Twilight & Friends - The Complete Season 1

by ThomasZoey3000

Sunset Shimmer & the Dog

"Miss Shimmer, I must ask you to stop pacing please. You're making me a little dizzy going back and forth every few seconds," said a brown narrow gauge tender engine named Duke.

"Sorry Duke, I'm just nervous. I haven't seen my friend in four years, I don't know what to say to her."

The girl in question was Rebecca Shimmer, the young daughter of Edward the Blue Engine's Driver. She lives at Wellsworth, but when she was younger, she used to cause trouble, and she's still paying for her actions by working on the Skarloey Line. These days though, she's much kinder and more caring to others.

Rebecca is a very beautiful girl who always wears a black jacket, a purple shirt and an orange skirt. Her hair had the colors yellow and red, which matched that of the colors of a sunset, which is why many of her friends call her 'Sunset Shimmer'.

Due to the incident at the big station, the train Twilight Sparkle was riding on was running late. At last, the train arrived behind Molly, a Claud Hamilton steam engine in yellow with white lining. The waiting passengers got on board while the ones that had been onboard got off. Sunset Shimmer looked to see if she could find Twilight and finally, after half a minute, she spotted her.

"My gosh, she's really grown up," Sunset thought to herself. She then called out; "Hey Twilight, I'm over here!"

Twilight looked and saw her friend waving to her. She ran down the steps and over to her friend, "hello Sunset Shimmer, it's been a while hasn't it?"

"It sure has, but what took you so long to get here?"

"Well there was a little incident at the Big Station with Gordon and Rainbow Dash, which caused many of the trains to get held up. It's a long story...actually it's not, it's all because of impatience."

"Impatience always leads to trouble," muttered Duke.

"Wiser words couldn't have been said Duke," smiled Sunset. Just then, they heard the guard's whistle, "uh oh, we better get on board, I don't want to be late for my job at the quarry."

"The quarry?"

Twilight and Sunset climbed on board, then Duke set off down the little narrow gauge lines, while Molly continued on down the standard gauge tracks towards Barrow.

Along the way, Sunset Shimmer told Twilight Sparkle that as part of her punishment, she had to work at the Blue Mountain Quarry. She didn't mind the work, it means getting to be around others instead of cleaning station offices alone.

"I still can't believe you're on punishment work, even after five years."

"Well you got to remember Twilight, I did a lot of bad things when I was younger. Thankfully, that'll be over in three weeks and I can go back to living a normal life. Although," she paused, "I have gotten used to working all the time, so it'll be hard to go back to living a normal life."

Twilight smiled, "well with us by your side, you won't have to face the challenges alone."

"Yeah I know that, thanks Twilight."

After some time, Duke reached the station before the Blue Mountain Quarry. Here, the two girls boarded the guard's van of another train and rode on to the quarry. Twilight was amazed when she saw all the wonders of the quarry. There were plenty of railway tracks, both standard and narrow gauge, plenty of machines and blue stones everywhere.

"Now you know why they call this place the Blue Mountain Quarry," Sunset said to her.

"Well bust my old boiler, if it isn't Twilight Sparkle," said another voice. The two girls looked and saw a red narrow gauge engine with a very tall funnel puff alongside their train. This was Skarloey, the Railway's oldest engine and Number 1 too. "You youngsters always seem to grow up so fast."

"Hello Skarloey, it's good to see you're still in steam," Twilight called happily.

Finally their train stopped and the two girls got out of the brake van. Twilight took in the time to admire all the sights of the quarry, while Skarloey pulled up next to them.

"So, have you come to help out for the day?"

"Yes I have, and to also meet up with Sunset Shimmer."

"Pah! Like you need to do that with a foolish troublemaker like her," grumbled the engine in front of the train. This was Duncan, a red engine with a very tall funnel and had the number six on his side.

"Leave her alone Duncan," snapped Skarloey, "she's changed from back then, and she doesn't need you to remind her of those days."

"Don't worry about it Skarloey, I'm getting used to it."

"Well that kind of behavior is not acceptable. The Thin Controller told you to be nice Duncan, or do we need to remind you of that grumpy passenger you had last year?"

Duncan groaned and said no more. He was uncoupled and puffed away to do some shunting.

"As you can see, my past still comes back to haunt me. But I don't let it bother me, for my past is not today you know."

"Glad you're still looking on the bright side of things Sunset," smiled Skarloey.

Twilight agreed, "you know, with words like that, you could make a song everyone will like."

"Perhaps I will, but for now, we got work to do."

In a matter of minutes, the quarry was buzzing with activity as stones were brought down from the high hills, thanks to the Narrow Gauge engines, and were loaded into standard gauge trucks or lorries to be taken elsewhere. To add on top of all that, stones were blasted off the walls in the main base of the quarry and those stones were loaded up, ready to be taken away.

Twilight had never been to the quarry, so this was her first time getting to meet Owen, a giant wench that lowered stones down to the platform where the stones were loaded into standard gauge trucks, then there was Merrik the giant crane. When he wasn't sleeping, Twilight found that he was quite the cheerful crane. She later met another standard gauge diesel shunter in green with yellow stripes, he was called Paxton and he was really friendly. He even gave Twilight a welcome home, even though they had just met.

"Gotten to meet the entire gang?" Sunset Shimmer asked her a little later.

"Yes I have, Owen, Merrik and Paxton are very nice and I'm glad to call them my friends."

"Good to hear, but you're missing one."

"I am?" Twilight raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, "who am I..." but she was cut off when she heard a loud whistle from above. It was coming from a green narrow gauge engine with a tall funnel and four driving wheels. Moments later, he appeared on ground level and he looked quite shaken. "That's the one you were talking about right?"

"Yes. that's Luke, he's got quite an interesting past, but we'll talk about that later." Sunset walked up to Luke, he was still in shock, so she spoke to his crew, "what happened up there? We could hear your whistling."

"A little dog jumped in front of us and nearly got hit," answered the Driver. "That was until we blew the whistle and scared it off."

"Oh no not again," groaned Skarloey as he pulled up on another track. "That's the third time that dog has come into the quarry and nearly gotten hurt by us."

"Too bad Fluttershy's not here," said Twilight, "she'd know how to handle that dog."

"Well either way, the dog's gone now," said Luke's fireman, "and hopefully it'll stay away from the tracks."

"Me too," sighed Luke, who finally snapped back to his senses. He then properly introduced himself to Twilight Sparkle.

Later on, Sunset Shimmer was riding in the cab of the Skarloey Railway's No 4; Peter Sam, originally known as Stuart on the Mid Sodor Railway. They were heading up into the upper levels to collect more stone to go to the Wharf. As they came out of the tunnel, they heard small whining from close by. Sunset looked out and saw the same little dog from before, laying on the ground and looking frightened.

"Peter Sam, stop!" she cried.

Peter Sam's Driver applied the brakes and Sunset Shimmer walked over to where the dog was.

"Easy does it little one, I'm not going to hurt you," she said with a soft tone in her voice. The dog backed up at first, but as Sunset continued to speak to it, it began to calm down and slowly walked up to her, but it was still whimpering. "What's the matter? Are you okay?" As it got closer, Sunset could see the horrible sight. The dog had bruises all over and it was holding it's left paw in the air, "Who did this to you little one?"

"Is there a problem Sunset?" Peter Sam asked. "We can't hold up the line forever."

"There is a problem Peter Sam, the poor little doggie has been beaten up. We're taking it with us."

With the aid of Peter Sam's fireman, Sunset brought the dog over and into Peter Sam's cab, then they lowered it gently to the floor. To make it comfortable, Sunset took off her jacket and placed it underneath it's head.

"Okay Peter Sam, easy does it, we don't want to harm this dog anymore than it already is."

Peter Sam obeyed his Driver and slowly started away again. Sunset got out her mobile phone and called Fluttershy to meet them at the quarry. She said she was too nervous to go there at first, but when Sunset mentioned the hurt dog, she said she'd be there on the double.

Sure enough, later on, when Peter Sam returned to the quarry floor, there was Fluttershy with a little doctor's bag, and the vet standing beside her. Duncan rolled his eyes, "playing dress up? Really Sunset, now is not the time to be playing, or have you forgotten what work really is?"

"Oh stow it Duncan," snapped Peter Sam, "we got a real injured animal here."
At first, Duncan didn't believe Peter Sam, but when he saw Sunset Shimmer and Peter Sam's Driver bring the injured dog out of the cab, he quickly subsided into silence.

"Easy does it," Fluttershy advised to them, "bring it slowly to us."

They did, and Sunset was kind enough to give the dog her jacket again to rest it's head.

"Come on Sunset," said the Driver, "we got to get back to work."

Sunset really didn't want to leave the dog, but she knew it was in good hands, so she climbed back into Peter Sam's cab and the little engine puffed off once more.

A short time later, Peter Sam returned with empty trucks ready to go back up to the hills. He stopped near to where the vet's van could be seen. The dog now had a cast around it's left paw, and had several bandages on it's body.

"It's just a little sprain, that's all," smiled Fluttershy, but then the smile faded away. "The bruises though, they were from someone beating it up."

"Who would do such a thing?" asked Peter Sam, who was disgusted to hear such a thing.

The Driver sighed unhappily, "it happens from time to time Peter Sam. Some people get it into their heads that they do whatever they want to sweet innocent creatures, and think it's fun too."

"It's not fun," said Sunset angrily. "This little doggie did not deserve to be beaten up."

"While everyone here knows that, the owner probably doesn't. Either that," continued the Driver, "or the person has a lot of anger issues and takes it out on the dog. It happens, and I often read about it on my tablet every morning."

Sunset just shook her head. She then walked up to the dog. It growled at her at first, but once it sniffed her fingers, it calmed down and allowed her to pat it on the head.

"Well what do you know, I think that dog really likes you Sunset."

"Yeah I guess it does. I've always had a fondness for dogs, ever since I first saw Twilight with Spike. Speaking of which, where is Twilight?"

"Oh, Luke took her up into the high hills to show her around," answered Fluttershy.

"So, what's going to happen with the dog now?" Peter Sam asked.

Fluttershy was about to answer when the vet came to the back end of the van, "we'll be taking the dog to the animal shelter so it can rest, then we have no choice but to give the dog back to it's owner."

Peter Sam was horrified, "but the injuries..."

"The dog is the owner's property, there's nothing we can do about it unless the dog owner is caught in the act."

With that, the dog was moved to the back seat of the van. Fluttershy waved to her friends and they set off for the animal shelter. Sunset looked down to the ground unhappily, "it's not right," she muttered. "It's a crime, just like beating up on a child, and it's disgusting."

"You can say that again," groaned Peter Sam.

Still, there was nothing more Sunset Shimmer could do, so she once again climbed back into Peter Sam's cab and they headed for the higher level of the quarry.

Later that night, both Twilight and Sunset went to the Wellsworth Pet Shelter. When they arrived, they found Fluttershy trying to get the dog to eat some food, but it just kept it's head down low and was whimpering.

"It's been like this ever since we came back to the shelter," Fluttershy told her friends. "I've tried singing to it, talking to it, but nothing works."

Sunset walked up towards the dog, and as soon as it saw her, it barked happily and waved it's tail.

"Hey there little one, Fluttershy tells me you're not eating," she said calmly to it. "I don't know how long you've been at the quarry, but I'm sure you haven't eaten anything over the last few days. Now come on, eat up."

This time, the dog did listen and ate plenty out of the bowl.

"And here I thought I was the only one that could talk to animals," smiled Fluttershy.

"Well I can't really talk to animals like you can, it's just...I think it listens to me more because I'm the first friendly person it's seen in ages." The dog barked as if to agree with Sunset. She then reached her hand out and patted it on the head again. "I hate to give it back to it's owner, but there is nothing I can really do."

The ringing of the front door bells caught all three girl's attentions. They all looked and saw a middle aged man walking in.

"Excuse me, but I got a call about my daughter's dog being here."

"Oh yes, the dog's right here," said Fluttershy.

The man gasped when he saw the dog with it's paw in a cast, and bandages covering the bruises, "what's happened to the dog? It wasn't like this the last time I saw it."

"When was the last time you saw it?" Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you getting at? I would never hurt this little dog."

"Well someone did. Those bruises were on the dog when I found it earlier in the Blue Mountain Quarry, so it wasn't myself or any of the workers in the quarry that did this."

"And how can you be sure?"

"Because I work with them all the time, they would never do this to a dog."

"But then, if you didn't do this, and none of the workers did this, and my wife and I don't do this..." it suddenly came to the man like a lightbulb going off. His facial expression changed to an angry stare, "That daughter of mine! I can't believe Samantha Glimmer would do this!"

"I can't believe it either," added Fluttershy. "It actually makes me feel sick to my stomach."

Sunset and Twilight nodded in agreement, then a thought came to Sunset, "hold on, your daughter's last name is Glimmer? She wouldn't happen to go by the nickname of Starlight Glimmer, would she?"

"Yes, that's her nick-name, why?"

"I know that girl, she's just as bad as I was. She was a regular school bully who picked on anyone that was smaller than her, but her methods are different from what mine was." Sunset lowered her voice, "She used to beat them up."

"Then why haven't I heard anything about this?" asked Mr Glimmer.

"It's because she scared them so badly that no kid would want to tell on her."

Mr Glimmer sighed unhappily, then he turned to Fluttershy, "you can hold onto the dog for now, I got to go home and have a long chat with my daughter." And he stormed away angrily.

A few days later, Sunset was working in the quarry again. She was just coupling Duncan up to a line of trucks when she heard the sound of a vehicle coming into the quarry. It was the vet's van and riding in the passenger seat was Fluttershy.

"Oh no, don't tell me another animal's been found in the quarry," grumbled Duncan.

"Duncan, do us a favor and be quiet!" Sunset snapped. Duncan went silent at once.

Fluttershy stepped out of the van and moments later, something else came out of the van. Surprisingly, it was the dog from a few days ago. The dog seemed happy to be back, and more importantly, to see Sunset Shimmer. Fluttershy walked slowly up with the dog beside her.

"Hey boy, how are you doing?"

"He's doing better now," said Fluttershy. "The paw still needs some time to heal, but the bruises are starting to go away, so I'd say the little doggie is going to make a full recovery."

"Well that's great news, but why have you brought the dog back to the quarry? It belongs with Starlight Glimmer."

"Not anymore. Her father came in today and said that we can give the dog to another owner." Fluttershy's cheerful smile changed to a firm stare, "he discovered that Starlight had been mean to the dog and teaching it lessons whenever it got in her way."

"Sounds like Sunset to me," muttered Duncan. His Driver firmly hushed and with a pull of the lever, Duncan set off for the top level of the quarry.

"She's now being punished for her actions," continued Fluttershy, "and as for the dog, well we all agreed that there was only one person who could look after him, and that is you. After all, he seems to respond well to you. So what do you say? Will you take him?"

Sunset wanted to say yes right away, but pretended that she was thinking about it. The dog whimpered a little bit. Then with a big smile, Sunset said; "of course I'll take the dog, I love that little guy." The dog barked happily and waved it's tail happily, instead of jumping. Sunset got down to it's level and it licked her face, "I'll need to give you a name though."

She thought about it, then came up with a great name, "I'll call you Rock."

"Why Rock?"

"Cause I found him near the rocks, plus he's tough like one too."

The dog, now known as Rock, barked happily.

After the long day, Sunset returned home, exhausted and covered in quarry dust. As she entered her room, she found the dog asleep at the foot of her bed. She just smiled, reached out and brought over a pillow for the dog to rest it's head on. It didn't even move as she placed the pillow underneath.

"Sweet dreams Rock," she whispered and kissed it gently on the top of it's head.

Then using what little energy she had left, Sunset climbed onto her bed and drifted off to sleep. As she slept, she dreamt about hanging out at the park and playing Frisbee with her new pal; Rock.