Return
The hiss of bus door opening was accompanied by a suave voice saying, "Hey Shimmer, you ever want to talk you know where I am."
"Yeah. I'll think about it." Replied the fiery haired woman.
Sunset Shimmer got off the bus then stalked down the cracked and graffitied sidewalk towards her raggedy old apartment in the Lower East Side of Manehatten. Walking along the front walk she was assaulted by the usual nightly noises, dogs barking car horns blaring and people shouting. It was all the usual stuff. Ignoring the people and environment around her Sunset plodded along to her apartment complex. Reaching the battered apartment complex door Sunset quickly extracted her apartment key from an inner jacket pocket and unlocked the door. The brief contact with the fall air served as a brief reminder of the time of year. Walking into her apartment complex quickly served to warm her up.
The long climb up some three flights of rickety stairs gave her sore muscles an unwanted workout. Reaching her apartment unit Sunset withdrew a different key from an inner jacket pocket and used it to open her door. Stumbling into her apartment Sunset quickly palmed the wall in an effort to flip a light switch. It worked and with a loose ‘click’ Sunset was greeted by the dingy interior of her apartment. Tiredly Sunset closed her door and stripped her aching feet of their cumbersome shoes. An ‘ahhh’ of relief echoed around her apartment as Sunset moved and stretched her toes for the first time since lunch. Savoring the feeling of her newly freed feet Sunset danced from the shag carpet of her living room to the linoleum floor of her kitchen. Needing something sweet to eat Sunset quickly opened her freezer and selected her favourite flavor of ice cream then made her way into her bedroom but not before picking up a suitably sized spoon for ice cream shoveling.
Climbing into her bed Sunset propped herself up with some extra pillows then turned on her TV. The unexpected wailing of police sirens deafened Sunset and she dropped her spoon in a frantic attempt to lower the volume with her TV remote. Once she wasn’t being aurally assaulted by the sirens the volume of the TV crept up until it was at a suitable level, she just managed to catch the last couple of lines from the blond reporter.
“-Police are saying that speed and alcohol could’ve played a role in this accident. This has been Hazel Roseline, MCN10. Back to you at the-”
*Click*
“-A source from the DNC has confirmed that an anonymous hacker did steal several hundred emails from various accounts and that the hacker will release the emails if his demand are not met.”
*Click*
“-So, Miss Sparkle, what do you expect your recent breakthrough on these wierd global phenomena to mean?”
“Well Miss Phile-”
*Click*
The TV screen turned off. Sunset tossed the remote onto her bedside table next to her forgotten tub of half melted ice cream, that was enough pixelated amusement for one night.
‘So Twilight actually did it… She cracked that whole magical conundrum. Heh, all the more to her.’
Sunset rolled over in her bed pulling her cover up as she did so. Unfortunately that knocked down her TV remote. Not wanting to step on it in the middle of the night during a bathroom run Sunset tiredly turned over then leaned over the side of her bed to grab at it. It was not a surprise when that side of her mattress compressed, spilling her out of bed. She landed in a messy, tangled heap of limp limbs and sweaty clothing. Sighing in defeat Sunset slowly fought her way out of her bedsheets, somehow, she pressed the on button for her TV remote and once again sound blared from the TV’s speakers.
“-I would never have completed this project if it wasn’t for the support of my friends. They stood by and supported me when I presented my hypothesis to the National Committee on Theoretical Science. They helped me when I needed extra hands, they provided me with some laughs when I was down, they kept me going, they supported me. And well, I know that was all a bit sappy, but that’s what friends do.”
“Miss Sparkle I don’t think I could’ve said that better myself. Now-”
*Click*
The remote trembled in Sunset’s clammy hands and in the dying glow of her TV she spotted a stamp covered box under her bed. Struck by a sudden sense of nostalgia she reached under her bed and slid the box towards the unobstructed end which happened to be the foot of the bed. Dragging herself over to the foot over her bed Sunset quickly extracted her dusty package. The faded multi-colored stamps showed where she had been, everything she had left was in the box. All of her memories, all of her mistakes were in there. Sliding her hand under the left cardboard panel Sunset quickly opened her memory box and was greeted with with the physical definition of her guilt. She lifted up the first piece, a crude plastic crown made in the image of the Element of Magic.
The whole thing was coated in dust and cobwebs the plastic had chipped or broken off in some places its gold coating was gone, instead it was replaced with the flat grey of cheap plastic. Sunset set it aside then picked up the next piece.
The small brown cloth sack jingled and clinked as she shifted it from palm to palm. Laying it in one hand she drew open the drawstrings the poured some of the contents into her open hand, crusty bits of gold and numerous sharp blood red jewels tinkled onto her palm. The necklaces of the Sirens, some of her greatest musical foes. No one had bothered to check on them; however over the course of her travel Sunset had come across them one time. Neither party was in good shape. The Sirens were selling themselves on the street and Sunset had turned around then walked away, just like she had done after the Battle of the Bands. Those broken bits of gold and jewels quickly found their way back into the cloth bag which was placed inside the plastic circlet of the fake Element of Magic.
The next object was a mass of stripped wires and broken metal panels. The remains of Twilight’s magic gathering device. A precursor to the machine she had rebuilt and improved with the help of her many friends minus Sunset. Carefully setting the device down Sunset traced the crisp edges and burnt image of her last momento, the Magical Journal. Its once brown cover was now warped and cracked, the emblazoned sun was burned black and its pages had long since turned to ash. The magical link between worlds had long since been broken when her journal was caught in a house fire. Despite frantic attempts by Sunset and Twilight Sparkle there was nothing that could be done for the journal. It’s magic was gone and with it, Sunsets last chance of getting back to Equestria.
Looking back to the TV Sunset heard Twilight's voice echo once last time,
“-That’s what friends do.”
Looking down to her journal Sunset clutched it to her chest, sucked in a deep breath, held it, then let it out in one long go. Once she had done that she repacked all of her momentos then taped up the box and retrieved a dufflebag. Suddenly full of energy Sunset dashed around her small room retrieving clothing, money, and various knick knacks. Once she had all of that together she picked up her phone and dialed a number. It rang once, then twice, and on the third try and harried voice answered,
“Look whoever you are I just got the bus back to the depot so I can’t pick you up, all righ-”
“- You said that if I ever need to talk to you-”
“-Sunset? Ah geez, look… I’m sorry but I can’t- I can’t come pick you up, the bus is-”
“-You have a car don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“You know where I live right?”
“Yeah, Sunset is everything alright?”
“Yeah everything’s just fine, I just need to talk person to person right now okay?”
“Alright. I’ll be there in like, ten minutes.”
“Awesome, thanks.” Sunset hung up before her friend could reply then made her way out of her shoddy apartment. Ten minutes later a beat up blue sedan pulled up next to her and the passenger door popped open.
"Hey Shimmer, you called?"
Wearily, Sunset opened the rear passenger door and deposited her stuff in the back seat. Closing the door she responded,
"Yeah Flash, you have work tomorrow?"
"Heh. Yeah..." He trailed off, waiting for Sunset’s explanation.
"You think you could call out sick? I want to go back to Canterlot. For Twilight.”
Flash stopped then leaned over the center console and looked at Sunset.
“Yeah, I think I can call out sick tomorrow. Hop in.”
Sunset quickly hopped in his car and closed the passenger door.
“You got any good songs?” She asked.
Flash grinned and selected a track, “Yeah I got just the one.”
“First you see me riding on a sonic boom
Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune…”