//------------------------------// // Sunset // Story: Last Lights Falling // by Kalros //------------------------------// I won’t bore you with a minute to minute explanation about what transpired as I headed to the hospital. Me and Kyle talked for a bit, seems like he and Mitch worked as oil field surveyors and had taken a couple weeks off to do some hunting. Both of them lived in Grande Prairie and had headed out only a day before my accident. They hadn’t found anything yet but that was mostly because Mitch was picky about what they shot. He wanted a nice trophy to hang in his home. It was a shame the timberwolf shattered to pieces when killed. Would have certainly been a better wall ornament than any deer. I also learned that my truck would be waiting for me at the hospital, which greatly annoyed me since I had no idea how I was going to drive home. Being about 2-3 feet tall really made it hard to drive a half ton pickup, even if I could somehow use magic to help. I chuckled silently at the thought of possibly using stilts and a booster seat to do it but dismissed the idea. What really made this a problem however was that it was Monday… Or Marsday as the calendar would have me believe. And because of that all my friends were away. Most were already gone due to school but the few I was hoping could help were hours away in camps for the rest of the week. There really was only one person I could immediately think of for help. After we arrived the two of us were pulled aside by the police. It was nothing serious, they just wanted to get out stories and clear everything up. In addition it seems like much of my gripes regarding my identity were not going to be a problem. Until definite rules were set down the Canadian government was fine with us using our old ID’s. With all that out of the way me and Kyle said our goodbyes. He was off to grab a few items they had forgot to pack and was hoping to return to the camp site before it got dark. Meanwhile I was escorted upstairs to meet with a Doctor Rivers, a veterinarian they had dragged from downtown to look me over. I wasn’t sure if I should have been insulted by that…   “And you’re sure you are not a brony?” I rolled my eyes as he asked me that question again. It seems the vast majority of ponies who had appeared on the planet all belonged to that group. Most, but not all… “No, at most I’ve seen a video or two on youtube and the first two episodes. But other than that I’ve never had any interest in the show.” I mutter as he scribbles away at a sheet of paper he had brought in. “Alright… One more question then and we’re done. Do you know the name of the pony you’ve become?” he asks, pausing to look up while waiting for my answer. “Apparently its Sunset Shimmer… She says she was apprentice to the princess or something like that,” I say with a shrug. “Never heard of her… The only student Celestia has in the show is Twilight Sparkle, and you certainly don’t look like,” he replies marking down something on the paper. “You watched the show?” I ask, somewhat surprised. Rivers just shakes his head. “Not regularly but some mornings I watch it with my daughter. She loves it. Anyway as I was saying I’ve never heard any mention or a Sunset Shimmer, and with the colors you have…” he trails off, as if expecting me to piece together myself. In response I just gave him a confused look. What was I supposed to know about any of this?!? “What?” I finally blurt out, somewhat annoyed that I even had to ask. “Its very likely you’re someone’s original character,” he says with a small shrug. “Out there somewhere a brony imagined up Sunset Shimmer.” {WHAT?!?} There she was! Like an angry banshee I felt Sunsets presence return to my mind. And boy was she pissed. “P-please calm down! I could be wrong, relax!” Rivers says, a bit of surprise and fear entering his voice. It’s about then that I realize some of Sunsets anger had bled into my own mood. I as glaring at the vet, breathing heavily, my ears flat against my skull. If I had hands they’d probably be fists right now.  The real kicker though was when I realized that every small object in the room was floating in a cyan aura which I knew originated from my horn. My eyes widening in shock I cut off the flow of magic and wince as the items falls with a clatter. “Shit shit shit! Sorry!” I gasp, somewhat prepared for the cops to burst in and cart me away to jail. “It’s Sunset. She doesn’t really like what you were suggesting…” {That’s an understatement. I’m not some by-product of some idiots imagination…} she hisses in my mind, causing me to wince. Thankfully Rivers seems to have recovered from his initial surprise and is chuckling quietly. “Well you better rein her in. For the most part the cops are not very forgiving of unicorns using their magic as a weapon,” He said clearing up some of the clutter caused by Sunsets (Or was it my own?) magic outburst. “And who knows, the show is set to start its next season… Or was; I have no idea if it’s going to continue now as it effectively becomes a reality TV show. Anyway, its possible Sunset Shimmer was meant to appear in an episode at some point. Also being someones original character isn’t that bad. Yo- Sunset still has her memories and knows she existed. It just means someone was able to peek in and record some of that for inspiration.” {Hmmph!} No matter what the man says it seems the unicorn has developed a hatred for him. Nodding my head in agreement I hop down from the examination table. “Anyway, you seem to be ok, aside from that wound on your side. Luckily it doesn’t seem infected so all you need to do is change the dressings daily. As for your mind, I have no idea but that’s not my field of expertise. Just try not to get all fancy with the magic,” Rivers says, getting off his chair and opening the door for me to leave. “It was nice meeting you Jean, and Sunset I guess. And if you are heading to New York I suggest you avoid the Empire State Building. Me and my wife waited hours to get inside and on top of that they charged quite a bit. I figure you should be able to find a pegasus fly you to a better location if you want to enjoy the view…” {Or I could just teleport…} Sunset mutters. I barely notice though, my mind wondering why the man was talking about New York all of a sudden. “You don’t know?” he asks, probably picking up on my confusion, “I suggest you do some research tonight. Most ponies, including the Element bearers, are headed there. If you want answers you’ll probably find them there.” I would nod, if it hadn’t been for the fact I was mentally (and painfully) shunted aside the moment Rivers said ‘Elements of Harmony’.  Once again I’m a passenger as Sunset takes control. “Twilight and the Elements are headed to New York?” she asks and once again I’m weirded out by the feeling of having someone else speak for me. Thankfully it’s short lived as the man gives me a nod and I feel Sunset give me control once more. {What was that about? Why do you care so much about Twilight Sparkle?} I ask. This wasn’t the first time she’d spoken that name. I remembered her passing comment in that dream and her reaction now made me wonder what exactly was their relationship? Sunset claimed to be Celestia’s apprentice… And according to Rivers the same was true with Twilight. Perhaps they were rivals? {It’s none of your concern…} she mutters.  Want to press the issue but I notice that Rivers is still waiting for me. “Sorry… Sunset again,” I explain and he gives a nod of understanding. “Well I wish you two good luck,” he replies, holding out a hand for me to… Shake? Reluctantly I hold up a hoof to take it but after a moment the guy balls it into a fist and bumps my hoof for some reason. Looking up he has the goofiest grin on his face, like someone fulfilling some supressed dream. “Yeah… You too…” I mutter and head towards the elevator. The next few minutes were spent ignoring the obvious stares and whispered comments as I made my way to the entrance (Having ears capable of movement really help you pick that sort of thing out) , the only thing I had really was a small plastic bag hovering beside me I took from reception. Luckily for me I left my wallet on the center console of my truck, and the police were able to recover it along with my keys when they brought the truck here. Only thing missing really was my phone. Thankfully the reception desk was kind enough to let me use theirs and phone my ride home. And so it was that I sat quietly in my truck on a cold October afternoon, my mind wandering as I waited. Looking up I flipped down the drivers seat mirror and finally take a good look at myself. {I look horrible…} Sunset mutters and I have to agree. My hide is covered in dirt, mane had knots and sticks inside. Despite sleeping for over a day I had bags under my eyes and looked exhausted. “That you do Sun… I wouldn’t suppose you know any magic that might fix this…” {No. And even if I did it would just be an illusion.} she replies calmly. {The wound though I may be able to help a bit with…} “What do you mean?” I asks, twisting around to look at the bandage on our chest. {Healing magic needs a lot of practice and skill, and while I can speed the process[d] I never bothered learning the more advanced magic they use in hospitals. Healing magic also burns energy from both the user and the injured pony and since I’d be trying to heal myself…} she trails off but I get the idea. If she were to try and heal us completely we would probably be drained of physical energy and whatever energy unicorns used for magic. {Thaumatic energy.} she chimed in response to my unspoken question. “That doesn’t help me…” {Thought it wouldn’t. I wont bore you with the details, I doubt you’d even understand. All you need to know is that I have a reserve of energy, a really big one. And while healing myself wouldn’t drain it I don’t want to spend the day bedridden.} she replies. Its about then that I notice something about her way of speaking. It’s never we. Always my body, my magic, my mind… “You mean heal us right?” I asks, hoping its just a habit {No… Why would I? It’s my body after all. You are just a passenger.} Well that was reassuring. Unfortunately I don’t get to reply as I hear a knocking at the window. Turning my head I’m met with the person who’s going to drive me home. Opening the door I hop down and give him a calm look. “Hello papa…”     Allow me to explain some things about me and my dad. First, he raised me to call him Papa. Its French yes, and the only French word that ever entered our daily conversations. For some reason he wanted me to be completely English. I never really noticed until I was about 8 how odd that was and it turns out it was just a habit carried on after my mom passed away.  She didn’t speak French and was an immigrant from outside North America so English was their common language. After she passed away he just continued to use it in day to day. Sure whenever we went to Quebec to visit his family we all spoke French, but at home? Or in private? It was English all the time. We were close growing up. I didn’t blame him for mom’s accident, and he was the only constant figure in my life as we frequently moved around the country. That all changed however a couple years ago after I graduated high school. I was full of myself, the last couple years id coasted to honor roll and didn’t even really need to study. No real effort involved. As a result id gotten a small sum of money and went into university thinking I could just do the same. I was wrong. I flunked out second semester and was left in a precarious position. Thankfully my dad had no problem with me returning. At least I thought. I was grateful, don’t get me wrong. But as time went on, and I started to recoup my independence, we started to argue more and more often. Maybe it was the testosterone, or I had changed after living alone id changed. I don’t know. That said my dad would often fire verbal jabs my way. Commenting on my failures earlier, missed opportunities, and to top it off her then started meddling in my affairs without permission. Eventually it all came to a head a year ago. The actual cause of the argument was trivial however what happened was not. I was thrown out and was forced to spend the next couple weeks on a friends couch until I could I get an apartment.  “So…” he muttered, looking calmly down at me one which I tried my best to return. “Can you take me home?” I ask, somewhat impatiently. The sound of my voice seems to surprise him. Probably because it confirms I was the person on the phone. “Get in…” he mutters and hops into the driver’s seat. Sighing I walk around and am surprised to see he’s opened the passenger’s side for me. Hoping in I awkwardly put my seatbelt on and stare out the window. “So you’re one of them?” he asks about a minute later. We’ve left the parking lot and headed south, about 15 minutes away from my place. “No…” I reply, assuming he means bronies. “I don’t know why I got turned into this it just happened.” I add quietly. “Yeah right…” he mutters. I’ve lived with him long enough to know that’s pretty much his response when someone says something he doesn’t agree with. As far as he’s concerned I’m a brony. “If you’re mother could see you now…” Silently I just grind my teeth and sit there. There was no point in arguing. He was getting me home, and I should be thankful for that. Staring at the window I am confused as we pull into Wal Mart. “What are we doing here?” I ask in confusion as he pulls us into a parking space. “You have your wallet right?” he asks, I nod “Well we’re getting you some clothes. We can’t have you walking around naked like that.” My nudity had never even occurred to me as a problem. None of the people had mentioned anything, and I’d assumed the stares had been mostly because of what I was. Last I checked there were no ponies in Grande Prairie. {Is he serious?} Sunset chimes in. Giving a sigh I levitate my wallet out and open the door, noticing he’s not coming. I’m not too surprised. He’d probably rather die than be seen escorting a pony around. Doesn’t matter if it’s a city and no one will care… Opening the door I step out before darting across the parking lot into the building, shielding my eyes as the interior glare temporarily blinded me. A couple moments later my vision returns and I’m greeted with the sight of about twenty people, all staring at me in shock. Oh this was going to be fun….