Homeless Sunset Shimmer

by Sunny Solaire

...And Don't Call Me Shirley

You wake up the next morning on the old motel bed with Sunset in your arms.

You gently kiss her forehead. "Good morning, love." You whisper.

You sigh and slowly stand up, hating yourself for not telling her that last night.

Not much to do this morning. You have no spare clothes, so you can't shower. Everything you had was probably burnt to a crisp. Thankfully, there was a Walmart just across the street. You'll go there with Sunset to get supplies.

Sunset shifts positions behind you in bed. She's still asleep, so you decide to head to the lobby for something hot. This particular motel offers free hot chocolate for about an hour in the mornings.

You open the door and step outside into the cold. You only have a pair of jeans and a white tank top on.

You hate fires.

You walk to the lobby, stepping carefully on the cold pavement so your feet don't get punctured by a rock or something. Stepping inside, you walk over to the counter and pour two cups of hot chocolate for you and your lovely Sunset Shimmer. In and out, two minutes.

You walk back to your room and step inside. Sunset is awake now, but she's still laying in bed.

Poor girl, she looks so sad. You should've said you loved her last night, she probably really needed to hear that.

"Hey, Sunny." You say.

She looks up at you and gives a weak smile. "Hey, Nonny."

You smile back at her and set her cup down on the nightstand. "I got you some hot chocolate."

She glances at it and sadly looks down again. "Thanks."

Your smile fades and you sigh. You sit down next to her, setting your cup next to hers, and rub her hair. There's nothing that can really be said at the moment. You're both homeless now, and you're too much of a wimp to tell her how much you love her. You're just as sad as she is, if not more so.

You both stay there in silence for a couple of minutes. Neither of you does anything.

Finally she sits up and stretches. She takes a sip of her hot chocolate and sets it back down.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." She walks in and shuts the door, leaving you alone.

"Love you..." You say softly.

...

After she comes back out, you figure it's time to get moving and start doing what you're supposed to do today. You've got a plane to catch.

Once you both finish with your personal matters, you head outside and head across the street to the Walmart. Sunset covers herself in the blanket she got last night and shivers violently the whole way. The cold doesn't bother you as much as it does her, but it is coming early this year, and she isn't wearing much. Just those shorts and that AC/DC shirt.

Stupid fire.

You both walk inside the nice, warm store and immediately head to the clothing department. You walk past some heavy winter coats and pick a black one out for yourself.

"You're going to need a coat. We're heading up north." You tell her.

"What's up north?" She asks.

"In November? There's snow and ice up north. Lots of it." You say.

"Oh..." She doesn't sound too enthusiastic.

She picks a big green ski coat. You both head out to the rest of the clothes and pick out a few shirts, pants, underwear, socks, and shoes you both like. You also pick up a big backpack for yourself and Sunset to put all your stuff in. After that, you both make your way to the toiletries section and grab toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, and other things you'll need. That should be everything.

As you both head toward the checkout, you pass the pink toy aisle. You see a bunch of fat guys in fedoras and other geeks are crowded around the "Pretty, Pretty Pegasus" section, and it looks like a few of them are fighting over a stuffed horse.

What a bunch of losers.

You and Sunset make your purchases then head into the store bathrooms to change and brush your teeth. After a few minutes, you come back out in a regular black t-shirt, a coat, new jeans, and shoes. Everything you had before was now packed in your bag.

Sunset hadn't come out yet, so you call the taxi company and tell them where to pick you up. Once you hang up, Sunset comes walking out.

You smile at her. "You look good."

She gives a little giggle and smiles at you. "Thanks."

She's wearing a dark pink hoodie under her coat, and with some new jeans, and violet shoes. She looks adorable.

You take her stuff and put it in your bag, then you both head outside, your fingers locked between each others as you wait for your ride to pick you up.

---

You are now Sunset Shimmer, and your heart is threatening to burst from your chest.

After a long, hectic taxi ride through traffic, and an hour of waiting in line to get through security at the airport, you finally make it aboard the airplane. Since this holiday, Thanksgiving was coming up quick, nearly all the flights were booked, but incredibly, Anon was able to find a pair of first-class seats for you both.

You had just barely gotten used to poverty, so not only do you feel extremely out of place by being in first-class, but you're also sitting inside an airplane. That's a vehicle that can fly, and you've never flown before. At all. Ever. Not even when you were in Equestria.

If you needed to get somewhere fast, you either magic'd your way around, or you rode the train. You didn't need to fly. That bullshit was reserved for Pegasus ponies.

You grip latch onto the armrests with an iron grip, turning your knuckles white. Anon is reading a magazine next to you. He joked around about it earlier. Apparently, this "Sky Mall" magazine sold some of the most expensive, and at the same time, useless things ever thought up. He never wanted to actually buy them, but they were still cool to look at.

Regardless, you can't imagine how he could read at a time like this.

Looking to the seat behind you, you see some old man sleeping. Sleeping! He's about to fly thousands of feet in the air and travel hundreds of miles per hour, and he's sleeping! He's insane!

You face forward again and take another deep breath. "Anon?"

"Hmmm?"

"These things are safe, right?"

He looks at you. "What, airplanes?"

You nod. "Y- Yeah."

He shrugs. "Of course they are. Statistically, it's the safest way to travel."

You gulp and take another deep breath.

Anon sets his hand on top of yours and rubs it gently. "Hey. We're going to be fine. Don't worry, okay?"

You look at him and he smiles at you.

You smile back and hold his hand. He's right, you need to calm down. You trust him. If he says you're going to be okay, then you're going to be okay.

The engine revs up and the plane jolts suddenly.

"GHAAAAAA, FUCK!!" You screech.

You breathe in and out hard and grip your armrest again. You take a quick look out the window and see you're slowly moving backwards away from the terminal.

Anon is staring at you, shocked. You turn around and see that every other passenger is looking at you the same way.

You just said a bad word, and you said it loudly.

Anon gives a nervous chuckle beside you. "Sorry, everyone! It's her first time flying, and she's a little nervous."

Everyone slowly returns to their own business and you face forward again, absolutely mortified and scared beyond reason.

"Sunset." You take another gulp but don't face Anon. "Sunset- Ow! Ease up a bit."

You look back at him. He's wincing in pain. You look down at your hands and realize you're holding his in an iron grip. You're crushing him.

You let it go. "S-Sorry! Sorry, Anon!"

He rubs his hand and nods. "Its okay, it's fine. Look, you really need to calm down."

You take another breath and shut your eyes tight. "I know, I know, it's just..." You breathe out and laugh nervously. "I've never done this before. It's just new and scary, you know? People aren't supposed to fly."

Anon chuckles and wraps his arm around you. "Yeah, I know it's scary... Tell you what, once we get in the air, we can trade seats and you can look out the window."

You aren't sure about that. You don't want to see how far up you will be, it would just terrify you more.

He continues. "Don't worry, Earth looks awesome from that high up. Kind of like a mini toy set. It's almost unreal."

You think about it for a moment. "Well, I'll think about it and let you know later. I'm too nervous to agree to that right now."

He shrugs. "Alright."

As you continue down the pavement towards the runway, the flight attendant stands at the front of the aisle and makes all sorts of gestures and explains the safety features. You follow along in the instruction booklet, and pay attention to every single word she says. You want to be sure you won't die if the plane crashes.

Finally, the pilot comes on and says something garbled you can't understand. All you caught from her was that this flight would last a few hours.

You feel the plane come to a stop, and you tense up.

Anon holds your hand and bounces in his seat a little. "Oooh, this is the best part! Here we go, Sunset!"

You gulp and take a few deep breaths. "Okay... Okay, okay, okay, okay..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS1EJiUM91s

You feel the seat vibrate as the engines roar to life. You grab Anon's hand and hold it tight. Outside, you see the world whoosh by as the plane accelerates. You sink back into your seat a little bit.

"Anon?!" He doesn't respond, he just gets a big smile on his face and starts laughing. "Anon, this isn't funny!"

He sinks back in his seats and laughs louder. You feel yourself sink back in the seat more and your stomach start to move around inside you. You shut your eyes as the shaking intensifies and the engines get louder. You're trying so hard not to scream right now.

Suddenly, you feel yourself lean backwards. Not just your back, your entire body; the seat you're in, everything.

"Alright, we're airborne!" Anon announces.

"What?!" You open your eyes and look around.

It wasn't just you in your seat that leaned back, the entire plane leaned back. You look out the window and see as the streets, cars, buildings and people get smaller and further away.

It's... exhilarating.

"Woah..." You breathe.

You lean across Anon's lap and stare out the window. The plane gets higher and higher in the air and everything below gets smaller and smaller. You can see everything from up here! The city, the mountains off in the distance, the streets, cars, everything!

"This is..." You chuckle and a huge smile spreads across your face. "This is awesome!! Haha! We're flying!"

You just keep laughing like a little kid as you look around at everything. You can see for miles! You try counting all the houses you can see, but too many keep coming into view and they get too small.

Suddenly, the plane banks right and you can see the ground directly below. It stays on its side for a few seconds before leveling out again. You just keep staring outside at everything. It's amazing.

"See? Told you it wasn't so bad!" Anon says.

You laugh and look back at Anon with a huge smile on your face. "Yeah, you were right! This is so cool!"

He laughs and you turn back to look outside, taking in the view of this little patch of Earth.

---

You are Anon again.

Three hours, one bag of peanuts, and an in-flight meal later, you're sitting in your seat and Sunset is asleep on your shoulder. After staring out the window for about 45 minutes, you got above the clouds and there wasn't anything else to see, so she got bored. By then, it was time for the meal anyway.

After eating and chatting for a bit, she decided to take a nap. The stewardess brought you a blanket and Sunset threw it over you both.

Which leads to where you are now. She's softly snoring in your ear and holding you like a teddy bear.

All you can do is just smile at her. She's so beautiful.

You lean back and try to get some sleep too. Lord knows you need it. Other than Sunset being here with you, these past few days have been pretty awful. But, at least you have a plan.

Last night, you told your work of your situation, and they reluctantly agreed to let you go. You feel kind of bad for leaving them suddenly just before the busy season, but what choice did you have? You're going to go home, just settle down for a bit, and maybe look around for a new place here. Hell, you might just start your life over again.

Wouldn't be so bad. You'd be closer to all your old friends. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight. A bunch of good girls, they were. You've known them since high school.

The intercom comes on and interrupts your train of thought. You were beginning your descent.

You take a look outside and see the clouds gradually get closer. It was also getting dark. You look under the blanket and make sure Sunset still has her seatbelt on.

You gently nudge her shoulder. "Sunset. Sunset, hey." She groans a little and looks up at you. "We're starting our descent. You need to be awake for this."

She groans a little again and closes her eyes. "Mmmhh... Okay..."

She slowly wakes up and yawns. She looks out the window again at the view of the upcoming clouds. A few minutes and a little turbulence passes by and you finally get below them. If it weren't for the lights in the buildings, you wouldn't be able to see anything due to the darkness, snow and fog. The sun had already gone down, but it was nowhere near time to go to sleep yet.

You both stare out the window until you reach the runway. Sunset had a lot more fun this time around. You probably got her hooked on flying with this little trip.

The plane touches down and you slow decelerate as you head to the terminal. The captain tells you all that the temperature outside is a balmy -6 degrees Fahrenheit outside. As soon as the seatbelt sign goes off, you quickly grab your bag and get ready to deplane, thanking the flight attendants for the service.

The door opens and a gust of icy wind hits you both.

You both shiver and fold your arms. "Ah, home sweet home." You say.

"Jeez, Anon, how did you survive up here?!" Sunset asks.

You both laugh and you wrap your arm around her. "Don't worry, Sunny. You'll get used to it." You step into the warm terminal and head toward the exit. "Now, we should have a ride waiting for us."

"Like a limo?" She asks.

"Maybe."

"Hmm." She says. "Never rode in a limo before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

You head toward the escalators and head down to the lower level. A couple of drivers are holding signs out in the cold. You're looking around for the sign that says "Ymous", when suddenly...

"Well, well! If it isn't Anonymous!"

You stop dead in your tracks as that voice hits your ears. "Oh hell no..."

Not now, not her. Anyone, just please not her.

Sunset looks behind you. You slowly turn around to scowl at the supermodel, trophy woman you once called your girlfriend standing behind you, with a shit-eating grin spread across her plastic face, looking just as expensive as ever.

This is the girl you now hate more than anyone or anything else in the world.

“Hello, Fleur…”

Comments

[Aldon]

Wouldn't be so bad. You'd be closer to all your old friends. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight. A bunch of good girls, they were. You've known them since high school.

Oh!

[Pete100]

As you both head toward the checkout, you pass the pink toy aisle. You see a bunch of fat guys in fedoras and other geeks are crowded around the "Pretty, Pretty Pegasus" section, and it looks like a few of them are fighting over a stuffed horse.

What a bunch of losers.

Damn, shots fired.

If you needed to get somewhere fast, you either magic'd your way around, or you rode the train. You didn't need to fly. That bullshit was reserved for Pegasus ponies.

The Pegasus probably heard that all the way in Equestria.

He shrugs. "Of course they are. Statistically, it's the safest way to travel."

Wait, really?

Anon chuckles and wraps his arm around you. "Yeah, I know it's scary... Tell you what, once we get in the air, we can trade seats and you can look out the window."

I thought she was already next to the window.

Suddenly, you feel yourself lean backwards. Not just your back, your entire body; the seat you're in, everything.

Does that really happen?

Wouldn't be so bad. You'd be closer to all your old friends. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight. A bunch of good girls, they were. You've known them since high school.

So, they’re not in high school anymore?

You both shiver and fold your arms. "Ah, home sweet home." You say.

I thought he hated it there.

[Blik]

I usually try to suspend my disbelief when reading pony stories, but I have two questions. How is it that Sunset, as the Princess's personal student for several years, never rode in a pegasus chariot? And how did she get on the airplane without any photo id?

Loved the description of a first time flier, though.

[Jimbalaya]

As you both head toward the checkout, you pass the pink toy aisle. You see a bunch of fat guys in fedoras and other geeks are crowded around the "Pretty, Pretty Pegasus" section, and it looks like a few of them are fighting over a stuffed horse.

What a bunch of losers.

I'm felling personally attacked.