Not Your Cup of Tea
Sunset woke up the next day feeling hungry, groggy, and unclean. She glanced down at the clothes she had fallen asleep in and grimaced. She was going to need to shower. The girl sat up and smacked her lips, frowning at the bad taste in her mouth. It had only been the second day of school yet she felt so tired that she dropped dead until the next morning. Well, learning always did make her feel tired after a while, considering all the long study sessions she had had with Princess Celestia years ago. Pulling all-nighters was what she did for the most part back then. Sunset hadn't changed much. She still stayed up crazy late because of one thing or another.
"I guess all the sleep I had been missing out on caught up with me," she mused. Sunset got out of bed and stretched. Only to get a charlie horse. She snapped wide awake and hopped up on the bed grasping the cramping leg. "Agh! Why?!"
Sunset gritted her teeth as she tried to keep herself from yelling out. She inhaled and slowly stretched her leg out only to snap it back from a sharp stabbing pain. Writhing in agony, it lasted about five minutes. Sunset laid on the bed feeling more exhausted than ever. "...Well that was fun."
***
Sunset arrived at Pointeville High on her raging bike. The loud guttural noise of her ride had woken her up and made her more attentive but not enough where she didn't need coffee. She killed the engine and grabbed her saddlebag and cup. Walking into the building she found herself surrounded by a sea of human teenagers. They were all rowdy and hyper like they all had a sugar rush on candy. The fiery headed one scowled; all the obnoxious liveliness of the students made her feel drowsier.
As quickly as she could through the crowd she made her way to class twenty minutes earlier than usual. Inside the room were a few students chatting idly with one another to pass the time. It was the first period of the day, English, and it was taught by a cool Mr. Peace Sign. It was a class Sunset looked forward to. The old hippy wasn't too hard on them like most teachers and let them do whatever they wanted for the most part. The most he ever had them do was write poems or read stories on world peace and free love. How this guy managed to work there for 15 years without getting fired for barely giving the standard amount of work out to students, grading it, and showing records of student work to his boss was beyond comprehension. Mr. Evermint was below his A game on that one.
Sunset sat down at her desk and glanced at Mr. Peace Sign, waving lazily at the students that came in and leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk looking drowsy and high. Sunset was sure he didn't sleep well at night, or if not that, he drank a shot or two every morning. She heard red wine was good for your heart but she doubted it was red wine he was having. Listening to the quiet hum of conversation around her (and the hippie music playing from a radio on the teacher's desk), Sunset sipped her coffee and sighed. It was a great way to start off the school day. If she wanted to she could catch some winks and not even get in trouble. She could hurry up and cram in some last minute homework here or smash on some food. The limit of freedom was nonexistent.
Absorbed in her peaceful train of thought she sat there quietly; swishing hot coffee around in her mouth absentmindedly and enjoying her time doing nothing. Before long her time alone would be interrupted.
***
"Twilight, I don't know why you want me to interact with her after what she did," Shimmer said as the two walked through the hall to class. She took a sip from her thermos of tea before frowning at her friend.
Twilight tapped a pencil on her notepad. "What happened before has nothing to do with the present anymore. You two made amends. And now, I have a chance to study you both. All three of us have the same first period class, and with Mr. Peace Sign being as relaxed as he is, it's the perfect time to conduct this experiment!"
Shimmer frowned. Sometimes her friend wasn't very helpful to her when it came to science. No. Correction. She wasn't very helpful at all when science made its way into the picture. The nerd would be too into her studies to even acknowledge Shimmer's feelings about it all. The last time Twilight conducted an experiment, she nearly got blown to pieces. It was something about trying to replicate a magical source of energy coming from Canterlot High. Of course, then, when Twilight tried to do this, Shimmer had no idea about all this strangeness coming from there or what she even was trying to do, but the most important piece of info that she pulled from it was that this purple chick was a bit crazy.
"And here she is. Test subject Sunset Shimmer, or so she calls herself," Twilight remarked as they came into class.
She scribbled on her pad. Glancing at it, Shimmer shook her head. How in the world could anyone read the illegible chicken scratch called "handwriting" of Twilight Sparkle? She decided that it was a mystery she'd leave alone for the moment. There was a more pressing issue at hand and it involved herself.
Sunset was sitting at her desk paying no mind to the people around her. And funnily enough, the girl was drinking something just like she was. Twilight noticed this and nodded, writing something down. "Go on. Talk to her. I'll be right near you two."
Shimmer swallowed. Might as well get it over with. Twilight had been talking to her about it all last night and yesterday; so much so that if she didn't agree to her plan Shimmer was guaranteed to be harassed about it even more. With absolute dread, she made her way over to the duplicate of herself.
***
Sunset's Point of View
I could see her over the rim of my cup. Shimmer stood there looking as uncomfortable as ever. At least she wasn't glaring at me. Kind of. I swallowed all the coffee I wanted but kept the thermos to my lips to further prolong my silence and give me an excuse not to say anything. I wanted to hear what she had to say first before I engaged in conversation. From my past experiences with her, any time I said something first everything turned quite unpleasant and ultimately I was blamed for 'starting something'.
I could see she was growing impatient with my exaggerated sipping and she finally spoke. "So are we going to talk or are you going to pretend I'm not here."
I set my coffee down and replied slowly. "What's to talk about."
Shimmer sniffed. "First thing's first: Why did you want to become my friend all of a sudden?"
Her aggravated tone and hard expression did nothing to faze me. I was used to it. "I didn't want you to keep holding beef with me. You lost two friends. So to make up for it you got a new one. I guarantee you I'm a better buddy than those two unfaithful lowlifes."
Shimmer's face blushed intensely. I have to say...she looks rather cute being mad like that. I chuckled. Better keep that to myself. Unfortunately, the chuckle I had translated wrong and it didn't improve her mood. "Unfaithful lowlifes? You're lower than low, Sunset. And being faithful? The only thing you're faithful to is the devil."
I grimaced. That hit a little too close to home for me there. Devils and demons are somewhat in the same field. Them's fighting words but I'll let it pass for now. Beating myself up isn't going to help anything, double meaning intended.
"Hey, I know what I did was shitty, but can you let it go? I mean, they're still dating, those two peeps. I'm getting the impression that whether or not you confronted them about being friends again they'd still be lip locking, Shimmy. Just let it go."
"If 'letting it go' means that I have to have you as replacement for them, then no, I'm not going to let it go," Shimmer said defiantly.
Stubborn. Just like me. A bit dumb but stubborn. She doesn't realize how awesome a friend I can be. Princess Twilight's pals were all buddy-buddy with me. Sometimes. Besides, if Shimmer is me and I'm Shimmer, then it should be easy. Befriending yourself can't be a difficult task. Shimmer sat down at the desk in front of mine and turned around backwards in the seat to face me.
She set her thermos on my desk and sighed. "I don't know why I'm doing this..."
I put my cup down as well and frowned. "Well damn. Don't do 'this' then."
Shimmer shot me a look. "The only reason I'm talking to you is because Twilight is pretty much making me."
I raised an eyebrow. "Great to see that the human Twilight is also big on uniting people together as friends. Wow, the magic of friendship must be a destiny all Twilights have."
Shimmer looked at me like I was crazy. "She's making me interact with you for her research." She pointed behind me and sure enough, Twilight Sparkle, nerd of the nerds, was sitting in a corner feverishly writing things down and leaning forward in a way that anyone could tell she was eavesdropping on our conversation. Ok, maybe not all Twilights have friendship on their mind.
Instinctively, we both moved farther away, scooching the desk a bit to hopefully have more freedom of speech. Twilight was a surveillance system and we wanted to move out of her radius. I lowered my voice and spoke to Shimmer. "Clearly you have no interest in being friends so this bonding moment is up."
"What? You can't just decide that!" Shimmer whispered harshly. "I need you so Twilight can leave me alone about this experiment she's doing!"
"So you're doing this for selfish reasons."
"Well, no..."
"Right. I don't see how this is benefiting me. I'm open to be pals but you're not in it for that reason. Case closed," I said, smirking. To be honest, I wasn't interested in being friends, either. I just liked seeing Shimmer get all frustrated. Old habits die hard.
She groaned quietly and tapped her fingers on the desk. "Come on!"
"Sorry, kiddo. No cooperation here."
"Oh, but please!"
"Hmm? What's this? The girl who hates my guts is begging me to do a favor??"
Shimmer slapped the desk. "Look, right now I need you to just pretend that we're getting along so that Twilight will get off my back about it all."
I tapped a finger on my chin. "But isn't that what she wants? Progress? Why not pretend to hate each other?? Well, I know that's not hard on your end."
Shimmer threw her hands up. "Just...just...I don't know!" She jabbed a finger at me. "Do it or I'll make sure everyone knows you're a grade A monster! I'll-I'll spread rumors! And...and yeah! It'll be the, uh, the end of you!"
Shimmer was really bad at making threats and it was clear she really wasn't going to do these things. I shook my head. Deciding enough was enough, I agreed to be a pretend friend. "Alright, I'll do it. But you know you owe me for this."
The girl before me sighed gratefully and thanked me for my decision. I grinned at her, part of me laughing on the inside at making her go through all that. It's not everyday that you get to make your otherworldly self beg you. Now that all of that was over, we sat together quietly, just listening to the people around us. What had been a small exchange of slightly bitter words turned into a moment of comfortable silence. It was weird how the mood could change so abruptly, but then again, when you're in a room with an old hippie that seems to be the literal embodiment of peace, I'm sure any conflicts can be solved in a snap of your fingers.
I reached for my thermos and brought it to my lips. Shimmer did the same. But when I poured the contents into my mouth I found that it wasn't coffee...but tea. I swallowed the sweet liquid and raised an eyebrow. This wasn't my drink. Then that must mean it's--
"Bleck! Aw, gross!"
I put the thermos down to see Shimmer crinkle her nose in disgust and stick her tongue out. I guess my human version dislikes coffee. She pushed the drink toward me and motioned for me to give her hers. I smiled and gave it to her. With much enthusiasm, she drained all her tea down in a few gulps and gasped. Her flushed cheeks and goofy expression was enough to get me laughing. She glared at me at first but soon cracked a smile. Shimmer looked lovely when she smiled. But hey, she's me. Of course I'd look great.
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Nice chapter.
I like the ending of the chapter, mostly because I can't stand the taste of coffee so I put it in my tea.
You know, pointing out that your story has been featured more than just the first time is incredibly pointless, right?
6467578 Gotta flex the Epeen man.
Okay. So there were multiple times that both sunset's spoke in the same paragraph, making it a tad hard to read at times.
6467578 It's a pride thing you know.
But yeah, I get it. I'll remove that.
6467769 The format has been changed to make it an easier read. I apologize for that.
Unless of course you didn't like yourself to begin with. It's a shame human Twilight isn't a psychology major, it would be fascinating to watch them if they were to discover that what they dislike in each other, is really what they dislike about themselves deep down.
In any event, another excellent chapter. Looking forward to more.
her nose in disgust and stick her
1. Just an extra spacing.
Huh... *looks at A/N* isn't that what I mentioned before? Gotta check back and see... But really though, I have to wonder when the other five will show up and then Shimmer will be pushed into the conviniently placed bush and be involved (or at least partially) in Sunset's shenanigans with them.
Edit: Just checked and nope, didn't mention it. But did mention that they were daft as they couldn't seem to figure out why Sunset left. My point still stands.
Are you spying on me? Because this is pretty much how I got up yesterday.
Broken Tag in the authors notes.
6470562 Oh, thanks for pointing that out.
6471641
A Doctor Who minisode.
So... I want that English teacher.
6503474 Yep
6520439 So violent!
6535053
You're goofy, Liz.
6549468 Just from what we've seen in the movies, it seems to be in a city location. There are many stores located nearby, and the general busy atmosphere suggests a city. Even if it's not, someone as science minded as her wouldn't DARE stargaze in an urban setting.
6549667
I submit that there can be multiple equally-valid motivations for stargazing. Yes, she'd have to be an idiot to go out on the balcony to collect spectral data on a distant quasar. But if she doesn't have a car, is frightfully bored, and wants to look at some stars, why *wouldn't* she just go out and do it? In the immortal words of Dr. Seuss, these things are fun and fun is good.
6549869 Hmm... I suppose.
I just can imagine Twilight seeing someone in the city stargazing and freaking out. She doesn't have a car, I do submit that. Though it would be much more efficient to simply walk to a nearby park. Certainly not as good as a rural setting, but easy. I'd imagine that's what she'd do. I mean, yeah you can stargaze in the city. But if you're going through the effort of using a telescope, you're gonna want to move it somewhere it's more useful. Besides, that thing was a special edition. Not simply for leisurely use. I'd even wager using such a special telescope in a lighted setting would be downright difficult due to the magnifying lens.
6550302
6549869 All I have to say about this is that fictional stories aren't meant to be accurate. If you re-read the chapter, you'll see that Twilight was bored and had nothing to do so she just decided to stargaze since she hadn't in a long time. It was just something to do to pass the time; no actual scientific research involved. It's nice to see that people can point out mistakes of mine so I know what to change in the future.
6550367
Heh... Oops. Sorry to hijack your comments section there.
On an entirely separate note, the above (or below? Let's say "last") comment reminded me of something I wanted to mention, namely that it's really awesome to see an EG-only story posted so recently. Not because I dislike Rainbow Rocks (I actually think both RR and FG are friggin' awesome), but because, unlike the regular show, many authors seem unwilling to break continuity with the EG world canon. Even now many authors are perfectly willing to write a story in Equestria that branches off into AU after season 1 or 2 (or earlier), yet basically every EG-world story started after RR was released automatically includes it as canon, and I suspect most post-FG stories will be the same.
This is relevant because I was toying with an EG story in my head for a while, and basically gave up on writing it after RR came out. Maybe I should try again...
So yeah, anyway, you're inspiring - keep it up :)
6553242 Everyone's got their own interpretation of Human Twi. This story came out before the third movie so whatever is different between the one in Friendship Games and this one can't be helped. If you dislike the story, you don't have to continue reading it if it isn't to your liking.
The same way my high school senior year Calculus teacher got away with having us just watch the crime TV show Numbers for most of the semester: tenure.
6469378 didn't you know? Feather spies on ALL of the readers >=)