//------------------------------// // I'm Not Catching on Fire Today // Story: Ponies Go To Heaven // by Gpizano //------------------------------// When Sunset Shimmer thought about starting a new life in a new city, she felt she had reasonable expectations. Find a new place to live, get a crappy job at first before finding a better job, probably would have to eat cups of noodles for awhile before she could afford good food. What she did not picture was locking herself in a small bathroom with a roommate freaking out over having magically gained pony ears and wings while trying not to let on to the people outside what was really going on. That didn't even make her top twenty list! Maybe top thirty if she were being honest... But really who could make a proper list when Jackie was freaking out and knocking shit over with her wings!? "Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! What is this?! How!? I swear to god if someone slipped me something- me, Poppy and Tino swore off stuff that made us hallucinate! Oh-!" Finally managing to get past flailing limbs and wings, Sunset Shimmer clasped a hand over Jackie's mouth and pushed her up against the wall of the bathroom. "Jackie!? Jackie what the hell is going on?!" Grimacing as she heard Sandy keep calling to them and try to open the door, Sunset Shimmer turned her attention back to Jackie and looked her right in those panicking silver eyes as she kept her voice barely above a whisper. "Jackie... I am only going to remove my hand if you promise me that you will be quiet. Can you promise me that you will be quiet?" After the guitarist gave her a slow nod, Sunset removed her hand just as slowly, being cautious just in case the other decided to freak out again. "Sunshine... first, please back up... you're so close my guitar is pressing into my stomach and it hurts. And second... what the hell happened to me?!" Glad that the other could keep her voice down despite the strange situation, Sunset Shimmer took a step back, ignoring the pounding and worried voices of the other people outside. "Look... it's a little weird." "Uh, you think?! What am I gonna tell the guys?!" "You're not telling them anything! You haven't told them about my past and you're not telling them about this!" "Oh, great, I'll just walk out here with fucking pony ears on my head and wings on my back and say everything is freaking normal then!" "Please, keep being sarcastic, it's making the situation so much better!" At this point Sandy was sounding frantic on the other side of the door and Poppy was saying something about fetching a screwdriver to take the door out of the frame. There wouldn't be much time left before the door was forced open in one way or another and she had to act fast! "Look, Jackie... please, they can't see this! It's just going to raise too many questions that I don't want to answer. Please." As much as the guitarist wanted to protest, she found herself strangely powerless against those pleading, teal eyes. So she tilted her head back and let out a soft, frustrated groan. "Fine! Fine! I'll try and help to get us out of here. But you are going to have to answer so many damn questions for me after this!" Clearing her throat, Jackie raised her voice and made it sound so weak and scared that if she wasn't in the room, Sunset Shimmer would have bought that Jackie was in serious trouble. "G-Guys... I... I found some stuff in my closet the other day. You know, from the party days? I dunno why I tried it and now I'm really freaking out here!" "Jesus Christ Jackie! You promised me you had stopped with all of that!" Grimacing as she heard the worried and disappointed tone in Sandy's voice, Jackie shot Sunset Shimmer a glare and the red head tried to look as guilty as possible. "Urgh... I don't... I don't feel so good... Oh god I can't stand the light! S-Sunset! Go get the hoodies! I gotta' get out of here!" Moving to hide behind the door as it opened, Jackie immediately locked it after she was out so that none of the others could get in. The red head moved as fast as she could to get their hoodies and return to the bathroom, slipping in and managing to muscle the others back so that she could cover Jackie's head and wings. Only once she was sure that a wing wouldn't pop out or the hoodie would slip off of her head, Sunset carefully guided Jackie out, the latter hunched over and pretending to dry heave. "Damn Jackie, how could you be so stupid?" It killed her to hear Poppy say that, knowing that they and Tino had made a pact to leave behind such destructive recreational activities. They probably thought the worst of her but it was the only excuse she could think of at the moment. "Want me to drive you guys home?" "Bobby... just stay here... have someone else drive you home." And leaving Bobby behind when the poor guy was clearly worried. Great. Once they were out of the apartment and down the stairs, they made a rush for the car and got in, Jackie having a fair amount of trouble since she now had a new pair of appendages on her back. Especially when she had to just shove her electric guitar in the back and had to navigate around the seats without her wings going everywhere. "Okay, Sunset... WHAT. THE ACTUAL. FUCK?!" Leaning back in her seat, Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath before going into the details of the Battle of the Bands. Yes she had said she and her ex friends had used magic to defeat the Sirens, but she had left out what exactly that entailed when they had used their magic. "Oh seriously? So you're telling me that some how, some way, some magic shit happened and now I've-I've-" "Ponied up." "... Seriously? That's what you call this? I mean... geez, get back to me, I know I can think of a better word for this." "Look, don't worry, it'll go away soon enough. Then we can just drive home and forget about it." "Uh, excusa? What if this happens again!?" "I don't even know if it will happen again! I mean, it always happened to my f-, ex-friends when they played music but that was because they were-" But she cut herself off, knowing she would have to open up a whole can of worms to have to explain things now. A glance over at Jackie proved that the woman was waiting patiently, knowing that Sunset Shimmer was holding back. "... were what? Come on Sunset! You're sketchy about explaining this magic business, you say magic comes from your hometown wherever the hell that is but you won't talk about it... I mean, what, do I have to turn into a full on horse before you finally explain why the hell this is happening?" "I'm sorry..." A wall of silence rose between them, Jackie staring at Sunset Shimmer and Sunset Shimmer staring at the dash board, determined not to look at the other. Yet her will was not strong enough and as she glanced over, she saw that the woman had a stony expression on her face but her pony ears had started to droop. Seeing the classic pony sign of sadness sent a pang of pain through Sunset Shimmer and she watched as the wings and ears faded away in a soft, silvery glow of light. Jackie faced the front, buckling up before starting up the car and mumbling. "Guess I gotta' keep jumping through hoops..." "Jackie..." "It's fine... let's go home." The entire ride back to the apartment was uncomfortably quiet, Jackie not saying anything and Sunset Shimmer not knowing what to say. When they arrived back, Jackie went straight to their room and close the door. Sunset Shimmer didn't know if it was locked, probably not, but she didn't want to try it. Instead she moved to the couch in the living room and slowly sank down onto it. The more she thought about tonight, the worse she felt. Jackie had been keeping her secrets, to the point of having to lie about having taken drugs to throw off suspicion. If this wasn't a one time thing, would Jackie have to stop playing music to keep it a secret? .... no. That was totally unfair to Jackie. Music was her life! There seemed to only be two options for Sunset Shimmer. One meant running away, and the other option scared the shit out of her... It was obvious what she had to do.