Blue Giant Pony

by Brass Polish

2 Turkey Skins & Pork Chops with Pasta Sauce

Sunset’s fevered dream was a lucid one. She could feel some of the pains the Blue Giant virus had taken so long to give her. Even though she was aware that she was asleep and dreaming, she didn’t try to get up and leave the bed; even when one of the windows fell open and a cold wind billowed into the room.

“You can’t tell me with a straight face that you’re comfy,” said a voice over the noise.

“Who’s…?”

Sunset looked up and jumped. Standing on the foot of her bed was a unicorn she’d never seen before.

“Did you come through the portal?!” Sunset sat up and pointed out the open window at the Wondercolt statue. “How are you a pony?”

“I didn’t come from Equestria, but I can tell you what you’re missing,” replied the unicorn. “My name’s Figment. And you’re Sunburn Slapper, right?”

“Uh, no. It’s Sunset Shimmer.”

“Ah.”

“So, what am I missing?” asked Sunset.

Figment’s horn lit up. The snow was wiped from the school yard instantly. Sunset stared at out the window with awe.

“Magic, of course,” grinned the unicorn. “Oh, you’ve got the support of your friends, and you can pony up when the need arises, but apart from that, you’re stuck with those hands of yours to get things done. But now that I’m here, you can scratch one or two things off your to-do list.”

Sunset stood up. She was still achy, but not nearly as much as earlier.

“Just how powerful is your magic?” she asked her visitor.

“About as powerful as yours would have been if you’d never left Equestria and honed your skills as often as Twilight Sparkle or Trixie Lulamoon,” Figment smiled. “I guess you can call me your alter-ego. Anything else you want to do that you can’t do so easily as a human?”

Sunset remembered the vandalised poster of her and her friends at that bus shelter. “I’d like to clean that graffiti off our band’s advertisement.”

Figment’s horn lit up for a moment. “Done. Wanna see?”

Sunset hesitated before nodding, and once Figment had magiced her some adequate winter clothes, they were off, floating above the ground as if on an invisible giant skateboard. Sunset was delighted to see the Rainbooms ad devoid of spray paint.

“Great!” she exclaimed, quickly grasping her stomach. “Hey, can we go cure Sweetie Belle’s cold?”

No sooner had she made this request when Figment transported them both to AltRarity’s home. One glowing horn later, a stream of used tissues and cough drop wrappers passed through the glass of one of the windows and straight into a trash bin on the curb. Sunset would have smiled, but her headache was coming back.

“How about curing me now?” she asked.

“Sorry,” frowned Figment, “but that’s the one thing my magic can’t do. Without your sickness, I can’t be here. If you wanna take a break, I’ll take you back to the infirmary and we’ll pick up where we left off when you’re feeling better again.”

Well, that was a disappointing end to this dream, Sunset groaned as her vision blurred and the noise around her died.

When Sunset woke up, it was daytime. AltPinkie Pie was there.

“You’re up!” she cried. “Whoo hoo!”

“Hi, Pinkie,” Sunset sat up, letting the damp cloth fall off her forehead. “Um, where’s Twilight?”

“She’s still tying up some loose ends at Crystal Pr… Oh, you mean the Twilight from Equestria! She came by my house this morning with Wrecks. Said he just walked out of the animal shelter last night. She told me you were here and asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“Is that why you’re wearing an eye patch?” asked Sunset.

“Yep. I have eye patches stashed all over the school for situations like this. By the way, I tried on that snazzy parka of yours while you were sleeping,” AltPinkie continued. “Hope you don’t mind. I didn’t get any soda on it. I swear.”

“My snazzy parka?” repeated Sunset.

“Oh, is that not yours?” AltPinkie Pie pointed to a row of coat hooks by the door.

Sunset gasped. The coat on the hook was the same one Figment had conjured in her dream.

It didn’t take long for Sunset to realise that she’d had no ordinary dream. When she looked out of the window, she saw that there was snow everywhere accept the front yard of the school. AltRainbow Dash visited later that day and told her that someone had cleaned the graffiti off of the ad at her bus stop. And when AltRarity visited, she expressed her delight that her little sister had gotten over the awful cold she’d been suffering from since autumn ended. At last, Twilight returned to the infirmary.

“The animal shelter was freezing,” she told Sunset. “The door was open all night. Wrecks didn’t shut it when he left. The other strays aren’t happy with him.”

“That’s a shame,” sighed Sunset. “If I’d realised the door was open last night, I could’ve had Figment close it.”

“Who’s Figment?” asked Twilight.

Sunset told Twilight about her dream and the real effects it seemed to have on the town.

“I… I did wonder what happened to the snow,” Twilight scratched her chin. “But I didn’t see any unicorns in here. I was awake all night watching over you. And so was Wrecks. We didn’t leave until the school opened up for the day. There were no unicorns in this room and you never left.”

She took Sunset’s new winter coat from the hook and examined it.

“Looks like the Blue Giant virus gives some really weird symptoms to humans,” said Twilight. “You seemed to have had some kind of out-of-body experience during your dream.”

“You know what this means?” Sunset perked up. “The next time I go to sleep, I can find that green gem Sinomen stole!”

“Oh! That’s a good idea,” smiled Twilight. “I wouldn’t have thought there would be an upside to this disease. You were seriously sick last night.”

“Yeah, I guess I was. Thanks for your help, Twilight,” Sunset said, lying back down on her infirmary bed. “Um, could you go to the animal shelter and tell Wrecks I’d like to thank him, too?”

“Sure…”

“Wait! I’ll tell him myself tonight,” interrupted Sunset with a grin, “with Figment’s help.”

Sunset had gotten so much sleep the previous night, that she’d been unable to fall asleep all day. She did stay in bed most of the day, but she didn’t manage to get to sleep until that night. Soon enough, she was aware that she was dreaming.

“So Somewhat Slimmer, what’s on the agenda tonight?” Figment chimed.

Sunset stood up eagerly. “First, we’ll send a thank-you gift to Wrecks at the animal shelter. “And then, we’ve got a green gemstone to find.”

“Huh. I thought you might have a challenge for me,” smirked Figment. “Alright. We’re off!”

Sunset hoped that the other dogs wouldn’t be too hostile towards Wrecks when they learned that he was woken to a plate of turkey skins and pork chops with pasta sauce in his cage. Not long after delivering Wrecks’ midnight snack, Figment’s magic went to work tracking down the green gemstone that Sinomen stole. Much like Amber Aldis’ long defunct foraging spell, her horn lit a path through the snowy ground. Sunset Shimmer and Figment followed it all the way to the Everything Under the Sun Emporium.

“The Flim Flam Brothers!” exclaimed Sunset. “They must’ve bought Sinomen.”

“Do you think they found out she had the gem and have it up for sale?” asked Figment.

“I don’t know, but either way, we’ll get it back,” said Sunset. “Right?”

Figment grinned. “Right.”

One spell later, the item they were seeking shot through the door and into Sunset’s hand.

“We got it!” she shouted.

She leapt into the air in excitement, making herself dizzy in the process.

“Looks like your dream’s ending again,” sighed Figment.

“Yeah. My vision’s fading,” Sunset clenched the green gem in her fist. “But tomorrow night, we’re tracking down the sirens to see if they’re plotting some kinda revenge scheme, and then we’ll be helping Trixie find Smokescreen.”

“You got it,” Sunset heard Figment say before the dream dissolved.

Sunset woke up late the following morning, and felt nothing in her fist. She had expected there to be a round green object with six dimples on either side, but she found her hand was empty.

“Huh. Maybe it’s in my jacket pocket,” she said, getting up and feeling no aches or pains at all.

But all she found in the jacket on the hook was her correspondence book (the jacket had large pockets), with a hastily scribbled note from Twilight saying she had to run back to Equestria to deal with an emergency.

“They better not have stolen it back!” Sunset growled, putting on her jacket and setting off for the Everything Under the Sun Emporium.

AltFlim and AltFlam were quite insistent that they never had a gemstone like the one she described in their store.

“But don’t tell anyone you couldn’t find something here. Don’t want people to make a joke of our showroom’s name now, do we?”

“We have got a few dogs for sale, though. A select group of well-groomed hounds for your consideration!”

Not one of the five shaggy, restless mutts even resembled Sinomen.

Was my dream last night… just a dream? Sunset thought as she left the store.

She wasn’t inclined to believe the twins after what her friends had said about them, but when she visited the animal shelter, she found that Wrecks had never had a delivery of turkey and pork at any time.

“You’d think I did, the way they glare at me,” he groaned, keeping his eyes on the ground and away from the cold eyes of his enclosure-mates.

Sunset frowned at how ticked off the strays still appeared; though she thought they looked better than the dogs AltFlim and AltFlam we overcharging for.

Sunset returned to the school infirmary to find Twilight and Spike; only they were the ones who originated in this world.

“Oh, there you are!” AltTwilight was happy to see Sunset. “We were worried about you.”

“Your book went off while you were out,” AltSpike got up off the book he’d been sitting on. “The Twilight from Equestria says she’s got that emergency under control, but she’s gotta deal with the mess it made.”

“She didn’t mention what it was when we wrote back,” AltTwilight informed. “She must be pretty busy sorting everything out.”

They then asked why Sunset looked down, and she told them about Figment.

“Two nights ago, when I dreamed we fixed a few things with her magic, I woke up and found out that they really happened,” she said. “But last night, my dream about Figment only happened in my head.”

“You must have gotten over your Blue Giant sickness,” AltSpike smiled. “Great.”

“It’s not great!” snapped Sunset, making AltSpike and AltTwilight jump. “That unicorn could’ve solved all my problems. Her magic was immense! And now she’ll never help anyone ever again.”

Sunset slumped on one of the beds.

“Maybe I should go back to Equestria and eat more Blue Giants.”

“No!” cried AltTwilight. “Sunset, you showed me that some magical things shouldn’t be trifled with. If you try this out again, you might not survive your illness this time.”

You’re right,” Sunset sighed morosely, “I’m just gonna have to accept the fact that I have no magic.”

AltTwilight adjusted her glasses a bit. “Accepting your limitations isn’t the same as admitting defeat, is it?”

Sunset beamed. “We’ll find that gemstone! Magic or not!”

And with that, the three of them put their heads together.

“We don’t have any leads on Sinomen’s new owner,” Sunset said.

“Applejack said Wrecks saw Sinomen in the front yard of this school when he found you on the steps,” said AltTwilight. “Any idea what she was doing there?”

Sunset pondered. “She said she had nothing to do with making me sick… and we know she wasn’t lying…”

“She definitely still hates you, though,” frowned AltSpike. “We heard she looked happy to see you lying there all sick and helpless.”

“Yeah. I’ll bet she’s been laughing at all of us since she snatched that gem,” Sunset scowled.

But then her expression brightened.

“Wait! If she likes embarrassing us, what if she hid the gemstone right under my nose?! Like… in the flower bed outside the window of the school room I sleep in?!”

She didn’t wait for a response from AltTwilight and AltSpike before bolting out of the door. The two former Crystal Prepers ran after her and found her out in the yard, knelt down outside the infirmary window and brushing the snow from the soil in the garden.

“Here! This looks like a freshly filled hole! Spike, can you dig here?”

But the cold weather that had taken hold of Canterlot High since the night Sunset passed out had made the ground like iron. Spike’s claws could barely even scrape the rock hard dirt.

“We’re gonna need a bigger dog,” he groaned.

“I’ll bet Wrecks could help,” Sunset was looking glum again. “I wish I could buy him, but I don’t make much money.”

“I haven’t got much myself,” admitted AltTwilight.

“So, why don’t we pool our money?” suggest Sunset, her smile renewed.

Wrecks was delighted that Sunset and AltTwilight had bought him. He absorbed one last look of contempt from the stray dogs he’d lived with before leaving the Canterlot Animal Shelter for the last time with his new owners.

“Who’ll I be staying with at night?” he asked.

“Well, maybe we can hide you in the infirmary until we sort that out,” thought Sunset.

“Or maybe Applejack and her family can have you on their property,” suggested AltTwilight.

“But before we bring you home, we need a favour,” said Sunset. “Do you think you could do a little digging for us?”

“I’ll give it a shot,” nodded Wrecks. “What’s this for?”

“We think we know what Sinomen was doing at the school the night Sunset got sick,” said AltSpike. “She might’ve buried it outside Sunset’s window so she can make fun of her.”

“Hm. Sounds like something she’d do,” said Wrecks. “She laughed a lot at Rarity when we strapped that wagon to her and made her look for gems for us.”

AltSpike growled.

Wrecks didn’t exactly make short work of the flower bed, but he was making out better than AltSpike had.

“Bingo!” he shouted after several minutes.

He sat up, and Sunset, AltTwilight, and AltSpike looked excitedly at the round green gemstone in his mouth.

“That’s it!” AltSpike cried. “That’s the gem I left behind!”

Wrecks deposited his find into Sunset’s hand. She examined it.

“Hold on… something’s not right.”

“What is it?” asked AltTwilight.

“Well, the gemstone Trixie found in front of the Tree of Harmony had twelve dimples. Six on each side,” said Sunset. “But this one only has ten.”

AltTwilight, AltSpike, and Wrecks looked for themselves.

“You’re right,” said AltSpike. “But it looks just like it.”

“It has to be the same one,” agreed Sunset. “But why would two of the dimples disappear?”

“Looks like another mystery we have to solve,” said AltTwilight.

Sunset sighed. “It’s always something, isn’t it?”

“So what do we do with it now?” asked Wrecks.

“We’ll leave it with Spike,” said Sunset. “It was meant to be for him, after all.”

AltSpike happily accepted the responsibility.

In Sunset’s dream that night, she was writing to Princess Twilight to tell her that all was well with her illness and the missing gemstone, and AltTwilight was fitting a collar and tag to Wrecks’ neck. They were joined by Figment.

“So ya redid our outing from last night, huh?” she asked with a smirk. “Thought buying Wrecks and finding that gem in the dirt was a better idea? Well, good for you. Looks like you don’t need me.”

“Well,” said Sunset, “as great as it would be to have you around helping everyone, I suppose you’re right. I know I’m capable of solving my problems without a quick fix. All I need is a little support, and I can pull anything off.”

“I like your enthusiasm, Sunny,” grinned Figment.

“Sunny?” AltTwilight repeated.

“Oh, right. That’s one of your old Crystal Prep buddies. If you can call her a buddy,” Figment chuckled. “Well Sunset, if you ever feel like you do need me, just snore.”

Sunset laughed happily. She awoke feeling great, and pleased to see Wrecks sleeping on the bed next to her. He had no collar on, but Sunset’s correspondence book was open to a message written in Sunset’s handwriting that told Princess Twilight that all was well at Canterlot High, which she had no memory of writing.

Author's Note:

I have no problem what-so-ever with "pony up".