of Sunset, she could not resist the immense joy that grew inside of her like magma rising in a volcano. Within a minute, she exploded in laughter born out of intense relief and unfiltered happiness that had gotten every other Rainboom’s attention. After taking another minute to compose herself, she looked at each of her friends while giving them a truly loving expression as only one friend could give to another and told them a truth she had known for almost as long as she’s known them;

“I know where I would be without you girls, and I’m glad I’m not there.”

Spring Surprises

by TheGJ90

Chapter 1 - As the Sun Rises...