//------------------------------// // Raising a Barn Also Raises an Apple // Story: Sunset Shimmer's Redemption // by 00RaiserGundam //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer had just finished writing her letter to Princess Celestia, being sure to mention Scootaloo's new cutie mark. 'Though Rainbow Dash still does not trust me yet.' She thought as she wrote. 'And I really feel bad for Lightning Dust. Her only chance at her only dream was taken away from her. And from what I can tell, it sounds to me like she was not even given a second chance. I just wish there was something I could do to help her. At least we're friends. Anyway, I will write again sometime. Your faithful student…Sunset Shimmer.' She had just gotten Spike to send the letter before heading for bed. Her new pet wolf pup, Shadow, was waiting for her at the foot of her bed. She petted him goodnight and she climbed right into bed. That night, a particularly bad storm was scheduled. It was a good thing that Twilight had a magic lightning rod protecting the library. Unfortunately, that did not help the thunder clash sounds. One was so loud that it scared both Shadow and Sunset awake. After hearing him whimper slightly, Sunset magically lifted Shadow up onto her bed with her and then they both fell asleep again, taking comfort in knowing that they were right next to each other. The next morning was relatively quiet. The storm was all everypony could talk about during breakfast. "It even scared both me and Shadow awake." Sunset told Twilight and Spike. "I hope no buildings or homes were damaged." Carousel Boutique was relatively damage-free, as were the library, Sugarcube Corner, and Fluttershy's cottage. Sweet Apple Acres was a different story. The farmhouse was okay, but the barn was literally torn right in two by a bolt of lightning. The Apples were already getting ready to start building a new one. Rarity, Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Mane 6 were there too, as well as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Even Lyra, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts were there helping out. AJ, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac were lifting the frame work for the central support beams up with ropes while Rainbow Dash was hovering in place with a hammer ready to nail the frames into place. They had just gotten it standing when Twilight, Sunset, and Spike trotted up. "Think you could use some help?" Sunset offered. "Sure could." Applejack said and thanked them. "I'm a bit surprised that the old barn was the only thing in town that got struck by lightning." Twilight pondered while using her magic to carry lumber and nails over. "Just imagine if it had been our house that was hit." Apple Bloom pitched in while carrying a tool belt on her back. "Good thing Fluttershy came over, otherwise it'd take forever to calm the animals down." "I don't doubt that." Spike chuckled while grabbing a hammer. "The thunder scared Shadow out of his sleep last night." Sunset added. "Luckily he calmed down after I brought him up onto my bed to sleep with me." "Who's Shadow?" Lyra asked. "Shadow is my new pet wolf pup." Sunset answered her. Then she began telling everypony who did not know about Shadow about how she met him and saved him from that timberwolf pack that killed his mother just before. "Oh, the poor thing." Minuette gasped. "I had no idea fate could be so cruel." Twinkleshine added. "I'd love to meet him sometime." Lemon Hearts said. "And I would love to introduce you all to him sometime too." Sunset responded. "But if and when I do, you are gonna have to be gentle around him. He is still a bit spooked from the timberwolf incident and he is shy around ponies other than me, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike." "Hate to break up this sappy tale," Rainbow Dash said a bit rudely, "but can we get back to building this new barn, here?" "Dash does have a point." Applejack agreed. "Although, Ah must admit, she could have done without the rudeness." "'Although, Ah must admit she could have done without the rudeness.' Hmph, 'rudeness' my cutie mark." Rainbow grumbled in a mocking sort of way under her breath in response before getting back to hammering the roof frames into place with nails. The others still heard her make that comment and none of them particularly liked it, but they just decided to ignore it and continued their work. Between the fifteen ponies and one dragon, the whole barn was raised within the span of a few hours. All that needed to be done was the painting and the interior decorating. "How's about ya'll take a little break youngins?" Came the cheerful voice of Granny Smith. "Ah've got fresh lemonade and zap apple pie fer anypony who wants it." When Sunset took a bite out of her slice, her taste buds exploded with excitement at the pure deliciousness of the flavor. "Sweet Celestia." She gasped. "That has got to be the best-tasting pie I have ever had in my life!" "Why thank ya kindly, missy." Granny Smith chuckled. "It's thanks to the zap apples in those pies that this town even exists." "Yeah," Sunset replied. "Apple Bloom told me all about that one time." "She's a good little filly, and a true Apple to heart." Applejack agreed. "Hey, where is that little filly?" "She and the other Crusaders said they were gonna go paint and decorate the barn." Big Macintosh answered. "All by themselves?" Applejack asked them. "I'll go check up on them." Sunset volunteered. "I'll even supervise the rest of their work." And with that she left the house and headed towards the barn. By the time she got there, Sunset was beyond surprised. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had already painted the entire exterior of the barn a deliciously bright apple red. On one wall was Applejack's cutie mark. On the second wall was Big Mac's. On the third wall was Granny Smith's apple pie cutie mark and below that was a perfect depiction of a zap apple. The fourth wall was left blank. The inside was even better. Above every pen was a picture of the animals that each of those pens were meant for. One for chickens, one for the pigs, and Apple Bloom was just finishing the one for the sheep. "Wow girls, I'm impressed!" Sunset complimented them. "You did all this by yourselves in such a short amount of time?!" "Thanks to Apple Bloom." Sweetie Belle answered. "All the designs were her idea." Scootaloo added. "Who knew Ah had such a knack fer arts and crafts as well as workin' with tools?" Apple Bloom said with an honest smile. Then as fate would have it, a glowing white light encompassed Apple Blooms flank. "Hey Apple Bloom, I just got an idea of what you can add to the blank exterior wall of the barn." Sunset told her. "Really?! What?" Apple Bloom asked in response. "Take a good look at your flank and you'll find out." Sunset answered her with a smirk. "What do ya mean take a good look at my-" then Apple Bloom gasped at what she saw. There, on her flank, was an apple red rose in full bloom, and in the center was a zap apple. "Mah cutie mark…Ah finally got mah cutie mark…" She murmured almost breathlessly before jumping up into the air and shouting "YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAWWWWW!!!!!" "What's all the commotion goin' on in here?!" Applejack immediately said after slamming the door open not even an instant after Apple Bloom's cheer. "Applejack! Applejack!" Apple Bloom said excitedly while going hopping in circles all around her sister. "Ah got mah cutie mark! Ah finally got mah cutie mark! Look!" "Well ah'll be a goat's nanny." Applejack smirked. "Congrats, little sis. Ya finally did it!" "And I didn't even have to help her this time." Sunset laughed. "Come on girls, let's go show the others." Applejack chuckled in response. "Hang on, sis." Apple Bloom cut her off. "Ah've still got one last thing to add to all these decorations. Sunset? Gals? Could ya'll help me out?" "Sure thing, Apple Bloom." Sunset said while the other Crusaders just eagerly nodded with grins on their faces. Apple Bloom then led them all outside to the blank exterior wall of the barn. "Sunset," Apple Bloom directed, "can you use your magic to make something like a stencil or a guideline image to place on the wall so we know what to draw and how to do it?" "No problem." Sunset said as she used a spell to do just that. In no time at all, a perfect holographic image of Apple Bloom's cutie mark appeared on the blank exterior wall of the barn. "There. I even made it so that it will disappear as we put the colors over top of it." "Then let's get ta work." Apple Bloom said as she took charge. Then she and the other crusaders started making the outline for her cutie mark by painting the outer lines black. Sunset was holding them all up in her levitation spell to help them reach the high areas. Once they finished the lines for the cutie mark, they went onto adding the main color which would cancel out the hologram spell bit by bit as it was painted over. Finally all of them finished. When they finally laid eyes on the newest cutie mark addition, they all nodded in satisfied agreement. Then they all started to head back to the barn. "You really deserve that cutie mark, Apple Bloom." Sunset commented as she ruffled the little filly's mane. "It suits you quite well." "Thanks, Sunset." Apple Bloom smiled while blushing bashfully. After showing the others her cutie mark, the Cutie Mark Crusaders realized that all three founding members had all of their cutie marks. "You know what this calls for…" Pinkie Pie asked. "A PARTY!" "Why don't we make it a hoedown and have it here at Sweet Apple Acres?" Sunset suggested. "That's a fine and dandy idea there, Sunset." Applejack agreed. Sunset galloped home to get Shadow to introduce him to the others. When she came back she had him as well as a harmonica and she was also dressed up in a Wild West get up. Everypony who had not met him before now remarked at how cute he was and how lucky he is to be Sunset Shimmer's pet now. Pinkie Pie and Sunset were now playing Hoof Hoof Boogie against each other. Shadow, being the curious little pup that he is, decided to join in on Sunset's dance pad. "Hey, what's Shadow doing here?" Pinkie said after noticing him on Sunset's pad. "Looks like he's doing the Pup Pup Boogie." Sunset joked, resulting in getting a laugh from Pinkie, herself, and everypony who was watching. "Careful," Pinkie responded as a tail spin sequence was coming up, "here comes the hard part." Both she and Sunset spun on their tails, and they both spun out of control and off the dance pads until they crashed. Luckily, Shadow managed to avoid both of them and stood on Sunset's dance pad. When the regular sequences began again, he began nailing the moves like it was nothing. "Wow Shadow, you're good at this." Pinkie giggled. Then Winona took her spot on Pinkie's dance pad and did the same thing. "Oh man," Sunset laughed, "I am so putting this in my next letter. Princess Celestia is sure going to get a kick out of this." "I'll say she is." came the unmistakable voice of Discord. "I know I am." "Discord, what're you doing here?" Applejack asked with just a bit of suspicion. "Oh, Celestia asked me to check up on Ponyville after that huge storm last night." Discord explained. "I was just about to send up a report when I overheard you were having a hoedown." "You can join in as long as you don't cause any trouble." Applejack replied knowing full well where he was going with this. "I'd be delighted, Applejack." He responded. "Just let me send my report and inform Celestia of my location." Discord then volunteered to fill in the drummer position for the make shift country style band that was about to perform a song. Lyra volunteered to play her electric guitar again, while Applejack would play a washtub bass instead of an electric one. Spike had his keyboard again and Sunset would provide harmonica support. Applejack's cousin Fiddlesticks would help out with her fiddle, Apple Bloom would be playing the jaw harp when needed, Granny Smith would be blowing into an empty cider jug, and to everypony's surprise, Big Macintosh walked up to the microphone. "Howdy, ya'll." He spoke in a moderate volume and voice. "Are ya'll havin' yerselves a good time?" Everypony cheered 'YES' in response. "Good, cuz it's only jus' startin'. Let's take it away, guys." Then everypony in the band sang in unison. "Good Time" Then Lyra started off with a guitar riff before the rest of the instrumentalists joined in for a few measures. Then Big Mac began to sing again. "Work, work all week long Punchin' that clock from dusk till dawn. Countin' the days till Friday night That's when all the conditions are right. For a good time I need a good time. Yea, I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun It's time for a good time I cashed my check, cleaned my cart Put on my hat, forgot about work Sun goin' down, head across town Pick up my baby and turn it around Good time, Aahh, I need a good time I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun Time for a good time HEY!" Lyra then played a solo for few measures before the lyrics came back up. "Pig in the ground, cider on ice Just like ole Mac taught us about Singin' along, Ponyville songs Rowdy friends all night long Good time Lord, we're having a good time, Yea, I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun It's time for a good time Whew" After Spike finished adding his piano-like sounding keyboard during that verse, Lyra then did another solo, and this one was different from her previous one. "Heel toe dosey doe Scootin' our hooves, swingin' doors B & D Kix and Dunn Honkin' tonk heaven, Double shotgun Good time, Lord, we're havin' a good time Cause I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun It's time for a good time Shot of Tequila, cider on tap Sweet southern mare to sit on my lap G with an O, O with a D T with an I and an M and an E And a good time Shhheww, good time I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun It's time for a good time Ahh, turn it up now." Fiddlesticks then began her own melodic solo. Once she was finished, Apple Bloom started with a jaw harp before the next verse. "A Shot of Tequila. Cider on tap. A good looking mare. To sit on my lap. A G with an O, an O with a D A T with an I, an M with an E That spells good time A good time Ohh, I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun Time for a good time" Sunset then made the crowd go crazy with her harmonica solo. Even Rainbow Dash could see that Sunset was having the time of her life right now. "Twelve o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, four Five o'clock we know were that's gonna go Closing the door, shuttin' em down Head for that Donut Joe's way outta town Good time Ohh, we're havin' a good time. Ohh, I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun It's time for a good time Ohh, I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun It's time for a good time Ohh, I've been workin' all week And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun It's time for a good time Ohh, yea, a good time. I need a good time. Yea, a good time." The instrumentalists then began playing an ending sequence. Once they were finished the crowd went wild. Sunset had a good time, and unknown to her so did Rainbow Dash. Of course, Rainbow would not let Sunset see this. After that, everypony just square-danced and/or line-danced for the rest of the party. This was one night that nopony would ever forget.