“Ouch!”
“Sorry...”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, really. It’s just… a little sore.”
“But… it looks like it really hurts.”
“I’m a big girl, I can take it.”
“Okay…”
“Ouch… No, don’t stop.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. Just… try to be a little more gentle with those fingers.”
“It’s hard, my fingertips are too soggy to feel anything.”
“OUCH! You poked right on the bulge!”
Fluttershy flinched with a frightened and sad expression. A tiny squeal that resembled a whine came out from her mouth.
Sunset had to backpedal quickly. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.” She accompanied her words with actions, raising up a hand to Fluttershy’s cheek. Then, she started caressing her gently.
Feeling reassured, Fluttershy said, “Um, you are not angry?”
“Could I ever be mad at the sweetest girlfriend in two universes?”
Fluttershy looked down at Sunset, who was sitting on the bed, and enjoyed her affection for several seconds. She kept smiling at her with tenderness as Sunset’s hand kept releasing love.
“So,” she said quietly, “shall I go on?”
Sunset darted her gaze away before she managed to smile sheepishly. “Actually, let’s see how it looks, first .”
Fluttershy put the foundation cream away and grabbed a little mirror from her nightstand. She placed it between her and Sunset in order to allow the former to see her black eye. “It isn’t so bad now,” said Fluttershy, in an encouraging attempt.
Sunset sighed as she was spinning her head to check better on her left eye. It was still swollen, even with the makeup, but the dark color was almost completely hidden at least. Almost.
“I look awful.”
“That’s not true,” stated Fluttershy with vehemence, “you are beautiful.”
For a moment, Sunset wanted to talk back. Instead, she found herself rolling her eyes and lifting her pout to a little smile. Who was she to doubt Fluttershy, anyway?
“But we still can’t let you go out like this. Rarity would say it’s a crime against fashion.”
As Fluttershy resumed to coloring her face, Sunset smirked playfully. “What’s the matter? I already have the girlfriend.” She also tried to wink at Fluttershy, but it didn’t really work since she had one eye already closed.
“I’ll end up poking you again if you don’t stop moving,” said Fluttershy in a flat tone. “Nevertheless, the others feel bad already. Let’s try to not gather more wood on the fire.”
“Seriously? They feel bad?” Sunset hissed from the pain. By speaking, she had made an expression so bewildered that her left eye stung again. “You said that they were sorry and wanted to see me. I didn’t want them to feel guilty.”
“Well,” said Fluttershy, “if you want to know how it went...”
***
Fluttershy was walking to the Sugarcube Corner at a slow pace. All of her friends had texted her in the morning, worried about her situation. They still didn’t know how she had managed to deal with Sunset, they didn’t know that the girl they saw kissing a boy at the bus station wasn’t her girlfriend. Explaining everything would have been very confusing and, most likely, awkward.
She had to tell them that everything wasn’t what it looked like and then fix that misunderstanding.
However, she was too nervous to decide what to say, exactly.
Fluttershy approached the bakery where she was supposed to meet with her friends. Passing by the window she saw them sitting at the usual table, talking to each other while waiting for her. After a moment of relief, she felt a sudden burst of anger as she spotted a bunch of rainbow hair.
Her nervousness forgotten, Fluttershy entered the Sugarcube Corner without hesitation.
“Be careful, girls. Fluttershy should arrive any moment now and we have to cheer her up. Don’t do anything to remind her of the filthy cheater.”
“I’m not quite sure, Rainbow dear. I don’t think we should avoid the problem.”
Rainbow Dash looked at her friends sternly. “Rarity, if I know my old friend Fluttershy then you can bet that her heart right now is shattered. We have to be the most cheerful as possible and remind her that she still has us to count on.” Keeping her serious face, she turned towards Pinkie Pie. “I’m especially counting on you for this.”
Pinkie Pie nodded with resolution, then marked two black lines under her eyes. “I’m going to make her smile,” she said with a hard voice.
Rainbow Dash looked around her one last time, making sure that every girl at the table was filled with determination. “Alright then, prepare to receive and comfort a heartbroken fountain of sadness and despair. I want your best game!” Just as she finished her speech, Fluttershy sat near Rarity while glaring at Rainbow Dash.
All the girls went silent seeing her like this, surprised by the face she was wearing. They simply had never seen such a hard expression on her. Confused, they all exchanged quick looks, as if speaking in some sort of code.
Since Fluttershy didn’t look like she was going to say or do anything, they decided to go with the original plan raising questions like: How are you? Isn’t this a lovely day? Aren’t you happy to be with us? Do you know that your hair looks splendid today? What do you want to eat? Do you feel better than yesterday?.
Fluttershy answered the last question without moving or breaking the eye contact with Rainbow Dash. “I’m feeling much better than yesterday, thanks.”
At that, silence fell once again upon the table. Fluttershy had just used a voice so assertive like none of the girls was used to hearing from her. Rainbow Dash especially started to feel at unease, asking herself if Fluttershy was staring at her. All the others were sharing the same question.
“So, uh,” started Rainbow Dash, “I guess you moved on then.”
“Hm-hm,” hummed Fluttershy to confirm.
“Did you… face Sunset, maybe?”
“I did.”
“Oh.” Rainbow looked down, finally understanding why Fluttershy looked so peeved. She leaned on the table, putting her hand forward to let her friend reach it. Then she looked at Fluttershy in the eyes, with true sorrow, and talked, “I know it’s bad now, and believe me, I totally understand your anger. But the ocean is full of fishes and surely you’ll find a better girl than…”
“Still not single, Rainbow Dash.”
For a moment, confusion replaced the sorrows in Rainbow’s eyes, only to be replaced by disbelief right after. “Wait, didn’t you break up with her?”
For the first time since she walked in, Fluttershy stopped watching intensely at Rainbow and lowered her gaze to the ground. “Actually, I did.” Just for a moment though. “But only until I met her, then I understood that she wasn’t…”
Rainbow Dash stood up and bumped the table, hard. “You can’t be serious!” she yelled, “After what she did to you, are you just going to forgive her?! What did she say? That she’s sorry and never going to do it again?! Because it’s getting repetitive, Fluttershy, remember the Fall Formal?”
Rainbow Dash’s outburst of rage scared Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity, making them jump on their seats. Usually, they would have interfered to stop such a display of vocal violence, but they were bounded by a shield made out of anger. And it wasn’t coming from Rainbow Dash.
“It wasn’t her,” said Fluttershy, with a firm but somehow also angry tone. She hadn’t yet let Rainbow get free of her stare.
After hearing that answer, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and massaged her forehead, sitting back on the bench. “Then she’s still lying,” she said, more to herself. “Unbelievable. Listen, Fluttershy, I know that what we saw yesterday was horrible, but we can’t pretend it was something else.”
“It wasn’t her!" repeated Fluttershy, raising her voice. “What we saw was –”
“Oh, oh!” Pinkie Pie interjected from the middle. “The human counterpart of Sunset that was born in this world which would totally make sense since your girlfriend comes from a mirror-world but that somehow we had never met before until yesterday for an odd force of events?”
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie dumbfounded.
“Just a hunch,” explained then Pinkie, almost whispering.
Fluttershy stared back at Rainbow, “What we saw was just a girl very similar to Sunset.”
“Oh please, Fluttershy. She’s just playing you for a fool. Do you really believe her just because she went to you with a ‘likely’ story and tears in the eyes?”
“No, I believe her because I actually met the other Sunset Shimmer in the evening.”
Still not trusting, Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and gave a look of defiance. “Oh yeah? And how do you know it wasn’t still her, just pretending?”
This time, Fluttershy raised her voice to a shout. “Because the other Sunset didn’t have a black eye!”
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to retort, but oddly she couldn’t find anything to say back. So she took a moment to actually elaborate what she had just heard. As she did, her eyes opened slightly. Then she understood the real reason why Fluttershy was angry. Also, she noticed the accusatory tone used in the last sentence.
While Rainbow Dash was searching for anything to say and Fluttershy was giving her the stare, Rarity spun fast the gears inside her head and fit the pieces together. As soon as she understood what Fluttershy was implying, Rarity gasped while also feeling a strong indignation and bright hope. She followed her indignation first.
“Rainbow Dash!" she roared, climbing on the table with her hands. “Did you punch Sunset?”
Rainbow Dash was bewildered. She had managed to anger the kindest and the most generous girls from their circle of friends. And they were very much frightening.
Taking the lack of response as a confirm, Rarity pointed a finger in the air and went on, “Schäm dich! You never, NEVER lay a finger on a lady! It doesn’t matter the circumstances. Only a brute would do something as despicable and mean as to violently impose on a proper lady, and a lady is what our Sunset is.”
Under pressure, Rainbow Dash went for the first escape that could think of. “But she was acting like a total biiii –”
Remembering about the other severe look she was receiving, Rainbow Dash realized that she couldn’t finish the phrase and still hope to live it down. So, while giving Fluttershy a pleading look, she continued as long as she could while thinking about an alternative escape route.
“– iii –” ‘crap,’ “– iii –” ‘crap,’ “– iii –” ‘crap,’...
“–eutiful pony who turned into a respectable person?” offered Pinkie.
Rainbow Dash mentally thanked Pinkie Pie for her assistance. “Yes, totally what I meant to say.”
Still, she wasn’t out of danger. Dash began sweating as she was frequently darting her watch from one angry girl to the other. Even if 'angry’ was probably an understatement. “Listen, I just thought –”
“You clearly didn’t,” retorted Rarity.
“It’s not my fault, I… I assumed… it looked like…”
“Ah apologize.”
Those may be the right words, but it wasn’t Rainbow Dash to speak them. Every girl sitting at the table looked at Applejack with surprise. The cowgirl had grabbed her hat with one hand and brought it down, over her chest. She had spoken with her tone low, her head and eyes were turned down.
“Ah’m sorry, sugar cube. It’s my fault. Ah knew that Rainbow Dash was angry and Ah went with her to see Sunset. Ah repeated to myself that Ah was goin’ just to keep her under reasonable terms, but Ah didn’t. Ah didn’t rightly interject even when it was obvious what was goin’ to happen. Again, Ah’m sorry, but Ah waited before steppin’ in.”
With her display of honesty, Applejack showed clearly that she meant everything she had just said and that she was feeling really bad about it, too. All the girls were touched by it. Most of all Rainbow Dash, who thought to be much more guilty than her friend.
Despite that, Fluttershy still wasn’t happy. “I asked you to not do anything yesterday. Yet you ignored me and went to see her, furthermore, you attacked her without even listening. You know I would have never wanted that.
“She was in real pain this morning. As she woke up, Sunset was so dizzy that she didn’t even have enough confidence to walk around the house straight. I had to let her rest at home in order to come and see you because someone had to tell you not to attack her again at the first sight.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were looking more and more beaten at every world, unable to give a real reply in their defense. For Pinkie, this was just painful to watch without interjecting. “Um, Fluttershy? We’re not getting a tad too carried, aren’t we?”
Rarity, who didn’t like to be ruthless even when she was on the right side, supported the question, “Fluttershy, darling, I think Pinkie Pie is right.”
Fluttershy exhaled from her nostrils. She wasn’t liking that either, so she went on and said one last thing, “I understand why you acted the way you did. Really, I do. And I’ll forgive you as soon as Sunset will. But I’ll never forget that you hurt my girlfriend." Fluttershy spun her head towards Rainbow Dash. “Especially you, Rainbow Dash.”
While the two girls silently agreed from the other side of the table, Rarity remembered that she had yet one other instinct to follow. Gasping, she turned to Fluttershy with a fearful but somehow hopeful face. “But, darling, does that mean… you and Sunset…”
Finally, Fluttershy ceased to stare angrily at Rainbow Dash and softened her look. She looked at Rarity, who was holding her breath in trepidation, and just then she outlined a smile. “She didn’t do anything wrong, and everything is ok now between us.”
Rarity felt tears climbing to her eyes as she tossed her arms around her friend. Seeing her happy between all the possible scenarios was just too idyllic. “That’s just wonderful! Ooh, Fluttershy, we were all so concerned for you. And to think that I was the one who pushed you two into your relationship. That thought killed the inspiration for all my works at the boutique. But knowing that you were dealing with so much worse, of course. And I’m so happy that we don’t have to kick Sunset out of our group.”
“Yep!" Chirped Pinkie Pie, who somehow appeared by the other side and was hugging Fluttershy too. “All I wanted to think about was how to make you happy but half of the time I ended thinking about how to take revenge on Sunset, and now I’ll have to prepare an apology cake for that. To think that I was going to cancel the surprise party that I already planned I can feel shivers climbing through my spine which is kinda funny because it tickles. Eheh.”
As Pinkie Pie kept on giggling, Fluttershy moved her head from one friend to the other, blushing and smiling heartily. She wanted to ask something to Pinkie Pie, “Um, Pinkie, which party are…”
“Hm–hm?” hummed Pinkie Pie, inviting her friend to continue. After a few seconds of unusual silence, though, she looked at her friends curiously. Not just Fluttershy, but all of the girls were now looking around the bakery with mouths flat and wide open eyes.
Spinning her head, Pinkie saw that all the usually-muttering patrons of Sugarcube Corner were looking at her table with great interest.
***
“Well, that was awkward,” commented Sunset, “and they were all watching you since Rainbow started yelling?”
“Probably,” answered Fluttershy in a defeated tone. “We didn’t really notice until the end, then we just went on our way out. What was I thinking, starting to quarrel in a public place?”
Sunset frowned her eyebrows. “To quote Rarity, you clearly didn’t. OUCH!”
“I’m sorry, were you saying?”
“Did you just poke me on purpose?”
“Did not.”
Sunset grumped. “I was just saying that you maybe got a little too carried away by your emotions. I’m flattered for what you did, really, but I don’t want you to fight with your friends.”
“Our friends,” Fluttershy interrupted her work to look at Sunset. The way her girlfriend’s tone had changed from annoyed to concerned during the last sentence affected her slightly. “And you shouldn’t worry about that. Besides, I simply had to lecture Rainbow Dash for what she did to you.”
“But I don’t want there to be any more hostility between you and them. Not just because you are best friends with the others, also because…”
Sunset looked down at her feet for a moment before finding the strength to pull out the words. “Also because I don’t want to lose any of you. You are –” Sunset blushed. “– sort of the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Sunset raised her gaze and saw that Fluttershy was looking intensively at her.
But Fluttershy was still, and her mouth was flat with only the hint of a smile.
Sunset couldn’t quite place that expression, and got a little worried. “Um, did I break you or...?”
Suddenly, Fluttershy interrupted her in the best way you could ever interrupt your girlfriend talking. After a long moment, their lips parted from each other and Sunset had still her eye opened for the surprise. Also, she was slightly blushing.
Fluttershy smiled. “Never felt better.”
Fluttershy and Sunset were sitting on the back seats of the car. They were joining hands while Mr. Shy was driving them to school.
Mr. Shy himself was very happy seeing her daughter so serene with her girlfriend. Yet, he couldn’t help but be a little curious and concerned about something, so he coughed to catch some attention. “A-hem. So, Sunset, I think you forgot to tell us what happened to you.”
Sunset was taken aback by that. “Oh, ” she said, tossing a quick glance to Fluttershy before smiling at Mr. Shy. “It... was just an accident, really.”
“Oh, well, it happens.” Mr. Shy wasn’t one to argue.
Finally, they arrived at CHS, where Sunset and Fluttershy were supposed to meet with their friends.
As she got off the car, Sunset stopped in front of the main entrance with a feeling of uneasiness. Keeping her watch over the building, Sunset searched for Fluttershy’s hand.
Understanding her girlfriend, Fluttershy held her tight. “Don’t worry, Sunset, I already explained them everything.”
“I know,” replied Sunset, finally looking at her, “I’m just a little nervous.”
“It’s ok.” Fluttershy started to carry Sunset towards the front doors. “You know, I get nervous too, from time to time.”
Sunset looked at Fluttershy wryly. “Wow, for real?”
Fluttershy didn’t fail to notice the sarcasm, which didn’t amuse her. “Ok, I was going to tell you my secret for fighting the nervousness, but now you can forget it.”
Sunset laughed playfully at that reaction. “Oh, come on. I was just –”
“SUUUNSEEET!”
Whoever has found himself in a ‘fight or flight’ situation has probably experienced how the body reacts to danger by shooting a dose of epinephrine in our veins. For those who don’t, know that it’s quite difficult to picture with words the surreal clarity that you muster, while time itself expands for you to fully understand the danger you’re facing.
Which is how Sunset’s perception dilated, as she found herself right next to a frightening and crazily-fast shot Pinkie Pie, for what she could have sworn was an hour while everybody else just saw a pink blur overwhelm her.
“Oof.” Sunset felt herself lose all the air in her lungs as an iron grip crushed around her sides. Then she rolled away on the ground for a few yards until a grinning Pinkie Pie emerged, astride upon her.
“Hi! I was so happy to see you and Fluttershy joining hands that for a moment I thought to let you be, but then I thought ‘I should totally go and tell Sunset how much we all love her after what happened this weekend’ so here I am. We all love you a lot Sunset.” Pinkie Pie ended her statement with a large bright grin. Like, really really large.
“Love hurts,” Sunset managed to say, after she regained some air.
“So will I if Pinkie doesn’t stop shoving your jacket on the grass.”
Both Sunset and Pinkie Pie looked up and found an amused Rarity, standing tall over them. She helped Sunset to get up as soon as Pinkie Pie moved over.
“Thanks, Rare.” Sunset turned to the latest arrival with a smile, and she felt the soft palm of the latter leaning over her face. In front of her, Rarity was looking with concern at the closed eye.
After a close examination, Rarity caressed Sunset’s cheek in an attempt to console. “Aw, poor thing, Rainbow got you good.”
Sunset giggled, at least to reassure Rarity. “Naw, it isn’t that bad.” Then she winced feeling somebody hugging her gently but tight from behind.
Spinning her head, Sunset saw Fluttershy’s face over her shoulder. Her girl was blushing lightly and had her cheeks puffed like a baby. “Aww, are you jealous?” asked Sunset with a smirk.
Fluttershy looked down, as she blushed and puffed her cheeks even more, causing hilarity for all the other girls.
“Isn’t she cute?” Asked Rarity, before catching the figure of the two remaining girls of the group.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash approached the others with a hesitant pace.
When they were close enough, Applejack moved forward and looked rightly at Sunset. “Sunset, can’t tell you how sorry Ah am. Bless your heart, Ah swear Ah have no idea what got into me on the other day.”
“Applejack, it’s all right.”
“It ain’t alright, sugarcube. Ah treated you terribly and –”
“That’s not true.”
“It is! We shouldn’t have gone to meet you in the first place. And we were so mad that we didn’t permit you to spit your version.”
Sunset bit her cheek, unsure how to proceed. Applejack was feeling bad about Saturday, clearly, and she was way too stubborn to live it down easily. “Applejack, I just want to leave behind what happened so, whatever you think you did wrong, I forgive you.”
Applejack was about to complain, but Sunset raised her arms open for her. After a last timid glance between Sunset and Fluttershy, Applejack went for it and accepted the hug.
However, Sunset was impressed by the strength of Applejack’s feelings. Thinking back on Saturday, she recognized that Applejack had let herself be driven by the anger, indeed. There had been even a moment when Sunset feared that Applejack would have hit her. She had no idea that her cowgirl friend could have such an emotive side, but maybe it was just the thought of Fluttershy in tears that pushed Applejack.
Putting her thought aside, Sunset was happy to see a smile on Applejack’s face as they broke the hug. ‘One down,’ she thought as she turned towards number two.
Rainbow Dash was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. She returned the glance to Sunset and frowned slightly. While every girl watched her expectantly, Rainbow Dash tried the words inside her head, ‘Sunset I'm so sorry.’ Then she looked down and stayed silent.
Rainbow Dash heard Applejack calling her name, her friend wanted to end this story now and, for that, they needed an apology from her. Rainbow Dash just pointed her gaze away, keeping her mouth shut. She knew, ok? She knew she messed up. But this wasn’t fair. She was just trying to be a good friend, what was supposed to do after seeing Fluttershy so hurt? She had to do something! How was it even possible that she only made things worse? And why couldn’t she just mutter an apology and move on? She felt the guilt, she couldn’t even stand to look her friends in the eyes for the pain might as well apologize. It wasn’t fair.
Rainbow Dash didn’t know it, but she just didn’t want to admit that she had hurt one of her dearest friends. Well, Sunset too, but mostly Fluttershy.
So she just remained silent, while all of her friends were judging and criticizing her, for sure. She didn’t even have to look at them to know how mad they were. She didn’t want to see them, at all.
Just as she was about to turn and leave, Rainbow Dash felt something light on her shoulder. It was a yellow hand, and it belonged to Sunset Shimmer who was nervously smiling at her.
“So... uh, I heard that the new album of Countess Coloratura just came out, and I really wanted to add it on my playlists.”
Rainbow Dash looked at her puzzled, what was Sunset doing?
“Waaanna help me download it in the free and unlawful way?” proposed Sunset in a very accomplice tone. “We can even use the computer from the library.”
Was she...? For real? Rainbow Dash quickly glanced at all the other friends, and none of them looked angry. Not even Fluttershy.
Rainbow Dash put on a confident smile. “Yeah, whatever. Hey.” Then she wrapped her arm around Sunset’s shoulder, dragging her inside the school. “By the way, that new necklace is awesome. Where did you get it?”
“Oh.” Sunset looked down, under her chin. There hung a small pendant with a heart shaped crystal gem in the middle. “It’s a gift from Fluttershy, for our six months anniversary.”
From behind, Applejack scoffed. “Ain’t an anniversary supposed to be celebrated once in a year? Owie!”
Rarity had pinched her cheek with lecturing eyes.
Pinkie Pie chirped. “That’s so sweet but aren’t you a couple of days early?”
“We kinda had a moment,” said Sunset, thinking back on Saturday evening.
“So, uh, anyway. I was wondering something,” said Rainbow Dash, “Pinkie Pie said that... ya know, this other girl...”
“My human counterpart from this world,” replied Sunset, matter-of-factly. “Yes, Pinkie Pie is right. But we have to go to class now so we should talk about it later.” As she said so, Sunset freed herself from Rainbow’s arm and moved away for a couple of steps. Then she stopped and offered her hand backward.
Fluttershy quickly grasped the hand, and the two of them went their way through the halls of the school.
Once they got away from the girls and their regards, Fluttershy noticed that something was wrong with Sunset. As she came closer, Fluttershy saw that Sunset was crying. Fluttershy gasped, then she dragged Sunset into a dark hallway. “Love, what’s wrong?”
Sunset raised a hand to wipe away her tears. “Sorry, it’s just,” she managed to say, removing her palm, “that I’m so happy.”
Only then, Fluttershy noticed that Sunset had a bright smile under her tears.
“You’ll think this is silly, but I always had a hard time considering myself on the same plane with you and the girls. When we all started to hang out, I was just the problematic girl with a lot of issues who had just tried to rule over the school becoming a she-demon. At first, I used to believe that you and the others were just pitying me, it took me awhile to understand how friendship really worked. Even then, I felt like I didn’t deserve you, or I doubted that we were truly friends because you were always ready to forgive me. I knew it wasn’t like that, I’ve known for a while now, but the doubt remained.”
Another tear fell over her cheek, and Sunset was quick to wipe it away. “And now, seeing how all of you reacted these days, somehow I feel like this proves my doubts wrong. I feel like I was even with you. I haven’t felt a similar emotion since... since...”
Fluttershy had never let Sunset’s left hand for all their time there. She was touched by that display, a little sad because of the burdens of her girlfriend, and immensely happy for her for having surpassed them. “...Since Celestia adopted you?”
Sunset opened her eye wide, taken aback by that comparison. “Um, I wouldn’t call that an adoption, but yeah.” She scratched her head, slightly embarrassed, as she spoke.
Fluttershy giggled, amused by the softer side of her girlfriend. Sunset wasn’t the kind of girl who liked to show it too often. Fluttershy wanted to say something to reassure her. Instead, she yelped as she was moved over by her hands.
“Sappy time is over. Let’s go.”
“But... but we were having a moment!” whined Fluttershy.
“Yeah, You’d better not get used to seeing this girl crying.”
“But it was beautiful!”
Holding Fluttershy tight, Sunset giggled and kept her pace. Her mind was in one other place, though, since a memory from the last months had suddenly surfaced in front of her eyes, triggered by the word ‘adoption’. It was one specific afternoon...
***
Foals Karring was trying not to fall asleep on the desk. Drinking another sip from her cup of coffee she considered, for the innumerable time, how bad it was to grow old. Just twenty, no, even just ten years before she would have been able to do the active job of taking care of the children at the Tomorrow’s Smiles, without getting tired until evening. And now here she was, already getting sleepy after being only a few hours behind the desk.
She didn’t complain, though, she was happy to lend some help to the orphans with the community work, even if it had a terrible hours payment ratio. But Karry didn’t mind. What she gained from those hours were the little satisfactions with the kids and a better image of herself.
That didn’t help her tiredness, though.
Her new co-workers proposed for her to take care of the desk and paperwork when they thought that she was getting too old for dealing with the kids, but she had the impression that sitting still all the time was just as tiring.
Karry got back to the only activity she had left, tapping over her mug while waiting for new families to enter the building. Much to her boredom, nobody had come during that day.
“Um, hello?”
Foals Karring almost jumped up for the surprise. She hadn’t noticed the young woman entering and approaching her until she spoke.
“Sorry, dear, I haven’t heard you enter.”
“Well, I’m sorry for spooking you, I guess.”
Karry smiled at the girl in front of her. She was very nice, with green water eyes and long hair of two colors. Red and yellow, just like the sunset. She was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, and she was rubbing her arm while biting her cheek. From her wry smile, Kerry could tell that the girl in front of her was quite nervous.
“No problem, dear. Now, I think you should tell me why you came in.”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s just... a little embarrassing.”
“I can try to guess if you want.”
The girl probably didn’t, but she was too nervous for just blurt out the reason of her visit. Therefore, Karry started.
“Let’s see, you still aren’t of age to adopt a baby right now. And you’re far too young to come here for any working business.” The girl in front of her just kept nodding slightly. “My first shot is that you’re looking for a possible accommodation for the baby you’re going to have between nine months.”
At that point, the pupils of the youngling shrank. “What! No! I’m not even into...” She left the line hanging, bowing her head and blushing.
“Aw, well. Then I can hope that you’re coming back here after you find a pretty wife. We’re always looking for good homes for our children.”
The girl blushed even more.
“I should just say why I’m here.”
“I agree.”
“You see, actually, I recently had a... talk with my parents. They told me that I’m not the flesh of their flesh.”
“Oh,” muttered Karry, starting to get a picture. “Everything is alright I hope.”
“Of course. Don’t you worry, it’s just peachy.” The girl smiled, trying to look reassuring. “It’s just that I couldn’t help but have some questions, and my parents couldn’t answer all of them. So... I was hoping...”
“Say no more. Your situation is unusual, but you’re not the first to come here searching in the past. Are you sure that your accommodation was here?”
“Pretty much. I remember my parents mentioning the ‘Tomorrow’s Smiles’ which is sort of the only orphanage in town.”
“Fair enough. And your name is?”
“Sunset Shimmer.”
Karry tapped on the keyboard of her tabletop, searching for any matches in their records. After a couple of attempts, she turned back to Sunset.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have any Sunset Shimmer in our records.”
Sunset was clearly surprised. “A...are you sure?”
“Maybe your parents changed your name after taking you home?”
“That’s impossible. My name was embroidered inside my cradle.”
Karry gave Sunset a questioning look.
“Um, my parents did know a couple of things.”
“Well, then. I’m sure that you haven’t been registered in our archive between now and the last thirty years. Besides, I don’t quite remember any child with that name, myself.”
Sunset tapped on the desk with all the fingers of her hands, her eyes darting around the room. At last, she had to surrender in front of the evidence.
“I guess that’s all, then...”
“Wait,” Karry opened a drawer and pulled out a little notebook. “Please, write your phone number here. I can send a couple of e-mails to our affiliates in the region. If they have some data about you, I will call.”
Sunset scribbled her number on the paper and gave her thanks. After that, she moved to went outside. As she was walking through the door, she stopped for a couple of second. Then, she spun her waists to speak.
“Your name is Foals Karring, right?”
Karry was bewildered. Before answering, she quickly tried to remember if she had said her name. “Yes but... how did you...”
“It’s written on your plate.”
Karry quickly checked over her dress if she was carrying any nameplate, but found none. Before she raised her head again, Sunset Shimmer was gone.