Just the Beginning
The sun was just starting to fall and turn the sky orange when Fluttershy stepped out of the Canterlot City Shelter for Animals. Fluttershy was a young woman of seventeen years, about halfway through her junior year of high school. Her long pink hair flowed down past her shoulders with a natural grace that many spend hours trying to achieve.
The gentle breeze of the flowering season danced around Fluttershy as she walked away from the shelter. Although she would normally go straight home, that day Fluttershy decided to take a walk around the city. Canterlot City looked from the outside to be a cold city like any other, but the longer Fluttershy lived there the more she loved it and its warm inhabitants. Fluttershy walked over a crosswalk to the other side after a van drove by. She moved at a quick, yet relaxed pace, the empty sidewalk seemingly her’s alone to travel that April evening.
The sound of tearing paper and falling packages reached Fluttershy’s ears, swiftly followed by a familiar voice calling out in frustration and annoyance.
“Tartarus!”
Sunset Shimmer was once Fluttershy’s most ruthless bully, but, about five months prior, Sunset travelled to another dimension and stole an ancient magical relic that happened to look like the plastic crown Canterlot High gave to the Fall Formal princess every year. Sunset eventually adorned the crown and became a monstrous demon. With the help of a princess from the other dimension, Fluttershy and her reunited group of friends defeated Sunset and restored peace to the school. Since then Sunset had been trying to lay low, but found herself on the other side of power for the first time in years.
Fluttershy approached Sunset, who had her back turned to her. Fluttershy saw that Sunset was carrying two paper bags in her arms and a scrap of the third, its contents littering the ground.
“... Sunset?” Fluttershy asked softly. Sunset spun around as though she heard a gunshot.
“Fluttershy! What are you doing here? You’re walking, obviously. I’ll get out of your way.” Sunset spoke fast and nervously. She pushed what had fallen from the torn bag away from the centre of the sidewalk. She then crouched down to continue trying to find a way to fit three bags of groceries in two bags,
Fluttershy kneeled down and picked up a box of vegetable ramen, surprising Sunset who had expected her to keep moving on. “Let me help you.”
“Thank you, but it’s alright! I’m just going home, so I’ll be fine on my own,” Sunset said with a clearly fake smile.
“How are you going to carry all this?” Fluttershy grabbed a package of frozen cheese pizzas and added it to the pile in her arms.
“I, I’ll stack the boxes and put everything on them and, a I’ll-”
“Sunset,” Fluttershy interrupted, now holding everything Sunset had not picked up. “Lead the way, if you don’t mind?”
Sunset looked like she wanted to say something but instead she lowered her head and nodded. They stood up and Sunset started moving towards where she lived.
While they walked Fluttershy took in Sunset’s appearance. She had the same red and gold curls as ever, but they seemed to have lost their life. Flat and dull rather than vibrant and shining as they should have been. Her usual orange skirt and black and magenta boots were replaced by worn dark blue jeans and beat up black work boots. Instead of her leather coat, Sunset wore a frayed red hoodie.
The sun was just a sliver in the westward sky when Sunset stepped off the sidewalk onto a path leading towards a house. Fluttershy took in the two story building while Sunset walked up to the front door and unlocked it.
Fluttershy followed Sunset inside and to the kitchen, crossing through what Fluttershy took to be the dining room. There was an island in the middle of the spacious room, and they put the bags on it. Fluttershy separated the warm from the cold while Sunset put them away in their place.
“It’s um, kind of late…” Sunset said after everything was taken care of. “Do you have a ride you can call, or something?”
Fluttershy then realised that she had not intended to stay out that late, nor did she plan to walk so far from her home. It was already quite dark and her parents were out of town for the week, so they could not come to pick her up.
“If you don’t have anywhere to be, maybe you could… stay?” Sunset finished quietly.
“Stay? Like a sleepover?”
“Yeah, exactly! I have a spare room, and we could hang out until we get tired?” Sunset smiled hopefully.
Fluttershy thought for a moment, it was true that Sunset had been trying to redeem herself for her past. It was also true that Fluttershy wanted to help Sunset make friends but had not been able to find a good place to start.
“That sounds nice,” Fluttershy responded with only a little hesitance.
“Great! We -we can order dinner and watch a movie, or whatever you want to do,” Sunset said with a real smile. “I’ll grab an extra blanket for the couch, the living room is over there.”
Sunset was nervous; she didn’t know what to do. She and Fluttershy had eaten their fill of pizza and breadsticks -cheese pizza for Sunset, veggie for Fluttershy -and were now sitting on opposite sides of Sunset’s three seat grey sofa.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” Sunset asked, breaking the silence. “I have a small collection.”
“I was wondering something actually,” Fluttershy said, and Sunset gestured for her to continue. Fluttershy took a moment before speaking. “Twilight said that she is from another world, and that you stole her crown. Which was a magical relic.”
Sunset nodded, knowing where this thought was leading. “You’re wondering how I knew about the other world, let alone its legends.” It was not a question, and required no answer.
“As you have probably guessed, I had been to that other world before Twilight came here. In fact, I was born there,” Sunset said. “If you have any questions about the world over there, I can try to answer them.”
“Twilight said that she… she is a pony? And Spike is a dragon?” Fluttershy asked, both nervous and excited to hear the answer.
“That is true, if a bit simplified,” Sunset responded. “In Equestria -that’s the name of the place we lived -there are no humans. Instead, there are the three pony tribes: earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. There are other creatures such as dragons and gryphons, but in Equestria ponies are the most common.”
“Tribes? Like families or factions?” Fluttershy asked, not fully understanding.
“Not quite. They’re more like…” Sunset tried to think of a comparison. “Like human races. Only more than physical characteristics, it also defines the magic wielded.”
“Like the magic you had when you put on the crown?” Fluttershy asked without thinking.
Sunset winced at the reminder, but pushed on. “Not quite, but you and Rainbow Dash got wings when Twilight stopped me. Right?” Fluttershy nodded, remembering the odd sensation of flight. “Then the two of you would probably be pegasi. A pegasus can fly using their feathered wings, walk on clouds, and control the weather. Earth ponies are a lot like the ponies or horses of this world, but not the same. They are strong and can work the land better than anything else. And then unicorns have a horn in their forehead and use it to cast spells. That’s what I was, a unicorn.”
“So since Twilight had wings, she is a pegasus?”
“No, Twilight is a princess.” Fluttershy looked at Sunset in confusion. “Princesses are alicorns, which have the wings, horn, and strength of all three tribes.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy now wondered something new about the pony tribes. “If alicorns are Equestria’s princesses, pegasi control the weather, and earth ponies tend farms, then what do unicorns do?”
Sunset smiled at the question and explained her tribe to Fluttershy. She answered all of Fluttershy’s questions that she could. What was it like having magic? It was incredible, I took it for granted. How did you get used to having fingers rather than hooves? It was hard, but I just did things that required them like guitar and writing. Why do you say ‘Tartarus’ when you get upset, do ponies believe in Greek mythology? In Equestria a lot of human myths and stories are real, Tartarus is a real prison for the worst monsters that threaten Equestria.
Fluttershy asked more on the line of mythology and faith in Equestria and before either of them realised it, hours had passed.
“This has been very interesting, but it's getting late. We should probably get some sleep,” Fluttershy said after Sunset had finished explaining what a cutie mark is, and how they relate to a pony’s life.
“Good idea, let me take care of the mess and I’ll show you the spare room.” Sunset stood and gathered the boxes from their dinner before walking to the kitchen. Once the leftovers were in her fridge, Sunset led Fluttershy upstairs. They passed a room on their right before reaching the end of the short hall.
“This is my room,” Sunset said, waving a hand at the right side door. “And this is where you will be staying.” Sunset opened the left side door and flicked on the overhead light before stepping aside so that Fluttershy could enter.
The room was fairly simple: it had the same beige carpet as the hallway, white walls with pale lilac trim, a small window across from the door, and a larger window on the right wall. The head of the bed was against the wall with the large window, and the little window was over the foot of the bed. What caught Fluttershy’s eye however, were the books. One wall was dominated by a row of over-full bookcases, a corner of the room had a stack of what looked to be milk crates filled with books, and there was a stack of books on the night stand as well.
“Um,” Fluttershy said, standing in the doorway.
“Yeah, sorry about the books. I kind of use this room as a library,” Sunset said, slightly embarrassed. “If you'd rather, we could switch rooms.”
“No, the books are fine. It’s just…” Fluttershy trailed off.
“What’s wrong?”
“... I didn’t bring my pajamas…” Fluttershy said quietly, her cheeks glowing.
“I -I have some you could borrow?” Sunset offered, equally pink, before quickly adding, “Freshly washed, of course!”
At Fluttershy’s nod, Sunset headed downstairs to fetch some clothes. Since she had a moment, Fluttershy decided to look over some of the books on Sunset’s shelves and saw an odd, disorganised selection. Reanimator by H. Pony Lovecraft sat beside The Holy Bible, Battle Cry of Freedom was set between two even numbered volumes of Berserk. The rest of the shelves seemed to follow that theme with mostly historical and religious works, but with adventure and horror fiction mixed in here and there.
Fluttershy heard Sunset’s approach and turned just as she entered the room, holding a small stack of clothes in her arms. Sunset held out the pajamas and Fluttershy took them after a second’s pause.
“The door at the end of the hall is a bathroom, you can change there,” Sunset said, moving out of the doorway.
“Thank you, but you should change first,” Fluttershy said.
“No, you’re my guest. And I don’t need to change anyway.”
“You’re going to sleep in your jeans? Are these your only pajamas? Here, I don’t need them.” Fluttershy tried to give the clothing back, but Sunset stopped her by holding up a hand.
“I have other pairs, I tend to use them only when it’s cold.” Fluttershy still looked worried, so Sunset, starting to blush, explained. “I’m a pony, and while humans like to wear clothes for everything, ponies rarely wear clothes for anything.”
“Oh.”
Both of their faces were red when Flutterhy closed the door to change.
Once Fluttershy had changed and they had both said goodnight, they retired to their rooms. Fluttershy put her phone, keys, and wallet on the nightstand beside a stack of poetry books, and then got into bed. Sunset decided not to go to bed as she normally would, but instead she left her underwear on in case she forgot about the impromptu sleepover in the morning. Sunset slipped under the covers and fell asleep.
Cruel eyes of teal flame and inky black turned toward her while ashes and cinders fell from the she-devil’s mane of raging fire. Blood red claws extended outward, reaching. Sharp teeth glinted as a malicious cackle rang in her ears. Sunset could only scream as flame consumed her heart and soul.
Sunset was still screaming when she woke to Fluttershy calling her name. Sunset vaguely heard Fluttershy asking if she was alright, and if Sunset had been in a clearer mind the question’s absurdity would have struck her as funny. However, the only response Sunset gave was to pull Fluttershy closer and cry into her chest.
Fluttershy wrapped an arm around Sunset and carefully climbed into the bed beside her. Fluttershy began to gently stroke Sunset’s hair and she hummed a lullaby until the two of them fell asleep in that position.
Sunset woke up, as she always did, with the sunrise. However, this morning something was odd; there was someone else in her bed,
Sunset looked at Fluttershy’s sleeping face in confusion, until she remembered her nightmare and what came after. At some point in the night Sunset must have let go of Fluttershy because they were on separate sides of the bed. She realised that Fluttershy must have heard her through the hall and two closed doors, and had come to help her.
Sunset slowly got out of bed, trying her best not to wake Fluttershy. She quietly crossed the room, but paused before leaving. She turned back to Fluttershy and marvelled at the young woman’s kindness. To help Sunset after all that she had done, and in a situation where Fluttershy could so easily have just left her alone.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sunset went downstairs to get some breakfast. Once in the kitchen she started the coffee pot brewing her favourite blend and grabbed a mug.
Sunset had not thought that one thing going right would be too much to ask for, even accounting for her past mistakes. The night had been going well, Sunset thought, they had been talking about Equestria and Fluttershy had seemed to be genuinely interested in the topic. But then Sunset had to go and ruin it by having one of her nightmares. Fluttershy already had plenty of reasons to stay away from Sunset, even without also knowing that she was a head case alien.
Sunset was pulled from her thoughts by the coffee machine’s beep telling her it was done. She filled her mug, replaced the pot in the machine, and took a gulp of the scalding liquid. Sunset had always preferred her drinks to be just shy of burning her, even back when she was drinking tea with Princess Celestia. Although those days were long gone.
Sunset nearly dropped her mug in surprise when turned to find Fluttershy standing in the doorway; she had not heard her approach. Calming herself with another drink of hot coffee, Sunset greeted her house guest as though nothing were wrong.
“Good morning Fluttershy. Want some coffee? I can get you a mug.” Sunset offered.
“No thank you, I don’t care for coffee,” Fluttershy said, sitting down at the island.
“Thought everybody drank it here,” Sunset said with a laugh. “You know, in Equestria, it is considered a high class beverage because of how rare it is.”
A moment passed in off-putting silence before Fluttershy spoke.
“Sunset,” Fluttershy looked into the girl’s teal eyes. “How long have you been having them?”
The vinyl floor tiles caught Sunset’s gaze. “Well, coffee’s been in Equestria for over a thousand years, but I really only started drinking it when I got over here.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
Sunset took a moment to look at Fluttershy. She was still wearing the red-accented black pajamas Sunset had given her the night prior. They were a bit too large, and the colours were simply not complementary to Fluttershy. Her hair was a tangled mess from sleep and, in many places, stuck out weirdly. Despite that, she still looked graceful as an alicorn to Sunset.
“... I have been having nightmares since the Formal. Not every night, but often enough.”
“What are they about? If you don’t mind me asking,” Fluttershy asked.
“Why?” Sunset asked after a few seconds.
“Because it’s important to talk about things like this,” Fluttershy said, misunderstanding the question.
“Why would you help me? After everything I’ve done to you, I tried to kill you and your friends! Even before that I hurt you worse than anyone.” Sunset looked down at her mug and saw the coffee rippling oddly. She realised that she was crying into it. She set the mug down on the counter and wiped her eyes and repeated, “Why?”
Fluttershy thought on how best to say what she was thinking, and soon responded with another question. “Do you remember when we first met?”
“Yeah, it was the Freshmen Fair, but-”
“Rainbow had left to find the soccer club, so I was stranded in a crowd of strangers. A club tried to recruit me, I didn’t want to join but couldn’t tell them that. Then you walked up, greeted me like an old friend and gave me a pretzel. You led me away from the booth, and I was terrified. A beautiful girl had saved me, but why? What would she want in return? But when you turned to me you didn’t ask for anything, or even take the pretzel back. You apologised for the trouble and walked into the crowd.” Fluttershy paused to look at Sunset, and finished only when their eyes met. “No matter what else you did, I always remember that. You saw someone in need of help, and you helped. An act of such pure kindness, so how bad could you really be under it all?”
Sunset closed her eyes and took a breath. “The she-devil. I dream about the she-devil I became. I would rather not talk more about it, but that is my nightmare.”
“Sunset-”
“So!” Sunset interrupted, clapping her hands. “How about some breakfast?”
“Sure…”
Breakfast was made and eaten, a meagre but appreciated feast of oatmeal and fruit. After eating, Sunset was embarrassed to realise that the entire conversation and meal were carried out while she was in only her underwear. Sunset dressed in much the same way as the day before, but replaced her top with a t-shirt with her yin yang sun on the chest. Fluttershy, having not expected to stay the night, had no choice in her outfit. She wore a seafoam green skirt that fell past her knees over sky blue leggings. She wore her favourite butterfly sandals and a white button down shirt.
Once they were both dressed and ready for the day, Sunset asked if Fluttershy needed a ride home. Fluttershy surprised her by asking if they could hang out more; Fluttershy’s parents would not be back until afternoon the next day, and the shelter told to take the day off because of how hard she had been working.
Because neither of them had anything to do that Sunday, they decided to watch something. They settled on a comedy about an obsessive compulsive detective, it struck Sunset as probably being lighthearted enough for Fluttershy to enjoy. Although she did not expect how much Fluttershy would enjoy it.
Fluttershy smiled in sympathy when a joke was made about the detective’s condition rather than laugh as most would have. She would flinch from the screen when they showed a body, even though the gore was both minimal and second-rate. She would gasp when the big reveal was made, and that would make Sunset smile.
After a couple episodes, Sunset realised that she was no longer watching the TV, and excused herself on the pretext of getting the pizza leftovers for them to have for lunch.
In the kitchen Sunset’s hands went to her head. What am I doing? Sunset asked herself. Fluttershy would never want someone like me even if she does like girls. I’m a bully, I tormented the school, and broke up her friends. If that were not enough, I also turned into a literal devil! Just forget it Sunset, forget it.
Sunset quickly washed her face before grabbing the food to take to Fluttershy.
The rest of the day passed easily enough, they ate and talked about the animal shelter and Equestria. They talked about jobs and money, and Sunset showed Fluttershy the last remaining gold bit she brought from Equestria years ago. Fluttershy planned to intern with the Canterlot Veterinary Clinic over the summer, while Sunset intended to get a job for the summer and then work it part time during their senior year. The money Sunset made selling the gold bits was not going to last forever.
When the day grew late, Sunset went to the kitchen to make dinner. Fluttershy followed both to help her and to talk about something.
“So Sunset,” Fluttershy started tentatively while opening a box of noodles. “We go back to school tomorrow.”
Sunset placed the pan she had been filling with water on the stove and turned on the burner. Fluttershy poured in the noodles while Sunset answered. “Yeah, and there’s supposed to be a sports assembly in the morning as well.”
“I was thinking, maybe at lunch…” Fluttershy trailed off.
Sunset waited for Fluttershy to continue before asking, “At lunch, what?”
“... Maybe you could… sit with us?”
Sunset stared at Fluttershy, who was trying to hide in her hair, and nervously responded. “I don’t know about that. I mean, I can hardly blame them, but I don’t think your friends want to be around me.”
Fluttershy’s face turned a bit pink as she spoke. “I want to be around you…”
It was not fair, how could Sunset say no to that? “I’ll think about it,” Sunset promised, turning back to the boiling water with red cheeks. “Anyway, right now we should worry about dinner.”
The meal of spaghetti with traditional marinara sauce and frozen garlic toast was eaten in relative silence. After they ate, they put on the next episode of the show they were watching. About halfway through it, Sunset spoke up seemingly randomly.
“Fluttershy…”
“I know, it has to be the boyfriend, we saw him do it. But the tracker says he ran the whole race, so how did he do it?”
Sunset smiled at Fluttershy’s focus, but allowed it to fall as she pressed forward. “Fluttershy, about my nightmares,” Fluttershy turned to Sunset, the show forgotten. “If I have another tonight, you can just stay in your room. You don’t need to bother yourself with-”
Sunset was cut off by Fluttershy pulling her into a hug.
“Don’t think like that,” Fluttershy said firmly. “Of course I’ll help. We’re friends.”
Sunset knew that she would have to go back to Canterlot High in the morning, and she would have to deal with angry students, disappointed teachers, and the other four girls that she nearly killed. She knew that she would have to face her devil before she could ever be worth Fluttershy’s friendship, let alone a date. But, in that moment, Sunset was content in the warmth of Fluttershy’s embrace.