CH16: Money Mystery
Leaning back in her chair, Sunset languidly stared out of the restaurant window towards the street. As late afternoon turned into night, the street and sidewalk both became full of people and cars rushing home.
Across the table, Coco struggled to relax as she sipped her soda while nervously glancing to the side. After cleaning up the place, and getting that mistletoe down, the two had decided to relax somewhere in town. After a bit of walking around, the two had decided to take a seat inside a restaurant and enjoy the last few days of their Winter Break.
“So… ready to go back to school on Monday?” asked Sunset, still staring out at the street.
Coco, having had her attention on something else, flinched and her gaze returned to Sunset. “Wh-what? Oh yes, of course. I can’t wait to see my classmates again. Not to mention the second semester is starting too.”
Sunset shrugged. “Nothing really changes between semesters. We just have a few different classes on our schedule. I think Rainbow, Pinkie, and me have a class together now though. I’ll have to ask her tomorrow when we meet at Sugarcube Corner.”
“Oh lucky. My classes don’t change at all since I transferred late,” Coco pouted. Hearing a sneeze, Coco turned her head away again.
Sunset smirked. “So I never asked, but are you planning on joining a club?” Hearing no response, Sunset finally turned to look at her friend only to see that she was looking elsewhere. Coco’s brow was furrowed and her eyes seemed to have narrowed in deep thought.
Following her gaze, Sunset found herself staring across the dining area of the restaurant at a person sitting against the back wall directly across from them. That person, whose face was hidden behind a newspaper, neglected to tuck in their large, poofy, pink hair causing it to stick out from behind it and into clear view.
Seeing her, Sunset just rolled her eyes and turned back. “Coco,” she said waving her hand in her face.
Coco turned back to her with a surprised look. “Wait… b-but you see her right? I’m not positive but I think that Pinkie is spying on us.”
Sunset just nodded calmly. “Yeah, I know. So, are you joining a club this year?” she asked, giving her a 'everything's alright' smile.
Coco glanced between her and the disguised Pinkie, who was now glancing at them from the side of the paper. Hesitant, Coco leaned over the table and whispered, “W-what; but aren't you worried? Does she want to know about the mistletoe? Should we go over and talk to her about it?”
Sunset simply leaned back in her seat. “Nah, she’s been showing up and spying on me for a while. Every time I go out shopping I see her out of the corner of my eye. I talked to the girls about it but they just brushed it off as being slightly weirder than normal behavior for her. Once she sees I’m not spending money she’ll leave." Sunset shrugged. "If she doesn't though, I could probably yell something about a party and that would get her to leave too."
Coco turned her head to look back at where the person was and flinched when she saw that there was nobody there anymore. Leaning back up, Coco tilted her head and looked at Sunset curiously.
“So you don’t know why she’s following you at all?” she asked.
Sunset let out a large yawn and raised her hands above her head to stretch. “Naaah," she said through her yawn. "But I do plan to talk to her about it tomorrow at Sugarcube Corner though before it becomes a problem.”
Coco watched her stretch and giggled. “Sunset, are you sleepy?”
Finishing her stretch Sunset leaned down on the table. “Maybe a little. I got up early to make sure that I met up with Pinkie so we could go meet you together. Honestly shouldn't you be tired? You had to have gotten up earlier than me.”
“I am a little sleepy. Wanna go home?” asked Coco, standing up. “Like you said, we get to hang out with the others tomorrow and I don’t want to drag you out of bed or anything.”
~~~
“Coco, darling!” greeted Rarity as the two began spinning around in a way that made Sunset both annoyed and slightly nostalgic.
Either way, Sunset shook her head and sighed. “Oh not this again,” she muttered. Soon enough, Pinkie had joined in on the spinning. Sunset only felt more annoyed as a few people who were walking along the opposite sidewalk stopped to stare at them.
The two girls had previously been heading to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with their friends only to be pleasantly surprised to find that the other five were waiting for them halfway.
Applejack happily tipped her hat to the girl. “Welcome back there, sugarcube.”
Coco stopped spinning with Rarity and playfully tipped the cossack hat she was wearing, the same one Applejack herself had given her.
“So,” began Fluttershy, going over and giving Coco a gentle hug, “did you have a nice holiday?”
Coco nodded happily. “It was great. I got to see my grandparents for the first time in a few years.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Meh, grandparents aren't all that great."
Fluttershy let out a small gasp. "Rainbow Dash. Don't say that!"
Rainbow just waved her off. "Come on, let’s head on over to Sugarcube Corner," she cheered.
As the group made their way out of the school and down the sidewalk to Sugarcube Corner Pinkie hopped up alongside Sunset and Coco.
“Soo? she asked, smiling widely at the two.
Sunset, leaned back slightly and answered. “Ummm ‘so’… what?”
“Did you kiss?” she asked, straight to the point.
Immediately the group stopped and froze. Rarity and Fluttershy had covered their mouths and gasped in surprise while, both Sunset and Coco were looking around with flushed faces.
Rainbow, however raised her brow and stared at Pinkie who had a huge smile on her face.
“And why would they have kissed?” she asked accusingly. Pinkie’s grin only grew wider and she began wiggling her brows seductively.
“O-oh… my,” gasped Fluttershy, nearly speechless. Her blush was nearly as large as the two subjects.
Applejack hummed and scratched the top of her head under her hat. “Well… Ah guess Ah’m a tad bit surprised but...” she paused for a second to find the words. Afterwards she gave the two a smile and, stepping between then, wrapped both of them in wrapped both of them in a pair of one-armed hugs. “But in a good way. Grats!”
Rarity herself broke out in a large grin. “Oh I knew this would happen eventually! You two have such wonderful chemistry about you!”
Sunset flinched back, quickly wiggled out of Applejack’s grip, and backed away, frowning. “No, no way! It wasn't romantic. Pinkie just hid a thing of mistletoe over our heads in the house. We had to do something so I gave Coco a peck on her forehead.”
While Applejack let out a low hum of understanding Rainbow ‘s expression immediately soured. Her once curious look quickly became a narrow eyed glare at Pinkie who had turned away and began whistling nonchalantly.
Rarity, upon hearing the truth, had simply turned around and pouted. “Oh poo!” she muttered, crossing her arms.
Sunset have her an incredulous look. “You’re… disappointed?”
Rarity chuckled and shrugged. “Well I was just hoping that one of us besides myself would finally take an interest in finding a companion, is all.”
Sunset continued to stare, her expression turning from a raised brow and slack jaw to flat look. “Uhuh, so I have a question,” Sunset began, “The whole, ‘you have such chemistry about you’ line… did you plan that?”
While those two were talking, Fluttershy had let out a sigh of relief. Hearing something like two of her friends suddenly falling in love with each other had been unexpectedly jarring for her. As she calmed her racing heart, she heard a soft giggling coming from next to her.
Coco, who had been released when Applejack had walked over to Rainbow intent to stop her from chewing out Pinkie, had been covering her mouth with a hand in a failed attempt to stifle her laughter.
Soon enough the group calmed down and resumed their journey to the sweets shop. But as they neared the store, Rainbow returned to badgering Pinkie.
“So you Pinkie Promise that you didn’t hide any more mistletoe anywhere?” she persisted.
Pinkie just continued to laugh even as Applejack held open the door for the group. “Of course, Dashie. I only hid one because then they would be looking for more. A prank is not as fun if they’re expecting it.”
Coco nodded. “It’s true. Sunset spent half of the morning while we were putting things away looking for more mistletoe, batting at the ceiling with a long-handled broom.”
While some of the girls walked up to the register to order, Sunset, Pinkie, and Fluttershy took their seats in their normal spot against the nearby wall. As they did Pinkie narrowed her eyes and began staring suspiciously at Sunset. “So, Sunset… you gonna buy something?”
Sunset raised a brow and looked over at the cash register, currently being manned by Mr. Cake. “Are you asking me that out of curiosity or because you work here?”
Pinkie shrugged, still looking at her through narrowed eyes. “Eeeyees?”
Giving her an odd look, Sunset decided not to pursue that particular topic. Instead, she turned to Fluttershy. “So, what elective classes do you have this semester?”
Fluttershy frowned and lowered her head. “I… I have to take a gym class,” she said.
Sunset nodded in understanding. “Do you at least have any friends in that class with you?” she asked, giving her a pitying look. Fluttershy could only shrug. Moving a strand of hair out of her face, she looked up at Sunset. “I don’t know yet. As far as I’m aware none of you have to take gym this year.”
Fluttershy felt a hand touch her shoulder. Turning her head she saw Rarity, holding a cup of hot chocolate, looking down at her with a sad smile. “Fluttershy, darling, you don’t have to take gym if you don’t want to. You know that you can take the same health class as me and still receive the credit.
Hope blossomed on Fluttershy’s face and she nodded happily. “Really?! I hope our PE teacher lets me transfer.”
As she said that, however, Applejack came over with a small apple pie and sat next to Fluttershy, right in the seat that Rarity was about to sit in. Aghast, Rarity pouted and sat next to Pinkie.
Chuckling, Applejack turned to Fluttershy and gave her a reassuring one-armed hug. “Don’t you worry, Ah’m takin’ PE too. So if Coach Will don’t let you transfer Ah got yer back!”
Just then Rainbow, who had grabbed a drink, came over and sat next to Sunset. She took a deep gulp from her straw. “Sunset, you and I are in the same performing arts class right?”
Sunset nodded. “Pinkie too right?” she said, turning to look at Pinkie who was still staring at her.
“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” she asked.
It was then that Coco finally came up behind Pinkie, idly munching on a blueberry muffin. Seeing that there were no other seats around the table she calmly picked up one from another table and brought it over.
“I’m actually curious too,” she muttered as she sat down. “Do you girls not want a snack or something to drink?”
Sunset leaned back in her seat and waved her hand. “No, I’m alright. Besides, I don’t have my wallet on me today anyway.”
Pinkie’s suspicious look evolved into a sly grin. “So you do have money then?” she asked.
Sunset slowly lifted one brow in confusion. “Eeeeyes? Of course I have money. Why do you ask?”
“So... is that why you’ve been following her?” asked Coco, relieved that she could finally confront this issue.
Rainbow still sipping her drink leaned an elbow on the table. “Yeah I heard about that. What’s going on?”
Pinkie shrugged and held her hands up in defense. “I’m not stalking her or anything. I was just curious about something.”
Sitting back in her seat, Applejack crossed her arms. “Alright, Ah’ll bite. What are ya so dang curious about that you gotta follow Sunset everywhere?”
The table went quiet as each of the girls gave Pinkie their full attention. Pinkie herself had still been staring at Sunset, a small grin on her face.
Slamming her palms on the table, Pinkie stood up and dramatically threw her right hand forward, her index finger outstretched. “Sunset Shimmer! Where do you get your money from?” she asked.
There was another beat of silence as Pinkie maintained her position. “Is that it?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Obviously she just gets some from her dad like… wait… no, hold on.” As realization dawned on her, Rainbow brought a hand to her chin and her brow furrowed in thought. “Where do you get your cash from?” she asked Sunset.
“I’ve… never really thought about it before,” muttered Rarity.
“Is it that strange?” asked Sunset, shrinking back in her seat.
Fluttershy shook her head. “Well no, not normally. Everyone our age has some amount of money. Normally we get allowances, or we have a part time job or something.”
Applejack continued. “Yeah, but your case is a bit… ya might say, different.” She began counting off on her fingers. “Ya don’t have any parents here to mooch off of, and ya weren't paying for your house. But you still buy clothes and groceries and the like but as far as ah know ya don’t have a job…”
“I have a job,” interrupted Sunset, “it doesn't pay a lot but it is a job.”
“HOLD IT!”
There was another slam and everyone turned to see Pinkie with her palms on the table. “If you claim that you actually have a job, why haven't you been going to it?” Picking up a few napkins, Pinkie held them up to her face like she was reading something. “Even in the fall when you were sulking you just went from school to home every day!”
Sunset shrugged. “Well it’s… not an official job… It’s kind of like Fluttershy’s volunteer work. I do get paid though so I call it a job. When I was having my… episode I stopped going. O-of course after I got better I went up there to apologize to ‘my employer’. But I realized that she left town early in November."
Pinkie slapped the napkins in her hands impatiently, her face totally serious. “But even so, you used the term have indicating you still believe you have one.”
Sunset began to feel more like she was being interrogated, the florescent light overhead beginning to feel hotter by the second. “W-well if you let me finish I was going to say that she’s only going to be gone for the winter. She apparently hates the cold more than I do. She called me two days ago and said that she forgave me and that I can come back in whenever I want. I was going to go at some point this week.”
“OBJECTION!”
Everyone turned to look back at Pinkie, who was still standing up. The spectacle had obviously captured the group's full attention and they all eagerly waited for Pinkie’s next comment.
“I see… your explanation makes sense for the most part. But not everything matches in your statement. You say that your job doesn't pay much, but you also say that you haven’t gone to work in what has to be at least four months. So I have one more question…” Pinkie tossed her index finger forwards once more. “How do you still have money after not being employed for four whole months!”
Everyone let out a shocked gasp at Pinkie’s declaration, which caused her to grin and place her hands on her hips in victory. “You buy groceries, and from what I’ve seen, even when Coco isn’t here you don’t have any problems buying food. Admit it! You have a secret bank account don’t you?!”
While everyone began muttering amongst themselves Sunset just nervously looked from side to side, completely unsure how deal with this random situation. Nothing else to do, she just shrunk further into her seat.
“I-It not a secret…” she muttered her eyes falling to the table.
Just as Pinkie rose her hands to slam the table once again, a different voice yelled out. “That’s enough!” Everyone turned to look at Fluttershy who had began frowning at everyone else.
“I know we’re all curious but I don’t like the way we’re going about it,” she chided, looking directly at Pinkie. “Look, we’re making her uncomfortable.”
Pinkie, smiled sheepishly and sat back in her seat. “Heh… sorry. Anyway, you can tell us all about your secret cash stash later. Let’s all go meet your mysterious benefactor!” she cheered.
“What?” asked Sunset, looking around, she saw everyone else nodding in agreement. “What, now?!
Applejack and the others had already gotten out of their seats. “Well yeah, let’s go while it’s still early.”
Coco nodded. “I agree I would love to know where you work, your boss sounds like a nice person as well.”
As she got up, Rainbow stretched her body. “Yeah, sure. Not like we have any plans anyway.”
“I-I can think up a few plans if you need some!” Sunset protested.
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Interesting
Liked it
Good job
"Lazy and Relevant to the plot" Great that could be just about anything. Sort of was hoping for something seedy, only to emphasize how desperate Sunset was at the time she first arrived in the human world.
Wouldn't an internet employment be totally plausible? Like an artist that does commission or an online musician? Sunset does play guitar..
6958282 I never said other ways were wrong, they are equally plausible. I'm a perfect example of someone who can live off of commissions.
6958317 sorry if my comment came off as snide or something, I was just theorizing.
This is a pretty easy fix for Sunset. She can just, you know, not lead them to her. It's not like they know where to start looking, so if Sunset really doesn't want to lead them to her, they won't find her.
All Sunset needs is a smattering of magic anyways if she ever figures it out to generate some passive income.
Mildly surprised nobody is taking a foreign language class...then again, that's always understandable since for someone to speak in a foreign language the actual writer has to know that language as well.
This sounds possibly sleazy...
Now I'm as curious as Pinkie!
Whaaaaat noooooooo....orig07.deviantart.net/5451/f/2016/049/1/2/always_watching____by_acesential-d9s8qi5.png
This cliffhanger is actually quite entertaining.
On a side note, I'm trying to think of a job that has such lax hours and is lazy when it is on. I got nothing.
Damn, they are a nosy bunch.
Igiari!!!
Not gonna lie, I've done that myself. I've got the Ace Attorney Trilogy for my 3DS so I can even yell out Phoenix's "Objection", "Hold It", and "Take That" with the mic. I always feel silly actually yelling it out, but it's fun.
And speaking of, couldn't find any evidence for Pinkie to present with a "Take That"? I do like how the napkins kinda made a substitute for the case notes people hold up.