Volume II - Chapter 7: An unwanted Christmas present
“It’s done.” Maria Hill stated to her phone, speaking to her superior. “Iron Will… Or the Rhino as everyone started to call him, is locked up. He’s not gonna see the sun’s ray for a very long time, believe that.”
She closed the door behind her, and walked towards her desk.
“Electro, Conhorse and now the Rhino, at this rate the Raft is going to be full until new year’s eve.” She joked, taking place in her chair. “I must say, this Spider-girl is very helpful in many ways, I was right to let her be for the moment.” She listened to what her interlocutors said and she sighed, “Of course, we’ll have to keep an eye on her. But for the moment, she’s considered as an ally, even mister Stark as taken a sudden interest in that girl.” She had a giggle when she heard what her superior said, “I agree, but you know him and his… eccentricities. But don’t worry about that girl, I’ve already took the matter in hand.” Then she hanged up, and sat more comfortably in her chair.
She glared at the entrance door and smirked.
“You’re not very discreet.” She called. A small ‘hmpf,’ could be heard on the other side of the door and it opened, revealing a woman, with mid-length fire hair, orange skin and wearing a leather jacket, she had bags under her eyes, showing that she didn’t slept for at least the last twenty-four hours. “But I’m glad you came”
“I’m not even officially working here… But hey, you called me.” The woman shrugged, taking a sit in front of the desk. “So, what do you want?”
Maria gave her a disapproving look, “Look, we’re maybe friends, but I’m your superior nonetheless, can you at least show some… respect?”
The woman smirked and shrugged, “Yeah sure, that’s about as likely as I’ll be playing super hero in latex pantyhose and calling myself Black Widow.”
Maria Hill pinched the edge of her nose, “Oh come on, don’t start this again.”
“I’m not starting anything, she started it.”
“Well, whatever is between you two is not why I asked you to come here.” Maria finally stated. “I need you to go back to Canterlot.”
“Oh? What now, you want me to go and keep that spider girl from drowning in the sewers once again?” She raised an eyebrow, “You know that it smells like Hulk’s underwear down there? I had to take like, three showers.”
“Actually, I don’t want you to get involved this time.” She explained.
“So what? I’m supposed to, like, babysit this girl?” The fiery woman asked with a growl, becoming impatient. She put a hand in her pocket and let out a pack of smoke. “Sorry not sorry but I sure don’t want to do that.”
“Not her.” Maria said, shaking her head. “But her friend, the Fiend.”
“The Fiend?” The woman put a cigarette to her lips and lit it up with a flame coming out from her… thumb. Maria didn’t look shocked, she was used to her friend’s antics. “Who’s that?”
“His name, the real one, is Red Light. He’s a student at Canterlot High School, but some investigations proved that he’s much older than it seems.” Maria explained her, handing her a file.
The woman opened it and put the pictures and papers on the desk. “I’ll take that as my Christmas present I guess.”
The pictures were all of Red Light, some of them of him disguised in his Fiend costume. There was one of him sat next to Spider-girl who was eating a sandwich, and another one of him punching a man wearing a Pumpkin on fire on his head. The papers as for them were filled with information, like where he lived, who are his friends, where does he worked…
“Since when you guys are watching him?” She dropped the ashes of her cigarette in the ashtray on the desk that was put here just for her since Maria wasn’t a smoker.
“A year and a half, since the incident with Jack.” Maria said.
“Jack?” The woman asked, “Don’t know him.”
“Jack O’Lantern.” Maria nodded, pointing on the picture of the Fiend punching the Pumpkin man. “Doesn’t surprise me, he’s locked up in the Raft since he got his ass wooped.”
Reading the papers, the woman raised her eyebrow at some information she just saw. “Wait. What does that mean, from another world?”
“It’s pretty clear.” Maria stated.
The woman had a laugh, “You’re telling me that you’re letting a dude from another world walk around and have a little life? Doesn’t sound like SHIELD I know.”
“Believe me, those days, these kind of things is more common than you can imagine.” Maria said, “A few months ago, a girl came out of a portal from another world and fought a teenage girl turned into a demon,” The other woman flinched at the word demon, “And she used a magic called ‘The Magic of friendship’ to beat her.”
The woman looked at her with big eyes, “Dude… And I thought my life was weird.”
“You know what the weirdest part is?” Maria defied.
“Beat me.” The fiery woman said.
“That demon girl became Spider-girl a few weeks later.”
The woman busted out laughing, “Oh man, if I didn’t know you, I would’ve swear you were joking.” She lit up another cigarette, “And? Why do you want me to babysit him? He looks like he can handle himself pretty well.”
“He knows a woman we’re searching for, her name is Starlight Glimmer. Your mission is to find where she is.” Maria stated.
“Why me? You sure have someone more qualified for this kind of mission.” The woman said.
“Because,” Maria gave her a serious glare. “If he turns out to be an enemy or if his not cooperative, you’ll have the strength to be able to take him out.”
“Eh, I thought you wanted me to not get involved?”
“Officially, yes.” Maria nodded. “Informally, I trust you to do the right thing.”
“Well, well, well,” She taunted, clapping her hands. “Look at that. If Director Fury was listening right now…”
At those words, Maria Hill turned her gaze away. The other woman noticed it and frowned, but a cocky grin appeared on her face.
“He doesn’t know, right?” She asked.
“This is just between you and I.” Maria finally said. “I’m trusting you, Spitfire.”
Spitfire got up from her chair and huffed. “I know.”
Wendy was looking through her room’s window. She was watching the snowflakes slowly falling down on the ground, a sad look on her face. Leaning on her window edge, she sighed at the thought of spending another Christmas alone.
Since she was young, well, younger than she is now, she was living in Canterlot Children’s Shelter. Her dad used to come visit her from time to time, but overall, she was all alone, and it’s been almost a whole year since she hasn’t seen her dad.
She wasn’t actually alone, there was the other children and her caretaker, Nana. But Wendy didn’t like the other children and Nana has to take care of every one of them, not just her.
She heard a knock on the door and lazily turned her gaze in its direction. “Yes?” She called.
The door opened and a sweet looking old lady entered the room, a smile on her face. “Merry Christmas Wendy.” The lady greeted.
“Christmas is tomorrow Nana.” Wendy replied to the older woman named Nana.
“Well, I know that young girl.” Nana laughed, “But I wanted to say it to you, since we’re not going to spend Christmas together this year.”
Wendy looked at her with an interrogative glare. “What do you mean Nana? Are you leaving?”
“What? No, Wendy. I’m not leaving.” Nana dismissed Wendy’s thoughts with a gesture of her hand, “No young girl, you are leaving. At least, for the Holydays.”
Wendy opened her eyes big. “W-What?”
Nana stepped aside, making place for Red Light to enter the room, “Sup’ kid?”
“Red!” Wendy called a wide beam on her face. She ran into him and hugged him with all her strength. “I’m so glad to see you!”
Red chuckled, “What? You thought I was going to forget about you?”
“I…” Wendy started, but she shakes her head, “No, of course not.”
Nana turned around and smiled to Red, “Thanks for taking good care of her.”
“Meh, don’t mention it.” Red said with a shrug of his shoulders, “Come on, grab your stuff kid.”
Wendy did as she was told and prepared some clothes in her bag while Nana walked towards the exit. “Have a nice Christmas, both of you.”
Red gave the old woman a nod and Wendy waved at her, “Bye Nana!”
Nana closed the door behind her and Red watched Wendy preparing her stuff. He walked towards the bed and sat on it while scrutinizing the small room. It was exactly the kind of room he was expecting for a little girl, some stuffed animals and toys were one the ground, a small TV was in the back with what Red guessed was an old Wii. Posters were on the walls, some representing cute animals and some representing characters for girl’s shows Red didn’t know. And of course, a lot of pink stuff.
Red noticed that everything here was already very used, like it belonged to someone else before her. The only thing that looks new was a Spider-girl poster on the door, which made Red chuckle.
“Nice room.” Red said, “I guess you like pink.”
“Not that much,” Wendy replied, putting a stuffed white cat with wings inside her bag, “Most of it was already there when I arrived. The rest is what Nana managed to find for me.”
She finished her sentence with a bit of sadness in her voice.
“She seems like a nice lady.” Red stated.
“She is!” Wendy quickly said, turning around, “She always has taken good care of me.”
“Glad to hear that.”
Wendy turned around to put a shirt in her bag and stopped. She sighed and asked, “Red, can I ask you something?”
“I don’t know, can you?”
Wendy giggled, now used to his antics. “I wanted to know… Why are you so kind to me?” She finally asked, looking at him.
Red watched her with a nonchalant look and shrugged, but seeing she wasn’t going to take that for an answer he sighed and looked at the ceiling, “Dunno, I guess you remind me of my little sister.”
“You… Have a little sister?” Wendy asked, surprised.
“Yeah but, hum… She’s like, very far away, and I doubt you’ll ever see her.” He admitted.
“Why? You don’t want to see her anymore?”
“It’s… Complicated,” Red replied, “I do want to see her, but we can’t. And honestly I doubt she’ll ever want to see me again. I kinda… Abandoned her.”
“But you love her.” Wendy stated.
Red looked at her with a surprised glare, “Well, yeah but-”
“So you’ll see her again, I’m sure of it!” Wendy stated with a smile. “Nothing is more powerful than the power of love!”
“Hum… Sure?” Red said with a frown, “How… Where did you hear that?”
“It’s what they say in a cartoon I’m watching right now.” She stated, closing her bag and putting it on her back.
Red laughed, “Okay kid, keep that mindset.” He stood up and stretched his arms, “Ready to go?”
“No… I’m McReady!”
“…” Red face palmed himself, “I’m a bad influence.”
The both of them walked out of the room and soon after, of the shelter. Now outside, Wendy grabbed Red’s hand, making him blush awkwardly and was going to say something, but when he saw the happy smile of the little girl, he sighed and walked forward.
They stopped in front of a brown truck parked on the side, “That’s our ride.” Red stated.
The driver’s door opened and a tall blonde girl wearing a cowboy hat greeted them, “Hi there, fellas.” She looked at Wendy and smiled at her, “And this sugar’ must be Wendy right?”
Wendy nodded, “Hum… Hello.”
“Nice meeting ya’,” The blonde girl said, “I’m Applejack, a friend of this guy.” She said pointing in Red’s direction.
“Hi, I’m this guy.” He said.
Wendy chuckled, Red and Applejack smiling at each other’s.
“Hurry, get in. We don’t have all day.” Red said, pretending to be in a hurry.
Applejack helped the girl to get in and closed the door behind her.
“Hey AJ.” Red called, “Thanks again, for the ride.”
“Happy to help.” She just said.
Meanwhile…
It must have been thirty minutes that Rainbow was scowling herself in the mirror. She was lost in her thought. It’s been a few days that Sunset admitted she was Spider-girl and Rainbow knew it, but now that she was sure of it, something started to grew inside Rainbow. She didn’t know what it was, but it was bothering her for sure.
She closed her eyes, rubbed her injured arm, remembering that fateful day when the Rhino attacked her, Red and Pinkie. She was glad Pinkie and Red were safe, even if she didn’t know how Red managed to get out of there unarmed, he took a hit ten time more powerful than she took.
But Rainbow also was angry, angry that she couldn’t do more. She always thought she was strong, but that day, she understood that she was weak. She wasn’t strong enough to protect the guy she was in love with and she wasn’t strong enough to prevent one of her best friends to be kidnapped. She greeted her teeth with frustration. Why doesn’t she have powers like Sunset have? Why, Sunset of all people, have those powers?
Don’t get her wrong, Rainbow –platonically- love Sunset, but why her? Rainbow would’ve been more up to the task, no? Rainbow Dash noticed that, that hint of jealousy growing-
“I’m not jealous!” She yelled to herself. Punching with her uninjured hand on the wall next to the mirror.
She slowly takes a breath and regained her calm. Then her phone started vibrating in her pocket. She took it and saw that Applejack send her a text saying that she was going to drive Red and that little girl he was taking care of to Red’s apartment and then, if she wanted to, the both of them could hang out the afternoon before the Christmas party at Sunset’s.
Rainbow replied with a simple ‘sure’ and put her phone back in her pocket. She almost forgot about the party. Sunset asked Luna if she could invite her friends at the house for Christmas Eve, and at first Luna said no, but Sunset said that she’s been very persistent, so Luna finally said yes to be in peace.
Sunset had invited Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle and Red. But Rarity’s parent where on a work trip so her sister had to come with her, Granny Smith also told Applejack to take Applebloom with her, and when she heard that her best friends were going, Scootaloo asked Rainbow to take her with her, and Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to say no.
A few days ago…
“I knew it!” Rainbow exclaimed, pointing Spider-girl with her finger.
“I owe you ten bucks.” Pinkie Pie said, bumping her fist with Rainbow’s.
“W-w-wait!” Applejack walked toward Sunset, “You… Really are Spider-girl.”
“Yeah… You can ask Twilight, she’s with me from, like, the beginning.” Sunset stated.
Applejack was a loss for words, so as Pinkie Pie whose mouth was still wide open, and Fluttershy.
“So it was you who saved me?!” Pinkie Pie yelled.
“Yes Pinkie, it was me.” Sunset nodded.
Pinkie ran towards her friend and took her in a tight hug. “Thanks you Sunset!”
“Well, hum…” Sunset said, scratching the back of her head and starting to blush. “You’re welcome Pinkie.”
“You don’t seem that surprised about all of that Rare…” Applejack noticed, glaring at Rarity.
“Hum, darling… That fact is that… Hum…” Rarity tried, avoiding her friend’s look.
Sunset stepped up, “That’s because she knew.”
“What?!” Rainbow and Pinkie exclaimed in unison.
“But I made her promising me that she won’t tell anyone, so please don’t blame her.” Sunset quickly added.
“I-If I may…” Fluttershy started, “I’m a little sad that you didn’t tell us sooner but… I guess you did that to protect us.”
“That’s… True.” Sunset admitted.
“It’s because a… Super-villain, let’s just call him by what he is, knows about Sunset identity.” Twilight Sparkle added.
Sunset sighed heavily, “That’s why this Rhino dude kidnapped Pinkie, or why the Lizard attacked CHS, and…” Then she stopped and looked at her feet in silence.
“… Celestia?” Applejack tried.
“Yeah.” Sunset quietly replied.
“Oh my.” Fluttershy said, putting her hand on her mouth.
“Today was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.” Sunset said, “If I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know what could come for you…” She didn’t dare to look at her friend’s in their eyes, “It’s my fault… I’ve put you all in danger.”
“Darling…” Rarity stated, “I think I can speak for the all of us here when I say that I am very proud of what you’ve done.”
“Yeah! I don’t care if some bad guys come for me, I’ll kick their asses!” Rainbow exclaimed loudly.
“And if you weren’t there, the city would be in total chaos right now sugarcube.” Applejack said, wiping the tears on Sunset’s cheeks with her thumb.
“And in all honesty,” Twilight said, “I doubt the Green Goblin will try something again so soon.”
“The… Green what?” Rainbow asked, raising her eyebrow.
“Is that eatable?” Pinkie asked.
Fluttershy shivered, “I don’t know… But he seems scary.”
“Wait.” Applejack exclaimed herself, “Who’s that Green Goblin’ fella?”
“A very dangerous person.” Sunset stated. “God, I don’t know what this city would’ve become if the Fiend and I weren’t there.”
“The… Fiend?” Rainbow asked, again. “Who’s that? Another villain?”
“No, actually.” Sunset said, “Even if he looks like one.”
“It seems you’ve got a lot to tell Sunset.” Applejack stated, taking a sit on Twilight’s bed and crossing her legs.
Sunset sighed, looking at Applejack’s who was glaring expectantly at her. “It all started when we went to Discorp…”
Then Sunset explained them everything from the beginning. How she got her powers, how she met Twilight, how she met the Fiend and how he helped her defeat the Shocker and the Vulture and how Rarity made a new costume for her and how she found out who she really was. She just skipped the part about all the magic stuff about the Fiend and the serum.
“Woah…” Applejack stated, “Guess you really had an adventure on your own.”
“You have no idea.” Sunset nodded, now leaning against a wall, “Life already was nuts before that, but now? It went completely crazy.”
“But did you get… Injured?” Fluttershy asked.
“I did.” Sunset pointed in Twilight’s direction with her thumb, “But Sparky here patched me up. Rarity also did.”
“Well, it was just one time.” Rarity added.
“That’s so awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, bouncing up and down, “My best friend is a super-hero! Oh god! Wait till I say it to every-” Then she stopped herself and chuckled, “Yeah no, I guess I shouldn’t.”
“It’ll be appreciated if you don’t.” Sunset said, “I guess I don’t have to say it, but I’m gonna say it anyway. Guys… You can’t tell anyone.”
“Well, of course darling.” Rarity stated.
“I’m not a fan of what you’re doing to be honest Sunny.” Applejack started, “I mean, I don’t want my friend, any of my friend, to get hurt but… If that’s what you wanna do, I’m gonna support you no matter what. My lips are sealed.”
“So what about a…” Pinkie Pie started, “Pinkie promise?”
“That’s a great idea.” Applejack said.
All the friends, except for Twilight who didn’t know what was going on, stood in front of Sunset and started to say, with all the gestures that goes with it, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
They all giggled and laughed, even Sunset who said, “Now I’m reassured.”
“What kind of promise is that?” Twilight asked.
“The best kind.” Sunset stated with a little smile.
The girls stayed for a while, asking all kind of stuff to Sunset, mostly about her powers and the bad guys she fought and two hours later they all leaved, leaving Twilight and Sunset alone.
“So, what do you think about them?” Sunset asked, taking a sit on Twilight’s bed.
“They seems like nice people.” Twilight nodded. She stretched her arms and yawned. “I’m going to take a quick shower, can I leave you here for a few minutes?”
“Don’t you want me to come take a shower with you?” Sunset playfully asked, with a wink.
“S-S-Sunset!” Twilight became all red, “It’s n-not… I mean… I, no, we can’t…”
“Calm down, Sparky.” Sunset laughed, “I was joking.”
Twilight became livid, “Oh… Ahah.” She awkwardly laughed before exiting the room.
Sunset watched her leave the room and sighed, she leaned on the bed and closed her eyes, “Nothing wrong to take a nap then.”
She quickly falls asleep, not noticing the black mass crawling out of under the bed and slowly making its way to Sunset.
Present day…
“Here we are.” Red said, opening the door of his apartment, making a step aside letting Wendy enter before closing the door behind him.
Red’s apartment was small but enough for a single person. There was a living room with a small kitchen in the back, his living room had a small couch big enough for three people to sit on it, a small TV and the latest Xbox next to it. On the table was a few empty beers can and a pizza half eaten. A few clothes were scattered on the ground and the apartment could also use a sweeping.
“Sorry ‘bout the mess, didn’t really have the time to clean.” He said. “I know it’s small but…”
“Are you kidding?” Wendy said, “It’s awesome! You’ve got your own place!”
Red smiled and made a sign to Wendy to follow him, he opened the only door on the left leading to his room. It was a small room, big enough for a two person sized bed and a dresser, there also was a door in the back wide open, showing a small bathroom.
“You can take my bed for the time you’ll stay here, I’ll sleep on the couch.” He said.
“Y-You don’t have to do that! I can sleep on the couch!” Wendy quickly stated.
“Nope, you are sleeping on the bed, and believe me, I’m used to fall asleep watching TV so I sleep on my couch more often than my bed.” Red said.
Wendy avoided his look to hide her blush, “T-Thanks…”
“Now…” He started, “What about you make yourself comfortable? You can also use the shower if you want, I’ll prepare you something to eat and then we can prepare ourselves for the Christmas party.”
“The Christmas party?” Wendy asked.
“Oh yeah, forgot to tell you,” He walked toward his bed, putting the blanket back in place, “We’re not gonna spend Christmas Eve here. There’s one of my friend hosting a small Christmas party, I asked if you could come and she said yes...” Then he chuckled, “In any case, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer, it was either you came with me, or I wasn’t going.”
“Are they… Nice?” Wendy asked, a bit afraid of meeting new people.
Red noticed it and walked towards her, he kneeled before her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Believe me, they are the nicest people you’ll met in this city. And if you’re not feeling at ease there, we can still leave and spend Christmas here.”
“N-No!” Wendy said, “I don’t want to keep you from spending Christmas with your friends…”
“Don’t worry, they’ll understand.” He said. “Oh, by the way, absolutely do not mention your last name tonight.”
Wendy gave him a weird look. “Why?”
“I’ll… Tell you another time okay? Just trust me on this.”
“Okay.” Wendy said right away, “I trust you!”
Red got up and smiled, Wendy noticed that the bags under his eyes were smaller than usually.
“Now… What do you want to eat?”
“Thanks again for letting me have my friends over Luna.” Sunset said, helping Luna preparing the table.
Sunset was wearing an orange dress, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. Luna, her, was wearing a long evening dress black as night.
“That’s okay Sunset,” Luna stated, “I figured it’ll be nice for you to spend Christmas with them instead of spending it with just me.”
Sunset turned her gaze in Luna’s direction, “You know you can stay right?”
“I know,” Luna chuckled, “But don’t worry, I already said to Redheart that I’ll go spend it with her, she’s… not going well since her husband left her.”
Sunset heard about that story and was sorry for the school nurse. Redheart was a nice woman, a bit harsh, but deep inside, she loved every student.
“Tell her I said hi.” Sunset said.
“I will.”
The both of them finished preparing everything, and Sunset accompanied Luna to the front door.
“There’s turkey in the oven, the rest is in the fridge. You know I’m not a fan of underage drinking but I’ve been young too, but if your friends drink alcohol, I’m trusting you to let them sleep here and take their keys.”
“Well, the only ones who drinks are Rarity, Rainbow and Red, and I think none of Red and Rainbow have their licenses so… I think it’ll be good. And I’ll take Rarity’s keys don’t worry.”
“Okay then,” Luna put her coat on and took her purse, she turned around and kissed Sunset on the forehead, “Merry Christmas Sunset. And this time, do not forget the dishes.”
“Merry Christmas to you too Luna.” Sunset replied with a playful roll of her eyes.
“I’ll give you your present tomorrow.” Luna said opening the door.
“W-What, I get a present?” Sunset asked.
“Of course!” And then, Luna closed the door.
‘She got me a present even thought she doesn’t have that much money… I don’t know if I should be happy or angry.’ Sunset thought.
Sunset took her phone and looked at the time, seeing it was only half past seven, she walked towards her couch and turned on the TV. She asked her friends to come around half past eight, she thought the preparations were going to take more time.
She didn’t prepare that much food except for the turkey, she knew Pinkie Pie and Applejack got that covered. Knowing Rainbow Dash, Sunset bet she was going to bring maybe two or three pack of beers. Red already said that he was going to bring a bottle of whisky and Rarity wouldn’t dream of forgetting her bottles of wine.
It was a special occasion so she also guessed that Applejack was going to drink a few beers with Rainbow. Sunset sighed with relief knowing that at least Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy weren’t going to drink alcohol, so she wasn’t alone about that. She also hoped that Rainbow wasn’t going to drink too much, she already saw her completely wasted and it wasn’t something Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Wendy needed to see.
She also felt that something was… off the past few days. She couldn’t exactly explain what but she felt like something was constantly watching her. But not from the outside, from the inside. It was a weird feeling she couldn’t describe and it actually was bothering her.
She shook her head vehemently.
‘Relax Sunset, don’t think about it too much. Tonight is just you having fun with your friends.’ She thought.
She watched her TV for a few minutes before getting up and walked towards the kitchen, she opened the fridge and took a can of Doctor Pepper.
‘The last one uh? I’ll need to get some more tomorrow.’
She opened it and took a long sip before sighing from relief. “Ah, that’s the stuff.”
She heard a knock from her door and raised an eyebrow.
“Weird,” She said, “They’re early.”
Putting the can on the table, she walked towards the entrance and opened the door, revealing Red Light and a little girl, maybe ten or eleven years old, with blue hair.
“Oh hi,” Sunset greeted, “You guys are early.”
“Yeah I know,” Red stated, he was wearing casual clothes, not bothering to dress up for the occasion, and had plastic bags in each hands. One filled with bottles and snacks, the other one filled with small gifts. He also had a small bag on his back, Sunset guessed it belonged to the girl. “But I wasn’t comfortable with taking the bus with her after it’s too dark. Oh that’s remind me,” He made a sign with his head towards the little girl, “Sunset, this is Wendy. Wendy, this is Sunset, I talked about her last time remember?”
Wendy was wearing a cute white dress, her hair pulled up in two pigtails. She was glaring at Sunset with big eyes and mouth open, like she was the most incredible thing she ever saw.
“Uh,” Sunset started, “You alright?”
“Are you an angel?!” Wendy asked, making Red laugh and Sunset blush. “You are so pretty.”
“T-Thanks…” Sunset said, looking away. She made a step on the side, letting them enter, “Please, come in.”
Red and Wendy entered and Sunset closed the door behind them. She led them to the living room, Red put his stuff next to the couch and Wendy looked around in awe.
“Your house is so big!” She exclaimed, “I’ve never been in a house that big before!”
“Really?” Sunset asked, “It’s not that big, you should see Rarity’s.”
“Wendy’s living in CCS.” Red whispered, next to Sunset.
Sunset of course knew what CCS was, Canterlot Children’s Shelter. She was almost sent there a few years back when she got arrested for a petty theft.
“I see.” Sunset stated.
‘It’s weird. She almost has the same smell as Toomes… Wait how do I know that?!’
“You okay?” Red asked, “You got a weird look.”
“S-Sorry!” Sunset quickly said, “I was… Lost in my thoughts… Please Wendy make yourself comfortable, there’s soda in the fridge and you can watch whatever you want on TV, I also have Netflix.”
“Netflix?! Sweet!” Wendy said, jumping straight into the couch.
“Sunset, can I speak with you?” Red asked, with a lower voice so Wendy couldn’t hear them.
“Hum, sure, follow me.” She stated.
Sunset led him to her terrace, Red took advantage that they were outside to grab a smoke from his pocket and lit it up with his lighter. He walked towards the barricade and leaned against it.
“What do you want to talk about?” Sunset asked.
Red took a long puff and exhaled the smoke slowly. “It’s about Wendy.”
“What about her?” Sunset asked, making her way next to him, leaning her arms on the barricade.
“It’s the first time she… Spend Christmas with this much people. She said she was going to be fine but…” He took another puff.
“You’re afraid that she gets scared?” Sunset asked to which Red silently nodded, “Yeah, our friends are a bunch of colorful and noisy people, you’ll have to be prepared before meeting them.” She joked, “But don’t worry, I’ll discreetly pass the message to the girls.”
“Thanks.”
“But let me ask you,” She quickly added, “Who is she, for you? I know she’s not your sister.”
“Let’s just say she’s very important to me.” Red stated, “Is that an answer that suits you?”
Sunset giggled, “I’d take it.”
It was almost ten and everyone was sat around the round table in the middle of the living room. Sunset was sat next to Twilight on her left, next to Twilight was Pinkie Pie, next to her was Rarity, then Sweetie Belle, then Applebloom and Applejack, then Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo and finally, Wendy and Red who was at the right of Sunset.
Rainbow Dash’s nose was a bit red, she already was drinking her third beer. Red also was at his third glass of whisky mixed with coke, but he didn’t seem that drunk compared to Rainbow. Applejack was still at her first beer, same with Rarity who just took a sip from her glass of wine from time to time.
“You just don’t drink wine, darling.” She explained to Red, “You have to savor it.”
“Meh, booze is booze to me.” He said with a shrug, taking a sip from his glass.
“Nothing is better than beer anyway.” Rainbow said, finishing her third beer.
“Agree on that.” Red said.
Applejack smirked, “So why are ya’ drinking whisky?”
“Dude,” Red started, “I have to spend an entire evening with you guys, I need something stronger than beer.”
Fluttershy put her hand on Rainbow’s when she saw her friends opening a fourth beer. “Hum, Rainbow maybe you should… Slow down?”
“Don’t worry Flutter!” Rainbow exclaimed, “I can handle it.”
Wendy who was watching and listening from the beginning was smiling but didn’t say a word. She didn’t know what she could bring to the conversations. Then she felt someone tap her shoulder, she turned to face Scootaloo who asked, “Hey girl, Sweetie Belle took her Nintendo Switch with her, you wanna come play some Mario Kart?”
Wendy looked at her with stars in her eyes, before looking at Red expectantly. She was going to ask him but Red beat her to it.
“Of course you can. Go have some fun.” Red said, with a little smile.
The two girls walked out of the table and joined Applebloom and Sweetie Belle on the couch. Rainbow took the opportunity to get up and sat next to Red.
“She’s cute.” Rainbow said. “Didn’t know you were into little girls.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” Red replied.
Sunset who was on Red’s left giggled and turned to face Twilight. “Having fun? You’re pretty quiet.”
“I…” Twilight started, “I’m not used to be around so many people.” She stated.
Pinkie Pie giggled, “We don’t bite Twilight! Oh! Can I call you Sparky?”
“No you can’t.” Sunset quickly stated.
“But why? You do!” Pinkie whined.
“Yeah,” Sunset said, putting an arm around Twilight’s shoulders. “But that’s because she’s my Sparky.” When she realized what she just said, she quickly added, “I mean, not mine! Twilight’s not mine! Sparky is! The nickname, got it? Not the… person.”
Twilight was blushing like no one ever did, Rainbow and Red were laughing their asses off, Rarity and Pinkie Pie giggled, Fluttershy also blushed and Applejack gave them a knowing smirk.
“You two just make out already!” Rainbow stated.
Twilight’s blush wasn’t going away. Sunset frowned and turned to face Rainbow, “Oh don’t start with that!” She said, “Red please, keep down your girlfriend.”
This time it was Red and Rainbow’s time to blush, making Applejack laugh.
“Woah hey!” Red said, raising his hands, “S-She’s a girl, sure, and she’s my friend, that’s an evidence, but… She’s not my… Girlfriend.” He finished, saying the word girlfriend in a whisper. He faced Rainbow whose face was red from a mix of embarrassment and alcohol, “Right?”
“Oh, hum, yeah. Not your girlfriend.” She quickly added.
“See?” Red said to Sunset, “Not my girlfriend. And, oh my god, Applejack if you don’t stop laughing right now I’m going to be very mad.”
“Okay, okay, sorry!” Applejack said, trying to regain her calm.
“Do what you want with this information,” Rarity said, “But I think you two are really cute.”
Red tried to hide his face which became faithful to his name behind his glass. Applejack laughter grew louder and she was joined by Pinkie Pie and Sunset, even Fluttershy giggled.
“Oh don’t laugh,” Rarity said to Sunset, “I was speaking to you and Twilight.”
Twilight almost choked with the chips she just ate.
“Can we stop? Please?” Sunset said, taking her head in her hands.
“Yeah I agree,” Rainbow added, “It’s not fun anymore.”
Red got up from his chair, “I need to smoke.”
“I’ll come with you,” Rainbow said, “I kinda need some fresh hair.”
“I told you to not drink a fourth beer…” Fluttershy said.
“IT’S NOT WHY I NEED SOME FRESH AIR!” Rainbow yelled, making Applejack laugh even harder.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Pinkie Pie yelled, throwing some confetti out of nowhere when the clock hits midnight.
“Merry Christmas!” Everyone replied.
“It’s time to open preseeeeeents!” Pinkie sang.
“Awesome.” Rainbow replied.
All of the Canterlot wondercolts had already agreed on an order to who gives to who a few days ago. Sunset to Pinkie, Pinkie to Rainbow Dash, Rainbow to Red, Red to Applejack, Applejack to Rarity, Rarity to Fluttershy, Fluttershy to Twilight and Twilight to Sunset. And of course, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow had gifts for their little sisters.
“Here Pinks,” Sunset gave a small present to Pinkie Pie who grabbed it and tore apart the gift wrap.
Pinkie jumped in joy when she saw it was a framed picture of all of her friends with the annotation ‘Friends for Life.’
“Sorry, I don’t have that much money so I did what I could.” Sunset stated, embarrassed.
Pinkie took her in a quick hug saying, “I love it!”
“Ah, I’m glad.” Sunset replied with a smile, responding to the hug.
“It’s my turn now!” Pinkie exclaimed, going under the table and going out with a big present.
“Woaw Pinkie, is that for me?” Rainbow asked.
“Of course silly!” Pinkie exclaimed, giving the present to her.
“Thanks Pinkie.” Rainbow genuinely said.
“Don’t thanks me yet! Open it!”
Rainbow didn’t wait any longer and opened it.
“Woah… Is that…?” Rainbow asked.
“Yes it is!” Pinkie said.
The gift was a blue leather jacket with in the back a yellow lightning with blue wings.
“What is that?” Twilight asked.
“It’s the limited edition jacket of the Wonderbolts! They don’t make those anymore! It’s the exact replica of the one Spitfire used to wear!” She dropped it on the nearest chair and gave Pinkie a hug, “Oh my god! Thanks you!”
“Ihihih!” Pinkie giggled, hugging her back.
“Well I guess it’s my turn.” Rainbow said. She turned around to face Red who was giving her a look who says ‘I don’t care much.’ But Rainbow knew he was going to go crazy after he saw what she got him. “Here you go.” She said, giving him his present.
It was a small blue present. Red looked at it oddly before sighing and opening it, when he saw what it was, his eyes went wide.
“What did you get?” Pinkie asked.
“It’s… Oh… Rainbow you didn’t…” Red said in a whisper.
“Yeah, yeah, I did.” She shrugged.
“Don’t make us wait! Tell us!” Applejack said.
Red showed them what it was and everyone one expect Pinkie and Twilight gave Red an interrogative glare. Pinkie was in the same state as Red and Twilight laughed.
“No way!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“I didn’t expect that!” Twilight stated between two laugh.
It was a twelve-inch statuette of a Japanese anime girl with cyan hair, holding a microphone.
“Wait.” Sweetie Belle said, “Is that Hatsune Miku?”
“Yeah…” Red said, still agape, “I wanted it since… Rainbow!” he finally exclaimed, “How much did you pay it?!”
Rainbow shake her head, “It’s a secret. Don’t worry about it, my dad is nice with my allowance.”
“I…” Then he smirked and put it on the table. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“I bet.”
The both of them fist bumped and the present exchange continued. Red gave Applejack a new pair of headphones, since hers were bad qualities. Applejack gave Rarity a new fabric she ordered on amazon, Rarity gave Fluttershy a rabbit kigurumi she made herself and Fluttershy gave Twilight a Star Wars shirt.
“I… Didn’t really know what you like so, I asked Sunset and…” Fluttershy shyly said, hiding behind her hair.
“Don’t worry Fluttershy.” Twilight stated with a wide beam, “I love it.”
Twilight offered Sunset a pair of sun glasses.
“It’ll suits well with your jacket!” She said, “And… You know… Sunset, sun glasses… I thought it was funny.”
“It is.” Sunset smiled at her.
“It’s not.” Red quietly stated.
Applejack also gave her little sister a stetson just like hers, Rarity had made a nice dress for Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow gave Scootaloo a new pair of snickers.
Wendy looked at Red with the usual stars in her eyes and Red laughed. “You know that I didn’t forget about you, uh?”
“Of course I know!” Wendy exclaimed, making her new friends the Crusaders, laughing.
Red gave her a small present, “Merry Christmas.”
Wendy grabbed it and opened it. She looked at it oddly when she saw it was stacks of papers.
“What… Is that?” Wendy asked, a bit disappointed.
“Read it.” Red casually said.
Wendy frowned but read it anyway. The more she read it, the more her eyes opened and tears started to flow down her cheeks. She let the papers drop on the floor and ran towards Red to take him in a hug.
“What is it?” Rainbow asked.
Rarity curiously grabbed the papers and read them. “Oh. Well, I guess that is the best present you could have given her.”
Wendy grabbed Red’s shirt and raised her head, looking at him in the eyes. “I’m… Going to live with you?”
“Yep, by the end of February.” He stated, making her cry more.
“That’s sweet.” Fluttershy stated with a smile.
Everyone was smiling at that view of Wendy crying from happiness in Red’s arms.
“That’s neat!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“Yeah totally!” Applebloom replied.
“It means that we can hang out more! You know, since Red and Rainbow are together and all.”
“WE’RE NOT!” Rainbow yelled, stomping her foot on the ground.
Everyone except Red, Twilight and Sunset were asleep now. The Crusaders were sharing an air mattress with Wendy who had her white cat with wings plush in her arms, Pinkie fell asleep on the table, snoring loudly. Rainbow, totally wasted, was sleeping on the couch and Sunset gave Fluttershy and Rarity her own bed, Applejack was on a mattress on the ground also in her room. She and Twilight could sleep in Luna’s bed, and Red could sleep in Celestia’s… In the guest room.
“That was nice,” Twilight stated. “I had more fun than I expected to.” She checked the time on her phone and whistled, “Dang! It’s already three? Guess I should get some rest.”
She gets up and stretched her arms.
“I’ll join you in a few minutes.” Sunset said to which Twilight nodded.
“’Night.” Red said.
Sunset and Red watched Twilight going upstairs, when they heard the door closing, Red gets up and grabbed his pack of smoke.
“A last one, then I’ll go too.” He stated, walking towards the terrace.
“I’ll go with you.” Sunset said.
They both arrived outside and Sunset shivered from the coldness of the night.
“So, did you have a great time?” Sunset asked to Red who was already smoking.
“Yup,” He stated, “And Wendy too I guess. She made new friends so, that’s cool.”
“She’s adorable.” Sunset stated. “And she’s really a nice girl.”
Red smirked, “She’s the best.”
They both waited in silence for a few minutes before Red giggled.
“What?” Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow.
“So… Sharing a bed with Sparkle, uh?” He said, winking in her direction.
Sunset rolled her eyes, “It’s not what you think. And you? Why don’t you share the bed with Rainbow Dash?”
“She’s too drunk.” He said shaking her head, “I’m afraid of what she could do to me.”
“Of what she could do to you, or what you could do to her?” Sunset playfully asked.
“Meh.” He said with a shrug.
“I don’t get it.” Sunset said, “Are you two together or what?”
“I… Don’t know.” He replied, “It’s not that I don’t want to, but it’s… complicated.”
“Someone once said to me that a relationship is complicated only when we want it to be.” Sunset said to Red.
He laughed and faced her, “You can’t use my own words against me like that.”
“Well,” Sunset replied, “I just did.”
They both laughed and Sunset put a hand on his shoulder. “I… Didn’t really had the time to say it but… You’re a great friend, Red.”
Red blushed and avoided her look, “Yeah, you too.”
Sunset yawned and stretched her arms, “Welp, gonna sleep now, good night.”
“Good night.” Red replied.
Sunset made her way towards Luna’s bedroom and saw that Twilight was already sleeping under the blanket. Sunset looked at her with a smile and took off her pants before getting under the blanket. She didn’t think about it much and automatically put an arm around Twilight’s waist. Twilight must’ve felt it, turned around and rested her head on Sunset’s torso, a smile on her face.
Sunset closed her eyes and quickly, she fell asleep.
While she was sleeping, she didn’t felt the black mass starting to cover her whole body.
The same night, a few hours later…
It was strange, Sunset felt she was upside down as she was sleeping. She opened her eyes and saw that she was hanging from the rooftop of a building.
“What the…” She said, still groggy.
She looked at her reflection in the window in front of her and saw that she was wearing her costume. But it wasn’t the same as always, it was identic as the one she usually wears but instead of white and red, it was totally black.
“Wait, how?” She asked herself.
She also had a strange feeling. She felt… Good. Like she was healthier, stronger and wiser.
“The fuck?”
She sticks herself on the wall, still in awe of what she was seeing.
“How is it possible?” She asked herself, “How did I get there? And… What is that suit?”
She jumped from where she stood and shot a web, swinging through the city.
‘That’s… Awesome! I feel good! Really good!’ She thought.
Landing on the wall on an apartment complex, she crawled to the roof. Spider-girl took off her mask in her hand and watched it curiously.
‘That’s… The best Christmas present I could ever have.’ She thought, smirking to herself.
She didn’t hear the footsteps behind her but her now sharper spider-sense made her feel someone was staring at her. She turned around in a fighting stance and saw a woman, wearing a black leather jacket, a cigarette in her mouth. She was at least a head taller than Sunset and, weird enough, she had the same hair color, but her hair was shorter than Sunset’s.
“Yo, Merry Christmas.” The woman greeted, walking casually towards her. “You must be Sunset Shimmer right?”
Sunset didn’t reply and frowned, ready to attack.
“Hey, nice suit by the way, black is cooler than white… Woah, hey there. I’m not an enemy.” She said, putting her hands in the hair seeing that Sunset was still on her guard, “I’m an agent of SHIELD.”
“SHIELD?” Sunset asked, regaining her calm, “What do you want? Is something wrong with Conhorse?”
“What? No.” The woman said, “But I have a few questions to ask you. And I really hope you’ll answer them.”
“What if I don’t?” Sunset defied.
“I can’t force you, that’s why I’m hoping you will.” The woman replied. “Let’s start at the beginning, my name’s Spitfire, nice to meet ya’.”
“Spitfire?” Sunset asked, “Like, Wonderbolt Spitfire?”
Spitfire gave her a curious look, “Oh, so you know who I am? That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, one of my friends is a big fan of yours.”
“I still have fans after all this time? That’s surprising.” Then, Spitfire shrugged, “Well, if I’m here, is to speak to you about a woman named Starlight Glimmer and your friend, Red Light.”
“Starlight Glimmer? Red?” Sunset was lost, “Why?”
“Hum, you know… Red Light? The Fiend?”
Sunset eyes went wide open, “Wait… You’re telling me that… Red is the Fiend?!”
“Oh… You didn’t know…” Spitfire awkwardly said, scratching the back of her head.
“It…” Sunset said, looking at her feet. “Wait… Wendy…” Her eyes went wide opened, “I’m so dumb, it all makes sense.”
“Wendy?” Spitfire asked, “What are you talking about?”
“And?” Sunset asked, ignoring her question, “What do you want from… Red?”
Spitfire sighed, taking a puff from her smoke, “A little bird said to me that, he knows where Starlight Glimmer is hiding. She’s a really dangerous woman and my superiors wants her to… Well I don’t really know, but my orders are to find her.”
“Wait.” Sunset said, “The Fie… Red and I already visited her house. She’s not here anymore, and he doesn’t know where she is.”
“Sunset…” Spitfire started, “He has hidden to you his identity all this time… Do you really think it’s the only thing he didn’t tell you?”
Sunset stayed silent.
“You… Should have a little chat with him.” Spitfire stated, “Maria gave you a small device right? You can use it to call me anytime.” She turned around and started to walk away, “I’m counting on you, Spider-girl.”
Sunset quietly watched Spitfire leaving, and put her mask back on.
“I should go home before someone notice that I’m out.” She said, mostly to herself.
‘Red…’ Sunset thought, ‘I guess I can’t blame you for not telling me, uh?’ Then she frowned, ‘But if you know where Starlight Glimmer is. You’ll have to tell me.’
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And so it begins...
Hopefully this doesn't all go sideways. Maybe Sunset'll get lucky, and the symbiont isn't a homicidal maniac like it's 1610 canon counterpart, and is more like Spider-Gwen's.
I guess Venom has Sunset now.
This annoys me, not because it's spelt wrong, "Edible" would be correct but the fact that i can't tell if this was intentional or not, as I could totally see pinky saying "Eatable" instead.
10828131
It's intentional ahah
Red.... just tell her because with that uh.... LITTLE ADDITION to her now... it's very..... VERY bad to argue with her.
10828624
I wonder who would win between Red and Symbiot Sunset
10829097
Depends. Is there any loud sounds or fire when the fight goes down? Because if not.... yeah no. Red's toast.
10829333
yeah I guess
is there a chance in the future than Sunset could use her demon magic ?
10836093
Maybe. You'll see
Sneakers you just had rainbow give scoots chocolate
I just now got to this chapter and I found a mistake with the plot.
Rainbow's mom passed away, yet here it said her parent(s) and I saw no mention of remarried. Story is great though, enjoying it and wished I'd checked it out earlier. Oh well, better late than never (especially since I can binge a stack of chapters at once.)
Minutes 1:14 - 2:17