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// Sequence One: Meet the Team 
// Story: Shadows in the Sunset 
// by Daedalus 
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     When she awoke, Sunset Shimmer immediately headed to the address Crane had given her; she was still dressed and had just had her weekly sponge bath two days ago, after all. A coffee shop on the way there happened to be her usual source of breakfast, and she took the opportunity for food as it presented itself. Making any significant change to her eating schedule was almost unthinkable at this point, even if eating on the go was unusual for her.

The address Sunset Shimmer had been given proved to be that of an unassuming brownstone in one of the older neighborhoods in the city, just respectable enough for the middle class to want to inhabit and just affordable enough for them to live there comfortably. Knocking on the door produced a voice from inside demanding a password.

"I was told to ask for Crane," she said.

After a few moments, the voice grumbled, "All right. She said someone new would be coming soon. Be sure to behave yourself."

The door swung all the way open and closed behind her as she entered. Strange, the doorkeeper was nowhere to be seen. It probably wasn't a ghost operating the door, just an intercom and a remote control for the door instead, but the impression the whole event gave was suitably ominous for crossing a threshold that might later prove to be more than literal.

Sunset Shimmer was greeted by a great indistinct hum of activity coming from somewhere she couldn't see and Crane, who was watching a man pore over several books. "Hey, Sunny. So you decided to come after all. Now, I'd love to bring you in right away and get you settled in, but I need to make sure you're a good fit, you actually want in on what we do, you know what I'm talkin' about. So Speedy here-" Crane pointed with her thumb to the man she had been watching. "He's gonna bring you along on a couple of his jobs, show you what we do and why we do it. You both up for it?"

After receiving an enthusiastic affirmative from Speedy and a not as enthusiastic one from Sunset Shimmer, Crane smiled and exclaimed, "Great! Don't throw her in too deep, Speedy. Oh, and you'll want pants for this, Sunny. We tend to do a lot of running and climbing."

As Speedy led her to a large pile of clothes to sweaty-smelling to be called clean with any honesty, he said, "Let me walk you through what we'll be doing for the next few days. First, there's a new gang coming into town that we'll be dealing with."

"Dealing with how?" Sunset Shimmer asked as pointedly as she could while occupied by rummaging through a large pile of haphazardly strewn pants. A habit of successful blackmail made one well aware of when euphemisms were used.

"We'll try to persuade them to listen to us, go after people who're no good, leave the decent folks alone. If not, we'll scare them out of the city. After that, there's someone on the local council who doesn't care for the people's welfare as much as the office demands. Sponsors laws to get homeless people barred from finding jobs or places to stay, stick security cameras in public spaces they don't belong, pack the local courts with less than incorruptible judges, maybe some other things I haven't heard of. Elections are coming up soon, so we'll be working on a grassroots campaign to get a new councilor in."

Speedy took a breath before continuing. "And that's what I've got on my- well, ours now -plate. I'm warning you now, it could get a bit violent. Are you up for that? I need to know if you can handle yourself now. Can't have unnecessary surprises coming up."

Sunset Shimmer, by now finished changing into the only pair of pants even close to her size (the available pants were mostly for men or for women taller than her), took a moment to think the question over. "I can take care of myself in a fight. I won't be happy about it at all, but I can do it if I need to."

Speedy nodded to himself. "That'll be fine. There shouldn't be much of a need anyway. And you'll have time to learn once you're officially in. Come on, let's get started."

As they walked out of the building, Sunny got the feeling that her life had just begun to shift firmly onto a new track, one whose path she couldn't see.